Life behind Hazel Eyes - 14. A Night Out on the Town

I woke up to a body next to me, for a second I started to panic, but then I remembered. I reached my arm over to the person lying next to me and felt a beautiful flat stomach; I slipped my hand down and found a nice patch of fuzz, with my hand going lower I was able to confirm that it was a woman. I was happy that it was a ‘she,' because last night, I had another one of my Mikhail dreams. I thought after the first two times of my lady friend visiting me that they were gone for a long time. So, why did I have another dream last night?

“Want some more, Marvin, big boy?” asked my sexy guest in a lust-filled voice. Her tone managed to get me out of my daze, and had me thinking.

“Damn right I want some more,” I said, positioning myself on top of the beautiful body that was sprawled out besides me. Let’s ride her a few more times and get my day started the right way. Mikhail can wait.

****

“Yeah, I know I haven’t been around, but you can make it up to me by getting yo ass over to my place for dinner tomorrow.” That was the message Mikhail had sent last night, I was only reading it again now because I was trying to figure out whether it was a date, or if it was casual. Also why was Mikhail acting weird lately, I hoped it had nothing to do with David being a dick towards him all over again.

David was back to his old tricks; it was Saturday when we were all out drinking. He started by asking where Mikhail was, and when he got told he’d be missing the night out, he acted up saying it’s a good thing; he didn’t want glitter in his hair anyway. Then on Sunday during our brunch, which I had alerted Mikhail and he didn’t pitch up, Dave said another douchebag thing. I was hoping that the two of them hadn’t met up at a mall and said a few things to each other ;I know how David is and he could aggravate a monk. Anyway, I guess I’d ask him later on that Monday.

“If you cooking, I’ll have to miss.” I had replied to him, after contemplating the answer. I chuckled while I tucked my phone in my pocket and set my workload in the backseat of my car. Then I kissed a happily-laid woman good bye, and got in to drive off.

I was determined to do my work to the best of my ability that day; I was feeling fresh and determined. The music in my car made the mood so much better. There wasn’t a damn thing that would’ve gotten me down that day. Especially seeing as the plans for the restaurant I had designed had gotten the green light. Everything was going good in my life. Career success: check. Car: check. Cool crib: Check. Shit, my damn phone kept vibrating; I managed to pull it out to check the cause of the vibration when I stopped at the traffic lights.

“By 'my place' I meant the restaurant. I cannot be taking you home to meet the parents; you haven’t even taken me out on our first date yet ”

Love life… Pending. Mikhail’s reply wasn’t expected. I didn’t know how to respond. I knew he was joking about the first date thing, but part of me wanted it to be true. I wanted to take him out and see where these thoughts I had about him would lead to, but I was scared. What if I wasn’t straight? What happens when all of a sudden all that you thought you were gets turned upside down by the presence of one person? Was I willing to admit that I wasn’t a 100% straight?

SHIT! MIKHAIL! FUCK!

I was about to text back when the traffic light turned green. Instead of replying I tossed my phone on the passengers’ seat. I drove the rest of the way to work without even thinking too much about the message. I thought it was stupid of me to think so far into things. Mikhail was a friend, and all we were going to do was chill and have something to eat. Nothing more, nothing less. Dinner wasn’t a marriage proposal; so I should calm down and just reply to the damn message. I pulled up to the parking lot at work and decided to answer Mikhail while I was in the car, so that I could focus once at work. I didn’t want my thoughts to go all Planet of the Apes on me.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see you at ‘round 7, Princess.” That was what I texted back. I didn’t even have to delete it twice. I guess I was proud of it, don’t ask why, and just know that I was. I got out the car and got my work out. Heading out to the averagely designed architecture firm I worked at – ironic right? An architecture company with average structural design

“Yo! Marvin,” I heard an excited voice call out. I turned to see one of the guys I worked with come up to me.

“Hey Scott, how’s it going?” I asked, extending my hand to greet him.

“Great man; I see you're good too,” he said in the same excited tone. To be honest he was one of the most eager people to come to work. He had just hit thirty a month or two ago and he still got excited by the prospect of coming to work every time.

“What makes you say that?” I asked as we walked towards the lifts.

“That goofy smile you had as you were texting on your phone.”

“How did you see that?” I asked, truly astonished. I didn’t even notice that I had a smile on me when I was texting Mikhail, but clearly I did.

“I was driving past you, trying to find a parking bay.” He let out a little giggle as the lift opened. “She must be a very special lady to have your attention so much that you don’t even notice your surroundings.”

“I guess…” Shit! I almost agreed that it was a special lady. But it wasn’t. It was Just Mikhail. Mikhail was a friend, a male friend. “No, it’s no one special. Just a friend, that happened to share a funny joke.”

