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Rose Gold

 

Cooper’s Hawk is the spot my followers suggested on Facebook for some good wine in the city.  So, here I sat in the back corner of the restaurant winery combo. I liked finding spots in restaurants with the best view and where I could see all of my surroundings and peep who was coming in and out.  I like people watching too, another advantage of my desire for prime seating arrangements at restaurants.  

 

My eyes closed in complete contentment as I took a sip of the romance red wine.  The smell of concord grapes with hints of maraschino cherry and spice mixed with a tinge of sweetness was an ineffable delight to my taste buds. While sipping my wine I felt a lure of energy towards the front of the room, and my eyes popped open.  Looking over the rim of my oversized wine glass, air caught in my throat.  It seemed like everything around me faded to the background as I zeroed in on the prize before me.    

 

I sucked in some air, as I slowly put my wine glass down on the table, keeping my eyes on the goddess across the room.  Marley, or Marley Dai Rainey as she insisted, floated into the dining room.  I smiled at the memory of her insistence of calling me by my full name and her smart ass introducing herself with her first, middle, and last name.  I was about 99.9% sure that she typically did not give her middle name when introducing herself.  

 

Marley was such a natural beauty.  She sat across from a strikingly good looking sista with cocoa brown skin, who looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place where I’d seen her before.  Plus I was too stuck on Marley’s prettiness to try to figure out where I knew her from.  Marley’s butterscotch skin was glowing and her smile was dazzling. She was dressed casually, with a cream-colored turtleneck sweater, some jeans, and some riding boots.  I caught a nice glimpse of her ass before she sat down, and it was sitting nice, plump, and right in the for- fitting jeans, she had on.  Her curly hair was pulled up in a ponytail on the top of her head with a few tendrils out on her forehead.  A pair of gold jumbo circular earrings with an ethnic pattern adorned her ears.  She looked, ethereal. She looked splendid.  She looked like she was...mine.  

 

The hell that shit come from? Nigga you tripping!  I tried to finish up my dessert, but I couldn’t focus on anything except Marley.  I had to get closer to the distraction of the hour, so I quickly paid my bill and made my way to her table. 

 

As I approached the table, I caught Marley saying in her confident and sultry voice. “Thanks so much love. I really respect you, so your kind words me the world to me. I jus…” Marley stopped mid-sentence and her eyes focused on me as I walked up to the table. Her jaw dropped slightly and I heard her take in a breath of air. 

 

From my peripheral, I could peep a big burly nigga headed our way, but I kept my eyes trained on Marley.  I studied every inch of her sexy face.  First I zeroed in on her pink pillowy lips.  Her upper lip was slightly bigger than her bottom, making me wonder what it felt like to suck on it. My eyes moved up past her round nose and paused at the black mole under her left eye.  As I kept scanning up and locked in on her reddish-brown eyes, the combination of those eyes and that mole turned me on something fiercely and had me in a trance.  

 

“Dr. Sterling,” Marley said. 

 

I smirked as I stuck my left hand in the pocket of my light gray suit pants. At least she called me Dr. Sterling and not by my full name.  Are we getting somewhere?  

 

“I thought we established that my name is Lyncoln?” I insisted. 

 

Standing off to the side of the table and still holding Marley with my stare, I could tell she was still shocked about my presence.  

 

“Mel, y’all good?” I heard from behind me.  Shifting my eyes to the left, I saw a big and tall bald-headed light-skinned man who looked like some type of security.   

 

The cocoa-brown sista answered, “Yeah, we’re good Grizz. This is Marley’s friend, right?” 

 

I looked at Marley and arched my eyebrow, with humor in my eyes. I could tell her tough ass didn’t want to acknowledge me as her friend.  But, for the security nigga to stand down, she knew it was best.  Marley gave a small nod. 

 

“Aight, I’m right over here if you need me,” the light-skinned nigga said before backing away from the table. 

 

“My apologies, please excuse my lack of manners, Lyncoln Sterling,” I said, slowly taking my eyes off of Marley and focusing on her companion. I stuck my hand out to the cocoa beauty and smiled. As she reached her hand out to shake mine, a light bulb went off in my head.  Melody, the r&b singer, married to ODDyssey.  Thus explaining the security. Keisha is a huge fan of her music, wait until I tell my baby cousin I met her.  

 

She smiled and said with a soft voice, “Melody Hardison, it’s nice to meet you Lyncoln.”  

 

“Likewise,” I said and then focused my attention back on Marley, who was still sitting there speechless. 

 

“W-what are you doing here, in Columbus that is?” Marley managed to stutter. 

 

I paused and sucked in my lips before responding. “I’m here on business. I saw you sitting over here looking like a goddess, so I had to come speak and spend a moment in your presence.”

 

Marley’s face flushed in embarrassment as she dropped her head.  I wasn’t trying to embarrass her, I was just being my honest and direct self.  

 

“Well, I don’t want to be rude, let me get back to my lunch guest,” Marley said, glancing up at me. 

 

I straightened out my red tie and let out a chuckle. “Yeah, let that be the reason. But, I’ll let you two exquisite ladies continue your meal, pardon the interruption. It was nice meeting you Melody. And I’ll be in touch, Ms. Marley Dai Rainey.”

 

Marley sat up straight in her seat and squared her shoulders before firing back, “Last I checked, you don’t have my contact info, Dr. Sterling.”

 

Smiling, I hit her with my intense stare and declared, “I have connections, I’ll be in touch. Ladies.”

 

I nodded my head and stepped away from the table.  Game on baby! The minute I felt that magnetic pull when she walked into the restaurant, I knew I was going to pursue her.  And now that I knew she was cool with Melody and that there was a connection between Zeek & ODDyssey, getting her number would be as easy as getting a kid to eat dessert before dinner.