Mandy Ch. 03

"Well..."

"We can end the physical stuff now if it helps. But, at the very least, can you see now why I don't want to go all the way?"

"Yeah," Joe admitted. "It's not hard to see."

"It's not you. I am not rejecting you. There is no hidden plan or agenda here. I love you, Joe, and I love your wife. Not as I loved Alex, not even close, but you are both very important to me. For right now, if you'll have me, I want to be part of your life."

"I feel like such a fool."

"I learned the hard way to appreciate the things in my life while they're still there to appreciate."

"Yeah..."

"Tomorrow is promised to nobody," Mandy said eloquently.

"Hey, that was inside a fortune cookie you ate last week," Melissa chided her friend.

"Yeah, but it's so timely," Mandy said.

"You forgive me, Mandy?" Joe asked.

"Of course."

"I guess it's my job to ask where we go from here," Melissa stated. "Joe, do you want us to keep seeing Mandy or is it time to stop?"

"If Mandy is okay with it, I think we can keep going..."

"Are you sure? You were pretty upset."

"We need to just enjoy this while we have it. We'll know when to let go."

Melissa danced in front of Joe, then pulled his head down and kissed him directly on the lips. "Then, you quit hiding. When you feel something, share it right away. If you are jealous or angry or needy, get it out in the open so we can see it. We can't fix a problem that we don't know about."

"I promise."

Mandy leaned up and kissed Joe on the cheek. The three of them walked away, arm-in-arm.

"I can't believe this," Mandy whispered loudly to Melissa, fully intending Joe to overhear. "How could Joe ever be upset to have two cute girls with him?"

"Yeah, every man on earth would kill for this," Melissa replied.

"I admit, I can't figure out why I thought this was a bad idea," Joe wondered aloud.

"Men." The girls said as one.