Chapter 12

Not knowing how things were going to go the next morning, Bonnie thought it best to just stay quiet until she found out what kind of mood David was in. Fortunately, that didn't take very long.

"Morning, Hon. I slept great last night and feel like I'm ready for anything this morning!"

Bonnie was so used to him being miserable that she found his cheerful voice almost unnerving. Still, she didn't want to do or say anything that would change it, so she returned his greeting with a smile. She cooked breakfast for him and said the only thing that she thought would be safe. "I hope it's going to be a nice day today. At least, it looks like it might be anyway."

David frowned. "It's supposed to rain later."

"No, it's not," she thought. "I heard the weather report, and it didn't say anything about the rain! He's just in one of his, 'the cup is half empty' moods."

His negativity didn't stop him from saying, "By Hon," as he gave her a peck on her forehead before leaving, though.

Actually, David was in a great mood, and he hardly noticed what Tracy was wearing when she met him at the store with his coffee. However, she didn't know that he hadn't noticed, and she was as cheerful as ever.

He did notice that extra wiggle in her ass as she walked away, and visions of her bare breast and shaved crotch flashed through his mind. The images caused his smile to broaden some, but they failed to inspire him enough to pursue her--not after he'd settled his differences with Bonnie, anyway!

Sandy didn't show up early that day, but she was on time. Bonnie thought that she would have just enough time to stop and get her second cup of coffee at the gas station. She had already begun to back out of her driveway when her cell phone rang. Putting the car back into park, she answered it without checking the number to see who it was.

"Hi, Pretty Lady!"

She was shocked to hear Greg's voice. In fact, she'd all but forgotten that she'd even given him her number!

"Are you surprised? Bet you didn't think you'd be hearing from me first thing in the morning, did you?" There it was, that light little chuckle that she'd come to love so much.

At first, Bonnie didn't know what to say, but she found that hearing his voice while she was still in her driveway made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't know why it did, but she suddenly wished that he'd hurry up and get off the phone. She even looked around to see if anyone was watching her as if they could tell that a man besides her husband was talking to her on her cell phone.

"A little," she managed to stammer out.

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you, but something unexpected came up, and I have to go away for a couple of days. I'm sorry that I won't be able to meet you for lunch today like we'd planned."

"Oh?"

"Sorry, Pretty Lady, but at least I won't be gone all week like I was before. I'll be back by Thursday at the latest. I did manage to pay for your coffee at the gas station though."

"Oh thanks Greg; you didn't have to you know."

"Yes I did. It was the least I could do for standing you up again."

"Thank you."

"So, you're not mad at me then?"

"No, of course not."

"Good. I'll see you Thursday and hopefully before then. Now I want you to have a great day, and don't worry about anything. There's nothing that can come up that I can't handle when I get back."

"Okay Greg; you have a good day, too."

"Well at least I don't have to wonder whether he's going to show up or not," she thought, hanging up her cell phone.

Sure enough, when Bonnie went into the gas station for her coffee, she found that Greg had already paid for it. Of course, she took it for granted that he had, for hadn't he told her so? She trusted Greg implicitly, and she could not believe that he'd ever tell her a lie, unless it was a little white lie to make her feel better about something. Even then, she wasn't convinced that he would tell her something that wasn't at least a little true.

By the time she'd reached the elevator in her office building, the coffee had cooled enough for her to sip at it. When she did, she again thought about exactly what it was that she was doing with Greg.

It bothered her that she had such strong feelings about him just when David looked like he was trying to work at their relationship.

"Should I tell Greg that David's trying to work things out in our marriage?" she thought, as the elevator rose past the lower floors. "I mean, suppose he's hoping there'll be something more between us besides being just good friends?"

With people getting off at every floor, it took a few minutes for the elevator to reach the seventh floor. By the time she got there, Bonnie had convinced herself that Greg couldn't possibly want a romantic relationship with her anyway.

"After all," she thought. "I am a married woman with two kids, and he knows it."

She tried to concentrate on her job that morning. But despite her efforts, her mind kept going back to Greg. In the end, she thought that it was probably a good thing that he was going away for a couple of days. "It will give me a chance to sort things out a little," she told herself.

"To sort things out about Greg, or with David?"

The question just popped into her mind unbidden. In fact, it took her by surprise, and she didn't know what had prompted it. But now that it was there, she had to think about an answer.

"This is silly," she thought. "There aren't any real feelings towards Greg. He's just a really nice guy who's becoming a good friend, and I'm lucky to have met him because good friends are hard to come by these days."

When lunch time came, Bonnie thought of Shelly and Liz waiting for her across the street at the cafe'. She didn't know what she was going to tell them about not being there on Friday. But she found that she was looking forward to seeing them again in spite of it.