“Oh, must have been pretty funny I guess.” Scott wasn’t trying to be weird or anything but I was getting weird. To be honest the whole Mikhail thing was weird to me, and I didn’t even want to dance around the idea. Mikhail and I were never going to happen. I was sure I was not even his type.

“How was your weekend, buddy?” I asked changing the topic.

“You have no idea how hectic it was…” He was going to continue, but we got to our floor and the elevator doors opened. I was grateful for that because I wasn’t ready for his response. He was probably going to tell me about one of the new girls he was cheating on his wife with, or how his kid did some stupid shit he found funny. So, we got off the elevator and went our separate ways saying our goodbyes. So I thought…

“Marv,” he shouted from across the hallway. “We’ll finish our chat over lunch.”

“No problem, buddy.” I lied. It was a problem, but I wasn’t about to turn him down while three of our colleagues were walking around.

I made it to my quaint office space that over looked the busy streets of Johannesburg. Sometimes I glanced out and saw nothing but people preoccupied by themselves and their own lives and money. Sometimes I saw the beauty of different cultures, and people interacting. I have to say to some extent the diversity influenced some of my drawings. Like this one house I had to design for a woman that wanted her home to be centred on her beliefs; she believed in some ancient Chinese philosophies and was some sort of liberal Christian. I had designed a building that resembled Chinese houses, yet had some elements of the Vatican Church. She fell in love with the design and the price we charged, I hope she’s living happily ever after.

As soon as I started working, time started to fly by; I ended up finding a way to avoid Scott for lunch. I had gotten a call during the day from one of the guys at the office asking me to help them with something. He mentioned getting me lunch as a reward, but he didn’t know how much he was helping me out of an unwanted conversation with Scott. I called Scott before lunch to tell him, and managed not to sound too excited about not honouring our plans.

Lunch was just me helping Ned – my colleague – with this cool concept he was working on. I didn’t mind helping others in the company because if they sent out crappy work, then it would reflect badly on the rest of us, and my work was too good to be disregarded because of someone else’s failure. Working through lunch, and again after lunch, made the day speed by. I was going to leave work at six and go straight to my date with Mikhail, but I changed my mind. I wanted to look more casual, in case he misunderstands the entire thing. Not that he suggested that he ever would.

***

It was 18:30 and I was on my way to dinner with Mikhail. I was clad in a white t-shirt, acid-washed jeans and a pair of white Air Force 1s. Cool and casual, for dinner with a friend. I’d even told my most recent booty call – that’s what she was; I wasn’t dating her, she was just giving me ass – that I was unavailable that night. She didn’t seem to mind. I got to the restaurant five minutes late, I wish I’d bought flowers to apologise, but that would give out the wrong vibe. As I was about to tell the host I was looking for Mikhail, he gave me a knowing looking and ushered me to the man in question.

Walking about the restaurant to his table, I would’ve sworn it wasn’t him; he was looking down at several pieces of paper. His hair was messy, but not in that ‘ I need you to comb’ type of way, but rather in the whole ‘just got out of bed’ look that girls always strive to get. His hair fell to his face, but his glasses stopped it from being a curtain that covered his eyes. I was shocked he wore glasses. The lighting hit his skin in such a way that he looked more radiant and beautiful than he was. I thought he looked like he had bronzer on, but he couldn’t have bronzer on. It had to be the lighting. I shook my head to get my thoughts clear because I was fast approaching his table.

“Hey, Princess,” I said, disturbing him from whatever he was looking at.

“Hey, to you too.” Mikhail smiled a beautiful smile, I’m not sure if it was his usual smile or not, but it looked so different.

“Am I interrupting?” I asked as I sat down. To my surprise, there was a glass of wine on his side of the table and a whiskey glass on my side.

“Yes, actually. I’m waiting to have a date with this other Italian stud. I’m expecting him any minute now.” He joked and we both laughed it off. We were starting with the cordial procedures; him asking about work, me asking about why he hadn’t come through during the weekend. He was about to answer when the waiter came over.

“We ready, sir? Should we start now?” he asked. To which Mikhail replied with a nod and a pleasant smile. I’m not sure how he was when I wasn’t around, but he seemed like a good boss.

“What needs to be started?” I asked curiously.

“Well, I didn’t just bring you here because I miss you. I want your opinion on the dishes they're going to bring out in a minute,” he explained in a captivating tone. “See, my dad wants me to organise a vow renewal ceremony for him and my mom, and now I want to make sure the food will be fine from this kitchen, or if I’ll have to outsource.”

“Sounds good to me, but I have one condition,” I said, giving him a mischievous smirk.

“What is that?” he replied, while taking off his glasses and using them to pull his hair out of his face. I think I stopped breathing at that moment because I noticed how beautiful he’d be with short hair.

