by Claire Adams
“Hello.”
“Hello?” Megan’s tone was disbelieving.
I smiled. “Umm…yes.”
“Seriously?” She sounded incredulous and happy all at the same time and I hoped that meant that despite the fact that she had been taken off guard, she was happy about my declaration.
“Uh… Megan…”
“I cannot believe you texted that to me!” she said, cutting me off.
I laughed. “That was poor judgement on my part.”
“That’s your defense?” she replied. “Poor judgement?”
“Well… I felt it in that moment and I wanted you to know how I felt…immediately,” I said.
“You could have called,” she pointed out.
I smiled. “In hindsight, I should have called. Actually, I should have waited till we were face to face to say that to you.”
“That would have been the better moment,” she agreed.
“I just couldn’t wait any longer,” I said. “It’s a weak defense, but it’s the only one I’ve got.”
She was silent for a moment. “Do you really?” she asked quietly, in a tone that was serious and hesitant.
“Do I what?” I asked.
“Do you really…love me?” Megan asked.
I smiled. “I do,” I told her, without missing a beat. “I love you, Megan.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “I did not expect that when I woke up this morning.”
“Is that…a good thing?” I asked nervously, conscious of the fact that she hadn’t said it back to me yet.
“It’s an amazing thing, Phil,” Megan assured me. “I never expected for a guy like you to feel that way about someone like me.”
“Someone like you?” I repeated, in confusion. “What are you talking about? You’re perfect.”
“Please…”
“No, really,” I said. “You are perfect to me.”
“Phil?”
“Yes?”
“I love you, too,” she said, and it was almost a whisper.
I felt a surge of happiness rush through my body, and I never thought I would ever feel the urge to jump for joy. It wanted to be near her immediately. It almost felt like we needed to consummate this moment.
“I want to be with you,” I said.
“Me, too,” Megan said. “If you’d just waited to tell me this, then we would have been together.”
I laughed. “Point taken.” I nodded. “I will make it up to you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Megan asked. “How?”
“With sexual favors,” I responded.
She laughed. “Sounds like a fair trade,” she said. “I might just have to return the favor.”
“I’m counting on it,” I said.
We hung up a few minutes later, and I set off to the court to meet Brent. I was surrounded in a fog of happiness and not even Brent’s sarcastic quip about my lateness soured me. We played a couple of rounds and then we took a break on the benches to drink some water and cool down a little.
I noticed that Brent wasn’t as talkative as he normally was, which was weird given that he was the one that wanted to meet today. I watched him closely for signs that he might be high, but he seemed completely sober to me, just a little moody and withdrawn.
“So, how’s your business going, man?” I asked, hoping to sound casual.
“Now you ask?” Brent said, with an edge to his tone.
I raised my eyebrows. “I’ve asked about it before.”
“Like once,” he complained. “In passing, so it doesn’t count. And, I could tell you weren’t interested in listening, anyway.”
“That’s not fair.”
“All you seem to be interested in lately is fucking my sister.”
“Hey, now…”
“It’s true.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, I happen to have a full-time job with crazy hours,” I pointed out. “I barely sleep during the week and when I do get a day off, yeah… I like to spend it with my girlfriend. Is that a crime?”
“She’s got you so whipped,” Brent said, and I could tell he was trying to get a rise out of me.
“I know for a guy like you that’s an insult,” I said calmly. “But I couldn’t care less what you think of me. I’m confident in myself and my relationship with Megan, and I’m not going to let you make me feel bad about either one.”
“Oh, of course,” Brent said mockingly. “Because nothing can get to the confident Phil Roberts. He’s the only one capable of turning his life around and making something of himself.”
I frowned. “Excuse me?”
“Nothing,” he mumbled.
“Is that what all this hostility is about?” I asked. “You’re jealous that I’ve bettered myself? Because if that is the case, then maybe you should grow the fuck up and start taking responsibility for some of your life choices.”
“Meaning what?”
“Quit smoking so much pot and get yourself a fucking job.”
“I have a business,” he said vehemently.
“Please,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“You don’t believe me?” He looked livid now.
“It’s hard to believe someone who doesn’t really tell you anything about his business,” I said. “And let’s leave that aside; what about the fact that no one ever sees you doing any actual work? If you really do have a business, then shouldn’t you be doing more than sleeping in till noon and walking around your apartment in your underwear all the time?”
“Oh, I get it… You start dating my sister, and she becomes your fucking spy.”
“I notice you’re not denying anything.”
“Fuck you, Phil,” Brent said, standing up and walking away from me. “If you were a good friend, I’d have told you everything that was going on in my life, including what was happening with my business.”
“Okay, if you really do have a business, what is it?” I demanded.
“None of your fucking business,” he yelled, walking further away.
Incensed, I couldn’t stop myself from calling out after him. “Grow the fuck up, Brent. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to hold down a job.”
