Project Whores

Chapter 20

Fragments. Dante sat at his desk wondering why his woman was acting so funny. He and Joice had a very good relationship. They always coordinated their vacations so that they went home at the same time. Granted, he needed to change their current dates, but she had always accommodated him before. Now all of a sudden, she's so exhausted she can't wait eight days so he can meet her in Texas? He didn't like the way he was feeling. There was something different about the way she was acting lately.

He thought about the woman he was so in love with. Joice was a creature of habit. She rarely deviated from her routine. When they were in Iraq together, he saw firsthand how she maneuvered through her workday. She was usually alone and had never been top heavy with friends or acquaintances. Her sisters and her family where the only people she conversed with and her social life was centered around them. And Derek, he thought bitterly. But never mind that. Initially, Dante wrongly attributed her lack of social interaction to her offbeat personality. She most definitely marched to the beat of a different drummer, but she had no desire to befriend any of her coworkers or job acquaintances. As a matter of fact, people had no idea what a favor they did by snubbing her. Joice just had a way of doing her own thing and not really caring what anyone thought of her. Dante smiled at the thought. Of course, once she started seeing him, she was even more isolated because of his position. He could not have anyone saying she was receiving special favors because of her relationship with the CM, so they kept it on the low as much as possible.

Now, something was different. But she simply is not the type to mess around, he thought, massaging his chin with his fingers. That was one of the many things he loved about her. He never worried about her being unfaithful to him, even during long absences. Joice was a good woman and she was not interested other men. Truth be told, she didn't fool around with him nearly as much as he preferred because of her Christian beliefs. She really did not like having sex with him because she said it was wrong and even broke up with him a few times because he tried to deepen their sexual relationship. Joice told him he would have to find himself someone more compatible, because having sex with him outside of marriage was causing her spiritual conflict. The last time it happened, he made some serious adjustments or he would have lost her for good. His first thought had been to just let her go because he was sick of all the back and forth stuff when it came to sex, but that proved to be much easier said than done. It was during this time he realized Rejoice Battle was the only woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life pleasing. But no sex? She was being unreasonable. He understood the bible, but damn! Who in the world could go without sex indefinitely? Sure, it was understandable when he was actually alone. Dante was not one to indulge in casual sex. Although he was never really religious, he did have his own moral standards and tried to adhere to them as best he could. He married young and stayed married to the mother of his children until about eight years ago. Getting back into the dating game proved to be difficult for him, especially since he worked so much. The women he encountered were usually just after his money or his influence, and Dante had no shortage of either. But Joice was not impressed with his money because she had plenty of her own, and she certainly could not care less about his power. Even though he could have easily gotten her promoted and into cushier jobs, on the low of course, she refused every offer he ever made to help her advance. Joice, unlike most project whores, was not focused on making lots of money and seemed to enjoy jobs that kept her out of the limelight. Dante had not been successful in persuading her to tell him her whole story, but from the bits and pieces he managed to gather, it seemed she was just trying to get away from her life in the States. That was baffling, because she came from a good family, married the great Derek Carmichael, had two beautiful daughters, a custom-built house, fancy cars... she seemed to have it all. But there was a big hole in that story; Dante just didn't have the information to fill in the blank and her family was extremely tight lipped. Even after six years together, she was still very guarded about what went on in her life before they met. But one thing he was sure of; Derek Carmichael had been the primary catalyst in her decision to go overseas and work. Something happened with them but Joice never, ever talked about it and Dante was not one to pry. But the truth of the matter was, even if he did, to her credit, Joice would not talk about her ex-husband.

Well, whatever it was, it had not affected their relationship and he felt blessed to have met her. He liked being with one woman. Somehow, the big appeal of the whole player thing had always eluded him. The few times he decided to veer off and test those waters, had been disastrous. He laughed to himself when he thought about some of the dumb things he did just to have sex. But when it came to Joice; it was a matter of pure desire. Dante wanted her and he wanted her all the time. He shook his head and considered the times they did conjugate. Whew! Her convictions about pre-marital sex should not be confused with a lack of experience. Joice was a passionate, skillful lover and there was nothing shy or frigid about her.

Dante thought all of it was a crock until he went home with her the first time. Her life really was centered around church and church activities. Initially, he thought all of that would be a deal breaker. He went to church some as a little boy, but had not really had time for it since becoming an adult. Plus, who wanted to spend all their time in church? But after going to church with her and giving it a chance, he really grew to enjoy the fellowship. Church had done a serious three-sixty since he was a little boy, and the one she attended was very grand and very modern. He could not believe it the first time he saw the praise dancers perform. They actually danced in church! And the pastor was awesome. He taught in a way that was easy to understand and he actually challenged the congregation, not only be better Christians, but to be better people. Of course, going to church with her certainly had its perks.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at the calendar. Christmas was not that far away. He would just be patient and they would definitely have a long talk face to face when they got home in December. After all, even though she was only human, Dante had never known Joice to lie to him.