Curiosity

"You're not sure you can make what work?" asked Andie. "Hello Melissa," she said coldly.

Andie walked closer to me and tried to take my hand. I moved it away from her and said, "I'm not sure that we can make us work again."

"I'm sure enough for both of us so you don't have to be," she smiled. "Just watch, everything will be better than it was before, I promise. Nothing will ever come between us again."

"What the hell have you been eating? There's nothing in the fridge," she yelled. "Wait, there's some Salmon in the freezer. Why don't we grill it, out on the deck? I'll make some rice and some veggies to go with it. Tomorrow I'll go shopping while you're at work."

We did exactly that. The first night back together was awkward beyond belief. Andie kept talking to fill every lull in the conversation. It was as if she thought that any time we stopped talking, we'd break up again. In my heart I knew that the easy chemistry we once shared was shattered. I hoped that one day we'd get it back, but I wasn't sure when or how that could ever happen.

Andie, started to tell me something, but her words were drowned out by a loud crash and a bunch of yelling from next door.

"Does that go on often?" asked Andie.

"Almost every night," I replied.

"When did it start?" she asked. I just looked at her like she was stupid.

"Oh," she answered. "I guess I'm responsible for that too. But they've been married for longer than we have. They'll scream for a while to blow off some steam and then they'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

"Mel is saving her money for a divorce lawyer. She's the one who's working. She's done with Mike for good. Unless something drastic happens in the next few weeks. They're done." I said.

"How do you know that?" asked Andie.

"How do you know that?" Andie asked.

"Mel told me," I replied.

"For a man who won't touch me, and barely seems to be talking with his own wife, you seem to be pretty fucking chummy with Melissa." snapped Andie.

"Everyone needs to have someone they can trust," I said. "Someone to talk about their problems to."

"That's the point," snapped Andie. "That's supposed to be me."

"That always was you. Until you became the problem, and lost my trust," I said. "Trust is something that has to be earned over time. When we first got together, it took a while before we came to rely on each other. It was easy then because we had no history and had never hurt each other. For over 10 years, we loved each other, trusted each other implicitly and we had a bond. We had a chemistry based on us almost knowing each other's thoughts. Our hearts beat together Andie. I didn't care about friends or family, or work, or money. Nothing came before you. You came before me. I would have died for you. I had two fucking wishes Andie. Do you know what they were?"

"Yes," she said sadly.

"All I wanted was to grow old with you, and for us to have a baby or two together. I don't need to be rich, I don't need to be famous or powerful Andie, that's all I wanted. And you fucked it up with your curiosity. Do you even remember how many night's we've sat out here just holding each other and watching the moon. We've probably only turned that big ass TV on a handful of times since we moved in here. Not because there's nothing on, but because we've just never needed it. That's all gone Andie. I agreed to try this but I'm truly not sure we can fix this."

"But it was only sex, and only one time. It just seems that you can't even try to get past it. I'm hurting too. I keep feeling like I'm just a broken toy to you right now. You aren't treating me like a human being who feels things and makes mistakes. You're acting like a spoiled little boy who got dirt on his fairy princess doll, and doesn't want to play with her anymore because someone else touched it," she said.

"Andie, I know that you love sex. I do too. But there's a big assed difference between going out and fucking a hooker, and what you and I used to do. It was far more than a physical act, it was special, it was like we brought our souls closer together by sharing our bodies. And now my fairy princess has shared her body with the troll from next door. We're basically no longer exclusive, so there's nothing special about it anymore. It's become cheaper. It's something that under the right set of circumstances anyone can have. So who or what will you get curious about next time Andie?"

"Who or whatever it is, I won't make the mistake of telling you about it," she snapped. "I see what being honest got me, next time I'll try lying."

"Andie right now we're only held together by the thinnest thread you can imagine. If there ever is a next time. We'd be done so fast you wouldn't even know it. You wouldn't even see me until we met in court. I was so close to dumping your cheating ass this time that..." I stopped talking before I said something I'd regret. Even in the dark I could see Andie crying. I realized that I'd let my anger push me into saying things that I shouldn't have.

