The Tattle Tale

The Tattle Tale

Chapter Two

Over the course of the next couple weeks, I carefully engaged Melissa to see how she would feel about coming over. I had not actually invited her over for that purpose, but I wanted to. I just didn't know how to broach the subject with her. It was true that she spoke about her relationships and that she did enjoy casual meetups, but I didn't engage her beyond that. I decided to invite her to lunch again, and she agreed.

We met at the same place. She seemed more upbeat than before, and I wanted to take advantage of that.

"Hi!" I said, trying to match her mood, "I'm glad we could meet again. I feel like we lost out on a lot of time together. We used to be nearly inseparable."

She smiled warmly and said, "I do miss those times. The time apart was well spent, I think. We both had to establish our roots."

We resumed the conversation from our last meeting. We talked a little about the past and delved into more detail about our happenings since we went our separate ways. I saw the opportunity I was looking for when she began to talk about her post-school life.

"You've not dated anyone

at all

since we left? Joey and I have been going strong since then," I reminded her.

She furled her brow in thought before she responded, "Not a single person. When I have the need, I'll find someone to quench the thirst, but I don't want anyone hanging around for a while, ya know?"

I nodded as I responded, "I can see the benefit in that. Is this a 'friends with benefits' kind of thing or do you just find a hookup?"

She chuckled.

"No, not friends. They tend to stick around. I find some rando out there and make sure they go away when we've given each other what we were both ultimately looking for."

I was disheartened at first. I thought any angle I had before was gone. I realized, though, that I had something else in my pocket.

"That's pretty convenient," I offered.

"It is! It's safe, effective and I don't have to worry about clingy guys coming back trying to tie me down."

"I'm glad you're being safe about it."

Her eyes opened wide, "The only thing worse than a clingy guy is a clingy disease!"

We both laughed in agreement.

"What about a guy who's already taken?" I asked nervously.

"That's messy. I'd hate to reduce myself to being the side chick," she said, taking a bite of her newly arrived meal.

I almost rolled my eyes as she missed my point, but I also knew I was being just about as elusive as I could be. It was nice to know she was particular about who she was with and had self-respect enough to not be some guy's side-action whore.

"Very valid point," I applauded. I pretended like I was thinking before continuing, "What about a couple?"

She looked at me strangely, "You mean be the third wheel?" It was clear to me that she had considered all these options or, at worst participated in them and decided it wasn't for her.

I feigned a laugh, "That's

one

way to look at it."

She looked at me strangely, "What could possibly be another way?"

"I'm just saying, a couple might enjoy the company of a third for their own reasons. It's not everything you see on Porn Hub, I imagine."

"I wouldn't know. I kind of like what I have set up. It's easy and..." she started before I interrupted her.

"Probably boring, eh?" I asked light heartedly.

She nodded and sighed lightly, "Incredibly."

"Have you ever gone back to one you've had have fun with?" I asked.

"No. That would make

me

clingy, exactly like what I'm

not

looking for," she reminded me.

"Right. Would you like to swing by one evening and have dinner with Joey and I?" I asked abruptly. I realized after I said it that I appeared rushed and dismissive of the previous subject. I nearly started to backtrack, but she chimed in quickly; letting me know the topic had run its course.

"Sure. A home cooked meal would hit the spot. Who's the cook?"

"We both are. Our travels taught us a lot about cuisine," I said.

Among other things

, I added in thought.

Melissa thought for the briefest of moments and smiled widely, "I'd like that. I'm not much of a cook and would love to savor a good home cooked meal for once."

Got `er!

I thought.

"Perfect! Take a look at your schedule and let me know when you're available," I offered. I thought I would have time to prepare a dinner and layout the activities that could take place later. Melissa didn't waste any time.

"I know it's kind of last minute but," she paused, debating whether she should suggest it or not, "what about tonight? I'm sorry! I think I understated how much I would enjoy a home cooked meal. I burn water, Kelly."

I snorted when I laughed, "It can't be that bad, Mel."

