Nicole
Nicole popped candy she always had in her backpack into her mouth and fought against the impulse to tap her foot. She’d been looking forward to this talk on police abolition all week and now it was running late and no one was communicating and she was two minutes away from just giving up and leaving except she desperately wanted to make like-minded friends and was sick of preaching about the importance of community online while taking no concrete steps towards being part of one herself. She popped another sweet into her mouth, fighting the groan trying to claw its way out of her throat.
“Hey, guys, can you hear me?” a stone-cold hottie standing at the makeshift podium said, tapping the wireless microphone. He had on a pair of above-the-knee pink shorts that did wonderful things for his muscular thighs. He smiled and for the first time in remembered history, her mind went blank at the sight of a man without a beard. Nicole swallowed, admonishing herself for her lust-filled brain. Say what you want about revolutionary types, but there was something so irresistibly hot about them.
“Once again, I am so sorry, we’re running late. Thank you for staying. We’ll try to cover today’s material in the time we have. If we run out of time, we’ll share the material with you. Printouts of the format of the day’s events are currently being shared. I’ll invite the first speaker to start us off, comrade Jimmy, welcome.”
&&&
Nicole was buzzed from the rousing discussion they’d had in closing, plus, she’d made two new friends and was excited to keep talking to them online. She had a good feeling about them. This was overall a better outcome than she’d imagined. She was in the queue to serve tea and a snack, then she’d take a walk around the library before heading home.
She reached for a cup and accidentally bumped the guy in front of her. “Sorry.“
“It’s okay,” he said, turning with a kind smile.
She froze in place when their eyes locked. His smile dropped.
“Hey,” he finally said.
“Hey,” she whispered.
The queue moved, and they both ambled along, serving their preferred tea and grabbing the pre-packed snacks.
Nicole had never wanted to disappear more in her life. Every time she got a glimpse of him thanks to her outstanding peripheral vision, her mind filled with images of her in bed, toy in hand, moaning with careless abandon as he talked her into one of the best orgasms of her life.
“Hey,” he said again when they were away from the snack table. “How’ve you been?”
She cleared her throat, fighting the embarrassment she felt trying to pull her under. “Mostly good. As good as can be I guess, considering the wretched circumstances we find ourselves in as a country.”
He sighed. No words needed.
“Can we sit? Do you want to sit?” He asked gesturing at an open table.
She blinked fast, pushing away his voice that night, a low murmur in her ear. “Do you like that? Do you want more?”
“Yeah. How have you been?” She asked in a rush.
“About the same as you and most people, I guess.”
They sat in silence as they hid behind eating. It wouldn’t last as a distraction for long. A mandazi and two samosas accompanied by a small cup of tea would be out far too soon.
“This was my first time coming for one of these. Been meaning to for a while but you know… life. You ever been?” He asked, and she would have kissed him with relief.
“Nah. First time. I’ve been following them online for a while, so I thought I’d come out. Plus, I don’t know, I’ve been trying to educate myself and shit.” She stopped herself, she’d just had a semi-fight with her mother about her steadily deteriorating vocabulary as evidenced by her increased cussing. Her mum insisted it made people uncomfortable. “Do you have a problem with cussing?”
A slow smile split his face, as he locked gazes with her and he shook his head so slowly he might as well have been in slow motion. “Nah.” He said, his voice as low and intimate as it had been that night.
She was back to that night, moaning in the throes of passion. “Oh, fuck, Jerry, that feels so good.”
She picked up her empty cup of tea, gulping the sediment as she tried to hide. He remembered. He fucking remembered. She needed a minute. She grabbed her phone and got up. “I need to get this,” she said, walking away.
Jerry
“Fuck,” Jerry cussed under his breath as he watched her walk away, the sway of her hips entrancing. God, she was hotter than he remembered, and he had fucked things up. She was definitely not coming back. He considered following her then talked himself out of it. If she was trying to get away from him, he was not going to further compound it by following her and possibly freaking her out to boot.
He’d been trying to figure out how he’d messed up for weeks now. They’d gone on a date, dinner at a restaurant she said she wanted to try. They’d eaten messily with their hands, had laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. Then he’d seen her into a waiting ride and walked to take public transport to his place.
He remembered calling her to find out if she’d arrived well and to thank her for the date. He’d had a wonderful time, and he wanted more. Wanted to make sure she got that.
“Hello,” she answered, sounding breathless.
“Hey, did you get home okay?” Jerry said, relief coursing through him. Her cell had rung and rung until fear convinced him she wasn’t going to answer. Except she’d answered, sounding sexier than sin.
Nicole cleared her throat. “Yeah,” I was taking a shower.
“Oh, okay. I just wanted to say, I had a really great time. I need to send Kimmy a gift for introducing us.”
“I had a great time, too. We totally owe her.”
“What’s your bedtime routine like?”
“Shower. Bed.” She said with a laugh. “Sometimes I’ll watch something in bed, though I’m trying to stop that. Sometimes music.”
“What kind of music?”
“Something soft like Marvin Gaye.”
“Let’s get it on,” he sang playfully.
