OBSESSED WITH TAYLOR JAMES (8 page)

“Sabrina!” Taylor hit her sister in the shin with the tip
of her freshly pedicured toe.

“I was led to believe only women would be at the baby
shower.”

Sabrina rubbed her stinging shin. “Men are attending this
baby shower.  Dang, Taylor; that hurt.”

“Sorry, it was a reflex action to get you to shut your
mouth,” Taylor said gritting her teeth.

Mario laughed. “No need to fight.  I understand Taylor
not being comfortable with me tagging along.  We’ve just been going out a
month.”

“I don’t understand that, Mario.  Most women aren’t
comfortable with a potential boyfriend watching them get their hair done.” 
Sabrina rolled her eyes at her sister.  “Explain how are you comfortable having
him watch you do this, Taylor?”

Taylor bunched the cape between her hands. “Leave it to
me to have a sister that is a hairstylist, yet is putting me on the stand. 
Mario, if you want to come to the party, you are more than welcome to join me.”

He crossed his arms boasting his broad chest and strong
arms. “Taylor, I am not putting you on the spot.  If you don’t want me to come,
I’m okay with it.”

She relaxed the muscles in her face and softened her
tone. “Really, I changed my mind thanks to my sister bullying me.  You should
meet my mother and father and get it out of the way.”

“Gracias, Taylor. I will not embarrass you.”

She patted the bulge of his forearm groaning. “I’m not
worried about you embarrassing me.  I’m afraid we will embarrass you.”

Sabrina rolled the last curler in Taylor’s hair securing
a hairnet around her head, saying, “Thank goodness it is settled.  Taylor, take
a seat under a dryer so I can get to my next client.”

“Gladly,” she said stretching her back.  Turning to
Mario, she said, “Mario, I will be another couple of hours, why don’t you go
home and change clothes.  By the time you return, Sabrina will be done with my
hair.”

“Good idea. Adios, senoritas,” he said giving Taylor a
kiss on the lips.

Sabrina set the temperature for the hairdryer cooing. “Oh
my goodness, does he speak love terms to you in Spanish?”

“Sabrina, I melt every time he does.  For the first time
in my life, I can actually see myself falling in love.”

“I want you to have the love and commitment of a good
man.  Promise me you will take heed to what he is saying about Dillon.”

“Dillon is harmless and I’m letting Mario spook me for
nothing.”

“Okay, Taylor, but love crimes are committed by the
person we least expect.  Dillon seems harmless to you, but if he is suffering
from an illness, you cannot put anything past him.”

Taylor shook her head.  Dillon is stressed and unhappy
with the way his life is going.  Once his problems are fixed, he will be back
to his normal self.  You and Mario will see I was right about him.”

She picked up a magazine flipping through it.  Sabrina
lowered the hood of the dryer over Taylor’s head. “I’m going to pray you’re
right about that.”

*****

Mario turned off the car, looking at Taylor, he
chuckled.  “You are actually sweating bullets. It will be all right.”

Taylor lowered the visor to fix her makeup. “You don’t
know what you are getting yourself into.  You think Dillon is weird, wait until
you meet my Uncle Vernon.  The man is beyond strange.  You will have to
overlook a lot of what he says.”

“I’ll be fine.  If he gets too hot for me to handle, I
throw a few phrases at him to leave him wondering if I’m all wrapped.”

She looked at him grasping his hand. “It was nice knowing
you.”

He laughed and opened the door. “Stop it.  We’ll have a
lot of fun.  I’m a fun guy.”

The music playing inside the party center met them as
they entered the foyer decorated in pastels of blue, yellow, pink, and soft
greens.  Her cousin Selma didn’t know the sex of her first baby and the neutral
colors defined that.

Mario carried the large gift-wrapped box to the table
holding the gifts.  Taking her hand, he asked. “Shall we proceed?”

“Yup—right to the bar,” she said smiling.

Sabrina danced up to them. “Hey, Sis…hi Mario.  What took
you guys so long?”

Taylor said, “I had to change clothes and wrap the gift. 
But, we’re here now.”

Sabrina ran her hand down the lacy fabric of Taylor’s
party dress.  The off-shoulder, cream lace dress, gave a see-through appearance
only it had a nude lining underneath. It stopped mid-thigh showing off Taylor’s
fabulous features.  She wore her signature sky-high heels that were
cream-colored to match her dress, and toeless to show off her pearl-colored
toenails.  “I like that dress.  Don’t you like the way the dress hugs her
booty, Mario?”

