Love's Crazy Twists

by Johns, S. A.

  “I am leaving. I figured that since you just cheated on me, I would go out and have sex with someone else to celebrate my return to the single life. You know, since we are through.” She smiled at Matt and turned to walk away. “You know I thought about calling Shane. Since you always thought I was sleeping with him, and now that I am single...I can!” She laughed.

  She walked out onto the porch and shut the door. She could still hear Matt begging her for her forgiveness, and she had to leave. If he ever found out about last night with Shane, this situation would be a lot worse. She got in her car and sped away. Not sure what she was going to do about Matt, or Shane for that matter. She loved Matt, didn’t she? She had spent the last six years of her life with him and look what was happening now. She cheated on him and he cheated on her all in the same night. Maybe she should just forgive Matt and try to repair their relationship. But what if he found out about Shane? Would he be as forgiving? Maybe she should just come clean and confess her infidelity and hope that they could still move on. Tears welled up in her eyes and id didn’t take long before she was crying. Tears falling from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She was so hurt by what she had just seen and done. She was feeling alone and abandoned, like an abused puppy. She was emotionally exhausted and just wanted to get home and crawl back into her big, warm bed.

  She pulled in her parking spot outside of her country home. She walked up onto the porch, put the key in the door and went inside. Once she was inside, she realized that she didn’t remember a thing about driving home. She didn’t remember of it, stop signs, making turns or even pulling up the driveway. She walked through the kitchen and glanced at the answering machine and noticed that it wasn’t blinking. That is strange, she thought. I was sure that there would have been at least a dozen messages from Matt. She got into her cozy pajamas and crawled into bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

  A little while later there was a knock on the door. She vaguely even heard it since she was in such a deep sleep. She didn’t want to get up and answer it. It probably wasn’t anyone she wanted to see anyway. The knocking continued. She finally got up and staggered, half asleep, to the door. She opened the door to find the flower delivery guy with two dozen red roses for her. She signed for them and apologized for taking so long to answer the door. The delivery guy left and she set the roses on the table while she looked for a vase big enough to accommodate them. They were very beautiful. But who sent them? She looked for a card and couldn’t find it in the box anywhere. As she was putting the flowers in the vase, there came another knock at the door.

  “Who can that be?” she said. She opened the door and the delivery guy was back.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I found this in the car,” he said handing her a small white envelope. “It must have fallen off the box when I was getting it out of the car.”

  She took the envelope. “Well, thank you for bringing it back. I couldn’t figure out who they were from.” she laughed.

  “Well, you’re welcome, ma’am. Have a good day,” he said and walked away.

  Julie couldn’t wait to open the card. She knew they couldn’t possibly be from Matt. He would never do anything like that even after what had happened with Kelly. She opened the envelope and slowly pulled the card out. It was a plain little card with the words “Just For You” on top of it. Then scribbled on it was the following:

  Jules,

  I am sorry, baby. I love you so much

  If you never forgive me, I’ll understand.

  But I truly am sorry.

  Love,

  Matt

  Julie’s mouth dropped open and her eyes filled with tears. They really were from Matt. She couldn’t believe it. Maybe he really was sorry, maybe it was just a one-time thing, but he still cheated on her. That point just couldn’t be overlooked. Then again, just because he didn’t know about her infidelity didn’t mean that it didn’t happen. She did still love Matt and he hurt her really badly but if he found out about her and Shane it would hurt him just as bad. She decided right then and there that would try to work it out with Matt and hope for the best. She would, however, need time to learn to trust him again.

  She looked at the roses and then read the card once more. Her tears began to fall. She really did love him, it was wrong of her to sleep with Shane. She sat down on the couch and buried her face in her hands; and cried.

  Ring! Ring! The phone rang. The sound of it startled her and she jumped up and ran to the phone. Still crying and upset she answered it.

  “Hello?” she asked softly.