"Good night Andie, "I said. "I'm sorry for the things I said. I shouldn't have said them. I guess I'm still angry about this whole thing. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe we should have gone to counseling before we moved back in together."

"I'm glad you let me move back. I couldn't take sleeping alone another night," she said. "I'd have gone crazy if I had to spend another day without seeing you. Why do you think I came up to your fucking job yesterday? I know it's going to take a lot of work to get you back Eric, but I'm going to do it. I swear that things with us are going to be even better," she said. "Now let's go to bed."

She followed me upstairs, and when I got to the master bedroom came in and sat down on the bed. She pulled her shirt over her head and started taking off her clothes. "Andie what are you doing?" I asked.

"Getting undressed so we can go to bed silly," she smiled.

"Andie, we won't be sleeping together or doing anything else for a while," I said. "There are plenty of bedrooms in the house, pick one."

Andie tried her best to hide her tears. "You aren't even trying," she said. "Maybe you don't love me anymore."

The next morning, I was up showered and almost gone before Andie got out of bed. I was backing out of the driveway, when Andie came running out of the house, still in only her bra and panties. She tapped on my window and I let it down. "I left you a key on the island in the kitchen," I said. "I hadn't gotten around to cancelling your credit cards so they still work," I rolled the window back up only to have her tap on it again.

"You were going to leave without telling me good bye?" she asked. "I noticed that you don't want to kiss me or touch me, but you need to say goodbye to me just to be polite."

"Andie you were asleep," I said. "I didn't want to wake you."

"I didn't sleep very well anyway, and you can wake me anytime you want. Even if it's just to tell me goodbye, or good night, or good morning. Even better if you wanted to kiss me, or hug me or feel me up or fuck me," she said. "No matter what I've done, I'm still yours and I always will be. I know I messed up, but I am trying to fix it."

When I got to work Myrna asked me "Are you back with Andie?"

"Kind of, on a trial basis," I said.

"Good, maybe you can get your head out of your ass now." she said. "She left you a stack of messages that all say the same thing. She loves you. You must've fucked the shit out of her last night. Why not give her your new phone number so she can call you herself, and save me any future embarrassment."

When I got home that night, I was feeling better. I said Hi to Andie when I came in and started changing for my run.

"Is it Okay if I invite a couple of guests for dinner?" she asked.

"Andie it's your house too, you don't have to ask me things like that. You never did before."

Actually I was kind of glad that we wouldn't be having another awkward night alone. I met Mel coming out of her house. We ran our usual slow four mile loop and talked all the way. I couldn't help noticing that Mel had dropped a lot of weight especially around her tummy and she was looking really good. "I bought a new swim suit today," she said. "It's still a one piece, but Mike's eyes bugged out when he saw it on me. He came over towards me and reached for me, until I told him that if he touched me I'd cut his balls off."

"How are things with you two?" she asked.

"Weird," I answered. "Our chemistry is just gone. it's like I'm starting all over with a new person. And I get so angry at her sometimes."

"It'll pass," said Mel. "The first time Mike cheated on me, it took over six months for me to even sleep in the same room with him. Another month before we had sex, and even then, it just wasn't the same. Give it some time."

When we got done. I said Goodbye to Mel, and started to go into the house. Andie opened the door for me and then went to talk to Mel. When I got out of the shower, I went downstairs to see what Andie had made for dinner. It smelled great. I went out onto the deck and immediately got pissed.

Mike was sitting nervously in one of my lounge chairs.

"I told you not to ever set foot in my fucking house again asshole," I snapped. "Get out, now."

"Eric, baby, I asked Mike and Melissa to come over tonight for dinner and a swim," said Andie. "Please sit down, I've got some things I need to say." Melissa stood up and came over to the lounge chairs near us and I was shocked. A month of running and not eating much had done wonders for her figure. I had trouble taking my eyes off of her. Her already large breasts were showcased in the swim suit. It nipped in to show off her now slimmer waist and flared back out. The suit was cut very high on the hips and her ass cheeks were nowhere near covered by the thin strip of material in the back. The sight of Melissa in that suit was nearly pornographic. This time there was no hiding my reaction. I hoped that Andie and Mike hadn't noticed, but Mel grinned a bit.

