Love's Crazy Twists

by Johns, S. A.

  “Hmm, that’s strange.” Julie said. Just then the door opened and out came Charity. “Charity, what are you doing in the men’s room?” Julie asked.

  “Well, there is something going on in the women’s.” Charity said.

  “You saw that too? So did I!” Julie said. “You’d think that they would have locked the door after you walked in on them.”

  “Yeah, you’d think. Well, I got to get back to work. Oh yeah and the coast is clear…you can go in.” Charity said and then walked away.

  “OK, go in. I’ll watch the door.” Shane said.

  “Thanks.” She said and ran in. She turned to lock the door but it was a slide lock and it was at the top of the door and Julie couldn’t reach it. But she didn’t really care Shane was, after all, watching the door and he certainly wouldn’t let anyone in.

  She had just finished going to the bathroom and was washing her hands when the door opened. She flung around to see who it was, because obviously Shane wasn’t doing his job too well. She was shocked to see who it was. It was Shane!

  “What are you doing in here?” She asked. “You are supposed to be watching the door.”

  He turned to the door and locked it. “I don’t need to, there is a lock, remember?” He said, smiling. “I really need to talk to you about last night.” He told her.

  “Is this really the time and place for that?” She asked.

  “There is no time or place like the present.” He told her.

  “Shane, as much as I’d like to talk about it, you have to remember that Jen is out at the bar alone.” She looked at him for a second, all the memories from the night before were coming back in a flood. “And it would be rude for me to leave her alone after I invited her out.”

  “Well, I still want to talk about it.” He said walking closer to her.

  Her heart was racing because she knew that he was going to kiss her. And if he did she didn’t know if she would be able to resist him. She looked him up and down without making eye contact, and then she tried not to look at him at all. She couldn’t resist it anymore and looked right at him, “Can we talk about it later?” She asked.

  He was right in front of her, there was no way to avoid eye contact unless she closed her eyes. Then he did it. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, he leaned down and then placed his lips on hers and began kissing her. Her body was melting. She must fight off this temptation. She was going to work things out with Matt. She mustn’t… her thoughts drifted off as she was consumed with joy. Her mouth explored his as it had done the night before. She wanted him again. And she wanted him now.

  He pulled away and she almost fell from the lack of blood flow to her brain, she was dizzy and she stumbled back against the wall.

  “Now what did you do that for?” She snapped.

  “Well, you certainly didn’t fight me, now did ya?” He snapped back. “You know that you want me.” He said with such certainty that it was almost arrogant, and it angered her.

  “I have to try to work things out with Matt. Do you understand that? Even after today, I still have to try.” Only after she said it did she realize what she had said.

  “After today? What happened today? Huh, Julie?” He asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Come on, it wasn’t nothing or it wouldn't be such a big secret. Was it something that Matt said?” He asked.

  “No, it was nothing. OK? Now can we please just drop it?” She asked.

  “Come on Babe, please tell me. As your friend… I will do everything to help you.” He said.

  “I know you will. I just don’t know if I can talk about it yet. That is why I invited Jen out with me so that we could have a long talk about things.” She said.

  “Julie. I thought that I was your best friend. You can tell me anything.” He said. He was so sincere and sweet that Julie lost all defenses and gave in.

  “OK, I’ll tell you.” She said lowering her face.

  Shane placed his hand under her chin and gently lifted her face to look at him.

  “All right, whenever you’re ready.” He said. “I am here for you.”

  Her eyes filled up with tears and as she started to talk her tears began to fall. “Well, I went down to Matt’s today with all the fixings for lasagna and when I went in I caught him in bed with Chelsea!” She was now sobbing on his shoulder.

  “Oh, Baby, it’s all right. I’m here. I’m here.” He tried to soothe her but it was no use.

  “Oh! Oh and then…” She laughed. “Then I beat the shit out of both of them!” She sobbed again. “Now I don’t know what to do.”

