I Saw Your Profile (22 page)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Strips
of fat trimmed from filet mignon were all that
remained on their plates when Chauncey and Danielle finished dinner in their
hotel room.

“I like
a woman with an appetite,” Chauncey said as he pushed his plate to the side and
picked up his glass of merlot.

Danielle
grinned. “My strong appetite goes beyond food.”
 

He was
surprised by her aggressiveness. She’d always appeared more reserved online,
but he didn’t mind.

“Lady
Danielle, you are quite a bit bolder than I’d thought you’d be.”

“Is that
a bad thing?”

“Quite
the contrary. Will you join me in a glass of wine?”

“Sure.
Why don’t you put these dishes out for room service first, though?”

Chauncey
gathered up the dishes from the table in the corner of the room and set them on
the room service tray. As he walked away toward the door, Danielle reached
inside the pocket of her suit jacket and pulled out two capsules. She broke
them and poured the contents in his wine.

When
Chauncey returned, they talked about Danielle’s law firm and some of the
celebrities she’d represented.

Her
name-dropping impressed him, though she refused to give specifics about cases,
citing lawyer-client confidentiality.

He tried
to one-up her with his world travels, naming all the places he’d been such as
Egypt, Germany, and Spain.

When the
conversation drifted to the mundane, he asked her to join him in the shower.
Danielle declined his offer, but agreed to wait.

He took
a sip of wine and swirled the tart red liquid in his mouth before swallowing.
“Feel free to get more comfortable,” he said.

Danielle
smiled. “I will.”

When
Chauncey closed the bathroom door, Danielle grabbed her purse from the bed and
rummaged through it until she found a small, silver camera.

She went
to the bathroom door and listened. When she heard the water running and
Chauncey booming out Luther Vandross’ “If This World Were Mine,” she smiled and
refilled their wine glasses, pouring another capsule of white powder in
Chauncey’s.

Danielle
set the glasses on the nightstand by the bed, disrobed down to her miracle bra
and panties and walked across the room to the TV set.

 
On top of the nineteen-inch screen was a
black VCR and on top of that was a slim, black laptop Brenda and Arianna had
planted in the room. Connected to the laptop was a palm-sized video camera. The
laptop was connected to the high-speed Internet cable provided by the hotel.

Danielle
set her camera down next to Arianna’s and turned them both on. She planned to
add her romp with Chauncey to her private porn collection.

She
powered on the laptop and logged onto an instant message program, looking over
her shoulder as she waited for the program to load.

She
clicked on Arianna’s name in the buddy list and typed a message, her heart
skipping a beat with every keystroke.

 
Can
you see OK?
Danielle typed.

The response was immediate.

 
Yeah. Just don’t turn off all the lights;
it’ll be too dark.

The
water stopped running. She closed the lid to the laptop, adjusted her camera
and hurried back across the room where she jumped under the covers.

Chauncey
stumbled from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his
clothes in his hand. When he saw Danielle in bed, he grinned from ear to ear.

He
struggled to maintain his balance as walked to the corner of the room and laid
his clothes on a chair at the table.

“Are you
all right?” Danielle asked.

“I think
I’ve had too much wine. I usually handle my alcohol much better than this.
Perhaps it’s jet lag.”

“Maybe.
I guess we won’t be needing these fresh glasses I poured, then?”

Chauncey
pulled off his towel. “You don’t mind do you? I’ve never liked pajamas.”

Danielle
grinned without responding.

Chauncey
took that as acceptance. He climbed in the bed and began kissing Danielle and
running his hands across her chest.

He was
taken aback when Danielle eased his hands away.

“I
thought you wanted this?” he said.

“I do.
But you’re tired. I want to start by giving you a massage.”

Chauncey
smiled, pleased with her response.

“Do you
know how long I’ve waited for an offer like that? Most women always want me to
do them, never the other way around.”

“Tonight’s
your lucky night. Just lie back and let me please you.”

Danielle
moved to the end of the bed and motioned for him to join her.

“Why
down there?” he asked.

 
“I feel trapped under the headboard. When
I make love I like to squirm and there’s no wiggle room up there. Down here, I
have options.”

Chauncey
was too dazed to argue. He got out from under the covers and lay down on his
stomach at the end of the bed, anticipating Danielle’s touch.

