Read Online I Saw Your Profile by Rhonda Swan - Free Book Online

bearings. She returned
the showerhead to its home and rinsed the conditioner from her hair. For the
first time that day, she was completely relaxed.
         Then the date started
replaying in her head. Suddenly no amount of aromatherapy could protect her
from the image of an obese Kenny.
         In all that time, it
never occurred to him to say, ‘By the way, if you’re not into Budda bruthas I
ain’t the one.’
         For a moment, laughter
replaced anger as she grabbed a jar of homemade sugar scrub and exfoliated her
skin. As she stepped out of the shower, her laughter turned to guilt. Should
his looks really matter that much?
         Wrapped in a towel,
Arianna went to the kitchen and made a cup of peppermint tea. She took it to
her bedroom where she slipped into a black, silk nightshirt and grabbed the
Pearl Cleage novel her book club was reading. She lit a jasmine incense stick
before sliding under the covers.
         She tried to read, but
Pearl couldn’t take her mind off Kenny.
        What did she have to feel
guilty about? She couldn’t help whom she was attracted to.
         She wasn’t just mad at
him, but at herself, too. She wasn’t usually one to hold her tongue.
         Why
didn’t I tell him the truth? I was so worried about sparing his feelings; I let
him get away with lying to me.
         She yanked off the
covers and went downstairs to her office, turned on the computer and logged
onto her email account.
         Her inbox contained
mostly junk and a few shout-outs from guys at LoveMeBlack.com, but Kenny
Washington had all of her attention. She clicked the mouse to compose an email.

 
    Kenny,
      I wanted to tell you this at dinner, but
I didn’t want to come off as rude or insensitive. The fact is I don’t want to
be more than friends with you because I am not attracted to overweight men. You
lied to me and I don’t appreciate it. You had many opportunities to tell me
about your weight and you never did. The pictures that you sent gave no
indication of what you look like today .
I don’t know where we go from here, but I had to get this off my chest.
    Arianna

 
         She hit the send
button and went back to bed where sleep fell on her like a magic spell.

 
 
 
         The cordless phone on
the nightstand shrieked, tearing Arianna away from the nameless, faceless lover
in her dream.
         “Shit! Who the hell is
calling me this time of night?”
         Once she was shocked
back to reality, the details of the dream escaped her. It annoyed the hell out
of her when she couldn’t remember her dreams. The vague memory would haunt her
all day like a melody that gets stuck in your head, but the words remain
elusive.
          She snatched the receiver from its
cradle.
           “Hello!” Bass notes
drowned all traces of femininity from her waking voice.
         “Uh – is Arianna
there?”
         “Who is this?”
         “Arianna? I thought
you were a dude. It didn’t sound like you. This is Kenny.”
         “What time is it?”
         “It’s about quarter
after two. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
           “If you didn’t want to
wake me up why are you calling me so late?”
           “I just got your
email.”
           “And?”
           “And I wanted to talk
about it.”
           “It couldn’t wait ‘til
tomorrow?”
           “No. I wanted to talk
about it now. I can’t believe what you said.”
        “Look, Kenny, I am not about to have this conversation with you this
late at night. I’m going back to sleep. If you want to talk about this when the
sun comes up, call me back. Goodnight.”
         She slammed down the
phone before he had a chance to respond. This time, she didn’t give a damn
about his feelings.

 
 
 
         The shrill sound of
someone wanting to communicate yanked her from dreamland again at seven.
         The caller ID told her
it