Now she knew she would have to face Nikko on Monday, so what was she thinking?

You can't ghost a person if you know you are going to see them again. How was she going to avoid him delivering her mail every day? What was she going to say to this boy?

"Thank you for a funky time, call me up, whenever you want to grind," like she was Darling Nikki?

Just call her a sex fiend.

She sure would not mind another round or two with him. It was just what her body needed. The first thing she did at work was to go see Roxanne and give her the lowdown, blow by blow, starting with the tasty blowjob she gave.

"Just the right size, and my God! He shaves down there, so there was not a lot of hair. And the body...just delicious. I don't think I've tried so many positions in one night...ever! And Theo was a lil freaky."

"I can't believe you've only had one dick all your life. Here lies the problem."

"I know right? I haven't had a chance to get my freak on out in these streets."

"Well, now you do."

Right, she needed to get out there and see what other guys were doing. Preferably her age. But keep it cute. No more jumping in the bed after the first date. That was a one-time thing. She hoped she could find someone hotter than Nikko that could do make fucking an aerobic exercise.

"But what am I going to do about Nikko? I can't believe I did all the things with that boy...and I have to see him today. Girl, I snuck out in the middle of the night I was so embarrassed I jumped on that man's dick."

"I am sure he was very thankful you did," Roxanne said with a chuckle.

"For real Rox. Cover for me at the front desk. If he asks about me just say I am on lunch break."

"And how long do you think you can do this? The mail delivers every day."

She shrugged. As long as it took.

As soon as it was around time for him to deliver the mail, she called in Roxanne to sit at her desk, even though it was not her week to cover. Then she went up to their breakroom and ate her frozen entrée lunch. Once she felt the coast was clear she made it down to her desk, and sure enough, the mail was delivered and picked up.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well, what?"

"Did he ask about me?"

Roxanne sat back and smiled. "I think you got brother man sprung."

"What? Why would you say that."

"He told me to tell you to call him. And in case you lost his number, he wrote it down for you," Roxanne held up another business card with his number on the back.

She already saved the number in her phone, but that did not mean she was going to use it.

"I am not calling him. It was a one-time thing."

"You can at least tell him that to his face."

She was a coward, because the next day she did the same thing, avoiding him when he came by. All week she had someone cover for her earlier than her normal lunch break because that was when he dropped by.

Then she downloaded a dating app so she could try and put herself out there. She took some selfies, added her picture made a bio, and then waited for magic to happen. There were a lot of available guys closer to her age. This dating thing could not be that bad, could it?

Thursday there was another snowstorm, not bad, but in St. Louis, it slowed down a few things. A lot of people decided to work from home, including her boss thankfully. Several of the admins as well, including Roxanne, that meant she had no coverage at her desk. She would have to be there when Nikko showed up.

Guess it was time to face the music.

When she heard the elevator ding, out walked the mail courier, but it wasn't Nikko. It was an older Black guy that did not look friendly.

"Hey...where's the other guy?"

"Took a sick day. Couldn't handle a little snow I guess."

The guy dropped off the mail, picked up the outgoing, and left.

There was no way Nikko was missing work because of some snow. He lived downtown not far from the main post offices. He could walk on the shoveled and clean roads. Maybe she did not understand how it all worked. Maybe he was actually sick.

Or maybe he just did not want to continue asking about her as she avoided him.

She felt so bad she did not know what to do. She stared at the pile of mail, worried about Nikko.

She took out her phone and decided to send him a text.'

Hey Nikko, this is Jakinda

She waited a moment to see if he would reply. She would understand if he did not reply back. He must think she was a crazy woman. After about five minutes, he replied back.

Hey

Well, that was...standoffish. She did not know what to say after that. Finally, she decided to put her big girl panties on and just ask.

Are you ok? You're not working today. Is it the snow?

No, I'm sick

Now she felt like crap.

Sorry. Feel better soon she typed then deleted it right away.

Do you need anything? Medicine? Soup?

Soup would be nice

Now why did she offer this man soup. What was she thinking? This was supposed to be a one-night thing and now she was about to tend to his needs. She was not a careless person. She cared about him. It would be just dropping by to bring the poor thing soup.

