Trina

Friday was one of my days off from work so I used Friday to go over Trina's car. I replaced her shock absorbers and had to do a complete reline on her brakes including the replacement of her right front brake drum. I told Trina I would bring the car back to her on Saturday, but I finished with it much earlier than I expected. I got a buddy to follow me and I drove over to her apartment planning to drop her keys in her mail slot along with a note.

I pulled into the apartment's parking lot just in time to see Trina's apartment door open and Trina come out of her apartment with a man. A man with a brush cut and a mustache. Trina was dressed for a night out on the town in a little black dress and heels. The two walked to a car and got in and Trina slid over next to him and they kissed. The guy started the car and they drove out of the lot.

As I sat there and watched them drive away it occurred to me that I had been played. I bet that Trina hadn't "just been driving by" on that Saturday. I bet she knew where I worked and what I did and she was probably parked somewhere in the neighborhood watching and waiting for a chance to hook up with me. A couple of nights worth of pussy and she got nine hundred dollars worth of work done on her car. That is what it would have cost her if she had taken the car into a shop. It didn't cost me that much because I got an employee discount on the parts I used and I was donating the labor anyway.

And her female roommates? I tossed her keys under the front seat, got out of the car and walked over to the mail boxes. I looked for the name on the mail box for apartment 204 -- Martin Keller. Sure did not seem like a girls name to me.

Yep! I had been played. As I walked back to my buddies car I debated doing something mean like cutting the valve stems on her tires, but then said the hell with it. Just because she was a bitch didn't mean that I had to be an asshole. Just chalk it up as one of life's unpleasant lessons and move on. Just as I was opening the door to Perry's car I had a thought. It wasn't really all that mean of a thing to do, but it could cause Trina some grief if she didn't have a spare key for her car. I went back to her car and locked all four doors and then closed them. Her keys were under the front seat and if she had no spare, tough shit!

My cell beeped at eleven-ten on Saturday morning. I put down the brake pad I was getting ready to install on the Chevy pick up, took the phone out of my pocket and saw from the display that it was Trina. I flipped the phone open.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby, good morning."

"Morning to you to Trina. What's up?"

"I see that you dropped my car off, but where are the keys?"

"Under the front seat."

"But the car is locked."

"Don't you have a spare key?"

"No I don't. What am I going to do?"

"Well, you could ask Martin if he has a slim-jim or knows how to open a locked car with a coat hanger. If not I guess you will have to call a locksmith or break a window. Take care Trina. Bye."

I smiled as I put the phone away and got back to work on the Chevy.

At lunch time I gave Amy a call and asked her if she had anything going yet. She asked why I was asking and I told her the story.

"I guess it is your lucky day then sweetie because I just happen to be free tonight."

"Pick you up at six?"

"Works for me lover. See you then.

+++++++++++++++++

For the next two years Amy and I kept company off and on. It was off and on because every once in a while Amy would meet a guy who she thought might be "Mr. Wonderful" and her lifetime soul mate. We would part and when "Mr. Wonderful" didn't turn out to be all that wonderful she would give me a call, cry on my shoulder for a day or two and then we would go back to being 'fuck-buddies.'

From time to time I would see Trina around on campus, but we never spoke. If we were walking towards each other and she saw me she would change direction so we wouldn't come face to face. A couple of times I went to a party and she was there. She left as soon as she saw me walk in. It amused me when she did those things because I guess she never figured out that I didn't care.

I never dated any other girls while I was at EMU. Between school and my part time job I didn't have all that much free time and what free time I did have was taken up by Amy.

++++++++++++++++

Things changed during my senior year. About three months into the fall term Amy found another "Mr. Wonderful" and so I was alone as far as female companionship was concerned. I debated asking a few other girls out, but decided instead to concentrate on my classes, send out resumes and start making plans for life after school.

