Balancing Acts

Chapter 1: Calm Before the Storm

            I'd be lying if I said Mulvaney Manor wasn't absolutely gorgeous. The mansion sat on a beautiful estate in the hills and was obviously the biggest mansion in the state of Maryland. It served as the home to Mayor Campbell and his family. If someone had told me I'd be one day having dinner at the mayor's home, I would've told them to check themselves into a psychiatric hospital and ask for the best drugs available. After everything I'd accomplished in my thirty-two years of living, my greatest accomplishment was marrying Brandon. He was the reason why we were at the mayor's home after all.

            The state of Maryland had only recognized our marriage legally for four years, but I'd been married to Brandon Prescott for nine. I had my name legally changed from Julani Brown to Julani Prescott, and we moved into a smaller apartment together so that we could save money for graduate school for me and law school for him. After living near D.C. for school, we moved to my hometown of Calhoun Heights after obtaining our professional degrees. I got a job teaching English courses at Calhoun University, and he impressed the senior partners at the McNealy-Thompson & Associates law firm enough to get a job running their finance law department. Within three years at that firm, he'd worked his way up to being a junior partner.

            "The IKEA case was difficult," he explained to everyone listening at the big table, including Mayor Campbell. "I really planned for the worst with that case. I mean, you all know how much of a stiff Judge Ferraro is."

            They all laughed and continued to listen to him, but I kept my focus on his appearance rather than the words coming from his well-spoken mouth. I hated that he wasn't shaving regularly anymore. If there were anything I learned from being around uppity white folks is that they expect their black counterparts to be presentable at all times. I was also mad at him for wearing that tacky black tie with the word esquire written on it and big golden letters. He knows how much I hated that damn tie.

            Overall, he looked like himself. He was still the six-foot-two lean but toned man I fell head-over-heels for all those years ago. He always reminded me of the actor Terrell Tilford, especially his hair and light brown skin tone. My man was sexier than Terrell or any other man in my opinion. He was the epitome of a black man who possessed the perfect combination of masculinity, suavity and confidence. I'd always seen that whenever I looked at him, and my attraction to him was eternal.

            His attraction to me was eternal as well. I'd been short and skinny for most of my life, but during my freshman year at Howard University I started hitting up the gym. I gained the freshman fifteen but since I also frequented the gym, I gained a little muscle with my thickness. My butt definitely got bigger and more toned. I changed over the years but not too much. Most of my friends would tell me that I looked exactly the same as I did back in college but I could see the changes. Still, black don't crack.

            As Brandon infamously put it, I was his 'chocolate drop.' Before me, he'd only been interested in having one-night stands on the downlow with other guys. He wanted that with me at first but after our very first conversation, he realized he wanted more. The first thing I noticed about him when we met was the expanding dick print in his sweatpants. Apparently, the way my sweatpants fit around my ass area turned him on and made him hard. He followed me into the library and between two tall book shelves before catching up with me and asking me all kinds of questions. We had our first date in his car in the McDonald's parking lot the next night and the rest is history.

            "Have you been enjoying the night so far?" he asked me in a whisper while leaning into my ear.

            I leaned to his ear and replied, "This chicken seasoned just right. The cooks must be black."