That hushed her up for a minute. Then she came back with, “I am alone. That’s how I’m feeling right now. I’m not really with you. I know that now. We don’t really know each other to be together. We’re still strangers.”

What could I really say to that? She was right. I took another breath as the phone continued to ring.

BRRRRUUUURRPPP…

“You still want me to call you…when I’m back in town?” I asked her.

She smiled again. “If you have time, sure, why not?”

I nodded. “Well, before you leave, let me at least hug you.”

She stood there and waited for me. I walked over and hugged her with more than half of my clothes off. I squeezed her into me and she squeezed back.

“I apologize for all of this,” I told her.

BRRRRUUUURRPPP…

“That’s just your busy lifestyle. Some guys don’t get any calls at all.”

“Well, I guess I’m not in that category,” I joked.

That was the last of the phone ringing. I hurried back over to take the receiver off the hook.

Victoria started to move toward the door before I could make my return to her.

“You’re really gonna leave?” It was my last effort to get her to stay. I wasn’t trying too hard though. I didn’t want to look desperate. If she really wanted me, there would be another day.

She nodded and said, “Yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and go,” and opened the door.

Before I let her leave, I asked her, “So, what was your full intention when you first met me?”

My question stopped her in her tracks. I wasn’t trying to accuse her of anything, I was just asking for the facts.

“I wasn’t expecting this, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not, but…I mean, I liked you like that,” I told her. “I thought you were fabulous from the moment I saw you. But you seemed to be all about business.”

“I am,” she told me. “I’m usually very professional. But, you know…”

“Did I turn you on?”

She smiled and admitted it, “Yeah, you can say that.”

“Good, because if I’m a professional model and I can’t turn a woman on, then I’m losing my edge.”

She put her hand against my chest at the door and assured me, “You’re not losing your edge at all, but I really need to get to know you better first.”

AFTER VICTORIA had left me there in my room, unsatisfied and horny, instead of me calling it a night and licking my wounds, I turned my cell phone back on and checked my missed calls and messages.

My mother and sister had called me; Danni had called me twice, Corey twice, Rachel twice, and TaShay called last. The other calls were insignificant, or at least at the moment.

I sat there and contemplated who to call back first. Corey and Rachel were out of the question. Danni I could call back at any time of night, because she was nocturnal. TaShay…I still had to think on that one. And my sister was an easier call than my mother, so I decided to start things off with Juanita. I wanted to say a few things to my sister about me bumping into Andrea out there in Chicago, and what she said to me.