“Uhm… I’ll be your lab rat, if I get to be your plus one.” I had no idea why I said that. Going to his parents' vow renewal ceremony as his date would make it seem like we were together. But…I looked over to see him smile.

“You were actually going to get your own invite, but being my date will work out.”

I was going to add something, but the waiter came back to give us the first starter. Mikhail explained that the event would have three starters, a main meal and dessert. I looked at him, and we cracked jokes about how much weight we were going to gain during that night.

“So why not invite Miranda over?” I asked casually.

“Oh, she never needs an invite. Matter of fact she’s going to help with large chunks of the ceremony.”

I thought it was either he ignored the question, or he didn’t understand it. So I elaborated.

“I meant tonight.”

“Oh. I was hoping to avoid that,” he said sounding disappointed. He fiddled with his food before he answered, “Well, I’m kind of avoiding her and my parents.”

He was avoiding his best friend and his parents; something big had to be up. No one avoids both best friend and parents and opts to have dinner with an acquaintance. I felt a bit worried, but seeing him so vulnerable made him look so beautiful.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, reaching over to grab his hand and put it in my own. “You don’t have to talk about it, but you know I’m here right?” He looked into my gaze and we held eye contact for a moment. I wasn’t sure what that meant but it felt nice to look into his eyes.

“I’ll be fine. It’s just that I think I might have finally closed an old chapter in my life and I don’t want them to bug me about it.” Old chapter? What could that even mean? Argh, I guess I had to be happy that he was smiling at me.

“So, you good?” he replied to me with a nod and took his free hand to feed himself, he let out a low moan, when swallowing a spoonful of his soup. I think the soup was butternut or something creamy like that. I took a spoonful myself and understood why he went quiet. We both started to dig into our first starter; it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was comfortable. It was the sort of comfort I hadn’t achieved with some of my friends, and we’d been friends for years.

“Uhm...” he started. “Not that I mind the handholding, but I want to wipe my mouth. If you don’t mind that is.” He had said this in a shy way. I wanted to turn bloodshot–red , because I had forgotten that we’d been holding hands. We were so comfortable – okay, not 'we,' just me – I was so comfortable with his hand in mine that I forgot. Something is in the water; I cannot be holding some nigga's hand over dinner.

“Yeah shit, wouldn’t want your boyfriend killing me for that.” I tried to play it off, but to be quiet frank, I’m not sure he bought it.

“If he existed. I think you should be more worried about David finding out.” He started to laugh and then finished off his train of thought, “He’d kill you if he found out you were gay too.” We both started to laugh, and I went on to tell him stories about David and his antics; he seemed to enjoy a good laugh. I could tell that Mikhail probably needed it, especially by the way he chuckled at the smallest of things about how stupid David was when he came to his homophobic statements.

We were starting the main course, when he got up to go to the bathroom. I watched him walk away and saw how cute his ass was. It wasn’t the fattest ass around, but it wasn’t the smallest either. If asses were measured by bra sizes, I’d say he was a 34C: perfect, perky and good for all occasions. I wasn’t staring, but I noticed, however – I was too busy noticing his ass to realize the waiter had come over.

“Excuse me sir, would you like some more whiskey?” he asked ever so politely.

“Yes, please, and this time make it a triple – and bring me some ginger ale on the side,” I replied, trying to shake my head. I think the waiter replied to me, but my mind was busy thinking of things it shouldn’t. I was going to drink some of that whiskey to try and drown out the crazy voices that were telling me to cut the date with Mikhail short, take him home and have him bent over my kitchen counter, taking all of my…

“Hey, why so zoned out? Girl got your mind?” He had come back and I hadn’t noticed. Shit, this boy really wasn’t good for my reflexes.

“Yeah, something like that,” I said with a smile. I was trying to play it cool and not lie too much.

“Do tell. I wanna know all about your love life. But don’t introduce me to her yet, I don’t want to fuck this up for you again.” We laughed at the thought of another Lisa incident.

“Well, her name is Claire. I met her after Sipho tried to hook me up with her cousin. Long story short, her cousin had a boyfriend and she wanted to take me off her cousin’s hands. Now we bang like rabbits.” I laughed because I was trying to hide the fact that I wanted to bang him, and to be like rabbits. I didn't know why these thoughts came to me, and about him of all people. The waiter came back with my drink and I downed half of it in one gulp.

“Slow down, that is some really strong whiskey, and you have work in the morning,” he warned.

“Just catch up and we can worry about tomorrow when it comes.” I gave him a wink when I finished speaking. He looked at me and laughed.

“Where are your car keys?” I looked at him weird before taking them out and showing him. He reached out his hand and suggested I handover the keys.

