Kiss Me on the Inside Read online

  “Isn’t that the reason why you are interrupting me?”

  “So you can tell me again how much I don’t stand a chance with you?”

  “Maybe you are hoping that my no will turn into a yes.” Mark sat down at the table and held on to her hand and she pulled away her arm. “I’m positive that I didn’t give you an invite to join me for lunch.”

  “Can you explain to me why an attractive woman like you is sitting here dining by yourself? You don’t have to say it but I know you need my company.”

  “That is very presumptuous of you; I am expecting someone to meet me at any minute so I would advise you to leave before he gets here.”

  A man entered the diner and Nikki waved her hand to get his attention. Mark turned and looked at the man, trying to size up the man in her life. He wasn’t much of a character. He didn’t picture him to be her type. You would get the impression that he didn’t care about his appearance.

  “No way that’s your man,” Mark said disapprovingly.

  She waved to him again. This time she had a big smile on her face. Mark got up to leave but he saw the man’s female companion greet him with a kiss. Mark turned his head quickly to face Nikki but she didn’t make eye contact. The waiter came with her meal and she took up her fork and started eating her salad. The man walked past her table with his companion and she gulped her soda and choked. She felt embarrassed and humiliated. She wanted to be submerged in her seat. She wished she could disappear.

  “Was that . . .” Mark pointed in the man’s direction.

  “Wrong person.”

  “So you don’t know what your man looks like? Or maybe that was really him with another woman.”

  She didn’t have a witty comeback this time but she knew she couldn’t let him get to her. “I don’t have to answer to you.”

  “But he will answer to me.” Mark got up from around the table.

  She couldn’t let him go over there to that man’s table to defend her or otherwise. She had to stop him. “What are you doing? You can’t go over there.” She held on to his shirt. She had to do something. She couldn’t let him humiliate her because, after all, she didn’t know the man. It was a hoax to get him to leave and now it backfired on her.

  “Okay, okay. I’m not expecting any company. I lied.”

  Mark turned around with a smile on his face. “I knew it! You are a bad liar. Do you honestly think I would go make a fool of myself?”

  “You are a selfish, self-centered jerk!”

  Mark laughed.

  Nikki had now lost her appetite. She pushed the meal aside. The joke was on her. “I don’t appreciate you having a laugh at my expense. You are immature and shallow.”

  “You are the one who started this and it backfired on you and now you are attacking me. Lighten up. Where is your sense of humor?”

  The tables had turned and she was the butt of the joke. Deep inside she wanted to laugh but she wouldn’t dare let him see a smile on her face. She wanted to remain a tough cookie. She wasn’t going to let him in that easy; besides, sharing a joke with him would mean she had let down her guard. He would have to earn it.

  “Did you see the size of that guy? He would have knocked me out without even trying.”

  “Are you ready to order, sir?” the waiter revisited the table to take Mark order.

  “I’ll have the grilled chicken breast sandwich to go and make the bread toasted.”

  Mark was sporting an expensive watch. Something a cable guy would think twice about purchasing if he had bills to pay or a family to support. Nikki didn’t think much of it only because she had dubbed him to be a shallow, materialistic man, so that was expected of him. Mark was a very handsome man. His smile would have made a cold-hearted person become compassionate. He had a fresh haircut that enhanced his facial structure. He was close to six feet in height and you could tell he had a perfect body under his tunic. Nikki’s mind started to wander because his cologne was masculine but wasn’t overbearing to the nostrils. It was sending signals to her body parts that were now gravitating towards his.

  She sipped on her soda, dismissing the urges. “Are you hoping to score points by pretending to be a gentleman? I can see though this false pretense. You are so predictable.”

  “There is a lot about me that you don’t know. Don’t be too quick to judge a book by its cover, Miss College Student.” He picked up her book, turning through the pages.

  “Are you saying that there is more to you than your dull appearance?”

  “Is there more to you than your shallow way of thinking?”

  “You said you had goals and dreams. I wouldn’t mind hearing how superficial they are.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you but look at the time. I have to get back to my menial job as a cable guy. Give me a call. Maybe I can take you out on a real date and we could talk about my superficial goals then.” Mark exited the restaurant, knowing he got her right where he wanted her.

  Nikki watched him walks away. She was intrigued by him but wouldn’t dare admit it to herself or especially to him. In the past other guys would walk away without a fight because they lacked the confidence to go up against an intelligent woman. Mark was witty and she liked the challenge.

  Nikki didn’t have a man because she didn’t have the patience to deal with their adolescent mentality or their ignorance; besides, she got her heart broken so many times before. She had given up on finding her Mr. Right but something about Mark intrigued her.

  Outside was a scorching eighty degrees. She wanted to call Keisha for a ride but decided against it. The thought of getting home to some peace and quiet made her welcome the idea of taking public transportation. Her 2001 Ford Escape was in the shop, getting work done. She couldn’t afford a new car every four years like Keisha. There was a bus stop a few streets down from the diner but she didn’t know what time the bus would arrive. She started on her stroll to the bus stop, hoping that the bus would have a working AC.

