The Humper Game Pt. 03 Ch. 03

We shaved, together, and then went out and ran. We ran together but apart, at our own paces. We showered, washing each other very sensually, ending with something brief but more than a quickie, and a quick cleanup after that.

We got dressed and found food for breakfast. We talked as we ate, but didn't linger. I did a little cleanup in the kitchen, but there wasn't really much to do there. Aunt Sally made sure everything was wiped down every night.

I went into the downstairs bathroom, and under the sink there were cleaning supplies, but I had to go to Sam to find out where there were rags and sponges. I cleaned the sink and countertop, and then the tub and shower walls, and the toilet.

Sometime during this, Aunt Sally and Uncle John got up and came down to breakfast, so I cleaned the upstairs bathroom as well. I dusted in the room Sam and I were in, and then asked where to find the vacuum cleaner. I did a fairly quick job over all the main areas of both floors, asking before venturing into the Goodfriends' bedroom. I dusted in there, too, but not very thoroughly. I vacuumed but didn't dust in the office space—though Uncle John was tidy enough that I really could have dusted safely.

I put away the vacuum, rinsed rags and sponges, and asked where the rags should go—downstairs to the laundry tub in the basement. I told Aunt Sally and Uncle John what I had and hadn't done. This had taken a good part of the morning, and they were just sitting, talking, in the kitchen. There was a lot more I could have done, dusting tops of doors and window frames, washing windows, and the like. They didn't seem disposed to be picky.

By this time, I had no real idea where Sam was or what she was doing, and I accepted an invitation to sit and talk with them. It wasn't exactly light conversation, but it wasn't deep or deeply personal.

Sam came in. "I just heard from Ellen. She's stuck in the world's biggest traffic jam. Apparently there was a huge accident ahead of her, and there really is no alternate route around it from where she is. No idea how much longer it will be before it's cleared. She was thinking of just going straight on to school, but I told her not to be ridiculous, stop here whenever, however late it may turn out to be. Even if it's only a couple more hours before she can get moving, she wouldn't get there until evening. Then she would be there having to somehow get a key and start moving in to a bare apartment, and I kind of doubt she's thought much more than Phil and I had what all that may mean. I told her we'd feed her, and if she needs to she can stay the night. Or the weekend, but I'm pretty sure she'll want to start getting settled before Monday."

I had a sudden thought. "You didn't happen to ask where this apartment is, did you?"

She smiled big. "You've got it. It's the same building. She has some kind of number for their emergency call line, the management company I mean, and she was planning to use it to come up with a key."

"I'm not sure whether their office is open Saturdays, but I'm sure Saturday morning will work better than tonight for that."

So we all had the somewhat special lunch Aunt Sally had been working on. The planned dinner wasn't so special, but we were all sure Ellen wouldn't mind, and the dessert from lunch was saved.

It was well after 5:30 when Ellen drove in. She had called ahead when they finally let traffic begin flowing. She'd gotten off the road at the first opportunity, stopping at a fast food restaurant to use the facilities, and she'd gotten something she could eat in the car then, too. When she pulled in and got out of the car, she hugged Sam, thanking her profusely, and then was introduced to her aunt and uncle. She also thanked them for letting her come by, especially given the mess it had turned out to be.

Finally, she turned to me. She hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Phil, I owe you an apology. I'm sorry I was so standoffish those last few weeks at school, and that I never called you once I got home. You know why I was feeling so, um—so unsettled, and it was bound to have some effect, but I shouldn't have been like that. We're going to need to talk, a lot, but it can wait for a better time. Can't it?"

"Apology accepted, certainly. And we can talk when we're both settled in, I hope. Did Sam tell you that it seems your apartment is in the same building as mine? And Art Gumby is a couple of doors down from me, and for all I know other people we know may be around, too."

Aunt Sally interrupted to say that we should go in and get ready for dinner. Sam told Ellen that of course she was staying the night. Even if the management company's office wasn't open Saturdays, dealing with them then had to be better than at night.

