E-Beth Ch. 02

"Vegan place?" Stella asked as we badged out at the RFID scanner and walked through the doors.

I sighed, patting my stomach. Had to keep the weight off. "Sure."

"You're driving."

I smiled. "Of course."

I usually drove. I was by far the worse driver between the two of us, having been chauffeured around by my parents in High School and then not needing a car in college. But I had the nicer car and Stella always liked riding with me rather than the other way around.

One semi-satisfying Diet Coke and Thai Tofu wrap later, Stella was climbing into the passenger seat of my car and we headed back toward the office. As usual, she was chattering away, keeping me up to date on the latest office gossip and continuing our conversation from the restaurant about how our holidays went.

We weren't that far away from the office when I suddenly caught sight of road debris. What looked like a couple of haphazard, used wooden planks were right in the middle of my lane; and in a panic I spun the wheel trying to avoid them and dart into the open lane to my left.

Of course, me being the driver that I am, I somehow managed to direct my car directly *over* the wooden planks. Don't ask me how I pulled that off. I have no idea.

Tires squealed.

Stella shrieked.

And then the whole car jumped as it impacted something. Or at least, I thought it was an impact.

All of a sudden, my car DEMANDED that I turn to the right, no matter how much effort I put into steering myself left. The rear end fishtailed, and with Stella screaming in my ear at a hypersonic pitch, I slammed on the brakes and started letting the car pull itself over onto the right shoulder.

What felt like an hour later, we were at a dead stop on the side of the road. My hands were shaking again, and Stella was in the final throes of screaming. But eventually she realized we weren't moving anymore, and that we weren't dead, so she shut up and looked at me. "What was that?"

I shook my head. "I don't know." I shut off the engine, feeling my heart start to calm down as everything went quiet. And then as my rational brain kicked in, I flipped on the emergency blinkers and checked my side-view mirror to make sure the coast was clear before popping my door open.

"Where are you going?" Stella whimpered.

"To check things out." I got out of the car and closed the door again. And then I circled around the front of my cherry red Saab 9-3 to inspect the damages.

The front bumper and grill looked fine. There were some dead bugs, but no dents or anything. That made me feel much better. But then I continued around to the passenger side of the car, and the shredded pieces of rubber that used to be my tire told me that I was in trouble. "Ah, shit," I grunted.

"What is it?" Stella squealed from inside the car, her voice muffled by the glass.

I looked over at her. "Blown tire."

"Do you know how to fix it?" she asked.

I blanched, frowning. Give me an infinitely complicated chemical procedure that less than a percent of the human population is capable of performing. Give me complex modeling software for manipulating the billions of lines of code in the human genome. But don't give me a flat tire. Dammit.

"No," I sighed. But I looked at her hopefully. "Triple-A. Can you get me my purse?"

Nodding, Stella picked up my purse, which had my wallet and cell phone. Then she opened her door as I came around to fetch it. I dug through the purse to find my insurance card, but just as I was whipping out my cell phone, a dark blue Nissan Titan full-size truck pulled onto the shoulder behind us.

My first thought was, 'Hey, why didn't I think of that? It's just a flat. If I could have just gotten Stella to flash some leg, we woulda had a half-dozen guys willing to help us change out the tire.'

My second thought was, 'Please don't be some serial killer who's gonna chloroform us, throw us in his truck, and lock us in a basement to repeatedly rape us before murdering us and dumping our bodies in a creek.'

And then my third thought, when the man stepped out of the truck, was, "Teddy?"

Oh, wait. That wasn't a thought. I actually said that one.

"Everybody OK?" Teddy asked by way of greeting, walking up to us.

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Blown tire."

"Run over those planks back there?"

I blushed, embarrassed. "Uh, yeah."

Teddy nodded. "Might be nails in them. Mind if I take a look?" He pointed up at the wheel, where I was blocking the view with my legs.

"Uh, no. No. Of course not," I stammered and backed away. Teddy came around and squatted, looking down at what remained of my tire.

"Yep. No coming back from that one," he whistled and looked up at me. "You know how to change this?"

I blushed again. "Uh, no."

Teddy smirked and then pointed at the wheel. "May I?"

Realization dawned. "Oh, sure! Thanks!"

