Storiesonline.net ------- Election Bet by Openbook Copyright© 2008 by Openbook ------- Description: Evelyn and Dennis had a past history, but now she was his supervisor at work. She thought Obama would win, but he liked McCain's chances. They worked out a wager. Codes: MF ------- ------- Chapter 1 "You're crazy! There's no chance for McCain to win it." Evelyn, my direct supervisor had broken into a private conversation that my buddy Rick and I were having in the break room. The election was less than twenty four hours away. Sure, all the polls showed Obama winning, but it felt like that was just the liberal media trying to stampede the undecided voters with pro Obama propaganda. It felt like that to me, at any rate, but McCain was my preferred candidate, regardless. I had a sense that a lot of voters were saying they'd vote for the Democrat, because that was the "politically correct" response to voice. In the privacy of the polling booth, with nobody around to see how they actually voted, I really believed that many of them would cast their vote for the Republican candidate. Evelyn and I had a bit of a history with each other. We'd dated for a few months, back when we'd first started working here at the Center. That was more than six years ago. Our romance had fizzled out after I'd told her I wasn't ready to make any long term commitments, or even to go to the point where we were seeing each other exclusively. We fought about that for a week or so, and then she just dumped me. I'd been seeing another girl too at the time, so I didn't take any of it too seriously. About six months after our break up, Evelyn was fast tracked for promotion. She left the department we'd both been in to go work in another area of the building. Six months ago, she'd been promoted again, and transferred back to my department, as the division supervisor. During the four years or so she'd been away, we'd had virtually no contact at all. It wasn't until her last promotion and transfer back that I had given much thought to her. During the brief time we'd been dating, we'd had a pretty torrid sex life. We were both somewhat animalistic in our sexual preferences. She had liked to be handled roughly, and I'd always had an aggressive style with my lovemaking technique. It wasn't sexual incompatibility that had caused us problems. I still had a whole bundle of very pleasant memories of some extraordinary sexual calisthenics that we'd each put the other one through. I liked variety though. What can I say? The other girl I'd been seeing at the time was long gone as well. I'd pretty much stopped dating. With all the clubs around, it was a lot easier to go out clubbing, and then hook up with whichever girl caught your eye and seemed willing. It wasn't perfect, but it was fast, easy, and very enjoyable. It filled my need for variety too. Getting back to Evelyn though, I'd found it annoying that she'd butt into my private conversation with Rick. I was on my break, and she had no business pressing her ignorant opinion on either of us. "McCain needs to win Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. All the polls show him closing the gap in those states. Also, there's the so called 'Bradley Effect'. People say they're going to vote for the black candidate, but they never really intended to. They just don't want to admit they're prejudiced. I give at least a four percentage point swing in each of these states to the 'Bradley Effect'. I'm sure all the polls are skewed in Obama's favor because of that." Evelyn just stared at me. I recognized the signs of her being angry. I'd seen a lot of that the week we'd broken up. The woman definitely had a bad temper. "Pennsylvania and Ohio aren't in the South. Prejudice like that doesn't exist there. Even if it did, it would only be a very few voters, a lot less than the margin of victory the polls are showing for Obama." "By ten o'clock our time, tomorrow night, Obama will have conceded, and John McCain will be the president elect. Congress will be more heavily Democratic, I'll concede that much to you, but the Republican's will still control the White House. Voters don't want a situation where one side controls everything. Most people don't want more liberals on the Supreme court either." "You are so full of shit, Dennis. You pull these so called arguments out of your ass and present them to people like they were real facts. Obama will win the election. Do you want to make a bet?" A bet? I'll be honest, I'd been talking about what I hoped would happen, not what I really thought would take place in the election. Evelyn was challenging me in front of my friends and work colleagues. I didn't want to seem to back away from my earlier stated position. "What would the stakes be?" I was curious about how much she wanted to make the bet for. I'd already made up my mind that I'd accept a bet of as much as a hundred bucks, if she showed some restraint and suggested something that was a reasonable amount. It would definitely be worth that much to me not to be forced to back down in front of Rick and a few of the other guys listening to us then. "If Obama wins, you come to my apartment and wash all my windows. First and second floors." "What do I get when I win?" "I'll come over to your place and wash your windows." "No good. I've already got a service that does my windows. It's all part of the cleaning and maintenance contract through the condo association. They do the grass, keep the common areas clean and wash all of the outside walls and windows. The cleaning lady does all the inside areas." I hoped she'd just let the matter drop. I didn't want to do her windows, and I wasn't all that confident in McCain's chances. "I'm going to win anyway, so you just go ahead and name whatever you want." Rick and the other guys listening started making snide comments about her offer. She'd trapped me into having to make a bet. She thought so, at any rate. Her attitude was still rubbing me the wrong way. That's probably why I said what I did right then. I knew it was wrong, way over the line, and probably enough to get me fired if she made any kind of complaint. "How about one of your best blow jobs if I win?" As soon as I put it out there, you could have heard an ant fart. It was that quiet. Evelyn's face turned a radical shade of deep red. She was embarrassed, but she was also very pissed. Not a good combination when the woman was your immediate supervisor. Hell, she wouldn't even have to check with anybody. She could fire me for cause, just based on what I'd said to her. "You're way out of line, Mr. Richards. I'm going to take a few minutes to try to get my anger under control again. Once I've done that, say in about fifteen minutes, I'd like to see you in my office. We'll discuss then what your stupid outburst is going to cost you. You might take this opportunity to make some calls to try to line up a few employment interviews." She walked out of the break room and everyone started trying to yell at me at once. They all thought I'd done a very stupid thing, and most of them said, in one way or another, that I deserved whatever punishment she dealt out. I kind of agreed with all of them. What I'd said had certainly been uncalled for, and Evelyn hadn't deserved that level of disrespect from me. Well, it was done now. I'd just have to take whatever punishment she gave me. I gave her an extra ten minutes to cool off. This was justified because I'd been on the telephone, talking to a client, explaining how he could cancel his error filled order and submit a replacement order without any mistakes on it. I admit to keeping the client talking longer than was strictly required, but I felt the extra time would make things simpler. No, not simpler for the client, simpler for me. If Evelyn hadn't gotten control of her anger by the time I finally knocked on her office door, then nothing I could possibly say would save my job. I opened her office door when I heard her tell me to come in. I couldn't really tell how mad she still was. Her face had returned to what was normal coloring for her. She didn't look like she was ready to stroke out on me at least. "I could fire your ass for what you said to me out there, Dennis. I've got a good mind to do it too, just to let the rest of them know that I won't tolerate that kind of talk. I'm not going to fire you though. Would you care to hazard a guess as to why not?" I could feel myself being very relieved at the news. With the bad financial climate currently looming, the last thing I'd have wanted was to be out of work and needing to find a new job. "Thank you, Evelyn. I really do want to apologize for what I said before. You were right to call it stupid. I can promise you that it will never happen again." "So, we have a bet, right? I win and you do my windows. You win, which will never happen, and I'll do what you said you wanted." When she finished speaking, she was smiling at me. I replayed her words again in my head, wanting to make absolutely sure I'd heard what I thought I had. There didn't seem to be any ambiguities. "It's a bet. I hope I win." "I had planned on voting for Obama, Dennis. Now though, I'm really not sure how I'll vote." "I'm pretty sure California will go big for Obama, so it doesn't really matter how either of us end up voting. I'm still voting for McCain though." I turned around to leave, believing our conversation had been concluded. "Good luck, Dennis." I dreamed about the election. I also dreamed about Evelyn. I was pretty sure that she would have made the same bet, even if she'd known for sure she'd lose it. She'd deliberately manipulated me into this situation. Just to be on the safe side, I'd stopped off at the grocery store and picked up six rolls of paper towels and three large bottles of Windex. ------- Chapter 2 I got off work at four thirty on Tuesday and went straight to my polling place. There weren't any big lines like the media had been leading us to expect. I was in and out in about ten minutes. The bet I'd made with Evelyn had been constantly on my mind all day. I'd even gotten up early so I could spend some time on the internet, checking to see if any of the latest polls showed McCain pulling even with Obama. No joy there. If anything, it looked like Obama was widening the gap. Having had a chance to think about the possible consequences of my statements the day before, I realized that the best outcome for me would be for Obama to win, me to pay off the bet, then for me to chalk up the whole dangerous episode I'd fallen into as a learning experience. I was too old to allow myself to get into such potentially harmful situations. I'd