Manny's Confrontation

Manny watched as Corrina pulled off in the car and slowly shut the door. He looked in on Molly and she was sound asleep.

He brought his hand to his nose and inhaled which made his member twitch. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. It wasn't just the anticipation of making love to Corrina that had him so aroused, it was just good to feel alive once again. It had been so long since he had felt this way.

Annie had been his soul mate, his equal when it came to sex. He had always heard that women really didn't like sex and that many of them just tolerated it. He had to admit that he had a tremendous and diverse appetite when it came to sexual expression. He didn't desire but one woman, but he wanted to be totally open and free with that one woman. He didn't think himself to be so different from other men, but he liked to experiment. He needed a woman with an open mind. Annie had been willing to try most anything within reason. She had been a virgin and he had waited as she wanted, but they had talked often about sex and he had asked her feelings about it before he proposed. She was a blank slate with no preconceived notions. Her mind hadn't really been poisoned as some women's had been he had come across. She just felt that sex was something that should occur only in marriage.

He had to be patient. They did a lot of talking and she felt that he was her husband and it was her duty to do whatever he requested within reason. He didn't want her like that and told her so. He needed a woman who enjoyed sex and not just did it out of duty. He explained to her that turning her on, knowing that she desired and wanted him made him want her all the more. His patience was quickly rewarded after the first few times they made love. He smiled as he remembered the book from France that had arrived after they had been married for several months that Annie had ordered. She read it and several times and introduced him to new positions she wanted to try. When Molly arrived, things slowed down a bit but she still was the aggressor many times and that pleased him tremendously.

On the other hand, he knew that Corrina had been married before. He just didn't know what she expected from him, what she liked and didn't like. He did not miss the surprise on her face when he had licked his fingers. She was always so prim and proper but he could tell there was plenty of fire there that she was trying to control. He had to admit that he almost came himself as she moaned in his ear and her felt her spasm on his fingers. Even now the thought of it made him hard.

He walked into the bathroom and quickly stripped and got in the shower. He decided that the engagement between them would be as short as possible. He didn't want to wait much longer.

Manny awoke to the smell of bacon and turned over in the bed. He hoped that she wouldn't burn it. Corrina wasn't the best cook, but she had improved since she had been taking care of Molly. He sat up in the bed and quickly put on his robe and walked into the kitchen.

Molly was sitting at the table eating a waffle.

"Hi daddy." She said with syrup dripping from her mouth. "Corrina made waffles!"

"Hey Pumpkin" he replied looking over at Corrina.

She looked up from the eggs she was stirring on the stove and smiled.

"Hi sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Like a log" he replied pulling out a chair. "I'm starved."

"When are you going back to work?" Corrina asked sitting a plate in front of him.

"I'm off the rest of the week, but I'm going in for a few hours today just to handle some business" Manny replied giving her a knowing look.

Corrina nodded and sat down across from him.

"I have a couple of houses to do today myself" she replied. "Al should be here in about an hour. If you'll get dressed, I'll drive you back to pick up the other car."

Manny nodded and looked at Molly. "It's school for you young lady. You've missed enough time"

Molly frowned up her face but didn't argue.

"Come on, Missy" Corrina said. "I'll help you get ready. Al is going to drop you off."

Manny watched as they walked off and continued eating his breakfast. The doorbell rang and he knew it was Al. He had to get another key made for sure. He got up and let Al in and returned to his breakfast. Well it was now or never. Al would soon figure out that Corrina was more than his former housekeeper and nanny.

"I'll get Molly ready for school" Al said coming into the kitchen. "Where is she?"

"That's alright, Al" Manny said putting his plate in the sink "Corrina is helping her this morning."

"Corrina, sir?" Al asked looking surprised.

"Yes, Corrina…my friend."

Al raised an eyebrow. "I thought Miss Jenny was your friend, sir"

"Jenny is a friend, Al" he replied "But Corrina is my close friend." He stressed the word "close" and stared Al in the eye.

Al looked confused. "I see…"

Manny knew he didn't really understand, but he wasn't about to explain it any further. He walked out of the kitchen and back to his bedroom to get ready for work.

When he was ready to leave, he found Al and Corrina in the kitchen talking.

"I see you two have met each other" Manny replied looking from one to the other.

"Yes we have" Al replied.

"I'll be in the car" Corrina said walking by him.