We're closing the office early I can stop and get some soup, and medicine and bring it over

It was true everyone was leaving the office and finishing the day working from home. She packed her bags, grabbed her coat, and stopped at the fifteenth-floor café where there was homemade soup. She bought a bowl with some crackers.

Then she stopped at CVS and bought several different kinds of cold medicine. He did not say what he was sick from but her mother instinct said the weather changes brought on a cold.

She drove to his place, found a fifteen-dollar parking space, and made it up to his building. She had to be buzzed in to get into his building so she texted him that she was outside. Once she was in she remembered his floor and where his loft was and made it up that way.

She had to ask herself again what she was doing. She told herself she didn't want more from this boy, but here she was bringing him soup and medicine as if she were his girlfriend.

The door was unlocked so she made her way inside and closed the door behind her. Nikko was sitting on his sofa, completely covered in a comforter and looking worn out. He really was sick. There were nasty, snotty tissues everywhere around the table and floor. An opened container of Vick's vapor rub sat in front of him. He had little pieces of tissue stuffed in his nose.

He looked as if he was dying.

"Boy, I know you haven't been sitting here all day like this."

"It hurts to move," he moaned.

Oh, another man acting like a baby over a cold.

"What have you eaten today?"

"It hurts to eat."

She rolled her eyes at him and sat her bag down on the table. She sat beside him and felt his forehead, he was burning up.

"Where's your thermometer, I need to take your temperature."

"I don't have one."

She would have picked one up if she thought it was going to be like this.

"Boy, take that out of your nose."

"I can't breathe."

"Exactly, you have tissue stuffed up in it." She looked around the area. "Where are your Kleenex?"

He lifted a roll of tissue half-used. He should have told her needed a lot more than soup. She picked up all his tissues, tossed them in the trash, washed her hands, and then grabbed his soup out of the bag and a spoon.

"You need to eat something."

"Soups not going to make me feel better."

"Yeah, well, you have to eat something." She pushed off the soup to him. "Here."

"Feed me."

"Boy! I ain't your momma. Feed yourself."

Nikko took the soup and spoon and started to eat it. She moved his covers away to rub his chest, and sure enough, he was burning up everywhere.

"You need clothes on. You're sitting in here with nothing on, shivering under some blankets. Eat your soup, take some medicine, and then get in the bed."

"Why didn't you call me?" he said to her. She should have known this was coming. "And you've been avoiding me all week. What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, Nikko."

"Did you just want to fuck the young boy and that's it?"

She poured some medicine into the little measuring cup and shoved it toward him.

"Isn't that all you wanted? What else could you possibly want from me? I have children your age."

He gulped the medicine down and set the cup on the table. "See, I didn't even know that. I just want to get to know you that's all."

She took the soup from him and the spoon and started to feed him herself because he was not eating enough.

"Tell me about your kids. What's their name?"

"Minah and Dwight. Twenty-five and twenty-two."

"See, that's not hard. And I am older than them both so they're not my age."

"And you? How many kids do you have?"

"None." He smiled at her. "Does that shock you?"

"I never assume..."

"Yes, you did. You assumed I just wanted to fuck you when I really like you and liked spending time with you. Tell me if that's all you want and then I'll step the fuck away."

She sat his half-eaten soup on the table and stood up. She did not want to have this conversation with him.

"Come on, let's get you to bed."

He stood up and turned to her. "Will you lay with me?"

"Just go get in the bed, sick boy."

"I am not a boy, stop calling me that." He walked to his bed and sat in it. "For real Jakinda, lay with me. I just want to feel you beside me, then I'll fall asleep."

He was such a big baby and she was such a softie about it. His cute face, that sexy body, hell yeah she wanted to lay next to him again, feverish and all. She undressed to her underwear and then got under the covers with him.

His body was so warm it made her heat up in all the good ways but there was no way she was having sex with him while he was down and out like this.

"I feel better already," he said with a big grin on his face.

"I am not staying the night. When you fall asleep, I need to go."

"Yeah," he mumbled and was fast asleep because she gave him the nighttime cold medicine

Now she lay there watching his handsome face snore while he slept. Had to be sick to snore like that because he did not snore the other night.

She rubbed his forehead again and then kissed it.