Switchblade Romance (4/?)

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IV.  Chatter

The next day, Malcolm was sitting at his usual table in the Zig Zag Diner.  It was his favorite spot for breakfast, and the Zig Zag served breakfast all day.  Malcolm was friends with Pygmi Nyx, the diner’s owner and manager.  He sat, sipping on black coffee while thinking about last night.  Last night was a very good night; he had thoroughly enjoyed himself with Shan, the lovely lady he met at the Zodiac.  She was smart, attractive, fine as hell, and the pussy was really good.  It was Malcolm’s firm intention to have another round or two of sex, but when he woke up, she was gone.

And he was pissed about it.  Even though she’d told him up front that all she wanted was the D, he was annoyed to find her gone.

The bell above the front door chimed and Malcolm looked up to see Kaphiri walking towards him.  He sat across from Malcolm, removed his ear buds, and looked at his friend as Nyx brought him a giant glass of fresh orange juice and refilled Malcolm’s cup.

“The usual, Mal?” she asked.  “Kap?”

“Yes,” Malcolm said and Kaphiri nodded.

“Coming up.”  She walked away from their table. 

Kaphiri drank a third of his juice and eyed his friend.  “What’s wrong, Mal?”

“What do you mean?”

“You look like somebody just kicked your dog.”

Malcolm made a face.  “Damn, it shows?”

“To me it does.  What happened?”

Malcolm sighed.  “I was at the Zodiac last night.  Met a woman who was down to smash, and she followed me home.  We had sex, it was great, and we both fell asleep.  I got up to take a piss and wanted to go another round and she was gone. I don’t know when she left.  I didn’t hear her leave.”

“I thought smash and go was what you preferred.”

“Usually, yes.  But last night was different.  She was different.  I wanted more of her and to know more about her.  My plan was for us to have breakfast and spend the day getting to know each other better.”

Kaphiri raised an eyebrow.  “She didn’t get clingy; you did.  Can’t believe I’m hearing this.”

Malcolm drank his coffee and shrugged.  “She was nothing like the women I usually interact with, and I can’t help but be curious about her.”

Kaphiri shook his head, as if disappointed.  “You didn’t have to make her leave; she left on her own.  So it’s safe to say you didn’t blow her back out.”

“I intended to.  I was ready to jump back in and do just that, only to discover an empty bed.”  Malcolm rubbed his temples.  “I have to find out who she is.”

“Are you serious?”

Malcolm looked at his friend.  Kaphiri raised both eyebrows this time.  “You’re serious.”

“I am.  I called Romeo and gave him all the info I had on her, which isn’t much.  She’s a science teacher at a private school and she drives a black Lex ES 350, with partial plates KKY.  Her name is Shan, but it’s not her full name.  I told him to find her.”

Kaphiri flashed a rare smile.  “Was the pussy that good, Malcolm?  I’ve never heard you talk like this about any of your other…dalliances.” 

“Trust me, Kap.  It was good.  She sounds amazing when she nuts.  Looks it too.”  He thought about the way she looked last night when he was between her thighs.

“So this is all about you smashing her again?”

“No.  I’m intrigued.  She told me she taught science, but I’ll be damned if I ever had a science teacher that fucking fine.  She’s beautiful.  She’s got a juicy ass and unbelievable titties.  Got nipples the size of marshmallows and those lips…goddamn…”

Kaphiri was mildly intrigued.  “But you’re talking about her physical form.”

“She’s smart, Kap.  Over dinner, she let it slip that she taught chemistry and physics, and that she had advanced degrees in two subjects.  It made me curious.  I want to know who she is.  I want to know more about her.  I need to know.”   Especially after she’d demonstrated her lack of fear when he pretended to be psycho.

"If you say so.  Just expect that it might have just been all about sex for her and maybe she has no interest in getting to know you."

Malcolm looked as if Kaphiri had just blasphemed.  Kaphiri continued.  "And maybe it wasn't good sex for her, if she bounced right after and you, after having nutted, fell asleep.  Did you fall asleep immediately after, Mal?   

Malcolm sighed.  “We had a long day, remember?  I was tired, so yeah...I did fall asleep.  So did she.  But that don’t mean I didn’t do my thing.”

Kaphiri shrugged.  “If you say so.  Before you have Romeo track her down, you should assume that it wasn’t good enough for her and she has no interest in you at all.”

