I've Got a Feeling

Gary saw the wisdom in the suggestion. He headed for the house, although it felt more like he was going to the gallows. He had no idea what he could possibly say to make his conduct acceptable.

Gary began formulating an apology in the way of an explanation which might possibly seem less creepy. He knew he would lose his nerve if he didn't address the situation immediately. To that end, he walked to Monica's door and simply pushed it open.

"Monica, I was wrong to..." Gary began his apology before abruptly stopping. Monica was standing by her bed with tears on her cheeks, but with nothing else on, anywhere.

Gary simply froze in place, unable to speak or even think. He simply drank in the raw beauty on display before him.

"You are such an ass!"Monica practically spat at him. "You never walk into a woman's bedroom without asking her permission. At least you don't unless she's your wife in every sense of the word, which I am not.

"What do you have in mind now? Are you going to force yourself on me? Take me against my will? Show the world how prophetic your fucking tattoo was?"

"What? No, I would never do that. You must know that by now. I apologize for the dumb things I've done, and the list is growing every minute, but I would never force you to do anything against your will. It seems you think even less of me than I realized, and even less than I deserve, which is saying a lot," Gary stated with emotion.

"I apologize and will not be bothering you in the future. Those two kids will have my entire focus," Gary declared as he stepped back out of the room and pulled the door tightly closed.

Gary had only taken a few steps when he heard the door open again and Monica call to him. "Gary, please wait. We need to clear the air and get past this or we're doomed."

Gary turned and was surprised to see that Monica was still nude and even more incredible than the minute before.

"You already know how stupid I am when I look at you. It's a lot worse when you're naked," Gary allowed. "I probably won't make much sense with you looking the way you do."

"That's one of the things I want to talk to you about," Monica responded. "You keep telling me that you find me attractive, but you avoid me like the plague. If you think I look so good, why don't you ever act like you're attracted to me?

"Why did I have to literally rip your shirt off you to see how incredible your body is? Why do you wear glasses at work that are plain glass and offer no optical value at all? How did you manage to buy such a beautiful property on the wages you earn from our company?"

"I grew up in a household where verbal abuse was fairly common," Gary stated as he mulled over his answer. "My father always accused my mother of marrying him for his money, of cheating on him and always trying to manipulate him. More than a few time he asked Mom if I was really his son.

I decided to avoid women, especially marriage to one. I saw how my parents were and I was miserable. I thought they both were, too. When I turned 18 and graduated high school, I took the savings I had managed to accumulate and moved to a small apartment near here. Soon after that, your grandfather gave me my first full time job and I've been there ever since.

"From the first day, I wore glasses and bulky, ill fitting clothes because I believed it would guarantee women would never be attracted to me. It seemed to work, right up until you and I entered into our arrangement. I don't know why, but the women at work have been much more forward since then."

"They thought you didn't want them to approach you," Monica explained. "Once they realized you had gotten married, they started kicking their own asses for not grabbing you first. I think that they expect us to divorce before long and they'll be after you like vultures on road kill. They now think you're a normal guy, a good looking one at that, who does enjoy female companionship."

"Well, you can vouch that I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to women so they'd be better off with someone else," Gary asserted.

"You are pretty clueless, but it seems that you're exactly what a lot of young women are looking for," Monica observed with a smile. "You have no idea how hard it is to find a man who takes on responsibility, likes kids, has a nice home and treats women with respect. You're practically the gold standard for the type of husband women search for every day.

"Did you tell me the truth about your tattoo?" Monica asked as she moved close to Gary and carefully looked at the ink on his chest.

"Yeah. It was a lark, but I honestly couldn't think of another woman's name. Yours was the first and only one that came to mind."

"Tell me how you came to have such an impressive physique, if you don't mind," Monica pressed as she gently touched the area of the tattoo.

"My dad is a big strong guy and I take after him. I also swim a lot and do some core exercises in the morning. It makes my days go faster and I feel better about myself. How did you manage to get your incredible body, as long as we're asking questions?" Gary barely managed to speak as Monica's finger seemed to burn into his chest more the tattoo had.

