At the table…


Billy raised an eyebrow and asked, "So…you need to talk to me?"

Maria blinked and nodded slowly.

Billy pulled out an adjacent chair and invited Maria to have a seat. Maria sat down and Billy smiled and asked, "Ok, so what's up?"

Maria knew that moment that this would be one of the most difficult things that she's ever had to do. All in the span of a couple moments, Maria thought to herself, "I'm past the point of no return. I have to do this now. But…I don't want to potentially end up being "the other woman". Wait—stop it, Maria! Stop with the 'what-if's' and just get this done."

She bit her lower lip and glanced down before saying, "Billy…" She sighed and continued, "there's something that I have to kinda'…get off my chest, y'know?"

Billy furrowed his brow and nodded.

Maria continued, "You know how we're friends, right? Torrie's one of my best friends, and I don't want anything to come up that may possibly…alienate myself from the two of you."

Billy raised an eyebrow and slight smile formed on his face. He nodded and said, "I understand, go on."

Maria glanced over at the bar, where Chris and Torrie appeared to be having a great time laughing together about something. She took a deep breath and continued, "Well Billy, for maybe like, a little over a year, I've been growing more and more attracted to you."

Billy blinked hard and stared at Maria in disbelief. He started, "But Maria—"

Maria closed her eyes and raised her hand to halt Billy's thought. She said, "Please…I have to say this."

Billy sighed a little and nodded. She continued, "I know that you and Torrie are married, and happily married, at that. But I can't go on another day without having told you how I feel about you."

At that time, the band started softly playing "My Cherie Amour", by Stevie Wonder.

She closed her eyes gently before saying, "You have no idea what you do to me. My god…when I'm around you, I get these…emotions. It gets quite overwhelming at times, too. Billy, ever since day one, I've loved you, and now those feelings have manifested into me being in love with you. I can't eat, I can't sleep, and I have trouble concentrating when I'm working. I know, I know—these are personal problems. But it's still the way I'm feeling about you. I've tried to stop it because I don't want to potentially lose either one of you as friends, or anything, but I just can't seem to help it. When I see Torrie hanging off of your arm, it hurts me just a little. But…"

She swallowed hard before continuing, "When I saw you two on the dance floor kissing like that, that…well, Billy that tore me apart. You see, I wanna' feel your kisses and I wanna' receive your love, and I wanna' give you mine.

Billy folded his hands together, closed his eyes, and bowed his head. Maria looked away because she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Billy glanced up at Maria and nodded. He smirked slightly as if to express flattery. Maria finally found it in herself to look at Billy. When she looked up, he was already staring at her with a neutral expression on his face. They were both silent for about a good 15 minutes.

Maria grew worried. Billy hadn't said anything for the last few minutes, and his face contorted mirroring several different emotions that went through himself over the last couple of minutes. What bothered her the most at this time was that she couldn't read him.

After a couple more moments in silence, Billy finally smiled and spoke up, "Well…I-I never knew. You do know that Torrie wouldn't go for this…if she heard."

Maria closed her eyes and nodded slowly.

Billy raised an eyebrow and continued, "Wow, this-this kinda' puts us in an awkward situation."

Maria furrowed her brow and focused her attention on Billy. She asked, "Well, what do you mean?"

Billy sighed and said, "Well, truth be known, you've kinda' grown on me, too."

Maria felt her heart skip a beat. Her stomach felt like it had dropped when she heard what Billy had just said with seemingly all sincerity. She blinked twice and her eyes widened a bit. She asked, "Wha-what?"

Billy nodded, "Yeah, you're a sweet woman, Maria. I've liked you since the first time I talked with you."

Maria's mouth went agape. She couldn't quite believe what she had just heard. She took a couple moments to digest what Billy had just said. A slight sensation surged through her chest and she gently started rubbing her chest while looking at Billy.

Billy continued, "I mean…Torrie makes me happy. I mean, she bends over backwards for me and everything. She's beautiful both inside and out. But…well…"

Maria hurriedly asked, "But what?"

Billy shrugged and said, "Well, I do love Torrie. But the problem has always been that I never felt a…connection with her. We have great times together and everything, but the 'click', if you know what I mean, just isn't there. It-it just feels as though me and Torrie were destined to just be friends, you know? At least, that's the way I see it, now."

