Disclaimers: This story contains violence, adult situations, and same sex relationships, which at times are graphic. If this is not suitable for you, please don't read any further.

All characters found in this story are the creation of Lisa S. and are her property exclusively.

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Her
By Lisa S.

PART 4

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Saturday was another softball game.  Madeline and I debated whether or not she should go since Monte had suddenly taken an interest in the team. 

The last few games he’d been there, just as the game was about to start, uprooting a regular player from their position just so that he could show he could pull his weight around.  It was annoying and a real pain in the ass, but he could also have the team sponsorship pulled if he got pissed enough.  So, we let him in and we tried not to grumble too much. 

In the end, Madeline wanted to see me play and I was not woman enough to say that I wasn’t flattered.  Okay, I was really, really flattered, and I really liked the idea of her being there, in the stands, watching me play.  Actually, I’d be lucky if I could play with her watching me.  The thought alone made me tingle.  So, with some reluctance, but not much, I didn’t fight her.  We packed up the car and headed to the field. 

“Hey Spooky!”  Megan came bounding up to us as we got out of my car.  “Hiya Madeline,” she said, giving her a big huge. 

“How come I don’t get hugs anymore?”  I grumbled, then shrieked as someone came up from behind me and grabbed in a huge bear hug.  Getting over my shock I put two and two together and came up with the strongest person I knew.  “Hey Tree.”

“Hello Fox,” she said carefully putting me down onto my feet.  “Didn’t want you to feel left out.”  She tipped her baseball hat at Madeline.  “How do you like living with this one?”  Her thumb jerked in my direction. 

“Not too bad once you get passed certain things.”  Madeline gave Megan a knowing look and then both started to giggle.  I narrowed my eyes at them, wondering what all those phone calls had been about.  Obviously they had been busy discussing me! 

“What certain things are you talking about?”  I turned to Madeline, trying to look menacing, but it only caused her to giggle harder.  “Oh, you think that’s funny, huh?”  I brought my hands up and wiggled my fingers.  “Maybe I’ll have to tickle the information out of you!”

“Oh no,” she said between giggles, holding her hands up in protest as she started to back away.

“Oh yes!”  I hissed playfully as I moved closer.  I’d found out the night before that in addition to her belly button being sensitive, her stomach was very ticklish.  The sound of her laugh was enough to make little sparks of happiness ignite in me.  I made it my personal vow to make her laugh often and for the rest of her life.          

I chased Madeline around in a small circle until finally I caught her in my arms and pulled her against me.  “I’ve got you my pretty,” I whispered into her ear, not able to resist the urge to lick the top of her lobe.  “And you taste good too!”

“Fox…stop…gotta…catch…breath!”  Madeline said even as the laughter still vibrated through her body. 

I laughed lightly, feeling like the wind that blew through the trees, carelessly happy.  Loosening my hold, I kissed her neck before letting her go.  She stumbled over to the car and leaned against it as she caught her breath.  Laughing, I opened the back door and got my equipment bag out, shutting the door and hitting the lock button on the fob.

“Can you take the keys sweetie?”  I asked, handing them to her.  “No pockets,” I said as our hands brushed and I allowed the contact to last longer than required.   Tingling sensations ran through me, giving me a delicious rush of pleasure. 

“You know,” Madeline said as we started walking toward the field with Megan and Tree.  “Your ass looks great in those pants.”  She allowed herself to fall slightly behind and I knew where her eyes were focused. 

I began to worry about my game performance.  “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” I mumbled as I pulled Madeline forward. 

“Performance anxieties?”  Megan queried in a very snotty manner.

“Shut up,” I said, bumping her with my hip hard enough to set her off her path. 

“Hey!  Just cause you’re having problems doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me!”  She yelled loudly, smirking before she took off running for the bleachers.

“I’d chase her for you, but I don’t want to tire myself out before the game,” Tree said slowly. 

“It’s not worth it,” Madeline said, giving me a smile.  “I’ll get the revenge later.”

My eyebrows raised in curiosity of their own accord.  “And what exactly do you have planned?”  I asked carefully.  This could be very interesting.

“You’ll see,” she answered before giving me a quick kiss.  “Go kick some ass.  I’m gonna go find a seat.”  And then she patted me on MY seat!

I walked away grinning, still enjoying the feeling of her hand on my rear.  My smile would give away more than I normally revealed, but I was too happy to care.  I was able to spot Madeline as she made her way to where Megan was already sitting.  Her familiar figure made my heart leap and I felt warmth growing from inside of me. 

I walked side by side with Tree up to our team’s bench.  Before we got there though she stopped me by touching my arm.  “Listen, all kidding aside, I wanted to tell you how much we like Madeline.  You know how Megan is, she’s all bark, but she’s been yapping all week about how much she liked Madeline, and I agree with her.  We’re happy for both of you.”  She gave me a gentle smile that reminded me of something Megan had once said. 

When she started dating Tree I had expressed some concern about her being too rough.  I, like many, were fooled by her massive size.  But Megan had been quick to tell me that she was really a very sweet woman trapped in a diesel dyke’s body.  

And now, as she offered me words of comfort and kindness with a smile that was so gentle and sweet that I saw what Megan had been talking about.  “Thank you Tree.  As you know, you and Megan are my best friends and your approval means a lot to me.”  I would have hugged her, but our other team mates were standing around watching us, and I didn’t want to make a statement right then and there.  Instead I reached out and squeezed her arm.  “Thank you.” 

I swear that I saw a blush on Tree’s face as she ducked her head and went for the bench. 

“You two ready to win today?”  Jeff approached us, clipboard in hand. 

“Is there any other way?”  I asked, putting my bag down, opening it, and getting my glove out.  I punched it a few times, and gave him a winning smile. 

Tossing me a ball, he then made a mark on his paper.  “I hope not!” 

The infielders were already all there, warming up with each other.  “Hey guys,” I said as I approached. 

I got an enthusiastic greeting from them all.  Sitting down I stretched my legs and then my arms, slowly getting my muscles ready for the demands I was about to make of them.  I felt pretty limber and I had a suspicion that my recent sexual activities might have something to do with that. 

The sight of a new fan in the stands caught my attention.  Her figure was thin, too thin, and her hair was not the bright color it had once been, but I would know Annie anywhere.  What the hell was she doing here?  I looked to where Megan and Madeline were sitting, trying to figure out if they’d seen her, but they had their heads together and were gabbing away about something, oblivious to what was going on around them. 

“Heads up!”  I heard a few voices yell my way and I quickly turned my head just as a ball was ascending on my head. 

“Shit!”  I yelled, covering my head just in time to save my skull.  The ball bounced off my arm with a stinging ZING.  The field was quiet, waiting to see my reaction.  I slowly took my arms away from my head and glared at the 3 infielders, which were looking at me guiltily.  “Hey, I have only struck out once this season.  What was that for?”

Alex was feeling brave as he stepped forward.  “Sorry Fox, my bad.  Got a little carried away there.  Are you okay?” 

I tried to glare at him, but couldn’t help a small grin.  “Yeah, just hit my arm.” I flexed the body part in question.  It would be a nice bruise, but nothing more.  At least it hadn’t hit me in the head.  I hated getting hit in the head.

Alex grinned at me and went after the ball.  These guys knew me well enough to know that I would not be upset. 

The opposing team started to show up and the coin was tossed.  We won and Jeff said that we’d take the field first.  As we started to take our places, the one person I didn’t want to see swaggered onto the field. 

“Hello Monte,” Jeff said in an even voice, but I could tell that his posture had gotten stiffer.

“Here comes trouble,” Sam said under his breath.  “I hope he doesn’t want my base today.”

“Okay guys, let’s just play catch and hope that Mr. Sullivan will sit the first inning out.” Lorenz sounded very diplomatic, but I felt cold at the very thought of Monte playing.  My eyes immediately went to the stands and I could see that Megan and Madeline had seen Monte come onto the field.  I watched my lover carefully, wanting to make sure that she was okay.  I could see her brow wrinkled in concern.  She caught my eye and gave me a reassuring smile.  I turned to see if Monte had seen her, but he was caught up talking to Jeff.  So far, so good.

Madeline pointed toward the car and held up the keys.  I nodded in return.  I could get a ride with Megan and Tree to where ever we would end up after the game.  Madeline bent down to talk to Megan and then she hurried off. 

Sighing, I focused a glare on Monte and his aggravating presence.  My game was not going to be the same as it was only 5 minutes before.  I guess it was too much to hope that he would not show.  He hadn’t missed a game since his first one, so I guess that love had given me an optimism that was misleading.

When I saw Jeff and Monte looking over at me, I felt my anger growing to a blinding rage.  There was no way in hell that he was going to be taking my base.  I was not going to stand for that.  I had had to fight for this base when I first joined the team, having to show the men on the team that I could not only play, but that I could take the position of first base.

Monte must have felt the daggers that I was throwing at him because he looked up and caught my eye.  Normally I would pretend that I hadn’t been glaring, but today it was too much.  I didn’t lessen my glare and I saw him hesitate before turning back to Jeff. 

Lorenz lost his place on third base.  I think that Monte chose the position that was furthest from me without being in the outfield. 

The game went by quickly, and I think that the loss was mostly my fault.  My concentration and focus was not on our game at all.  Instead, it was on Madeline, thinking about her, wondering where she went, wondering if she was okay, and hoping that I’d be seeing her soon.   

As we were getting our equipment together, I saw Monte out of the corner of my eye quietly grab his things and leave, no comments about getting together for drinks afterwards, or any of his usual annoying banter.  And while I knew that I shouldn’t feel anything toward the man, I couldn’t help the surge of pity that ran through me as I saw his slumped shoulders and hesitating gait.  I knew that if I’d lost someone as wonderful as Madeline I’d be more than a little upset. 

