Chapter 15

I’d intended and planned to get away from the office right on time if not earlier; as you’d expect when it was so important to me, I received a phone call that I HAD to take, just as I was closing down my computer for the night. One of the Board members with a ‘suggestion’.

You know the military saying, that there’s nothing more dangerous than a new butter bar second lieutenant with a map? Board members with spontaneous ‘ideas’ are damn nearly as great a hazard. And, what’s worse, I can’t just tell them ‘hell no!’; I have to explain tactfully exactly why it can’t be done, or why we’ve chosen not to go down that path. Oh, occasionally one of them picks up a darned good thing, but ... not that often. Today was no exception to the rule.

By the time I’d gotten him off the line, I’d missed the start on the rush. Heck, it took five minutes to exit from the parking structure, I was behind so many people!

Was I nervous about seeing Mel? You bet. I felt some guilt that I’d made her wait the extra day for my decision, some hesitation about her potential mood, and a certain trepidation about whether I might meet her standards.

Oh, and the insights that Clifford had given to me on exactly how much Mel was trusting me were truly humbling. I just hoped I was up to the task; that I could be there for her in the right way.

The Los Angeles traffic doesn’t give you time to dwell on things – which is why those who can afford it employ someone else to drive and to park their cars. It was a typical evening commute; two hold-ups for collisions, one lane closure for sidewalk reconstruction, and one minor diversion for repair works. In the first three miles...

So it was no surprise to find Mel already waiting on my front step when I pulled into my driveway at quarter to six; the big smile I received showed both relief and delight. Probably matched the grin on my face.

I spotted that she was again wearing the Kokopelli earrings I’d given her. A very good sign. On closer examination, she looked tired and a little haggard. My guess was that, like me, she hadn’t been eating or sleeping properly. Not such a good sign.

She ran to me, throwing herself into my arms before I had the car door closed. We held each other tight for many wordless minutes before eventually heading for the house. She almost forgot to get Tara and Kara out of the back of her SUV; it was only Max jumping up and greeting her when I opened the house door that reminded her that she’d brought them over. She clapped her hand over her mouth in shock, then fetched them out, apologizing profusely to them for having forgotten them. In a way that was a very good thing; it certainly broke the tension as we both laughed.

I got her and them into the kitchen, then went out to fetch the roses and lock up my car. When she saw the flowers, her hand shot up to her mouth, her eyes keenly questioning. I smiled tenderly, “Yeah, honey, of course they’re for you. Damn, it’s SO good to see you again.”

There was some dampness on the collar and shoulder of my suit jacket when she finally let go of me. Can’t think where it came from.

I managed to get her sat down and handed her the box of delivery menus from my counter. “You choose, sweetie. I like it all. I need to get out of this suit. I’ll be back in ten, you might as well call it in now.”

I took a very quick (no singing) but thorough – there was red lip gloss smeared on my face when I glanced into the mirror – shower, and changed into polo and casual slacks. Back in the kitchen, I poured us both a glass of wine and pulled out plates and silverware.

To pass the time until the food arrived, we chatted about our days at work; she’d spent hers in the editing suite and was pretty happy with how things had gone since I’d called. I told her that I’d pretty much caught up on my backlog; she laughed when I told her about the Board member’s call just as I was leaving the office. I didn’t mention my talk with Helga and Clifford, although I knew I’d have to come clean about that before she first met them.

Mel was slowly coming back to being herself; from the way she held herself I reckoned she was enjoying being back with me almost as much as I was appreciating her company. There was the odd awkward silence whenever she remembered that we still needed to talk seriously, and the smile didn’t always reach her eyes, but she appeared way happier than she had on Saturday when she’d driven off, the future so uncertain.

The doorbell went and I collected the Thai meal from the driver. She smiled at the tip – it was deserved for the speed of delivery. Great service for a Friday; maybe it helped eating early. Mel had chosen well; we both enjoyed our food. Both had a better appetite than we expected, too. No rice left over for Max.

She rinsed off the plates and put them in the dishwasher; I put the containers out in the trash. Stale lemon grass odor in the morning is avoidable. Afterwards, even though it was only a little past seven-thirty, we took the three dogs out into the yard to do their evening business.

She hugged me from behind as I locked up the rear door. “Mike, honey, I know we need to talk without distractions, but do you mind if I try to steal an advantage?”

I had no idea what she meant, but anything that would help her open up to me would almost certainly be a good thing. “Sure, sweetie. How are you planning to do that?”

A soft giggle and a nuzzle of my neck. “Can we talk in bed, naked, so I can’t hide anything?”

I laughed. “That’s not an advantage, that’s a fricking walkover. I’m going to have so little blood left in my big head that I’m going to be lucky to string three words together.”

She giggled and pretended to pout. She’s got a real pretty pout. “Damn! That’s what I was counting on! Now you found out!”

I shrugged. “Even with that advance knowledge, sweetie, being naked with you, I’m still going to be pretty damn defenseless.”

A killer smile. Yeah, I was lost, and she instinctively knew it, even if her logical side told her not to count on it just yet.

We weren’t going to have sex; for one, my results weren’t yet all back. I had no worries about Mel; as a professional in the sex industry she’d have been tested regularly so that she could continue to work, and I’d already seen her certificate. I was pretty confident that I was clean; it wasn’t like I partied with strangers or had time to go to bars and hook up with a sure thing, but I hadn’t been tested in years. Not since I’d split with Marsha.

What was also more important than sex was what Clifford had told me; that Mel urgently needed to unload all those years of pent-up emotions. Now that the process of sharing such intimate personal details had started, he’d advised me to help her let out all the bad stuff just as soon as I could, before the habit of secrecy returned.

Mel showered in the master bathroom while I undressed and did my own bedtime routine in the guest bathroom. I don’t know exactly why, but somehow it felt important for me not to see her until she was ready. I guess like a bridegroom doesn’t see the bride just before the wedding. I padded naked into my room, got myself safely under the covers, and waited for her to finish.

She came to me wearing my white bathrobe. WOW!

My face must have shown my delight and respect. Blonde hair brushed to a sheen, framing a face washed clean of makeup and looking eternally young. Melanie Jorgensen. The girl next door of the dating site advert. Barely recognizable as Atlanta Starr, this girl was wholesome and fresh, the kind you’d be delighted to take home to meet your Mom and her friends.

The kind of ... wholesome ... girl that your Mom would welcome with open arms and open heart.

I quickly suppressed that thought; Mel and I had some pretty fundamental decisions to make before we could even consider meeting the parents. I pushed myself a little more upright against the bed head so she could see that she had my full attention.

She stood beside the bed, smiled nervously at me, took in a deep breath, and let the robe fall off of her shoulders, sliding down onto the floor. Oh my! “Wow, just wow!”

Her smile became even wider, and she gave me a twirl to show off her body. It was just as great as it had appeared in High Definition, in fact better, because I could take my time looking, not having to click ‘pause’ to examine something again. Small cone-shaped boobs, crinkly nipples, trim belly, clean shaven, pale, toned and delicious, as sexually alluring and desirable as in any of her Atlanta Starr movies. Instant erection on my part, as hard and fierce as it had ever been. Seven inches of tungsten steel.

I lifted up the sheet in silent invitation and she slipped in beside me. She smiled as her hand touched me, the long cool slim fingers caressing and measuring, the grin of satisfaction showing me that she wasn’t too disappointed with what she’d found. “I’m gonna take that as a BIG positive, that you’re very definitely pleased to see me. I guess it was worth all the trouble of shaving again after so long. Do you want me to help you out with that before we talk?”

It took all the moral strength I possessed to gently tell her ‘no’.