The months slipped by and suddenly graduation was upon me. I had three job offers; two in the area and one in Georgia. I decided to take the one in Southfield and I started packing and getting ready to move out of the apartment. As I was packing I found quite a few of Amy's things that she had left behind and since I hadn't seen her since she went off with the latest "Mr. Wonderful" I wondered what to do with them. I had her cell number and I sent her a text message letting her know that I had some of her stuff. She had my cell number so she could get in touch if she wanted.

I found an apartment in a complex near Telegraph and Twelve Mile Road, moved in and then took a week off before starting my new job. I took my tent and camping gear and went up to the sate park at Ludington and spent the weekend splashing around in Lake Michigan. I hooked up with two girls from Michigan State who were doing the same thing that I was -- winding down from four years of school -- and we partied at night.

They had a bigger tent than I did and they asked me to join them. That brought me up a little short and as I looked at them Alice said:

"We promise we won't hurt you too bad."

I looked at Mary and she grinned and said, "Don't you believe her. If we do it right you won't be able to walk in the morning."

Well, I was able to walk, but only just barely. It was one of the most memorable events of my life and I heartily recommend that every guy try it at least once, but I did learn one thing from the experience -- ain't no way one man can do two women justice! I managed to survive the week I spent with Alice and Mary and when it ended they gave me their addresses and told me to stop by if I ever got up to Traverse City and I gave them an open invitation to come see me.

After a weekend spent resting up in my new apartment I started my new job. I had been there a week when I got a phone call from Amy. She wanted to come over and pick up the things of hers that I had. I gave her directions and she showed up on a Saturday. I had thought that maybe she was going to want to cry on my shoulder again and then go back to playing so I was surprised when she showed up with a guy. She introduced us and as I was helping her carry some boxes out to her car I whispered:

"Mr. Wonderful?"

"Nine months and still holding it together."

"Good for you. Make sure that I get an invite to the wedding."

She kissed me on the cheek and then the two of them left. As I watched her drive off I had mixed emotions. Amy was a great girl and she deserved the best and part of me hoped that she would make it with her "Mr. Wonderful" but another part of me wanted our fuck buddy arrangement back and for that to happen "Mr. Wonderful" needed to be history. Oh well.

+++++++++++++++++

The next six months went by fast as I settled into my new job. I dated a few of the women I worked with and even scored a time or two, but I learned quickly that having sex with co-workers makes things a little awkward in the office. Especially since two of the ones I dated (and scored with) were husband hunting and I wasn't interested in either one of them to that extent.

Things were getting a bit sticky in the office and then the Gods came to my rescue. The Gods, in the form of upper management, promoted me and I moved to a different office. The promotion had some far reaching effects. It involved some travel and some training. I had been in my new position four almost six months when the company sent me to a two day seminar on OSHA and EPA regulations and compliance.

The seminar was being held in one of the large meeting rooms at the airport Ramada Inn. I got there early and got a seat down front. When we took a coffee break at ten I stood up and turned toward the back of the room where they had set up a table with Coffee, tea, fruit and pastries and the first person I saw was Trina. She was standing in line for the coffee urn. I had no idea if she had recognized the back of my head as she sat somewhere behind me, but it didn't matter. The seminar was two days and there was no way to avoid seeing each other before it was over, but I could keep my distance. I made sure to keep the length of the room between us during the break, but I really didn't think she had seen me.

Break over and back in my seat I had the uneasy feeling that eyes were boring into the back of my head and the feeling stayed with me till the lunch break. They had set up a buffet for us in the next room and I filled my plate, found a table and sat down. I hadn't seen Trina when I stood up to go to the buffet table and she wasn't in line so I thought she might have gone to the restaurant for lunch. I found out that that was wishful thinking about two minutes after I sat down. Trina walked up to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. No "May I join you?" she just sat down.

"Hi Rob. How have you been?"

"Not bad Trina" I said as I thought "not bad until now."

"I was surprised to see you here. Some one said that you had moved out of state."

"I was offered a job down in Georgia, but I decided not to take it."