"You really think it's incredible?" asked Monica with a bright smile. "I have good genes and I go to the gym a lot. I run about ten miles a week to help keep my heart strong and the weight down."

By this time, Monica was standing so close to Gary, he could have easily touched her almost everywhere, which was exactly what he wanted to do. He forced himself to move his gaze up to her eyes.

"You don't have to answer this, Gary, but I have to ask. Have you ever had sex with a woman?"

"As opposed to a donkey, or a chicken or something?" Gary retorted.

Monica studied Gary's face a few seconds before laughing. "I guess that question was poorly phrased, but you know what I mean. Farm animals aside, have you ever had sex?"

"Will you please be kind enough to keep this conversation between us?" Gary asked. "I haven't, mostly because I was afraid it would lead to me thinking I was in love and marrying some woman who was like my mom, or like what my dad claimed my mom was."

Monica's smile became even bigger. "You really are a rare find. The woman you fall in love with will have the pleasure of teaching you just how to please her. You're like a blank canvas waiting for the artist's touch."

"That could take some time," Gary replied with a grin of his own. "I'm a bit of a slow learner at times."

"I was hoping that you were," Monica replied with a grin of her own. "Changing the subject, you still haven't explained how you can afford this property. Did you have a trust fund or something?"

"Ha! That's a good one," Gary said. "I saved my money and studied the markets in my spare time. I didn't date or spend money on anything but food and rent. One day, I asked your grandfather what he thought would be a good place to invest some money, and he was very helpful. My first few investments turned out very well, so I kept rolling the profits into new investments. After a few years, I was able to get a mortgage on this property, so I bought it. I've since paid it off. Having money did add to my paranoia about women, and the fear that they would try to separate me from it."

"Do you realize you've been looking at my face and talking to me normally while I'm naked and you're only wearing swim trunks? I think you may be on the way to be cured of staring at women as well as their bits and pieces."

"You're making me laugh now," Gary replied. "If there's a cure for that, I sure as hell don't want it. You think I'm looking at your face, which I am for the most part, but there's a mirror strategically placed on the wall behind you. I've been looking at your ass every chance I get."

"I see," Monica nodded as if mulling over the situation. "You're an unrepentant letch who revels in looking at women's breasts and asses. Is that correct?

"Well, as far as it goes. I like looking at every inch of you, so you can include any and all female body parts to your list. You really are quite beautiful."

"That's the sort of compliment a lady likes to receive," Monica stated with a slight blush. "Thanks for taking the time to clear up a few misunderstandings. I think we'll get along much better now."

"Wow!" Frankie's voice echoed through the house. "It looks like Monica and Gary have patched up their spat. She's naked!"

"Where are they? I want to see," Brent declared from the living room.

"Like father, like son?" Monica teased as she retreated to the privacy of her room. Gary realized that he liked being thought of as Brent's father.

Gary had trouble falling asleep as he kept seeing Monica nude when he closed his eyes. She was, by far, the most attractive woman he had ever seen. Naked, she looked like a true goddess. He had trouble believing he had been so close to her when she was naked. She showed no fear or embarrassment. Was that because she trusted him or because she thought he was harmless?

Gary finally fell asleep but woke up with a start a short time later. When he barged into Monica's room, all of her furniture had been rearranged from where it had been. It took Gary and two friends to move the bedroom suite in.

It was an old set of excellent quality. It was solid cherry wood. The wardrobe had to weigh several hundred pounds. They had assembled the bed after carrying the heavy headboard in separately. It was not on caster wheel and was heavy as hell once assembled. The two dressers were quite heavy as well. Who had helped her move everything?

Now Gary had a new set of concerns. He went from dreaming about a beautiful nude woman to thinking about another man, or men, helping Monica move her bedroom furniture. She had agreed to not have lovers, or even boyfriends, in his house.

