Meet Me in the Middle

He looked back at her face.

"Richard, listen to me. I've had sexual partners before. If you hadn't come along then, yes, Greg would have been another. But you did come along! And even though I had already been seeing Greg for a while, seeing you caused me to hold back on taking things to the next level with him. By my second date with you I was already second-guessing where I had previously thought my relationship with him was headed! My subconscious knew long before I consciously realized it that you might be someone very special to me."

She stroked her hand along his jaw. "Honey, if you're worried I'm still shopping, then stop! I'm with you. Exclusively. Period. Not a single regret beyond my Memorial Day fuck up."

He digested this. "If I had come along a month later, would you have gone out with me?"

She thought about that. "Not like I did, so casually. Somehow, we'd have had to get to know each other pretty well outside of dating because I wouldn't have gone out with you without breaking up with Greg first. I would never go behind someone's back once things had gone to that next level. But if I somehow did get to know you, the answer is yes."

"I guess I was lucky."

"I think we both were."

She came downstairs the next morning in tennis clothes to find Richard in his underwear and an apron, making an omelet.

"Nice view!" she said, smiling. "I'm glad you're still here."

He looked puzzled. "I don't work today."

Her expression turned more serious. "I know but I wasn't totally, completely, one hundred percent sure after last night."

"Oh." He turned back to the eggs, then spoke quietly. "I can't say I'm happy about another guy walking around that you have the hots for, but you didn't do anything that needs forgiveness. I'm not a fickle guy."

"No," she agreed, "I know you're not. And it's 'had' not 'have' ... past tense ... you jerk! You're the only one I want now. However, on that subject, my tennis game is in an hour."

"Yeah?"

"It's only takes me fifteen minutes to drive there ..."

She was still five minutes late to the game.

Everyone who worked in the diner, hell, everyone who knew him, started to notice that Richard had come more alive. He was relaxed and laughed more. Many who knew him also knew why and smiled to see the change.

The biggest change that Ellen noticed, however, was that he started to drop his guard around her and, even more surprisingly, around Mike. He talked easily with them and casual references to their triangle didn't cause him to shut down the conversation. Nonetheless, it startled her the first time he suggested they drop by for a barbecue, just the two of them without the whole group.

Mike, Ellen and Miranda were sitting under the patio umbrella. Richard was inside making some hamburger patties.

Mike looked over at Miranda and, with a slightly pompous air, said, "God, I love seeing him like this. I really want him to be happy but, for the last three years, he's only been half-hearted in realizing that there are other fish in the sea, including the right one for him."

Miranda looked over at him. "He should get his ass in gear and throw his line back in the water, so to speak?"

"Well, sorta, yeah." He laughed.

"You landed a great one with Ellen..."

"That I did!" he interjected.

"...and maybe I'm not a bad catch for him?"

"I've got to say, Miranda, you two seem great together."

Miranda stared coolly at Mike, not saying another word. He looked at her quizzically, finally asking, "What?"

She shook her head slowly. "Nothing. Just trying to decide if you're an asshole or just plain stupid."

You could have heard a pin drop. Ellen's eyes opened wide and Mike's jaw literally dropped open.

"What do you mean?" he finally managed.

"Well, first a piece of advice: being compared to a fish isn't the most flattering of references for a woman. But I'll assume it was just an awkward choice of metaphor.

"And I guess I'm little surprised you feel qualified to pass judgment on his efforts at catching women given that he landed one hundred percent of the women sitting here and you haven't, but that's also not a big thing.

"I'm a little more bothered by the fact that you also feel entitled to pass judgment on me. As far as I'm concerned, I'm about the best thing out there for Richard — no offense, Ellen."

"Absolutely none taken."

"But the thing that really gets me is that ..." She paused, trying to gather words. "If I stick with your metaphor: from where I sit, Richard had thought his fishing days were over 'cause he thought he already had a good catch." She stopped and turned to Ellen. "Hon, I'm implying absolutely nothing about you by that. Based upon what I've heard, you did the right thing all the way. No offense?"

"Still none."

"It turned out he was mistaken and he had to regroup and get back in the fishing boat. Which he did and, as I pointed out, ended up with the best damn catch, for him, that there was.

