Only in a Dream Ch. 02

They thought she was done, but as she turned towards the living room, Kathy followed up with,

"If that prick Todd comes over here, YOU entertain him, because I won't be here."

With that, she headed for the front door.

They were both shocked at the outburst from their normally easy going, sweet and naive sister. They just stood looking at each other in disbelief.

Brad was home from work, showered and anticipating his date with Kathy He had just come out of the front door of grandma's to head across the street to see her.

To be fair to Brad, the first night they went out, Kathy had told him there was a guy she worked with, that she kind of liked. They were supposed to have a date the following week, but she hadn't made her mind up yet, if she was actually going to go out with him or not. Other than telling him the guy was going through a divorce, she never said anything else about him, or who he was.

Brad had worried a little that first night, that Kathy would start dating this guy from work and he would end up in the friend zone, she did say that she liked the guy. But, after this past week and the night before, Brad had assumed that he and Kathy were an item and he never thought about the guy from work again.

Just as Brad was crossing the street, Todd pulled up in front of the apartment. At first, Brad didn't really think anything about it, he just assumed that Todd was probably there to see Tina. She had lived across the street from Brad long enough for him to notice that she had a different guy staying with her every couple of nights.

"Oh boy, she better keep an eye on that one," he smiled.

As Todd was stepping out of his car, Brad remembered the way he'd been following him and Kathy around the night before. He glanced over at Todd as he walked past his car and noticed that he was dressed to kill, he had on a silky button down print shirt, buttoned down to mid chest, with Haggar slim-cut flared slacks.

When he stepped out of his car and did his little strut, he looked as tho was trying his best to give John Travolta a run for his money. Brad owned a few silk shirts that he hadn't worn since he was in high school, he was more of a Levi jeans / pocket T shirt type of guy (keep in mind, this was 1978).

"Hey," said Brad, trying to be friendly.

When it came to members of the opposite sex, Todd never thought someone like Brad could possibly ever come between him and one of his conquests. It was a non-issue. He was there to claim Kathy for himself and was going to make a point of his intentions to Brad and tell him to run along. As he looked over at Brad, he just smirked.

"How's it going man? I'm here to pick up Kathy, we're going out again tonight. We've been seeing each other for a while now, man," Todd bragged, "What are you up to?"

After what Todd said sunk in, Brad felt the walls come crashing in around him. He could almost feel tears welling up and he felt a little embarrassed. Foolish to actually believe, that a girl as pretty as Kathy would want him.

"I can't believe it, it's happening again. She's already been seeing this jerk, she's getting ready to cut me loose for him, I. . . I should have known better, I knew it was too good to be true," Brad thought to himself.

"I'm NOT going to share, if she wants to go with him, he can have her. Who am I kidding, look at him, why would she ever want someone like me. . .? They just fit together. . . Damn it!!"

Brad stopped where he stood and stared at Todd.

"So that's the guy from work she told me about," he thought.

"Wait a minute, he's married, I seen him and his wife all lovey dovey at K Mart last week. He's not getting a divorce, he's not looking for anything more than a piece of ass on the side!!"

Then, an awful feeling came over him, as he came to realize the obvious.

"He said they've been seeing each other for a while?!! That means they've been. . . Then, he's already been. . . Fucking her. If they've been seeing each other for a while. . . He wouldn't be coming back, if he hadn't already fucked her, he's come back for more."

Brad was trying to deduce in his head just what had been happening between Kathy and Todd.

"She said last week that she hadn't been out with him yet, an. . . Th. . . Then she had to work. When did she have time to. . .? After she got off at midnight!! He's been taking her out somewhere after they got off from work and fucking her. . .! Probably in his fuckin' car!!

Brad felt the hollowness in his chest and jealousy like he had never felt before, ever. This was worse than when his pregnant girlfriend of seven months broke up with him the year before, much worse. He had never felt this strongly about anyone before and he and Kathy had only been seeing each other for a week.

Todd just stood there smiling at him. Brad's mind was racing so fast, he thought it might explode.

