"I've felt attracted to black men for years and years, especially the ones from the island of Haiti, but I've always felt ashamed of what people would think of me," Karen Mazandarani said to Toussaint "T-Man" Vincent, as the two of them sat down at a quiet corner on the main floor of the Carleton University library. It was a frosty night in the City of Ottawa, and the Ontario winter showed no signs of leaving as March finally began...
On that bitterly cold late-winter night, things were heating up in the Carleton University library. For Karen and Toussaint, two long-time best friends who found themselves at a crossroads, there was an unspoken attraction that demanded to be acknowledged. The question is, will the two of them finally get the ball rolling or what?
"You shouldn't care what people think of you," Toussaint replied as he looked at the tall, curvy, fifty-something Iranian woman. Clad in a white blouse, long dark skirt and boots, with a dark gray shawl draped over her shoulders, her long, grey-streaked and curly dark hair cascading off her shoulders, Karen looked elegant as usual. Frowning at him, Karen leaned back in her chair, and sighed deeply.
Sitting at a back corner near the windows, with a bunch of file cabinets behind them, Toussaint and Karen sat sufficiently far from most library patrons to afford them some privacy. As was their custom, they kept their distance from the others while having their customary heart-to-heart discussions about anything and everything. In a topsy-turvy world, the library was their sanctuary...
"I know that," Karen said and she smiled, and gently laid her hand on Toussaint's thigh. The big and tall, ruggedly handsome, twenty-something Haitian student licked his lips and smiled at Karen, but said nothing else. For years he'd known Karen as a brilliant, beautiful and fearless woman. The two of them met in the campus library, and struck a friendship. One which endured for years and years, much to everyone's surprise...
What a pair they made. The aspiring law student, dutifully toiling away at his criminal justice assignments on the library computer, and the Iranian-born Canadian author with a fondness for libraries, political debate and activism. Truly two of a kind. Toussaint and Karen had been pals for ages, sure, but they were never more than that, until she told him she was divorcing her husband of thirty years, Maher Zanganeh.
"Karen, what are you doing?" Toussaint asked carefully, and Karen looked at him coyly, then continued patting his groin through his pants. Conflicting feelings warred within Toussaint as Karen fondled him. Truth be told, he'd known her ever since he first started at Carleton University, in September 2012. Karen had been his pal, confidante and a source of much inspiration, but tonight, she was crossing the line and Toussaint wasn't sure what to do...
"What I should have done a long time ago," Karen said, and then she leaned closer, grabbed Toussaint's face in her hands and kissed him. Even though he was surprised by the kiss, Toussaint didn't resist Karen. Tenderly they held each other, and for a long moment, neither of them said anything. Karen looked into Toussaint's soulful brown eyes, wondering what was going on in that brilliant, complex mind of his...
"Damn, you've got some soft lips," Toussaint said, smiling faintly, and Karen grinned, pleased by his words. For a moment, she was worried that she might have crossed the line and done the wrong thing. After all, Toussaint kept whining about his ex-girlfriend Sasha Singh, some Indian gal whom he was fond of. Right up to the point when she dumped him for his best male friend, some bozo named Dwight...
"Hmm, the rest of me is even softer," Karen said with a suggestive wink, and Toussaint looked at her and grinned. The two of them got up, and then exited the library. Hand in hand, they made their way to the elevator, and then rode it to the tunnel downstairs. Giggling, Karen and Toussaint walked to Southam Hall, and took the stairs to the fourth floor. Having found an empty room on an otherwise empty floor, they closed the door...