Page 7 of You Make Me Feel

Kiana was a part-time pharmacist and was aware of the shit doctors prescribed for their patients and the complications some had because their doctors didn’t conduct enough research. She told me that one patient had two prescriptions that weren’t compatible, and it nearly killed her. She realized it when the woman got refills on both of them at the same time. Her husband had gone to pick them up for her and said his wife had been sick as a dog for a week. Ki advised him to take her to the emergency room because her symptoms indicated her liver was about to shut down.

I was grateful that Ki had medical training. She was smart as hell, and she educated herself constantly on the effects of different drugs. She also did her best to educate the students she taught at Lamar. When our food arrived, all conversation ceased, but we were all sort of picking over it, thinking about Dad. I knew that was what they were doing because it was surely where my mind was.

* * *

When I got home, I was completely drained. I went straight to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of wine, and then went to the bathroom to run a hot bath. I sprinkled the water with lavender oil and crystals. I’d gone to my parents’ house when I got off work and cried myself into a headache. My daddy held me in his arms, assuring me everything would be fine.

Sometimes, we suffered through things because of what happened in our past. My dad treated Lazarus and Ki like shit simply because he thought Kiana was making a mistake by being with him. He’d put her out of the house during her last semester of school, took her car and phone, and refused to speak to her. I didn’t understand why he needed so much control over what we did. Ki’s decision to be with the man she loved wasn’t hurting anyone. It wasn’t even like Lazarus was a thug. He was very intelligent, and his mama was crazy as hell. I loved them both.

So, my mind took this as punishment for the hardship he put on them. However, I also realized that this didn’t happen overnight. It came from years of eating unhealthily, stress, and lack of exercise. I was sure his genetics also played a role in it. His parents were deceased, and his father died of a massive heart attack. It was just the spiritual side of me that wanted to call it karma.

I left work a little after four instead of five because it got slow. Once Mr. Sylvester arrived, he told me there was no sense in both of us being there with nothing to do. Since I was on salary, I didn’t care. It made up for the times I had to work long days. After staying at my parents’ house for over an hour, I decided to come home and get my relaxation on.

I slid into the hot water after disrobing and turning off the faucet. I started some music by V. Cartier and opened the bottle of Stella Black. I didn’t bother getting a glass. I drank straight from the bottle. As I did, my mind went back to my dad’s condition. Despite his evil tendencies when he couldn’t get his way, he’d done his best to make things right with us. For the most part, he was a great dad, and I hated he was having to go through this. It was tearing me apart.

Ki and Lazarus had gotten there as I was leaving, and she didn’t seem to be taking the news any better since I’d seen her at lunch. I was sure seeing my dad had caused her emotions to resurface like mine. She was on the verge of crying before seeing him, so the sight of him had tipped her over.

I took a big gulp of my wine. To hell with sipping. If I could handle the hard stuff and still be able to function at work tomorrow, that would have been what I would have had. That Hennessy bottle would have gotten the business. I lay back on my tub cushion and inhaled the scent of lavender as I closed my eyes.

When my phone started to ring, I automatically rolled my eyes. Then I remembered Jarod was suppose to call me. This situation with my dad made me completely forget about him. That should have been a sign, but it wasn’t flashing bright enough. I answered anyway. “Hello?”

“May I speak to Kinisha, please?”

“You’re speaking to her. Hello, Jarod.”

“Hey. How was your day?”

I could hear the smile in his voice, and the tone of it had increased my body temperature. This water would be boiling in a minute if he kept that up. “It was good. How about yours?”

“It was cool. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a CPA. I work at Taylor, Wesin, and Sylvester Accounting Firm.”

“Oh, that’s cool. How long have you been there?”

“Almost two years. I got on as soon as I graduated.”

“Remind me of your age. I know we haven’t really talked because we are a few years apart. It was significant when we were younger, but now it doesn’t matter.”

I chuckled. “I’m twenty-four.”

“Okay. That’s about what I thought. I’m thirty. I’ll be thirty-one next month. So tell me, why were you staring at me like that?”

“I thought you were intelligent enough to figure that out. I’ve been watching you for the past year or so.”

“Mm. I am, but I also like directness.”

“Directness, huh?” I shifted in the water so that he could hear that I was in the bathtub. “I want to feel your dick slide between my walls. Is that direct enough for you?”

“Hell yeah. Damn. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to bethatdirect, but I like that shit. You got me bricked up over here. I can only imagine what you look like in that bathtub right now.”

I smiled slightly. My pussy had to be gurgling under this damn water. “So you know you don’t have to imagine.”

“Mm. What you got going this weekend? We can go to dinner and have dessert at your place.”

“I don’t have any plans. So it sounds good to me.”

“Damn, girl. You a freak. I can already tell. So is that all you want from me?”

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