Keeper

Cherry Johnson lie across her bed wondering just where her life....and her love life in particular was going....Here she was in Philadelphia...a city she wasn't born or raised in....Across country from her native, San-Francisco...Divorced, from a bad man who beat her, who had killed somebody and who was now serving a life without parole sentence in California...

She had a good job...She was the manager of the Victoria's Secret in Chris and Chess's shopping center. It did great business...Chess, her first lover from when she first moved to Philadelphia bought things for his wife, Rell all the time in her store...Reed Nelson, the trumpet player who had been her second lover bought things for his wife , Debbie from her store... She had somehow let both of these men, both good catches get away and worse, get married!!

Downtown Rob Brown, who she had also dated was nothing more than a player...He was allegedly in a committed relationship with his girlfriend ,Delores, but at one time he had been seeing her, seeing Delores and some girl in New York all at the same time...He would never share her bed again...

Then there was her current situation...The slick, smooth talking teacher at the community college, Samuel Rasulala....She had had one of his classes and after class she and the good professor had engaged in some extra-curricular activities...  Meant to be just a one night stand...He apparently had never gotten the message and continues to show up whenever he feels like it and render her helpless with mind blowing sex...Yet he was just like Cotton Candy....taste sweet, but no substance..He too was a player, but she couldn't resist him..

Then there was Roscoe....a stone cold gangster...destined for prison one day....and who is married..in an on again ,off again seperation....He was once just a friend....became elevated to a friend with benefits... But who is no more a future prospect than Samuel Rasulala....

She hadn't heard from Roscoe in two months....Sam had been around two weeks ago...left her sweaty and exhasuted in bed and then sly slipped in Victoria's Secret on a day she was at a regional meeting with another girl and purchased some sexy lingerie...Like she wasn't going to know about it!! How stupid can some guys be? She wondered...

"Dear God...bring me someone special or at least get me off of this roller coaster I'm on." she said as she tucked her bible on the night stand, took a nice long hot shower, rubbed on some sweet smelling lotion, got dressed and headed out to work.

II-

She often thought about leaving Philadelphia and returning to the west coast...After all, Victoria's Secret started right in her native San-Francisco...She could get a job there or do something else all together...Despite that...She found that she liked it here....She had friends...Chess, even though he was no longer her lover was still a friend...She lived , not too far from where she worked in an Apartment complex that he and his partner, Chris Thompson owned...She was pretty friendly with Honey Brown and Gus at Josies, the bar across the street where everybody hung out....And occassionally, Brooke Taylor, who hailed from her hometown played in Josies and gave her a run down on what was happening back west.

"Excuse me...Could I talk to the manager?" said a tall, handsome ,carmel colored Black man....

Cherry was all smiles....

"That would be me." she said.

"Ohhh, okay...Uh I'm so sorry...I don't know how to say this, but uh...I'm the manager of the new Verizon Wireless store that just opened up in a few weeks ago....My name is Cal...Calvin Wardlow and these flowers came for you on Valentines Day, a few days ago and I forgot to bring them to you...Apparently, the sender got your address mixed up with mine...I put them in a vase and tried to keep them alive for you...Sorry." he said.

He was about six feet, three, nice athletic build and looked to be about a year or two younger than Cherry...

''Oh thank you." she said. She looked at the name on the flowers, a dozen roses of several different colors...

It was Samuel Rasulala....She frowned...

"Is something wrong?" he said.

"Nothing you did....This guy knows my stores address...He probably was daydreaming about some young trollip he was with and mixed it up...He certainly didn't forget the address when he slipped in here with her last week and bought her some panties." she snapped...Then she caught herself...

"Oh I'm sorry....No need to burden you with my troubles." she said.

"He your boyfriend?" he asked.  Cherry looked at him and smiled while giving him a side eye...

"No....He's nobody.....Why do you ask?" she said.

"I really shouldn't...It's none of my business...But uh...er...look...I've seen you around a couple of times and I was kind of interested...in uh, you know, maybe taking you out to dinner, maybe having some drinks, a little  conversation...whatever...if ..you know...you aint doin nothin." he said.

"Calvin, how long you been checkin me out?" she asked.

''About a month." he said.  She smiled...

"You got a phone?" she asked.

"Yeah..." he said.

''Give me your number....I'll call you and let you know." she said.

"That means you aint gonna call" he said.

"You never know." she said.

III-

She did call him , about a week later....Calvin took her to a fine restaurant and they had a fine meal....They shared a little small talk mostly...and then they went to the Aqua Bar...

The Aqua Bar was on the third floor of an old warehouse....It was beautiful inside...It had a bar the length of the floor and underneath the marble surface was an aquarium...a huge aquarium with every type of sea life..

  The bar stools were shaped like starfish and clams....The Club D.J. spun a mixture of Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul and Acid Jazz music....When he wasn't spinning...Good music came through the ultra modern bose speakers from a sattelite feed...

There was also  beautiful busty bar maids who looked like they might have started out being strippers...Cherry had heard about this place , but had never been here...Josies was her bar of choice...but after that great meal, this was a nice second spot...

Here they talked a little more about their lives... Cal was a Philly native, born and raised and had attended local public schools and Temple University...Had only ventured out of the city for a short period when he lived in Atlanta....He had recently returned and had taken the job managing the Verizon Wireless store...His
Apartment complex was just two blocks from Cherry's own...