Maria continued to stare at Billy in utter disbelief. The more Billy talked, the more she smiled. The emotions that had plagued her before were leaving, one-by-one--no more anxiety, no more doubt, no more pain, and Maria hadn't felt this good in for what seemed an eternity. Of course, one question tugged at her even as Billy was talking—how does she keep from becoming just "the other woman"?

She glanced over at the bar and noticed that Chris and Torrie were gone. She raised an eyebrow and briefly looked around for them. Billy noticed this and asked, "What's wrong, Maria?"

Maria said, "I don't see Torrie or Chris anywhere. They were up at the bar the last that I saw of them."

Billy turned around toward the bar area and shrugged. He said, "Well, I'm sure they're around here somewhere. But…"

He reached down and gently took Maria's hand. He started rubbing it gently. Maria's eyes grew wide in anticipation as Billy continued, "…we're here together now."

Maria felt so happy that she became a bit giddy. But, those feelings of giddiness died down a couple notches because all of a sudden, she had another problem. Her face contorted into a slight grimace.

Billy saw this and he asked, "Maria, what's wrong?"

Maria couldn't believe what she was feeling. For the first time in this whole endeavor, she was thinking about…Torrie. She quietly asked, "Billy, um…what about Torrie?"

Billy answered almost instantaneously, "What about her? I told you, with her, I don't feel a connection and never have, I-I don't feel any kind of active love. With her, the love is pretty much stationary. It's like I said before, Maria—I love her, but I don't think I'm in love with her."

Maria realized a funny thing at that moment—we always want what we shouldn't have, and in those situations that we actually get what it is that we shouldn't have—it doesn't feel quite right actually having it. However, as badly as Maria wanted this, she quickly shrugged that idea off.

She nodded and said, "I understand, Billy." She swallowed hard before she continued, "You know, I've wanted you for so, so long—an eternity, it seems."

Billy smiled and said, "Yes…I sort of know how you feel."

That instant, a question came to her mind. She furrowed her brow and said, "Um…I know that this is sorta' off-topic, but I have to ask—why'd you marry Torrie?"

Billy nodded and said, "I think I can understand your reasoning for asking that." He took a deep breath and said, "Well, when I was dating Torrie, we got along so well that I thought that it'd be a good idea if we were to spend the rest of our lives together. I mean, after all, we were living together, anyway. So, I figured, 'why not?'. When I asked her to marry me, I thought that I had a firm grasp on what love really was—I just knew that I loved her and I felt that that was basis enough to ask her to marry me."

Maria nodded slowly. As Billy was talking to her, she hoped that if something actually came to fruition between her and Billy that he truly knew by now what love really is. That thought process brought about a concerned expression on her face. She started to wonder, even though a bit prematurely, "What if Billy will do something like this to me? What if—"

She shook her head a little and thought to herself, "Here I go again with the 'what-if's'. Billy will finally be mine and I'm sitting here doubting again."

Billy noticed the concerned face that Maria had and he drew closer to her gaze and he asked, "Maria, what's wrong? This is what we both really want, isn't it? I mean—I know, without a doubt in my mind, that I can really love you and care for and about you."

Maria nodded somberly. Billy eagerly continued, "Being with Torrie has really shown me a few things. I found out what love was and now that I know what it truly is for me, I'm more than willing to go to any length to find it. And, Maria…I believe that, with you, I can find that love that seems so elusive for so many people. But it doesn't have to be elusive for either of us."

Maria looked intently into Billy's eyes and she asked, "Well, what are you saying?"

Billy tightened his grip on Maria's hand and he said, "Maria, I know that we can grow together and love together. It'd be wonderful. I'm just so glad that you came and talked to me about this, because I now know that you're the one my heart aches for. I feel a connection with you. It's a connection that I feel can lead to an active love with you."

Maria gasped slightly and a whole new stream of thoughts went rushing through her head. She got what she wanted, but was it right? Would she be ok when everything's said and done? How could she do this to one of her best friends? There was no question--she truly realized that these emotions were very selfish, but at the same time, they were very human. Doesn't she have a right to happiness, just as everyone else? She glanced downward momentarily and then looked at Billy, who was staring intimately at her eyes.

She nodded slowly and a smile formed on her face.


To be continued…