In Pursuit of a Love Connection Read online

  “Fuck, I’m getting ready to come!”

  Seconds later, Gabby heard that all too familiar growling and grunting that signaled the end of their session, and she felt Lamont’s weight on her as they both lay almost lifeless on the bed.

  What a way to start this visit, Gabby thought with a bit of a smile on her face. Lamont did not disappoint in pleasing her orally; he could have done it a little longer and made her cum, but she wasn’t complaining. It was good and she did get one in before the session was over.

  “See girl, I told you I was gonna lay hands on you,” Lamont boasted with a bit of laughter.

  During their conversations, they somehow got in a conversation about church and Christianity. For some reason Lamont thought it’d be cute to use the church term “laying hands” on Gabby in a sexual connotation. She had forgotten about it until now, when he decided to use it on her.

  “Yeah…you did baby, “Gabby responded to make him feel good. “Thanks for welcoming me like you did.”

  The rest of the visit seemed to go downhill from there. As soon as they finished, Lamont got up, asking about dinner and what they were eating. This brought Gabby back to Earth as she remembered she would be footing the bill for this visit.

  “Well, since you just made me aware that your money is a little tight this weekend, maybe we better do fast food tonight. Maybe Wendy’s?” Gabby wasn’t prepared to spend much money on this trip, so he was going to have to settle on her fast food suggestions. She was wondering if he picked up on her sarcasm.

  “Yes, I love Wendy’s. That’s fine. I can go pick it up. Do you mind if I use your car, though? I got dropped off,” Lamont added.

  “Sure…but why did you get dropped off? Is something wrong with your car, babe?” Gabby asked, genuinely concerned.

  “I ended up selling that piece of shit car. It stopped working on me so I sold it for the parts, and used the money to take care of some bills.”

  “Oh, sorry babe. Have you been able to get around good?”

  “Oh yeah, I’ve been using my granny’s car for the most part. I had Floyd drop me off here so she wouldn’t be without her ride for the next couple of days while you are here. I figured you could get us around if we needed to go anywhere,” Lamont explained as Gabby began to wonder if this whole visit was going to consist of them hanging around inside this hotel room the whole time eating and having sex.

  “OK, well let me grab some money and let me write down my order for you. I’m starving and haven’t had Wendy’s in a while.”

  “OK, baby, let me go wash up while you do that.” Lamont gave her a peck before heading into the bathroom.

  Within minutes he was out the door, and Gabby grabbed her phone to call Laverne. She was starting to have a bad feeling about all of this, sort of similar to how she felt before during her last visit. She figured talking to Laverne would calm her down a bit, but Laverne didn’t answer. She simply left her a message saying that she had made it to Michigan safely and would call her when she returned in a couple of days.

  Gabby had opened up to Laverne a little about her doubts about Lamont, and Laverne understood how she felt. Laverne would have flipped if Gabby had told her about the last minute change in this trip and Lamont saying he didn’t have much money take care of her during this visit. She was feeling a bit relieved that Laverne hadn’t answered, now that she thought about it. She would fill her in on everything when she returned.

  Lamont quickly returned with the food and started placing everything on the table before he grabbed the remote control to the television and turned to cartoons and opened the newspaper.

  “I like to read the newspaper and listen to the television while I eat,” Lamont said before she had a chance to ask anything.

  “OK, that’s fine. Can we possibly turn to another channel for you to listen to—something visually entertaining to me since I’ll be the one watching it?” Gabby asked with a smile.

  She unwrapped her food to see that it wasn’t what she had written down for him to order.

  “Aww baby, this is the cartoon I was telling you about. You’ll lov…”

  “Umm, what is this?” Gabby interrupted as she looked at her food and then back at the food that Lamont had already started eating.

  “What do you mean…it’s what you wanted me to order—a grilled chicken sandwich…” Lamont said as he tried looking for the slip of paper.

  “No, I wanted the regular fried chicken sandwich with cheese. This one, it would even be OK if it had some type of topping but it doesn’t. It’s plain! You didn’t check the orders before you left?”

  “Naw, I didn’t babe…well, I checked mine and just assumed they got yours right. I’m sorry.” Lamont went back to eating and reading his paper.

  Gabby was pissed because he continued to go on to enjoy the meal she treated him to this evening, while he couldn’t even check to make sure that her meal was correct.

  And he didn’t seem to care.

  She decided to try to eat the sandwich anyway, but forcing down that dry sandwich didn’t make her mood any better. It was obvious that Lamont knew she was irritated, too, because he remained quiet for the remainder of their meal and volunteered to turn the television to something other than those damn cartoons. He then straightened up the room, while Gabby started getting dressed for bed.

  She told Lamont that she was exhausted and was going to head to bed so she would be well rested for the next day. Lamont thanked her for dinner and gave her a kiss and hug before she got under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

  Unfortunately, that evening was the most exciting part of the trip. Lamont drove Gabby around in her car to the same places they went before: by his mom’s house, by Floyd’s house and back to that same mall. Gabby couldn’t even afford to shop because she was using up the money she did have for feeding her and Lamont and making sure she had plenty of money to gas up her car.