"So, Mike, you can sit there and smugly allow as how it's great that Richard got off his ass and found himself a nice little woman, but here's my question for you: had the roles been reversed, what would we have seen about you, both then and now? I'm thinking Richard came out looking pretty damn good back then. And quite frankly, he's still looking that way now as witness the fact that you two are sitting here drinking his liquor and eating his food. So, think about that and get back to me in between bouts of smugness."

She stared at him challengingly for a while. He sat there shocked.

Miranda shrugged and addressed Ellen. "I'm glad I've met you, Ellen, really I am. Not only because you're so important to Richard — and that matters to me — but also because I like you and, quite frankly, respect the hell out of you. So, if you want to chew into me here in defense of your guy, I won't blame you in the slightest."

Ellen shook her head again. "Nope. I think he needs to dig himself out of this one on his own. Why don't the two of us go help Richard get dinner ready?"

"Sounds good." They stood.

Mike blurted out, "Wait!" They turned to him.

"I'm not smug about it." Miranda waited, her face neutral. Mike shook his head. "I'm not.

"It's guilt. I couldn't help the way I felt or the way Ellen felt, but he was my best friend and I took something of his. So, I talk shit sometimes to cover up how uncomfortable I am. I don't mean it that way; it just comes out because I don't know what else to say or how to say it."

Miranda took a sip of her beer. Finally, she nodded. "I can understand that." She took another sip while Mike waited. "But maybe you're looking at this the wrong way."

"What do you mean?"

"Way I see it, only peckerwoods take" — she emphasized the word — "a woman or think that they own her. I don't see you as part of some biker gang where women are property. Somethin' I don't know about you, Mike?"

"What? No, but ... wait ... what are you talking about?"

"Then maybe you need to consider that you didn't take anything from Richard. He saw his way clear to step aside because, in his eyes, it was the right thing to do. Mostly because he loved Ellen. But, partly I'm guessing, because he cared about you, too. Nobody took nothing from no one as far as I'm concerned, and I'm pretty sure Richard never thought so.

"Anyway, I need to pee."

As she walked up the steps to the back door, she turned back, "Just so you know. I'm leaning toward stupid, not asshole."

As they were leaving, Ellen grabbed Richard and said fiercely into his ear, "Richard Thomas Mason, you deserve that woman more than anyone I know." She leaned in unexpectedly to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and wrapped her arms around him briefly. Mike caught his eye and nodded with a slightly sheepish look on his face.

"What was that about, Randy?" Richard asked when they had left.

"I have no idea," she replied innocently. "Are you all right?

"Yeah, why?"

"You went stiff as a board when she hugged you."

"I guess I was a little embarrassed because she's my ex and you were standing right there."

She said, "It's cool. I own your ass now," and giggled.

"Have you ever shot a pistol?" she asked over breakfast one Monday.

"No, I shoot a shotgun a bit and I've used a rifle a couple of times, but never a pistol," he answered. "Why?"

"I was thinking about going down to the range for a little practice later this morning. I have to do my annual qualification next week. I have a second pistol if you want to come along."

"Yeah! That would be fun."

"Okay, breakfast here first or the diner?"

"How 'bout breakfast here second?" he said with a grin. One that got wider when her expression heated to match his.

The paper target travelled back on its wire and Miranda leaned into the port behind him to see.

"Hey, all in the black; even that one nicked it. Not bad for your first time out. I didn't do that well the first time I shot."

He grinned. "Thanks. I wonder if it's good enough to get me into the police academy?"

"What?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah, I was thinking maybe I could become a cop. You know, strong and silent, serve and protect, something you chicks might really dig."

She realized he was pulling her leg and punched him in the arm. "Dude! The only things keeping me around are your omelets. You need to keep practicing those."

He laughed and pulled her in for a quick kiss, eliciting a chuckle from another shooter walking by. She shook her head in exasperation and moved back to her position. She was about to place her headphones over her ears when she heard the quiet voice. "I'll make you omelets any day. I love you."

She froze for a second, then settled the headphones and picked up her weapon. Without turning, she said in an equally quiet voice, "He tells me at a shooting range! Jeez, Randy, you sure know how to pick 'em. Why couldn't you have fallen hopelessly in love with a guy who learned something from watching romcoms?"

