Stood Up Ch. 02

All characters having, thinking about, or talking about sex, even in the past, are intended to be 18 or older.

Please enjoy.

===

On Tuesday night Tim was working late. It was past the point where concentrating solely on the task was going to get him out on time, and he was the last one in the office, so he decided to take a break. He needed caffeine and he wanted to call Becky.

As he waited for the vending machine to dispense the lukewarm brown sludge that passed for coffee, he thought again about the woman he'd spent the previous Friday night with. No surprise that he was behind on his project with the way he'd been distracted, thinking of her.

After turning two failed dates into one good one, they had spent the night together. Tim savoured the memories of the following morning. Waking up next to her, though they hadn't had much sleep. Showering together and being naked in front of each other in the sober light of day, but her suddenly being worried about him seeing her without makeup. Putting back on his shirt and trousers from the night before while she wore a clean sweater and jeans and joked about feeling underdressed. Making out passionately and fighting the urge to fall back into bed.

They had gone for breakfast, accompanied by Ronny, Becky's flatmate and best friend who, accidentally or otherwise, had brought them together the night before. Becky had invited; Ronny had politely declined, and Tim had insisted. He suspected that would be the theme of many of their interactions. If he upset Ronny, he would upset Becky, and vice versa. Tim figured Ronny had the most experience dealing with Becky's impulsiveness though, so better to have her on side. Also, over breakfast, Tim found he just really liked Ronny. The two women had a great dynamic, and he learned a lot about them both because they liked to talk about each other, as well as being instantly more at ease when together.

After breakfast, real life beckoned. Tim and Becky had been 'open-minded' about how far into the night their improvised date would last, but neither had planned for the following day. Ronny left Tim and Becky to exchange numbers and say goodbye, then Tim had caught the bus home.

On Saturday night, Tim had texted Becky that he had an amazing time and looked forward to seeing her again. She had replied,missing you already, with a winky smiley and a kiss.

At the gym on Sunday, Tim had received an apology from the person whose friend hadn't shown up for the failed blind date. Tim had assured them that all was fine, and he was happy to have found a good restaurant, then declined any further offers to set him up.

On Monday, Tim had considered arranging to meet Becky at lunch time since she worked near him. Then the opportunity had come and gone.

They had put their numbers in each other's phones. Tim had listed his under 'Tim Sladen'. Becky had put hers in as 'Becky x'. He still didn't know her last name. He called, and on the third ring she answered.

"Tim Sladen, hey."

"Hi. How are you?"

"Better now. I was starting to think I wouldn't hear from you again."

"I meant to call you all day yesterday and today, but work's been crazy," Tim blurted out.

"I'm messing with you, Tim," she retorted playfully. "I expected a call after a few days. I know how hard you have to try to be cool."

"Yeah, well when it comes to resisting the urge to call you, it's very hard."

"Mm, very hard? I like the sound of that."

"Stop it, will you?" Tim said, flustered. Seconds into a conversation and he already couldn't keep up. "I just want to know if I can see you soon, then I have to get back to work."

"You're still in work at this time? And you took a break to arrange a meeting with me? You really do have an admin fetish Tim. You should speak to someone about that."

"Not a meeting. A date."

"And which date will this be? First, second or third?"

Since their time together on Friday had happened by chance and their breakfast on Saturday had been shared with someone else, it was still unclear how they should number their dates.

"I guess we only have to really worry about that if we make it to an anniversary," Tim answered, "and I'm not going to make it to the end of this conversation at this rate."

"Anniversary? We don't know if we've had a first date yet and you're already planning our future."

Tim was very glad he knew she was joking, but he wasn't sure if it would be easier or more difficult if she ever decided to have a serious conversation with him. However, her wit was one thing he liked about her and if teasing him made her happy, letting her do it was an easy way to please her. She also liked to turn the conversation back on him, so he did most of the talking. It was another thing he didn't understand yet, but he did the only thing that gave him back control of the discussion; he didn't reply.

"Oh, you're no fun," she said after a short silence. "Remind me why I want to go on another date with you again."

"Oh, you do?" he said. "Now we're getting somewhere. What are you doing on Friday?"