"I thought we had something special, what about. . . Look at him. I can't compete with a guy like. . . Wait, why did she go with me again last night, if she's been fucking him all week? God, she really acted like she wanted me to fuck her last n i g h t. . . "

Brad was grasping for answers,

"That's why she was all over me and things got so heated!! She fucked him, what, every night after she got off work?? Last night she was going to cut me loose, then we just got carried away. Maybe she was going to give me a mercy fuck." he thought.

"She may have considered us last week, but that fuckhead made his move and now. . . Was she even going to tell me?" he thought, "Or is she. . . Jus. . . Just going to avoid me now?"

Then something else occurred to him,

"Was that all she wanted, was to be fucked?!

I didn't move fast enough to get into her pants. . .? Was that it? Wait!! Now she's been fucking a married man. Even if she would go out with me again, I don't want some cunt that would do that anyway."

As Brad turned to go back home, Todd almost started laughing.

"That was easy enough, I'll have my cock in her by tonight. What the fuck did she see in that loser anyway? Ha ha," he thought. "Well, I guess he does have a nice looking car, ha ha ha."

After Todd had walked past Brad to go get his date, Brad wished that he would have stuck his foot out and tripped him.

Kathy was just coming out of the front door of the apartment, when she noticed Todd walking towards the front porch.

"Ohhh, shhiiit!" she grumbled, clearly annoyed.

Brad's attention was revived when heard Todd start to make his pitch to Kathy, as she exited the residence.

"Heyyyyy, hellooo gorgeous, when we gonna get this relationship on track. . . And rollin' on down the line, baby?"

Something about the way Todd said that, something in his tone, his arrogance, something. . . Something hit a nerve in Brad. He thought about how Todd had followed him and Kathy around the night before, the way he showed up here tonight strutting around like he was the cynosure of all eyes or something. You could almost hear Carly Simon singing in the background;

"Your so vain. . . You probably think this song is about you. . ."

Brad was pissed, he was not going to let Todd, do to him, what he'd seen him do to other guys all through high school!!

Before he walked away, he was going to turn the tables and confront Todd , he was going to ask him just who the fuck he thought he was to come over here and see Kathy, when he had a wife at home. And why the fuck was he following him and Kathy around the night before.

Then, he was going to let her know how selfish she'd been. He was going to ask her just why in the hell she liked playing these games with him.

"What about last week? What about last night? Why were you all over me last night, when you've been fucking this prick all week," Why did you lead me on?"

All of those thoughts were running through Brad's head. He'd also made up his mind that there was probably going to be a fight, because Todd would have to defend his woman. Brad didn't care.

"If that prick so much as says one more word to me, I'm going to stomp his fucking ass in the ground!" Brad thought, "It's about time somebody did!!"

By the time Brad turned back around, Kathy had spotted him. As she came down the steps, Todd was smiling from ear to ear. Then, he held his arms out.

"Hey, Bab. . ." he started to say, but Kathy walked right past him and headed straight for Brad.

She had a determined look in her eyes that he couldn't read, he wasn't sure what she was going to do. As he started to speak, Kathy put her arms around him, pulling him in. She locked her lips to his, wrapping him up in a passionate kiss that rivaled Hollywood.

Eric and Tina emerged from the apartment, just in time to catch all of the action. Todd just stood there with a dumb look on his face and his mouth agape for a moment.

As Kathy pulled her lips back from Brad, Todd was starting to say something, but Kathy didn't give him a chance, she turned and lit into him.

"You're an asshole Todd, you lied to me about getting a divorce! After you tried to get into my pants, you left here and went home to your wife, you have no intentions of leaving her! You've tried to sleep with all of the women at work, an. . . And you told everyone you know that I fucked you! NO I DIDN'T!!! I wouldn't fuck you if you were the last man on earth!" Kathy screamed.

Todd stepped back a few feet towards the front of his car, he was shocked, never had a girl talked to him like this. At least not until after he'd already fucked them.

Kathy turned back to Brad, looking deeply into his eyes and put her arms around his waist.

"I'm really sorry about that, I've got to admit something. . . Before I met you, I was seriously thinking about starting something up with him, but. . . I. . . I think I'm in. . . I'm falling in love with you, I hope you feel the same way," she said.