I told them, "I checked their hours on their web site. They're open on Saturday, at least this time of year. They close a little early, mid-afternoon."

At dinner, I kept mostly quiet and let Uncle John and Aunt Sally talk with Ellen. They quickly asked her to call them John and Sally. Ellen was surprised when I called them Uncle and Aunt, and I explained. It was a very enjoyable meal.

We didn't unload all Ellen's things, by any means, but we put what she needed in a downstairs room, the one Aunt Sally had been going to put me in. It had a daybed in it, which Aunt Sally had made up as a bed that afternoon. I thought she must have had it made up for me, too, and then set it up as a couch again before I saw it. It was the room where their TV was. I had already seen that they didn't watch all that much. After her things were in, it was heading toward bedtime, but the three of us sat in her room to talk.

It turned out that Sam and Ellen had been on the phone quite a bit, while Ellen was stuck, waiting. So Ellen knew that Sam and I were sharing a room, and some about Aunt Sally and Uncle John. She knew that we were likely to get up early to run. She knew we had told Aunt Sally and Uncle John a lot about our relationship, including some about how she came into it. She had apparently been pretty surprised at that, but Sam had explained some about why.

She said, "I'll have to see about running, in the morning. I want to get going, but I may prefer sleep to getting up quite that early."

I asked her about bedding. She had brought some, but it was for a double bed, not for a queen. I told her, "I thought that was likely. You're going to have enough to deal with tomorrow. I got two sets of sheets, so I could have one in the wash without having to wait for them before I could make the bed. I'll lend you one, and you can give it back when you're really settled in and have time to get some for yourself. And for that matter, we don't know for sure what size bed your apartment has—only that mine and some others have queens." I went up and got one set of sheets.

Sam asked, somewhat hesitantly—and Sam was rarely hesitant!—"Listen, you two. If you want, Ellen can sleep tonight up with Phil. Or I suppose Phil could sleep down here, that daybed is lots bigger than the beds at school." OK, grammatically that's not a question, but Sam made it one.

Ellen said, "Sam, thanks but no." She looked just a little woebegone as she spoke. "I really don't mean to be the way Jenny was, but it sure sounds the same. I need to figure out where things are going, and Phil and I need to talk a lot as part of that. Part of me really wants him, and part of me is still scared to death. For now, he's yours, and I hope you both enjoy every minute. But thank you for offering."

I put in, "Sam, your aunt and uncle know that Ellen was partner with us, and some of what that means, but I think we're already out of their comfort zone. Having me sleeping with her, I'm sure they are expecting that when she and I are at school, maybe expecting it more than Ellen and I are. But I think it would be really rude of us, in their house, right now. If Ellen were gung-ho, I'd reconsider, anyway, but I'd be reluctant even then."

We talked more, and then Sam and I got up to go get ready for bed. We had talked about bathroom usage. The three of us were going to have to share the downstairs bathroom for most purposes, and we agreed Ellen would let us go first that night.

I went over and held Ellen, not tightly, just to say some things. "Ellen, I love you, and you know that. You are going to have to figure out where you fit in with me, and pretty soon, but it's not at all like things were with Jenny, really. She was kind of sneaking around, when she knew she didn't need to but felt guilty, and then she dumped all her frustrations with the situation on me in a way that left me trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. But with you, I know exactly where your uncertainty comes from, and I understand completely why you feel the way you do.

"For the short run, though, you need to realize that the choice isn't between marrying me and going on staff at school, on the one hand, and breaking things off on the other. The choice now is between being partners with me and with Sam and Jenny, knowing that they'll be far away and we'll be close together—between that and breaking up. We don't know where any of us is going, really. Sam and Jenny may both be married to other guys in a year or two, for all we know. Or you may meet the love of your life and be married. I told Sam's aunt and uncle that I think it's pretty likely that she'll be a Christian within a few years, and if that happens she and I won't be having sex any more, at that point. Unless somehow I am, too, and we get married.