They
were in perfect view of the cameras.

Danielle
straddled him, stroking his neck then working her hands down his back to the
rhythm of his moans.

“Mmm.
Your hands are so strong. You’re almost as good at this as I,” Chauncey said.

“We have
a lot more in common than you know,” Danielle said, a sly look on her face.

The
massage combined with the drugs Danielle had slipped him earlier nearly lulled
Chauncey to sleep. His head was foggy, but the lower part of his anatomy was
wide-awake.

 
He turned on his back and pulled Danielle
toward him, wrapping his mouth around hers.

Danielle
gently pulled away and moved to his chest, tickling his nipples with her
tongue.

Chauncey
closed his eyes, drifting into euphoria. He let out a low moan when she took
his penis in her mouth.

 
When he was brick hard, she unwrapped a
condom and covered him before pulling her panties to the side and easing him
inside her anus. She gently glided herself along his shaft while he moaned in
ecstasy.

He fell
asleep soon after he came.

When
Chauncey began to snore, Danielle took off her underwear and stood in front of
the cameras naked and smiling with an erection.

“Chauncey
Cockfield is a real man’s man,” she said in her natural tenor. She then turned
off both cameras, took a shower and got dressed. She didn’t want to chance Chauncey
discovering her male genitalia should he decide to get affectionate.

She left
a note telling him she had an early meeting and slipped out the door, taking
the laptop and Arianna’s video camera with her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Room
712 was heavy with anticipation as Arianna and Brenda
waited for Operation Get Chauncey to shift into full gear next door.

Brenda
was sprawled across the double bed closest to the door, aimlessly pressing
buttons on the remote control.

“You
wanna order some food?”

Arianna
was sitting at the desk surfing the web on her laptop while she waited for
Danielle to come online.

“Sure.
Get me some salmon, mashed potatoes, and a salad.”

Brenda
slid to the edge of the bed and dialed room service on the nightstand phone.
After placing their order, she dragged herself across the room, pulled back the
floor length tan drapes that covered the glass doors and stepped out on the
balcony. She took a deep breath and lit a cigarette.

“Are you
going to watch them fuck?”

Arianna
turned toward her. “That was the plan.”
 

“Yeah,
but now that it’s actually happening, I’m not sure I want to watch two men
doing it.”

“What’s
the big deal? It’ll be like watching porn.”

 
“Porn is an actor you don’t know fucking.
This is a man we both slept with. There’s a big difference.”

“I
guess. But I didn’t set this shit up and travel three thousand miles to punk
out now.”

 
“I’m not punking out. It’s just when we
first started this, I just planned to lure his ass to L.A. and leave him
stranded. I didn’t think things would get this far.”

“Excuse
me, but you brought Danielle into this.”

“Yeah,
but it was your idea. You were the one who didn’t think sending someone to the
airport with a note telling him he got played was good enough.”

“It
wasn’t. Now close that door and keep your cancer to yourself.”

 
“Let me know when she comes online,”
Brenda said as she slid the balcony door shut.

Arianna
used her cell phone to check on Amir and Akilah at her brother’s house. Then
she called Kenny. He was picking her up at the airport the next day and she
wanted to remind him of the time.

“How’d
it go? Is Mr. Sexy dickless yet?” Kenny asked sarcastically.

“Chauncey’s
dick and his balls are in tact.”

“Why
don’t you forget this shit and come back home. I gotta bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t
start preaching at me again.”

Kenny
sighed. “I’m not preaching, Arianna. I care about you and I don’t want to see
you get hurt. You’re so wrapped up in revenge against a man you don’t even give
a damn about, you can’t appreciate the good one right in front of you.”

 
She groaned. “Kenny… ”

“Forget
it, Arianna.”

“I don’t
want to forget it. Can we talk about this when I get back?”

There
was a knock at the hotel room door.

“I gotta
go. Let’s finish this in person. You still picking me up at the airport
tomorrow?”

“Yep. I
don’t want you mad at me. Hell hath no fury like a black woman scorned.”

Arianna
answered the door for room service and signed the bill.

She
removed the silver dome and peeked at the food, scooping up a fingerfull of
mashed potatoes and licking it off before going back to the laptop.

Brenda
returned from the balcony. “I miss anything yet?”

