A Uneque Experience

By J. Shanee

Uneque Jones is a woman who has to face the reality that she made a very rash decision by letting go of the man that she truly loved, Charles. She managed to cope by surrounding herself with her friends, work and even an unnecessary fling. But her decision to take a day to do some light shopping landed her in a whirlwind of emotions and a much needed reality check. Her friends, Angel, Deidre and Shelly have drama all their own, but Shelly has found her breaking point any woman's worst nightmare becoming a reality. These four friends truly maximize the meaning of friends 'til the end.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Shanee
• Release date: Sep 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386171683

Book preview

Acknowledgement

There are so many people that I would like to take this time to thank for all the help, love, and support of my first novel. With that being said, let's get to it!

First I want to thank God for giving me the ability to create characters and situations to make this story come alive.

Second I'd like to say a special thank you to my husband, Michkael. You have been my rock, my protector, my comforter, my voice of reason when times were rough. Without your encouragement I don't think I would have been able to make it this far. Thank you for loving me the way you do!

Next, I'd like to thank my Twin, Tamyara Brown. You listened to me when I cried, you fussed at me when I wanted to give up, you encouraged me when I just couldn't see clearly. You educated yourself in this business and didn't keep the knowledge to yourself. That makes you a step above the rest any day.

Kandise, you have been on team Nell since we met! I love your spunk and determination. You encourage me with your drive and talent. Keep pushing and our vacation is right around the corner.

To my friends and family who support my journey, I give a special thank you. You know who you are and you know I truly appreciate you.

To my future readers, thank you so much for your support and I hope you enjoy this as I enjoyed writing this.

To my haters, keep on keeping! Your talk is the publicity I need to market my work, and the encouragement I need to KEEP PUSHING!!!!!

Be on the lookout for more from me in the future.

Thank you all so much!!! SMOOCHES!!!!

1

Today was one of the hottest days I could remember in my life.  The thermometers outside registered a ridiculous 105 degrees.  With the heat index; it felt more like 120 degrees.  The first thing I thought to do was find something cool to slip on after my shower.  I was getting ready for a night out with the girls and Lord knows I needed it.  The winter was unbearably long and I was itching to get out and soak up some warm weather.  Standing in the shower, I allowed the water to hit every spot. My mind did something that’s quite normal for me.  It wandered into an abyss of peace and happy thoughts. 

I allowed myself to fall deep into my fantasy world.  A world where I have no stress and all the sex my heart desires.  As I started daydreaming, the thought of me sharing the shower with a caramel colored, six foot-five inch tall black stallion of a man became clear and prevalent.  I imagined the way he looked at me with a burning desire in his eyes.  He made me feel like I was the only woman in the world for him.  I can feel his warm breath on the nape of my neck; his soft lips caressing the top of my shoulders, his strong hands groping the natural curves of my onion and me allowing him to explore every secret of my naked soul.  I allowed myself the pleasure I desired on a regular basis when I was shocked back to reality.  No more hot water! Damn! 

I rushed through my cold shower and quickly got dressed.  I decided I would wear a little eye shadow to enhance my medium brown eyes.  I pulled my lox into a casual but sexy up do. I took one last look at myself in my full-length mirror and was shockingly pleased at what I saw.  I was wearing a white strapless knee-length dress with a sexy pair of red, strappy sandals.  I put a little shiny lip gloss on as a finishing touch, checked my curves one last time, grabbed my matching hand bag and ran out the door.

My girlfriends and I decided to meet on the strip downtown and grab an early dinner.  I drove to Angel’s house to pick her up because she had no transportation.  Shelly stopped and picked up Deidre and met us at the restaurant.  Timing was perfect.  We arrived at the same time and were able to be seated at a table that allowed us to check out everyone coming and going.  This was a brand new place and the food was fabulous.  The location was also fabulous because we could walk a block over and be at a club known as the Hot Spot.  This club had everything you could think of, men, men and more fine men.  I’m talking about men of all heights and shades of black; gorgeous, black, successful men of the Windy City.  I was happier than anyone would ever know.

As we walked in the club all eyes were on the DJ.  Hands were waving in the air, women and men lined the walls and the dance floor.  We managed to find a table and immediately placed our drink orders.  Nothing too heavy, we had to watch each other and other haters in case of an emergency.  The music was pumping and the bass was pounding so deep it felt like a second heart beat.  The DJ was playing old school rap and heads were bobbing to the beat thumping from the speakers.  We danced and laughed until the club closed at three in the morning.

Shelly works in marketing and knows a lot of the top names in the city.  Angel works as a customer service rep for a well-known manufacturing company.  Deidre works in the hospital as a collections agent.  I am Uneque, and work as a Practice Administrator for a multi-physician group.  While we were all gainfully employed we were also successfully complicated. 

We tried the online love search, speed dating, co-workers’ relatives, gyms, clubs, and grocery stores.  You name it, we’ve tried it.  It seemed as though we were destined to be both husbandless and childless.  I personally could do without the whole birth experience, but my girls feel that there is no experience like the one of having a family.  I tried arguing they could get a dog and if they really wanted some excitement get an exotic animal.  The stares of death would come flying my way every time I voiced my opinion.  Then we would all laugh and continue to dream out loud.

It was Sunday and I decided to sleep until my eyes popped open and then get up and cleaned my condo.  I don’t know why I just didn’t buy a single family home.  I utilized every square inch of space in my home with clothes, shoes, furniture and dozens of whatnots.  You could safely say I had no intention on baby-proofing anything.  White sofas, glass tables, cream colored rugs, and high end hardwood floors.  I didn’t allow my friends and family to even think of hosting gatherings in my home.  If anything was going to get stained or cracked, I was the only one to do it.  It’s easier to be pissed at myself than to think about having someone else take my fist of fury to their eyeball.

Angel called from the docks as she was preparing to go sailing with one of her standbys.  She invited me to come along earlier in the week, but I declined because I didn’t particularly care for Darryl.  He was a jerk who felt he could have any woman he desired and I couldn’t wait for Angel to get him out of her system.  She raved about the way he made her feel in the bed and that was probably the extent of their relationship.  I always told her, encouraged her; to do better for herself even if it is for one night.  But somehow she never had her world shook like she did with Darryl.  I figure he has a gold tip or an energizer bunny for a tongue.  Either way, I couldn’t stand his ass.  But it wasn’t for me to like him.

Angel had more complicated situations than the rest of us would ever bargain for.  She was much more successful than the men she chose to get involved with.  I could never in a million years understand where she found those no good wannabe thugs.  It was almost as though she was a magnet and they were drawn to her from all four corners of the world; rusty, dirty, trifling corners.  But then I thought she was the one who settled for this.  So why should I be concerned about the type of man she dated or rendezvoused with, as long as they didn’t put their hands on her. 

Angel was 32 and she had been the only one of us in a long term relationship.  When I say long term I don’t mean committed.  She and the asshole Darryl had been seeing each other for more than five years.  I couldn’t believe it had been that long.  They had an arrangement and it seemed to work well for the two of them.  You could gag me with all that bullshit.  I loved my friend and if that was what her choice of ‘prime beef’ of the week would be then hey, who am I to stand in the way?

Shelly recently broke up with a guy she dated for two years named Benjamin.  He’s the type who is content on where he is in life.  Shelly is a mover and a shaker.  The two were like oil and water.  They just didn’t mix.  But somehow he had the qualities she looked for in a man.  And she definitely had everything he was looking for in a woman, which is why we all think they’ll be back together soon. 

Shelly and Benjamin were the weirdest couple you could imagine together.  Yet, they seemed like they had so much fun together.  Benjamin was truly a boring man. I guess Shelly brought out a side in him that just made the relationship pop.  Shelly told me he was adventurous in the bedroom and that drove her crazy.  She was a sweetie, but she was a bigger freak than all of us rolled in one.  Shelly never cheated on Benjamin during their relationship.  He even traveled with her to different countries.  I don’t know what caused them to break up, but I’m determined to find out. 

Shelly is 34 and has traveled many parts of the world.  Mostly job related, but she’s ventured out of the country to elegant places such as Paris and Italy.  She’s also traveled to Australia and China.  I’ve always admired my friend’s ability to get up and go.  Shelly is a believer in the saying you only live once so she enjoys every moment of life.  She plans for us all to take our ultimate journey.  We’ve talked about going to Africa for what seems like an eternity. 

Shelly has some connections in the travel industry and we have been diligently saving for the past five months trying to make our dreams come true.  If it weren’t for her we would still be dreaming instead of actually paying for it.  Of all of my friends, Shelly and I are the closest.  She knows some of my innermost secrets, my fears, my insecurities and my weaknesses.  I know the same about her.  We love talking to one another and not having to worry about receiving an off the wall remark about our feelings or our opinion. Not that we don’t love Deidre and Angel, but Shelly and I are sisters on a totally different level.

Deidre is the unpredictable one of us in the bunch.  She maintained a quiet love life for as long as she could, then about a year ago all hell broke loose.  She met this guy she works with and I presume hung out with during business hours.  We didn’t find out about him until it was too late.  His name is Ahmad.  Don’t let the name fool you.  He’s a short and stubby man that gave the wrong first impression.  I didn’t like him from the first day I met him.  He made the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention. 

But because Deidre was one of my best friends, I didn’t have the heart to tell her about her ugly man.  I told myself if she likes it I love it! I wasn’t the one who had to deal with his nasty, short, fat ass.  The thought of him made me want to bow down to the porcelain bowl.

Deidre is 33 and beautiful.  She had what we women of color would call good hair.  As black as she was, she had the most gorgeous head of black wavy hair.  Most of us would need to purchase that from the beauty supply on the corner for about $65 a bundle.  But this heifer was born with it.  I told her that if she ever cuts it give it to me so I could make me a lace-front wig.  She always laughs, but I’m dead serious. 

Ahmad and Deidre were not what any person with good taste would put together as a couple.  She becomes almost subservient when he was around.  Inside, my blood would boil because I didn’t understand who my friend was anymore.  He wasn’t a king, and wasn’t close to any type of royal family.  But his attitude made him a royal pain in the ass!  The way he bosses her around and the way he makes her pay for meals or theatre tickets when go went out.  He even had the nerve to tell her to pay his car payment.  I told her she was a damn fool for doing that one.  She agreed and never did it again, at least I think she didn’t.

She raved about the great, hot passionate sex they had.  The very thought always made me nauseous.  She always said she loved making his eyes roll to the top of his head when he stepped out of the shower.  I just can’t picture it.  She tried to make me understand some of his good points, but I guess I was on a judge a book by the cover kick.  As my saying goes, as long as he didn’t put his hands on her I’m fine, nauseous, but fine.

And then there’s me, Uneque, single, young, full figured and a successful black woman.  I earned my Master’s degree two years ago and managed to obtain a job right after graduation.  I was pleased with myself and so were my parents.  I never asked for help with my bills or my tuition and my parents quietly appreciated that.  Once I completed my education, my parents’ gift was cosigning for my first home.  I decided to purchase my condo with the thought of being able to rent it out in the future.  After all it was just me.  I lived in a quiet suburb and I enjoyed the perks of being without the drama of the city.  I grew up in the hood; but didn’t want to continue living there.  Some of my old neighborhood buddies called me stuck up because I chose to grow up and move out.  They knew I would be one of the first ones to leave; I always had that drive and ambition to not settle for what was around me. 

My parents were also gracious enough to give me one slammin’ block party for graduation.  Food, liquor, friends and fun made for the best night I can remember.  My siblings actually had a wonderful time as well. 

My sisters and my brother were the thorns in my side they should have been.  I was the oldest of the four. I often had to do a lot of the baby sitting so my parents could work full time.  My sisters and brother were cool though.  They didn’t give me too many problems. 

I covered my baby sister’s tracks the first time she decided she would take a drink.  She had no idea what she was getting into; but she quickly found out that liquor will leave you sick and hung over.  My brother was the second born and was 18 years my junior.  I don’t understand why my parents waited so long to have another baby after me but once my brother Michael was born the babies didn’t stop coming.  Not a full year later my sister Trina came along.  Then one year and one day later my sister Nekya made her entry.  After Nek was born, my mother told the doctor that she needed to be sterile before she had any more little beautiful surprises.  I personally would have made daddy become sterile, but hey; their life, their decision.  I was still delirious imagining my mom and dad getting busy and reproducing.  That made me ill and yet depressed.  They were still getting down and I had yet to experience my first time.

As I proceeded to clean out my closet for the fourth time in one month, I began to drift off into my own fantasy land.  This time I surprised myself by thinking of being a wife and actually having a family.  Shocking! I mean, I couldn’t believe it.  I actually pictured myself with a family and enjoying the idea of being family oriented.  That’s what I get for visiting my parents.  I quickly pulled