"I don't mean you should ignore where things may be, years from now, only that you need to choose where things are going to be now. And I love you, enough to support you in whatever choice you make for the short term."

I kissed her, gently and fairly briefly, and let her go. As I turned to go with Sam, she said, "Wait!" She came over and held me, and stood crying on my shoulder for a couple of minutes. Finally she said, "Phil, I know. Everything you said is right. And I love you. I need to talk things through with you before I can decide, even about the short run, but if I decide we can't—can't go on as partners and lovers, it won't be because I don't love you. Thank you for being willing to give me a little more time."

"Ellen, I know you remember that first time, there in the tall grass. I never expected anything beyond that. You were so far out of my reach that I never thought there could be more for me with you. I nearly dropped a whole tray full of food and dishes when you called me Phil, out of the blue. I was just as surprised when you showed up in Jenny's room to study with us. I don't deserve you, any more than I do Sam or Jenny, but I have tried to love you all as well as I could.

"I don't think I can hang too much longer in this kind of uncertainty. Maybe I'm thinking too highly of myself, but what do I do if some beautiful woman in one of my classes wants to go to lunch with me after class, and talk, say? Do I just say no? Do I say, I'd love to, but you need to know I have a girlfriend? Do I just say yes and let things go wherever they lead? As I say, they may all look at me and see this young kid who's still wet behind the ears, and so it may never come up.

"I'll try to give you as long as you need, but I'm kind of hanging on, dangling, waiting for you."

She kissed me, much longer and more passionately than a couple of minutes before. "I'll try. I'm not dithering because I want to. I love you, but I'm afraid."

She let me go, and Sam and I went into the bathroom and brushed our teeth. I said, "You go ahead, and I'll wait outside."

She smiled at me and said, "Phil, you are fussy about the strangest things. I love you. But OK." I went out and waited. When she came out, I went in and used the toilet. When I came out I knocked on Ellen's door and said, "Bathroom's yours for now," and went upstairs.

When I got into bed, Sam just came and held me for a while. Finally, she said, "I know you well enough to know that you need comforting, and that's going to have to include sex, but it's not sex that you want at the moment. I love you, and the way you talked to Ellen just now makes me love you even more. I know it hurts you, and you're still trying to be kind and understanding to her.

"I don't know whether to start kissing you, or offer a shoulder to cry on, or what. It's not really fair right now to tell you you need to take charge, but I at least need a hint or two."

I pulled her over on top of me some and kissed her. "Just be there for me, for a bit." I just held her. Finally, I kissed her, and kept at it. She was very ready, but she didn't hurry me. Eventually, I pulled her hips up onto me too, and she slid herself onto me. She came almost right away, and then again a few minutes later, bringing me to come too. We went to sleep that way, just for a few minutes, then woke up enough for her to roll off me and me to roll over to face her. We slept until the alarm.

We woke up on Saturday morning, with Sam having rolled over during the night, snuggled up, my front to her back, spooned tightly against me. If my bladder hadn't been so insistent, I probably would have just tried to go in then and there.

When I got back from the bathroom, Sam went immediately. We made it a quickie, not being sure when or even whether Ellen would be up. We agreed to shave before showering, not before we went out. We had been doing it that way most mornings, anyway.

When we got downstairs, Ellen was waiting. She said, "I thought I heard you get up a long time ago. What happened?" We looked at each other, and she said, "Oh. I should have guessed."

I said, "We did stick to just a quickie, in case you were coming with us."

We went out to run. Now, Ellen ran quite a lot faster than I did, and I ran a good bit faster than Sam, though not as much. I told Ellen the landmark I used for deciding where to cross and head back, and that I probably would run a partial second lap to be able to come in with Sam. I didn't really have any advice for her regarding route. In the end, Ellen ran two full laps and a shorter one, and we all finished together. She did as I did, catching up before the end and slowing to my pace, and then to Sam's.