let my dislike for having my opinions challenged, especially in such a confrontational way, overcome my better sense and judgment. I could very easily have lost my job over something I should have been mature enough to avoid. By seven o'clock, as I sat glued to my seat in front of the television, watching the Fox News Channel, there was no doubt about the election's outcome. McCain had failed to win in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia or Florida. When the west coast polls closed, in another half hour, Obama would be the president elect. I was a bit sad that the election had turned out like it had, but not really that surprised by it. After the big economic meltdown in the financial services sector, a lot of people were upset and afraid. It wasn't surprising that they'd vote for change. I stayed tune and watched Obama's acceptance speech. When it was finished, I had to admit that it had been some very impressive oratory. I hoped his words had been sincere, but I wasn't willing to give up my doubts about him. In less than three months we'd all see if he'd meant what he'd just said. I took quite a bit of kidding in the break room at work. Half the people seemed surprised that I was still employed by the company. The rest, mostly my friends, asked me how I'd managed to wiggle out from under the threat of being fired. "Evelyn decided to give me a second chance. Only after I apologized for what I'd said though. It was a stupid thing for me to say to her. If I'd been in her position, well, I'm not sure I'd have been as generous." I made no mention of what she'd said about accepting the bet. I waited around the break room only long enough to not seem like I was avoiding anything. I didn't see Evelyn until about three thirty that afternoon. When I did see her, it was only for a few seconds. She stopped off at my cubicle and placed a small, folded piece of paper on the corner of my desk. After she left, not having said anything to me, I opened the note. It had her address and a phone number. Underneath, written in a neat cursive script were three words: "Seven Thursday night." I was a little worried that she hadn't spoken to me. Not even a smile from her when she put the note down on my desk. I didn't think that portended well for me. My mind went back to the way her face had looked in the break room right after I'd said what I had. I began to seriously worry after I played that back in my head. Evelyn had always had a strong temper. I remembered several occasions when she'd put it on display in the past. I felt like there was something very foreboding and sinister in the manner she'd delivered the note. Even the terse wording on it seemed to suggest her continuing anger. If things were okay between us after the incident, wouldn't she have at least spoken to me? Asked me if seven o'clock was convenient? A bet was a bet though, and I'd be at her apartment at her appointed time. The last hour of work went slowly. To be honest, all I did was worry. I didn't accomplish anything productive after Evelyn's brief visit. Things had settled back to normal by Thursday, although everyone was still talking about the election. There was a lot of speculating about what might happen now that the Democrats had won the White House, and had increased their control both in the House and in the Senate. No one mentioned my run in with Evelyn. For that, I was extremely grateful. I wanted to put the incident behind me. Evelyn stopped by my little cubicle on her way out of the building at around four fifteen that afternoon. "Are we on for tonight?" She wasn't smiling when she said it, but her voice had a normal tone to it. She didn't seem upset or anything. "I'll be there. I already bought my cleaning supplies." "Are you upset that McCain lost so badly?" It seemed like a real question to me, not some attempt to get my goat or anything like that. An honest question, a curious one. "I'm disappointed. Not really upset, but I'm still worried about what Obama's going to do. I don't really trust him to be the President." "Over sixty million of us voted for him. It seems to me he has more than enough trust and support from the majority to get the job done." "We'll see. I accept that he won the election. After he's sworn in, I'll watch and see what he does." "He wouldn't have to do much to be better than what we have now." "Given enough time for historian's to get a real perspective, Bush's two terms will fare better than the way he's perceived today. He happened to be in office at a time when he inherited a lot of older problems from previous presidents. He shouldn't be blamed for the mortgage mess, or for what happened on September eleventh. I don't think he handled the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan as well as he might have. I'm not sure anyone else would have done better. Bush was unlucky mostly." "We're lucky to have survived two terms of him being president. Things will be a lot better with Obama in charge." "I'm sure they will be. My only question is: better for who? Like I said, I'll wait and see." After Evelyn left, Rick, my friend who works in the cubicle right next to mine, got up from where he'd been sitting, and, obviously, listening, and started talking to me over the five foot high partition that separated our two cubicles. "Denny, what was that all about? You said you'd bring cleaning supplies. Did the two of you actually make that bet she challenged you to?" "Drop it, Rick. You shouldn't be listening in on people's private conversations." "Like I had a choice. These cheap little partitions don't exactly deaden noise you know? You can tell me, man. Did she make the bet for what you said? Is that why she didn't can your butt?" "I said to drop it. The only thing that would probably come of you asking me questions would be getting me fired. I apologized to her for what I'd said. That was the end of it. There was no bet." "Hey, I know what I heard, Denny. She asked if the two of you were on for tonight, and you told her you'd bring the cleaning supplies. If there wasn't any bet, then why are you bringing the cleaning supplies?" Rick had deliberately raised his voice as he was saying this. He was trying to put pressure on me so I'd tell him what he wanted to know. "Shut up, Rick, and I mean it. I already told you all I'm going to. You're acting very immature." It was very close to four thirty, quitting time, so I got up from my chair and left my cubicle. Rick had to get up from his and go around the other cubicles on his side in order to get to the elevators. I managed to get in the waiting elevator just before the door closed and we started down to the parking garage beneath our building. Rick didn't make it fast enough to ride down with me. I was walking up to my car when my cell rang. Of course, it was Rick. I didn't answer the phone. I'd already told him I didn't want to talk about any of that. Rick needed to just let it go before he ended up getting my ass in a worse sling that the one I'd already put it in. Before I managed to drive home, Rick had called me twice more and had texted me a "WTF?" message another two times. He was my best buddy from work, but he didn't know when to back off and keep his mouth shut about things. Maybe that was why he and I got along so well, we were alike in many ways. I called him when I had my front door opened. "Why are you being such a dick, Rick? Can't you listen to what I've asked and just do what I've told you I want?" "Tell me about the bet. You made one with her, right?" "You've got to keep this to yourself, man. We made a bet. I lost. I'm going to do her windows, and then it's all over. Nothing else. It wasn't like you're fantasizing either. If I won, she was going to do my windows." "My bull shit detector just got pegged to the max, Denny. I know you're lying. It was a blow job if you won, right?" One thing about my man, Rick. Once he got fixated on an idea, he was tenacious. He wasn't going to change his mind now, no matter what I said to him. "What does it matter? Blow job or windows, I didn't win the bet, so nothing like that is going to happen. You keep fucking around and talking about things, sure as hell I'm going to end up being fired. If not by Evelyn, then by one of the other bosses who'll find out about what was said in the break room. If the whole thing dies down, maybe I'll manage to squeak through this one time. You keep jabbering, and my chances get to be less and less." "If you're really worried, maybe you should just tell me the real truth and that would be the end of it." What he said was so logical. The problem with it was that Rick didn't have much control over what came out of his mouth. Sure as hell, he'd blurt something out to someone. He wouldn't mean to do it, but he would. "Rick, I'm asking you, as a friend, to stop talking about this. I know you like giving me the business, but by talking about it, you really are increasing my chances of being fired. The bet was for window cleaning, that's it." "I know you're lying, dude. It hurts my feelings that you don't trust me with the straight poop." "If I get fired because of your big mouth, you moron, I'm going to look you up and kick your ass. Fantasize however you please, but keep your mouth shut. I've already told you what the bet was. If you don't believe me, then fuck you!" "You don't have to get all pissy about it, Denny. You should have just told me right from the beginning. Why were you being so coy about it?" I told him I needed to get off the phone and change into some 'grunge' clothes for my trip over to Evelyn's, to clean her windows. After we hung up, I just hoped that Rick would stop talking about the bet. It took me about twenty minutes to drive over to Evelyn's apartment from my place. She lived in a different part of town than she had back when we were still seeing each other. Back then, she'd been making a lot less money. So had I. I was doing much better financially now, but I knew Evelyn must make considerably more than I did. I was still doing the same job I'd been originally hired to do, while Evelyn had been fast tracked and promoted several times that I was aware of. I hadn't kept in close touch with her career, but I'd read announcements of her upward movement from time to time in the company newsletters. Her apartment was in one of the taller and larger new buildings that had gone up a few years before, during the last great housing boom. It even had a door person when you walked into the lobby of the building. I had to give my name and Evelyn's, then wait while they called her to see if I was expected. Standing there, with a plastic shopping