Meg's Moment (7 page)

Tom grinned and held up his shirt.

“The dryer. Right.” She led him into the pantry where he tossed his shirt in the dryer and hit start. He then went back to the kitchen and began preparing the vegetables.

Megan stood in the pantry contemplating the possibility of drowning herself in the washer. Convinced that her thighs were too big to fit in there she rejoined him in the kitchen and sat down at the table casually letting the icepack find its way back to her crotch. Good Lord, she was losing it.

“…I wish I could change your mind about the gym,” he was saying. “I’d love to see you come back.”

“Maybe,”
s
he said. “But I think I’ll stick to exercising at home where I can’t make a complete ass out of myself.” She closed her eyes as she remembered how stupid she probably looked when she knocked herself out. Gyms didn’t have video cameras did they? If she saw herself on, ‘World
’s
M
ost
B
one
-
head
V
ideos’
someday
she’d have to drive her car off a cliff.

“It was just one of those things. Nothing major.” Yeah right! “It’s really Adele’s fault. If she’d taught you correctly none of this would have ever happened. All you need is a good teacher.”

“No, what I need is a miracle.” He frowned, s
e
t the knife on the counter
,
and joined her at the table. He took her hand in his and rubbed it gently. “I’m a mess,” she said.

“Tell you what. You come back to the gym and I’ll train you personally.” She shook her head but he continued. “You can drench me with water or puke on me whenever you please.”

“You
’
r
e
sweet, but you heard
Stacy
;
I’m an accident waiting to happen.”

“So
,
I’ll wear a hard hat and up my insurance policy.” She smiled and he added, “And I’ll wear a cup.” The thought of him in a hard hat made her dizzy. Or maybe it was his lack of shirt. Or the pain pills. Probably all of the above.

“Okay,” she said finally. She’d tell him
‘
no
’
later, when she could do it on the phone.

He smiled. “That’s my girl.” He removed his hand and went back to preparing the salad.

Had he just called her his girl? Maybe now would be a good time to tell him she was married to…what’s his name? Oh yeah
,
Ted. She was a horrible wife. Give her an orgasm, a blow to the head
,
and a muscled hunk shirtless in her kitchen and she couldn’t even remember her husband’s name. If she wasn’t going to hell already she just got a first class ticket.

The sound of the front door closing drew her out of her thoughts and she half expected it to be the grim reaper. It was Ted. Close enough.

She heard him drop the keys on the coffee table and head downstairs to the basement. No ‘
H
oney
,
I’m home’ or nothing. Jerk. She bet Tom said ‘Honey
,
I’m home’ when he went home. Probably wearing a hard hat and no shirt. She needed more ice. Thank God she was a woman and didn’t have the equipment that showed arousal like a man did. Or like some men did. Ted should have an “Out of
O
rder” sign hung on his. God knows he never used it. With her anyways.

“Was that the door?” Tom asked.

“Huh?”

“Did someone just come in?”

“Oh,
y
eah,
t
hat was Ted.” The Jerk!

“Ted?”

“My…” Before she could finish Ted walked in the kitchen and began throwing ingredients on the counter for his protein shake as if having a
half-naked
man preparing a salad in his kitchen happened every day.

“What’s for dinner?” Ted asked.

“Uh.” Megan looked at Ted incredulously. He was worried about dinner? Hello! Earth to Ted, there’s a strange man in the friggin’ kitchen. “I don’t really feel like cooking tonight. Maybe we’ll just do sandwiches.”

“I hate sandwiches
,
Megan
.
Y
ou know that. I want…” He looked at Tom, “Who’s he?”

“That’s Tom.” Megan supplied. Tom offered his hand.

“Oh
,
” was all Ted said as he put the ingredients back, got water instead
,
and started out of the room like he was interrupting them. Megan felt a flood of anger.

“OH?
!
” she yelled. Tom leaned against the fridge
,
curious. “That’s all you have to say is
‘
OH
’
? You come home and find a man in our kitchen shirtless
,
making a salad for your wife, who was knocked unconscious today by the way, and all you can freaking say is
‘
OH
’
?
Do you even wonder why he’s not wearing a shirt or why his hair is wet?” She crossed the kitchen to Ted and poked him in the chest with her finger. “Huh
?
Do you?”

“Okay
,
Megan
,
w
hy is his hair wet? Why is he missing his shirt?” His tone was sarcastic like there was no possibility there could be anything going on between her and Tom. Like
,
just because he didn’t desire her no one else would. Her blood boiled and she decided that the truth was too damn good for him. “Well?” he said.

Megan planted her hands on her hips and tilted her chin up. “I met Tom today and invited him over and we decided to skip the small talk and just get right to the sex.” Tom raised his eyebrows and smiled. “So after he ravished me on the kitchen counter we used the sprayer to hose it off and
,
since you never fixed the damn thing
,
it started shooting water like a geyser and got him all wet so we put his shirt in the dryer. Once I saw his luscious chest I got all hot and we were just about to get busy again when I suddenly got hungry
.
S
o Tom
,
being the chiseled sweetheart that he is
,
offered to make me a salad. We were just about to refuel and get after it when you came in and ruined the mood. You bastard!” She stood there waiting for him to get angry, to tell her what a tramp she was and order Tom out of his house but he did neither.

