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  Looking at her watch, she decided that it was time to get to bed. Morning would come soon for her and while she did take the day off to relax, she was quite certain that she would make up for it tomorrow.

  Going into her perfectly clean, all-white bathroom, she turned the silver, shiny knobs on her garden bathtub and lit her vanilla candles. She was just about to grab her towels when she noticed the light blinking on her phone. One missed call.

  She checked it to find that Mitch had called. She dialed him back quickly, sure that he was just checking to make sure that she would come the next day.

  “Hi Mitch, you called?”

  “Yes, I did. How are you?”

  “Fine.” She avoided the small talk.

  “Good. Look, this is really a big favor that I have to ask, but I have a meeting tomorrow that is reallyimportant, and it’s scheduled during the time that my ex wife is bringing Zach over. Can you stay with him until I arrive by any chance?” His voice pleaded.

  “Mitch, that’s not my job.”

  “I know. I know. Trust me. It just that I don’t really have anyone else, and if I give her any leeway with my visiting times, I won’t see him all weekend. And I just can’t bear to have him spend my time with the pediatrician.”

  “Mitch’s it’s not professional for me to go from cleaning service to babysitter...”

  “I’m not asking from one professional to another. I’m asking you as a friend. Please, Latoya,” he begged.

  LaToya rolled her eyes and sighed. Shifting her weight from one foot to another, she crossed her arms. “Just this once.”

  “Thank you. Thank you so much,” he said relieved. “I’ll make this up to you. I promise.”

  “The way to make it up to me is to never put me in this position again.”

  “I won’t. But thanks. You’re saving my ass.”

  “Goodnight, Mitch.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  LaToya hung up the phone and shook her head. What was she getting herself into?

  ***

  One o’clock on the dot, LaToya arrived at the O’Keefe house with cleaning baskets in tow. Opening the door of the house, she sat her supplies down and turned off the alarm, then made her way to the kitchen. On the island table was a note from Mitch thanking her for the favor and promising to make it up to her. She doubted that he could.

  Well after the last room had been cleaned, the doorbell rang. Just on time, she thought, at least the little bugger didn’t interrupt me before I finished cleaning. With the click of the remote, she got up from the couch and made her way to the front door. As she approached, she could see a woman’s shape behind the stain glass window and a child beside her peering inside with hand hands firmly placed on the glass. Ugh, I just cleaned those, she thought.

  LaToya turned the knob slowly, dreading for some reason meeting Mitch’s ex-wife. As the door opened and the hinges creaked, the woman on the other side stood smiling and ushered her son inside. With his luggage in tow, she stopped in the foyer, refusing to go any further into her old home.

  “You must be LaToya,” the woman said, extending her hand. “Hi. I’m Elaine.”

  LaToya was lost for words. His ex-wife. His baby’s mother. His heart breaker was a black woman. Her hair was pulled back in a soft, short amber ponytail. Her features were fair lending to the possibility that she was multiracial with her slim nose and thin lips, but more than anything, Elaine was black. LaToya tried to repress her smirk.

  “Hi, Elaine. I’m LaToya...the cleaning lady. Mitch asked me to stay for a while and watch your son until he arrives.”

  Elaine shifted her Gucci purse on her shoulder and looked back for her son, who had quietly made his way up the stairs to his room.

  She stumbled over her words and spoke softly. “Mitch said that you were you a friend. He didn’t say that you were his cleaning lady.” She smirked. “For a moment, I have to admit, I was jealous.” Elaine actually seemed relieved.

  LaToya chuckled. “Well, I’m a friend, too...I guess.” She frowned.

  Elaine nodded. “Regardless, thank you for doing this for him. Felix and I are going on a small road trip and if Mitch hadn’t had someone to watch Zach then he would have had to go with us.”

  “Oh. I understand. No, it’s no problem.” LaToya stood in her place, confused but enlightened.

  “If you need anything, I’ve written my numbers here.” She proudly passed Dr. Felix Hampstead’scard to LaToya with her numbers written on the back in red ink.