  Then to top things off, they didn’t have sex anymore that whole visit. Gabby tried to seduce Lamont that following morning after she arrived, but he was having problems staying erect. In his embarrassment, he implied that Gabby’s attempts made him feel pressured and caused him to go soft.

  Seriously dude, she thought.

  After that, she didn’t make any attempts to try to get things heated up again, and Lamont did not, either. On that second night, Lamont fell asleep before Gabby did, so she watched a movie before forcing herself to go to sleep.

  She had made up her mind she was leaving as soon as the free hotel breakfast was done being served the next morning. She also decided that if there were going to be anymore visits it would be because Lamont would initiate them and bring his ass to Ohio. That next day as she packed up her things, she told Lamont that it was on him to make his way to her next time.

  “So are you saying that until I come to see you, you won’t be coming to see me anymore?” Lamont asked as he grabbed their bags to get ready to take out to Gabby’s car.

  “Yep, that’s what I’m saying. I’ve made two trips here, and my people want to meet you, too, babe. I think it’s fair, don’t you?” she asked him back.

  “Yeah, you’re right. And I promise I’ll make it happen very soon.”

  Gabby didn’t know if she should believe him or not. As Lamont went to check them out, she headed to the car to pull it around to the front of the hotel. She was going to drop Lamont off at home before she hit the highway.

  This time as they said goodbye, Lamont leaned in close to Gabby while they stayed seated inside the warm car and they shared a deep tongue kiss, but somehow this one felt different to Gabby.

  “Baby, I really enjoyed you. Thanks again for everything and let me know when you make it back home. We’ll need to plan when you want me to come visit.”

  “Definitely. I enjoyed you, too, babe.”

  “Love you,” Lamont added before getting out of the car.

  “I love you, too,” Gabby responded.

  Lamont smiled before turning
around to head toward the house.

  As Gabby pulled off and headed toward the highway, she began to feel a lump developing in her throat and within seconds she felt the tears coming. She couldn’t explain why all of a sudden she felt this need to break down and cry, but the sorrow came out of her like it had been held up in her forever.

  Gabby would come to discover that this reaction was the sign of things coming to an end. She had experienced this before when relationships ended—that was the connection that she established, this was her body telling her that it was going to be her last time seeing that person. Gabby didn’t understand it then, and definitely did not suspect that it meant she would never see Lamont again. She was convinced that although she had no plans to go see Lamont in Michigan anytime soon, that he would make his way to Ohio as he promised.

  When Gabby arrived to work after that weekend, she and Laverne went out for lunch and she shared the details of the visit with her friend. As she imagined, Laverne was not happy with Lamont and how he was starting to show that he was not a man of his word.

  “Gabby, I know you said that you wouldn’t do it again, but promise me. Please, do not go back to Michigan to see him again. Let him come to you, no matter what he says or how long it takes. And if time passes and he keeps putting it off, then leave his ass alone!”

  “Laverne, I swear…no more trips to Michigan until he shows me he is as committed as I am.”

  4. The Aftermath

  Weeks passed, and the phone calls between Lamont and Gabby became less frequent. Gabby continued to ask Lamont about when he planned to come visit, and he started putting it off, setting a new date each weekend. Then finally he began to not call as much, as if he wanted to avoid having the conversation about his next visit.

  Then that is when the news came about the job. Gabby was so ill to her stomach that day she stayed in the restroom stalls at work, and then she decided to leave work early and head home to deal with this issue and get herself together. She was already certain of what decision Lamont had made about their future, but she needed the closure. By the time she got home, Lamont’s email had arrived to her personal email Inbox.

  Gabby,

  As I sit here in the airport waiting for my plane to board, I hate myself painfully write you this note to tell you what I am sure you already know. I think it’s best if we just call it quits. This long-distance thing is just too much, and I know it won’t get better with me being even farther away. I know you don’t understand, and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. You may not believe it, but I really do love you. That’s why I am doing this. Take care, dear.

  Lamont

  Although Gabby expected this, it still hurt her to be rejected. That is when she thought back to that last day they were together and how she cried uncontrollably. She knew even then that Lamont wouldn’t fulfill his end of the deal and make any effort to come visit her and meet her family and friends.

  Thinking back on it, though, she was better off. Lamont was a jerk anyway, but she tried to make it work because she didn’t want to be alone again.

  And it didn’t take her long to meet someone new; a new man in town that happened to write for a living and had moved to the city to work for the local newspaper. It was something about men with poetic words that drew her in.

  Exactly a year later, she would hear from Lamont via email. He stated that it had taken him a long time to get to that point, but he had to contact Gabby and apologize for leaving her, thinking that the grass would be greener on the other side. Lamont had started hanging with the wrong crowd out west, and ended up losing his job after only five months. He was back in Michigan trying to start over at another hotel.

