Richard had to break the silence. "Okay, Caroline. Can you and I go somewhere and talk?"
"I don't know that we have anything to talk about, actually. I'd rather just hang out here if that's alright by you."
Annie walked to the door and opened it, "Actually, Caroline. I'm not sure that's alright by me. I'd like you to leave."
"Annie!" Richard couldn't believe what was happening. And he knew he was the cause of it.
Caroline jumped off the couch and got in Annie's face. "Okay, Spadaro, let's just have it out. Right here. Right now."
Richard jumped between the two ladies and pushed them away from each other. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you two think you are doing? What? The only thing missing is the mud! This is ridiculous! Okay, Caroline. Outside. Now."
"You can't tell me what to do!"
"I just did. We need to talk, Caroline, and we both know it. So let's quit playing games and go talk." Richard looked into Caroline's eyes and saw her soften just a bit. "Please, Caroline."
Caroline backed away from Annie. "Alright."
Annie turned away and walked to the kitchen. She grabbed a beer from her refrigerator and began drinking it without saying another word, and then she walked into her bedroom and shut the door. She didn't want to be anywhere around during the confrontation that was to follow.
Richard escorted Caroline into the hall, and shut the door behind her. They stared at each other for a long time, just taking in the hurt and the anxiety that was passing between the two of them. "How did we get here?" Richard wondered silently.
"Okay Richard. Here I am. What do you have to say?" Caroline broke the eye contact that had gone on way too long, and began to look down at her shuffling feet.
"I have to go first?" Caroline just glared at Richard in response to his question. "Of course I have to go first. Sorry. Okay. But first, Caroline, we have to decide what we are setting out to do here."
"What do you mean, what we're setting out to do?"
"Well," Richard sighed, "I mean, are we honest at any cost? Or do we try to preserve a friendship out of this, or do we try to preserve a professional relationship, or is it just to hell with it all, none of it matters?"
Caroline looked up at Richard, sadly. "I don't think I can just say to hell with it. Can you?"
"No, Caroline. No I can't."
They both looked away and the silence grew again. Richard began to run his fingers through his hair, something he had always done when he felt he was at a loose end. But this time, as he began to, he thought of what Annie had said about it being sexy. He smiled. He had never thought of himself as sexy. Or even attractive. But Annie had certainly been with more than her fair share of men, so surely she knew a thing or two about what made a man sexy. He glanced at Caroline, who was still looking down at her own shuffling feet. He smiled again. Maybe Caroline actually felt something for him. Maybe, just maybe, Caroline thought he was sexy. Maybe, just maybe, he could seduce her if he tried.
He realized then that he had never really tried. All this time that they had known each other, all this time he had loved her, he had never tried to seduce her. He had tried to tell her about his feelings for her, and he always failed miserably, but maybe seducing her would be another story. And maybe if he could seduce her, it would clear things up, and do away with the tension between them. At this point, Richard felt as if he had very little to lose.
"Caroline." Richard spoke just above a whisper, and it caught Caroline off guard. She had been lost in her own thoughts.
"Yes, Richard?" She looked up at him, and noticed he was now a step closer to her. She began to touch her own neck self-consciously. She cleared her throat. She thought back on all of the closeness they had shared over the years, and the countless times she had thought he was going to kiss her, and she had been so disappointed when he didn't. And everytime, she told herself that she had been imagining it. Richard only saw her as his boss. His friend. But she saw him as her one and only chance at happiness. Not her last chance, her only chance. Now, as he slowly stepped closer to her, she felt herself shaking.
Richard chuckled. He didn't mean to, and he knew he had ruined the moment by doing so, but he couldn't help it. Caroline was visibly shaking.
"Are you cold, Caroline?"
Caroline laughed too. "That obvious, huh? Um, no. Not cold. Rather warm, in fact."
They laughed together like they hadn't done in a very long time. The entire situation was so ridiculous, and they both knew it. After a few seconds, Richard regained his composure, but Caroline was still giggling like a school girl. Richard smiled as he watched her. No woman had ever made him happy before. Julia had fulfilled him in many ways, but mostly through angst, not joy. Caroline was so different. She actually made him happy to be alive, and he was tired of playing games with her. She deserved better.