“He didn’t deserve her,” Tree observed quietly. 

“I’m going to work every day of the rest of my life to make sure that I do,” I replied firmly. 

“I know.”  She gave me a crooked smile before her head snapped up, something behind me catching her attention, and a true smile transformed her face.  “Hey there,” she said, standing up.  Her eyes were focused on one spot and one spot only.  I knew, without any doubt, that it was Megan approaching us that got her attention.  Something in that reaction made my heart hurt with the need to see Madeline. 

“Hey you,” I heard Megan say from behind me, her voice low and husky.  I felt like the monkey in the middle as they tossed raw sexual desire back and forth.  I fought the urge to duck, afraid to get hit in the head.

I turned and smiled at Megan.  “Was Madeline okay when she left?”  Coming to the point, I needed to find my stability again.

“Yeah, she just didn’t think it would be good if FF saw her so she left.  She said she’d go and wait for us at Isis.” 

“FF?” 

“Fuck face,” she replied matter of factly, her eyes slowly roving over her lover’s body.  “Hot and sweaty, sweetie?”    Her eyebrows wiggled up and down suggestively. 

“Fuck face?”

Megan turned and glared at me for interrupting her seduction.  “Yes, fuck face.  You know, that evil bastard who played house with your lovely lady?”

“You call him fuck face?”  I was stunned.

“Actually, we call him FF.”  She was so snotty sometimes! 

“We?”

This time her glare intensified.  “Can you do anything but ask questions?”

“Don’t answer my question with a question!”  I was fuming at this point.  I couldn’t help it if she was turned on by her sweaty wife, I wanted answers!  This was my life, for Christ’s sake!

“You are so uptight!”  Megan threw her hands in the air and stalked around in a small circle.  “Madeline and I came up with the nickname because the man’s name gives me the eebie geebies!”

“The eebie geebies?”  That was so true to Megan to think up a nickname for the asshole.  And, despite what Madeline said about him, he was an asshole if only for the reason that he had slept by her side. 

All of a sudden Megan was up in my face, standing on her tiptoes so that she was looking me in the eye.  “If you ask me ONE MORE question, I am going to scream!”  She emphasized every other word by poking me in the chest with her stubby finger. 

“Whoa, down Simba!” I put my hands up in surrender.  She growled at me and gnashed her teeth. 

“Are you two done now?”  Tree’s voice pulled us from our feud.  We both turned our heads toward her, and I had to blink a few times to remember where we were.  I gave a weak laugh and Megan joined in.  “Then let’s go.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Marge was standing front and center at the bar when we arrived.  She raised a beefy hand in welcome.  She must have seen the questioning look in my eyes, cause she nodded her head to the left.  I looked to where she was indicating and saw the object of my search. 

Sitting in the corner was Madeline and, it looked like, Claire.  They were talking, but as I watched I saw Claire reaching out and touching Madeline often, seeming to be emphasizing whatever it was she was saying, but to me it seemed that she was linger a bit too much. 

With side steps, I approached the bar without taking my eyes off the two women.  Marge placed a Rolling Rock in my hand without me needing to ask.  I grabbed it and as I swallowed the cold beer, I tried to swallow my anger. 

“I’ll say this for her, she’s tried to get away from Claire since she got her.  But, short of being rude, there was no way to deter my little helper.”  I gave Marge a brief look, watching her shrug. 

“She wouldn’t be rude,” I said assuredly, my eyes returning to the two women.  Then suddenly, Madeline’s head shot up and her head turned as she scanned the room.  Then electric blue eyes met my own, and I felt Madeline’s relief from across the room.  It was as palatable as the beer taste in my mouth, and I wanted to reach across the room and draw her close to protect her.  She smiled and I smiled back, holding my beer up with a questioning look.  Picking up her own bottle she nodded, and I saw she was drinking MGD. 

“An MGD Marge,” I said, smiling at my lover, basking in the warmth of her look.  Claire finally figured out that Madeline was no longer listening to her, and she turned to see who had taken the focus off her.  When she saw me, she gave me a brief smile and shook her head.  I hope that she realized she was at a dead end and took up the slack with someone else. 

“Suppose you can’t blame a girl for trying,” Marge said, handing me the beer. 

“Sure I can,” I replied, handing her some money, taking the two bottles, and heading toward Madeline.  She watched my approach, her eyes becoming smoky, turning a darker blue than they usually were. 

“Hey there.”  Her voice was husky, causing my stomach to clench with little spasms of pleasure. 

“Hey,” I replied, bending down so that I was in front of her, balancing on the balls of my feet with my knees bent.  I handed her the new beer, then put my hands on her thighs, looking up into her beautiful face.  “Did you miss me?” 

She smiled and simply bent down and kissed me.  Her lips were soft and cool, tasting slightly of beer and I was helpless as my tongue slipped passed her lips to taste the rest of her mouth.  I had forgotten where we were, and I had forgotten who was around us, all I could think about was the wonderful sensations that shot through me as our mouths melded. 

“Alright you two, get a room already!”  Megan yelled out and raunchy noise echoed her sentiments. 

I pulled away slowly, still taking small nips of her lips as I did.  My knees were jelly and my heart was pounding at a shattering rate.  The grin on my face must have looked ridicules, but I did enjoy being kissed completely senseless in such a delicious way. 

“Yes, I missed you terrible,” she answered softly, brushing the hair from my face.  I sighed happily and laid my head on her leg. 

I finally managed to get up, my legs barely supporting me, but it felt good to be incapacitated by such a beautiful woman.  Finding an empty chair where Claire once sat, I pulled it over and sat down as close to Madeline as I could without sitting in her lap.  Without thought, her hand found mine and our fingers intertwined. 

Megan as already engaged in conversation with someone, her hands moving in constantly as she talked.  Tree was lurking near by, her arms loosely around Megan’s waist, seemingly content just watching and listening to her lover. 

The bar was getting crowded quickly, which made me extremely glad that I already had a table and was close to my love. My leg wound itself around hers, making me feel even closer to her in the full bar. 

Megan and Tree finally found their way to our table, and Tree somehow found chairs for them both.  “Whoa, did you see who’s here?  I can’t believe she hasn’t left yet.”

“You’re so mean!”  Tree said, giving Megan and horrified look.  “It’s not your fault she’s so afraid of you!” 

That could be anyone.  “I’m afraid to ask,” I muttered.  And before Megan was able to answer, I heard it.

“SPOOOOOOOOOOOKYYYY!”  Boomed from across the room.

“No, no, no, no,” I repeated over and over, putting my head in my hands, wanting the moment to be over. 

I managed to look out of my hands and saw Madeline looking confused and amused at the same time.  What was about to happen already had me scared and feeling the need to immediately vacate the building. 

“Why is she coming over here?  She hates you!” I implored of Megan.  “Go, scare her away or something!”

“I tried,” Megan whined back.  “She looked at me and gave me an evil smile.  I don’t know what’s happening!  It’s like someone came in and turned the freakin’ world upside down!”

“It was kind of odd,” Tree confirmed, taking a long pull from her beer.  “Normally Dana runs away as soon as the mere mention of Megan’s name comes into play, but tonight she just gave this crazy look and kept going.”  She shrugged and looked bewildered.  “Something is in the air tonight.” 

There was no hiding the inevitable.  As the miniature G.I. Jane wannabe came flying toward the table, sliding to a halt, I looked up and gave her a small smile. 

“Hi Dana,” I said wearily.

“Hey Spooky, anything interesting come up lately?”

“Yeah they found out that little green men like to fuck little ugly lesbians,” Megan muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear. 

Dana focused her attention on Megan, and the sense of relief was overwhelming.  “So, Meg, I heard you guys lost on Wednesday.”  She said with a sneer.

Wednesday?  What was Wednesday? 

“Yeah, so?  You guys loose almost every week, we just thought you might feel bad if we kept winning.”  Megan was nonchalant, but I could see her hands tighten slightly around her beer bottle.  I just hoped that Dana would have enough brains to not provoke Megan too far.  While Megan probably wouldn’t hit the woman, she wouldn’t have any qualms about throwing beer all over her.

“Guess you haven’t been following the weekly numbers, have you?  We haven’t lost yet this season.”  She looked down her nose at Megan, which must have been hard because they were almost the same height.  I wondered if Poppa Smurf knew they were missing.   

“Is that true?”  Megan asked Tree quietly, getting a slow nod in return.  “So that’s why your so smug, huh Dena?”

“You’re always bragging about how your team is the best team out of Isis.  I found it…amusing that you had lost last week.”

Megan snarled.  “I wonder if you’ll find my beer covering your shirt just as amusing.”  She advanced quickly on the other woman, but Tree put an arm around her middle and held her back. 

“Dana, I suggest you go somewhere else.”  I voiced, wanting to get the woman out of my face.

“This is my bar too!”  She shouted, her hands clenched at her sides. 

“I didn’t mean leave the bar, I mean go to another part of the bar.” 

“I don’t have to go anywhere if I don’t want to.”  She stuck her chin out in defiance and I had the sudden desire to strike it. 

Pulling the small, butch looking woman aside, I leaned down so that I could whisper in her ear.  “You’re making the wrong woman mad, Dana.  Remember, she knows where you live and she knows your weakness.” 

Her face grew suddenly pale.  “You mean Spanky?”  The panic in her voice was unmistakable, and I knew that my point had been made.  “Do you really think she’d go after Spanky?  My poor, little defenseless Spanky?”

