Cheryl's Secret (Two Stories Series) (2 page)

Without
checking the caller I.D., he answered.

“I’m so glad you called
.”

“Glad to hear it
,” said Cheryl.

“What?
Why are you calling me, at ten o’clock no less? Come on, we said the wrong names when we kissed each other! I don’t think there’s a future here, Cheryl.”

“
I
know that
Mark, but I’d still like us to be friends. I really need your help, and you need mine.”

Mark hated
the “friend zone” as “just friends” meant “I’m just going to ask you for favors”. This one wasted no time asking, but she said she’d help him too, so he listened. This was far more interesting than another night of gaming!

“Mark, I’
m so sorry that I said ‘Richard’ when we kissed last night. That must’ve hurt.”

She
’s not mentioning Tanya. Interesting…

“
Richard is this guy I’m in love with, but I can’t tell him. He doesn’t seem ready for a relationship. It’s killing me,” Cheryl said sadly.

“I don’t get it.
You didn’t seem to have problems putting the moves on
me
, but you can’t tell
Richard
about your feelings?”

“He’
s so precious to me. I can’t screw it up. He’s my fantasy that I don’t want to end. But honestly, I don’t know if I’m
ever
going to make it real between
us.
”

S
he was no longer a love interest, and he could speak to her without fear of rejection. Besides, he had already blown things with her by saying
Tanya
. He had nothing to lose. For once, he could say what he wanted.

“So I guess that made me chopped liver.
What were you doing? Using me as practice? Did you believe seducing a stranger would make it easier to seduce
him?
” Mark asked.

“
No! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it that way! I just thought if I could get myself into a relationship with someone else I could get over
him
. You may not be as wonderful as Richard is, or as wonderful as I
think
he is, but you still might be someone who could help me get over him. Maybe someone who ends up being more wonderful than I think Richard would be! But I guess it all adds up to my using you.”

A woman
apologizing to ME, this is a new one. MAYBE she’s someone I could care about… as a friend. So what if she’s all gaga over Richard? Maybe I can just play along. Wait for it all to go to shit with him…

No,
I’m not that evil. If I’m going to help her for real, I have to get my head out of the gutter. There are so many other women in the world. I don’t have to take advantage of this one.

Hell,
I just met two women in one weekend! That comes out to eight women a month!

If only it really worked that way
…

“You’
re being quiet. I can almost
hear
those mental gears turning. Can you at least tell me if you can forgive me?” Cheryl said.

“I
forgive you. Now tell me about Richard.”

“I‘
ve given him hints. I even kissed him once. But I don’t think he’s ready for a relationship, so I have to stop pursuing him, at least for now. I don’t want just to date casually. I think he’s the man I’ve been waiting for,” Cheryl said.

“You didn’
t tell him that you want a serious relationship? I’m surprised you’d hide that.”

Cheryl
paused.

“As good as
I am at expressing myself, I’m just as good hiding what I feel,” she responded.

That’s no good.
O.K., let’s put on the friend hat…

“
Cheryl, what do you think is the
worst
scenario in this situation?”

“
I tell him how I feel then he rejects me.” Cheryl didn’t sound happy.

“No
, that’s not the worst scenario! At least if he
rejects
you, you can get over it and move on.
But,
if you wait too long, he’ll find himself a girlfriend, and it’ll be
torture.
”

Mark took notice of her silence.

“Cheryl, you must be tired. We’ll talk about this some other time, O.K.?”

“You’re going to help me? Hey, thanks for the advice. Yeah, I need to go to bed now.”

“
I do too, after I email Tanya.”

“
You’re
still
emailing her?”

“I just want some closure
. I’ll read it to you.”

Mark looked at his monitor, and read:

“Dear
Tanya,

It’s Monday night, and
you have not “checked your schedule” as you promised. I’ve called you, and I’ve heard nothing back.

I really was into you, but this is not much to go on.

Yesterday I went on a date with another woman on the website. We had a good time, but we decided not to go out again. I only WISH that you could have that kind of honesty. But you’re not like that. You’re playing some sort of game instead.
As beautiful as you are
, that doesn’t fly with me.

Good luck to you.

Mark”

H
e was proud of what he wrote, and felt good that he could share his
empowering
moment
.

“D
on’t send that e-mail!” Cheryl shouted over the phone.

“Why not?” asked
Mark, surprised.

“
Promise you won’t email or call her until after we talk tomorrow,” Cheryl insisted.

“Fine, I won’t.
You have a good night.”

“
Goodnight.”

Chapter 3

Mark felt good the next morning.
There was lingering concern over Tanya’s apparent rejection, but also warmth from his caring for Cheryl without expectation. He could be friends with her. Maybe,
finally
, being “just friends” with a woman could work.

Although the work of a telemarketer is one of repetition, rejection and dread, Mark enjoyed his work that day
and surpassed his quota. Even his prick of a boss couldn’t faze him.

Upon coming home, he called
Cheryl. She answered on the first ring, and was glad to hear from him.

