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Ben Esra telefonda seni bosaltmami ister misin?
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On the Saturday before Christmas, Amy got a call from her friend Pamela. She was in the emergency room and needed a ride home. She’d been bumped by a distracted driver in the Safeway parking lot. She hadn’t been seriously hurt, but she’d sprained her ankle and pulled some muscles in her back.
Amy told me this on her way out the door. I’d met Pamela once or twice, but I’d never particularly thought of her and Amy as close friends. A couple of hours later, Amy called and asked me to help her ferry Pamela’s car from the parking lot back over to her apartment.
When we got to the apartment, Pamela was sitting on the couch in obvious discomfort. I barely even remembered what she looked like. She was in her early thirties, several years older than Amy and me. She had shoulder length brown hair that was now in complete disarray.
She couldn’t use her crutches because it hurt too much to bend her back. She didn’t think she could make it upstairs to her bedroom. Amy offered to fix up a bed on the couch, but I could tell that what Pamela really wanted was for Amy to stay there with her overnight. Instead, Amy suggested that it might be better for her to come over to our place. Our house was all on one floor, and there was plenty of room since our third housemate, Tom, had already gone back to spend the holidays with his family.
I could tell that Pamela didn’t want to leave her apartment. But, she realized that it would be less of a burden on Amy if she did. So she finally agreed, without making too much of a fuss. Amy packed a few of her things, and I helped her out to Amy’s car.
I still had a bit of Christmas shopping to do, so once we got Pamela up the front steps at our place I left them to settle in. When I got back later, Amy was in the living room.
“How’s it going?”
“She’s taking a nap in my room. I guess I’ll stay in Tom’s. She took another pill. I think they’re starting to kick in.”
“So what’s the deal? Does she really not have anybody closer than you to take care of her?”
“I guess I was just the first person she thought of.”
“How long will it be before she’s up and about?”
“They couldn’t say for sure. The ankle might take a couple of weeks. But she should be able to get around on her crutches as soon as her back stops hurting. Hopefully that will be before Wednesday.” Wednesday was Christmas Eve, the day Amy was supposed to fly back to visit her folks.
“Listen,” she said in an earnest tone, “I didn’t really check with you if it was OK for elazığ escort her to stay here. Do you mind?”
“No, of course not. She’s a friend of yours. It’s fine.”
—
The next day, Sunday, Amy knocked on my door. “Are you going to be around some today? I need to do a few things. Pamela will probably be fine, but if it’s all right I’ll go out while you’re here. Then there’ll be someone in the house at least if she does need something.”
Pamela didn’t come out of her room all morning. I knocked once just to be sure she was still alive. I told her she could watch TV in Tom’s room if she wanted. Maybe later, she said.
That evening, Amy fixed some soup and invited me to join them. Pamela had combed her hair, and she made a much better impression than she had the day before. She tried not to let her misfortune dampen the holiday spirit. She even made a few jokes at her own expense.
On Monday, Amy and I both had to go to work, so Pamela was on her own. I had my office Christmas party in the evening, so I didn’t see either of them all day. On Tuesday morning I touched base with Amy.
“Well, she’s feeling a lot better. I’ve been giving her back rubs, which seem to help. She’s still having a lot of trouble with the crutches, though. She can hop around the house, but I don’t think she feels ready to go back to her apartment. I’m off work today, so I’ll take her out and see if that helps her get a little more motivated. Otherwise, I’m not sure what we’ll do.”
“Doesn’t she have any plans for Christmas herself?”
Amy raised her eyebrows and gave a little shrug. “But listen, we’re going to have a little pre-Christmas dinner tonight. Her idea. Can you be here? She’d really appreciate it if you were.”
“I guess,” I said. “Do you want me to bring anything?”
“We’ll pick up everything while we’re out. Her treat.”
—
They fixed spaghetti with mushroom sauce and garlic bread, and we opened a bottle of chianti. They’d gone grocery shopping and to the mall. Pamela was doing a little better on her crutches, although she still didn’t have as much stamina as she would have wished. She was determined to go back to her apartment that night, though. She said it bravely, but I could tell she was afraid she still wasn’t quite ready. She just didn’t think she had any other choice.
