Another One
written by:
Just Plain Bob

I should have known disaster was on the horizon the night my wife told me that she'd had a call from Monica. It was at the dinner table and my first tip off should have been the fact that everything on the table was from my list of favorites. Meat loaf, scalloped potatoes au gratin, French style green beans and sourdough bread hot from the oven. Midway through the meal Audrey said:

"Guess who I heard from today. Monica Speers. She moved back to town and wants to get together for lunch."

"Moved back to town? XYZ doesn't have offices here. Did Tom quit them?"

"I guess she and Tom are divorced."

I knew what I wanted to say to that and I knew that it would not go over well so I kept my mouth shut. I would have bet that it was because Tom finally caught her cheating. I did not like Monica and I had never liked Audrey associating with her, but if there was one thing I knew it was that there was no way you could come between two girls who had been best friends since the second grade.

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I didn't meet Audrey and Monica until high school and it was a case of ‘instants.' I instantly fell ass end over tea kettle for Audrey and I instantly disliked Monica. There was just something about her that did not ring right.

I would like to be able to say that Audrey was as instantly attracted to me as I was to her, but that wasn't the case. I tried a dozen times to get Audrey to go out with me but with no luck and I always felt that it was because of Monica. Monica hit the ground running when she started high school. She was a hot looking freshman who looked like she was twenty and the juniors and seniors flocked to her and as a result she was dating them from almost her first day. It always seemed that the guy she was dating had a friend he wanted to double date with so Monica would set up the friend with Audrey. So what I got whenever I asked Audrey out was:

"Sorry Rob, but I already have a date for that night."

Eventually I added Audrey to the list of things I wanted, but could never have.

Two weeks after the start of the eleventh grade I was sitting in a booth at Harry's Malt Shop, a student hangout, when someone slid into the booth opposite me. I looked up from the Civics text book I was reading and saw Audrey. She smiled and said:

"Hi Rob."

"Hello Audrey."

"How have you been?"

"Okay. You?"

"Pretty good. I see you are studying Civics. Who do you have?"

"Anderson in second period."

"I've got her in fifth."

She was silent for a second or two and then said, "It has been a while since I've seen you."

"Well you know how it is. You get busy and things kind of slide."

A little more silence and then, "There is a party at Nancy Neubert's this Friday. Would you like to go with me?"

That caught me flat-footed. I had tried for two years to get a date with her with no luck at all and here she was asking me. It took me a couple of seconds to come up with a reply.

"I haven't been invited."

"I have and I can bring a date. Would you like to go?"

"Yes, I would."

"Okay then; meet me tomorrow at lunch in the cafeteria and we can discuss the details."

"Details?"

"What time to pick me up, where we are going and things like that."

"Oh sure, details. Right."

As she walked away I sat and wondered just what the hell had happened. And then it dawned on me. All the juniors and seniors that Monica and Audrey had been dating had graduated and had moved on to college where there were plenty of girls and they didn't need to mess around with high school girls any more. That meant that if Audrey and Monica wanted dates they were stuck with their previously ignored classmates. Whatever the reason I wasn't going to complain.

My mother let me borrow her car on Friday and I drove over and picked up Audrey. When we got to Nancy's we found that the party was spread all through the house. The garage had been cleared out so there would be a place to dance and the Neubert's had turned their basement into a rec room with a pool table, a ping-pong table and an air hockey table.

When Audrey and I went into the garage the first person we saw was Monica. She was with four guys at the back of the garage where there was a table with a reel to reel tape player on it. The tape was playing dance tunes and Monica saw us just about the time we saw her. She came over to us and said to Audrey:

"Glad you could make it."

Audrey asked me if I would find out where the refreshments were and get her a Coke or a Pepsi and that is where I made my first mistake. I should have kept her with me. I found the refreshments in the kitchen and by the time I got back to the garage Audrey was dancing with one of the guys who had been with Monica when we arrived. Because my parents had taken the time to teach me manners I stood off to the side and waited for the song to end and that was my second mistake.

As soon as the song ended the next song on the reel began to play and another one of the guys who had been talking with Monica stepped up and started dancing with Audrey. I saw Audrey see me standing there with a Pepsi in my hand for her, but she didn't pull away from the guy and come to me. About half way into the dance Monica came over to me and reached out for the Pepsi I was holding for Audrey and said:

"I'll take that. You might as well find something else to do. She's going to be busy for a while."

While she was saying that the music stopped. I started toward Audrey and she was standing there looking at me starting toward her when the next song started. A third guy took her arm and she let him start dancing with her. She saw me walking towards her with the soft drink she had asked me to get for her and she let herself be pulled into a dance and then to add insult to injury she never looked my way again.

I let Monica take the Pepsi and I walked over and tapped the guy on the shoulder and said:

"Cutting in."

"Screw off jerk."

"She is my date and I'm cutting in."

"Beat it asswipe" the guy said and he reached out with his left hand to push me away. When he pushed at me I grabbed his hand and jerked. It pulled him off balance and I just kept pulling until I ran him into the wall. His head bounced against the wall and it stunned him and he slid down to the floor. While all that was going on Audrey was saying:

"Stop this Rob; stop this now. You are embarrassing me."

I looked at her and said, "I'm embarrassing you? Well we sure wouldn't want that" and I left the garage, got in my car and went home.

Monday morning I was at my locker getting ready to go to first period when Nancy Neubert came up to me and said:

"I should be pissed at you for creating a disturbance at my party, but I'm not. Doug is a real butt head and I'm glad someone stepped up and shut him down."

"Sorry. It was poor manners on my part."

"You don't need to apologize. Doug wasn't even invited but your date was a little pissed that you went off and left her."

"She left me first. It seems she was more interested in the guys Monica was with than me."

"Aud would be okay if she could just break away from Monica."

