Chapter 7
"Alone Again"
Benita sat at the table in the coffee shop occasionally sipping her coffee, but otherwise staring into nothingness. She felt numb and barely felt anything, either physically or emotionally. The crashing letdown after the emotional high Benita had been on this past week with Stacey left her reeling and not knowing which way was up. For a week, one glorious week, Benita had found the love and acceptance she was looking for, only to find out it wasn't real.
Carmen entered the coffee shop and immediately saw Benita sitting at a table looking like an emotional mess. While keeping an eye on Benita who, as yet, had not noticed her, Carmen ordered her usual coffee. With hot drink and tasty snack in hand, Carmen walked over to Benita's table and only then noticed something odd. A sports bag was tucked under the table by Benita's feet, out of sight.
"Hi, Ben. Going somewhere?" Carmen asked as she sat down at Benita's table.
"No," Benita said in a glum manner before glancing up at Carmen. "Hi, Carmen," Benita added with a forced and weak smile.
"What's going on? Are you still upset about . . ." Carmen asked and lowered her voice before she added, "last Saturday?"
"No," Benita chuckled weakly; the incident with Carmen seemed so long ago.
"Then what is it?" Carmen asked; her voice full of concern as she leaned in, picked up Benita's hand and squeezed it.
"You're a good friend, Carmen," Benita said as she lifted her eyes and smiled warmly into Carmen's eyes. "I'm sorry that I . . . well . . . about last Saturday," Benita added and looked down, ashamed.
"Look, it's in the past, and as long as you remember that I'm your friend and only your friend, it will remain in the past," Carmen said in a comforting manner.
"So, you're not even tempted?" Benita asked with a raised eyebrow, her wounded pride looking for some sort of reassurance of her desirability.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted, but I am not going to have sex with you again, and that's final," Carmen said and withdrew her hand, shifting back in her seat. "If that's what this is about you can just forget about it," she added and started to get up from the table.
"Don't go," Benita said after grasping Carmen's arm. "Please," she added after slowly looking up at Carmen. "I've accepted that . . . I'm not looking for 'that' from you, I promise," Benita finally said, and at that, Carmen nodded and sat back down.
"Ben, what the hell is going on?" Carmen in a concerned, yet slightly agitated tone as she settled herself in the seat.
"After . . . you, 'left' last Saturday, I was so . . . 'excited' that I sought out someone who might help 'alleviate' my condition." Benita started out carefully.
"What? Talk plainly, Ben," Carmen replied, slightly flustered.
"I was horny so I found someone to fuck," Benita curtly replied in a lowered tone of voice.
"What? Who?" Carmen asked curiously, now leaning in.
"Someone had mentioned that they were interested in me and gave me an open invitation for sex anytime I wanted, so I took her up on it," Benita replied, again not wanting to divulge too much information.
"Who? Do I know her?" Carmen asked. Fear flashed in Benita's eyes and Carmen then knew instantly who Benita was referring to. "STACEY?" Carmen asked in a shocked manner.
"YES!" Benita hissed and glared at Carmen and both women leaned in to talk privately.
"It was supposed to be just a one-time thing but we ended up spending the week together," Benita said with pain lingering in her eyes and in her voice.
"Is that why you've been so busy this week? I thought you were avoiding me," Carmen said in a knowing manner as she nodded her head.
"NO! Look I won't go into details but it was wonderful, ALL of it. I thought what we had was something real and lasting but . . . it wasn't," Benita said as she hung her head and sobbed once, fighting hard not to cry in public.
"I take it she didn't mind about your . . . you know," Carmen asked in a delicate manner, glancing around the coffee shop.
"MIND? She LOVED it! Why WOULDN'T she?" Benita replied indignantly, finishing with a snort.
"No reason, just curious," Carmen replied in a surrendering and defensive manner, putting her hands up to indicate she wanted peace.
"Apparently I was just 'a little something on the side'," Benita said glumly and looked off in another direction to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Ouch," Carmen said sympathetically.
There was a pause in the conversation as both women sat and sipped their coffee in silence. Carmen wanted to say something to comfort Benita and ease her friend's pain, but knew no words which would do just that.
"Well, there's only one thing I know that can cure all your ills," Carmen said finally, in a chipper tone.
"Pussy?" Benita replied with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"I thought we agreed you'd stop that!" Carmen said in amidst a mild giggling fit. "I was talking about shopping!" she added, trying to sound serious and ever so slightly indignant.