TIFFANY-NOT MY STEPDAUGHTER
PART 2
CHAPTER 1
As I was driving home my phone rang. I saw that it was Tiffany. I answered and said, "Tiffany, I can't talk to you right now. I've got to get my head straight". I hung up and it rang again immediately. Tiffany again. I let it go to voicemail. She called twice more before I got home.
Then sent a text message that said, "Please talk to me, Dan. We did nothing wrong. We have to work this out. Please call me."
You are all probably thinking I'm a real dumbass. That she is not my stepdaughter. Like she said. That there is nothing wrong with what happened. That it's just a blowjob. That nobody turns down a BJ. And even if she was my stepdaughter, my ex hadn't given me any for a long time. That I was a divorced man and had the right to sex with whoever I wanted. That it was usually the woman who felt ashamed, not the man. What the hell is wrong with you?
Yeah. These were all the things I was telling myself. And they sounded right. But my conscience told me it was wrong. That I had considered Tiffany my daughter for 15 years and that makes it wrong. "How the hell am I going to live with myself?", I thought.
Over the next 2 days Tiffany called and texted multiple times. I never answered. I couldn't face her. I finally called Russ, my best friend and confidante. We went out for a beer and I confided in him what happened, with an assurance from him that he would tell no one. And I trust that he won't. He told me I did nothing wrong. All the things I had tried to tell myself. He also said that if Tiffany was okay with it, then I should be, too. That if anyone should be upset, it would be her. And since she's not, then I'm being irrational. "Stop being such a girl," he said. "And besides," he added, "I've met Tiffany. She is totally hot. Nobody could turn that down. Unless it was facedown, as the old joke goes," he said.
I smiled and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe I am making more out of it than I should. Thanks for talking to me about it. I really appreciate it. You've helped me get a handle on everything."
I went home and, after working up my courage for a while, dialed Tiffany's number. She picked up on the first ring.
"Dan. Thank God. I've been all fucked up worrying about that I've ruined everything. Are you okay? What can I do to make this right? I am so, so sorry."
"Whoa! Slow down, Tiff." I said. "I've thought about it a lot, and I'm ready to talk. Can we get together and hash this out?"
"Hell, yeah", she said. "When? Now"?
"Whenever you are free." I said. "I'm going to bed now. I've got to go to the hardware store tomorrow morning. We can meet somewhere for lunch if you want. Somewhere we can eat outside, maybe, so we can have privacy."
"Great," she said. "How about Ruby Tuesday's at 12?"
"Sounds good," I replied. "See you then."
CHAPTER 2
Tiffany was already sitting in the parking lot in her car when I arrived at the restaurant the next day. She got out of her car when she saw me pull in. I parked and got out of my car. She came to me and gave me a hug and said, "I'm so glad you called and agreed to meet me. I was sick with worry that I'd lost my best friend. I don't have many friends."
"I'm happy to see you, too, Tiffy. Let's get some lunch and talk," I said.
"Sounds good," she said.
While we ate, I told her of my feelings. How I was ashamed that I had allowed that to happen because I still considered her my stepdaughter. But I had talked to my best friend about it and realized that, no, you are not my stepdaughter. And that while it may be questionable behavior for a man my age to do anything sexual with such a young girl, it's not illegal, just morally questionable for some people. But if both parties are of legal age, and agreeable, then it's not a problem. "So," I concluded, "I have made peace with it. And I couldn't bear to lose you from my life. I love you. But I do want to apologize for allowing that to happen after I said it couldn't. That had to be confusing for you. Because it was for me. And I'm sorry that I didn't control myself."
"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Dan,", she replied. "I love you, too, and couldn't stand the thought that I'd never see you again. And you're right. We're not related. Even by marriage. And we are both adults. Nothing illegal or immoral about what we did. And you don't need to apologize. I should apologize to you for doing that after you said no. And I swear to you that I did not plan that. I truly did just want your input on my clothes. I wasn't trying to seduce you. It's just that when I saw what I had done to you I got excited and turned on. Because it has been so long since....well, you know."
I smiled at her and said, "Thank you, Tiffy. But you owe me no apology, either. Let's just agree that we both lost control and what happened is history. We'll just resume where we left off."
"Deal!" she said, and we hugged each other.
Then I asked if she had met anyone interesting or made any dates.
She said, "I haven't tried. I'm not so sure I want to do that. I don't think I want to go through the hell of a bad relationship. Or subject anyone else to my stupid shit. I know I'm kind of insane in some ways. And that is not conducive to good relations with other people."
"I understand what you're saying," I told her. "I know a little of what you went through as a child, and I'm sorry you had to live that way. That is bound to make a person a little neurotic, or crazy, or whatever. And I'm sorry it has caused you so much trouble in your adult life, as well. You know I suffered some trauma early on, as well. So I understand the problems it causes."
I was referring to some sexual abuse that both of us had endured as children.
I didn't see her for about a month. She said she was trying to get everything situated after moving to the new place. I offered to help, but she said she had it under control. Mostly unpacking boxes and finding a place for everything. But we did stay in touch through calls and texts. Thankfully things seemed to be back to normal.
