Dilemma

"I understand Sweetheart. It'll get better," he slurred.

The woman pulled out what looked like a stocking and tied it around his head from behind, then whispered in his ear again, "If you take off this blindfold, we're done. I'll be yours for the night unless you take it off." She walked around to the front of the couch and got onto her knees and started unbuckling Billy's belt. She looked over the couch at Alli and Lenny, smiled, and gave them a nod.

Alli took one of the room keys and went outside the door with Lenny and quietly closed the door. "OK, Alli, she has the number for the burner phone I gave you last night. Keep it with you and go to the room at the end. Give me the keys to Billy's rental. I'll be back."

"Lenny, you know I didn't want to do any of this with him, right?"

"I know. Fuck him. He brought this on himself. Go to the other room, Alli"

Alli turned and walked to the room at the end and entered. Lenny got into the rental and drove away, back to Philly.

Sunday, February 8th, 3am********^********

The burner phone that Lenny had just given her the day before began vibrating on the table next to the couch. Allie was immediately wide awake and read the text. 'Out like a light. Come down and tap on the door.' She got up and walked down to the room that she had started in. She lightly tapped on the door and it opened with the young lady standing there smiling.

"He won't be waking up anytime soon. At least a few more hours. You're friends on his way back and should be here any minute. Let me have the key to the other room so I can go get some sleep. Tell Julio thanks for the business."

"Who's Julio?"

"Never mind, thought you knew."

Just then, Lenny pulled up in Billy's rental and walked up to them. "All done, Alli. You're not gonna have to worry about him after this weekend."

"Thank you, anything I can ever do for you, you just have to say the word."

"OK, you two catch up," said the unnamed female, "I'm gonna go catch some sleep."

"You need a ride anywhere?"

"No thanks, Big Guy, someone is coming to get me later." With that, she turned and walked down to the other room."

"Where are you going now, Lenny? I have your car outside Philly."

"Someone's coming to get me. Tomorrow, stay with Billy till about noon or so, then have him drop you off at the other rental and go back to our room in Jersey. I'll meet you there."

Thank you, Lenny, thank you so much. I swear, anything I can do for you, consider it done."

Just then a black Chevy Camaro pulled up with a young Latino woman driving. "You're welcome, Allie."

The girl driving the Chevy got out and walked up to the two and slipped her arm through Lenny's and looked at Alli with a smile on her face. "You Alli? Lenny won't stop talkin' 'bout you and your husband."

"Alli, this is Gianna. We've kind of been hanging out lately."

"I can see that. Good for you."

"Yo, Alli, try to keep the stiff from watching the news in the morning. After that, ain't gonna matter."

"OK, Gianna. Lenny, can I talk to Gianna for a minute?"

"Sure, I'll go wait in the car."

After Lenny got into the driver's side of the Chevy, Alli turned back to Gianna. "Gianna, please be good to him. If whatever you guys have doesn't work, please don't hurt him. He's a special man and at this point, I feel like he gave me my life back."

"Alli, you're right, he is a special man." Alli noticed that the street-like slang had disappeared. "I don't know where this is going, but I want to go with it a little and see what happens. I think he's the sweetest man I've ever met. Alli, he's talking about moving back here. He can't do that. He doesn't belong here."

"Gianna, tell Lenny to give you my number, and call me in a few days. After Wednesday. We'll talk. By the way, what's with the slang?"

"That's how we met, I'm gonna make it go away over time. I don't wanna freak home out. How'd someone like you get hooked up with someone like Lenny?"

"Long story, We'll talk about it sometime."

"OK, sounds good. I gotta go. It was nice to meet you, Alli."

"It was nice to meet you too, G. Can't wait to hear your story."

A smiling Gianna turned and walked back to the black Chevy. Lenny got out of the driver's side and walked around to the passenger side and held the door open for her. Gianna got into the car with a big smile on her face. After she was in, and the door was closed, he went back around to the driver side and they drove away.