bag in each hand while I waited for permission to go up to her apartment, I couldn't help being a little self conscious and embarrassed. The paper towels I'd bought were clearly visible due to their size. The Windex bottles were visible as well, because the plastic bag was fairly clear, and so thin you could see whatever was contained inside. Finally though, the door person must have gotten approval for sending me up since she hung up the phone and pointed me towards an open waiting elevator. "Sixth floor. Get off the elevator and turn right. Her apartment is the third one down on the left, number 6551. She's expecting you." When I got off on the sixth floor and turned right, I could see Evelyn standing in her open doorway, a little smile on her face, and a glass of what looked like red wine in her hand. I'd wondered if the wine was for me as I walked towards her. She lifted her glass and took a small sip from it as I approached, standing aside enough so I'd have room to enter her apartment. The first thing I noticed as I walked into her apartment was the wall to wall windows. There had to be more than thirty feet of windows running all the way along the back wall. It was six separate panels, each at least five feet wide and about ten feet tall. I'd never seen such big windows in an apartment before. I stopped walking forward as soon as my mind processed the amount of window surface I was expected to clean. "Upstairs that wall is the same, except there are two fewer panels. It's lucky for you that I only have windows on that one wall." I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of appearing to be intimidated. I wondered if I'd be able to finish even the windows on this level. My windows at home, even the sliding glass on the back door was only about four feet by seven feet times two. The next biggest windows were half that size or less. I needed to get one of those window squeegee things, like they had at the gas stations, for cleaning your car windows. "You clean these yourself?" "I have a service just like you do, but I couldn't resist seeing the look on your face when you saw the windows you'd have to clean." I thought she meant I didn't need to clean her windows, but that isn't what she meant, as I soon found out. To make a long story shorter, it took me four hours to clean all those big windows on the first floor, to the point where she was satisfied. The whole time I was up on her ladder working, she was standing there watching me. She kept refilling her wine glass too. That was another thing, her drinking while I worked. She offered me water to drink. Said she didn't want to take a chance that I'd have some wine and fall off the damn ladder. Didn't want to open herself up to a lawsuit she said. After I was done downstairs, she made some comment about how late it was getting, and told me it was okay with her if I knocked off for then and came back to finish the upstairs on Friday night. I was tired enough already to accept her offer. The drive back to my place gave me a chance to privately vent some of my anger at how I was being treated by Evelyn. She hadn't spoken but a few words to me the whole time I was in her apartment. Most of that was to point out spots that I'd missed, or some streaks she wanted rubbed away. I'm not sure what I'd been expecting, but it wasn't that I'd be treated like some menial hireling, some stranger. She could have been a lot friendlier, or at least a better hostess for my visit. I had come over to pay my debt. She didn't have to make it such an unfriendly visit. Maybe unfriendly is the wrong word. Maybe impersonal would be a better way of describing her attitude. I was glad I was more than halfway finished. I had to admit that I thought this experience would go a long ways toward teaching me to keep a tighter rein on my mouth from now on. I wasn't looking forward to coming back the following night. At eleven thirty that night, Rick called me, wanting all the down and dirty details about my visit to Evelyn. I took out some of my frustrations on him. After I was done yelling at him, I had little doubt that he believed all I'd done was clean her big ass windows. I went to bed, angry and sore. In the morning, I was still sore. Both my arms felt like I'd been carrying something over my head for a week. I wasn't looking forward to paying the rest of my lost bet. Only my small sense of pride kept me from going to Evelyn's office that day to ask for a postponement. After the way she'd treated me the night before, I didn't want to give her that satisfaction. I figured it wouldn't take more than two or three hours to finish up her windows. After that, we'd be even again. I could put up with her attitude for that length of time. Maybe I deserved what she was giving me. No, I did deserve it. Realizing that, I resolved to complete my penalty and put the whole thing behind me. At four o'clock on Friday I received a phone call from Evelyn, asking me to come to her office. "Are we all set for tonight? Seven again, right?" "Seven is good. I'm thinking about two more hours should do it. You think that's about right?" "Two or three, depending on how hard you work. Four more big panels to go, but you have to be careful on each of the end panels, because of the drapes and the shears. Did you have plans for after you finished?" "Not really plans. Rick and I usually go out for a few drinks and some clubbing on Friday's. If it takes three hours, I'll probably just go home after. He and I can set something up for Saturday if I bag it tonight." "I'm surprised you like going out like that. From what I remember from the old days, you mostly liked to stay at home and watch the tube. It was like pulling teeth to get you to go out and do something." "Different time, different circumstances. I make a lot more money for one thing, and my student loans are all paid now. Clubbing isn't too expensive if you don't drink that much. We usually only stay at one place, for one drink, unless there's something interesting going on. Most of the time, we're in and out in less than half an hour." "I doubt that you'd have too much luck finding anything interesting if you plan on wearing the same kind of clothes there that you had on last night." "I plan on going back home and getting cleaned up. Things don't really get going at the clubs much before eleven or so. It takes awhile for people to drink enough to start feeling loose and relaxed." "You mean the girls won't give you what you're after until they're falling down drunk?" "No, it's usually the guys who drink the most. Girls can be intimidating if you don't have a little buzz going. I don't have that particular problem, but having a few drinks tends to make me more sociable." I left her office after that and went back to clear off my desk for the weekend. I'd been doing the same job for so long that everything had settled into an easy routine for me. I could handle my responsibilities in my sleep. There was nothing either new or challenging about my job. I left my condo at six thirty, new squeegee in hand, determined to make short work of those last four window panels. This time when I entered Evelyn's lobby, the door person told me to go right up. I liked that. No waiting around while she called up to get permission, leaving me feeling like a doofus while I waited. This time I had to knock at Evelyn's door. It didn't take long for her to open it. When she saw my new squeegee in my hand, she started laughing. She led me upstairs. There was one room up there, and it was a big one. Against the far wall was a large curtain. Evelyn went over near her bed and pushed two buttons. In a second, the dark curtain and this thin white other curtain inside began to open. When they stopped, I could see the four window panels I needed to clean. I noticed the ladder from last night was set up next to the first panel. For some reason, I hadn't noticed it before. I had to go back down the stairs to get my paper towels, the Windex, and my drop cloth. I went over to the first panel and started to work. With the squeegee it was a lot faster and easier to get the windows clean. I had some problems at first with streaking, but I learned how to overcome them. Evelyn had left the room when I'd started on the first panel. I was about halfway done with it when she returned with another glass of red wine in her hand. I was starting to wonder if she'd developed some kind of drinking problem in the years since I'd gone out with her. She'd put away quite a bit of wine the night before. She came over to inspect the work I'd done on the top portion of the window. "That was pretty quick, and it looks clean too. Maybe you'll finish a lot quicker than I thought. Are you still going out drinking after?" "I might. Depends on how I feel when I'm done. Last night my arms hurt when I got done. They feel okay now though." "Just out of curiosity, Dennis, do you and Rick find that doing what you do is as satisfying as having a regular relationship? I hear all these stories, about how much simpler it is for the guys now, but the whole thing seems so cut and dried. I find the whole idea of these casual hook ups way too impersonal. I don't understand the attraction of sex when it's just for the hell of it." I was off the ladder and working on the last part of the first panel while she was talking. I heard what she was saying, but I didn't know any way to explain what I thought without being offensive. I didn't want to get into an argument with her about how the paradigm had shifted between men and women, or about how there was more equality, now that both sexes had agreed that recreational fucking was a good thing. Women wanted sex just as much as guys did, and it was a lot less competitive now that sex usually took place before any real relationship got started. Having good sex with someone was a strong inducement for wanting to spend more time together. I personally hadn't met anyone yet that I'd want to settle down forever with, but that didn't keep me from looking. Implied in Evelyn's statement was her belief that it was the guys who had ruined a more workable system. The old dating system seemed to be something she missed. Back when she and I were dating, I'll have to admit that I thought she was getting way the better of the deal. I had to jump through all the hoops before she permitted me to fuck her. Turned out, surprising neither of us, that we were very compatible in bed. I like to believe Evelyn got just as much satisfaction in bed as I did. It sure seemed that way. "I like it just fine the way it is now. Saves heaps of time for one thing, and no one expects anything