"Maybe I'll have better luck next time."

"Good luck" she said as she moved off to her first class.

I didn't have any shared morning classes with Audrey so I didn't expect to see her until out one o'clock calculus class. I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise (given that Nancy had already told me how upset Audrey was that I'd gone off and left her) that she sat down across from me in the cafeteria at lunch time. I looked up at her and she sat there and said nothing so I went back to eating my lunch and reviewing my notes from Civics. After maybe a minute Audrey said:

"Are you just going to sit there?"

"What do you expect me to do, dance?"

"I expect you to tell me why you acted like a total ass and then I expect an apology for the way you behaved toward me."

"You expect to live to be a hundred?"

"What?"

"Easy question Audrey; do you expect to live to be a hundred? Because it will be your hundredth birthday before you get an apology from me for what your behavior caused me to do last Friday."

"My behavior? Are you out of your mind?"

"No, but you must have been if you thought that I would put up with what you did."

"What I did?"

"Yes Audrey, what you did. We no sooner got to the party and you send me off to get you a Coke and then you busied yourself with all the guys who were hanging with Monica when we got there. You even sent Monica over to tell me to take a hike."

"I never did that!"

"You deny sending Monica over to tell me to bug off?"

"She would never do something like that."

"The hell she wouldn't. I came back with a Pepsi for you and she came over to me and said she would take it and hold it for you. Her exact words were "You might as well find something else to do. She's going to be busy for a while." When she said that I tried to cut in and remind you whose date you were and the asshole you were dancing with got mouthy and tried to get physical and when I got physical back you told me that I was embarrassing you. That was a laugh. Me embarrassing you? How about the embarrassment you caused me? How do you think it looked to everyone there when as soon as we get to the party my date abandons me for a bunch of Monica's assholes? It will be a cold day in hell before you get an apology out of me. Now if you don't mind I'd like to finish my lunch" and I went back to eating.

She sat there silent and watching me for maybe a minute and then she got up and left.

I saw her again in the two afternoon classes we shared and she ignored me which didn't bother me at all.

Three weeks went by and then one Thursday I was again sitting in Harry's Malt Shop when Audrey sat down across from me. I looked up from the notes I was reviewing, saw that it was Audrey and went back to my notes. Maybe a minute passed and then Audrey said:

"I'm here to eat crow Rob." I looked up at her and she said, "You were right. My behavior was uncalled for and I can't offer any good excuse for it other than I was asked to dance and you weren't back yet so I said yes and then things got out of hand. After talking with you in the cafeteria and thinking about it I was all set to apologize until I asked Monica why she said what you said she said. She denied it and said you were lying to cover up for being an asshole so I stopped thinking about apologizing. It wasn't until last Sunday that I found out that it was Monica who lied. Gail Luoma told me that she heard Monica say it to you. It has taken me until now to work up the courage to face you. I'm sorry Rob. Can we get by this and maybe try again?"

I looked at her for several seconds and then said, "What do you have in mind when you say "try again?"

"Well, since our first date didn't go too well I thought maybe we could give it another try?"

"You have anything planned for Saturday?"

"No."

"Would you like to go to the movies with me?"

"I'd love to."

The date went well and it led to a second one which in turn led to a third and suddenly Audrey and I were a couple. The only fly in the ointment was that Audrey sometimes had us double dating with Monica and her butt-head of the moment. I say that because Monica seemed incapable of dating a guy who wasn't an obnoxious asshole. On many a date it was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and not create a scene. What amazed me was that Audrey never seemed to notice or care.

Things were good between Audrey and me until two weeks before senior prom. Audrey and I had a date to attend a concert on Sunday and Saturday evening she called me and told me that she had to cancel because of a family emergency. Those things happen and so I thought nothing about it. I didn't feel like going to the concert alone so I called a couple of guys I knew and we went over to check out a new arcade that had opened on the west side of town.

The first thing I saw when I walked into the arcade was Audrey, Monica and two guys standing in line to buy game tokens. I debated going over to her and saying something about ‘family emergencies' but decided against it. She would see me sooner or later and know that I'd seen her. Hopefully the knowledge that she was busted would ruin her night. Actually it would do more than ruin her night. It would cast a pall on some other things also. For one, although she didn't know it yet, she was going to need a date for the prom since she damned sure wouldn't be going with me.

I happened to be looking at her reflection in the glass panel on the back of the pin ball machine I was playing when she saw me. Her hand flew up to her mouth and she hurriedly turned away, said something to Monica and then she, Monica and the two guys split and I didn't see them again that night

Audrey wasn't in school Monday and I didn't call her. Tuesday Audrey walked up to the table I was sitting at during lunch period and sat down. She said:

"Can we talk Rob?"

I said no and got up and walked away. She tried to get me to talk to her following both afternoon classes and I simply walked by her without saying a word. Wednesday she again approached me in the cafeteria.

"We need to talk Rob."

"About what?"

"About what we are going to be doing on prom night."

"I have no idea what you will be doing. I'll be going stag."

Her face went pale and she said, "You aren't taking me?"

"No Audrey, I'm not. You can go with the guy you went out with Sunday night. Or maybe you can give your good friend Monica a call. She always seems to be able to come up with dates for you."

I got up and walked away leaving her sitting there with tears running down her face.

Saturday Harlina Collins called me at home. After some small talk she said:

"Something happen between you and Audrey?"

"You could say that. Why?"

"She is running around frantically trying to find a date for the prom. I take it that she isn't going with you?"

"No she isn't."

"Who are you taking?"

"No one. I'll be going stag."

"Would you like a date?"

"It is a little late to be looking for a date. By now everyone will be spoken for."

"Not necessarily. I need a date."

"You? What happened between you and Toby?"