  “Baby, I am so, so sorry,” Matt said, sounding as if he had been crying too. “Julie, can you ever forgive me? I love you so much. If there is anything I can do I will do it. Anything." he pleaded.

  “Do you know how much you’ve hurt me today? I never thought you’d ever hurt me.” She paused. “And I never thought that it could hurt this bad.” She began crying even harder than before.

  “Jules, babe, I am really truly sorry. Can I come see you? We can talk about this when I get there. OK, what do you say?” he asked.

  “Matt, I don’t know if I can see you right now, I want to forgive you. I want to believe you when you say it was a one-time thing. I really do. But after walking in on you and hearing you moaning with pleasure for someone that wasn’t me, I don’t think I can even look at you right now.” she told him.

  “OK, Hun, I understand.” he replied sadly.

  “Do you? Do you really?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Yes, I do,” he started, “If I would have walked in on you doing some guy I probably wouldn’t want to look at you either. Actually, I don’t think I’d ever forgive you.” he said point blank.

  She couldn’t believe her ears! Usually this kind of conversation ended with him saying, “Have a nice life!” “OK,” she said. “Maybe you do understand. I am going to go now. I’ll call you later or tomorrow, I’ve got a lot of thinking to do,” she told him. “So, bye.”

  “OK. But first, could you do me a favor?” he asked cautiously.

  “What?”

  “Just remember that I love you with all my heart and that I am really sorry. I never ever wanted to hurt you.” he told her.

  “OK, I’ll try to remember that.” she said. “Bye.”

  “Bye.” he said and they both hung up.

  What would happen now? She thought. What would she tell Shane? Her head simply spun. She didn’t know why she didn’t think of it sooner. She picked up the phone and dialed.

  “Hey!” she said. “What are you doing right now?”

  “Julie? Is that you?” the voice asked.

  “Of course it’s me, Jen! Who did you think it was?” She joked.

  “I’m not doing anything, why? What’s up?” Jen asked.

  “I thought that if you weren’t doing anything, we could go grab a drink...” she paused, “or two.” She laughed.

  “OK, sounds like a plan,” Jen agreed. “Where do you want to go?”

  “How about you meet me at The Stomping Ground?” she asked.

  “OK. Good deal. See you in a bit,” Jen said.

  “Great! See ya then. Bye.” They both hung up.

  PART 2

  CHARITY & JEFF

  Julie went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her green eyes were bloodshot and puffy from all the crying she had been doing. Her hair was just hanging there like a shag carpet. And she definitely needed to find some clothes to wear; she certainly couldn’t go in sweats! She went to her closet to find something that would make her feel sexy and desirable. Then as she looked through several smutty outfits, she changed her mind and wanted to look casual yet comfy. Nothing to dressy. She settled for a pair of loose fitting jeans and a low cut black top with short sleeves. The shirt wasn’t tight it merely accentuated the positive - mainly her breasts.

  Back to the bathroom to apply her makeup and try to do something with her hair. After the fi
nishing touches of her makeup were done, she decided that she would just pull her hair up in a twist and clip it to her head. It was cute and she was satisfied with her appearance. She looked at the clock; it was time to go meet Jen. And off she went.

  As Julie pulled into the Stomping Ground, she looked around for Jen’s car. When she didn’t see it she assumed that she hadn’t arrived yet. She parked and went inside to wait for Jen. As she walked through the cloud of smoke, she glanced around to see if anyone else was there who she might know; mainly Matt or Shane. Through the neon lights she could see a small group of about five girls hanging around the jukebox staring at the guys playing pool. In the far corner of the bar were a few older guys, probably in their 40s, playing poker and smoking cigars.

  In the back playing air hockey were a couple of guys, one was a guy named Ryan who she had met a few times. They weren’t exactly friends but whenever they ran into each other they would always chat for a few. He was a good looking guy. He was of average height and build. Approximately five feet eight inches tall and one hundred and fifty pounds. He had light brown hair and green eyes. The greenest eyes she had ever seen; they looked like emeralds. She debated on whether or not she should go say hi, then the idea faded and she headed towards the bar in the center of the room. She glanced out on the dance floor and saw a few small clusters of people dancing. When she got to the bar, she found a spot and climbed onto a bar stool.