Mario’s face reddened.  He had noticed but didn’t
comment. “Since you said it first, yes, I do; I do very much.”

Sabrina stepped back looking at him. “You’re looking
mighty hot too.  Not too many men can carry off those colors if you know what I
mean,” she winked.

He had changed into a lavender dress shirt, black slacks,
and a black tie.  The gold Rolex watch and gold and a diamond stud earring
completed the jewelry he wore.  He didn’t wear an earring at work, but for
casual events outside of work, he proudly sported his pierced ear he’d gotten
as a teenager.

Sabrina nudged Taylor’s arm. “There are a lot of single
women here that will be anxious to get next to him.  You better keep him
close.”

Taylor responded, “The only person I’m worried about is
Uncle Vernon.  Is he here?”

“Girl, you know he is here.  I’m surprised you didn’t
hear his mouth from the parking lot.”

Mario interrupted them. “Taylor, do you want a drink?”

She sighed. “Yes and make it a double.”

Sabrina laughed.  “It will be a double shot of Hawaiian
Punch.  There is no liquor.”

Taylor frowned. “Damn, I will have to get through this
night sober?”

Sabrina pulled them close to her. “You know how I roll.”
She pulled a small bottle of Jack Daniels from her handbag.  “Get a cup and
I’ll share. And if we run out, I have more in the car.”

A man walked up and put his arm around Sabrina.  She held
her head back to let him kiss her.  He then kissed Taylor on her cheek. 
Sabrina introduced the two men to each other.  “Mario, this is my husband
Edward.  Edward, Mario, is Taylor’s new beau.”

They shook hands with Edward saying, “Ah, so you are her
next victim.”

Mario raised his eyebrow. “Victim….am I missing…”

“I’m kidding, man.  Taylor doesn’t keep ‘em around long. 
When we actually meet one of her boyfriends, we never see ‘em again, except for
that white boy who has been around forever.”

“Edward, not now,” Taylor pleaded.

He asked.  “So what do you do, Mario?”

“I’m an attorney.  I work with Taylor.”

“Wow.  That gotta be weird working with her all day and
keeping it clean.”  Edward leaned in close to Mario.  “I heard Taylor is really
a freak…you better watch her.”

Taylor put her hands on her hips. “Hello, I’m standing
right here and can hear you, Edward!”

Edward hugged her. “I’m playing, Sis.  I know you are
strictly professional on the job.  No hall closet activity for you,” he said
winking his eye.

She turned to Mario.  “You see why I hesitated to bring
you?”

“Its fine, Taylor,” he said slipping an assuring arm
around her waist giving her a squeeze.

Then it happened.  Uncle Vernon spotted them. “Hey, what
do we have here?  Taylor James is that you?”

“Hello, Uncle Vernon,” she answered dryly.

He picked her up and swung her around.  Taylor had to
hold the hem of her dress down to keep from flashing her underwear. “Uncle
Vernon, put me down, please.”

“You used to like it when I picked you up and swung you
around.”

“I was eight, Uncle Vernon.  I’m a little too old for
that now.”

He laughed loudly. “Give the girl a law degree and she
thinks she’s grown.”  He stopped laughing when he saw Mario.  “Hold the horses!
Who is this dude?”

Taylor stuttered. “Um, Uncle Vernon, this is Mario
Infante.  He is a friend of mine.”

“Well, well, well.  Just how friendly are you with my
niece, Mr. Infante?  What kind of name is that?  Are you Asian or Mexican?”

Mario extended his hand. “Actually, I’m Puerto Rican,
sir. And I’m very friendly with your niece.”

“Huh, she did always like your kind.  But you must do
very well.  Nice clothes, expensive jewelry…you ain’t the head of some drug
cartel are you?”

“Uncle Vernon!” Taylor and Sabrina said in unison. Edward
shook his head laughing.

“Unfortunately, I have to earn my money the honest way;
I’m an attorney,” Mario answered.

“Oh hell that ain’t honest.  Y’all thieves with the law
behind you. You ain’t a tax lawyer are you?”

“Why? Are you behind on your taxes?  I have friends at
that the IRS that might be interested in talking to you. “Vernon is your name,
right?”

Vernon looked around the room. “Well, gotta go; the wife
is calling me.  Y’all have fun,” he said walking away.

“Wait, don’t go—Uncle Vernon, I have a few more questions,”
Mario called after him laughing.

