Author's notes:
This is a quick little flash story that I thought of while talking with a friend. I am working on the sequel to "Imbalance", but that is taking a while. It is almost finished, but will at least be a couple more weeks. Real life has a habit of getting in the way. This one was something I was able to bang out in a single afternoon.
Comments and critiques are always welcome. Thank you all for reading.
*****
Something is all wrong. I can feel it. The air is thick around me with all of the things that are out of alignment. It is suffocating me, choking the breath from my very lungs.
Perhaps I am overreacting. That is what I'm told. Maybe my personal biases and backwards thinking is causing me to see things that aren't there. Or not see things that are there. I don't know. All I know is that I feel like I've just been handed a shit sandwich with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, and was told that it was a Quarter Pounder.
Mmmm. Isn't that a good burger, Paul?
No asshole. It's shit.
My wife and her best friend are sitting with me in this crowded restaurant. As usual, they are sharing a secret that I'm not let in on. The subtle glances that they are throwing at each other when they think that I'm not looking tell a story that their mouths aren't saying.
As irritating as it is, this happens a lot. But for some reason, today seems different. There is something else in the air. I don't know why I feel that way, but I do.
They've known each other since they were children. Best friends since junior high. They both joined the cheerleading squad at the same time and have been inseparable since. Even after they graduated from high school and went their separate ways to college, they remained close.
Their relationship has always irritated me. I know that it's irrational. I never set out to be that guy who tells his wife who she can and can't be friends with. I don't own her. We're partners, not master and slave.
But still, she chose me. For better or worse. Til death do us part. We are joined for life. If there is an aspect of their friendship that I'm not comfortable with, it should be at least dealt with. Not brushed under the rug.
But that's what she does. She says that I'm blowing things all out of proportion. I'm overreacting. Her family tells me the same thing.
"Paul, you have to understand..." they tell me. "He is like a brother to Ci Ci."
Yeah, you heard me right. Like a brother. As in, her best friend is a male.
Of course, you are likely doing what everyone else does. They look at the fact that he was a cheerleader, and assume that he's gay, and that I have nothing to worry about. Wrong.
Gary (her best friend) is 100% straight. In high school, he fucked more cheerleaders than the quarterback. He has seen all of them naked at one time or another. He was always at the bottom of the pyramid, which means that he spent most of his time looking up at asses. And grabbing them. He had to make sure that he properly gripped them to keep them from falling. If this meant that he had to hold extra tight onto a soft pair of cheeks, then by golly, that's what he had to do!
My wife thinks this is hilarious. The fact that he used his intimate knowledge of the women on the squad to bed most of the girls in school is like a running joke between them two. She'll tell him how disgusting he is all the while giggling uncontrollably.
I know that most of you are asking the million dollar question. I can already hear it. I've asked that question hundreds of times. I'll give you the same answer that I was given.
No.
According to them, Gary and my wife have never gone "all the way". But doesn't this bring up a bunch of other questions? For instance, what the fuck does that mean? What is "all the way"? If they didn't go all the way, how far is part of the way? Isn't that what's insinuated? Part of the way means that SOMETHING happened.
Asking these questions makes me look like an insecure ass. People look at me with a "really dude?" look and shake their heads. I have never gotten a straight answer, at least one that has fully satisfied me.
This has always been a point of contention between us. I love Ci Ci. I trust her. But this nagging sense of uncertainty has always been present.
She has tried to get me past it. She is always dragging me on these couple's dates with Gary and his wife. Oh yes. I'm sorry. I forgot to mention that. He's married. Another reason why I should "relax".
Anyways, Ciara (Ci Ci) has always tried to bridge this gap between Gary and me. I know that she wants us to be friends. And honestly, I could see Gary trying. So I let my guard down and relaxed a bit. The problem is, we have nothing in common. He doesn't watch sports, doesn't work with his hands, and never wants to do anything that could make him break a sweat. My hobbies include going to the gym, working on my car, and bowling. He enjoys things like dancing, roller skating, and "window shopping".
