Chapter 13

"You're joking!" Sherri said.

"No, I'm not," I replied. "I know it's one of those things that's supposed to only happen in fiction, but it really happened."

"So what was Alicia's mom doing in Tucson?"

"She was there for the Gem and Mineral Show. Alicia's mom was, or is, I guess, an amateur artist and she apparently decided to start making jewelry. She and a friend of hers came down to get supplies."

"And she just happened to be staying at the same hotel."

"Yeah." I replied, nodding furiously. "I know it's incredible, but it really happened."

"On the day after Valentine's Day."

"The day after Valentine's Day," I repeated back.

Sherri met my eyes. She stared into them, studying me for a while.

"I have no reason to make this up," I said after a while.

Sherri slowly nodded. "I believe you, Joe. As amazing a coincidence as it appears to be, I believe you."

"Thanks," I said. I realized I'd been a little more tense during this exchange than I'd realized at the time. I stretched my legs a little and shook out my shoulders.

"So what happened?" Sherri asked.

"Well..."

"Hello, Mrs. Matheson," I said. I didn't extend my hand, but bowed slightly from the neck. "This is my girlfriend, Tina." Mrs. Matheson nodded to Tina but didn't say anything.

"I'm surprised to run into you, Joe," she said.

"Me too." Mrs. Matheson proceeded to explain how she was down for the Gem and Mineral Show. She gave some of the details, but they went in one ear and out the other. My pulse was pounding too hard for me to really hear all her words.

"So how are you doing?" Mrs. Matheson asked.

"Fine," I said. "I'll graduate next December."

"So Alicia said."

"So how's Alicia?" I asked, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

"She's doing much better now that she dumped the guy she was seeing before Christmas."

"Oh?" I said.

"Yes." Mrs. Matheson didn't say anything more, so we fell into an awkward pause.

We were saved when the man in front of us finished talking with the hotel desk clerk. I broke off the conversation with Alicia's mom and dropped the room key on the counter. I was definitely breathing hard and starting to sweat, but I tried to control it so Tina wouldn't notice.

"It was nice to talk to you," I said automatically to Mrs. Matheson as we turned from the desk.

She nodded and Tina and I headed to the door.

"Who was that?" Tina asked as we got in the car.

"An old girlfriend's mom," I said.

"Oh."

"Thank you for an incredible Valentine's Day," I said, changing the subject.

"No, thank you." Tina replied. "It was really incredible."

I quickly glanced over and saw she was smiling.

"I'm glad," I replied.

We had another passionate kiss at Tina's dorm and then she slipped away to get ready for work. I drove home, my mind whirling.

Alicia had been single at Christmas. I had been back in Colorado, too. But of course, I wouldn't have called her. I would have had to run into her and our paths never crossed.

But now I was with Tina. I really liked Tina. The door with Alicia was closed. I'd gotten over her and moved on.

So why was my stomach such a mess and why was I on the edge of shaking?

I sat at my kitchen table for several minutes, replaying the conversation with Mrs. Matheson over and over in my head. I wasn't getting anywhere. In fact, my stomach was starting to feel worse.

I picked up the phone and called Sharon.

"How did it go?" Sharon asked as soon as we'd said hello.

"It was fine except for running into Alicia's mom when we were checking out," I said.

"You're kidding!"

"I'm not." I proceeded to fill Sharon in on the encounter.

"The thing is," I said, "Alicia dumped the guy she left me for before Christmas. I could have tried to reconcile with her."

Sharon let out a loud sigh.

"How could you have done that?" she asked. "She didn't call you or make any attempt to contact you."

"I don't know," I said. "I could have called her if I'd known."

"I didn't hear anything from our mutual friends," Sharon replied. "How would you have known?"

"I don't know."

Sharon let out another loud sigh before speaking.

"Joe, get a hold of yourself! Alicia's not worth it. You have moved on."

"But—"

"No buts! If Alicia wanted you back she would have called. Besides, there's Tina now."

"But—"

Joe, stop it! Obsessing over your ex does you no good."

