Everyone wears a mask

If only people wore a sign on their chest saying, “I’m coming into your life to fuck it up”, I might’ve had a chance. Just a clue about who they really are, and their true intentions. But no. Everyone wears a mask. When you meet someone, you meet their representative. The person that comes into your life saying all the right things. Wearing the right gear. Smelling good. Hair always done. Laughing at all your corny jokes. Not perfect, but perfect for you. Until. And I always think about the Eddie Murphy joke from the movie Raw. When he compared a woman withholding sex to a starving man on an island. You give a starving man a cracker, to him that cracker is a Ritz, the best cracker ever. Until he’s had the same cracker over and over again and he realizes, it was just a plain old saltine. The sex was only great because he was denied. And that’s me. A sex starved man with a bag of saltine cracker.

That was on my mind when I got into bed last night. It had been three months since the last time we had sex. And even longer since the last time she sucked my dick. But usually that only happens on special occasions. And my birthday ain’t for another two months. Anyway, I’m horny as fuck. So I get ready for bed early that night. I wanted to set the mood. I put on some Daniel Caesar and turned down the lights. I hopped into the shower and used my new scented body wash. Then I took my clippers and trimmed the forest that had grown around my dick in the last few months. Just in case I get some attention down there. After swishing a little mouthwash around in my mouth, I opened the bathroom door to find my bed covered in folded laundry, bright lights, and Love and Hip-hop on the TV. And of all the sexy lingerie and camisoles my wife could put on her size eight figure, Tiffany puts on some ragged moth eaten sweats.

I was determined though. After I put away the clothes, me and my hard dick slid in between the sheets. I moved in close and started kissing on her shoulder trying to pull her attention away from her show when she asked, “did you remember to take out the trash?”

Looking away, I rolled my eyes as I answered, “I’ll take it out in the morning.”

She looked at me side-eyed and replied, “you said that last time and you forgot. And our trash was backed up the whole week.”

“Baby, it was a one-time thing. I’m not going to forget again,” I said slightly annoyed.

“Boy please. You always forgetting stuff, Sean. I told you to leave the gate unlocked for lawn man. You forgot. I asked you to empty the dishwasher yesterday. You forgot. And I told you to….,” she said going on and on. Before I knew it. I was taking out the trash with a dick softer than wet tissue.

And that little scenario sums up my marriage scene. Like today when I got off work. I walked in the house and Tiffany was in the kitchen cooking dinner. She was already in sweats and house shoes. I swear the people in her office get to see her dressed up in these sexy business suits and heels more than I do. I was dressed in a suit still smelling good as I wrapped my arms around her waist and planted a kiss on her cheek as normal. I stood back and posed for a second to let her admire me, hoping she might give me a compliment. She paused from cutting onions and glanced at me with a blank expression.

“Hey. You look like you’re in a good mood. How was your day?” she asked rather dryly.

“It was alright. But don’t you smell something?” I responded with a smirk.

“What?”

I leaned in close and waved my hand across my neck to fan my fragrance in her direction as I said, “my new cologne, Creed.”

“Oh yeah…. that’s nice,” she said scraping the onions into her broth. “Did you remember to pickup the clothes from the cleaners?”

“Yeah,” I replied feeling like she kind of ignored me. I mean, would it hurt to give me a little smile? Maybe a compliment. How about a kiss back to show some affection? Anything. No chance. All I get is asked if I remembered to do something, like I’m a goddamn dementia patient. Still I was determined. I pushed those negative thoughts out my head, smiled, and asked, “So what do you think about going to the movies this weekend. The new Final Destination is out?”

“The horror movie…oh no. You know I don’t like horror movies anymore,” she said shaking her head no.

I squinted my eyes and tilted my head as I asked, “I thought you said you loved horror movies when we first met. You even went to see Saw with me back in the day.”

“If you listen to me and paid attention, you would know I can’t sleep after watching movies like that. They give me nightmares. So I don’t want to go. Why don’t you just go by yourself,” she suggested as she handed me my plate.

My mind went to places it probably shouldn’t. I started to question everything. Why did I get married? Are we right for each other? Does she really love me? Does she value me. Am I good husband? With all this swirling around in my head, I took her advice and went to the movies alone.

