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hips in perfect unison with me, until we screamed together.
    I rolled over on my back. Sharon scooted close to me and laid her head on my chest. I put my arm around her and she moved closer. “That was great, Rick,” she said and put her leg over mine. I stared at the ceiling and I saw April, standing with her hands on her hips. I won’t play the fool anymore.
     

Leaving Laura
      “This is Rick.”
    “I figured I’d find you there.”
    “How you doing, Laura?”
    “Working, baby. But what else is new?” Laura said.
    “Tell me about it. I been here every night this week and I’m still not done.”
    “I’m about to wrap things up here. What about you? How much longer you gonna be there?”
    “I don’t know, Laura. Another couple of hours I guess,” I replied, even though I was tired and probably wouldn’t be here much longer. “Discipline, playa,” I told myself. I had something to prove, not only to April, but to myself. I was going to change. I was going to get all these other women out of my life and become the kind of man that not only April wanted me to be, but that I knew I could be.
    “That’s too bad. I was hoping that we could get together and have a drink. Then we can have this talk you’ve been wanting to have with me.”
    “Yeah, well, we do need to talk.” I thought about it. Might as well get this over with before I change my mind . “Where do you want to meet?”
    “Why don’t you come down here? Meet me at the Sun Dial in about an hour.”
    “Okay, Laura, I’ll see you in an hour. Don’t have me sitting up there waiting for hours. You know how you are.”
    “Very funny. You just worry about yourself, I got this,” Laura said with a bit of an attitude.
    “All right now. I’ll see you later, Laura.” I hung up knowing full well that it wasn’t going to be as simple as that. I finished the projections I was running and headed for the Plaza.
    I arrived at the Plaza, parked my car in the garage, and took the elevator up to the seventy-third floor. The Sun Dial is one of my favorite places. The Mose Davis Trio was playing and the view of the city was spectacular. The building is round and the floor revolves slowly, so you can see the entire city from there. On a clear night, you can see as far as Stone Mountain . It was also the place where I met Laura.
    I was there with this girl named Shelia. Laura was sitting alone at the bar. We made eye contact each time I passed her. Shelia was making her case for me to leave April and kick it with her full-time. “I’m getting a little tired of taking a backseat to your girl. I just can’t do this anymore. I mean, I never had a man to treat me the way you do, Rick. Half the time you don’t return my calls. Seems like the only time you call me is when you wanna have sex. But that’s all you think about, ain’t it, Rick?”
    “Sex is not all I think about. It’s just all I think about you,” I said calmly.
    I got the line from Victor, who stole it from Prince. I felt funny saying it, since I’m not particular about the Paisley Prince, but the line fit perfectly. Old Shelia on the other hand, was not the least bit amused. She started trippin’.
    Loud.
    “You got a lot of fuckin’ nerve sayin’ some shit like that to me! Who the fuck do you think you are? You ain’t all that, muthafucka! Sayin’ that shit to me like I’m a piece of meat or something. I ought to slap the shit outta you!”
    At that point I stopped listening.
    I knew nothing constructive was coming after that anyway. We made another pass by the bar and Laura. She smiled and shook her head. I smiled back. “And now you got the nerve to be flirting with that bitch at the bar.” She stood up and assumed sista position: hand on one hip, finger waving, head rockin ’. “You ain’t ’bout shit, are you, Rick? You need to take me home. I’ll be right back,” Shelia said and walked off.
    When the revolving floor made its way back around to the bar, Laura was