Falling for the Seal

by Mia Ford

  “I’m glad to see you as well, Gillian. Since you are already here, I thought that I might give you a brief hint of what we will be doing. I’ve talked to a friend of mine and I do hope that you’re not afraid of heights. That’s all I’m going to say and the rest I will leave up to you to fill in the blanks. I’m going to give him a call and have everything prepared for this evening. We can meet there, or you can give me your address and I can show up to pick you up.” This was his way of trying to find out where my home field advantage was.

  “It would be best that we meet there. I’ll give you a call. I have your number.” That last statement was my way of telling him that I was onto him, but not coming out and saying it blatantly and outright.

  “I have to say that I did enjoy myself the other night. I was hoping that you would call earlier, but it wasn’t like I was hanging by my telephone. I’m not some silly little girl in high school that gossips to her friends and waits with girlish glee for the phone to ring. You really have no idea what kind of man I am. I like to take things to the extreme. It’s my way of shocking the woman that I’m with. That fear really does have a very profound effect on them. Scary movies or roller skating are some of the things that I have done to impress.” I kinda liked the way that he looked this morning like he had just rolled out of bed.

  “I have dinner plans, but I’ll be there.” It was a little odd for him to make plans at 9:00 PM in the evening, but he did have my curiosity piqued. He told me that what I was wearing was perfectly fine and that there was no reason to dress up. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that he was a serial killer about to take me to some desolate location to get rid of the body.

  “You’re not the only one that has dinner plans.” My heart sank, thinking that he was two-timing and playing the field. “My mother called this morning and now I’m obligated to make her dinner while my father’s out of town. I know that she’s going to ask to stay over, but I’m not sure that it’s a good idea for us to be under the same roof. We really do tend to get on each other’s nerves. I never was able to please her growing up. Everything that I did had to be perfect.” I was getting a better understanding of his psychology and the hold that his mother had on him.

  “It’s nice to see a man caring for his mother. It shows that he can be devoted to one woman. It’s always a good sign when a man that I’m dating is close to his family. I do want you to know that it was hard for me to keep you waiting on pins and needles. I came very close to calling you an hour after I left you at the restaurant. I just thought that I owed it to women everywhere to give you a small taste of what we go through.” I knew that guys were stuck in the position of asking girls out. Our gender really didn’t have to do much of anything, unless we felt that the man was disinterested and had no idea that we were throwing the signals out to get his attention. I had been known to break down and do the impossible by asking a man out. I could see how that could be hard when rejection was a distinct possibility.

  “It’s a little petty, but I think that I can look past this indiscretion. You need me to give you a real reason to trust me. Those girls said things about me and it can’t be easy to get that out of your head. It’s not who I am, but you really don’t know that. Taking thing slow is a good idea and it’s not like we are limited in how much time we spend together. I’m willing to wait and leave things in dry dock for the time being. Don’t be surprised if I get overly amorous by kissing you and touching you. If you were me, wouldn’t you want to take the risk of getting your face slapped?” It was definitely an interesting way for him to look at things.

  “I’ve taken more than enough of your time. Not sleeping together convinces me to give you a chance. I want to see what you have up that sleeve of yours. I have to pick up a few more things and maybe we can walk together.” He nodded his head and we did spend another 10 minutes in the store. We talked about nothing in particular and separated at the cashier.

  I had retrieved my own car and I could see that he was driving the Corvette that he had just finished signing on the dotted line. It had that new car smell and the metal was gleaming and had a few younger guys staring at it in a dreamlike fashion.

  He was parked directly across from me and I could feel his eyes from behind. I bent over with my ass the only thing that he could see. I knew what I had and wasn’t above working it. This was the kind of jeans that would need the Jaws of Life to get out of. There was no wiggle room, but Sergio Valente really did know how to make clothes for women.

  “I know what you’re looking at. I can set my watch to how easily it is to get you to look at me.” I turned quickly to see him looking into the sky and whistling like he wasn’t undressing me with his eyes. “You are that bad boy that always gets women to think that they can fix him. I’m beginning to think that I’m going to need protection.” I didn’t know that it was the slip of the tongue until his eyes rolled up and his fingers began to stroke the day-old growth of hair on his chin.

  “I’m sure that you meant that in a different way. I relate something like that sexually. If we ever do get that far, I can assure you that I have taken care of that. I do believe that I have said too much or maybe not enough. I suppose it depends on your point of view.” I was playing a dangerous game. It was meant to keep the home fires burning, but it was also having an undesirable side effect of making me want to leap into his arms.

  “Damn it, you are doing that on purpose to make me want to see the inside of your bedroom. Once you get me in there, there’s no going back and that’s a pretty damn good ploy if I don’t say so myself. You would make a consummate salesperson. Come to think of it, I never did ask what you did for a living. You already know what I do and you’ve seen me in action. You actually bought a car from me.” He didn’t give me the courtesy of saying anything more and got into his car and drove away with me questioning his motives.

