Friend’s of Mine
By Arla Coopa
Copyright 2012 Arla Coopa
Smashwords Edition
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Friends of Mine
I’m a numbers man, and like many numbers men, I’ve never been real good with the women. As a college student, I had sex a few times, with women I found moderately attractive, never anything to brag about. As a grad student, my sex life was almost completely relegated to fantasy, mostly internet porn, with the occasional frustration of a strip club. I never thought I’d have sex with a beautiful woman, and if I did, I suspected it would be tame, because she would not find me attractive enough to make it otherwise.
Life rarely throws opportunity at you. When it does send something your way, it’s usually not simple. Usually, there’s a choice to make.
#
I met Mark at a pathetic excuse for a pickup basketball game. Every Friday between noon and five, Adler Gymnasium was reserved for faculty. No college kids showed up to school the professors. Without the young studs, horrendous basketball players looked better by the sheer power of perspective. Between games, we sat along the side of the court. Mark and I had accidentally been playing on the same team and had won handily.
I thought I could feel his stare. The first words he said to me were, “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Looking up from my water bottle, I asked, “Why you say?”
Mark smirked. “We know these academics have no business playing this game. They may be the worst players this college could possibly provide, but we still let it go to our heads when we stomp them.”
I laughed, knowing what he meant. We were the youngest there. Mark stood a couple of inches over six feet, his body not muscular but not flabby. I stood medium height, and just out of school, after many years of living off of beans and tuna fish, had a slender frame. We were the closest to what could be called athletic of anyone there. Adler gymnasium made for a nice reprieve from a world full of younger, prettier, people.
“Yeah,” I finally said. “It’s bad, but it’s fun.”
We introduced ourselves. I had just finished my doctoral work, taught math, lived alone and had no friends in this town. Mark, married, had been in the history department for two years. Before we could say more, the next game started.
#
That night, I went out alone. Pete’s, a sports bar, stood away from the college. Graduate students, professors and a few locals frequented the bar. The college kids usually stayed away, preferring the louder, wilder, dance clubs near the school.
I sat alone at a table, watching two men play pool, wondering if I should challenge the winner, thinking I probably wouldn’t, thinking I’d just go home early instead, when I heard someone say my name.
I looked up and saw Mark standing near the entrance, smiling and waving at me. Beside him stood a blonde-headed woman wearing a skirt outfit and a warm smile. Could she really be with him? Had Mark bagged someone way out of his league?
I waved and they both came over.
Mark turned to the woman and motioned at me. “Sweetie, this is Dr. Richards. He’s a math prof. I met him earlier today, playing basketball.”
She rolled her eyes, and I immediately knew why. She knew the secret of the pathetic basketball court, where dorky men met to pretend they were something else.
I extended my hand. With a soft, dainty hand of her own, she accepted it.
“Hi,” she said, her voice as pleasant as her smile. “I’m the little missus, but some people call me Tina.”
Straight blonde hair barely flowed past her shoulders. Her emerald eyes sparkled on a small, but slightly chubby, face. An ample bosom and round hips only improved upon an otherwise slender frame, the type of body men looked at and knew could fuck.
Yes, I was very impressed with what Mark had attained.
“Pleased to meet you, Tina. Call me Phil. Would the two of you like to join me?”
The two of them did. We talked and shot pool. They were quite a spectacle, drawing smiles or frowns from people who looked at them. I envied how they enjoyed each other, seeming more like friends than any couple I’d been around, teasing here and there, but in a very pleasant way. Soon, my envy gave way to calm looseness. I had fun with my two new friends.
#
Mark and Tina made my first semester at the college bearable. They always wanted to hang out and do things. We went to the bar and played pool, had dinner at their place, played cards, watched movies. Sometimes we engaged in serious discussions about politics, science, even religion. Like most historians, Mark wielded a broad range of knowledge. Tina, a lawyer, could rip apart any piece of flawed logic. Conversation flowed freely. Usually, we all held similar opinions, but we occasionally disagreed on the finer points of issues. No one ever got mad, though, creating a nice laid back atmosphere.
It was always just the three of us, which seemed fine. I was glad not to have a fourth that could hurt the chemistry. Besides, I found myself buried in the duties of a new professor. I didn’t have the time or mental energy to date.
It was during the second semester that things got weird.
Wednesday had become a regular game night for us. We all three liked the question and answer games the best, though Mark, with his background in history, almost always won.
I arrived at their house a little after seven. They had a nice place, one story, four bedrooms, set off in a hilly area, away from the rest of the town. It had two bathrooms, one with a Jacuzzi tub, and a pool in the back yard. I knocked on the door, but no one answered.
By this time, I carried a key to their house so I could water their plants when they went out of town. I knew they were expecting me tonight. I went on in.
“Hello,” I said, coming into the foyer.
When no one answered, I figured they hadn’t arrived yet. It wouldn’t have been the first time they’d come home to find me waiting inside. In fact, they might have been worried not to find me there.
By the time I’d made it into the living room, I thought I could make out the sound of a running shower. I took the hallway to the back of the house, where I knocked on the bathroom door.
“Hello,” Tina called out.
“Hi. It’s me. I just wanted to let you know I’m here.”
“Okay. Mark’s meeting with a student. He said he’d be a little late. Go into my office, though. We got a new version of ‘Trivial Pursuit’ on the computer.”
“All right. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
I went into Tina’s office, where I found three folding chairs set up at the computer station. The new CD sat on the desk. I sat down and put it in the disc drive. A little while later, I played the computer, knowing it would be my only chance to win on this night.