Harry and Rebecca

"I can do the forsaking thing."

And I did. Over the next month the girls Becky had mentioned (and a few she didn't) did indeed take a shot at me, but I wasn't interested. Why would I be? Remember my saying that Pauline was my Gold Standard? Well Becky was the Platinum Standard. No way was I going to mess it up.

No, Becky managed to be the one to do that.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We had been back to school a little over three months and we still had a lot of shared classes. One morning, it was a Wednesday, we were walking from out ten o'clock class to the student cafeteria and I asked her what she wanted to do on Saturday night.

"I'm going to the Tim McGraw concert."

"Damn girl; couldn't you have given me a bit more warning? I'm not sure I can get tickets this late."

"Greg already has them."

"Greg?"

"Yeah. I'm going with Greg."

Greg was a guy who had transferred in from some other school and he was in several of our business classes.

"Let me make sure I understand this. You are going out on a date with Greg Mortinson this Friday."

"That's right."

By then we had reached the cafeteria and Becky turned to go in, but I kept walking. I heard "Wait up Harry" and I turned to see her hurrying to catch up. "No thank you" I thought as I took off running.

We both had Introduction to Business that afternoon, but thankfully it was assigned seating so I didn't have to sit next to her. Luckily she was seated near the front (only two seats away from Greg I noted) and I was in the back so I was able to get up and be gone before she could get to me when class was over. We had no other shared classes that afternoon, but I wasn't going to be able to duck her after class. We were both still working part time at the business and outside of skipping work I'd be where she could get to me.

The good news is that Charlie was back and I was able to get him to assign us different areas. It wasn't going to stop Becky from getting to me, but it would slow her down and give my anger time to subside. At least some. I managed to avoid her until ten minutes before quitting time.

"What's wrong with you Harry? Why are you behaving like this?"

"You are a college student Miss Courtney so you can't be that dumb. What the hell did you expect when you tell me you are going to date another guy?"

"It doesn't mean anything Harry. He has tickets to the concert and asked me if I would go with him. You know how much I like Tim McGraw."

"Then what you should have done Miss Courtney was ask me to get tickets to the concert when you heard it was coming here. But you didn't did you? Remember back to our first night together. The night you brought up forsaking? The night you insisted on exclusivity? I didn't understand that it only pertained to me. My bad! Shame on me for being so naïve. In a way it is a good thing to find out now that our relationship is so weak that it can't beat out a date with a guy who has tickets to a concert. Now if you will excuse me I need to punch out and then go get on a phone and find a date for Friday."

I walked away from her and went home where I told my mom what had happened and that if Becky called I didn't want to talk to her. I went out to the patio, sat down at the table and started to rough out a paper I was going to have to turn in the following week.

Mom called me in for dinner and after eating I decided to do what I'd told Becky I was going to do. Find a date for Friday night. And then I smiled as I had an evil thought. If I could swing it who better to date than one of the girls she had wanted to beat out the night we had connected. My first choice would normally be Sarah, but though she said call if Becky and I didn't work out the fact was that she was still Becky's best friend. As pissed as I was with Becky I didn't want to deliberately ruin her friendship with Sarah.

I opted to call Nancy Wilde first and I was a little surprised when she said yes to a date with no hesitation. I didn't get the "What about Becky" until after she said yes. I just told her that Becky decided to date other guys and expected me to be cool with it and it wasn't going to happen. We made arrangements for Friday and I got back to work on my paper.

I managed to avoid Becky at school, but I couldn't avoid her at work. Given that she was the one who had fucked up things between us I couldn't understand her snarky attitude when she saw me. It started when she walked into the door and saw me.

"Did Mr. Studly find himself a date for Friday?" she asked in a sarcastic tone.

I decided if she wanted to go with attitude so would I.

"None of your business Miss Courtney."

She smirked and said "Thought so. Call me when you get tired of hearing no."

I walked away from her and managed to avoid her for the rest of the shift.

The next day I was sitting in the cafeteria having coffee and going over my notes on my last class when Becky came in, went through the line, saw me and headed my way. I gathered my stuff up and as Becky sat down I was getting up.