She paused before saying, "I've got my high school reunion on Friday."

It wasn't an invitation, but she didn't offer an alternative. Tim remembered she had mentioned it as the reason she was dating, faced with the prospect of being the only singleton at the reunion when all her old friends were married.

"Can I come with you?" he asked.

"I didn't know if you would want to. It's kind of a weird option for any of the first three dates, whichever one we're on."

"I would be happy to go with you," he said, "though I understand if you want to catch up with your friends, instead of worrying about keeping me entertained."

"Definitely think it's better than going by myself."

"Then I'm up for it, unless you have someone else you'd rather go with?" Tim didn't know how Becky liked to play the dating game. Maybe she had a little black book full of guys just waiting for their next date with her.

"There's no one else, Tim," she said quietly. "I haven't stopped thinking about you."

His heart raced, but he knew the blood was going somewhere else.

"Besides," she added, "I asked Ronny first and she said she'd rather die than go back to her own school, let alone someone else's."

Tim laughed. "Which school is it, by the way?"

"Fairview."

"Oh, very posh," he mocked. All the schools in the area were awful. His had been the worst. "I had friends who went there. What time's the thing? I'll pick you up."

"It's from seven. Maybe it's the sort of thing you don't want to be early for, but the sooner we get there, the sooner we can come from if it's terrible. Can you get here for about half six?"

"Absolutely. Looking forward to it. Right, I'd better go. If I don't finish this work now you actually won't ever hear from me again."

Becky let out an exaggerated sigh. "Aw, this phone call wasn't at all sexy. You didn't even ask me what I'm wearing."

"And please don't tell me," Tim said. "I really need to concentrate."

"Well, I couldn't tell you what I'm wearing if I wanted to, because I'm not wearing anything."

Tim groaned. He was sure she was still messing with him, but it was working on every level. "Ok, I actually can't take anymore now, Becky. I think you're great. I'll see you on Friday."

"Bye, Tim. Think of me." She hung up before he could reply.

Dazed, Tim took a swig of his cold coffee. Moments later his phone chirped. He tapped the screen and there was a message from Becky. It read,Hi Tim, Thanks for your phone call to arrange our meeting for Friday. Further to our discussion, please see the attached photo. Kind regards, Becky x

A second later he was staring slack-jawed at a photo of a smiling Becky, completely naked but with her wet blonde hair pulled forward to cover her small round breasts, and her lower body obscured by bubbles, in the bath where she must have been for their whole conversation.

He texted back,Forget work. Omw to you now. Then,I wish. Have to stay but now it's gonna be very hard. Winking-tongue-poking-out smiley.

She replied,You're in the office. Can't you take care of business? Eggplant emoji. Subtle.

With trembling fingers, Tim tried twice for a response,Never in the office before but might have to now.

There was a longer pause before her next message.Call if u do so I can listen can't type with 1 hand

Tim was going to be working late on Wednesday too.

***

On Friday, Tim still got home from work with barely enough time to get ready. He showered, shaved, and gelled his wild brown hair into submission. He wore his grey suit trousers with a striped shirt. Smart casual. He had texted Becky to ask if there was a dress code and she had just told him to turn up naked.

He drove over to their building and parked in an empty space. When he pressed the intercom for their apartment by the building's main door, it was half a minute before he was buzzed in. As he turned onto the first landing, Ronny opened the apartment door for him.

"Hey, Tim."

"Evening. You look nice." He was there for a date with her friend so he complimented her as neutrally as he could manage, but it was an understatement.

Her dark hair was tied back, with loose curls at the front framing her face. She wore a short black dress that clung to her curves and cut low across her chest, offering a glimpse of cleavage. She stood in stockinged feet; stockings or tights, Tim couldn't be sure.

"Thanks," she said as he stepped through the door, and she half-hugged him and kissed his cheek. It wasn't the greeting he was expecting but he reciprocated.

"Are you coming with us?" he asked.

"No, I've got a date."

Tim recalled she had mentioned a boyfriend the week before. She hadn't seemed particularly eager to talk about him, and Becky had rolled her eyes at the mention.

Before Tim could continue the conversation, Becky called from her bedroom, "is that Tim?"

