The Curvy Girl Next Door: A BBW Romance (6 page)

CHAPTER 11

Angela awoke to the delicious smell of Amaretto coffee and bacon; two of her breakfast favorites.  It took her a moment to recall where she was and what had happened between her and Julian the night before.  Blinking at the brightness of the sun as opened her eyes she felt the bed shift with Julian’s weight as he sat down next her. Smiling, he handed her a long stemmed pink rose.

Angela took the rose her heart melting.

“Good morning,” Julian said.

“Hmm… Good morning,” she said smiling as she pulled the sheet over her mouth to prevent him from smelling her morning breath. “How long have you been awake?” she said from behind the sheet.

Laughing, Julian stood up and walked across the room, grabbed the complimentary robe off the back of the door and gave it to her. “For about an hour, I took the liberty of ordering our breakfast. Do you want to go and freshen up?”

Springing up out of the bed, she grabbed the robe saying, “Yes,” as she wrestled her arms into it and slid out of the bed.  With three steps, she went into the bathroom shutting the door. Laughing, Julian went to sit at the table in front of the window, making her cup of coffee just the way she liked it.

Smiling to himself Julian thought of how he had found out the way she took her coffee. It had been about a year ago.  The power in her house had gone out and she and the girls had knocked on his door for help.

“Hi, I am so sorry to bother you.  The power went out at our house,” she had said when he had opened the door.

“No, No, no bother please come in,” he had said. Julian had been longing to know her better for months at that point and it was like the gods had just placed her in his lap.

“I am so sorry to have to ask you this but I can’t afford a hotel…” she had stared to say, but Julian had cut her off.

“You ladies will be staying here tonight,” he had said. Waving off her ‘thank you's’, he had shown her and the girls to the extra bedrooms.

“Mom, we don’t have our uniforms for school tomorrow, our pajamas or our backpacks,” Imani had reminded her.

“Oh shoot! She is right,” Angela had said. “Do you have a flashlight I can borrow to go next door and get what we need?” she had said to Julian.

Smiling, Julian had nodded saying, “not only do I have a flashlight but I will go with you.”

“Oh, No!” she had said looking at him in horror. “I cannot ask you to do that.” “You are not asking,” Julian had said handing her a flashlight. “I am saying I am going. Are you coming?”

That had been the first time Julian had seen the inside the rest of her house. He had been looking at her breaker box for her while she gathered their things when he had turned to go upstairs to let her know he thought she might need to have an electrician come out the next day and not the electric company.  He bumped into Angela standing behind him with the flashlight under her chin in the dark saying, “BOO!”

Julian had screamed a very unmanly scream and dropped his flashlight as Angela slid to the floor laughing at his response gripping her stomach.

“I am sorry.  I thought you knew I was behind you,” she had said gripping her stomach.

Julian had tried to play it off by saying, “I did,” but they both knew he hadn’t. Getting up and picking up her flashlight, Angela had fought to keep a straight face saying, “this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

The next morning Julian had woke to Imani and Eliana sitting at his kitchen table eating the breakfast Angela had made.

“Good morning!” she had said to him smiling “Coffee?” she had asked him holding up a coffee cup.

“Yes, please,” he had said loving the sight of her and the girls in his home. Both the girls had bid him a good morning thanking him for letting them spend the night at his house and not having to go to Grandma McMillian’s house. Imani and Eliana did not have a very good relationship with their father’s mother.

Angela sat a plate with banana chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, eggs, raspberries, blueberries and grits in front of him with a cup of Amaretto coffee.

“WHOA! I had all of this in my refrigerator?” he had asked in amazement.

Angela and the girls had laughed.

“No, all you had in your fridge was baking soda, a beer and a bottle of questionable ketchup,” Imani had said.

“Oh whew! I was going to say. I need to get my key back from my mom again,” Julian had said laughing with them. He had taken a sip of his coffee and was surprised at the delicious new taste.

“What is this? It’s amazing!” he had said looking at Angela.

“It’s Amaretto,” all three ladies had said at the same time looking at each other and laughing.

“It’s Mom’s favorite!” Eliana had said.

“Wow, I see why,” Julian had said.

“Yes, the first man that wakes me up with a cup of this is the man that will forever have my heart,” Angela had said sitting down to eat her breakfast.

