“Then take them off.” He ordered again. “I’m not gone say it twice.”
My fingers trembled as I bent down, slipping one heel off, then the other. I set them neatly beside the door. Meanwhile, he watched without saying a word. I didn’t know what to think in this very moment, but what I did know was, he wasn’t going to hurt me right now because I still had time.
When I stood back up, he motioned toward the open space in front of him. “Come here.”
I walked over to him and stood in the open space between his thighs. Lev slowly licked his lips as his eyes roamed up and down my body. He then looked me in my eyes and said, “Dance.”
I swallowed hard and let out a slow deep breath before shifting my hips to the rhythm of the music feeling extremely awkward. I knew I looked uncomfortable, and that only made me more uncomfortable. Every movement felt rehearsed and fake right now because I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he was watching me. He wasn’t watching me like a customer; he was studying me. After nearly a minute, he finally spoke.
“Navy Prescott, married, no kids, successful career, a good head on her shoulders, and twenty-six years old.” He said. I paused without saying a word and he gave me that glare. “I didn’t say stop.”
I swallowed hard and kept going. “Fine,” I mumbled underneath my breath not even surprised that he’s investigated about me.
Instead of pouring another shot, he turned the whole bottle to his mouth, but he never took his eyes off of me nor did he try to touch me. After he took another swig, he started talking again but his hand remained locked around that bottle. “I don’t watch people, but I’ll find out what I need to know. I saw you the first night you came here, it’s like that when this is my propertyI’m leasing out for this establishment to run this high scale successful business.”
He didn’t seem like he was trying to brag but once again, it reminded me that he was really him. For the next five minutes he didn’t say anything else as the music changed and played another song. If he wanted me to stand here and continue to do this, I needed another shot, but I didn’t want to ask. As if he was reading my mind, he poured some in my shot glass and passed it to me. Without breaking my rhythm, I accepted it and swallowed it down before handing it back to him. For whatever reason, it burned worse than any other time.
“Tell me this Navy, how long have you been dealing with letting a nigga beat on you?”
I wanted to stop, but I better had spoken up if he was asking. I sighed and kept going. “It didn’t start that way.”
“Well, I’m not here to be a fucking counselor. I’m just trying to figure out how a woman as smart as you, ended up in a situation like this with men you should’ve never crossed paths with. Was it worth it?”
I tried not to frown as I continued grinding my hips and making my ass lightly jiggle, which he was barely paying attention to because instead of his eyes being on my body, they were on my eyes. I didn’t know of this was a trick question or what. “At the time, yes it was, but now, no it absolutely wasn’t Lev. Desperation makes people do silly things.”
“Nah, desperation gets people killed.” He replied with his head cocked to the side. “And I know you’d like to keep that pretty face on this earth a little while longer.” He winked.
I swallowed hard and replied, “I do and again I’m sorry.”
He used his pointer finger and told me to turn around. I slowly did what he said. He then told me to bend over and I did that too. “Nice…” he replied. “Turn back around.”
When I did, I felt so humiliated and I didn’t know why because truthfully there was nothing wrong with my body. This whole atmosphere just wasn’t my thing. After three songs I was getting tired and of course he noticed. He patted the space next to him and told me to sit down. I did, and the yawn escaped before I realized it.
“You ain’t been getting no rest. I can see it all in your eyes.” He told me.
“Well, I have a lot of money to come up with. I have nineteen thousand that I can give you tomorrow. Plus, whatever I make tonight.” I explained. “I’ll be working my ass off to come up with the rest just like I’ve been doing. I just want my life back and the peace I’ve been desperately fighting for.”
He finished off the rest of the bottle and stared at me real hard. “Not that I give a fuck, but you should probably go get some rest tonight. You can’t save people’s lives and you ain’t had no sleep. Tomorrow, I don’t want to see those bags under your eyes. I’ll call you when I’m ready to grab it.”
With that, he stood up and walked to the door leaving me sitting right on the couch. When he reached the door and put his hand on the knob, he turned halfway to me that’s when I saw the butt of the gun sticking out. “And Navy,” he said. “Don’t do shit else to piss me off. Go home, and that’s what I mean.”
He walked out letting the door click leaving me in my own thoughts. I waited about five minutes and stared at the two glasses that were left behind. The only smell lingering was my perfume, the smell of Hennessy, and his cologne. I didn’t know if he would be watching or not, but I made sure that I went straight to the lockers, changed back into my white dress, stopped by the kitchen and ordered some catfish nuggets and perry wings, and then went to let Tasha know that I was leaving because being sleep deprived was no joke.
On the way home, I positioned the cold air to blast me right in the face while turning my music all the way up just to stay awoke. I was almost home when Rome called and normally I wouldn’t answer but I needed to stay awake.
“Yes Rome?” I asked with an attitude.
“Yo, what you doing out this late? I miss you.” He admitted sounding like he had been drinking.
“I was out Rome; I’m an adult just like you.” I reminded him.
“When you coming back home?”
I shook my head and sighed. “I’m not Rome.”
“I ain’t signing them divorce papers. Don’t send me that shit.”
Here we go,I thought. “Even if you don’t, there are still other ways. Sign or not, the divorce is happening. Go be a family with Ashey and leave me alone.”