She looked at me like someone would look at someone over the top of their glasses, "I forgot about a pot of boiling water I put on for pasta one night and when I remembered, the water was gone, and the pan stuck to the burner. I burned water."

I snickered at her misfortune, "Okay, did you want to come with me or just meet me at the house later?"

I suddenly realized what I was doing and how perfect a situation I had put myself into. Joey would surely react to her unplanned arrival. We would have to see if she were up for dinner

and

a show. I didn't know exactly what Joey had planned and where Melissa would fit into those plans.

"Why don't we hit up the grocery store after this and we can find something for me to make tonight."

Melissa's temperament had changed. She seemed relieved that she didn't have to endure another night of whatever accommodations she was accustomed to. I was so pushy trying to learn about her sex life that I never asked her about her life outside of that.

"What kind of food do you like?" I asked, opening the door for the obvious response.

"The home cooked kind," she retorted quickly while raising a single brow.

I rolled my eyes slightly as I grinned at her. I imagined what Joey would do about her witty, sarcastic tongue. He would punish her for talking back to him like that. I gawked at her as I imagined what he would make her do and grinned at the possibility that she could become a long-term thing for us. She could become our girlfriend.

"Smart ass!" I snapped, gently slapping her arm.

"I was being sarcastic, but it's also the truth. I'm not picky and will enjoy anything you make," she plainly stated.

"Okay, I have a few ideas. Let's get outta here and head to the store."

"Perfect. I'll get the tab since you're doing dinner," she offered.

I nodded as she dug through her handbag and proceeded to pay for lunch. We stepped out of the diner headed to our individual cars. A few steps in, we both stopped and looked at each other.

"Um, did you want to just follow me?" I asked, pointing to my car.

"Why don't you just hop in, and I'll play chauffeur," she offered.

I figured she could either give me a ride back later if the evening didn't go as I wanted or, in the best-case scenario, we could come get my car in the morning. Regardless, I agreed.

Almost as soon as she got into the car, I peppered her with questions.

"So, you don't cook. What do you eat?" I asked.

"This is going to sound bad, but I often just get food on the way home. Sometimes fast food, sometimes a prepared meal from the store. Sometimes it would be leftovers of previous take-home food. It's not great, but it's existing."

I looked over at her again, looking her up and down, "How do you keep a body like that while eating out a lot?" I realized I was letting her know that I noticed her body and that I approved.

She put two fingers on her stomach and pushed in hard, "I'm hardly fit!"

I slapped her leg and said, "You're in great shape!"

"Lacking social activities outside of sex, I have plenty of time to work out."

That she mentioned sex again without me prodding lifted my hopes about what could happen that night. I wanted to continue grooming her with compliments.

"Well, whatever you do, you look great!" I told her.

"Thank you. Being forced to work out to support my boycott of cooking is an easy price to pay. The water thanks me."

Her wit was attractive, and I was getting turned on despite my extremely limited experience with women.

"You have quite the witty repertoire still, I see."

She looked over at me and made a face, "How dare you go through my repertoire! Wait, or is it armoire? Eh, I forget," she said before chuckling at herself. "I'm sorry, I'll see myself out," she said, grabbing at the door handle.

"What!?" I said in a false panic, "No!"

She laughed harder, "Gotcha!"

I slapped her leg harder, allowing my hand to linger a little longer than what would normally be appropriate. I saw out of the corner of my eye that her eyes moved to my hand for the moment it was on her thigh.

"It stings a bit more when you do that," I clumsily told her. I didn't have any other ready excuse for holding my hand on her leg. If my mind worked faster in times like those, I would have chosen something much more fitting and ambiguous as it related to the evening's potential.

"I wonder what Joey would think about you abusing a poor orphan whose only crime was the desire to have a home cooked meal," she sadly pouted.

It was then I felt like no time had passed between high school and that moment.

"A poor orphan, huh?" I said sarcastically.

She stuck out her bottom lip and nodded slowly.

"Get out of the car!" I said laughing.