  As Julie was sitting at the bar, she decided to order a drink while she was waiting. She noticed the bartender across the bar in the corner making out with her boyfriend, Jeff. This was typical behavior for Charity, she really loved her boyfriend. It was as if she couldn’t get enough of him. Charity was a nice person, she was outgoing and friendly. She was a beautiful woman of roughly twenty-eight years old. She had long reddish brown hair that hung down below her shoulders, brown eyes, and a body to die for. Her waist was thin and her curves were ‘kicking.’Her boyfriend, Jeff, was pretty cute too. He was around twenty-two years old. He had dark brown hair, a goatee and blue eyes, and he had a great body! Nice muscular arms and a flat stomach...not to mention a nice hard ass.

  Julie waited a few minutes for Charity and Jeff to come up for some air to order her drink. But a few of the guys at the bar started complaining and interrupted them. Charity got up off Jeff’s lap and walked back over to the bar to wait on her “drunks.” Julie noticed that she was wearing a really cute outfit: a little black miniskirt with high heels, and a sheer black blouse with only a black bra underneath. It really made her body get noticed...not to mention probably helped her with her tips for the night. When she was finished tending to the obnoxious men she went over to Julie.

  “What can I get ya?” The usual?” Charity asked.

  “Yeah, thanks.” Julie answered.

  When Charity returned she handed Julie a whiskey and Coke.

  “Thanks, Charity.” she said as she paid for her drink.

  “Sure thing, Hun,” she said as she headed back to Jeff. She and Jeff started kissing once more.

  Everyone at the bar saw Jeff put his hand on her ass as she was going to sit on his lap. Someone somewhere yelled, “Take it off, baby!” And another said, “Hey! Get a room!”

  Julie looked away and glanced around to see if her friend had arrived yet. But there was no sign of Jen. Julie sipped at her drink. She looked around again and although it wasn’t Jen she did see a familiar face. It was Shane! He was making a beeline right for her.

  “Hi, Jules! What are you doing here?” he asked as he threw his arms around her.

  “Hi. I was just waiting for Jen,” she reported.

  “Oh.” He paused and looked around. “You are alone right now, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, why?” she asked.

  “I thought that maybe Matt was with you or something.” He said as he looked around again.

  “No.” she said with such an attitude that Shane knew that something was wrong.

  “I’m sorry, I just thought.” He said.

  Julie just looked at him. She didn’t want to tell him about what she had seen earlier that day. She wasn’t sure what he wanted from her now that they had had sex. She knew that he had feelings for her and she knew that she had feelings for him too, but she also decided to try to work things out with Matt. She knew if she told Shane that she had caught Matt in bed with Chelsea he might think that this was the perfect time for him to swoop down and rescue her. And she didn’t know if she needed rescued or not.

  He picked up on her vibes. “Hey?” He asked sincerely, “Is something wrong?” Is there something I should know?” When she didn’t answer right away he continued, “You didn’t tell Matt about last night did you?” He asked as if this would be the end of the world.

  “No, I didn’t tell Matt about last night.” She snapped, a little annoyed by this line of questioning.

  “Didn’t tell Matt about what?” She heard from behind Shane. It was Jen!

  “Jen!” Julie yelled. “I am so happy that you are finally here. What took you so long?” She asked as she hugged her friend.

  Jen was Julie’s absolute best girl friend. She was a cute little thing, a little shorter than Julie’s 5’6” frame. Jen had short blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She was certainly a wild child. She used to chase her boyfriend all over the place because she was convinced that he was always cheating on her. (But in her defense, he did cheat on her…a lot!) She would go so far as to sniff his neither regions when he got home to make sure that he wasn’t with another woman! Tonight she had come into the bar wearing a pair of little short denim shorts and a red halter top that showed off her petite curves and dainty body.