"Until recently, the four of us were the best of friends," began Andie. "Mike and I did something that while it was cheap and stupid, and not even good, messed that friendship up. With the four of us there were seven relationships. Us as a whole, the guys, Mel and I, Mike and I, and Mel and Eric, and the two marriages. Of those seven relationships Six of them have been either ruined, or damaged severely. I don't think that things will ever be the same among us. We may never be friends again. Maybe that's too much too hope for. But I do have a suggestion that might go a long way towards at least saving the two marriages."

"I don't think that's possible Andrea," said Melissa.

"I feel like Eric doesn't love me anymore and that's killing me," said Andie. "I'd give anything just to have him hold me again. He hates Mike so bad I can feel the heat from him right now. And Mel you aren't ready to even consider forgiving Mike. Eric hates Mike because Mike had sex with me. It makes him think of me as damaged goods and he doesn't want me anymore. You hate me too Melissa, and you hate Mike for having sex with me. The reason this is so bad is because there's no balance. To balance this out, I think that Eric and Melissa should have sex."

No one said a word. You could hear crickets chirping in the background. "How would that help anything," asked Mike. "They're practically dating already," he snapped. "She's been coming over to your house every fucking day, to go out and run, or swim with him, or workout with him. They even eat fucking dinner together a lot. Not that I'm complaining, because all of the workouts and shit have her looking better than she's ever looked. I'm ashamed to admit this but I've cheated on Mel way more times than I should have. And Andie all of that shit I told you was bullshit, I just wanted to fuck you. But I'm human and I have urges, and I act on them. How do we know that those two haven't already been fucking, and just didn't tell us. I catch her all the time staring out our kitchen window at him, while she's grading her fucking papers."

"Melissa and I have never done that," I said. "Neither of us is a cheater, and I hate to admit this but I agree with Mike. I don't see how two wrongs are supposed to make a right.

"If Mike stole your baseball and got it dirty, wouldn't it be fair for you to get to use his and get it dirty as well? Then you'd be even and you could be friends again," said Andie. "It's simplistic, but the logic fits."

Let's just eat and we'll talk about it more later said Andie. We ate and though we'd had dinner together many times before, it was different this time. Even more different than you'd expect it to be.

I hate Mike and would never imagine myself speaking to him again let alone us being friends. Mike didn't hate me, but he felt uncomfortable around me because he didn't know if I was going to jump up and kick his ass at any moment, or decide that I wanted to fuck his wife, who he was interested in all of a sudden. Melissa was pissed at Mike and planning on divorcing him and adopting a child. I still didn't know how I felt about Andie, but was having trouble looking away from Melissa. Melissa felt sorry for Andie, but she kept looking at me. Andie was pissed at Mike for lying to her and using her. Andie was jealous of Melissa because Mel and I were actually the only two at the table who were speaking to each other, and for once she had the idea that someone could take away something that she wanted, namely me.

After dinner Andie cleared the table. Mike sat alone on the deck and watched as Mel and I spoke to each other out of hearing range. Mel and I decided to play with Mike and Andie's minds for a while.

"Melissa and I have decided to think about it," I announced. "We really have become friends through all of this and are going to spend a little more time together. Maybe we'll do it, maybe we won't. Maybe we'll do it and not tell you. Maybe we won't do it and will tell you we did just to mess with you."

"Oh hell no," said Mike.

"I don't like that either," sniffed Andie.

"To quote what someone told me not too long ago, These are our bodies and we can do what we want with them," I said. "Tomorrow night Mel and I are going out together. Maybe when we get back it will have happened, maybe it won't."

"Why can't you just take her upstairs and fuck her now," said Mike. "Let's just get this shit over with.

"I really don't like this," said Andie. "This isn't fair."

"Why not?" I asked, "You got to do it your way and then bragged about it afterwards. You couldn't wait to tell me how you'd done it and it wasn't any good and it didn't mean anything. Then you expected me to just let it go and say, "Oh Andie, you were right everything is just fucking fine."

"But everything isn't fine is it Andie? And everything may never be fine again. So Mel and I are going to do this the way we want. Just like you did. Only this time it will be the cheaters who are sitting home hurting."I said.

