Cheryl's Secret (Two Stories Series) (13 page)

Just as she was about to message
Mark17, Tanya returned to the table. She quickly logged out of her home computer.

“Hey
Cheryl, did you put your profile up?” Tanya asked.

“Y
eah, here I am. Cheryl1369.”

“Hmmm, looks good, but no picture?”

“The pics I have on my hard drive are really bad. I’ll get one taken soon,” Cheryl replied.

“
O.K., well I got to run. Catch ya later!”

After a long bus ride home, she came inside, and quickly sat down at her computer, excited about
her new activity.

When
she checked her inbox, she was thrilled to read:

Message from dating site member:

Dear
Cheryl1369,

You’re
exciting!

Can
I have your number? You can send directly to my email address. I unblocked it on my profile, so you can get all my contact info there.

Just want to be honest.
I did go out with someone last week. She did say she wanted to see me again, but needed to check her schedule. I’ve emailed and called her a few times, but she might just be too busy to date right now. So if you don’t mind that, let’s talk, O.K.?

Thanks!

This message has been sent by Mark17. To verify this message,
click here.

To respond to this message,
click here.

Oh my God, it’s him! I wasn’t expecting a response so fast. Not too worried now about that date he had with Tanya now.

A few mouse-clicks and a bit of typing later, and
Cheryl finished. She relaxed a bit, reading a book, and then the phone rang.

Chapter 2

As Cheryl walked into the café, Amber greeted her.

“Hey
, Cheryl, party of one tonight?”

“Actually, I’m looking for my online date.
He’s tall, blue eyes, dark hair…”

“Oh yeah, Mark, right?”

“Yeah, how did you know his name?” Cheryl inquired.

“
He was here with Tanya last week,”
whispered Amber.

Cheryl just smiled.

Amber walked Cheryl to the table, pointing to him, saying “This is Mark.”

Then she turned to Mark and said to him “Mark, this is…”

“Cheryl. My name is Cheryl. You’re Mark, right?” Cheryl interrupted.

Mark snapped out of his though
ts. Amber walked away before Mark even noticed her.

“Yes, pleased to meet you.
Please, sit down,” Mark replied. Then like a gentleman, Mark stood up to pull the chair out for her.

Not bad, and much
taller than he looks online. How Tanya could throw him away is beyond me.

“So Mark, have you
done much Internet dating?” Cheryl inquired.

“Only really went out with that one I met last week
,” Mark responded.

“I’ll bet you’re still thinking about her aren’t you?”

“I’m Sorry. It’s hard not to,” Mark admitted.

“Well, I’m
not the least bit jealous, and if you don’t mind my bluntness, I don’t think you’ll be seeing her again anyway.”

He was honest with me. I Might as well be honest with him too. Tanya sure won’t ever tell him the truth.

“How can you say that?” replied Mark.

“Well, let me see… in your
very honest
email, you told me that you went out with her last week, she told you that she would check her schedule, and despite your emails and voice messages, you’ve heard
nothing
from her?”

“No.”

This is so pathetic it’s almost funny! I wonder just how long these men take to get over Teasy Tanya? I can only imagine.

Mark
paused, then started rambling. “Well, you never know. She might be very busy. She might have turned the ringer off her phone. Her internet could be on the fritz, and she can’t reply to me. She might be…”

“…Not interested Mark.
She’s just not interested,” Cheryl completed. “Come on, do you believe what you’re saying to me? What does your gut tell you?”

“I… well…”

“Look, if she calls you back tomorrow, I’ll step out of the way,” Cheryl offered.

“Fair enough, Cheryl
,” Mark agreed.

What’s up with this guy?
Is he TRYING not to have sex with me? That would be a new one.

I’d best change the subject.

“So Mark, what sort of work do you do?” Cheryl started.

“I work at a credit card sales center
,” Mark responded.

“Really?
So you set up accounts for large corporations so that they can process credit cards? That sounds cool. I bet it pays well.”

“Well, it’s not exactly that.
You see, we call people who have bad credit and sell them a card they have to pay a fee for that has a high interest rate on it. We tell them that having a new card will help restore their credit if they make the payments on time.”

Cheryl
laughed. “So, you
help
them restore their credit, enabling them to fall into debt again!”

“Yeah, it’s nothing to brag about.
What about you?”

“
I’m the Unit Assistant at the apartment complex I live in.”

“Oh,” Mark said.
“So you set up the leasing contracts, do the background checks on new tenants, collect the rent and that sort of thing?”

“No, I actually mostly clean
vacant units and run errands. It’s just a part time job with a fancy title.”

“Well, I guess on paper we
both
sound
pretty fucking important
, don’t we?” Mark responded.

“Yeah, I guess on paper you’
d be calling me to set up our merchant account!” Cheryl said giggling.

Mark followed suit and giggled too.

“Got to freshen up, I’ll be right back,” Cheryl said as she got up.

