Bakari...?

**TRIGGER WARNING, this story contains some profanity and sexual content.*

“BAKARI…?”

              Bakari awoke and rolled over to see the woman he met at the gym last week lying next to him still asleep. “Another night of pleasure.,” he said to himself. Smiling and shaking his head at the same time, he nudged the woman whose name he couldn’t remember to get up and leave. After all he had an early brunch date with Zianne, the love of his life, in an hour. The woman rolled over trying to snuggle with him and he pushed her away. She opened her eyes sleepily and smiling, and said, “Good morning handsome.” Bakari said, “Good morning and goodbye”, as he jumped up grabbing her up with him while still grabbing her belongings. The woman confused asked what the issue was, and he said, “Nothing. Last night was last night.” She stood there stunned and a bit hurt but knew that it would be easier to just leave. As he shoved her out the door, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as to say thank you then slammed the door. He ran to the bathroom to jump in the shower to get ready for his date with Zianne. Bakari was a handsome fellow. He stood about 6’2, had the body of a well sculpted athlete and the smooth skin of rich cocoa. He knew he was fine. He also knew he had what he thought every woman desired which was wealth. He started his software company at age 23. He had been a computer genius since age 6. He managed to take a few certifications, got an associate degree in business, and launched his own software engineering company focusing on AI and other tech ventures. Now at 40 years old, and worth 25 billion dollars, he felt like he had it all. He even had a beautiful girlfriend that was a famous model named Zianne Doman. After all, he spent a few hundred thousand dollars fixing her body to become one. After a few moments of admiring himself in the mirror, he grabbed his phone and called Zianne via facetime. She answered annoyingly, “Hey babe, are you even ready yet? Or are you still wiping the essence of some skank you met off you?” Bakari sighed, and said, “I’ll be there in 20 mins.,” evading her second question. On his way to his car, he called Yeni, she was his assistant. “I’m going to run by the office, and I need you to be ready for me when I get there.,” he said. Yeni obliged. She knew that when he called her randomly on his day off that he wanted his special treatment. Yeni, became his assistant through an ex-boyfriend of hers. She had only been in the states for a year, studying abroad away from her country of Thailand. Within the first week of working for Bakari, they slept together in his office. Now this had become a regular act, especially when he had trouble in paradise which was regularly. 

              Zianne waited at the restaurant for Bakari to arrive, late as usual. She snapped a few pictures of herself and rolled her eyes at everyone that looked like they needed a makeover. She was wearing a teal bodycon dress, tan wedges, and a matching tan clutch and she looked fabulous. She had her hair styled in a braided ponytail using extensions with hints of teal highlights in it. She knew that Bakari would melt in her arms when he saw her because it was his favorite color and she just looked drop dead gorgeous. Zianne believed that beauty is what mattered and if you got to be redesigned with a few nips and tucks then it is what it is. She met Bakari at one of his tech conventions. She was working for a vendor, setting up the different kiosks when they bumped into each other. He was as bit on the nerdy side but F.I.N.E.! She had accidentally dropped her cupcake on his shirt as they collided. She apologized profusely and when she saw that it was billionaire Bakari Franklin, she was humiliated. She burst into tears and ran away, then tripping and falling to the ground. He ran over and helped her up and told her that it was ok. It was just a shirt. She loved how sweet he was. He had no edge, no thug in him at all. Just a sweet guy. That was 6 years ago. Now, they were the “it couple” for the world to see. It was like she made him look like a tough guy that had all the swag, and he made her feel and look like the luckiest woman alive, but there was no love. Bakari loved the attention he got from women. He had always been the nerdy frail kid. He decided to take on martial arts and fitness to feel healthier and stronger. He wanted a woman to love him for his mind. But when he gained generational wealth and beefed up, the women fell in his lap. So, yea, he slept around. He never really felt anything from these women, just living in the moment of sexual pleasure. Zianne had a way of guilt tripping him. She knew he had a soft spot for being loved and to feel it. So, she sold it to him by telling him how much she “loved” the way he made her feel special. She loved, how he made sure she stayed beautiful, and how he helped a poor little homely looking southern girl turn into a supermodel. She also knew that he loved his women of all shapes and sizes and walks of life. She didn’t care because now she had him wrapped around her finger. All she had to do was cry and tell him that he didn’t love her, and she wasn’t beautiful enough for him. He’d feel guilty, buy her something, take her on a nice vacation, or just come to her beckoning call, and all was well.

