A Waste of Time

"You keep saying that but I beg to differ."

He swallowed. "I'm going to go home now. I'll call you tomorrow if you want."

"I'll be waiting."

He watched as she walked up to her front door and then she watched him drive away.

That night, after avoiding questions from the other members of her family as to who the guy was, since none of them remembered his face, Anna eventually found herself just relaxing in her room with her sister talking about finally getting a job as a receptionist.

"Why?" asked Anna.

"Well, I can't just sit at home everyday."

"Call that guy and ask for the hundred million dollars."

"And have dad be mad at me?"

"He's got the money. He's paying for dad's treatments."

"You think he'd still give it to us?"

"Call and ask."

"Wait, was that him?"

"Was who him?"

"The kissy guy with the truck?"

"It was him."

"But is that ok?"

"The restraining order is over."

"But dad would be ..."

"I can make up my own mind who I want to date. All George ever did is try and help this family and we were rude to him for it."

"And he'd really give me all that money if I asked?"

"Call him and find out."

"Are you getting yours?"

"I'm going to the bank to get it tomorrow."

Zoe's mouth dropped. "For real?"

"For real."

"We're going to be rich. We're going to be ..."

"Calm down. You're too loud."

"Sorry."

"Say, have you ever heard of a condition that makes it so a guy has to be with two women at the same time?"

"No. What's that?"

"Nothing. I just heard it might be a new thing going around."

"Sounds like a bullshit lie a guy says to try and get a threesome."

Anna nodded. It did indeed.

...

George felt uneasy. The kiss played over and over again in his mind. He had to admit that he really liked it.

He couldn't get comfortable on his sofa so he got up and sat in his recliner. Then he still felt weird so he moved again. He just couldn't shake this funny feeling so he went to the elevator and rode it down to the second basement under his basement. From the elevator he was presented with a hall that had several doors on each side. He passed the door for his gold deposits that prominently displayed a warning to himself not to put too much in there or the weight of the gold would crack the floor. As he continued down the hall he also passed his silver and another room that was just filled with pallets of cash.

George's goal was the door at the end of the hall. It required him to put in a special key code to open it and then he also had to put his phone up to the sensor. The door unlocked and he entered his invention workshop.

He looked around at his various things and sat in the very uncomfortable wooden chair he had.

"Oh dear." said a voice. "You look like something terrible happened."

George looked over at the computer. "Well, not terrible."

"Did you come down here to talk about it or did you just want to sulk?"

"Can you pull up the records for Anna Arbor for me?"

"Did she call the police on you again?"

"No. I just wanted to see what was supposed to have happened."

"Haven't you learned by now? There is no such thing as supposed to."

"I know. It's just funny is all."

"Did you want me to print the data out for you?"

"No, just tell me again who she got married to."

"Steven Coleman."

"And you don't have any record of when she would have met him?"

"No. Perhaps I could be of more use to you if you explained what happened."

"I think I accidentally went on a date."

"To quote Austin 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' End quote."

"With Anna Arbor."

"I see. That is interesting."

"I think ... um ... I actually like her."

"Oh dear."

"I know, right. But it isn't like we're really related."

"Let's think this through logically, shall we."

"I know what you're going to say but ..."

"You're just going to ignore it."

"I didn't say that."

"You share approximately 50% of your DNA with her and there's a chance it could be even more. From a purely biological point of view, she's at least your sister and she could also be ..."

"I know." George said as he was trying to think of a way round the problem. "I know." he repeated. "But ..."

"But what?" said the AI in the computer.

...

Upon signing all the paperwork at the bank Anna was not yet the owner of a hundred million dollars. There was a process they had to go through in the back office. But it was coming. It was essentially her money and she'd have full access and ownership to it just as soon as the bank guys finished whatever it was they had to do and the government got their slice. For the time being Anna got immediate access to a hundred thousand in her checking account and she was happy for that. They could take their time with the rest.

That brought up an interesting question. Should she quit her job? It was easy for Zoe to just stop looking for a job but should Anna quit her job. She decided against it, at least not until she had the full amount. It was still sort of unreal to her.

