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ON THE DRIVE HOME ANDREA kept up casual conversation about the girls, her night with Cam, and her new jewelry acquisition. Mika played along with her, even though both women could feel the tension in the car. Andrea’s mind was racing a mile a minute. What was going on with her friend and Robert? She wasn’t afraid to ask, just wanted to wait until they got off the highway.
Mika kept from rolling her eyes by looking out the window whenever she could. She knew Andrea was dying to find out about Robert. She also knew her friend was probably waiting for the right moment or hoping Mika would volunteer the information. She hadn’t been thinking clearly when the scheme to teach Robert a lesson popped into her mind. Figuring if he could come to her home marking his perceived territory like a caveman; then she could display him in front of whoever she wanted. She just hadn’t thought about the conversation she would have to have with her best friend after the fact.
Andrea parked in Mika’s driveway, but left it running for the heat. She turned as Mika unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Thanks for the ride. Sorry to make you come all the way out here.”
“The ride...is not the problem.”
“Is there a problem?” Mika testily asked.
“Should there be a problem?” Andrea responded in kind.
“No, so I guess there isn’t.”
There was silence. Andrea softened her tone and asked even though it felt awkward. “So...how is he...you know?”
“Fantastic of course. Why do you think I’m dealing with him?”
“Really? He seems so serious, a little bit reserved sometimes.”
“He can be.” Mika smiled a little. “I’m going to call him ‘focused’ and that can be a very good thing when it comes to the bedroom.”
After another unnatural pause Andrea turned forward in her seat.
Mika was still tired, having used up her limited energy on the girls. She just wanted to get this over with, followed by a long nap.
But Andrea beat her to it snapping around in her seat to ask, “So, what exactly is going on with you two? Are you dating? A couple? What? How long have you been seeing each other?”
“It’s been going on a while.”
“What’s a while Mika?”
“A few months give or take.”
“What! Why in the world didn’t you mention this?”
Mika shrugged defensively. “I don’t know. I mean I didn’t think it was a big deal at first. I figured we’d get sick of each other, and it would fizzle out.”
“Apparently it didn't, and you still never said a word.” Andrea knew Mika’s excuse was crappy. The woman always mentioned whoever she was dating, no matter what.
“When did it become mandatory that I tell you everything? We’re hooking up, it’s not a big deal.”
“Oh, so you bringing ‘hook-ups’ around the girls now?” Andrea said in disbelief. “What was that show this morning about since we on it?”
“That was me reminding myself of something important and teaching the girls some life lessons at the same time.”
When Andrea rolled her eyes and shook her head, Mika felt her temper spike. “Just what is your problem with this anyway? Why do you care if we’re sleeping together?”
“Because he’s Cam’s best friend! This could get real messy.”
“He’s his best friend not his daddy. We’re both adults. Any blowback is not your problem.”
“Oh bullshit Mika! You know that’s not true. If you hurt him, it will affect us all.”
“If I hurt him? What do you mean by that?”
“I mean I know he’s not your type and I know you don’t keep a guy around for long. I just don’t understand why you didn’t pick someone else to play with instead of my husband's closest friend!”
“Wait just a damn minute! You acting like Robert is some soft, callow schoolboy and I’m some pedo teacher who has lured him into a sexual trap.” Mika was livid. “He is a grown-ass man, older than us both in case you missed it. His reputation with women is not so shiny either. We both agreed to be booty-calls to the other. No one was taken advantage of, least of all him. I’m your best friend. But you don’t seem to be worried that I might get hurt!”
Andrea threw up her arms. “Because you don’t take relationships seriously! From what I saw this morning you got that man's nose wide open! The Robert I know would never have let you puppeteer him like you did this morning. You claiming it’s just hooking up, but maybe it’s more to him. I mean you spent New Year’s Eve together!”
At the mention of that fiasco Mika had enough! “You know what? I’m done! You are out of line, it’s not your business and you need to mind your own!”
Mika threw open the car door and got out.
“Well that I believe, since you hid it from me for months! Sounds like a guilty conscious to me!” Andrea yelled right back. She instantly knew she had gone too far when Mika’s features hardened. Her friend slammed the door before stomping into the house without another word.
* * *
MIKA HAD SLEPT LATE into the evening on Sunday, and when she woke spent the next few hours with her headphones on immersing herself in work. Anything to keep her mind occupied. When she got tired of that she took a rare sleeping pill and slept until Monday morning. They had the day off since the holiday had fallen on a weekend. She spent it with her phone turned off, eating junk food and binge-watching action movies. Late Monday she finally returned her mother’s call and completely ignored the texts and calls from Andrea.
Being back in the office on Tuesday was an actual relief, though all anyone could talk about was the holiday. She was trying to forget about hers. At around noon a flower delivery arrived. A single huge, purple Hydrangea. By three the receptionist was escorting another delivery person to her office.
This time with a fairly large box, expertly wrapped. She opened the card first.
Trust...I felt it
R.L.
She knew it must be the dress. How in the world had he been able to find something between Sunday and Monday? Shaking her head she lifted the lid and gasped. Inside was a ruby red gown. The top portion wasn’t exactly like her last one, this one hanging just off the shoulders, creating a C shape on her chest. The cut was lower and would expose the top swell of her breasts but still be tasteful.
What caught her eye were the jewels that lined the silver collar, alternating rubies and diamonds—real ones—across the whole arch. Lifting the dress out the box she stood up to see the rest of it. Like the previous dress it had a split to the knee. At the waist there was a two-inch silver band that would make the shape of her hips and behind stand out. The band was littered with crystals and more rubies thrown into the mix. There was nothing muted about this dress. As she was about to repack it she noticed there was a small bag in the box. Shaking the contents out to reveal a pair of ruby red panties! They were so skimpy Mika assumed they must be for decoration only. She hurried to fold the dress back into the box and texted him.
