Duron’s heart melted when he saw tears form in Loren’s eyes and she began to cry. He reached over and pulled her into a hug that only her favorite brother could give her.
“I love you Lo, you know that and I hear you. You and Mike are in love and I’m happy for you. If this is what you want, if Mike is what you want then I support you. I love you too much not to. I was just surprised and caught off guard by what I saw, but you’re right. I was exactly who I said Mike was and when I met Taija, I couldn’t imagine being with another woman. If Mike feels about you the way I feel about her, then yeah, I’d say you’re both very much in love.”
Duron felt much better when Loren looked up at him and smiled. She grabbed him tight around the neck and held on, thankful that he was going to be okay. She wished she had told him from the start and all of the drama could have been avoided.
“Thank you D. I love you.”
“I love you too and I’ll talk to Mike. We’re good.”
Loren looked at his face for reassurance.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yes, sis, I’m sure.”
They both turned when they heard Taija enter the room with Duron’s lunch.
“I see the two of you have made up. I’m glad because I was planning to lock you both in here until you figured this out.”
“Yeah, we’re good. Did you hear Taija? Loren and Mike are in love,” Duron said.
Taija sat his lunch down and gave Loren a hug.
“Yeah, I heard and I’m happy for them. I know they’ll be as disgustingly in love as you and I are.”
Duron looked at them both.
“They better be or off with his head!”
“Now that this is over, I have to go. Work is calling and I need to unpack first,” Loren said.
She gave Duron a hug and dashed for the door.
Taija turned to Duron after Loren left.
“I’m so proud of you. You know it was time to let Loren live her own life,” Taija said.
Duron reached for his wife and pulled her into his lap so that she straddled him.
“You’re right and I’ll deal with your punishment later because I also figured out that you knew all along and didn’t tell me,” Duron chuckled while nuzzling her neck.
Taija immediately felt a fire begin in the pit of her stomach and an arousal began in between her legs. She slid a little closer to that part of him that began to rise and stiffen as she started a very slow grind.
“I’ll take my punishment now,” Taija whispered on a seductive sigh.
Duron obliged her by first rubbing her belly where his baby was already growing and then proceeded to undress her.
“Speaking of secrets, are we ready to tell my family yet that you’re pregnant? I see what Loren’s secret did to me and I don’t want to keep any secrets from my family.”
Taija was about to respond when her mind drifted to how he was caressing her after he removed her dress.
“Taija, did you hear me?” Duron said as he continued to stroke her then kissed her ear, just the way she liked.
“Yes, but I’m busy taking my punishment like a bad girl.”
No more talking was needed. Duron reached to untie the strings at her sides that held her strip of a thong in place and proceeded to punish her like only he could.
Mike had just arrived home from being on the west coast for a week. He had a lot of work to catch up on and he also needed to talk to Duron. As bad as he also wanted to see Loren, he needed to clear the air with his best friend and make him understand that what he felt for Loren was unequivocal love. He headed straight for the condo where he knew he would run into Duron who would most likely be in the office.
As he suspected, when he got off of the elevator he could hear Duron on a business call so he headed for his office.
Duron noticed Mike standing in the doorway while he was on the phone and waved him in. Mike came into the office, shut the door and took a seat while Duron finished his call. He was determined to not leave the office until he and Duron had worked this out. They had been friends for too long to let anything come in between the two of them.
Duron ended his call, leaned back in his chair and looked over at Mike.
Mike spoke first.
“I love her Duron. She isn’t a booty call or a play thing. Like I told you in California, I love her and I have for a long time, but I fought that feeling because she was your sister and I wasn’t sure how things would turn out. I am sorry that you walked in on us like that, but I’m not sorry for being with her. She makes everything in my world alright. I can talk to her about anything and it feels good just to be around her. I would do anything for her. I would give my life for her and I would never, ever hurt her. I know that’s your biggest concern. If I had a sister and I was in your position, that would be my main concern, but trust me here, I love Loren. I am in love with Loren. I know you’re pissed off with me, but we’ve been friends a long time; long enough for you to know that I would not have taken a step toward her if I were not genuine about my feelings for her. I hope we can get beyond this and if there is anything else that I could say or do that would reassure you that I am sincere in my feelings for her, I’m open to doing it. She’s worth it,” Mike exclaimed.
He watched as no emotion appeared on Duron’s face. His face was a blank slate. He came here looking for a fight today with his best friend and at the moment he didn’t know how to take his non-reaction.