CHAPTER 3
Then she called one Wednesday about 6:00 PM. "Dan," she said. Except she drew it out in a sing-song voice so it came out as "Day-un". Any time she said it that way, I knew she needed something. I'd heard it many times from her and her mother both.
"Oh fuck," I joked. "What are you scheming now? Or getting me into?" Any time she or her mother said it that way, I knew I had work to do.
She laughed and said, "Are you free? Nothing real big. I just need a favor if you can. If you can't, it's fine. I can wait until tomorrow and get somebody out here. In fact, never mind. It's not that important. It can wait. I shouldn't have called. Sorry to bother you. Go back to whatever you were doing. I have no right to expect you to drop everything every time I need something. I'm sorry."
I tried to stop her babbling. "Tiffany! Stop! Whoa! Shut the fuck up"! I laughed and said, "Just slow down and tell me what you need. I'll tell you if I can't do it."
She laughed, too, and said, "Sorry. Sometimes I get a little wound up."
"You think?", I joked. "Now. Tell me what you need."
"Well," she said. "The power went off in the living room. Maybe just a fuse? Everything else works. But I can't find the fuse box."
I said, "Yeah. If it's just the living room, it's gotta be a fuse. Probably a circuit breaker rather than a fuse, though. When did it go off? What happened?"
"I had just showered and turned on the TV to have something to listen to while I fixed dinner. Went to the kitchen to start water boiling for spaghetti and the TV went off. I tried to turn it back on, but nothing. I tried a light and it wouldn't come on either. That's when I went to check the fuses. But I don't see a fuse box. Could there not be one? Could it be something else?"
"No," I said. "There's got to be one somewhere. I'll come over and help find it."
"Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked. "It really can wait. It's not that big a deal."
"I probably shouldn't say this because it may might scare you, but I want to make sure that's all it is and not a bigger problem like a short or something. And I'm not doing anything, anyway. And I'm literally 10 minutes away. I'll be right there"
"Thank you, Dan, I really appreciate everything you do," she said.
Tiffany answered the door in her pajamas. She DID say she had just gotten out of the shower. Ready to settle in for the evening, I guess. She said, "Please forgive me for having my PJ's on. I wasn't planning on company." Her PJ's consisted of what I think they call "boy shorts," and a loose fitting t-shirt with the Rolling Stones' giant tongue on the front. Her hair was in a ponytail. Quite cute.
"No problem," I said. "I'd probably be dressed the same if I was at home. Well, not the same exactly. But in pajamas."
We checked the rest of the house. Everything worked except in the living room just like she said. I said, "Yeah. It's just one circuit. We just need to find the fuse box and reset the circuit breaker. You say you couldn't find it?"
"No," she replied. "I thought it would be easy to find, but damned if I could it."
I said, "Well, it's most likely in the kitchen or laundry room since you don't have a basement."
"That's what I thought, too," she said. "But I must be blind."
"Let's take look," I said. I looked around the kitchen and didn't see it. Looked in the laundry room. Nothing. "I don't think it would be there, but let's check the bedrooms."
We looked in both bedrooms, including in the closets, and found nothing. I said, "It's got to be hidden behind something in the kitchen or laundry room. I see the power line coming in on that side of the house."
We checked the kitchen again and saw nothing. Then the laundry room again. "Bingo!" I said. I had opened the door of a cabinet and spotted a panel behind some shelves. "That is a really stupid thing to do," I said. Build a cabinet with shelves over the fuse box. We took the stuff out, which thankfully wasn't much. Just detergent, drier sheets, and a few cleaning supplies. Then the shelves just lifted out, "Thank God they didn't fasten the shelves in," I said. "At least they did make it so you can get to it."
Sure enough a breaker was tripped. I showed her how to tell when one was tripped and how to reset it. Surprisingly she had never run into this situation at her prior homes. The lights and TV came on in the living room. "Well, that was easy enough," she said. "After you found the box, anyway."
"Yeah, that happens sometimes," I said. "We'll wait a few minutes and make sure it doesn't trip again. Turn everything on in the living room and we'll see what happens."
"What's it mean if it trips again?" she asked. "Is that bad?"
"It could mean a short. Or just too much plugged in on that circuit. No major problem either way," I assured her.
The only things on the circuit were the TV, 2 lamps, a ceiling light which she doesn't use, a ceiling fan, an Alexa, and 2 chargers, 1 for her phone, and 1 for the laptop. "That's not enough to overload," I told her. And with everything turned on it did not trip again. So I told her it was probably just a power surge that tripped it. Nothing to worry about.
"Thank you so much, Dan. I really appreciate it. And I'm sorry I bothered you," she said.
"You are welcome. I'm glad I could help. And it's not a bother," I told her.
Then she asked, "Would you like to stay for dinner? Have you eaten yet? I was going to make spaghetti."
I said, "Sure. Sounds good. I never turn down a free meal. And no, I haven't eaten yet. And that will also give me a little time to see if it trips again"