Love Across Colors (Urban BWWM Interracial Romance) (2 page)

              Melvin walked up to her as she stood there at the kitchen sink, over washing the dish. “I think it is about done now,” he said.

             
His voice broke her daydreaming
,
and she looked at him with a dazed expression. “Hmm. Oh,” she said as she turned on the tap and washed the soap from the china.

              “My mind was just going a mile a minute,” she admitted.

             
“Look
,
kiddo, I can tell you were thinking about what I said earlier, but I want you to know that I will not pressure you anymore. You have been a good kid, and I am proud of the woman you have become. I suppose when the time is right, things will fall in place,” he told her, and she could swear she detected a glossy look in his eyes. Her father had many facets to his life and personality
,
and Melinda did not know much about him and his life before she came into it.

              “Dad? Was mom your soul mate?” she asked.

             
Melvin turned around and walked back to the sofa. “I was very much in love with your mother
,
Mel, but I don’t believe she was,” he admitted. “There was someone else that would have fit that bill even closer than she did. But don’t get me wrong,” he hastened to say. “Pamela was a sweet woman
,
and there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

              Melinda’s curiosity was now peaked. “How can you tell who your soul mate is? Did it have a particular feel?” she asked as she wiped her hand in her skirt, not seeing any rags close by.

             
“You will know,” he said. “You will know,” and his eyes took on the same nostalgic look she had seen earlier.

             
“Who was she?” Melinda pressed.

             
Melvin looked at her and smiled. “Maybe another time you and I will have that discussion, but not now,” he said as he got up to leave. “Not now.”

             
“Okay
,
Dad,” she said. Melvin walked off and headed for his bedroom
,
and Melinda felt guilty bringing it up. It obviously brought him pain still to be without that person. She wondered what had happened that had prevented them from being together. She would not get that answer tonight, if she did at all.

              She bent over and took up her shoes from the ground, retrieved her bag from the sofa and headed to her own room. There she lay flat on her back, as the world spun with her. She closed her eyes so as not to get dizzy and soon dozed off into peaceful slumber. There in her dreams, she imagined walking along the street and bumping into someone who would sweep her right off her feet. He would be tall and handsome, perhaps resembling Will Smith
,
or Morris Chestnut, and he would be completely head over heels in love with her. He would take her to exquisite restaurants to partake of fine dining
,
and he would propose to her on a romantic occasion, one night when the moon was full and the stars aligned. She would say yes
,
and he would take her to honeymoon in Paris, France and soon they would become parents to a beautiful baby boy. She woke up then, still smiling as she was in the dream.
             

             
She sighed and got up from the bed, peeling her work clothes off, and headed to the small bathroom. She stepped into the shower, and like every day before, she was grateful she had short curly hair that didn’t get crumpled when it got wet. She stood there, eyes closed and let the water run over her entire frame, from head to toe, allowing the coolness of it to still her thoughts. She desperately wanted to find someone she could call her own, and she now whispered a silent prayer to the one who could make it all possible. In short notice, she stepped from the shower and slipped into the robe she kept on the rack close by. She towel
-
dried her hair and then walked to the small window overlooking the neighborhood, and as expected, there were still folks milling around, engaging the services of the ones who thrived on night
life. She closed her blinds and pulled the covers from the bed and slipped under them. Maybe she needed to broaden her horizons and not search for a man of a certain breed or community; maybe she needed to find a man, any man who fit the ideals she nursed. She pulled the covers up over her and sank into deep slumber once more, this time dreaming of nothing, but hoping for it all.

             
Melinda woke up the following morning feeling as tired as she had when she had gone to bed. She turned to look at the alarm clock and realized that she had aw
o
a
ken a full hour before the time she normally would. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head once more and tried to force herself to sleep for the remainder of the time she allotted for rest. When that proved futile she flung the covers from her and got out of bed. She walked to the window and pulled back the curtain, watching the sunrise now as it gently kissed the horizon in the distance. The orange glow was slowly spreading over the rooftops of the buildings in the distance, making its way to her. Officially she could anticipate a long and dreary day. How else could a day like this end?

