When you dig for gold, dig deep

Can you believe the nerve of this man? I should have known he wasn’t the right man for me when he told me he was a plumber. Plumbers make a little money, but still, they looking through people’s shit for living. Then for a first date he takes me to Olive Garden. Olive Garden! Really! And for flowers, he gives me tulips instead of roses. I mean who does that. When I finally go to his place, he lives in a regular old apartment. But the last straw was when he came to pick me up in a Chevy Traverse. Turns out the Cadillac Escalade that he got my number in was a loaner while they were replacing the engine on that old ass Chevy. I deserve better than this. That’s why I’m meeting him at this café to break things off.

           “Ashley, what’s up baby?” Terrance said, trying to kiss me. But I turned my head.

           “We need to talk,” I said as I sat down and kept my purse on my shoulder, because I knew wasn’t going to be here long. “What you got going on, it’s not working for me.”

           Terrance looked at me with this long face and said, “I don’t understand. I thought things were going good. I’m really feelin’ you.”

           “You’re a nice guy. You gotta cute face. Still. I’m not trying to be the girl of a man who’s a plumber, driving around in Chevy, and eating at the Olive Garden. I’m a queen baby. I deserve better than that.”

           He just stared at me like a lost puppy dog and said, “But if you stick with me, I’ll eventually be able to get to that level and treat you like the queen you are.”

           “I don’t think so.”

           “But…”

           “Save your buts for the ashtray. Deuces,” I said giving him the peace sign. Like I said, he got a lot of nerve. Thinking I’m going to wait around until he gets his shit together. I’m already thirty years old. I don’t have time to wait.

           A couple of months later me and my girls were getting our nails done as usual. It was a nice sunny afternoon. I was rocking my Tory Burch sandals with my new French pedicure when I stepped out the shop. Looking fabulous in my favorite sundress, I could feel a set of eyes on me. I glanced to my right and saw this fine ass man walking in my direction. As fine as he was, I made it a rule that I don’t approach men. They have to approach me. I’m the prize.

           “Excuse me,” the man said walking up to me briskly and waiving to get my attention. I must admit, he was sharp from head to toe. And he checked all the boxes for me, tall, athletic, and well groomed. I even noticed the Gucci shades that covered his eyes. Nice touch. But I was still going to make him work for it.

“Excuse me,” he said again, finally catching up to me. He had this deep voice that was smooth as satin. His caramel eyes looked deep into mine. Then he reached out to hand me some keys. “You dropped these.”  

“Oh my god! Thank you.” I was so busy checking him out, I didn’t realize I dropped my damn keys.

He flashed me this warm smile that was brighter than the summer sun and said, “No problem at all ma’am. My name is Alexander.”

“Pleasure to meet you. My name is Ashley,” I said as I offered my hand for a shake. When his big strong hands wrapped around mines, I could feel the warmth and sincerity radiating through his body like an electric current. As he stepped closer, the fragrance he was rocking was fire. He just didn’t know, but I wanted to pull him close and get a big whiff of that scent.

“Nice to meet you too Ashley. Glad I could be of assistance. Where were you heading in such a hurry?”

“Me and my girls always meet on Saturday afternoon to get our nails done and then we have lunch. I was about to get in my car and follow them. If not for you, I would’ve been waiting here for AAA,” I joked, as I gave him a little flirtatious grin while bating my lashes. I was giving him the green light. See if he’s worthy of my time. So as further incentive I asked, “And you?”

“I just came from my sports bar over there,” he said pointing next door to the place that shared the strip mall with my nail spot. Guess I never paid attention to it before. I looked up and saw the huge red sign that said, Alexander’s.

“You’re that Alexander?”

He held his arms out wide and twirled around while saying, “In the flesh.”

I was impressed. But before I could get out another word, he said, “I gotta run. Got a business lunch at Ruth Chris in thirty minutes. You be careful. Don’t drop anymore keys. I might not be around to rescue you next time,” he joked with a wink and a smile.

Then this tall drink of water just walked away. He didn’t complement me. He didn’t ask for my number. Nothing. I was confused because that shit has never happened to me before. I stared at him as he approached a Range Rover in the parking lot. I don’t know what came over me, but before I knew it, I was running across the parking lot to catch him. This time it was me that was yelling excuse me and flagging him down.

When he finally heard me, he turned and politely asked, “Did you need anything else?”