I nodded gravely, hoping that this would be enough to convince her to leave.  “Don’t put anything past her when she’s pissed off.”

Dana nodded nervously before shooting Megan one more glance and quickly leaving.  I’m not sure if she left the bar, or just left the area, but I knew we wouldn’t see her again that night. 

Tree waited a few moments before she let Megan go and even then she watched her girlfriend carefully to make sure that the small woman did not attempt to follow.  I sat back down and looked at Madeline who was watching us all with an indulging smile.  “What?”  I asked, taking a sip of my now warm beer.

“You know the most interesting people,” she said with a smirk.  “And just who was that?”

“That,” I pointed with my bottle toward where Dana had gone, “is a long story!”

We laughed together loudly. 

“Glad you two think it’s funny,” Megan mumbled as she slouched into a seat.  “I don’t find it funny at all!”   She crossed her arms over her chest and sat there pouting. 

“What do you have on Wednesday nights?”  I was curious, feeling as always, out of the loop.

“What do you mean what do we have?  The same thing we ALWAYS have!”  That got Megan moving again. Her pout forgotten, she now turned her indignation to me.  “Pool league?  Ring a bell?  We have only gone every Wednesday for the last two years!” 

Oh yeah.  I’d forgotten about that.  “Is it really that competitive?”  Madeline asked, taking a sip of her beer and making a face.  Hers must be warm too.

“Yup.  We have 3 teams out of this bar, and every week we play teams from all over the area.  Sometimes we even have to play our other teams too.  We were the champions from last year, but this year we lost one of our regular players and have had to find subs.  Last week’s sub really sucked, so we lost by a huge load of points!”   Tree looked as frustrated as she sounded.  “Anyway, because of the amount of points we lost, technically we are a point behind Dana’s team.”

I looked at Madeline to see if she was as lost as I was, and I could tell by the way her eyebrows were closer than normal that she was. 

“Anyone want a new beer?”  I needed to break the monotony of talking about pool.  Getting everyone’s request, I headed toward the bar.  It was crowded now and I had to weave through many dancing bodies to get to the bar.  On my way there, an arm snaked around my waist, and pulled me tightly against someone else.

“Hey!’  I shouted to be heard above the noisy music and dim of the crowd.  I looked into the face of the woman who’d grabbed me and was confronted with a beautiful face.

“Hello Fox, remember me?”  Elaine asked in her husky voice that I remember well. 

“Yes, of course Elaine, how are you?” I tried to gently extract myself from her arms, but didn’t have much luck.  She had a firm grim on me and there wasn’t enough room to really pull away. 

“Want to dance?”  She began to move her body against mine sensually, making me loose my thought for a second.

“Uh, no, I can’t.”

“You can’t?  Why not?”  Her slow, sexy smile gave the impression that she was not going to accept my answer easily.

“I’m with someone.” 

“And so you can’t dance?  Does she own you?”  Now her voice took on a slightly patronizing tone and I found myself getting angry.

“No, I don’t own her, but I do love her,” Madeline’s voice came from behind me.  “Now please get your hands off her.”  While her voice was sweet and kind, I could sense the edge behind it and I think that Elaine did too.  She released her hold on me with a shrug. 

Digging in her pocket, she pulled out a piece of paper and quickly stuffed it into my pocket.  “Call me if things change,” she said, moving away. 

I dug the paper out and tore it up, letting the shreds of paper fall to the floor.  I put my arms around Madeline and held her close.  “Can I have this dance darling?” 

“Only if you promise to call me darling again.”  She smiled sweetly as she held on to me.  I don’t know what song was playing, but in my head there was a soft, romantic tune.  And to that tune I led my love around the dance area, mindless of the people around us and their constant action as we floated together.  Madeline’s body molded perfectly to mine as I held her tightly in my arms and felt her move against me. 

And it was then that I realized heaven was in my arms and the world had found me worthy for once in my life.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sunday was going to be a lazy day at home.  We slept in, cuddled in each other’s arms, still sated from our lovemaking the night before.  Spooned up behind Madeline’s naked body, I felt as though some circle in my life had been completed.  Her soft, silky skin created electric currents at every point where our bodies touched.  With hands made limp from relaxed passiveness, I traced patterns over her arms and hands, marveling at the wonderful feel of her, taking in the very scent that was her, and knowing that I wanted to wake up like this every morning for the rest of my life. 

I stopped my caresses to scratch my nose, and the instant I stopped, Madeline murmured, “Don’t stop.” 

“Good morning.” I went back to caressing every part of her I could reach.  Her ears beckoned me, and I slowly traced one soft lobe before sucking it gently into my mouth.  The resulting groan was low and throaty, instantly causing a sharp throb to begin between my legs. 

Madeline turned over in my arms, her full breasts pressing against mine, and this time the moan was mine.  Our mouths seared together, fusing and releasing, each time stoking the fire higher and higher. 

A shrill ringing penetrated the haze I was in, and I realized that my phone was ringing.  Madeline must have realized it at the same time because we both pulled apart in synch.  We looked at each other for a moment, and in an unspoken agreement, I picked the phone up. 

“Hello?”  I tried to make my voice sound normal, but I could detect the breathlessness as I spoke.  I hoped whomever was on the other end would pretend not to notice. 

“Sorry to bother you Fox, but I got a call from Monte Sullivan.  There’s an emergency meeting today about the Crane Foods account.”  I recognized Marie’s voice, and although it took a moment, I realized that my Sunday plans had just changed. 

An emergency meeting wasn’t unheard of.  There had been a few weekends where I’d slept on the couch in my office in between strategy and planning meetings. 

“I don’t know why he just didn’t all you himself,” Marie sounded cross, and I realized that this had disrupted her Sunday as well.   

“Sorry Marie,” I said sympathetically, understanding her frustration completely.  It didn’t make much sense to me either.  “He tends to like to pull strings.”  Marie murmured noncommittally.  “Thanks for letting me know.  I’ll see you on Monday.”

“You have a meeting today?”  Madeline asked as I hung up the phone.  I could hear the disappointment in her voice, even though she tried to casually mask it. 

I sighed feeling disappointed myself.  Wrapping myself around my lover so that we were front to front, I held her tightly.  “Sorry Madeline.  It’s unusual, but not unheard of.”  I kissed her neck.  “I have a few minutes though, can I hold you until I have to go?”

She nestled into my neck, nipping lightly.  “Do we have time for more than that?”  I looked down into mischievous blue eyes that sparked with possibilities.   

I looked into those eyes and willingly allowed myself to slowly drown.  “I always have time for you.”  And as my hands began to trace her body her eyes went from sparkling blue, to a dark midnight blue that grew smoky as passions once again flared. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An hour later I was on my way to the office, feeling better than I had before.  There was a slightly unsettling feeling in my stomach, but I contributed it to not having had breakfast, although it didn’t feel like hunger pain.  Ignoring it, I pulled into the office complex that housed Manchester Designs, surprised to see the parking lot empty. 

The strange feeling in my stomach grew as I tried to reason why there were no other cars there.  Maybe I was just the first person there.  Monte had gone to the trouble to call Marie, so that had to be the explanation.  Rubbing my stomach absently, I allowed myself to briefly hope that someone would bring donuts.  I think I had some crackers in my office, but I wasn’t sure how old they were. 

Getting out of the car, I opened the back seat door and got out my worn briefcase.  The sound of my door shutting echoed through the empty parking lot, and I had a brief sensation of the creeps.  Shrugging it off, I walked quickly to the front door.  Pressing in the entry code, I turned my key in the lock and pushed the heavy door open.  Normally this was accompanied by a soft beeping noise, indicating that the alarm was counting down before it decided to go off.  But this morning it didn’t beep, and I saw that it had never been set. 

Grumbling, I set off toward our corner of the building, angry that I would now have to make the decision of whether or not to inform our office manager of this oversight.  The cameras by the front door would tell who was the last person to leave the building, and therefore reveal the identity of the careless person who had neglected to set the alarm.  It was a position I didn’t appreciate being put in.  I hated to be a tattle tale. 

The offices were dark, and eerily quiet.  I hated opening the office.  It should have been bustling with people who had deadlines, not empty, dark, and silent.  The lights hummed softly when I flipped the switch.  I proceeded to flip every light switch I could find, unable to bear the dark any longer. 

I passed the empty offices, the hum of the overhead lights now getting on my nerves, so I hummed to myself quietly.  My stomach was turning flips as my nervousness increased.  The path to my office seemed to be miles, but finally I got there, and flipped my office light on.

“Took you long enough.”

I looked up in surprise.  Monte Sullivan was sitting behind my desk, in my chair.  He had a pleased smile on his face that did not reach his eyes.  He looked at me like he’d caught a bug in a trap, and I was the bug. 

“Where’s everyone else?”  I asked, pretending to be unconcerned while my insides screamed at me. 

“I don’t think we need anyone else for this meeting.”  His patronizing tone scraped across my nerves, making me grin my teeth in an effort to stay calm.

“What is going on Monte?”  I refused to play his games or to let him see me upset.  I put my briefcase down and crossed my arms over my chest, my feet planted firmly. 

“Why were you so late?  Too busy fucking my wife?”  His smile turned to a sneer, which illuminated the hatred in his eyes.  It was all I could do to keep myself from launching across the room and grabbing his throat with my hands.  Squeezing the life out of him would bring too much satisfaction and way to much pleasure.  That would be breaking down all boundaries between human right and wrong, but I still felt my hands clenching as though beating down on him. 

“Who I do or do not fuck is none of your business Monte.”  I eyed him coolly.  “Now, if that’s all you wanted to know, I’m going to leave now.  I assume there was no meeting.”  I turned to leave, but he called out to me.