"Where are you going Harry?"

I ignored her and walked away.

My deal with my dad was that I would always have Friday off and every other Saturday off and this was my Saturday free weekend. It meant that once out of school I wouldn't see Becky again until Monday.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I picked Nancy up at seven and we went to dinner at the Outback Steak House. After dinner we went over to the VFW for the Friday night dance. We were having a good time although a few eyebrows were raised because I wasn't with Becky. We left around eleven and stopped at the Village Inn for pie and coffee. We had been there maybe fifteen minutes when Becky and her date walked in. They were laughing and smiling at each other until Becky saw us. I saw the sudden surprise on her face as she realized that I DID have a date and that date was with one of the girls that she was afraid was going to get to me before she could. Her eyes met mine and then I turned my attention to Nancy.

Becky and her date (I couldn't bring myself to mention his name) took a booth across the room and sat down. I couldn't see them because my back was to them, but apparently they could see us because Nancy said:

"Becky hasn't taken her eyes off of us since she sat down. Are you sure things are over between you two?"

"Think about it Nance. Is she with me or is she with another guy?"

"Point taken. I just didn't want to be the one to break things up."

"Rest easy sweetie; I didn't call you until after she hit me with the dating other guys bullshit."

"Can we get out of here? I'm not comfortable with her sitting there staring at us."

We left the restaurant and once in the car I asked her what she would like to do and she surprised me when she said "I kind of hoped you would like to take me to a motel."

My surprised showed on my face and Nancy said "Let's be honest here Harry. You have no real feelings for me and other than like - a strong like - but just a like never the less, we don't have a future other than some dates. With me so far?" I nodded a yes and she said "I had a great thing going with Rory. We made love three or four times a week until he left for Florida. I haven't been laid since he left and I'm climbing walls I'm so horny."

"Makes no sense to me Nance. You are one hell of a good looking babe. You should have lines of guys wanting to date you."

"I do, but all they want is pussy and where my pussy might want what they have I don't want my life to be a series of one night stands."

"So what makes me different?"

"You are a nice guy Harry. You are not an asshole and the picture that Pauline painted of you is that of a guy who won't fuck over you."

"But by your own words all I would be is a one night stand. No strong feelings, but just like right?"

There are one night stands and then there are one night stands. The first kind is wham, bam, thank you ma'am and the next day tell Tom, Dick and George "Hey, guess what? I fucked Nancy last night" and then there is the other one. The one where he wakes up in the morning, smiles, says "Thank you" and then leaves and no one hears a word about it from him. Pauline painted you as the second kind of guy. The kind of guy you wouldn't mind having a series of one night stands with."

"That's it? I'm a nice guy?"

She looked away and said "That and she says you eat pussy."

When she said that my mind went back to a night early in my relationship with Pauline French. We had dated off and on from the eighth grade to the tenth. At the begging of the eleventh I asked her to go steady and she said yes. We both turned eighteen during the second month of the eleventh grade (she was five months older) and up till then all we had done was have some damned hot make out sessions.

One Thursday Pauline told me to plan on being a shut in for the weekend. When I asked what she meant she told me that her parents were leaving for Vegas on Friday and wouldn't be home until the following Tuesday.

"Guess what we will be doing?"

"You mean it? Seriously?"

She did and we had a great time. It didn't start out well and it was mostly because of me and my mindset. Pauline told me that before we made love I was going to have to eat her pussy. No way was I going to do that. It was too gross. She peed from that place. True she had said, but I peed from my cock and she bet I wouldn't say no to a blowjob.

"That's different. I pee from it, but it doesn't bleed once a month."

"My sister (her sister was six years older and married) told me not to waste my time on a man who won't eat pussy. If he won't eat pussy he is an asshole who is using you to get what he wants and the hell with what you want."

The upshot was that it was a case of 'no eatee no fuckee' and I caved. Surprisingly enough I had liked it. I really got off on the way Pauline got off when I did it. She led me through it, taught me where the right places were and what to do when I got to them. I gave her what she wanted and then she rocked my world on that weekend and a whole lot of others that followed. I was going to have to write her and thank her for getting me started down that path because it got me Becky and now was going to get me Nancy. I smiled at Nancy and said:

"I guess I can be your sex toy for the night."

