Naked: How to Dress the Truth Ch. 04

She quickly walked a block, then stopped, caught her breath. She didn't know where she was going. She had already planned a day on her own, just in case she needed to recover. Well, she chastised herself with an impatient shake of her head, now you need to recover. She continued to walk. She stopped, lost the brief struggle.

She took out her phone and called Greg. "Hi .. yes .. can I come over? .. Yes, right now, please? .. No, I'm OK, don't worry .. I just messed up big time .. can it wait? .. fine, the short story .. Tom said he was in love with me .. no, I just need to be with you .. about a half hour .. OK, bye."

* * * * *

Alison was tense with controlled anger when she arrived at Greg's apartment, walked past him at the door, saying "I need to clean up" and headed to the bathroom.

"Want anything?" he called after her.

"Tea .. straight." She shouted from behind the closed bathroom door.

Ten minutes later, cocooned in one of her size too large t-shirts, she sat at one end of the living room couch, holding a cup of hot tea to her lips.

Greg sat at the other end of the couch, and waited.

"I feel like an idiot," Alison muttered between cautious sips of hot tea.

"What happened? Was he difficult, make a scene?"

"No."

"So ..?"

Alison sighed. "I'm not as angry as I probably look. More about frustration with myself." She sipped her tea. "I'm all over the place emotionally," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I feel so stupid."

"Try not to be too hard on yourself. Sounds like everyone made some mistakes. Let's face it, the whole situation from the start was new territory for you."

She looked at him glumly. "I didn't see you making any mistakes."

"I wasn't sure about what was going on. For all I knew you might have been on the verge of getting serious with him."

"What? You're joking .. are you?" She wasn't sure if she ought to feel offended.

Greg smiled cautiously. "Just an hypothesis. But I'm not a mind reader."

Alison frowned, studied him for a few minutes. "What are you doing way over there anyway?"

"Avoiding collateral damage."

"God, I'm not that bad, am I?" she grimaced, and scooted closer to him. "I don't know," she continued. "I just feel dumb. If I'd only gone ahead and let myself go during the threesome then none of this would have happened."

"If you'd let yourself go, then you'd have already known what you know now."

"Oh, think so? What do I know now?"

"You tell me. I bet you've learned a few things."

"Such as about reality throwing surprises at me? How did you know? Why'd you let me do it?"

"First, I didn't know anything. And even if I did, it wasn't my place to give you permission for anything."

Alison thought a moment, then smiled to herself. "I did learn something about my panic reaction, what it was really about."

"Go on .."

"It's silly. Promise not to laugh."

"I promise."

"I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed by how turned on I was .. with someone else. I was afraid of how you would react to seeing that."

Greg thought a moment. "What happened to those feelings that didn't belong?"

"That's how they got in. Being so aroused with someone else there, I was afraid you'd think I was giving something special to someone else. Those feelings .."

"Funny, you were teasing me about it a couple of days ago."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I guess I finally made the connection." Alison inched closer to Greg, rested a hand on his thigh. "But what if I did .. fall for him?"

Greg shrugged in reply. "Not my favourite outcome. Anyway, now we all know he loves you. What next?"

"I never intended a next anything. I made it clear that we're done."

"He wanted it to continue?"

"Yes. He made the offer. I said no." She paused. "It made me realize something else. It has to do with that conversation we haven't had yet."

Greg looked at her, puzzled. "What conversation is that?"

"You know. You mentioned it a couple of nights ago." Alison pulled up her knees, and crossed her arms over them.

Greg remembered, nodded. "What about it?

Alison rested her cheek on her folded arms and looked at Greg. "I think we should have it."

Greg held her gaze. "You mean, like a candlelight dinner in intimate restaurant kind of conversation?"

"Yeah. Something like that." She turned her head away, eyes moistening. "I'm such a dimwit. I don't know why you put up with me."

"You don't? I thought the reason was obvious."

"Really?" She looked back to Greg with a shy smile. "Why?"

"Because I'm a dimwit too."

"Greg! That's not the right answer!"

"Oh. Sorry. What should I have said?"

"That I'm irresistible."

Greg frowned, considered the possibility, and nodded his head slowly. "Yes .. yes .. I suppose there's some of that as well."

They held eye contact. Alison struggled to maintain her composure, and finally broke down, laughing. "You bastard," she said, a big grin on her face. She stood up and reached out a hand. "Come on. It's late. Drama queen is keeping you up past your bed time."

A short while later they were spooning in bed. She held his arms around her, kissed his hand. "Want to hear something else I learned?"

"What? There's more?"

"Lots. Such as about what the physical part means. On its own .. it was .. I liked it .."

Greg gave her a gentle squeeze. "Liked?"

"Give me a break, OK?" she smiled. "It's still not easy to admit it." A silent moment. "I liked it but when it was done I was glad to leave. I wanted to leave." She turned to face Greg. "With you it's different. It's as if the physical part isn't there for itself. It's a way to get somewhere else. It's how I feel afterwards, a place where I want to stay."

"I get it." Greg hugged her again. "I can take you there if you want."

"There's one problem with that suggestion," she replied. "You can't take me anywhere," she continued with a mischievous smile, "because I'm already there."

Alison sat up abruptly. She crossed her arms, held the hem of her t-shirt and pulled it up over her head.

She rolled on top of him, naked body pressed against naked body. She kissed his mouth, nibbled his ear, and whispered "But I don't mind at all if you try anyway."