"Good day sir, it's time, Jasmine has been waiting for you, for over 30mins", Brooke said as she walked into his office for the second time, she knew him as a punctual person but now his 30 minutes late for his date, they both walked out of his office as he left to the restaurant. The restaurant was all glass and chandeliers light flashing from every corner.
The crystal chandeliers hanging above pristine white tablecloths. Silver cutlery arranged like special art. A string quartet hummed softly in the corner, too elegant for a Wednesday morning. Brown sat at the far corner table, perfectly framed by the view of the city skyline, like he belonged there. Like this was normal. Jasmine was already waiting. She stood up as soon as she saw him, lips curving into a practiced, picture-perfect smile.
"Oh my gosh, there's my husband-to-be.", she said. He kissed her cheek. It felt automatic. "Sorry I'm late," he said, slipping into the seat across from her. "You're always late," she teased. "But you look good doing it, so I forgive you." He offered a soft chuckle. The kind that didn't touch his eyes. Jasmine opened the menu book and launched into wedding talk like a machine on auto-drive.
"So, I spoke with the planner this morning. She said the peonies we want might not be available unless we ship them in. From France, like babe, of all places. Can you imagine?" He nodded, flipping a menu he wasn't reading, his mind wasn't there at all. His eyes lifted, not toward the flowers she was describing, but toward a waiter who just walked past.
Joshua.
No, it wasn't him. But someone who looked like him. Same build. Same smile. For a second, Brown forgot to breathe.
"Get it together", he said in his mind. Jasmine was still speaking. He forced himself back into the present. "Also, your mom wants to approve the wine selection. She thinks Merlot makes people sleepy. I swear, she's treating this like it's her wedding. Gosh!"
"My mom…" he said softly. She looked up. "What?" Jasmine replied with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing. Just… I forgot how involved she is in our wedding." "How would you forget that all of a sudden, when she calls you every now and then, reminding you about it?" Jasmine added and tilted her head. "Are you okay? You've been…different lately." "How different?" he asked, "Brooke called", she said, "what did she say?" He asked "and told me what happened at the office", she said as Brown just rolled his eyes in ignorance. He sipped his glass of water. "Work's been intense. You know how it is."
But the truth was:
He didn't know how it was. He didn't remember a single thing about work. Or his mother. Or even how he'd proposed to the woman sitting right in front of him. Their food arrived. He ate in silence while Jasmine talked through the guest lists of their wedding, 'a wedding he didn't plan, it's for someone else not me' he said in his mind for a while as she kept on talking about the suit fittings, and centerpieces. He nodded when he had to. Smiled where it made sense. But in the back of his mind, the wrong name kept echoing.
Joshua.
The curve of his mouth. The hesitation in his voice. That slight smirk when he said, "You're acting different today, Mr. Brown." He remembered the way his heart skipped a beat because of him, and how quickly he buried it. Jasmine reached across the table and gently placed her hand over his. "Brown," she said, "you're scaring me." He looked up and stared at her. "We're getting married in two months. This is supposed to be the happiest time of our lives, and I feel like I don't know who I'm sitting across from." "Do you still want this?" she asked. He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. After a long pause, he forced a smile. "Of course, I do and you know that as well." She won't understand he isn't her Brown Caldwell; he is not even into women at all; he just has to fit in for her and his unknown mother. And as he kissed her goodbye outside the restaurant, a part of him was already wondering what it would feel like to kiss someone else.
Brown Caldwell just sat in his car looking into the rear mirror inside the car staring at a different face thinking about how he ended up in this body, he only made a wish out of heartbreak, sorrow and pain, now he doesn't know what to do next, how to fit in with this luxurious life he had only dreamt about, on the other hand, having a crush on Joshua is what the real Mr. Brown would never do, he just left a breakup now his unsure whether to enter another one or if Joshua might even be gay. He sat there for over a while thinking, then his phone rang, coming back to reality it was his mom, he didn't know what to do at this point, it felt like the ground should open let him alone fall inside, he picked the call and the first she said was, "The marriage date has been settled, get everything in place", she ended the call there at once, Brown's Mother, Mrs. Amira, 53 years old, a no-nonsense lady, divorced her husband years ago, nobody knows why, she's a very tough boss. Trust me, you wouldn't want to see her in her bad mood. After a while, he thought of going through Brown IG page and his social media life, going through his IG page he sees numerous posts of Brown with different women, most half naked, some in their bikini and others in the beach, truly he was a straight dude and a womanizer, his recent post was mostly with Jasmine, he exited from there and drove straight home.
He opened the door to his apartment, the room was partially dark, it was warm due to the two lilted candles on both side of the bed, all the lights were off, he closed the door and turned on the lights with the switch on the wall and to his surprise, Jasmine was already laying on the bed with red roses all over the bed, he stood still looking at half naked Jasmine, he didn't know what to do, he hasn't seen that in his life, he dropped his brief case on the floor and loosen his tie a bit, she walked closer to him in a black bra and black panties and a transparent black robe that hanged on her shoulders which trailed down to the floor. Normally, Brown would have intimate sex with any lady he sees. But this time around, he just stood there looking at her as she walked closer to him, her long black hair flowed down her back, nearly reaching her lower spine. She looked sexy that night. Jasmine slipped off her heels near the door and turned toward him with that soft, teasing grin and sexy brown eyes, she unbutton his shirt one by one, exposing his muscular chest, the one she loved, she kissed him on his neck, he didn't pull away, he just stood there, he raised her head and looked at her eyes and muttered, "I love you, Jasmine", before he kissed her deeply, feeling her lips and tasting and living every second, he has once thought of kissing a woman, She pushed him down to the bed with playful control, straddling him, her dress slipping off her shoulders. "I want you, Brown," she whispered, eyes soft but hungry. "I need to feel you." He nodded, running his hands down her hips. His body reacted, of course it did. Brown Caldwell's body knew what to do.
They were both on the bed, he kissed her vigorously and passionately, she muffled and moan, he wrapped his hand round her back as she did the same round his neck, the kiss went on for a while, she removed her bra which exposed her fair bouncy breasts fully, he was first shocked but he hide it, he kept on kissing her, they both got passionate and intimate, she pulled down his trouser and his white inner shorts, he wasn't that hard down there but she proceeded and took it in, he moaned for a while, he looked at her and the next thing he imagined was Joshua on him, he quickly shifted and moved his body in discomfort a bit, "what's wrong, did I bite it?", she asked, "nahh you didn't", his voice was low but audible, he remained calm as she continued her job down there, he moaned gracefully like he wanted more but not from her though, they had a wild night of sex and intimacy, he had never felt like this before. They both lay side by side, with the blankets across their chests at the same level. They both looked at the ceiling, "this was wow", Jasmine said, "really?", he asked because this was his first time doing this with a woman, he wasn't sure if he tried "yeah, it was darling", she replied.