“Nope.”

She went
to the bed and pulled a joint from her purse.

“Another
cigarette? Damn girl, you really are nervous about this.”

“It’s
not tobacco. If I’m going to watch this shit, I need to be high. You want to
hit this with me. It’s one-hundred percent organic from Mother Nature herself.”

Arianna
smiled. “I haven’t smoked herb in like twenty years.”

“I can
tell,” Brenda said, firing up the joint. “Nobody calls it herb anymore.”

“I’m
sorry. I’m not up on the latest drug slang.”

“Just
hit the damn thing,” Brenda said through tight lips, trying to hold in the
smoke she’d just inhaled.
 

Arianna
took two puffs and passed it back. “Thanks.”

“That’s
all?”

Arianna
coughed hard and her eyes began to water.

“It
doesn’t take much for us non-potheads.”

Within
minutes, they each retreated to a place inside themselves. The slow hum of the
laptop fan provided a backdrop for the thoughts racing through their heads.

Arianna
slouched in her chair as her mind grabbed onto Kenny and wouldn’t let go. She
wanted to think different thoughts, but the drug coursing through her brain
cells had taken over.

Kenny
had become her best friend. They talked every day and she told him everything,
including her plan with Brenda. He knew secrets about her most women shared
only with other women or not at all. Like how many men she’d been with and what
she’d done with them. Things she would’ve never told him if she thought they’d
ever be more than friends.

But the
reality was except for his weight
–
and he had lost a lot of that
–
he was
everything she wanted in a man. He was great with her kids. Always there for
her. Smart, caring and affectionate.

How did
she really feel about him? Could she lose him? Had she gone too far with
Chauncey?

 
She sucked her teeth, suddenly
remembering why she quit smoking weed. “This shit makes you think too damn
much.”

Her
mouth felt like she’d been eating sand and her heart was racing. She got up and
poured a glass of water. The food beckoned her. She took a bite of salmon. It
was lukewarm, but to a sister with the munchies, it was damn good.

Brenda
was on the bed, remote control in hand.

Arianna
walked to the bed and stared down at her.

“You
can’t hang ganja woman? Not eating?”

“Later,”
Brenda slurred.

Arianna
finished her food and drifted back to that place of reflection where every
decision she’d ever made was under review. She looked at Brenda again and could
tell she was in the same place.

Doubts
and questions were about to consume her when the ding of an instant message
brought her back.

It was
Danielle.

Brenda
sat next to Arianna at the desk, their eyes glued to the video camera attached
to the laptop.

“Is it
hot in here to you?” Arianna opened the top buttons on her sleeveless, white
top.

“Only in
your panties, Ms.-It’s-Like-Porno.”

“Fuck
you, Brenda.”

“Oh my
god. I can’t believe I’m watching this,” Brenda said as she leaned in closer to
the screen. “Did you see that? I can’t look anymore.”

The
sight of Danielle sliding her ass over Chauncey’s cock was more than Brenda
could take. She pushed away from the screen and lay back on the bed.

“Let me
know when it’s over.”

Arianna
didn’t move. She captured every frame along with the camera. When it was over,
she removed the tape, labeled it “Sweet Revenge,” slipped it in a plastic case
and put it in her luggage.

“You
missed a good show. He looked so out of it, he wouldn’t know ass from pussy if
he were looking straight at it. I can’t wait to tell him about the tape
tomorrow.”

Brenda
smiled. “Now that’s a scene I won’t miss.”

Arianna
went to take a shower. As she was slipping into her nightgown twenty minutes
later, she heard a faint knock at the door.

She
peered through the peephole. She didn’t see anyone. She opened the door anyway,
but the hallway was empty.

She
looked down. There, on the floor, was a camcorder and laptop.

“Who was
it?” Brenda asked from underneath the covers.

“Danielle.
She left your stuff,” Arianna said.

Brenda
got out of bed, removed her tape from the camcorder and stuffed it inside her
purse.

“We’ll
flaunt my tape in his face tomorrow,” she said.

 
“Oh you didn’t want to watch, but you
don’t mind being the one to shove the porn in his face,” Arianna said.

“That’s
why we’re here,” said Brenda as she crawled back in bed.

Arianna
smiled. “You’re right. Payback’s a bitch.”