Enticing An Angel (14 page)

"So, Melanie, tell me about yourself," Susan
said.

"Well, there's not much to tell. You already
know I'm a paralegal. I live nearby. And, I like to paint," Melanie
said with a non-committal shrug.

"I didn't know you were a paralegal until
recently. That seems to be a little above your abilities," Susan
stated plainly. Melanie replied with another shrug and assured her
lunch companion that she could handle the work. Susan was just
happy the woman didn't understand the insult. Actually, as she
thought about it, part of her hoped the woman had; as it stood,
Susan would have to be more direct.

"So, any family?" Susan asked.

"Not locally. My relatives live in Spokane.
My parents are still alive, and I have an older brother, but we
don't see each other. We're not really close. I'm kinda an outcast.
I love Seattle, and they prefer Eastern Washington."

"Hmm, well as you can see we are very family
oriented," Susan replied.

"Oh yes, and it's wonderful. I had a great
time last Saturday. The boys are great, and the children were a lot
of fun to play with."

Mrs. Angel was unimpressed. Typically, she
liked to hear how nice her boys were. However, she had had more
than one daughter-in-law and had seen this trick of complimenting
her parenting skills by complimenting her boys. She pursed her lips
and looked skeptically at Melanie.

Their food arrived, sandwiches for both of
them, and they slowly began to eat.

"So, do you want children?" Susan asked. She
had asked at the party, but this was important enough that it
needed to be readdressed.

Melanie had a mouthful of sandwich but nodded
her head up and down vigorously. When her mouth was clear enough,
but not completely clear, she replied.

"Yep, I'm not sure how many though. I haven't
thought too much about it," Melanie said as she continued to speak
and eat.

Susan rolled her eyes noticeably.

Oh, Michael, this woman must be really
good in bed
, she thought, and then shuddered at the idea.

She didn't like to think of her babies that
way, but they were grown men, at least at times, and sex was a
component of their lives that she had to address. If she didn't
address it, then who knows what could happen to them.

Conversation was stilted for the next several
minutes with Susan asking questions and Melanie answering them in
between bites of her sandwich. Melanie attempted to be social and
ask about Susan's life, but Susan had to correct the young
woman.

"It's Mrs. Angel," she said when Melanie was
presumptuous enough to be informal.

Susan brushed a crumb off her pant leg and
looked over to Melanie who was too stupid to understand the
situation. If she were more intelligent, she wouldn’t be sporting a
smile. Susan took a deep breath. She was done with this game. It
had gone on long enough.

"Melanie, how much longer do you plan to date
my son?" she asked contemptuously.

Melanie lost her smile and considered her
answer; Susan was surprised that Melanie was contemplating the
reply, but not surprised that the answer was one without merit.

"I hadn't thought about it to be honest. For
now, we're just dating."

"I want you to break up with him," Susan said
directly; to her mindset, playtime was over.

"I can't do that, Mrs. Angel," Melanie
replied. However, she did seem to put a great deal of thought into
that answer and hung her head when she said it.

"Oh, do you think you're good enough for him?
Honestly, do you see that kind of man marrying you? He's
successful, has a great career, and is settled. He should be dating
someone like Jennifer," Susan stated and then when she realized
what she had just said, she corrected herself. "Well, maybe not
Jennifer, but a professional like her."

Melanie nodded her head and chuckled
awkwardly. Susan could see that Melanie understood the comment, and
when the young woman agreed about Jennifer, Susan knew her
companion was aware of that woman's lifestyle. They sat in silence
for a moment. Susan turned a glare to Melanie, but Melanie just
stared at a far wall. Her smile was gone, and she actually looked
pensive.

Remembering how flaky this woman was, Susan
worked to regain her attention.

"You should break up with him sooner rather
than later," she said.

"I can't do that," Melanie replied absently,
and then turned back to the table. She paused for a moment, took a
deep breath, and sighed.

"I've learned a long time ago that men have
an odd reaction to me," Melanie said forlornly, and Susan became
instantly interested by the comment. She wasn’t happy, but she was
intrigued and waited for Melanie to continue.

"They find me weird and amusing and fun to be
around, but only for short periods of time. My personality is
something they can't take for days on end. My only long-term
relationships were with boys that would see me once a week. Other
than that, I appear to be a novelty," she said as she watched Mrs.
Angel.

Susan had raised her eyes as she listened;
she hadn't believed Melanie was capable of this level of
introspection, and kept her mouth shut in order to listen to
whatever small amount of wisdom the girl had learned about
herself.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Angel. Michael will bore
of me. They all do," she said as she hung her head and began to
absently play with her pickle.

Susan almost felt sorry for the girl. She saw
a woman before her with no sense of family, not an unforgivable
sin, but it didn't help with an estimation of her qualities. She
also saw a woman who wanted for affection, but the fact that she
got it by enticing men to short-term relationships also counted
against her. When Susan thought about it, Melanie's sad state was
not her concern; Michael's future was.

Melanie didn't hear a reply from her lunch
companion, and without looking up she continued to talk.

"If I break it off with Michael before he
gets bored or is ready to move on, then he will become more
infatuated; at least for a time. It's an odd thing with men.
However, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure Michael will find a
nice woman. He'll end up with a professional similar to
Jennifer."

Susan knew exactly what Melanie meant about
men becoming infatuated. She had seen it more than once and could
readily understand the wisdom of Melanie's words; she didn't know
how Melanie had acquired the wisdom, but she assumed this wasn’t
the first conversation the girl had had with an upset mother.
Sitting back in her own chair, she thought about the dilemma.

"Then let's find a way to speed this up,"
Susan said.

"I won't break his heart," Melanie
replied.

"That may be what it takes."