Manny studied Al for a moment who was watching the two of them curiously.

"You have something on your mind, Al?" Manny asked.

"Sir, I'm just a bit confused. Molly said that Corrina was her nanny before me. Are you bringing her back and planning on letting me go? I need to know in order to make the proper arrangements." Manny could see that Al was a little disturbed and knew that he'd have to explain further.

"Where's Molly?" Manny asked looking around.

"Out back with her turtle saying goodbye" Al responded

Manny looked out the door at Molly."Bye Pumpkin. See you this afternoon."

"Bye Daddy!" she replied still playing with Lois.

"Look Al" Manny said peeping out of the door. "There's nothing to be confused about. You are now responsible for Molly. Corrina is no longer her Nanny. She's not a threat to your livelihood, understand? "

Al stared at him. "Well thank you for that sir, but I still don't understand-"

"Let me ask you something Al?

"Certainly sir" Al replied.

"Have you run across dumb people who think that you're crazy for being a nanny….that it's not a manly thing to do?"

Al laughed. "All the time sir. I just ignore them. I'm good at what I do and I enjoy doing it. Their opinions don't matter and their opinions don't pay my rent."

"Exactly" Manny replied. "Suffice it to say that I am sure that there are some people who don't understand or agree with my friendship with Corrina . Hopefully you are not one of those people."

Al stared at him a moment. "No sir. She seems to be a very nice woman."

"She's wonderful" Manny replied. "Now I have to go. I'll see you this afternoon"

"Very good sir, good day." Al responded as Manny walked out of the door.

Manny got in the car with Corrina.

"Any problems?" she asked.

"Not yet." Manny replied. "I don't foresee any problems with Al. "

Corrina pulled off into the traffic. "I don't think Al is the one we have to worry about."

Manny walked straight to his office and began reading over some paperwork. It wasn't long before Sid stuck his head in the door.

"Manny! I heard you were here! What gives? I thought you were taking the rest of the week off. " Sid came in and shut the door. "Did the old man call you in?"

"No." he said looking at Sid. "Have a seat. I have to talk to you."

"What's up, Manny" he asked sitting down.

"Look Sid" Manny said clasping his hands together. "I know you're a good friend…and I know you like Jenny-"

"The important thing is for you to like her, old man" Sid replied laughing. "Now I know those kids of hers can be a handful, but they just need a man's strong hand to guide them. Jenny is quite a looker with quite a figure."

"Sid, I want more from a woman than a nice figure." Manny replied. "I need a woman I'm compatible with…one that Molly likes."

"Well, of course Manny." He replied. "That goes without saying."

"Well Jenny's not the girl for me" Manny replied lighting a cigarette. "I'm not attracted to her."

"What?" Sid exclaimed. "Maybe you're still mourning Annie-"

"That's not it" Manny replied trying to be patient. "This is not about Annie. It's about what I want and what I'm attracted to. Jenny isn't it."

Sid still wasn't convinced that he wasn't still mourning his wife. "What's wrong with her, Manny? She's nice. She came over your house and helped you when you lost your Dad. That has to count for something. She was there for you! Your head's not clear just yet. You're still in shock. Just give it some time."

"Sid, I'm in love with someone else!" Manny snapped wanting him to stop singing Jenny's praises.

"What are you talking about, Manny" Sid replied. "There is no one else! " He paused a minute and looked at Manny. "How can there be someone else? When did you meet someone else?"

"I'm in love with Corrina, Sid and I've asked her to marry me. "

Sid stared at him dumbfounded.

"Corrina? Who's Corrina?" Sid asked.

"You know I told you about Corrina…how she helped Molly-"

Sid jumped up. "You mean your colored maid? God man! Are you crazy?"

"No, Sid. I'm just in love."

Sid stared at him a moment and then started looking around.

"Alright, Manny. Where's the camera? This is a joke right" He walked around the office and then turned back to Manny.

"It's no joke. I'm dead serious" Manny replied. "I'm going to call Jenny and tell her that I don't want to see her anymore."

Sid sat back down. "I don't get it, Manny! How could you be in love with your colored maid? Don't tell me you're sleeping with her with Molly right there in the house!"

"No Sid, I haven't slept with her." Manny replied.

"But you fired her, didn't you?" Sid replied.

"Yes…but that was about another matter."

