Melissa punched in as usual for her day job, yawning in spite of the energy drinks that she guzzled to stay alert. Her other profession was an open secret, but as long as it didn't interfere with her performance at this one, none of her supervisors would take any notice of it. She was popular with many of her colleagues, after all.
There were exceptions, of course. Crystal, for example, hated Melissa. She viewed blondes like her as the deadly enemy of the rest of womankind. Heather had a secret crush on Melissa and resented her for not sharing it. That Melissa wasn't a mind reader failed to occur to the forty year old brunette. Finally, there was Trudy, a rather strict Mormon lady who simply viewed Melissa as morally inferior.
That didn't count the men, but few of them had any issues with Melissa. The only one who seemed to expressed little or no interest in her was Frank, a new agent with a stocky build, but a rather nice bulge that easily showed through his pants. He looked rather ethnic, which was fine with her, since it gave him a natural tan and dark, curly hair. He also seemed quite willing to flirt with other women, which hurt her pride a bit.
She let it go for a while, but one day she passed him in the hallway and caught him admiring her ass. She knew then that he found her physically attractive, so there had to be another reason. She decided right then that she would confront him at last. The opportunity came in a bar right after work, on a rare night that she was off.
"Frank, sweetie, can I ask you question?" Melissa asked him in her Brooklyn accent.
"I think that you just did. Besides, it's 'may I ask you a question'," he corrected her grammar.
"Oh, an English teacher, are you?" she shot back, though a little impressed in spite of herself.
"History teacher, in a past life. It got old, dealing with mouthy kids and a disciplinary system out of Dr. Spock. It was Hell on Earth, at least for me. Don't parents ever spank their kids anymore, or even backhand them? My old man would have kicked me into next year for some of their attitudes," Frank grimaced.
"How old are you?" she asked him, getting curious.
"Thirty-five, I think. Sometimes, I feel like I'm a hundred. That's three questions you've asked me now, and I doubt any of them is the one tormenting you," Frank grinned at her, since he had a pretty good idea of the real inquiry on her mind.
"How perceptive of you. Yeah, I just want to know why you're not acting on your lust. I can tell that you're a red-blooded guy like everyone else. You clearly enjoy looking at my ass. What's wrong, then? Why don't you flirt or hit on me like the other guys? It hurts my feelings, to be blunt. What do you have against me?" Melissa whined.
"No, it hurts your ego. This isn't about love or other mushy stuff. You like being queen bee, having all of the drones chase you. What happens to the poor schmucks after they show too much interest? Are you the sort to dangle three or four guys on a string, while you already have a boyfriend? If so, do you cheat on him or just mess with the poor fools' heads?
"I don't have time for mind games. I've waited to see you in action before I fall for your little cat-and-mouse stuff. For that matter, are you single and simply playing the field? That would be the most scenario from my point of view. You want candor, fine, let's be straight with each other. Which is it?" Frank demanded.
"Wow, that's rather 'frank' of you. Okay, you got me. I'm a single woman who just wants to have a good time. Is that a crime or are you a hypocrite? Or is it just that you hate to be jerked around? Fair enough, but I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just flirting with men. I admit that I like guys a lot. You're fun. I don't make any promises, at least not on purpose.
"Most of these guys are married, though to be brutally honest, that wouldn't stop me if I liked them enough. Hell, if I wanted a guy that much, even having a boyfriend wouldn't necessarily stop me. It's a cheating, but I'm only human, right? With most of them, it won't go any further than flirting, for the same reason that most guests at my other workplace get nothing more than a lap dance.
"It's attitude. I like it in guys. Not bravado, machismo, or trash talk. I mean things like brooding intensity, smoldering lust, stubbornness, and a certain sense of purpose. Most men these days are gutless. Feel free to blame the women's libbers. I do. They started well, freeing us ladies from stifling rules, but they neutered most guys somewhere down the line. They should have quit while they were ahead, if you ask me," Melissa ranted, suddenly realizing it and giving Frank an "oops" look that disarmed him.
"So, you're a maneater, but you're upfront about it. I can live with that. I even respect it. The cheating's a human weakness, mostly caused by society being sick and trying to force monogamy on a species of horny primates. That's true for both sexes. Double standards are stupid, though even I've been guilty of them now and then.
"My main failing is a suspicious and mistrustful nature. I see a lot of women who cheat on guys and then get all outraged when the man gets some of his own. There's a lot of that 'two wrongs don't make a right' platitude coming out of their mouths in a hurry. I have a different cliché that makes sense to me, namely, 'Turnabout's fair play.' This makes me a little jaded about women, I suppose.
"I believe in fairness, especially in a world that isn't fair. That one always gets me, because it's used as an excuse or a way to convince someone to put up with injustice. It's bullshit, as are many truisms trotted out whenever people find them useful or just want to sound deep. Most folks wouldn't know profundity if it bit 'em on the ass.
"Some of the parents I dealt with in the PTA meetings were real buffoons. Then again, so were most of my colleagues. It was just a job to them. There were a handful of us who actually gave a damn, but the rest of them were long since caught up in that tenure garbage. Once you had tenure, you didn't have to care about your job at all or do anything but go through the motions. Those teachers' unions are full of pencil-pushers who just want more perks and privileges, at the expense of the kids.