  “I had to stop and get gas. I didn’t think you’d be here yet.” She looked at Shane, “But I see that you had someone to keep you company. Hi, Shane.” She said.

  “Hi, Jen. How are ya? I haven’t seen you for a while.” Shane asked her.

  “Fine. Just fine.” She answered.

  Jen stepped up to the bar and shouted, “Hey Charity! How about some service?” She laughed.

  Charity looked up and again had to get up off of Jeff’s lap to wait on a few customers. “what can I get you, Jen?” She asked.

  “How about a bottle of beer?” She said.

  “Yeah, me too.” Shane chimed in.

  Charity came back and delivered the beer and went back to Jeff.

  Jen sat down in the bar stool to the right of Julie, “So, what didn’t you tell Matt about?” She asked.

  Julie glanced at Shane and then back to her friend. “I can’t really talk about it right now.” She said in a voice that her friend would recognize as the ‘I’ll tell you later voice.'

  “Oh, OK.” She nodded.

  Julie set her glass on the edge of the bar so that she could get a refill, but Charity was gone. Jeff came over to her. “What do you need?” He asked.

  “Whiskey and Coke.” Was her reply.

  “OK I can handle that.” He said.

  When he returned with her drink Julie asked him, “So, where did Charity go?”

  “I think she’s in the bathroom.” He said and walked away.

  Jen looked at Shane and then at Julie trying to figure out what was up with them. She thought that maybe…but then, nah. “So what did you do last night?” She asked. “I tried to call you.”

  “Oh I went with Matt to Keith and Karen’s wedding reception.”

  “They finally got married?” She asked.

  “Yeah, they went to the J.P. and then had a big party afterwards. I wasn’t having much fun until Shane dropped in and saved me.” She said while smiling at Shane.

  “Really?” She said in a voice that meant to be all knowing.

  “Yeah we went for a ride and then he took me to my car and I found Matt passed out in my car! So I had to fight to get him out of the car when I got him to his place.” She stated the facts.

  “Well, when did you get home?” She asked. “I think the last time I called it was like 2AM.�
��

  “It was a little before that, but I didn’t get any messages from you.” Julie told her.

  “Jules, you know I hate those things.” She laughed.

  “Yeah, I know. But you could at least say ‘Hey, its me, give me a call.’or something.”

  “Yeah, I know. When I called at 2 it was busy. Who were you talking to at 2AM?” She asked.

  “Shane. He called to make sure I made it home. Then I was fighting with Matt and didn’t want to hear any more so I took it off the hook.” She explained.

  “Oh.”

  “Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom, I shall return.” Julie said. Then got up to walk to the bathroom.

  Shane took this as his cue to vamoose. “Jules, I’m gonna go mingle, I’ll talk to you in a bit. OK?”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” She said.

  He gave her a hug and walked away.

  Julie walked into the two-stall bathroom and her mouth about hit the floor. Right there in the middle of the floor was a girl that didn’t look old enough to even be in a bar with some random guy having sex! The girl was on top of this man, bare naked. Her breasts were being cupped by his hands and mouth. She was moaning so loudly that Julie was amazed that no one outside had heard and came in to see what was going on. The girl looked up at her with such a look of astonishment. Julie turned around to leave and paused as she got to the door. She turned around and said, “Next time you should lock the door.” And then she walked out.

  She figured that she would just go get Jen to guard the door to the men’s room and go in there. When she walked out she saw Shane walking in her direction, so she grabbed him.

  “Shane, I need you to do me a really big favor.”

  “What?” He asked. Not sure what to expect.

  “I really have to go to the bathroom and I can’t go in the women’s. Will you guard the door for me so I can use the men’s?” She pleaded.

  “Sure. Let me see if it’s clear for you to go in first.”

  “OK, thanks.”

  Shane tried to open the door and it wouldn’t open. “That’s weird. I think it’s locked.”