CHAPTER 15
On the following Friday, Monica decided to leave work early because she was feeling nauseous. She caught a taxicab home and arrived at her apartment at ten minutes to five.
"Boy, I don't believe I have ever been happier to see the end of a work day," she said to herself as she left the cab. "Can I help you to your apartment, Miss?" asked the driver. "No, thanks, I can manage."
Monica pushed herself along in the wheelchair to the elevator located in the parking garage. She saw the maintenance man coming down the other side of the garage and when he saw her, he waved.
"Hi there, Monica, how's it going?"
"Fine, Mr. Gimbel, except for the headache I have. I even left work early hoping that I could get rid of it before the end of the day."
"Well, I wish you luck on getting rid of the aching head, Monica. I will see you again, because I have to run and fix a plumbing problem in one of the apartments."
"Okay, Mr. Gimbel, good-bye."
The elevator door opened and Monica entered and pushed the button for her floor. Her head kept pounding and pounding, and no matter which way she moved it, the blood rushing around made her feel as though she was being punched in the noggin. When she entered the apartment, she could not wait to lie down on her bed, which is where she went as soon as she discarded her wheelchair. Monica didn't even worry about turning on any lights, and even though she had a bad headache, she soon found herself in deep sleep.
Two hours later, she was still sleeping soundly when the door to her apartment opened. Rose entered with Bob. "Doesn't look as though Monica had made it home yet," said Rose as she laid her wrap on the couch.
"In that case, Rose, come on over here and sit down beside me," said Bob, already sitting on the couch. "I think you have something on your mind, Bob, and I don't know if I like the idea."
"I think you will like what I have on my mind and since you will be a participant, how can you refuse?"
"Do you mean you are making me an offer that I cannot refuse simply because I am going to participate?" Bob rose from the yellow, slip covered couch and walked up to Rose and put his arm around her waist.
They faced each other, embraced warmly, then followed with a kiss. "Come on over to the couch and sit down, Rose."
She followed him to the spot where he had been sitting and he laid her down upon the covering. "I thought you wanted me to sit down," she said softly.
"Laying is much better, Rose, and you will feel more relaxed.
His lips found hers once more and as they kissed, Bob reached for the buttons on her blouse. Rose moved, allowing his probing hands to disrobe her upper body. His right hand slid to the zipper on her skirt, pulling her skirt down along with the zipper. Rose was now clothed only in a bra and panties. She quickly reached behind her, undoing her bra, allowing Bob to slip it over her arms. He then began to caress her rosy nipples, urging them to rigidity.
"Take off your clothes, Bob, and lay down here beside me," she cooed.
Bob stood up and removed his outer clothing as fast as he could. When he stripped down to his jockey shorts, she stood up in front of him and pulled his arms around her waist.
"Kiss me hard, Bob, and never let me go."
He eagerly responded by locking his lips tightly with hers. Their bodies intertwined, they fell to the floor. Bob felt for the silkiness of her panties and pulled them down slowly to her knees. He then reached for her womanhood and started to caress her gently. She answered his enticing caresses by tugging at his shorts.
"Please, get on top of me. Hurry, Bob!"
Monica awoke because she thought she heard a noise in the living room. She pulled her wheelchair to her bed and lifted herself into the seat. Having pushed herself into position, she headed for the living room. When she reached the doorway, she couldn't believe her eyes. Rose and Bob were on the floor, making love. They didn't notice her watching them until, in her haste to move back, the wheelchair hit the door behind her.
"What is that, Bob?"
Bob turned his head toward the noise and saw Monica backing away. "It's Monica!"
"Monica!" said Rose. "She saw us making love. Oh, my God, what can I say to her now?"
"I don't think you will be able to explain why we are making love, when she believed that she and I still have a chance," said Bob, rolling away from Rose's body.
The door slammed behind Monica.
"You had better go, Bob. I will see if I can make Monica understand that you and I love each other."
"She isn't going to accept that, Rose."
"Whether she wants to or not doesn't make much difference, Bob," said Rose as she replaced her clothing. "Monica will have to adjust to the fact she doesn't have you anymore."