She shut off the car and I laughed almost all the way to the door with Melissa in tow. We walked the isles, and I picked items off the shelf as I continued asking questions. She never hesitated with her answers, and I got to learn a lot about how she lived her life. She was a workaholic who didn't make time for much else. That day was an exception to the rule, though. She told me she made a rare decision to put off whatever she was working on until the next day so that she would have time to properly catch up. She admitted that she had a hard time letting go, though; admitting her mind was preoccupied with tasks and deadlines during lunch.

"Let it go, Mel. Let's have a stress-free night," I suggested.

She looked over at me and gave me a single, confident nod, "I will absolutely do my best."

She never was one to commit to something she knew she could not control. Regardless, I locked arms with her as we used to and made our way to the checkout. While she was thinking about her career, I was still thinking of all the things that could happen that night. Random images soared through my head. They depicted her having a nice meal and departing for home soon after to her running from the house in horror to the three of us breaking the box spring of our bed. I couldn't decide which was more likely.

We hopped back in the car and made our way home. I knew Joey would be home when we arrived, and I intentionally did not give him warning that Melissa was in tow. He would have the fuel to ignite that special fire that builds within him when he gets in the mood. I was anxious to see how he would react.

Would he make a move on her tonight? Would he simply size her up to assist him in finalizing his plans for the next time they meet?

I asked myself.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Melissa asked curiously.

I snapped out of my daydreaming, "What?"

She giggled lightly at me, "I'm pretty sure you were just talking to yourself."

"Oh, I might have been. I was going over the recipe for dinner in my head," I lied.

She raised her eyebrows and nodded at me like she was impressed, "I could never remember recipes."

"You can remember that you burned water, though," I reminded her.

She slapped my arm and pretended to pout.

"Oh, stop pouting!"

"I

like

pouting!" she stated loudly before folding her arms across her chest.

As I was about to chastise her again, I turned onto our street and pointed to our house, "That's the house there."

She shifted around so she could see and continued looking as I pulled into the driveway.

"That house is so cute!" she said with genuine excitement.

She pointed to nearly every feature and gushed about how much she liked it. She rambled about her plain apartment and how she was

not

the homemaker type. The more she talked, the more I considered the concept of her being our girlfriend to be something that could happen. Joey noted she and I had always been close, but I selfishly let that all go after high school in favor of him. I snapped myself out of my dream state before she caught me again and told her we should head in so she could meet Joey once again.

"Babe, I'm home!" I announced when we walked in.

Melissa took her time looking around the entry way of the house. I told her I was going to go get Joey and that I would be right back. I looked around the kitchen, living room and finally made it to our room where I found him folding laundry.

"I'm back!" I happily announced.

He put down the towel he was folding and headed over to kiss me. As he kissed my forehead, I smiled and confessed my transgression.

"I brought her with me," I told him.

He took two steps back and I watched his mouth curl up into a wicked grin. My smile grew wider as if I was happy that he was pleased with me, but I was dying with excitement to know what was going through his mind.

"I brought stuff to make dinner, too," I said.

"Interesting," he responded coldly as he went back to his folding.

I skipped over to him and kissed his cheek, "Have fun!"

As I exited the room, I looked back to see the same wicked smile reappear on his face.

I went back to the kitchen to find Mel still wandering around looking at everything and marveling at the decorations we had around the place. She walked with me into the kitchen and helped me unpack the groceries onto the counter as I began the evening meal. We chatted about different odds and ends until Joey came into the kitchen.

"What's this?" he asked without emotion.

"What's what?" I responded.

He sauntered over to the counter and looked over my shoulder, "Are you making dinner?"

"Mmm-Hmm."

He turned to look at Melissa as she stood nervously on the other side of the kitchen. He regarded her strangely until he recognized her face.

"Melissa?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

She perked up as he recognized her, "Yes! I didn't know if you would remember me."

"You were Kelly's best friend if I remember correctly," he said with increased emotion.

I turned to watch their exchange of words.

"Yes," Melissa said, "we reconnected after all this time and I apologize if my appearance is too sudden, but I kind of invited myself over."

He turned only his head to look at me and winked as he said, "She did, huh?" His tone was cold and monotone, but I knew what he was doing. The stage was being set.