"Nothing happened between us. Yesterday he went to the hospital with a burst appendix and he is going to be off his feet for at least two weeks. No way he can make it to the prom next Friday."

"Will you going with me create problems between the two of you?"

"No. I already asked Toby and he said he was okay with it."

"Then you have a date."

Harlina and I had a great time at the prom and at the two after prom parties we attended. I do have to say that the kiss she gave me when I took her home would not have passed the ‘boyfriend test' but other than that we behaved ourselves.

Audrey did manage to come up with a date or more likely Monica found her one since the guy wasn't someone who went to our school. Audrey did not seem like she was having all that good of a time, but hey! Not my problem.

Audrey and I pretty much steered clear of each other for the rest of our senior year. Me because she had lied to me and did what I considered as stabbing me in the back and her because, as I heard through the grapevine, she blamed me for ruining her senior prom.

Graduation came and my parents gave me a three year old Mustang convertible as a graduation present and that made my summer dating much easier. I dated a lot, but I never hooked up with anyone steady. I spent the summer working for the landscape company I had worked for the previous two summers and then in the fall I was off to college.

As fate would have it Audrey and I were thrown together on our first day of classes. We were both Business Management majors and had four shared classes. We avoided each other for most of the first term, but then in Introduction to Production Management the instructor split the class up into eight groups of four students each and assigned group projects. I ended up in the same group as Audrey. There was no way around it; we had to socialize because we had to research together and work together with the other two in the group in order to complete the project.

One afternoon when all four of us were supposed to meet at the library I got there first and was sitting at a table in the reference section when Audrey showed up. She sat down and we pretty much ignored each other for a couple of minutes before Audrey said:

"This is just stupid. We are supposed to be adults now so why are we acting like children. We have known each other for years so we should be able to talk to each other. How have you been Rob?"

"Not bad Audrey. You?"

"I've been better. I could have done without being put on this project with you."

"Sorry you have to put up with me, but it wasn't my choice."

"It's not the putting up with you Rob; it is the being around you and knowing that you don't like me."

Before I could say anything the other two showed up and we got busy on the project. When the group broke up I asked Audrey if she would like to have a cup of coffee with me. She hesitated slightly before saying that she would like to and I told her I would meet her at the student union in ten minutes and then I went over to the check out desk and checked out a couple of books.

Audrey was sitting at a table when I got to the cafeteria and I joined her after getting a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. As I sat down I said:

"Where did you get the idea that I don't like you?"

"From the way you dumped me just before the prom and then would never talk to me after."

"That had nothing to do with me liking you Audrey. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you don't know why it happened?"

"I didn't do anything to deserve that Rob."

"In my mind you did. You broke a date with me so you could go out with another guy."

"But I didn't do it because I liked the other guy. I only did it because Monica needed me to help her out. She wanted to go out with this guy, but he had a friend visiting and he couldn't go off and leave him alone so Monica asked me to double with her. The guy meant nothing to me. It was just one date and I never saw him again."

"Then that is what you should have told me instead of lying to me about a family emergency. You should have been up front with me. I wouldn't have liked it and it would have probably pissed me off, but I would have gotten over it, but to catch you in a lie? No way could I accept that."

"I guess you are right. I shouldn't have lied, but I knew you didn't care for Monica so I didn't want to bring her into it. I thought I could do it and you would never know so things would be okay. I'm sorry Rob; I really am sorry."

I said nothing and she was silent for maybe twenty seconds and then she said:

"I've missed you Rob."

"I've missed you too Audrey."

"Can we get back to being friends?"

"I don't see why not."

From that point on we were back talking although I made no attempt to ask her out. For one thing I'd already been burned twice by her, with Monica's help, and Monica was still around. I did date though and at various parties and other activities I'd see Monica, Audrey and the guys they were with. I never did seem to see Monica or Audrey with the same guy twice in a row.

Audrey and I lunched together often in the cafeteria and since we shared many of the same classes we met after class at the library to study. During one of those study sessions Audrey asked:

"Are we ever going to get back to the way we were?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you ever going to ask me out again?"

"I don't know Audrey. To be honest about it I was pretty much stuck on you, but twice you burned me because of Monica and you still run with her. I don't feel much like setting myself up to get dumped on again."

"Do you really think I would do that to you?"

"You already have Audrey; twice."

"I was younger and a little more flighty then Rob. I have grown up a lot."

I took a chance and asked for a date and, as the last time, one led to two which led to a third and then we were keeping each other company again. On our fifth date we made love for the first time. There previously had been a lot of hot and heavy necking, but we had never gone all the way. Neither of us were virgins and though I knew it was unreasonable of me I was really pissed that Audrey wasn't. Mostly because she had probably lost it to one of the guys Monica was always setting her up with instead of me. However we seemed to fit well together and after that first time we made love three or four times a week.

As it had been before a lot of our dates were double dates with Monica and her taste in guys hadn't improved any, but also as before I kept my mouth shut and bore up under it as best I could.

We made it through our freshman and sophomore years without any more problems and I was beginning to think of our future after graduation. I was even to the point of stopping and looking in jewelry store windows at rings. One month into our senior year the Monica Monster raised its ugly head again.

It was a Thursday and we were having lunch at the cafeteria in the student union and Audrey asked:

"We don't have anything going this Saturday do we?"

"Not that I can think of. Why?"

"Monica wants me to do her a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"This guy she is seeing has a friend coming to town for the weekend."

"Are you the only girl that Monica knows? Why is it always you that has to be the one that she sets up with her boyfriend's friends?"

"I'm sure that she knows other girls, but I'm her best friend and she just feels more comfortable when it is me with her."

"Well I'm not comfortable with it. I thought we had something working for us Aud, but you going off and dating other guys makes me wonder."

