Kristal met her new boyfriend, John Cena, when she was at Starbucks one morning. He ordered green tea while she had the Chai Latte. They were spicing up their respective drinks when he asked her what shade of pink were her toenails. Kristal was impressed that John didn't have some cheesy pickup line. John knew it would work because women loved to talk about themselves.

Soon after, Kristal and John began dating. By all accounts, things were about to become serious. They saw each other three times a week and overnight bags were a part of Kristal's accessories.

They were in the middle of a hot lovemaking session when Kristal's cell phone kept ringing. She was irritated that she forgot to turn it off but with Sade playing in the background, she hoped whoever was bugging her at the moment would catch the hint.

"Ooh, baby, that's it…" John moaned.

"You like that, baby?" Kristal purred as she rolled her body on his shaft.

John guided Kristal's hips and moved his hands to her ass. "Mmm…I do." Kristal's cell phone kept ringing and John was getting a little irritated "You might want to get that, baby."

Kristal increased her pace a little. "They can wait."

"They're not going to stop."

"Oh fuck!" Kristal reached over on her nightstand and grabbed her phone. "WHAT?"

"Did I interrupt something?" Ayanna asked.

"No, Ayanna, you didn't." Kristal huffed. "What is it? Is it an emergency?"

"Well, no…"

"Were you shot?" Kristal asked.

"No, of course not!"

"Good-bye, Ayanna!"

"Dave's taking me to Italy." She blurted.

Kristal's body stiffened as she processed the news. She sat straight up and her face became somber. She always wanted to go to Italy. "Um…um…that's great."

"It's for a business trip. I wanted to tell you in case you tried to get a hold of me this weekend."

Kristal felt a sick feeling overcome her body. She tried to convince herself that it was okay that her best friend worked with her ex-boyfriend. But Ayanna's last-minute trip told Kristal otherwise. "Um, thank you."

"Well, I'll let you get back to doing John. Tell him I said 'hi!'" Ayanna teased.

"I will." Kristal whispered. She then hung up her phone and set it down on the end table. She then climbed off John and rolled over to her side.

"Is everything okay, Kris?" John asked.

Kris…only one man can call me that and he's not you. "Yeah, everything is fine."

"Are you sure? You seem upset. What was the phone call about, Kris?"

"Damn, Kris…" Dave moaned as she sucked him off. Kristal sighed at the memory and the inexplicable sadness she was feeling about Ayanna's trip. "Honestly, baby, it's alright. I'm just not in the mood anymore."

-------------------------------------------------

The night before Ayanna left for Italy, she went shopping at the local mall for some clothing. She wanted an updated and polished look since she was representing the company in Italy. Like many other girlfriends, Ayanna dragged Randy with her.

As the pair walked throughout the mall, Randy was noticeably quiet and distant from his girlfriend. Ayanna knew he was still upset at the last-minute trip and he once again assured her it was not at her. But Ayanna felt guilty. Her and Randy connected deeply within the past couple days and she didn't want to ruin what was happening between them. If I haven't already.

"Cheer up, Pretty Girl." Randy said as they walked down the mall aisle. "You're too beautiful to be pouting like that."

Ayanna cracked a smile. "I would smile if I knew you were okay."

Randy stopped walking, forcing Ayanna to stop as well. "I'm fine, Yani. Really, I am."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"Well, I'm not going to apologize for having this pout. I was looking forward to fucking my girlfriend all weekend."

"Um, thank you?"

Randy shook his head at his own stupidity. "You know what I meant, Yani. I was looking forward to spending some more time with you, Baby." He gazed into her brown orbs. "We really connected in Vegas and I was just hoping to have more of that this weekend."

"I'll only be gone for five days."

"That's five days too long, Yani."

Ayanna stuck out her bottom lip and slightly frowned. "You're making me feel guilty."

"I don't mean to." He let out a deep breath. He then looked up and saw they were in front of Ayanna's favorite store, Torrid. "We're at your store, Baby. Let's just go inside and pick out something pretty for you to wear."

Torrid was a store that catered to sizes 14-28. It was trendy and had a classy vibe of its creations and looks for curvy women. Since Ayanna often bounced between a 14 and 16, the store was perfect for her. She immediately hit the racks and began picking out other clothing to try on.

Randy, however, was not a big fan of the store. More explicitly, Randy was not a big fan of shopping malls period. Ever since he began working at Parker-Williams, he often hit up boutiques and high-end stores. It wasn't that Randy wouldn't be caught dead in a mall; he just didn't like to be dragged around from store to store. He hated it in high school when his other girlfriends so the feeling definitely carried with him.

"Baby, I'm going to try these on." Ayanna held up her various outfits.

