Page 41 of Love is So Mean
“To see them or display people you care about…never mind the second part.”
I walk over and make myself comfortable on the empty side of her bed. “So I guess there’s nothing you’d want to hang that will be pretty to you or a good memory?”
Yasmeena eyes me from head to toe with an arched brow. “I have memories, they’re neither bad nor good. Why are you on my bed? You have a room.”
“Okay, so tell me one of these not good nor bad memories,” I prompt as I tuck the arm not holding the drink behind my head. I take a sip and look at her, waiting for her to respond.
“Will you leave if I tell you?”
“No. I’m sure I’ll have another question.”
Yasmeena rolls her eyes. “Used to do gymnastics, broke my arm and ate hospital jello. Very weird texture, very sugary.”
“What flavor and would you eat it again?”
“The color was green and no.”
“I’ll get you all the flavors. See if it makes a difference.” I can feel her irritation but I don’t care. Yasmeena puts her phone down with a sigh and the way she crosses her arms just brings more attention to her breasts. I boop one of the nipples with the tip of my finger like it’s her nose. “I’m usually good for two rounds. Future notice by the way.”
“Good to know,” Yasmeena slaps my hand. “ But we don’t need more than one round. I don’t want jello, I want you to go to your room.” She grabs her remote and turns on her tv.
I’m laughing on the inside. This is what boredom gets you. “So you can come jump on me but I can’t have a conversation and touch a nipple or two?”
“I doubt we want to have a conversation when we’ve had all the time in the world to before. And what will touching my nipples do? Nothing.”
“We only talk about work because we’ve only had time to talk about work in the past. And can it be that I just like to touch nipples? Your nipples aren’t sensitive? You don’t likenipple play? If I were to suck one into my mouth right now, you wouldn’t feel anything?”
“As you can tell when I slid on top, I’m capable of very much feeling, Enrique.”
“So you’re saying you do like nipple play?”
“Enrique, shut up.”
The smile I’ve been fighting plays on my face. It took longer than I thought, honestly. The women on the television grab my attention.
“Yasmeena Yara Al-ameen Souza watches reality television?”
“Yes, she does and while she watches the Real Housewives of Atlanta, she needs you to shut up or get out.”
A series of bleeps pull my attention away from annoying my wife. Reality shows are loaded with a bunch of nonsense but I know what it’s like to be annoyed when someone keeps talking while you’re trying to watch something.
“Why are they fighting?”
“For the same reason I’m going to fight you. Mind your business.”
I chuckle. “Come fight me then.” She must have forgotten that we’re both underdressed.
“Noe… watch the episode.”
My smile is still in place when I move my attention back to the television. It may not be at the top of the list of things that I’d watch, but it is at least better than being alone in my room with my thoughts.
‘
Chapter 23
Yasmeena
It’s been a few weeks of the same routine of trying to get me pregnant. I think this is working out perfectly because we go to work in separate cars, we sleep or try to sleep in separate rooms but Enrique feels the need to come into my room after every session to ask me a question about myself or some memory that I haven’t thought about in years. At least, at work we don’t reveal anything about us being together and when it’s around 8 or 9 pm; we have sex, with me on top. Then he does it all over again. He appears in my room, sometimes he doesn’t speak, he just climbs on the bed and grabs the remote, turning on a tv show. Lately it’s been some old show that I heard of when I was still a kid. He says it’s a 90s classic and I think he’s trying to annoy me more than he already does.