Chapter Eight:
John headed into work that night with what happened still on his mind. As much as he tried to, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He got to the firehouse and headed to the sleep area. He lay down on a bunk to get some sleep. He hadn't gotten much sleep that day. His mom called him about a family dinner and then the dating service called him about a date. He said he would go on it. He wanted to put Mallie and their night together out of his mind. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy their night together, he had. But he was worried what it would do to them and their lifelong friendship. It was better to try and forget.
"John, hey man." Randy said walking in.
"Hey, Randy." John replied to his friend.
"What's up with you? You look like you have a lot on your mind. Anything you want to share?" Randy sat down on the bunk near John.
"I did something last night that just on my mind."
"What did you do?" Randy asked interested.
"I slept with a friend last night."
"How did it happen?"
"Mallie and I went out to dinner and movie. We both had had some bad dates, so we thought it would be fun to go out with each other as friends and have some fun. We drank a little much and ended up together."
"Do you regret that?"
"I don't regret it but I don't want to lose our friendship."
"How can sleeping with her cause that?"
"I don't know." John sighed. "I just don't think it's a good idea to blur that line."
"What did Mallie say?" Randy had met Mallie at a bake sale the wives had for the department. She had baked because John asked her too and Randy thought she was very sweet.
"She agreed with me that it would be better if we pretended it didn't happen." John sat up on the bed.
"You told her that it was better to pretended that you didn't sleep together?" Randy was a little shocked. That wasn't like John. He was a nice guy.
"Yes. I just feel its better that way. We just say it was a drunken mistake and never mention it again. Then we go back to being good friends with no fear of hurting that friendship."
Randy thought for a minute before he responded. "John, I know you think its best but maybe you should give it try. You and Mallie could be great together. You care about each other and you're friends. It could really work out. You could have a great relationship."
"It might but there is a chance it won't." John sighed. "Randy, I just feel it is better this way. I don't want to take the chance and it not work out and then I lose the most important person in my life."
"Alright. So anything else going on?"
"The dating service called and they are setting up another date."
"Sounds good." Randy said.
"Yeah, I figured it was good to go on another one."
"Yeah, well, let's start dinner. I know it's my turn but I could use your assistance."
"Alright." John laughed. Randy wasn't the best cook and usually one of the others helped him out.
As he helped Randy cook, he thought once again about things. He decided to focus on the date coming up. He hoped this one went better and he finally found someone.
Mallie sat in the apartment trying to proof an article. It wasn't written well and she wondered what Candace was thinking when she wrote it. It had misspelled words and grammar errors and wasn't well thought out.
"Aggh! What was this girl thinking?" Mallie said out loud to her apartment. She groaned in frustration. She stopped reading and headed to get a drink. Just as she was in the kitchen, she heard the doorbell. She opened it and saw her friend, Christina there. "Hey, girl. What's up?"
"I just wanted to come over and see how your day was." Christina said walking in. "So, how is your day?"
"Strange." Mallie replied sitting down on the sofa.
"Strange how?" Christina answered sitting down on the other end.
"Well, I woke up this morning in bed with my friend; we agreed to forget what happened. Then I spent the day reading articles. And the one I'm reading now is the worst article."
"Whoa, back up. Who did you sleep with?"
"I slept with John."
"Really? How was it?" Christina smiled. She knew it was just a matter of time before Mallie and John ended up in bed together. They were perfect together.
"Chris that is not the point." Mallie said laughing a little.
"Oh come on. Just tell me. How was it?" Christina smiled again at her friend.
"It was incredible."
"So, are you guys a couple now?"
"No. I told you. We agreed to forget what happened."
"Was that what you wanted? Did you want to forget it?"
"No, I don't want to forget it and I'm sure I won't' forget it."
"So why did you agree to forget it?"
"It is what John wants. He said he didn't want this to ruin our friendship. So it would be better if we forgot it. So, I agreed."
"Alright. So, what now?"
"Well, the dating service called and said they had another date for me. So, I'm going on it."
"That's good. You need to."
"Yeah I think so."
"Mal, everything will work out with everything. Just be patience and have some faith."
"I am. So what really brings you over?"
"I wanted to see if you wanted to go to a spa weekend with me. All expenses paid."
"Sure, when?"
"Next weekend?"
"I'm there." Mallie smiled.
"Great. I'm so excited." Christina laughed. "We are going to have so much fun. They have full body massages, mani/pedis, facials and everything."
"Sounds good."
"Great, well I better go. Mike is coming over." Christina got up and walked to the door. She turned to face Mallie. "Mal, don't give up. It will all work out. And I have a feeling it will with John."
"Thanks, Chris." Mallie let her friend out and locked the door behind her.
She headed back to the sofa to read some more articles. She had to decide which to go in the magazine and which to cut. Some were good, others were just horrible. The magazine took a lot of freelance articles. The freelance articles didn't get published too often because they were usually horribly written.
As she sat there, she thought about John and then about the date set up by the dating service. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was better that they forgot what happened and just remained friends. She decided then to focus on the date coming up. She hoped it went better than the ones previous.
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