Chuckling, Teddy stood up and then circled around to the driver's door without another word. He opened it, hit the trunk switch, and then moved around to get out the spare tire and jack. He moved with the calm efficiency of someone who knew exactly what he was doing, and all of a sudden Teddy didn't seem like such a geek to me anymore.

Stella, by now, had gotten out of the passenger side to watch him go to work. "So how'd you find us?" the blonde asked conversationally.

Teddy shrugged as he set aside the nuts holding the spare tire in place. "Recognized E-Beth's car."

"You recognized her car?" There was a clear innuendo in Stella's voice.

Teddy stood up straight, looking past the trunk lid at us. And with an amused drawl, he answered, "I'm not a stalker. I just know what car she drives."

"Okay," Stella smirked, a challenge on her face. "What kind of car do *I* drive?"

"Green Corolla," Teddy sighed. "Besides, I drove E-Beth home in this car after the Holiday Party, remember?"

"And how'd you happen to show up here?"

Teddy frowned and then pointed up the road. "The office is like a mile that way." Then he turned and pointed back the way we came. "And all the good restaurants are that way. It's not rocket science."

"Uh-huh..." Stella folded her arms across her chest, clearly not buying it.

At that point, Teddy just smirked and rolled up his sleeves, hauling the spare tire donut out and then carrying it around to go to work. He squatted down, positioned the jack underneath the car frame, and started winching it up. In the meantime, he glanced over to me, stared at my feet for a second, and then looked up. "Nice shoes, E-Beth. I like them."

I blushed one more time and looked over at Stella. She flashed a wink at me as well, and then returned her attention to the man repairing our ride. And I found myself evaluating Teddy all over again as well.

It took less time than I thought. It's not that changing a tire intimidated me. I considered myself an intelligent person who could figure out just about anything. But I'd never changed a tire nor seen it done, and the unknown always intimidates people. But now, seeing the whole process in action, I cursed myself for not figuring it out for myself sooner. And in only a few minutes, Teddy had lowered the car back down onto the donut and dropped my wheel with shredded rubber attached into my trunk.

After that, I stammered something inane about owing him something. Stella snorted something under her breath. Knowing her, she might very well have said I should let him fondle my boobs. As it was, I told him I should pay him for the service rendered.

"Yeah, right," Teddy chuckled, waving me off. "Just glad I was in the right place at the right time."

"Lunch, at least, E-Beth," Stella suggested. "You gotta buy him lunch sometime for that."

The smirk was suddenly gone from Teddy's face. He looked straight at me with a serious expression, and all of a sudden there was a tension in his eyes. It was the same tension I'd seen in his eyes the last day we'd seen each other before today, back in the lobby late in the evening when he'd wanted me to go out with him for a cup of coffee to discuss what had happened after the Holiday Party. "No," Teddy stammered, his easygoing confidence suddenly gone again. "You don't owe me anything." And before I could really respond, he just nodded his head to me and then turned around, walking back to his truck.

Stupefied, I just watched him get in, start his truck, and then wave to us as he pulled out and drove off.

Stella stepped up next to me, following my gaze as I watched the blue pickup truck departing down the road. And just before he went out of sight, she whistled and said, "Is it just me, or is Teddy cuter than he was a month ago?"

I blinked a couple of times and then glanced at my friend. I shrugged. "New haircut."

"No..." Stella mused. "It's more than that. I don't think I ever saw him outside of the lab coat before."

"He wore a suit to the party," I pointed out.

"Same thing," Stella shook her head. "But today it was just that fitted polo shirt and jeans. I never realized he's got a pretty nice body underneath there."

"I know," I replied. I still remembered the sight of Teddy naked, with a much more muscularly-defined body than I'd been expecting.

Stella now turned to squarely face me. "You *know*?" The innuendo in her voice was back.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, stop it."

"He likes you, you know."

"What?"

"Teddy." Stella stared me at me seriously. "He likes you."

I rolled my eyes again. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious," Stella insisted. "You know his eyes have followed you wherever you go since he started working here. He was ALL attentive to you at that Holiday Party. And now this?"

I sighed and then simply walked over, going back to the driver's seat. "C'mon, let's get back. I'll need you to drop me off at the tire shop."

****

It was two days later that I found myself in Building 2, which was where some of the administration departments of Argen were housed. It was a newer building, with luxurious meeting rooms designed to impress any outsiders coming to visit the campus. So prospective employees went there to meet with HR and prospective customers went there to meet with Sales.

