eric
"I’m leaving for work... Can you please thoroughly rinse your dishes off before you place them in the dishwasher?”
There was a brief moment of silence, that should have been filled with a response of some sort. Instead, the noise of the running shower was all she heard. Once she realized she wouldn’t be receiving a reply, she exhaled and continued on, taking steps towards the glass shower doors covered in steam, concealing her fiancé. She absolutely hated when he acted like a stubborn toddler.
“I’ve asked you a million times already to dump your scraps in the trash before they clog up the dishwasher. Also, please don’t forget to stop by the cleaners today and get the clothes out. Last week I put your tux in, you’ll need it for the dinner Saturday night.”
Standing inside of the steaming hot shower, mildly annoyed that his blissful moment of solitude was being interrupted for what he deemed trivial bullshit; Eric closed his eyes shut and groaned inwardly, ducking his head completely beneath the rainfall style shower head and rinsing his body off one last time before shutting the water off. He stepped out onto the dark gray marbled floor, purposely side stepping the rug. Standing before her, stark naked, his golden brown skin was covered in water, which dripped all over the floor.
“Yes, Elise. You have a great day at work too.” He responded, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
She stared cooly back at him, trying hard not to look down at his long, thick, very black penis. It was at least two shades darker than the rest of his flawless golden brown skin. His penis was so fucking beautiful. Just like the rest of his body. Detecting the hint of sarcasm in his response, Elise smirked. Amused by his nakedness, and annoyed that she continuously had to be the ‘nagger’ of the two. She smiled slightly, only allowing the corners of her mouth to turn up. “Make sure you wipe up the water you’re dripping all over the floor. The maid won’t be here until Friday.” As she spoke, she motioned at his mess with her hand pointing at the floor; her diamond engagement ring sparkled in the light.
Before waiting to see if he had a response, she turned and strutted out of the bathroom. Checkmate. He stared at her ass in the black pencil skirt until she was no longer in the bathroom. Her ass, just like her face, her hair, her teeth, her etiquette, her English...were all perfect. And she knew it. He could hear the sound of her high heels as they clicked down the long hallway towards the front door, then the door open and close with a heavy thud.
Eric sighed. No goodbye. No hug. No kiss. The day hadn’t even started off with a simple "good morning". No head to get him going, nothing. The aroma of Elise’s freshly brewed coffee, and the remnants of her fucked up ass attitude filled the condo, suffocating him.
Fully dried off with his penis covered and securely tucked away in his boxer briefs, Eric went into the walk-in closet they shared, and retrieved his stash of weed. It wasn’t a secret that he smoked, he just preferred not to smoke with Elise around to avoid hearing her nonstop complaints about the smell. Hearing a person complain about the very thing you were using to help you relax made absolutely no sense to him. So he just stopped smoking around her all together. Digging through the various strains of marijuana he owned, all of them providing different levels of potency, he opted for a more mellow strand. He too had a job he needed to be at shortly. It just so happened that Elise left for work an hour before he needed to and it provided him with the invaluable time to just chill. Grabbing his phone, he turned the Sonos system on, and Kendrick Lamar’s raspy, low pitched voice came over the speakers. He turned it up loudly, with no concern for the neighbors. Fuck them. Eric made his way to the balcony off their bedroom that overlooked the Pacific Ocean, he had 30 more minutes before he needed to be walking out the door for work. It wouldn’t take him long at all to get ready for work. Thanks to Elise, all of his work attire: dress shirts, slacks, blazers, neck ties; they all stayed cleaned, pressed, and color coordinated at all times. That's how she was. Organized and practical, completely opposite of him. Without her efforts, he'd be wasting time every morning trying to find something decent to wear to the Courthouse. As an assistant DA, most importantly the only black man in his office, looking professional was just as important as his ability to interpret the law. The amount of thought that Elise put into making his life as a black man in America just that much easier, made Eric love her and appreciate her. That’s how Elise was, always organized and thinking logically about even the simplest things. He’d come to rely on her a lot in the last 6 years of their relationship. She did everything, so much so he often wondered why she was with him. He just wished she could relax sometimes. Stop nagging him for every damn thing that wasn’t to her liking. Sitting on the balcony and staring at the early morning joggers down at the beach, Eric took a few more drags from the joint, thinking. Last week he'd officially proposed to her, at her favorite steakhouse 'Baltaires'. This weekend they'd be returning there to have an unnecessary 'engagement announcement party dinner'. He wasn't looking forward to it. Her family and friends were boring and stuck up. They'd spend a good portion of the time talking about trump, Aretha Franklins death, and 'what black people needed to do'. Typical black conservative rhetorical shit. He didn't want to hear it.
Before he could start feeling sorry for himself, his phone vibrated with a text. Ashley. She was a security guard that worked at the court building. The first time he'd seen her he was taken aback by how beautiful she was, even in the ugly mannish guards attire. For months, Monday thru Friday they made brief small talk as she scanned his leather briefcase for explosives and firearms. She always smiled when she saw him, and it made his dick hard. Finally, he'd asked her to meet him at Buffalo Wild Wings after work. That same night they had sex, and continued to do so for over a year. She knew about Elise and never complicated anything. Eric liked her a lot, and that terrified him. Ashley and Elise were nothing alike and for some reason that made him feel sick inside. Did he really love Elsie? Of course he did. What nigga wouldn't. He'd think this over and over in his mind every time he drove home after lying about his whereabouts and spending hours at Ashley's apartment fucking, and watching vh1 reality tv shows. When he finally admitted to himself that he was developing feelings for Ashley, he did what any sane man would: he ended it with her. That was two months ago. A month later she quit working as a guard at the court house. He hadn't seen or heard from her and it was very convienent considering he was now engaged to be married.
His phone vibrated again, reminding him that he hadn't opened the text from Ashley. When he read it his eyes went blurry for a moment and his head felt light. "Eric, im pregnant.”
