Chapter 14

Mel looked up from her notes and said, “Professor Sigmond wants us to write a paper on whether or not Waterloo really represented Napoleon’s downfall. What position should I take?”

“There are only three positions you can take. Yes it did or no it didn’t or it depends,” Stephen answered.

“I want to say that it did, but I think that is too obvious,” Mel said.

“What major events before Waterloo occurred might have represented Napoleon’s downfall?” Stephen asked.

“Well, there was the Russian campaign. He lost most of his army during the retreat from Moscow,” Mel said.

“It sounds to me like he had already failed before Waterloo,” Stephen said.

“I think so too. Thanks,” Mel said.

The sound of the front door slamming shut echoed through the living room. Cathy stormed into the room and announced, “I had a really really bad day.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Stephen said.

“That’s a shame,” Mel said despite the fact that she wasn’t too fond of Cathy. She was familiar with Cathy’s problem and Stephen’s role in helping her with that problem. She had heard Cathy’s story from him, then she had heard it from Cathy, and finally she had heard it from Jake. One of the things that she appreciated about Stephen was that he was honest with her, but she wasn’t thrilled with the subject of that honesty.

Cathy looked over at Mel and said, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here.”

“That’s okay,” Mel said. She had never seen Cathy looking so frantic. She could see that Cathy was on the verge of a breakdown or something.

Cathy asked, “Is Jake here?”

“No,” Stephen answered.

“Can I borrow your boyfriend? Jake ran out this morning before he could take care of me. It has been more than twenty-four hours since I’ve been laid. I’m so horny that I could take on a football team,” Cathy said. Noticing the expression on Mel’s face, she said, “Hey, if my grabbing him bothers you, I can loan you a strap-on so that you can do me. That might take the edge off until Jake gets here.”

“He’s not my boyfriend yet,” Mel said shuddering at the image Cathy had painted. “And I’m not into strap-ons.”

“Can I borrow him?” Cathy asked dancing from one foot to the other.

“I guess so,” Mel said. She didn’t feel that it was really her place to make demands on Stephen. He hadn’t even tried to touch her yet.

Cathy breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Great. Come on Stephen. Let’s hit the shower.”

“I’m here with Mel. It would be kind of rude for me to leave,” Stephen said.

“I need something now!” Cathy said breathing hard. She rubbed her crotch with a hand. “I had a really really bad day.”

“You better take care of her,” Mel said unable to believe the words coming out of her mouth. She averted her eyes from Cathy not wanting to watch what she was doing.

“Are you sure that you’re okay with this, Mel?” Stephen asked.

“Go,” Mel said.

“I really apologize for this,” Stephen said.

“Now. I need it now,” Cathy said. Her voice sounded desperate.

“Go,” Mel said. She could imagine Cathy not waiting to get Stephen out of sight before taking the edge off of her need. She didn’t want to watch that happen.

Cathy grabbed his arm and dragged him off. She shouted, “Thanks, Mel. I owe you one.”

“I don’t want to collect one from you,” Mel muttered. A minute later she could hear the shower running. She sighed and said, “I would rather collect it from Stephen.”

There was a knock on the front door. Knowing that no one else was available, Mel went over to answer it. She opened the door to find the biggest scariest looking guy she had ever seen in her entire life standing there. She swallowed and said, “Hello.”

Phil frowned and asked, “Is Stephen, Jake, or Cathy here?”

“Stephen and Cathy are busy at the moment,” Mel said.

“I’m Phil.”

“Oh. You work with Stephen and Jake, right?”

“Yes,” Phil said, “I’ve got someone with me. I need to get her settled into the extra room.”

“Come in,” Mel said stepping out of the way. All she needed was for Stephen to get another woman in his life.

Phil picked up a suitcase and entered the house. When Phil stepped past her, she saw the woman who had been standing behind him. The woman’s face looked like she had been run over by stampeding horses. She gestured to the woman and said, “Please come in.”

The woman meekly followed Phil into the house without saying a word. Phil said, “I’ll show you your room and then introduce you to two of your housemates.”

“Thank you,” the woman said barely moving her mouth. Her words weren’t very clear.

Mel returned to the couch thinking about the woman. She was clearly in some pain. It was three or four minutes later when Phil and the woman came into the living room. Phil sat on the couch next to Mel while allowing the woman with him to take a chair off to itself. He looked over at Mel’s book and asked, “What are you studying?”

“Napoleon. My professor wants me to write an essay on whether or not Waterloo was really the downfall of Napoleon,” Mel answered.

Phil snorted and said, “Napoleon was finished as a result of the Russian campaign. A lot of historians don’t like to give credit to Russia for destroying Napoleon’s army. They feel like it wasn’t really a defeat in a battle, but a defeat by terrain and weather. Me, I think that a defeat is a defeat and Napoleon lost big time in Russia.”

“That was the direction I was going to go with this paper,” Mel said very surprised that the big scary guy actually knew his history.

“Smart. Napoleon was fighting with his second string at Waterloo,” Phil said.

“I agree,” Mel said.

Phil asked, “Are you a history major?”

“No,” Mel said.

“It is so hard finding people who like to discuss history,” Phil said. He looked over at the woman and asked, “Do you like to discuss history?”

“No,” the woman answered.

“Pity,” Phil said. He sat there for a few seconds and then said, “I should probably introduce you two, but I don’t know your name.”

“I’m Mel.”

Phil smiled and said, “Ah, you are Stephen’s girlfriend.”

Listening to the running shower, Mel said, “Not really. He’s upstairs with Cathy right now.”

“You know about her condition, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Mel said.

“He’s just protecting her from herself at the moment. His feelings don’t run any deeper than wanting to keep her safe. She was almost killed by a guy before Magus set her up in this house,” Phil said.

“I heard about that,” Mel said.

“Stephen really likes you. He talks about you all of the time. He says a lot of very nice things about you,” Phil said.

Mel said, “He doesn’t do anything about it.”

“I don’t think you would agree to share him with Cathy,” Phil said.