Cheryl's Secret (Two Stories Series) (18 page)

The truth takes courage Mark, and I was so afraid to tell you.
But now the thought of never seeing you again makes me hurt so bad

“Mark, please, let me explain! It’ll all make sense!
I’ll tell you all about me, my sister, and Tanya. I’ll even tell you about Richard. DON’T GO!”

Mark spoke again, looking away from her.

“I’m not interested in hearing any of it. You either lied to me in the first place, or you’re about to lie to me now. I’m going to talk to my girlfriend soon. In the meantime, why don’t you just go bang Richard or something? I think I learned ALL I need to know
from
you, and
about
you. TRAINING IS OVER!”

As
Mark left unsympathetically all Cheryl could do was scream.

I should have told
Tanya the truth this morning. I should have let Mark tell me the truth this evening. Mark and Akiko might compare notes some day, and all sorts of truth will come out. Knowing how honest Mark is, he’s going to go tell Tanya the truth about what happened between us. I have no chance. I finally meet my ideal man, and I blow it in every way possible.

C
hapter 8

Cheryl cried well into the morning, the next afternoon, and the early evening. She had called in sick to the office, as heartbreak was the worst illness of all.

Her sister came for a surprise visit, and for once
Cheryl was happy to see her, but not happy enough to hide her pain. She told Akiko everything. Akiko had her own idea how to handle all this.

“Let’s go pick up guys together
Cheryl.
You’re
training is still not over!”

They both got ready and headed to the Shore Hotel and Restaurant, Akiko’s favorite pick-up spot.

When they arrived, Akiko advised her sister “It’s the perfect place to hook up. You have a few drinks downstairs, and you fuck upstairs.”

They looked around, not only admiring the Italian
décor, but also the plentiful selection of men, and the few women that were around.

“Don’t worry, those
women aren’t even competition. Not for us,” Akiko assured her sister as they both took a seat at the bar.

Amber
was working that night. Her eyes bulged in recognition at Akiko.

Cheryl
and her sister ended up talking to a pair of tall, blue-eyed and blond-haired men at a corner booth. As Cheryl’s man went to the bathroom, the bartender, Amber motioned to Cheryl, and she walked to the bar to see what Amber wanted.

“Your boyfriend was in here earlier
,” Amber said quietly.

“If
you’re talking about Mark, he’s not my boyfriend,” Cheryl responded.

“So I guess he decided on
Tanya. “

“Wait a minute, how come you know so much?”

“Look, he was in here today, drinking his brains away and ranting on about you and Tanya. The guy’s gone
mental.
I’m thinking you and your sister did
that
,” Amber asserted.

“I
’m a good person,” Cheryl said, not completely believing herself.

“Perhaps
you are, but if you keep hanging out with that sister of yours, and doing what she does, that won’t last long. I’ve seen Akiko in here before. I’ve seen her with a
lot
of different men. I’ve seen and heard of fights breaking out over this woman after one guy finds out that she fucked some other guy after fucking him. Don’t do what she does, don’t go home with that man tonight either.”

“Why not?
He wants a good lay, and I’m going to give it to him.”

Amber looked over
Cheryl’s shoulder. Cheryl’s interest-of-the-night had come back from the bathroom and joined Akiko and the other man. Amber wasn’t pleased with what she saw.

“Are you sure it’s going to be
you
that he lays tonight?” Amber asked.

Cheryl
turned around and noticed now that Akiko was holding hands with Cheryl’s interest, and putting her arm around the other.

“God, men are ruled by their dicks
,” Cheryl said in disgust.

This got Amber pissed
. “You know, even if that
were
true, and that all men were ruled by their dicks, all the time, you know what’s even sadder than that?”

“What
could be sadder than that?” Cheryl asked.

“
When women like your sister
knowingly
take advantage of that.”

Cheryl
looked back at Akiko, who was getting up out of the booth with both men.

The three of them approached.

Akiko spoke to Cheryl. “Hey sister, are you coming with us?”

“No, I can’t
. I got work tomorrow.”

“W
ell, have a good night. Here, you can take my car home. I’ll be getting my own
ride.”
Akiko winked and smiled as she handed Cheryl her keys. Both men laughed.

Cheryl
’s interest gave her a kiss on the cheek, with a simple “Nice meeting you” then left with Akiko and the other man.

When they were out of hearing range, Amber spoke again.

“Look at what your sister did. She
knows
you like him, and she’s leaving with
both
of them.”

Cheryl
argued, “That doesn’t mean anything. First off, those guys could’ve come in the same car. For all we know, Akiko and her guy are going to drop
my guy
off at home, then go about their business. My guy will call me later. He has my phone number.”

Amber looked at
Cheryl sympathetically then responded, “Really, he has your phone number? You mean the one on the napkin over there?” She pointed to the table.

They walked over to the booth togethe
r, and as Amber cleared it off, Cheryl picked up the napkin.

Amber nodded toward the stairs, and as
Cheryl saw the three of them walk up, she whispered :

“
Cheryl, she’s taking them upstairs, nothing up there but rooms. They’re
not
about to drive
anywhere.”

Making the situation even more obvious, Akiko put her arms around both of them.

Akiko, you’re NOT my sister anymore!

