Melted: A MonkeeLove story
By: Agent Newbeau
Mike had wanted to take Ellen somewhere a little fancier for her
birthday, but money was
low as usual. She had offered to pay, but he refused. She shouldn't have
to pay for her own
birthday dinner, he had told her. Then she had suggested that maybe they
should stay in and
order a pizza or something. Pizza wasn't romantic, he replied. It could
be, she had said with a
smile. Looking back, he realized he should have taken her up on the
offer.
The food was okay, the service was lousy, and the bathroom was a
mess. If that wasn't
enough, April was sitting two tables away with her boyfriend, looking
beautiful as always. Mike
hoped she didn't spot him. If she did, she would probably come over and
talk and later he would
have to explain things to Ellen and he really didn't want to do that
because that would almost
certainly guarantee that he would sleep alone that night and he didn't
want that to happen.
"Who's that woman over there?" Ellen asked.
"What woman?" Mike asked, trying not to look at April.
"That tall woman over there who keeps looking over here. She's
coming this way. Do
you know her?"
"She does look familiar," Mike said nervously. Ellen was just
starting to get over her
irrational jealousy of Ana and now April was about to give her something
else to worry about.
He was in trouble.
"Hi, Mike," April said, walking up to him. She was smiling. "I saw
you over here and I
thought I would come over and say hi."
"Hi, April," Mike said, looking up at her. He had forgotten how
tall she was. "Nice to see
you again. How's the laundry business?" He hoped he didn't sound nervous
or scared.
Meanwhile, Ellen sat nervously, wondering just who this woman was.
She and Mike had
put off the past relationships conversation, mainly because they both
knew it would be a short
conversation. Looking at April, she thought that maybe it was time to
rethink that decision.
"I've given it up for now," April was saying. "Freddy and I are
getting married next week
and will be going on a long honeymoon." She suddenly noticed Ellen. "Oh,
hi," she said, holding
out her hand. "I'm April Conquest."
Ellen shook her hand. "I'm Ellen," she said cooly. "Nice to meet
you. Have you known
Mike very long?"
"Oh, not that long," she said to Ellen. She turned back to Mike.
"How are Micky, Davy,
and Peter?"
"Uh, they're just fine," Mike said, very aware of the sudden
tension in the air. "I'll tell
them I saw you."
"Please tell them hello for me," April said. "It was nice seeing
you again, Mike and nice
to meet you, Ellen. I better get back, Freddy looks like he's ready to
leave."
"Who was that?" Ellen asked as soon as she was sure April and
Freddy had left the
restaurant.
"That was April," Mike said, hoping to avoid a fight. He really
didn't want to sleep alone
that night. "She introduced herself."
"I know that," Ellen said, barely holding back her emotions, "but
who is she? How do you
know her?" What she really meant was, Do you have a past with her? She
wasn't sure she wanted
to know.
He had dreaded this moment for a long time. He didn't have much of
a past, but that
didn't make things any easier. Any feelings he'd had for April had died
quickly when he fell in
love with Ellen. "She owns the Laundromat where we used to go and we
all, uh, we all really
liked her, but it was a long time ago and we got over it. This is the
first I've seen her in several
months."
She was about to say something when she spotted someone else headed
towards their
table.
"Hi, Ellen," she said.
"Oh, hi, Joannie. What brings you to a place like this?" She hadn't
seen Joannie in a long
time.
Mike looked up at their new visitor and tried to hide his shock.
This just wasn't his night.
First April and now Joannie. The way his luck was going, Miss Buntwell
would show up next.
Or maybe Jennifer. And he would almost definitely be sleeping alone.
"I was just in the neighborhood and decided to stop in. I used to
work here," Joannie said.
"So, what have you been up to lately? Are you still with Joey?" Then she
saw Mike. "I guess not.
Hi."
"Joannie, this is Mike," Ellen said. "Joey is just my agent."
"You look familiar," Joannie said to Mike. "Have we met before?"
Mike didn't know what to say. He had been hoping she wouldn't
remember him. He had
embarrassed himself greatly that time. "Uh, yeah, we did meet before,"
he said. "You were
filming some vampire movie."