  By saying nothing, he really did make it necessary for me to step up my game. He was the one that I was hired to turn into a gibbering idiot. Those girls wanted him to be castrated metaphorically and given that very distinctive letter A for adultery that hung around his neck like a noose. If they were thinking that he was going to fall into a pit of depression, then they really didn’t know this man. Women come and go and I had no doubt that I would find some very disturbing results if I were to use a black light on his sheets.

  I could almost see the blue discoloration of where his bodily fluids would be found. It would be found in the sheets, the floor, against the wall, in the shower and even on the stairs. That thought alone made me bite on the tip of my index finger and sway back and forth with that image causing my legs to feel like they had turned to jelly.

  I had to shake myself from that thought with a weekend warrior standing no more than a few feet away. I shrugged my shoulders, bounced up and down for his amusement and followed his eyes as he looked at those two beautiful round orbs that were in perfect symmetry to the rest of my body.

  I drove away with him still standing there, stunned and the bag that he was carrying ripping in his hands. The contents fell to the ground and that was when he came out of that sexual trance that I had put him into. It was fun to play with his emotions. I was practicing and using this man in the place of Marshall.

  I figured by the time that I had finished some errands that it would be time to let the girls know of my progress. They had paid me half up front. The money was my way to make sure that they were serious. I could tell that Lillian and Tina were not going to stand for his behavior. Julia was that dark horse that could throw a monkey wrench into my plans. I had to find a way to make her see that what this man was doing was wrong. That his time had to come or he would continue to act this way with other women.

  Chapter six

  When I got out of the car, I could hear raised voices coming from inside. It didn’t look like they had waited for me to play referee. I walked briskly up the driveway, looking at this house and knowing that it probably cost more than the studio apartme
nt that I was renting. I could’ve easily bought something more permanent, but I had no interest in putting down roots. I had no idea when that nomadic spirit would come over me, but I was waiting for the call. That hadn’t happened in a couple of years. When it did, I would leave skid marks on the lives that I touched.

  I found the door open and I barged in with everybody stopping what they were doing. They stared at me. I could tell that Julia was upset that she had been ambushed. Lillian had her hands on the back of her neck and she was looking at me for any kind of help that I could give them.

  There was definitely a feminine touch to the living room with splashes of color that no man in their right mind would put together.

  “If I had been any later, I’m sure that there would’ve been an audience at the window. You know how a man likes to see women fight amongst themselves. It’s a bit of an erotic charge. That is the reason why they watch women wrestling and cage fighting. All of you; take a seat and let’s calm down before we begin.” I passed Lillian my contribution to dinner which consisted of a very decadent chocolate cheesecake from Antonio’s restaurant.

  “I’ve had just about enough of this and I’m leaving.” Julia tried to dodge around me, but I had played football with the guys and knew exactly what move she was going to make. “I don’t need this. I love him and I don’t think that I’ve ever stopped. He needs to know how I feel. I’m going to tell him everything and there’s nothing that any of you can do to stop me.” I saw a glass vase and I was tempted to smash it upside her head to knock some sense into her.

  “Nobody’s telling you that you’re not entitled to your feelings. I do think that it would be good for you to hear us out before you do anything that you’re going to regret.” She had on a pair of black pants, skintight and it was obviously her way of getting Marshall to give her attention. The red shirt was covered by a long open white sweater.

  “I’ve already been through this with the two of them and I don’t need you to get into the middle of this. You’re only doing this because you’re getting paid to. It makes me sick to my stomach and I can’t sleep knowing that you’re playing him for a fool.” Her emotions were tangled up and her heart was raging out of control for a man that probably didn’t even remember her name. Come to think of it, when he mentioned that the girls were following him, he couldn’t say her name. He said Lillian, Tina, and the other one.

  This was not something that I could tell Julia. She would think that it was some sort of maneuver and I would lose any hope of convincing her that he wasn’t right for her.

  “I’m not here to tell you that your feelings don’t matter. All of you have been in the same shoes. I get this feeling that you might have daddy issues. There’s no reason to get up in my face. I’m just telling you how I see things and you can obviously refute my claim. Let me tell you what I have learned about him so far and maybe that will change your mind.” I took her hand gently, showing no animosity and led her to where she was sitting shaking like a leaf.

  “I know exactly what he’s like and I don’t need you to tell me. I’ve always been a good catholic girl. I’ve never strayed from the flock. I’ve done what I’ve been told and I’m through with it. If I want to be with him, then why should I listen to any of this?” It was a good question and one that I was prepared to answer because I had gone over it in my head a hundred times since talking to Lillian.

  “I understand where you’re coming from. I’ve been there myself and it’s hard to see what is right in front of you. I have some insights that you might want to hear. Can you at least listen for the next 20 minutes? If after what I have to say nothing changes, then I will gladly give back the money and we can all go our separate ways.” She was fuming, but at least she wasn’t tearing out of here with the water works on display.

