That Night...Part 3

Allen takes Zara’s hand in his and gently kisses it. Zara blushes at how good his lips feel against her skin. A wave of electricity races from her fingers through her arms and down her spine. Zara had not been kissed in any capacity in a while. For her, kissing was too intimate of a gesture to just share with anyone, at least when it came to kisses on the lips. Even kisses on the forehead were rare for Zara, since she’d have to allow a man within a certain proximity to even be close enough to land one. One thing Zara held near and dear was her physical space. She didn’t like it invaded by anyone. However, this kiss on the hand was different. These kinds of kisses still kept a respectable distance, and they occurred for her as sweet, gentlemanly gestures appropriate for a lady. Unfortunately, men in 21st century Los Angeles could hardly be described as gentlemen. Not all of them were brutes but a very minor percentage dared to go against mainstream society which had come to the consensus that financially-independent, professional women like Zara did not deserve to be romanced or treated like ladies. All the rest were somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. So, one can understand how excited Zara felt in this rare moment.

“Damn you are gorgeous,” Allen stares into Zara’s eyes.

Zara pulls her hand back from his grasp as she returns to reality. She reminds herself that a man this beautiful, charming, and light-skinned couldn’t possibly be available. Even if he happened to be unattached, that in itself would be a red flag. Men like this who are truly single, meaning no woman is under the impression that she is his girlfriend or wife, are likely unavailable emotionally. So, just as quickly as Zara’s heart had melted in his kiss, her walls quickly erected between them to protect it.

“Are you this charming with all the girls?”

“Only the pretty ones,” Allen dodges the subtle insult and intensifies his stare practically into Zara’s soul.

“Well how do you treat the not-so-pretty girls?” Zara teases.

“There are no other girls, now that I’ve met you.” Another question skillfully dodged. Before she could stop herself, Zara giggled. Allen’s charm had won. In a matter of seconds, he had broken through the first set of Zara’s walls, and he knew it. This man was clearly an expert in these games of the heart. “So, tell me about yourself. Where are you from, Gorgeous?”

“Heaven,” Zara replies with a big smile. Now it was her turn to activate the charm.

“Ha!” Allen laughed. “Then I’m glad I’ve been saying my prayers faithfully. I think you might be the answer to them all.”

“Oh wow! All of them?”

“Every last one,” looking straight into Zara’s eyes. She squirms in her seat, breaking his stare. This man is so intense. In all of 5 minutes, he had stirred something in Zara’s spirit. Part of her liked it and craved more, while the other part screamed “DANGER!” and wanted to retreat and hide. Without any thought, Zara’s instincts command her to throw caution to the wind and lean in. Zara grabs her drink from the bar and turns to head toward the outdoor patio area.

“It’s quieter out there,” signaling Allen to follow her. He does as instructed. Zara walks slowly, intentionally swaying her hips as she walks, knowing that Allen was watching.

“Damn,” Allen audibly exclaims under his breath. Zara hears him and smiles to herself, knowing he is enjoying the view back there. She reaches to open the patio door when she feels Allen’s hand on top of hers.

“Please allow me, Angel,” he speaks in her ear with a low, sultry tone. Goosebumps cover Zara’s body at his touch. She moves her hand from the knob and steps back to allow him to conduct his gentlemanly duty. Allen swings the door open then stands aside to watch Zara walk through. She notices that Allen doesn’t open the door very wide. She immediately understood the assignment. As Zara slowly passes by him, she brushes her hand across his chest and her hips across his body seductively. Just as she steps through the doorway, she looks up at him and whispers sweetly in his ear “thank you, sir.” Allen smiled like a kid in a candy store. He reaches for Zara’s waist, ready to pull her in for a kiss, but his mission is thwarted by a woman’s scream.

“OMG!! Allen!!!!!! Is that you?! ”

Zara swings around to see a petite, Hispanic woman rushing toward them. Allen drops his arm from Zara’s waist. Zara steps aside as the woman wraps her arms around Allen’s neck in excitement.

“How you been, papi?! I’ve missed you!” the woman exclaims.

Papi?? Zara gives Allen a questioning and slightly accusatory look. Allen, however, doesn’t notice. He hugged the woman with too much affection for this to be a cousin. To Zara’s dismay, Allen seemed equally excited to see this woman. Zara immediately started to feel invisible.

“Wassup girl! What are you doing on this side of town?”

Zara didn’t need to wait to hear her response nor any explanation for who this woman was and why she felt comfortable calling him “Papi.” Put simply, Zara did not care. This game of seduction was over, and Zara’s interest in Allen plummeted in the blink of an eye. Zara deeply resented being deprioritized for another woman. It did not matter if the other woman was family. In Zara’s mind, either Zara comes first or Zara exits the race. She stood by for a few moments waiting to recapture Allen’s attention but he was too enthralled with this lady. As Allen got reacquainted with his “friend,” Zara attempted her escape back into the bar. From his peripheral, Allen notices Zara’s movement and grabs Zara’s hand to stop her from leaving.

“Wait! Where you going? This is my friend, Nellie.” Between the inflection in Allen’s voice when he said “friend” and the angry stare from Nellie as she continued to hug Allen from the side, clearly staking an unspoken claim, Zara simply smiled and said, “I’ll be right back. Just going to the ladies’ room.” By the disappointed look on Allen’s face as he let go of Zara’s hand, she knew that he was aware of Zara’s intention of not coming back. She hoped he would protest and convince her to stay but he simply accepted defeat. So, Zara walked back into the bar just as the DJ started spinning another one of her favorite songs.

“What y’all know about a…supermodel?” Zara sings along as she struts back into the party scene. In that moment, Zara decided that she was done with all male interactions for the evening. She just wanted to dance the rest of the night away in peace. As if she could hear Zara’s thoughts telepathically, Eve dances over to Zara. The two ladies start grooving and singing along in sync.

“If you a bad girl....”