His response was to flip me the finger without even turning around. He walked right out of the court, turned the corner, and was gone. I sighed, realizing that Megan had asked me to find out why her brother was so upset lately. I was pretty sure I had brought his mood down even more.
I was contemplating going after him and trying to get him to talk to me calmly, but I got a message on my phone and got distracted.
“I miss you,” Megan wrote. “Can’t wait to see you tonight.”
And instantly, the rest of the world fell away, and I felt better.
Megan
“He did what?” Marta asked in disbelief.
“He told me he loved me,” I said. “In a text.”
She laughed. “Men are so clueless sometimes. How did he explain it?”
“He said that he felt it so strongly in the moment that he wanted me to know immediately and didn’t want to wait to tell me.”
“Hmm…as reasons go, that’s a pretty decent one,” Marta said thoughtfully. “In fact, some would say it’s downright romantic.”
“Do you fall into that category?” I asked, amused at the expression on her face.
“Possibly.” She nodded. “I’m a sucker for all that romantic stuff. What did you say? Did you reply to the text?”
“I didn’t reply him back if that’s what you mean,” I said. “I called.”
“To say…”
“To yell at him, first of all,” I laughed. “But also to tell him that I loved him, too.”
“Aww,” she said, with a little twinkle in her eye.
“Stop it,” I laughed.
“When are you seeing him?”
“Tonight, hopefully,” I said. “I thought I might sneak out of here a little early and wait for him at his apartment.”
“Naked?”
“Marta!�
�� I exclaimed.
“What?” she said. “It’s a good way to greet a man who’s just professed his love for you.”
“I don’t know if I have the guts.”
“Find the guts,” she encouraged. “He’s fallen in love with you, remember? That means something.”
I smiled, amazed at how wonderfully this day had turned out. After I had hung up with Phil, I had been so wired that I’d actually set up a meeting with one of the administrators that handled the education course division of the company. She had agreed to meet with me at five o’clock to answer my questions.
With everything going on in my head, I wasn’t very productive at work, and at five to five, I packed my bag up and prepared to get to the third floor where Miriam Tanner’s office was located.
“I’m proud of you, taking the first steps towards self-improvement,” Marta said. “Wonder where you got all this confidence from suddenly?”
I smiled. “I can’t possibly say.”
“I can,” she said. “And he has a name.”
“See you tomorrow, Marta,” I laughed.
“Good luck, honey,” she replied, waving me off.
I headed into the meeting with Miriam, who turned out to be a portly woman in her mid-forties. She had bright red hair and piercing blue eyes that looked ten years younger than the rest of her face. She was pleasant and patient, and in twenty minutes, all my questions were answered, and I was starting to look forward to the possibility of signing up for a few business courses soon.
“If you’re interested in business management, you’ll have to wait another five months to sign up for the next course. The current was started up weeks ago and it might be too much for you to catch up on,” Miriam told me. “There are two other courses coming up though; economics and industry starts in seven weeks and ergonomics starts in three.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I nodded. “Thank you so much, Miriam.”
“Of course.” She nodded.
I stepped out of her office and took the elevator down to the ground floor with my head full of course fees and timetables. I wondered what I could manage and what courses fit into my price range.
There were about three different courses I was interested in taking and I knew I’d have to take them one at a time so that I could continue to work full time, as well. Phil popped into my head, and I knew I wanted to make time for him, too.
I checked my phone as I left the building and I realized I had a message from my brother. I opened it up and started to read it, wondering why he was texting at all, he never texted me.
“You’re laughing at me… I know you are. You and him both, and I won’t stand for it anymore. I am your brother, and I am a big man. You remember that, okay? I know you think I can’t do anything right, but that’s not true. You don’t know me. No one’s ever understood me and I’m going to show everyone. I’m someone, got it? I’m someone.”
I frowned, wondering what on earth he was on about. The text was almost threatening and if it were anyone else, I might have been alarmed and maybe even a little scared. But I knew Brent. He was childish and immature, and he was also prone to temper tantrums.
I suspected that he and Phil had had another disagreement over their catch up this morning and I sighed at the thought. It was strange how fast their friendship had deteriorated in the last couple of months, and I wondered if I had anything to do with that.
I tried calling Brent to see what was up with him, but there was no answer. I tried again, but still no answer. I decided to just try again later, but I had to admit I was too excited about seeing Phil to dwell on Brent and his little outbursts. I wondered if I should pack a bag and just stay at Phil’s place for a few days. It sounded like Brent might need the space.
I stopped by the apartment, put together an overnight bag with one change of clothes, and headed to Phil’s place. I knew he wouldn’t be home for another hour at least, but I knew where the spare key was. I let myself into his apartment, tidied up a bit because I just couldn’t help myself, and then lay down on his bed to wait for him. Five minutes ticked by before Marta’s suggestion started replaying in my head.
