Dark Or Cream

Chapter 10 – Taste The Sweetness

After Rashan drove away, Kaja sat on her couch staring at the clock, contemplating what she would do next. She already knew what she wanted to do, but she was contemplating the feasibility. She knew Eric’s shop was still open, and it was a short drive across town. He had shown it to her during one of their dates. All she had to do was slip on some shoes, grab her purse and hit the road. She wondered if she should.

The problem of dating Rashan was handled, but the problem of making it up to Eric was still on the table. She had reason to believe Eric didn’t want to see her. Since the day she had told him not to contact her anymore, he hadn’t answered her calls or inbox messages. It had only been a week, but it felt like months. She didn’t want to wait any longer.

She hopped into her car, but when she got to the lawnmower repair and sales shop, the parking lot was empty. She ran up to the door and pounded on the glass only to have it swing open with her weight. They were still open. Breathless with anticipation, she slid up to the counter to speak to the grisly faced old timer at the cash register. “I’m looking for the owner, Eric. Is he around?”

“You just missed him, sweetheart.” The man took a toothpick from between his teeth and gestured behind him. “He left out about ten minutes ago, headed home. He’s been getting off early this week. He doin’ a job for you? What’s the name on the ticket?”

He glanced at his computer monitor presumably to pull up my ticket, but I wasn’t having anything repaired. “This isn’t really about business,” I replied, blushing. I didn’t know how much Eric had told his friends at work about me, and I wondered if any of them realized the black woman asking after him might have something personal to see him about.

“Oh, well, I can tell him you dropped by.” He clammed up like he didn’t have anything more to tell me, and my heart sank.

She reached across the counter and grabbed his hand, squeezing it as she implored him to hear her out. “Listen, I really need to see Eric. I don’t have his address. I’m not even asking you to give it to me. I just…” She faltered, fighting tears. “Never mind. Don’t worry about it. Just tell him Kaja stopped by.”

“Kaja?” His eyes lit up as if he recognized the name. I nodded eagerly, seeing Eric had been talking about me. “Ms. Kaja, he’s out on his property on Millerville Road. Don’t tell him I told you. He might not take kindly to me giving out his home information, but I think he might want to see you, too. He might not know it yet, but he does.”

“Millerville Road,” Kaja repeated, nodding gratefully. She knew where it was. It was twenty minutes outside of town, but she was gassed up and ready to go for a country drive. “Thank you so much!”

She dashed out the door of the shop and across the parking lot to her car. She threw the car in drive and sped down the highway. The buildings of town gave way to trees and rolling grasslands. She came to the gravel road labeled Millerville on a crooked green street sign, and she slammed on breaks as she nearly passed it up. Putting the car in reverse, she righted herself for the turn. She drove so fast down the road she kicked up red dust and gravel.

As she drew closer to a farmhouse barely visible in the gloom of twilight, she knew she was at the right place because it matched the landscape from Eric’s pof.com pictures. This was where he lived. She turned into the driveway next to a mailbox cemented into an old milk pail. The drone of a tractor arrested her attention, and she spotted him on the back of a John Deere cutting the hay in front of his house. Kaja waved her hands over her head and started yelling to announce her presence. “Eric!”

She ran over closer so he could see her. It was getting dark, but she knew he had to have seen her car. “Eric!” She almost sobbed. She realized he was studiously avoiding her. He knew she was standing right there, but he was ignoring her. The hurt arced through her like a knife carving into her chest. She dropped her head and tears spilled down her cheeks. She turned around to leave. She wasn’t about to stand around like a fool where she wasn’t wanted, even if it broke her heart to go.

Just as she took a step in retreat, the sound of the tractor engine gave a final roar and fell silent. “What you doin’ here, Kaj?” He sounded weary and like he didn’t want to ask, but he had to.

She turned around slowly. “Eric,” she breathed him name as her trembling lips smiled. She looked up into his eyes. He didn’t deign to come down from the tractor, but his steely gaze softened as he looked down at her. “I really, really, really needed to talk to you. I’m sorry I’m invading your space, coming to your house like this, but I needed you.”

He looked off at the field. A dog ran up with a happy bark and raced around the tractor before coming to sniff Kaja’s hand. She knelt down and hugged him, greeting him by name. Content she was okay with his owner, Charlemagne ran back into the tall grass with a parting howl. Eric smiled wryly and looked back at Kaja. “As I recall, you told me not to contact you anymore.”

“I know,” she sobbed. The tears were falling freely now. “I know, but I just need to ask you one question.”

“What’s that?”

“Um…” Kaja took a deep breath to steady herself and plunged forward. “What is your five year plan?”

“Sh*t, Kaja! I already told you.”