My White Ex Soldier

She could taste herself on his lips. “So, what’s your plan for today?” he asked. She shook her head and looked at him.

“It’s my day off so nothing much,” she said. He smiled at her and put a hand on her navel. She was still breathing hard.

“Good then. I want to take you somewhere,” he said. She looked at him and smiled.

“Where?” she asked. He smiled and held her close.

“Get your strength back, then I’ll let you know,” he said as she fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up a few hours later, Taylor went to the living room as she took a shower. She put on her clothes and suddenly felt stupid. She had forgotten about the walk of shame.

“We’ll need to drive by my place. I need a change of clothes,” she said as they left. When they left, he drove to her place in almost complete silence. She was pleased to find out that Cynthia and Rochelle were not home. They would have sat her down for details even though she would have been inclined not to give them any. She walked to her room and put on a pair of jeans and a sleeveless top. It felt comfortable and simple enough.

“You look different,” he said as she walked towards him. She smiled.

“Different good or bad?” she asked as they walked to the car. He put an arm around her and smiled.

“If you looked bad, I would never have said anything,” he said. She smiled. Of course he was one of those men who only said something if he meant it, the very same men who only talked when whatever they had to say was pleasing to the ear. She smiled as she got back in the car.

“Won’t you please tell me where we are going?” she asked as she looked at him. He smiled and looked at her briefly before getting his eyes back on the road.

“You like art?” he asked. She nodded.

“Yes, why?” she asked.

“Well, there is a nice place downtown. I like to go there every so often and watch some rich idiots pour out hundreds of thousands for a photograph I spent a few blessed minutes pondering over,” he said. She smiled when he said that.

“You take photos?” she asked. He nodded.

“Something I picked up back when I was serving,” he said. She smiled and leaned against the window. They drove for another few miles before coming to a stop in front of a little gallery. She smiled at him as she got out of the car and walked into the gallery. He was right. It was small but the art in there was as tasteful as the next Van Gogh or Mona Lisa. She looked around at the huge framed photographs and paintings. They were simply perfect to say the least. By this time, Taylor was chatting away with a man, the man she thought owned the gallery. One particular piece caught her attention. It was a photograph of a child, a boy. He seemed to be lost and the ground around him seemed scorched. She could tell that much even though the photograph was in simple black and white. She guessed that the boy might have been from a war torn country. There was a certain sadness about the photograph. She almost felt sorry for the boy. She was still staring at the photograph when a man walked up next to her.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” he asked. She smiled.

“Yes, very,” she said without turning around.

“I love a woman who knows her way around art,” he said. She smiled and turned around. She was sure that he was hitting on her. When she turned around she suddenly felt angered. It was Leon. “Hi Dee,” he said calmly. It was obvious that he was not as surprised to see her as she was to see him. He had either seen her coming in or he had followed her here.