Bare Back Black Dress

She had worn the dress on purpose. She wasn’t much of a show-skin but this dress was perfect for what she wanted. She knew he would be here for the reunion. She had planned it all out; joined the committee and made sure it all happened now when he would be visiting.

They had been high school sweethearts. She had been the most desirable girl in the neighborhood. “She bubbled”, was what people said. She hadn’t even realized the effect she had until the guys started to swoon around her. Regardless of all that attention, he was the only one she ever had eyes for. He was shy and a little unsure of himself. Over the years, she helped him overcome that; made him into a man she was proud of; her man. They would live happily ever after, no doubt.

She wasn’t exactly smart; she was beautiful and exciting and had a great personality that made everyone fall in love with her. Yet the package hadn’t come with intelligence but it was fine. So long as Bob loved her that way. He filled in that part of her, his intelligence served them both until he got a scholarship and had to leave town to fulfill his dreams.

It was heartbreaking letting him go. They made a pact though, that they would be fine so long as they kept in touch. They talked almost every day until he got busier and then they had to reduce the frequency. They loved and fought just like every couple and looked forward to seeing each other at the end of his sessions when he would come home. Then came times he could barely afford to save and had to stay back in school during the holidays. She would be heartbroken but she would not cry in front of him; she kept up a bold face and told him she would wait till the next session, and then went on to cry herself to sleep when he got off the phone. Every session he didn’t come home was a scare that they were growing more apart.

Worry crept in more often when he barely spoke of coming home during breaks. He wedged it with talks of saving more to further his dreams. How could she go against that? You don’t go between a man and his dreams, they say. How could you tell your lover to pause his dreams just to be with you for a few weeks? It wasn’t an absurd idea; it was only absurd if the idea didn’t come from him. She wondered if he even thought of it anymore. It was his life anyways, not hers, not theirs, but his. One day, he paused in the middle of one of his brilliant talks about his plans and said, “I am doing all these for you, for us. So we don’t have to steal moments, so we can have all we want and be with each other any time we want.” That night she had slept peacefully knowing she was part of his plans. He made her understand they were sacrificing their immediate pleasure for an eventually blissful one and she was OK with that. This, however, changed drastically a few months later with a photo on Facebook.

He posted an album of a road trip he had with friends to a waterfall. It was an album of 10 photos and he was in only 3 of them. The first picture that really got her attention was one where he was standing solo in front of the waterfall, arms spread and it looked like he had had to go through a lot of giggles to strike that pose. What struck her most was his smile. She hadn’t really seen him smile like that in a while. She was the only one that made him smile that way; it was in between a blush and smile that could lead to a laugh eventually. He was looking straight into the camera and she instantly wanted to know who was behind that camera. Two photos later, she found the culprit in a selfie with him and the culprit was wielding the camera. Bob looked happy but a bit hesitant in the selfie. It told her he feared what she would make of it when she saw it. It told her she had just caught her man falling in love with another woman.

She had stared at those pictures for hours, addictively. She would go cook a meal and in between, whip out her phone to look at those pictures. She didn’t save them like she saved the rest of his pictures to stare at in her own time; she couldn’t save it. She went online at intervals only to stare at the pictures. The pictures mocked her; told her she wasn’t exceptional or the only one for him as he had once said. The pictures told her she had wasted three years of her life waiting for a man who was never going to be truly hers.

Bob didn’t call that day. He called late the next day. His tone was high and it sounded like he was trying to fake excitement.

“Hi, Clara.” He mostly called her baby. Clara sometimes, but mostly baby.

“Hi.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you yesterday. Time passed so quickly. You know how road trips are.”

“No. I don’t.” She wasn’t letting his cheesy attempt at lying to her fly.

“How’s your day going?” He tried to change the subject.

“Quite fine, compared to yesterday.”

“Oh? What happened yesterday?”

“You tell me.” She had him trapped again. She could sense he was nervous and the conversation was not going the way he had hoped. She waited silently as his mind stuttered trying to find the right response. Then a female voice from his end of the line broke the silence.

“Bob can you help me get this cooler into our room?” the voice said rather assuredly.