“Mark, as I said before, I think Richard just may be the perfect guy for me.
He’s handsome, smart, creative, all the things a woman could ask for as far as I can tell. But I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen. I think about him all the time, his touching me, kissing me, making love to me, his caressing my… I’m sorry, is this too personal?”

“Not at all
! Please continue! Maybe I can share some of my fantasies about Tanya?”

“Oh yeah,
Tanya again, well, as things stand, there is about a snowball’s chance in hell Tanya’s going to call you back without some major reason to change her mind.
But,
what if I said I could fix that?”

“How are you going to do that?
I mean really, what could you possibly say to her?”

“
I can get a read on her, and talk you up accordingly. If it doesn’t work, I can at least have her call you to end things, which is the least you deserve. Just consider it a bonus to your training.”

“
Training?”

Cheryl
giggled. “Yes, I’m going to train you on how to handle women. Whether you get Tanya or not, you’ll become a better man for it. It’s the least I can do for you helping me out with Richard.”

Where does this woman get off thinking I can’t handle women?
Hmm… maybe it’s because I can’t handle women.

Ch
eryl expected him to think this over, and patiently waited for him to respond.

“O
.K., how are we going to do this Cheryl?”

“I’
m coming to your place tomorrow. You and I, my friend, are going to have a training session.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Just come home at your usual time tomorrow. I’ll be waiting at your door,” Cheryl responded confidently.

Great. N
ow I have some weird arrangement with this woman I no longer want to sleep with that’s going to try to help me sleep with someone else, all while I’m going to help her get down some other guy’s pants. Worse, she won’t even tell me how she’s going to do all this!

That’s the
problem with “just being friends”. You get all the drama, with no sex!

Chapter
4

The next day couldn’t have been longer. Mark, dying of curiosity, could think of nothing but his last conversation with Cheryl.

As
Mark walked to his door, he saw her waiting patiently there, smoking a cigarette, sitting Indian-Style while talking to one of his neighbors. Upon seeing her, he felt the warmth of friendship, and the sadness of
just
being friends. Sadness or not, his resolve was
still
not to get involved with her further than that.

A
s Mark took a closer look at her, he realized that this wouldn’t be a difficult resolve to keep. She wore a perspiration-soaked sweatshirt and jogging pants with holes in them. She wore no makeup, and her hair was tied back. Even her shoes looked beat-up.

Maybe
Cheryl couldn’t make it and sent her brother instead?
Mark speculated.

A
s Cheryl leaned back to stretch, her wet sweatshirt firmly pressing against her nipples, he was reassured that this was indeed a woman. He mentally slapped himself in the face for staring, then said hello to her.

Cheryl
was pleasant, and greeted him back saying “Hey, let’s get started. I want you to take a shower and put on some nice clothes.”

Maybe I should tell
her the same thing, O.K. Mark, hold the sarcasm and just go in and do what she says.

“Oh, and take your time while you
’re in there.”

Yes, Ma’am
! Already in charge, yes she is.

As Mark took a shower, all he could do was speculate on what Cheryl was up to.

Maybe she’ll be lying naked on my couch when I come out. Or maybe she’s going through my things, to pick my brains? Well, at least my private journal is in a secret place that only a police investigation team would be able to find.

Since I know where she lives, it’s not likely she’s robbing me. However, my knowing that won’t matter if she’s waiting to stab me to death. Yeah, that’s it. She wants me to be clean and neat so that she can properly murder me!

Oh shit
! I left my backpack open on the kitchen counter. If she finds my condom stash in there, she’s going to get the wrong idea. Then I’ll never discover what this “training session” is all about!

I’m driving
myself crazy.

Mark took as long as
possible to finish his shower, and then he went to his room to see if he had anything nice to wear.

After he dressed, he
then walked out to find three women sitting at his dining room table!

Apparently,
Cheryl had some cute lady friends, a black and a white. All three were just talking and sipping bottled water and had not yet noticed him.

Yes
! An Asian, a white woman and a black! I wonder, can I even survive this?

Mark was
happy about this training session indeed!

“Oh thank you Jesus
!”
Mark exclaimed walking further into the room.

“You
’re welcome.” Cheryl responded to Mark.

“Time to go la
dies, I’ll see you both later,” Cheryl instructed her friends.

Cheryl
’s two friends left immediately.

“Wait
a minute! Why are they leaving?” asked Mark.

“Oh, I can take it from here
,” Cheryl answered.

Mark was puzzled
but only for a moment. He looked around and saw that while he was in the shower, the three had cleaned his place from top to bottom. They had washed and put away the dishes, the trash and organized everything. Although not what he had in mind, Mark was grateful.

“Hey, order us some pizza or something while I do the bathroom,
O.K.?” Cheryl said in passing, not wasting any time getting to her next task.

Mark more than obliged her, ordering some pizza, cracking out some wine, and nervously waiting for her to finish her cleaning.
She also took a shower and changed herself. When she came out, she was wearing a long white dress. Her hair was flowing, gorgeous, and she was fully made up and accessorized with earrings, necklace, and bracelets.