Nancy loved it as much as Pauline and Becky had. She wasn't as good at giving head as either of them, but as someone had once said "There is no such thing as a bad blowjob." I did however have to get Nancy home so there was no all-night loving followed by waking up snuggled up to each other in the morning. When I took her home we made a date for the next afternoon. Said date was spent at the Super 8 on Barclay which was followed by a Sunday date spent in her bedroom because her parents were gone somewhere for the day.

When I got home Sunday night I looked back over the weekend and I decided that I liked the way it went. Not just the sex, but sex with no fulltime commitment. Nancy and I could just be fuck buddies for as long as she was willing and there wouldn't be any hard feelings when she decided to end it because I knew going in that all it was going to be was a friends with benefits arrangement. We did agree that while we were 'one-night standing' that there would be no others for either of us.

++++++++++++++++++

One Monday I managed to avoid Becky at school, but I knew I couldn't avoid her at work. Much to my surprise she was cordial to me and didn't try to get me to talk to her. I know it sounds dumb, but I was both relieved and upset. Relieved because I didn't want the drama. But upset that she wasn't trying mend fences. I mean WTF! She is the one who fucked things up so shouldn't she be at least trying to ask for forgiveness?

She was cordial again on Tuesday and it wasn't until Wednesday that she addressed the situation. I was getting a Coke out of the vending machine in the break room when Becky came in. I took my Coke and went over and sat down at a tale. Becky got a bottle of water and then came over and sat down across from me.

"I hear that you and Nancy Wilde are spending a lot of time together."

Besides our weekend I had spent time with Nancy on Monday and Tuesday so I just nodded a yes.

"Was I that easy to replace?"

"As I remember it you released me from our so called committed relationship so that freed me up to date others. Nancy just happened to be the first one to say yes when I started calling around. She seems to like me and she is a fun date so yes, I keep making dates with her."

"Damn it Harry; why can't you get it through your head that my going to the concert with Greg didn't mean anything?"

"Not to you maybe, but it meant a lot to me. It meant that I couldn't trust you"

"That's just plain stupid Harry."

"No I isn't Beck. Remember our first night together? You wanted to have your pussy eaten. You wanted it so bad that you were willing to jump in bed with me to get it. Think back on it Beck. You told me that you went to bed with me to see if Pauline had told the truth about my eating pussy and that if she had you were going to wrap me up for yourself. Then you told me that if Pauline had lied we were only going to be a one night stand. Knowing your desire to have your pussy eaten and your desire to see Tim McGraw we have to wonder which desire was the strongest.

"Let us put getting pussy eaten on a scale and then going to see Tim McGraw on another scale next to the first. Which one weighs more? Or are they even? You were willing to fuck me just to find out if I would eat pussy so how do I know that you didn't fuck Greg just to get him to take you to see the McGraw concert?"

"You can't possibly believe that!"

"Sure I can Beck. I'm not sure how it went, but I can picture a likely scenario. You heard about the McGraw concert, mentioned it to someone along with saying how much you liked his music. Greg overheard and saw a chance to get in your pants and he went and got tickets. He let you know he had them and hinted that he was going to have to find a date for the second ticket. You couldn't go buy one because they were sold out nine hours after they went on sale so your only shot was Greg."

"Oh for God's sake Harry; it was just a date?"

"Get off it Beck! It was not just a date! Greg knew you were my girl. Everyone knew it! We walked into class every day holding hands. Greg knew it and he went after you anyway. You aren't stupid Becky. You knew what he was up to and you went along. Fuck what Harry thinks! I'll get to see Tim McGraw. Did you end up fucking Greg? I'll never know, but your saying you didn't won't cut any ice with me because I KNOW how far you are willing to go to get what you want."