“You might want to take your things with you since you are no longer an employee here.”  His trump card was mighty, and strong. 

I turned and just stared at him.  It didn’t take him long before he continued.  “You think you can just take my wife and expect life to go on its merry way?”  He gave a bitter laugh.  “Oh no, it’s not going to be that easy for you, I’m going to make sure of that.  And it’s not going to be that easy for her either!

“I overlooked her escapades in college because I knew that she would be the perfect wife for me.  When her mother got sick I went to see her almost every day, telling her how her poor little daughter would be left without anyone to care for her.  The old woman hung on my every word.  It was like spoon feeding an infant.”

I remembered what Madeline had told me, the pain in her eyes as she talked about her mother’s death and the promise that she’d made.  And as Monte’s words hit me like sharpened darts, I felt my stomach threaten to revolt.  Madeline had thought she was doing what would make her mother happy, but in fact she was just playing right into Monte’s twisted hand. 

“You are a sick son of a bitch,” I said through clenched teeth.  “Do you think you can just play God like that?  Do you really think that you’ll go through life pulling everyone along like puppets on a string?”  I approached him now, my anger propelling me forward. 

“Who’s going to stop me?”  He said tauntingly.  “You?  Madeline?”  He laughed loudly.  “I don’t think so.”  Rising out of the chair, he glared at me; his face screwed up as anger filled him more and fed the fire within him.  “I loved her, dammit.  We had a life. And you come along and ruined it all.”  With closed fists, he hit the desk hard. 

And as I saw him, I realized what I was actually seeing.  A wounded animal, scratching and biting at anything it could, wanting to escape the pain and the hurt.  And I wondered, not for the first time, how a person could do anything less than end that animal’s pain once it’s been wounded.  But I could not end Monte’s pain.  I could not make his pain go away, and I would not let his pain prevent me from what was the rest of my life.

“I’m sorry Monte,” I said softly.  The anger had left me, and the pity took its place. 

He stared at me hard, seemingly unable to understand what I was saying.  “Just get your things out of here and go!” 

”Do you think that firing me is going to ease your pain?  Do you think that it’s going to make it all better?” 

“Shut up.  That bitch told me that my wife was with you and I couldn’t believe it.  But she was right.”  He muttered as though to himself.  “ That bitch was right.”  Shaking his head as though trying to get the idea out, he looked for a moment like a bewildered child, unable to grasp the concept of life.  “But it doesn’t matter.  Once she sees how hard life is without a steady paycheck, she’ll come back to me.  And then I’ll get to laugh in her face and tell her how stupid she was to think that she could live without me.  You’ll see.”  Triumph lit his face as though he’d already won something, but I knew something he didn’t.  Love was stronger than a paycheck, and that Madeline loved me. 

That only left one question.  Who told him?  How did he find out?  Whoever it was had cost me my job, a job that I loved doing and that I was good at.  It was another mystery to try and solve.

“Believe what you want.”  I turned to leave.  “I’ll be back to get my stuff tomorrow.”  And with my head high, I turned and left, turning the light off again as I did. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The emotions inside of me as I drove home were conflicting so quickly that I thought my head was going to spin right off my neck. 

Part of me wanted to run home and let Madeline take me in her arms to comfort all the hurt and humiliation of loosing my job after working so hard.  I don’t think I’d ever been without a job before.  I’d come to Manchester right after college, and had worked hard to carve my niche there.  I had taken a lot of pride in my work and had proven time and time again that I had earned my place.  And now, with a sweep of one man’s hand, it was gone, like a sand castle that lost a fight with the tide. 

On the other hand, I could still see the mad and crazed look in Monte’s eye when he talked of Madeline’s past and her mother.  While Madeline said he was a good husband, there was something desperately wrong in someone who carried that look in his or her eye.  What was I supposed to tell Madeline?  Sorry honey, your husband set you up?  He’s not the nice guy you seem to think that he is?

It was the proverbial rock and hard place, and I was very uncomfortable with that position.  Especially since it concerned someone that I loved. 

I pounded the steering wheel in frustration, the stinging feeling in my hands giving me something to focus on.  What was the right thing to do?  I didn’t want to tell Madeline what Monte had told me, but I hated the idea of holding anything back from her.  It wasn’t my style.  I wanted to give Madeline the world; I wanted to open myself to her completely, not keep anything from her.  It would haunt me, acting as a shadow over me.  But I knew that it would hurt Madeline to hear what he said.  It would hurt her to know that her own mother had been deceived on her deathbed.  And hurting Madeline was the last thing I ever wanted to do. 

Somehow I had driven myself home.  I wasn’t completely sure how I’d done it, but I pulled into the large driveway and turned the car off.  Sighing, I put my forehead against the steering wheel.  The warmed surface was smooth against my skin, but it offered little comfort to the war in my mind. 

I would have to go in there and just tell Madeline everything I could.  I would do everything in my power to keep from hurting her, but I would also attempt to be honest with her.  I only prayed that she would understand that my love would comfort never leave or forsake her.  

Leaving my briefcase in the car, I went up the front walk and found the front door unlocked.  Holding my hand on the brass doorknob for a few moments, I took deep, cleansing breaths before turning it and pushing the door open. 

The entry way was quiet, but I heard the soft clicking of Toto’s toenails on the hardwood floors, and soon she was there, wiggling excitedly.  “Hey sweet thing,” I said softly, reaching down and scratching behind her ears.  She looked as though she was going to pass out right then and there, her pleasure so great.  I found myself semi-wishing that I had such a simple life.  But the thought of sniffing other animals’ butts was enough to convince me otherwise. 

Walking into the living room, I was surprised to see Madeline curled up on the couch, reading.  She had on a pair of wire rimmed glasses that seemed to suit her face perfectly.  Realizing that I was home, she looked up and surprised flitted across her face.

“Hey.”

Her voice was soft and sweet and it felt incredibly like coming home, but in a way I’d never experienced before.  Unable to help myself and unable to think about stopping myself, I closed the difference between us and knelt on the floor in front of the couch, putting my head against her curled leg. 

“Hey,” I replied, speaking into the soft cotton of her sweat pants.  Her sweet scent rose from the fabric and I wanted to bury my nose there, taking in all of her through my inhale, leaving nothing behind.  God, I needed her to soothe my hurting soul.

I felt her hand stroke my hair gently, moving back from my forehead and putting flyaway wisps behind my ears.  “Want to talk about it?”  She asked softly, never stopping her movement through my hair.

And then it all came out.  In one, long run-on sentence I told her what had happened, from feeling the eebie geebies before I got there, to turning off the light on Monte as I left.  Somehow, through my telling, I managed to edit out the parts that I thought would be hurtful, skipping over them entirely.  Whether or not Madeline noticed my hesitant moments, she didn’t indicate.  Her mouth was turned down in frown and as my story continued, the corners of her mouth seemed to reach down to her chin. 

            When I finished, she sat there quietly, her eyes distant.  She seemed to be deep in thought.  At least, I hoped she was deep in thought and not pulling away from me. 

            “He was never like that,” she said at last, talking to some distant memory.  “He was never vindictive or mean like that.”  And then the quiet around us seemed to hum as she asked one final question.  “Was he?”  Unsure and sounding somewhat lost, I got up and sat down next to her on the couch, putting my arms around her and drawing her as close to me as I could. 

            “I’m sorry babe.”  I was really at a loss. 

            “Fox, what you’re saying…he sounds insane!”  Her voice cracked as it rose in frustration.  “He was always rational and calm.  A bit macho, but overall kind and reasonable.”

            The maddening gleam in his eyes came back to me as she said this, conflicting with what she was saying.  From my own perspective, I could see that the only think holding Monte’s sanity in tact had been Madeline, but now she was gone.  “Guess he took your leaving pretty bad,” I said lamely.

            Laughing briefly, but bitterly, she shook her head.  “He hardly noticed I was there.  I cooked and cleaned-“

            “You cook?”

            “Um, yeah.”

            “Thank God!”  Another mystery solved.

            The strange look she gave me caused a rapid blush to streak across my face like a flame of fire.  “Sorry, sidetracked.”  I tried to give her what I thought was a bashful smile.

            “Noticed.”  She placed a gentle kiss on my neck, indicating that she understood my idiosyncrasies. 

            “Anyway, he obviously loved you.”  He was hurting, I almost said, but I couldn’t get the words out.  While I felt bad for the man – pitied him really – there was no way in hell that I was going to help him garner sympathy. 

            “Well, that’s no reason to fire you.”  Madeline nibbled on her bottom lip.  “Maybe I should call him and talk to him about it.”

            Oh no, I did not like that idea at all!  “Listen, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said gently.  I didn’t want her to think that I was telling her what to do, because I wasn’t.  “I didn’t confirm or deny that you were with me.  Maybe we shouldn’t show all our cards right now.  He thinks you’re with me, but he has no evidence, so why give him any?”

            Snuggling deeper into my embrace, Madeline sniffed at my shirt.  “You smell good.” 

            “Tide.”

            “You use Tide?”

            “That’s what we have here at the house.”

            “How committed to that choice are you?”

            I looked at her carefully.  “Do you have an issue with Tide?”  She squirmed slightly in my arms, and I gave her an amused squeeze.  “Huh, are you anti-Tide?”

            She squirmed more and I tickled her lightly.  “Okay, okay!”  Giggling, she put her hands up in surrender.  “I just prefer Cheer, that’s all.” 

            “And you expect me to change to what you like, when I perfectly happy with my Tide?”  Guilt washed over her face and she gave me a smile.  “You were, weren’t you?”  I laughed as she wrinkled her nose in response.

