The Last 24 Hours Ch 05

We pulled up into the lot in front of Lab Works Inc., a local Medical lab facility with a good reputation. Beth still had not spoken to me and I was so not in the mood to be ignored. Not with the questions I had and the answers I needed. The only thing I could figure was that I had misread things, no matter what Josh had said.

With a dejected sigh I looked at Beth, "Go on home Beth. I can give the samples they want and catch a cab home." I turned and headed for the doorway without looking at her face. "I'll give you a call and let you know how it comes out."

My hand was on the door when I felt Beth grab my arm. I looked down into her lovely face and realized that she had a spray of freckles across her nose. I had known her for fifteen years and had never taken that close a look at her. I mean she was my best friend and you just do not "check out" your best friend.

"Please don't make me go Alex." She said in a soft pleading voice. She looked like she was about to cry again. I said in a soft voice "Then I need two things from you if you want to stick around. First, please don't cry. It hurts me to see it and I can't stand to see you cry. You know this. The second and most important at the moment is no more silent treatment. I just can't deal with that right now. Okay?"

"If you don't want to answer me then change the subject. Say "I'd rather not go there". Anything but silence I can sit in silence all by myself and not waste your time." I sounded a little rough and I hadn't meant to. My nerves were just shot. I pulled the door open and we walked into a sterile waiting room.

The woman behind the counter was in her early twenties and had a pinched look to her face. She wore a pair of fifties Retro-style glasses and a light summer dress. Her mouse brown hair was pulled back from her face by a pair of barrettes.

She looked up from her copy of Vogue and gave me an appraising stare. I hate when people do that. I think it's the rudest thing you can do to a stranger. She looked like she had assessed my entire net worth and found it wanting. Her voice failed to hide her contempt. "Can I help you?" The tone in her nasally voice said that she sincerely doubted it.

I gave her my name and told her why I had come. She typed in my name and asked me to have a seat. "Someone will be with you in a moment." she said in a nasal whine. I was just as happy to be done with her as she was to be done with me. Beth and I sat in the chairs and waited. After a moment the door opened and a technician called my name.

Beth patted my hand and I went through the door. The tech took a swab and swirled it in my mouth, then placed it into a sterile container. Then they drew several vials of blood as I was also having a full STD screen done. They asked me a few medical questions like if I knew my blood type, medical history and such. I gave the answers I could and was told they would call me when the results were in.

I re-entered the waiting room and Beth stood. The whole thing had taken less than twenty minutes. As Beth took my hand the door opened and Lisa and the girls walked in. Lisa gave her name and took a seat. The twins glared at me like I had just pissed in their fish bowl or something. They were angry with me and I just knew nothing I said would make a difference. They stalked across the room and took the seats farthest from me without a word.

Ok so I'm a coward. I got out of there as fast as I could without running. I sat down on the low wall that ran around the outside of the building and put my head between my knees. By pure act of will I did not throw up. Beth stroked the back of my neck until I had mastered my nerves. "Lets go before they come out." She said in a voice tight with anger.

I looked at her and saw a cold look that I had never seen on her face before. Hatred is an ugly thing and I had hoped to never see it on Beth's face. That hope was crushed when I looked up at her. I stood and took her hand and pulled her toward her parked car. "Can you follow directions, not ask any questions, and let me blindfold you when we arrive? I have something I want to show you but it has to be a surprise."

Beth looked at me for a moment and for that moment I thought she would say no. "Alright, but if this is a prank I'll kick the living shit out of you." Her voice held no trace of the menace her words were meant to instill. We got into her car and drove off.

It took nearly forty-five minutes to get to the park. I had Beth pull into a service station once we were within a few miles of the place and switch me places so I could drive. I also blindfolded her. I pulled into a parking spot near the trail I wanted and got out of the car. Beth had opened the door but waited for me to come and get her.

I led her by the hand down a narrow trail that opened onto a shallow pool. The pool was fed by a series of cascading waterfalls. Water shimmered over the rocks and threw up a thousand rainbows in the afternoon sun. The park service people had placed several tables and benches near the falls.

