Brown Sugar

Copyright (c) 2002 Bernard Gallagher, all rights reserved

Published on Literotica.com at request of and by permission of author

Andy's job as a network technician for a major corporation based in central New Jersey occasionally sent him across the country. A recent thunderstorm in Atlanta knocked out two major servers in the company's regional headquarters.

The airline gives discounts when passengers fly on weekends, and the company was feeling the crunch from the economic downturn, so Andy's morning flight from Newark touched down at Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta Saturday afternoon. He hailed a cab to the hotel and checked in. Since the company didn't want to pay for overtime, Andy had a day and a half to kill before reporting to the office Monday morning.

He didn't eat on the short flight, so after dropping his luggage off in his room, he stopped in at the hotel restaurant for lunch. He couldn't help noticing that there was a large number of African Americans here in proportion to the whole population. And He must have stood out as a traveler, for a tall black woman sitting alone at an adjacent table kept catching his eye. Feeling awkward, he kept his gaze down and quickly ate his lunch.

After lunch, he noticed that the hotel had an indoor pool and hot tub. The pool was relatively empty, so he went up to his room to change. He always keeps trunks packed in his luggage for just such occasions. He went down to the pool and dove in to the comfortably warm water. He swam for a long while, relaxing and enjoying the water.

About an hour later, he got out to sit for a while. Then something caught his eye. That same black woman from the restaurant was walking along the corridor on the opposite side of the plate glass windows the separated the pool from the corridor.

She was smiling at him, so he smiled back at her. Then she continued walking down the corridor and around a corner to the elevators.

Seeing the hot tub empty, walked over to the alcove that separated the hot tub from the pool, giving it a little privacy, and settled in to enjoy the hot swirling water.

Andy had been relaxing in the hot tub for about a half-hour when he heard footsteps from behind approaching the hot tub. He looked up to see that black woman yet again. She was quite attractive in a black bikini. She smiled at him, and he nodded back and said, "Hello."

She answered, "Hello, I hope you don't mind if I join you."

"Please. Come on in," he answered her. The hot tub was set off in an alcove set away from the pool. It was also smallish -- about the right size for three or four people -- perfect to make a new friend one-on-one.

"Are you here alone? Vacation or business?" she asked.

"Business. I'm from Jersey. My company sent me down here for a few days to fix their computers. I'm Andy, a computer geek."

"I'm Sophia. I'm from Chicago doing market research in Atlanta this week."

"What sort of market research?"

"Interviewing doctors. Finding out what they think of a new drug this pharmaceutical company is putting out. They'll be using the doctors' feedback in their advertising, I suppose."

"How about you?" she asked. "Staying long?"

"Several computer servers were knocked out pretty bad during that storm last week. My manager says that it shouldn't take more than a day to fix. But the way I see it, I'll have to chase all over the place looking for replacement network cards, and then configuring them just to get the hardware working again. Then another couple of days to reset all the defaults and parameters on the server software and making sure it all works together exactly like it did before. So I see at least two or three days, but probably the whole week. My flight home is booked for next Sunday anyway; you know, to get the best deal for the company. So I'll be stuck here for the whole week, regardless."

"Oh, Atlanta isn't so bad a place to be stuck in."

"You've been here before, Sophia?"

"Yeah, I get sent down here a few times a year. I can show you around later if you'd like."

"Uh, yeah! That'd be great!" Andy had got hungry swimming over the past couple of hours since lunch and his stomach chose that moment to growl.

"Say, Sophia -- I'm getting a little hungry? Have you eaten yet?"

She smiled and answered, "Not since lunch."

"Then, uhm, care to join me for dinner?"

"Sure, why not? Just give me a half hour or so to get ready, okay?"

"Sure. Me too."

She stood and stepped out of the tub. Andy stood and was surprised when she held out her hand to help him out.

"Thanks," he said.

He grabbed his towel and room key, and she grabbed her towel and purse and they walked out of the pool area.

They took the elevator up and she got off on her floor, "I'll meet you in the lobby in about a half hour, Andy."

"Sure, see you then, Sophia."

As he continued up in the elevator, Andy could hardly believe that he had made a dinner date with a total stranger he met while on a business trip. He used to think that only happens in stories. But what can happen in less than a week? Besides, he reminded himself, she's black. Still, it was sure nice to make a new friend.

Sophia was waiting in the lobby when Andy got there a half-hour later. She looked good in tight black jeans and a black tank top. Andy chose a more casual, and cooler, attire given the hot Atlanta climate -- khaki cotton trousers and a loose white jersey. Since she's black, this couldn't possibly count as a date, so he decided to go for comfort over style.

"Hi Sophia, what's the plan?"

"I know this great Mexican restaurant. But they also have a lot of regular stuff on the menu. I didn't know what you like in food, so I though that would work for both of us. Okay?"

Andy was impressed. He was a somewhat fussy eater, and no woman had ever been that considerate of him before when picking out a place to eat. "That sounds perfect, Sophia. How do we get there?"

"Follow me, Andy."

They left the hotel and walked down the block to the MARTA, Atlanta's subway train network. They rode the blue line to the Five Points station, transferred to the orange line, rode north past a couple of stations, and returned to the surface.

"Where are we?" Andy asked.

"We're not too far from Georgia Tech. The restaurant's a couple of blocks that way," she said pointing down one of several unfamiliar streets.

They came to Texas Joe's Mexican Restaurant. The building looked decrepit and was about to fall down. One wall seemed to be made out of a row of garage doors. But when they entered, Andy realized that it was obviously a façade meant to create a rustic décor.