  “That asshole! I will kill him for hurting you like this!” I already told you that he was no good for you.” He looked at her beautiful face now covered in flowing tears, and his heart melted. “Jules, Hun, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” He stopped.

  “No, it’s OK, you are right. He is an asshole. But that doesn’t make me not love him anymore. Yeah, sure, I’m angry, but love isn’t an emotion that I can just turn on and off like a light switch.” She said.

  “I know. Can I just add one more thing?” He asked.

  Julie nodded, “Go ahead.”

  “Well, I just wanted to say that if you ever decide to leave him for good…” he paused, “I will always be here waiting for you.” With that he put his arms around her and held her close.

  She pulled away. “I really got to get back to Jen. She probably thinks I fell in.” She cracked.

  “I guess so. But, um, can we still talk later?”

  “Of course. Call me later if you don’t see me first.” She smiled and walked out.

  When she walked out there were a couple of guys waiting to get in and when they saw her they just stared. Then they high-fived Shane when he followed her out.

  Julie went back to the bar and found Jen.

  “I’m sorry I took so long.” She told her friend.

  “No way!” She said. “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know. But oh well, what can you do?”

  “Exactly.” Jen said. “So what took you so long? Anyone in the bathroom?” She teased.

  “Well, actually, yes.” She grinned.

  “What? Who?” Jen begged to know.

  “I had to use the men’s room and I asked Shane to watch the door for me. Anyway, I was washing my hands and he came in and started talking to me. Then he wouldn’t let me leave, he just kept talking and then he kissed me.” She told as her friend listened to every word.

  “He kissed you? How did that come about?”

  “Well, since you asked, it is a long story.” She said.

  “OK, Jules, spill it!” Jen demanded.

  “All right, all right. Calm down. That is the whole reason I invited you to come out with me tonight. It’s been a long day and last night was even longer.”

  “OK, I am dying here. Just get to the good parts.”

  “Well, as you already know, I went riding around with Shane last night. Later he called me and I was crying because I was fighting with Matt, so he came over to make sure I was really OK. One thing led to another and we slept together.”

  Jen’s mouth dropped open. “What? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m being serious. I slept with Shane last night and once again this morning.”

  “Oh my God! Julie, I cannot believe this. Well how was he?” She asked.

  “He was amazing. Nothing at all like Matt. I still can’t believe that I did it. I cheated on Matt. I don’t regret the sex itself, but I feel really bad about the cheating part. So I thought that I would surprise Matt and make him dinner. But I was the one in for the surprise!” She said.

  Jen nodded, “Go on.”

  “I let myself in and I caught him in bed with Chelsea!” She almost yelled.

  “With that pig? Eww!”

  “Yeah I know. I dragged her out of the bed and I beat the shit out of them both!”

  “You go girl!” Jen said.

  “Yeah,
it was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. Chelsea, naked, and on top of my fiancé, all jiggling around. But she got what she deserved. I gave her a broken nose!” Julie said as Jen sat there laughing. “Then Matt was all like ‘leave her alone' and ‘what right do you have coming in here hitting people?’ I was so mad. I could have killed them both! So as she was leaving I started throwing spaghetti sauce at her… almost got her, too.” She stopped laughing and looked at her friend.

  “Then when I went home, I got 2 dozen roses delivered to my door. I thought they were from Shane. But they weren’t. They were from Matt.”

  “He must know he’s really in the dog house.”

  “Yeah really. He sounded really sorry and remorseful. So I think I want to try to work things out with him, after all, I cheated too.”

  “See, I always told you that Shane liked you.” She said.

  “Yes, Jen, I know. Oh listen to what he told me in the bathroom. He said if I ever decide to leave Matt for good that he’d always be waiting for me.” She paused. “Oh and he wants to talk about last night, in private. But I’m afraid that if I meet him in private I will end up doing it again. What do I do?”

