Man-up, Pussy!

I have one friend, Jack, who married the love of his life straight out of high school. Only three years later he found out she was cheating on him. He went searching for the asshole she was fucking and caught up with him in bar on the other side of town. He went after the guy but unfortunately for Jack, the guy not only whipped his ass but a couple of the guy's buddies jumped in as well. Jack spent three weeks in the hospital. On top of it his wife got more than her share in the divorce. These days, if you mention his ex-wife's name you'd better duck. He hates her with a passion and still says he's going to get even some day.

No, there's just too many, 'what-if's,' to risk getting married. I would consider asking her to move in with me, though. With that thought in mind I finished my beer and went to bed.

Thursday, since I hadn't heard from Mel, I thought I'd give her a call and see if she made any plans for the weekend.

"Chase, I was just about to call you," she squealed into the phone sounding more like a little girl than her adult self. "Guess what?"

"I don't know but it must be pretty good," I joked.

"Oh it's more than just pretty good, it's fantastic! Jason not only has agreed to represent Eugene but he's already sold two of his houses. Isn't that great!"

Now I'll admit, it was good news...especially after they drove all the up there to see the guy, but I was having a hard time matching Mel's enthusiasm. "That's great, honey. You both should be very proud of yourselves. You both did a great job," I told her, trying to sound a little more excited than I really was.

"I was wondering if you had anything special you wanted to do this weekend. Maybe we can celebrate your success some way."

"It's already planned," she said. "We're all going to meet at Plato's at seven, from there Eugene is taking us all to dinner and then we're going dancing...oh, Chase, wear something nice. It doesn't have to be a suit but wear maybe a sport coat, okay?"

"A sport coat?" I questioned.

"Yeah, he said he was taking us someplace nice for dinner."

"Okay, I'll bring a sport coat." Once again I was feeling a little put-out. I was really looking forward to a quiet weekend of sex, sex, and more sex with Mel. I sighed quietly to myself. I guess I can put up with Eugene for a few hours.

Friday night I walked into Plato's right on time. "It's waiting for you," Tony said, with a nod of his head. I looked over to the booths and saw Eugene signaling to me. He was sitting with Bev. Mel had her back to me. That was something else that irked me a little. I've always had this idiosyncrasy about sitting with my back to the door. Oh well, I said to myself; I guess I can put up with it for a little while. As I walked to the booth I thought...I seem to be telling myself that a lot, lately.

"Hi, gorgeous," I said to Mel as I slid in next to her. I put my arm around her and gave her a kiss.

"Mmmmm," she moaned with a smile as our lips parted. Under the table, I felt her hand stealthily move to my crotch and her smile widened. "I missed you," she said.

"Prove it," I responded.

"Later," she promised.

Eugen was dying to tell me..."Chase, did Melony tell you the good news?"

"Yes, she did. Congratulations."

"Thanks, I owe it all to you and Melony."

It sounded strange to hear someone call Mel by her full first name. Hardly anyone ever did that. I looked at her. "Melony?"

"Yeah," she replied. "On the way up to New York he asked me what Mel stood for."

"I think Melony is a pretty name so I asked if she minded if I called her that," Eugene chimed in.

"I said no provided he didn't mind if I called him Gene," said Mel.

I found it amusing. "Okay, so we're using your full name but cutting his," I said with a chuckle.

As I looked up I saw Eugene glancing up in the direction of the bar. It was the second or third time I saw him do that. "Something wrong," I asked.

"No," he answered, not too convincingly.

Bev noticed it too. "Do you know them?" she asked.

I turned my head to see who she was talking about. There was a guy and a girl sitting at the bar. The guy looked vaguely familiar but he was blocking my view of the girl. "Didn't he go to school with us?"

"Yeah," answered Gene. "He was a year ahead of us. He walked in with Lisa just as you sat down."

"Lisa?"

"Yeah; you probably can't see her but she's sitting on the other side of him."

I could see the guy glancing over at us and snickering. I saw it was in fact Lisa when she leaned forward and looked our way while laughing. They were making it very plain that Gene was the source of their amusement.

"You want me to have Tony kick them out?" I asked.