Richard's birthday later that summer fell on a Saturday. The family party had been postponed because Charlie's Boy Scout troop had picked that weekend for a hike along the C&O Canal and, as a new Tenderfoot, he was dying to go. Instead, Miranda was going to take some personal hours and leave work early. Mike, Frank, Dave and their spouses were going to come over in the late afternoon for drinks and dinner.

But she got called in on an abuse situation where they wanted a woman present.

"I'll be there as soon we get her settled," she said when she called, "probably just a couple of hours. The lieutenant understands the situation."

"That's fine, honey," he said flatly.

She grimaced to herself.

He had been uncharacteristically moody early in the week, halfway between depressed and irritable, mostly about a training seminar she had attended at the end of the week. She was smart enough to hear what wasn't being said and cursed the scheduling that pulled her away for three days at a time that might always remind Richard of a woman he loved leaving him.

She'd made no comment about it though and, as she was leaving early Wednesday morning, he had hugged and kissed her. "I'm sorry. I've had my head up my ass this week. I'm sure you wanted to tell me it was your job and I should just deal with it. It's just some stuff I'm going through and nothing to do with you. I'm sorry and I love you."

She had smiled and kissed him again. "I love you, too. I'll be back Friday and we'll have a great weekend."

And now this. So, the grimace. This really wasn't the day for a call that pulled her away. There was no helping it, however. A woman with two fractured ribs and a black eye took precedence, regardless of how much she wanted to be with Richard. "Try to have a good time, and I'll be there as soon as I can."

He spent the afternoon with the other six quietly listening to their chatter, smiling vaguely when they tried to include him in the conversation. As it got nearer to dinner time, he made excuses to go inside and prep things.

He turned away all protestations that it was his birthday and he should just sit. "No, no, no. I'm fine. I like doing this. Go enjoy the conversation and leave the cooking to the professionals." They'd finally given in and gone back to the lounge chairs, but none of them failed to notice that there was no real sparkle in his eye when he said it. When he came out with the stuff for the grill, he just waved at them and went over to where the grill was on the other side of the pool.

"What's he so glum about?" asked Carol quietly to the others. "Are he and Miranda fighting or something?"

Ellen shook her head. "No. He's always upset on his birthday."

"Well, that's odd. He's not old enough to hate them, yet."

Ellen and Mike looked at each other. She said quietly, "It was three years ago on this very day that Richard says he made the decision to let me go."

The patio went quiet. No one spoke but the air was pregnant with the questions no one wanted to ask.

"You probably know the gist of it. I don't know, maybe you know the whole thing." Heads were shaken, especially by the women.

"Mike and I never cheated on Richard, not once. I wasn't even going to leave him; I took the 'forever' part of my vows seriously.

"But somehow, he found out how I felt, that I had fallen for Mike and Mike had fallen for me. I guess it happened shortly before his birthday. I don't know how. He was quiet that day, but I just thought he was tired. You guys took him on that fishing trip early the next morning, and I came downstairs to signed divorce papers and a letter telling me he loved me and wanted me to be happy."

"Holy shit!" Cathy breathed.

"Yeah," Ellen said ruefully. "And every year I guess he's reminded of it and just gets this way. It makes me feel so guilty that what's supposed to be his day is one of the worst of the year for him because of me. It doesn't help that he didn't get to see Charlie and that Miranda isn't here."

"Well then," said Carol, "we'll just have to do something about this. Hey, you three lunkheads are supposed to be his best friends. How 'bout you step up to the plate here?"

"Yeah, David," Cathy chimed in. "Get in there."

"Uh, I don't perform well under pressure," he said.

"That's what she said," Frank muttered sotto voce. David punched him in the arm. Frank punched him back. Richard looked across the patio and smiled wanly at the horseplay.

"Okay, wiseass," David said. "If you're such a funny guy, you do it."

Frank looked over at his friend standing by the grill. "Well ..."

"Frank, if you could just get him to laugh, really laugh," Ellen said, "I would be so happy I could ... well, I don't know ... but, please, would you try?"

"Well," he said again, hesitantly, "It looks like a pretty tall order."

"Please? You get him to laugh and I'll give you a kiss that will knock your socks off!"

