Riley's Bar

I was curious as to what Elaine had to say that I might consider important and that curiosity got the best of me and I was reaching for the phone when it rang. It was Leslie.

"I took a chance that you might be home. You doing anything tonight?"

"No plans other than mopping floors, washing windows and dusting whatever needs it and vacuuming the rugs."

"Oh baby, that does sound like fun. Could I maybe interest you in dropping all that fun stuff and coming over to my place so I can put you to work?"

"What kind of work do you have in mind?"

"Exhausting sweaty work. Lots of pushing and pulling."

"Sweaty pushing and pulling? Sounds better than doing laundry. What time would you like me there?"

"Fifteen minutes ago would be fine with me. Door will be unlocked. Come on in and see if you can find me."

I had no trouble finding her. I found her on her bed, all spread out and waiting.

Following some rather strenuous and sweaty pushing and pulling Leslie was fondling my limp cock and I was playing with her right nipple when I said:

"I'm a little surprised that I'm here."

"Why would you be surprised?"

"I know how close you are with Susan and Marge and I thought that they would have soured you on me."

"Why would they do that?"

I told her what had happened the last time I'd talked with the two of them and that I hadn't spoken with them since.

"I've been out of town and haven't talked with either of them so I didn't know, but I don't see why it would keep me from calling you or you from seeing me. It does upset me a little though. It means I won't get my three-way with you and Marge."

"Is that so important to you?"

"Not really, but it would have been fun."

"You know anybody else who might be open to it?"

"Not off hand."

"Well, if you find anyone I'll see to it that you get your fun."

"Marge is definitely out of the picture?"

"Given the mood she was in and the way she stomped off I'd have to say yes."

Her hands working on my cock had produced results and I asked her if she was ready for more sweaty pushing and pulling. She was.

Just before I left to go home Leslie asked me if I could come over Sunday afternoon after she got home from visiting her parents and I told her that I couldn't because I already had a date for Sunday.

"Anyone I know?"

"Candy from the bar."

"That slut? Why her?"

"Why not and why is she a slut?"

"She's coming between us and as far as I'm concerned that makes her a slut."

"Coming between us? I though all we are is friends who like to play together. I thought all you wanted me for was to make the bedsprings sing every now and then. At least that is what you led me to believe way back then."

"That was then."

"So what has happened since then?"

"A lot for me, but apparently not much for you."

She got up on her toes and kissed my cheek and said, "Good luck with Candy."

As I drove back to my place I thought about what Leslie had just inferred. Could there really be anything there? When I got home the light was blinking on the answering machine. There were three messages -- two from Elaine practically begging me to call her and one from Shelly telling me that Elaine had called her and had asked her to try and get me to call. I debated calling Elaine and getting it over with, but then thought about my date the next day with Candy. The odds were good that I wouldn't be in all that great a mood after talking to Elaine and I did not want to be carrying a bad mood when I went to pick up Candy. I unplugged the phone, turned off the answering machine and went to bed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Candy looked sexy as hell when I picked her up and it wasn't something that she had to work hard at. She was wearing a blouse and a skirt the fell to just below the knee and high heels. Nothing that was attention getting, but she exuded sex appeal.

We had dinner at The Texas Steakhouse and then caught a movie at the Cineplex 2. After the movie we stopped at the grotto for drinks. There wasn't a live band on Sunday, but we did dance to several songs that were on the jukebox.

Candy's sexual aura had been working on me all night and I know that she felt my erection a couple of times when we were dancing to slow tunes, but she did nothing to indicate she was aware of it. When I took her home and walked her to her door I was ready to explode and I didn't know if I could hold it until we got to her bedroom. At her door she turned and kissed me on the cheek and told me that she had enjoyed herself.

"I had a nice time Rob. Thank you."

She turned and put her key in the door, opened it and then turned back to me, "Goodnight Rob" and then she was inside and the door closed behind her. I stood there for several seconds and then I took my raging hard on home. As I drove home I was cursing Candy for being a fucking prick tease and it wasn't until after I got home and had taken care of my problem that I calmed down enough to realize that Candy had not done one thing to lead me on. All she had done was be herself. I doubt that she even knew how much sex appeal she radiated.

