Anthony Lamark found Becca her desk and asked if Howard was in his office before going over to knock on his door and letting himself inside. Howard too was at his desk hard at work. His shirt sleeves were folded to his elbows, his feature deep in concentration while he examined a batch of statistics sheets in front of him. He looked up and saw Lamark stroll towards his desk. Howard quickly rose to his feet to meet him and they shook hands. Anthony was all smiles as he enquired how his day's work was going.
"Forgive my presence," said Lamark, "I'm not here to take up your time. I merely wanted to drop by and give you this."
He handed Howard a card that contained his home address.
"I was supposed to give it to Steve to hand to you, but I figured I'd give it to you personally. The party is for next weekend and I'd like for you to be there. Bring your wife, too."
"Thank you, Mr. Lamark. I promise to be there."
"I'm glad to hear that. Well, that's all I came here for. Hope to see you around."
Howard saw him to his door. He made eye contact with Becca still at her desk. He looked at his watch.
"Almost time for lunch," he remarked.
"Would you want me to get you something or would you prefer something special?"
Howard was about to ask what she referred to by 'something special' when he overheard his phone sounding off from where it lay on his desk. He retreated into his office to pick it up.
"How're you doing, white boy?" a gruff voice spoke into his ear.
It took seconds to recognise who the caller was. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle to attention and towards his door to see Becca saunter into his office with her handbag slung across her shoulder. Howard returned to his chair while holding his mobile to his ear.
"You there, white boy? You know who's talking to you?"
"Yes, I know," Howard answered. "Mr. Shango."
"You surprised to hear from me?"
"No, I'm not . . . well, yes. Yes sir, I am surprised. It just occurred to me that I gave you my number that night at your friend's party."
Howard fixated his eyes at Becca who was slinking towards his desk like a feline. She too locked eyes on him as she came to his desk and dropped her handbag; her hand raised her skirt to reveal to him the pantyhose she was wearing.
Shango was still speaking to Howard who barely concentrated on his words.
"I've been attending to couples around, which is why I haven't called since. But that doesn't mean I haven't had you in mind this while. You and I have urgent stuff to talk about."
Becca hiked up her skirt then slid her butt on his desk in front of him slow and purposefully. She leaned towards him and slinked her tongue lasciviously at him; Howard had a sumptuous view of her tits as he fought to contain himself while listening to what Shango was saying to him. She leaned backward to give him an eyeful of her thong panties.
"Uhhh, yes . . . yes, sir, we do have some important stuff to talk about. I was talking with Dave this morning about how to get in touch with you. I just never knew you were going to call."
Becca reached for Howard's hand and rested his palm on her thigh.
Howard shielded the mouthpiece with his hand and spoke in a low voice hurriedly, "Someone might walk in." He gestured with his head at the door. Becca shook her head while taking pleasure from his hand feeling up her thigh.
"I already locked the door," she said. Anyone who comes might think you're already out for lunch."
Howard retrieved his hand and returned to his phone conversation. Becca slipped her feet out of her shoes and placed one foot gently on Howard's crotch. She chuckled as she felt his cock come alive in his pants. Howard squirmed in his chair and made faces at her while still holding his mobile to his ear.
"Emm . . . yes, yes, I think we can make that work. Where would you like for us to meet? Yes, I know the place. What time, sir? All right, I'll look forward to it. Goodbye, sir." The call ended.
Becca pushed his chair backward and slid off his desk to lower herself to her knees. Howard watched her rummaging over his crotch then pulling down on his zipper. Howard assisted with undoing his belt buckle.
"I can't tell you how horny I was when I woke up this morning," she moaned as she reached into his pants. Howard felt the shivers as she whipped out his prick already dripping pre-cum. The sight of his cock raised a smile on her face.
"I so much wanted your cock."
Her lips parted seconds before enveloping him with warmth. Howard slammed his head backward against his chair while her mouth pulled on his foreskin. He shut his eyes and saw himself transported towards a perfect world beyond his office.
* * *
The Hotel Continental occupied a large swath of land situated near the northern tip of the city which ended at a beach. At 6:22 pm., Howard drove into the hotel's parking area and acquired a vehicle tag from a valet before slipping his vehicle into an empty space. He checked his watch when he got out, glad knowing he was a bit on time. Shango had explicitly told him to be there on or before the half hour. Howard would have made it a lot sooner had April allowed him to leave the house when he should. She had held him down wanting to rehash again the details of his office tryst with Becca. She had been disappointed when he told her all he had gotten was a blowjob and a quickie before breaking up for lunch. He was not that courageous to dare risk having sex in his office, regardless of whether the door was locked or not. Aside from the time, Shango had as also told him to come alone. Whatever reason he had in mind for saying that Howard knew he was bound to find out as he walked towards the hotel entrance.
There were branching hallways that went separate ways beyond the hotel lobby. Shango had told him where he would be waiting and Howard enquired at the lobby counter that told him which route to take leading towards the back. He followed other people walking towards that direction.