  “Wow Jules, I don’t know. Are you sure you want to work it out with Matt? Look at all the times you called me up crying that he was drunk and he was being an asshole. Or the times you called saying he was in jail, or drunk somewhere and needed a ride at 4 in the morning. Is that really the life you want?”

  “I just don’t know anything anymore. I really do need some help.” She said. “What do you want me to do? Go after Shane?”

  “Well, it’s an idea, isn’t it?” Jen said.

  “I suppose so. But he is a truck driver, he is gone almost all the time. And is that good for me? To be alone all the time?” She asked.

  “I see what you mean. Tough call.”

  Julie set her empty glass on the bar and motioned to Charity that she was ready for another drink. Charity came and grabbed her glass and made her a fresh one.

  Julie turned back to her friend, “Yeah, and I haven’t talked to Matt since. I told him that I’d call him later tonight or tomorrow and we could talk.”

  “I don’t think I’d ever want to talk to again.” Jen said.

  “Yeah, well he cheated, I cheated, I still love him and he says he still loves me. I have to try to work it out. After all we are supposed to be getting married next year, remember?” She asked.

  “Yes, I remember. But enough of that, I want to hear more about Shane!” She said as her eyes widened, she wanted all of the details.

  “Jen, what do you want to know? Ask away.”

  “Really? Anything?” She demanded.

  “Yes, anything.” Julie told her. “You are my friend, and I’ll tell you anything.”

  “Cool! In that case, let’s start with the obvious. How big is he?” She asked with growing curiosity.

  “Well, I didn’t measure it or anything like that, but I’d have to say he was pretty well endowed.” Julie blushed.

  “Come on, I need more than that! I know what you are like, now tell me what I want to hear.” She snapped.

  “OK. I did it, and it was pretty hard to swallow!” Julie laughed at the obvious pun.

  “Very funny, Jul, very funny!” Jen laughed.

  “Did you expect anything less?” She was still chuckling.

  “I guess I asked for it, didn’t I?” She asked.

  “So what else do you need to know?” She asked.

  “Well, I guess that is description enough for me!” Jen laughed.

  “Let’s not talk about this anymore tonight, let’s just get on out there on that dance floor and do some dancing!” Julie almost shouted.

  “OK, good deal!” Jen agreed. “Let’s go!”

  Both young women got up and went out onto the dance floor. They danced and drank all night long. They were having a really good time. Charity called out, “Last call!” and both Julie and Jen went for one last drink. On the way over to the bar, Julie was a staggering mess.

  “Hey, Jules? Are you OK?” Jen asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She slobbered.

  “Maybe I should drive you home, you are pretty drunk.” Jen tried to reason.

  “Nah, I’m fine,” she said as she walked into a bar stool “Oops, excuse me.” She said to the stool.

  “Jules…” Jen stopped and looked at her friend. “I am definitely not letting you drive home. I’m taking you and that’s final! You are way too drunk to drive!”

  “Of course I’m drunk! Why wouldn’t I be drunk? My fiancé was in bed with another woman…and a fat one at that! I slept with my best friend and it was the best sex of my life but I am engaged and I shouldn’t have done it! And you expect me not to get drunk? I don’t think so!” She said as she staggered away.

  Jen was so angry that at that precise moment she didn’t care how Julie got home. Then she knew that she had to have someone take her home. She looked around for Shane, she knew that if Julie would listen to anyone it would be Shane. But he was nowhere in sight. She looked everywhere and asked everyone if they had seen him and no one had. She even went to the parking lot to look for either Julie or Shane’s cars. She didn’t see either and became frantic. “I have to do something, but what?” She said to herself. “I know… I’ll call Matt.” She said as she reached into her purse for her cell phone.

  She dialed the number and waited while it began ringing.

  “Hello?” the voice answered.

  “Matt? Hey this is Jen.” She said.

  “Jen if you called to scream and yell at me for hurting Julie you don’t have to waste your breath. I know I hurt her, I know that she is devastated, and I know that you hate me now too. So if that is all, good bye.” He said plainly. He sounded like he was very depressed by the recent events that had happened between him and Julie.