Short of asking her how she had moved the furniture and hoping for an honest answer, he realized he needed to keep his mouth shut and his eyes open. If he suggested she was not living up to the terms of their agreement and he was wrong, she would be pissed. He knew enough about women to know that.

If Monica had men stopping in when he was away, he would consider that a deal breaker. Then he would have to decide whether he could live with the situation to enable the kids to remain living in his house, or if his pride would demand that he end the charade.

To that end, Gary began finding reasons to return to his house at odd times during the day. He lived only fifteen minutes from work, so he could go home for lunch, or if his station was down for maintenance. To his dismay, as well as his relief, he never found any sign of other men in his home.

He did, however, notice quite a few other inconsistencies. His landscaping was changing slightly. His large back yard was fenced. Even with no close neighbors, the previous owners had erected a tall privacy fence. Gary assumed that was because they wanted to enjoy the pool without being spied upon by nosey neighbors, hikers, or plain old perverts.

The fence had begun to sag in places over the years. Gary had been considering his options regarding the fence. Should he just remove it, replace it, or repair it? That issue had somehow been rendered moot. The fence was now as straight and solid as the day it had been erected.

The two foot crack in the pool apron was no longer there. There was no indication that it had ever existed. He noticed the trails that weaved through his property seemed wider. The limbs and brush that had crowded the paths in certain areas were no longer an issue.

Gary could find no cut ends or discarded brush, but he was certain the trails were better and neater than they had been before Monica had moved in. He even got on his knees to look for any sort of tracks of a mechanical nature, but found none.

Near the end of one trail, just before it looped around and joined another, there was a rock outcropping. Even the thinnest person had to stop, turn sideways and carefully step between the rocks. Gary was stunned when he reached them only to find that they appeared to be the exact same shape, but were now four feet apart.

Being what he considered a logical person, Gary mulled the situation over for days. He struggled to arrive at a sensible explanation. When they failed, he began to consider situations he felt were not feasible. Eventually, he was kicking around thoughts of magic, illusion, and even the possibility that he had either stroked out or had eaten some bad mushrooms. There was no reasonable, logical explanation for the subtle changes he was seeing.

Both Brent and Frankie were oblivious to it all. They were wrapped up in school and enjoying their new home. Gary realized that they hadn't lived there long enough to notice how things had slightly changed.

For some reason, he was reluctant to ask Monica about the way things were improving on their own for fear she would think he was losing his mind. That was a possibility which Gary did not rule out.

"Monica, have you noticed anything unusual around the property lately?" Gary asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner..

"You have a beautiful property, Gary. I have noticed that. Is it about anything in particular that you're asking?"

Well, not really. It's just that I thought the fence was beginning to look a little shabby and was considering replacing or removing it. Now that I inspect it closely, it looks like it's brand new."

Monica averted her eyes for a second before facing Gary again and breaking into a big smile. "That's a good thing, isn't it? If the fence looks new, there's no need to spend time and money on replacing it, is there?"

"It's a good thing that the fence appears to be in such good condition," Gary agreed. "It's not so good that I was so wrong about its state of disrepair. I seem to be getting forgetful or something. Have you noticed anything different in my actions?"

"Well, you still stare at my chest when you think I'm not looking, so that's not different," Monica teased as Gary felt his face flush. "You've been great with Frankie and Brent, so that's not changed. We still treat each other like roommates, so that's the same. Did you have something particular in mind?"

Monica seemed to enjoy busting his balls about his physical attraction to her. She was obviously confident that he thought she was beautiful, but then, who didn't?

Since the night he had walked into her room to find her naked, she seemed friendlier to him. Her interest in Frankie and Brent had increased noticeably. She swam almost every day and always wore a bikini that did nothing to conceal her amazing body. She had even convinced Gary that he should stop wearing shirts in the pool. He no longer felt self-conscious about his physique and stopped worrying about his tattoo.