Randy glanced at her. "Alright. I'll just stay out here and look around."

Ayanna went inside one of the dressing rooms and Randy walked around the store. He looked at the different accessories and clothing. Not bad. I can dig it. He then ended up at a table where all of the different panties were. There were thongs, low-cut briefs, boyshorts, and hi-cut panties. One particular pair caught Randy's attention. He held the panties to his face. He didn't know what size they were nor did he care at the moment. All he knew was they were the biggest pair of panties he's ever seen. "These are some big ass bloomers."

His off-color remark caught the attention of one of the salespersons, who just glared at him. "I meant, big bloomers for big girls…" The salesperson continued to stare. "Oh shit."

Randy quickly walked over to Ayanna, who was walking out one of the dressing rooms. She was wearing a blue jean short dress. "What do you think of this, Randy? Do you like it?"

"Uh-huh, it's great." Randy looked around the store. "Um, I'm going to wait outside for you."

"Well, did you want to see me try some other things on?"

"Um, I'm sure they'll look great on you, Baby. I'm going to head out now." Randy began to leave until Ayanna grabbed him.

"Are you ashamed that you're dating a big girl, Randy?" She whispered.

"Woman, I don't care what size you are." Randy defended. "No, that's it, really, it's not."

"Then what is it?"

"I think I pissed off the saleslady."

"What did you do?"

"I might have called the panties I was looking at, 'big ass bloomers.'"

Ayanna stared at her boyfriend. She was tempted to slap him silly. "Were you dropped on your head much when you were younger?"

---------------------------------

"You know the one thing I love about your hair?" Randy twirled a lock on his fingers.

"What's that?" Ayanna asked.

"It's the only place on your body that you have hair." He whispered.

Ayanna giggled in the candlelit bedroom of Randy's condo. The couple spent most of their last night together christening as many rooms as possible in his two-story condo. In between sex sessions, Randy helped Ayanna pack for her trip. "My eyebrows are real. So is my mustache."

Randy raised an eyebrow. "What mustache?"

"Right here." Ayanna pointed to her upper lip. "You can't see it because I bleach it." She giggled more.

"Oh, is that right?" Randy climbed on top of her.

"Uh-huh. Look." She clasped her lips together. "See?" She muttered.

Randy chuckled at her. "You're a nut."

"Yeah, yeah…" Ayanna smiled. "I am."

Randy repositioned his body so that his head was laying on top of Ayanna's stomach. His hands were on both sides of her waist. He stared into the candle light and sighed. "I'm going to miss you, Yani."

"I'm going to miss you, too."

"I don't want to call you too much so just call me when you have time."

"Randy, you can call me whenever you want, Baby."

Ayanna's admission sparked something twisted in Randy. He was going to call her alright—enough to let Dave know to back the fuck off. "I will."

-------------------------------------------

The next morning, Ayanna and Dave flew to Italy. After arriving at their hotel and settling in, the pair went out to dinner. Even though the dinner date was considered pure business, Dave's and Ayanna's dress attire told another story. Ayanna wore a long black skirt with a form-fitting top, topped off with black heels. Dave wore a light pink dress shirt that was partially unbutton with khaki slacks. And whatever cologne he is wearing, Ayanna thought, every store should have it and sell it.

"I'm glad your food poisoning wasn't so bad for you to come here." Dave said as he cut into his chicken cacciatore.

Ayann sipped her Chianti in silence. There was something underlying in Dave's tone that didn't sit well with her. But whatever it was, she wasn't going to let it stop her from having a wonderful trip. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He replied.

"So…" Ayanna cut into her lobster ravioli. "What's on the agenda for the week?"

"We have a meeting with the designers' tomorrow morning to see the final layout. From there, we get to pick out the exact color and size to see if it's within the budget."

"So why did you bring me to Italy? One of the product specialists could've come with you."

"You volunteered to come if I remember correctly."

"So this candlelight dinner is pure business?"

"I think it is." Dave sipped his wine. "Do you?"

Real funny, Dave. Yeah, that's real funny. "I need to set the record straight with you."

"Alright, set it."

"I'm in a committed relationship with your partner. I don't love him yet, but I want to. I'm not in love with him yet, but I plan to be. He's sweet, endearing and everything I could want in a man. He's my everything."

"Okay…"

"So if you're trying to persuade me to be with you, David." Ayanna shook her head defiantly. "It's not going to work no matter how much money you spend or how many flowers you send. It just won't work."

"Ayanna, I thank you for your soliloquy, but I have no romantic interest in you." He said flatly.

"And I'm very dedicated to Randy and…" Ayanna paused. "What?"