“Well, Rom, at least you told me. What’s her name?”
“Noelle.”
“Where does she work? Who are her parents? What ship did her people come across on? The Mayflower maybe?”
I roll my eyes. “I will be seeing you later, Mom.”
“My point is you have been so distant of late, and now you have a new woman in your life that I know nothing about.”
“Yeah. See you in a bit, Mom.”
I hear a small hiccup. God, is she crying? “Okay, son.”
I look out the window. No one is waiting outside of the apartment’s main front door.
Despite my better judgement, I leave the car and enter the grey and white building. It smells of cinnamon, smoke, and other spices. I hear reggae music faintly in the background. 1A, 1B…1C.
Caribbean music blasts through the door. I ring the doorbell. I doubt she can hear the doorbell through the stupid music. God, maybe I should have waited for Anshuka.
I look down at the time. 9:20 a.m. I should have been on the road already. I knock on the door and wait.
“It’s Carnival!!” someone was shouting on the inside.
Enough of this. I hold onto the handle and turn it. The door isn’t even locked. The sight before me makes me stop. Noelle is jumping around in a baby blue and pink underwear set. Each time she jumps, her breasts and ass give a jiggle. I like a lean, slim woman, but seeing Noelle jump around happy andswinging what looks like a T-shirt over her head…I take my hand down to my pants and adjust myself.
My eyes land on a laptop on the kitchen sink with YouTube open. That’s where the music is coming from. I walk across her small living room and pause the music.
“It’s Carnival.” She pauses and then looks around. I see a vase being picked up and launched across the room while she screams. It feels like I’m in slow motion as flowers from the vase drop one by one on the floor, being followed by yellowish water. I should move. But I can’t; my feet are stuck in position. I close my eyes, waiting for the water to hit my body. The feeling of cold, wet flower water seeps through my clothing. It smells like moldy bleached water.
“Oh my God, I am so sorry.” Noelle rushes up to me with a kitchen towel and begins to tap my turtleneck.
“This is about to be a painful two weeks,” I mutter.
Noelle ignores me as she raises my turtleneck sweater and begins to pat my chest.
I look down at her, and her eyes meet mine. “You got quite a chest here.”
I say nothing because my brain apparently is sending all the blood to my cock.
“Give me that.” I pull away, dragging the cloth out of her hands.
She is an irritant, a fucking distraction…but a sexy one. I pat my chest some more. Now I smell like moldy water.
“It’s 9:25. You were told to be ready at 9:00.” I was trying to control my temper.
Another woman would have run inside and maybe hidden her body. Noelle stands with her hand on her hip. “The email said 10:00 a.m.”
“It didn’t!” I reply. She rushes to the small table and picks up her phone.
I dig into my pocket and pull out my phone. It does take me long to find the email.
There it is: 9:00 a.m. Of course she was late.
“Here, Roman. See? It says 10:00 a.m.” She stands in front of me, showing me her phone. She was right; it says 10:00 a.m.
She grabs my phone and sees it says 9:00 a.m.
“I guess Lia had a little mix-up. It’s okay; let me dress quickly.”