"No; I couldn't care less who she sleeps with these days. I did think she had better taste than him, though."

Tony was pretty busy so he wasn't paying much attention when the two of them got up and headed our way.

I started to stand up but Eugene said he would handle it. I sat poised as they reached our booth, just in case. They both stood next to Eugene and loomed over him.

Eugene looked up at them with a greeting, "Hello, Pete...Lisa."

"Well if it isn't Euuugeene," Pete said, stretching out the name probably the same way he did in school. Some people just never grow up.

Lisa looked over at Bev. "Who's she, some hooker you picked up?"

Before anyone could even say anything, Bev came back with a quick retort. "No, Lisa, I already took your husband from you. I wouldn't want to take your customers too."

To say the look on Lisa's face was comical is an understatement, but the comment gave Pete the opening he was looking for to challenge Gene. "Eugene, your slut owes my girlfriend an apology." He leaned down and grabbed Gene's shirt, "Either she says she's..."

Like a flash, Gene grabbed his hand and twisted it backwards, bringing Pete to his knees. Before he even realized what was happening, Gene was standing over him, adding just enough pressure to make Pete scream something about breaking his arm.

Lisa was more surprised than I was. She screamed at Gene and was about to attack him when Tony suddenly appeared and grabbed her.

"What the hell is going on?" yelled Tony.

I filled him in. "This asshole came in with Gene's ex trying to make trouble. I looks like Gene has it handled though, Tony."

Gene released his grip on Pete's arm so Tony could usher them out.

"Come one, you two. I'll say this politely only once, I want you out of here and I don't want to see either of you in here again," Tony told them in his official 'bad-ass' voice.

I watched as Tony escorted them away. As they got as far as the bar, Lisa looked back at us. She had tears in her eyes. At that moment I realized that somehow, in her own twisted way, she actually did care for Gene. I almost felt sorry for her...almost.

After throwing them out, Tony came back and gave us a round on the house.

I can't tell you how impressed I was. I knew Eugene had been taking self-defense lessons but...

He thanked Tony for the free beers then expressed his regrets to everyone. We sat and talked through our free round but it was getting time to go. Eugene—Gene wouldn't say where we were going to eat, just to follow him. A few minutes later we pulled up in front of Chez' Paul, probably the finest and most expensive restaurant within a fifty mile radius.

"Now aren't you glad I told you to bring a sport coat," Mel said as I she looked over to me while the parking attendant opened her door for her.

I got out my side, grabbed my sport coat off the hanger in back, slipped it on, and escorted my girl into the restaurant right behind our host and his girl. Gene was grinning from ear to ear as he gave his name to the maitre' d. We were shown to our table and Gene was given the wine list. He passed it to me saying he wasn't that familiar with wine and asked if I would pick out a good one. I was a little uncomfortable because of the prices. I figured I'd be pulling my own credit card out before the end of the night.

By the time we were finished we all agreed that Chez' Paul had earned its reputation. The check came encased in a little black leather folder which our waiter inconspicuously laid beside our host. I got a little nervous for Eugene. With the bottle of wine and dessert, I had roughly calculated the bill to be in the vicinity of three hundred and fifty dollars. I was contemplating taking him aside and offering to help pay, but before I could figure out how to get him alone, he withdrew four, crisp one-hundred dollar bills from his wallet and stuffed them into the case, then handed it back to the waiter telling him no change was necessary. Okay...again, I was impressed.

From there we went to Spigot's, a higher end dance club. People who went there usually knew how to dance. I could hold my own but again I was nervous for Gene. Shortly after being shown to a table and ordering drinks, I asked Mel to dance. As we started to walk out to the floor I heard Gene asking Bev to dance as well.

As we tripped the light fantastic, I noticed Mel watching them with a small smile. I looked over and watched as Gene glided around the floor with Bev in his arms. It was my third surprise for the night. Mel saw the look on my face.

"I've been giving him a few dance lessons," she told me.

"It looks like he was a good student," I commented back.

As the night wore on we spent a little less time dancing and more time at the table, talking. Gene started telling us of his plans for quitting his job and renting space where he could build the doll houses full time. I was happy for him but it sounded like he was going off half-cocked and could get himself in financial trouble real quick. I thought I should try to bring him back down to earth a little.