There had been a foul-up with my latest benefits elections and I'd gone to HR to get things straightened out. It was on my way back that I first saw him, coming down the hall in the opposite direction. He had a folder tucked underneath his left armpit, and he was wearing a suit jacket as if he'd just come from a customer meeting. And the instant he saw me, his pace slowed and he seemed to shrink.

But to his credit, he didn't ignore me as we met up. "Hello, E-Beth."

"Hi, Grant," I replied, the corners of my lips tugging upward just fractionally in a mini-smile. It was the first time we'd seen each other since the Holiday Party, and I wasn't really sure how to feel. Should I try to be friendly and let bygones be bygones? Should I be angry with him for toying with me and then ignoring me completely once it became obvious I wasn't going to easily put out?

Grant made my decision for me. He nodded to me one last time. And then without another word, he continued on past me, resuming his pace and going on as if he'd never run into me.

*Asshole*. I felt my heart harden as I stopped and turned around to see Grant's retreating back. I cursed myself for not realizing he was a shallow, self-important bastard in the first place. The fact that I let him get *that* close to seducing me just pissed me off even more. And on that note, I gritted my teeth and stormed out of the building.

I was still in this mood when I bumped into my other "him". Actually, he saw me first. I was still beneath my dark cloud and entirely focused on what was directly in front of me, lest I run something over. It was bad enough that I didn't even realize someone was calling my name until he caught my arm and shocked me out of my reverie.

Surprised, I whirled and raised my arm, ready to defend myself against my attacker.

"Whoa, whoa!" Teddy held both his hands up, letting go of my arm.

"Teddy?" I started in surprise.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he stated apologetically.

"No, no. I was..." *Pissed about Grant.* But I didn't want to say that aloud, so I just looked up at Teddy. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. I just wanted to know if everything worked out with your car. No other damage or anything."

"Ah, yeah. Just the tire. Guess I got lucky." I smiled.

"Good to hear." Teddy nodded. And then still smiling, he started backpedaling to continue on his way. "I'll see you around."

"Ah, yeah..." I started before trailing off, my brain suddenly filled with a new thought. *'I still owe you. Can I buy you lunch?'* I wanted to ask.

*Where did THAT thought come from?*

"Hey, honey. You okay?" a new voice asked.

Belatedly, I realized that I was still standing there in the hall, looking after Teddy's departing form. This was getting to be a bad habit. And sure enough, there was Stella, leaning against the nearest cubicle wall, her arms folded across her chest and a knowing smirk on her face.

I blinked a couple of times. "Yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine."

"Sure there's something you're not hiding from me?" The pretty blonde waggled her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes and then started walking again. "Dream on."

****

"Okay, honey. Spill it. What the heck is going on between you and Teddy?" Stella ordered as all four of us sat down at the table. It was a Friday evening and the four of us were all together at Monahan's, as usual.

"What?" I stammered.

"Wait, who?" Audrey, the married brunette, piped up.

"Teddy? Teddy Harrison?" Paula, the single bottle-blonde, exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes," Stella confirmed to our two friends. "Teddy Harrison."

"Really?" Paula scrunched her face up as if to say, '*Him?*'

"What? He seems nice," Audrey put in, a thoughtful look on her face.

"He seems so *young*," Paula frowned.

"For us, maybe," Audrey shrugged. "E-Beth and Stella are only a couple of years older than him."

"He's barely out of college!" Paula shook her head disapprovingly. "He's been in the workforce what, eight months? Aren't you a little young to be turning cougar?"

"Will you stop!" I interrupted, already feeling exasperated. "Nothing's going on!"

"Nothing's going on *now*?" Stella inquired, the innuendo back in her voice. "Or nothing happened in the *past*?"

Oh, if looks could kill. Stella was my best friend in this town, but if eyes were lasers she'd have been a smoking crisp by now.

Fortunately, I was saved from having to respond by the waiter. Whatever curiosities Audrey and Paula harbored about me and Teddy, the desire to get a few cocktails overwhelmed them. They ordered first, giving me enough time to give Stella the stinkeye and order her to drop it.

So of course, the instant our waiter left, Stella repeated her first question. "Spill it, honey. What the heck is going on between you and Teddy?"