in the beginning. I'm not talking about having sex, that's a given. I mean the couple doesn't have any high relationship expectations just because they did the deed." "It doesn't bother you that all your women partners are sleeping around quite a bit too?" "No, why should it? It might bother me if we were having unprotected sex, but I don't do that. I'm careful. I didn't invent the current system, but I think it is a lot more fair than the old one. Women are allowed to behave however they want to, the same as men do." "It puts unfair pressure on women to have sex. How can you compete against other women who think nothing of having sex after just meeting someone?" "Maybe it isn't a competition. Maybe a woman can now choose which way suits her best. There are a lot of women who won't hook up like that, and there are guys who respect and want women who are like that." "Not you and Rick though?" "Rick does some dating and he goes clubbing too. I've dated too. For me though, the clubbing thing with hook ups seems to work best." "Women are just for fucking to you?" Her face was getting red again. I had finished the first panel and was climbing up to do the top of the second when she left the room. Five minutes later she came back with a fresh glass of wine. I noticed she'd brought the bottle with her this time too. I concentrated on doing the window. I knew I didn't want to continue trying to justify the way I lived my life to her. "Are you going to answer my question?" "No, women aren't just for that. Not all men want the same thing. Not all women either. It happens that I'm not looking for anything serious right now. Clubbing suits me just fine. Someday that will probably change. If it does, when it does, I'll change how I do things." "But, in the meantime, you'll stick it in every new girl you can, right?" "Actually, I'm pretty selective about that. I've had hook ups, but I don't hook up every time I could. I like to think I'm staying within a certain standard I've set for myself. I haven't hooked up with a girl for awhile. Probably not once in the last six or seven times I've been out. There has to be something besides me being horny and her being willing." "Before, when we went together, did you even suspect that I might be falling in love with you?" She said this softly, with her back turned to me as she poured herself more wine. "I knew you had feelings for me. I had feelings for you too, but I knew I wasn't ready to settle down yet. I didn't want things to get serious then." "Then? Does that mean you've changed?" "No. I feel the same as I did before. I've got plenty of time to meet someone and settle down. Right now though, none of that interests me. I'm doing all right just the way things are. I'm happy." "You're almost thirty years old, Dennis. Don't you think its about time you started to grow up?" "Does me not wanting the same things you do automatically mean I'm not grown up?" "Your lifestyle is probably the same as it was back when you were in college. You don't seem to be maturing." My lifestyle was a lot better than it had ever been in college. For one thing, I had money now. I owned my own condo. The bank and I owned it at least. I wasn't busting my ass trying to work, go to school, study and have a social life. I wasn't being graded on things I did every week. I had very little pressure in my current life. In college, I'd been pressured all the time. There was really no comparison. "What I have now is a lot better than college was." "I don't do hook ups. That's not my style." "I respect that. People should stick with whatever they feel comfortable with." I was finished with the second panel and getting ready to climb on the ladder for the third. Evelyn had put her wine glass down next to the nearly empty wine bottle. She had turned and was sitting on her bed looking up at me. This was a strange conversation we were having. I was mentally telling myself to be careful with what I said. Evelyn seemed to be blaming me for the way things were in the world. I didn't create any of it. I had looked around at what the possibilities were and then made my decisions based on what was on offer. Evelyn worked a lot harder than I was willing to. She was more ambitious. Her career was important to her. I didn't buy into that for myself. I honestly believed I had as much on the ball as she did. The biggest difference between the two of us was that I wasn't ambitious like she was. I didn't want to rise up the corporate ladder. I was well paid for the work I did, and I did it as well as any of the other people working in the same slot I was in. I'd be happy to stay right where I was for the rest of my career. I knew all that would have to change if I found someone, and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I was so comfortable doing what I was doing that I hoped I wouldn't find someone. Not in the next ten or twenty years at any rate. Maybe, after I started losing my hair, and was getting a middle aged paunch, I'd feel differently about things. Right now though, things were good. Women seemed to find me reasonably attractive, and I had no problems getting any of my physical needs met. "Do you remember why we broke up, Dennis?" "Certainly. You wanted some commitment from me, and I wanted to play the field." "That was part of it. I was jealous then. I wanted you to believe I was all you needed. I thought you'd change if you knew I'd leave you if you didn't. It hurt me when I found out you really didn't care." "We just wanted different things, Ev. We still do. I'm surprised you haven't found someone else." "I did find someone else. Two or three someone else's. These were men that wanted to be with me, men who weren't afraid to make commitments. Their only problem was that they weren't you. Isn't that pathetic, me admitting all this to you? I don't know why I give you so much power in my life." I know I'm callow, but all I wanted to do was finish up those last one and a half windows and get out of her apartment. I didn't have any emotional feelings for Evelyn now. I'd had some a long time ago, but even then, there was never a time when I considered her as a possible future wife. I looked over at her on the bed and noticed that her tears had started falling. I could see that she needed me to tell her something comforting. "Someday you're going to meet someone who will make you forget you ever knew me. You'll thank me for not ruining your future when that time comes." "Same old self serving bull shit. I can always count on you for that. I'd forgotten how easily you could deflect away anything that threatens to damage that self image of yours." "It isn't threats to my self image that is making you cry, Ev. For whatever reason, and don't ask me what reason, because I confess to not understanding it, you try to make me out to be a lot more than I actually am. I never wanted to be put up on a pedestal by you. I don't believe you really hold me in such high esteem either. I doubt any of this has much to do with your emotions. If you were more honest with yourself, you'd admit that it has more to do with what we did in bed together, and less to do with what a great person I'd suddenly be if I wanted to settle down with you." "I've had better sex than I ever got from you. You're so smug. Believe me when I tell you that you aren't so much in that department. I've had way better sex." She was still crying, but now they were tears of anger. Her nose was running too, which is an unfortunate thing for a woman's looks. For anyone's looks, come to that. I was hurrying along with my window cleaning, about to position the ladder for the final window panel. another twenty minutes and I'd finally be done and could leave. Seeing the state she was in, I was hoping to somehow put an end to this dialogue. It wasn't helping either of us, and I was afraid that Evelyn would let her feelings fester and start making my life more difficult in our workplace. "Listen, I've just got this one last panel to do and then I'll leave and we can go back to being what we've been to each other for the past four years. There's no reason why we have to be at each other's throats. We can be pleasant when we need to see each other for work things, and probably won't even see each other for anything else." "Worried that I'll get revenge for this when we're back at work?" "I wasn't worried about that at all until you brought it up. Is that what you're planning on doing?" "All these hook ups you've been having, do you ever call any of them back and set up regular dates?" "I don't know where you got it into your head that there are all these women. I probably go out clubbing thirty or forty times a year. I might find someone I want to spend some time with no more than four or five times a year. I'm not looking for relationships. I tried it and it didn't work for me, because I'm not interested in settling down. I don't have this wild sex life you seem to think I do. Rick tends to exaggerate about what goes on in those clubs. There's some drinking and some dancing, a little talking too, if you don't mind having to yell at each other just to be heard. I know people who go clubbing every weekend. Some get laid a lot, and others are like me, it happens when it happens, but it isn't the main reason for our going out." "Is that a no? You don't call any of them back?" "I've called a few girls after. Some have called me. Usually what happens is that we run into each other again, at one of the clubs. If we're both free, we might start dancing a few times. I've taken the same girl home a few times. I have a friend who I've been seeing for three years now. We see each other at the clubs, not on any kind of date. I wouldn't call it a real relationship, not the kind you mean. It is more than just a hook up though." "I was planning to give you that blow job you asked me for, after you finished the windows. I don't think I want to do that now. I can see that sex doesn't have an emotional context in your life." "Are you claiming that giving blow jobs is an emotional thing for you? Sucking a dick is a physical thing. You might do it because you have feelings for the guy, but the act itself is strictly physical." "That just shows how little you know about women, and about real emotions. I'd never do that with someone I didn't already have strong emotional feelings for." It took me another fifteen minutes before I finished that final window. While I worked I thought about what Evelyn's last statement admitted. She had as much as confessed that she still had emotional feelings for me. I needed to find a way to escape without saying anything that would turn