Monday, May 10, 2010

Harter Union: Part Four, Chapter 1

I was in my office with Wendy discussing some changes I was going to start. “Now, this is the difficult part. Since we’re trying some new meals and everything has gotten a little more complicated, I am going to hire you an assistant.”

“Really?” Wendy smiled real big. “I’ve been asking for an assistant for years! It’s about time, thank you.”

“You’re happy about this? I figured you’d be mad.”

“Of course not, I was getting so sick of cooking all this food by myself. When does the assistant start?”

“Her name is Wanda Reyes and she starts tomorrow along with the three new workers. Also, I am taking some vacation time and I’m leaving Aaron in charge.”

“Why Aaron?”

“I understand that it should technically be you but Aaron just seems like more of a supervisor. Hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t care but why are you taking a vacation?”

“I need to get away from this place. My head is about to explode and I figure a week away will stop any short circuits from happening,” I got up from my chair and popped my back. “Come on, let’s get some dinner.”

We all sat down at a table near one of the TVs. Emily had a big bowl of salad and a small bowl of tofu. “Great idea ordering tofu for the salad bar, Jeff,” Emily said.

“Tofu? I thought those were packing peanuts. Oh, well. Aaron, how you feeling about being in charge for an entire week?”

“Fine. Everything is going to be great, because I know where to hide bodies. Are you leaving right after you eat?”

“Yep, and I’m not leaving my apartment until next Monday.”

“Kinda makes you wish you had a girlfriend so you can just screw her all week, huh?” Nathan asked.

“Why? She would probably just cheat on me like all the others. No offense, Melissa.”

“When I was dating Trina, the first week after we made love, we spent about the next three days just humping like rabbits,” Nathan stated.

“I remember that,” Jason began. “You were so happy that you gave me $300 without even asking what it was for.”

“Sweet. That’ll do,” I said. “Alyson, Nathan, start fornicating as if your life depended on it. Chop-chop!”

“We already have. We got it out of our system,” Alyson said, laughing a little.

“Really? Well, good for you,” I didn’t know what to do and my face showed it. “I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you all in a week,” I got up, took my plate to the belt and threw it down. I walked through the kitchen and toward the back door. Melissa caught up with me at the door to my office.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m perfectly fine. Did you know that Nathan and Alyson had sex because it seemed like I was the only one who didn’t know.”

“I found out from Wendy about a week after she walked in on them after the Old Castle Dance,” Melissa explained.

“Why doesn’t anybody tell me these things?”

“What were we supposed to say? ‘Hey, Jeff, I know you think Nathan and Alyson are in a bad relationship but she just lost her virginity to him.’ We didn’t want to hurt you so we…didn’t tell you.”

“I am so sick of being left out,” I scoffed and headed for the door.

“What makes you madder? The fact that no one told you that they had sex or the fact that it wasn’t with you?” Melissa shouted at me.




When I got home Heather was on the couch reading Catcher in the Rye. I sat in the chair next to the window and looked at her. “Are you reading again?”

“You have a lot of books and I figure I should broaden my knowledge of fine literature.”

“You don’t go out much anymore.”

“I’m saving myself for someone,” she smiled. “Is something wrong?”

“Did you…did you know that Nathan and Alyson have had sex?” I asked Heather who slid a bookmark into the book and placed it on the coffee table.

“I heard something about that but I didn’t think too much about it,” Heather leaned forward. “They had sex?”

“Yeah, Wendy caught them after I dropped her off after the Old Castle Dance.”

“Wait. You dropped her off after the dance? I thought what’s-his-name took her?”

“His name was Steve and he never showed up to pick up Wendy,” I explained, “so I did. We went together and it was a wonderful evening.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, Jefferson?”

“I didn’t want it to seem like I was cheating on Maggie because it was the best date I had had in a long time.”

“So nothing happened between you two?” Heather got up, came over to me, kneeled and grabbed my leg.

“No. As much as I wanted something to, nothing did.”

Heather quickly stood up. “You can be such a cocksucker sometimes!” she angrily said and stormed off. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

I watched as she walked off with my mouth open, confused.

Next:
Chrissy discovers that she's pregnant; Alyson wants to get Jeff and Melissa together and Melissa reunites with someone from her past.