  “Thank you.” LaToya took the card and smiled again. “I’m sure that we’ll be fine.”

  “Okay then.” Elaine laughed nervously. “Well, it was nice meeting you, but I best be off. I’m way behind schedule.” She made her way to the entrance.

  With a small nod, LaToya closed the door behind Elaine and then turned to look past the foyer at the stairs. Should she go up there and see if the little guy was hungry? Should she ignore him?

  A thought crossed her mind. It probably wasn’t smart to ignore a nine year old. If he got into trouble of some sort, she would be responsible, because stupidly, she’d gotten herself involved.

  Hiking up the stairs, she went to the room at the end of the hall and knocked on the door. The television was already blasting.

  “It’s open,” the boy said dryly.

  LaToya opened the door and found Zach in front of his television playing his Wii.

  “Hey,” LaToya said, leaning against his desk.

  “Hey is for horses,” he said, without looking up.

  “Well some heyis for trying to be nice to little kids who don’t introduce themselves when they meet an adult.” She raised her brow at him.

  Zach looked up. His eyes were the same color as his father’s, a deep, tranquil green. His skin was only slightly kissed by the sun giving him a permanent and beautiful tan and his cheeks were rosy red. He was tall for his age and bordering on pudgy. Curly masses of black hair topped his head, and he wore plaid like his father and a pair of dark khakis. He looked just like the many pictures of him on the walls throughout the house. Only before knowing who his mother was, LaToya just attributed Zach’s color to something other than melanin.

  “Hello, I’m Zachary,” he said, turning from his toy. “What’s your name?”

  “LaToya Jenkins. I’m a friend of your dad’s.”

  “I’ve heard that before.” He turned and started to play the game again. “Are you and my dad getting married? Are you going to have a baby or something like mom and Felix?” He kept his eyes on the television.

  LaToya shook her head. “No, I clean his house. Good grief.” She tried not to sound surprised considering what she knew the boy had gone through.

  Zach didn’t respond.

  “Are you hungry or something? If you are, I can fix you something to eat. Otherwise, I’ll leave you to your hypnotics, because you sort of freak me out.”

  “Can I have a sandwich?” he asked.

  “Sure, let me see what you dad has. You wanna stop playing that and come for downstairs for a minute.” She motioned towards the door.

  He put down the control on his entertainment cabinet. “What are hypnotics?” he asked, looking up at her under heavy eyelashes with a curious gaze.

  “Those computer games put you in a state of um...oblivion about the world. You should try reading a book.”

  He walked beside her. “A book? You don’t have kids, do you?”

  “Nope. You can tell?”

  “Yeah,” he said, cracking his knuckles.

  ***

  Right before dusk, tired mentally and physically, Mitch put his key in the front door of his home and opened it. As he entered the house and closed the door, he heard something that he had not heard in a long time. Laughter. It was his son and LaToya. Their voices blended to make a blissful melody of happiness that rang through the halls. Unexpectedly, it sent goose bumps up his arm. He hadn’t heard his son laugh like that in a long time. And there was something else
he hadn’t had in a long time. The smell of food cooking in his kitchen, emanating through his house like a fragrance of pure love.

  The glow of the sun setting in the horizon made the house appear to be literally alive. The dancing flickers of light beamed brightly through the windows as its blaze faded into the distance. The burnt yellow walls topped with white crown molding, decorated with beautiful art and low, receding lights under expensive tile floors, adorned with elegant furniture seemed like a real home tonight. It was the first time that he felt like he had actually walked into his life again. The house was clean. His son was laughing. Food was cooking, and there was a woman waiting for him after a long day at the office.

  Quietly, he put down his briefcase, dropped his blueprints at the table in the foyer and walked slowly down the hall, trying hard not to be detected. As he got closer, he heard his son asking LaToya a question.

  “So you’ve read it?” Zach asked.

  “Yes,” LaToya replied.

  “Well, what happens? I’ve got an assignment in class on Moby Dick. It’s supposed to be a classic or something, but if you ask me, it blows. No one wants to read it. I want to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but the Ms. Clementine won’t let us.”