"Wow!" He wiggled his eyebrows. Carol smacked him but she was laughing as she did it.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Mike said indignantly, but he was smiling, too.

"Why does he get all the incentive?" Dave broke in. "What if I make him laugh?"

"Okay, the first one that makes him laugh!"

"Deal!" said Frank and Dave together.

Mike put on a pouty face. "Don't I get a vote in who she's smooching?"

"No," Carol said. "Put on your big boy pants and take one for the team. If you don't want her to kiss one of these idiots, then make sure you win."

Mike just shook his head, but everyone knew he wasn't upset at his friends.

They tried hard. They really did. But jokes only got a smile or a groan. Humorous gossip about people around town only caused him to shake his head. Finally, they were trying too hard and it became obvious.

"What's going on guys?" Richard asked.

"You just seem a little down." Frank answered.

"Nah! Relax. I'm just a feeling a little quiet. Nothing's wrong. Wish I'd seen Charlie but I'm good."

Glances flickered back and forth between the other six. Nobody believed a word he said but it seemed that they had to accept the situation. Talk went back to being quiet.

Frank took one last stab at it. "Damn, dude, it's your birthday and, I don't care what you say, you're way too serious." He lowered his voice to a loud stage whisper. "Wanna blow this popcorn stand, hit a titty bar, and get hammered?"

Dave and Mike grinned. Carol rolled her eyes. The other two women chuckled.

Richard snorted. "Somehow, I'm thinking that being dragged drunk out of the clutches of a stripper by Miranda, as in Police Officer Patterson, as in Police Officer Patterson Who Carries A Gun And Knows How To Use It, might not be a smart move on my part."

"Hey, who's taking my name in vain here?" Miranda popped open the fence gate and walked out onto the patio.

"Hi, hon." Richard stood up and gave her a quick kiss.

Miranda looked at Frank. "So, from what I heard when I came up to the gate, it sounds like there's a suggestion to move this shindig to a locale characterized by women of a more, shall we say, interestingly-clad nature. Is there something wrong with this party?"

"Only that Mr. Mason here is quite the Gloomy Gus and the whole party has become way too serious to be considered a birthday bash."

"He is? He's ruining things?" she said. Turning to Richard, she put a scowl on her face and shook her finger under his nose. "Bad boy! Bad!" she scolded. "No nookie for you!"

Richard stared at her for a moment and then burst into laughter, followed by everyone there.

Wiping his eyes, Frank broke into more laughter. "But, Ellen, you said the first person ..." He trailed off, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

Ellen looked startled and then turned red.

"What does that mean?" asked Richard quizzically.

Frank couldn't stop laughing. The redder Ellen got, the more he had to hold his sides. Dave started chuckling, too, and the others were fighting grins. Finally, Frank choked out, "Ellen said she'd kiss — a knock-your-socks-off kiss I might add — the first person to make Richard laugh."

"Hey!" Richard said.

Miranda looked around at everyone and back to Richard. Then she turned and faced Ellen. "And now she's welching on the deal?" She grinned challengingly.

Ellen stared, nonplussed, for a second and then stood up. "I've never welched on anything in my life." She stepped up to Miranda and put her arms around her neck, cupping the back of her head. Pulling her gently forward, Ellen lowered her lips onto Miranda's.

Miranda's arms went around Ellen's waist and the two women's bodies melted into each other. For about five seconds the other six watched in astonishment as the prize was paid off. There were a few tentative touches of lips and then mouths closed on each other and tongues were very clearly involved.

Finally, Miranda stepped back and said, "Whoo! I wish I smoked. I think maybe I need a cigarette now."

"Jesus Christ on a skateboard!" said Frank.

Ellen was still blushing a deep red but she turned to the others and said gamely, "Feel free to close your mouths now. The show's over." She flopped down in her chair and hefted her beer bottle, scowling at how empty it was. "Someone get me a beer."

She paused a moment when no one moved. "God damn it!NOW !" she yelled.

The spell broke and everyone started laughing. Mike asked, "Who else needs another?"

"Happy Birthday, honey," Miranda, putting her arm around Richard's waist and giving him a hug. She swiped his beer and gave him a push. "Go put on some better music and make me a steak. I'm starved!" He turned to go, a grin plastered across his face.