I took the blindfold off of Beth "Keep your eyes closed for a moment. Let them adjust to the light." I stepped back and said "Okay you can look now." She opened her eyes and I heard her gasp in wonder.

"Oh my!" Beth spoke in an awed whisper. She stared at the waterfalls and the assorted rainbows. The wonder on her face was worth every moment of aggravation I endured the last couple of hours. Beth was dressed in a pair of faded jeans that looked like they were very comfortable and hugged in all the right places. She wore a fawn colored V necked top that showed enough cleavage to impress without implying "Slut".

I walked up and took her hand and led her to one of the benches. As I touched her she bowed her head to hide her eyes from me. As we sat I placed a finger on her chin and lifted her eyes to mine. "What did you mean you had waited fifteen years to have a date with me?' iasked softly "What does Josh think it's time for you tell me?" She tried to turn away and I gently slid my hand to cup her cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere Beth. Please talk to me. You've been my best friend for so long. Don't stop talking to me now." My voice had started strong but faded to a whisper near the end. I smoothed my thumb over her cheek and waited looking into her eyes.

With a sigh she pulled herself up and straightened her shoulders. She took a deep breath and said "Remember when you and I first met? Josh had told you I could tutor you for your calculus class? I had no idea what I had gotten myself into." She looked at the falls for a moment and then continued "You were the first guy since I hit puberty to walk into a room with me and actually look me in the face and not at my breasts. You actually took the time to get to know me. I can't tell you how important that was to me,then and now.

I may be younger than Josh but I was in classes on the campus for almost a year before he got there. I graduated high school almost two years early and am a member of MENSA. I have an I.Q. in the one seventies. I had been taking Advanced Placement courses all through high school. All of them were college accredited." She stopped and waited to gauge my reaction.

I stared at her in disbelief. "But you got your degree after I graduated. How...?" Then I knew. I was having a hard time with the news. I knew Beth was smart that wasn't a shock. That I had met her in my freshman year in college and her junior year, now that was a bit of a shock. "You didn't get your Bachelors you got your Masters degree?" I asked.

She nodded "I was afraid if you knew I was a "brainiac" as you called them you wouldn't talk to me. I didn't find out you were dating Lisa until we had been working together for a while. By that time, well, I didn't want to be just friends anymore. You hadn't asked so I was going to ask you out the day you told me you were going steady with Lisa. It nearly crushed me. I never said anything because I didn't want you to know, and I was only seventeen years old."

"I had this whole speech worked out" she gave a bitter laugh "Then you blew it completely out of the water. I left you that day and ran and for the first time, cried on my brother's shoulder. I also told him if he ever told you I'd change his name from Josh to Josephine. I decided to wait and see what would happen and to be ready if it ever did. But you and Lisa never seemed to have any problems. I came to the decision that if I couldn't have you for my own I could at least be near you and be your friend. I've been waiting nine months to tell you about what Lisa was up to but the prosecutor put Josh and me under a gag order until yesterday. That's why I haven't been around much."

"I couldn't tell you and I couldn't stand it and they made me stay away when you needed me the most." Tears started to well up again and she took a tissue out of the travel pack in her purse. She dabbed at her eyes and sniffed a couple of times. "It nearly killed me to not be there for you. I haven't slept right in months. I've been so afraid you'd hate me for not telling you."

She paused again and still playing catch up I asked "That's why you never pledged Omega sorority; you were too young to when you got there and didn't want to see Lisa after you were old enough?" Beth looked at me and laughed, "No. I never pledged because I was told by Lisa and three of her sisters that I would be booted the first day. No sorority wanted me after Lisa had trashed me to them. I was not wanted nor was I needed in the Omega house." The fire in her eyes was anything but friendly. "Omega house let every guy on campus know that no one who dated me could expect to be invited to any Greek party or bash ever!' Beth gave a soft chuckle, "But that's where Lisa's plan backfired because the only guy I wanted to date she already had, you."

Beth took a shuddering breath and let it out slowly before resuming. "It ate at her that you would not give me up as a friend. My roommate that year was Teresa Lopez. Do you remember her, the Latina with the big hooters? The Beta Phi's called her "Torpedo" Lopez?" I nodded "She introduced me to a word that helped you and I stay friends although Lisa still didn't like it."