"Oh, yes, I remember now," Joannie said. "Nice seeing you both
again. Tell Joey hello for
me, Ellen."
"You know her?" Mike asked after Joannie left.
"We started out together," Ellen said. "She made it and I didn't."
"You will," Mike said.
"What about when you met her? Sounds interesting." It was an
attempt to pry information
out of him about his past. Maybe it was time to have that talk that had
been putting off. Her past
wasn't much to talk about, just Joey, who she would like to forget, and
Robert, who she couldn't
forget no matter what. She had met him in New York and had fallen in
love with him despite her
better judgement. It hadn't worked out. Sometimes she wondered where he
was, but she was
convinced things had worked out for the best.
"It was a long time ago," Mike said, interrupting her thoughts. "I
only met her once and
nothing happened." "Do
you want desert?"
"Not here," Ellen said.
"How about that ice cream
place a few blocks away?"
"Great," Mike said. He motioned for the waiter. "Check please."
"Here you go, sir," the waiter said, handing him the check. At
least the prices reflected the
quality. "How was your meal?"
That was a question best left unanswered. Instead, Mike said, "Your
bathroom is messy."
"I'm sorry," the waiter said. "Our cleaning lady only comes in the
second Tuesday of
every month with an 'r' in it."
"Mrs. Weefers should have been in earlier this week," Mike said.
"Oh, then I'll report it," the waiter said.
"How did you know who the cleaning lady is?" Ellen asked as they
walked to the ice
cream shop.
"She used to be our cleaning lady, too," Mike said.
They arrived at the ice cream shop without running into anyone else
and were trying to
figure out what to order when Mike noticed the woman behind the counter.
There was no mistaking the red hair or
the sparkling yellow blouse.
It was Miss Buntwell. He was sleeping alone that night.
He was hoping she wouldn't recognize him, but her smile turned to a
look of pure terror
when she saw him. She was probably still upset with him about the dance
thing. She had good
reason to. After all, the studio had to close down and she lost her job.
"Maybe we should just go to your place and watch TV or something,"
Mike said, trying
to steer Ellen towards the door.
"I want some ice cream," Ellen protested. "Why do you want to
leave? Who's here that
you know?"
"I just want to be alone with you," Mike said, hoping that sounded
convincing.
"Mike, who is that woman over there and why does she looked scared
of you?" Ellen
asked upon spotting Miss Buntwell.
"She used to work at a dance studio," Mike said. "We went there a
few times."
"There must be more to it than that, but right now I want some ice
cream," Ellen said.
Miss Buntwell tried not to show her discomfort as Mike and Ellen
walked up to the
counter. She had been hoping he wouldn't remember her, but it was
obvious he did. It was also
obvious by the conversation she had overheard that his relationship with
the girl was fairly new.
"What can I get for you this evening?" she asked, pleased that she
didn't sound nervous.
"I'll have a double dip chocolate cone," Mike said. "What about
you, honey?"
"I'll have the same," Ellen said.
"That will be seventy-five cents, please."
Mike handed her a dollar. "So, what ever happened to Renaldo?" he
asked casually.
"He works here, too," Miss Buntwell said, giving Mike a quarter and
their ice cream.
"Nice seeing you again. Have a nice evening and come back soon." She
motioned Ellen closer.
"He's a great kisser, isn't he?"
Ellen blushed, but said, "Yes, he is."
They found a booth in the corner. "This has certainly been an
interesting evening," Ellen
said. "I guess there's a lot we don't know about each other."
"A little mystery is good for a relationship," Mike said.
She started to say something, but before she could, he pulled her
to him and kissed her.
Miss Buntwell watched from the counter. It wasn't the first time
she had seen public
displays of affection in the store, but this was different.
Outside, April stopped on the sidewalk and smiled at what she saw.
Both had once been on the receiving end of Mike's passion and both
had the same
thought. Ellen was one lucky woman.
The ice cream, however, wasn't as lucky and melted. So did Ellen.
And Mike didn't sleep
alone that night.
The End! (
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