Loving Contrasts - Chapter 8.1

When the movie was over, Chandler walked Inaya out to her car with thoughts of getting another kiss like the one they shared inside. He couldn’t get over how sweet she tasted. How fervently she responded to him. He could only imagine how compatible she was in the bedroom.

Stop thinking like that, Chandler scolded himself. He hadn’t been saved that long, but he knew those kinds of bedroom thoughts were wrong. It was bad enough that he skipped out on Bible study tonight just to be with her.

“I had a great time tonight. Did you?” Chandler asked, trying to gauge her mood.

Inaya had been extremely quiet and reserved after that kiss. She kept looking around nervously though the parking lot was nearly bare. Was she really that shy?

“I did.” Inaya smiled, looking to the right and then to the left yet again.

“Good.” He felt somewhat relieved by her smile and answer. “I was hoping you’d say that because I’m not ready for this date to end yet. Would you like to grab a bite to eat somewhere?”

Inaya shook her head. “I’m not really hungry. But I’d love to join you for coffee at an intimate little diner that I know about.”

Chandler grinned. “I like the word ‘intimate’. Yes, I can definitely do intimate. But I don’t drink coffee though. Yet if they have hot tea or cocoa, a brotha is all the way in like Flynn!”

Inaya chuckled. “They make some of the best herbal tea in town.”

“Sounds like my kinda place.”

“Chandler Edenfield, is that you?” a female voice suddenly asked from their left.

Chandler looked to where the voice resonated from and saw Blair Northern – the public relations director from the Montrose Bottling Plant, one of the major distributors of a new brand of soda in Georgia. He interviewed her five months ago about some of the community work her company was involved in. The actual interview had gone smoothly, but their subsequent relationship had been rocky. 

Tonight the tall bleached blonde wore a tight red leather cat-suit. She stood three vehicles away near the fire engine red, two-door Mustang that she owned.

Although Chandler wasn’t averse to aggressive women, clingy and desperate women turned him completely off. Blair hid her desperation until after he slept with her. She didn’t want him to go anywhere without her. Nor did she want him to visit his family so often. And all calls to and from his cell phone provoked fresh rounds of interrogation.

When Chandler realized that Blair had Psycho Susan tendencies, he immediately broke things off with her. Desperate women were the worst kinds of stalkers and he wasn’t about to get something like that started in his life again.

Soon after their breakup, he became a Christian and started practicing celibacy. That gave him a convenient excuse to let her down easily and curtail any attempts at reconciliation.

“Hello, Blair. Enjoying an evening out, too?” Chandler said, though her scowl suggested otherwise as she walked toward them.  

“Not really. The movie I saw was a big disappointment,” Blair replied, looking Inaya up and down with disdain. “Which movie did you see? Jungle Fever?” she added spitefully, stopping in front of them.  

Jungle Fever? That movie hasn’t been in theaters in years. Chandler frowned at that snide remark.

“On that ridiculous note, it looks like our date is over,” Inaya told him, pulling her car keys out of her purse as she talked. “Thanks for a lovely evening, Chandler, but this is not going to work out. I don’t have time for nor will I make time for narrow-minded people like Blondie over there. Both of you have a good life.”

As Inaya hurried off, an unexpected and overwhelming sense of despair came upon Chandler. He wasn’t ready for their relationship to end before it ever had a real beginning. He also felt vulnerable and that troubled him. He’d have to meditate on that later. Right now he had to do something to defuse this sticky situation. Quick!

“Inaya, wait!” Chandler started after her, despite the unwelcome feelings gnawing at his gut.

“Let her go, Chandler. You don’t need a woman that can walk away from you so easily,” Blair said, reaching for his right arm.

“I don’t need a jealous, clingy, and desperate woman either,” he retorted, not even bothering to look back as he pulled away from her and kept walking. He had too much pride to run after Inaya, though he definitely wanted to.

© 2014 by Suprina Frazier

Photo Credit:

http://chrisschweppe.com/?p=364