Married in 14 Days

That moment at the door between Darnell and Sasha made him realize there was something between them. Lust.

Every woman he’d ever been with had blurred the line between business and sex. Even though he ensured they knew they weren’t obligated to sleep with him, they all ended up in his bed by their own will. He thought Sasha was different, that she didn’t want him. But it was clear to him that she was only fighting the urge, and the resulting tension made him want her even more.

He had to be away from her. Thankfully, he still had some unfinished work with his businesses to distract him. He found a cozy gazebo outside where he sat and began checking his emails. There was one from Lubna Rahman, his peer in the wine business. She told him she was glad to have run into him the other day and would love to reconnect.

He and Lubna had met when he first moved to Paris to learn the wine business. She was the founder of the biggest wine company in the whole of Europe, and his mentor. Their relationship had started off on a professional note, before they realized there were more personal feelings between them that they wanted to explore.

He liked her because she was older and more mature. He never needed to tell her that there couldn’t be anything more than sex between them, she’d made that clear herself. He’d been with some women before her, but Lubna taught him the most he knew about pleasing a woman. He’d bonded with her and found himself wanting her more than he’d ever wanted another woman. It was lust on a different dimension.

Lubna kept her personal life private. Apart from a few information she’d shared with Darnell—like the fact that she had other lovers apart from him—she waved all his other curiosities away. And so, it was a shock to him when he found out she was married and had kids. He’d confronted her, but she was unfazed and insisted that her personal life had nothing to do with what they shared. He realized he’d met a woman who was just as snaky as men.

He'd eventually gotten away from her. It was one thing to be in a fruitless relationship for six years, but he couldn’t bring himself to sleep with a married woman anymore. Not after what happened to his mother.

On their last night together, he’d asked her why she slept with other men.

“I just love to,” was all she said.

It was the last time they ever met in person as he’d sworn to never see her again.

He’d bumped into her a few weeks before moving to America. They exchanged a few words, and he learned that she was divorced.

She emailed him again to clarify that her previous email was about needing his help for her company. Over the years, his company had become more successful than hers, overtaking in Europe and the rest of the world. It made sense that she wanted his guidance now, but he knew deep down it was more than work. Still, he told her he was in the US for two months, but could reconnect when he returned to Paris.

He went back to the suite later at night when he was sure that Sasha was asleep. She was lying on the left side of the bed, tucked under the duvet, with her thick hair wrapped in a scarf, and her face exposed. He quietly freshened up and slid into the other side of the bed.

*

Four hours after tucking herself in bed, Sasha started to think that Darnell wasn’t coming back. She checked her phone. It was midnight. With heavy eyes, she sank her head into her pillow and allowed herself drift into sleep.

Trey was in her dream. Except, he didn’t look like Trey. He had the physical appearance of Darnell and was lying next to her in their home. She turned her head to face him, and his eyes met hers. In her dream, he never actually left, but he was guilty of something she could only feel. He said he was sorry, and she told him she forgave him. He pulled her close and she could feel his breath. Their noses touched, even though their lips couldn’t, and the tension between them made her moist between her legs. She began rubbing her body against his as she tried to get their lips to touch.

She was woken up by two strong hands shaking her. Her eyes slowly parted. Her memory was hazy at first, then everything came back to her in a flash.

“Were you dreaming?” Darnell asked.

“What?”

“You were dreaming and you…came on to me,” he said.

It dawned on her that her dream hadn’t been just a dream. Her nightdress had pulled down on one arm and almost revealed her breast, and she could still feel moistness in her center. She screamed and jumped out of bed.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Sasha raced into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She covered her face with her palms and slid against the door until her head rested on her knees.

“No, no, no,” she whispered.

Darnell said something, but she ignored the muffled sound of his voice behind the door.

Nothing like this had ever happened to her before, not even with Trey. How could she ever face Darnell again? How could she pretend she didn’t want him, when it was obvious that she did, even in her sleep?

She slept on the bathroom floor and woke up moments later to see the sun peeking through the window. She wondered what time it was since Darnell hadn’t tried to come into the bathroom. Curiously, she unlocked the bathroom door, pulled it slightly open, and peeked through the slit. Empty room.

Relieved, she opened the rest of the door and entered the room. That was when she realized that Darnell didn’t just leave, he took his belongings with him.

*

Darnell woke up in the middle of the night to find Sasha on his side of the bed, nuzzling his neck with her lips. At first, he thought how juvenile of her to make her move like that. He’d cupped her face to look her in the eyes and tell her that if she wanted him, she had to use her words, but her tired eyes only half-opened and closed as she babbled.

He realized she was in a trance and tried to shake her awake. When her eyes fully opened, she screamed like she’d seen a ghost and dashed into the bathroom. He worried that she had gotten the wrong idea and tried to explain the situation, but she stayed in the bathroom all night. When morning came, he checked with the receptionist and was glad to learn there was a vacant suite he could move into.

*

They barely saw each other after that night. When they crossed each other’s path, they didn’t say more than greetings. Sasha decided it was time to grow a pair and face Darnell, so she went out in search for him. Sometimes, he was at the bar making friends with other rich folks. Other times, he sat at a particular gazebo. Today was one of those days.

She marched to the gazebo and sat in the chair opposite him. He looked up from his laptop. He was wearing a white khaki shirt with the arms folded up. It exposed his watch and some dark curly hair.

“So?” she said, looking him daringly in the eyes.

He shrugged, as if to say, “So, what?”

“We’ve been avoiding each other since our first night together. We return to Los Angeles tomorrow. So much for a honeymoon, huh?” she said, in her effort to strike up a conversation.

“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he said.

“How thoughtful.”

“Just so we’re clear, you came on to me,” he clarified.

“Sorry,” she said. “I was dreaming about my ex-boyfriend.”

“Huh.”

“He called me. He wants me back.” She placed her elbows on the table. “I guess I thought and bit too much about him.”

“So, why did you break up?” he asked, his eyes darted between her and his computer.

“He broke up with me because he thought I didn’t make him feel needed,” she explained. “We met in college. We were perfect for years, until I started making more money. You know how the story goes.”

“Mm,” he said.

“What about you?” she asked. “Any ex-girlfriends you’re particularly fond of?”

“No.”

“You’re so great at conversations.” She nodded sarcastically.

Darnell exhaled and looked at her. “No ex-girlfriends. No future girlfriends either.” He turned back to his laptop.

“How come?” she asked with genuine surprise. “Let me guess, wealthy billionaire who doesn’t believe in love?”

“Cliché, huh?”

“I take it you’re never getting married?” she asked.

He shook his head, no. “I take it you want to get married someday?”

Sasha raised her ring finger. “I am married, can’t you see?” she joked, then added with a serious tone, “I don’t think so.”

“Let me guess, middle-class woman who lost the love of her life and doesn’t believe she’ll ever love again?” He smirked. “You see where this is going, don’t you? Typical romance plot.”

She leaned back. “You’re not my type.” She liked ordinary men she could feel equal to, not men like him who had everyone bending to their will.

He grinned and she thought, there it was again, his excessive confidence. But, how could she blame him after the other night?

“I have to pack.” She got up. “Can I keep this?” she asked, raising her ring finger again. “Might be the only one I ever get.”

“It’s a fake,” Darnell said.

“How symbolic.”

Sasha exhaled with relief as she walked away. Finally, their first real conversation since their first date. Even though it wasn’t much, at least it had reduced the tension between them.