Keisha yawned loudly as she closed her eyes, feeling herself falling asleep against Will’s chest. “Wake me up in a half an hour…no, twenty minutes, please,” she murmured as he gently trailed his fingers along her back. “I want to take a quick nap.”
The second bottle of champagne, the fresh strawberries, and chocolate cake sat mostly untouched on the first floor. Keisha and Will had not been back to the kitchen since he carried her upstairs a half an hour ago. Part of her wanted to sample the rest of her birthday treat before she left for her dinner date with her mother, but she was too tired. After all that lovemaking, right now Keisha wanted nothing more than to sleep.
“Why do you want me to wake you up?” he asked, running his fingers through her hair. “Why don’t you just stay tonight?” He smiled. “I’ll make you breakfast in the morning. I’ve got fresh blueberries, and we both know how much you like waffles and blueberries.”
“It’s tempting, but I can’t,” she muttered tiredly with a smile, snuggling against him to get more comfortable. “I told you that I have to be somewhere later.”
He frowned. “But you’re already late. I thought you had to be there at eight.”
“I do have to be there at eight.” Keisha’s eyes instantly shot open. “Wait…what time is it?”
Will reached over and raised the digital clock on the night table beside him. “It’s 8:15.”
Keisha sucked her teeth as she pushed herself off his chest. “Oh, hell! I didn’t know it was that late! I thought it was 6:30!” she exclaimed as she quickly pulled back the sheets and climbed out of bed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She had arrived at his house at a little after 5:30. How could they have possibly been in his bedroom for more than two and a half hours? Time certainly flies when you’re having fun, I guess, Keisha thought.
Will raised himself to a sitting position and propped a pillow behind his back. He shrugged his shoulders. “I lost track of time just like you did. Just call them and tell them you’re running late, or, better yet,” he said, lowering his voice as he reached for her, “tell them that you can’t make it.”
Keisha didn’t answer him. Instead she stared over his shoulder at the alarm clock, cursing under her breath. It was indeed 8:15 p.m. She should have been at the restaurant meeting her mother. She could envision the older woman anxiously checking her watch as she waited for her daughter.
Keisha stepped out of Will’s reach as she scrambled to grab her underwear and blouse. It would be an hour’s drive from Annapolis back to D.C.
“Why don’t you just call them?” Will asked again, frowning as she hurriedly climbed into her underwear. “Does it have something do with the campaign?”
“No,” Keisha said as she fastened her bra clasp.
“Well, then what is it?” He cocked an eyebrow. “What? A date?” he asked sarcastically with a smirk.
She quickly shoved her arms into her shirt sleeves. “As a matter of fact, it is…kinda,” Keisha said as she buttoned her blouse. “It’s for my birthday. I was supposed to meet someone for dinner.”
“That’s what you had to do this evening?” Will gazed at her, dumbfounded. “Are you kidding me?”
“Does it look like I’m kidding?” Keisha asked, frowning at his tone. She turned and saw that his face had morphed from an expression of surprise to one of anger. The muscles along his chests and arms were tense.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that when you got here, or when I talked to you twelve damn hours ago, Keisha?” he asked with hot indignation.
Her eyes widened.
“Who is he? Were you planning to tell me about him or were you just—”
“It’s a date with my mother, Will,” Keisha quickly clarified. “She’s taking me out to dinner for my birthday. So calm down, all right?”
“Oh,” he said. She watched the muscles in his arms and chest relax as he sighed. “Why…why didn’t you say that in the beginning?”
Keisha rolled her eyes and walked around the bed to grab her skirt. “Goodbye, Will,” she said, leaning down and kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll call you this weekend,” she yelled over her shoulder as she hopped into her skirt. She then sprinted down the hall and the staircase.
Seconds later, Keisha climbed inside her car. She reached into her purse and turned on her BlackBerry. There were several voice messages waiting for her, two of which were from her mother. Keisha quickly dialed Lena’s number.
“Keisha Reynolds, where are you?” her mother’s perturbed voice answered. “You didn’t tell me you were going to be late. Are you parking now?”
Keisha frowned sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Ma. A meeting with Phil ran over,” she lied as she put the car into reverse and backed out of Will’s driveway. “I couldn’t…I couldn’t get out of it to call you, but I’m on my way now.”
Her mother sighed. “Well, maybe they can hold the reservation a little longer. How far away are you?”
Keisha drove down the tree-lined street, making a left turn at a stop sign. “I’m about an hour away, Ma. I’m in Annapolis.”
There was a noticeable pause. “Annapolis? Why are you in Annapolis?”
“It’s for work,” Keisha blurted out impatiently. “It’s hard to explain. Look, Ma, I’m on the road so I should get off the phone.”
“Keisha,” her mother said before letting out another heavy sigh, “I made these reservations two months ago. You knew what time—”
“Ma, I couldn’t get out! What do you want me to do?”
“Fine. Fine,” she said quietly. “Just meet me at the house. I don’t think the hostess can hold our reservation much longer. I guess I’ll just heat up something quick at home. It’s not the same as a four-star meal, but it’ll have to do. Drive carefully, honey.”