            “I don’t know if I can do Tide, bad memories.” 

            “Hmmm…” Pulling her tighter, I tried to convey to her that the bad memories were all a thing of the past.  All we had ahead of us now were the memories that she and I would make together.  “How about a compromise?”

            Sitting up a little straighter, she looked interested.  “A compromise?  What kind of compromise?”

            “We won’t use either Tide or Cheer, we’ll go shopping and get a totally different kind that will be OUR laundry detergent.”   We looked at each other and laughed together.

            Calming down, Madeline gave a little sigh and seemed to deflate into me.  “Fox, what are we going to do?”

            We.  I liked that.  We.  Not what was I going to do. Not what are you going to do, but we.  I wanted to be a we with her.  Sighing, I kissed her head.  “I’m not sure honey.  But we have some options, I’m sure.  We just need to do a little looking into it.”

            “I have a degree in business and music, but I’ve never done anything with either of them.”

            “Kind of an odd combination there Madeline.”

            I could feel her shrug.  “It was a compromise.  My mother said that I would never be able to find a job with just a degree in music.  She said that with a business degree I could have more opportunities, but I was unwilling to give up my music.” 

            I kept forgetting that I still had so much to find out about Madeline.  In my mind and my heart, it seemed that I had known her for as long as time existed, but in reality, I hadn’t known her very long at all.  “What area of music?”

            “Music theory was my major.  I played piano and clarinet, as well as studying vocal.”  Sadness tinged her words. 

            “Played?  As in past tense?”

            “Yeah, it’s been awhile.”  I could feel her tense up in my arms.  Something more had happened here, but I was not going to push her.  Maybe one day she would feel comfortable enough to confide in me. 

            “So, between my graphics degree and your business and music, we should be able to do something!”  Remaining positive was going to be very important.  “Don’t worry baby.”

            “I...I don’t have any money right now, Fox.  Monte has everything in our accounts frozen.  I have a small inheritance from my mother, but I’m not even sure if I can get to that.  Monte took care of that too.”  She was crying now, and she sniffed gently.  “I feel like an idiot, Fox.  I feel into so many traps that women fall into, and I didn’t do anything to prevent them.  I let him take over our life and our finances, and I gave up my own hopes and dreams to support him.  And the entire time I told myself that I was doing it for us; in order to create a life as a couple.  And yet, each and every day that passed, we were drifting further and further from each other, and instead of a partnership, we barely had a passing acquaintance with each other.” 

There was nothing I could say to make her feel better or to take away the pain she was feeling, so I simply held her as she sobbed.  I was saddened by her pain, and angry for her helplessness.  So many things ran through my head, most of them angry words aimed at Monte who took away Madeline’s self-worth and combined it with his own.  I was confused by how Madeline, someone who seemed so strong, so alive, could allow herself to be sucked into such a situation.  It was a conundrum that I wasn’t sure I’d ever come to understand, and in some ways, I thought it would be better not to understand how it had happened.  But it had happened, and now we had to deal with the fallout. 

            “I’m sorry I’ve become such a burden to you,” Madeline said much later, after she’d calmed down and her crying had stopped.  I held her still in my arms, giving her as much comfort and love as I could, wanting to make her see that we would be strong as long as we were together. 

            “Let’s get something straight here Madeline.” Sitting up, I moved a little further away so that I could look into her face.  She ducked her head, but I gently guided her chin so that she was looking at me.  “You are not a burden.  We are in this together, okay?  No matter what happens, there will always be you and me.  Do you understand?”

            She slowly shook her head, and I felt a bit like I was scolding a bad child.  “I love you, and nothing will stop that or keep us apart.”

            With a quick movement, she wrapped her arms tightly around me.  “I’m sorry Fox, you’re right.  I was just feeling sorry for myself.”  She pulled back and gave me a smile. “I love you very much.  Thank you for not giving up on me.”

            “Never, my dear, never!”  I swooped down and began to nibble on her neck, making little eating noises as I did. 

The ringing of the telephone stopped what was fast becoming foreplay.  Out of breath I answered it.  “Hello?”

            “Fox?”

            Background noise combined with a low timbre left the voice unrecognizable.  “Yes, this is Fox.”

            “Fox, I only did it because I love you.”  This time the voice was more clear and I could recognize it. 

            “Annie?  What did you do?”  I felt my stomach clench as I heard the fear in her voice.

            “He was really angry, Fox.  But, he wants her back.  He’ll take her back, you know.  Then we can be together.”  The woman I had once known was so far gone that this whimpering woman on the phone held no resemblance to her at all. 

            “Annie, I don’t want to be with you.”  My voice was harsh and unforgiving.  This game had gone on too far as it was.   I knew that she was talking about Monte and that she was confessing to having told him about Madeline and I.  “Stay out of my life, and stay away from Madeline!”

            “Fox, I had to tell him.  I had to tell him so that we can be together.  I love you Fox, I need you!”  The pitch of her whine had increased, making me want to throw the phone across the room to try to rid my brain of her. 

            “You need help, Annie.  Professional help, not me.”  I hung up the phone then, my disgust and tolerance levels having been reached.  Madeline, sitting next to me, flinched as I hung up the phone with more force than was probably necessary. 

            “If you keep your face like that you might pop a blood vessel,” she said, putting a hand on my forehead.

            “Sorry,” I muttered, taking her hand and kissing it absently.  “She’s gone too far now.” 

            “Annie?”

            “She’s the one who told Monte you were here.  Who knows what else she told him, but believe me, that’s enough.”  My thumb rubbed over the soft skin of her hand, soothing my anger more than any of her words.  The silence that surrounded us lulled me gently as my thoughts swirled around in my head.  I had to find some sort of order among the chaos in my mind, some way of making sense of everything that had happened.  I knew that from all of this turmoil, something magnificent would arise, and I was determined that it would be us. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Monte was conspicuously absent when I went back on Monday to clean my office.  It was just as well.  Almost everyone in the office came by and wished me well and quite a few loudly offered their opinions on how ridiculously pious some of the management team had gotten.  All the show of support would have really gotten Monte angrier. 

            “Guess this means we’ll have to find a new first basemen,” Jeff said from my doorway as I reached down to get things from my bottom desk drawer. 

            “Person.  First base person.”  It was an old joke between us.

            “You know, you’re not going to be able to just change baseball lingo because you feel slighted.  The world will not change for you.” 

            “Ahh…but you see Jeff, I don’t plan on changing the whole world all at once.  I want to just change one person at a time.  Starting with you.”  We smiled at each other, but there was a sense of sadness behind those smiles.  I felt tears pricking at my eyes, so I quickly found something to straight in the box I was packing.  “Besides, I’m sure that Mr. Sullivan will be more than happy to take my position.”  I took his, I said to myself.  Talk about full circle.

            “Just what I need.  Like you weren’t hard enough to deal with.”  Jeff rolled his eyes, before turning serious. “We’ll miss you out there, Fox.”

            “Thanks Jeff.”  I gave him a sincere, tearless smile and watched as he moved on. 

            As I filled my last box with some personal items that I had furnished my office with, Marie came in and leaned against the door jam.  “Are you ever going to tell me what happened?”  She finally asked her face creased into a frown.

            “You’re going to have some very nasty wrinkles if you keep that face on too long.”  I tried to sound breezy, but I’m sure that I didn’t fool her for a second.

            “I’ll take that as a no.  What are you going to do now, Fox?”

            I shrugged.  “Don’t know.  I’m sure however, that there are plenty of jobs out there for me.  I just have to take the initiative and go out and find them.”

            Despite my words of reassurance, her frown deepened.  “I just wish that I understood what happened yesterday.” 

            “You’re job is safe.”  There wasn’t anything that could drag the story from me.  I was going to keep some dignity in this situation.

            “So I get to serve whomever replaces you?”  The outrage in her voice was rather reassuring. 

            “That would probably be true.” 

            I could almost see the anger rolling off her as she stood there fuming.  “That’s what they think!”  Storming off, I almost choked on her dust.

            Quickly finishing my packing, I left the office without a glance, and went to her desk where she was packing things very quickly.  “Wait a minute Marie, this isn’t necessary.”  I did not want her doing something stupid on my account.

            “If you think I’m doing this for you in some kind of statement, get over yourself.”  Well, at least I knew she was still angry.  “It took me years to train you and I am not going to waste my time training the nitwit they get to replace you!” 

            “And here I thought I’d trained you.”  The smile on my face was genuine, and warmth for this woman who had been more than just a secretary or assistant grew. 

            “That’s what you were supposed to think as I used my manipulative powers to shape you into the boss you are today.”  She slammed a slim book into her box.  “I’m not going through that again!”

            “You’re a classy broad, Marie.”  I leaned over where she was fuming and kissed her on the cheek.  “Call me if you get board playing house and want to work.  I might just have a place for you wherever I end up.  No promises though.”

            She nodded silently, her teeth still clenched in anger.  Winking at her, I took my final box and left Manchester for the last time.

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            A comfortable groove was established quickly between Madeline and myself.  By the end of the first week of being home, I was finding myself finally relaxing and enjoying my sudden vacation.  There was something wonderful about not feeling the stress of going to work everyday that soothed my blood and my mind.  I knew that before long I’d be settled into another job, getting used to a new system, a new company’s work procedure, but for the time being I was going to enjoy being home with my love. 

            I also took the opportunity to finally get some things done around the house that I’d been putting off, like painting the bathroom.  On Friday morning Madeline and I went and picked out a beautiful bright yellow for the walls and a fresh white for the trim.  It felt so good to do something as simple as picking out paint as a couple that I thought my chest was going to burst open. 