“Yeah, like that.”
“What do you do when listening to something that sensual?”
“What, you want a play-by-play?” she asked with a laugh.
His breath caught in his throat surprised at the conversational turn.
“Yes, please,” he said seriously.
Silence.
“Only if you want to tell me,” Jerry rushed to clarify. “We don’t even have to…“
“Chill out and I’ll tell you,” she whispered, interrupting his rambling. He heard some ruffling in the ensuing silence. “I have this playlist.” She said as slow sensuous music filtered to him.
He sat on the edge of his bed, afraid to even breathe too loud in case it turned her off.
“I like how I feel, soft, everywhere, neck, hands, breasts, stomach, everywhere…”
“You like a soft touch.”
“Yeah,” she breathed out.
“I’d touch you softly, first just my fingertips then my lips then hands. Until you were breathing just like that.” He whispered, switching off the lights in his room.
“Fuck,” she cussed.
He heard a buzzing sound.
He groaned collapsing on his bed. “Is that what I think it is?”
She moaned in response.
“You’re impatient, huh?”
“It’s your voice. Tell me what else you’d do.” She urged.
“I want to hold it for you, watch your face, watch your free hands. I want to play with your-”
“Excuse, Can I take these?” A woman asked, shocking him and forcefully dragging him to the present.
“Yes, thank you,” he said in a rush.
That was the full extent of what he recalled of the night. Somehow they’d ended up at orgasms and before he knew it, he was asking what she liked, telling her how he’d do it all to her, for her if he was there. Then she was moaning, growling his name and he was jerking himself off, imagining his hands all over her, pleasuring her in all the ways she’d described.
He let himself go back to the night, trying to find where the night went off the rails.
The music played on softly as they both breathed shakily into the connection.
“Oh fuck,” Nicole breathed.
“Yeah.”
More music.
“Thanks for that,” he said.
“Thank you.” she said, emphasizing the ‘you.’
Another song came on.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
“Okay,” she said.
He’d called.
She hadn’t answered. Not a single time.
After the fifth or tenth call went unanswered, he got the message, deleted her number and spent the weeks after turning the incident over in his mind over and over, trying to figure out where things went sideways.
Movement in the corner of his eye drew him out of the reverie. She was back? She was back! He sat up, energy seeping back into his beaten spirit. He saw her reach for her backpack hanging behind the seat, then it clicked. She’d only come back because she left the bag.
“What did I do wrong?” He asked, standing up so he could look into her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“You blocked me after what I thought was a pretty great date and after date. So, you know, I’ve been wondering… what did I do? At the very least, if it’s something I can set right or apologize for, I’d like to.”
She started fidgeting with her bag, then stopped. “You didn’t do anything. I just freaked out after… I’ve never done that.” she said, biting her lower lip, avoiding his gaze.
“Oh… you’re talking about the phone sex?” he whispered.
“Yeah… it’s not exactly something I do with men I just met.”
“Okay, what if I told you it was the first time, too?”
She canted her head to the side, eyeing him. “You were pretty good.”
“I’d say the same about you,” he said with a wink.
She smiled. “I guess it was beginner’s luck?”
“Maybe, maybe not? How attached are you to the scientific method?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes at the change of topic. “I guess I see its value as a way of getting to the truth of things.”
“Good. I love it too. I propose a repeat, see if it was beginner’s luck or something else.”
“Oh, okay.” She laughed. “I like experiments as much as the next girl. We’ll probably have to run a couple, compare of findings and all, try to disprove easy theories.”
“I like the sound of that. The only thing is for this to work, you’re going to have to unblock me.”
She pulled her phone out and started scrolling. He leaned close, hoping she wouldn’t mind. She stopped at ‘The Voice’ and hit unblock. Laughter bubbled out of him as he pointed at the screen.
She laughed. “Hey, it’s accurate.”
She dialled his number, and he reached for his phone. She saw her number wasn’t saved.
“You deleted my number?” she asked.
“I had to. It was either that or keep calling you three times a day. I did it for my mental health.” He argued.
She glanced at her screen, expression turning serious, and he knew before she said it. “My ride is here.”
“Let me walk you out?” he asked.
She nodded, and they headed for the door.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
“I look forward to it,” she said, winking at him.
Oh, it was on. He’d been talking about just calling to see how she’d gotten home, but it looked like she had science on her mind.
She stood by the car, her door opened, then leaned in to hug him.
“Bye.”
He returned it, holding her close. “For now, right? Bye for now.”
She nodded, smiling. “For now,” she reassured him shaking her head like she couldn’t believe him.
“Thank God,” he said as she slid into the backseat laughing. “Wow, laugh at my pain and trauma.”
He closed the door and waved back at her.
He started the walk towards the bus stop, checking his phone when it pinged. “I’ll kiss it better next time.”
He slid the phone into his pocket, a stupid smile on his face, warmth bubbling in his chest. The country was in hell, and they were going to work at fixing it, but tonight, they were going to engage in another type of revolution with love at its centre.
He walked with a pep in his step, humming the song that had started all this. “Let’s get it on.”
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