  She was a half block away when the bus drove past her. She ran the rest of the way. She was the last to get on the bus when the smell of funk and heat mixed together hit her nostrils. She wanted to stop her breath but she couldn’t. She was inhaling and exhaling faster than normal because of the sprint she did to get the bus. The entire bad odor made her wanted to throw up. Every stop the bus made a different funk entered.

  She couldn’t inhale this pollution any longer. Nikki exited the bus and dialed 411 for a number for a cab. She would have rather spent her last dime on a cab instead of being miserable on the bus. Nikki missed New York. She missed the days when she could flag down a dollar van.

  Before Nikki got accepted at Saint Vincent Medical School she was running the street, partying, but never took it to the third degree like Keisha. Nikki’s mother had passed away from a heart attack because she was yelling at her to change her life. Nikki promised herself that she would be a cardio surgeon so she could mend hearts. Her mother died of a broken heart because of her so mending hearts would help her forgive herself for her mother’s death.

  The taxi took less than ten minutes to rescue her from the hot sun. Thank God this taxi has AC. But no thanks for the secondhand smoke. After another ten minutes in the taxi Nikki paid her ten dollars and got out. She hastily passed the mailbox, heading for shelter, but made a U-turn because the mailbox was overflowing. She separated junk from bill as she walked from the mailbox.

  “I would advise you to walk with your head above your shoulder, young lady.”

  The voice startled Nikki and the mail fell out of her hand. She held her head up only to see a tall, strong man with a strong, firm voice looking down at her. The man spoke with authority, which reminded her of Eddie Murphy’s father in the movie Coming to America.

  “I’m looking for Keisha. Is she home?”

  “Are you her pimp? And do I look like Keisha’s keeper?”

  The man’s jaw tightened and he wrinkled his brow. His forehead had many lines as if each line represented a year of hi
s stressful life. She bent to pick up the mail off the ground and the man raised his voice to command respect as if he was a drill sergeant.

  “If she is here I would advise you to go get her!”

  She was taken aback by the tone in his voice. Who the hell does he think he is? “You need to lower your damn voice because I’m not your child.”

  “It’s apparent that you don’t know who I am.”

  “Enlighten me. Which one of her many men are you? Eric, Jerome . . .” Nikki walked passed him, still calling out random names, when the man roared like a lion.

  “I am her father!”

  Her eyes widened; her mouth fell open. Why didn’t she see the resemblance? The similarities were all there; besides, he barked orders just like she would. How could she have known that Keisha had a father? Keisha never spoke of her family. It was as if she’d been raised by a pack of wild animals.

  She felt so ashamed because she had called him a pervert. He stood still with both hands at his side, staring at her with intensity in his eyes. She apologized profusely because she had insulted him greatly.

  “I’m Nikki, her roommate.” She skeptically stretched her arm for a handshake, hoping to ease the tension, but her gesture was ignored. “Would you like to come inside?” She smiled, hoping that it would put him at ease, but instead he gave her a stern look proving that he was cold as ice, and her smile disappeared.

  “Young lady, what are you doing with your life?”

  “Well, I’m attending medical school to be a heart surgeon so when your daughter gives you a heart attack I’ll be the one to save your life.”

  He didn’t take that gesture lightly. His brow wrinkled even more.

  Nikki was relieved and let out a sigh when she saw Keisha’s car pull into the driveway. Keisha stepped out of her car, not caring to know who Nikki was speaking with. She grabbed her many shopping bags then slammed the door shut. She pointed her key forward and the well-polished and shiny black Benz answered with a beep. Her father’s eyes widened when he saw his daughter he hadn’t seen for years.

  Keisha stopped when she turned and saw her father. “Daddy!” She released her shopping bags from her grip. Her phone and her keys fell out of her hand when she saw father. “Daddy!” The little girl inside her wanted to run to him. She took a couple steps forward then stopped herself.

  It was a tense moment and Nikki was unsure about what she should do. She wanted to go inside but her feet wouldn’t move. She stared at Keisha and for a quick second she saw fear in her eyes, but it was abruptly subdued by defiance.

  “I hope you are doing something productive with your life like your roommate.”

  Keisha looked at Nikki with intense fury. Step-by-step Nikki slowly dismissed herself. This was a family affair and she didn’t want to be a part of it or this family.

  “Why the hell are you here? And how did you know where to find me?”

  “You will not speak to me in that tone!” He stood directly in front of her and she took a couple of steps back. “Your mother is in the hospital worried about you. She needs you there with her.”

  “You took your head out your mistress’s lap to come up for air but not long enough to realize that your wife needed you too?”

  He slapped her face and she stumbled backward; luckily the car was there to break her fall.

  As a child Keisha had witnessed her father putting his hands on her mother, the same way he had just put his hand on her. Realizing what he just did, he ran over to her but her stare was cold.

  He held his head down in shame and turned his back to her. Tears welled up in his eyes. He was disappointed in himself. He had come to make things right with her, not worse. The army had taught him how to control his anger and how to be a man but he allowed his anger to get the best of him. She lashed out at him like a snake with a venomous tongue. Her cold words melted the ice around his heart and he felt her pain. He was no longer the iron man. Tears were now running down his face.