I was going to kill her. I knew enough about biochemistry to make it look like an accident. A drop of this, a little of that into her morning coffee. Boom, she's facedown on her keyboard and drooling out her final breaths. Maybe I could even pick up her monitor and smash it over her head. The impact of the new LCDs wouldn't be as satisfying as the old CRT monitors we had, but it would still be rather gratifying. And-

"Seriously," Stella said, putting her hand on top of mine. "You're our friend and we care about you."

"Care enough to leave it alone?" I sighed.

"Is there something to leave alone?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Women... "No. There's nothing. We're just friends."

"But you ARE friends now, right?"

"Sure."

"You weren't really friends before."

I groaned and dropped my elbow on to the table while dropping my forehead into my palm. "Well, it's an old college rule. Anyone who holds your hair back while you puke your guts out into the toilet is a friend. Right?"

"Teddy did that for you?" Paula asked with an impressed tone of voice.

"Yeah." I closed my eyes and nodded. I chose not to mention the fact that we were both naked and I had his semen running out of my pussy at the time.

"What else happened?" Audrey asked. I could always count on Audrey to keep pressing for more details.

"Yeah, you never told us the story," Paula added.

"I'm sure Stella told you," I drawled.

The girls both looked at Stella. And the perky blonde chirped, "You didn't tell me about that toilet thing."

"Well it's *embarrassing*, alright? That whole night was kind of a disaster."

"I'm so sorry," Paula said apologetically. "I didn't know about Grant and-"

"Oh, forget about it already!" I screeched before realizing my voice was too loud, and that I'd attracted too much attention from around the bar. Thankfully, Paula shut up.

I picked my head up out of my hands and stared down the girls. "Okay, I got upset that Grant broke up with me without *telling* me and started flirting with you." I glared at Paula, who blanched. "I got totally wasted, and Teddy drove me home. He made me drink a bunch of water. I puked my guts out while he held my hair for me. He fed me bread and Gatorade to replenish my electrolytes. Then he put me to bed and took a cab home. And while I'm very thankful to him for how well he took care of me that night, we only saw each other once before the winter vacations. In the last week, he changed my tire after Stella and I ran into something on the road. And THAT'S IT! OKAY! THERE'S NOTHING GOING ON!"

I was breathing heavily after my mini-rant, my eyes a little wild as I stared at each of my supposed friends in turn, daring them to contradict me. All of them looked abashed, and kept their mouths shut...

... at least until Audrey looked over at Stella and remarked, "She's kinda worked up, isn't she?"

Paula nodded. "Must be more to it that she's still hiding."

"Exactly!" Stella thrust her hands at me, pointing me out as if I wasn't even a part of the conversation.

I just dropped my forehead back into my hands.

****

The girls eventually stopped pestering me about whether or not Teddy and I were having some secret fling. They accepted that we weren't, and that we were just friends.

But the girls believed (correctly), that I'd given him some thought as a prospective boyfriend. And once I admitted that I'd even *thought* about it, the floodgates of advice opened up.

The first comments were all negative. Paula's old complaint about his youth came up again. Audrey, the practical one, asked about his career goals. "He's a stockroom clerk. How much of a future can he have?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. He went to Harvard."

"But did he *graduate* from Harvard?" Audrey inquired.

I blinked and frowned. "Uh... actually, I don't know."

The girls all shook their heads at that, identical frowns on their faces.

"Still, he's pretty cute," Stella pointed out.

That got a head-nod from Audrey and a shrug from Paula. The 28-year-old bottle-blonde was still hung up on his age.

"I like his butt," Audrey sighed, dropping her cheeks into her palms.

"His butt?" Stella perked up.

"It's so tight, isn't it?"

"When the hell did *you* see his butt?" Stella popped her eyebrows.

Audrey grinned. "Oh, there was this one time when he was bent over to help E-Beth at the party. Those suit pants aren't very thick."

"You were checking out Teddy's butt while standing right next to your husband?" Paula looked incredulous.

Audrey just giggled.

The mention of the party brought things back to me getting wasted and Teddy's response to me getting wasted. All the girls gave Teddy points for taking care of me when I was at my worst. Audrey believed that his ability to nurture me when I was completely trashed was a good sign of his long-term potential. "He'd be an attentive husband," she pointed out.

"I don't think E-Beth's worried about a husband just yet," Stella reasoned.