And where in the hell did I get off expecting that every woman I spent time with would crawl into bed with me? I never thought that way before I started stopping at Riley's so why was I thinking it when I went out with Candy?" The easy answer of course was that I had scored with so many from Riley's that I expected to score with anyone I hooked up with from Riley's. Leslie, Betsy, Marge, Susan, Freda -- and to some extent, Karen -- had all given me a swelled head. Candy merely woke me up to something that I had known all along.

I was not God's gift to women.

+++++++++++++++

Monday when I got up to go to work I plugged the phone back in and turned the answering machine back on and then headed off to the gym. After a good work out I hit the small café close to work for a bite of breakfast and after three cups of coffee I headed on into work.

The day went quickly and even though I had decided to cut down on my visits to Riley's I decided to stop that night. I didn't want to wait until Friday to drop in because I didn't know how Candy would take me dating her and then staying gone for almost a week.

I took a seat at the tables and since I hadn't eaten since breakfast when Candy brought me my beer I ordered a steak sandwich. Seven or eight minutes later when Candy brought me my sandwich and set it down in front of me she whispered:

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you. I saw Freda spit on it after she took it off the grill. I won't charge you for it. Another beer?"

"Yes please."

I glanced around the room to see who was there and as I did I saw Freda standing in the door to the kitchen watching me. I picked up the sandwich and pretended to take a bite out of it and out of the corner of my eye I saw Freda smile and then walk back into the kitchen. When Candy brought me my beer I had her take the sandwich and toss it. I could have eaten it and it wouldn't have hurt me any. God knows that Freda and I had swapped plenty of spit when we tongue wrestled on our dates, but I wouldn't eat the damned thing just because!

When I glanced around the room I saw Marge sitting in a booth alone and I kept an eye on her without letting her know I was watching. The juke box was banging away and every time I got up I saw her tense up a little as she expected me to come over, but each time I asked one of the girls at our table to take a trip out onto the dance floor. Given the way Marge had stalked out on me the last time we talked I had decided that if there was going to be a thaw in our relationship she was going to have to be the one to make the first move. She left about an hour after I got there.

When Candy took her break she sat at the end of the bar and sipped a Coke while munching on an order of onion rings and I went over and took the stool next to her.

"You have any plans for next Sunday?"

"Not yet?"

"Would you like to go out with me again?"

"Rob, you are a nice guy and I like you, but we aren't going to be going anywhere. I enjoyed myself last night, but there was no spark. We will never be any more than just friends."

"Friends with benefits?"

"No Rob, just friends."

"I don't mean to be crude, but back when you were trying to save me from Freda you led me to believe that you would take me to bed to keep me away from her."

"I was mad Rob. I was pissed at Freda for being such a scheming bitch and I wasn't going to let her get away with it. And in that mood I probably said some things I should not have and didn't really mean. I'm sorry Rob; I didn't mean to lead you on."

"No problem sweetie. I learned a long time ago that you can't win them all, but it does hurt a little when you can't win the one you really want to win."

"That's a sweet thing to say. Thank you. I've got to get back to work" and she got up and went back to waiting on customers.

I saw Freda looking at me from the kitchen and for just a moment I considered...nah!

The evening had lost its luster with Candy's gentle shoot down and I decided to call it a night.

+++++++++++++++++

The light was blinking on the answering machine. Three calls from Elaine and one from Shelly. Shelly's call was a "Please call Elaine Rob. As a favor for me?"

I got a beer from the fridge and as I drank it I tried to think of a reason that might have Elaine calling me and saying that it was important. I couldn't think of a single thing. I liked Shelly a lot and if she wanted a favor I guess I needed to grant it. Elaine's messages had always included a phone number so I replayed the messages and got the number and with the feeling that I would probably regret it I punched the numbers into the phone.

"Hello?"

"What do you want Elaine?"

There was silence on the other end.

