Cheryl's Secret (Two Stories Series) (9 page)

As Mark walked halfway out, Amber r
an up to him.

She whisper
ed to him “When all this blows over, remember one thing.”

“What’s that?”
he asked.

Amber’s voice got softer, and she cupped her hand around his ear, and put the other hand on his shoulder while saying
“At the restaurant, when I asked, when is it going to be my turn?
I wasn’t kidding.”

“
Thanks for that Amber. But I think after all this is over, my dick’s going on vacation.”

Amber said nothing,
and stood there as Mark walked out, ignoring her disappointment.

When he arrived home, he saw Tanya’s number several times on the Caller I.D. This was unusual for her. He decided not to return the calls until the next day which was unusual for
him
.

Funny, we seem to have switched places. Now
you’re seeking MY attention when I don’t feel like giving it to YOU. What changed, exactly?

Mark also noticed that
Cheryl didn’t try to call him. This was unusual, but expected. He was wondering if he’d ever speak to her again or even want to.

Chapter 11

Thursday morning Mark woke up to call in sick again. He wouldn’t be sleeping in, however.

I ha
ve to end it with Tanya today. It’s the decent thing to do. Then I’m taking a long break from women. Short of becoming a monk, maybe I can just take up a new hobby, like pipe-smoking, or how about crocheting for that matter?

There was
a sense of dread picking up the phone to make his next call, which was to Tanya. She answered, and insisted on coming to see him for lunch, not wanting to talk on the phone.

Tanya seemed preoccupied during lunch. Too much to notice how preoccupied Mark was. They didn’t speak much until after the meal.

Tanya blurted out
“I want to break up.”

“Sounds good
,” Mark responded, “Anything else?”

“Well, yeah, I want to know why you
seemed so relieved about all this. I contacted you. I ignored you. Then after a long wait, I finally called you. Then I slept with you, and now I’m breaking up with you, and you’re so calm about it?”

“I
’m relieved that all the drama is over, actually.”

“Wait a minute
! I didn’t cause THAT much drama. And you aren’t even asking me WHY I want to break up with you? There’s more to this than what you’re telling me.”

“Yes there is, actually.
You see, after our first date, I didn’t think you were going to go out with me again, so I went out with someone else. I wasn’t that into her, but she seemed to want to help me. So she gave me lessons on how to handle women,” Mark said.

“You can’t be serious
,” Tanya said as she put her hands on her forehead and looked down.

Tanya
fell silent, then let out a short, dismissive breath.

“
You’re so full of shit!” I can’t insult my own intelligence by even pretending
any
of this is true!”

She picked up a
plate to throw it at Mark, got a hold of herself and put it down.

“It’s all true
! I didn’t lie to
you
. I may have cheated, but I’m NOT a liar.”

“
You’re just trying to HURT MY FEELINGS by giving me this bullshit that you cheated on me. I mean really, Mark. If you really did cheat on me, would it even be necessary to tell me about it if I’m breaking up with you? Why? Why?”

“
I wronged you. I needed to confess it.”

“L
ook Mark, I think you must be some kind of pathological liar. You’re still hanging onto this bullshit story, and now you’re giving me bullshit about clearing your conscience.”

A
wicked grin came over Tanya’s face. Mark never saw this side of her.

“So Mark, how did
she seduce you?”

“
O.K., well, she lit some candles, brought me into her room, she was naked. She took off my clothes too. She had me do some bizarre fingering technique, and then she mounted me. This was right after her sister failed to seduce me for the second time. Oh yeah, forgot to mention the sister, but then again, the sister could just be a tease.”

“W-o-o-o-w
! Two women trying to seduce you, the night after you had me? W-H-A-T… A… S-T-U-D!”

This
conversation was a bad idea.

“You know Mark, this story would be even
better if you told me that they were Japanese twins!”

Mark said fearfully
, “They weren’t Japanese twins! You guessed the Japanese part right, but really they were half-sisters!”

The tirade ceased
. She swallowed, desperately trying to compose herself.

“Umm, would you describe this woman
you slept with as having, and pardon me for the language, an
Electric Pussy?
”

“Yes
, how did you know?”

“Y
ou wouldn’t happen to be talking about Akiko and her sister Cheryl, would you?” Tanya asked, dead serious, seeming to believe him now.

“That’s them
.”

Tanya
buried her head in her arms for awhile while Mark patiently watched. She eventually came up for air and composed herself.

“
Look, I’m upset, but I think I can forgive you. Because, Mark, this is my mess. I shouldn’t have ignored you. I shouldn’t have slept with you. Now I’m breaking up with you. I played with your head and, in the midst of all this, you got an offer you couldn’t refuse. I understand. Besides, I decided to break up with you
before
you and her slept together. You should know that. Maybe it’ll help relieve your guilt. We really need to talk some more. Let me cancel some appointments so the rest of my day is free.”

Tanya
excused herself to talk on her cell. She was on for about 15 minutes. Mark waited patiently.

This is better than I thought it would
go.