  He expressed that he realized he messed up and wanted to make it up to her. He asked if he could call her, which Gabby agreed that he could. It was almost like old times until Lamont asked if he could visit Gabby very soon.

  “I’m sorry, Lamont, but that’s not a good idea. I’ve moved on—I’m seeing someone else now.”

  “I’m not surprised. You are a good woman and I should have known you wouldn’t stay single for long. He’s a lucky man.”

  “Thank you, Lamont.”

  The conversation didn’t last much longer after that, but they ended it on good terms and Gabby had her closure.

  To this day she has not spoken to Lamont since. She has no regrets, but appreciates the experience he gave her; it opened up her eyes to welcome and appreciate the real poetic prince that is in her life now and has rewritten her romance, which lives out like her own personal fairy tale.

  About Shanika Patrice

  Before she decided to transform into Shanika Patrice, erotic and romantic fiction extraordinaire, she was using her writing powers in the corporate copywriting space, and using her general communication prowess to interview clients and the public. That's all well and good, but personally we're glad she decided to take up the mantle of passionate word processor through Steam Books and other publishers.

  Shanika is working toward a doctorate, and utilizes her considerable smarts to fuel her visions of a variety of encounters, multicultural and otherwise.

  And more from Shanika Patrice:

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  BIG, BEAUTIFUL & BRAND NEW

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  Check out these and more at steam-books.com!

  A

  SIMPLE

  PHOTOGRAPHER

  Logan Woods

  Just north of the city, the formal gardens had been built in the 1930s by a rich industrialist who had a passion for ancient Greece. He had imported marble statuary, ancient columns and ornamental items directly from Greece. Many of the items had been made by Greek artisans seeking to fleece the rich American, but they were very good copies of the original items, valuable in their own right. He had hired an entire crew in Athens, and had them brought to this little place in Alabama where the flat clay plains turned to hills. The crew had brought olive trees, ornamental shrubbery, and other flora from the rocky hills in Greece with them in the hold of the ship that brought them to America. Many took hold in the rich Alabama earth, and flourished as they did in their native habitat.

  The landscaping crew cleverly mixed in local plants and grasses similar to the transplants that failed and the end result was a fabulous recreation of an Ancient Greek garden. The industrialist had planned an ornate mansion on the grounds but had died before the foundation was laid. The man’s relatives had kept it open as a tourist attraction for long time, but as they had grown older it had closed and fallen into disrepair. The plants grew wild and the ornamentation tilted over the years, and the end result was even more striking… it was no longer necessary to imagine walking through ancient Greek ruins when you really were.

  He was late. The slim blonde tapped her toe impatiently as she leaned, her arms crossed, against a white pillar in the gardens. The keys to the huge black ornamental iron gate that secured the old gardens dangled from her nervous hands. The photographer was supposed to have been here half an hour earlier and no one knew where he was. She had called the office on her cell phone and the staff was trying to locate him… and to make it worse the models weren’t here either. She had to cancel her afternoon showings and she was really pissed off. Norman might own the agency, but he would owe her a major favor for this fiasco.

  Forty minutes later she heard a vehicle coming up the long curving drive and she brea
thed a sigh of both frustration and relief. The yellow taxi swung around in the circle before the big iron gate dropped the photographer out, leaving quickly. He was a tall dark-haired man with an olive complexion, deep brown eyes, and a flashing smile that would have made her knees weak if she hadn’t been so angry.

  “Where have you been” she raged, “I’ve been waiting out here alone for more than an hour!” The idiot just smiled at her and adjusted the straps on the three camera bags he was carrying. He looked at her in anticipation.

  “You are model?” he asked hesitantly. He flashed that brilliant white smile again. “I am late” he said, “much confused at airport.” She looked at him oddly. “I no… have much English.” He shrugged apologetically.

  “Oh great!” she moaned, “I’m out here in the middle of nowhere and they send me a clown who doesn’t speak English and there’s no models.” She got back on the cell phone. The decidedly pretty clown was peering at her through some kind of gadget and holding a light meter in his hand. “Sybil” she said into the phone, “he’s finally here, where are the models?” She waved her hands angrily. “They can’t be in Atlanta, they’re supposed to be here.” She listened a bit longer. “Dammit!” she said, closing the cell phone.

  “The models were delayed in Atlanta” she said to him. He looked at her and shrugged.

  “I no have much English” he said again, peering at her through his gadget. “You are model?” he asked.

  Her name was Lynn Stalnaker and she was a professional real estate sales agent. The owner of her agency had begged her for a huge favor early that morning. A huge deal was in the offing on an industrial plant site sale. A major Greek industrialist needed a location in the states for a defense plant. He had decided to buy here because of the two interstate highways and the railhead, and his acquisition team was in town to work out the final details. He had read about the Greek garden on the internet and he was considering it for his personal residence, and he was sending a photographer out to get pictures… she had no idea why he would need models, but she was here to show the photographer around and coordinate with the PR people and the modeling agency. All she had to do was not screw it up and she was assured at least part of the commission on the sale of the gardens.