The Next Best Thing

Copyright © 2014 by Little Shirly.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014916183

ISBN:   Hardcover         978-1-4990-6928-0

            Softcover            978-1-4990-6930-3

            eBook               978-1-4990-6929-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 09/18/2014

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You never know what the day is going to bring and what you might get into during the course of it. But, what I do know is that in life you should expect the unexpected that way the shock of what ever happens won’t kill you. My name is Simone McKnight and this is my story of confusion.

See, I’m a smart young twenty five year old woman. I live alone in a loft apartment near the southern burbs. I work for a government-contracted company called Blue Steel. I’m a biochemist. I went to school at the University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, my home state and town. I lived at home with mom and dad while I was in school. Because of my demanding schedule with working and school, but it all paid off in the end. I develop fuels, medications, and many other things I’m not supposed to tell you about or I’ll have to kill you. Anyway, I’m the youngest on the staff and, tend to be a work-a-holic, I stumbled across a new form of synthetic fuel to use in military fighter jets that is cheaper to make, burns longer, and cleaner. They are still testing it but it looks promising, and if it goes through I’ll be up for promotion. I love my job. It’s hard work but like I said before, it’s all worth it. Even though I’m far from home I still have made a lot of friends, and I always call and go home on the important holidays. I have a good career in the field of my choice, in the area of my choice. I have a good grip on my life, or at least I thought. Things always seem to happen just when you think you have everything under control, and your life is moving at just the right speed. My best friend in the world, she was the only person that could make me laugh like she did, so it was a treat to get away with her. Her name is Louise Hathaway, I called her Weezy for short. Weezy was a psychiatrist, and a well known one at that. I met Weezy in the gym of our apartment building in the sauna. This busted up looking woman had come into the sauna, and not only did she look like hell on wheels, she smelled like it too. You know the only thing you do in a sauna is sweat. After being smothered by the odor for about five minute Louise got up and left ’cause the lady was sitting next to her, so she smelled it before I did. Not long after though, the funk had floated it’s ass right past my nose and that’s when I had to roll out. I was in the locker room getting my bag together to go upstairs and shower when Louise had come to her locker after being in the showers, and I’m a people person, so I spoke. That lady was wrong for coming in there smelling like that. Louise looked at me and fell out laughing. I have never smelled anything like that before in my life, and she sat her shitty ass right next to me! I fell out laughing then. We talked about that damn lady so bad we wanted to go right to church and pray for ourselves ’cause we knew we were going to hell. From that day forth we were like white on rice. She had been living here in Atlanta longer than I had been but she moved in the building not long after I did. I’m saving to buy a house but this place was good for now. Weezy made good money and she saved as well. She was good with money, and stocks, and all that other electronic-internet money shit. She had made us quiet a bit of money in the past few years. Because of her I was able to buy a brand new Bentley, and I’m going to be able to buy my dream house a lot sooner than I thought. I’m pretty settled in here though, but I’m going to save that house money. Weezy treated lots of people, and was in the paper quiet a few times ’cause she got some of the best reviews in the city. She also wrote a book called, What Gets On The Brain’s Nerves. It sold over a million copies and was on Oprah’s book of the month list. Weezy had style. She was classic and crazy, some of my favorite traits. Neither of us had much luck with men for the simple fact that a lot of men are intimidated by an intelligent woman, and the ones that have the guts to say something think they’re players or God’s gift to women, that they can have any woman they want. I was in a relationship for two and a half years and we were engaged to be married. His name was Blair Armstrong. Believe me that man’s arm WAS STRONG, and I’m not talking about the ones attached to his shoulders. When he made love to me I felt like I was flying. I loved him more than I loved myself. I moved my soul out and moved his in. He had a caramel vanilla complexion, with dark curly hair. He was half Jamaican and half Puerto Rican. That man was fine. His lips were full and juicy like naval orange slices and twice as sweet. He was strong, funny, smart, and spoke with