Chapter 4

I'm not one to mull over decisions once I've made them. I didn't sleep much that night. Instead, I did a lot of thinking. That taken care of, I knew it was time to take action on my decisions.

The next morning, I called my girlfriend Sheila and had her meet me at a nearby park on the bay front. I thanked her for some fun times then said I wanted to break up with her. She was furious and then admitted she had been unhappy for a while, thinking us an imperfect match. I pointed out that no match was really perfect, but some were better than others.

Sheila agreed. We agreed to part amicably, although it was obvious she was upset because I called it quits on the relationship before she found the nerve to do so.

Late that afternoon I called Michele. She seemed surprised to hear from me.

"I'd like to see you tonight."

She paused on the other end of the phone.

"We're not due to meet for another week," she said softly.

"This has nothing to do with your tutoring sessions. I need to see you, though."

She agreed to stop by my apartment in a few hours.

And she did, shortly after eight.

I served her a wine cooler and continued to drink my Merlot.

"You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"

She blushed and endeared herself to me even further.

"No, why?"

"I'd like to be yours."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, I'm rapidly getting really crazy for you."

She laughed. "You don't know me."

"I do. We've done our share of talking when we're not talking about your writing assignments. I know what movies you like and what you like to eat and even what veggies you hate."

She laughed again. "I'm such a blabbermouth!"

"Hardly, You know me too. And you're tolerant of my quirks."

"You don't have any quirks."

"Oh, but I do. You don't even know some of them."

"Like what?"

"Well, I'm a porn junkie, for one."

"Like every other guy?" She laughed.

"That's not a quirk, that's just being a normal horny guy."

"No, but I really like porn. Like, a lot."

She shrugged. "I don't care, as long as it doesn't get in the way of you and me."

"Believe me, it won't."

"Then look at your porn. Do you mean movies?"

I nodded. "Vids and stuff I find on the web."

"No prob, really, what other quirks are you talking about?"

"Well, just one other and you know it already."

"If you mean, preferring to wear nothing at all in the house and out of it, from what I saw last night! - I don't mind, if that's how you're most comfortable."

"I am. And I must confess, it's a bit of a turn-on for me to know that I'm exposing myself at times, especially to beautiful and innocent girls like you."

She blushed more deeply and played with some of her brunette strands before brushing them back. "I'm hardly innocent."

I moved in closer and sat next to her and gently pushed her onto the couch pillows. Then I climbed over her. "But you have a girlfriend," she whispered.

"It's wrong."

"It's not wrong. I don't have anyone else in my life."

"That's a lie. Don't lie to me, Tony. You've talked about-"

"I broke up with her," I said.

She shook her head.

"It's true," I continued, then explained.

"We were incompatible, really, good for a few fun times in the beginning and then both of us tried to force issues. We tried to change each other, in some ways. Or more precisely, we weren't tolerant of who we really were and criticized each other. More her than I, but I'm not putting all the blame on her. Our behavior eventually put a strain on a good thing. Besides, I've been falling in love with you lately. Yesterday was the clincher."

"What was so special about yesterday - to you, I mean?" She paused and then said more. "Because it was special to me too, believe me."

"Was it?"

She nodded.

"Why? How?"

"I asked first, so you go first."

"Fair enough, I love that you weren't put off by my behavior on the beach."

She frowned. "What was so bad about it?"

"Nothing, really, but a lot of girls wouldn't have wanted me to be naked around them."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Then, in a very soft voice: "You have a great body."