I looked puzzled and asked "What word?" Okay so I'm dense sometimes, so shoot me. She smiled at me and said "Bisexual." Then it made sense. I had thought she was gay but she was bisexual. She had begun openly dating girls shortly after Lisa and I became exclusive. When that happened, Lisa backed off on pressuring me about spending time with Beth.

My head snapped around and I looked at her, "Please tell me you haven't been playing the lesbian solely for Lisa's benefit." I knew she hadn't as soon as the words had left my mouth. The look on her face said more to me than her words could have conveyed. Beth stood and loomed over me. The light in her hair made it look like rubies spun out into a fine soft wire. It was a beautiful sight, and a frightening one coupled with the look on Beth's face.

"Is that what you think of me? You think I would use people like that?" Her anger flared and this time I was the target "I am not Lisa, damn you! I could be your friend and try to make things easier for you, so I did. But I would never use someone like that. Teresa saw me crying and comforted me. We talked and she told me that she liked guys and girls alike. She showed me what it meant to make love to and be made love to by a woman. She knew up front how I felt about you. She knew Lisa before we met and suggested that it might be easier on you, if we were a little "public" with each other, that it might calm Lisa down and take the pressure off of you. We never hid that we were more than just friends anymore than I hid that I was your friend. Lisa and her pack of jackals saw to it that no guy expressed interest in me the whole time she was there. After you guys got engaged and graduated I was to busy working on my Masters thesis to date anyone." The hurt look in her eyes was like a hot wire shoved into my chest.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I don't want to fight." I apologized and took her hand. "Please sit down. I know you aren't like Lisa. I know I'm handling things badly. But it seems like everyone has been keeping secrets and I'm the butt of the joke on it all. Lisa and Jacquie, you and your brother, the twins, everyone is keeping secrets that affect me in profound ways and it's just a lot to take in. Hell it's only been a day since it came out!"

Her scowl melted and instead of sitting down again she knelt between my legs and pushed so that I sat up straight on the bench. She looked at me with those liquid blue eyes and said "I am not a lesbian. I am bisexual. I have dated girls because they were attractive to me. The only man I have ever felt anything for I fell in love with fifteen years ago while helping him study for his calculus exam. I'm kneeling in front of him and telling him that I love him and have designs upon his person in the very near future. I love you Alex Palmer. I've loved you for fifteen years. You were married and I kept quiet, but now you are free and clear and I want to give you something that no man has ever had." She took my hand and placed on her chest between her magnificent breasts and held it there for a moment. She closed her eyes and bowed her head a little.

I took her other hand and brought it to my lips and kissed the tip of each finger. She looked up at me expectantly. I looked into her eyes and said "Beth you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I noticed your mind all those years ago; I noticed your body too. I'm not a monk after all. I was in love with a lie. I've wasted fifteen years on a lie. I'm not sure I'm good for anyone right now. I will tell you this. I have loved you for just as long as you've loved me. Not the same way perhaps, but I do love you. That love is already in the process of changing, for the better I think. I don't want to rush things with you now that we are free to explore this together. I don't want to screw this up. Will you be patient and give me the time to sort this out in my head and my heart?"

Beth reached up with her other hand and cupped my cheek again, "I've waited fifteen years to hear you say you loved me." She said softly. Her eyes misted with unshed tears. "I think I can wait a few more days to hear you mean it in truth. Or as long as it takes for that matter, I love you." She stood and pulled on the hand that was still in mine. "C'mon, we need to get you to the rental agency and then we have a dinner to get ready for."

As I stood I pulled Beth into the circle of my arms and leaned into her for a kiss. Our first real kiss. I have never in my life felt such a kiss. Any kiss I had ever been a part of was a pale imitation of this one. I brought my arms up and rubbed Beth's back as her tongue snaked out and teased my lips. I opened them and her tongue took the invitation to enter. The passion I felt was returned to me a thousand fold. I don't know how long we stood there kissing but at last Beth pulled away.

