Midge and Monica had been rooming together for three weeks and Monica wasn't quite sure what type of position Midge had with the firm she said she worked for. She had told Monica that she was a secretary for a group of attorneys. When Monica suggested they have lunch together at a spot downtown, Midge was always too busy.
However, she did give Monica a ride into town everyday and was usually pretty chipper in the morning.
As they approached the building where Monica was employed, Monica turned to Midge. "Would you like to have lunch with me today? I will even buy, since you don't allow me to pay you for allowing me to ride with you everyday."
"No thanks," said Midge, pulling the car to the curb. "I have another busy day ahead of me as usual and will have one of the girls at the office bring me something when they go out."
"Well, another day, perhaps," replied Monica, opening the car door. "See you the same time tonight, Monica?"
"Yes, I don't believe I will have to work overtime."
Monica pulled herself from the car and into her chair. She backed away and waved to Midge. Midge beeped the horn and entered the stream of traffic.
Instead of going to the office where she had told Monica she worked, Midge drove the car back to the apartment.
Midge was back in the apartment within forty-five minutes, and had just come out of the bathroom whenever the phone rang. She walked over and picked up the receiver.
"Hello."
"Hi, MZ, are you ready for me?"
"Who is me?"
"Joe B." said the man.
"Why don't you come on over, Joe, and we can have a little fun?"
"I am right down the corner from your apartment and I will be there in about five minutes."
"Good, I'll see you then."
Midge went to the bedroom and searched out her closet until she found her nightgowns. She reached for the black bikini and held it up to the light.
"Joe's favorite," she said, throwing the semi-transparent garment onto the bed. Midge removed all her clothing and put on the silky nightgown.
When Joe came to the building and buzzed Midge to open the door to get in, she told him the door to the apartment would be unlocked and for him to enter when he came up and not to bother to knock.
Joe entered the room and looked around for Midge.
"Lock the door, Joe, and come into the bedroom," seduced Midge.
The middle-aged man closed the door and reached for the knob and turned it to lock. He moved stealthily across the carpet to the bedroom entrance until he was at the frame. Peering into the dimly lit room, he saw Midge standing near the bed.
The light behind her gave her a soft glow around her hair that teasingly showed the voluptuous out line of her body. "Come in, Joe," she whispered.
He gaped at her for few seconds, then quickly removed his clothing. The pants, tie and shirt were thrown to the floor. He was ready for Midge. She swayed towards him and their bodies joined as they fell on the bed. They started off by a little kissing, and then Joe played and worked as much as he wanted to for the hundred bucks he was about to shell out at the end of his escapade.
When the episode was over, Joe thanked Midge and gave her two fifty-dollar bills. "Thanks, Joe."
"Until next time, Midge. You sure are a wonderful woman." She closed the door behind him and the phone rang again. "Hello," she answered.
"MZ this is John P. Can we get together in about an hour?"
"Love to, John. See you then."
Twice more that day, Midge was the entertainer for a hundred dollars per show.
Later that afternoon when Midge picked up Monica downtown, she was as radiant as that same morning. "You have a hard day?" asked Monica, entering the car.
"Yes, it was a very busy day, lots of people in and out. One of these days, I am going to find another line of work. This one keeps me pretty much occupied."
"Are you happy doing what you are doing?"
"You bet," said Midge, smiling.
"Then why change, if you like your line now?"
"You probably are right, Monica, as long as the interest is there, why give a good thing up?"
Although Monica had no idea how much Midge enjoyed her work, she still had a funny feeling about her. Whenever Jack came to the apartment, Midge always liked to speak with Jack, and Monica noticed that Midge would stare at Jack, not knowing that Monica was watching.
She would joke around with Jack and flirt with him.
On July 8, Midge chatted with Monica on the way to work and found out that Monica was going to have to spend some additional time on a project that evening.
Thinking this was a good a time as ever to get better acquainted with Jack, Midge telephoned him and asked him to come to the apartment that afternoon as she wanted his opinion on a painting. He offered to come because Monica was working late that evening and he would be there when she got home.