Alli went into the motel room and could hear Billy snoring in one of the bedrooms. She went into the other bedroom and locked the door behind her. She didn't want him to wake up and expect a repeat of what he thought happened earlier.

At 9am she woke up and went into the kitchenette and made a pot of coffee. By the time it was done, she could hear Billy in the bathroom. He walked into the kitchenette and smiled at Alli. "Hey beautiful, how you feeling?"

"Not well, Billy. I can't keep this up."

"Don't worry, Gorgeous, it'll get better, you'll see."

"How about some coffee? I'm gonna leave this unopened bottle of wine for the maid."

"Wanna keep it for tonight?"

"There's not gonna be a 'tonight'. We can get some breakfast, maybe hang out for a while, then we're done."

"I'm gonna hang on to the bottle anyway, just in case."

"Suit yourself."

They drank their coffee in relative silence for about five minutes, then Billy reached for the remote to turn the table on. "Billy, let's go get something to eat, I'm hungry."

"Whatever you want, baby."

They drove back up 322 towards Philly and stopped at the same diner they had stopped at the previous evening, and had a quiet breakfast.

"Billy, I want you to take me back to my car. I'm feeling really guilty about this, and I need some alone time to work through this."

"OK, sweetheart, no problem."

By 1pm she was back in her car and driving in the opposite direction of Billy. He was headed north to Philadelphia, she was headed south to go over the Commodore Barry Bridge and back into Jersey. As she passed by the stadium where the Philadelphia Union played their matches, she thought about the times she and the three guys would go and watch. 'Billy is such an asshole!', She thought to herself.

Wednesday, February 10th ********^********

Allie was getting into Andrea's car at the airport after a long flight from Philadelphia. "Andrea, thanks so much. I really appreciate all your help."

"Sooooo, how was the weekend? Everything you thought it would be?"

"You have no idea. How was the weekend at my place?"

"Other than the hot tub and stuff, pretty boring. No one stopped by. Stan texted a few times and I texted back, but other than that, no problems. I had some food delivered Saturday, used your card like you said to do."

"Andrea, I don't really know everything that happened, but you helped me more than you know. Lenny said that I'll have Billy out of my hair soon, but I'm not sure of the particulars. What I do know is that I didn't have to sleep with him."

"Why did he want to break up you and Stan?"

"I don't know if that was his end-goal, but that's what would have happened if Stan found out Billy and I were having an affair. That, and Stan probably having a nervous breakdown."

"I think Stan's stronger than you give him credit for."

"Maybe, but I don't wanna chance it. Billy's not worth it. I've got all your ID's and debit and credit cards." Allie handed a small envelope to Andrea. I put some cash in there to cover all the costs. Thanks again, Andie."

"No prob, OK, spill it."

"How about we hold off for a while. Plausible deniability and all."

"You know you're dying to tell me what happened," she said smiling.

"OK," Allie laughed, "actually, nothing much happened with me. I hung out with Billy, we went sightseeing, we had dinner in a diner, we got a motel room, a hooker showed up to sleep with Billy so I wouldn't have to, we got up in the morning..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up!! You got a hooker for Billy?!"

Alli started laughing. "No, someone else did. After dinner, we got a motel room and had some wine. Lenny gave me something to put into the wine to kind of make him really stoned. Lenny showed up with a hooker and I went into a different hotel room for the night. Billy thinks we slept together, but we didn't."

"How does that get him out of your hair?"

"I'm thinking Lenny's friends are setting him up to take a fall for something, but I really don't know what yet. Lenny's due back tomorrow, and Billy and Stan on the twelfth. Wanna stay at my place tonight? We can kill a bottle of wine and you won't have to drive all the way home."

"Ummm...I live, like, two miles away."

"I know, tell your hubby you're gonna spend the night at my place, I could really use the company tonight."

"OK, OK. I'll call John from your house. He'll be OK with it."

Thursday, February 11th ********^********

"Hello?"

"This is detective Jones from the Philadelphia Police Department. Who and I speaking with?"

Billy had been arrested enough to know to be careful when talking to the police. "This is Bill Sims. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Sims, were you mugged the other night? I got a video of you chasing a mugger."