The sheer hypocrisy of that statement ground me to a halt. Sharon was lecturing me about obsessing over an ex? Did I dare say anything?

"Besides, how would Tina feel if she realized you were obsessing about Alicia?" Sharon continued. "Here it is, the day after she's given you the biggest gift she can and you're going on about another woman!"

"Gift?" I blurted out.

"You know what I mean," Sharon said.

"I'm not sure any of us consider virginity to be a gift to be given away," I said.

"Fine," Sharon said. "It's still a shitty thing for you to be doing."

"You're right," I conceded. "I'll stop."

"Good."

There was a long pause as neither of us spoke. I didn't like the silence.

"Well, other than that, the evening went well," I said.

"Tell me about it," Sharon said, the exasperation fading in her voice.

I proceeded to tell Sharon about the evening, in more explicit detail than I'd intended. I was so relieved to be past the argument that I didn't hold back as much as I probably should have. Sharon seemed to enjoy it though, and she told me she was happy for me and Tina.

"You need to do something for her soon," she said. "Don't wait until Tuesday to see her."

"Good idea," I said. I realized there was nothing left to tell Sharon about Valentine's Day. Then I realized I hadn't asked her about her own.

"So, what did you do last night?" I asked. "Did you have a date?"

"No date," Sharon answered. "I thought this guy in my afternoon class was going to ask me out, but he chickened out."

"And you didn't ask him."

"No. I'm not into the shy guys. He was cute, though."

"So, what did you do?" I asked.

"Well ... I took a long bath and enjoyed the last packet of reading material you sent me."

"Sounds like a good time," I said. I was trying to remember the last packet I'd sent her. It had been a while.

"Oh, it was," Sharon said. I could hear the leer in her voice.

"I think I liked my Valentine's Day better," I said.

"Oh, I agree," Sharon said. "I did think about you guys last night. I admit I was a little jealous."

"Well, thanks," I said. Jealous?

"You're welcome. At least one of us has a successful love life."

"It would be better if it was both of us," I said.

"True. But one is better than none. Listen, I have to go. Glad it went well, Joe. And call Tina!"

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I realized I was feeling better and my momentary insanity over Alicia had apparently passed. I was glad that Sharon was a good enough friend to help me through such times and to wish me well in my new relationship.

"So your definition of a good friend is someone who helps you out when you're temporarily insane?" Sherri asked, her eyes dancing in amusement.

"Well, that's part of it," I answered. "I mean, we've all had fair weather friends who disappear when things get bumpy, right?"

"True," Sherri replied. "The question, though, is whether those who stick around are actually helping."

"Sharon did," I said.

"Hmmmm."

"She did when she suggested not waiting to talk to Tina," I said, mildly offended at the implication in Sherri's response.

"How did that go?" Sherri asked.

"Pretty well..."

I was a little nervous. Tina wasn't expecting me and I was guessing that she'd still be at work, even though she hadn't explicitly said she was closing up the poster shop. At least the roses looked good. I was glad the florist still had some the day after Valentine's Day.

I needn't have worried.

"Oh, Joe!" Tina cried, seeing the flowers. She set them on the counter and threw her arms around me for a kiss.

"I figured you might like to know I've spent the day thinking about you," I said when we'd pulled apart.

"Aw, how sweet!" Tina said. "I've been thinking about you, too. Give me a few minutes to close up."

I waited while Tina got things put away, the register counted, and the deposit bag prepared. She locked up and we walked the block to the local bank branch drop off, where she slid the money in the overnight deposit slot.

We wandered over to campus, holding hands and not saying much. I told her how much I'd appreciated the night before and she seconded the sentiment. We talked a little about the coming week and Tina mentioned that there was a note at work when she got in, asking if she could trade some shifts. She asked if I'd mind switching our Tuesday dinner to Wednesday just this week so she could say yes and I said I didn't mind. We discussed some potential menus for that night and by the time we'd settled on trying a stew, we found ourselves at the Chi-O steps.

"Our feet just know the way here," I mused.

