Line Of Trust

She took a long deep breath and leaned against the cool tiles of the bathroom as she thought of how different her life would have been if she had accepted Mark’s offer. She would no longer just have to pitch in on Rochelle’s tuition, but she would be all in. She would start up her own business…a catering company, she had always wanted something like that, and then she would shop every chance she got. She would make sure she dressed in all the best designer clothes, carried all the fancy bags and….she sighed as the realization hit her. That was all rich people did. Shop and look good before they drowned their sorrows at the end of the day in martinis because there wasn’thing else they had to do because they were that empty.

One thing Desiree knew was that she didn’t want to become one of those women – one of those ill-mannered do-gooder Stepford Wives. She was fine with who she was. She had a great life. She had worked hard to be the woman she was and she had done everything in her power to make sure that she and her younger sister wanted for nothing. She had lived a life worth every bit of the respect that Mark didn’t give her. And the fact that he had been born to the “greatness” he so marveled at didn’t mean that he had any right to despise people who were born in different situations. That was what she thought; that was the truth of the matter. She took another deep long breath before she turned off the water.

As she walked out of the bathroom, she felt so much lighter, so much better than she had before she went in. She was sure of one thing, Mark would never be a problem for her again – not because she planned on getting a restraining order or anything like that, but because she had chosen to let everything go. She had chosen to take the high road and for her that meant ignoring the fact that Mark even existed. She slipped into one of Taylor’s t-shirts and pinned her hair up before she walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs where Taylor was setting the small dining table in the kitchen.

“What are you doing? I thought we were going to eat in front of the TV as we watch the movie,” she said as she looked at him. “Or did you make one of your three course meals?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow. Taylor looked up and smiled at her.

“You know I’m so used to this table, it didn’t even occur to me,” Taylor said as he put the glass he held on the table.

“What did you make, anyway?” she asked as she walked towards him.

“Nothing major, just a stir fry,” he said as he gave her one of the plates on the counter. Desiree looked at him and smiled.

“Smells really good,” she said.

“Well, lucky enough for you, you will get to kiss the chef later on. Maybe even fool around a little if you know what I mean,” he said as he grabbed two sodas from the fridge. She smiled and helped him with the other plate as she followed him to the living room.

“Trust me when I tell you I can’t wait,” she said as she placed both plates on the table. Taylor put the sodas on the table and picked up the three DVDs that he had got earlier on in the day.

“So, what are you in the mood for? Good old school, some action or a comedy?” he asked. Desiree shrugged.

“Guess some action is okay,” she said.

“Good, I was hoping you’d say that because It’s about time we saw what GI Joe looks like in HD,” he said smiling. Desiree rolled her eyes.

“We would have seen it in 3D if you weren’t such a sissy about it,” she said. Taylor frowned.

“I wasn’t being a sissy. We had a choice and of course I was going to pick fast cars on 3D rather than a bunch of guys shooting at each other,” he said smiling. Desiree raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s not like it had some major panoramic shots. It was just good guys and bad guys with guns. If it had a great scene, kind of like the water scene in The Last Airbender, now that would be worth the hustle but right now the only “D” that matters is HD, which is right here in my living room,” Taylor said.

Desiree laughed as she watched him putting the DVD into the player. He then walked back to the couch and sat next to her as they started eating. For Desiree, this wasn’t one of their usual dates. The fact that she had almost lost Taylor (at least that was what she thought in the last few weeks) it had almost killed her. She remembered that she almost felt as bad as when she had first found out that Leon was cheating on her, by just thinking that she might have lost Taylor. She turned and looked at him, a smile playing on her lips. “What?” he asked.

“You know that I love you, right?” she asked as she looked at him.

“Yes, Desiree Young. I know that you love me,” he said before pausing the movie. He turned and looked at her and then raised an eyebrow.

“And you know that you mean more to me than anything?” she asked. Taylor looked into her eyes and nodded.

“Of course I do. Why are you asking me all these questions? Are you okay? Is anything the matter?” he asked. She smiled and shook her head.

“Nothing at all, just that I love my man and every so often I need him to know that,” she said. Taylor put his plate on the table and then took hers and did the same. He moved closer to her and draped an arm around her shoulders as he looked into her eyes.

“Your man knows all that and does his woman know that he would die if he ever lost her?” he asked in a low voice – a low romantic voice that almost made her panties wet.

“She knows, she’s always known,” she said in a low voice, almost as if she was trying to match his. “Do you remember when you said I would get to kiss the chef later on?” she asked after looking into his eyes for a long time.

“Yeah,” he said smiling.

“Does the chef mind if I get that over with right now?” she asked. Taylor’s smile grew even broader as he leaned in to meet her lips with his own. She raised her hand and held his head as they shared a long, passionate kiss that almost made her knees weak.

Like she said, there was nowhere else she would rather have been at that very moment.