Taylor turned to him with a grin on her face. “How did
you do that?  We have been trying to make him speechless for years.”

“I have a gift, for getting rid of annoying people.”

Taylor’s parents entered the party center and joined the
foursome. Ernst James kissed his daughters on the cheeks and shook Edward’s
hand. “Hello, my beautiful girls.”

“Hi, Dad,” Taylor said hugging her father.  “Hi, Mom,”
she said hugging her next.

Mrs. James hugged her daughter in return. “Hi, honey. 
Where is Dillon?  He usually accompanies you to family events.”

Sabrina took Edward’s hand bopping to the old school beat
of George Clinton’s
Atomic Dog
.  “Come on, baby.  I want to get my
groove on.”

Taylor grabbed for her sister’s arm, but she was fast in
getting away.  She put on a smile turning to her mother.  “Mom, you know Dillon
is busy.  But, I want you both to meet Mario Infante.  He is very special to
me,” she said unconsciously parting her lips.

Mario refused the traditional handshake and hugged the
attractive woman. “Es un placer en conocerte, Mrs. James.”

“Oh my,” she said gladly going into his arms. “Tengo el
placer de conocerte también,” she recited in Spanish.

He released her. “You speak Spanish?”

“My daughter isn’t the only one in the family fascinated
with the Hispanic culture. I’m glad you could make it to the party, Mario.”

“Thank you for having me. Taylor is also special to me,”
he said making strong eye contact with Taylor.

Ernst nudged Mario away from the women.  “Come with me,
Mario.  I’ll introduce you to the rest of the men in the family while the women
do the baby stuff.”

He laughed. “Okay, but, I’d better stay away from Uncle
Vernon.  He thinks I’m the IRS.”

“So you had the pleasure of meeting my brother?” Ernst
asked.

“Yes, I did. He is an interesting person.”

“That he is, and I’m sorry I wasn’t here to warn you
about him,” Ernst said walking away with Mario in tow.

Taylor’s mouth opened to protest her father taking Mario
away without her.  She faced her mother. “Mom…I think I should go with Mario,
just in case...”

“He will be fine, Taylor.  Let’s find Selma and get this
party started.”

Taylor eyed her mother who was fond of having a drink or
two and loved to party. “You know this a dry party, right?”

“It’s dry for them; I’ve got mine in my purse.”

Taylor hunched her shoulders. “Why does everyone have
something but me? You all could have clued me in.”

“The rule is when Selma’s mother throws a party, stash a
bottle in your purse. The woman doesn’t condone drinking and won’t provide it
for the James’ crew.  We bring our own and have our own party.”

Taylor nodded. “I forgot about that.”

The deejay started the song by Vic – The Wobble.  Mrs.
James grabbed Taylor’s hand dancing in place. “Come on, baby.  Come Wobble with
your momma.”

Taylor rolled her eyes. “This is going to be a long
night.”

*****

After the games were over, and the gifts opened the baby
shower neared its end. Mario made his way back to Taylor.  He found her sitting
alone at a table.  Her shoes were off, and she was holding her head in her
hands.  He sat across from her startling her. “You look tired.  Are you ready
to go?”

“Yes I am.  My feet hurt from dancing and my head is
telling me I had one glass of Jack Daniels too many,” she giggled.  “I haven’t
seen much of you tonight; did you have fun with the guys?”

“Yeah, it was cool hanging out with them.  Taylor, I like
your family; they are great.”

She lifted her hand to caress his face. “I’m glad they
made you comfortable around them despite my crazy uncle.  When will I meet your
family?”

“My parents are alive and I have a brothers and sisters
and an extended family still living Puerto Rico I want you to meet.  We will
need a few trips to meet all of my family.”

“I love traveling.  I can’t wait to meet everyone.”

He put her feet in his lap and massaged one toe at a
time. “I will start planning an itinerary.”

“That feels good,” she said pulling a tender curl of
hair.  “Mario, I don’t know if you would be interested or can swing the time
off work, but that cruise I’m taking in August…well I’m the only person
occupying my room…”

He continued to massage her feet slowly.  His gaze
captured hers as he finished her sentence. “Are you asking me to join you?”

She licked her lips. “I would not want anyone else but
you to join me.”

He scooted his chair closer to her.  Leaning in, he
kissed her.  “I will make the time to join you.”  His mouth captured hers again
lingering in a deep sensual kiss.