The Other Side

“As the lady commands.”

“You’ve got an appetite there, Mark.”

Mark shrugged and he shoveled a large piece of syrup-drenched waffle into his mouth.

“I’m hungry.”

Roberto Garcia grinned as he piled beans onto a piece of sausage.

“You usually eat like that when you’ve had a long night of s*x.”

Mark winced and glanced at the next table, where there were two co-ed girls eating bowls of fruit. They glanced over at them when Roberto spoke and giggled between them. Mark could feel his face going red.

“Say it a little louder, why don’t you?”

“Well, you do.” Roberto swallowed his mouthful before he spoke again. “Who’s the lucky girl, then?”

“Bobby…”

“What? You normally tell me about them. What’s so special about this one that you won’t tell your best friend?”

“Stephen’s my best friend.”

“Fine, second best friend.” Roberto leaned forward. “What’s going on?”

Mark debated what to say. He had known Roberto since their university days and they shared everything. Stephen had joked that they were like a pair of nattering old women with the gossip and details they told each other. They had been having these Sunday morning breakfasts every month since they were nineteen years old and Mark always looked forward to them.

But not today. He didn’t want to divulge what he had done.

S*x with Charli had been incredible. She was so responsive and unashamed of what she did in bed. Mark found himself wanting more once he got his breath back and had taken her to his bedroom, stripping themselves of the rest of their clothes. They had had s*x twice more that night, finally falling asleep just before dawn. When Mark woke up at his alarm Charli was gone. She had left while he was asleep.

He didn’t know what to think about that. While the night before had been incredible he didn’t like the end result, which had been Charli leaving without saying goodbye.

Mark sighed and looked down at his breakfast, suddenly not feeling hungry.

“She’s Andy Henson’s ex-girlfriend. She’d only broken up with him an hour before we…”

“Before you fu*ked her?” Roberto groaned. “Mark. I thought you had more respect for women than that.”

“I know. But I couldn’t help myself. When she started coming on to me, I just couldn’t stop.” Mark remembered the first time they had s*x on the couch and smile. “She’s addictive, Bobby.”

Roberto shook his head.

“You’re an idiot, do you know that? Henson is going to go mad when he finds out.”

“Considering Charli walked in on him having ass s*x with his agent, I don’t think he’s in a position to argue.”

Like Mark, Roberto had been a tennis fanatic as a young man. But unlike Mark, he had chosen to follow a more stable career and became a cop. Married with two children, Roberto was the regular family man. He hated cheaters and couldn’t understand all the sleeping around.

“Jesus. That boy is one messed up bas*ard.”

Mark couldn’t agree more. The problem was he felt messed up. He sat back and rubbed his hands over his face.

“The problem is, Bobby, although this was a one-off thing, I don’t want it to be. I like Charli. And I mean really like her.” He smiled to himself. “We talked after the second time…”

“You have s*x more than once?”

“Will you shut up?” Mark played absently with his fork. “We talked and we found out we had a lot in common. We were both on the track team in the same high school.”

“She went to Booker T Washington with us?”

“Not quite. She was a freshman the semester after we graduated. Same with Henson. He’s on the wall of fame for his tennis right next to me, apparently.” Mark smiled as he remembered their two-hour long talk. “We both like reading the same type of books, we support the same sports teams and she’s quite a film buff. She’s a great girl.”

Roberto surveyed him for a moment. Mark could see him sizing up the situation. He resisted the urge to squirm; Roberto had an ability to make Mark feel like one of the suspects he interrogated.

“You really like her, don’t you?” He asked finally.

If it had been Stephen, Mark would have laughed it off, mainly because Stephen wouldn’t ask unless it affected his tennis. If it had been his mother or his sister he would have blushed a bright red and mumbled like a schoolboy who had been caught fumbling behind the bike sheds. But this was Roberto and he couldn’t lie to Roberto; the man could smell a lie a mile off.

“Yes, I do.” He finally admitted. “I didn’t mean to sleep with her or get to know her like that. I was just meaning to put Henson off his game by making him think that Charli was cheating on him. I don’t use girls like that, I know, before you go off on me.” He added quickly when he saw Roberto’s face twist in disapproval and he opened his mouth. “But it was the only way I could mess with his psyche. It was only meant to be talking and leaving the rest to his imagination since he’s a paranoid bas*ard. None of what happened last night was supposed to happen. It just did.”

Mark did mean it. He really did like Charli. While they had been talking Mark realized that Charli was more than a classy woman. And he wanted to know her even more.

But from the way she left he didn’t hold out hope that she felt the same way.

“How does she feel about you?” Roberto asked.

“She left my apartment while we were asleep. What does that tell you?”

She was probably feeling guilty after what she did. After all, Charli had only just given Andy his marching orders. Just over an hour later she was having s*x with him. She probably had a lot of conflicting thoughts going on.

“Leave it to stew for a few weeks and then speak to her.” Roberto picked up his mug of coffee. “See what happens and if you can still be friends if she doesn’t like you like that. She just ended things with a guy she’d been with for a decade. She’ll need time to clear her head.”

Mark wasn’t sure if he would be able to wait. But he respected Roberto’s opinion and knew he was right. He stared at his phone, wishing he had Charli’s number. He wanted to talk to her now.

This was going to be a long week.