Cherry told him about her California past, her bad marriage and her current love triangle...He told her that he had been a "serial dater" (His term) but that he wasn't seeing anybody special right now...It turned out, he wasn't younger than Cherry...but older by a day!!!

On the drive home Cherry exclaimed...

"I can't believe your birthday is the day before mine...and the same year too." she laughed.."I thought you might be younger." she said.

"Younger? I thought you were younger than me." he laughed as he walked her to the door of her complex...

"OK...you just won a few brownie points there." she laughed...

"Does that mean I can come in?" he asked...

"Ouuuu,I'm scared of you...You don't mince words." she said.

"Is that a yes or a no?" he said smiling...

"Ohhhh come on....But remember,it's a first date.. Don't expect anything to jump off...I don't even know if there will be a second." she said.

"Awww come on..Was I that bad?" he laughed as they got into the elevator..

"No....No you were perfect."she said.


III-

Neither Cherry nor Cal knew who made the first move, but they were in her apartment only a few minutes before they were kissing, wet sloppy kisses...then slow burning, passionate kisses....Calvin's shirt was off, his pants were down to his ankles, Cherry's blouse and skirt were off and he had lifted her up , slipped her panties down and had his penis inside of her ...

''OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOOODNESSS...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...CAL...CAL.....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD..PLEASE!! DON'T STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!" she screamed...

''DAMNNNNNNN GIRL...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU FEEL SOOOO GOOOOD  ARGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"he yelled as he thrusted away.....

They stumbled into Cherry's bedroom and he layed her gently oh her bed and entered her again...she wrapped her legs around his back and they went at it some more...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU babyyyyyyyyyyyyy...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." she screamed to the top of her lungs..

Cal was different from both Samuel Rasulala and Roscoe... But of course he would be , he was a different man, Yet there was something about him, Cherry thought...a wildness, a freshness that was bringing out a wild primal part of her....She felt herself climaxing furiously as Cal continued to thrust wildly...

"Pull out...Pull out....don't come inside me...please Cal....you're not wearing a condom...Please don't come inside me..." she begged..

He pulled out and came like a running faucet!!!

Cherry was amazed...

Once again, she was exhausted...and a little ashamed...She hardly knew this guy and here it was ...a first date and she had given in so easily...Was she a whore??? She felt like one.....But at the same time...She felt a tingly sensation that she had never felt before.....

IV-

Cherry let Calvin stay against her better judgement..... When she woke up the next morning...A Saturday, she was alone....

She smelled the strong wift of bacon coming from her kitchen...She walked into her kitchen....Calvin had washed all of the dishes from the night before....He had set the table for two and had scrambled eggs, made bacon and some homemade bisquits....No man had ever done this for her before...but she had done this for many a guy...Especially after some good sex...

"Woww" was all Cherry could say...

"I was going to wake you when  I was finished..." he said.

"I must have really put it on him last night!" she thought to herself and smiled as she sat down and he served her the food.

"You have to come over to my place and allow me to really do it up for you...That is...uhh, if you still want to." he said.

"Why wouldn't I want to Cal?" she asked.

"I uh..I did kind of move a little too fast last night...I don't usually do that...I got carried away, I guess." he said.

"I don't either...That was something different for me too." said Cherry..."I know that might be hard for you to believe given my history." she said.

"I don't judge people Cherry...besides...you're a beautiful woman....I'd expect there to be other guys in your life.There would be something wrong if there wasn't."he said.

"Ohhhh I put it on him." she thought to herself..."He says all of the right things!"

The food was delicious....She felt a wildness, a freshness like she'd never felt before...She just felt extra sensitive to everything......

''What time is it?" she asked..

"It's about 7:30 am." he said.

"I know you gotta work today" he said as he collected the dishes and put them in a sink full of hot soapy water he had already run...  ''I do too....Cherry....We made love with wild abandon last night...I hope it's not too forward of me to ask you if I can make love to you again....Like a man, like the man I am." said Cal.

Cherry was astounded....

"Wow...I've never been propositioned like that before....No man has ever talked to me like that before...You are something else....." she said...and then she sat in his lap....He was wearing one of her bathrobes....She felt his huge erection the minute she sat in his lap...

"Ohhhhhhh myyyyy..." she said...

He lifted her up and walked her to her bedroom......He layed her down on the bed...slowly straddled her and entered her slowly...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." moaned Cherry....

He moved slowly in and out of her as though he were a gourmet savoring every last taste.....They made sweet love for the next two hours...Every sense in Cherry's body seemed to be electrified....She found herself climaxing multiple times....Calvin certainly knew what to do with a woman's body...Who knew??

she thought....  They both came slowly together!!!!!!

They took a shower together that morning...and wound up making love in the shower until the hot water turned to cold water...

V- 

Calvin drove Cherry to work...Even though she had a car, she lived so close to her job that she usually walked.

She smiled at him....

''Well Mr. Calvin Wardlow....Thank you for a very ...very interesting night...and morning."she said.

"Thank You Ms. Cherry Johnson....Will there be a second date?" he asked.

"Most definitely...After work...We could discuss it at Josies if you like." she said.

"Heyyy, that would be great." he said...

Cherry watched Calvin as he walked toward his store....

She would have to give both Roscoe and Samuel Rasulala the news that she was now off the market....The love store was closed.....She had found her keeper....