"Gene, I'm happy for you but maybe you should reconsider quitting your job, at least for a little while. What if this guy doesn't sell anymore?"

I was surprised that Mel seemed to be supporting his plans. She was usually a pretty level headed girl. "Chase, Jason already has orders coming in," she informed me.

"Alright...still, I mean you said you can only make about three per week—right? And from what Mel says, this guy is taking a pretty good cut of the pie..."

Gene got a serious look on his face and looked at Mel.

"I didn't tell him everything," she said. "He has no idea."

Gene looked back at me. "Chase, Jason is not your usual wholesaler. He's a broker who sells things to some of the richest people in the world. Those two doll houses he sold went to some Middle Eastern sheik who owns a ton of oil wells. The guy bought them for his two daughters. He paid twenty thousand dollars apiece for them."

I was just taking a swig from my longneck. When I heard 'twenty thousand dollars apiece' I gasped, opening my pallet and forcing my beer out through my nose in a humiliating spay of snot and hops. Mel starting patting me on the back as I grabbed for a napkin.

"Are you alright?" she asked with a slight chuckle in her voice.

I was still coughing and unable to answer her except to nod my head. It was so embarrassing. I knew everyone was looking at me so I excused myself and headed for the washroom. 'Twenty thousand apiece,' I kept saying to myself as I blew my nose and got cleaned up.

It looked like the waitress had come over and cleaned up the table while I was in the men's room. I apologized as I sat back down.

"I'm sorry, Chase. I should have broken it to you a little more subtly. I knew you had no idea how much I was getting paid," he said.

"No, no, that's okay," I assured him. "I guess congratulations really ARE in order."

"He's already got orders for four more but I have to make a custom shipping container for each one. Something that will protect them well enough to be shipped overseas. I'm working on them right now. Jason gets the orders and I drop ship right to the customer. I get paid by wire transfer before I even ship. It was all negotiated by Melony. She's really something," he said, looking at her with gratitude.

I knew my girl was good at her job but I never realized how good.

We talked a little longer but since we hadn't had sex in over a week, I knew Mel had to be as horny as I was, so we all broke up and headed home. I figured Gene and Bev would be doing the same as Mel and me before the night was over. Good for him, I thought.

On a scale of one to ten, sex with Mel was always a nine-and-a-half but on that night it was off the scales. Whether it was the exhilaration from a job well done or simply being horny from the absence of sex, I didn't care. She was ravenous. We did it in every position known to man and made up a few of our own. I hadn't come four times in one night since I was a young man but you can't be with someone like Mel and not get caught up in her enthusiasm. It was dawn before we ran out of gas.

Mel loves post-coital cuddling and I can't say I mind it either—especially with her. As we lay, wrapped in each other's arms, Eugene's revelation wandered back into my head. "Twenty-thousand," I muttered, just a hair over a whisper. I heard Mel chuckle and felt her nod her head as it rested on my chest.

"Yup, twenty-thousand; Jason gets fifty percent of that though."

"Wow, really; fifty percent just for being the middle man?"

"He's more than just a middle man, Chase. He and a handful of others are legendary in my business. They're the James Bond of marketing; rogues who are self-employed and deal with an extremely select clientele. I met him a couple years ago at a convention, downtown. We hit it off and I spent the night with him."

Suddenly my whole body tensed up. Mel felt it and looked up at me. I'm sure the concern was written all over my face because she took one look and knew exactly what I was thinking.

"No, I didn't screw him in New York," she said. "I stayed with him for two nights at the convention but that was over two years ago—before I met you and I haven't seen him since until last week...and that was all business."

Knowing she just relieved my anxiety she continued. "Anyway; normally Jason works for the buyer. Some maharaja somewhere decides he wants a new yacht or private jet so he calls Jason, gives him all the specifications and tells him what all he wants on it and Jason goes to work finding an exact match. He's made as much as a million bucks on a single sale."

"Damn; if he makes that much on the big stuff, how come he's fooling with the doll houses at ten-grand a pop?"