"Don't be that way Rob. It doesn't mean a thing. We will go to dinner and maybe a movie. Probably stop for a drink or two and some dancing and then I'll go home. It is just a favor to Monica and you just said that we don't have anything planned. It will be okay."

"I don't own you Audrey, but I'm going to say that I don't like it. I'm not happy with it at all" and I got up and walked away from the table.

I had hoped the way I left would give her pause and make her rethink things. I didn't see her again until lunch the next day. We talked about classes and things and after I finished eating I said:

"You want to do something this weekend?"

"Did you forget I'm going out with Monica?"

"No, but I had hoped that you would have thought it over and decided not to do it."

"We doing anything tonight?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to call around and see if anybody has a sister or a female cousin or female friend coming to town who needs a date" and I got up and left her sitting there.

She tried to talk to me after our afternoon class, but I didn't stop to talk. She called me twice that night. The first time she told me that I was being unreasonable and I told her not to my way of thinking and I hung up on her. The second time she gave me a ration of shit for hanging up on her and I hung up on her again.

Saturday I called around and found a couple of guys to go out drinking with. Mike had heard of a new place out on the turnpike and so we went out that way to check the place out. We had been there maybe an hour when Ben said:

"Isn't that Audrey?"

I looked and sure enough it was Audrey, Monica and two guys. One guy had his arm around Audrey and she was looking up at him and smiling. They took a table at the other end of the room from us and ordered drinks. The guy who had his arm around Audrey leaned over and said something to her and she laughed and then they kissed. They got up to dance and moved so close together that I doubt you would have been able to slide a sheet of paper between them. Audrey had both arms around his neck and he had both hands on her ass pulling her into him.

I watched for an hour as they danced and kissed and then I'd had enough. I told Ben and Mike that I needed to move to some other place to do my drinking or I would probably end up in jail for creating a very nasty disturbance. We got up to leave and I stopped at Audrey's table. When she saw me I saw her face change to an "Oh shit!" look and I leaned down and said to Audrey's guy:

"She is a great piece of ass, but make sure that you use a condom. The last time I fucked her she gave me a bad case cock rot. Took damned near a month to clear up."

Then I looked Audrey in the eye and said, "Nice seeing you again Aud" and then I walked away.

Mike, Ben and I went over to the Landing Strip Lounge near the airport and saw Harlina Collins, Nancy Neubert and Bev Holbrook sitting at a table and they waved us over to join them. We danced and drank with the girls until closing and then hit the Denny's on Wayne Road for an early breakfast. Harlina was riding with Bev and as we finished eating Harlina commented on the fact that she lived close to me and could I give her a ride home since Bev lived in the opposite direction so I told her no problem. Bev took Mike with her since they only lived two blocks apart. Ben and Nancy had been making eyes at each other all night so they left together.

Once in my car I asked Harlina why she wasn't out with Toby on a Saturday night.

"Toby is history."

"Oh? When did that happen?"

"When I caught him screwing Helen Liss."

"I didn't know. Sorry."

"I'm not. Better to find out he is a cheating asshole now rather than later. Why aren't you with Audrey tonight?"

"Pretty much for the same reason you aren't with Toby."

"We can sure pick them."

I didn't say anything to that and after maybe a minute Harlina looked over at me and said:

"You know what I'm the most sorry about?"

"No idea."

"I was so looking forward to giving up my cherry on prom night, but then Toby ended up in the hospital. I almost talked myself into letting you do the deed, but at the last minute I decided to stay true to Toby. Too bad that I didn't know then what I know now." She was silent for a bit and then she said, "Any interest in seeing what we both missed out on?"

After what I'd seen Audrey doing I owed her nothing so I looked over at Harlina and smiled.

The hot kiss that Harlina had given me on prom night had hinted at the passion inside her waiting to be released. If what she gave me was even half of what she'd had inside her waiting to break out on prom night I'd missed out on the experience of a lifetime. She was hot and she was damned near insatiable and she took me to my absolute limits. At six in the morning she was trying to get me to respond again and I just could not answer the call. We'd made love four times and I just didn't have a fifth in me.

"Maybe tonight" I told her, "but no way I can go again until I've had some rest."

"Tonight is out because it is my parent's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and I have to be at their party, but I don't have anything going tomorrow."

I was just a touch slow in answering that and Harlina said, "It is too soon for me to be thinking of Toby's replacement Rob, but I would like to have someone around to help me get over him."

"My last class is at three."

"I get home from work at five."

"Six o'clock?"

"I'll be ready."

At two that Afternoon I got a call from Audrey.

"That was a rotten thing to say to Kyle and why were you following me anyway?"

"What's the matter Audrey? He didn't have a condom or did he have one and wouldn't take a chance? And I didn't follow you Audrey. Mike, Ben and I were there an hour before you got there and I sat there and watched you and your dickhead date for another hour before I stopped by to say hi. Think back on everything you did from the time you walked in the door until I stopped by your table and you will know what I saw. Should what I saw have made me happy Audrey? Goodbye."

The phone rang again almost immediately and I took it off the hook and left it off until I left to go to the movies two hours later.

The next day I was taking my lunch break at the student cafeteria when Audrey sat down at my table. I looked up at her and said in a slightly unfriendly tone:

"What do you want?"

"I want to know what the hell you thought you were doing the other night. I'm here because you can't hang up on me here and if you get up and walk away I'll just get up and walk with you. I'm not letting you tune me out."

"You would be better off tuning me out me out than hearing what I have to say."

"I can't refute it until you do."

"You can't refute it anyway. I saw what I saw and there is absolutely no excuse - none! - for a woman to behave that way with a man when she already has - make that had - a steady boyfriend. If you behaved that way in public there is no doubt in my mind about what you were going to do in private. When I stopped at your table and said what I said I did it in the hope that it would ruin your evening because God knows you had already ruined mine."

