- Ch. 02
by Ghostwalker
(with input by TheIrishLass)
"Knock, knock, KNOCK."
"Coming," I yelled as I got up for the computer file I'd been working on. "Who is it?" I thought I heard a muffled response but wasn't expecting the sight before me when I opened the door.
'She' stood there ... or at least something that vaguely looked like her. Her hair was a mess, her mascara was running down her face, and it was obvious she'd been crying. She wore a long coat, that she held tightly around her body and a pair of high heels.
"Jen?"
"Can I come in?" she asked between her tears. "I ... I don't know where else to go."
I stepped aside. "Oh course."
She entered, almost hesitantly, looking at the 'disaster area' my apartment had become since she'd been there. "I love what you've done with the place," she quipped.
"Yeah, maid's day off," I replied as I reached for her coat.
"No. I ... I think I'll keep it on."
"Okay. Would you like something to drink?" I asked as I moved past her.
"Sure," she muttered, then suddenly demanding, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"I don't know. I guess I could be an ass for the way things ended but what's the point in that? Now, why don't you take a seat and tell me what's going on?"
Instead, she rushed to me, wrapped her arms around me, and buried her face against my chest.
"I'm so sorry," she wept.
"Shhhhhh," I whispered as, instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her and lightly kissed her forehead.
We stood there as her tears soaked through my shirt, her body trembling in my arms. When her tears finally slowed I led her to a chair.
"Here, take a seat while I get you that drink."
"Don't leave me," she cried out, urgently ... reaching for me.
"Not really a whole lot of places to go," I chuckled as I looked around my efficiency apartment.
"I guess not." She smiled for the first time since arriving.
I poured her a glass of wine and gave it to her before taking a seat across from her. "Okay, you want to tell me what's going on?"
She hesitated, took a long, slow drink of her wine, and began. "When I left here the other day, I honestly planned on coming back. You made me feel so good I didn't want it to end. So, I went back to the hotel we're staying to get some more clothes when 'the asshole' came back. It was obvious he hadn't been back since leaving me in the restaurant but before I could say a thing he started giving me the 'third-degree' about where I'd been. When I asked what he meant, he said he'd called several times but that I didn't answer. I told him I'd taken a walk after he left me and got lost, and that I'd landed up sleeping on a bench," she rambled on. "Then, he asked why I didn't take a cab back to the hotel and I reminded him that he had all the money with him. He suddenly wrapped his arms around me, trapping me, and said he was sorry before flopping onto the bed and falling asleep," she shrugged. "I was stuck. He didn't have any meetings for the next couple of days so he tried to make up for his behavior at the restaurant by taking me out shopping, sightseeing, and even to the theater, but it didn't matter ... " she finished and took another drink of wine. "Then, tonight, we went out for dinner and afterward he started getting romantic," she stopped to see my reaction.
When I didn't say anything she continued.
"Anyway, I told him I wasn't in the mood because I was still upset about what he'd done. He snarled something about me being an ungrateful bitch and that he was going to bed. To be honest, the very thought of him touching me made my skin crawl after what we'd shared. So, I took a long shower to make sure he'd fallen asleep before I got into bed. That is when 'it' happened," she began to cry again. "Just as I pulled the blankets over myself I heard him say 'Good night, Peggy.' PEGGY!! HIS FUCKING ASSISTANT!! I've had my suspicions about her for months but ... but now there's not a doubt in my mind!!" she finished burying her head in her hands. "That's when I ... left."
I could tell she was hiding something from me but I let it drop as I quietly moved to her and got down on my knees in front of her. I gently took her hands and pulled them from her face, kissing her palms. "It's okay. You're here now and I ... ahhhhh ... don't know anybody named Peggy." I joked, hoping to break the mood.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, chuckling, as she hugged me. "How is it that you know exactly what to say to make me feel better?"
I have no idea how long we stayed like that and it wasn't until I felt her shiver that I moved from her grasp. "Are you okay?"
"When I left the hotel I wasn't exactly dressed to go out so ... mmmmm ... do you have anything I could wear?"
I looked at her questioningly.
In response, she stood up and opened her coat. Her red hair hung loose over her shoulders and had, what I was later told was, a 'fly-away' look to it, gray-green eyes were red from her crying but still seemed to sparkle when she looked at me, and her skin was tanned to the color of light honey, and her 36D-25-38 figure was flawless ... except the faded hickey I'd put on her inner thigh. What surprised me was that all she was wearing was a sheer, white baby-doll nightgown.
"Wow," I said before even thinking about it.
"I'm glad you like it because someone else will NEVER see it!" she snarled, obviously thinking about her husband.
"Yeah, I think I have an old sweatsuit that might fit."
"I'll take anything right now."
I quickly went to a drawer but the sweatsuit was nowhere to be found. In the end, I pulled out a pair of gym shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt. "Sorry, this is all I can find," I said.
"Not exactly my size," she chuckled as she held the items up.
"Yeah, sorry."
"It's okay. I'm sure I can figure something out."