Dark Or Cream

Kaja reluctantly nodded and followed him into the boutique. It was time she made a decision because she couldn’t keep living like this. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt, and feelings would get involved if she carried on with both Rashan and Eric for much longer. She knew she had to choose, and she knew she had to do it soon.

“Now, this is something a girl like you with that Kim Kardashian booty should wear,” Rashan exclaimed. He was halfway across the shop, and when he spoke his voice rang out, drawing everyone’s attention. Kaja blushed and swiftly walked over to him so he wouldn’t have to shout again.

“That looks nice, but I don’t think they have it in my size.” Her eyes fell on the price tag, which clearly Rashan hadn’t noticed. The dress was over eight hundred bucks. She wasn’t about to have him spending money like that. He was a damn college student, for goodness sake.

A saleswoman in a navy blue pantsuit walked over with a fake smile scraped across her face. “Can I help you two with anything?”

“Um, I was thinking something more along the lines of a handbag maybe?” Kaja suggested.

She didn’t want to tell Rashan he couldn’t afford the expensive merchandise in this store. She hoped switching to accessories would bring the price range down, knowing full well she couldn’t decline his offer to buy her something. It would bruise his ego.

Rashan followed Kaja and the saleswoman to a rack of lovely purses, and Kaja immediately saw something she liked. Peeking surreptitiously at the price, which was slashed fifty percent off, she noticed it was a decent two hundred dollars after the discount. It was still more than she wanted Rashan to pay, but it was likely one of the cheapest things in the boutique. Kaja took down the purse and slid it over her shoulder. The burgundy leather would go well with her best church dress, and she was sure she had a pair of shoes at home that would match.

“This is more like it,” she murmured, caressing the smooth leather. The handbag was roomy and had several different compartments for the various and sundry things she had a tendency to lug around in her purse. It was designer but not ostentatious.

“You like that? Consider it yours. Let’s see what else we can find.”

“No, Rashan, this is more than enough. Seriously, I can’t accept anything else. This is already a…very costly gift.”

“Don’t do me like that,” he pleaded in a sexy voice that made her sympathetic and aroused at the same time.

“I’m not,” Kaja whined, looking up at him with a smile. “This is all I want. I promise.”

They took it to the cash register to check out, and Rashan finally took a notion to see how much the item cost. Kaja nervously watched his eyes widen as his hand went to his wallet. He pulled out a few bills, counted them. He put the money back in his wallet and glanced at his credit cards. Her hand slid into her purse, and she pulled out her wallet just in case.

Rashan handed over a card and smiled at the woman at the register like everything was under control. When the card was swiped, they waited the agonizing second for it to go through, and Kaja prayed for no embarrassment. There was a line of people standing behind them, and it was taking longer than it should to be approved. She slipped her hand from her purse, clutching her credit card out of sight.

“Whew! Y’all machine slow today, huh?” Rashan chatted with the cashier. She smiled tightly in response and tried his card again. “Uh, hang on, hang—Try this one.” He dug around in his thin wallet, and Kaja seized her opportunity to save him the humiliation of having another card declined. She dropped her credit card on the floor and made a big show of picking it up.

“Honey, wait a minute. You dropped a card.”

She handed it to him upside down so he couldn’t see that it belonged to her. “Ah, thanks baby. Is that the Mastercard? Ma’am, try this one.”

He was none the wiser as the card was swiped and handed back with the receipt for him to sign. Kaja slipped up between him and register and said, “I’ll sign for you. Can you run and catch the pretzel shop over there before it closes?” She pointed past the window of the boutique at a kiosk across the way, praying he didn’t ask any questions.

“It’ll just take a second to sign.”

“Hey, what did you say about team work? Let me assist you, honey. And, I’m starving. I really want that pretzel.”

He sighed and smiled at her. “I got you, baby.” Kaja gratefully accepted and signed the receipt, walking out the boutique with the purse she’d had to pay for. Rashan met her with a pretzel and dipping sauce. “They weren’t about to close, baby.”

“Really? I thought they were. Thank you for the handbag. I love it!”

“Anything for you. Oh, you got my card?”

“No, you put it back in your wallet.” Kaja lied.

They went back to his place to hang out, as Kaja wasn’t interested in going anywhere that cost money, and she had a strict rule about inviting men into her home. It was the first time she had seen Rashan’s apartment, and she was pleasantly surprised by how neat and how cozy the place was.

They sat on the living room floor together, sharing a game system controller as they played video games. When that got boring, Rashan laid his head in Kaja’s lap and caressed her inner thigh with his fingertips. He dragged his fingers down to her knee and up her thigh, back down again. She though he was falling asleep until he suddenly broke the silence. “So, I think you need to stop seeing dude.”

“Who?”

“Dude. Ole boy. That white guy.”

“Oh…”

He sat up and gathered her face in his palms. He put his mouth close to hers like he wanted to kiss her. Kaja’s heart began to pound and her pulse started racing. Anytime Rashan was this close, her body went haywire. He whispered against her lips, “I want you.”

He slid his tongue along her lower lip and just inside. Sipping at her mouth, he kissed her gently enough to make her body feel frozen still in anticipation of more of his warmth. Her hands went up his wide shoulders, and she clasped them around his neck. According to her girls, Rashan was the man she needed to choose. Staring into his dark brown eyes, she felt like picking him wouldn’t be a loss. They were obviously drawn to each other, even if there were some kinks to be worked out. There were kinks in every relationship, and she wanted him too.

“Rashan, what do you expect me to do? I’ve been friends with Eric a little longer than I’ve known you. I think it would be rude to just—”

“No, it wouldn’t. What would be rude is to have that man thinking he stands a chance when you and I both know that he doesn’t.” He picked up her cellphone and placed it in her hand. “Call him. Tell him it’s over. Tell him don’t call no more.”

“I can’t do that.” Kaja felt helpless and she didn’t want to be cornered into making a decision. She felt like Rashan was trying to make the choice for her, and that wasn’t fair.

“Cool. I get it. You choose him then.”

“Rashan, no!”

“You must! Cause you can’t keep stringing me along like this either, Kaja. I’m a man. I deserve to know whether you’re mine! Or not…”

His chest heaved in anger, and his brow was furrowed. His nostrils flared as he breathed heavily. Kaja wanted to kiss the frown from his lips. She didn’t want to hurt anybody. What Rashan was asking of her seemed like too hard of a task, but she knew he was right. She was at a point where she had to choose. Looking into his brown face, with features so similar to her own, she saw all his culture and heritage. They had that in common, if nothing else.

Her fingers started to move across the screen of her phone, and she found Eric’s number. He answered on the first ring. It tore at her heart that he sounded so bright and sunny when he answered the phone, knowing it was her calling. “Hi, Eric. Listen…I…I’ve made my decision.”