"Game Time"

She glanced over at the upper right hand corner of her computer to check the time. 9:57pm. Late. Yeah. Late. She clicked on the tab for her Facebook account and clicked 'Home' so she could glance at status messages for her friends and "friends."  Her email notification blinged and she clicked on it to find that she had a comment on her most recent picture that she'd taken this past weekend at a Halloween party.

Sexy Snow White.

Her costume was hot and skimpy showing off her curves and dips.

And every man who could see her profile was in her inbox telling her how hot she looked.

10:10pm and she decided she'd "fake" worked enough.  She posted a status message on Facebook and shut down her computer. 

"Hard work makes you stronger, faster, better."

She pulled her gym bag from under her desk and headed to the bathroom. 

It was creepy heading down the hallway with the bathroom key in hand.  The building usually emptied out by 6:00pm so the quietness of being alone echoed in the hallway.  Each door she passed was a landmark of safety as she hurried to the bathroom. 

She pissed first and strained a bit to see if she had to defecate but found she didn't.  While in the stall she used baby wipes to clean between her legs, under and between her breasts, under her arms and around her neck.  She flushed the wipes down the toilet and stepped out of her underwear.  Then...she pulled put on the fresh pair she'd hung on the hook in front of her.

Fresh and clean.

Her dress was gorgeous.  She'd noticed the original in a magazine and decided she had to have it.  Zoe Saldana was wearing it but she was ROCKING it.  Zoe wished she had the curves needed to fill it out.  The dress was gold and bronze with tiny sequins all over it in circles.  When the light hit it she sparkled.  It was fitted and structured in all the right places.  Underneath the sides of her breasts, her waist, the curves of her hips. 

She plugged up her flat iron and got out her makeup bag.  She was extremely good at playing up her natural beauty with just a bit of color and she parted her hair in the middle and flattened the front down.

It only took her about twenty minutes but she was ready.  She loved how she looked even though she had on flip flops in the bathroom mirror.  She didn't drive in her expensive shoes because she didn't want to scuff up the backs of them.  She'd recently had to break down and have the replacement soles put on them and wanted to keep them as scuff free as possible.

Extremely hard to do.

But those shoes got her noticed by men and women.

Back in the office she hung the bathroom key on the side of the receptionist's desk and used the phone to call Nessa.  The phone rang 4 times and went to voicemail.

"Nessa, it's me.  I lost my stupid cellphone.  I'm on my way to Dominique's.  You're on the list as my plus one.  I'll meet you there in about thirty minutes.  If you have any problems...tell them you're Malcolm Warner's guest.  See you there!"

She turned the light out in her cubicle and rolled out.

The party was the same as always.  Ballers in the VIP in the middle of the floor, wannabe's off to the side.  Regular people a level up watching people they wanted to be.

Her wristband got her on the floor, of course, and she made her way to the center of the floor where all eyes were drawn to.  She saw Malcolm before he saw her and she smiled at his reaction once he did.  As always he was sitting on the side of his own VIP letting his boys enjoy themselves.  He wore dark shades which seem ridiculous except for knowing that he liked to keep his eyes hidden as they very rarely matched the shape of the smile on his face.  He seemed pleasant enough with his mouth curved into a smile but if you saw the sarcasm in his eyes that went along with that smile...you might think differently.

And he liked to keep it that way.

Dude was much smarter than he let on and she knew that.

She walked up and China saw her, nodded to the guy at the velvet rope and she walked up the one step.  China reached her and she put her hand on his jacket as he lead her to Malcolm.  Malcolm moved over on the bank-head and she sat next to him as he smiled at her appreciatively.

"I was getting worried about you."

"I had a lot of work to do so I was at the office late.  Sorry."

"You look really nice."

"Thank you.  So do you."

"Would you like something to drink?"

"You know I don't drink."

"You only don't drink because you don't trust anyone to take care of  you if you get tipsy.  You know you can trust me."

"I'm good Malcolm, but thank you.  As always."

"I tried to call you."

"I lost my stupid cellphone.  They're sending me a new one by FedEx."

"When?"

"I hope by tomorrow because I'm truly lost without it."

"Want me to get you an extra one?"

"You just have an extra cellphone lying around huh?"

"You can borrow one of China's.  He has two."

"I don't want to know why China has two cellphones.  But no...I'm good."

"You never let me do anything for you."

"I don't need you to do anything for me.  Hell...you have too many other people to do stuff for."

She only stayed for about an hour and a half.  She yawned and stretched, told him she still had work to do for the proposal she was putting together by Monday.  He protested, of course, but he'd see her all day Saturday.

He and China walked her out to her BMW and she hugged both of them.  Kissed Malcolm on the cheek. 

"You guys have fun."

"Call me when you get home so I know you made it safe."

"I will.  Thanks for a nice night."

Her gas light came on 7 miles before she got off the exit near her apartment.  That meant she had approximately 21 miles left she could drive before she ran out of gas.  She parked her car and walked up the four flights of stairs to get to her small but neat apartment.  A package was at the front door and she smiled knowing what it was.

She walked in and locked the door quickly behind her as she grabbed the flashlight in the corner by the umbrella stand.  She used it to maneuver to the kitchen where she got matches and started lighting a few candles.  The first one she lit was on the coffee table which illuminated her cellphone sitting next to it.  The electricity had been out for 4 days now.  She'd pay it in the morning as her direct deposit should be in her account by now since it was after midnight.  She'd pay her cellphone bill too and buy some groceries. Fill her tank up with gas and pay her insurance.  Next check was for the rent.

She opened a can of tuna and ate it.  Washed it down with a glass of wine.

She'd wear what was in the box when she saw Malcolm on Saturday.

The home phone she'd attached to the line once the electricity was cut off rang.

"Hello?"

"I thought you were going to call me when you made it home?"

"I'm sorry.  I was so tired and I didn't want to disturb you since you were with your friends."

"Don't worry about that.  It's more important I know you're safe."

"Well...I am.  I came in, took a hot shower and was checking work email."

"You work too much."

"So do you."

"Point taken.  You should let me come see you tonight."

"Negative playa.  I'll see you Saturday at the food bank for volunteering and you'd better not be late."

"I won't be."

"And no China."

"No China."

"And you promised me a movie after."

"What about a play in New York?"

"No.  Local movie.  AMC theater.  $7.  You're paying."

"You should stop being such a cheap date."

"You should stop trying to treat me like I'm one of the women you're used to dating.  I already told you I don't need you to keep throwing money at me.  I'm fine and it's getting to be annoying."

"Okay...don't start.  Movie and then what?  A street hot dog?"

"I'm sure we can do better than that." she laughed as she poured herself a second glass of wine by candlelight.

They got off the phone and she blew out the candles in the living room carrying her flashlight with her to the bedroom.  She washed her face with cold water and brushed her teeth.  Put her hair up and got in the bed.

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