He walked to within a few inches from her, and she stopped laughing. In fact, she stopped breathing.
Richard looked down into her eyes, fascinated by the effect he was having on her. He put his hand gently on her waist, and felt her suck in even more air, if that was possible. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Hi."
Caroline had to resist the urge to melt into him as she felt his warm breath on her ear and her neck. Instead, she raised her face and looked into Richard's eyes, their noses practically touching. "Hi," she responded breathlessly.
Richard pulled Caroline even closer, as he brushed the hair out of her face with his other hand. "You are so beautiful."
At that point, Caroline could no longer resist, and she did melt into him, burying her face in his chest. "Oh, Richard."
"Caroline, I have a million things I need to say to you right now, and I don't even know where to begin."
She looked up at him, "Richard, I..."
He cut her off with a gentle finger to her lips. "No, Caroline. Let me. I don't know what I need to say, but I need to at least try."
At that moment, the elevator opened on the floor, and Charlie came rollerblading out. He had too much speed going, and he crashed into the wall. He spun around, unfazed. "Hi, Richard. Hi, Caroline. What's up?"
Del stepped off of the elevator behind Charlie. "Charlie, I told you to quit saying 'what's up'. It sounds so juvenile."
"Well, you know what? You're not my mother, Del. My mother would never correct me on something so silly. She would be too busy trying to get the bubblegum out from behind my ear."
Del glanced over his right shoulder when he heard Caroline clear her throat. "Oh, hi Duff. Hi Richard." He turned back to Charlie, "Well, your mother would..." He trailed off as he realized what was going on behind him. He turned around, startled. "Oh, hey. Sorry to interrupt. We, uh...we...what were we doing here, Charlie? Oh well, doesn't matter now, does it? Gotta run! Let's go, Charlie."
"No, Del, we can't go yet. Don't you remember, Caroline called you and asked you to come over and have revenge sex with her. And I'm here to make sure that Richard just happens to walk in on the two of you. Remember?" Charlie skated over to Caroline, who had pulled away from Richard and had buried her face in her hands. "Of course, Caroline, now that Richard knows the plan, I don't think I am really needed anymore. My work here is done. Anybody want ice cream?"
Richard didn't take his eyes off of Caroline. "Revenge sex?"
Caroline pulled her hands away from her face, and attempted to wipe away the tears, but they were flowing too freely. "Oh, Richard. I am so sorry. It was a moment of weakness. I was so hurt, and I had totally forgotten that I had even called Del."
Richard turned his back to her and glared at Del. "You."
"Hey, man, look. I don't know what's going on. All I know is Caroline called me up, and asked me to come over and have sex with her, because she was lonely and wanted to get revenge on somebody. And, you know, I really pride myself on being a good friend, so..."
"You son of a bitch," Richard muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Del stormed over to Richard and got in his face.
"Hey, Del," Charlie interjected, "before you hit Richard let me go get Annie. She would never forgive me if I let her miss this."
At that moment, Annie opened her apartment door. "Did I hear my name? Hey! What is going on out here?"
Richard glanced at Annie, and was surprised to see she was looking at him with genuine concern.
Charlie glided to Annie's door to fill Annie in. "Well, Caroline called Del to come have sex with her so she could get revenge on Richard, and I came along to make sure Richard walked in on Caroline and Del having sex, but when we got here, Richard and Caroline were together, and Del couldn't remember why we came, so I reminded him. Maybe I shouldn't have done that in front of Richard. Not sure. But now Del is about to beat up Richard and you got here just in time. Whew. That was a mouthful. And to think. All of this because Richard got his mojo on with some hootchie mama. So, should I bring back ice cream for everyone else, or just ice for you, Richard? Ha ha. Because your face will need it in a second. Okay. I gotta go."
Let me know what you think. Next chapter coming soon.
