Pied-a-terre

It was all a mistake. I regret ever going.

Mel Street is playing in the background while I attempt to rid myself of a cough. It is the product of a rather long pull from a weed pen. I am trying to drown the tickle in my throat with a glass of water. It takes a moment, but thankfully, the pest is soon dead. Mel is now silenced. I begin to sift through Tik Toks. My phone’s screen takes on a rather chatoyant glow as I feel my frontal lobe begin to droop onto my eyeballs.

I am in town for a couple weeks on vacation. A friend has been kind enough to let me stay in his pied-à-terre while I am in town. It is a little apartment in the city. He works uptown. This is his occasional weekend get away. It has also been his safe haven for his multiple affairs and a temporary residency for a girlfriend or two. That is none of my business though. His wife and I have never liked each other anyway.

I originally came to town to see my publisher and work out some details on the release of my upcoming book. I called Shawn to meet for dinner. While we were eating, a couple nights ago, he told me I should stay for a bit and offered to let me stay here. I don’t have a current project at the moment; I thought, What the hell, why not? I spent four pain staking years working on my last project. I am in need of a break. Now, here I am, high as giraffe genitals, laughing at Tik Toks in my buddy’s play palace.

The front door opens and I hear Shawn say,

“Hey man, what are you up to?” He walks across the living room and drops into the arm chair.

“Oh, not much.” I say as I close my phone. “I was thinking about just staying stoned and hanging out here today.”

“Really? I figured you might have another date. You didn’t waste anytime finding one.”

“Huh?” I say, lazily. “What date?”

“The one last night. I stopped by, and I heard you two in the bedroom. I say you two, it was mainly you.” Shawn laughs.

“Oh, oh shit, yeah. Man, I’m so high I can’t see straight. I forgot about her.”

“Are you going to see her again?” He asks. “How does she look?”

“I doubt I will see her, unless it is in the hall. I met her downstairs. I think it was just a one time thing though. She’s not too bad, I guess.” Then I ask, “What are you doing off work?”

“I’m meeting Cindy for lunch.”

“Which girlfriend is that?”

“The waitress.” Shawn replies. “The one from the pizza place.”

“Do you need your place? I can go find something to do for a while.”

“No, it’s fine.” He says. “I wouldn’t have time anyway. I have to get back to work after lunch. I’ll probably just get her to blow me in the car.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Oh yeah,” Shawn smiles as he stands up and heads for the door. “I’ll see you later. It’s good to have you in town. We need to do something soon.” He stops in the doorway.

“I agree. We can decide when I see you next.”

“Sounds good. Have a good one, man.” Shawn closes the door behind him.

It is his place, so I reckon I cannot be too upset by him just dropping in last night. I cannot believe I didn’t hear him. That was a little pervy of him, eaves dropping on my “date”. I wonder if he will drop in tonight. Now that I am thinking about it, I may call her after all. I was not planning on it, because it did seem like a one time deal. I did enjoy myself though. I think she did too. Maybe I will need a little company at the museum this afternoon. Then we can come back here, get high, have a frozen pizza, and a little fun.

The past few days have gone really well. I have been doing some fun sight seeing. Then at night, I get to play house. What I thought was just a one night stand has actually turned out to be quite exciting. It is nothing serious. We have not even been out to eat. We stay in and cook. The best part of the whole deal, at the end of the night, she leaves and goes home.

Shawn has been tied up with his family and girlfriends. We are going to the bar tonight though. It is a little place Shawn goes to shoot pool. I am so excited. It is going to be just like the old days, in college, shooting pool in some hole in the wall and drinking cheap draft beer.

The name of the bar is The Sputnik. It is a moldy brick cube with green neon that only half works. The little building is packed. There is lots of drinking, smoking, a poker game in the back, a few pool tables, and a greasy fat biker and his old lady groping each other against a broken jukebox.

The two of us get our cheap beer and take up space at an empty pool table. We are both horrible; we always were. You improve with the drink though.

“How has the vacation been?” Shawn asks. “Are you still enjoying the apartment?”

“It is going great. I have been having a blast. I am so glad that you offered. Three ball in the corner.”

I miss my shot. “The apartment is fantastic. You really have a great little place.”

“Have you had anymore dates? Nine in this corner.” Shawn sinks the nine and begins looking over the table. “Any sleep overs?”

“I have had a few. No sleep overs though. I have been lucky. She likes to go home after.”

“Twelve in the side.” Shawn misses his shot. “Yeah, that is the great thing about Cindy. She gets the deal. A lot of the others, they don’t seem to understand I have a wife and kids. They always want to stay the night.”

“How are Mary and the kids? Four ball off the two in the corner.” I sink the four and start eyeing the two.

“They’re doing great. Mary’s mother moved in with us. I can’t stand the bitch, but she really helps out a lot with the kids.”

“Is Mary still snooping around trying to catch you? Two in the corner.” I miss.

“No, she finally lightened up. Thirteen, corner.” Shawn puts it in the corner. “That or she just gave up. Fifteen, side.” Miss.

“Do you ever feel bad for sleeping around?”

“Nah, it’s just what men do, you know?” Shawn chalks his cue. “I think she may have finally realized that. She has a good life. She doesn’t have to work. She knows I’ll have my fun, but I am going to come home.”

“I just don’t know if I could do that. Five.” I miss. “Does she know about the apartment?”

“Not a chance. Eleven, corner.” Shawn misses. “That bill is paid with an account she doesn’t even know exists.”

We played on into the night. Smacking the balls around the table and drinking pitchers of beer. A fist fight did break out over a game of poker. The bartender got sloppy drunk. Then, somewhere in the night, the biker and his old lady made their way to the bathroom to a dilapidated handicap stall where they made sweet stinky love.

I had a great trip. It was fairly relaxing and so much fun. It is always nice to catch up with Shawn. We have been best friends for a long, long time. The one regret I have, I had a great time with his wife too. He does not know it, but Mary did find his apartment. I met her at the door that first night. At first, she came in wanting to confront Shawn. After she found he was not there, she sat down on the couch and started to ramble. I do not know if it started out with her just needing a shoulder to cry on and went from there. Or, maybe, she was looking for some kind of revenge. I do know though, that we discovered we like each other a lot more than previously thought. I feel horrible. I should have never stayed, but, damn, did we have a good time.