Riley's Bar Ch. 09

"Three weeks ago? What happened three weeks ago?"

"That is when I found out about all of your visits to the motel with Montrose. Up until then we were divorced because of your affiliation with your cult. But three weeks ago I found out that you had been cheating on me even before asking for the divorce and that changed everything. You had it right when you said that you knew where I stood on cheating."

I saw the sadness come over her face and then she lowered her head and looked down at the floor.

"You should have trusted me back then Elaine. It would have made all the difference in the world."

"I am sorry Rob. I really made a mess of things and I can never express how sorry I am that I did it."

She got up, thanked me for the check and headed for the door. Just as she opened it I said, "Elaine." She turned back and looked at me. "We can be friends Elaine, but it can never be any more than that."

"Thank you for that much Rob. Good night" and then she was gone.

I got another beer and settled back in my recliner. I stared at the full moon that was shining through my window and contemplated where I was in my life. The meeting with Elaine had put a final close on that chapter of my life. I was free from the threat of courts and jails. I had taken steps to break away from the habit of stopping at Riley's every night. My joining the gym was already showing benefits as the beer belly I had been building at Riley's was starting to shrink. Things were shaping up and falling into line, but I felt that there was something missing. I finished my beer and drug myself off to bed.

+++++++++++++++++++

I don't know what it was -- it was probably something in my subconscious mind -- but something brought me up out of a sound sleep. I found myself sitting up in bed staring at the shadows the full moon was casting on the walls. I don't know where it came from, but suddenly it was there. I reached for the phone and punched in a number. The phone on the other end rang about eight times and then I got a groggy:

"Hello?"

"Did I wake you?"

There was a slight pause and then, "My God Rob. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"No I don't. My alarm clock is broken."

"It is three in the morning Rob."

"My bad sweetie, but I had a sudden need to know. The last time I was with you as I was leaving you said something that led me to believe that your feelings toward me had changed and that you were thinking of me as more than just a fuck-buddy. Was it my imagination?"

There were several moments of silence and then Leslie said, "No Rob; it wasn't your imagination."

"Can I see you tonight?"

"You can see me tonight if you want to wait that long. I mean I am already awake."

"I can be there in twenty."

"The door will be unlocked and you know where you can find me."

I was there in sixteen and yes, I did find her.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

When I woke up in the morning Leslie was snuggled up against me and had a leg thrown over my body. When I stirred she moved away and when I turned to look at her I found her up on an elbow looking down at me. I smiled at her and she smiled back and then said:

"I guess I told you where I'm at last night on the phone. Where are you?"

"A phone call in the middle of the night doesn't give you a clue?"

"To be honest about it, no. The last time I talked to you you were on your way to your next conquest. What happened with you and Candy?"

"Candy gave me a wake up call."

"You lost me there Rob."

"How about I tell you all about it over breakfast. Get dressed and I'll take you to Village Inn and lay it all out for you."

We were on our second cup of coffee when I started. I told her about my first wife and what she had done to me and then I told her about Elaine and how that had gone down.

"I came into Riley's with a severally bruised ego. Two women that I had cared for had basically thrown me away. To put it bluntly, I felt somewhat defective. Why did both of my wives choose someone or something over me? It was obvious that I just wasn't important to either one of them so what was wrong with me?

"That was my mindset when I came into Riley's so it came as a surprise when all of a sudden I had ladies showing an interest in me and in a couple of cases actually chasing after me. You know about Betsy, Marge and Susan, but there was more."

I told her about Freda and how Candy had offered to save me from Freda and then I told her about how things had gone with Freda and how they had turned out:

"And then of course there is you and what we had going. I went from feeling like a total loser where women were concerned to feeling like Mr. Stud Muffin. Because of what Candy had said to me back when she was trying to warn me off Freda I fully expected to end up in Candy's bed or get her into mine, but what I got was a "Thanks, but no thanks." My first thought was "Just where in the hell does she get off saying no to me?" And as soon as I had that thought I realized that I was just a little too full of myself and just where did I get off thinking that I was God's gift to women.

"I decided that I needed to reevaluate the way my life was going and the way I was behaving. I decided to add pulling back from the ladies at Riley's to the other changes I was making."

"Other changes?"

"I'm cutting back on the amount of time I'm spending at Riley's and I've joined a gym to get myself back into decent shape."

"Sounds like a plan I should get behind."

Then I told her about Elaine's visit and what was said, "And after she was gone I sat, sipped a beer and contemplated my life. I thought back over everything I had done with women and considered what the outcomes had been and I wondered if I would ever again have a meaningful relationship with a woman. In the middle of the night I was suddenly wide awake and realizing that I did have a meaningful relationship if I was smart enough to keep it and hence the phone call."

She sat there looking at me and I thought I saw something change in here eyes.

"When I woke up this morning" she said, "I was thinking the same thing, but now I don't know."

"What has changed between the time you got up and now?"

"From what you just told me I can ell exactly where you stand on cheating and because of that I'm not sure that things could work out for us."

"What? We aren't even together yet and you are already planning on stepping out on me?"

"In a way."

"In a way?"

"I wouldn't step on you with another man Rob, I can promise you that. But I am bi-sexual and I do have a bi-sexual relationship with both Susan and Marge and on occasion with both at once. I know me well enough to know that I will keep seeing them from time to time. And that would be sex outside of our relationship. By your definition that would be cheating. To that extent there is no way that I can be totally faithful to you. I guess we are over before we even start.

+++++++++++++++++

Funny thing about the Miller 251. When the power is off the damned thing just won't weld. The building lost power around two-thirty and when it wasn't back on by ten after three the boss sent everybody home.

As I turned onto our block I saw the car parked in our driveway and I knew what I was going to find when I went into the house. The trail of clothes from the living room down the hall toward the back bedroom was all the confirmation that I needed. I kicked off my shoes so they wouldn't make any noise on the hardwood floor and quietly made my way into the family room. The digital camera was on the bookshelf next to the TV and I checked it to make sure that it had a charge and enough room on the card for several exposures.

As quietly as I could I made my way to the back bedroom. As I approached the bedroom I began to hear the sounds -- sounds that left no doubt as to what was going on in that room. I just hoped the neither one of them was facing the doorway. I wanted to get several shots before they knew I was there and pulled apart. I stopped when I got to the door and double checked that I had the camera set on 'auto-focus' and then I quickly stepped into the doorway and began shooting. The two of them were caught by surprise and I got five shots before they separated. Leslie looked up at me in shocked surprise at seeing me home early and with the camera in my hand.

"All right Leslie; just what is the meaning of this?"

"Just having a little snack before I fix dinner."

Marge looked up at me from the bed and said, "How about you Rob? You want to do a little munching before dinner?"

I set down the camera and started taking off my clothes as I said, "Don't mind if I do."