“God, I’m so horny!”
The other three women at the table reacted the way they usually did. They were used to Olivia’s habitual plaint.
“Not so loud,” said Vanessa. “Someone will hear you.”
“I hope someone does,” said Olivia. “Preferably a man.”
Vanessa gave her a half-humorous look of reproach, then glanced over at Angie and Nita. Both were wearing their usual tolerant smiles.
“Olivia, you get laid more…” began Angie.
“Not by anybody who really does what I want,” interrupted Olivia. “I want a man who’ll give me a time. I mean, someone who’ll really go wild in bed. Look at me. Don’t I deserve that?”
Her friends didn’t argue the point. Olivia was a stunner by any standard: flawless dark mocha skin, deep brown eyes, a seductively wide mouth. She accentuated her long, spectacularly-curved body with skin-tight blouses and snug leather pants.
“As a matter of fact,” continued Olivia, “we all deserve it. Come on, Vanessa, when was the last time you made it with a guy who really knew what he was doing?”
Vanessa gave her a rueful smile. She was a long-legged, caramel-skinned beauty, sea-green eyes in an achingly lovely heart-shaped face.
“You’re right,” she sighed. “All I meet are men who are only interested in themselves. Strictly wham, bam, thank you ma’am. Isn’t there one guy out there who’ll take his time?”
“Oh, I hear you,” piped up Nita, the youngest of the group. Only a few months out of college, her huge brown eyes, full sweet mouth, and soft aureole of corkscrew curls made her look even younger than her 21 years. “I keep meeting men who think they’re being romantic if they offer to pay for dessert. And I thought college guys were bad. How about you, Angie? Are you getting any satisfaction?”
“If she was, would she be spending all that time in the gym?” said Olivia.
Angie shot her a sour look, but didn’t dispute her. She knew her perfect, smooth-muscled ebony body was the result of long hours of strenuous exercise, exercise where she worked off her sexual frustrations. “Let’s just say I’m getting used to disappointment. Olivia’s right. There’s not a man out there who knows what to do to really please a woman.”
“And what would you do with one who did?” asked Vanessa.
“No, it’s what he would do with me,” replied Angie, prompting a round of laughter and agreement.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Olivia. “There are no men out there like that. I mean, can you think of one?”
Nita, a far-away look in her eyes, said, “I can think of one I’ve been dreaming is like that.” At their questioning looks, she hesitated, then smiled shyly and said “Ben.”
“Oh, lord,” said Olivia, “Not another one,” as Angie and Vanessa broke into giggles.
“It was inevitable,” said Angie. “She should never have been given a desk so close to him. Seeing him all the time…”
“Why? Just because he’s white?” said Nita. “Come on. What’s wrong with Ben Morris?”
“Not. A. Thing,” said Vanessa.
“Didn’t you know?” said Angie. “We’re the Ben Morris Fan Club. Every woman at this table has had a crush on him since the day he got here.”
“I can understand why,” said Nita. “He’s so sweet.”
“And adorable.”
“And sexy.”
“It’s his eyes,” sighed Nita. “Such beautiful eyes.”
“No, it’s the hands,” said Vanessa. “Have you seen his hands? I look at them and I want them all over me.” She involuntarily wriggled in her chair.
“Keep dreaming,” said Angie.
“Why dreaming?” asked Nita with a puzzled frown.
“Come on, Nita,” said Olivia. “He flirts with everybody. A guy who flirts with everybody isn’t really interested in starting something with anybody. That’s just his natural way of behaving.”
Nita looked more puzzled. “But it’s not,” she said. “He only acts that way with us.”
At their questioning looks, she continued. “My desk is right by his, remember? I see him all day. He’s always adorable to me. And when one of you comes to him for help, he can’t do enough for you. But with everybody else he’s all business. Just answers the question and wants them to leave. I don’t think I’ve even seen him smile at anybody except…”
“The four of us?” said Angie.
The women exchanged wondering glances.
“The only four black women in the place,” said Vanessa.
“Whattya know,” said Olivia. “I think our boy Ben may have himself a chocolate fantasy going.”