  “You shouldread Moby Dick. It isa classic. And if I tell you what happens, then you won’t read it. And then you’ll have missed out.”

  “I won’t read it anyway,” he joked. “Why don’t they just make every book into movie? It’s so much easier.”

  “Some books are better in print, Zach. I’ve seen the Moby Dickmovie. It’s lacking.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It’s better on paper.”

  “No, it’s not.” He paused. “How many books have you read anyway?”

  “Thousands.”

  “Thousands?” Zach asked in disbelief. His voice sounded exasperated at the thought. “Why?”

  “Because,” she hunched her shoulders and smiled. “I love to read.”

  LaToya didn’t want to tell him that single people had to find a serious hobby to make up for the time that they weren’t spending with a mate, and many like her preferred reading to get away from the life that they currently had to go to a place that they’d never been. It was one of her favorite hobbies. In fact, she had turned her spare bedroom into a full library, where she had collected over 2,000 books.

  Mitch stood in the doorway watching the two as they talked. Zach sat on the island beside LaToya while she stood cutting up vegetables and preparing their meal. The two had only just met, but it seemed that they had known each other for a lifetime. Their chemistry was pleasant and easy, unlike how he’d seen his son with the pediatrician. Zach liked her. He liked her.

  Dipping his head to hide the emotions that he was sure he wore on his tired face, he looked down at his brown boots to fight the pain of what he missed, what he longed for. He wanted someone there doing just what she was doing on a permanent basis, not cooking, not cleaning but nurturing. More than his son needed it. He needed it. It was such a shame that he had lost it not to being a cheat or a bastard, but by being a good man.

  “Oh, you’re home,” LaToya said, looking his way. She cast a bright smile at him and waved her silver spatula. “Come help us. You can take the bread out of the oven while Zach sets the table.”

  Obediently, Zach jumped down from the island and went to cupboard to retrieve the plates. “Hey dad,” he said in a chipper tone.

  “Hello, Zach,” Mitch said, noting his son’s ease with the English language today. Elaine was always so hard on him about his language skills. He had always thought the woman went overboard with her lectures on using proper English, especially when she set such bad examples for him in every other way.

  LaToya raised her brow at him. Mitch looked great as normal. A statue of confidence. Even after working ten hours, he looked resilient and painfully handsome.

  He went over to the stove, put on his mitten and pulled out fresh bread as she had instructed. The warm aroma lit up the kitchen. Setting it down on the oven, he looked over at LaToya mouthed thank you.

  “Welcome,” she said, putting the cut veggies into the stew that she was cooking.

  He stood beside her, almost arm-to-arm and refused to move. He liked being beside her. It made him stand taller.

  “How was work?” she asked nonchalantly.

  “Great,” he answered with a grin. He hadn’t been asked that in a while. Running his hand through his chocolate curls, he stopped at the top of his head and scratched it. The muscles in his arms protruded out, even in his red, plaid shirt. “How was your day with Zach?” he asked her, feeling his son looking at the two of them without turning around.

  “Nice.” She looked up at him and put down her utensils. “You have a very sweet son. He was easy to watch.”

  “I’m not sweet,” Zach said as he set the table. He looked over at the pair with a stern glare.

  LaToya grinned. “He’s a man’s man, huh?”

  “Oh yeah,” Mitch said, watching her cook. He liked the way that she moved around the kitchen. He liked the way that she moved period.

  She picked the utensils up again and began to stir her food carefully. Her body bent into the stove, causing her behind to stick out. He looked. Nice. Really nice.

  Tasting the stew from her silver spoon, she reached for a bottle of paprika and doused a little in the pot. Mitch watched her mouth. He wondered what it would be like to kiss her lips. He’d never kissed a pair so full and inviting. Evidently, his thoughts were a little too readable, because she glanced up at him from the corner of her eye. Her long lashes batted at him. He tried to redirect. “You know how to get around a kitchen, don’t you?”