O.K.
good. Finally this guy is off the subject of Tanya. Maybe I can get to know this guy, get comfortable with him, and hopefully he knows what to do with his dick instead of just being one.

Cheryl
checked her makeup, sprayed her hair, and before walking back, shut her eyes, almost as if praying.

Please let this guy be the one
, but if not, I’ll at least take good-enough-for-now. It’s been too long. If it becomes much longer, I might just have to settle for catching one of my crazy sister’s ex-boyfriends for a one nighter on the rebound. Like to avoid that if I can.

O.K.
, I’ve got to stay focused and friendly.

Cheryl returned to the table and continued the conversation.

“So, are you going to take me back to your place, show me your drawings and play your keyboard
for me
tonight?” Cheryl asked.

“Hah! You must think I do that for all the girls.”

“You did it for
Tanya
, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t say THAT MUCH in my email. How did you know?”

Oh SHIT! Tanya told me that, not HIM!

Cheryl reached across the table and put her hands on
his, and said softly
“I just know.”

“I’d just like to walk you home now. Umm, maybe we’ll do that some other time.
Got work tomorrow, you know.”

Cheryl was disappointed by
how Mark said this, but realized she still had the walk back to make her move.

She held his hand on the way back, and he reluctantly let her.

As they stood in front of her place saying goodnight, she put her hands on his shoulders. Taking a hint, he kissed her.

Cheryl fe
lt warm in his embrace, but the warmness soon passed, as Mark uttered softly:

“Tanya.”

Well, it’s not HIM, but I’ll say it anyway…

“Richard.”

Chapter
3

“FUCK!” Cheryl said out loud as she sat on the living room couch the next night. She’d been saying it to herself all day, and couldn’t take it anymore.

Akiko was at home too. S
itting at the computer, she glanced over her shoulder and joined Cheryl’s not-so-inner dialog.

“Fuck who
, and why? Well, because it feels good, of course. But if you don’t want to fuck him, can I? Can we both fuck him?”

“Not funny, sister
,” Cheryl replied.

“What happened?”
Akiko asked.

Cheryl
let out a deep breath, and started explaining to Akiko.

“
Tanya went out with this tall, blue-eyed, dark-haired guy named Mark last week. But she didn’t like him, so I signed up for a dating site membership, and went out with him. Then he says
Tanya’s
name when he kisses me!”

“Really?
Wow. Tanya must have really got under his skin.”

“T
hey don’t call her ‘Teasy Tanya’ for nothing!” giggled Cheryl.

“
True, but the thing about Tanya is,” Akiko abruptly stopped herself. “Wait a minute Cheryl…”

Akiko turned toward the computer and mad
e a few mouse-clicks.

“
Cheryl, when did you sign up for the site?”

“It was yesterday
after my workout. Why?”

“Y
ou left yourself logged in. I didn’t know you had a membership…”

“What are you getting at Akiko?”

Akiko turned the monitor toward Cheryl.

Akiko asked
, “Is this him?”

“Yeah, that’s him. S
o what?”

“
That was
my message
he responded to!”

“
Oh shit! Akiko, how many times did this happen?”

“
Umm, let me see... O.K., this was the only message that I sent from your account,” Akiko assured her.

Cheryl wondered,
“Well, he was sure
eager
to answer. What did you write him?”

“You better look
.”

Cheryl
looked at the monitor, and read the message Akiko sent to Mark:

Message from dating site member:

Dear Mark17,

I think you’re hot, and I like the things you say on your profile too.

Do you like Asian women? If so, I think I might be what you’re looking for. We can at least have some fun together, right?

I like the line in your profile about “Not trying to sleep with you on the first date”. You’re such a gentleman!

Just so you know
, if things go well, I won’t hold you to that.

Email me back if any of this excites you
.

This message has been sent by Cheryl1369. To verify this message,
click here.

To respond to this message,
click here.

“So this guy thinks he’s going to get laid, and then he doesn’t even
try
anything with me? Goodbye, self-esteem! It’s been nice knowing you!” Cheryl exclaimed.

“We have to fix thi
s!” said Akiko.

“Are you kidding?
I’M NOT going out with that guy again!”

“Not YOU,” corrected Akiko.
“ME!
I
emailed him. I got him all hot and bothered.
I
should get a shot at him.”

“Right sister.
That’s assuming the “Looking for a discreet relationship” line of your profile wouldn’t have turned him off.”

Akiko paused, then asked “Well, you know him better than I do,
so what do
you
think?”

Cheryl
smiled. “You know, Akiko, I really don’t know. What do you want me to do?”

“Maybe you do nothing.
I’ll just write him now.”

Cheryl
smiled wider. “You know, he’s preoccupied with Tanya. I could help you with that…”

“How?”
asked Akiko.

“Well, sister, I can keep him occupied
until he gets over her. Besides, it’ll be better that he finds out we’re sisters from me than some other way,” Cheryl answered.