Duron stared at Mike. He was not only listening to the words he was saying, but he was looking at his body language and the deep emotion on his face. He had no doubt at all that his friend was sincere. What he saw on Mike’s face and heard in his every word was love for Loren and he could appreciate that.
“Mike, we’re good. I’m serious man, we’re good.”
Duron saw a touch of relief on his friends face.
“I will tell you what I told my sister. I was surprised and caught off guard when I walked in your house. I wasn’t expecting to see my sister. I wish you both hadn’t kept it from me. She said that was her idea and I understand her reason for wanting to do so. I’m happy for you both and I can’t fault either of you for finding the kind of love I’ve found with Taija. What kind of brother would I be if I couldn’t be happy for my sister when she tells me she’s in love.”
Mike relaxed and sat back, comfortably in the chair. He had prepared for a fight and apparently he didn’t need to.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this? It’s me, man. Tell me what you need from me to be sure we’re okay?”
“You know what I need? I need you to not hurt my sister. You remember the basket case she was after her relationship with that Sam guy. I never want to see that look on my sister’s face again. I want your guarantee that you won’t hurt her.”
“I won’t hurt her. You have my word. I love her and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”
Duron trusted Mike’s words and just wanted to move forward.
“Good, that’s all I need to hear. Now, since you’re here can we talk some business? You don’t have much longer before your move to California and we still have a lot to do. Speaking of the move, I don’t want to keep getting all in the middle of your relationship with Loren, but how will this move affect the relationship and the work that needs to be done. California is a long ways away from Atlanta?”
Duron was right and he and Loren had talked about it and decided they would give the long distance relationship a try.
“As for Loren and I, we’ve decided to give it a try and make it work. As far as the work, we are very much on target. The contracts you and Tyrone signed before I left have been signed by me. I brought the checks back with me and we are ready to roll. I have a few weeks of working things out on this end in Atlanta and then I’m on my way. Thanks to Loren, all the rest of the furniture for the office and for my house should arrive over the next two weeks. Right now we are on schedule with everything. I would have come back sooner, but I had several furniture deliveries. Your sister really did a great job on my house. You and Taija will have to get to California soon to check it out.”
Duron decided to tell his best friend about the baby since they had plans to tell the rest of the family this week.
“I’ll be glad to come out and see it, but Taija won’t be flying for a while. She’s pregnant and the morning sickness has been hard on her. I’m not sure she’s up to flying since riding in the car for a long period of time upsets her stomach. Can you believe I’m going to be a father?”
Mike got up to congratulate him.
“Congratulations on the baby. You two didn’t waste any time I see.”
“I know. Taija said she wanted kids right away and after talking about it, I realized I did also. We recently found out and she’s been dealing with a bad case of morning sickness since then. We’re telling the rest of the family this week.”
“That’s great news D. I know when Loren finds out she’ll be over the moon with excitement.”
“You’re right about that. I know how she is with my niece and nephew and I’ll have to talk to her about spoiling my kid. Let’s head into the conference room for a few if you have the time. There’s a big project that may be on the horizon that I want Tyrone to take the lead on. He and I have been talking about it and I want to bring you up to date with our thoughts.”
“Yeah, I have time. I need to get unpacked and then I was planning to go see Loren. I’m sure she’ll be happy to know that we worked things out. I know she has a lunch date with one of her assistants so I have some time until she’s done. I can’t wait to hear about a possible new project.”
~~~
Loren left her condo to meet with one of her assistants for a working lunch outside of the office. As she pulled out of her garage, putting on her dark shades to block the sun, she was about to make a left turn to head into downtown Atlanta when she swore she again saw the woman, Shelly, who Mike had been involved with. Now, Loren thought, the chick knew where she lived and was stalking her and not Mike. She was happy that there was no way Shelly could get into her building because the security was very tight. She didn’t acknowledge that she saw Shelly. She continued to drive making a mental note to tell Mike about it later.
Loren actually felt sorry for Shelly. She knew where Shelly was coming from. She remembers when she first realized Sam was no longer hers, she would get a girlfriend or two of hers to go with her while she staked out places he would go to see who he was with. It wasn’t healthy for her back then and it certainly wasn’t healthy for Shelly now. She wishes there was something Mike could do to finally get her to leave them alone.
She continued on and when she reached the coffee shop where she was meeting her assistant, she found a parking spot and went in. She looked around and didn’t see any more signs of Shelly. She shrugged it off, sat down and ordered a light lunch and waited.
She smiled when her cell phone rang, seeing her brother’s number show up on the screen.
“Hey D,” she said with a lot of excitement.