"You honestly think I would have done that? You have that low of an opinion of me?"

"Actions speak for themselves Audrey. You did everything but fuck him while I sat back in the corner and watched. He played with your ass and your tits and he had his tongue so far down your throat that it probably touched the backside of your belly button. You made absolutely no attempt to shut him down. All you did was smile and I'll say it again; if you were doing that out in the open in public there is no doubt in my mind at all about what was going on in private."

"I swear to you Rob that nothing was going to happen. Okay, maybe I did go a little overboard, but we were having a good time and I was just going with the flow. I told Kyle ahead of time that I had a steady boyfriend and not to expect anything."

"He obviously didn't believe you or he wouldn't have been taking the liberties he took and your allowing those liberties pretty much told him that you didn't really mean what you said."

"God damn it Rob, nothing happened. Nothing was going to happen. After you left the table Kyle asked me if you were my boyfriend and when I said yes he told me I should get up and go after you. The only reason I didn't is because I was pissed at you because I thought you were following me. Please Rob, you have to believe me. Nothing happened and nothing was going to happen."

"I don't know Audrey. It seems to me that I'm only your boyfriend until Monica gives you a call and then I'm not until she doesn't need you. I don't think I want that kind of a relationship. Three times we have had a problem and all three times were because of Monica. I'm a realist Audrey. There is no way I can come between two people who have a fifteen year friendship. No way can I say Monica or me, your choice. I think it is best that we just call it quits and move on. Sorry Audrey, but that's the way I see it."

I got up and headed for my next class.

Over the next three weeks I saw Audrey almost every day at school, but we didn't talk. Over the same period I got together with Harlina seven or eight times as we worked on our friends with benefits relationship. Then two things happened within three hours of each other that changed things.

The first was Harlina bumping into me at the student book store and telling me that she and Toby were going to give things another try and asking me if I would please never let him find out about what we had done together. I promised silence and wished her good luck.

The second thing happened at the end of my last class of the day. I found Monica waiting for me in the hall outside of the classroom. She stepped up to me and said:

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you being such a dickhead toward Audrey? That girl is in love with you and you are treating her like shit."

"What? You are pretending that you don't know what went on?"

"I know what went on. Nothing! That's what went on. I was with her the whole time from the time we picked her up until we dropped her off and outside of some touchy-feely shit nothing happened. Okay so the girl had a drink or two too many and got a little loose, but Kyle knew she was spoken for and Tom and I weren't going to let anything happen."

"If everyone knew she was spoken for why the hell were you asking her to date another guy?"

"Because I didn't know until you kicked her to the curb how she really felt about you. To me you were just another guy she was dating. I didn't know you were special to her until we picked her up and she told Kyle that all she was going to be was company and why. At that point Tom and I appointed ourselves as her babysitter.

"We hit the Aladdin and had several drinks and waited for the band before we found out that their van got in an accident on the way to the lounge. We probably could have done with a few less drinks, but what the hell; we were out to have a good time. Nothing happened and nothing was going to happen. Kyle even told Aud to run after you after you left our table.

"The poor girl is a wreck. She comes to school and then goes home and sits and cries. If you have any feelings at all for her give the kid a break. You need to do something soon or you are liable to lose her. She is a lot tougher than she looks and sooner or later she will suck it up and move on. Think on it. Think on it hard."

She gave me a hard look and then she walked away.

I spent a day or two thinking about what Monica had said and it might have been true that nothing was going to happen. What it all came down to was that I had been hung up on Audrey since the ninth grade - over six years - and I missed not being with her.

When I got to the student union on Friday I saw Audrey sitting alone at a table and I took a deep breath, sucked it up and went over and sat down with her.

"I'm sorry Audrey. I overreacted and I apologize for the things I said."

"No need Rob. I've been over that night in my mind a dozen times and I can see why you thought what you thought. My behavior was inexcusable for someone who had a steady boyfriend."

I started to stand up and she asked, "Where are you going?"

"I just stopped by to apologize."

She pointed at the chair and said, "Sit! This is the first time you have talked to me in weeks and I want to keep it going. How have you been?"

We talked in general while we ate and just before I needed to leave for my next class Audrey asked:

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" and looked at me expectantly and just like that we were back together.

I proposed in October of our senior year, she said yes and we began making plans for a June wedding following graduation.

As it had been in the past we did double date with Monica and her beau from time to time. She had finally settled on Tom and for a change he wasn't a dick head like most of Monica's previous guys and I actually liked him.

On June sixteenth Audrey and I took our vows with Monica acting as her Maid of Honor and one month later Audrey stood with Monica as she and Tom were married.

The first six months of our marriage were trouble free and then there was another ‘Monica Moment.' It was a Saturday night and Audrey and I had gone to dinner and after eating Audrey said she would like to go somewhere for a few drinks and some dancing so I drove us over to the Starlight Lounge. We had been there about forty-five minutes when Monica, Tom and two guys I didn't know arrived and took a table at the other end of the room from us. Naturally Audrey had to go over and say hi and I expected her to come back and tell me that we were going to move over to their table and join them.

That isn't what happened. Audrey was there for almost ten minutes and then she got up and danced with one of the guys I didn't know. After the dance she went back to Monica's table and two minutes later she got up and danced with the other guy I didn't know and after that dance she went back to Monica's table. I gave it another five minutes and then I got up and moved toward her. I was about halfway to her when she got up to dance with the first guy she had danced with. Was I pissed? Take a wild guess.

I got my wallet out and took out a twenty. I walked up to Audrey and the guy and grabbed Audrey's arm as I said:

"Excuse me for a second." I handed Audrey the twenty and said, "Here's cab fare" and I turned and walked away.

I had the car started and was just taking it out of ‘park' when the passenger door opened and Audrey got in. She slammed the door and said:

"What the hell is wrong with you Rob? You were actually going to leave me there?"

