My White Ex Soldier

“And that is why, ladies, I take my time with every relationship,” Rochelle said matter of factly. Desiree and Cynthia laughed.

“You don’t have relationships. What you are, and I cannot stress this enough, dear sister, is a serial dater,” Desiree said looking at Rochelle. “A relationship lasts longer than a couple of months,” she added looking at Rochelle.

“Come on. Why would I still stay when it starts to get boring?” Rochelle asked. Cynthia placed a hand on hers.

“Because that’s when you begin knowing that you are in a real relationship. When you have nothing to talk about but you still want to be next to each other doing nothing at all,” she said. Rochelle shook her head.

“When that day comes I’ll give you a number where you can get a nine millimeter for under a hundred and fifty bucks. Shoot me right here,” she said pointing to her forehead. Cynthia and Desiree laughed.

“When it happens, you will not even know it,” Desiree said. Rochelle shook her head as she stood up and picked up her bag. 

“Even better. I’ll see ya’ll later. I am almost late,” Rochelle said as she ran towards the front door. “And Dee, sex in the bed next time. I don’t want to see you naked all the time,” she said poking her head through the kitchen window. Desiree rolled her eyes.

“She will never know the rest of the story,” she said. Cynthia looked at her, her eyes wide.

“There is more?”  Cynthia asked looking at her. Desiree nodded.

“You would think he would be inclined to avoid me after that incident with Rochelle, but no. We have dinner plans tomorrow,” she said. 

“Wow, restaurant or his place?” Cynthia asked.

“Restaurant. Tomorrow night,” Desiree said trying to hide her excitement. Cynthia looked at Desiree and saw something familiar. Something she had seen before when she liked someone.

“You like him, don’t you?” Cynthia asked. Desiree felt her cheeks flush.

“From the first night. He is cute in a geeky way. And the fact that he used to be a soldier makes him even hotter,” Desiree said. Cynthia’s eyes widened.

“He was a soldier?” she asked looking closely at Desiree who nodded.

“Yeah. He was. He had to be discharged after an injury,” she explained.

“I am officially envious of you,” Cynthia said. Desiree smiled. “So you guys had never met except for when you initially saw each other during the speed dating?” Cynthia asked looking closely at her cousin. Desiree nodded.

“Why are you asking?” Desiree asked even though she already knew what Cynthia was thinking.

“So you slept with him on the first date?” Cynthia asked. A sly smile played on Desiree’s lips again.

“Yes I did,” she said smiling. Cynthia laughed.

“You slut,” she said, still laughing. Desiree suddenly joined her and laughed.

“Tell me about it,” Desiree said laughing. Cynthia picked her bag that she had earlier placed on the floor next to the table and stood up. “You have to go too?” Desiree asked.

“I have an order for three hundred cupcakes. I need to go get started ASAP,” Cynthia said as she walked towards the front door. “What about you? Aren’t you working today?” she asked. Desiree shook her head.

“My shift begins at noon. I’ll be leaving the store late,” she said with a smile, Cynthia shrugged and opened the door.

“Well, then I’ll see you later,” she said as she left.

“Bye,” Desiree called out. Once the door closed, she was suddenly aware of how quiet the apartment was. She stood up and took her plate and the cups Cynthia and Rochelle had left on the table to the sink. She then walked to the living room and set her iPod to her favorite playlist. Nothing ever beat the electrifying sounds and the smooth voice that Rihanna’s music had to offer. She had it all: her slow songs, techno songs, house music, everything. She then walked to the kitchen and quickly washed the dishes and then put them away. She wiped down the counters before she walked to the living room and straightened the room. She briefly looked at the floor and wondered whether to vacuum or not. It didn’t look dirty and Rochelle had vacuumed the day before anyway. She shrugged and then walked to her room. After opening the windows to let the fresh air in, she made her bed and then walked to her closet to pick out her work clothes. She always liked to have everything laid out neatly before she took a shower. Her foster families had even thought she had OCD or something because of that. She took the blue pants, white blouse, navy tie and blue half coat and neatly laid them on the bed. She then walked to her underwear drawer and picked out maroon lace panties and a matching bra. If there was anything that she took more seriously than her health, it was her underwear choices. She believed that looking good underneath your clothes was just as important as hair or shoes. To Desiree, if anything ever happened to her, she would hate to have been in hospital and thinking her doctors or whoever rescued her saw her wearing ugly ass panties. That was one of the things her favorite foster mom had taught her and it was a lesson that stayed with her forever. She picked up her phone to look at the time even though she knew she still had a lot of time on her hands. When she looked at her phone, she noticed a text from Taylor. She smiled as she read it.

Good morning beautiful. How is your morning?  Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

She smiled and clicked reply but when she did, she realized that she had almost nothing to tell him. She wanted to see him so much. It had only been two days since she saw him but it felt like it had been longer.

I’m okay. I miss you. I hope that is not too straightforward.

She was still smiling when her phone beeped loudly.