  “I love to cook. Can’t you tell,” she said, scooting him out of her way. “Dinner will be ready in a minute. Zach, go and wash up.”

  “Alright,” he said, finishing the table. “There, it’s ready.” He looked at the table proudly. It was set for three tonight, instead of a lonely pair. Tilting up on his tiptoes, he meshed his hands together in complete satisfaction of his masterpiece.

  Mitch looked at his son and nodded. “Good job.”

  “Thanks. You too,” the boy said with a clever grin.

  LaToya looked on quietly and felt a twinge of pride herself. It’s the simple things that make a family happy, she thought to herself.

  As soon as Zach ran out of the kitchen, Mitch turned to LaToya. There was a glimmer in his eye as if he was about to say something that might ruin everything. LaToya instantly recognized it. She side-stepped past him and went to the refrigerator to give him some space and to grab the butter.

  She clenched the cool handle of the refrigerator door and looked blankly inside. “I’m not trying to win you over, Mitch. I’m just trying to be your friend,” she said softly, shaking her head. Reaching inside, she grabbed the butter and closed the door.

  A sly grin crossed his lips. “You’re doing both, LaToya. You’re my friend and something else, but I just can’t place it yet.” He reached over to the wine rack and pulled out a bottle of Chardonnay. Opening the bottle, he poured it carefully into a glass and passed it to her. She took it and leaned against the countertop across from him.

  “That other thingwould be your cleaning lady. Remember?”

  “Outside of that.” He winked at her. “You’re something else to me. You’re something else to this house.”

  She let a smile crack from the side of her full lips but quickly hid it by biting them. “You didn’t tell me that you had a black wife.”

  Startled, he quickly gulped down his remaining wine. Without looking at her, he answered in a gruff tone, “I didn’t think it was important.” He poured another glass quickly. “And she’s my ex-wife.”

  “I pegged you as having a petite little blonde for a wife.”

  “Really?” Mitch shook his head. “Everyone automatically assumed that when we were married. There would always be the shock and awe when I brought her to a dinner party with members
from the firm. Then it would be quickly dismissed. You know. They would be like, oh he’s a foreigner. He doesn’t know how things work.But I’m not like that. I feel like I should be allowed to love who I want to love. No questions asked.”

  “I guess you got a lot of flack for it, huh?”

  “Not as much flack as I did for her leaving me for the pediatrician.”

  The thud of the bottle against the granite tabletop made LaToya chuckle. He was still sensitive about that evidently. She moved on for now.

  “I missed a client tonight. So, I’m charging you double,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “It’s worth it. I’ll pay triple.” He didn’t smile, but he gave her a wicked gaze. His green eyes raced her body in one suggestive sweep.

  “Fine. I’ll invoice you.” She didn’t smile but her eyes did. She took a sip of the wine and held the glass under her chin.

  ***

  After dinner, Zach lazily made his way up to his room after giving LaToya a hug and thanking her for a delicious meal. They were all stuffed and ready to retire, including LaToya, who hadn’t planned to stay so long. Just like Mitch to keep me here another night with something, she thought to herself. Grabbing her cleaning baskets and backpack, she walked to the door with Mitch trailing closely behind her.

  He watched her as she walked. Her sway was confident and seductive. Her hips were curvaceously full and led to a plump middle and long back. Her dark skin gave contrast to the pink t-shirt she was wearing. He looked at the nape of her neck and the curly hair that trailed from her braids pulled in a tight, perfect bun. Everything about her was delicate. Her almond shaped eyes, her careful chin, her high cheek bones, her perfectly unblemished, dark chocolate skin – it all made her face unique. The small diamonds sparkling in her ears brought more attention to the startling whites of her eyes, the perfect white teeth hidden behind full lips and the fine, conservative taste of a self-made woman.

  As she got to the door, he reached for the knob but didn’t open it. Looking down at her, into her warm, big brown eyes, he suddenly couldn’t breathe. She was different. Everything about her was different from what he had known. She was so strong, so sure of herself, until it made him feel safe. Wasn’t he the man? Wasn’t he supposed to have that type of effect on her?