"So who are you with?"

I told her and she told me where she worked and then we talked jobs while we ate. When I finished eating I excused myself to go to the bathroom and then I stayed gone until the afternoon session of the seminar started.

I should have known that it wasn't going to be that easy. When we took our afternoon break I stood up, turned and found Trina standing right behind me.

"I know you are trying to avoid me, but I am glad to see you and I would like to talk with you. It won't kill you to hear me out. Can I buy you a Coke?"

Call me stupid for not running screaming from the room, but once upon a time I had been totally hooked on the woman and truth be told I'd never really gotten over her. She stood there, as drop dead gorgeous as she had been on the day that I'd met her, and waited for me to say something. What the hell, I thought; it won't hurt any to be sociable so I said okay. We got soft drinks and sat down at a table.

"I've missed you Rob. I know it is my own fault, but that doesn't change the fact that I've missed you and thought of you often. I'd like to think that you've occasionally thought of me."

"You would be hard to forget Trina."

"I don't see a ring. Are you in a relationship?"

"No. I'm between relationships at the moment. How about you? Are you and Martin still an item?"

"No and Martin and I were never really an item. It is a longer story that I can tell during this short break. Could we maybe get together for a drink after the session today?"

I didn't have anything else planned so I told her we could and we went back to the seminar. When the afternoon session was over Trina and I went into the lounge, settled in a booth and ordered a drink. Trina took a deep breath and then said:

"Martin was my steady boyfriend in high school. He wanted to get married as soon as we graduated from high school and I didn't. I wanted to go to college and have a career. We got into a rather nasty argument over it and I broke up with him. I told him that I wasn't going to live a life like my mom had living in rented houses and apartments and working minimum wage jobs to help out because my dad didn't make enough to support the family on his own.

"I stopped seeing Martin and taking his phone calls. It had nothing to do with my loving him. I had seen from my mom and dad that love alone just wasn't enough to build a life on. I started school and met you and suddenly my feelings for Martin weren't all that strong any more, but I did still have feelings for him. You wanted to make things permanent with us, but part of me was still thinking of Marty so I just said that I wasn't ready to settle down.

"About three months after I moved in with you Marty came to the school and was waiting for me when I came out of one of my classes. We talked and he begged me to get back together with him. I was torn. On the one hand I had you, but was afraid to commit to you because of the thoughts I still had about Marty. I decided I needed to see if there was really anything there so I agreed to go out with him one night. I spent the night with him and discovered that there wasn't anything there any more. I still liked him but I didn't love him. I was just getting ready to tell you that I was ready to make things permanent between us when you split up with me.

"I had no place to go. I would have slept on the street before I would have gone home to stay in the same house as my stepfather so I took the easy way out and moved in with Marty. When you made no attempt to ever see me or talk with me and then started running with that Amy chick I accepted that you never cared all that much about me anyway and I got on with my life. But I never forgot you and I thought of you all the time.

"Then I saw you going into that restaurant and on a whim I followed you in. For a while there it looked like we were going to get something going and I started thinking of ways to break it to Marty that I was going to be moving on, but before I could do it you found out that I was living with Marty and not with a couple of girls and you were gone. I cried for a couple of days and then sucked it up and got on with my life and I knew that Marty had no place in that life so I moved out. So no, Marty and I are not an item. He calls from time to time and we talk, but I made it clear to him that all we were ever going to be was friends.

"Since then I got a place of my own and a pretty decent job. So what's new with you?"

"Took the job with XYZ and moved to Southfield to live close to work. Not much else to say. You staying here?"

"No. My apartment is only about five minutes away from here. It's over by Wayne Road and Ecorse. How about you?"

"I'm not that close, but I'm still too close to justify the cost of a motel room."

"You have any plans for dinner?"

"No plans. I thought I'd just go home and fix myself something."

"Why don't you have dinner with me? It is just as easy to cook for two as it is to cook for one."