I went to one of those new theaters that have a bar and restaurant inside of them. I got my ticket and popcorn. Now I’m at the bar about to order a drink when I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned around and looked down. It was chilly outside, so the first thing to catch my attention were these suede boots with a long heel. Then jeans compressed to a sexy pair of legs. My eyes continued up a little further to a cashmere sweater with a deep V-neck. A pair of beautiful almond colored breast peeking out the top. Next, there was a neckline that was smooth as satin. And when I arrived at the eyes, I instantly recognize those eyes. Because they are not like any eyes I’ve ever seen before or since. They were purple. And I’m not talking about some cheap strip mall contacts. She had a rare genetic trait called, Albinism that cause her eyes to be purple. Staring into them was mesmerizing. I couldn’t begin tell you how many times I was lost in those eyes. You couldn’t help but to look deep inside of them. Which is what I did when we first met. She was my first love, Shay Upshaw.

“Sean Young! Is that you?” Shay asked with a dimple filled smile, looking like Gabriel Union.

I was speechless at first. An eternity has gone by since the last time I saw her, and she hadn’t aged a bit.

“It is you,” she said approaching me, wrapping her arms around me. Planting her head in my chest and squeezing me like I was a big teddy bear. Her body felt soft and warm, and she smelled so damn good. I closed my eyes, took a big sniff, and hugged her back.

“Shay, it’s good to see you. How long has it been?” I asked as we released each other and took a step back.

“Fifteen years ago. When you left me and joined the air force,” Shay joked playfully punching me in the arm.

“It’s been that long. Wow,” I responded trying to hide this massive smile. My eyes looked her up and down again before commenting, “you still look amazing as ever.”

Shay blushed as her right hand gently squeezed my bicep before sliding down my forearm, “talk about amazing. I don’t remember you having all these muscles the last time I saw you.”

“Air Force whipped me into shape. And since then, I’ve been gettin’ it in,” I responded enthusiastically after receiving that ego boosting compliment.

She batted her eyes at me, and in a slick tone she replied, “I bet you do. So, what are you doing up here, all by yourself?”

“Just checking out the new Final Destination.”

“Me too. I see you still like those horror movies like me. Matter of fact, didn’t we see the first one together?” Shay asked as she hooked her hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, yeah…we sure did,” I said as I snapped my fingers recalling the memory, “we went to the Astro Drive in.”

“That’s right. You snuck your own popcorn in and a two liter of Pepsi because you didn’t have enough money for the concession stand,” she added, playfully wagging her finger at me.

“I guess I wasn’t as slick as I thought. What can I say, I barely had two nickels to rub together back then,” I replied sharing a laugh with her.

Then she hit me with those bedroom eyes. Those eyes that could convince me to do anything, including falling in love with her. Licking her lips, she said, “those things never mattered to me, as long as I was with you.”

Pushing out a breath, I looked away to break the trance I was falling into. As I gazed at the people walking by holding drinks and popcorn, I searched for the right thing to say. But the words eluded me.

Shay took a step closer as she asked, “so what do you do know? Still in the Air force?”

“Nah. I got out five years ago. Now I’m a analyst for Haliburton.”

“Look at you doing big things,” she said with this devilish looking grin.

“I’m doing okay. What about you? I remember after graduation; you were moving to San Frisco.”

“Yeah, that’s where I live. Still doing computer programing. I’m in town for the weekend. Business conference. I’m staying in the hotel across the street,” she said pointing to the Hilton on the other side of the parking lot. “I thought since I had some free time, I’d catch movie.”

“Nice,” I said nodding my head. Then I looked at my watch and I suggested, “the movie is about to start. C’mon.”

I stared at her ass as she sashayed toward our theater. She had an hourglass figure with a butt that looked like it wanted to bust out of her jeans like the Incredible Hulk. She had that same sexy walk the first time I laid eyes on her. It gave me a flashback to when we met.

It was a steamy Saturday night in July. Me and my boy Irv had stopped at the 7-11 to get some gas. That’s when Shay caught my eye. Her and her cousin Theresa were walking by carrying grocery bags. I approached her while Irv ran interference with Theresa. I got the digits and found out that they lived a couple of blocks from me.

