“Not always,” Julian said, thinking about his parent’s marriage and then about Dawn and Broman. The love between both couples was evident, but there was enough dysfunction in those relationships to make anyone hesitate about getting married. But now that he’d found Mena, he wanted everything with her—marriage, kids, dog, white picket fence.
“There are people who have good marriages. Take Omar and Charlie, for instance. Perfect love, perfect marriage, the type any couple would kill to have. But are they the exception? Is that a realistic expectation for the rest of us?” Mena asked, moving to the other luggage. Unzipping it, Mena let the contents fall out, and she began rooting through the clothes and shoes inside.
Julian rubbed the knot tightening in his shoulder. “Every couple is unique. Comparing us to any other couple is pointless. We don’t need to be like anybody else.”
“True, but it’s good to have role models. Did you know Omar and Charlie dated for years before they got engaged? Like five or six years! You and I haven’t been together for a full year yet. There’s so much that we still need to learn about each other,” Mena continued.
“What’s wrong with learning and exploring more about each other while we’re husband and wife? Do we really need to wait until we hit some arbitrary length of time as a couple before we get married?” Julian asked, a hint of edge to his tone.
Mena paused, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.
Damn, he wished he’d kept his mouth shut. He wondered what she thought of his outburst. Was she surprised? Concerned? She had to know how he felt about her. He would do whatever she needed him to do, even if that meant putting aside his own desires for their future.
“Just saying, you know, hypothetically speaking. I’m not in a rush for you to slap a ball and chain on me,” Julian said, slipping his cell phone from his pocket.
“Oh, really? Don’t want to give up your bachelor card for me?” Mena asked, pressing her hands against her hips as she stared up at him.
“I’d give up everything for you. You wouldn’t need to ask. But, marriage is a big step and not one we have to think about right now. Pepperoni and bell peppers?” Julian asked.
“What?” Mena stammered.
Julian responded, “On your pizza? Just pepperoni and bell peppers, right?”
Mena nodded, a smile curving at her lips. “Yeah, that’s what I want.”
Julian placed the delivery order, then walked over and grabbed his backpack from the floor.
“Wait, I think I may have put something in there,” Mena said, reaching for the backpack.
“What are you looking for?” Julian asked, keeping it out of her reach.
“The receipt for the mask Wangari bought me,” Mena said. “I got an email saying it was ready when we were in Jacksonville and printed it out at my mom’s house.”
“Why don’t you print another copy?” Julian asked, remembering how he’d had to babysit the team of artisans hired by Wangari Irungu, the Director of the Tribal Museum. The pretentious artists had damn near taken over their condo between Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas, visiting six times to evaluate the décor and proposed placement to get inspiration for the commissioned artwork, a welcome to Africa gift from Mena’s boss.
“Because I’m hungry and horny, and I don’t feel like going back downstairs to the business center to use the printer,” Mena leaned forward and grabbed the bottom of the backpack, pulling it toward her. “Wangari was so kind to commission a one-of-a-kind mask for me. I don’t want it sitting in the gallery one more day, which is why I need you to pick it up Monday morning.”
“Monday?” Julian asked, frowning, taking a step toward the backpack. He watched as Mena unzipped the bag, reaching her hand inside.
“The gallery is closed this weekend for a private event. Monday is the earliest I can get it,” Mena explained, lifting his belongings out of the backpack one by one. A hitch caught in his throat as he took another step toward her. He had to do something. Now before it was too late. It was only a matter of minutes before she found the box.
Mena turned the backpack over. Julian scrambled forward as he watched his belongings, littering the floor around her. Squatting next to Mena, Julian extended his leg, blocking her view of the robin egg blue box.
“I’ll get it on Tuesday. I don’t want to miss your presentation,” Julian said. He sat across from Mena, absently rearranging the contents of his backpack, hoping to bide his time until he could sneak the box into his pocket.
“You’re not going to miss my presentation because you are going to get to the gallery first thing when it opens. That will give you plenty of time to pick up the mask and bring it back to the condo before heading to the museum,” Mena said, straining her head to see around him.
“I don’t know. I think that may cut things to close. Don’t you?” Julian asked, stretching forward to conceal his attempt to grab the box. Fumbling it in his hand, Julian held on tight as he stood up and walked toward the kitchen island.
Mena leaned over as she looked up at him. “What are you hiding over there?”
Julian licked his lips slowly. He gripped the box in his left hand, tucking his arm behind his back to shield it from Mena’s view. He wasn’t ready for her to see what was inside, but he’d be hard-pressed to avoid it now. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“I have ways of getting the information out of you,” Mena said, rising from the floor. She walked over, stopping inches from him, then slipped a finger along the inside of his waistband. Her soft touch triggered his arousal. Julian took a deep breath as he watched Mena’s hands move slowly toward the button of his jeans, pushing it through the hole as she rested a hand against his abs.
“You’re not being fair,” Julian said. As much as he liked this game, there was no way he wanted her to find what was inside the box. It was too soon. He didn’t want to do anything to freak her out or cause her to shut down emotionally. He wanted things to go back to normal first. The synchronized cadence of domestic bliss they shared as they built their life together in Nairobi without any stress or strain.
“Life ain’t fair,” Mena said, reaching inside his boxer briefs and wrapping a hand around his cock.