"I'm here," he called back.

"You're there. Why aren't you in here?"

"Excuse me, I guess," he said to Ronny.

"I'm off anyway," she said as she slipped on a pair of black high heels by the door. "Have a good night."

"Yeah, you too," said Tim over his shoulder as he made his way to Becky's bedroom.

Inside Becky's bedroom was chaos. The floor, the bed, and the dressing table were covered in dresses and shoes. Becky was kneeling on the floor in her underwear with her back to the door, rummaging through the bottom of a wardrobe.

Tim couldn't help the stirring in his groin as he looked at her half-naked body, thinking about what had happened the last time she had knelt on that floor in front of him. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Grey," was all she said, and she leapt to her feet.

She pulled a strappy charcoal dress from the bottom of a stack on the bed and started kicking through a pile of loose shoes in the corner. She pulled the dress on over her head and smoothed it down over her breasts and hips. She stepped into one grey high heel shoe, then, after a bit more kicking around, she found the other one. She picked her way through the other discarded garments as she crossed the room.

"Started with fucking grey," she said, before kissing Tim hard on the mouth.

"Um, hi," he said with a chuckle. "You look nice."

"Only nice?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Well, to be honest, I preferred what I saw before the dress went on."

"Well, if you'd turned up naked like I said, then that's how I'd have to be to co-ordinate with you."

"Yes, and if you'd told me you wanted to co-ordinate, I could have narrowed down your options." He cast his eyes around the room. "I don't own clothes in half of these colours."

"You can be clever, Tim, or you can still be here later tonight when this dress comes off again. Not both."

He drew his fingers across his lips as though zipping them shut.

"Good boy."

She didn't ask him to, but Tim was hopeful they would be needing access to her bed later, so he helped her tidy up. Then they had to go. They walked out of the apartment building holding hands. It wasn't nearly as cold as it had been the week before as they crossed to the car. He held the passenger door open for her and she thanked him.

As they drove, Tim asked, "is there a particular way you would like me to act in front of your friends?"

"Of course not," she replied, "just be you. I don't think you could pretend to be any nicer than you actually are. If I'd wanted to bring someone else, I'd have brought someone else."

"Besides, Ronny said no," he replied, smiling.

"Well, yeah."

"She said she had a date?"

"She's supposed to be seeing her boyfriend," Becky said with venom. Tim didn't need to look at her to know she had rolled her eyes.

"Supposed to be?"

"She's been with the guy nearly a year and she hardly ever sees him. I don't think he's ever been busy in his life, and even cheating on her is probably too much effort for him. He's just a lazy dick. She won't see him for ages, then he'll summon her out of the blue, and even then, it's a toss-up whether he'll meet her."

"He must be good in bed then if she stays with him?"

"He's never given her an orgasm. They haven't even slept together that many times."

"She told you that?"

"Of course. We give each other all the gritty details. I didn't spare her blushes when I told her about you either. Does that bother you, Tim?"

"Not at all. It must have been a glowing report if she didn't castrate me when I turned up tonight."

"If you werethat bad, you wouldn't have been given the chance to turn up tonight. Instead, she gave me a rundown of all the guys I've been with recently, and the reasons she thinks you're better than them. Which is a bit rich considering her current choice, but I don't disagree about you."

"Good to know, and I'll thank her later. I'm just surprised you haven't hunted her guy down and made him suffer."

"She had to beg me not to."

"I bet she did."

As they pulled into the school car park, there were a lot of people waiting outside. Becky was looking out the window. She saw someone she knew and waved. Tim had barely stopped the car before she jumped out. When he climbed out of the car, she was already locked in a hug with a dark-haired woman in a pink dress.

Becky turned to introduce him.

"Louisa, this is..."

"Holy shit. Tim Sladen?" the woman asked.

"Louisa Jones. Is that you?" Tim asked, beaming at her.

"It's Louisa Gardner now," she replied.

"Gardner? You never married..."

"She sure as hell did, T.S," said her husband, walking up behind her, a tall broad-shouldered man with a shaved head.

"Hell, Digger," said Tim, "I thought you'd never pluck up the courage to ask her out, never mind marry you."