"Because the big stuff doesn't come along every day. The people he deals with always has to have the best, no matter what it is, it has to be the best money can buy; and they're willing to pay top dollar for it—whatever it is. When word gets out about the doll houses he'll just sit back and take orders. He'll sell hundreds, maybe thousands before his clients move on to something else."

"Jesus; Gene will be set for life. What about you? Don't you get anything out of all this?"

"Well, I wasn't going to take anything. I was doing it as a favor to you, but Gene is insisting you and I both take a small percentage of the company. He wants to give me ten shares of stock. He's going to give you some, too. Don't tell him I told you, though. He wants to tell you himself."

"Shares? He's got a company with shares already?"

"Yeah, well we had to figure out some way to make sure his ex couldn't claim anything before the divorce was settled. We told Jason and he showed us how to do it. We formed a corporation and registered it in Delaware. That's one of the states that has the most relaxed corporate regulations in the country. Then the corporation issued two-hundred shares of stock. Right now they're all in my name but after Gene's divorce is final, I'll transfer the shares to him; all but the ten he wants me to keep."

"Wow, you guys really were busy, weren't you."

"Yeah, that's why I didn't get a chance to call you. We never had a minute to ourselves the whole time we were there."

"Well, it's nice of Gene to offer me some shares but I'm not going to take his money. Tell him to tack my shares on to yours. You're the one who worked for it, not me."

"You'll have to work it out with Gene, honey. He was pretty adamant about you getting something for all your help."

As it was, Gene corralled me in Plato's a few nights later. He made his offer and gave me a lot of flak when I refused. After some negotiating we settled on a payment plan—he bought the beer from then on. He wasn't too happy but it was something I could live with.

Gene called Tony over and told him all my beers were on him from now on, then ordered another for both of us. After taking his first swig, he started the second topic of conversation. "Would you believe Lisa came to the motel to apologize for the other night."

"To tell you the truth, it doesn't surprise me that much. She already looked like she was sorry for what happened when Tony booted them out that night. What'd she say?"

"Well, I guess she had a long talk with her dad. Somehow he must have heard about what happened. She said he was furious with her. From what she said, he must have laid down the law to her pretty good. He told her he was disappointed in her. That had to hurt. He's everything to her. I think he made her finally realize how she treats people—how she treated me." He took a small sigh. "Chase she cried...real tears. I'd never seen her cry before. She literally begged me to give her another chance."

"You going to do it?" I asked him.

"No, it's too late. There's too much water under the bridge. I don't believe anyone can change that quickly and that completely. I'd always be waiting for the old Lisa to reappear. Every time she went out some where I'd wonder if it was to meet a guy." He took another drink then continued. "No, but who knows, maybe she'll treat her next husband with some respect."

Over the next few months, things rolled right along. Lisa was history. The divorce was final and she had no claim on Gene's new business. For him, the money was rolling in, and consequently, Mel was making a bundle as well. Me? I had a good job, drove a new car, and had a nice apartment. That's all I required. I was proud of the things I had because I'd worked hard for them. Anything more I wanted or needed, I would work to get it, myself. The free beer was nice though.

Then came the call from Mel. She sounded concerned about something and said we needed to talk but wouldn't tell me what it was about. I agreed to meet her after work at Plato's.

I got there a couple minutes before she did and had two beers sitting in front of me when she walked in. I slid over to let her sit beside me but she took a seat on the other side of the booth.

"Hi," she said with a nervous smile as she reached over to take her Miller's Lite.

"Hi, honey," I responded, wondering if I should smile or not. I was starting to get anxious myself. Something was definitely up. Mel was having a hard time looking me in the eye. She began nervously playing with a napkin as she started talking.

"Chase, there's no easy way..."

I was concentrating so much on trying to figure out what was going on, I didn't even see Gene walk in until he was standing right next to us. Both Mel and I looked up at him at the same time.

Mel spoke right up. "What are you doing here? I told you I would handle this," she said with a little aggravation in her voice.

"Did you really think I'd let you face him alone?" he countered.

Mel moved over and Gene sat down next to her. It struck me that there was something definitely wrong with this picture. Mel should be sitting next to me, not him. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was coming next.

There was no way to keep the anger out of my voice. "You two are fucking around behind my back?" I snarled.