Revolving Doors (10 page)

~*~*~

When Di resurfaced close to an hour later, after having seen the last of her customers, she made her way to where Kelli and I sat.

She gleefully placed an arm through mine and sang, “
Ga-bri-el-la
!
Did you like
? Were you a little surprised?
Or
did you already know what you were coming to? I didn’t embarrass you, did I?”

I looked over at Kelli who wore a fixed smile, obviously waiting to see how I would respond.

“
A-hem
! Please allow me to clear my throat,” I smiled. “Can you see me blushing, Lady Di?”

The three
laughed together. 

“I was definitely surprised. But, don’t get me wrong…
in a good way, surprised
,” I clarified.

“That is wonderful to hear! I’d hate to think you wouldn’t want to come around again because you’ve been scared off!”

“Of course not! I don’t scare easily. Besides, you already welcomed me to the family, so you’re kinda stuck with me.” I looked over at Kelli before continuing to speak. “
In fact
…”

“Here we go…” Kelli mumbled.

“In fact…” I maintained, “I’d like to purchase that beautiful purple rabbit over there. I need that in my life!”

“It’s yours, on the house!” Di offered.

“Really, Di?”

“Consider it a gift. I’ll get you one from inventory in the back.”

“She’s not done, Mom…” Kelli announced.

“Oh?” she mused. “What’s going on?”

Again, I peeked over at Kelli who wore a half smirk that I was unable to read. Like she might laugh on the one hand, and like she might roll her eyes, on the other. I couldn’t tell, but proceeded forth with what I wanted to say to Di.

“I am really interested in talking to you about possibly becoming a consultant – whenever you have free time to go over logistics, that is.”

“
Reeaallyy
?” she squealed. “I would absolutely love to talk consultant logistics with you!”

We made plans to meet for brunch the following weekend, and I was ecstatic.

Kelli said that she chose not to become a
Romantica
consultant because it could potentially interfere with her schoolwork, but I believed it could provide a healthy balance for my life.

I was at the point where I was growing anxious for school to come to a close and with a year left, it could be a chance to make a name for myself.

After seeing Di connect with her guests and learning more than I ever thought I could about the correlation between toys and relationship enhancement, I couldn’t wait.

~*~*~

After bidding farewell to Di and confirming our upcoming meeting, Kelli walked me to my car.

“You are not serious, right?”
she scolded.

“Shit! The hell I’m not! I don’t know why
you
won’t. Schoolwork, shmoolwork. You can swing it if you really wanted to, girl! You’re a scholar without even trying to be one. It’s a natural part of life for you. But hey, I understand it ain’t for everybody.”

“That’s for sure.
It ain’t for everybody,”
Kelli repeated with attitude. “Just give me a heads-up text in the mornings when you can’t make it to class because one of your parties kept you out too late! It’s
gonna
happen,” she insisted.

“If that’s as bad as it gets Kelli, I’m ready for it. My GPA is
not
going down. Too much is riding on it. I’ll be good. My plan to graduate at the top of my class is not one that will fail. I wouldn’t let anything jeopardize that, girly!
T-r-u-s-t
!”

“Okay. Only you know what’s best.”

The more I thought about her resistance, it made me wonder why she felt so strongly about the whole consultant possibility.

“Is there a reason besides a potential slip in grades that you don’t want me to do it? I mean, I’m willing to listen if there’s some underlying issue you want to tell me about.”

“It’s not that, Gabriella. I’m sorry if I came off that way. I just don’t want you getting sidetracked. Don’t forget, I’ve been there for the talks about your dreams and wanting to build your own empire and all that. Maybe I just came off too protective and want to make sure you don’t take on something you can’t handle – or that has the power to deter you.”

“
Awww
, that’s so cute! You’re such a good friend. I appreciate you looking out for me. If that’s your only concern,
please
do not worry
. I’m Gabby the Go-Getter! My goals will always be a priority. I wouldn’t risk them for anything. Something about this just feels right.”

“Okay,
Gabby the Go-Getter,
”
she chuckled. “That’s
uber cheesy, in case you didn’t know. But okay…my lips are sealed from this point on.” She gestured sliding her thumb and forefinger across her lips. “In all honesty---”

“I thought your lips were sealed!” I teased.

“You’re not funny!” she swatted at my shoulder. “Anyway,
as I was saying
…In all honesty, I think you would be good at it. My mother is the best teacher you can have. We didn’t always live here…like this,” she confessed, pointing back toward the mini-mansion. “When
he
left, he wanted to make sure my mom had nothing and
nothing
is exactly what we had.”

“Wow,” I said apologetically. “That’s such cruel bullshit.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t easy for her, but she came out better than when she was with him, in the end. My mom strived hard for this and got it all on her own. She wanted to make sure that I never missed a beat and her plan worked because I barely remember life with him.”

I could hear the quiver in Kelli’s voice as she spoke about her mother and I didn’t want that to be the last moment she had with me that night, so I lightened the mood.

“Come here and give me my hug so I can make this drive. I suggest you get some practice wearing your hair out of that ponytail because when I make this money, we’re going down to Disneyland and hang out with the grown folks at House of Blues, take in the magic of Fantasmic and kick it big at The Grand Californian!”

“Girl, don’t play with me!”
she said, rolling her neck. “I need me a Disneyland fix, like yesterday!”

“And that’s why I love yo’ ass. You’re a big ass kid just like me and you don’t feel like your britches are too big to hang with Mickey!”

“Mickey? I’m all about Goofy, thank you very much!” she laughed.

“Then consider it done. We
will
be going to Disneyland.
Promise
. And it will be my treat.”

I kissed her on the cheek and then I hopped in my car and headed to the freeway.

CHAPTER 16

~*~*~

When Kelli and I first emerged from inside the house, I had pressed “
send
” on the text message I had in draft.

Lance, my booty call, was on the receiving end. After hearing all that sex and toy talk, my mood was
horny
and I knew that he could get me over the hump.

I needed a live body to play with. A live body, with hands and lips and a tongue attached to it with
some real man meat to explore my walls.

Lance was well aware of the nature of our relationship.

We met in summer session in a Sociology class. He was on the basketball team, so he had a busy schedule which worked perfectly.

He’d sit next to me every class and try to make small talk – whether it was about notes, when a paper was due or when the next test was – all things he could
have easily gotten from the syllabus.

He finally worked up the nerve to ask me for my phone number one day. He claimed that he wouldn’t be in class that week because the team had an away game, and wanted to know if he could call me for the missed notes when he got back.

I let him proceed with an amateur’s approach because there was no long-term, invested interest in it for me.

My goal had never been to have a man in my personal space for any longer than I needed him to be, so Lance fit the criteria – added to that, he was an athlete and
thanks to Kenny, I didn’t want any more of those. 

The day he initiated a text dialog, I had just warmed my Thai food from the night before and had my feet kicked up watching TV, when my phone chirped.

When I looked at the screen, I was surprised to see who it was. I would have thought the first contact would be a phone call. Text messaging had made it way too easy for people:

“Hey, it’s Lance from class. Got a minute?”

“Sure, Lance…what’s up?”

“Wondering when you wanted to get together…to study.”

“You’re funny. I think you know that I don’t need to study.”

“Yeah, I see you on the grades, intelligirl (smile).”

“Yeah, my focus is definitely on school work, but all work and no play…”

“Okay, then, Ms. Gabriella (smile)”

“Okay, then what? (smile)”

Moments went by with no response. Then after a few minutes:

“That’s up to you.”

“The long pause just to tell me that? Wow.”

“Sorry about that. Was trying not to come on too strong.”

Those words coming from the athlete.

A staple on the field…one who’s known for driving the girls wild. I assumed he’d have more spunk about him than that. But I let it slide because I figured it was a sign that he could be trained.

Either he didn’t know how to take control of a situation or he preferred to be the one who was hunted. Whatever the case, I had a single mission, so the final text message was from me:

“Well then let me do the honors, Lance…I don’t need a study buddy. I need a fuck buddy. If you’re good with that, we’re good to go.”

And apparently he was… Lance proved to be worthy of my company and was able to spend more than a few nights in my bed.

He became that someone to be called upon in times of
need
. 

~*~*~

Lance arrived at my apartment promptly at 11:37 PM and it was down to business as usual.

To his credit, he was a
skilled and thoughtful lover. He did all the right things in all the right places and knew that even when I hadn’t reached peak, he was to keep going until I did.

As a reward for consistently ensuring my satisfaction, he was invited into my bed at least three times per week – sometimes more.

I lived by the philosophy that communication is a key component to a successful sex life and that those who didn’t take that seriously would be forever doomed to mediocrity and dissatisfaction.

Early on I talked to Lance about what my expectations were. I figured that if I didn’t tell a man what I wanted, the result would be switching lovers several times a week.

While I wasn’t the commitment type, I also wasn’t the type who cared to have multiple lovers to manage. That was too much work.

One lover that could get the job done was enough.

~*~*~

Normally, when Lance and I were done having sex, I’d wait for him to get dressed and out the door, then off to the shower I’d go.

That night I indulged him. I confessed to him exactly how it came to be he got the pre-midnight call.

Not that he posed the question
…he never did. He just showed up. But I wanted to tell him so I could share my excitement with someone.

“Soooo, Lance…Have you ever heard of a pleasure party?” I asked running my finger down his chest.

“Pleasure party? Yeah, I have.”

“Really?” I asked,
surprised.

“Yep, I just
came from one…with your body as the host, a few minutes ago,” he laughed. “There was all kind of pleasure partyin’ up in here.”

“Funny!” I said pushing my body against his, as
I joined him in laughter.

“Well, Gabriella
what can I say? That’s the
real
pleasure party. Is there any other kind?”

“
Yes, jock!” I kidded. “Sure is and I went to one earlier this evening out in Blackhawk.”

“Oh okay,” he said. “I know Blackhawk…it’s nice out there. It’s home to a few of my teammates.”

“So, at this party the topic was pleasure and how to achieve it –
with toys
.”

“You mean sex toys?”

“Yep…exactly.”

“
Ohhh
…and that’s what’s got you all excited and stuff?”

“Uh-huh. I never knew there were so many! Had my mind blown. I mean, I know about toys, but it was the variety and the different ways they can create excitement
that took what little I did know to a whole other level.”

“So then there were dildos and shit like that?”

“See! You do know something about toys!”

“I didn’t say all that…” he said defensively as though to know about them reflected negatively on his manhood.

Men and their hang ups…hilarious.

I opened the drawer and pulled out my new purple rabbit to show him, more for his reaction than anything. 

“Wow. It’s uhmm…a nice color,” he uttered.

“Stop it! You
know
there’s more to its beauty than the color,” I teased.

“Hey! I have a great idea!” he said tracing my thigh with his finger. “Let me try it on you so I can see what the hype is.”

“That would be a firm
hell no
buddy!”

“
Awww
,” he sighed. “That’s too bad because that’s the
only
way I’ll be able to tell if there’s more to it than its beauty.”

“Well now, I guess that
is
too bad, ain’t it? That’s not happening…today, or ever.
That toy
is mine one-on-one, thank you very much.”

We talked and joked until the sun began peeking through my bedroom blinds and managed to find our way back in the throes of passion a few more times.

After our fourth lovemaking session, I made a mental note to restock my Magnum supply, since I was down to two when we finally reached the finale.

When it came time for Lance to leave, I did the unthinkable.

“I have extra towels if you want to hop in the shower before you take off.”

He shot me a look that I read immediately – I’d caught him off guard.

“I a---ppreciate that…” he stammered. “But I’m gonna head out since my clean drawers are at the crib. But,
damn
…I sure wish I had known the invitation was gonna be extended. I might have thrown a pair in an overnight bag.”

I decided
against responding to his comment. Way too easy for him to get the wrong idea on the next visit and I couldn’t risk that happening.

The offer was an impromptu one, because I was caught up in the moment and I highly doubted it would happen again.

“Got it,” I acknowledged. “Much better washin’ ya behind at ya own house, right?”

“Ha!” he exclaimed
.

I watched him pull his shirt over his head
, and as he did so, my mind went to,
damn…the body of an athlete. It is some of God’s most beautiful work ever
.

I had to stop looking at him
before I started something I couldn’t finish. The fact of the matter was that I only had two condoms left, and he and I needed much more than that once we got started.

“Well, I’m gonna hop in the shower, so if you could be a doll and lock the door behind you I would appreciate it.” I walked over to where he sat putting his socks and shoes on and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll give you a call later on,” I lied.

It would be much later than later that I called him.