those emotions against me. I'd done nothing to encourage her to still have them. "All done. Is there any place you want me to put this ladder?" I was picking up my bag of used paper towels. There was very little Windex left in the last bottle, so I threw it in with the dirty paper towels. I planned to keep that squeegee for doing my car windows when I washed my car. "Were you planning on running away without letting me get any closure on our discussion about my having these emotions for you?" "I'd hardly label it a discussion, Ev. I appreciate the offer you were making, and I know you were trying to be a good sport about the bet and all. The thing is, I'm afraid you'd have some real resentments afterward, if we did do what you're talking about. You weren't supposed to anyway, because I lost the bet, not you." "How do you think it makes me feel when I've offered to do that for you and you refuse to let me?" "Your offer comes with strings on it. If it were just something physical you were doing, I'd have no problem with it. I still remember the enthusiasm you can bring to doing that. I was excited when we first made the bet. Right now, after what you said about you having those emotions, I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you." "Suppose I agreed to just be one of your hook ups for tonight? Would that work out better for you? You wouldn't even have to go out looking for someone. Aren't I as pretty as the girls you usually end up with?" That was a very loaded question. The truth was that Evelyn was probably the best looking woman I'd ever slept with. If you combine her looks with her sexual energy, she was far and away the best sexual partner I've ever had. The problem was that we still wanted very different things. We had different values and different outlooks on similar things. It was like the election race just concluded. She believed Obama was better for the country than McCain would have been. I'm sure she had her own good reasons for believing that. I didn't happen to share that belief with her. It was the same as our wanting vastly different things for ourselves when it came to our immediate futures. I was physically tempted, but not emotionally interested. "You don't want to be some guy's one night hook up. Why put yourself through that? Tomorrow, you'll hate having done that, and you'll hate me for allowing you to do that to yourself." "Does that mean I'm not attractive enough for you? Besides, I like sex as much as you do. I just don't allow myself the wide variety of outlets you seem to permit yourself. Making me work so hard to give myself to you is an exceptionally cruel thing for you to do." Just because I'm not ruled by my emotions, that doesn't mean I don't have normal, decent, human feelings. It had been a long time since she and I had gotten together. We had this wild physical chemistry too. I didn't see any way that it could be more harmful on her emotions if we did the deed than it would be harmful to all the other things if I tried to be strong and managed to resist her. "If you're sure, then I'd love to stay and be with you." "We can have a great time, Dennis. There's only one thing I need to ask you to do. You don't even have to mean it. In fact, I'll know that you don't mean it. I want you to pretend, just for tonight, that you love me. I want you to tell me that you do, and keep telling me, right up until you leave. After tonight, we'll go right back to the way things were before we made the bet." I won't bore you with all the juicy details. I agreed to do what she asked, and the two of us went at it like desperately parched people who've just stumbled upon an oasis. We were still very attracted to each other, and ideally balanced when it came to what each wanted from the other in bed. We wore each other out. By the time I managed to drag myself out of her bedroom, it was six in the morning. I was out of shape for the level of physical activity Evelyn demanded. I somehow managed to punish my body enough to bring her to the point of telling me she couldn't do any more. It must have been two or three seconds before I was going to tell her the exact same thing. I was dying for sleep, but I knew I needed to go back to my own place. Going to sleep in her bed was more than either of us had agreed on. Driving home, I again reflected on what we'd done. I hoped she'd keep her word about letting things go back to the way they'd been before. I remembered something I'd somehow forgotten over the years. Evelyn was the only woman I'd ever been with who was capable of getting me to give her my all in bed. She seemed to demand everything that I had. It wasn't so much quantitative as it was qualitative. I didn't know if it was the same for her as it was for me. If it was, I could almost understand the things she'd said to me earlier, about those other guys not being me. Almost, I regretted the way I was wired. For someone looking for a long term relationship, Evelyn would be almost perfect. ------- Chapter 3 I spent a quiet Saturday at my place. I slept from the time I got home, until four that afternoon, making up for the very late night that Evelyn and I had spent together. Sunday, Rick came over and he and I watched the Raiders lose miserably to Carolina. He kept asking me questions about Evelyn, but I told him again that nothing had happened. On Monday, Evelyn came by my work cubicle and spoke with me for five minutes. It was mostly just small talk, nothing at all about what we'd done on Friday. She seemed interested in what I'd been up to over the weekend though. Tuesday, Evelyn was in the break room at the same time Rick and I were in there. I heard her telling Linda Patterson, a co-worker, that she'd be heading off to Las Vegas for the coming week end. When Evelyn and I had first started dating, we'd spent several week ends in either Las Vegas or Laughlin. She loved playing the slots, and I enjoyed playing some low limit Twenty One. Hearing her mention Las Vegas had brought back some pleasant memories of times we'd shared back then. Thursday afternoon, Evelyn called me on the intra office phone line and asked me several questions pertaining to the project I was currently working on. I assured her that it was all very routine, and that I'd finish it with plenty of time to spare. She paused for just long enough to make me realize she had something other than business on her mind. It seemed like she was unsure about going forward with whatever she wanted to say to me. "Do you have any plans for this week end, Dennis?" She'd lowered her voice when she asked me that. Her question didn't really surprise me. In a sense, I'd been waiting to see how she'd react after we'd hooked up on Friday. I had mixed feelings about her question though. I'd really hoped that she'd do what she'd said, let things go right back to how they'd been before that night. Still, I knew I had to tread carefully when I responded to her question. "I'm helping an old college buddy move to a new apartment on Sunday. Not looking forward to it either." There was a long pause before Evelyn responded to that. When she finally did say something, it didn't ease my concern at all. "It seems like you've been avoiding me ever since that night." There was a whining quality in her voice as she said this. Any hope I might have been clinging to that Evelyn would allow things to return to how they'd been before the bet were now firmly dashed. "I'm not avoiding anyone. We had a bet, I lost, and then I paid what I owed you. As far as the rest of it went, well, that was something we both agreed would be casual. So, there's nothing to avoid, is there?" I heard the receiver on her end being quietly placed back in the cradle, breaking the connection. After that, I spent a good deal of time going over our short conversation in my head. Evelyn could be very clingy. I could see her obsessing about this and building herself up to some kind of vindictive response also. In a way, I felt that I should have seen most of this coming. After our last break up, Evelyn and I had taken great pains at avoiding each other. It had been a big relief when she'd been promoted and transferred out of the department. I hoped we wouldn't have a repeat of that uncomfortable period that took place after our break up before. I really don't think I'm any worse than most guys when it comes to thinking with my dick. I don't let sexual pressures control my life. Still, I had to admit that I had now left myself open to serious possible complications by giving in to Evelyn's offer of sex. I'm not someone overly given to self flagellation. When I fuck up, I deal with it if I can, and then forget it. It was Evelyn who had the problem now. I'd done nothing to incur her wrath this time. I'd made no promises. She was the one who was reading a lot more into that one night of sex than was ever there. Rick and I were out clubbing that next Saturday night. It was sometime after eleven, and we were standing at the bar at Kamikaze's, a new club that had opened up just off the strip. We'd driven up from Santa Monica, just to check it out. The place was pretty crowded, especially the area where people liked to congregate and dance. The music was loud, especially the strong bass that you could actually feel. Conversation was nearly impossible. It was still pretty early, although a few couples were getting pretty frisky and more than a little risque out on the dance floor. Rick had pointed out one couple who were kissing and really going at it with their hands inside each others pants. Typical club behavior really, although still early for that to be happening so openly. I was turned away from the bar and looking at the front entrance when Evelyn came walking through the door, accompanied by some guy I'd never seen before. Seeing her so unexpectedly like that, probably caused me to react more strongly than I would have if I'd been expecting to see her at a club. I felt an instant jealousy too. That was really something unexpected. Rick must have sensed something too, because he turned on his bar stool and saw Evelyn too. "Damn, Evelyn's looking pretty good, isn't she?" Rick always blurts out his every thought. The truth was that she did look particularly good. Her hair was styled differently than she kept it at work, looser, and more relaxed. The blouse she was wearing was made of some very thin material, and with any slight movement she made, easily confirmed the absence of any type of supporting undergarment for her full breasts. She had on silky black loose pants with black heels that accentuated her long legs. Taken all together, she was a real knock out. Watching her, I was immediately struck by how much I suddenly wished it was me that was over there with her. We stayed at the bar for another forty five minutes. Neither Rick nor I took part in any dancing or other mingling. The entire time was spent watching Evelyn and her date. After standing it for as long as I could, I managed to convince Rick that we should head back to Santa Monica. He was reluctant to leave for some reason, but we had driven over in my car and he left with me after I got up and started to leave on my own. I hadn't wanted to spend another minute watching Evelyn laughing and cavorting around with her date. A large part of it was jealousy, but part of it was removing myself from any temptation to pour any new fuel on the still smoldering ashes of whatever Evelyn and I had gotten going. The trip back to the beach was made a lot less pleasant by Rick's seeming new obsession with Evelyn. Some of his more prurient speculations about what she'd be doing later with her date were really getting on my nerves. One thing about Rick, he wasn't afraid to wallow in those highly salacious fantasies of his. Several times, I'd wanted to just stop the car, pull him out by the side of the road, and beat him to a bloody pulp. I knew he was just blurting out all his crap to see if it would get any kind of a rise out of me. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing for certain that he was getting to me. I drove straight back to the club where the two of us had first met earlier in the evening. Getting out of my car, the two of us decided to go back inside to see if there was any action to be had. We had to show the stamp on the back of our hands to get back in, but that was preferable to us having to pay another cover charge. I immediately went over to a girl I knew and took her out on the dance floor for a dance. I wanted to get as far away from Rick as I could. Wanda and I stayed out on the dance floor for about half an hour. She seemed surprised when I asked her to come home with me. Surprised, but very willing. She and I had hooked up once before, maybe a year or more ago. It had only been that one time, mainly because I hadn't felt any real spark between us. The sex had been okay, but not really anything special. She seemed like a nice girl, but our chemistry hadn't been right or something. We drove over to my place this time. I showed her where to park and took her up to my condo. We'd gone to her apartment the other time. We both had a glass of wine and made small talk in the living room for the obligatory time it took to finish our drinks. After, I led her into my bedroom and we got down to the event that both of us had gotten together for. I knew it was Wanda I was in bed with, but try as I might, I was unable to get Evelyn out of my head. I tried my hardest to throw my full attention into pleasuring Wanda. Before, when we'd hooked up, everything had been pretty much routine sex between us. She had given me some perfunctory head, and I had reciprocated by going down on her a little. Then, after both establishing our unselfishness, we finished up with a quick, missionary style coupling. The second time, after we'd both rested for awhile, we started out with some doggy style, and finished up with Wanda on top, and me underneath, fondling her nice ta ta's. This time though, there was no foreplay at all. I found myself in something of a sexual frenzy. I guessed that this was because I'd been obsessing about Evelyn and her date for a couple hours. I took all that frenzy out on Wanda. Not that she was doing any complaining. In fact, she was far more responsive to what I was doing to her this time. I was treating her the same way Evelyn and I liked to treat each other. She was really loving it too. I was a real animal with her, throwing myself and her all around on my bed. I was pushing harder and pulling faster than most girls would be comfortable with. I was lost somewhere in my own thoughts. Wanda was there with me, but, in a very real sense, I was simply using her as a convenient receptacle for my lust. When I came the first time, rather than pausing for a breather, I turned her over on her stomach and reentered her from behind. I always liked looking at girls from behind, especially when I was sunken balls deep into them. There's just something that seems to resonate, something within me that gets off on having forceful sex from that dominant position. Wanda made it quite clear with her moaning and other words of vocal appreciation, that she was quite happy with receiving whatever I was then doing to her. Like I said earlier, she was a lot more responsive in bed this time. Other than with Evelyn, I'd never treated another girl with this kind of brute force before. Evelyn and I had gradually worked up to that over the course of several months, as we each found out what suited our needs best. Wanda didn't get any warning at all, but this wasn't keeping her from getting full enjoyment from it. I'd had girls from this position often, but not with the movement and energy that Evelyn and I preferred. In my head though, it was as though it was Evelyn beneath me, so I just gave myself permission to do it exactly the way Evelyn had always enjoyed the best. By the time I'd gotten my second strong cum, I was drenched in sweat. The sheet beneath us was soaked with both our perspiration. The rubber I'd been wearing hadn't survived the strain of all I'd been putting it through. All I could do was hope that Wanda didn't have anything in the way of STD's. I had finally rolled off her and was laying on the other side of my bed, trying my best to get my breathing under control and back to near normal. I'd been going at it on top of her for at least twenty five minutes. Every muscle I was aware of was burning. I felt like I'd just run hard for about five miles. "Wow! Where did all that come from? I sure don't remember you being anything like this the other time." Wanda was looking over at me. She'd turned over, and was now on her side, facing me. I could see there was a big smile plastered on her face. "I guess I was super horny or something. I haven't been getting out much. I hope I didn't hurt or scare you or anything?" "No. Believe me, I wasn't complaining, just very curious is all. I really enjoyed it like that. Usually, most people seem to just go through the motions. I never expected us to get so physically involved like that. It was intense. I wouldn't want you to get a swelled head about it, but this was far and away the best sex I've ever had. I could really feel how much you were into it. I just don't know where all that was coming from. Were you angry about something?" "No, not at all. I was just really into it. I get like that sometimes. Not usually, because that would be really weird. Sometimes, like tonight, I just like to let it all hang out. I'm just glad it didn't bother you too much, and I hope I won't make you think I'm too weird, or scare you away from me when we see each other in a club or something next time." "I wasn't scared, and I don't think you're weird. In fact, if you ever get back into this same mood, and you need to work through it, please call me, okay?" Without waiting for my answer, Wanda got up from the bed and started looking around for her clothes. It didn't take very long for her to find everything, and then she disappeared into my bathroom. Five minutes later, not even bothering to rinse off, she emerged from the bathroom, dressed, and with her hair freshly brushed. She casually waved to me on the bed, before saying that she'd let herself out. I got up and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Next to the sink was a business card with a phone number written by hand in large numbers on the back. Underneath the phone number she written: CALL ME!!! I took my shower and went to bed. I didn't do anything with the card Wanda had left, leaving it right where she'd put it. I wasn't sure how I felt. Nothing that had taken place with her had changed the way that Evelyn remained in the forefront of my consciousness. I hated being held captive this way. I didn't want anyone serious in my life right then. I liked living my life just the way it was. I didn't want complications, and I was at least smart enough to recognize that Evelyn had the potential for becoming a major complication. Sunday, I spent the whole day inside my condo. I watched some football, and even caught some news where these three commentators were discussing Obama's cabinet picks. I wished, once again, that I'd never gotten involved with anything having to do with politics. I wondered if Evelyn had done the same thing I'd done the night before. If she had, I found myself hoping that it hadn't been as good as when the two of us had done it. I was aware enough to realize that my thoughts were disturbing on several levels. I knew where such thoughts could lead. Some of the things Wanda had said were bothering me. She had really enjoyed what I'd been doing to her, but I hadn't experienced nearly the same pleasure that she had described getting. If I were being totally honest, something had been missing from what it had felt like when I'd had sex with Evelyn. I just got so much more out of fucking her than I did from any of the others. This wasn't the first time I'd realized that fact either. I was sure this difference had been a large factor in my having far fewer hook up's over the past year or so. Whatever I'd been searching for with these other women just wasn't there for me. That night, in Evelyn's apartment, had really brought home all the differences to me. I didn't want this thing with Evelyn to get any further along than it was. I realized I was somewhat safe, because it wouldn't proceed on its own, not unless I went ahead and did something to help it along. I promised myself I wouldn't do anything to help it. Even as I told myself that, I speculated about how our next get together might be arranged. I had some doubts that Evelyn still had intentions towards me. I knew her intentions, if she still had some, would be romantic intentions. I also knew her romantic intentions carried with them some commitment demands. I thought of different scenarios, ones where I could get more of that sweet honey between Evelyn's legs, but do so without having to put up with any relationship or commitment issues from her. None of them seemed very likely. In the end, after giving it a great deal of thought, I decided to do nothing at all. I'd let her come to me. If she did that, I'd let her make me an offer, and I'd only accept if she first promised that whatever we were going to do wasn't committing