  “I need to say something.” Tina was sitting in a gray chair with her legs folded wearing a summer dress which was a little unusual for this weather. “Marshall does have some good qualities. He shows compassion, but it’s only an act and I’m ashamed to think back on the things that I did with him. I have a boyfriend and after looking myself in the mirror, I realized that he was the devil in disguise. I told my boyfriend and he was understandably upset, but he reminded me that we weren’t married. We are still together, but it was a rocky road for a time. This man does not deserve your respect.” Tina was soft-spoken and there wasn’t an ounce of hatred that seeped into any words that came from her mouth.

  “I don’t see what difference that makes. I doubt that he told you that he was looking for love and didn’t know how to recognize it until he met me.” Her voice was echoed as all three of them mimicked the very same sentence verbatim. I could tell that Julia was stunned. She thought that she was special enough for him to treat her differently than others.

  “We’ve all heard that before and it’s his way of lowering our guard. I fell for it myself. I look back and I think how stupid I was to give him that kind of power over me. Don’t you see that he has learned to weasel his way into our lives? You can’t be that out of touch with reality that you don’t understand that he’s a loser. He only needs to give us one look and we follow him like he’s some sort of pied piper. I don’t blame you for feeling this deeply and I still do in some regard.” It was nice to see that they were talking and not screaming at each other. Lillian had now lowered her register and was touching Julia’s hand. She was giving her a reason to grieve for a relationship that never was.

  “You all took a huge risk by coming to me for help. My plan was to meet him and then strike up a conversation, but things didn’t go exactly as I intended. He followed you and then confronted me where I worked.” I could tell that they were not happy with this new set of circumstances. “I convinced him that you were all there to warn me about him. I had to do some fancy footwork, but I let him know that I would be responsible for how I perceived him. I told him that I would not allow anybody to run his name through the mud.” They listened intently without saying one word.

  “I knew that there was a reason why we came to you. There’s no way that either one of us could have done any better than what you did. I think that it goes without saying that we need to be united. If there is a weak link, then we need to either fix it or forget this whole thing.” It was obvious that her comments were meant for Julia.

  We all turned and looked at her at the same time, putting her in our cross hairs and giving her a reason to throw her hands up in defeat. “I don’t see how you are going to make me forget about how nice he can be. There’s no way that you can take away how gentle a lover or how he brought the woman out of me too many times to count.” They had similar stories and I was running high with a temperature of 101 between my legs. I could see myself testing their theory and seeing if it held true.

  I could smell the fragrance of Italian meatballs in the air. These were women after my own heart and had an affinity for Italian Food. I hadn’t told them anything about my heritage, but I was quite pleased that they had made something that would whet my appetite for the revenge that they were seeking.

  “I don’t know how you can expect me to go along with this. All of you must know that it’s wrong to play with somebody’s life. Need I remind you that he didn’t force us to do anything against our will?” This was a woman of reason, but she was only making excuses for a man that was more dangerous than those that lurked outside of windows.

  “The only thing that I want you to do, Julia is to let this play out for a little while longer. I’m sure that you can find something to occupy your time. The one thing that you can’t do is dwell on this or it’s going to drive you up the wall.” Lillian knew what she was talking about and she was suffering by keeping this from her husband.

  I told them about how I had made him wait and then accidentally ran into him at the market. This was the first time that I saw Julia smile, but it didn’t last for any more than a fraction of a second. I could see that she was still on the fence. Her feelings for him had not gone
away and it didn’t matter how he had literally cut her out of his life by not answering her phone calls. It should have been clear to her when the voice came back as out of service. It was obvious to me that he had to break his contract and get another phone and number to go along with it.

  “I smell something good in the kitchen. We might be able to see things differently on a full stomach.” I was trying to keep things cordial and decided to change the subject.

  Lillian motioned for us to follow and then we walked into a dining room that was perfectly placed. Everything was where it was supposed to be and we all sat down as Lillian came over and served us rigatoni with meatballs and a sauce that obviously came from the empty bottle of Catelli on the counter.

  We all raised our glasses and toasted to a sisterhood and a bond that could not be broken by the mere presence of a pretty face and body to match. “I want to take this opportunity to make you a solemn vow that I will not give up. This has become just as important to me as it has to all of you.” What I wasn’t telling them was that I was actually looking forward to seeing him again.

  “I don’t know how you can be that close to him and not feel something. You must have ice water running through your veins.” Julia had made the table dinner conversation become more of a bashing of my character. “Can you honestly sit there and say that you wouldn’t want to sleep with him? That if you get the chance that you wouldn’t give him the benefit of your company in his bed.” I wasn’t sure how to respond so I decided to give her a political answer.

  “I’m attracted to him, but this wouldn’t work unless there was something between us. I’m going to do everything and anything to get him to fall for me. I’m already on the right track and having him wait for me by the phone was a good test.” I told her something and nothing. It appeased her without her realizing that I had tap-danced around the subject.