Chapter 14
It felt good to be home again. I was greeted, by both mom and Betsy, warmly. Both of them included kisses, though Betsy's were quite passionate. She made it clear that she missed me very much, though that didn't translate into having her in my bed that night. Part of me was disappointed she didn't find her way to my room after we went to bed, but then I didn't exactly make a clear invitation. I was torn between trying to be true to Patty and also act on the feelings that welled up inside me for Betsy. I spent the first few hours of the night trying to sort out why my heart felt so much lighter after seeing and hugging her. The sleep I finally fell into, was troubled to say the least.
Chris and Katie showed up the next day and we spent the entire day out in the back yard, hanging out. A good portion of it with Betsy, laying out in a tiny little bikini, working on her tan, since it was Saturday. I tried not to look like I was watching, but I felt myself staring at her a lot more often than I should have.
"David, when are you going to realize the two of you are in love with each other?" Katie asked quietly, as we stood in the kitchen making some Kool Aid.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You and Betsy. When you're gone, all she does is talk about you and wonder how you're doing, and when you're home; all you do is stare at her as if you want to walk over there and kiss her, or more."
"But I have a girlfriend." I protested.
"David. You don't love her. I don't know what you do really feel for her, but it isn't love. You might feel beholden to her, or attached to her, for what she did to help you get over Mandy. But something happened, and unless you wanna talk about it, all I can do is look at how you react with Betsy around."
"Okay. Maybe you're right. Patty helped keep me sane when the shit with Mandy hit the fan. I was ready to curl up and just quit everything. She got some of her friends together, all girls I'd helped with little things, you know how I am."
"Yeah, you'd stop and help a turtle across the road. That's one of the reasons Mandy fell for you, long before the incident in the lunch room."
"She did? She never told me that."
"Well, she did. I think it started that time you accidently ran into her in the hallway and you both spilled your books all over everywhere. You helped her pick it all up and then made sure she got to class even though it made you late and you ended up in detention for it. That kinda started her thinking about you differently."
"I had no idea." I whispered.
"Not surprised. You spend too much time trying to lay low to see what was happening in front of you." She chuckled softly. "So, go on. She organized her friends."
"I told you she did an intervention. What I've never told anyone, but Chris, was that she and her friends hauled me bodily out of my bed to the showers and gave me a shower. More accurately, they held me down and washed me."
"Just how many girls?"
"Eight in all."
"That must have been fun."
"It was eye opening when they all got naked and started soaping me all up. Anyway, they held me down and Patty rode me until I came. She wanted to prove to me that just because Mandy had left, life wasn't over."
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she lost a whole year of school after her boyfriend dumped her for her best friend." I answered. "She didn't want to see me throw everything away over Mandy. She said she worked too hard at tutoring me, and to be honest, we had developed a pretty close relationship, emotionally, because we worked so closely, for so long."
"Well, I can see that happening. So that's what's behind it all?"
"Yeah. She arranged to keep her friends with me almost twenty-four hours a day. They took turns making sure I got to my classes and any time I started to sink into feeling depressed, they'd distract me."
"Distract you? You mean, like with sex?"
"Some of them. Some would just touch and hold me and try to make me think of other things. But Patty, she arranged it so that I never slept alone."
"Bet your roommate loved that."
"He got used to it, besides Patty arranged for him to get a little entertainment, from some of her friends, once in a while too."
"Smart girl. So now, you're attached and going to get married?"
"I think she wants it go that way. She even took me home to meet her family."
"That sounds pretty serious. What did her parents think of you?"
"Her dad's a Baptist minister. He's as straight-laced and conservative as they come. Mom, not so much."
"Not so much?"
"Katie, she wanted to have sex with me to make me prove I was able to satisfy her daughter." I whispered.
"She did what?"
"Yeah. She told me that Patty knew about it and that if I wanted a long-term relationship with her daughter that I needed to show her that I could please her daughter, and if I couldn't she'd have to teach me."
"Holy shit. I've heard of mothers-in-law trying to get into the son-in-law's pants but that takes it to a whole new level. Did she do it?"
"Did I have a choice?"
"Oh damn. That family is really screwed up." Katie whispered. "Well, I wouldn't tell Betsy about it. She already doesn't have a very good opinion of Patty."
"She doesn't?" I asked curiously.
