They went to a sports bar and chatted amicably with some of the men folk. Next, they took her to get blonde highlights in her hair. Lastly, they stopped for ice cream and thoroughly embarrassed her by making everyone in the shop sing happy birthday. It was a blast.
Not long after they dropped her off at home, Megan was in her room trying on the new bikini. It was teal with black trim and it was supposed to make her look very nice. Megan didn’t think of herself as that special as all. Instead, she saw herself as fat and plain; quite unflattering. Nonetheless, she acknowledged that there were guys that thought differently. She pictured herself on a beach in front of a group of shirtless, gorgeous men. Standing in front of the mirror, she began to walk in place, shaking her ample ass and smiling to her invisible suitors.
All of the sudden, she stopped. A jolt of disgust overtook her. What about Ted? She was being quite unfair to him. While she had never cheated on him, there were times (such as this one), where he didn’t seem to matter. She had of course been hit upon by other guys and had sometimes returned the favor. At a frat party or two, she found strange hands upon her shoulders or waist. While she never let things get any further then that, she nonetheless thought nothing of it. Even when Sabrina and Des took her out to the sports bar, she found herself overcome with desire for men other than Ted. She had to see him again and soon.
At that moment, the phone rang. By virtue of an eerie coincidence, the caller was none other than Theodore Dzabra.
“Hey,” he said, and Megan found herself taking comfort in his voice.
“Hey. I was just thinking about you.”
“Oh yeah? Not in a bad way I hope.”
“The worst,” she joked. “So what’s up?”
“Nothing. Look, sorry I missed your birthday. I had finals.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Get anything good?”
“Gift certificate from the parents and Sabrina got me this new bikini. I’m wearing it now.”
He coughed. “I want to see you.”
“I want to see you too. But my parent’s are taking me out tonight.”
“I meant like now.”
“Hmm,” Megan pondered. It wasn’t like Ted to be this impatient. Then again, she placed herself in his shoes. If he had been faithful (and there was no reason to believe he hadn’t been), then he hadn’t had any other close encounters with the opposite gender since they got together over spring break. That seemed like an awfully long time to wait, for a guy. Besides, she reasoned with a wicked grin, maybe he’d want to give me a birthday present. “OK.”
They met at a soccer field where Ted had wreaked havoc during his Youth League days. He went on to become a Varsity midfielder and continued to play (albeit sparingly) in college. He was also bright (3.7 GPA) and good-looking (tall, strong, dark hair), but it was his demeanor that made Megan feel truly lucky to be with him. Despite his talents, Ted was modest and unselfish. He often let Megan, who often shunned or was denied the spotlight, be the center of attention and she loved him for it.
“I got you something,” he said, kissing her as their arms engulfed each others’ bodies.
“Oh yeah?” she asked coyly, returning his kiss with hers. “What’s that?”
He grinned and presented her with a bracelet.
“Aww….it’s so nice.”
Just as Ted had been an afterthought mere hours ago, he was now the only thought. She chided herself for thinking her interests lay elsewhere. Here was this great, attractive, wonderfully caring guy. Why would she want anyone else?
“Listen,” he said, breaking off their embrace. “We’ve got to talk.”
Megan didn’t like the sound of those words. “About what?”
“About this,” he replied, gesturing the two of them with his hands. “Remember back in March when I said I didn’t know if this was gonna work?”
“But it is working!” Megan protested, feeling hesitation grow in her voice. “We’re here right now.”
“Meg, I cheated on you,” he confessed. “It was with some random girl and it meant nothing and I felt like shit afterwards, but….”
“Then why did you do it?” she hissed.
“Because I couldn’t help it, OK,” he answered. “We hadn’t seen each other for months and even then it was only for a day or two at a time.”
“You bastard,” she said. “I never cheated on you.”
“Oh come on. Like you never had your eyes on other guys.”
“I did,” she admitted. “But I never cheated!”
“And I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Then why did you have to tell me that?!” she pouted, her eyes tearing, her hands rolled up into fists.
“Because it’s not right for me to lie to you about it.”