"As a matter of fact I was. Did you catch the guy?"

"I believe we have him. Could I meet you at our police department to talk about this?"

"Ummm...how about we meet here at my hotel?"

"OK, no problem."

Twenty minutes later, Detective Jones walked into the lobby of the Marriott with two uniformed officers. "Hello, Mr. Sims. Do you have a rental car here?"

"Yep, out in the lot. White Ford Focus."

"OK, I'm gonna need to take a look at that."

"You caught my mugger, and you need to look in my car?"

"Mr. Sims, where were you Saturday night?"

"None of your business."

The detective looked at Billy in silence for about ten seconds. "Mr. Sims, I'm placing you under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, if you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, If you can't afford an attorney, one will be provided if you desire, either before or during any questioning. You can choose to exercise these rights at any time before or during questioning. Do you understand your rights as I have explained them?"

This wasn't the first time Billy had heard this. "Yes. I'll wait for an attorney."

Billy was handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car driven by an older Officer for transport for processing. He wasn't worried, really. He knew where he had been, and he could prove it. All he had to do was get ahold of Alli.

The Officer pulled onto 95 north and turned on the radio. Apparently he was a fan of classic country music. The two men were silent as the car moved in the slow lane with another police car following. Billy could hear the words to the song as it played. It was an old song sung by Johnny Cash. His voice was haunting.

"Ten years ago, on a cold dark night.

Someone was killed, beneath the town hall light.

There were few at the scene, but they all agreed

That the killer who ran, looked a lot like me."

Billy couldn't help but see the irony. It was as if time stood still while the song played.

"The judge said "son, what is your al-i -bi?

If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die"

I spoke not a word, though it meant my life

I'd been in the arms, of my best friend's wife."

Billy closed his eyes and started crying in the back seat of the patrol car. Not really for himself, but for what he had done to Alli. He knew what he had to do. He had made a promise.

"Hello?"

"Allie? Don't say anything, I've been arrested."

"Billy? What did you do?"

"Nothing, but they arrested me for murder, Allie."

"What?!"

"Allie, I didn't do it, but I can't prove it. Actually, I could, but I can't."

"You're not making sense, Billy."

"I know. I'm being held at the roundhouse, if you can come here I can explain, but not over the phone."

"I'm in California. I won't be able to come out there before next week."

"Won't matter, I'm not getting out."

"I'll arrange for an attorney, Billy. Don't say anything."

"Thank you, Alli." Billy was getting emotional and was practically whispering into the phone. "Alli, I'm sorry for everything, I really am, I'm so very sorry. I mean for... everything. I hope someday you can forgive me. Could you drive by my house and see if Alice is there? She isn't answering her phone."

"OK, Billy."

"I've gotta go, Alli, I'll talk to you later."

"OK." Alli didn't know what else to say. As much as she expected something like this to happen, she was still stunned. She now knew exactly what had happened. Billy had been set up by Lenny for the murder of one of the men that were going to rape G. He had been murdered while Billy was in the motel room with the hooker, or as he thought, Alli. Billy knows, or at least thinks, that he was with Alli all night. He could try to use her as an alibi, but he had promised her to never reveal their "affair". Of course, Alli could deny it and say she never left California. She was sure there would be witnesses who saw a man matching Billy's description, wearing a dark green jacket, running from the scene of a murder of a young Latino man wearing a red and white jacket. She was sure the murder victim had been wearing a watch inscribed with Billy's name and a touching statement from Alli and Stan.

She had a feeling that Billy was going to take the fall without trying to out her. She punched in the number for Stan's phone and told him about Billy being arrested. Stan told her he would have one of his corporate attorneys get a defense attorney to handle the case for Billy, that he loved her, and would see her on the 12th.

Alli drove over to Billy's house and was surprised to see a moving van parked in the driveway. There were several men moving furniture into the large truck.

"Excuse me, is the owner of the house here.?" She felt strange saying that since she knew the house belonged to a subsidiary of Stan's company.