“Hey, I have to go help get stuff from the car. I’ll call you tomorrow ok?” He stuttered but Clara was silent. “Ok?” he pressed, expecting her consent but she remained silent.

In the distance she could hear someone ask “Are you and Bob both getting a room for yourselves?” and she heard the distinct ‘Yes’ from the girl she already guessed was the brunette just as Bob terminated the line. For the rest of the day, the voice in her head was that of a brunette repeatedly saying “…our room”

Her soul screamed; her core recoiled from betrayal. She died that night. She died a thousand times; she felt her heart rip into two and stay bleeding as it tried to heal itself back. She sat in the dark for hours oblivious of time. Her Nana had gone on a vacation with her new boyfriend, so Clara had the house all to herself and no one to help hold her ripped heart together.

He didn’t call the next day or the day after, he was avoiding his problems; his responsibility. It reminded her of him when they were in high school, he used to get mocked and sometimes bullied on the street that led to school and so he would take the street behind and walk around, almost tripling the distance he really needed to walk to school, until she started walking with him to school.

Bob and Alexia, the brunette, became a thing. She followed their progress. She stalked them and made a journal from stalking them. Alexia was an art collector and traveled to different states to explore art and Bob followed on some of those trips. She knew where they went, when and how long they stayed. She knew when Alexia became pregnant and Bob engaged her. She knew when they had their wedding, rented a house and moved in.

**********

Standing at the balcony of the open roof they had picked for the reunion, she felt the wind brush her face with promises of relief. She would have her revenge and be at peace again, it said and she believed it. She heard a footstep approach her and resisted the urge to turn as he stood beside her just shy of a step.

“You always liked rooftop views. I wondered why.” He instigated. Silence. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed them with you. I just wondered why it took you so much.” He continued.

“I think it’s because it allows me to assume the creator status; looking down at my creations and their reckless abandon at how uncertain their life span is.”

“O…K? That’s dark. Don’t you think?”

“Everything is dark when the lights go off.” She sensed his uneasiness from her comments and sensed it was time to switch her attitude and get him comfortable. With the most innocent smile she could muster, she turned to face him and went for a hug.

He hadn’t seen the hug coming. The first time he sighted her at the edge of the balcony, his first instinct was to run out of the reunion. However, staring at her in complete grace, her back bare showing a perfectly carved body that could only have come from regular exercise, and her posture conjuring respect, he felt she was fine. He often wondered how she would have taken his betrayal. Sometimes he had sleepless night wondering if she was OK; if she had moved on, but he couldn’t really bring himself to find out. What if she wasn’t OK? He would have been compelled to go to her. What would he tell Alexia? How would he please both of them? Instead, he had chosen to stay with Alexia. Yes, it was the easier choice but look at her now, she looks amazing. He thought.

This hug though… In order not to seem so stiff, he hugged back and flinched just as his hand hit her back. Ahh! The open back gown. Her back felt so smooth on his palm and she fit him so perfectly. He had some shock run through him as their contact told him stories he had long forgotten. She moved out of his arms slowly and with a shy smile. No way! Was she flirting with him? he wondered.

He had expected anger, indifference, being ignored by her, but flirting with him wasn’t a box option he could have envisioned. Yet, here he was, staring down at the ex he left and she looked like she was having the hots for him still.

They were now being joined by a small group. “Aha! These two again… they were inseparable when we were younger.”

“Why am I not surprised that they are cozying up already?” Said another.

“Don’t look at me; she’s the one who can’t have enough.” He had meant it as a joke but he felt a bitter taste in his mouth once the words left him. The others thought it was funny, however.

Clara had been weighing aborting her mission. She had been making excuses for him all evening, trying to convince her alter ego they’d be fine without hurting him and they could move on and have an amazing life without revenge until he said those words. Now she was more determined with her plans as she silently faded from the group.

******

She threw her head back more suddenly when she took a shot now and ended each drink with a sheepish smile. She saw him watch her from the other end of the room and did a little stumble that made her look like her feet couldn’t hold her up much longer.

She was hoping it would get him rushing to her side and like clock-work, it worked.

He was beside her and asking how many drinks she had had. She grinned and did a broken throaty laugh as she recklessly flung her hands around his neck.

“OK, Clara. I think you’ve had enough drinking. I’ll take you home now.” He said, grabbing her waist to hold her up.

“Nooooo….” She whined while grabbing on to his arm. He knew it would become a scene if he didn’t get her out of there immediately. He told her to hold on to him as he led her out of the party.

He gently shoved her to the front seat of his car and fastened the belt across her. She had attempted kissing him as he leaned over. Her lips had actually found the side of his face, his ear, and neckline. Although he seemed calm, he had felt some blood rush down his crouch.

He drove off and didn’t stop till he got to her aunt’s house. “You still stay here, right?” he said almost certain. The tone of his voice annoyed her; told her he didn’t think she could have done any better for herself. But, of course, she still lived with her Aunt.

She nodded rather soberly for someone who looked dead drunk some minutes ago. “Should I help you in?” he asked. She nodded again. She was probably drunk sober, he thought.

She wasn’t as resistant but she wasn’t as easy to lead in either. He dropped her with a heavy sigh on her sofa and looked around nervously. He hadn’t been in the house for seven years and now he was standing in it and it swirled around him. Every corner he looked brought memories of conversations, activities, and emotions; the first time they kissed, the teddy bear he bought her on their first anniversary, his joggers that she had made into hers, by constantly wearing it, lay on the slouch sofa just beside her. She sat still, almost like a mannequin, staring at him. An image of her past-self flashed in his mind and then blended into her present self. She stood slowly now that his eyes were set on her and like a goddess who knew how irresistible she was; she started to undress rather slowly till she was bare before him.

There was one thing that was undeniable; she had grown. Her curves were more precise, her muscles more toned and her skin glowed ivory. Her breasts had gotten fuller, her hips wider and her neck longer. He had a sudden urge to kiss up and down the length of it while feeling the rest of her body in a tight embrace. When he dreamed of a perfect girl, like most guys do when they masturbate, his fantasies weren’t so far from this. In fact, his fantasy was exactly her. He almost slapped himself for leaving her. This could all have been his, If only he had stayed dedicated to her.

As he stared on, he got greedier. What if he could still have her; she was, after all, offering herself to him right now. She probably wanted him just as badly as he wanted her and he’d be damned if he didn’t take advantage of that. In fact, if he played his game right, he could always have her whenever he wanted, regardless of his family. He was alarmed at how much he wanted to own her; he hadn’t felt this much fire in him in a while. For him, her display was enough affirmation, hell, her display was his motivation. He was going to own this one. He had owned her before anyways, so why not again and why not now.

She walked towards him; he swallowed saliva that had somehow built in his mouth while he watched her. She stopped right in front of him, he wanted to take her right away but her look advised him against it.

“Kneel” was all she said and he found himself face to ‘face’ with her snatch. His mouth watered some more. “Feed.” It was all the command he needed to get to work. He began with a kiss to her pubis. It was a slow sensual light kiss; the type you’d give your lover on the lips right before you really start to kiss them. It was like a ‘Hi’ kiss. He backed up from it and smiled. The smile said; I know you have missed me and I know you know what’s coming after this. He followed his next kiss with short kisses up her pelvis and down her laps. Her skin seemed to come alive with each kiss. He stopped at her knees and left bites on her thighs. The next time he kissed her pubis it was not as soft as the first and his tongue traveled in a stiff down to slice her lips. He then laid his tongue spread-flat under her mound and with some pressure got his tongue pressing against her mound, without getting inside; making her rock a bit over his mouth.

He finally parted her lips with his tongue; giant strokes slid through the length of her pussy opening. He couldn’t hold off from tasting her wholeness and so with the help of his hands, he parted her lips and made proper contact with her clits. He dug in for a suck ignoring her moan as she rocked back and forth. He lifted her right laps over his shoulder and dug in more, sucking and digging as her clit cover relentlessly tried to slip off his lips grip. Her clit was swollen and pink, he didn’t need to see it, he could taste it and with every suck and rocking, she got closer. He wanted her to explode in his mouth. He longed for the taste of cum oozing out of her in a rush and just as he thought of it, it happened. It was glorious, she was quivering and he had to support her strongly with his hands to ensure she didn’t fall. When he was sure she was done quivering, he helped her to the sofa, lay her on it while he got on his knees on the ground, spread her legs back open and inserted his fingers into her. It happened so fast she almost jumped up. When she recovered from the shock, she took his other hand and led it to her mouth. Her warm breath and mouth threw him off his rhythm and she began to move; fucking herself with his fingers while she still sucked on his hand. He was almost out of breath.