             
Melvin was an early riser
,
and by the time she got downstairs he had already left to run his early morning errands. Melinda didn’t believe he had anything of such grave importance every morning
;
or that he had the need to visit the grocers every day, but she figured it gave him something to do. She drank some of the coffee he had left for her, freshly brewed and steaming hot, and then rushed out the door to catch the only bus that was passing
—
-
she glanced at her watch then
—
-
in ten minutes. She didn’t have time to notice Marcus as he stood up hastily
while
as
she passed, and she completely ignored the brown paper bag he stuffed behind the chair just before he did. She waved him off and hurried along, making it to the stop just in time to see the bus approaching.

             
Already she was feeling flustered
,
and by the time she walked into the office, she was ready to go back home.

              “You too
,
huh?” Helen asked as she flopped down onto her seat, now pushing some damp loose hair
s
that were gathering at her temples and on her forehead. Helen was the office attendant and Melinda had taken a fancy to the woman ever since she had started working there a few months ago.

              “I feel like I haven’t slept for days,” Melinda complained.

             
“You sound like someone who didn’t sleep last night. I wonder if I could fathom the reason for that,” she said and eyed Melinda suspiciously.

             
Melinda was not as sharp this early
,
and it took her longer than a moment to realize what the woman was saying. “Oh no, it wasn’t that,” she said defensively. “Dad was on me again about grand
children and all
,
and I guess it sort of bothered me a tad.”

             
“
Oh, that,” she replied knowingly. “It must have been a tad if it bothered you at all,” she commented.

              “I guess,” Melinda said.

             
“Well, I best get back to this cleaning. Mr. Walker wouldn’t like us standing here fooling around this early in the morning, and as we all know, no one has to be around for him to hear about that,” she said as she rolled her eyes and indicated the filing clerk who was lurking nearby who was rumored to be the office snitch.

             
Melinda laughed. “Behave.” She walked off and left Helen to her cleaning and settled into her place as receptionist
—
-
for the moment. No sooner had she sat down than the door buzzed
,
and she pressed the little button hidden underneath her desk to allow admittance. The man who walked in was no less than six feet tall
,
and his presence seemed to fill the lobbied area. He walked decisively to her.

              “Good Morning. I am here for a meeting with Mr. Walker,” he said, staring her dead in the eyes.

             
Melinda froze for a second, entranced by his blue eyes and spiked blond hair and the perfect goatee framing pink lips and a perfect smile. When he stood there looking at her as if expecting something, she blinked rapidly and suddenly came to her senses. “Oh, what may I say is the nature of your visit, and who is calling?” she asked, blushing in the process.

             
He smiled. “I am Wayne Rutherford, and I am here for the meeting concerning the installation of the application,” he told her.

             
“Oh, that’s right. Please have a seat Mr. Rutherford. I will call Mr. Walker and let him know that you are here,” she said. He nodded and walked away, and for the entire time that his back was to her, Melinda could not help salivating. Helen saw her and could hardly prevent from doing the same. The women eyed each other
,
and Helen deliberately walked over to offer him coffee
—
-
anything to begin a conversation with him. Melinda smiled, thinking the woman too ambitious, for though she was slender and beautiful, she was also the single mother of two and didn’t seem to be the right fit for a man like that. Melinda did not even place herself in the category, being of a lower class in society than he was obviously
,
and not even of the same race. She wouldn’t stand a chance, and furthermore he wasn’t even looking at her.

              She sighed as she picked up the phone from the cradle and called Mr. Walker to inform him of his guest. In a few minutes she was asked to show him in
,
and Melinda took great pleasure in the task. “Mr. Rutherford, right this way please,” she smiled as she spoke
,
and he returned the emotion. Melinda’s breath caught in her throat once more as he towered over her
,
and she was constantly aware of him behind her as she walked to Mr. Walker’s office. All kinds of thoughts were running through her head
,
and she imagined him now pinning her against the wall and having his way with her. She got to the door then and made a single knock. A voice boomed at her to enter
,
and she held the door for Mr. Rutherford to enter before closing it and breathing again. She leaned against the wall for a few seconds to gather her wits before she walked off to her post.