“I’m not drunk. I’m just lame. You cannot take my keys away because of being lame. That just ain't right.” I tried to give him a puppy-dog face, but he side-eyed me for a few seconds before giving me a very stern look. “Okay. But how am I going to get home?”

“Do I look like I cannot drive?” He said with a cocky smirk.

I had a plan to get Mikhail in to my bed and I was hoping it works. I may have been tipsy but I was far from drunk. I’d hoped after all the times we’d known each other that he’d know when I was drunk. But clearly he didn’t and that’s why I had a plan.

“You driving me home in your car?” I asked puzzled.

“Is that a problem?” he replied, somehow he had managed to start chewing after the last question. I looked at him while taking another sip of whiskey.

“Well, my work stuff is in my car and I cannot leave my work and car here.” There was a thoughtful glance thrown my way before he spoke again.

“Okay, give me a minute.” I noticed him continue to eat; I thought he was going to deny my request. We sat and finished the main course. I was panicking a bit and he was just calm. My panic wasn’t showing, but I could feel it.

“Should I bring the dessert?” our waiter interjected

“Yes, and also please get Matthew for me,” Mikhail replied with a level of maturity to him. “You know I have to eat here for the next three days sampling food for this event? So I need your opinion for today, okay?”

“Only, if you take me home,” I said feigning intoxication. I saw him eye my glass before we both reached for it. I managed to get it first and down the remainder of my drink. He just laughed and told me I’m a loser, but in a friendly way.

“You called?” the guy I assumed was Matthew said; he shot a look at me before continuing. “Sir, I’m sorry I – ” he was going to continue, but Mikhail stopped him.

“Stop the bullshit. Here are the keys for the car. I’ll be home late,” he said casually.

“Why aren’t we…?” Matthew was about to finish his question, but he shot questioning glances between Mikhail and I, and then seemed to answer himself. “Oh. I see. Should I tell them?”

“No. There’s nothing to tell. Marvin…” Mikhail said, gesturing to me “…is just a friend who has had too much to drink and I’m driving him home. From there I’m going to call a cab and go home.” I couldn’t place his tone it sounded displeased yet firm or maybe annoyed. I wasn’t sure, but I was sure that Mikhail wasn’t joking about that whiskey being strong.

“See you at home then,” Matthew said, walking away.

“I thought you didn’t have a boyfriend,” I asked once Matthew was out of earshot.

“I don’t. Matthew is… Well it’s complicated, but he and I are friends and he lives with us.” He seemed to shrug the entire thing off.

“Well, that’s cool. Maybe we should leave; I’m starting to feel like the room is spinning.” I said, holding my head. That wasn’t a lie; something about that whiskey knocked me over the head unexpectedly.

We cleared up and started to head to where I had parked. Mikhail had gone to get the dessert doggy bagged as soon as I had told him I wasn’t well. I honestly wasn’t feeling well, my stomach was doing cartwheels and that couldn’t be the liquor. The liquor just contributed to the dizzy spells. I wasn’t sure what it was, but the car ride was making it worse. The queasy feeling in my stomach wouldn’t go away, and Mikhail kept asking if I was all right. I may have I genuinely worried him, that night. Fuck I was worrying myself. I never acted like this. What if Mikhail put the date-rape drug in my drink? He was trying to rape me, and here I was trying to not come onto him. Shit! I think I even fiddled with the door for a minute while he kept smacking me to stop it.

“Are you going to rape me?” I asked, I wasn’t even sure he heard me. I guess he heard me because he couldn’t stop laughing.

“I think you should stop drinking. You aren’t good at handling your liquor. To answer your question no, I won’t rape you.” He laughed at me some more. “Besides you don’t look like the type who has a big dick.” I was dying and he was joking about my dick size. Shit, this bitch was heartless.

“You’ve got all night to gag on it,” I replied, and to be honest, I was surprised my speech was coherent at that point in time.

“Maybe one day when you sober. For now, it's time for you to get to bed.” He pulled over and we got out the car. I think I heard right, he offered to gag on my cock when I was sober. I was going to have Mikhail’s lips on my cock. Why was this exciting me? Why was I not grossed out by this fact? Oh goodness. Where was Claire when I needed her?

“You’re so beautiful, Lisa,” I said as Mikhail brought me into the house. Shit, my plan wasn’t going to work. I was getting dizzy as hell. As soon as he closed the door I started to dash for the bathroom to puke. I was bent over the toilet seat spilling my dinner and whatever was left of my intestines. I don’t know how long I was on the floor, but I kept hearing Mikhail calling for me to open the door. I finally managed to get up to do, that and walked over to him. He carried me to my bedroom and dropped me on the bed. I went blank afterwards.

Thank you all for reading. Special love-filled thank you to AC Benus. The next chapter is coming sooner than this one came