"Well there's our missing friend," said Shelly loudly, when Bonnie came into the cafe'.

"So where have you been?" asked Liz, once Bonnie sat down at the table.

Even though she'd thought about it, Bonnie really wasn't ready to answer that question yet. All she could do was mumble an excuse for not meeting with them Friday, before asking, "So what have you guys been up to this weekend?"

Shelly gave her a wink and said, "Oh, Charlie and I were out partying. But, as you can see, I recovered enough to make it to work today."

Liz told her about all the mundane things she and her husband did, to which Bonnie only politely listened to. "God, her life is even more boring than mine ever could be," she thought. "But at least she's happy with it."

"So Bonnie, whatever happened to that guy who bought you coffee in the morning?" asked Shelly. "What was his name--Gary, Greg, George? Oh well, it was something like that. Anyway, did you ever see him again?"

The question took her completely by surprise, and she took a quick sip of the iced tea to give herself a little time to think.

Both Liz and Shelly were looking at her, and she knew that she had to tell them something. "Should I lie and tell them I hadn't seen him?" she asked herself. She was certainly tempted to, but then she thought, "What if they happen to see me with him sometime, or if he becomes a truly great friend? Then they'll know I lied to them. And if I do tell them about him, then how much should I tell?"

Bonnie put her glass down. Then first looking at Shelly, and then at Liz, who were both staring back at her, she took a deep breath and said, "His name is Greg, and yes, I've seen him since then."

"Oh really!" exclaimed Shelly, her eyes sparkling with interest. She could tell by Bonnie's hesitation that there was a lot more about Greg than she wanted to say, "Do tell! I want to know all about it!"

Liz, on the other hand, gave Bonnie a dark, disapproving look. It was a look that told her younger friend that she was somewhat disappointed in her. The look made Bonnie even more uncomfortable than she already was.

"Well, we saw each other at the gas station a couple more times, and he took me out to lunch a couple of times too."

She was about to tell more, but Liz looked to be even more disappointed in her than before, and Bonnie thought better of telling her friends anything more about Greg.

Shelly knew there was more, and didn't want to wait to hear about it. She saw the look Liz was giving their friend though, and decided not to pressure Bonnie into telling her about the things that she really wanted to know about. Instead she changed the subject slightly, saying, "Well, I guess we know what happened to you on Friday anyway! So what did you find out about him? Is he really as wealthy as he looked?"

Bonnie was grateful for the reprieve. She was afraid Shelly was going to insist she explain further about her and Greg's relationship.

"Relationship?" she suddenly thought. "Is that what I have, a relationship with Greg? No!" she told herself. "Greg and are just friends--like Shelly and Liz here."

"Well? What's he like? You might as well tell us because we won't let you go until you do," insisted Shelly, impatiently.

Bonnie hesitated, not knowing what, or how much she should tell. Twice, she started to speak, but each time she changed her mind about what she was going to say.

"Well, what does he do?" asked Liz.

"He ... he ... solves problems for people ... for big corporations that is." She hoped that they wouldn't ask her to explain it better, especially since she didn't really understand it that well herself.

"That's right," put in Shelly. I think I remember you telling us that he's some sort of corporate hot shot."

"And exactly how does this all fit in with you and Dave?" asked Liz. It was the one question that she really wanted to hear Bonnie's answer.

Bonnie looked down at the table. After all, that was the question wasn't it? "How can I answer her when I can't even answer the question myself?" she thought. "I mean, I don't really even know how I feel about Greg being in my life."

For the second time during their lunch, Bonnie could actually feel the eyes of her two friends as they stared expectantly at her.

She knew she had to say something, and in the end, she decided to tell them the same thing she'd been telling herself. "Greg fit's into my life just fine, because he's just a friend ... you know ... like you two."

"Darling, if that was true, you wouldn't have kept seeing him a secret from us."

"That's true," agreed Liz. "You knew what you were doing was wrong, and that's why you didn't want anyone else to know about it."

"I wouldn't exactly say 'wrong'," corrected Shelly.

"No?" asked Liz, raising her eyebrows. It was plain that she was perturbed. "Then what would you call it?"

"I'd say she was just being careful," replied Shelly, looking at her fingernails.

"Oh, of course, look who it is I'm talking too," returned Liz, sarcastically.

"Look," interrupted Bonnie. "I didn't say anything because I didn't know myself. I mean, Greg was just being a friend, and there isn't anything more to it than that. I mean, look at you two! You guys are arguing about something that neither of you really know anything about. Maybe that's why I didn't say anything--because of the way you two are acting."

"She's got a point you know," said Shelly, with a light laugh.

Liz didn't share in her friend's humor, but she didn't say anything else to further the argument either.