“Hey sis. Listen I wanted to tell you before you heard it from someone that I’m going to be a father in a little under seven months.”
Loren almost fell out of her chair. This was great news.
“Wow D, you work fast,” Loren responded smiling with glee.
“No kidding. Taija said she wanted to start a family right away. She’s an only child and she wants to be sure we start early enough to have two or three.”
“Congratulations, D. Have you told mom and dad yet?”
Loren knew her mother would be over the moon with excitement. She loved being a grandmother and couldn’t wait until all of her children blessed her with grandchildren to fill the house up with on holidays.
“No, Taija and I will be telling them soon. We just finished telling her mother this morning and she was very excited. I wanted to be sure I told you because I’m sure mom will call you as soon as Taija and I leave and I wanted you to hear it from me.”
“Thanks D. I’m very excited for you. I did think that Taija’s face was a little chubby when I saw her the other day, but I didn’t want to say anything. Women hate that, especially if pregnancy is not the cause.”
“Don’t worry about it. That was definitely the reason. She just wanted to be a little further along before she told anyone in the family, but she said she’s ready. She’s been suffering really bad from morning sickness and even now she’s complaining because of the amount of weight she has already picked up. She has an appointment with her doctor next week about all of the weight gain and I’m sure he’ll tell her its normal.”
“I’ll call her in a little while. I want to congratulate her myself.”
Loren could not contain her excitement.
“I’m going to be spoiling that baby rotten!”
Duron laughed loud.
“You better have an extra bedroom set up because he or she will be spending a lot of time with you if you start with the spoiling like you did with Lyric and Milo.”
Loren looked up to see her assistant entering the building.
“D, I have to go. I have a meeting that’s about to start.”
Duron looked at his phone mystified that she hung up on him before he had a chance to utter another word. He didn’t get the chance to tell her about his other reason for calling her. He wanted her to know that he and Mike had worked things out and he was happy for them and their love.
After they went over plans for a new project that Tyrone would lead, they talked a little more about how they’d both fallen in love after being ‘bachelors for life’ for so long. Duron knew how happy he was and he was glad that Mike finally settled down and found someone. Now that he was over the initial shock of how he found out, he was glad the love of Mike’s life was Loren.
Mike had just arrived at his office building to do some work when the guard in the lobby told him that he had a visitor waiting for him. When Mike turned around, he was surprised to see Shelly sitting, waiting for him. When she saw him, she stood to approach him. He didn’t like seeing her at his place of business and it was apparent his many talks with her about not being interested in what she had to offer still wasn’t sinking in. Frustration filled his head and he didn’t want a scene at his place of business, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. His only thought was on Loren and the fact that they were planning a night of relaxation at her condo when he finished at the office. He refused to let Shelly ruin his mood. He did, however, need to talk to her about sightings of her at Loren’s condo and other places he and Loren frequented. As she walked toward him, he planned his words carefully.
“Mike, it’s good to see you baby. I’ve missed you and I know you’ve missed me by now so I thought I’d stop by to say hello.”
“Shelly, you shouldn’t be here?” he said, agitated.
“I know, but I wanted to talk to you and see you. Like I said I missed you.”
He didn’t miss how seductive she was trying to sound, but he had no interest in anything she had to say or offer and he was already losing patience.
“What do you need to talk to me about?”
“I was wondering if maybe you’d like to get dinner tonight and talk.”
She seemed unsteady and he was concerned. He was familiar with her strong, no holds barred personality, but now she seemed disturbed.
“Shelly, that’s not a good idea. I already told you I’m seeing someone.”
“You’ve always been seeing someone else since we first met. Why is this so different?”
He looked around and noticed the guard was trying hard to hear what they were talking about and he realized this was not a good place to talk to her.
“Shelly, follow me so that we can talk please.”
He led her to the bank of elevators and decided to go up to the condo where they could have some privacy and just in case she got a little loud, no one would be disturbed. He knew Duron never came to his condo anymore and Tyrone was out of town at a car show, his favorite down time activity.
After the elevator reached the condo level, he opened the door to his condo and escorted Shelly inside. Once inside he immediately turned around to tell her once again and hopefully for the last time that any and everything between them was over.
“Shelly, this has got to stop. All of the following me and Loren around has to stop. No more showing up at my place of business; no more anything. You agreed just as I did in the beginning that what we had was just casual sex with no promises of anything. I don’t understand the problem now.”
Shelly had her back to him so he couldn’t see that she was untying her coat. When she turned around and opened it, she had nothing on underneath. He knew the situation had just gone from bad to worse.
