Page 31 of Night and Day
The way the apartment was set up, as he entered, he walked into the large living room. Straight ahead was the dining area and the kitchen. On either side of this main space were the bedrooms.
The kitchen wasn’t very large, but it was open, with a bar separating it from the living room. There were also large blind-covered windows, a small island in the middle, and black cabinets and stainless-steel appliances for a sleek modern look. To the left, a cubby hole in the kitchen contained a built-in desk that could be used as a bill paying center. Anton had hardly used it, and upon his insistence, Tamika took over that area as a work station, and she stored her boxes and a table for assembling packages in the bedroom he used as an office.
Tamika popped up from behind the bar separating the kitchen from the living room, clutching silverware and napkins in her hands. “Hey! I was getting ready to set the table.”
Her energy and bubbly attitude were a welcome change to the gravity of the case he’d worked on all week.
She set down the tableware and walked out wearing a cute little apron tied around her waist. All he saw was her pink cami top, pink bra straps, and bare legs from the knees down. His mind took off in a lusty, dirty direction. Had she been cooking with no pants on?
“Nothing too fancy,” she continued, walking toward him. “Spaghetti and meat sauce and salad. Hope you’re hungry.”
She picked up the mail that he dropped on the table. Now that she was turned sideways, he saw the gray gym shorts she wore.
“I’m starving,” Anton said, looping an arm around her waist and pulling her in for a quick kiss. With her soft body pressed against him, tasting her lips was the best welcome home any man could have. “Mmm.”
She grinned up at him and touched his cheek. “Bad day?”
“Kinda. Glad it’s over. Glad the week is over and I can relax a little.”
“No work for you for the next two days. I’ll be watching you.”
That was the other thing about Tamika—her laissez-faire attitude about work. No pressure to work harder and spend more money. She wasn’t obsessed with appearances the way Melissa had been. Yet despite that lack of pressure, hewantedto work harder and spend more money on her.
She headed back to the kitchen, hips swaying, bottom looking full and tight in the thin shorts. She dropped one of the pieces of mail onto the desk.
“You don’t have to cook for me every day, you know,” Anton said.
“I’m not cooking for you. I’m cooking for us. We can’t eat out all the time,” Tamika said.
“Well, I appreciate it.”
He hated to keep comparing her to Melissa, but this was another way in which they differed. Melissa hadn’t been much for cooking. She preferred to order delivery from their favorite restaurants or go out to eat and run up a steep tab from ordering plenty of cocktails and the most expensive dishes on the menu. Most of the time he didn’t care because he could afford the bill and wanted to treat his lady well, but this was a nice change.
Tamika tossed a dish towel over her shoulder. “Go change and I’ll set the table for us.” She turned her attention to the stove and used a wooden spoon to stir the sauce.
Her energy was so different from his. Funny how being with her brought into stark reality all the areas Melissa had been lacking in—and all the positive aspects of a relationship he’d been missing out on. It was all so clear now because he’d met someone who hit all the right buttons.
Tamika was engaging, funny, and generous. In retrospect, being with Melissa had been a chore, because she insisted he live up to expectations he had no interest in living up to. But Tamika was different. How did Calvin fumble a relationship with such a sexy, fun-loving woman?
Anton shook his head as he headed toward his bedroom. Some men didn’t know how good they had it.
He went into the bedroom and changed into jeans and a gray short-sleeved Henley, then returned to the kitchen where Tamika had already fixed his plate, piling it high with spaghetti and meat sauce.
Her parents were both from the island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean, and a few times she prepared Caribbean dishes. Earlier this week they ate curry chicken with rice and plantains. He’d enjoyed the meal so much he’d gone back for seconds. Another night she prepared salt fish and coconut dumplings. Damn, that had been good. He could still taste the gravy, flavorful from the onions and thyme. And who knew coconut went so well with dumplings?
Anton opened the red wine Tamika had picked up on the way home and poured them each a glass. Then they sat down across from each other at the table. Immediately, the rest of the weight from the day lifted off his shoulders as he shared the problems he experienced on a case for one of his clients. When he finished, Tamika updated him on her day. She had left early this morning to work on a new lip balm product and had spent half the day measuring and testing different combinations.
“My labels with the new TamCam logo were sitting outside the kitchen when I arrived, so I spent the latter part of the day putting them on my jars and bottles. Then I put together my shipments and went to the post office to drop off orders that had come in.” She smiled across the table at him.
“We both had a productive day,” Anton said. Yawning, he stretched his arms above his head. “I’m tired, and ready for bed.”
“Go to bed, I’ll clean up.”
“No way. I’m going to help you put away the dishes, and thenwe’regoing to bed. I may not get up until noon tomorrow.”
She laughed, standing with her plate and glass in hand. “That, I doubt. You’ll go to the gym like you did the last couple of weekends. And don’t forget you have the birthday party tomorrow afternoon.”
“Ah, shit. I forgot about that.” Anton followed her into the kitchen with the rest of the dishes stacked in his hands.