              On his way to meet Zianne, Bakari stopped by his office. Yeni was waiting for him on his sofa, in the nude. He smiled at her, kissed her cheek, and said, “You look like you want to have sex. I just wanted a suck.” Yeni, felt a bit disappointed but she proceeded. When he climaxed, he gave her two Kleenex and said to be sure to have his financial statements ready for review on Monday. Then he left her to clean up after herself. He pulled up to the restaurant about 10 minutes late. Zianne was already posing for the hidden paparazzi and putting on the show she usually does. He walked up to her and gave her a big hug; told her she looked amazing and kissed her cheek. Zianne snapped a selfie of the act. She then turned to him and said, “So who were you with last night? I called you and you went straight to voicemail. I needed you. I couldn’t find my favorite bikini to pack for my shoot in Barbados. You know this shoot is important to me. I guess that skank was more important to you.” She stared back at him teary eyed, choking back a sob. “You know you are important to me Zianne.,” said Bakari, pleadingly. “I just got caught up at work. It won’t happen again.” “It better not! Because that means you don’t love me the way I love you.,” Zianne said, as she looked away from him. Bakari stared at her for a moment and ordered his drink. He just felt like he failed her as her man because deep down he wasn’t sure if he did love her or if she loved him. Suddenly his phone rings and its Yeni. She says that a start-up tech company reached out wanted to meet to discuss a merger. They wanted to fly him in first thing Monday for a meeting. As he walked towards the restrooms to be able to hear what Yeni was saying he sees a beautiful young woman leaving the ladies room and they lock eyes. “Yeni, tell them to send me the itinerary and I’ll be there. I need to call you back.” Bakari stops the young lady and introduces himself. She tells him her name is Coral Graham. Coral was short but thick, curvy and had an ass that he could mount. Coral new exactly who he was. He grabbed her hand, kissed her cheek, and stroked her inner thigh while using his two middle fingers to tickle her fancy. He guided her back to the one stall ladies’ room, locked the door, and had his way with her as she allowed whole heartedly. When they finished, he walked out of the restroom back to his table and took a seat without even saying goodbye to her. Zianne was chatting it up with a few fans and taking selfies when she spotted him. He tried to talk to her about his possible new business venture when Coral walked up behind her and said, “Hey Bitch.” Zianne turned and started screaming, “OMG, OMG, Coral girl when did you get here?” Coral glanced over at Bakari and said, “This morning. I wanted to surprise you.” “Oh babe, this is my homegirl Coral from back home in Hernando, MS. I invited her to my shoot in Barbados we are going to turn up!”, said Zianne. “Coral, I thought you weren’t coming until the weekend. This whole week is going to be LIT!” Bakari told Zianne that he was leaving for a business trip first thing Monday morning. Zianne said, “OK.”, nonchalantly and grabbed Coral by her hand, whisking her away to meet some of her celebrity friends.