Julian had started to frantically hunt around the kitchen.

“What are you looking for?” Angela had said.

“A pen and paper; I have to write this down”, Julian had said making Angela blush and sending the girls into fits of giggles.

“Are you ok?” Angela said bringing Julian back into the present. She had freshened up and put her hair in a ponytail. The light in her eyes made her look twenty years younger than she was.

“Yeah, I am great; just day dreaming,” he said standing up to pull out her chair.

“Thank you,” she said sitting down and picking up her coffee cup taking a sip.  It registered to Angela what she was drinking, smiling at him over her cup, she said, “You remembered.”

“Hey, I may not have been able to find a pen and paper that day, but I took a mental picture,” he said tapping the side of his head.

They both started to eat their breakfast. As they ate, Julian could feel a sense of dread come over Angela. Looking at her, Julian was dreading what he thought she was about to say which was that she had regretted last night and wanted to go home and forget it ever happened.

“What?” he asked.

Putting her fork down, Angela cleared her throat looking at him. “Last night was amazing; it was more than I could have hoped for. I want you to know this is not the norm for me. I don’t just sleep with every man I go out with,” she said quickly. “But I also want you to know, I do not expect this to lead to anything other than what it was.”

Angela was so nervous she was fidgeting like a school girl on time-out.

Sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms, Julian said, “What is this, Angie?” he said waiting for her response.

Angela knew she had put her foot in her mouth without meaning to.

“Well, I know that we both got caught up in the moment last night,” she said looking around the suite at anything but Julian. “I just don’t want you to think that I expect anything because of what happened.”

Chuckling to himself, Julian stood up and walked around to Angela’s side of the table. Taking her hand and pulling her into his arms he said, “Well, Angie, I hate to disappoint you, but I have a lot of expectations,” he said tipping her chin up to look her in the eye. “I expect you to let me wine and dine you. I expect you to let me make you smile. I expect you to get to know me better. I expect you to not run from this, from us and I expect you to give us and chance and not to be afraid.”

Right at that moment Angela was at a loss for words. She had never been with a man that truly desired her.

Angela met Andre in high school and while she had thought it was love at first sight, he had always just tolerated her presence. She had “dated” if that is what you call it. Considering they never saw each other except at school and church, she knew now that was not much of a relationship. When they graduated from high school, Angela had expected Andre to go off to West Point like his father had expected and they would try and keep their relationship going.

But the day of Angela’s graduation party, Andre had gotten down on one knee and proposed marriage. Angela had been so in love and in denial that she had failed to realize he was proposing to her to keep from fulfilling his father’s dreams for him. Within eighteen months, they had gotten married and Imani was on the way.

Under the understanding of taking over the company business, Andre’s family had paid their bills until he got his MBA in business and could take over the company his grandfather had built.

One night after getting completely drunk at a party, Angela and Andrea had made their second daughter.

Angela had never felt passion from a man for her. She had never felt like a man couldn’t keep his hands off her, or could take another breath unless he kissed her lips.

Now that she was standing here in Julian’s arms and after the passion and uncontrolled desire she had felt from him last night, she was at a loss for words.

“Can you handle that?” he said to her bringing her back to the present.

Looking up at him with her heart in her throat, she nodded and whispered, “I can try.”

CHAPTER 12

Angela and Julian spent the morning making love and getting dressed.  Each time they took a shower, before they could get completely dressed, they would end up in bed again all over each other.

Before leaving the vineyard, Julian had set up a private tour for them and at the end of the tour Angela was presented with a case of special reserve label wine Julian had had made for her that he had named Angela’s Spirit.

“Oh my God, Julian!” she had said.

Smiling, Julian had told her, “I never want us to forget our first date and how much this weekend means to us,”
Angela had stood there dumbfounded at how sweet and amazing he was. She could wrap her head around this man wanting her and thinking so much of her. Andre was everything she had ever wanted in a man, which is what scared the crap out of her. But she was not going to let her concerns keep her from enjoying the moment.

“You are simply amazing,” she had whispered standing on her tip toes kissing his soft delicious lips.

Angela’s phone indicated that she had a text message. When she looked at her phone, she saw that it was a message from Andre.