  “Matt, no that’s not why I called. I am very mad at you though. But that isn’t important right now. What’s important now are Julie and her safety.” She started.

  “Julie? What happened to Julie? Is she OK? Where is she?” He became hysterical thinking that something had happened to his precious Julie.

  “I don’t know where she is…”

  “What do you mean?” He interrupted.

  “What I mean is that we went to the Stomping Ground for a few drinks and she got really drunk, I wanted to drive her home, but she got mad at me and took off. I don’t know if she drove herself or what.” She tried to explain. “I didn’t know who else to call.”

  “OK, thanks, Jen. I will head to her house to see if she’s there, if not, I’ll wait. Call my cell if you find out anything else.” Matt told her.

  “OK, I will. Oh and if you find her please call me or have her call me, I am worried. One more thing, she is still really pissed at you, so don’t press your luck. Bye.” She said and hung up.

  Matt jumped up and grabbed his car keys and took off out the door. He had to find Julie, he had to know that she was all right. If something had happened to her he would blame himself for all eternity.

  He pulled into the driveway and she wasn’t there. He was frantic. He tried to call Jen’s cell to see if she found out anything, but there was no answer. “Of all the times to not answer your phone.” He said to himself. He sat on the porch and waited for her. The porch was off to the far side of her house, as was the front door. He lit a cigarette and waited. After all what else was there for him to do? Nothing. Then he fell asleep.

  He was awakened by the sound of Julie’s voice. It only took him a minute to realize that she wasn’t alone. He thought with all optimism that Jen had found her and convinced her to ride with her. He sat up and just as he did, he saw Julie staggering around the corner and Shane was leading her! Matt’s anger rose to an all-new high!

  “Shane, I’m fine!” She was saying.

  “Is that so? Then why am I walking you to the door?” He asked.

  “So I don’t have to crawl.” She said with a
laugh.

  “Jules! That is not funny.” He said.

  They didn’t even notice Matt’s car parked in the driveway. They came up onto the porch and didn’t seem to notice him sitting there either. Shane had the key and opened the door. Matt was extremely pissed off that they would just walk right past him. So he stood up.

  “Julie! Where have you been? I’ve been so worried.” He said as he walked right past Shane ‘accidentally' pushing him out of the way. “I’ve been trying to find you ever since Jen called.”

  “What? What are you talking about? Jen called you?” She asked.

  “Yeah, she was worried about you. Said that you were really drunk and wouldn’t let her drive you home. I thought that you were hurt somewhere. That’s why I came here looking for you.” He looked from Julie to Shane and back again. “I guess that I see you are OK, so I’d better go so that he can have his way with you again!” Matt yelled.

  “Matt, listen. I don’t know what you are talking about, all I did was find Julie passed out in her car, door wide open and since I am her friend, I thought the friendly thing to do was to make sure she got home in one piece.” Shane assured him. “That is all. I have no other intentions for her.” He finished.

  “Oh is that so? Is it?” Matt challenged.

  “Yes, Matt it is. Do you think that I would even try anything with her when she is so much in love with you?” Shane said sarcastically.

  “Well I know that you are a man and I know how men think. So I wouldn’t put it past you to try!” Matt yelled and shoved Shane backwards.

  “Well, let me tell you something pal! I am nothing like you! If Julie were my girlfriend, I would worship her. I would do any and everything for her. And I certainly wouldn’t cheat on her like you did!” He said and pushed him back.

  “That is none of your business! That is between her and me! So I suggest that you keep your nose out of it!” He yelled as he pushed back again.

  “Oh is that how you want to play?” Shane said as he stepped closer and bumped his chest into Matt’s. “It is my business when it involves an asshole like yourself, hurting my best friend in the whole world. Then yeah, I’ll step in with more than my nose!” He paused and looked at Matt momentarily before finishing. “If you want it…bring it on!” He coaxed.