Melissa looked at me with a panicked look on her face. She restored the pleasant look she had on earlier as he resumed his focus on her.

"You're more than welcome whenever you like. How have you been?"

I turned back to my food prep with a small grin on my face.

He's going to do something tonight

, I thought to myself.

They got to talking and I listened to her answer the same questions that I had asked her already. She was happy to answer them with the same enthusiasm she had with me. I knew his questions weren't random. He had a plan, and it was already in motion. It wasn't that he didn't care about the responses. He just needed information about her to ensure the outcome he planned. I didn't intentionally pick a dinner with a long prep time but was glad I did. I wanted to hear the entire conversation.

"So, who's the lucky lad in your life," he asked.

There it is!

I thought.

"There is none. I'm a bit obsessed with my career and don't have time for relationships." She paused for a moment before adding, "Let me rephrase. I don't

make

time for them."

He cocked his head to the side slightly, "Well, that's different. Has it been like that since we graduated?"

She nodded, "I poured myself into school and I guess that behavior just followed into my career. Relationships draw too much from me and quite frankly, I find them a bit boring. They start great, sure but they end up being a desert, devoid of emotion and most of all, adventure."

"I couldn't agree more," he said as he looked at me, "but that's the responsibility of the couple, isn't it? To be adventurous?"

She thought for a moment, "I guess, but I know me. I would probably end up blaming him because I would exhaust myself with my career and come home tired and make him feel like

he's

the problem. I know you wouldn't expect for someone to have such insight into themselves. Also, I'm aware I'm rambling."

I felt like there was a soap opera being played out in my own kitchen. I was dying to know what was going to happen next at every turn.

"Okay. What about your uh,

needs

?" he asked without warning.

She smiled widely with feigned shock, "Are you trying to ask me if I have booty calls on speed dial?"

Joey laughed, "Well, no, but also yes. You're young, you have needs, right?"

She would not have had that discussion with anyone else, I would imagine. She was comfortable talking to me on this subject because we were friends before. I felt at the time that she was probably telling him because she was also comfortable around him.

"No, I don't and yes, I do," she said as she held up her hand and waved it around slightly. "Booty calls? Don't say booty calls, Joey. They get attached and I don't need that."

"To say relationships are boring is an odd thing for me to hear," Joey stated. "Sitting in an apartment alone obsessing over work seems pretty boring to

me

."

I wanted to stop everything I was doing and listen to her but the awkwardness in the room was already a bit overwhelming. He was being a bit more candid than I would have imagined. I was nearly trembling as I waited to hear how she would respond.

"Well, you're not me now, are you?" she quipped with a smile.

Her response threw me for a loop. I had not dug that far into her preferences. Her response, as benign as anyone else would take it, took my mind in a different direction. Images of her in random rooms of her apartment masturbating to fantasies she refused to make time for.

Joey leaned back in his chair with a smile on his face, "Indeed I am not. I'm sorry if I intruded too much. I enjoy learning about people."

"It's okay, it's not like you were asking me what I wear while I masturbated in my cold, lonely apartment."

I couldn't help but snicker loudly. I turned to look at their faces. She wore a confident grin while he continued his relaxed pose in his chair. He nodded his head slowly as if approving of her response. What she didn't know was that his nod was exactly that. He knew it was time to move into the next phase of whatever plan he had in his mind.

Eventually, dinner was ready, and Joey rejoined us at the kitchen table. Melissa set the table while I brought the food over. We took our places at the table and a fire began to burn inside me. I waited impatiently for him to make his next move. I didn't need to wait long.

"Kelly," he started in that voice I recognized so well, "did you intentionally not tell me you were bringing someone over for dinner tonight or did it slip your mind?"

Melissa froze. I had no doubt in my mind that she couldn't believe Joey would reprimand me in front of her. To her, that potentially awkward situation was surely resolved.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think to tell you. I thought it would be okay," I responded submissively.

Mel turned her attention to me. The look on her face was hard to read. I expected a look of shock. Instead, it seemed she was interested in my next words.