"Hey Sexy."
The sound of Justin's voice on the other end of the line made her smile. "Hey yourself," she said softly. "I don't suppose you're standing outside my office door, are you?"
Justin laughed. "Nope sorry, I'm actually heading to a meeting that'll probably drag on longer than planned and I needed to hear your voice before going into it so I can survive it."
Mandy ran her fingers through her hair. "You needed to hear my voice to survive a meeting? Wow, you're getting desperate for diversions."
Justin leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Desperate? Nah, I just needed my daily 'Mandy fix,' that's all. I'm afraid that I'm becoming addicted to you and personally Mandy, if there is a cure, I don't want it."
Mandy was never sure what to say when he started talking like that. She found that as each day passed, she too was addicted -- the very thing she swore she would never do again. "Shouldn't you be heading to your meeting?"
Justin opened his eyes and frowned. He wished she would open up to him. Inside Mandy there was a woman screaming to get out and he wanted to get to know that woman. He knew the Mandy that she let everyone see, but he knew there was more. "I suppose I should but I can think of better and faster ways to torture myself."
Mandy laughed. "Go!"
"Yes Ma'am. Hey, are we still on for tomorrow night?"
"Of course." She grinned.
"Good. Think about where you'd like to go and I'll see you tomorrow night around 7:00, okay?"
"Very okay," she whispered.
She wished she were in his arms right now. She wanted to tell him things -- confide in him and see if he was still interested in taking their relationship further.
"Mandy, I..." Justin stopped himself. "I'll probably have to call you tomorrow morning and get my fix, if that's okay."
Mandy smiled. "You better get to your meeting -- and I would love to talk to you in the morning."
They said goodbye and Mandy hung up the phone, staring at it for several minutes -- willing it to ring. She wanted him to call back and tell her that he was going to skip the meeting and was on his way to pick her up instead. Together they would take off for a long weekend and...She shook her head, knowing it wasn't going to happen. She thought about calling Patty but she was probably busy getting dinner ready or some other domestic chore. She remembered those days -- fondly at times, with extreme sadness at others.
Looking at her watch, she spun around in her chair, staring out her office window and watching the rush hour traffic slowly make its way home. Kicking off her heels, she put her feet on the low windowsill and tried to relax. The commotion below slowly blurred in her eyes and she thought about Patty. They had grown up together and even when their lives had taken drastic turns, they had never lost the friendship between them.
A few months after Mandy happily married Greg, his company promoted him and they relocated thousands of miles away; she had been sure she'd never find another friend as good as Patty. It turned out she never had the chance to try to make another friend like Patty and, in truth, she didn't want one. No one else would ever understand her like Patty did and it worked both ways. She knew Patty even better than JC did. It was too bad that she and Greg couldn't have had a relationship like that.
Greg -- she didn't want to think about him but the memories came back, washing over her. She had been so happy until he received his big promotion and then they moved to live his dream. She had quit her job and had hoped to get another one once they were settled, but Greg decided that she shouldn't work -- he wanted his wife at home. At first it was fun, decorating their new house and organizing dinner parties they gave frequently to keep up appearances, but it became old rather quickly. She became bored because there was nothing left for her to do. There were no challenges left in her life and eventually she began to feel like she wasn't even a real person. Greg started running her life, telling her how she should get her hair cut and what clothes to wear. He had one of the bedrooms turned into a home gym and developed a rigorous exercise routine for them both, so they could stay in shape. After a month he stopped, but urged her to continue and that became her life -- Queen of the Treadmill, ruler of none.
Mandy wanted to get pregnant and probably for the most selfish reason of all -- she was tired of being lonely. She cried to Greg -- she wanted a baby, and after several pleas, he finally gave in and gave her permission to get pregnant. The problem was that Greg just wasn't around enough, and when he was, he was either too tired or too busy to bother with sex. When they did make love it was quick, unimaginative and downright unfulfilling. The worst part was that she never conceived, causing her much frustration. Each time the pregnancy test would show negative, she'd cry and find herself in a deep depression that lasted for weeks. Greg told her she was obsessed with having a baby and ordered her to curb her childish behavior. He told her she was being silly but Mandy disagreed -- he just didn't understand her needs. He never talked to her, except to tell her what needed to be done in order for their lives to be what he expected them to be.
She remembered the day clearly when she realized she could no longer give anymore -- she was no longer living but merely existing. Patty had called her and just the sound of her voice broke Mandy into tears. For what seemed like forever, she had been putting up a front so Patty wouldn't know how unhappy she really was, but now she was tired of pretending.
That morning she had done what she always did, every time she was with Greg -- she counted exactly how many words he said to her. It was a stupid thing to do, but somewhere in her confused hurt mind, she needed to do it. Forty-five words -- that was all he said and in those words there weren't any that said he loved her or even respected what she tried to do for him.
"Make sure you take my dry cleaning in today, I noticed that I'm getting low on shirts and contact those people who claim they know what they are doing when it comes to pools and tell them there is something very wrong with the liner."
Forty-five words, which was five words short of the morning before. So when Patty called, Mandy couldn't stop the words -- she could no longer hold back everything she had held inside of herself for too many years.
Patty had listened patiently, interjecting a few sighs and encouraging her to continue. When Mandy finished talking, she was drained and slumped back into her chair, feeling emotionally and physically empty but at the same time, totally relieved. It was then that Patty said forty-five very important words.
"Mandy, you think about everything you just told me and if you're willing to live that life, then I'll stand beside you. But if you want to take back what is rightfully yours -- your life, then it's time to talk to one of JC's lawyers."
Forty-five words had changed her entire life and she would never forget them -- and forty-five more words had saved her life.
The phone rang and she jumped. "Hello?"
"Aren't you going home tonight?"
"Hey, Patty," she said softly, her mind still lost in thought.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"You've been walking down memory lane again."
It didn't surprise Mandy that Patty knew. "A little, yeah."
"Well cut it out, bitch!"
"Yes Ma'am, cutting it out right now Ma'am."
Patty laughed. "That's better. Hey, how about coming over for dinner and then afterwards you can help me become a member of the world's oldest profession."
Mandy smiled and slipped her feet back into her shoes. "I'm on my way."
Story Tags: publicsex roleplaying