“Sorry, Ma. Bye,” Keisha said, ending the connection. She tossed her BlackBerry onto the car seat beside her, tightened her grip on the steering wheel, and pressed down the accelerator.
She sounded so disappointed, Keisha thought guiltily.
Keisha hated lying, particularly to her mother, but she seemed to be doing it all the time now. How many fibs had she told in the past week to cover up some afternoon rendezvous with Will? At least a dozen, she surmised. She wondered if Will had told just as many lies so no one would find out about her.
We should stop this, she thought. I know we should. But it was so hard to do it. For the first time in her life Keisha could say she was helplessly in love, in every sense of the word. Physically and mentally, Will had a magnetic hold on her and she suspected she had a hold on him, too. How was it their fault that by sheer coincidence they worked for the opposing candidates? Why should she go without being happy just because of some dumb election?
Some dumb election, a voice inside her head mocked. That election was once really important to you. You have a lot invested in that election, Keisha!
Keisha quickly reached over and turned up the music on her car radio to drown out that voice. “I’m happy, damn it,” she mumbled aloud to herself. “Why can’t I be happy for once?”
Why couldn’t she enjoy the moment?
* * *
Thanks to a beltway accident, it actually took more than an hour to make it to her mother’s house. When she arrived, it was a little after 9:30. Keisha ran up the front steps and quickly opened the front door.
“Sorry I’m late, Ma!” she shouted as she nearly sprinted down the hall and into the kitchen. “Sorry about dinner! Like I said, the meeting ran longer than I expected. I hope you started eating. Please tell me you didn’t wait for me again.”
She had to pause to catch her breath from running so fast.
Lena slowly looked up from her dinner plate. She scanned Keisha for several seconds, not saying a word. She then pointed across the kitchen table to a plate sitting on the bamboo place mat across from her. “It’s okay, Keisha,” she finally muttered, taking a bite from her fork. “That’s yours. I left a chilled glass for you in the freezer.”
“Thanks, Ma,” Keisha said with a quick nod. She walked across the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
“How was work?” her mother called out.
“Fine,” Keisha said quickly. “Just busy, as usual.”
“Your hair looks pretty,” Lena said. She took another bite of baked chicken. “I see you decided to wear it down for once. It looks a little wild, but nice. Felt like changing things up today?”
Keisha’s eyes widened. She quickly reached up to touch her head, suddenly realizing that she had forgotten to redo her characteristic chignon.
“Yeah,” she said hesitantly. She retrieved her glass and filled it with ice water, her hands shaking slightly. She smoothed down her loose locks so they didn’t look quite so tousled. “Just felt like trying something different,” she murmured with an awkward smile as she walked to the kitchen table.
“Is your skirt on backwards?”
Keisha stopped and blinked. “Huh?”
“Is…your…skirt…on…backwards?” her mother repeated, enunciating each word.
Keisha stared down at her waist and realized in horror that her skirt was, indeed, on backwards. She must not have noticed in her rush to get dressed that the zipper, pleat, and split were now toward the front. Keisha grinned sheepishly as she sat down her glass on the kitchen table and returned her brown skirt to its proper position.
“How did that happen?” she muttered with a forced laugh, tucking her hair behind her ear. “God, I hope it hasn’t been like that the whole day. Maybe I did it when I went to the bathroom. I wish someone had told me.”
That someone being Will. The next time she saw him, she would give him an earful.
Keisha lowered herself into one of the chairs at the table. She raised the plate of food to her nose and inhaled its aroma. “Hmmm, smells good, Ma,” she said, spreading a dinner napkin across her lap and grabbing a fork. “I’m sure any home-cooked meal by you is better than anything at a restaurant.”
The two ate in silence for several minutes. Suddenly, Lena tilted her head and fixed Keisha with a piercing gaze. “Okay,” she said with a loud sigh, “if you won’t tell me, I guess I’ll just have to ask.”
“Ask what, Ma?” Keisha said, taking another bite.
“So what’s his name and why haven’t I met him?”
Keisha stopped mid-swallow, nearly choking on her chicken. She coughed loudly. “What?” she finally croaked. “What’s whose name?”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “Don’t play dumb, Keisha. You know what I’m talking about. The hair, the skirt, and you being late. He’s the reason you stood me up tonight, isn’t he?” Her mother cocked an eyebrow. “I know the signs. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a man, but it hasn’t been that long. Who is he?”
Keisha sat silently, shifting the food around her plate with her fork.
Her mother frowned. “He’s not married, is he? He better not be! I didn’t raise my daughter to steal some other woman’s husband!”
Keisha quickly shook her head. “No, he isn’t married,” she blurted out. “You know I’d never date a married man, Ma! He’s…” She stopped herself.
“Well, if he’s not married, then why haven’t I met him?” She pursed her lips. “Judging from your skirt, it looks like things have gotten pretty serious between you two.”
Keisha sighed, now completely mortified. Her shoulders slumped. She felt like a teenager who had just got caught with her boyfriend in her bedroom. This was the second time that someone had sensed that she had a man in her life. Was she that obvious? “His name is Will Blake,” Keisha said quietly.