I got to hear a little of her life story. She’d grown up in the Midwest, like I had. She’d gotten married just out of college, but the guy had turned out to be a real jerk. erzincan escort She’d gotten a divorce, lived in Seattle for a while, then moved here a couple of years ago.
She gave a little self-conscious speech about how kind we’d been and how grateful she was. I could see why Amy liked her. She was the kind of person who would come back in after everyone else left and quietly put things back in order. The kind of person who would much rather have things run amiably than run her way. She was not really all that bad looking. She would make some lucky guy a loyal and loving wife.
“Listen,” I said, finally. “You’re welcome to stay on here for a few more days if you want. I’ll be here, so it wouldn’t be any problem at all. In fact, it would probably be nice to have someone else in the house. I’m going to go up and see some friends in the city on Christmas, but I’m sure they’ll be glad if you want to come along too. So if you think you might need a couple more days to get back on your feet down along her spine, down over her butt.
“Thanks, Hector,” she said. “I think I can manage from here.”
“OK,” I said. “I guess I’ll go make those sandwiches then.”
—
I tried to picture what the rest of the day would be like. Maybe we’d watch a movie together in Tom’s room. Then we’d warm up something for dinner. We’d open a bottle of wine. We’d light a fire. It would be time for her back rub. I’d let my hands wander, down over her hips, down over her thighs. I’d lean in and kiss the back of her neck . . .
She came out from the bathroom wearing Amy’s robe. She smiled pleasantly as she hobbled down to her room. In a couple minutes she hobbled back, wearing slacks and a blouse. The rain had stopped. The sun was peeking out. The sandwiches were ready.
“I’m really feeling a lot better,” she said as we ate. “My back hardly hurts at all.” She bent this way and that. “I was able to get dressed”—she gave me a coy, little-girl grin—”all by myself.”
“Do you have any plans for this afternoon?”
“I was wondering, do you think we could go over to my apartment for a little bit? I’d like to make sure that everything is OK over there.”
“Sure. I don’t see why not.”
She hobbled back to her room and packed a few things..
—
Her apartment was still there, just as we’d left it. She was able to get around pretty well using a single crutch as a cane. She collected her mail and put it on the entry table. She picked up a bit in the living room. erzurum escort She clumped upstairs and down again. “Piece of cake.”
She wanted to try driving her car. It was her left ankle that had been sprained, and she was able to drive without much trouble. We went over to Safeway. She showed me where the accident had happened. We went in and she bought a few things. When we got back to the apartment she put them away in the kitchen and did a little more tidying up. Then she took her traveling bag upstairs.
I didn’t really know what to do with myself. I sat down on the couch and listened to her clumping around overhead.
Eventually she came back down and put something in the hall closet.
“I can get around better than I thought,” she said. “I was worried about the stairs, but it looks like I can manage pretty well.” She looked pleased with herself, more chipper than she had all week.
“So I’m thinking that I’ll just stay here tonight.”
I hadn’t been expecting that. “Are you sure? You’re more than welcome to spend another night in Amy’s room if you want.”
“Thanks, but it feels nice to be back home.”
“I could stay here with you tonight, I suppose.”
“I think I’ll be alright.”
I realized that what she was telling me was that she didn’t need my help anymore. That it was time for me to go.
“But what about your back rub?”
She didn’t answer. Instead she gave me that patient look that women give when you’ve said something you shouldn’t have but they’re willing to pretend they didn’t hear it.
Had my question really been inappropriate? Hadn’t I been giving her back rubs this whole week?
“Hector,” she said. Her tone was serious, but sincere.
“This has been the best Christmas I’ve had in a long time.
“Being with you and Amy, meeting your friends, it made me feel connected. Made me feel . . . like I was a part of things in a way that I guess I haven’t been in quite a while. Thank you for that.”
It was pretty clear, though, what she really meant. She was drawing the line on any further intimacy between us. She didn’t want to hurt my feelings, but I wasn’t the one she was looking for. Not even for a one-night stand.
“And thanks too for . . . looking after me, for taking care of me. I couldn’t have managed by myself.”
In other words, I shouldn’t read anything into the fact that she’d allowed me to give her the back rubs and the bubble bath. She’d only allowed it because her incapacitation had made it necessary. If it had given me a little thrill to see her naked, to touch her naked body—well, I could consider that my little thank-you gift. But that was it. She was better now. The normal rules of friends-of-friends propriety were back in effect.
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