Jack arrived at five-thirty and was surprised to find Midge dressed in a lounging robe. "Looks as though you are getting ready for bed, Midge," he said on his entrance. "My, aren't you a perceptive man."
She winked.
"Where is the painting?"
"Right over here," she answered, stepping forward three steps. "I don't see any paintings around."
"You aren't looking very hard," she whispered. "Where do you have them hidden?"
She turned around so as not to face him, undid the belt on her baby blue gown, then glanced over her shoulder at him. Turning, she allowed the robe to fall open, revealing her naked body.
He gasped. "What are you doing?"
"It's not what I'm doing, it's what you are going to do."
"You are a good looking woman, Midge, but I love Monica."
"How can you be loyal to her, whenever you have someone like me to be with? Come over here, Jack." He stood still as a post.
She slithered over to him and put her arms around his neck, pulling him to her. When she moved backwards, they fell on the floor, her blue robe falling off her, showing her milky breasts and red tuft of hair.
"You are a real red-head, aren't you?"
"Of course."
They didn't hear the key in the door turn but when it opened and Monica saw them on the floor, she screamed, "Jack!"
"Monica, wait a minute, there is nothing going on here!"
Monica slammed the door, turned her wheelchair around and tried to race out of the building.
"Look, Midge, I know you are a good thing, but I couldn't do this to Monica, after all she has been through."
"Oh, go ahead and chase her if you want, but you will not find her to be anything like me. And I can't understand why you want anything to do with a cripple, anyway."
"Yes, I suppose you would have that problem," agreed Jack, pushing himself up from the carpet. "Close the door when you go!" yelled Midge.
"Sure."
Jack was in the hallway and saw the elevator door close on Monica, breaking her from his sight. He ran over to the stairwell and pushed the door open and then raced down the steps.
When he arrived at the first floor, he waited for the elevator to stop, but it didn't. The dial showed the car was going to the garage level, and that was where he headed.
Monica pushed herself from the elevator and was crying.
"Monica, wait a minute, please?" begged Jack as he came rushing through the door. "No, I don't want to talk to you, Jack. Get out of here!"
"Not until you hear everything I have to say."
He moved in front of her to block her avenue of escape.
"What is there to say, except you like women who can walk," she sobbed.
"Monica, what you saw upstairs is nothing that I planned, your roommate had it all figured out for the evening. Since you were working late, she figured she could have me make love to her. You would even have to admit that turning her down would take a lot of guts, but I did it. She pulled me on to her and I fell, that's when you came in to the room. When she called me to look at some artwork she was interested in buying, I agreed only because I knew you would be here pretty soon. Do you think that if I were going to fool around with her, I would do it here?"
"Maybe you would like to get rid of me."
"If I wanted to throw you over, Monica, I could have done it anytime. I love you and want you to be my wife. Why do you think I hang around you?"
"Then why were you lying on the floor with Midge?"
"She pulled us down, Monica, and I certainly didn't have any intention of allowing her to seduce me, regardless of her intentions."
"Why were you holding her by the waist when I came into the room?"
"I couldn't help that, I didn't want to crush her, even if she wanted me to. Look, Monica, why can't you believe me? It's you I'm after, not Midge."
"Oh, I wish I could believe that," said Monica, shaking her head angrily from side to side. "Ah, what am I to think about you whenever I stumble onto such a sight?"
"You can be assured that I want to marry you and then spend the rest of our lives together. Certainly, after all the dating we have done, you can't feel as though I spent time with you out of pity, can you?"
She thought about his words for a few minutes. "He is right. Why would anyone waste as much time as he has if he didn't care more than a little about her?"
"You're right, Jack, I guess I am acting like a fool, thinking you would do something like that to get rid of me. Can you forgive me?"
"There is only love on my part for you, Monica. Will you marry me?"
"Oh, Jack. Yes!" she cried.
She reached out for him. He embraced her tenderly and they kissed. "Oh, Jack, you really do love me, don't you?"
"Of course. Monica, I love you very much."
"You won't change your mind about marrying me when you think of someone who will not be able to do all the things the normal woman could do, will you?"