Malcolm sighed as Nyx brought their food.  “I hope that won’t be the case.  I have to try, at any rate.”

Kaphiri picked up his knife and fork and prepared to cut into a stack of fluffy buttermilk pancakes.  “She must be a fuckin' bombshell if she’s got your nose open like this.  I’d love to meet her.”

* * *

It was late Saturday afternoon and Shantreyl was sitting in her favorite chair, watching TV and soaking her feet.  She’d danced most of the night in her stilettos and her feet still hurt.  ShoNuff, her cat, was napping in her lap. 

Shantreyl’s phone rang.  It was Jaya.  “Hey.”

“Hey!”

“You all right?”

“I’m great.  My feet still hurt from last night.  We danced for hours, you know.”

“Yeah… about last night.  You mind if Renee and I come down and get the info on what happened after you left the club with Malcolm?  We’re dying to know what happened.”

“Come through, sis.  I’m not doing anything except soaking my feet and twisting my hair.”

“All right.”

A few minutes later, Jaya and Renee were sitting in Shantreyl’s den.  Renee had a couple of Coronas and offered Shantreyl one, but she declined.

“Girl, my head still hurts from last night.  I can’t drink that much again.  I’m gonna be on water and juice the rest of this weekend.  I had a ball last night at the club.”

“Same here,” Renee said.  “I haven’t partied like that in years.  We’ll have to go again at some point.”

“Agreed,” Shantreyl said.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Jaya began.  She was munching on what looked like snack mix.

“What are you eating, Jay?” Shantreyl asked.

“Renee made me a container of walnuts, raisins and chocolate chips.  You want some?”

“Yeah.  That sounds good.  Renee, do you mind getting a bowl from the kitchen?  I don’t want to get up.  ShoNuff’s taking a nap.”

“No problem.”

When Renee got back, Jaya repeated herself.  “Now that all that’s out of the way, spill.  Give us all the details.”

Shantreyl stroked her cat.  “Well, he’s got an apartment on the 28^th floor of Summerwind I.  It’s nice.  We talked for a little bit.  Something kinda odd happened—I’ll explain in a moment—and then we got naked.  It was nice.  He broke a sistah off; I had two Os, and then we both fell asleep.  I might have slept an hour and a half before I woke up.  When I did, I got dressed and left.  He was still asleep.  I’d rather sleep in my own bed.  It was nice.  He was nice.”

“You keep saying nice,” Renee said.  “Methinks you’re being nice about all of it instead of being truthful.”

Shantreyl shrugged.  “Did my mind get blown?  Nope.  Did he blow my back out?  Na uhn. Did he have me falling in love on the first night?  Nawl.  Did I have an orgasm?  Yes.  Did I get what I wanted?  Yes.”

Jaya asked, “Did he go fish?”

“Yes, but only for a short while.  Can’t really give any details on his technique; it was so fast.  But I didn’t give him any head; not that I would have, had we had sex again later.  I didn’t get to see the package, but I could feel it.”  She shrugged again.  “It was nice.”

Renee rolled her eyes.  “Tongue game probably weak.”

Shantreyl shrugged.  “Maybe.  I think he didn’t want me squirting in his mouth because he stopped right before I climaxed.  I mean, that’s fair.  We don’t know each other.”

Jaya shook her head.  “Guess it was amateur night.”

“Fucking rookie,” Renee said.  "Sorry you had to experience that, sis."

“Y’all stop.  For what it was, it was pleasant.”

Renee rolled her eyes.  “Real talk, Shan…it sounds like it was boring as hell.”

Shantreyl smiled.  “It wasn’t.  Trust me.  I enjoyed myself enough not to have regrets.”

“What’s the odd thing that happened?” Jaya asked.

“Well, I had Mary Jane tucked in my cleavage and when he started to unzip my outfit, it fell out.  He asked to take a look at it and I gave it to him.  Then he popped the blade, grabbed me by the back of my neck and pressed the knife to my throat.  You can probably see the pinprick if you look close enough.”

“What the fuck?” Renee said. 

Jaya got up and got a closer look.  “I see it.  Why did he do that?”