"It seems so," Tina said with a smirk.

We headed into the shadowed corner and I sat down with my back against the wall. Tina sat in my lap, straddling me, and wrapping her legs around me. The pressure of her mound against my cock felt good, even through the layers of fabric. However, getting hot and bothered didn't feel right. After kissing a while, Tina just cuddled in against my chest and I held her.

"Any regrets?" I asked, some time later, as I ran my hand up and down Tina's back.

"No," she said, then turned and looked up at me. "None at all."

We kissed, long and slow. Then we got up and slowly headed back to Tina's dorm.

I thought a lot about the sex with Tina the next few days. It helped push the thoughts of running into Alicia's mom off to the side. I also was glad to have Sharon around. I remembered her comment about my story packet and decided to send her a new one. It didn't take long to find some new stories that I was sure she'd like and get them in the mail.

Tina arrived on Wednesday a little earlier than she did on Tuesdays. We spent a few minutes kissing hello before getting started on dinner. I chopped vegetables while Tina prepared the meat. She started sautéing garlic in the bottom of a deep pot when the phone rang.

It was Sharon. Of course. We usually talked on Wednesdays.

"Hi," I said. "How's it going?"

"Pretty well. How are you doing?"

"Fine. Listen, Tina's here—"

"She is?" Sharon interrupted. "Let me talk to her."

I glanced over at Tina, who was looking at me quizzically.

"It's Sharon," I said, covering the mouthpiece.

Tina nodded.

"Put her on!" Sharon said in my ear.

I looked at Tina again and shrugged my shoulders.

"She wants to talk to you," I said.

Tina's eyes momentarily widened in surprised. Then she made a small nod.

"Why not?" she said.

"Okay," I said to Sharon. "Here she is."

I handed the phone to Tina and settled into the chair furthest from the phone. As small as my apartment was, it was impossible to avoid eavesdropping.

"I've heard a lot about you, too," Tina said into the phone and then paused, listening.

"It was really good," Tina said next. "Joe's the greatest."

More pause. Tina looked over at me and caught me watching her. She grinned. Then she laughed.

"I don't think I'll be needing that, but thanks for the offer," Tina said. Her eyes were twinkling.

I was beginning to get uncomfortable listening in, even if Tina didn't seem to mind. I got up and went over to the stove and started throwing ingredients in the pot. By focusing on the task, I only heard every other word. Well, two out of three.

Tina and Sharon talked for about two more minutes and then Tina passed me the phone.

"She's great!" Sharon told me.

"I agree," I said. "Tina is definitely an incredible woman." I smiled at Tina as I spoke and she blushed at the compliment.

"I look forward to meeting her," Sharon said.

"I definitely need to introduce you two sometime," I said.

I looked at Tina. Her eyebrows went up, but then she nodded.

"Well, I don't want to interrupt you any further," Sharon said. "Call me tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Sure," I said. We said our goodbyes and hung up.

"I think I'd like to meet Sharon," Tina said as we resumed preparing dinner.

"I hope it wasn't too strange talking to her on the phone," I said.

"No. Well, a little. But she made it okay. She said she'd heard a lot about me."

"She has," I said. "Just like you've heard about her."

"Which is part of why I want to meet her," Tina said. "The other part is because she's your best friend and I want to get to know your friends."

"That makes sense," I said as we plated the food. "I should probably meet Marcy and some of your friends, too."

"Well, first you need to meet my family," Tina said.

I swallowed my first bite of food a little harder than I'd expected.

"Okay," I said. "What have you told them about me?" I asked.

"Well, during our last family phone call, my younger sister asked what I'd done for Valentine's Day. I told her I'd had a date and after she got done shrieking and teasing me, my dad came on the line. So I told him I'd had a very nice dinner with you. I mentioned that you were smart, very nice, and a gentleman."

"You didn't tell him about after dinner?" I asked.

Tina frowned at me.

"Do you think I'm crazy, Joe?" she asked. "Dad knows he can't watch my every move now that I'm in college, but there's no reason for me to unnecessarily antagonize him."