"I don't know why you keep considering yourself to be abnormal, Monica, all you suffer from is a small setback. You forged ahead with your life after some trying periods and stood up like coral in a sea. Come on, Monica, let us go back to your apartment and tell your new buddy the good news. After she hears about us, there will not be too much for her to say, except maybe she will be leaving your place. Do you want me to push you?"
"No thanks, I will do my own moving."
She peered into Jack's eyes and her faced turned to a smile, while a lonely tear fell down her cheek. "Let me wipe that for you," he said, reaching for his handkerchief.
When they entered the apartment, Midge was sitting in the living room, in jeans and a sweater, watching television. "We have something to say, Midge," Jack said.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"We are going to be married."
Midge turned from the television and gasped in amazement.
"You seem startled by the news," commented Monica. "Didn't you ever think marriage was in my future in my condition?"
"No, no..." she hesitated, "that isn't it. Congratulations to both of you."
"Thanks. We knew you would be happy for us," smiled Jack.
"You'll have to excuse me," said Midge. She jumped from the chair and quickly walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
"You think she has to throw up?" asked Jack. Monica laughed. "Maybe."
"Do you feel like you need me around here anymore?" asked Jack. "Because if you don't, then I would like to be on my way and spread the word about us to a few friends."
"I'll be alright. See you tomorrow."
He pushed back Monica's hair from her forehead, and kissed her softly. "Come on, Jack, you can do better than that," Monica teased. He laughed. She grabbed him by the collar.
His lips met hers.
"Until tomorrow, then," he said as he walked toward the door. She threw him a kiss. He smiled and was gone.
Midge came out of the bathroom five minutes later. "Is Jack gone?"
"Yes," Monica replied briskly.
"I know how you feel about me, Monica, but you can't blame a girl for trying, can you?"
"You bet I can," came the reply with a stern face.
"Well, Monica, you know I could never understand what someone like Jack sees in you."
"That makes us even, because I had trouble comprehending his feeling sometimes myself."
"How do you know he wasn't the one responsible for what went on tonight?"
"He told me that you called him."
"He lied. It was he who called me."
"You are lying!" screamed Monica.
"That is what he would want you to believe."
"I do not want to talk about this anymore," said Monica, pushing herself into the kitchen.
She reached for a drawer in the cabinet and pulled out a brown handled knife. Monica thought about ending her life once more because she didn't know who to believe. Which of these two was telling her what really happened? She could make both of them feel pain if she cut her wrists and bled to death. Why shouldn't they suffer? She suffers. They could do all the things that they wanted, whenever they wanted. Monica placed the sharp instrument into her lap and then flushed out a glass before getting a drink of water. Turning her rig around, she guided herself to the bathroom. Once inside the blue room. she grasped the blade with her right hand.
"Now I can put a stop to it all, I can make people think about what I did."
She raised her head and saw her face in the mirror. Was her tired mind playing tricks on her? Her face, it was beautiful, not hateful. What did it matter, though. Everyone she loved sooner or later played her for a fool. There wasn't any feeling other than hurting those who had tried to hurt her. She looked at the knife she held in her hand. If she snuffed out her life, then no one would have to worry about her again, nor she about what others thought of her.
Monica laid her left hand on the side handle of the wheelchair, then turned her wrist up. She placed the blade over it, felt the icy steel barely touch her skin. She stopped. What could she gain? What could she hope for? Would things change just because she tried to kill herself, again? It would be easy now, no one was around to stop her.
She saw her reflection in the fluorescent light of the mirror and could now see a different person. A demented person. Was that really her holding a knife to her wrist?
Her eyes echoed back to her. "I can't do it," she cried, removing the blade from her wrist. "Why should I make them happy, whenever I can make them miserable by just being alive. The face in the mirror smiled back at her.
Monica had passed the test she created for herself. A test of endurance and strength and faith in her own being.
Midge didn't suspect that Monica had intended to kill herself that evening and would never know how close she came to viewing death from so close a vantage point.
As Monica came from the bathroom, Midge said, "I thought you were going to need pulled out of there."
"Almost, Midge, almost," laughed Monica.