Becky cleared her throat. "Uh, what's happening?"

Tim said, "I knew I had friends who went to your school. I didn't know they were the same friends."

"We know T.S from the games arcade," said Louisa.

"T.S?", asked Becky.

"Knew his initials long before we ever met him," she explained. "No-one could beat his high score on Bomb Jack."

When they were younger, those teens who weren't more concerned with smoking and drinking, spent most of their time in the games arcade. It was the only place where it had been acceptable for kids from the various schools to hang out together. Tim had spent a lot of time there by himself. He was there to play games, not hang out.

Darren Gardner was known as "Digger" because his initials on the high scores were D.G, and because his last name was Gardner. One time, he and his mates had lay in wait for Tim. At first Tim had thought they meant to fight him, but they welcomed him among their number, the legendary T.S. Louisa's father owned the arcade, and she went to school with the others. Digger had been in love with her the entire time Tim knew him.

Tim did not know Becky from the arcade, but it suddenly dawned on him exactly who she was. Becky was the girl who never hung out with the group while Tim knew them. Becky was Louisa's former best friend, who Louisa always talked about. Becky was the girl who was, in Louisa's words, 'shacking up with' Louisa's older brother, Stephen Jones.

"Becky Harbon," Tim said.

She still hadn't told him her last name. She stared at him.

Louisa and Digger stared at him.

"Well, it's nice to see you two are friends again," Tim said, laughing. "How is your brother Louisa?"

Digger punched Tim lightly in the arm and Louisa shook her head, smiling.

Becky said, "I've changed my mind, Tim. Maybe act a little less like yourself in front of my friends." She leaned into him, and they both laughed. In just a few minutes, he had discovered way more about her than was ideal for a first/second/third date. The circumstances of her blowing up her closest teenage relationships by dating her friend's older brother was a conversation for another time.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Digger asked Tim and Becky.

Tim thought the correct answer was that they weren't together. At least not yet.

"A week," said Becky.

Digger inhaled sharply. "Well, good luck to you. If you two make it, I'm sure it'll bring balance to the universe."

"So, where is everybody else?" asked Tim to change the topic.

"Most have been messaged and told not to bother coming," said Digger.

"That bad, huh?"

"Reunion's off," said Louisa, gesturing to the school. "With the cold weather we had, the pipes froze. The hall's flooded. Everything's ruined."

Everyone who had turned up was milling around on the steps outside. Louisa explained that their schoolmates who had arranged the event were salvaging what they could, but the hall was wrecked, and all the decorations and most of the food was worthless. They had told the first arrivals to pass the message on to anyone they could. The plan seemed to be that they would return the next day to help tidy up. Volunteers welcome. The reunion might be planned for another time. Probably held somewhere else.

"It is a bit odd to have it in this shithole," said Digger. "Even when we had parties in school, we always went somewhere else for them."

They continued to catch up as they waited to see if there were any more developments. Other people interjected the conversation at various times. Some Becky greeted warmly and introduced to Tim. Others not so much. Tim demonstrated the polite interest he had prepared for meeting a procession of acquaintances from Becky's distant past, before it had transpired the degrees of separation between them were far fewer.

A skinny woman with dyed red hair, who Tim didn't know, but Becky, Louisa and Digger all seemed offended by, announced to the group that the event would have to be completely re-arranged and that a new invitation would be forthcoming. Louisa suggested that they all agree not to bother with the next one either. She vaguely invited Tim and Becky to their house 'sometime', perhaps for game night with some other friends whose names Tim recognised. Becky seemed happy with the idea and Tim went with her decision, though it didn't seem like agreeing to it was really the same as committing to anything.

Shortly, they were in the car again on the way back to the apartment.

Becky said, "Go on, ask."

She meant about her relationship with Louisa's brother, of course.

"Only if you want to tell me," Tim said. He meant it, though he was curious.

"Only if you want to know," she retorted.

"So, Stephen Jones?" he said. "What was he, two years older than you? Did he seduce you while you were hanging out with his sister?"

"Well, I knew him from that, but I also worked with him at my first job."

"McDonalds?"

"They told you that as well?"

"No. You told me that last week. That's where you and Ronny met."