that thick Jamaican accent in a deep voice that just made my panties moist. I did what ever that man asked me to do, and he never had to ask twice. He owned his own construction company called High Rise. They worked on and built large structures. I love a man who is good with his hands. His body was chiseled from stone, and tight with skin as soft as butter. He put those lips any and everywhere he could when he could. He would cook and clean, and was no stranger to hard work. He would always say, My mama didn’t raise a bum. I met him in a Reggae club under the thick cloud of purple haze that loomed over me. I was dancing to Beres Hammond’s, Come Back Home, and I turned to see the most beautiful man I had ever seen in life walking in my direction. He walked right up to me and asked me to dance. I was speechless and just nodded my head in acceptance. He smelled wonderful. He was wearing an oil that seemed to hypnotize me. It had a light smell of musk, cider, and citrus, very strong, but not over baring. He held me close and he held me tight. I drifted into a place I didn’t want to return from. I felt like a little girl being romanced for the first time. He had on a pair of baggy jeans with a rhinestone design on one of the legs, and a black wife beater with a rhinestone design on it as well. He was wearing a black bandana tied around his head so that his curls exploded form the top like a volcano. I could see every muscle in his arms. While we danced I held on to him as if he were superman and just saved me from the world. After the dance he took my hand and led me out the front door. My name is Blair, he said and the sound of his thick Jamaican accented deep baritone voice shook me to my soul, and I could of sworn I had and orgasm right there. I still couldn’t speak. He saw how in awe I was of him and he kissed my cheek. He lit a fire between my legs I wasn’t going to be able to put out by myself not matter how hard I tried. My name is Simone, I finally said. It’s nice to meet you Simone. Would you like to get a cup of coffee or tea so we can talk? The yes I answered fell out my mouth like a fat bitches titty out of too small bra. Do you want to ride in my car or do you want to follow me? I don’t know this dude. I’ll follow. I said. Well, I’ll walk you to your car. Don’t move until I pull up okay. I nodded. He walked me to my car and when he walked to go get his car he kept turning around as if I were going to disappear and he could keep an eye on me so that wouldn’t happen. He pulled up in his car and I followed him to this little café on this little block in Center City, Philadelphia. We were on our way in when he grabbed my arm and stopped me from opening the door. He pulled me close and we began to dance to the Nina Simone they had playing on a speaker in front of the store. I would have sold my soul to stay in that moment forever knowing what I know now. After the song played I didn’t want coffee anymore and neither did he. He stared into my eyes and kissed my lips. I couldn’t stop him. I didn’t want to. He took my hand once more and we began to walk without speaking. Before I knew it we were in an elevator, then in a hallway, then in his bedroom. He lit one candle and sat it on top of his Italian wood chest that sat in front of a king size bed, neatly made, and dressed in a wine and black colored sheet set and comforter. A bed fit for a king. Everything about this room said a man lived here. His colon filled the air and I almost lost myself. The room was neat but lived in, and everything seemed to be large. You know, just for him. The mahogany furnishings gave off a small sweet wooded scent that was intoxicating, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There was no carpet, and the three-wick candlelight danced on the well-polished floor. He moved some things off his dresser and placed the candle there. He picked up a remote and music began to play. Amanda Perez began to sing, You Make Me Feel, and feel him I did. I felt him before he laid a hand on me. I felt him in places quiet, soft and moist, that were now going to become loud, raw and satisfied. He walked over to me slowly, as if to not frighten me. Neither of us made a sound but we both understood the conversation we were having without words. He stood in front of me tall like a redwood. He was six feet two inches, and two hundred ninety four pounds of pure man. I looked up at him and I traced his body from his head to his toes, than brought my eyes back to his chest that seemed like it could block the sun. I felt a little ashamed ’cause I was about to sleep with a man I had only met hours before, but I needed this, I needed him. With school and work I never got a break so when I did get time off I just wanted to relax. The only reason I went out was because finals were over and I had off that weekend, and ’cause my girlfriend, Tina, had dragged me out. Tina and I were in the same math class, and she was cool so we went out some times. She was going to be mad when she realizes that