            After debating about which roller to get, we settled on the one that Madeline wanted, while I got the 3 different sized paintbrushes that I wanted.  We went home and began to prep the space, putting down the plastic over the floor and toilet and sink.  Changing into old clothes, we began our task, Madeline with the roller and me with the paintbrush.  As we were starting the last wall the phone rang. 

            We both stopped and looked at one another.  I sighed, and resigned that I was going to have to be the one to answer the phone.  Madeline was covered in paint.  I’m not sure how one person could get so much paint on themselves, but somehow she managed to do it. 

            “Hello?”

            “Can Madeline come out and play?”  Megan’s voice came out childish and innocent over the phone. 

            Laughing, I smiled into the phone.  “You want her and not me?”

            “Well, we had something specific in mind that we thought she might enjoy.”

            “If it’s a threesome, I’ll tell you right now she’s not interested!” 

            “Ha! You know baby, if we wanted a threesome, you’d be the first on the call list,” her voice dropped to seductive register as she wove her words into a purr.

            “M, quit it!”  I hissed into the phone, causing gales of laughter to come back at me through the receiver.  As her laughter grew, I started getting a little pissed.  “Hey, earth to Megan, come back Megan.”  She only laughed harder till I heard some rustling and Megan’s laughter sounded further away.

            “What did you do to her now?”  Tree came on the phone sounding exasperated. “I had to make her put her head between her legs to get her to calm down!”

            “I didn’t do anything!”  I protested.  “She came on to me!”

            “And that’s anything new?  Come on Fox, you know she’s always trying to get your goat.”  Tree sounded very calm and reasonable and I knew she was right.  “Don’t let her get to you.” 

            “I don’t, but then she wouldn’t stop laughing.”  I shook my head, but couldn’t keep the smile from my face.  That woman had been getting my “goat” for more years than I could remember, and I didn’t know what I would do without her.  “So, what was the reason for calling anyway?”

            “She didn’t even tell you that much?” I could almost hear her rolling her eyes.  “We’re having a Thin Man movie marathon and thought that the two of you would like to come and join us.  Movies, fun, popcorn, beer…”

            “Sounds good, lemme ask Madeline.”  Putting the phone down, I went back to the bathroom and stopped, frozen in the doorway.  Madeline must not have heard me approach, because she continued to studiously paint the wall, her roller moving smoothly over the wall in even strokes.  Her hair was sprinkled with yellow, and the aqua shirt she had on had several yellow streaks on it.  But the most adorable thing was her tongue, which was hanging slightly out between her lips as she painted, and the off-key humming coming from her.  The sight of her, painting our bathroom, made my heart squeeze in happiness.  “You’re so sweet,” I finally said, startling her so badly that she managed to paint half her arm.

            “Whoa!”  She said, laughing as she looked at her arm.  “That’ll teach you to sneak up on me!”

            “You’re the one who got painted, not me!”

            “That’s what you think!”  And before I could stop her she rushed across the room and put her arms around me.  I felt the painted sleeve brush against my bare skin.  “Ah ha!’

            “Yuck!” I screeched, holding my arm out.  “That was not nice!’

            Laughing, Madeline held onto me tightly, nibbling gently on my ear lobe.  “Hey, who was on the phone?”  She finally asked.

            “Oh shit, the phone!”  I’d forgotten all about Tree waiting on the phone.  “That was Tree and Megan, they wanted to know if we wanted to come over.  They wanted to have a movie marathon of some sort.”

            “Really?  What movies?”  She had to ask me that.  I was not the movie connoisseur that they all were. 

            “Um, the Tin Man movies?” I said, hopefully, extracting what I could from my memory.

            “Tin Man?  You mean THIN Man?” 

            “Yeah, that’s it.  You wanna go?”

            She backhanded me in the stomach lightly.  “You dork.  Sure, sounds like fun!” 

            I surveyed the walls critically and then looked at our present state. “I’ll tell them we’ll be over in a few hours.”           

            Madeline followed my gaze and crinkled her nose.  “Yea, probably a good idea!” 

            Just then Tippy came out from behind the toilet, and suspicious yellow stripe on his back.  I looked at the cat, and then looked at Madeline just as she conveniently looked away. Sighing, I couldn’t help but think about how interesting life was going to be from now on.

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            As I began to wash the paint off in the shower, I felt a pair of very warm hands grab my waist and pull me back against a very sumptuous body.  Breasts pressed into my back, nipples hardened against my skin, and I had a sudden memory of a distant dream in which I had experienced the same thing. Only this time I wasn’t going to wake up alone in bed, this was real, and Madeline was mine. 

            “Don’t turn around,” she whispered in my ear, the warmth of her mouth causing me to shiver slightly.   “I like you just the way you are.”

            I nodded in response, the jets of water adding to the stimulus of Madeline’s hands on my breasts and I arched into the contact and my knees went weak.  A firm grasp kept me from falling down as Madeline slipped her knee between my legs to help steady me against her. 

            “I won’t let you fall,” she whispered again, and I knew that she wouldn’t.  One arms snaked around my hips, holding me tightly against her in a strong hold, while the other swept from my breasts down to my hips and up again, each time brushing across my taunt nipples.  Finally, her hand found the throbbing between my legs and the pressure built until I thought my pounding head was going to explode from the pleasure. 

Everything was pulsating around me; my head, the water, my groin, and a place deep in my abdomen that called out Madeline’s name with each and every stroke.  She knew my body and she knew where I needed her, never faltering despite the water turning cold and the weight of my body growing tenser in her arms. 

            When she had coxed the last tremor from my body and I had fallen with a small sigh against her body, my legs and arms rubbery, I started to feel the cold water against my skin.  With limp movements, I tried to turn the water off, but Madeline had to scoot us closer and then reach out to turn the water off herself, my own body useless.  Together we slid down to the tub, and lay there.  Cradled in her arms, I didn’t feel the cold air, only the warmth of her body and the sleekness of her soft skin, wet with both water and perspiration. 

            As I started to regain some control of myself, I silently thanked whatever god was listening for the big tub.  Turning in Madeline’s arms, I gave her a seductive look before I buried myself between her legs, determined to lick every drop of moisture from her body.  And as she began to produce more liquid for my hungry mouth, I became more and more frantic with my deed until she finally grabbed my head and cried out. 

            With my head on her thighs, I was the first to hear the banging from below.  “Shit,” I said, realizing that David was letting us know that we’d been loud enough for them to hear. 

            “Fox,” Madeline said breathlessly, taking a moment before continuing.  “I seem to have a problem with being quiet around you.”

            Shivering in the now very cold tub, I slowly started to rise, offering Madeline a hand to help her up.  Grabbing a large fluffy towel, I wrapped it around her shivering body before grabbing my own.  “I think maybe we should consider getting our own place,” I muttered as I dried myself. 

            “Either that or we should stop having sex.”

            I looked at her with horror, only to see that she had been kidding.  “Don’t scare me like that!”  She snickered and opened the bathroom door.  I followed her to our bedroom, my mind already figuring out a way for us to get our own place where we could make love as loudly as we wanted. 

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            We stopped on our way to Tree and Megan’s to get a bottle of wine.  I tried to tell Madeline that we didn’t need to bring anything, but she didn’t want to show up empty handed.  Wine in hand, we walked up to the front door.  Before we could knock, Megan flung the door open. 

            “What took you so long?” She demanded, hands on hips in a very Megan pose. 

            “We had to finish painting and get cleaned up,” I explained, moving in the door past her, urging Madeline along with me. 

            Closing the door, Megan turned around and resumed her pose.  “It took you 4 hours to do that?” 

            I tried not to look guilty as I put the wine on the counter and turned to face my best friend.  “You obviously took your super bitch pill today,” was my casual reply. 

            “Shuddup!”  She got closer, almost in my face. 

            Just as I was about to deliver the next time, Madeline came between us and gave Megan a kiss on the cheek.  “Thanks for inviting us, Megan.  I just love the Thin Man movies.” 

            This had the intended reaction, catching Megan off guard.  “Um, sure.  You know we love you guys,” she said, a scarlet color rising to her cheeks.  “Sorry Spooks, I’m just a little over wound today.”

            “Too much caffeine sweetie darling?” I asked in my best Edina voice, putting my arm around Megan’s shoulders.  She relaxed instantly into me and put her head on my arm.

            “Actually, we’re using you two as an excuse to take a break,” Tree answered for her from the other room.  As she entered, I could see that her hair was sticking out in all sorts of odd directions as if she’d been pulling at it.  “We have these very frustrating clients that are causing us major problems.” 

            “I thought one of the benefits of working for yourselves was that you didn’t have to take those frustrating clients if you didn’t want to?” 

            “It was,” Tree said with a sigh.  “These clients never used to be a problem because we dealt with a wonderful director who made things very smooth.”

            Now I was even more puzzled.  Madeline came over and put her arm around both Megan and me, asking my next question for me.  “What happened?”

            “They fired her,” Tree replied, looking directly at me. 

            “You’re having problems with Manchester?”  This was surprising because Manchester always prided itself on its professionalism.  Despite what happened with me, I knew that the firm itself has very solid principles. Just one really shitty VP.

            “This week we were given your replacement to work with, and let’s just say that things have not gone well since.”

            “I’ve been replaced already?  Wow, sounds like they promoted someone cause they haven’t had time to do interviews or anything!”  I racked my brain trying to figure out who they could have put in that position.  It would have to have been one of my former staff members, but which one?

            “Does the name Jamie Seltzer ring any bells?”  Megan’s voice came muffled from my shoulder, but the bitterness was discernable. 