Mika: You can’t send something like this to my job!
Robert: Yet I did
Mika: Half the office is breaking their neck to see what I got
Robert: Did you like it?
She loved it, but refused to tell him that.
Mika: It looks expensive...so it will do
Robert: I’ll call you tonight
She didn’t respond. At this point, she didn’t know whether she was looking forward to talking to him or not. But she loved her dress!
* * *
CAM SET ANDREA UP IN a nice bubble bath with a glass of wine. He figured that would buy him at least thirty minutes of peace and he could make his call. She had come home on Sunday from her Center meeting in a bad mood, waving him off when he asked what was wrong. Then Monday rolled around and she was clearly still upset, as he watched her mumbled to herself when she thought no one was listening. By dinnertime he demanded to know what was wrong.
Andrea had narrowed her eyes at him and then pointed an accusing finger. “I bet you knew, didn’t you?”
“Clue me in.”
Her eyes narrowed even more, if that was possible. “Two words, Mika...Robert.”
At that point about ten different scenarios had flashed through his mind. All with three basic themes; lie, evade, or tell the truth. Apparently, he took too long to decide.
“Why didn’t you tell me? How long have you known?”
“Easy baby.” Cam threw up his hands. “Only about two weeks or so.”
He cut her off as she went to speak again. “I didn’t tell you because they don’t need our permission to...do whatever the hell they're doing. If Mika had wanted you to know, she would have told you.”
Her mouth had opened then snapped closed, her shoulders sagging in defeat. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. I just don’t know why she wouldn’t trust me...share what was going on in her life.”
“Don’t take it so personally.”
“What other way am I supposed to take it?”
His wife had been sad and a little mopey ever since. Now it was Tuesday night as Cam closed the door to the spare bedroom downstairs and made a call. When Robert picked up he said, “It’s finally happened.”
“What did?”
“There’s been a girl fight.”
“Really? Andrea and Mika”, Robert asked.
“Yeah, who else would I care about? My wife’s been either angry or sad since Sunday.”
“Hmm.” Robert rubbed his temple.
“What did you do?” Cam asked.
“Me? I didn’t do jack.”
“I know it’s over you. She called me out on knowing about you two. Plus, Mika won’t take her calls or return her texts.”
“Damn, she’s that mad?” Robert would never understand women.
“Apparently.” Cam would never understand women either. He just knew his wife was unhappy and he didn’t like it. “You need to fix it. I don’t like seeing sadness in my wife’s pretty eyes.”
“Hell, I’m not a hundred percent sure I’m out the doghouse!”
“So you did do something,” Cam said sternly. “Find a way to make this right.”
“I’m on it. I’m supposed to call Mika tonight anyway.”
“Good luck.”
––––––––
ROBERT HUNG UP AND shook his head. Women made everything more complicated. Getting up he poured himself a drink before calling the complication.
“Hey,” he said clearing his throat as she answered.
“Hey yourself.”
Silence from two people who normally never ran out of things to say.
Mika finally said, “We should talk about what happened after the party.”
“We def need to. I believe in addressing things head on.” He took a big drink. “I’ll apologize if you want me to. But deep down I’m not sure I’d change anything.”
“Oddly, I don’t think I would either. We needed a catalyst to have this talk.” Mika agreed.
He felt most of the tension leave his shoulders, he stopped pacing and took a seat.
“What set you off?” Mika asked. “I mean we both had dates. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal.”
Robert hadn’t known this would be so uncomfortable. But he hated bullshit, even from himself. After a long silence he answered, “I didn’t like him touching you.”
“What? Him having his arm around me?”
“No. I saw him kiss you at midnight.”
“Oh!” Mika paused, letting his words sink in. “I didn’t even know you were close by.”
“When I saw that, I’ll admit I lost it. Gave in to irrational jealousy. That’s how I ended up at your house.”
A small part of her was thrilled Robert had felt the need to claim her. “Nothing happened with him except that kiss. He tried to get me to go to his room. I firmly declined and went home. Where I was confronted by an angry man, who had no right to question me like he was my father.”
“Oh I think we know I’m not your daddy. About these rights—”
“You don’t have any,” she cut him off crossly. “Remember? No obligations, free to see and do whatever we want with others.”
Damn women for remembering everything. “Look, you know we’ve progressed beyond that.”
“Do I? Just because you got jealous for a hot second doesn’t mean anything. That could be normal possessive man shit.”
“Be real. You were jealous too, until I set you straight about Evonne.”
Mika sucked her teeth before saying, “Whatever.”
“Look let’s modify the original agreement. Take off that last part.”
“So we take out the other people, but keep the no obligation part...really?”
“You right.” Robert was in uncharted waters, but he refused to sink completely. “I suppose we can upgrade our situation to ‘casual, exclusive dating’.”
“Oh, that’s real benevolent of you,” she said sarcastically.
“Okay, how would you like to phrase our current situation?” When he was met by silence, he growled, “Mika don’t ignore me.”
“I’m not! I don’t know either...this is...”
“Unexpected,” he finished for her. Softening his voice he continued. “Which is why I think we should take measured steps for now. No pressure, just casual exclusive dating.” He paused to let that sink in. Hell for himself as well. “You game?”
Mika bit her lip to stop a smile from spreading, even though he couldn’t see it. “Bet.”
“Also, you need to drop this beef with Andrea.”
The smile left her face as quickly as it had come. “You had to go and ruin it.”