“Don’t worry about dinner. I’ll get takeout,” was all he said and he went back to the basement. Megan stood there speechless
,
blinking her eyes as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right.

Tom also stood speechless
,
still leaning on the refrigerator with his arms crossed over his chest, an amused smile dancing on his face, his eyes glittering.

“I’m so sorry Tom,” Megan began, remembering Tom was still there. “I can’t believe I just did that. You must think I’m a…a lunatic. I’m not usually like this. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She buried her head in her hands praying that her head would explode. Tom joined her at the table again.

”It’s probably the pain pills
,
” Tom offered trying to hide his amusement. “I guess we should have taken that warning on the label more seriously. We should have fed you first.” Yeah, like the label said ‘if not taken with food you will temporarily lose every ounce of your sanity and make a total and complete ass out of yourself’. Megan kept her head buried and fought off tears of embarrassment.

“Megan?” Tom called out and took her hand in his again. “Megan, you’ve had a rough day. The day’s events just caught up with you and you had to get it all out. It’s fine. Really.” She looked up at him
.
“In fact
,
I’m flattered. I had no idea I was a chiseled sweetheart that got you hot. If it’ll make you feel better I’d be happy to ravish you on the counter. I would have done it earlier
,
I just didn’t know it was an option then.” Megan gave a weak smile
.
Tom smiled too. “Feel better?” he asked.

She nodded
.
S
he did feel better. She just really hated Ted at the moment.

“Thank
y
ou,” she said again, “
f
or everything. You really are very sweet.”

“So are you,” he said still holding her hand. Their eyes met and for a moment Megan thought about letting him ravish her. Ted obviously didn’t care. But she did and it would be wrong. So she’d do the right thing like she always did.

Tom’s gaze fell to her lips and she felt heat shoot through her body. She needed that damn ice pack again. She finally broke her hand away and stood.

“You should go,” she told him before she ran out of ice and morals and ravished him.

“Will you be
o
kay? I mean
,
he’s not going to do anything is he? Like hit you or…”

“Ted? Oh no. He never does anything.” Literally! “I don’t think he cares much anymore. He just kind of…exists.” She went to the dryer to get his shirt then rejoined him in the kitchen and handed it to him. He fished in his wallet for a business card and placed it in the palm of her hand, covering her hand with his
.

“He doesn’t deserve you,” he said softly.

“I know,” Megan said
,
staring at their hands still touching.

“You call me if you need anything.” Megan nodded
,
still looking at their hands.

“Megan? Where are you honey? Yoo-hoo?” Megan felt her head begin to pound again. Her mother walked into the kitchen and caught
sight
of the big, bare
-
chested man holding her daughter’s hand with one hand and his shirt in the other and dropped the dish she was carrying. It looked like lasagna. Shit! Megan’s favorite. Tom and Megan stood there frozen
,
staring at her mother’s shocked face and the mess on the floor. She released Tom’s hand.

“Hi Mom,” Megan answered as calmly as she could. “What brings you here?”

“I brought you dinner. I was worried about your head and…” she gestured at Tom.

“Oh Mom, this is Tom.” Tom offered his hand and said hello. “He was just leaving. Right Tom?”

“Right. Call me if you need anything.” Megan nodded and shoved him towards the door with her hip. She then turned to face her mother who was clutching the crucifix she always wore to her chest. “It’s not what you think,” Megan said.

“I don’t know what to think, Megan. First the concussion, then you’re riding around with a strange man, then I come here and your necking with another man.”

“
Okay
,
stop right there. There was no concussion and there was only one man. Tom’s the stranger from earlier and we weren’t necking. God Mom, no one even says necking anymore. ”

“Whatever!” her mother snapped. “Making out then, anyways then you make those comments about rape and murder and speeding buses and…your hair! What on earth did you do to your hair! It looks awful! It’s blonde! You can’t go to church with hair like that. What possessed you to go from your long pretty locks to this…”
S
he waved her hands around in the air around Megan’s head.

“I didn’t cut it,” Megan lied. “The people at the hospital did. They needed to examine my wound closer and they…” Her mother put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. Megan tried again.

“Okay, the truth is these little green aliens came down and abducted me and…”
H
er mother’s eyes grew even narrower now resembling tiny slits.

“Spot did it?” Megan tried and her mother threw her hands in the air and exhaled loudly. Megan winc
ed and prepared for the worst.

“That’s it Megan! I’m calling Father Edmond. You’ve obviously lost your mind. Divine Intervention might not even work. I’ve got to go to church. I’ll probably lose my voice saying Hail Mary’s and then I won’t be able to lead the choir Sunday.” She clutched her necklace again and looked at the ceiling. “Why me?” she asked the florescent lighting. “I used to have a normal daughter, well almost normal
.
S
he did bring me a fish for a grandchild
,
but I could overlook that. Now she has affairs, and a trampy hairstyle
,
and concussions…” She was still babbling to God as she left the kitchen and slammed the door shut.

Megan stood in the kitchen wondering who would be committed to the loony bin first
, h
er or her mother?

When she heard her mother’s car door slam she went to the silverware drawer, selected a fork and sat
o
n the floor with her legs stretched out and began eating the lasagna her mother brought over. She may be going crazy, but even she wasn’t crazy enough to let a perfectly good lasagna go to waste.