I looked at my watch and then said "Got to get back to work" and I got up and left her standing there. Following that little talk Becky started avoiding me and I was glad that the drama was over with.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Nancy and I made it through another two months before she ended it. She met someone she thought might turn into a long time thing. I wished her well and life moved on.

My class schedule was heavy with papers needing to be written and research projects so stayed clear of the dating scene for a while. Both of us being Business majors meant that I still has shared classes with Becky and while we were cordial towards each other we didn't talk. Nods in passing is what it mostly was.

When I did finally get around to dating I would occasionally see her around with a guy. Never seemed to be the same one and I never did see her with Greg. She couldn't say the same about me. The girl I was with was the same every time I ran across Becky. Yep! Another one of the girls that Becky was trying to beat out back when she hooked up with me.

There was a bit of difference this time however. Marge wasn't one of the "Just wanted to see if you ate pussy" girls. In fact Marge as a little leery of me when I first asked her out. It was at the VFW dance and I had gone stag. I wasn't on the hunt; I just wanted to dance a little and enjoy myself.

I'd been there maybe an hour when I saw Marge come in and take a table. For ten minutes or thereabouts I saw keep looking at her watch, look over at the door and a couple of minutes later repeat herself. I walked over to her and asked:

"Would you like someone to talk to and dance with until whoever you're waiting for gets here?"

Marge smiled and said "That would be nice."

I sat down and asked "He won't be upset will he?"

"Not a he. Anna was supposed to meet me here."

"What happened to Mike?"

"Chelsea Marks happened."

I decided not to go there and asked her to dance.

Anna never did show so we sat and talked, danced and talked some more. Toward the end of the evening I asked Marge for a date.

"I don't know Harry. I just got rid of one jerk."

"And you don't want to take up with another. Is that what you are saying? That I'm a jerk?"

"I don't know Harry; are you? You dated Becky and she dumped you and then you dated Nancy and she dumped you. So what's wrong with you Harry? I'm not stupid and I know why they both went after you. They made no secret of the fact that they wanted to see if what Pauline said about you was true and I guess it must have been because they stayed with you for a while. But then they dumped you Harry. The question I have to ask myself is why?"

I sat there and looked at her for several seconds before saying "I could tell you Marge, but you probably wouldn't believe me because I'm a jerk right? You want to know ask Beck and Nancy. Thanks for the dances Marge. See you around" and then I got up and left.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next day was one of my work Saturdays and dad decided that that I knew as much about shipping and receiving as I was ever going to know and he moved me to Accounting and that meant that I didn't work alongside Becky anymore.

At lunch time I hit the breakroom for a Coke and a bag of chips and I was sitting there sipping and munching when Becky came into the room. She came over and sat down - something she hadn't done in weeks - and said:

"I got the strangest call last night."

I just kept munching my chips and sipping my Coke.

"Marge Collins called me and wanted to know why I had dumped you. Why would she do that?"

"You'll have to ask her that."

"I didn't dump you Harry; you got all stupid on me and pushed me away. I didn't want that Harry."

"So tell Marge that."

I got up from the table and went back to work.

It was two weeks before I saw Marge again. It was at the VFW dance only this time I was the one sitting alone at a table. I would have prefer to sit at the bar, but all the stools were occupied when I got there. Marge came in, saw me and headed for me.

"May I join you?"

"You sure you want to be seen sitting with a jerk?"

She sat down and said "That's no way to be talking if our relationship is going to go anywhere."

"We are going to have a relationship?"

"That's what dates are for. To see if there is anything to build on. As I recall it you did ask me for a date. I never said no Harry; I did ask some questions and you told me where to go for the answers. So I did it. I got the answers and now the only question is when are we going to have our first date?"

"How about tomorrow? Dinner and a show?"

"I'd like that. Come on; let's dance."

We spent the evening drinking, dancing and talking. I found out that she had called Becky (already knew that) and she had called Nancy.

"Nancy told me about the arrangement the two of you had. Told me she was sorry she let you go. Seems her new man doesn't measure up when compared to you."

At first she didn't tell me what Becky had said and there was no way in hell that I was going to ask. I guess she figured out that I'd like to know, but wasn't going to go there so she told me.