"You will not make me the bad guy in this,
Mrs. Angel." Melanie said clearly and with the first real sign of
anger.

Susan was stunned and couldn't believe the
gall of the woman. She glared at Melanie, and Melanie had the nerve
to return the look; she even sat back in her chair and crossed her
arms. They stared at each other.

"I don't want you dating my son."

"I get that."

They continued to stare, and Susan eventually
shook her head in disgust and picked up the check to pay the bill.
She took her eyes off Melanie, and when she lifted them again, the
girl was subdued like she was supposed to be with her head hung
down; Susan glared at her again.

"Michael will not like me much longer, Mrs.
Angel. Once he gets to know me better, he’ll leave me," Melanie
said, "They all do."

"Well then, let him know you better," Susan
said, as she stood to leave. "I expect this conversation to stay
between us."

"Of course," Melanie replied. "I learned long
ago not to get between a man and his mother."

Mrs. Angel kept her face cold and nodded at
the comment. She saw it as confirmation that Melanie had been
talked to by other distraught mothers. That was certainly a sign
that Susan was correct. If women in the past agreed with her
assessment of Melanie, then she was taking the correct course of
action.

Susan paid the bill and began to head out of
the deli. Melanie didn’t join her; Susan didn't care. Before
leaving, she paused at the door and turned back to the girl.
Melanie appeared distressed, but that was not her concern. Part of
her did feel for the child, and as she watched the girl who was
just beginning to gather her items, she felt a pang of guilt. Susan
was not an evil person, and sighed as she witnessed the pain she
was causing another person, but the subtle hints hadn’t worked and
more drastic measures had been required. She shook her head and
once again told herself that what she had just done was for the
best. Turning around, she abandoned Melanie to the deli.

It wasn't until Friday that Michael was able
to visit with Melanie, and when he did, he was glad for the time.
Work had been harrowing, and the meeting with his clients had been
pushed back. Melanie greeted him warmly and gave him a massage on
the couch as he told her about his workload. He was still unable to
get his sketch just right, but the main plans were coming along,
even if he did have to change to a different manufacturer's product
line at the request of the client. It was all very frustrating, and
he poured it out to Melanie.

"Will you be able to finish on time?" she
asked him.

"We should be able to. The meeting got pushed
back another week or two. At the moment, it will happen when it
happens; until then I have a lot of work to do. Fickle clients can
be a real pain," he said.

Melanie quietly agreed and remarked absently
about some commission work she had done that incurred similar
problems. She was standoffish, and Michael had to turn to her with
a curious eye.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Fine," she replied and continued to massage
his shoulders.

Something didn't feel right, but Michael
couldn't place it.

"How's work?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing big going on there," she said.
"So this client is a pain, huh?"

Michael missed the cue that something was in
fact wrong and nodded his head. He continued his narration.

Behind him, on the couch, she listened and
rubbed his shoulders. Her hands had little strength to knead his
muscles, but she continued to try. As she listened to him talk, a
small smile appeared on her face.

This was the first time that Michael had been
in her presence and really unloaded to her. Up to this point, their
conversations had been about art, or movies, or what food to eat
and where. This felt different. He was troubled with work, and she
could do nothing about it, but he still chose to share it with her;
the act represented a comfort level that she wasn’t accustomed to
in their relationship.

I'm going to miss this
, she thought,
as her smile turned to a frown. It did not escape her attention
that she really didn't have enough experience with this level of
intimacy in order to miss it. However, she was enjoying it now and
knew she wouldn’t witness much more of it in the future.

Tired hands and fingers were causation for a
bolder move, and Melanie began to dig into his shoulder with her
elbows. Michael arched as she did and laughed aloud while accusing
her of cruelty. However, he didn't pull away; he just leaned into
her elbow and helped apply pressure.

It wasn’t long before Michael received the
dreaded double tap. Being inexperienced in these matters, he took
it in stride as Melanie patted him twice on the shoulder, stood
upon the couch in her bare feet, and stepped to the floor. Michael
watched her walk to the kitchen and begin to root around for
something. She didn't dance. She didn't smile. She was all business
as she performed her search.

"Melanie, are you sure you're all right?" he
asked carefully.

"Yep, I'm fine," she replied simply without
stopping her exploration of the cabinets.

Michael watched her continue her perusal. She
certainly wasn’t as energetic as usual, and Michael began to wonder
why.

Maybe she's just tired
, he
thought.

He went to her and gently hugged her from
behind. She let him, but she didn't reciprocate. She didn't lean
into him, and she didn't look up to him with a smile. He found that
he missed that smile.

"Hey," he said as he turned her around.
"What's wrong?"

Melanie suddenly put a smile on her face and
chuckled.

"Nothing, Mr. Angel," she said with a laugh.
"Don't worry about it."

Michael gave her an odd look, and she kept
that smile in place. When he didn't respond, she stood on her
tiptoes and he leaned down to her. She gave him a quick peck on the
cheek, and then pulled him with her to the ladder of her loft.

"Come on," she said. "We haven't seen each
other in three days."

Michael smiled and shook his head but obeyed
as usual. He quickly followed her up the ladder and joined her on
the bed. She received him warmly and helped him strip. He kissed
her tenderly and Melanie allowed it. She was unusually passive for
him, and he used the opportunity to pleasure her; a task made more
difficult with her emotionally withdrawn state.

Their lovemaking was plain. They both enjoyed
it to some degree. However, Michael was the most active, and while
they both received pleasure, it felt like watching a movie that was
poorly rated. It was ok, but nothing spectacular. As he held her
for the evening, Michael stroked her hair. He was worried, but she
still would not admit to anything being wrong. He debated forcing
the issue, but decided to refrain.

Maybe it was just a bad day at work
,
he hoped.