I was trying to think of some kind of excuse to keep the conversation going. And what came out my mouth was, “What is the name of that cologne you have on?”

“Creed. Why? You want to get some for your man or something?” He responded.

“I don’t have a man. But when I get one, I’m buying him a bottle of that,” I joked once again.

Those sexy eyes of his looked down at my freshly pedicured toes and made their way up my fine ass body and he asked me, “How is a beautiful woman like you still single?”

I smiled as I shook my head and replied, “I ask myself that same question.”

He licked his lips while rubbing his clean shaven chin. “Sounds like you need a good man in your life. I might be able to help you with that.”

“Really,” I said giving him a sexy smile.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Definitely. I would love to continue this conversation with you, but I got to get to this meeting. Can I get your number? And maybe if you’re free this weekend we can get to know each other better over dinner.”  

I was acting like I had to think it over, but in reality, I couldn’t tell him my number fast enough.   

So we talk on the phone over the next week until Saturday rolled around again. Alexander takes me out for a first date. And brother man gets it right. He’s a perfect gentleman, opening the car door for me. He gave me a long stim single rose. He took me to Capital Grille. He knew what wine went with what dish. He was very articulate and cultured. A gentleman in every way. And to top it off, he carried cash in a money clip. Old school style. And he was generous. Leaving a thirty percent tip. I was impressed. This dude was hotter than a furnace, and I was like a stick of butter in the leather seats of that Range Rover. When he took me to his penthouse apartment, that was the icing on the cake. Everything was perfect. I said to myself, he could get it. And I rarely let a man sample my goods. But his conversation, his vibe, his scent, his voice, his essence made getting the coochie easy. It was an evening that was full of consent. Yes after yes to every question he asked me. Can I touch there? Yes. Can I kiss you there? Yes. Can I take that off? Yes. Do you like the way that feels? Hell yes. And while he was giving me good dick that I haven’t had in a minute, he was affirming me with his words. His mouth was in my ear telling me my body was beautiful. That I was powerful woman. I was worthy. I was loved. Words I never heard from a man before while making love to me. Normally I’d fake an orgasm to make my man feel good because it was so hard for me to climax. But something about this man unlocked all my inhibitions. My body let go, and I had an orgasm that curled up my toes it was so damn good. That was the only time that after having sex I put my panties on backwards. This man was the total package.

Over the next week, I was on cloud nine. I was so high; I was seeing stars in the middle of the day. We go out to dinner again that next Saturday. This time he takes me to Nobu, which is cool cause I love sushi. Another fabulous evening. Then the waiter brings the check. Alexander pats his pockets and turns to me.

“Baby, I think I left my money on my dresser at home. Can you do me a favor? Can you put this on your card and I’ll give you back the cash, with interest, when we get back to my place,” he said nonchalantly.

“You don’t have a credit card?” I asked as I grabbed my purse and pulled out my Visa card. Truth is, he could have asked me for my Social Security card and I would have given that to him.

“Well, I had problems with credit cards in the past. Identity theft. I can’t stand them now. So that’s why I carry cash like I do.”

I paid the bill. And true to his word when we got back to his place, he gave me back my money plus a hundred dollars. So I never gave it a second thought.

A few more weeks flew by. And we spent all our time together at my place. I even let him have a drawer in my dresser. We were lying in bed one morning. Holding and caressing each other under the covers. All smiles. Alexander ran his fingers through my curly hair and asked, “Have you ever had a place that you dreamed about visiting?”

I thought about it for a second and replied, “Paris. I always wanted to go and taste the food. Do some shopping. Go to the Louvre Museum and see the Mona Lisa. Take in France from the top of the Eiffel tower.”

“Let’s do it,” he said with a big smile.

“You for real?” I replied sitting up.

“Absolutely. We’ll do it first class all the way. A suite at the Ritz Carlton. I’ll treat you like the queen you are. I know a travel agent. We can book it this weekend. And we can go next month, if you can get the time off.”

He just didn’t know. I’ll get that time off by hook or crook. A couple of days later, we’re at the travel agent’s office. She put together the perfect trip. First class like Alexander said. Total cost was fifteen thousand dollars. Now they didn’t take cash, so Alexander asked me to put it on my card. I didn’t think nothing of it. Especially since he said he’d reimburse me the total amount, plus an extra thousand for the trouble. Cool.