“You want to feel what that’s like on you. Don’t you?” she had read him and so he only nodded. She helped him out of his clothes fast and it was his turn now to seat on the sofa. She got on top and astride him and bent over to kiss him while her wet snatch found contact with his organ. She was a good tease; sliding up and down his length with her wetness, staying longer at his tips as if to let it into her cunt only to slide back down again. Her hand was resting on his chest, her right hand slapping his cheek and holding it ready for whenever she wished to kiss him. He could feel his organ hardening even more and wondered how long she planned to tease him for. Before he could finish his thought, she let him slide into her warmth. He gave a high surprised groan as his hand hugged her lower back to keep him inside her as she bounced up and down his shaft. He was taken away, he was in another place, another realm he didn’t want to leave so he didn’t notice when she picked up a tiny remote on the sofa and pressed some buttons.

She was mostly in charge from then on, giving him orgasms and taking some for herself and she bounced and whined crazily on him. She threw her head back and almost doubled to the floor and he held her to him still and kept jerking into her. It was a good angle for him and an even better one for her as evident from her screams. He watched her boobs jiggle as she let herself go even more and crashed into an orgasm that he followed almost immediately. They finally lay on the sofa side by side and he was so exhausted, he fell into sleep and again didn’t see her reach for her phone and click away.

**********

Alexia woke happily, she turned to her right and stared at Bob looking peaceful and asleep; visiting his family had been a good idea for them all. The kids were having fun, she was bonding more with his parents and apparently, Bob was having a smiley dream; something he didn’t have at home where he worked more than half the time.

She picked up her phone from the bed-stand as she chided herself for becoming one of those who checked their phones before they got out of bed. She scrolled through her list of messages, while wondered why she had these many. One stood out; her best friend, Dania’s message. She opened it. It read. “Alexia…I hope you haven’t seen it. Please if you haven’t; call me first before checking your FB.” Her fingers immediately went to work and opened Facebook.  Apparently, she was tagged to a photo that a lot of people seem to be commenting on. Opening this photo was, as she later came to confess to herself, the doom to her marriage. She screamed Bob’s name; her screaming was so petrifying he awoke startled.

“What is wrong?” he asked as he tried to reach for her, looking so worried. Her stare was both stone cold and hurt. She wouldn’t say a word, couldn’t and she saw his mind go to work wondering what could have happened. The moment she saw a hint of worry and alarm creep into his eyes, she knew he was guilty and that’s when the tears began to fall from her eyes.

**********

As Clara drove swiftly through the highway she swayed to “Who do you love” by The Chain smokers ft. 5 Seconds of Summer. She laughed as she imagined it was exactly the question Alexia would be asking Bob in a few minutes from now, if not already. Now Bob would have to face what he had avoided with her; the pain of watching someone go through a broken heart he had caused. He had been lucky with her because she was miles away, not this time. He would see exactly what it felt like only now in his wife’s eyes. She picked up her phone from the passenger’s seat and laughed some more as her facebook buzzed with notification, she didn’t need to check which of her posts was getting such attention, she had posted it only two hours ago when she entered her car and drove out of her birth town; the town which will now become just memories of her beginning; her first heartbreak, her revenge map. In fairness though, the heartbreak did teach her to read more when she obsessed about how smarter Alexia probably was. Her revenge plan had introduced her to exercise, healthy eating and all the knowledge she had needed to make sure Bob cheated with her. In her depression, she had found drawing and designing and she was now going off to Los Angeles with all her savings to become a fashion designer. She giggled as she deactivated her Facebook and switched to another she had created as Claire. Clara was never really suited for her anyway.

The End.

P.S: This story was inspired by staring at that cover picture while high. Feel free to comment about how mean or kind she was and what would have happened if she was a Naija babe. Oh… like and share too.