So that next day I met her on the front porch of her building. We sat on the steps and started talking about our favorite cartoons growing up like the Flintstones and the Jetsons. Then we touched on how much penny candy we could get for a dime. The first time we heard Run-DMC. Staying up till midnight to watch them on Friday Night videos. Clothes our mommas put in lay-a-way that we never got. Being fans of the Showtime Lakers. Sneaking to watch Eddie Murphy’s Raw. Which Stephen King movies was our favorite? I loved the Shining while Shay loved Cujo. And on and on. We talked literally until the sun came up that next morning. Neither one of us wanted to leave. And on those steps, over all those hours, gazing into each other’s eyes and holding hands we shared our first kiss. We had this energy, this chemistry, this powerful connection that I never felt before. It was synchronicity just like in that movie the Adjustment Bureau. Our body, mind, and soul was meant to connect. By the time we finally tore ourselves apart, we were in love.

A difficult choice followed this new found love. I had just graduated high school and signed up for the Air Force. And Shay was excepted into Texas Woman’s University. We swore we were going to stay together. Visit each other every chance we got. But my first post was going to be in Germany. Worlds apart. We tried to hold together, but our careers took us in different directions. Still, that little stretch was the happiest in my life. Shay made a brother feel special, wanted, and understood. It’s the only time in my life where I truly felt unconditional love.

The movie passed me by as my mind took this long journey down memory lane. And before I even realized it, the credits were rolling. Shay had been holding my arm and squeezing it during the scary parts. Lucky for me we were in dark theater because the touch along with my memories had my dick so hard it tilted the popcorn bucket sitting on my lap. As we got up and walked out the theater she continued to cling to me like fabric sheets to socks.

“Good movie, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

Then she probed, “what are you about to get into?”

I shrugged and responded, “nothing I guess.”

“Join me for a drink. We continue to catch up.”

“Sure.”

I followed her to the bar. We ordered a couple of drinks and took a seat in a small booth. As I took a sip of my Long Island ice tea, I asked, “so how are things in San Francisco? Anybody special missing you right now?”

Shay shook her head as she had a somber look on her face. There was a long silence before she revealed, “nobody special. Nobody at all. I…lost both my parents, and my little brother, Eric, passed away from cancer a few months ago. So, life has been tough the last few years.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said reaching out and holding her hands.

Those beautiful purple eyes looked deep into mines and a smile came over her face as she said, “One of the biggest mistakes of my life was leaving you. I should’ve stayed here with you, where I always belonged. You know…. I never stopped thinking about you. Where you were, what you were doing. If you found someone special.”

I looked down at my wedding ring as I said, “Well, I got married a few years ago.”

“And how’s that working out for you?”

I took in a deep breath and thought about that question for a minute before I answered, “it’s complicated. We’re in a rough spot.”

“It was never complicated with me and you. Loving you was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

It felt so good to hear that. To be valued, appreciated, and adored again. We sat at the table and had a few more drinks as we discussed everything that had transpired since our time apart. And it was just like it was when we were on those step when we first met. That energy, chemistry, powerful connection was still there.

After a couple of hours, I paid the check and we stepped out into the chilly evening air. We both had a little buzz, but far from being drunk. As we strolled across the desolate parking lot she turned to me and asked, “you mind walking a girl to her room? It feels a little dangerous this time of night.”

“Of course.”

I walked her through the parking lot and into the lobby of her hotel. When we got to her room, she opened her door and turned around. Those eyes connected with me again. She placed her hands on my chest as she licked her lips. I know it was wrong. My mind was saying leave, but my body didn’t listen. She kissed me. A kiss that was sweeter than a summer peach. Then she grabbed both of my hands.

“We didn’t have a proper goodbye last time. Come in and have a drink with me. Let me have one last moment with you,” Shay said pulling me inside and closing the door. She went to the minibar and grabbed two bottles of Jameson and poured them into a glass. Then she grabbed another bottle without a label and poured it on top. Making a mix drink I guess.

She walked to the bed and set the drinks down on the nightstand. She started slowly peeling off her clothes until she got down to her bra and panties. Then she pulled me to the bed and took off my clothes too. She pushed me down on the bed and mounted me. She grabbed the drink and handed it to me. While she grabbed her drink and quickly downed it. Slipping off her panties, she gently grabbed my extremely hard dick and guided it into her. The sensation was incredible, so soft and wet I couldn’t believe it. As she slid down on me, she guided my drink into my mouth. The taste was bitter at first.

“What is this?” I asked in between coughs.

“It’s okay, just drink,” Shay said pouring more down my throat. “I have a confession. I’m not here on business. I lost my job. I lost everything. I came back home to drink this poison and die alone. But then I saw you and I remembered how much we were meant for each other. We can leave this world behind and journey to the other side together. I love you.”

Dying, all I could think was, how could I have misread this woman so badly.

The End