“Are you trying to tell me you don’t want a taste of this? Your girlfriend would never need to know. You know how we do and I don’t see a reason why we need to stop simply because you found a new tart. I’ve been dealing with you and other women for years and that’s never stopped us before.”
Mike had to get her out of his condo. He had no idea she came to see him naked. He should have found it out of the ordinary that she would have on a coat, even a thin one, on a nice warm day.
“We’re not doing this and you have to leave. Fasten your coat back up and leave. I know what we had in the past and back then I would have been receptive to this, but I don’t know how many times I have to tell you I’m involved with someone and it’s not casual. What you and I had was casual, but even that is now over. You need to understand that and move on.”
He watched as Shelly left her coat open and pushed it back further by placing her hands on her bare hips.
“Mike, I know that’s how it started, but you have to admit that we were beginning to develop something special and I want that back.”
He had no idea what she was talking about.
“Something special? Shelly we never had anything special going on because it was just sex. We had some fun and now that’s over. You knew the score when we started so this new attitude of yours is new and not welcomed. Fasten your coat and I’ll walk you down and please don’t contact me again.”
He could see everything he was saying wasn’t getting through as she continued to stand before him with her coat wide open. He watched as she removed her hands from her hips and used them to grip her breasts, trying to lure him in. He had no doubt he was in love with Loren because Shelly’s display was having no effect on him.
“Mike, you have to admit it was some great sex. I went along with that casual thing until you were ready to be more serious. I figured if you were thinking of being more serious with anyone, it would be me. We were spending a lot of time together and I want that back. I don’t mind that you’re seeing this Loren person. In fact I’m even open to you inviting her to join us for some fun. We talked about adding to our fun and she’s pretty enough that I’d be okay with it.”
The conversation was not going as he had planned. He now knew how right Loren was. Shelly was indeed a woman scorned and she was covering it by playing the role of seductress. He could now see that he was the blame for Shelly’s current state. Even though he was involved with her strictly for the hot sex, he knew that she was feeling more for him than just sex, but he ignored what he knew was happening. This new Shelly was a lot to deal with. He needed to handle her a little softer so he spoke to her in a calmer voice.
“Look, I’m sorry if you thought that something more was going on between us. If I led you on in any way I’m sorry and I apologize for doing that. I am involved with someone else and like I said, it’s not casual. It’s the real thing and I’m in love with her.”
Once he mentioned the word love all color left Shelly’s face. She went from being seductive to being angry.
“I never had a problem with you seeing other women and I don’t mind now either. I don’t see why this means you and I can’t continue what we had. You don’t fall in love with women, you screw them for sport.”
“I’m sorry if you thought there was more to what we had, but there wasn’t. I’m in love with her and very happy. I can’t see you anymore and I need you to respect that. Stop following me around and stop stalking Loren. She told me she’s been seeing you at her place of business, at her home and when she’s with me. You have to stop this now Shelly, it’s not healthy. I will never get involved with you again. You need to move on,” he told her.
He knew the moment her anger began to boil over and he knew he needed to get her out of his condo immediately. He reached for the door to escort her back out and into the elevator. Before he could get far, she let him have it.
“You are a bastard Mike,” she shouted as she stepped out of his condo and walked toward the elevator, still with her coat wide open.
“Shelly cover yourself up.”
She ignored him and once again opened the coat wider by placing her hands on her hips.
“You think you led me on? Well, yes you did. You men have no idea what it does to a woman to be played with. How dare you treat me like I was nothing to you. I know we were having fun, but I care about you. I fell in love with you and this is how you treat me because you found a new piece?”
Mike let her speak and she got louder and angrier with every word.
“I love you Mike and here you are telling me you love someone else.”
“Love Shelly? We were having sex, not falling in love. What I have with Loren is real, true love. What we had was only sex. That has always been the case. It’s not new and you know it. I understand you’re hurt and I’m sorry about that.”
“It was only sex to you Mike, but to me it was much more than that and you are a pathetic example of a man for leading me on the way you did. What about all the things you said to me?”
“Those are things said in the heat of passion Shelly. They weren’t whispers of love. I never once said I loved you and I never led you to believe that we would have anything more than what we had.”
He watched as her anger turned to uncontrollable rage.
“Rot in hell Mike,” she said, spitting each word out with such venom, Mike could feel the hatred in each word she spoke.
She turned away from him, still not closing her coat and pushed the button, wiping her eyes at the same time.
“You know what they say about Karma Mike, so remember that.”