"Elaine?"

"Sorry. I just never thought you would call. It took me by surprise."

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk with you."

"We are talking Elaine."

"No Rob, I mean I want to sit down with you and talk in person."

"I don't see any need for that Elaine. Things are done and settled between us and I can't see any reason for seeing you again."

"I know you probably hate me and I suppose I can't really blame you, but I need to talk to you and I need to ask you for a big favor. I can't do it on the phone Rob; I need to do it face to face."

I did not want to do it, but I was curious and it was a curiosity that would never be satisfied unless I met with her.

"When and where would you like to do this?"

"Are you home now?"

"Yes."

"I can be there in ten minutes."

"How do you know where I live?"

"Jerry found out when you renewed your driver's license."

"Jerry? You mean Gerald Montrose your lover?"

"Please Rob."

"All right. Come on over."

It was closer to fifteen than ten when she knocked on the door. I opened it and let her in. She was wearing a skirt and a blouse and high heels. I knew it was on purpose because she knew that girls in high heels were a turn on for me. Was it a come on or a distraction for me? I pointed at the sofa and she went over and sat down.

"Okay Elaine, lets have it."

"Could I have a drink of water please?"

I got up to get it, but then asked her if she would rather have a Coke or something alcoholic.

"A Coke would be nice."

I got her one and poured it in a glass and handed it to her. She took a sip and then said:

"I'm here to apologize for what I've done to you."

I didn't say anything, just looked at her.

You were right about the Witnesses; they are more of a cult than a religion. I'm not sorry that I found religion; I just wish now that it could have been a more main stream one."

She looked at me as if expecting me to say something -- maybe an "I told you so" -- and when I didn't she said:

"They turned on me Rob. I did everything that they wanted me to do and then they turned on me like a pack of dogs."

"What did you do to cause it?"

"Whatever you did to Jerry scared the hell out of him and he confessed to his wife about us and begged her to forgive him. I guess she did or is at least thinking about it, but at services one day she spit on me and then told everyone why. They all turned their backs on me. All their talks about Christian charity must have been just that -- talk! The man I was working for is a Witness and all of a sudden he told me business was slow and he let me go. The girls I was living with told me that I needed to move out and I had to ask my mother to let me stay with her. My car had a problem and the man I took it to was a Witness and he refused to even look at it for me. All of my so called friends suddenly couldn't find the time to even talk to me. I am so ashamed that I let people like that come between us. I am sorry Rob. I am so very sorry."

"You could have said all that over the phone Elaine."

"No I couldn't. That would have been the coward's way of doing it. I had to look you right in the eyes when I said it."

"What is this big favor that you needed to ask me for?"

"Jerry talked me into signing a paper for the court that said I had remarried and that stopped the alimony as far as the courts were concerned. You never paid what the court said, but you did send what you had promised to. I'm here to ask for that Rob. I need something until I can find another job and get back on my feet. Please Rob, just until I can get something going."

I looked at the woman who had fucked over me; who had cost me 142 days in jail -- not counting the weekend two weeks ago -- and I wondered why she thought I'd even listen to her let alone help her. Then I thought of the woman I'd loved and had spent six very good years with. I thought about the shitheads who she had left me for and how they had treated her and I decided that I could show that I was better than them. I took out my checkbook and I wrote Elaine a check for a thousand dollars and handed it to her.

"It isn't what the court ordered, but it is more than I agreed to. I'll see that you get it on the first of every month until you tell me you don't need it any more. I'll mail it to your mother's place."

"Can't I just come here and pick it up" she said as she started to unbutton her blouse and then she continued, "I do love you Rob, I've never stopped and I have missed you." By then she had her blouse off and was reaching for the hooks on her bra.

"Stop it Elaine. It isn't necessary."

"But I want to Rob."

"And I don't so put your blouse back on."

She stopped and said, "Is there any chance we can put things back together Rob? Any chance at all?"