either of us to having a real relationship. The following week passed by without my having any contact at all with Evelyn. I had even gone so far as to put myself in her field of vision, in open areas, in places where she'd have to notice me, but she didn't fall for the bait. I began to sense that I'd gotten my earlier wish, that she'd decided to live up to that promise she'd made the last time we'd gotten together. I should have been happy about that, but, somehow, I couldn't help myself from being more than a little disappointed. By the second week, I was beginning to think up ways to reinsert myself into Evelyn's life. I was even thinking about asking her out on a "real" date. I'd have done so too, except that I was fairly positive that she'd just laugh at me and turn me down. I could see her doing just that, because she never even looked at me anymore. She never called me about work related problems either. Things were back to just how they'd been before the bet. ------- Chapter 4 I ended up not following through on any of the ideas I might have entertained about asking Evelyn out on a date. Instead, I played a large assortment of head games with myself, indulging in assorted reveries about how this or that scenario might have played itself out. Doing this for a couple weeks gave me enough time to regain a somewhat more realistic perspective on what I'd be giving up if I were to try to restart my former relationship with Evelyn. By the time of Obama's inauguration, I really started believing that I had myself back under control once again. Rick and I were still making the rounds to the various clubs we spent our free time in, going out on most weekends for at least one of the nights. Life had settled back to what passed for normal with me. There was one big difference that I noticed. Unlike before that bet with Evelyn, now, when I went out clubbing, more often than not, I ended up bringing someone home with me. Casual, uncommitted sex seemed attractive to me once again. I wasn't certain that this represented a change for the better. Still, I didn't dwell on it. It wasn't as though I was hurting anyone by what I was doing. I would have liked it a lot better if the game of musical beds I was so busy playing had resulted in ridding myself of all these unwanted thoughts I kept having about Evelyn. Instead of doing that, it had an opposite effect on me. I won't claim that I was constantly obsessing over her, but she was in way too many of my thoughts for it to be comfortable to me. I was at home one weekend when I suddenly decided it was well past being a reasonable time for me to finally get started on cleaning up the huge mess in my hallway closet. I wasn't sure why it came to me that this was something I'd put off doing for long enough. The closet had turned into an embarrassment though. Whenever I needed to open it, junk would come crashing out of it onto the pathway of the hall. It took me over two hours to go through everything that was in there. I ended up getting rid of some of my college text books, some clothes I hadn't worn in a few years, and probably never would have worn again, especially several pairs of grungy old tennis shoes that I'd failed to throw away when laces broke or holes in the soles had developed. When I was done weeding out the junk that was now headed for the dump, the remaining mess was at a much more manageable level. I had happened across a box of old photographs while I'd been cleaning out this closet of mine. A lot of the pictures were from as far back as my early college days. Others were more recent one's, pictures that I'd taken while on vacation, or when doing things with various friends. Included in among all these pictures were a number I'd taken during that short period of time when Evelyn and I had first started dating each other. Glancing at these, it really seemed to me that the two of us looked pretty good together. Seeing these pictures brought back plenty of memories about some of the good times we'd shared together, back before we first started having all those arguments about where our relationship was supposed to be heading. I'd found some other pictures too, pictures that I'd taken during this same time period. These were pictures I'd taken of this other girl I was also seeing at that time. It was funny, but I couldn't seem to dredge up much in the way of memories about this girl. All I remembered was that she was a girl I was seeing at the same time, back when Evelyn and I were having our little fling. That little trip down memory lane did nothing to diminish the amount of time I kept spending thinking of Evelyn. It sure didn't help things that I separated all my pictures with her in them and took them into my bedroom to save for my later, more careful, perusal. I was starting to recognize some disturbing signs in all this. Unwelcome signs that I sincerely wished weren't present in any of my thought processes. I've never been one who was too dense to understand when my mind was beginning to make some important shifts in its thinking. I knew what was happening, and how my mind was in the process of adjusting itself. I spent the next three weeks, while all this was happening, not going out, and not doing anymore clubbing at all. Rick was beside himself, because of this. Our every conversation seemed to be filled with all these dire predictions he had about the direction my future would soon be taking if I persisted in staying with my present course of what he called pure madness. I knew he wanted to have a running buddy he could depend on, for his own clubbing. Strangely, both of us knew that each guy always did better with the ladies if he was accompanied by a male friend. Sometimes, two guys together were much less frightening to a new female acquaintance than one guy, all by himself, would have been. Finally, despite my own past firm resolve not to be the first one to make a move, I approached Evelyn. I'd waited for a time when she and I were two of the last people on our floor who were still in the office. I'd been staying after every afternoon for more than a week, just waiting for the right set of circumstances to offer itself up to me. Looking all around, seeing or hearing no one else. I headed straight for Evelyn's office from my little work cubicle. "Can I speak with you for a minute, Evelyn?" I could see that me appearing like I had, in her open doorway, had startled her. "Oh, it's you, Dennis. I wasn't expecting anyone to still be here. Sure, what did you want?" "Its about my employee evaluation. I'm sure its been more than six months since my last one, and I was kind of wondering if there might be some sort of problem you were having with completing mine?" "Problem? No, I don't think so. In fact, I'm certain I laid a copy of yours on your desk, last month. It was in a sealed white letter sized envelope, one with your name typed on the front." As soon as she said that, I remembered seeing just such an envelope about a month prior. I'd put it in the top drawer of my desk, unread. As far as I knew, it was still in there, still unread too. "If you did put it on my desk, I sure don't remember ever receiving it. Do you have a copy of it handy, one that I could read?" "If you're worried, Dennis, you needn't be. I certainly wouldn't stoop to lowering your performance ratings because of any personal differences we might be having." "It never even occurred to me that you might. I like to save copies of all my employee reviews, so when this one was so late, I started worrying about it. I'll look around my desk area to see where it might have gotten to. Sorry to have bothered you with this." I left, no closer to getting any signs of social interest from her than I'd been before going to all this effort to try speaking with her this time. I'd wasted more than a week of unpaid overtime, and for nothing at all. I did go back to my cubicle to open that envelope to see what she'd written about me. It was the usual compendium of corporate double speak. Many large syllable words that, in total, really signified little or nothing. My review praised my promptness in getting my assigned work completed in a highly satisfactory manner. It concluded with her writing that I seemed particularly well suited to remain in the position I now occupied. Since my position was an entry level one, there was no way that last part could ever be construed as any kind of a compliment. It was true though. I was well suited to do what I now did. Evelyn and I both knew I was capable of doing much more, and that my lack of ambition had been something of a sore spot between us in the past. I had just finished putting her review of my past work performance in the folder where I kept all my other one's, and was about to leave for home, when she walked out of her office, straight over to my cubicle. "I was in my office thinking, Dennis, and I decided that I really had no interest in heading straight home to my empty place, or in fixing myself something to eat tonight. I was wondering, since we're both here working late tonight, if you might be interested in joining me in going out somewhere for a quick bite to eat? If you are, then we could maybe also go somewhere for a drink or two afterwards? It just doesn't seem right for people to go to all the extra trouble and expense of eating out if they're only going to be all by themselves when they do. Nothing more pathetic than that, is there?" "Sure, why not? I've caught up with everything I needed to now anyway. Chinese okay with you, or would you rather we go for something Italian?" After what she'd just gotten done telling me, I saw very little good that would come from my pointing out to her how relaxing eating alone could really be. Not to mention how much less expensive it was, having to pay for only a single meal. Some people seemed to have a strong need to make special social occasion's out of a simple restaurant meal. I ate about ninety percent of my restaurant meals alone, preferring it to getting stuck with the obligation to be entertaining, when all I'd really wanted to do was go out to eat a halfway decent meal. "If we were just going to get Italian, I know about this great new pizza place that has free delivery. They have the best pizza you've ever eaten too. We could go over to my house to eat it, then not have to go through all the hassles of waiting for for a table to be ready, or for someone to come over to even take our order. I could call them right now, and the pizza would be ready for delivery shortly after we got there. You still prefer your pizza loaded up with all the toppings, right?" I was surprised by