‘I am bringing the girls home early. You better not have that neighbor of yours around my daughters. You know I only allow you to maintain custody of my daughters,’ it read.

Angela was instantly pissed off! How dare he think that he can tell her who to see and who not to see. She replied to him, ‘As if seeing their father take a dick in the ass than it is to see their mother make friends with their neighbor?’

She got a response back.

‘Unlike you, Angela, I do not feel everyone should know who I am having sex with on a regular basis. I gave you your divorce with the understanding that you would not have a parade of men in and out of the home my daughters live in. Do I need to get custody of them so that you can be the whore you divorced me to be?’

Angela felt like he had kicked her in her chest. She knew that with his money and clout and lies if he took her to court to get custody of the girls, she could lose them. That was a chance she couldn’t take.

“Everything ok?” Julian asked her. He could feel the mood in the car change. He could tell something was wrong.

“Ummmmm,” she said nodding her head.

“Can I help, baby?” he said rubbing her leg trying to reassure her that he was there for her.

Smiling a fake smile, Angela sent a response to Andre. ‘I will be home by 3.  You can bring the girls then.’ Then looking over at Julian with a pretend smile, she said, “No there is nothing to help with, I am fine.”

*******

There was a five car pile-up on the freeway on their way home so Julian and Angela had been delayed by a couple of hours getting home.

Imani, Eliana and Andre were sitting on her porch when they pulled in.

Angela jumped out of the car and went straight to the porch greeting the girls.

“Hi, Mom! What did you do this weekend?” Imani asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

Angela attempted to laugh and not sound like she was as uncomfortable as she was.

“Nothing, I went to an event for my job at a winery,” she lied. Angela could feel Andre’s accusing eyes on her. She opened her front door and as they all walked in, Julian was not far behind.

Andre turned to Julian saying, “And you are?”

Julian looked at Angela and he could see that her pulse had picked up several paces from the vein in her neck and forehead.

“I am none of your business,” Julian said walking past him to sit Angela’s bag on her landing. He walked over to stand next to Angela for support but she shifted away from him as fast as she could without making it too obvious.

“Oh everyone that is around my daughters is my business,” Andre said angrily. The two men stood toe to toe squaring off each letting the other know they were not going to back down.

“He is my neighbor, Andre.  He had done some work for my company so was invited to the event. Since my car is not working, he offered to be my ride,” Angela said.

Julian could not believe what he was hearing! Angela was denying the weekend they had just spent together. She had just LIED! 

He waited for her to tell the truth and take back the lie but she just stood there looking at Andre.

“Thanks for the ride, Julian,” Angela said nervously going to stand by her door indicating she was ready for him to leave, “and for bringing my bag in. I will call you later,” still not looking him in the eye.

Julian gave one last look over at Andre and then walked passed him toward the door. Andre intentionally made sure they bumped shoulders.

Julian stopped and looked back, but felt Angela’s hand on his arm. When he looked at her, he could see the pleading in her face to let it go and leave. Shaking his head, he went to leave and leaned down to whisper to Angela. “Don’t bother calling. Who calls the chauffer after the ride is over?”

He looked at her for a moment, and walked out slamming the door behind him.

Angela thought she had just heard her heart literally break. She understood that she lied and how that would make him angry but he didn’t have to speak to her like that.

“You wore that to a work event?” Andre said looking her up and down with disdain.

“Ye..Yes... Yes I did,” Angela said.

“Mom, you look hot! I love that outfit,” Imani said to her mother, as she walked passed her to go up the stairs to her room.

Smiling, Angela said, “Thank you, baby.”

“Bye, Daddy,” Imani said.

“Bye, Dad,” Eliana said on her way up the steps stopping to kiss his cheek. “She is right, Mom, you look really hot!” she said to her mom running up the stairs.

Angela was smiling and feeling really good about the compliment her daughters had just given her.

“You know they are only being nice, right? I mean you are their mom,” Andre said with his arms crossed over his chest.

She felt like she had been kicked in the gut. Andre had always managed to come along and make her feel low. All throughout their marriage he had never paid her a compliment. His favorite line to her had been, ‘Lose weight for God’s sakes.  Who is going to believe that I would be married to you?’