              No sooner than she could enter the lobby area
,
when
she was attacked by Helen. “Who was that?” she asked excitedly.

             
“Don’t you have enough children
,
Helen?” Melinda laughed.

              “Oh, I wouldn’t be trying to make babies with him at all. There seems to be finer things that could be done there,” she said as she eased back and craned her neck to peek down the passage
way he had entered a few moments ago.

              “He is just a client of ours
,
;
here to install an application for our management operating systems
;
,
that’s all. I doubt we will even see him again after today.”

             
“We? So you have noticed him? Want him for yourself
,
no doubt,” Helen mocked.

              “Come on
,
Helen. A man like that is way over our heads, but he sure is eye
-
candy and food for thought,” she told the woman. 

             
Helen looked at her seriously. “You do deserve a good man
;
you know that
,
Mel? I am willing to give up this man to you for that very reason.”

              Melinda almost rolled over laughing. “Give him up for me? You say that like you have him.”

             
“Didn’t you see the way he looked at me? Trust me
;
,
I could get that man if I wanted to,” she boasted, and Melinda couldn’t even doubt that she would too. “You however could use a proper
. . .
...
”

             
She didn’t get to finish as the door opened
,
and Mr. Walker stepped into the passage
way. “Oh
,
Helen
,
there you are. Could you please bring me some tea?” he asked.

              “Sure thing
,
Mr. Walker Sir,” she said to her boss. She winked at Melinda before she walked off
,
and Melinda was happy to escape the mouthing she was just about to receive from the woman.

              She tried to focus on her work
,
but all she could think about was the man on the other side of the door. Did he notice her
,
and was he thinking of her as she was thinking of him? She had never dated outside of her own race before, but then, she had never tried either. Maybe she should
have
be
en
proactive and sa
id
y
something to Mr. Rutherford before he left. She started clicking keys on her computer
,
and soon her Google keywords were Wayne Rutherford
.
, and a
A
fter browsing for about ten seconds, she found his image online. She clicked on image after image, soaking them up in her mind. So consumed was she that she didn’t notice when he came out of the office and walked over to her.

              When she looked up and saw him, she scrambled to minimize the screen so that he wouldn’t see her lusting after him. “Is there anything I can help with
,
Mr. Rutherford?” she asked.

              “Yes,” he replied
,
and his voice was soothing to her ears. “Mr. Walker has asked me to return in a few days to follow up as the application cannot be installed right away.”

              “Okay. Has he told you when to, so that I can register the information here in his planner?” she asked, barely able to keep her voice steady. So heavily was she breathing, and so desperately was she trying to hold it she now felt like she would faint.

             
“I will call and inform you as to when exactly,” he said.

             
“Alright. Will that be all?” she asked, knowing full well that this could never be all for her.

             
“That will be all,” he told her and then turned to walk away.

             
Say something, say something
,
;
a voice in her head kept telling her, but her lips seemed unable to finish that command. Just then, when he was about to open the door, he turned and came back to the desk.

             
“Did you forget something?” she asked.

             
“I did,” he said and fished inside for something from the hidden pocket in his blazer. He removed his hand and slid a piece of white paper across to her. “I forgot to leave that,” he said and winked at her.

             
After he walked off she turned over the piece of paper and almost fell off her chair when she realized it was his business card. Helen returned at that instant to witness the act and now rushed over to inquire.

             
“What? What was it?” she asked.

             
“He left me his number,” she said and turned to the woman in wide
-
eyed wonder.

             
Helen grabbed the piece of paper from her. “Wow. Seems he was looking at you after all.”

             
“Maybe it was to call him back about his follow
-
up meeting,” Melinda said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

             
“And he wouldn’t have given that to Mr. Walker? He walked off and came back to give that to you. You had better call that man,” Helen advised.

             
“Me? What do I say? Why didn’t he take mine if that was what he wanted?” she asked.

             
“Because then it would have seemed unprofessional. Him leaving you his number was easier to do under the circumstances. You need to get out more
,
and if ever there was a reason, that is one,” she said as she pointed after the man who had just left.