My White Ex Soldier

Chapter 6

After her shift ended at three in the afternoon, Desiree was over the moon. She had her entire afternoon planned out. She would leave work and head home for a nap and then wake up, shower, get dressed and get her hair done.  And that was what she did, at least the first thing, going home. As soon as she got home, the apartment was once again quiet. That was the life she lived since Cynthia and Rochelle both worked very strange hours. She noticed a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and a note on the fridge. The note was from Cynthia.

Hi Dee. I know you will get home before Rochelle does. Do me a favor and put these away. I had to rush out…turns out I left my phone at the coffee shop.

Desiree smiled. Of course that explained why she went old school instead of texting her. She quickly put the groceries away and tidied up the kitchen before taking a bottle of water out of the fridge and then headed to her room. After kicking her shoes off, she took a few big gulps of the water and lay down on the bed. For some reason, she could not bring herself to sleep even though she had wanted to take a nap for so long. Maybe it was the fact that the nap was scheduled that made her not sleep, or was it that she was too excited? She shrugged. She had been on dates before and she was never a nervous wreck like this. She thought of her past and how she would have wanted things to play out. She was never one to plan things because every time she did, it was a terrible mess. Nothing ever turned out the way she would have wanted, or not often. She had come to realize that there were some things, especially matters of the heart, that people did not make plans for.

It seemed to have been a few minutes when she opened her eyes. Looking at her phone, she realized that she had been asleep for almost three hours. She quickly got up and jumped in the shower. Once she was done, she could hear the TV blaring from the living room.  That could have meant only one thing: Rochelle was home. After drying her hair, she walked to her closet and picked out the dress she had been saving for that night: a strapless purple peplum mini dress. She had just put it on when her sister walked into her room.

“You have got to let me borrow that one of these days,” she said looking at Desiree who was now admiring her reflection in the mirror. Desiree smiled.

“Zip me up,” she said with her back to Rochelle. “I managed to pull it up but it is not secured and I don’t want my boobs falling out during dinner,” she said as Rochelle pulled the zipper up.

“So, you and Taylor, huh? I always thought I would be the one to end up with a white guy in the family,” Rochelle said with a smile. Desiree shrugged.

“Well, I didn’t exactly ask for it. It found me,” she said as she gently worked a curling iron on her hair.

“Guess there are some things we can never really ask for,” Rochelle said taking a seat at the edge of the bed. Desiree could see from the reflection in the mirror that her sister was not her usual bubbly self.

“Is everything okay?” she asked turning around to look at her. Rochelle shrugged.

“I don’t know. I guess,” she said seemingly unsure. Desiree knew she only had a few minutes until Taylor got there. But it seemed like her sister needed her at this moment. She stood up and unplugged the curling iron before carrying it to where Rochelle was.

“Talk to me,” she said as she continued to do her hair. Rochelle smiled and turned to look at her.

“You’ll burn your ends. Let me,” she said taking the curling iron from Desiree and then kneeling on the bed. Desiree waited as her sister began working on her hair. Whatever it was, Rochelle did not want to be rushed. “It’s Tony,” she finally said. Desiree smiled. This was the first time since…ever, that Rochelle seemed to be stressed out over a guy.

“Uh huh. What did he do?” she asked. Rochelle shrugged.

“He uh…he told me he loved me,” she said. Desiree was confused. If there was anything Rochelle was good at, it was making men fall in love with her. She wondered why it was a problem this time around.

“So? You’ve been told that before, haven’t you?” Desiree asked. Rochelle shrugged again.

“Yes, but this was the first time I wanted to say it back,” she said in a soft voice. Desiree turned around and looked at her.

“You have got to be shitting me,” she said excitedly. Rochelle shook her head no.

“I mean it,” she said. Desiree smiled and stretched out her arms to hug her but Rochelle stopped her. “Don’t make me burn you woman. This is not a good thing,” she said, holding the curling iron in her face. Desiree laughed.

“Love is a good thing though it sucks sometimes, and Tony is a sweet man. You have taken him through some very thin hoops and he still stayed. That says a lot about him,” she said looking at Rochelle. They were still looking at each other, a bit lost for words, when they heard the doorbell. “Fu*k, that must be Taylor. Tell him I’ll be right there,” she said taking the iron from Rochelle. She walked back to her dresser and sat down to retouch her makeup as Rochelle walked to the front door. Her curls looked perfect. She quickly touched up her face and put on some lush plum lip gloss. It always made her lips a bit sexier than they already were. After putting on a pair of heels she made her way to the living room where Taylor was now seated talking to Rochelle. She could tell by the way Taylor looked speechless that’s she was breathtakingly beautiful in her outfit. He also looked spectacular in black pants and a matching jacket.

“Hey,” she said with a smile.

“Hey,” he said and then stood up. Rochelle looked at Desiree and then at Taylor and stood up.

“Well, you kids have fun. I’m going to head to my room and read a book or something. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said as she walked towards Desiree. She winked at her as she walked past.

“We won’t…wait. Is there anything you wouldn’t do?” Desiree asked turning around. Rochelle looked at her and smiled.

“Not much,” she said before disappearing into her room. Desiree walked towards Taylor and looked into his eyes.

“Hey Ericson,” she said with a smile.

“We already did that,” he said. Desiree shook her head. “Smart ass,” she thought as Taylor walked towards the door. “Come on, we have a reservation,” he said holding the door open for her. She smiled and walked out of the apartment holding her purse in her hand. “Wow, you look……wow,” he said as he looked at her. She smiled and tucked her purse in her armpit.

“Thank you. I must say that the official look befits you,” she said, rather formally. He laughed and leaned forward to give her a quick kiss.

“The cab’s downstairs,” he said as she closed the door behind her. As they walked down the stairs, Desiree could feel his eyes on her ass. She scolded herself a bit for not wearing a coat but then again, he would not be walking behind her for long. When they exited the building, they got in the cab and rode to the restaurant in almost complete silence, only making small talk along the way. True to his word, the restaurant was exactly what he said it would be. Nice, quiet and classy. He had jacket potatoes and beef, medium rare and she had the same with fish. They both had a glass of French wine and by the time dinner was over, Desiree felt at ease. Maybe it was a full stomach or the wine that made her feel a bit more comfortable. She was not sure.