I sat up again and glanced at myself in the small mirror opposite Phil’s bed. Did I dare? I realized I was actually considering it and that sent a pitter-patter running through my heart. I got up slowly and removed my shirt. I felt a little thrill at the prospect of welcoming Phil home naked. I had never thought of myself as a seductress, but suddenly I wanted to step into that role—even if it was only for today.
With my heart beating fast, I decided to grit my teeth and do it. So I stripped down to my underwear, contemplating whether this was enough. But then I decided to go the whole ten yards. So I took off my bra, pulled off my panties and lay down on his bed once again. Fifteen minutes later, I heard Phil’s key in the door and I jumped into a more enticing position, lying across his bed with my legs entwined together.
I heard him move through the apartment and a second later, he emerged at the door and stopped short, obviously not having expected I would already be in his apartment.
He stared at me for a moment and then I saw his eyes rake across my naked body. I looked down to his trousers and saw his erection pressed up against the material of his pants. That alone made me grateful I had done this. He didn’t say a word. He just dropped the bag he was carrying and got on top of me, kissing me frantically and passionately.
I laughed, but I gave myself over to him, and soon he was naked, too. I could tell that he was impatient today. He wanted to be inside me, and I wanted the same. When his cock slipped inside me, I moaned in pleasure and clung to his back, as my fingernails dug into his skin.
We had sex three times that night, with twenty-minute intervals between each toe-curling embrace. He took me from the front and the back, and once I was on top of him, riding him with the confidence I had always doubted I had. He made me feel more like a woman and more like myself in the same breath. I felt somehow as though I was getting to know myself better through Phil.
It was more than just the way his cock felt inside me. It was the way he made me feel when he looked at me. I came screaming, with his lips curled around my nipple.
“That was some welcome home,” Phil said, panting heavily.
“I was inspired.”
“By me?”
“By your declaration this morning,” I admitted.
“Even though I told you over text?” he asked teasingly.
“I’ve decided to forgive you for that,” I said.
“Why, thank you, ma’am,” he replied. “Now I feel like I need to do something for you.”
“You already have,” I said, giving him a little wink. “Although… you could try saying it to me again, now that we’re face to face.”
Phil smiled and leaned in to kiss me tenderly. When he broke apart, his beautiful eyes were only inches from mine. “I love you, Megan.”
I felt a thrill of happiness rush through me. “I love you, too.”
We made love and then sat together in his bed, entangled in the sheets and in each other and we discussed movies and movie stars and the world it had opened up to each of us. I had learned to dream by watching films and apparently, so had Phil; we had just come at it in different ways.
It was after our third heated love-making session that I remembered the strange text my brother had sent me as I had been leaving work.
“By the way, how’d it go with my brother this morning?” I asked.
“Oh.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked up at Phil. “That wasn’t the response I was expecting.”
He sighed and straightened up a little. “I tried to talk to him,” he said. “But…”
“But?” I pressed.
“I think he was just looking for a fight.”
“He does that with me, too,” I admitted. “So, did you give him the fight he was looking for?”
He bit his lip.
“Oh, Phil!” I said.
> “I know, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” I sighed. “It’s Brent… Something’s been going on with him lately. And, I don’t think it’s good.”
“I’ve noticed that, too,” Phil nodded. “Do you think…”
“What?” I asked.
“Do you think he’s in some sort of trouble?” he asked. “Serious trouble?”
“And, it’s so bad that he’s lashing out at his sister and his friend?” I asked. “I don’t think so. Brent is an idiot, but he’s harmless. He’s just in one of his moods.”
“It’s a mood that’s lasted a very long time,” Phil said.
“He’s probably short on pot.” I shrugged.
“I’ve been thinking about that, too.” Phil nodded. “And I know he’s still in touch with Harvey.”
“Harvey?” I asked curiously.
“He’s a pot dealer I used to know back in the day,” Phil admitted. “I actually met Brent through him.”
“I thought you said you never really did drugs.”
“Does pot count as drugs?” he asked, with a laugh.
I frowned. “Yes.”
“I may have smoked a little pot when I was younger,” Phil admitted. “But I never did anything harder. And I stopped smoking up years ago. But I stayed in touch with Harvey because he was a decent guy and we got along.”
“So you think… What exactly?” I asked.
“Brent hasn’t got his weekly fix, and he’s moody because of it,” Phil said. “I flushed his pot down the toilet around the time you first moved in with him actually. Maybe that’s why he’s been sort of resentful with me. He ran out.”
I frowned. “Something’s not right.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Phil said, sidling up to me and kissing my neck. “Brent’s a big boy. He can fend for himself.”
I smiled and turned into Phil’s body. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Phil
“Thank you so much!”
She was a slight little thing with silver-white hair and eyes that were brown and filmy. She had glasses that were too large for her face, and her face and hands were lined with veins. She seemed so fragile that it felt that if I blew she would just tip over. She stood before me with a look of profound gratitude on her face as she thanked me for what seemed like the tenth time.