All of this caught Brad completely by surprise, he was floored, and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"And I've been falling for you, ever since the first night we went out," he said.

His head was still racing, but it had changed to a good thing and he hoped he wasn't dreaming.

For the first time in his life, Todd didn't know what to say, or how to deal with the situation. He couldn't believe this was happening to him.

"How in the fuck could that dork get her away from me, this is fucked up!" Todd thought.

He even anticipated just grabbing Kathy by the arm, throwing her into his car and driving off with her, he could surely convince her to be with him, not that loser.

"Awwwww, isn't that special, make me puke, you don't know what you missed out on honey. You're just a fucking teasing little cunt. Good luck with your new ma-yan. Ha ha. . . This is fucking pathetic," Todd blurted out.

Brad and Eric both honed in on that last statement. Not too pleased, Brad turned and looked at Todd with a steely glare.

"Alright, time to hit the road ass wipe!" he said, sharply.

When Todd didn't move, Brad started walking towards him. He finally got the message, jumped into his car and started to leave. Brad reached the open window of Todd's car just as he was pulling away from the curb. He managed to get one real good shot at Todd's jaw with his fist as he drove away.

"I've known that prick for years and you don't know how long I've wanted to do that," Brad said, with a spirited grin.

Kathy was laughing at what had just happened to Todd.

"That little punk, he got just what he deserved," she declared.

She walked over to Brad, putting her arms around him again.

Eric felt like he might have misjudged Brad, he liked the way he had just handled the situation, and his sister sure did seem to like him a lot. He came came over and apologized to Kathy and shook Brad's hand. Eric was done with Todd, he wasn't going to be friends with him after what he had witnessed today. Brad and Eric have been friends ever since.

Tina felt differently tho, she was still upset with Kathy, and told her,

"God, you're so fucking stupid."

The following week, when Kathy returned to work, Todd was not there, he had quit.

Brad's accident happened three months later. The front wheel came loose from his car and he was involved in a head on collusion while on his way to get Kathy from work.

Brad just had his car on the lift at work and changed the oil a few days before. He had also gone around the car and checked that everything was in proper working order and that the lug nuts on his Cragar wheels were all tight.

The hub that the wheel had come off of, was missing only two studs, proving that there were only two lug nuts on the wheel when the accident occurred. Brad knew that three lug nuts would not have come loose on there own within of couple days. That meant someone had tampered with his car, and it had almost killed him.

He had two suspects in mind who might have done this to him. The first was Kathy's ex husband. Her ex was pretty much non confrontational and kind of a wimp. He would most likely not do anything like this. Brad didn't have anything to do with their divorce, it had happened before he and Kathy even knew each other.

The second (and most likely) was Todd, he on the other hand, had a score to settle. Brad realized there was no proof that anyone in particular, or even anybody at all had done it. But,it was obvious to him what had happened because of the lug nuts.

"But how am I going to prove who did it?" he thought.

Brad also thought that whoever did do it, probably had no real intentions other than to damage his car, not to hurt him in the manner that it had.

After Brad was released from the hospital, he and Kathy, along with her small son, found a quaint little house to start their lives together in a small town about a ten minute drive to the east. This was only a rental, they just needed a place to stay while Brad recovered from his injuries. Brad and Kathy were married a short time after they moved in.

Shortly after Brad's accident, Kathy sold the mobile home that she'd lived in with her ex and moved with Brad into his parent's home to help take care of him. She felt as tho she was starting her life over, and wanted new beginnings with Brad, so a new place with no ties to her past was in order.

Tina called her goody two shoes, she tried repeatedly to set Kathy up with, and get her to see other men. When Kathy told her she wasn't interested, Tina still didn't get it.

"All of these hot guys want to hook up with you and you're not enticed at all? Not in the least little bit? Come on! What's wrong with you!" she asked.

Then, Tina had to ask,

"What do you see in him? How in the hell can you stand to fuck the same guy all of the time?"

Apparently Tina was jealous of big sister, wanted to bring her down to her level.

The time also came, when Tina made a play for Brad. She just couldn't understand what could possibly be the attraction Kathy had for this dorky guy.

