Mr. Right.com (3 page)

Though they were having a heated discussion, they spoke in hushed tones. When the waiter brought their desert, Travis smiled and thanked him before starting back in on her.

“You want too much. You’re almost like a man. We can’t both be head of the house. I need someone who has my back.”

“I have your back. I always have. This is the one thing I have ever wanted for myself,” she pleaded. She no longer wanted the strawberry cheesecake sitting on the table in front of her.

“Well, if you continue to travel, I don’t know what to tell you.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

“I do. You can get your stuff and get out of my home. I don’t have to deal with this. If I go out of town, you’ll cheat. You know I have to go again.”

I can’t believe I said that, but yes, get your shit! You better call Tyrone, or somebody, but you gotta go!

“See, this is exactly what I am talking about. You’re acting like a man,” he said through clinched teeth.

Olivia was happy to see that waiter come with the check. Travis sat, breathing hard and glaring at her. He was so used to her standing her ground and then slowly backing off. Not this time. She didn’t do anything wrong and refused to be punished for it with a cheating husband. Who knows how long his infidelity had been going on? He better pray she don’t have any diseases. She wasn’t showing any symptoms, but that was not going to stop her from getting checked out.

They rode home in silence. Her eyes stayed focused on the world outside.

Travis pulled the car into the garage. He got out, slammed his door, and left her sitting there. Olivia waited a few moments before walking in. Following the sound of a blaring TV, she found him in their bedroom lying across the bed.

No, my brotha! Get to packing…chop, chop.
She walked into the closet, found his suitcase, and dropped it next to the bed.

“I’m serious, Travis. I want you out tonight.”

He gave her the look of death and pushed himself off the bed. Within minutes, he grabbed a suitcase, shoved it with clothes, and was out the door.

She, on the other hand, slumped into a ball of fear on the floor. Olivia cried uncontrollably. Her body shook as she broke down. She was scared of being alone, scared that he may come back, and scared because she never stood up to him before.

Chapter Four

Olivia hated going to family gatherings, for one reason in particular—her sister-in-law. Patricia spotted her the moment she passed the threshold of her parent’s house.

“Olivia, where’s Travis? You know you can’t go nowhere without him joined to your hip.”

The plastic red cup was an indicator of her drinking, and Olivia could smell the alcohol on her breath.

Like you don’t already know that I put his cheating ass out over two weeks ago. He has made zero effort to try and come back home. Not that I would have let him, but dang.

“He couldn’t make it this weekend. You know, he does work on the weekend.” Olivia gave her a fake smile.

“More like workout.” Patricia snickered.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know a man can’t be with one woman. And
you
can’t be without a man. You’ll take him back. I know you. You’ve always been spoiled. Welcome to the real world,” she said, her words slurring. Patricia turned, most likely in search of someone else to harass.

Olivia wanted to slap the smirk off Patricia’s face. She’d dealt with that woman’s abuse for over fifteen years. Patricia had been jealous of her from the moment she laid eyes on Olivia. For some reason, she felt Olivia had everything handed to her on a silver platter. Nothing she did or said changed Patricia’s perception. The fact that Olivia made good grades, earned scholarships and grants to college, had a job since she was sixteen, bought her own clothes in high school, along with a nonexistent father, didn’t mean anything. In Patricia’s eyes, she sat back and things fell in her lap.

“Hey, baby sis.” Her brother Jason, Patricia’s husband, came up behind her and kissed her cheek.

Olivia always wondered how her brother could be so sweet and end up with someone like Patricia. He gave her the world. She stomped all over him every chance she got. Jason never complained, at least not to any family member.

“Jason.” She gave him the biggest hug she could. Olivia could feel Patricia’s eyes boring a hole into the back of her shirt. It wouldn’t be long before she came back over to spread more of her hate around. She resented the relationship Olivia had with her brother. “I missed you. How have you been?”

“I should be asking you that. You okay, little sis?” He always had to rub that “little” part in, all because he came out two minutes before her.

“I’m good,” she said. Surprisingly, she was actually telling the truth. Olivia was handling the situation a lot better than she thought she would. Somewhere along the line, she still loved Travis, but she had fallen out of love with him. She was slowly discovering the new her, doing the things that she’d wanted to do.

“Well, you sure looked good,” he said.

“Where is your real twin?” Patricia asked, bringing her funky attitude back over to them, and referring to Angela.

Olivia and Angela did favor each other. Angela had a few more pounds than her, but she knew how to work those hips and have the men fighting to get to her in a club.

“Why you wanna know?” Angela walked up behind Patricia.

Patricia’s eyes grew big and her smile faded. “I just haven’t seen you, is all.” She knew not to mess with Angela. She’d flung Patricia around a time or two in the past.

“Well, now you see me. Go find you some business while us siblings catch up.” Angela waved her away, dismissing her.

Patricia took off in the direction of the kitchen. No doubt in search of a refill on her drink.

“No, she did not think she can come up in my momma house disrespecting folks. I know she’s your wife, Jason, but why so evil? Did she ride up on a broom?” Angela asked.

Jason and Olivia laughed. He knew his wife was crazy and didn’t try to hide it.

“We all need to quit. We’re supposed to be celebrating Mom and Dad’s thirty-fifth anniversary,” he said.

Thirty-five years was a long time. It’s an eternity when one part of the couple had checked out on the marriage decades ago. Their dad was a doting husband for the first five years and nonexistent for almost twenty-five. Then, a few years ago, he came around and quit running the streets. She wondered how their mom stuck in the marriage so long. Her mom always said he would come around one day. Olivia bet she didn’t know it would be twenty plus years later.

