Heat of the moment...

So, we decided to take her car back to my apartment, leaving my truck back at the bar. All the way home, we could barely keep our hands off each other. When we finally did arrive, the first thought that went through my mind is how Alan was going to have a heart attack when I marched Kara through that door. Remember, the last thing he heard about Kara was that we were now barred from going back to Chili's again, lest I run in to her & Ted there again, god forbid. I knew, even in the middle of all my unbridled passion, that this would be good for a laugh...

When we turned the car off, she sat there for a second not moving, with her hands still on the steering wheel. I though for a moment that she was going to have second thoughts about coming in, and my heart started to sink right away. Before I could say anything, though, she had hopped out & we were on our way up. I walked through the door first; Alan was laying on the sofa in the front room watching TV. I told him hello & he started to say "Hey, man", but in the middle of the second syllable, Kara walked through the door behind me, and it pretty much trailed off after the 'm'. She smiled that big smile at him & said "Hi, Alan!", and followed me straight back to my bedroom. I gave Alan a look that told him no, I didn't know what the hell was happening, either, but that I was gonna go find out, for god & country.

We walked into my bedroom, I shut the door behind us, and we were all over each other in seconds. Kara & I might not have been compatible in a lot of ways, but behind closed doors was not one of them; it was like we were made to do that to each other, if we were made to do nothing else together. We made love until the sun was nearly up, barely talking the whole time.

One thing did happen that I remember; I was lying on my back, she was on top of me, and right after she came, all of a sudden she burst out in tears. I didn't even realize what was happening at first; I had never seen her cry that I could remember. I asked her what was wrong, and she said that she felt guilty, because she knew that she should be at home with Ted right now, but being there with me just felt so good. I didn't know what to say, so I just kissed her.

We fell asleep, exhausted, in each other's arms, only for her to wake up not soon after in a panic, wondering what she was going to tell Ted when she got home. I remember I sat there, sleepy-eyed, on the edge of my bed, watching her get dressed in the shadows from the streetlight outside, and feeling a hundred different things at once. I was still drunk with her very presence, and only now was it really starting to hit me that she would be leaving here & going home to Ted. I also remember feeling a slight twinge of satisfaction in knowing that she had cheated on Ted with me, and I started to wonder again just where this triangle was going to lead. I wondered what Alan would say, and what the rest of my friends would think. And, aside from that, I remember just how amazing she looked getting dressed in that light.

After she was dressed, she grabbed her keys & started to almost run out the door. I had to all but grab her to stop her from escaping without saying anything at all. I asked her if I would see her again, and she told me that she didn't know how, but she knew that she wanted to. Then I asked her about Ted, and whether she was going to tell him what happened. She said that it was too soon to think about; that everything had all happened so fast...which I sure couldn't' argue with. Then I told her that I loved her, and kissed her goodbye. I watched her from my balcony as she peeled out & drove away.

I didn't sleep a wink that night. I couldn't have slept if you'd pumped me full of morphine with a demorol chaser. My mind was swimming in a different directions at once, and I couldn't even begin to make sense of things. For one thing, I'm pretty sure I realized fully that getting mixed up with Kara again was a bad idea in any case. I also realized that, no matter how mixed up the situation was or who was involved, that I was completely, totally, 100% powerless to stop myself.

I was off work the next day, by the grace of god, but I remembered I had left my truck at the bar across from work the night before. I knew Alan had work early that morning, so I figured I'd ask him to drop me off on his way into work; I figured I'd be fielding a hundred questions from him, anyway. I remember I went into the kitchen to make some coffee, and Alan came waltzing out of his bedroom, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I looked at him with a big smile & told him good morning, but he didn't bat an eye; he just gave me his customary "Hey, man", and wandered off into the bathroom. Fine, I thought; he just woke up. He'll remember what happened soon enough... I made myself some cereal and, when he came out of the bathroom, asked Alan if he could give me a ride over to pick up my car. He said it was no problem, and then went into his room to get dressed. I wondered if maybe he had been asleep when we came in last night & thought it was all a bad dream. Hell, maybe it was, I thought...

So, I got dressed & ready to go, and when he was ready, we locked up the house & got into his car...still not a word. I remember I lit up a cigarette & turned on the radio after a few minutes went by & he still hadn't said anything. I figured that, if he didn't remember it, maybe it was for the best; it would give me a chance to figure out what was actually going on without all my friends breathing down my neck & telling me what an idiot I am, right though they might have been. I finished my cigarette & tossed it out the window...still not a word. After a few minutes, we pulled up to the parking lot of the bar. Just as we pulled alongside my truck, Alan stopped the car, turned to me, and with a completely deadpan look on his face, simply said "So, I guess we can go back to Chili's now, huh?".

True story.