On a Night Like This Pt. 02

May 20, 2011

Boston, Massachusetts

Orlando Scott couldn't take his eyes off Cate McIntosh's pale hands as they ate dinner at Parker's Restaurant on School Street. Her hands were covered in light freckles, and he kept thinking about what it would be like to kiss each one. Her beauty gave him energy, focus, meaning; as he watched her hands, he wondered if the hands of destiny were at work when they met just a few weeks ago at the Kylie Minogue concert.

"So," Orlando asked as he took another bite of his New York sirloin, "when do your folks get in?"

"Sometime tomorrow afternoon," Cate replied as she finished chewing on a piece of roasted chicken breast. "They plan to stay here for a few days before we fly back. I hope you get a chance to meet them."

"I'd certainly like to. What do they do?"

"My mum's a nurse at Wollongong Hospital, and my dad runs his own real estate business."

"Cool."

He kept looking at her hands. He couldn't help himself.

"So, are you looking forward to Sunday?"

"Yeah, I can't believe four years have gone by so fast. I'm going to miss so many of my friends."

"Well, at least you have a cool commencement speaker. I love Katie Couric!"

"She's all right, I guess. Who was your commencement speaker when you graduated?"

"Jon Westling, who was the BU president. Bored the shit out of me."

Cate laughed. "I hope Katie isn't as boring then."

After finishing dinner, Orlando and Cate walked up Beacon Street, past the Meltzer & Keller law offices ("The 30th floor, where they work you some more!" he remarked as he pointed to the One Beacon Street tower) and the Massachusetts State House. It was a beautiful and warm evening, and Orlando wanted desperately to just hold Cate's hand as he walked with her.

As they made their way through the Public Garden, Orlando imagined what it would be like to get down on one knee and asked this Australian beauty to marry him, how happy it would make him if she said yes. This was his soulmate, his perfect partner, the one. He had never felt so happy in his life, not even when he hit six figures in salary for the first time. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

They finally made their way to the entrance of his condo on Commonwealth Avenue.

"Well, I know you have to get back to campus. Hope you enjoyed dinner."

Suddenly, Cate shot him a nasty look.

"I didn't know you were so fucking selfish!"

Orlando was shocked. "What do you mean?"

"You're not even gonna let me see where you live?"

"Oh, uh...I didn't want to assume anything."'

Cate smiled. "Such a gentleman."

"Well, I try to be."

--

Cate was stunned by the beauty and spaciousness of Orlando's condo. Every square foot of the place was gorgeous; the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and dining room were as luxurious as anything she had seen in the homes of her wealthier friends from BU.

She walked towards the window of his bedroom and gazed at the peaceful image of the Charles River in early evening; the serenity of the waves and the clarity of the Boston skyline was beyond stunning. She pulled out her pink iPhone and snapped several photos.

"Wow, this is so romantic!"

"Not really," Orlando replied. "Not when you work too hard to enjoy it, and have nobody to share it with."

"Oh, come on. You must have girls falling all over themselves when they see you at work."

"I wish. Most of them are married. Plus, workplace romance is really frowned upon."

"Such a shame. I bet you could have any girl you wanted--even the married ones!"

"I don't know about that..."

Cate giggled as she walked over to the glass cabinet next to his bed. She opened the cabinet and looked at his collection of CDs.

"Not surprised you have all of Kylie's stuff..."

"Yeah."

"Hmmm... you have a lot of Sheryl Crow, too!"

"Yeah, I had a huge crush on her when I was in high school. That was when 'All I Wanna Do' was the big song on the radio."

"She's all right."

"What kind of music do you like? Besides Kylie, of course."

"Usher...I was an Usher freak when I was a teenager. The 'Confessions' album? That was so fucking good...he was sooo sexy too. Still is!"

"I see."

Cate gave Orlando a knowing wink. "We all have our tastes..."

"Indeed, we do."

"Speaking of tastes, I can only imagine how many girls you've conquered on this bed."

"Oh, I don't know about that..."

"Come on."

"Look..."

Cate walked over and stood directly in front of him.

"You're not fooling me with that shy shit."

"What do you mean?"

"I know what you want."

"Look, I..."

"Just be honest with me. I know it. I see it in your eyes."

"Look, I don't want to..."

"What?"

"I don't want to...I don't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable. Look...I like you a lot, but...I mean, I'm 34 and you're 22. You can do so much better, I mean..."

"What if I think you're better?"

"Well..."

"I know you want it."

"Uh..."

"You don't?"

"I would...look, I can't stop thinking about--"

Cate raised a finger to her lips, and Orlando fell silent as she began to remove her blue silk blouse. Orlando's eyes danced at the sight of her lovely pale shoulders and stomach, as well as the white lace bra she quickly and quietly removed. Her beautiful pink nipples aroused him ferociously, and he reached over to unzip her black skirt, exposing her white lace panties.

She removed his dark blue suit jacket and white shirt, and he unzipped his trousers. His erection, full and black and hard and powerful, strained against his navy blue boxers. In a flash, she pulled the boxers to his ankles, and knelt down to slip his cock into her mouth.

For the next hour and a half, they made intense love, the bodies of a horny black American gentleman and a beautiful white Australian lady fused together in a raw and unrelenting passion. Position after position, kiss after kiss, orgasm after orgasm...the lovemaking was furious, searing, unstoppable.

--

On the evening of July 23, Orlando had just returned home from a showing of "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest" when Cate called to tell him she was pregnant. Orlando stared wordlessly at the bed were he and Cate had made such passionate love just two months prior as he heard her say that she wanted to go through with the pregnancy, that she was a little disappointed that her dreams of playing for the WNBL were on hold but that she was nonetheless thrilled to be a mum, and that her parents, Paul and Anne--who Orlando met briefly after the BU commencement--were quite happy to find out that they were going to be grandparents. He still couldn't find the words as she insisted that no one in her immediate family, or in her circle of friends in Wollongong, had any problem with the fact that her baby's father was black, and that their female friends were actually jealous when she told them about how they met and the night they made love. However, when she said she wouldn't ask him for any money, and that she and her family would be fine, he finally found the ability to express himself.

"I'll help out--I insist. I'll send you whatever you need. Anything you want, just tell me. I'll get it to you, I promise."

On the night of February 17, 2012, Orlando received another call--from Paul and Anne McIntosh, who told him that Cate had just given birth to a baby boy at Wollongong Hospital. She named him Lachlan Roderick Scott McIntosh.

"They're both doing well," Anne said. "You should see him--he's so handsome."

"Indeed," Paul added. "I wouldn't be surprised if he grows up to become our first black Prime Minister!"

The next morning, Orlando woke up to a texted photo from Cate: a photo of a sleeping Lachlan. "Our child," Cate wrote underneath. "He's gorgeous."

Orlando began to cry as he texted Cate back.

"Can't wait to see him in person."