I know. Sounds gay. I can see he has you fooled too.
Try as I might, I just can't bond with Gary. He and I realized this a while back, and we stopped trying. We are cordial to one another, but neither of us like to be dragged out and made to hang out with each other for the sake of my wife. We just don't have the heart to tell her.
So whenever I can, I find reasons why I can't make it to hang out with the four of us. Ci Ci used to get disappointed whenever I flaked out. After a while though, it became the new norm. Over the years, she would still ask me to come, and let me know that I was welcome, but she really didn't expect me to show up.
Today, I decided to hang out with them when she invited me to go to lunch with Gary and his wife. When I accepted, she seemed pleasantly surprised. But she also seemed a little bit nervous.
When we first arrived at the restaurant, we were earlier than Gary and his wife, so we were seated in a booth for four. About 10 minutes later, Gary showed up. Without his wife. He came over to the booth all smiles. When he saw that I was there, his smile became less genuine and more forced.
I could sense the change in temperature. Ci Ci also seemed more anxious than usual. She was talking a lot, but nothing of worth was coming out. It is more like an attempt to close out the awkward silences than it is a flowing conversation.
Now, the uncomfortable atmosphere has me on high alert. My senses are tuned. I am acutely aware of everything, including the furtive glances that they are trying to subtly throw back and forth. There is something else there.
When we leave the restaurant, I am unable to focus. As we walk to the car, my mind is split in every different direction. Ci Ci is still extra talkative, all the while not saying a goddamn thing. This is becoming really annoying.
"What is going on with you and Gary?" I ask her suddenly, cutting through her pointless sea of useless words. She stops and looks at me with her mouth gaped open in surprise.
I know you guys are livid with me at this point. I broke rule number one for suspecting your wife of cheating. At this point, I am supposed to pretend that all is well, while secretly getting in touch with a P.I. Then, while he is investigating my wife, I am supposed to lull her into a false sense of security so that she drops her guard and makes a mistake.
Fuck that shit.
"Paul, what are you talking about?" She asks me. I will give her this. She actually looks genuinely confused.
"I'm talking about you and Gary. What's going on?"
"Paul, you aren't making any sense."
"Okay..." I say as I stop walking. "Let me ask you in simpler terms. Are you fucking Gary?"
"WHAT?!" She gasps, completely appalled. "Fucking Gary? Are you insane?"
I'll admit it. Her complete shock at the thought of her and Gary does set my mind at ease. A little. But I know I'm not seeing things here.
"If you aren't fucking Gary, then fine. But something is going on. I need you to level with me and tell me just what the fuck it is."
Ci Ci shakes her head and starts walking ahead of me. I stride faster to catch up with her. When I am at her side, she says, "I can't tell you Paul. Don't ask."
"Wait a minute. You have something that you can't tell me? Your husband? But you have no problem telling Gary."
"Paul..." She whines, as if begging me to stop this conversation.
"No. Don't Paul me. Answer me. You can tell Gary, but you can't tell me."
"You don't understand honey." She says cryptically as she softly grabs my hand. This is a soothing tactic that she uses when she wants me to calm down. I shake it loose and wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn't.
"Ciara, you better tell me something!" I say forcefully. She looks at me with wide eyes, like she always does when I use her full name. Then, her face looks defeated as she blows out a breath in exasperation.
"Paul, it's not my secret to tell." She says softly. I'm still not giving her any room, so she finally concedes. "Gary is cheating on his wife."
"What?"
"Yeah." She says as she nods. "He told me not to tell anyone. Even you."
I almost breath a sigh of relief. But then my mind starts churning with other thoughts.
"So, he is cheating on his wife, and you are helping him cover it up? Is that right?"
She nods her head again. "But you can't say anything to him. I promised that I wouldn't tell you."