They were seated at a table in the corner.

"So the food's good here, Sophia?"

"Oh yes! It's fantastic! What do you think you'll get?"

"Hmmm," Andy answered and picked up the menu.

"I already know what I'm having," said Sophia.

"What?"

"The Shrimp Quesadilla."

Andy put down the menu and said, "I think I'll have the strip steak and baked potato."

"That sounds good, too."

The waitress came and took their order a few minutes later.

"So what's life like up in New Jersey? I guess your family is all there? " Sophia asked.

"Not really. My family is from upstate New York. But there's no tech jobs, just farms. So I had to move to Jersey."

"Same here. I moved into Chicago to get a better job. But I miss my friends. How about you?"

Andy would never admit this right away to a prospective girlfriend, but a new friend to confide in was different, "I'm pretty much a homebody, I guess. I never go out, like, on a Friday or Saturday night. Going out alone to nightclubs and getting rejected all the time is just too depressing, so I haven't done that in years. It's just too hard to meet people. Being in a congested region only seems to make it harder to meet people, rather than easier."

"I hear you!"

"How about you?"

"Oh, I go out with some sisters sometimes, but I get the same feelings about clubbing as you. I just hate it any more."

"Well, I don't have any brothers or sisters, I'm an only child. I guess that made it harder for me too."

Sophia gave him a funny look for a moment, then laughed, "Well, I come from a large family. Four boys. I'm the only girl..."

Huh, didn't she just say...

"...so I had my share of pains growing up too."

Their food came then, and so they ate, making small talk the rest of the meal.

The waitress took their empty plates and handed Andy the check. He paused for a moment. Even though this obviously wasn't a date, he suddenly wasn't sure what to say to Sophia about the check.

Sophia smiled at him and asked, "Are you okay, Andy? If you're a little short, I don't mind splitting it. I understand we're away from home and everything."

"That's okay, Sophia." He smiled back at her and said, "I got it."

Andy added his payment and tip to the receipt and set it on the table. "There, we can go now."

"Thanks for the dinner, Andy."

"Thanks for joining me, Sophia. It looks dark out, do you want to go back to the hotel?"

"Unless you want to do something else."

"Sure, do you have any ideas."

"We could do a movie. There's a Cinema 6 a block away back at the hotel."

"That sounds good. It's been a while since I saw a movie."

Andy followed Sophia down the street back toward the subway station.

As they walked Sophia suggested, "Andy, there's a club around the corner from here. Want to stop for a drink first? "

"Sure! "

Sophia led Andy to the club where the entered. The club wasn't too packed and there were a few empty tables. A DJ was in the corner playing Electric Slide as a handful of people shook their booty on the dance floor. Andy hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you want a drink, Sophia?"

"Sure, you can get me a beer, whatever."

Andy stepped up to the bar and asked for a couple of Guinness Stouts. Drinks in hand, he and Sophia sat at a table.

"This is a nice place, Sophia."

"Yeah, this is one of my hangouts when I'm here on business. I like to just sit and watch the people dance. It would be nice to have someone to dance with for a change."

"Oh?" Andy hesitated, "Would you like to dance?"

"I'd thought you'd never ask!"

They got up and joined the Electric Slide in progress, and then danced through It's Raining Men. Then the DJ switched to a slow song, Wonderful Tonight. Andy started to leave the floor but Sophia asked, "What? Don't you like Eric Clapton?"

"Yeah, sure!" he answered.

Sophia wrapped her arms around him and started to press herself up against his body. Andy realized that he had a huge hard-on, and he just couldn't let Sophia feel it. The last thing he wanted was for her to rush out of the bar in disgust leaving him to ride back to the hotel alone.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "Don't you like brown sugar?"

Andy stammered, wondering what sugar had to do with dancing. In that moment of thought, Sophia had pressed herself up against him, squeezing his boner between their bodies.

"Ooh!" Sophia cooed, "You do like brown sugar!"

Andy answered, "Oh, uhm, yeah!" Finally catching on, "I've never had brown sugar, but I think I could get to like it."

Realizing that they were just standing there on the dance floor, awkwardly looking at each other while couples danced around them, he glanced hat her thick black lips quivering barely an inch from his. Forgetting their differences, he closed his eyes and moved his head forward slightly. His lips touched hers. He felt a pressure probing his closed lips and spread them slightly admitting her tongue into his mouth. They remained there for countless seconds letting their tongues stroke each other's, and taking turns exploring each other's mouths with their tongues.

Andy was feeling a little self-conscious, standing there on the dance floor sucking face with Sophia. After they ended the kiss, Andy suggested, "Maybe we should get back to the hotel, Sophia."

"I think that's the best idea yet, Andy!" she answered.

So, holding hands, they left the bar and returned to the hotel by subway.

Andy feared the awkward moment that was approaching. Yet, they walked, hand in hand, to the elevator. He pressed the button for his floor and she just waited holding his had without pressing hers. He led her down the hallway to his room and they entered.

###

Andy kept the Do Not Disturb sign from that that steamy night as he and Sophia walked down the aisle. Andy gleamed with pride at how especially beautiful Sophia looked in her white puffy wedding gown walking next to him in his black tux. He also couldn't help but notice the striking contrast created by the sea of white faces on one side of the church against the sea of black faces on the other. And when they each gave their vows, and Andy and Sophia exchanged their first kiss as man and wife, Andy knew that his future happiness was guaranteed.