  She knew he was now weak and she tore him to shreds with her words. “Where were you when my mother needed you?”

  “I got reactivated in the army! When they call you have to go.”

  “The same old army excuse. Why didn’t you die in the army?” she said with gritted teeth. She was heartless and cold.

  He turned to face his daughter in disbelief. He fell to his knees, sobbing. “That was a long time ago and I am a better man now! I am a better man,” he stated, pounding the ground with his fist, expressing his grief.

  “If you consider killing people making you a better man, you are so deranged. You should have died in the army because you are dead to me!”

  She walked past him drowning in his sorrow. She didn’t have a soft spot for him. She wasn’t touched by his performance. She stormed inside, instantly turning her fury on Nikki. “You and your damn goody-goody attitude. Do you have to parade that fact that you’re going to school every chance you get?”

  “He asked and I—”

  “Try keeping your damn mouth shut next time.” Keisha could cut down a tree with one lash from her tongue. Her father wasn’t a role model himself. She caught him having an affair with his secretary but instead of ending it or admitting his fault, he would buy her silence with money, expensive presents, and shopping sprees with his mistress. She carried the guilt of betraying her mother throughout her young years. She despised her father and every man. She vowed to herself never to let them do to her what her father did to her mother. Her mother was also a weak woman who never stood up for herself. Keisha was disappointed in her mother for staying with her father and not divorcing his self-righteous ass. She also promised herself she would never be as weak as her mother.

  Chapter 5

  It was ten p.m. when Keisha finally finished perfecting herself. Keisha sprayed her Chanel perfume in the air, then turned around in a circle so each drop would hit her body softly. Keisha had a job to do and she had all the right skills for the position. Her uncle had promised her $5,000 and she wanted every penny of it, but she got a bigger thrill from thinking about her conquest tonight. She had the skills and the experience, but also a few extra qualities that would come in handy. Bling’s show was scheduled to begin at twelve-thirty a.m. but she also had to go see Hype do his thing at another venue at eleven p.m. She had plenty of time to make it without rushing. She had told Tina to drive her own car just in case she was going to take her conquest home for some extra convincing.

  She got to the club and was taken aback when she saw the long line outside. “I’m not standing in that long-ass line.” She actually wished Tina had ridden with her because she would have had her bribe the guard with her number. With every step she took she was telling her feet not to fail her. She had extra-high heels besides her feet were already hurting. Keisha approached from the back of the line with no intention of joining.

  “What’s up, Keisha?” The security guard was an acquaintance of hers she knew from partying in Queens. He signaled for her to come up front. A few angry people hurled negative comment at her but she sashayed her way past them.

  “Thanks, Jenkins.”

  “Anytime, Keesh.”

  “Still working in the Coliseum during the day?”

  “You know it,” he replied.

  “I’ll surprise you with lunch one of these days.”

  The club was already crowded, not to mention the people who were still waiting in line to come in. She spotted Tina at the bar and made her way over to her. Tina greeted her with an apple martini. Keisha felt piercing stares cutting her like a knife. She viewed her surroundings and noticed a few pointing fingers and rolling of the eyes. She was hated by many but she felt empowered because she was the center of attention. She was a trendsetter so females looked to her for what was in style. Females held their men tight because she was disrespectful enough to give her number to a man whether he was with his woman or not. She was not only presumptuous but confident.

  A man and his woman gazed at her but the
y both stared for different reasons. Nevertheless, they stared. Keisha turned her head in their direction only to see the woman almost give herself whiplash; but the man winked at her. She blew him a kiss and his woman slapped his face. Two guys tried to engaged in a conversation but Keisha was not in the mood to be entertained by two broke-pocket men. Even though looks could be deceiving, Keisha knew how to tell real from the fake. It was a craft to her and she perfected it well. She could size them up by their fake brands and cheap cologne.

  A group of men were escorted into the party and the females ran toward them but the bouncer held them at bay. One of the men went on stage and the females went wild.

  Game on. Here we go; it’s time to put operation seduction in motion.

  “Come on, girl, let’s get a closer view.” Tina pulled her closer to the crowd. It wasn’t her style to be a groupie but she figured she might as well get a better view. She made her way to the middle of the crowd, pushing past everyone with no apologies.

  Hype had street swag. His musical style was a little Drake mixed with a little Kanye West: playful but cocky. The women were all swarming him like bees when he came off stage. The security escorted him to a private both as if he was big pimping.

  “What a fucking joke. He’s not even making real money yet. But how am I going to get to him?” I could see if Tina can get in the VIP room, then have her tell him about me wanting to meet him. No. Tina might act a fool and create a mess; besides, I really don’t want to spend my entire night with this young buck.

  “I got it! Jenkins. That’s why sometimes times it’s good to have friends in high and low places.” She walked over to Jenkins, who was now standing guard by the room.

  “You know that I can’t let you in, Keisha.” He shook his head.

  “Come on. What about for a plate of fried chicken or some extra cash?”

  “I’ll take the money.”

  She went in her purse and slid a twenty in his pocket.

  “Hype, I’m sending in another one!” he yelled over the music.