"Do you think she will do anything drastic?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, Rose, maybe try to do away with her life?"
"I hope not, because she has everything to live for and we have to make her understand how much she has going for her, even if she will not necessarily have you and me around to help her when she needs us."
Bob tucked his shirt down into his trousers and fastened his huge, buckled belt, then pulled up his fly. "Let me know how you make out with Monica, Rose?"
"Okay, Bob, I will call you at work tomorrow and tell you how things turn out tonight." Bob kissed Rose on the lips lightly at first, then they embraced for a few minutes.
"I will be waiting for your call tomorrow. See you later, Honey."
Bob turned around and walked to the apartment door to let himself out. He turned and smiled at Rose, then turned the handle to swing the metal door open so that he could depart. The door closed.
"What can I tell Monica, now?" thought Rose to herself. "She probably will not want me for her friend anymore after finding out Bob doesn't really love her anymore. Worst of all, the other woman turns out to be her best friend."
Well, here goes nothing," she said aloud as she walked slowly to the bedroom where Monica had disappeared. Rose pulled her fingers together into the palm of her hand and tapped lightly on the door.
"Monica, can I speak with you?" There was no reply.
Rose hit the door harder and repeated her question. Again there was no answer. "Monica, can you hear me? I want to speak with you."
"What do you want, Rose? What can you possibly have to tell me?" Rose opened the door and walked inside the darkened room.
"Why don't you have a light on, Monica? This darkness isn't good for the eyes."
"I don't need a light for crying."
"Monica, I want to try and explain what you saw in the room. I want you to know, first of all, that Bob and I love each other and we are going to be married. We wanted to tell you, but never knew how to go about it without hurting your feelings."
"What do you think you hurt by allowing me to see you two rolling on the floor?"
"Monica, we didn't intend for you to see us. We didn't think you had made it home yet."
"Rose, you are, were, my best friend. How could you do this to me?"
"You can blame me all you want, Monica, but our love just happened and maybe you even had something to do with Bob and me falling in love."
"Don't you remember the times when you didn't care whether Bob was around or not, and even the times when you told him to go out and find another girl who could walk? What about the time you spent in the hospital and never told him about the condition you were in, especially when the doctor wanted you to tell Bob right away?"
"How could I tell him, Rose? I wanted Bob more than anything in the world and how did I know how he would feel about a woman who couldn't ever walk again, and who would only be half a woman?"
"Monica, you should have told Bob, and not waited as long as you did, even though I know how you had hoped you would be able to walk again. I understand how you feel, Monica, but that isn't going to change anything between Bob and me. Whether you believe me or not, Monica, Bob and I do love each other and that is the way it is."
"Why did you take him away from me behind my back, Rose? You could have at least told me in some way what was going on, rather than letting me find out for myself in the way I just did ... seeing two naked bodies."
"Monica, I told you we didn't really know how to tell you about our love, but now that you know, there isn't any sense continuing on and on about why I didn't tell you."
"You call yourself my friend, Rose? Friends don't do what you just showed me."
"I am so sorry, Monica. But that doesn't change things between us, because I am still your friend even though you may not want to accept me as one. Do you want me to move to another apartment, Monica?"
"Why should you move into another one? After all, you were the one with the apartment first. You had me move in with you. This apartment wasn't mine to begin with, so if anyone should move, it should be me."
"I am not asking you to move, Monica. This apartment is yours as long as you want to stay here. Since I am responsible for what happened, mostly for not telling you about Bob and me, I feel that maybe you would be better off without me being around."
Monica looked into the mirror and saw the shadow of her face outlined from the living room light shining into the room. She thought to herself for a few minutes about the alternatives available to her if Rose should leave. What would she do if Rose did decide to go and live with Bob? Where would she be? Who could she depend on to help her now that she was getting adjusted to working and taking an interest in life again?
"Rose, I am sorry for acting this way, after the way you have looked after me and treated me since my accident. I guess I just can't accept all my problems, yet. Both you and Bob have really been great, and I suppose that I suspected maybe you two were getting to know each other a little better than friends. Although I can't accept what I just found out, it is like you said before: that is the way things are, and they probably will not change."