I looked down into her eyes and saw tears of joy and promise on her cheeks, "I don't think it'll take days Beth, just a little quiet time to sort through it all." I again brought her hand to my face and kissed her palm before lacing my fingers with hers. We walked back to the car and I gave her the keys. I looked at my watch and was shocked to find we had been talking and, um, other things for slightly more than an hour it was now six o'clock and we still needed to get my rental.

************

We pulled in to the rental agency ten minutes before closing. I gave them the details. The agent behind the counter said they would drop the car off around seven that night. I had to argue that at six feet five inches a compact car wasn't going to be practical and make them upgrade me. A nice new Bonneville would be at my disposal.

We left and headed back to my place to change and pick up her brother. I was pretty sure that he was going nuts wanting to know what had happened between us. It had to be torture for him. I had to smile at that and take a little petty pleasure in the knowledge that he is as curious as any three cats. Not having heard from us for the last three hours had to have him climbing the walls.

Beth picked up my cell phone and turned it on. I looked at her in surprise. "How long has that thing been off?" I knew it was on when we left my apartment. "I turned it off when you left it in the car at the lab. Josh has probably been calling every ten minutes and you and I needed some time to talk." I took her hand and started in for a kiss. As my lips closed on her, eyes closed, we both jumped when my phone rang. I looked and saw it was my home phone. Just then Beth's phone rang. It was Joshes cell phone.

Beth's wry smile almost made me forget to answer my phone, "See what I mean." I chuckled and answered putting the phone on speakerphone. "Hello Josh, what can I do for you?" Beth's phone quit ringing. "Damn it Alex! Where have you been? I've been trying for better than and hour to reach you." The urgency in his voice made things low in my abdomen clench up in anticipation of the news.

"Why what's up? Why the urgency, what's the rush?" I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to like this. "The lab called here to let you know the preliminary findings of the paternity test." Now I was confused. "There is no way they can have those results back yet. The tests on DNA still take at least eight hours to complete and we haven't been gone from the lab that long."

"Lisa came to the lab with an agenda and an ace up her sleeve. All they had to do was test the blood for type. I'm sorry Alex, the twins aren't yours. You couldn't possibly be their father." The sorrow in Josh's voice was profound. "I think I knew that at the courthouse when you handed Lisa's lawyer his head on a plate. I was watching her face and knew that they weren't mine." I had just had my stomach tied in knots again.

Beth chimed in "Josh call the restaurant and cancel our reservations. I don't think Alex is in the mood..." Taking her hand I cut Beth off "Don't you do it Josh! The only damned thing in this whole mess that doesn't suck is that your sister loves me. And I'll be damned if I'll let that Bitch take the joy of knowing that from me tonight. Get dressed you are coming with us, for a little while at least. We'll be back there in about ten minutes so grab a shower or whatever. We'll see you soon."

I turned off the phone and turned to Beth, "Do we need to go by your place so you can get ready?" Beth blushed and said "I have my things for tonight at your place I brought them in while you watched those horrid tapes." I saw a puzzled look cross her lovely face as she said it, then she asked "Why did you do that? I mean after you saw what was on the first couple of tapes we could have told you the rest but you insisted on watching."

I spoke softly remembering "I had a discussion with a history professor while we were in college about why kings killed the messengers who brought bad news. Pique and anger were his answers. But he was wrong. It was because they took away their hope for a good outcome. Until you know something for a fact you have hope."

"I don't know if you'll understand this or not but until I saw that first tape I still thought that there might be a chance to work things out for Lisa and I. After I saw that first tape I knew that if I asked and either of you told me what was on them I never would have forgiven you for taking my hope from me. So I watched and kept my questions to myself. And now I have my truest friends and a dinner to get to." I gave the hand I held a gentle squeeze.

A moment later we pulled into my parking space. Josh was at the door waiting and had good news. "I called the restaurant and changed the reservation to three people and for eight thirty instead of eight." He said smiling as he saw me take his sisters hand after getting out of the car. He stepped back into the apartment. A horn honked and a Forest Green Bonneville pulled up behind Josh's Lexus followed by a blue Ford Taurus. My rental had arrived.