The back door opened into a large terrace with a walkway that led towards the beach. Tables and bright lights were arranged around the terrace. Howard sized up the crowd, majority of whom were couples, some were there with kids. A jazz band played on a stage on the far corner of the brightly lit terrace. Howard stepped away from the doorway for others while he continued scanning the distant faces at respective tables trying to pick out Olu Shango. His phone rang in his pocket and he saw it was Shango calling.
"What're you doing standing there looking lost, white boy?"
Howard gazed about.
"Look to your left, white boy," Shango said.
Howard did so and caught sight of someone seated ten feet from him waving a hand in his direction. Howard pocketed his phone and made for Shango's table. Howard expected to find him with a female company instead Shango was by himself nursing a Coors Light. He wore a black t-shirt that bore the eponymous name MASTER SHANGO written in cursive letters on his chest large enough for anyone to read.
"Good evening," Howard pulled himself a chair and sat down. "So many people around, I thought you were going to be hard to find here," he said.
"Nothing you could have done about that. The good thing is you're on time and you came alone. Care for a beer?"
"No, thanks." Howard was too wired to want anything to distract his mind from this very moment. "April sends her regards."
"Oh, how nice. How's she doing, by the way?"
"She's doing great, thanks. We've been bonding together so much these past days. I like you shirt," Howard indicated the words emblazoned on it.
"Yeah? Thanks. It attracts bitches my way."
"Looks kind of audacious, the letters I mean."
"That's the general idea to explain what I'm about," Olu gestured at the crowd seated around. "Look around you, what do you see? You see people, but I see husbands and wives, lovers. Some from out of town, but they're all here for an evening fun. But it's the type of fun they can't get on the hotel menu. Not all of them don't know it but spend some time with them and you'll see. Everyone's got a dirty mind, white boy."
"Has any couple ever approached you like this?"
"So many I stopped counting," Shango guzzled his beer. "All what you've seen and done since you met me is stuff you've had in mind for so long except nobody ever clued you in until lately. You think what your woman did to you was some mistake, but inside you know it never was."
He drank his beer, letting his words sink in before continuing.
"Call it fate or destiny if you want, but I'm telling you what you or your April has done is no mistake or accident. Plenty of couples seek my tutelage about this and that's what I let them know. Every white couple wants what you have. Every white woman you see out here has got sex on the mind, and it's not with their husband; the same goes to their men as well. That's why they look for someone like me to let them know what's up."
"Yes, but why you? Besides the sex part, what is it about you that makes them want to give in to you?"
"Domination, white boy. They want a dominant figure to break them into the life," Shango emphasised. "They want a Black Master who'll make them aware of the lifestyle?"
"That sounds pretty far-fetched?"
"Yeah, but it's true. I'm not all about the sex, white boy. I reveal to couples that which they crave and to let them know how easy they can have it. It's like this: any woman can find herself a man to fool around with without her husband knowing or not. Problem with that is it leaves the husband hanging out to dry. So why cheat when you can clue your husband or wife into doing this without any fuss? Don't that sound pleasant, white boy?"
"Have you fucked a married woman whose husband didn't approve?"
"Sometimes it's better when they don't approve. Here's a question for you, white boy. If you'd known from the get-go that your wife was into this would you have approved?"
"Honestly, no."
"My point exactly. The same goes with many husbands out there. They live in denial so much. They want to see their wives getting fucked hard by a man like myself, but confront them on the subject right now and you'll hear them mutter the complete opposite. I like breaking the walls of their dumb pride to show them who's boss."
Howard did not blink but inside his chest his heart was doing back-flips. So captivated was he by the lecture he was getting it made him happy that they were alone together here unlike last time in his house.
"There's something I want to share with you. About the time you called me today, I was in my office and my secretary was on her knees blowing me."
"Your wife knows about her?"
"Yes she does. In fact, I figured when you wanted me to meet you here that you might ask me to bring someone along. I'd really like you to meet her."
"We can arrange that for later," Olu checked his watch then picked up his phone but he was not making a call. "I love saving special women for special times. Right now, I've got other fish to fry."
Howard was about asking who he was referring to when Olu waved a hand past him. Howard looked towards that direction and caught sight of a man waving back at them. The man made his way towards their table pulling a woman behind. Howard was surprised to recognise Ted Simms and his wife Holly as they got closer. Ted looked his casual best for the evening where Holly looked glamorous in a low-cut dress.
Howard and Olu rose to their feet and shook hands with Ted who was just as surprised to meet Howard.
"Never thought I'd get to run into you here," Howard said.
"I could say the same about you. There was some collision on the highway that delayed us or else we'd have gotten here sooner."
Holly exchanged pleasantries with Howard then switched her gaze to Olu Shango. She felt a nervous tingle about herself when she shook his hand. An image flashed abruptly before her eyes that saw him lunge towards her, ripping her clothes off; she was disappointed when that did not happen and he let go of her hand after shaking it. There was something hypnotic about the way he held her gaze with his, like he wanted to swallow her whole with his eyes.
"It's so nice to finally meet you, Holly," Shango said. "It's about time we made your evening special."
Holly could almost sense through the corners of her eyes Ted paying special attention to the moment.
"It's so nice to finally meet you also," she replied before sitting down.