"Me? There is nothing wrong with me Audrey. It is all on you."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Every time you get near Monica your brain short circuits. You went over to say hi to Monica and twenty-five minutes later, after dancing with two guys I've never seen before I'd finally had enough and I came over to tell you goodbye and leave you with who you obviously wanted to be with. It sure wasn't me. You forgot that I was even there."

"Get a grip Rob. All you ha..."

"Can it Audrey. I don't want to hear it."

"Damn it Ro...."

"Just shut the fuck up Audrey!!!"

The rest of the ride home was made in silence.

Things were cool around the house for the next three days and then on Tuesday Audrey woke me up with a blow job and when I was hard enough she moved over me and rode me cowgirl until we both came. She leaned forward and lay on my chest and said:

"I'm sorry baby."

I wisely didn't say a word.

Over the next couple of months I saw some things that disturbed me especially in the light of the time Audrey spent around Monica. One day as I was driving home from work I was passing the Motel 6 on Danbury and for some unknown reason I looked to my right just in time to see Monica come out of one of the rooms with a man who was most definitely not Tom.

Three weeks later I was having lunch with my boss at the downtown Hilton and I was sitting where I could see the lobby. I saw Monica come in with a man and they went to the check in desk. Five minutes later they got into the elevator and I knew the Hilton well enough to know that there was nothing above the first floor but rooms.

I debated telling Audrey what I'd seen, but decided not to. She knew I didn't care for Monica and she would probably think I was trying to make something out of nothing. I didn't know Tom well enough to go to him and for all I knew he and Monica had one of those open marriage type things going.

Two months later Tom took a job at XYZ Industries out in California and I breathed a sigh of relief that Monica was gone from our life. And now here was Audrey telling me that Monica was back. Oh Joy!

++++++++++++++++++++++

Over the next month Audrey met Monica a half a dozen times for lunch and then came what I knew was coming.

"Honey if it is all right with you I'm going to stop after work tonight for drinks with Monica and a couple of girls that we grew up and went to school with. There are plenty of leftovers in the fridge so you can micro-wave yourself something for dinner okay?"

I was going to say no? Best friends for two-thirds of her life and I was going to say "I'd much rather you didn't" to her? I could just imagine what things would be like around the house if I did that. I didn't say a word, but I did give her a long look that told her that I had reservations based on previous experience and I hoped she would take those reservations to heart. Silly me. I should have told her exactly what I was thinking and taken the heat.

She was home by eight-thirty and told me she'd had a good time talking with her girlfriends and being brought up to date on the happenings in their lives. Then she took me to bed and did her level best to turn me into a total wreck. It was not our normal way. We usually made love three or four times a week, but normally it was some foreplay, some mutual oral, do it one time and then cuddle up and go to sleep. That night we went three times and Aud was doing her best to try and get me up for a fourth, but I just could not answer the call. As we lay there cuddling I asked her what had gotten in to her.

"I wanted to show you how much I appreciate you." She was quiet for a moment and then said, "In talking to the girls tonight I came to realize that you are a treasure. Mary Sue has been married and divorced twice. Betsy is divorced and Carol is separated from her husband and it will probably end up in a divorce. Their husbands cheated on them; Mary Sue's first had a habit of coming home drunk and using her for a punching bag and there was a host of other faults that their ex husbands had. I on the other hand seem to have the perfect husband so I thought I should do something to let you know how special you are."

I pulled her to me, kissed her and we fell asleep in each other's arms.

+++++++++++++++++++

In the morning over breakfast Audrey told that the girls had such a good time that they were going to do it on a monthly basis. For the next two months Audrey met with her friends on the third Thursday of the month and she was always home between eight and nine. During the same period she had lunch with Monica on the average of once a week. Then the monthly meetings turned into every two weeks or so, but Audrey was coming home between nine and ten and she always wanted to make love when she got there.

I started wondering when the get togethers started taking place weekly and Audrey's time getting home went to between ten and eleven. The night she came home at ten forty-five was the night I finally decided that I needed to look into things.

The next Thursday I was parked down the street where I could see Audrey's car in the employee parking lot and when she got off work I followed her to the Gold Dust Lounge. I parked on the street so Audrey wouldn't see my car if she came out of the lounge for some reason. I gave her a half hour before I followed her in. I never wear a hat and I have 20/20 vision so my disguise was a windbreaker that I had bought that afternoon and that Audrey had never seen, a Cubs ball cap and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses with the lenses pushed out. And just for insurance I had on a fake mustache.

I walked in, saw Audrey at a table with five girls - one being Monica f course - and I moved to a table on the other side of the room and settled in to watch. Until seven all that happened was that the girls sat and talked while nursing their drinks. At seven a band came in and set up and as soon as they started to play guys started approaching the table and asking the girls to dance. Audrey said no to the first couple of guys, but after the band came back from their first break - and she'd had a few drinks - she got up and danced. Around nine one of the guys she danced with let his hands slip down to her ass and she didn't do anything about it.

Also around nine o'clock guys had joined every woman at the table except for Carol and Audrey. When the tune ended the guy who had put his hands on Audrey's ass walked her back to the table and she said something to him and he sat down and joined the group. About that time Carol picked up her purse and left. Audrey sat and talked with her guy and got up and danced with him two more times and both times he had his hands on her ass and was pulling her into him.

One by one the girls and the guys they had paired up with got up and left until only Monica, her guy and Audrey and the guy she had been dancing with were still at the table. That sat at the table and talked for maybe ten minutes and then the four of them got up and headed out of the lounge. I followed them out and saw Monica and her guy get in a car and drive off. Audrey and her guy got in his car and started to neck. I wanted to see what would happen so instead of storming over and breaking things up I watched.