Rose walked over to the light switch and flicked it on.
She reached for Monica's hand and said, "Monica, I know your love for Bob may be greater than mine, but I am sure we love him in different ways, and I hope we three can still be friends for the rest of our lives."
"We can be friends, Rose. You two will just have to put up with me for a while longer until I get things in focus." Rose pulled a tissue from the yellow box sitting on her dresser and wiped the tears coming from Monica's eyes. "Thank you, Rose. I needed that," Monica smiled.
"In time, you will feel better, Monica. but how long it will take no one really knows, especially me. I never told you before, but I was engaged to be married twice, and both times the fellows called off the engagement and never explained why. Never did I find out what I did to them to make them turn on me. One of the boys bought me a ring one week, and the next week asked me to give it back because he had changed his mind. I am glad though, because if he was that unsure of himself, imagine what a prize he would have been for a husband."
"I never knew you were engaged twice, Rose. I am sorry to hear about your problems."
"That's alright, Monica. But now you know you are not the only person who has lost a lover. You and I have both been in the same circumstances."
Rose put her arm around Monica.
"Well, if you believe you can still put up with me after I talked to you the way I just did, Rose, then I would like to stay here with you until we do have to part and go our separate ways."
"Monica, you have always been a good friend, and I have always enjoyed being with you. I hope we can still spend time together even after Bob and I are married. You will, I hope continue to be a friend to both of us, no matter what happens."
"Thanks for arguing with me, Rose, and not treating me like a baby, even though you have something I wanted very much."
"I don't think of you as a baby, Monica, but as a woman who has a little drawback, but certainly an equal as a woman."
"I appreciate your kind words, Rose, but I don't consider myself a whole woman. If I cannot have sex with a man and not only enjoy it, but also make the man feel loved, then I can't see how one can be a total woman and mate for any man."
"There are plenty of couples around who don't have sex with their marriage, Monica. Some because they can't, and others who stick together just for the marriage bit. You do not have to feel or think you are necessarily out of step with the whole world. You just have to accept the assets offered, and those that you have to offer, and you are very capable of loving a man. Didn't they tell you in your rehabilitation program that you could have sex?"
"Ah...ah, yes, they did."
"Well, then, Monica, don't knock it until you have tried it a few times," Rose giggled. "I suppose you are right, Rose. but how do I go about trying it without a man?"
"You don't have to be in love to have sex, Monica. As a matter of fact, probably more people have sex together who are not married than all the married people put together have in one week."
"Rose, I do not want to make love to anyone, or have them make love to me without being in love."
"I am sure as you go along in life that you will meet someone who shares your thoughts and wants to be a part of your life and will accept you for you and you alone, Monica."
"You really think so?"
"It will happen probably sooner than you think, what with all the young fellows you are going to meet in your programming career, and you being as pretty as you are, Monica."
"Just about all the fellows I have met so far are married or already spoken for."
"Don't worry, Monica, your Mister Right will come along and then you will have a happy life, if you get over the shock we gave you tonight."
"I hope so...I surely hope so."
"Do you want me to go and get us some pizza?"
"Sure, if you like, Rose. It would taste good about now."
"Okay, I will be back in about half an hour." Rose went to the living room and picked up her purse and opened the door to the apartment to leave. "Do you need anything else, Monica?"
"No, I can't think of anything, Rose, thank you."
"See you later then."
"Bye."
Monica came out of the bedroom into the living room, the wheels of her chair creating a path behind her. She felt better talking to Rose, but the hurt was there and would stay with her for some time to come.
"What could I do to those two to hurt them the way they hurt me?" she asked aloud. "Why did they have to show me sex? Did they know I was in the bedroom? Are they trying to get rid of me and not have to worry about me anymore? I know what I will do to hurt them and then they will know how it feels to make someone sick on the inside."
The telephone rang.
Monica guided her wheelchair over to the telephone stand and picked up the receiver. "Hello. Hello? Who the hell is this?"
A click on the end of the line told Monica nothing, but the call had broken her train of thought. "Damn people, calling other people and not answering."
She picked up the newspaper and began to read the first page.