Sam and I told Ellen to get the first shower. We told her we needed not to tie up the upstairs bathroom. We fetched our day clothes and sat in the kitchen to wait, as we cooled down. After a while, Ellen came in from her shower, dressed for the day. She said, "Sam, have you reminded him about next week?"

I felt dumb. She hadn't reminded me that she would be having her period then, and I hadn't thought about it, but yes, that was going to be four weeks since the last time.

But Sam said, "No, I didn't, because it's not going to be!" We both looked at her in surprise. She said, "I asked the doctor, before school was over, and she told me it would be perfectly safe to start next month's pills for a week, and then take the inactive ones for the next week, and just have a short month next month and be back on schedule after that. And that's what I'll be doing."

I told her, "Thank you, Sam. I should have been keeping track, but obviously I wasn't. And thank you for thinking of that. It would have been a difficult week, otherwise."

We went into the bathroom, and shaved and took our shower. We washed each other, but agreed that this would be a good day to skip the sex. Sam said, "You can owe it to me. Some day this week we'll find a place during the day."

We got breakfast for Ellen and ourselves, and then Aunt Sally and Uncle John came downstairs for breakfast. We chatted some about Ellen's plans. Her apartment wasn't on the same floor as mine, by the number. We told her where the office was, and I told her the name of the young woman who had been there the day I had gone. I suggested that she call before she left, just to the main number, and talk to whoever answered or leave a message if they had a machine and no one answered. If traffic was good, she should be getting there not too long after they opened.

Sam and I both hugged Ellen, and Aunt Sally did, too. She told her, "I wish we'd had more time with you. We're really hoping that Phil will come and visit us sometimes—in fact, I was going to suggest Thanksgiving in particular. They've told us you have things to work out with him, but if those do turn out OK, please consider that invitation as including you. Thanksgiving or some weekend or whatever would work for the two of you."

Ellen looked at her a little strangely, and Aunt Sally caught it. She said, "We asked Phil to call us John and Sally, but he wasn't comfortable doing that. Sam suggested Uncle John and Aunt Sally, and that has worked. But after only a week we really do feel as though he's family. We're glad to have him as an honorary nephew. And we know his future with Sam, or you, or Jenny, or someone else isn't settled. If he should marry Sam we would be thrilled, but even on such short acquaintance, we can see if it should be you we would be happy for him and you both. In fact, if for some reason you feel you need to come by yourself, just check with us in case of conflicts, but you're welcome." Ellen's eyes were filling with tears by the end of this.

"Thank you," she almost whispered. Then she said, somewhat louder, "You can't know what that means to me right now. Since Sam and Phil have told you so much, and I have to work things out, I may come to talk to you. Thank you."

She gave Uncle John a hug, too, then gave Sam and me another apiece, this time with a kiss on the cheek for Sam and one on the lips for me—brief, but under the circumstances something like a promise.

We had loaded her things, including my unopened sheets, into her car, and she sat down in the driver's seat and lowered the window. She called the management company, and even though it was most of an hour before they opened she got an actual human being. She explained, and listened, finishing up with, "Thank you so much. If I don't have more problems, I hope to be there in maybe an hour. I'm looking forward to meeting you." She told Sam and me that it was the same woman, or at least the same name, and that she had been understanding and helpful.

She blew us all a kiss, and drove off.

Aunt Sally said to me, "I see what Sam meant about your winding up with really nice friends. I hope Sam doesn't mind what I said, but I really mean it. We'll continue to pray for you two to get married, but for his will first of all, and if it turns out to be Ellen I for one will be sorry for Sam's sake but not otherwise. And Sam, if it happens that way, the Lord may well lead you to the man for you, if you'll listen."

Sam said, "I don't think I'll get him, and in one way it breaks my heart, but if Ellen does, she'll be better for him in lots of ways than I could ever be. And you're right, I may find someone almost as good. And if you're right about God's will in it, I might even find someone who will turn out better—for me—even if I don't see how that could happen."

Revision: 6/8/2019