For twenty minutes they necked, talked and necked some more. Then I saw the man get a nasty look on his face as the dome light came on as the passenger door opened. I ran for my car and hurried home and got there just about ten minutes before Audrey showed up. She walked in and saw me and said:

"Oh good! You're up. I was afraid you would be asleep and I'm horny."

As we made love I was wondering who she was thinking of; me or the guy she had been with at the lounge.

++++++++++++++++++++++

The next Thursday I was again in place to watch and the scene was the same except for the cast of players. There were the same women, but the guys were all different. Audrey danced with a couple of different guys before one of them joined her at the table. The only thing different was that this time the guy didn't put his hands on her ass. The group broke up around ten and as happened the previous week Audrey ended up in her guy's car. They made out. I couldn't tell what their hands were doing, but their mouths stayed busy. When the dome light came on I saw an astonished look on the guys face just before I turned and ran for my car.

I again beat Audrey home by ten minutes and as she had been the previous week she was glad to see that I was still up to take care of the condition that her make out session had gotten her into. The third Thursday was a repeat of the first two. Audrey had never done anything but dance close and do some necking. At least she never did that I knew about, but I had no idea if she exchanged phone numbers and met any of them later.

Except for Thursdays she was always home a half hour after she got off work so if she was doing anything it was being done during her lunch breaks or maybe she was taking off from work during the day. I really doubted that she did either since she obviously could have left the bar earlier or have gone to meet someone right from work. I was not all that happy about what she was doing and I needed to let her know that and I decided to do it in a way that would get major attention.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Harlina had come to work where I worked and since we were old friends and one-time lovers we often had lunch together. I knew she was between boyfriends (her marriage to Toby had ended) so I asked her if she was up for doing me a big favor. I told her what was going on with Audrey and what I wanted to do. She laughed and told me to count her in.

The next Thursday I again followed Audrey to the Star Dust only this time I waited until she had parked her car and had gone inside. I pulled into the lot and parked just to the right of her and then I sat and waited. At seven-ten Harlina, who had gotten there before Audrey and had taken the table where I usually sat, called me and told me that Audrey was out on the dance floor.

Without a disguise this time I walked in and walked directly over to Harlina's table and sat down with my back to the dance floor and asked Harlina if any of them had noticed me. She said it didn't look like anyone at the Audrey's table had. We sat and nursed our drinks while Harlina kept me up to date on what was going on behind me. Finally Audrey started dancing with the same guy and when he joined her at her table I put my plan into action.

The next time Audrey and her guy got up to dance Harlina and I got up and moved out onto the floor. I made sure that I kept turned so I wasn't looking at Audrey and let Harlina be my eyes.

"Okay, she has just seen you. Her face went a little pale. She just maneuvered her guy so her back is to you. I think she thinks you haven't seen her yet. She just said something to the guy and they are dancing back toward their table. She still has her back to us."

"We need to get out of here before she has a chance to get out first."

We went back to our table, Harlina got her purse and without looking at Audrey's table we left the lounge and went to my car. As soon as we were in the car Harlina slid over next to me and we pretended to be making out. Harlina was looking over my shoulder at the door to the bar and about two minutes after we got into the car she said:

"She just came out. She's alone. She's scanning the parking lot. Oh oh; she just spotted us and she looks pissed. She's walking to her car. She's in the car, but she is just sitting there watching." Harlina was silent for a couple of minutes and then she said, "She started the car. There she goes; she's out of the lot."

"Thanks sweetie. I owe you one."

"Keep me in mind lover. If things don't work out for you give me a call. As I remember it we were pretty good together way back when."

She got out and went over to her car and I drove over to Denny's and had a burger and some fries. I went home at ten-thirty and Audrey was sitting on the couch when I got there.

"Oh good! You're up. I was afraid you would be asleep and I'm horny. Come on Aud; let's go to bed and have some fun."

"You bastard!! How could you do that to me?"

"Do what Aud?"

"I saw you with that tramp Harlina so don't you be asking me "what." You know damned well what you did."

"Was there something wrong with it?"

"You know damned well there is something wrong with it."

"Wait a sec here Aud; I need to see if I understand what is going on here. You go out every Thursday evening, dance with guys and then go out in the parking lot and make out with them in their cars and then come home and tell me that you are horny. At least that is the way it has been for the three weeks I followed you."

Her face lost all of its color.

"If it was good enough for you to do Audrey, it should be good enough for me too; don't you think? Come on Aud; let's go have some fun."

I got up and headed for the bedroom, but Audrey didn't follow. About fifteen minutes later I heard her come up the stairs and go into the spare bedroom so I rolled over and went to sleep.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

When I got up in the morning I found Audrey sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. She didn't look like she'd had a good night. I poured myself a cup of coffee and was fixing myself a bowl of cereal when she said:

"Why were you following me?"

"Because you were with Monica and you have a history of being stupid when you are around her. When your night out with the girls went from one night a month to weekly and your come home times went from eight o'clock to ten-thirty I thought it was time that I check things out. It seems that I was right. Unfortunately even though I followed you I wasn't able to get answers to all of my questions."

"Questions?"

"Yeah Audrey, questions. Things like did you exchange phone numbers with the guys and then meet up with them later on your lunch breaks or take time off from work during the day to have a little afternoon recreational sex? Also, while watching I couldn't see anything below shoulder level so I couldn't see if you were giving the guy a hand job or if he was finger fucking you. I kind of suspect that they were since you always were so horny when you got home. I guess I'll need to put a private detective on you to find out about the lunch times and leaving work."

She was silent as I ate my cereal and then I went up showered and dressed for work. When I came out of the bedroom Audrey was still sitting at the table and when I took my car keys off of the hook on the side of the cupboard she said:

"What are you going to do?"

"That should be obvious Audrey. As long as you have your Thursday nights I'm going to have mine. See you tonight" and I headed off to work.