At work, things were going well. Everyone knew and accepted that Gary was married to the heir apparent of the company. He never felt uncomfortable about it with his coworkers.

For her part, Monica had begun to make an effort to introduce herself to the workforce and discuss any concerns they might have about their work. Several of Gary's coworkers noticed how she had altered her attitude toward them and suggested that Gary was a good influence.

For his part, Gary would just accept the observations of the others although he felt Monica's behavior was not something he influenced. They seldom discussed work at home. Monica did make a point of stopping to speak with him when it was apparent he had a few minutes to spare. She was always careful to not try to engage him in conversation while he was operating the machinery. He appreciated that.

One afternoon, a new piece of equipment was being moved across the work area to be placed in its designated spot. The equipment was large enough to make it difficult for the fork lift operator to see in front of it. For safety purposes, another man was walking about ten feet in front of the machine making certain everyone understood to stay out of the path until the machine was off the fork lift and in place.

It all worked according to plan, until the shit hit the fan. The lift driver failed to see a lighting unit hanging low enough for the top of the piece of equipment to strike. The loud breaking sounds of the fluorescent lights popping as they broke and poured down to the floor startled the driver and he instinctively swerved the lift away from the direction of the now destroyed light. The sudden direction change caused the equipment to totter and slide on the forks.

Gary had been standing off to the side, making certain he was well out of the way of the fork truck. He saw the load on the fork shift and he instantly knew it was going to topple off the forks. To Gary's horror, at that moment, Hank decided to step out of his office and in front of the toppling piece of equipment.

Hank had the bad habit of backing out of his office as he spoke to someone within. Gary had seen him do it countless times, but never as a fork lift lost a very heavy load. Reacting purely on instinct, Gary sprinted toward Hank and roughly shoved him back into the safety of his office.

The machinery struck Gary's shoulder hard and knocked him to the floor. Gary looked up to see the load leave the forks and fall to the floor. The bottom of the machine hit the floor near Gary's feet and then momentum caused it to fall on its side, directly over Gary. Knowing any effort on his part was futile; Gary still brought his hands up to catch the heavy metal machinery as it began its rapid descent. He was now convinced that his time on earth was finished.

Gary couldn't believe it when he actually brought the falling machine to a stop. His arms were extended and feeling a great deal of pressure, but he refused to allow it to fall on him. He heard voices all around him and many hands began to grip the heavy piece of equipment.

A large chain was passed between Gary and his heavy burden and quickly attacked to the fork truck, which began baking away, pulling the equipment into an upright position and stabilizing it.

"Boys, don't move him until the ambulance gets here," Hank shouted at those gathered around Gary. "That thing should have crushed him, but he managed to hold it up long enough for the rest of you to help, but we don't know if he suffered any internal injuries."

Feeling surprisingly alert, Gary had to agree with Hank's assessment of the situation. He realized that he felt no pain. That worried him more than a little. His arms should be broken, along with every other bone in his body, but he was in no pain. How was that possible?

"I don't know it you should..." Hank managed to say before he was interrupted.

"He's my husband and not you or anyone else is going to keep me away from him," Monica snarled at Hank as she knelt down next to Gary.

Gary felt Monica's lips against his and marveled at how tender and sweet they were. Their first real kiss was on the floor of the plant with just about everyone working the shift watching. He knew he should have been embarrassed, but all he felt was joy and relief.

As Monica continued to kiss him, Gary felt her tears drop onto his face. He began to feel strange. All he could think was he was on fire, but the flames felt cool and soft. Visions flashed in his mind and left just as quickly. A virtual collage of memories which were not his raced through his thoughts. The last thing he saw so very briefly was the heavy machinery tipping over on him as he raised his arms to protect himself. The strange thing was the vision was from several feet away and did not have the perspective he had experienced as the huge object came down on him. Gary fell unconscious.

Brent and Frankie were chattering when he next became aware of his surroundings. He slowly opened his eyes to see Monica watching him closely. Her face broke into a brilliant smile.