Saving Della Ray

I stared out the window as we drove past the rest of the world without seeing anything. My mind remained blank until Nichole’s words began to once again play in my head.

Just take this for what it will be, and when it’s time to part ways, then do that and be grateful that you were lucky enough to have someone that hot even temporarily. Have fun, be safe, and have a great story to tell your grandchildren.

My mind hooked on the last part of that last sentence.

Have a great story to tell your grandchildren.

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Excuse me. I need to change the address,” I told the driver.

I gave the new address and he changed the direction of the taxi. Less than ten minutes later, I was standing outside his apartment door. I knew he was at home because his Harley was parked outside, and I was about to knock when my hand stilled a few inches away from the wood. I decided to go another route. I sent him a text.

Bone, I’m in trouble at the restaurant. Could you please come to me?

I sent the text knowing that what I was doing was bonkers, but for me to go on to obtain the great story that I could tell my grandchildren I needed to be certain of something first.

His call was instant, but I had anticipated that and put my phone on silent mode. I watched it light up three more times. All I wanted to do was see if he would come find me, or ignore the call.

A few seconds later, his door flew open and he came rushing out. At first, he didn’t see me waiting by the side, so I called out his name, the closest thing to his true name that I knew of so far, “Miller.”

He froze and turned around. Confusion flashed across his face but at the look in my eyes, he came to a pretty decent conclusion about what was going on.

I could see he didn’t like it one bit that I had tricked him. Without saying anything, I coolly strolled into the apartment and straight for his kitchen before he could throw me out. There was a bottle of water in the refrigerator so I opened that and downed a healthy portion of it. I knew he was standing right behind me, watching. My feelings were beginning to return. It was an unsettling mix between panic and endearment.

“What was that?” he asked.

I took my time in settling my breathing before turning to face him. “You said you couldn’t make it.”

“That wasn’t a funny stunt,” he said.

“I know,” I replied, “and I’m sorry, but what you did wasn’t funny either. Anyway, I needed to confirm something.”

He remained silent and showed no curiosity as to what I needed to confirm, instead his eyes were hungrily roving over me in my short flirty dress. It was then that for the first time I noticed what he was wearing. He wasn’t in his usual black attire but had instead a pair of blue jeans on, a white crisp dress shirt tucked into it. His hair was nearly combed back and for the first time since I had met him there was no air of menace surrounding him. I realized why he was dressed this way. “You were going to come to the restaurant, weren’t you?”

He continued to glare at me.

I was unfazed. “Why did you change your mind when it’s obvious you care about me?”

“I want nothing to do with you,” he said.

That was so clearly a lie, it made me smile. “Then why were you rushing off to my aid. You could have just called the cops on my behalf.”

He shrugged. “Anyone would have done that.”

“Please, Bone. I just need to know why you changed your mind. And please tell me the truth. Otherwise, I’ll be inclined to think that you’re scared of me somehow. Why else would you lie?”

He turned around to walk off, but I stepped in front of him. “In the future, if there’s something you’re not comfortable with, please reject me straightaway, rather than go along and make a fool of me. I was already at the restaurant bar when you sent your text. See I don’t need you to wine and dine me. We could have just fucked here in secrecy and ordered in some food. That is what you want, isn’t it?”

Something flashed in his eyes.

Della Ray

-If I close my eyes forever-

I stared at him. He was breathtaking, in ways that made me wonder how he could simply just exist amongst the rest of us. His face was perfectly handsome, his nose, a perfectly strong Roman thing, sat just above his soft full lips. I recalled what it was like to taste them, and I couldn’t believe how long it had been since I had.