"But there's a difference here," said Andie. "With me and Mike, it was just sex. Mike thinks that I'm a spoiled bitch, and he wouldn't put up with my shit in a million years. He just wanted to fuck me because I have a nice body. I think Mike is a disgusting slob and I'm not attracted to him at all, I just wanted to fuck someone other than Eric, for one God damned time. Melissa, Deny it if you want to, but you like my husband. I'm not just talking about sex here, you're attracted to Eric, and he hasn't been able to look away from your tits and your ass or your face all fucking night. There is a real danger here of you two liking this too much, so I agree with Mike. You two should just fuck now and get it over with, or forget the whole idea. I've been through too much shit trying to get my husband back, to just give him away to you."

Melissa and I looked at each other, and moved in closer to each other. then we wrapped our arms around each other as Andie looked on in horror and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. I have to admit that she felt really good, amazing in fact. Then we brought our faces close together pushed off away from each other and shook hands. "See you tomorrow Mel," I said. "Don't forget we're shooting for 5 miles."

I grabbed a beer off the table and headed upstairs. "Well, I've got papers to grade," said Mel as she headed next door.

Mike and Andie just stood there with their mouths open.

A little while later Andie knocked on the door of my room. "Can we talk?" she asked.

"I guess," I answered.

She came into the room wearing a long robe that covered everything. That was a first. She'd obviously been crying again.

"I'm going to get you an escort," she said.

"What the fuck are you talking about now, Andie?" I asked.

"Well, It's only right that you get to fuck someone else to make up for what I did, but I don't want it to be Melissa." she said.

"I still have no clue what you're talking about, Andie."

"There's something going on between you and Melissa. You may not see it. She may not see it, but trust me it's there, and it scares the shit out of me. Eric, all my life I've been the pretty girl. I always knew I could have any guy I wanted. I never had to worry about losing a boyfriend to anyone else, even though I didn't put out. This is hard for me to admit but, until tonight I never took Melissa seriously. I mean she's always been kind of borderline pretty, but she's shorter and chunkier than I am. She has big tits, but I have everything else, and her gut was kind of a turn off.

But now my marriage is crumbling, and stress and worrying about what I may have lost has been hard on me. I'm not looking my best. And Melissa has somehow, lost that gut and toned up crazily. Even I had to admit tonight she looked really good in that fucking swim suit. And you noticed it too. Mike is really pissed and he doesn't want you anywhere near her. You too spend way too much time together. I'm really afraid that with your anger towards me and your so called friendship with her, that I could lose you," she said.

"I realize now that I've been kind of selfish during our marriage and took you for granted, but that's over now. It won't happen again, I promise. I know that I don't have the right to ask for any favors but I'm begging you for this one. If you have to have your revenge fuck, I'll get you anyone you want, a model, an athlete, a hooker, a porn-star, Britney Spears, or a God Damned circus clown. I'll even try and hook you up with my sister if you want. Anybody except Melissa," she said.

I started laughing and the sheet pulled down a bit revealing my chest and the upper region of my stomach. Andie looked and I heard her sigh quietly. And I wondered suddenly what she was doing for sex. It had been over a month, since the incident, and Andie needed sex daily at least.

"I'm serious Eric," she said. "I know you better than anyone in the world, and before tonight, I've never seen you look at anyone except me that way. And when Melissa hugged you in your little handshake parody, her eyes almost rolled back in her head when you guys made contact. When you stopped hugging her, I thought her fucking nipples were going to shred that suit. But that's not the real problem is it."

"What is the real problem Andie?" I snapped. "Are you afraid of not being in control of the situation? You get to go off and pick the biggest scumbag we know, who also used to be my best friend, and fuck him on my deck in broad day light. But you want to get to choose who I have sex with, to make sure it isn't someone who threatens you. Is that the problem?"

"No Eric," she said. "That's not the problem. The problem is that to me there's a difference between love and sex. I could go out tonight and have sex with three guys, and you'd still be the only man that I love. I can separate the two. You can't. If you have sex with Melissa, I'll lose you for good. I'm sure of it. Eventually I'll run out of curiosity, and you and I will settle down and things will be wonderful again, and we'll have all of the things that we want. But if you and Melissa have sex, things won't ever be the same."