What the hell I thought, why not. I was always up for someone else to do the cooking. I told her I would like that and she gave me directions to her apartment. As I drove over to her place I thought about what she had told me and I could see it. She had only been eighteen going on nineteen at the time and I could see her being conflicted and unsure. I had the impression that she would like to get something going again, but the question was "Do I want to take the chance?"

When she answered my knock I saw that she had changed out of her business suit into a tank top and a pair of shorts. It was easy to see that she wasn't wearing a bra with that tank top and I wondered if she had panties on under the shorts.

"Take off your tie and make yourself comfortable. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. Would you like a beer or a glass of wine?"

"A beer would be nice."

I sat on the couch, sipped the beer and watched her work in the kitchen. I also (without letting her notice) checked out the place for signs of a man. I even checked out the medicine cabinet when I got up to use the bathroom and I couldn't see any signs of a male presence. What can I say? Even though she had given me what I could accept as a reasonable explanation I'd already been burned twice so I was tending to be a bit cautious.

We made general conversation during dinner and I helped with the dishes when we finished eating. When we were done in the kitchen I looked at my watch and said I needed to head on home.

"Why" Trina asked. "You will just have to turn around and come back in the morning. If you stayed here you could cut out that long drive." As she said it she pulled her tank top off and let it drop to the floor. "I'm sure that I can make you comfortable here."

I woke up with a hand fondling my cock and it wasn't mine. As I rose to the occasion Trina said:

"Now isn't this better than the way you would have woken up if you had gone home last night?"

We were fifteen minutes late getting to the seminar that morning.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

That was the start of it and over the next six months Trina and I dated and I spent quite a few nights at her apartment and she spent just as many at mine. I was hooked on her -- hell, I always had been hooked on her -- but our past had me just a touch leery and so I hadn't mentioned making things permanent and since she hadn't brought it up either I was content to leave things as they were for the time being.

It was a Friday night and Trina and I had a date scheduled for that night. We were going to see the Red Wings play the Colorado Avalanche and after the game we were going to hit a few clubs. She called me at work and told me she had to cancel. She had a sick aunt that she had to go see. The aunt lived in Alpena and she was going to drive up there right after work.

Remembering the last time she cancelled on me and still being that "touch leery" I left work early and drove over to her apartment and parked where I could see her apartment and where she wouldn't likely notice me. Half an hour after I got there she came home and hurried into her apartment and about forty-five minutes later she came out with a suitcase, got in her car and pulled out of the lot. I followed, staying well behind her, as she drove to I-94 and headed west. She exited onto US 23 and headed north. I stayed behind her and as we came up on the exits that would take me to Southfield and I gave up following her and headed for home.

About eleven that night my phone rang and it was Trina calling from the hospital in Alpena and she filled me in on what was going on. Her Aunt Betty was a school teacher in Alpena and during one of her classes she had passed out and when she fell she had hit her head pretty hard on the edge of her desk. She was rushed to the hospital and Trina's mother, who was listed as next of kin, was called. Trina's mother couldn't get away just then and so she called Trina. Her aunt still had not regained consciousness so Trina had no idea how long she was going to be there.

I started to feel bad about not trusting her. I told her to hang in there and keep me informed. She called at two the next afternoon. Her aunt was awake and they were running tests. She told me that she would probably have to stay in Alpena for a while and take care of her aunt. At noon on Sunday she called and told me that the doctors had found that several things had combined to cause her Aunt Betty's problem. A small blood clot and the onset of diabetes had caused the fainting spell and she had hit the desk pretty hard with her head as she fell. Trina was going to have to stay with her aunt for at least a couple of weeks. I told her that I missed her and she told me that she wished she were with me.

It was Monday's phone call that shook me. She told me that she had called work and arranged to take time off under the Family Medical Leave Act and that she would be in Alpena for at least three weeks. Then she said:

"I have some other news, but I don't know if you will think that it is good news or bad."