            “Oh my God, they really put him there?”  The name rang bells all right, warning bells.  Jamie Seltzer had been hired last year, against my wishes.  He was a homophobic asshole who thought that women should be bowing to him because of his superior sex.  Needless to say, having him in my department turned out to be a mistake.  But we both kept our distance after a few nasty encounters in which I had to remind him that I was his direct supervisor.  I managed to forget most of the time that he was even in my department, letting him submit things to Maria, who seemed to be able to keep him in check.  I’m not sure how she did it, but I trusted her to make sure that he did what he was supposed to. 

            “Yup, what an asshole.”  Tree shook her head in consternation.  “I can’t figure out how a guy like that can get that far.” 

            “Jerk wad,” Megan said, lifting her head.  “Come on, I don’t want to waste anymore time talking about that asshole.”  She moved off toward the family room, never looking back, just assuming that we would all follow. 

            And, after we all exchanged glances and rolled our eyes at one another, we did.

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            It was well after 3 am when we finally got done with all the movies, which I had to admit, were pretty funny.  My favorite part was the dog.  For some reason the damn dog cracked me up. We gone through a case of beer and the bottle of wine, and were all feeling pretty darn good.  Madeline and I were lying spooned on the couch, while Megan and Tree were lying comfortably on the floor with pillows and blankets keeping them comfortable. 

            “So, what are you going to do Spooky-wooky?”  Megan had definitely had too much to drink.  She was laying on top of Tree, sprawled with her arms and legs going in all sorts of directions. 

            “About what?”  My eyes were closed as I held Madeline tightly against me, my hand resting comfortably between her breasts.  I was surrounded by the smells of her, making my intoxicated head swarm slowly.

            “You’re job silly.”

            “Dunno.”

            “I heard that Moonstruck is hiring,” Tree said from under Megan.  She had been the only one who hadn’t really had much to drink, so I’m sure her head was clearer than anyone else’s.

            “Moonstruck?”  Madeline said, and I knew from her tone of voice that her sweet little nose was wrinkled up.  “What kind of name is that?”

            “There kind of an odd company,” I replied, kissing the back of her neck as I did.  She shivered in my arms, pushing back against me. 

            “Did you know they did the AIDS ride this year?”  Tree kept up on all these things.  I don’t know how she remembered them, but she did.

            “You mean those great ads they had on TV?”  Madeline perked up now, sitting up by supporting herself with her hand on her head and her elbow on the couch. 

            “Yup.  They did them pro-bono.  And I heard that they were also going to be doing the stuff for the Pride Parade in Chicago this year.” 

            “You’re kidding?”  I was surprised that the company had taken up so much of the gay communities activities. 

            “Nope.”

            “What’s the scoop Tree,” I finally asked, feeling my own interest perk up. 

            “Remember that flaky flower child who started the company a few years back?”

            I nodded, remembering seeing the woman at an event once.  She’d shown up in bell-bottom tuxedo pants with a flowing poet’s blouse, a ring of flowers in her hair.  Megan had pointed her out to me, and I remember being taken aback by her, but in a gentle spirited way.  While being very unusual, she also seemed very nice, though flighty. 

            “Well, apparently she got together with this woman from California who had just left this major ad firm out there and wanted something smaller.  So, in addition to teaming up in bed, they teamed up within the company and now it’s really taking off.  They’ve been doing all this pro-bono work in return for some advertising, and apparently business is really doing well for them.”

            “Wow, I had no idea.”  My brain began to function through the alcohol cloud, quickly sobering me.  “And you say they’re looking for people right now?”

            “They have more work then they do people.  You should call them on Monday.” 

            “I think I will, thanks Tree.”  I felt something inside of me pull, as though I were going in the right direction and it felt good.

            “Maybe they’ll need someone for clerical work.  I can do that for awhile till I can figure out what else to do.”  Even Madeline sounded excited.  I rubbed her stomach affectionately. 

            Suddenly, Megan popped up from her place on Tree, looking like a jack-in-a-box gone bad, her normally curly hair wild around her face.  “Hey!  Do you two want to go with us to the cabin in a couple of weeks?”

            We all stared at her, startled by her sudden action.  “Whaa..whaat cabin?”  Madeline finally managed to stutter out before either Tree or I could say anything.

            “Aww geeze, tell her about the cabin you guys,” Megan said before she flopped right back down in the same position she had been in before. 

            It took a few moments of stunned silence before the air was filled with soft snores.  Tree grinned at us and started to rub Megan’s back, producing little mewing noises from the sleeping woman.  “We rent a cabin every year further up on the Wisconsin Lake.  We’re planning on going 3 weeks from now for the weekend before it gets too cold out.  You two would be more than welcome to join us.”

            “Hmmm…” I said, pulling Madeline closer against me.  “That would be nice, don’t you think?”  I nibbled on the ear that was in front of my mouth. 

            “I promise to keep Megan busy so that you two will have some time alone.” 

            Sighing lustily, Madeline agreed and the three of us began to make arrangements for the weekend at the cabin while Megan continued to snore.  Eventually we all fell asleep, but I stayed awake long enough to offer a prayer of thanks to anyone who was listening. 

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Monday morning I made the phone call that made me feel like I was finally moving forward.  I introduced myself to the woman who answered the phone at Moonstruck, Inc and found myself instantly transferred to their Co-Chairman, Christina Lackely.  I wasn’t sure if this was the flower child or the girlfriend until they spoke.  The clear, business tone was friendly without being overtly so, and brisk without making me feel like she was brushing me off.  Obviously the girlfriend. 

            I told her my background and that I was looking for a position in graphics, and that I’d heard her company was hiring.  She asked me if I could fax over my resume and let her look at it.  I agreed, and we hung up with the promise that she would call me back later.

            It had been awhile since I’d had to create a resume, but I had put one together over the weekend with Madeline’s help.  Actually, it had been a whole weekend project because there was something incredibly sexy about Madeline leaning over me at my desk.  We’d ended up stopping to make love often, using the desk as a wonderful surface for many sexual activities.  I was still pleasantly sore from those activities when I printed up the final version of my resume Monday morning.

            I faxed it to the number Christina had given me, making sure that my name and phone number were on both the resume and the cover sheet.  Waiting was not something I did easily, so I was more than happy when she called me promptly an hour after I’d sent the fax.

            “Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, our secretarial staff is less than capable sometimes.”   She apologized with a sigh in her tone. 

            Taken aback by the apology, I mumbled my answer, unsure of what I had actually said. 

            “When can you start?”  Christina asked, causing me to pull the phone from my ear and stare at it almost a full minute.

            “Excuse me?”  I finally responded, my throat dry.  I had misheard her, hadn’t I?

            “I want to know when you can start.  We have an office all ready for you.  Unfortunately we’ll have to hire you an assistant, but I’d still like to get you here as soon as we can.”

            “Um, I’m sorry, but what position are you hiring me for?”  There was some kind of cloud over my mind distorting what she was saying.  There was no way she’d hire me on the spot like that.

            “Director of Graphic Art, of course.  That was your previous title right?”  While she sounded very patient, I’m sure I must have appeared to be slow witted as I processed what she was saying. 

            “Yes, yes it was.  I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect to start out there.  I thought maybe I’d just work in your graphics department.”

            “Most places, you’re right, you would start out lower.  But we’re desperately understaffed here Fox.  We need someone in that position right away.  With your background, you will fit the bill.”

            And something inside of me clicked.  I agreed to start the following Monday, going in the Friday before to fill out paperwork.  I didn’t even ask her how much the position paid.  It would be less than I had been making before, I was sure, but at that moment it didn’t matter.  It felt right and that was all that mattered.

            Hanging up, I felt tingling sensations all through my body as I realized what I had done, and the decision I had made.  I wanted to shout out loud, jump for joy, have wild monkey sex.  I wanted to celebrate the feeling I had inside.

            “MADELINE!”  I yelled from my seat at the desk in the office. 

            She poked her head in the doorway almost instantly.  “Fox, you don’t have to yell sweetie.” She chastised me gently. “What is it?” 

            “I got a job!”  I jumped out of the chair and threw my arms around her, finding her mouth with mine and kissing her as hard as I could.  It took her only a moment to catch her breath before she was responding in kind, her mouth bruising mine as she began to feel my elation and joy. 

            We ended up in bed, and by the time we were done, exhausted beyond tired, our mouths weren’t the only thing delightfully bruised. 

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            On Friday morning I dressed in my best pantsuit, an all cream colored affair that was made from rayon and brushed silk.  It was one of the most expensive suits I had, but it had been worth every penny when I saw Madeline’s eyes light up.  “You like?”  I asked her that morning, twirling around in front of her. 

            “Very much so,” she replied, licking her lips slowly as she looked me up and down.

            “Stop looking at me like that, I’ll never get out of here!”  I hissed playfully, giving her a freezing glare, which only made her laugh. 

            She then rose from the bed, completely naked, and sauntered toward me.  My eyes traveled over her revealed body, which never failed to make my heart beat faster and my breath to leave me.  “I would love to keep you here,” she purred as she came close enough to run her hand under my jacket to touch the silk of the shell underneath.  My skin broke out in goose bumps as her hand trailed down from my collar bone to my hip  “Play nicely with the others,” she leaned closer to my ear, her breath slightly wetting the sensitive skin there.  “And remember,” her hand lightly touched my breast, “ask if they have anything open for me.”  With a wicked grin she pulled away.  “My resume is in your briefcase, although there’s not much to it.”