“Well, the look on his face and his voice changed.  Basically, he said that I really had no way of knowing if he was a serial killer, and I just followed him home.  But the odd thing—for me, at least—is when he started to trace the tip of the blade over my breasts and nipples.  He asked me if I was sure he wasn’t a psycho while he was doing that and I told him I was sure.  I told him I wasn’t afraid of him and he stopped, retracted the blade and started smiling.  It was all an act.  He was curious to see how I would respond.  He’s not crazy.”

“You should have slapped the fuck out of him,” Renee said.  “Jesus, Shan!”

“Agree,” Jaya said.  “That could have gone a lot differently.”

“Yeah, but here’s the odd thing: When he was running the knife over my breasts and nipples, I got so horny.  Like it came out of nowhere.”

“What?” Jaya said, her eyes wide.

“The hell?” Renee said, leaning forward.  “You got horny from that shit?”

“I got hot as hell.  I didn’t tell him, of course, but the point is that I did.  He gently scraped the blade against my nipples and holy shit…I was able to keep some cool, but it’s something I need to work out in my mind; like, where did that come from?”

Jaya and Renee stared at their friend.  “You got some kinks you don’t know about, Shan?”  Jaya asked.  “You got some secrets?”

ShoNuff purred as Shantreyl continued to stroke her fur.  “Apparently.  It came out of nowhere.”

Renee couldn’t help but smile.  “My advice: don’t be afraid of where those thoughts take you.  Analyze what they are and figure out why, and then embrace them.  We like what we like.  Doesn’t make you crazy, criminal, or wrong.”

“My wife is right, as she usually is,” Jaya concurred. 

Renee said, “Now for another question…would you want to do all that again?”

“All what? Be specific.” 

“Go to the club and have a one-night stand with another stranger.”

Shantreyl thought for a moment.  “No.  I think I got lucky as hell last night and I don’t want to push it.  Last night was a fluke.  If I try it again, I am liable to get mixed up with a psycho.”

Jaya said, “Did you leave Malcolm your contact information?”

“For what?”

“Just in case you want to smash again.  Or maybe anything else.”

“I didn’t leave him anything but good memories, I hope.”

Renee said, “So you wouldn’t be interested in smashing him some more?”

Shantreyl shrugged.  “Maybe.  Not really.  I don’t know.  The whole point was for me to have a one-night stand.  I did and I’m pleased with the outcome.”

Jaya looked at Renee and then they looked at Shantreyl.  “So you don’t want a fuck buddy.”

Shantreyl put ShoNuff on the floor, took her feet out of the foot tub and placed them on the towel next to the tub.  As she dried her feet, she said, “I never really gave it any thought, you guys.  I went to the club with two objectives; both were met and I’m satisfied.  I haven’t thought about anything beyond that.”

“Okay,” Jaya said.

Renee couldn’t let it go.  “You’re not seeing anyone seriously…are you sure you don’t want him around to do regular maintenance, Shantreyl?  I mean, you’ve met him and fucked him; you said he was nice, you said it was good…why not keep him on speed dial or something?  No reason for you to go around hard up when you have an option now.”

“You may have a point, Renee, but the fact of the matter is that it’s over; he doesn’t know my name and he has no way of contacting me…nor I him, if I wanted to.  I’m just happy to have had a good night.  Again, let’s not push it.”

“You could contact him if you really wanted to.  You know where he lives.”

“If I wanted to.”

Jaya knew where Renee’s head was.  “Shan, it’s been nine months.  You need to start dating again.  I know you don’t want to hear it, but you got to move on, sis.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust a man anymore, Jay.”

“You trusted Malcolm,” Renee said.  “And that worked out.”

“Renee, you know what I mean.  Trust a man the way you should be able to in a healthy relationship.  That’s broken in me.  I can’t do it.”

“I’m just suggesting you have some fun every now and then, Shan.  Jay and I watched you guys last night.  You two were getting along like cake and ice cream.  He made you laugh; you made him laugh.  There’s nothing wrong with having that as a constant.  I’m not suggesting you marry the guy or even date him.  I’m just saying keep him on standby.”

Shantreyl knew her friends meant well, and that Jaya harbored some guilt over her failed relationship.  Jaya was the one to introduce her to Miles, and was as devastated as Shantreyl was when their relationship ended the way it did.  

“Think about it,” Jaya said.  “We’ll leave it at that.”

“All right,” Shantreyl replied, wiggling her toes.  “I need to eat something.”

Renee finished her beer.  “Good idea.  I’m starving.  You two wanna order dinner from PotRoast?”

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