“You’re right. Go find your wife and come on.” She grabbed her sister by the hand and led her out the back door.

Olivia walked out to the backyard where everything was set up. Her parent’s old friends were standing up, making speeches, and making jokes about them. She released her grip on Angela and looked at her parents. The couple truly did look happy. Her dad no longer had the scowl on his face that she’d grown accustomed to. When the speeches ended, the hired DJ put on their favorite song,
At Last
by Etta James.

Her father took her mother’s hand in his and pulled her into him. He whispered something in her ear. She giggled; then they started dancing. The moment was so beautiful. The photographer had a hard time getting a good shot, because everyone else was blocking his view to take their own pictures. He resorted to standing on a chair. Olivia had given him clear instructions, and he knew what would happen. She would’ve torn the photographer a new one if they didn’t get their money’s worth.

She stayed in the backyard for almost an hour. Her crazy uncle was doing the same old tired dance he’d done since she was a little girl. He still wore his dress socks pulled up to his knees even though he had on shorts.

Her mom’s best friend, Diane
, was trying to find a sweet young thang to dance with. Diane was a cougar and proud. She didn’t care if the men were married, with someone, or claimed they were gay. Aunt Diane was determined.

Olivia sipped on her drink, watching on until she felt her phone vibrate. An email alert. Pushing the touchpad, she saw it was a message from
The Playhouse
. The owner wanted to meet with her.

She tried not to smile too hard, to avoid her family asking questions. In Olivia’s attempt to find herself, she had chosen to start with getting to know her body better by tapping into her sexuality. Seeing that old lady on TV expressing herself so freely those years back, had stirred something in Olivia. She wanted to explore it more.

Chapter Five

Olivia sat at the coffee shop, listening to the beautiful woman sitting across from her.

“I’ve reviewed several applications and have not been impressed over the last few weeks. That is, until I came across yours. Your resume says you are a Human Resources Manager?” Mercedes said.

Keeping straight face, the one reserved for business, she nodded.

“You know, you didn’t have to submit a resume. A little background history and why you were interested in working at
The Playhouse
would’ve been fine,” Mercedes continued.

“I understand. Is it going to be a problem? I just…well…I have no experience in this type of thing at all. This isn’t like me at all. The truth is, I’m getting a divorce from my husband, and I want a fresh start. He would’ve never agreed to anything like this.” Olivia sat up straight in the chair, poised like she’d been trained in charm school. The interview was making her nervous.

Mercedes sat there, eyeing her. Olivia swore she could read her thoughts:
Her short haircut is simple, but cute. Perfect for the corporate world. Not too much makeup, just a little to enhance her beauty. The outfit...something I’d have passed up in Nostrums.
She willed her to say something, anything.

“Have you ever talked dirty to a man?”

“You mean, like phone sex?” Olivia blushed.

“That’s close to what it’s like. I mean, have you ever told a man what you wanted him to do to you, or what you wanted to do to him?”

“A little,” she said, using her hands to hide her smile.

“Come on now. You’ve never told a boyfriend you couldn’t wait for them to stick their still rod inside you?” Mercedes whispered.

Olivia refrained from glancing around to make sure none of the other Starbuck’s patrons overheard. “No. I wanted to, but I always let my husband take charge.”

“Well, honey, at
The Playhouses
you’ll have plenty of opportunity. I tell you what. I’ll look seriously into giving you a chance. In the meantime, you need to brush up on your skills. Read some books about turning your man on and seducing him. They’re plenty of books online with some good examples. As a matter of fact, go to a strip club and get a lap dance.”

Olivia’s mouth flew open. “A lap dance? I’m not gay.” She wasn’t too sure about letting some other woman feel her up.

Mercedes laughed. “Girl, please, you don’t have to be gay or bisexual to get a lap dance. It’ll help you learn your own body. Believe me, I had to come out of my shell too when I first got in this line of business.”

She nodded. “If you say so.” She wasn’t, but she wanted the job and was willing to try almost anything.

“I’ll call you in a few days, okay? I expect you to tell me what you learned.”

She got up from the table and left Olivia sitting there in awe. Mercedes was beautiful and so sure of herself, without being cocky. She told Olivia her real name was Emily, but Olivia loved the sound of Mercedes. Olivia hoped she could come up with something as good.

When she kicked “The Cheater” out, she got lonely. Olivia began playing around on the internet with some adult dating sites. What she saw shocked and intrigued her. People had no problem saying exactly what they wanted.

It took her a while to warm up with the whole thing. Most of those women had pictures with their body parts hanging out for the world to see. They were even on web camera, doing a lot of freaky things to each other. All Olivia wanted was someone to chat with. She found this one site and made up a profile. Shortly after, she had a few messages from some men. She decided to flirt a little bit to see if she could do it.

She sent quite a few messages back and forth to a several men. This one in particular, DaddyLongStroke, was fine. The muscles popping out his chest appeared to be chiseled on him. Heck yeah, she accepted his friend invite. That’s when she got a chance to see why he was called DaddyLongStroke. He had one humongous penis! Looking at it had made her mouth water—and she hated sucking on her husband’s.

They guy started off just trying to get to know her better. Then, after a few messages, he told her what he was going to do to her. She actually got wet from reading it. After a week of him having sex with her mind, she had to meet him. She knew she was technically still married, but that relationship died a long time ago. It sure as hell didn’t stop Travis.

She agreed to meet DaddyLongStroke at the Conrad hotel downtown. They met at the bar, had a few drinks and an appetizer—mainly because she had to calm her nerves. Olivia had never done anything like this in her life.