            There was an audible snap as I closed my mouth and I swallowed hard.  The apex of my legs was pulsating with need, and I knew that I would find myself with visible traces of arousal if I looked in the mirror.  Instead, I closed my eyes and counted to ten.  Then I counted to 10 again, this time backwards.  Finally, I opened my eyes and steadied myself.  “Yes dear.” I replied weakly, moving as if to kiss her cheek.  As I leaned over her, I rubbed myself against her body, being sure that the fabric of my jacket rubbed over her already erect nipple.  She groaned as I finally reached her ear with my mouth and whispered “I want you to be ready for me tonight.”

            And without waiting for her reaction, I rushed out of the room and grabbed my briefcase in the hall.  As I hurried down the stairs, Madeline poked her head out of the room.  “I love you!” 

            I stopped and looked up at her.  “I love you too!”  I replied, smiling at her tousled head and naked skin. 

            When I got to Moonstruck Inc, I was at once stuck by how many people had been fit into the tiny lobby.  It was wall-to-wall people, all of them holding pieces of bright white paper and talking out loud. 

            With great difficulty I made my way to where a harried looking woman sat, a phone headset on her head.  She seemed to be talking to everyone at once, pointing with her pencil to various places and people.  I stood before her desk for a minute before her eyes settled on me.  Before I could say anything, she stood up and held out her hand, a large smile on her face.  “You must be Fox Owens,” she said in a surprisingly upbeat and pleasant voice.  I knew very few people who could be immersed in the chaos around us and still maintain a good attitude.  “My name is Beth.  Christine and Kira are expecting you.”  Shaking hands, I smiled at her, feeling genuine pleased to meet my first fellow employee. She unplugged her headset from the phone on her desk and came around he side.  “This way, please.” 

            I followed her down a hallway, looking around as I went.  From what I saw of the lobby, the office appeared to be casually decorated, in a welcoming scheme.  As I followed Beth, I realized that, in fact, the entire space that Moonstruck occupied seemed very homely, very welcoming.  Unlike Manchester Inc., which sported its own ads on every wall in black and white print and had bright, blinding overhead lights, Moonstruck had warm splashes of color and randomly scattered lamps that threw the light around gently.  The overall impression of the office interior was one of warmth and comfort, which made me even more glad of the decision I’d made in working there.

            Beth stopped suddenly in front of an open door and stuck her head in.  “She’s here.  You ready for her?”

            “Am I ever ready for anything?”  Came a cheerful response.  “Please bring her in.”

            Following Beth’s gesture to enter, I stepped into an office that made me stop and blink.  The walls of the office were multi-colored and covered in prints that splashed loudly in an echoing response that filled the room.  Every surface of the office was covered, not in papers and folders, but in brightly colored odds and ends.  I saw at least two Rubik’s cubes that had been colored with florescent colors, rather than the normal primary.  There were slinkies of various shapes and colors, and other toys that I had fond memories of, but hadn’t seen in a long time. 

            And behind a lime green desk sat the flower child woman I remember having seen before.  Her eyes twinkled in amusement as she watched me take in her office.  When my eyes finally stopped on her, she stood up and offered me a hand.  “I’m Kira.  Welcome to Moonstruck.”

            “Hello,” I said as I took her hand and shook it gently.  Her small stature and delicate skin made her look almost ethereal, and I was afraid that I would crush her with my normally firm grip.  But her warm hand was surprising strong, and incredibly soft.  I had a brief vision of sunflowers in the sun, as I smelled her gentle perfume.  “This is quiet the office you have here.”  I said awkwardly as we pulled our hands apart slowly.  

            Her responding laugh was almost musical in quality.  It ran through me like a wondrous spell, casting a warm feeling in my belly and a light sensation in my head.  “Thank you.”  Her lips quirked into a sweet smile.  Tossing her long hair back, she came out from behind the desk.  “I’ve heard a lot about you, Fox.  I didn’t think we’d ever get anyone of your caliber here.”  She picked up a file from her desk.  “Manchester must have been crazy to let you go.”

            I wanted to say that craziness definitely had something to do with it, but instead, I said “I’m glad to be here.  I hadn’t realized how much this company had grown in the past few years.” 

            Again she laughed and again I was captive to the laugh.  “That is all thanks to Christina.  I met her when I was hiking in California and immediately knew that she should be here.”  She wrinkled her nose and for a moment I had a longing in my gut for Madeline.  “My business sense isn’t exactly fine tuned.”  Walking toward the door, she gestured for me to go with her.  “Christina is really very brilliant with these things and it’s because of her that the company has outgrown its staff.”

            We walked across the hall to another office that was night and day different from Kira’s office.  This one was austere, with clean lines and colors that betrayed as much about the woman sitting behind the desk as Kira’s office said about her.  “Honey, this is Fox.”  She introduced me and I leaned forward to shake the woman’s hand.

            “Christine,” she said with a smile, taking my hand, “not honey.”  Her hand was cool where Kira’s hand been warm, but her smiling green eyes conveyed plenty of warmth in my direction. 

            “Yes, there’s only one person that can call you honey in this office, honey,” Kira said, her eyes twinkling.  “Anyway, Fox has her own honey.”  They both looked at me expectantly. 

            “Uh, yes I do.”  I was caught off guard.  I hadn’t said anything to either one of them about my love life, so I wasn’t sure what they knew, or how they knew anything. 

            As if sensing the question in my voice, Kira explained.  “Megan called and we talked.”

            At this, I rolled my eyes and sat down in a chair in front of Christine’s desk.  “And you still hired me?”

            Kira grinned.  “Don’t worry, she didn’t share too many deep dark secrets.  But, she did make it clear that you were very taken.”

            The blush that quickly rose to my face made the other two women laugh gently.  “I’m gonna kill that woman,” I muttered under my breath.

            “Enough teasing, Kira.  What an introduction for Fox into our company.  She’s going to think that we have nothing better to do than gossip.”  Christine smiled at me, her green eyes gently reassuring me. 

            “I think that the amount of people in the lobby alone would assure me that you do more than gossip here,” I replied, relaxing into the chair and the conversation.

            “Oh, that’s not normal!’  Kira waved her hand in the air as if dismissing that idea.  “We have auditions today.”

            “Auditions?” 

            “An upcoming commercial we’re shooting for the UW’s pediatric medicine department,” Christine explained further.

            “Do you normally hold auditions here?”  The entire time I’d been at Manchester I had not seen one audition for commercial roles.  Normally, we had people who would go out and do that sort of thing, bringing back with them the name and photo of the chosen candidate and then we’d fit them into the layout.

            “I like to bring them here and have them meet the creative team that will be using them,” Kira chimed in.  “It’s not normal practice, but it works well for us.  We’re looking to hire someone who can help with the interview process, especially finding and recruiting the talent.  If you know anyone who’d fit that bill, let me know.” 

            I looked at her to make sure that the offer was sincere, and saw that it was.  “Actually, since I knew you were looking for more people, I did bring a resume for you to look at.”  I reached into my briefcase and pulled out Madeline’s resume.  Before handing it to Kira I took off the post it note, which said I love you in big letters.    

            Looking it over quickly, Kira nodded to herself.  “I’m going to call her right now and see what we can work out.  She doesn’t have the experience, but she does have the education.  I’ll see you two later.”  Leaving the office, it felt as thought some kind of cosmic energy was sucked out with her. 

            There was a moment of silence and both Christine and I regrouped.  Looking around, I noticed the only personal object in the office was a small picture of Christina with her arms around Kira.  They were both smiling at the camera with honest expressions of happiness in their eyes.  And I knew that if anyone took a picture of me they’d find a similar expression in my own eyes. 

            Christina realized that I was looking at the picture and she starred at me for a moment before saying, “Love is an amazing thing, isn’t it?”  And I knew that she’s seen my eyes and the spark there.  “When I first met Kira, I thought she was insane.” 

Stopping, she laughed lightly, obviously caught in a memory.  “But, when I looked into her eyes, I knew that she was everything I needed in my life.”  There was a wistful quality to her voice and the far away look in her eyes was one of soulful desire.  And then she turned her gaze to me and I saw my own feelings reflected back at me.  “Kira changed my life, whether I wanted her to or not.  I fought love all the way, but I was still rewarded with someone who completed me.”  Then she leaned toward me, a conspiratorial grin on her face.  “And I still think she’s insane.  Only now it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.” 

            I gave her a knowing grin.  “Love is a strange creature.”

            She straightened up, picking up the papers on her desk and straightening them. “You know, I don’t normally hire people over the phone, but you have a fantastic reputation, and Kira was crazy with happiness when she found out you were interested in coming here.”  Then she turned to me, her gaze penetrating.  “I’m glad you’re here, Fox.”

            “Thank you Christine, I’m really happy I made this decision too.”  I lifted my arm and indicated the office.  “I can’t think of a better place to work.”

            Christine smiled and then gave a dramatic smile.  “And speaking of work, unfortunately there’s a shit-load of paper work for you to fill out.”  She began opening drawers and pulling out papers, piling them on the desk.

            She showed me to my office; introducing me to people we met on the way.  It was a small space, but it was painted with a warm yellow that wasn’t too bright, but not at all dull.  I had the standard equipment, but nothing seemed cluttered.  At least not yet. It felt strange to be working in such an environment, but I had a feeling that I would soon grow to adore being in my new position. 

            As I filled out the paper work, various people popped their head in the door to either introduce themselves or else to make small talk.  Everyone seemed as friendly as Beth had been and as eager to get to know me. 

            When I was at last done, I returned the papers to Christine and headed out.  Getting into my car I looked back at the unassuming drab building that housed Moonstruck and for the second time in the last few months I thought that I’d found a home and it felt good.

Concluded in Part 5

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