Even though I have a cell phone, my FWB Linda never called it unless it was an emergency. I had an old-styled land line with voice mail which she would use if she wanted to get ahold of me. Usually, her messages were to invite me over. That meant dinner and sex, most of the time. Even though I liked Linda, I had never thought she was angling for anything more than an occasional hook-up. Lucy’s comment that Linda might be interested in more was echoing in my mind when I saw the VM light blinking on my set.
“Hey, Tank, I need to see you this evening. Could you please come by sometime after seven?” was the message. It was an odd message. I wondered why she wanted me to come over so late. It meant no dinner, so I fired up the oven and grilled some chicken and whipped up some mashed potatoes and a side of asparagus. I showered and hopped in my truck and arrived at her door around seven-fifteen.
I knocked and was ushered in by a pissed off looking Linda.
“Hi,” I smiled and leaned down to give her a kiss on her cheek. She dodged it and pushed me away with her hand. I stared at her perplexed. “Uh, what’s wrong?”
“You tell me, Tank. Is there anything wrong?”
“I didn’t think so, but apparently there is. What’s up?”
“Your hanging out with Lucy, that’s what’s up.”
“Uh, she works for me. We see each other probably four to five days a week. So, yeah, we hang out, I guess.”
“I heard you were out drinking with her the other night.”
“Yeah, we had a wild day on the job, were a bit late getting back and so I offered to buy her off with a burger and beer. Anything wrong with that?”
“No, but that’s not all. Her car was at your office all night. You take her home, Tank?”
“Yeah, I took her home, to her home. And I left her there. She’d had a bit too much to drink and she didn’t want to be driving. I took her home and left as soon as she got her front door open. I picked her up this morning, took her to the job site and dropped her off this evening at her car.”
“I see.”
“Wait. What the fuck is wrong with this picture? You and I have a nice situation, I think. We are independent, have our own lives and occasionally get together for a date, or dinner or sex. Did you ever tell me this was exclusive?”
“No, dammit, Tank, but I thought I’d get a little more respect from you than finding out from my coworker that you were sleeping around.”
“I wasn’t sleeping around! I dropped her off because she was in no condition to drive. End of story! Now, do you choose to believe me or not?”
Linda paused a few seconds and I noticed a few tears trickling down her cheeks. Then she went on, “Maybe we shouldn’t keep this going, you and me.”
“Uh, you want to call it quits? Everything?”
“I don’t wanna, but I think I gotta. You see, Tank, I thought what we had was special and could potentially lead to something stronger, more long term. And I get the idea you may not think so.”
“Well, as I see it, there are two issues on the table. First: Did I sleep with Lucy? The answer is ‘Hell no.’ We are work colleagues, she’s my employee, for God’s sake. The fastest way to financial ruin is to sleep with an employee.
“Second: We have not talked about ‘us’ in a long time. I had no idea you were thinking things might get serious. Look, Linda, I like you. I like you a lot. But we’re not at the point that we should be thinking long term, at least in my view.”
“Well, that settles it for me. Tank, it’s been fun, but I think we need to call it quits.”
“Just like that, huh?”
“Yeah, just like that.”
I went up to her and reached out for a hug. She folded in my arms and started to bawl. I hate it when women cry. There’s nothing you can do to make the situation better and anything you try usually makes it worse. So, I kept my mouth closed and gently held her in my arms. After five or ten minutes she seemed to get ahold of herself and pulled back from me.
“Thanks for the hug, Tank. I’ll be OK, really. But I still think it’s best we split.”
“OK, Lin, I wish you the best.”
“Yeah, thanks. We can still be friends if we meet at a party, or something, OK?”
“Yeah, sure. Let’s tell people we realized we weren’t long term material, OK?”
“Umm-hmm. Sounds good to me. Uh, Tank, thanks for a wonderful time together. I’ll miss you, but this is best for both of us.”
I reached down, gave her a quick good-bye kiss on her cheek and turned to the door. “Bye, Linda. Take care.”
Lucy
Tank was obviously preoccupied the next morning. I asked if everything was OK and he clammed up saying “Yeah” but not anything else. I decided to ignore things and concentrate on our job. Work went fairly well. I was in charge of texturing while he continued with the flooring. Once the flooring was in by late in the day I started on the baseboards while he took measurements and designed a new cabinet.
All of this was done nude or with basic protective gear on. By now it seemed almost normal to strip down when we arrived and to get dressed on our way out. I noticed Tank’s erectile issue was fading. In our case familiarity didn’t breed contempt but it sure bred a sense of normality.
Once we were back on the highway, I turned to him and asked finally, “What’s wrong, Tank. Have I done anything…”?
“No, no way,” he interrupted, “Your work is great. I can’t imagine a better assistant.”
“OK. What’s up? Normally you’re easy to get along with, funny. Today you’ve been a grouch.”
“Personal things, that’s all.”
“Care to explain?” I asked and he failed to say anything. After a few minutes I decided to push on. “Problem with Linda?”
“Huh? You could say that.”
“What?”
“Actually, no problem at all. We aren’t seeing each other anymore.”
“Oh, Tank! I’m so sorry to hear it, really. Care to talk about it?”
“Not really. Seems you were right. She was pissed when she thought you were spending the night with me and when I reassured her, well, she went on saying things about us together in the future, you know. I guess I let her know I didn’t think of her in those terms, so she booted me.”
I wanted so much to say ‘I told you so’ but I knew better than to kick a man when he’s down. We rode along in silence a few more minutes when he asked, “Aren’t you gonna tell me you told me so?”
“No, Tank,” I said as I lay my hand on his right forearm, “There’s nothing I can say that will make things better for you, except to say I’m sorry it worked out that way.”
“Thanks. ‘preciate it.”
Once back at the office I got into my car and as I glanced one final time at him, I saw the face of a truly sad guy. I hopped back out of my car and flagged him down.
“What’s up, Luce?”
“Uh, I, uh….well it seems we both are suddenly single. I’m not coming onto you, but would you like to try my cooking tonight. Maybe have a brew and hang out?”
“Yeah, I could do that. Otherwise, I’ll nuke a TV dinner and feel sorry for myself. What time?”
“Any time. I’ll thaw some chicken and we can bar-b-q it, add some slaw and beans. OK?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Oh, beer’s on you,” I laughed and for the first time all day he cracked a smile.
I pulled some chicken thighs out of the freezer and defrosted them in the microwave while I showered quickly. I pulled on a nice pair of jeans and a simple T-shirt. I didn’t think about it at the time, but later I realized I hadn’t put on a bra. I hate the damn things and it is so nice to go without that I rarely wear them once I am home. And of course, I hadn’t worn one all day.