several things while she was speaking. First, was her suggesting now that we go to her place. That was an unexpected, but not unwelcome development. Second, was her remembering how I preferred multiple toppings on my pizza. Third, and by far the most important of the three, were the way her nipples thrust outward from her blouse while she stood there talking with me. Headlights were definitely high beaming from her, and that was usually a very good sign for what was likely to follow. "Pizza sounds just right. We could get it made half and half though, if you still prefer mushrooms, black olives, and green peppers on yours?" I could see that my remembering how she liked only the veggie toppings had won me some instant brownie points from her. "Do you have some red wine already, or should I make a stop on the way? No, never mind, I'll stop off in any case, because I want to pick up a couple beers to go with my pizza. How about a nice Cabernet Sauvignon for you?" We split up in the parking lot as I went over to a liquor store I knew that wasn't too far out of my way, and Evelyn got in her car and started in ordering our pizza on her cell phone, even before starting her car. At the liquor store, I ended up getting her a twenty seven dollar bottle of wine, and getting myself a six pack of Heineken's. We ate the pizza while sitting at her small dinette table. The entire time we were eating, I could literally feel the sexual tension building up for both of us. All the most obvious signs were there in Evelyn. I could tell she was already smouldering inside. I decided to only drink two beers with my dinner, even forgoing a third slice of pizza. I didn't want to make myself too full. We both made a little small talk while we ate, me complimenting the pizza, it really was very good, and her telling me she loved that particular Cabernet I'd gotten, while cautioning me that I shouldn't have spent so much money on it. Things really got put into high gear, just as soon as we finished clearing off the plates. glasses, and silverware, and putting all the leftovers away. "That was very good, Dennis. I seldom order pizza just for myself. I get too compulsive about not letting the leftover pizza go to waste. It isn't worth paying extra for the delivery charges they hit you with if you only order the individual sized pizza. Now that we're done eating, would you like to stay and watch some television with me?" "I'm not really that much into TV, do you still play chess?" "Chess, sure, I guess. I'm not sure where I put my set though. I haven't played in such a long time." "I think I might have taken it with me, when we split up, way back when. Never mind, it was just a thought anyway. TV sounds okay." Or, we could just cut right to the chase as they say. I don't know about you, but my body has been crying out for some male attention. What do you say, want to help an old friend out?" "That's definitely a good idea. My body has expressed some desperate needs of its own. We'd really be helping each other out." What followed was three and a half hours of exquisite sex between two needy people. We both knew we were over indulging in the worst sort of way, but neither of us wanted to leave any nooks or cranny's unexplored either. There was no denying how well our bodies and our preferred sexual techniques were matched to each other. What for me would normally be like the sound children make when they are first learning to play Chopsticks on the piano, with someone else, had been like a full symphony orchestra playing a very long, highly technical, extremely difficult composition, perfectly, when it was me having sex with Evelyn. There was simply no comparison between this and any other lover I'd ever had. From the way she was clinging to me after we were done, her breathing ragged, and those tiny little shuddering tremors of her orgasmic after shocks, Evelyn had felt much the same as I did "I just can't understand what you could possibly be holding out for that would be any better than that?" Her words carried with them a certain resigned tone when she spoke them. It sounded to me like she just knew I'd come up with some new reason for not wanting to settle down with just one woman. If there was such a woman, or any such sentiment within me, I couldn't, not for the life of me, dredge it up right then. I was too blown away by what we'd just shared. I knew there were probably dozens of perfectly good reasons, I just couldn't think of any of them at that precise moment. "I know." "You know? What is that supposed to mean?" Once again, she'd slipped, instantly, into her argumentative mode. "I don't know. I guess it means I agree with what you asked me before, about what else I could be holding out for. That was really fucking incredible. I hurt all over right now. It even hurts when I try to breathe. We really are fantastic in bed together. We always were. I've never understood why we are, but I've known that we were, ever since the first few times we ever slept together." "If you knew, then how could you put us through all of this?" I knew then that I'd taken exactly the wrong attitude with her, by my agreeing with what she'd just said. I didn't have the strength left in me to either back pedal, or try to wiggle my way out from underneath whatever heel she now thought she had me trapped under. I guess it was just time for me to stop making up excuses for her. "You were the only one who was ready for more back then. I knew that I definitely wasn't. I don't know the why of it, but I'm beginning to suspect that maybe things are different for me now. I'm older, and just possibly, a little more mature in the way I;m starting to look at things like that. I'm starting to see that there might actually be a time when I might find myself welcoming the prospect of my settling down. If I were at that point right now, it would probably be you that I'd want to do that with." "Dennis, get up, get dressed, and get the hell out of my home. You couldn't have said anything more insulting to me, not if you'd spent a year rehearsing it." I heard the anger, the hurt in her words. It certainly hadn't been my intention to give her either of those feelings. In the past, this would have been excuse enough for me to get up and do precisely what she was now asking me to do. "Evelyn, stop for one minute and then think about whatever it is that you've taken so much offense to. There was actually nothing in any of the words I just finished speaking that should have caused you any hurt or offense. All I told you was that I was getting closer to wanting the same things you've already said you wanted. I also admitted, for the first time, that you were someone I'd definitely consider settling down with, whenever it started feeling right to me. How is it my fault that I'm not already to that point? Tonight, it was you who invited me over for pizza, then it was you who also asked me if I'd like to come up here to your bedroom and make love to you. Of course I did want to, and it was everything I could have ever hoped for, and even more than that. I'm not some goal that you need to aim yourself towards. You don't have to do this to audition for me either. We're both way past that point. At least, I hope we are by now. It seems to me like you're deliberately picking this fight, to pay me back for not being in the same place you are, right at this precise moment. I could just as easily be pissed at you for not being in the same place I am right now." "You know that we're perfect together, Dennis, that we have been, right from the beginning. Why can't you just admit that we are, then do what any other normal couple in our position would be doing?" "Get married, you mean? For one thing, I'm not anywhere near ready to make a lifelong commitment. Not to you, and not to myself either. You have this idea in your head that all your previous time spent with and without me, for the six years since we first met, should count towards our courtship time. I count such things a lot differently. Tonight, for me was like our first night together. It might be the third or fourth time we've tried to be a couple, but to me, its been like another great first date for us. "The courtship, for me, it really begins right here, right now. If you could just accept doing things my way, we can both have a relaxed great time, then, eventually, end up getting ourselves to right where you want us to be already. I know now what we could have together. I'm just figuring it out maybe, but I do know. If you keep trying to rush me, you will just keep delaying what would have probably have happened by now, if you'd just shown a little patience with me all those years ago. We've already wasted a lot of time we could have been together. We don't need to hurry up to get married, not as long as we both realize that is where this journey of ours is inevitably heading." "Are you proposing to me?" "Proposing? I don't know, maybe. All I know is that we both aren't on the same page yet. I'm pretty sure we're both reading the same book though, and that's a lot of progress for me to have made." "If we were engaged, and if you said there would be no other women in your life, besides me, maybe then I could start seeing things the same way you say you do." "I'm getting hungry again. You want to go back downstairs and warm up some more of that pizza?" "Dennis, please, let's finish working out this deal of ours. I think we're close right now." "Evelyn, I'm ready to commit to having no other women in my life, and to telling you that I'm definitely planning on us getting married, to each other, someday. Right now, except for telling you again that I'm hungry, I have nothing else I want to add to that." "Nothing else? There has to be something more, Dennis. You can't say all that and then decide not to tell me the most important thing of all." "Oh, love you mean? Of course, I love you. Why would I be saying all that other stuff if I wasn't already sure that I loved you?" I could see there was no more talking necessary. I was glad for that, because I really was very hungry. Later, after we'd both eaten, we went back to doing the one thing we'd both always been able to agree about. This time it was just one time, and a short one at that. I found out that Evelyn can cum just from having the right words whispered in her ear. I had to tell her those words a few more times, but the main good had come from the very first time I'd said them to her while we were making love. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2008-11-03 Last Modified: 2009-09-15 / 04:09:01 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------