Normally Audrey and I get off work close to the same time, but I usually get home first, but when I got home that night Audrey was home and dinner was ready to be put on the table. Knowing that I had the high ground I was a little on the sarcastic side with her.

"Have a good day Aud? Take a long lunch maybe?"

She gave me a nasty look and snapped "No! I didn't even leave the building."

I shrugged and spooned some mashed potato onto my plate as I said, "Too bad I can't be sure of that. I haven't had time to get the private detective yet."

We ate the meal in silence and when we were done Audrey said, "I want to answer your questions."

"What questions?"

"The ones you asked this morning. I never gave anyone a phone number. I have never met anyone during my lunch periods and I have never taken off from work during the day to meet anyone. It doesn't matter that you couldn't see what was going on below shoulder level because nothing was going on down there. As for the question you didn't ask - what was I doing - I was being a bitch!"

"I didn't ask that question because I don't care why you were doing it. I have already come to accept that you become a brain dead zombie whenever you come within three feet of Monica."

"You might not want to know, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I said I was doing it because I was being a bitch. Every one of those guys saw my wedding rings and knew I was married, but they came after me anyway. I got a kick out of letting them buy me drinks and then leading them on until they thought they were home free. I went out to their cars with them; let them get all hot and bothered and then I left them with a case of blue balls. Think about it Rob. Did you ever see the same guy twice come on to me? In fact, did you ever see one of the guys I did it with back at the bar the next week? No you didn't."

I remembered the look on the face of the first guy I'd seen her with when she got out of his car and the astonished look on the face of the last guy I watched her with when she left him.

"I told you why I was always horny when I came home to you. It is the God's honest truth Rob; you are a treasure and I was always glad to come home to you after being exposed to assholes."

I looked at her for maybe a minute and then said, "And how were you going to explain it to me when one of those guys you teased didn't take no for an answer and just took what he wanted? Did you expect that I would accept "I was just kidding Rob and it got out of hand?"

She looked ashen and said, "I never thought about that."

"That's the problem Audrey. You never think when you are around Monica."

She was quiet for a bit and then said, "What now?"

"Simple Audrey; I said it last night. You do Thursdays; I do Thursdays."

"No Rob; I mean right now?"

"Right now?"

"I feel an obligation. You were horny last night and I didn't do anything about it. I don't know about you, but with me the horny's linger."

I smiled and said, "It's the same with me."

We left the dirty dishes on the table and headed for our bedroom. We were exhausted when we finished and as Audrey snuggled up to me she said:

"No more Thursdays baby, no more Thursdays" and seconds later there was the soft breathing of a sleeping woman.

+++++++++++++++++++++

A month went by and Audrey didn't go out on Thursdays and then one Wednesday morning my secretary buzzed me on the intercom and told me there was a Miss Torpin there to see me. It took me several seconds before I remembered that Torpin was Monica's maiden name. I told Jill to send her in.

I stood as Monica came in and I asked her to have a seat. She looked as hot and sexy as she always had and as she sat and crossed her magnificent legs I wondered, as I often had before, why I had never cottoned to her. She saw where I was looking and she smirked and then said:

"The Evil Bitch is here to ask you for a favor."

"Evil bitch?"

"Audrey and I have no secrets from each other. She has told me all about how you believe I cast some sort of spell over her whenever she is around me."

I just sat there and looked at her.

"I think the world of Audrey and I would never let anything happen to her that would cause her pain. I always have her best interests at heart. I know what she was doing on her nights out with the girls and I didn't interfere because I know Audrey; I know how she feels about you so I know that she would never do anything that would cost her your love. She belongs to you totally and I believe I told you that in a high school hallway once upon a time."

"What is this about Monica?"

"I want you to let Audrey out of jail."

"Out of jail? What the hell are you talking about?"

"The girls miss Audrey. She was part of our group, but she won't leave the house because of what you might think she was up to; because of what you think happens to her when she is near me. That girl would no more cheat on you than I could stay celibate for a week. Besides, if I thought she was leaving the bar to do you dirt I would grab her arm, pull her back and slap some sense into her. Unlike the rest of the girls in the group she has it made. She has what the rest of us want and she knows it."

"That's part of the problem Monica. The three weeks I followed her you and all the others left the bar with a different man every night. You are setting an example."

"So what Rob? Every girl at that table except Audrey is single or in the process of getting single. They have no vows that need to be honored and looking for a life partner is part of the human condition. Two of them have met guys at that bar that they think they have a good chance of having a stable relationship with. I play the field because, to be absolutely honest about it, I have never found any one man who can handle me and my appetites. I have often thought that you might be the one, but alas, you belong to Audrey. Anyway, I'm asking you to let Audrey come join us on Thursdays. You don't have to worry about her Rob and deep down inside you know that. Think about it okay? Nice seeing you Rob. Take care" and she got up and left.

I watched the sway of her ass as she walked out of my office and I was human enough to wonder if indeed I was the man who could handle her.

+++++++++++++++

I spent most of the day and a good part of the evening thinking about Monica's visit. Audrey and I made mad, passionate love that night and afterwards as I lay there in the warm after glow I admitted to myself that Monica was right. I loved Audrey and I knew that Audrey loved me and that she was mine. Part of love is trust.

In the morning over breakfast I casually asked Audrey what time she would be home that night and she said:

"The usual. Sometime between five-thirty and six."

"That won't even give you time for one drink."

"What are you talking about?"

"It is Thursday isn't it?"

She sat there and stared at me for almost thirty seconds while I sat there and waited for a reply. Finally she said:

"Are you sure?"

"You are a big girl now. You know how to handle yourself."

She got up and came over and sat down on my lap. She kissed me and asked:

"Got time for a quickie before going to work?"

I did.