I left the club but she drove there too, so she wasn’t stranded. This man standing in front of me was the answer to all my prayers, even if just for the night. As he stood in front of me I knew I was in the presence of one of Gods greatest creations and all I could do was submit to his every whim. He lifted one of those big hands and rubbed my forehead; down my cheek, across my neck, between my breasts, to my belly button where he stuck his finger in the skirt I was wearing, and let his finger dance against the short pubic hair it reached. I had on a white Enyce cotton pleated skirt and tank top set that complimented everything about my almond milk chocolate complexion. The tank was lined with red and blue as well as the waist of the skirt. On my feet I wore a pair of white Tommy Hilfigure sneakers trimmed in blue and red as well, which he gently slid off my feet as I braced myself on him while his face was now level with the place below my hips, that at this point I wanted him to touch the most. I placed my hand on his back and he felt so solid, almost in-destructible. As he stood up he ran his hand up my calf, and up my thigh until his fingertips met with the white cotton thong I was wearing. The guitar on the record that was playing put me at a state of ease and then Amanda Perez said, You make feel like I need to be loving you, holding you, feeling you next to me. You make me so secure; your love is so pure. It makes me feel like I need more. You make me feel so safe. I couldn’t never let no one come and take your place. You make me feel. You make me feel. His finger followed the trail laid out by the thong down to the front wear he noticed, if hadn’t before, that I was extremely aroused from the fluid that was now starting to run down my leg. He removed one hand to find the shinny substance on his fingertips and to my surprise he put them in his mouth. I wanted him so bad my groin began to ache with anticipation. He then stuck both hands in the thong with his fingers spread so while he removed them he could grip my voluptuous ass in his big hands. He touched me as gentle as you would a blind virgin. He looked deep into my eyes through it all. His big brown eyes felt warm, like a lit fireplace in winter. He lifted the tank top over my head and removed my bra so that now all the clothing remaining on my body was my skirt and socks. He bent over and tasted my nipple, which had long been awaiting some attention. His tongue to my skin weakened me. He knew what he was doing to me. He knew what he was making me feel. I was clay for his hands to now mold. Tonight I was going to give him more than I had ever given anyone, even myself. He then slowly slid the skirt off and I was naked. Even thought it was just he and I, I felt like I was standing in a room with one hundred people in it with all eyes on me. He stepped back and looked at me as if he were admiring a piece of art. Him, still being dressed except for his shoes, pulled my naked body toward him and he kissed me. That kiss melted my whole past away and now all I could see was him in my future. His lips were as soft as silk in the sun. My body temperature seemed to rise five degrees. He was a very big man but he was very gentle. Neither of us spoke the whole time except for the occasional moan, most of them coming from me when his fingers ventured into those soft and quiet places on my body. I felt like a virgin. Now this wasn’t my first time around the block. I had had a boyfriend or two and I knew quite a few tricks to the trade, but this Blair seemed to kill all my defenses, and no it wasn’t the weed. I couldn’t dismiss him like so many before. He placed my hands on his chest still standing two inches in front of me. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I was given a million dollars and didn’t know what to buy first. It was clear that he wanted me to undress him, so I did. I undid his belt and freed his shirt from the confines of his jeans. I just laid my face to his chest in the soft hair that lightly coated it. I rubbed his nipples and his rock hard stomach and kiss him all over it gently. He was so beautiful, a life-like statue. I rubbed his arms for which I imagined them keeping me safe from the world. My face never left his chest. I rubbed my face on his chest much like a cat does to show affection or when they find a comfortable place. I pressed my body against his as I rubbed and ran my hands up his world holding back and then up his chest, past my face, to his burden caring shoulders. His smell just made me want to eat him. As my body was pressed up against his I could feel his excitement. My face parted with his chest and I stepped back to remove his jeans. I too put both hands in, palms in, so I could feel his huge thighs as the jeans were released from their fixed position. Once they pasted his taught ass they fell to the floor. He then just stepped out of them. His manhood looked like a mad dog waiting to come out of a cage that had a raw piece of meat hanging in front of