She had tried every diet you could think of.   She had tried Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and the Boiled Egg diet. She threw up in her mouth a little thinking of that one. Nothing had helped her to keep the weight off. When she had finally decided to divorce Andre, she had managed to lose thirty pounds without even trying and got down to her high school size of sixteen. Being away from him had helped her to realize that she had stayed overweight because of the stress of being his wife.

Now it was the stress of being his ex-wife she was worried about.

“Sorry about being late, traffic,” she finally said.

“A phone call wouldn’t have hurt,” Andre said sarcastically.

Opening her front door Angela said, “Get out of my house, Andre. I am not your wife anymore therefore I don’t have to take your shit.”

“You will take what I tell you to take,” he said walking to stand in front of her. “Don’t forget, I am letting you keep primary custody. I can take them like that,” he finished snapping his fingers.

“You were useless as a wife. I am sure I can convince a judge you are useless as a mother. Do you want to test it?” Looking down on the verge of tears, Angela said, “No.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said running his finger along her jaw line. “Have a nice night, Ang,” he said as he laughed and walked out the door.

Angela was so angry and so furious but all she wanted to do was go to her room and crawl in her bed and cry.

“Mom, why do you let him talk to you and treat you like that?” Imani said to her mother. She had been standing on the stairs listening to the entire conversation.

“What do you mean, baby?” Angela said trying to sound happy as she headed to the kitchen. “Are you guys hungry?  Would you like some lunch?” she said to her daughters.

“No, Mom, we are not hungry,” Imani said. “We want you to stop letting Dad say that stuff to you.”

“Baby, it is more complicated than that,” Angie said digging into the refrigerator.

“How about some soup and grilled cheese sandwiches?” she asked. “Mommy, sit down and listen to Imani,” Eliana said.

Angela’s girls had never been disrespectful to her. So the way that they were talking to her now was surprising enough to get her to sit down.

The girls looked at each other like they were finally getting to act out a plan they had been working on for a while.

“Mommy, we know Dad is gay and that “Uncle Steven” is not just his best friend from college. We know that he was cheating on you when you were married and we know that he does not pay his child support,” Imani said.

“Mom, Imani looked it up on Google and she found that if Daddy tries to take us from you, we are old enough now that the judge will ask us what we want,” Eliana chimed in.

“And we would NEVER say we wanted to live with Daddy! So please, Mom, stop letting him hurt you,” Imani said.

Angela could not believe what she was hearing. First that the girls knew their father was gay.  Andre had always believed that he was so good at keeping that secret and the only reason anyone knew was because of her so-called betrayal.

Next, that they knew she was holding back from telling Andre off because of her fear of him and all the lawyers he would be able to put against her in family court. She suddenly felt a surge of strength within herself. She never wanted her girls to feel like they needed to protect her. That was one of the reasons why she had finally decided to divorce Andre, knowing the hell he was going to inflict on her life.

She had wanted to protect them from the pain and stress of worrying about their mother like she and her sisters had done for their mom who had seemed to think the occasional punch in the face and kick to the gut from her husband was a sign of love like flowers.

From a very early age, she had expected to come home one day and find her mother beat to death in the kitchen with a lit cigarette burning its way down in the ashtray.

Angela had sworn that when she had the girls she would never make them worry about her. That she would be the solid point of light for them.

Standing up, she pulled both the girls into her arms hugging them so tightly they both screamed, “MOM, I CAN’T BREATHE.”

Laughing, she let them go and told them, “Girls, I do not want you worrying about me. I will deal with Daddy; I promise he can’t hurt me anymore. As far as your “uncle” well if you really want to know about that, I think that you should ask your dad.”

“I am good,” Eliana said.

“TMI,” Imani said raising her hands in the air and walking backward.

Laughing, Angela said, “What would you ladies like to have for dinner?”

“Pizza,” they both said simultaneously.

“Ok, pizza it is. Now go and get your rooms cleaned and get your clothes ready for next week,” Angela told them.

“Ok,” they both said turning and heading to go to their rooms. Imani popped her head back around the corner and said, “Mom, you should call Mr. Julian,” and ran up the stairs.

“SHIT,” she thought to herself. She was sure Julian was pissed with her. She was also sure that she didn’t want to lose him from her life. She guessed she owed him an apology.