Chapter 4

Today was the day from hell; I spent most of the day at work trying to fix some problems that I had caused. It seamed that I had set up the backup procedure wrong on a system I had helped setup for my boss last week. I saved the wrong folders and it just happened that there was a power surge and some documents were lost.

I haven't made a mistake like that before; it was something simple that I just didn't pay attention to when I did it. My boss was pretty understanding considering what happened. He explained that I just learning and this was part of the learning process, it was time to learn how to fix this. It took till late in the night but we were able to recover most of what was lost.

The worst part was I was going to meet Shirley tonight about two hours ago. I had watched the hands on the clock go past six o'clock and I couldn't leave with things the way they were. By a little after eight I left with my boss and started home. I was in a pretty foul mood; missing being able to have sex with Shirley was not something that I wanted to do. I decided to stop for a drink or two before I headed home since there was little reason to get home right now.

The bar was not too crowded tonight, but I decided to sit at the bar and ordered a beer to console myself. About half way through it I felt a hand on my back, I turned and saw Mike standing right behind me. I was in shock for a second; it was the first time I was in direct contact with him since I started having sex with his wife. At lease he spoke first.

"Hey Kev, how are you doing. I didn't mean to scare you." He gave me a slap on the shoulder. He seamed like he had been here for a little while, he was pretty happy. "Hey guys this is my neighbor Kevin. He's the one who saved my ass and probably saved that big job we have now. Kevin, these are my partners Joe and Steve."

I shook hands with them and there was a little small talk. Steve finally spoke up and said that he better get home to his wife before too long. Joe agreed and they all took a couple of steps towards the door. It seemed like they were all heading for the door but Mike turned around.

"Hey Kev, you aren't here drinking alone are you."

"It's been a bad day and I just wanted to calm down before I headed home." I said.

He turned to his partners. "Hey guys I'll see you tomorrow. I think I'll have another with Kev here before I go home."

"It's your ass that is going to have to explain to Shirley, Lois isn't quite as understanding." Steve said as both of them headed out the door.

Mike then grabbed a stool and sat down next to me and ordered two shots of Jack and a beer. I could feel my heart racing and I was sure that my stomach resembled a pretzel. So much for being cool and acting like nothing was going on. If I could have done my job right I would have been in bed with Shirley and not here with Mike.

"Kev, you really look like you had a rough day, lighten up." The bartender brought the drinks. Mike handed me one of the shots. "No toasts just drink."

Now I am not much of a drinker and whiskey isn't one of my favorites, the shot went down hard. I quick took a big drink from the beer to help the burn that I felt. If anything it would help dull the guilty feeling I had.

"A few shots always help me when I had one of those days." Mike said. "So why are you out alone you should get a friend to go out with, it helps take your mind off of whatever it is. Better yet a girlfriend, can't beat that"

"Well it's been a while since I had a girlfriend." There was no way out of this so I was going to try me best to just get through this. I could feel the whiskey in my stomach helping loosen up the knots.

"I have been too busy since my last girlfriend to get anything going." But I did have someone to have incredible sex with so who needs a girlfriend. The thought flashed through my mind.

"Come on, you should never be too busy for that." Mike shot back. "You need to get out some more Kev." His hand went up and he signaled the bartender for two more shots.

My male ego wouldn't let me say I couldn't handle too many shots so I was going to have to knock back another one and keep them all down. After the second shot I was feeling the effects of the first one and the beer, it was easier to talk to Mike and we basically went through my problems. I explained the computer problems I had; all I got was a very fixed, lost look. He changed the subject and asked me again why I didn't have time for a girlfriend.

The thought that he knew about everything and was toying with me passed through my mind, but I tried to ignore it before I started sweating.

"I enjoy work, but having a house of my own and all the bills that come with it makes me work that much harder. I have friends that don't worry about money from week to week, but they don't have a mortgage to pay each month." I took another gulp from my beer, which was almost empty. "I also have a hobby that takes up what spare time I have."

"Now what kind of hobby could be better than a girlfriend." Mike almost laughed.

"I draw pictures." I said quietly.

"Hey an artist, I wouldn't have guessed."

The bartender showed up with two beers, no shots, I guess Mike had ordered and I didn't notice. I quickly fished out some money and paid for them, Mike gave me a quick look but didn't put up a fight.

"I'm not an artist. I just like to make pictures. I have shown a few pictures but I don't do much else with them, like I said it's just a hobby." I never felt all that comfortable talking about my pictures, I guess its just the fear of criticism.

"Well you should let me take a look at them sometime. I'm not a art critic but I like a good painting just like the next guy." Mike said.

"I don't paint. They are pencil drawings and sketches."

"That's nice, I still would like to see what is so much better than girlfriends."

I knew that this wasn't going to go much further so I changed the subject like Mike's job. He took the bait and went on for another 20 minutes almost without taking a breath. It was getting close to eleven o'clock and I was dropping the hints that it was time for me to leave. Mike finally got the hint and we left the bar together.

Mike followed me home which made sense since he was my neighbor. But I was surprised when he pulled in the driveway behind me. I got out of the car and I stood there as Mike walked up to me, I could feel my body swaying just a little from the alcohol.

"Well Kev, let's have a look at those drawings." Mike said as he put an arm around my shoulder.

I didn't know what to say; I didn't show my pictures to many people I know. I tried a couple excuses, it's late, my place is a mess, and I'm real tired. Nothing worked he was determined to take a look. I gave up and opened the door.

"A mess, looks like you keep a pretty neat house." Mike said as he looked around.

Well just like sitting down and talking to Mike I was just going to have to go through with this and get it over with. I went up the stairs and into the attic room I make into something of a studio. It was just a big room with as much stuff as I could fit into it.

There were just two easels with drawings on them and others propped on chairs and walls and laying on any flat surface with enough room. I had all different pencils everywhere, but they were usually within arms reach from where ever I was drawing at the time. Erasers, shading sticks and crumpled paper took up any other available space there was.

Mike walked around the room and I was impressed with the time he seemed to put into looking at each drawing that he saw. He actually seemed interested in what he saw. Either I was drunk and made more out of it, or Mike was drunk and made a good show of it. Then I was startled by a knock at the door.

I poked my head out of the door and looked down the steps; I was lost for a few seconds because I couldn't figure out who would be over this late without calling. Mike woke me out of the daze and asked me if I was going to get the door.

Before I got to the door there was a second knock and I quickly opened the door and stood face to face with Shirley. My mouth dropped open and I didn't say a word. She poked me and whispered to me.