"No. She thinks that Patty is taking advantage of you. That you were vulnerable and she saw it as an opportunity to hook you. David, I think she's right. After meeting her and all the stuff about being naked and learning your life style? I think she was doing everything she could to make sure that you stayed attached to her, and playing the 'I'm going to do your life style' thing is just another sign of that."
"Say what you think much?" I asked in surprise.
"Yeah, well. I think being naked most of the one night together at Mandy's gives me the right to be honest with you." She said with a shrug. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. You're a big boy. But just between friends, I'd take a hard look at what you have with Patty and why, and what you could have with Betsy. That woman loves the shit out of you. She hasn't been with another guy since you left for school. I know that. She doesn't want to do anything that might hurt her chance to have you back. That alone should tell you a lot about what she feels. She's letting you do whatever you want, but still holding herself back so there aren't any surprises if you come back to her."
"I knew she wasn't dating, but I didn't realize..."
"How could you. She wouldn't ever tell you. She swore me to secrecy, but you know, I think you knowing, is more important right now."
"Thanks. I won't tell her you told me." I said with a nod.
The conversation really changed how I was thinking about both Patty and Betsy. I started to wonder if Patty really was using me because she felt insecure about her relationships. Katie was right though. I was attached to Patty because of what happened with Mandy. If things were different, of the girls I'd met at school, if I hadn't been involved with Mandy and have that go south, I think I might have been more likely to date Tina than Patty. But then there was still Betsy. The question I needed to ask myself is, if I'm attached to Patty because of what happened with Mandy, am I attached to Betsy because of what happened in the girls' bathroom so long ago?
---o---
Monday saw me at work for the first time in my field, computer science. I showed up at the office at 9:00, which was exactly when I was supposed to be there. Katie's dad met me, welcomed me, and then after a short talk, took me out to meet my new boss, Miss Victoria Cogins. She met me with a jovial smile that immediately put me at ease. She took me into her office and we chatted about my experience with computers and my education on programming for almost an hour. Then she took me out to meet, what would be my other co-worker, Leah Walker. She immediately made me think of princess Leia, a pleasant blonde girl, half a foot shorter than I was, and slightly plumper. With boobs at least three times the size of Vickie's! She left me with Leah to introduce me to the computer system, while Vickie went off to create my user ID and something called a sandbox. I got a chair and sat in the same cubicle with Leah, watching as she drew pictures on a pad of paper, describing which servers and data sets were stored where, and what operating systems were in charge of which pieces. It didn't seem overly difficult. I wasn't familiar with either SQL or COBOL, but I was damn good with Fortran and I doubted it would take me long to pick up the new software.
Vickie returned for me a little while later, giving me my user ID and pointing me to a sandbox server, which was little more than a server, running the same software as the production server, but with a very reduced data set that I could play with, without worrying about messing up the production data. She gave me several tasks to do in the sandbox to get used to programing the new languages and then left me to work. Leah was on hand to answer any questions I got stuck on. It was a very interesting first day, and first week.
---o---
I walked in on Friday after work and dropped onto the sofa. My brain felt fried. It was my first day working on programming on the production data. My ID didn't have rights to modify any data, but I could read everything, which was required in order to generate the reports and searches that I was being tasked with. I was half laying on the family room sofa, my eyes closed, just trying to chill out when I felt a hand on my thigh.
"Hey there." Betsy said as she sat down next to me, wearing a pair of floppy, gray sweatpants shorts, and a bare midriff t-shirt.
"Hey." I said cheerfully as she settled next to me.
She put her feet up on the coffee table like I had mine, and settled close enough that her hip touched mine. Her hand gently rested on my thigh and her fingers gently teased my thigh through my jeans. "You gonna change?" She asked softly.
"I could." I answered, wondering what she had in mind. "Into what?"
"Something more comfortable?"
"As in something not blue jeans?"
"Something like that. Those night blue shorts you have. You know the ones."
"The running shorts?"
"Yeah. I thought you and I might take a walk after dinner, and those might be more comfortable."
"Sure. I wouldn't mind going for a walk. Any particular reason for this walk tonight?"
She stroked my leg and whispered softly. "Your mom has been dating this guy. He's supposed to be coming by after dinner for a while. I thought maybe we should give them some alone time?"