              Bakari boarded the early business flight to Utah bright an early Monday morning. He could have taken a private flight but, he preferred to fly business to meet people. Women, specifically. He found his seat by the window and opened his laptop. A few moments later a woman looking a bit flustered and frustrated came and took the seat next to him. She looked over at him and said hi through the most beautiful and warming smile. “Good morning, gorgeous.,” he said. Trying to smile just as warming as she did. She never looked his way again. Instead, she took out a planner and started jotting things down. Feeling a bit awkward and ignored he tried to strike up a conversation. “So, where are you flying too?”, he asked. She stared at him and said, “What kind of questions is that? Everyone on this plane is flying to Salt Lake City, Utah from Dallas, TX.” She continued to write. He introduced himself and tried a different approach after feeling his ego bruised. She gave in sighing and said her name was Amora Adams. Amora realized that this guy wasn’t going to shut up for the next 3 hours, so she engaged in conversation. Bakari was a bit intrigued by her curtness and mysterious character. “This woman is sitting next to one of the wealthiest black businessmen in the USA and she is giving me the cold shoulder. Oh, he was already in and ready to play at her game.”, he thought. They chatted up on current events and other issues. Bakari filled her in on everything about himself and what he does, etc. Amora just listened nodded and kept writing in her planner. She had to admit he was handsome and charming, but nothing really stood out to her about him that impressed her. He was so… typical. Once they landed and everyone piled into the terminal, Amora dashed away waving goodbye and yelling nice to have met you. She dashed away so fast she didn’t realize she dropped her planner. Bakari tried to catch up to her as he wanted to leave her his business card and possibly get her number but, she was gone. He saw her drop her planner and rushed over to grab it hoping it held some means of how to contact this mysterious woman. He opened the planner only to realize it was a journal. One thing caught his eye. It was one page with only his name and summary written in it. The summary read, “Bakari…? I just met this handsome, extremely wealthy man, and all he has to offer is himself. He is so far detached from what being a real man is, that he is gabbing my ear off on superficial things about himself. He never once asked what I did for a living or about anything I liked, or was interested in. He only cares about if I am interested in him. I literally watched this man go sneak into the restroom a few days ago and screw his model girlfriend’s best friend then act like nothing ever happened while I was grabbing some food on my lunch break. What a narcissistic asshole. I could never love a man that doesn’t even know how to truly love himself. Why is he even with that supermodel? Hell, I bet he doesn’t even know why. Look at him. Just chatting my damn ear off. This man is so lonely it is pathetic, and he doesn’t even realize it. That is why he treats women like shit. Because deep down, he knows he ain’t shit. So much potential and not enough self-awareness. To much ego and no class. A waste of a good black man…” Those words stung Bakari’s soul to the core. “Fucking bitch.”, he thought. He sat that reading that summary repeatedly until he was gripping the journal so hard that he tore some of the pages. He was so angry and broken that he didn’t even feel the hot tears roll down his cheeks. He sat down in the terminal thinking, why did this woman whom he just met feel so much disgrace about him? Was she right? The only thing he could remember about her was her banging body, natural hair, and warm smile. She was so comfortable in her skin. His phone vibrating in his pocket snapped him out of his trance. It was Yeni. She told him that the meeting was cancelled. They were no longer interested. Apparently, he had missed the meeting sitting at the terminal in deep thought. This broke him even more. He hung up the phone with Yeni only to get a call from Zianne. “Sup.” he answered. “SO, YOU”RE FUCKING MY FRIEND NOW?”, she screamed through the phone. “Papparazi got you on camera leaving the ladies room and Coral coming out shortly behind you, so what you got to say now, Bakari?” “Zianne, it is over between us. That is all I can and need to say.”, he said coldly. He hung up the phone and went and booked another flight back to Dallas. 

              A few months passed and things were slowly getting back to normal for Bakari. He had managed to get through all the media of him and Zianne’s breakup, the rumors, and truths of why they called it quits, and finally ignored Zianne’s over dramatic meltdown of how she loved him sooooo much and he never cared about her. Once she realized he wasn’t swooning over her emotions, she quickly moved on to the next. He saw her on the cover of some magazine with the son of some international actor, nothing he really cared to find more information on. One morning, he decided to stop by this French coffee shop for a latte and to have a mental moment when he spotted Amora sitting in a booth by herself. He still had her journal. “Hey you.” He said smiling. She turned looked him dead in the eyes, smiled and said, “Hey Bakari.” Her smile lit up the room, but Bakari didn’t let her know that he adored it. She invited him to sit with her and they talked. They exchanged numbers and made it a regular meeting. Bakari was in love. This woman was so elegant and classy. He wanted to be the man she said he could be. He was potential. He checked himself and was more aware than ever of his ego. Amora made him see as they grew their friendship. One morning after a few weeks of meeting at their favorite spot he asked her to be his girlfriend. Amora grabbed his hands and kissed his cheek. She said, “Bakari I am your girlfriend. Just not how you perceive it. I can never be her. I love you as a friend and nothing more.” He was shocked. He told her that he wasn’t the man he used to be. He stopped the endless cycle of lust and sleeping with women, superficial standards of what he wanted in a woman, and how much he truly loved her. “Amora looked into his eyes and said, “You are not in love with me Bakari. But you have found yourself. You are going to meet the woman of your dreams and you will be ready. But I am not her.” Amora let go of his hands and reached into her handbag handing him her business card for the first time. It read, Amora Adams, PsyD. Specializing in love, relationships, and marriage counseling.  Bakari was flabbergasted. He looked at the card for bit and then looked up to her and smiled. “You know what Amora. I am not even upset.”, said Bakari. He reached inside his blazer and placed the journal on the table. “You picked me apart and helped me break free from destroying myself. I will always appreciate you for that.” He gave her a hug, kissed her cheek, paid the tab, and walked away with humbled love for his new being and ready to be the king for his future queen, whomever she may be.