Tanya
came back and continued.

“When I was married,
I remember that Akiko worked in the same office building my husband Michael did. When they went on their smoke breaks together, they always spoke to each other. Sometimes they walked away from everyone else. I didn’t see any of this. I found this all out later from some of his coworkers and from him too.” Tanya looked down and shook her head.

“Were they having an affair?”

“I can’t
prove
they ever slept together, but my heart tells me that they did. He always denied it, but maybe he just didn’t want the divorce settlement to get too expensive.”

“
So, what happened?”

“Well, it grew from them talking to each other on
smoke breaks to phone calls, texts, and emails. It was more attention than a married man should give another woman.”

“
You never caught them? No one saw anything?” asked Mark.

“
She’d hug him. Sometimes I caught my husband looking at her a certain way when we were at parties and that sort of thing. One day he confessed to me that he had feelings for her.”

“After some
interrogation on your part, I suppose,” Mark suggested.

“Absolutely
! I wasn’t going to let
any
of it slide. She got under his skin whether she removed her clothes or not, that much I
know.”

“Did he ever get over it?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. But he stopped once I confronted him,” Tanya explained.

“So he stopped acting on his feelings.
I understand. That’s all that really matters. “

“I know that, Mark.
But I still wondered. I wondered for a long time.”

“Do you think they had a falling out?
” he asked.

“Maybe they did, or maybe he just grew up a bit. Anyway, it
was only one of the reasons we parted. Look, I know just how tempting she can be. I
completely understand
you sleeping with her. I really do forgive you.”

“It was
Cheryl I slept with. I told Akiko to fuck off,” Mark corrected.

“Now
, that’s a story! Wow! It’s so unlike a man to refuse Akiko. As for Cheryl, it’s so unlike her just to jump on a guy. You must’ve struck a chord with her.”

“I think I just happened to be convenient.
She needed to nibble on me as an appetizer while she was waiting for this guy Richard as a main course. Who knows what they’re doing now.”

Tanya paused thoughtfully, and commented, “S
omething doesn’t make sense about all this, Mark.”

“I know, but enough about them. I want to know about you, about
us.
First, why did you call me last Friday? Why did you change your mind about me?”

“Well, I went out with a few other guys after our first date. T
he other guys were great, but they didn’t even touch me! They weren’t just being gentlemen per se. My looks, my intelligence, and my money intimidated them. They felt unworthy.”

“Well, what you
’re saying does seem a bit conceited, but I can see it, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on that. So really, you admired me because I went for you?” Mark was intensely curious.

“Not only do I admire you for going for me, but I also admire you for not chasing me anymore after giving you a hint
I wasn’t interested! You went out with someone else, unbeknownst to me at the time, but I even admire you for that. Hell, look at what I was doing, seeing every guy I could get my hands on, but not doing anything with them,” Tanya explained.

She’s j
ust the opposite of Akiko. You were right Amber.

“
O.K. That answers my first question. Now I want to know, why do you want to break up?”

“Mark, the only man I ever loved, and the only man I ever slept with before you was my husband
,” Tanya said softly.

“Y
ou’re not over him?”

“No, I don’t think so
,” Tanya answered.

“So why don’t you call him up, talk to him?”

“Because Mark, and this is the other reason we’re breaking up, I’m leaving for England. I’ve been offered a job at a publishing company over there. They need me immediately. There’s no time to get over him and develop a relationship with you. Nor is there time to reconcile with him. I’ll be gone.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Mark, I can’t save either relationship. But, I can save
you.
In other words, I’m going to help you restore your sanity.
We
are going to have
our own
training sessions.”

“I got quite enough training from
Cheryl, thank you very much.”

“
Cheryl only taught you about sensuality. I’ll show you how to handle yourself on a more cerebral level, so you don’t go insane. When I’m finished with you, you’ll be a new man. I only wish I wasn’t going away so soon. I could stick around to see it. But I’ll be fine. I’ll find some really hot European guy who’ll sweep me off my feet,
and we’ll live happily ever after.”

Mark rolled his eyes at all this “happily ever after
” stuff. Tanya grinned while he rolled them.

“
O.K., at least I’ll find a good lay, O.K.?” She said with laughter. Mark laughed in turn.

This was the friendliest breakup
ever. They talked some more and felt like friends. Mark usually made a policy not to be “just friends” with people that he broke up with, but she was going away soon, and they had unfinished business.

“Mark,
I’ll help you on several conditions.”

“Go ahead.”

“No dating Cheryl or anyone else until I leave. Actually, don’t even think of touching her now. You aren’t ready for her
or
her situation, but you
will
be when we’re finished. Next, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, you and I are still dating. But no sex while I train you, and don’t even ask, got it?”

This
sounds familiar. I guess I really am putting my dick on vacation after all.

“
Anything else?” asked Mark.

“At the end of the training,
you’ll do me a favor.” Tanya stated.

“
I take it that you won’t tell me this favor until you need it?”

“That’s right.
Do we have a deal or not?”