The next day I hung out with my girls like usual. Got my nails done. Looking forward to spending the evening with my man. But something came up and he had to cancel. All of a sudden he got really busy. It was hard to get a hold of him. And when I did, he’d setup a date and have to cancel it at the last minute. This went on for a couple of weeks. I thought I would stop by the bar and surprise him. I waived down one of the busy waiters and asked for Alexander. He went into the office to get him, and an old white man with a receding hairline came walking out.

“Hello. What can I do for you?”

“Yeah I was looking for Alexander. The owner,” I replied confused.

“That’s me,” he said as he pointed to the wall. I walked over to the side of the bar and saw a picture of this man that said owner/proprietor over one of the cash registers.

Shaking my head in denial, I shouted, “No, no, no. The Alexander I was looking for is a tall man black man. Handsome. Drives a Range Rover.”

“There was a guy like that hanging out here with one of my waitresses a few weeks back. But she quit and I haven’t seen either one of them since. Sorry.”

I just stood there with a blank expression. Confused. I needed some answers, so I immediately went to his place. I knocked on the door, and an old silver hair lady answered the door.     

“Excuse me. But is Alexander here.”

“Who?” she asked looking as confused as I am.

“Alexander. He lives here. I’ve come here several times to see him.”

“Oh, you must be talking about the people we rented the house out to on Air BNB.”

My mouth dropped to the floor. I could barely get the words out. “This is an Air BNB?”

“Yes honey. We rent it out every summer while we stay in Florida. Now you have a good day,” she said as she shut the door.

 I think I stood there for an hour, just staring at that door in disbelief. Shock couldn’t begin to describe what I was feeling. This lying bastard had me playing the fool. I bet he’s married or something. Damn! I should have known it was too good to be true. You’re better than this, I thought to myself. Then it hit me. I max out my Visa card to pay for that expensive ass vacation. I better get down to that travel agent and cancel the trip.

I went back to the same strip mall and I walked up to the travel agency to find the doors locked. I pressed my face against the tinted glass. The place was empty. I looked around and saw an old maintenance man, that looked like Otis the security guard from the show Martin, walking toward one of the stores.

“Excuse me sir,” I shouted to get his attention.

He strolled over with a belt full of keys jingling. “Yes ma’am.”

I pointed to the office and asked, “What happened to the travel agency that was right here?”

Confused, he replied, “This office space has been empty for months.”

Shaking my head, I yelled, “I know I’m not crazy! I was in here last week to book a freakin’ vacation. Right here.”

The old man shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know what to tell you. As far as I know, this place has been empty for months. If you don’t believe me, you can call the landlord. His info is on that sign over there.”

Standing there scratching my head, I thought I was about to go insane. Then I remembered my receipt for the payment. I went into my purse, got the receipt, and called the number on the top. It was disconnected. I called Alexander’s number again, now it was disconnected too. Shit. Then I saw a familiar face coming out of one of the store fronts. It was Terrance.

“Ashley! Hey! What you doing over here?” He asked with a friendly smile.

Still in disbelief, my eyes were wide open staring at nothing. Then I slowly turned my head and said, “Boy, I’m glad to see you.”

“You okay?” He asked with concern in his voice.

“No. I was looking for a travel agent in this building.”

Terrance turned and looked at the building. “You know it’s funny you mentioned that. I saw a man and woman in their late one-night last week. I thought somebody rented the space because they were moving some furniture in. Setting things up. Next night they were moving the same stuff right back out. It looked odd.”

“You working over here now?”

“Yeah. I just started my own business. That’s my place right there,” he said with a big grin as he pointed to a shop next door. The sign read, Terrance D Plumbing. “You inspired me to get myself together. So I went to the bank and got a loan. Found this spot. I hired a couple of guys. I just opened last Friday. Business is really taken off.”

My mouth flew open. Then a woman walked out of his office waiving her hand. Terrance waived back and said to me, “That’s my new lady Tara. She’s helped me every step of the way. We’ll I gotta run. We got reservations at Ruth Chris for dinner. Hope everything works out. Bye.”

Terrance, and this fake ass Stacy Dash wanna-be, hopped in a new Cadillac and drove off. I can’t believe it. The guy I should be fucking with is fucking someone else, and the guy I did fuck with, fucked me over. Fuck!

                                               The End