"Is he hung like a horse? What is it?"

She just had to see what the big deal was and to prove to Kathy that she could have any man she wanted, including Kathy's husband. Tina had also moved to this small town with one of the guys she messed around with. As always, with her past history, Tina didn't keep the guy around very long.

She was living there alone, when, one night about ten o'clock, Tina made a phone call to Kathy. She explained to her, that she heard noises coming from the basement and was scared that someone had broken in, possibly the guy she had just thrown out. She asked Kathy if she would send Brad over with a flashlight to check it out. Kathy promised her she would and asked him to go over and find out what the problem was.

When Brad arrived at his sister in law's house, he grabbed his crutches and flashlight, then headed around to the side of the house where the entrance to the basement was located. He aimed the flashlight beam at the door and noticed that it was padlocked. Brad carefully bent down and pulled on the lock, to make sure it was latched. It was rusted almost solid and hadn't been opened for a very long time.

He made a trip around the house to make sure that no one was creeping around, then headed for the front door and knocked. When Tina answered the door, all she had on was a see through teddy.

She raised her arm and leaned against the door frame seductively. Brad got a firsthand glimpse of all of her assets, from her brown nipples that were pointing out, right down to her neatly trimmed bush. She might as well been standing there naked. Brad just looked at her like she was crazy.

"If there's anybody in your basement, they must have been down there when you moved in. Because they sure as hell didn't get in from the outside, the lock is rusted shut," he told her.

"Would you like to come in for a little while?" Tina said, seductively, with an enticing smile.

Brad just shook his head and made a face like a foul smell had suddenly appeared.

"Nah, I don't think so, I've got this real sexy wife and she's at home all by herself, waiting in bed for me. . . Gotta go, see you later."

Then, he turned and left. The look on Tina's face was priceless. She was absolutely dumbstruck.

"What the hell is wrong with him? He just rejected me. . . And I'm standing here like this!! Is he gay!!?" she thought to herself.

She suddenly felt naked, embarrassed. She then realized what Kathy saw in Brad. He was a one woman man and he really, truly loved her. Right then, at that moment, she felt envious of her sister.

Tina wasn't the only fly in the ointment, so to speak. It seemed just about everyone was trying to interfere in some way or another.

When Brad and Kathy first started dating, several of his friends had tried to put moves on her. Of course, they assumed that if she was with him, she must be pretty easy. . . or desperate. She had rebuffed them rather sternly. She had never told Brad, as she didn't what to come between him and his friends.

Brad had half suspected it tho, he knew his friends pretty well. He noticed their change in behavior around Kathy, they seemed embarrassed, they avoided Brad when he was with her. . . She did tell him about them. . . Years later, when he didn't really hang around with them much anymore.

And though he never said or did anything to come between Brad and Kathy, Jack Arthur had wanted her too. A few days before they met, Jack spotted Kathy walking into the apartment and was immediately interested in finding out more about this beautiful girl. He asked Brad if he had seen the new, dark haired girl across the street, he'd like to get to know her.

"No, I haven't seen her yet and don't have any idea who she is, or if she even lives over there," Brad told him.

Jack had decided he was going to go over and introduce himself at the first opportunity. Then, the next evening, Brad spotted Kathy for the first time. . . And she had approached him.

Brad and Jack hung out together most evenings after they got off work. Brad was washing his car while he waited on Jack to arrive and Kathy had come over to talk to him, then they walked over to her apartment steps to continue their conversation.

When Jack pulled up to grandma's to pick Brad up, he was sitting on the steps of the apartment with Kathy, the girl Jack wanted to try and get together with. Brad told her he'd be right back, he needed to talk to his friend for a minute and walked over to Jack's car.

Jack kind of glared at him, Brad could tell he was a little irritated with him.

"Whatcha doing?" Jack anxiously mumbled.

Brad was a little hesitant and almost felt guilty for being caught sitting there with the girl he knew Jack liked, but,

"Hey," he thought, "She came over to me, I didn't go after her."

Brad finally spoke to his friend,

"I'm working on taking her out," he said.