Just then the elevator door opened and before Shelly could get in, Mike looked to see Loren standing in the elevator. His world just crashed and the Karma Shelly had just mentioned was visiting him with a vengeance. He didn’t know what to say and he was glued to his spot at the door as he watched Loren try to evaluate the situation before her.
Loren couldn’t move. The sight before her was a shock to her system.
She had come to Mike’s condo to take him up on his offer to accompany her to her parent’s house to talk to her mom and dad about their relationship. She originally told him she would do it by herself, but as she began driving to their house, she thought that she would be more effective if they did it together. She turned her car around and headed to his condo, knowing he was heading first to the office to get some work done and then to his condo to wait for her call about how her talk with her parents went. She had tried calling his cell and he never answered so she just showed up since she had a key that would let her off on the penthouse level.
She used her spare key to the corporate floors of the elevator to first check his office and when she didn’t see him there, she got back in the elevator to catch up with him at home. What she didn’t expect to see when she got to the condo was Mike standing in his doorway and Shelly look as if she was coming from his condo stark naked. Time stood still as she took in the scene, not sure what to make of it. Mike saw her and Shelly recognized her, but no one moved.
“Well look who we have here,” Shelly said entering the elevator.
Mike was in trouble when he saw what first looked like confusion turn to hurt on Loren’s face. Before he could get his feet to move, Shelly pushed the button to close the elevator door and turned and smiled at him, still with her hands on her naked hips.
Shelly thanked Karma.
“I appreciate the good time Mike,” he heard her say before she once again gripped her breasts just as the elevator door closed with Shelly and Loren together on the inside.
Fear like nothing Mike had ever felt before overcame him. He tried pushing the button to get the elevator to return and open, but he realized he needed his key for that and he’d put it on the table when he walked into the condo followed by Shelly. He ran into his condo, grabbed his key and ran back to the elevator to see if he could get it to return. When he realized it wasn’t working, he darted for the steps and decided to run down to catch the elevator. He knew luck wasn’t on his side because Karma was in control, but he had to try. He had to know that Loren was okay and that Shelly wasn’t filling her head with lies. Her last show of gripping her breasts and commenting on them having a good time was not what he wanted Loren to thin happened. He needed to get to her.
Shelly loved how this was turning out. She couldn’t have planned this better if she’d tried to. This so called woman that Mike claimed he loved was in the elevator and she was sure her mind was going crazy wondering what had taken place. Since they were stuck together in the elevator she couldn’t think of a better time to get her revenge on being tossed aside like trash.
She proceeded to slowly close and zip her coat over her nakedness.
“This thing with you and Mike won’t last long. I hope you know that,” Shelly said to Loren.
Loren noticed she spoke with a lot of attitude and anger.
“Don’t believe that he is as into you as he says he is. He’s told me the same lies I’m sure he’s telling you. I bet he told you he loved you. He told me the same thing and as a matter of fact, right before he, you know reached his peak before rushing me out, he screamed he loved me and only me. It was exhilarating and hot and sexy. He loves when I show up naked and he was an animal. I’m guessing you’re not satisfying him. If you had shown up a little earlier, we really could have had some fun. We have talked about adding a third and you are sexy enough that I’d go for it. Just don’t think he’s in love with you. Clearly he’s not a one woman man.”
Loren didn’t respond. She didn’t know what happened between them before she showed up, but it was clear something had and it felt like someone had stuck a knife in her heart and sliced it to pieces.
“Feel free to go back up and get you some. That man is a stallion, which I’m sure you know. I just want you to know that I’ll be here waiting for him when he drops you like he has other women he was seeing while seeing me. I always end up on top.”
Loren listened, but still didn’t respond as Shelly spoke. She didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was. She just wanted the elevator to hurry and get to the lobby so that she could get out. She was going to go home and connect with Mike later after the situation cooled off. She knew there had to be an explanation around what she saw. There was no way she was going to believe that what they shared was not real. She loved him and he loved her and she knew it. For now, she needed some space and she wanted to get as far away from this angry woman as she possibly could.
When the elevator reached the lobby, Shelly turned to Loren and said, “I’ll be seeing you around. Enjoy your time with Mike while you can. I don’t care how long you’ve been seeing each other, he belongs to me. Like I said, I’m not letting you or any other woman take him from me. Let’s be very clear about that.”
Loren, still never saying a word, watched the woman walk out of the elevator. She waited until the doors were about to close before she exited herself. She was going to head home, but decided she just needed a little air. She decided to walk a block or two to clear her head and to make sure that before she got in her car, she was focused.