“
Cheryl, are you going to be O.K.?”

“I need a drink.”

Cheryl came back to the bar with Amber, and Amber poured Cheryl a drink. The tone of the conversation became more amiable as Cheryl realized that Amber truly was her friend. She told Amber what had been going on from her side, leaving out some details of her business with Akira. There wasn’t much Amber could do about that anyway. Amber did not speak until Cheryl finished.

“Look, remember what you said about m
en being ruled by their dicks? You can’t think of all men that way. You’ll never find that special someone. You’ll miss it when it’s right in front of you.”

“Like with Mark,
” admitted Cheryl.

“Yes, like with Mark.
The thing with him is; he wants to get his dick wet just as much as any other guy. Trust me, the urge is there. But for him, it’s not just about that. Otherwise, he would’ve fucked your sister at the barbecue, married woman or not.”

“
Well he sure got preoccupied with Tanya. He wanted nothing but to get
her
, and eventually he did,” Cheryl argued.

“Yes
Cheryl, but that was
emotional,
not sexual. For whatever reason, Mark was convinced he could be happy with her. If all he wanted was sex, he would’ve forgotten all about Tanya on your first date, and based on that email, would’ve removed
your clothes
that night. You’re just as desirable as Tanya is, and just about anyone is better in bed, from what I hear.”

“How do you know that?”
Cheryl asked.

“I know her
ex-husband. And no, I don’t know him
that way.
”

“That’s funny
,” Cheryl said with a smile.

“Y
ou could’ve just waited out that preoccupation with Tanya. But you
had
to force the issue. You went out with him, and he kisses you, saying
her name.
Not a big surprise, actually. But how do
you
handle it? Bounce him between you and Akiko, of course.
Good thinking!
It’s no wonder the guy’s gone mental. All you had to do was let him send that email to Tanya so he could get some of his integrity back.”

“So what do I do now?”
asked with Cheryl rapt attention.

“Simple.
You need to talk to Tanya, and you need to talk to Mark. Clear up all the misunderstandings. You may not get Mark back, but it’s the right thing to do. If you had been open and honest in the first place, none of this mess would’ve happened,” Amber advised, comfortingly.

“Maybe I should talk to my sister too
,” Cheryl suggested.

“No, forget it.
There is no talking to Akiko. She’s been a monkey wrench in this whole scenario. You, Mark and Tanya, you are people of good will. Akiko is not. Best thing to do with Akiko? Avoid her.”

“She did move out of my place.”

“Well then, girlfriend. It looks like life is already getting better,” Amber assured her.

Not long after,
Cheryl paid her tab, thanked Amber, and drove home.

Chapter 9

Saturday morning rolled around, and Cheryl sat on her couch, bravely talking to Mark on the phone. She had mixed feelings on the news of him continuing to date Tanya. She was happy for them, glad that her and Mark were still friends, and still sad that they were
only
friends. She laughed when Mark said to her “No having sex with me” as she fondly remembered the first two training sessions they had. She avoided the subject of Richard as much as possible. Akiko came up, and it seemed neither Cheryl or Mark (or even Akiko) knew what would happen with
that
after Tanya left the country. Cheryl was polite as possible, wishing Mark happiness with Tanya in the short time they had left.

I wonder after all this is over if Mark will come around.

Cheryl faded off to sleep, later on that evening the phone rang, waking her up. She limply grabbed the phone, and was too blurry-eyed to check the caller I.D.

“H
ello,” answered Cheryl softly.

“
Cheryl I understand why you slept with Mark!”
Tanya said quickly.

Cheryl
popped up into a sitting position, and wide awake with shock exclaimed “Tanya? What? Doesn’t anyone say ‘
Hi how are you doing’
anymore?”

“Hi, how are yo
u doing?” asked Tanya plainly.

Cheryl was silent. Tanya continued.

“Cheryl, I wanted to get to the point before you hung up. You would’ve hung up if I just said ‘Hi it’s Tanya’ right?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to take the chance.”

“
Tanya, I’m so sorry. I want you to know; I really have feelings for him. I wanted to make him happy. I went about it all the wrong way. I…”

“You thought that Mark and I were broken up.
And I would have sent that e-mail, but I couldn’t be that disrespectful to him, after having slept with him the night before,” said Tanya.

Cheryl
started to cry. This was more kindness than she ever expected. Now she regretted everything. The way she interfered, all the times she called her “Teasy Tanya” behind her back or laughed when someone else did.

When there was a break in
Cheryl’s crying, and she had composed herself, Tanya began to speak again.

“
Cheryl, I want to spend time with Mark before I leave, but after that, well, whatever the two of you decide is fine with me. But I’m curious, who is Richard?”

“
Tanya, I’ll discuss Richard with Mark after you leave. It’s VERY complicated.”

“Well, when it comes to men, it often can be.”

“I have to go Tanya. This conversation is a bit too weird for me. But thanks for calling.”

“Goodnight
Cheryl.”

Chapter
10

A week later, as Cheryl was preparing to leave for her Saturday morning workout, the doorbell rang. It was Akiko.

Although
Cheryl had been distancing herself from Akiko recently, she wasn’t overly rude about it, for the sake of her family. She let her sister in.