When she finished work for that day she looked at her phone and wondered if she should call George. She felt conflicted about it. She liked him. She really liked him. It wasn't just the money either. He was a nice guy and he was good looking. In a way, his shyness was almost charming. He obviously didn't go sleeping around with a lot of women. A lot of other rich guys his age would be surrounded by swimsuit models.

She called with the excuse of asking if Zoe had gotten in contact with him. He thanked her for calling and let her know that Zoe had indeed called and he was just then setting up a transfer for her.

Anna asked if he was busy later that night and he said he wouldn't be. Anna then found a way to extract permission from him for her to come over.

"Sure, sure. You're always welcome." he said.

Anna rushed home, put on her sexiest outfit, printed out directions to his house based on the address she'd gotten before and then she was back in her car.

She found the place rather quickly and she waited with great anticipation after she rang his door bell.

He answered the door himself and then he was taken aback by how she looked.

"Wow. You meant ... um ... So that's what you meant."

"How do I look?"

"Stunning. Amazing."

"Thank you."

"Did we have plans to do something special or anything?"

"No, I just wanted to see you."

"Ok."

"Can I come in?"

"Oh. Yeah. Totally. Come on in. Have you eaten yet?"

"No."

"Well, I was just going to make frozen pizza but I can order something ..."

"Whatever you're having is fine by me."

"Let me order proper pizza at least."

She went into his living room which was bigger by itself than her father's entire house. She sat and waited. She watched him as he paced back and forth on the phone with the pizza delivery guys. He was nervous around her. That was so cute.

"Pizza's on the way."

"Great." she said and then watched him as he sat in a chair far from her.

"So, how's everyone in the family?"

"Doing well. We haven't heard from the doctors yet on if dad's responding to treatment."

"Yeah. I can't change that."

"Is there something wrong with this sofa?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Cause you're not sitting next to me."

"Oh." he said and then grimaced. He got up and approached her but stopped before sitting down next to her. "Well, see, you know about my condition and I don't want to disappoint you."

"Well, maybe if you close your eyes you can imagine two."

"Oh. Right."

Anna grabbed his hand and pulled him to the sofa. He sat next to her and she brought her body close to him.

"Wait. Stop."

"What's wrong?"

George didn't want to lie to her. It wasn't just because he'd rather tell the truth if he could but there was also the fact that he'd almost certainly get caught later. He'd wanted to kick himself for the two girls lie since if it was any other woman he'd be all ready to just date. Well, he sort of would if he didn't still have Courtney on his mind.

Poor Courtney. He'd really fucked up there. Every time he'd even come close to dating her memory would just weigh too much on him mind and he'd be too overwhelmed with guilt to even consider it. Then he met Anna and actually had the chance to spend some time with her. She was the first woman who could actually get him to forget Courtney.

No, that wasn't true. He wasn't forgetting Courtney. He was here with Anna and Courtney was on his mind. He wasn't forgetting her at all. Rather, Anna was causing a reaction in him that was so strong he just couldn't care anymore. The feeling of wanting to have sex with Anna was overshadowing his sense of loss, alienation, and loneliness.

"Anna, I really like you. I know I haven't really known you for very long but I do like you."

"Good. Cause I like you too."

"I know. You said that. But we just met."

"I know. But I feel like I can't control myself around you."

"Yeah, I think I'm feeling something sort of like that too."

"So then, let's do something about it."

"The thing is, with my condition ... um ... it's kind of a mental block. A fetish."

"I said I didn't judge you."

"I know but what I mean to say is ... um ..." He was struggling for something to tell her so she would understand at least part of what he was going through. "If this is going to happen your sister needs to be here too."

"What?" Anna asked with anger.

"See, that's my thing. And that's pretty much why I don't date."

"My sister? Explain."

"See. I think it would be best if I just shut my mouth. You'd just be grossed out by ..."

"With my sister?"

"Now you think I'm ..."

"No. Don't clam up. Just say it. I won't judge you. I'll try to understand."