"None Elaine, none at all. Do you remember the night of the poker game at Tom and Shelly's? Remember telling me that you knew why Shelly was trying to get the both of us together? Remember? We had both been there and felt the pain and so neither of us was likely to inflict that pain on someone else? You forgot that Elaine and then gave me the pain."

"I didn't do that Rob. I left you because of your attitude toward me and the Jehovah's Witnesses."

"That may be Elaine, but I have video of you and Montrose going into motel rooms weeks before you asked me for a divorce. That was outright cheating Elaine and you know how I feel about that."

"I never meant to do that to you Rob. I don't even know how it happened."

"How can you not know how it happened? Your skirt goes up, your panties come down, his zipper goes down and his cock comes out and all by magic? He fucked you while you were under some spell and you didn't know about it until later?"

"It was almost like that; the not knowing what happened till it was over."

"I just have to hear the story behind that statement."

"No point to it Rob, at least not since there doesn't seem to be any hope for us."

"Humor me Elaine. You owe me that much for the hell you put me through."

"You won't like it."

"I didn't like any of what you put me through so what's one more thing to not like."

"Jerry was one of the ones who was pushing me to divorce you and I kept telling everyone who was pushing that I could bring you around and they all told me that it would never happen. I loved you Rob and I kept telling them I couldn't leave you and I just needed more time to work on you.

"It happened on a night after we had argued and you had screamed at me and called me a 'brain washed, brain dead bimbo' and I was hurt Rob. You had never done anything like that to me before. That night I was at a meeting being held at Jerry's house. His wife was out of town for some reason and when the meeting was over Jerry asked me to stay for a minute. After every one else was gone he started in on me about the divorce again. He even told me that he would represent me for free. I told him I couldn't leave you and he said I should because you obviously didn't love me or you would support me in what I wanted. At that and remembering our fight before the meeting I broke down and started to cry. Jerry took me in his arms and tried to comfort me.

"He had his arms around me and was holding me and telling me that you didn't deserve me and he kept saying that you didn't really care for me and I began to think that he was right because you had been being so mean to me and at times really rotten where the Witnesses were concerned. I wasn't really thinking clearly when he sat me down on the couch and then kissed me and then things got out of hand. He was saying the things I needed to hear and I wasn't paying any attention to what else he was doing. I was still sobbing into his shoulder and then suddenly I was on my back and he had pushed aside the crotch band of my panties and pushed into me before I even knew what was happening. I tried to push him off of me and I told him to stop, but he wouldn't. It was more of a rape than anything else and when it was over I was sick. Even though it was more like a rape I couldn't come home and tell you. The way you felt about me at that time and given the way you felt about the Witnesses you would have probably said something like, "It serves you right for getting mixed up with those wackos" and then kicked me out of the house. I just didn't believe you would believe me when I said I didn't do it willingly.

"Jerry was well liked and I believe that if I would have hollered rape and Jerry said that it wasn't and that I had done it willingly the other members of the church would have sided with him. I didn't know what to do. I was losing you and I was sure that it would be over if I told you and I would have lost all my witness friends if I hollered rape and then I would have had no one.

"But after it happened I felt guilty because regardless of how it happened I had still been used by another man and I knew how you felt about that. The next time I saw Jerry he acted as though nothing wrong had happened and he again offered to handle my divorce for nothing. He started treating me like a girlfriend. By then I was sure that you and I were toast and I couldn't afford a lawyer so I kind of slid into a relationship with Jerry. After a couple of weeks I could no longer handle the guilt of facing you any more and I asked for the divorce.

"I told Jerry about our agreement and that is how I wanted it handled. I was surprised when he did it different, but he said he had to do it that way because of the way the divorce laws were written. What did I know? Jerry was the lawyer and he knew the law so I listened to him. I'm sorry for the way things turned out Rob. I never meant for it to be that way."

"You should have told me Elaine. I probably would have said something like it was what you deserved for getting involved with that bunch, but I never would have thrown you out. You had never lied to me that I knew of so I would have believed you when you told me what had happened. I loved you Elaine and even though we were divorced I still loved you. It wouldn't even have been impossible for us to have gotten back together up until three weeks ago."