Sid stared at Manny, his mouth hanging open. He thought Manny had gone off the deep end.

"So you're going to marry her instead? God Manny, I think you need to see a shrink!" Sid replied shaking his head.

"I'm quite sane, Sid. You're my friend. I need to know where you stand on this."

Sid stared at him as if he had two heads. "Manny….what do you want from me? The old man may not like it. You could be jeopardizing your job with this foolishness. Are you going to tell him?"

"It's none of his business" Manny replied smashing the butt in the ashtray on his desk.

"But we have to meet clients…solicit business. You know some of the companies are not so open minded. They may live in a state where such unions aren't legal. Every state is not as open minded as California, you know. If the company thinks you're a liability, they may let you go. Have you even thought about that?" Sid said trying to reason with him.

Manny knew that he was right. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Was Sid about to bail out on him?

"I realize that I'm bringing a lot of stuff down on myself, but I deserve to be happy too." Many replied. "The last year has been hell. I am ready to move on."

"You couldn't find a white woman to move on with" Sid asked. "You're not even thinking about Molly. She'll be teased! Where will you live? You can't stay in that WASP neighborhood you're in now. Why not just see her…you know privately. You don't have to marry her. Men do it all the time!"

Manny stood up. "I love her, Sid. I want to marry her. I don't want to sneak around like we're doing something wrong."

Sid came over to him. "All I'm saying is that maybe for Molly's sake you shouldn't rush into this thing. See Jenny, but keep your girl …you know on the side."

Manny tried to keep his voice even. "Her name is Corrina. She's going to be my wife, Sid. Get used to it. I need to know where you stand with me. Are you with me?"

Sid sighed. "I don't know Manny. I'm open-minded…but I don't know about Cheryl."

Manny knew he was making excuses. He should have expected this from Sid.

"That's ok, Sid" he replied bitterly. "I think I see where you're coming from. I'll see you later. I have a lot of work to do."

He picked up his papers and began studying them and didn't look up again until her heard the door of his office close.

He didn't know what he had expected. He gathered that it was too much to hope that Sid would be his friend still. He probably was on the phone this very moment calling Cheryl and giving her the news.

He picked up the phone and decided to call Jenny. He'd rather for her to hear it from him than someone else. He knew that her kids were in school. Perhaps he could meet her for lunch.

He called her and was grateful that she was home. She jumped at the opportunity to meet him for lunch and he hung up the phone and walked into Sid's office.

Sid was sitting behind his desk just hanging up the phone.

"Look Sid, I'm meeting Jenny for lunch." He said watching him. "I would hope that you and Cheryl would give me time to talk to her instead of your blabbing it to her over the phone."

Sid immediately looked guilty. "Of course, old man"

Manny walked out of Sid's office. More than likely he had just hung up from Cheryl and she was calling Jenny right at this moment. Oh well. He'd have to just deal with it at lunch.

Sid avoided him the rest of the morning and he left at noon to meet Jenny. He walked into the restaurant and found her sitting at a table and he knew immediately that she knew something. Damn Sid and Cheryl!

"Hi Jenny" he said approaching her.

"Manny" she replied her voice barely civil.

"Look Jenny" he said sitting down. "I don't know what you've been told-"

"Cheryl called me and told me that you told Sid that you were in love with someone else! Is this what this lunch is about, Manny? You've called me here publicly to humiliate me?"

"I would never do that, Jenny" Manny protested. "I just wanted to talk to you in person. I didn't want you to hear it from someone else; I wanted to talk to you myself."

Jenny leaned forward on the table, her face a mask of barely contained rage.

"Who is she? Where was she when your father died? She didn't take care of you when you needed her! I was there! I was the one who handled things! Now this is how you repay my friendship?"

Manny looked at her. "I'm grateful for all you've done, Jenny. I really am…but I'm not in love with you. I'm sorry."

"Who is she?" Jenny hissed. "Do I know her?"

"That's not important" Manny replied evasively.

"I'm not stupid, Manny." She snapped "Your wife has been dead for over a year. I've tried every way possible to get your attention. I knew something wasn't right. At least you could have been honest with me from the beginning instead of leading me on like you did."

"I'm sorry, Jenny" was all he could say.

Jenny stood up, holding her head up high. "It's your loss, Manny Singer."

She then walked out of the restaurant leaving him at the table alone.