"Ok. I like sisters. Twins are best if I can get them. But they have to be at least sisters. And if something happens then it can't be just me with one and then the other. I need them to both do things to each other."

Anna tried to keep a look of horror from coming to her face. "How long have you been like this?"

"For about the past ... I think five years."

"And have you ever succeeded in ..."

"Getting sisters? No. The second I even get to the point where I can mention it, that pretty much is the death nail of any relationship."

Anna looked him over. She didn't know how to take this news. She didn't know if she even wanted to really believe this news.

"So, you're one of those guys who watches lesbian incest porn?"

George took a second to register the question and then he nodded. "Guilty as charged. That's me."

Anna pondered what to do. There was no way she was going to share a guy with Zoe. There was no way she was going to be sexual with her sister while some guy watched. But she liked him so much. Even in that moment when half of her felt like running for the door, the other half wanted to anchor onto him.

"Ok. I accept that. I don't judge you. I'm not saying that will ever happen, mind you."

"Of course not."

"But I accept what you say and I'm happy you trust me enough to tell me."

"And I do like you. You should know that. I do like you."

"And I like you, too." She smiled and wondered why she wasn't already back in her car. "So, did you have any plans for tonight? What were you going to be doing if I hadn't shown up?"

"I was going to watch the basketball game."

"Oh. Ok. I like basketball."

"Maybe you could watch it with me."

"I'd like that."

George let out a sigh of relief as they both sat there watching the game. In truth, George knew almost nothing about basketball and knew even less about the current teams. New Orleans had a team again? Weird. But that was his life now. The world trade center was gone. There had been a housing bubble. Some guy named Obama had been the first black president instead of Keyes and Clinton had never gone to jail. They were still using silicon in their cpu chips. Hell, they were even still using the Windows operating system of all things.

The pizza arrived and the two of them were eating and watching the game. Anna felt that he was very silent for a sports fan. She mentioned that she'd like to get more comfortable. That made him tense up a bit until she asked if he might have any sweatpants or shorts she could borrow, just to watch the game.

She followed him to the elevator that brought them to the third floor where his bedroom was. He grabbed some lose fitting clothes and smiled as he gave them to her.

She looked around at his bedroom. It was so neat and tidy. He didn't spend much time in there. She could change that.

The plan she formed in her head didn't work out as well as she imagined. For one thing, his bed was too far away because in general his damn house was just too damn big. She slapped the clothes out of his hand and threw herself into his arms for a kiss. He didn't push her away. Then the next thing either of them knew they were on the floor making out.

This was so perfect, she thought, even as she lamented not getting closer to the actual bed.

This was so wrong, he thought as he took note of the fact that the carpet was a lot softer than he'd thought it would be.

This couldn't be happening. She was his sister. Sure, she didn't know that but he did. He had to stop this. It was the right thing to do. No, he shouldn't just wait a bit while he enjoyed the kiss and then stop it later. He had to stop it immediately. FUCK.

"Stop." he said as he tried to scramble away from her.

"It's ok. Just try it the normal way."

"I'd like to. I'd love to, but ..."

"Give me a chance." she pleaded.

George got to his feet and she was up just as fast. He was backing away from her as he tried to think of words to say that would delay the moment.

"No." he said forcefully. "Now I really like you. I really want to be friends with you but ..."

"We can be more than just friends."

"No, we can't. No."

"Not without my sister?"

"And I'm not actually asking for that. I know you'd never want to do that. So it would be best to just not do this and just go back downstairs and just be friends. But romance is out of the question."

"How do you feel when you kiss me."

"Honestly, I feel great. It feels great but," he shook his head violently; "we can't do that. No. Absolutely not."

"Ok." she said and then she moved close to him. "Can I at least just get a hug from you?"

"A hug. Just a hug."

"Just a hug from my friend."

"Ok. That would be ok."

She hugged him and George felt himself feel like he just wanted to throw her on the bed and fuck her silly. But he couldn't do that. Her father was also his father. Her mother was also his mother. He had to resist. But she was so hot. He wanted her so much.

She didn't know they were biologically siblings. She'd let him if he wanted to. She was literally throwing herself at him.

