I Want Candy (11 page)

Candy crossed her legs and raised an eyebrow as she considered the enigma known as ‘Eric.’ She studied him up and down as he welcomed her glances and analysis.

“Well, I better get going,” she finally said, breaking the silence. Eric nodded and sneered. “You’ve given me some food for thought. I enjoyed our date as well,” Candy stated as she walked back to the bedroom to retrieve her shoes and purse.

Eric leisurely rose from the dining room chair and sauntered back towards her, meeting her half way in the hallway. He pressed his chest firmly into her body and then traced the side of her face with his index finger. She felt her insides turn to melted butter. He lowered his face to her neck, kissing it gently. His full, soft lips glided sensually over her skin, making her knees weak. He wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She felt the solid knot in his pajama pants stiffening. He moved down from her neck, to her chin, giving sweet, passionate pecks until he reached her velvety lips. They kissed each other leisurely, holding on to one another. His fingers glided around her neck, bringing her face even closer as he pushed her lips apart with his tongue, kissing her tenderly. After several minutes, the kiss came to an unwanted close. They both stood there with their eyes closed, breathing heavily. Candy’s forehead buried into his chest.

“You really know how to send girl off,” Candy smiled.

Eric grinned. “When you’re ready, and only when you’re ready, there’s much more where that came from. I’m really into you, Candy. I want to be your man, but I’ll go at your pace.” He kissed Candy gently on her forehead and walked her to her car.

“You’re out here without a shirt on!” Candy laughed as she opened her car door.

“I jog like this,” he laughed. “Drive carefully, and I’ll see you soon, right?” he asked, raising his thick, black, slick eyebrow.

Candy looked up at him. “Yes, yes you will.” She leaned close to him and gave him a peck on the lips before entering her car and driving away. She tried to push the butterflies out of her stomach by changing her course of thoughts to no avail.

“Damn it, I like him. I really like him,” Candy announced to herself as she drove home.

* * *

Dallas
threw the envelope on Candy’s living room table. Jasmine and Candy looked at it. No one dared touch it.

Candy finally spoke up. “Dallas, have you opened it yet?” she asked weakly.

“No. I think I need you two near me before I do.” Dallas rocked impatiently as her two girlfriends huddled close to her. Jasmine set her glass of wine down on the table and took Dallas’s hand.

“Dallas,” Jasmine said in a low voice, “does Andre have any idea that you’ve had him followed over the past month?”

“No, he doesn’t have a clue. I paid a lot of money and hired a professional,” Dallas sighed.

“Candy, please open the envelope and then take out the report and photos one by one,” instructed Dallas coolly.

Candy gulped then reached over and took hold of the sealed manila envelope. On the front of it were an American eagle and the words “Your private eye in the sky” written below it. She slid one perfectly manicured fingernail under the flap, loosening the adhesive seal. She pulled out a five-page written report and laid it on Dallas’s lap.

Dallas
placed her wine glass down, put on her glasses, and began to read the information out loud. As she went through the details, the dates and times of each encounter, some in explicit detail. Dallas kept her composure while Jasmine looked away, her eyes watering up. Candy removed the first photo and laid it on Dallas’s lap. All three women looked down at it. Candy put her hand up to her mouth. The photo featured Andre holding hands with a woman at some company event. Candy removed the next photo and laid it on top of the last. It was fuzzy, but Andre was clearly in the bed nude with another woman. Dallas hung her head as tears formed. Jasmine reached around and held her close. Candy shook her head in disbelief.

“Dallas, let’s just stop. You don’t need to see the rest of these photos. It’s clear what happened,” Candy offered as she patted Dallas’s back.

“No,” Dallas sobbed. “Keep taking them out.”

Candy breathed deeply and removed the next photo, placing it on Dallas’s lap. This time it was a different woman. Andre was sitting in a park with her sitting on his lap.

Candy removed another one and placed it on Dallas’s lap. Andre was kissing the second woman in a hotel lobby. Candy removed the final photo that showed Andre leaving the hotel room the next morning in a different set of clothes and with the woman seen in the lobby photo.

Dallas
shook her head as the tears fell. She gripped Candace and Jasmine’s hands and cried her heart out. Candy snatched the photos and report off of her lap, throwing them onto the coffee table, and grabbed Dallas’s shoulders, turning her towards her.

“Dallas, you’re my best friend. You’re a beautiful woman,” Candy cried. “I’m so, so, sorry!” Candy held her as Jasmine and she formed a circle of love around her. They stayed that way for a few minutes until Dallas broke free. She wiped her face with a Kleenex and leaned back onto the couch, crossing her long legs.

“I didn’t expect there to be two of them. Ladies, I’ll be fine,” Dallas said. “I’ve hidden a lot of stuff in my marriage from you two because it was private, and I was raised to try and deal with these sorts of things internally. Andre and I have dealt with a lot of stuff together. You both know he and I met in college and were inseparable. We have a long history, but it has never included anything like this. This isn’t something I can just get over. I told myself beforehand that if he had sex with another woman he was gone, and he obviously did. I’m gonna have to gather my thoughts. I’ll be talkin’ to him tonight when he gets in, and lettin’ him know the situation.” Dallas sniffed. “Candy, can I scan this report and photos though before I leave?”

“Of course.” Candy stood up and watched Dallas walk away into her office with the pile of papers and photos.

Jasmine grabbed her glass of wine and chugged it as she rolled her eyes and looked over at Candy in disgust.

“I knew that mothafucka wasn’t shit!” Jasmine whispered. “I never told Dallas, but I’d heard he’d flirted with a friend of mine soon after they were engaged. I wasn’t sure who was tellin’ the truth, so I never said anything. Dallas is delusional if she thinks this is his first time cheatin’. He’s been cheatin’ from the jump! Sneaky ass bastard! He tries to come across as so well put-together and on top of his shit, and he just like all the rest of ’em!” Jasmine’s own pain rolled into the words as more tears came to the corners of her eyes.

“Well, Jasmine, none of that matters anymore because she knows what he’s done. She has the proof right in front of her face, and regardless of whether they survive this or not, we need to be there for her,” Candy said as she sat back down, rubbing her forehead as a budding headache emerged.

“Survive this?” Jasmine looked at Candy as if she were insane. “She better not stay with that fool! I’ll personally put my foot up her ass! He ain’t shit. He ain’t worth a damn red cent. That son of a bitch hasn’t only been cheatin’ with one woman, he’s been cheatin’ with two. He could’ve come home and brought her somethin’. That’s your problem!” Jasmine pointed her finger at Candy with venom. “You believe in fairy tale bullshit! I’ve been tellin’ you from the jump that things aren’t always what they seem with them two. I knew Dallas was hidin’ shit because she wants everyone to think her married life is so fuckin’ perfect. Dallas may be a great attorney, but she’s crummy at facing the truth. Bitch, bye! I knew the damn truth. You sittin’ over there ready to pat her back if she lets that man pull some ‘Oh, Baby, I’m so sorry B.S.’ Sorry my ass! She helped pay for his master’s degree, and this is the thanks she gets. She didn’t have any babies because he didn’t want any. Another sacrifice for another damn man who didn’t deserve shit. He stole the best years of her life! She’s thirty-one years old. She gave him all of her twenties, and there’s no tellin’ how long this divorce will drag out.” Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Oh, I get it,” Jasmine continued before Candy could respond. “You gettin’ some good dick now, so you want everyone to live all happily ever after. You better get it right and get it tight! We’re her friends. We have to keep it real with her. You know better!”

Candy calmly finished her wine and looked over at Jasmine, her eyes narrowed into slits.

“Shut – the hell – up! Jasmine, not everything is about
you
! This is Dallas’s marriage, not yours! How dare you! I’m not havin’ sex with Eric, so spare me your insinuations. Dallas needs…”

“Hold the damn bus!” Jasmine interrupted as she scooted closer to Candy. “You’ve been datin’ this man over two months, and you two haven’t got down to the get-down? You’re kiddin’ me!” Jasmine’s eyes grew large.

“This isn’t about me and Eric right now! Can you please stay on topic? Is it even possible? Despite what’s happened and what you believe, I do think Andre loves Dallas, and this is so messed up what’s happened. A part of me wants her to run away from him forever, but the other part of me wants to know that she did the best she could to fix her marriage. This is between them two and God, Jasmine, not Jasmine, Candy, Dallas and Andre. We didn’t exchange vows, they did. Stop lettin’ your own past bleed into this conversation. Focus on Dallas, not Jasmine!”

Just then, Dallas came back into the room with the report and photos neatly tucked back inside of the envelope.

“Thank you, Candy,” Dallas said as she wiped new tears from her eyes. “I made copies of everything and emailed it to my attorney. I don’t think it’s wise for me to do my own divorce if it comes to that. I have a meeting with him in a couple of days. I called from your office to get in as soon as possible after I speak to Andre. This is like one big nightmare. I just can’t believe it.” Dallas sat down between the two women, holding her knees, sobbing heavily. “What did I do?” Dallas screamed. “What did I do to make him not want me anymore? Why did he betray me like this?” Her pain filled the room as Jasmine and Candy took their posts again, holding her hands and allowing her to purge in the safety of their company. “I handle divorces all the time for couples, and I see the pain and destruction. I never thought in a million years it would be me one day.”

“Dallas, you did nothing,” Jasmine said as she patted her hand. “He did it because he wanted to. Nothing you did or said made him go to another woman, and don’t believe otherwise,” Jasmine assured.

Dallas
shook her head. “I know it takes two in a marriage. Sometimes I nagged him a lot. I kept on him about working late all the time. He was stressed out,” Dallas blurted.

“No,” Candy whispered calmly. “Naggin’ does not deserve adultery. I know you’re just tryin’ to make sense of this, but blamin’ yourself won’t give you clarification. You’ll need to talk to your husband and make your choice, but know that you aren’t alone. We’re here for you.” Candy hugged Dallas tightly.

“Thank you,” Dallas said as she patted Candy’s hand. “I’m gonna leave. I wanna go home and get my thoughts together before he walks through the door.”

“I understand,” Candy responded as she stood up and walked Dallas to the door. Jasmine followed behind and hugged Dallas.

“Call me if you need me.” Jasmine looked deeply into Dallas’s bloodshot eyes.

Dallas
nodded before walking out. Candy closed the door and put her back against it.

“Jasmine, I feel like I’ve been hit with a wreckin’ ball,” Candy said, then sighed. “Dallas is broken into a thousand pieces. I feel so helpless.”

Jasmine nodded as she paced the foyer. “It’s times like this when I can see why a woman would cut a mothafucka’s dick off.”

Candy rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. “Do you want another glass of wine?” she called out.

“No, I’m good,” Jasmine said, smoothing out her slacks as she walked slowly into the kitchen. “Now, for the next topic,” Jasmine started, anxious to get details.