"No ma'am. She was here not long ago and left these detailed instructions on what should be removed."

"OK, thanks." She pulled out her phone and dialed Alice's number.

"Hello, Alli."

"Hey, Alice. Umm...moving out?"

"Yep, had enough. He's crazy, Alli. He keeps accusing me of cheating on him, I swear I never have and lately he's been really scary. Watch out for him, Alli, he's obsessed with you."

"OK, Alice, take care of yourself." Alli figured Alice would hear soon enough about the murder charge and didn't feel like going through it all right then.

Saturday, February 14th ********^********

"Good morning, I love you, Stan."

"I love you too, Alli."

"OK, studmuffin, what's on our agenda?"

"Well, normal day, We're going to have an early dinner, then go somewhere special for your surprise."

"Sounds great, I can't wait to see what the surprise is."

"Should I tell you now? I mean, if you can't..."

"Stop it, I can wait," laughed Alli. "Any news on Billy?"

"It doesn't look good. Witnesses saw him running from the crime scene, and they found latex gloves in his rental car with his fingerprints and gunpowder residue on them. They even got a video of him from a few days before threatening to kill the guy. He had it on his own phone. He says he was in New Jersey with a woman, but they have surveillance video of his car driving over the Ben Franklin bridge and running the toll booths the same night an hour or so before it happened"

"Are they sure it was the same guy who mugged him?"

"Yes, he was wearing the watch we gave him that was stolen in the mugging."

"What about the woman he said he was with? Were they able to find her?"

"He won't say who she was. Knowing Billy, if he's telling the truth, it was probably a married woman. It's weird, he's going to go to prison for murder rather than give up the name of a woman who could exonerate him. If he is telling the truth, it would be the most honorable thing he's ever done."

"You OK?"

"Yes. I feel bad for him, but I always thought something bad would happen to him. I didn't think it would be like this, but he just could never control himself when it came to women. I'm very surprised that he's willing to protect her identity, he must really care for this woman."

"Would you mind if I went to his trial?"

"Of course not, he's our friend. He'll need our support."

"You're a good man, Stan. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Let's go take a shower."

Later in the day, Stan and Alli were walking through a park After a nice early dinner. They were leaving a wooded area that opened up to a grassy field when they heard a quiet yip of a small dog.

"Stan, look! There's a little puppy sitting in the grass by himself."

"That's weird, there's no people around."

Alli and Stan walked over to the little Corgi puppy and knelt down next to him. "Is he wearing a collar?"

"No, he has a gold chain...like, a really nice gold chain, with a name tag...no, its a locket or something. It looks like something a person would wear."

"What does it say?"

"It says... 'I'll say it first...I Love You'

"Happy anniversary Alli, and Happy Valentine's Day. I love you."

Alli stood and jumped into Stan, wrapping her legs around him with a bone-crushing hug. "A puppy? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I've been going to the shelter for the past few weeks when you weren't there and Andrea was helping me familiarize myself with this puppy. Right now he only answers to 'puppy', you'll have to name him soon."

"Andrea, huh? She helped you with this?"

"Yes, she also gave me the name of a local company that will come out every day and clean up the yard and walk him on the days when you can't...and they'll clean up the yard every day."

Alli started laughing. "I get it, I get it. I'll make sure the yard is clean."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Epilogue

Billy never named Alli. He continued to maintain his innocence and insisted that he was with a woman at the time of the murder, but refused to name the woman. His trial is pending.

Lenny has a budding relationship with Gianna and is considering moving back to Philly to be with her. Alli is trying to get Gianna to move to California, but she has complications in Philadelphia that would need to be taken care of first. Maybe that's another story.

Alli named the dog 'Je t'aime', and calls him 'Jet' for short.

END

I have no idea of the levels of Autism or Aspergers that may create a personality like Stan. I did not research it so no one would feel the need to correct the mistakes I would have ultimately made. I purposely kept it vague.

Je t'aime is French, guess what it means.

There is no Shileen's pub on Drury Street. There is another pub there which has excellent food.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings.