Against All Odds Pt. 04 - Sex Stories

Against All Odds Pt. 04

... with added parmesan cheese, and then pan-fried in butter with a touch of salt and pepper. Lemon was a garnish, and we ate with our fingers. It was good to see her eat more than two. We finished the entire batch in minutes.

She sat back and said, as a matter of fact, "I've stopped using."

"I've heard, and that makes me happy, Melissa; it really does."

With this lingering in the air, she said, "I'm not seeing Ryan anymore."

My jaw clenched. I silently recited the serenity prayer, chuckling, thinking,and wisdom to know the difference.

"I bet he's not happy with that." She looked down at the table, and I added, "That's a lot to give up, Melissa; you sure about that?"

She knew exactly what I was referring to, and it was awkward, to say the least.

"I never loved him. I only love you, Dave." Tears flowed.

I wanted to hug her and protect her from the pain. Denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance all cascaded through me.

"Well, not a very impressive way to show love, Mel." I landed on anger. In my mind, I swore I heard her sayit was only sex! I shook my head and said,"There is no coming back from that."

She looked at me and said, "I know, but I need to say some things to you."

I then landed on denial. CouldI forget this ever happened? Erase what happened?

Melissa grabbed my hands, and I pulled them away and sat back with my arms crossed. Angry tears were coming. I was always the one to talk. Not this time. I just waited.

With red and swollen ...

... eyes, she looked at me in the eyes. She did not flinch. She squared her shoulders.God, they were beautiful, I thought.

"I'm so ashamed, Dave. I'm so sorry I betrayed you. That I disrespected you and cheated on you." She paused and then said, "I'm broken, Dave. I need help, and I've surrendered to this for the first time in my life. If I could take it all back, I would. These last two years have been the best of my life, and now, these last months are the worst."

I was still angry, but Grace snuck back, knowing it was no small thing she had waived a white flag. We might be over, but something good could come of this. I still had questions.

"How long have you been seeing Ryan, Melissa?"

"Around two months or less. He was coming into the store before that."

I pondered this and tried to trust her. "Did Cathy know?"

Melissa froze a little, then reminded herself of honesty. "Yes, she knew."

That fucking bitch, and I thought she was on my side. "I guess I didn't pass the Cathy test after all." Melissa could see my anger.

"She was trying to get me to end it. She was warning me. Trying to help me." She paused and added, "I was ending it with him last weekend."

I actually laughed, "Well, that was quite the breakup then! Look, I called and texted you that I was coming home early. As far as I was concerned, you staged the whole thing. It looked like a breakup scene for the ages! From my vantage point, you can understand that it didn't look like you were breaking ...