Her mother’s eyebrows furrowed as she lowered her fork. “Will Blake? Will Blake…it sounds familiar. Where have I heard that name before?”
“He works for Vincent Dupré.”
“Oh.” Lena’s eyes widened. “Oh, that Will Blake.” She frowned. “I thought you hated him.”
“I didn’t hate him. Hate is a strong word. I just…I just didn’t trust him because he worked for Dupré.”
“And now you do trust him?” Lena asked.
Keisha nodded. “Yes. He hasn’t given me any reason not to.” She paused. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him before, Ma. It’s just…hard. Will and I can’t be out in the open with this, at least before the election is over, because we work for different camps. Things could get really complicated if people knew we were together. We could even…lose our jobs in the worst-case scenario.”
“I see,” Lena said, slowly nodding her head. “Forbidden love,” she murmured, her eyes suddenly glazing over. “I knew another couple like that. They really loved each other and wanted to be together but…life just got in the way. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” She shook her head. “And now my baby’s in love,” she whispered in awe.
“Ma, please,” Keisha said, fidgeting uneasily in her chair.
“And he loves you, too?”
Keisha frowned. Why was her mother asking her these questions? She didn’t want to think about this stuff. She just knew that she was happy. All the sundry details about who loved whom wasn’t important—at least for now. Keisha shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. I think…he might…love me…maybe. He seems to. We don’t really talk about it. I’ve never asked him.”
Lena reached across the table, placing her hand over her daughter’s. She smiled warmly. “Well, don’t you think you should?”
“No!” Keisha exclaimed. What do you want me to do? Scare him away?
Keisha pulled her hand away from Lena’s and grabbed her fork again. She began to angrily shove food into her mouth. “We have enough stuff to deal with. I don’t want to talk about that topic with him right now.” And judging from the look on Will’s face when she had accidentally told him she loved him, Will wasn’t eager to talk about that topic, either. “We have chemistry and passion. That’s all I need…for now. That’s all that counts.”
“Pardon? ‘That’s all that counts’?” Lena slowly shook her head in disbelief. “You’re sneaking around with this man and you don’t even know if he loves you! You said yourself that both of you could lose your jobs if someone found out that you’re together. That’s a heavy price to pay, in my opinion!”
“Well, you’re entitled to your opinion,” Keisha said frostily.
Lena snorted. “I might take a risk like that for love, but I damn sure wouldn’t do it just for some ‘chemistry’!”
Keisha stared down at her plate. “Ma, can we change the subject, please?”
Lena defiantly crossed her arms over her chest. “No, we can’t.” She leaned forward and gazed at her daughter earnestly. “Keisha, honey, I’ve never lied to you. If I see you making a mistake, I tell you. And to me this sounds like a big mistake!”
“Look, the way Will and I are handling this works for us, Ma,” Keisha said firmly, slamming down her knife and fork. “We don’t need to muddy the waters talking about love or the future or expectations right now! I don’t want to ask those questions. I just want to enjoy the here and now. I don’t want to pin him into a corner.”
Lena pursed her lips. “Sounds like the coward’s way out to me.”
“I am not a coward!” Keisha shouted. “Besides, why are you lecturing me? You’re telling me to take a chance and ask him if he loves me so I can just scare him away. But you never take chances! Your last date was when? Almost five years ago! You want me to put myself out there, and yet you’ve never done it yourself!”
Lena quickly stood from the table and angrily glared down at her daughter. “Keisha Reynolds, don’t you ever, ever tell me what I’ve done and what I haven’t done! Okay? You don’t know as much as you think you do! I’ve taken chances and I’ve sacrificed more than you could ever imagine! But I was willing to do it for love, not just for some rolling around between the sheets!”
Keisha stubbornly stared down at her dinner plate, feeling tears welling in her eyes. In her heart, she knew her mother was right. Keisha was taking a lot of risks for a man she wasn’t even certain loved her. So eager to live in the moment, she had been up in the clouds for almost a month, refusing to ask herself the questions her mother was now asking. But Keisha knew eventually the thrill of their affair would wear off and one day she might come to the realization that for Will, the past few weeks had been little more than a hot and heavy fling. The very idea broke Keisha’s heart.
Lena took a calming breath and sighed. “Keisha, look at me. Look at me, please.”
Keisha raised her reddened eyes to gaze at her mother. Lena took Keisha’s chin in her hands.
“Baby, I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she said softly. Her lids lowered. “I know what it’s like to be hurt. It’s hard to come back from it. I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”
“Ma, I’m not going to get hurt,” Keisha insisted quietly, though she knew there was no way to be sure. “I’m in this with my eyes wide open. I’m prepared for whatever way this turns out, good or bad,” she said, despite the seeds of doubt being planted in her heart. Part of Keisha started to wonder if she had learned little in the twelve years since she had fallen for the point guard on the school’s basketball team. Would she once again end up weeping in her pillow from a broken heart?
Lena smiled sadly as she gazed into her daughter’s eyes. “I hope you mean that, baby,” she said softly. “I really hope you do.”