"You feel nice." she said.

"You do, too."

...

Anna was back at home after her failed attempt to seduce George. It was so obvious that he wanted her. And she wanted him. She didn't know what the problem was. He had to be married. That was the only explanation. Or he had a serious girlfriend. A rich guy like him might even have three or four girlfriends.

But what if what he said was true. What if he actually needed two women at the same time. What if he really did need sisters, or women who would pretend to be sisters. He could pay for that. He certainly had the money to pay for that. But George was a gentleman, even if he didn't always dress like it. She didn't know him that well but she knew he'd never pay for a prostitute.

She recalled the expression on his face when she'd asked him about lesbian porn and then realized he might not even look at that sort of stuff. He was too respectful to women.

...

He didn't like going to bed with blue balls. Anna had gotten him so turned on. He wanted to fuck her so bad. Damn, why did she have to be his sister?

Well, she wasn't really his sister. It was so confusing. Really, she was him. But she wasn't. She had replaced him. If she had been his twin then he'd call her a sister. So she was a sister. But she wasn't his twin. She'd taken his spot.

It was so hard to wrap his head around this.

Buzz Buzz Buzz.

He looked at his phone. It was Anna. Oh, shit. Was she calling to work him up again?

"Hello."

"Hi. I wanted to apologize to you."

"No apology needed. I was happy you came by."

"I know but I went over the line."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it."

"You know, I really appreciate everything you've done for me."

"It was my pleasure."

"And I know I invaded your personal space."

"Anna, it's fine. I'm happy we're friends. I like spending time with you. I'd like to spend more time with you ... um ... as my friend."

They spoke to each other with each having pleasant things to say about the other and then the call was over. Anna hung up her end and then slowly walked through the house until she bumped into her sister.

"Zoe, I just remembered, I should give this back to you." Anna said as she got out a dollar to pay her sister back for the dollar she'd lost in the bet.

"You keep it. I'm going to be rich."

"I know. Say, could you have lunch with me tomorrow?"

"Of course. Where are we going? Paris?"

"No. George's house."

"Really?"

"He has a nice house by the lake and I was thinking that we should try to give him a proper thank you."

"What kind of thank you?"

"Ok, so this isn't part of him giving us money or anything but I was thinking that we could, double team him."

"What, like, sex?"

Anna nodded slowly.

"That's what the money was for?" asked Zoe.

"No. And if you don't want to go see him you don't have to but you'd really be helping me out."

"By sharing a guy with you?"

"He has a sort of condition."

"The threesome condition?"

"Just go to lunch with us. Maybe just be there. You don't have to do anything."

"You want me to watch you have sex with your boyfriend?"

"No. See, he doesn't want to be my boyfriend. He just wants to be friends."

"Great. He pays you and then you don't have to put out. That's great."

"No, it's not great. I like him."

"But he just wants to be friends."

"He likes me too but he's got this thing in his head."

"He's dying? That's why he's giving his money away?"

"No. He needs to think that he's with two women at the same time or he can't get himself to do anything."

"What? That's like a real thing?"

"Yes, apparently it is."

"He can just get a couple of call girls."

"He's too decent for that sort of thing."

"But he asked you to bring me for a threesome?"

"No. He didn't ask. He actually told me not to even mention it to you. This is all me. I'm asking because I want to try and be with this guy. I really like him."

...

"Maybe I deserve it." George said to the picture of the woman in the frame by his bed. "A fitting punishment for playing with things I didn't understand."

She didn't respond back to him of course. She was just a picture. She was the picture of a woman that had never been born. She'd never existed. George was so sorry for that. He felt so guilty for that. If only he'd known what would have happened. He never would have done it. So now instead of Courtney being alive and well; she'd never been born. Her parents had never met. They had never gotten married. They'd never had a child together.

And even if they had met, gotten married, and had a child; there was only a 1 in 8000 chance that their child would be Courtney. Even if she were Courtney, her parents might not have named her that. And then, even if they had, she still wouldn't be his Courtney. She wouldn't be the same person who knew George and dated George and had said no to marrying George.