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You don't need money, don't take fame.
Don't need no credit card to ride this train.
It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes.
But it might just save your life.
That's the Power Of Love.
Huey Lewis.

"Hi Vivian. Here's the schedule. Sorry it's a day late."

She waited for me to give her some lame excuse. Since lying to Alice last August, I had shied away from the practice, so a simple apology would have to suffice.

All that fantasizing about Erica took up a lot of time, and made my hand too tired to write. Is that what you're waiting to hear, Vivian?

With a sigh, Vivian accepted the schedule book from me. "That's ok."

It was my turn to wait expectantly. When Vivian remained silent, I walked away.

Cold-voiced, she announced, "Wait a minute, Ray. There's something else."

Haha, bitch. I win again

The pettiness of my little dominance games was something I needed to grow out of. But until then, I delighted in the small adrenaline rush.

I'll have to stop if Erica doesn't like it...

Satisfied with myself, I turned and smiled, "Yes, Vivian?"

She crossed her bulky arms. "You fool around with the female employees. Don't deny it. I know you do."

An evasive shrug crossed my shoulders before I could prevent it. Many of my mannerisms had grown out of a childish desire to frustrate and annoy others.

Irritation dotted her face with splotches of red, but she continued.
"Erica really likes you. God knows why she wants anything to do with someone like you, but there it is. She's my friend, and asked what would happen if you and her were together."

A bead of sweat rolled down my spine.

This is it, she's firing me...

Vivian's arms crossed tighter, causing her breasts to devour her elbows. "I never said this, understand?"

I didn't, but nodded anyways.

Waving around the restaurant, she softly said, "Keep it discreet, and I'll look the other way. Don't make me regret this, Ray!"

Wow. Erica really did it. That's a little scary, but also... she's awesome. My girlfriend is awesome.

"Ok. Thank you, Vivian."

I retrieved my coat, ready to leave for home, but she grabbed my arm. "If you hurt that wonderful girl, you'll be out on your ass."

****************

While pulling up in front of in front of our house, I tried to appear nonchalant, but the sight of Nick's new F250 truck already parked into the driveway made me giddy. His opinion of Erica should not have mattered so much to me, but I had fretted all day at work, eager to hear what he would say.

I stepped onto our porch, Nick tossed me a beer, and I saw his familiar wry grin.

He's going to fuck with me...

Suspecting he would tease me by not bringing it up on his own, I had a plot to raise the subject without seeming overly needy.

I planned to tell him, "Nick, I'm sorry that those girls interrupted your morning. I told Erica not to show up unannounced again."

Then Nick would respond, "Thanks, Ray. I didn't appreciate them doing that. Oh, by the way, Erica is beautiful, really wonderful, and will be your best girlfriend ever. Congratulations."

Pleased with my scheme, I twisted open the beer, then casually said...

"Nick, Nick, Nick! Sooo, what did you think of Erica? Huh? She's really hot, right? Am I right? Does it look like she loves me? I think she does! Well? C'mon Nick, tell me!"

Dammit...

He shook his head in laughter. "You are such a cretin. Couldn't wait, could you?"

Yeah yeah, you win. What-fucking-ever...

Nick cracked open a green Mickey's Big Mouth bottle. With shamrocks decorating the label, it served as the unofficial Malt Liquor For White Boys. He deliberately took a longer than normal swig, then dramatically licked his lips.

I've done exactly the same thing to him when he wanted my opinion of a girl. Such are the games we play...

In a flawless imitation of Ralph Kramden from The Honeymooners television show, he growled, "Norton, I've long suspected it, but now I know for certain. You. Are. A. Mental case!"

After a dramatic pause, he waved his hands in confusion. "How have you not fucked that beautiful creature yet? Have you finally gone gay? Shall I call you Loretta?"

My girlish giggle at his Beatles' Get Back reference seemed to reinforce Nick's accusation.

"Ray, can you even handle a girl that sexy?"

It was a good question. Alice's substantial, yet more subtle appeal, had resulted in compliments about her every time I took her out. Usually some variation of "Wow, she's spectacular!"

However, Alice's beauty never drove men to try to horn in on her while she was with me. I had a feeling that Erica's in-your-face charms could mean fending off challenges from rivals. Hopefully she wasn't a girl who enjoyed having men fight over her. I put up with a great deal of feminine misbehavior, but completely avoided women who pulled that nasty stunt.

It's pretty great when women fight over me, though...

"I don't know, Nick. I guess we'll see."

"So, you're going to do this?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I can't keep putting her off. Do you like her?"

That was the question I had really wanted to ask. Unlike Alice, Erica's personality could be polarizing. Her confident, playful, and sexy nature made her irresistible to me, but I realized that having Erica's desire aimed at my heart could distort my opinion.

Nick scratched his nearly shaved, dark blonde head. "She's not shy, that's for sure. I don't know, Ray. Erica seems like a real handful. I wouldn't want a girlfriend like her, but the two of you are... it's like there's something going on, that I've never seen before with you, even with... "

Alice. I haven't thought about her in a few weeks. I hope she's doing well...

"...never mind. Uhh, yeah. Anyways, Erica's a lot of fun. But what's with her weird friends?"

I didn't feel like explaining my half-baked theories of Erica's world, so I gave him my signature dismissive shrug. "Who knows? Roxanne is just a free spirit, which can be annoying even when a girl is hot. But Ziggy? I don't even know what to think about that one. I guess I'll find out."

Once in a great while, Nick showed concern and insight for my questionable character. "Don't be mean to Ziggy."

Acknowledging his warning was necessary, I nodded. "Yeah, ok."

Surprising me with his knowledge of such things, he continued, "Ziggy may be a test. Erica's been around you long enough to have caught at least a whiff of your mean streak, right?"

Nick seldom made me uncomfortable, but the conversation had veered into that territory, so I went to the refrigerator for more beers. Usually he joked about my cruelty, and even told tall tales of it at parties. Disturbingly, women had approached me afterwards to offer themselves up for a dose of it.

I much preferred how Anna brought women to me by playing up my better qualities, but Nick's inadvertent matchmaking seemed to end up in less anguish, as the women knew exactly what they were getting. "Yeah, she's caught me a couple of times, being a dick to people for no reason. She seemed neutral about it. Like it didn't bother her, but it also didn't turn her on, the way it did with some other women."

We both chugged our beers, until the equation solved itself in my head. Math had stopped being ridiculously easy for me at pre-calculus, so I had stalled out there in high school. A teenage girl's schemes didn't require much more than simple algebra, so even with a substantial buzz from the fortified beer, the answer came to me.

"If I'm kind to Ziggy, Erica can trust me to be good to her. Is that right?"

"Close enough, Ray. So what's next with her?"

I tugged a curly lock, "She's coming over Saturday morning to cut my hair."

"Nice! I'll go deer hunting with my brothers, so you can be alone. Don't fuck her in my bed, you cretin!"

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