Melissa -- Tuesday Morning -- Arriving at the mall

What a gorgeous day! I can't believe how lucky I am! I meet this guy at the grocery store, and in less than 24-hours, I am absolutely in Love with him! Thank you God!!!

Melissa got to the mall and started looking for her friend at the food court. Anna's gonna be SO JEALOUS! He was DEFINITELY "Worth it." Where's she at?

A couple of minutes later, she spotted Anna, only to find her looking very depressed, sitting at one of the tables.

There she is... Oh man, she looks terrible! I've NEVER seen her look that down before! ... I wonder if it has anything to do with our conversation last night...

Melissa walked up to the table that Anna's sitting at. "Anna?"

"Huh? Oh, hi Lis," Anna said, not really coming out of her mood.

"Damn, girl. What's wrong?" Melissa asked, concerned.

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that, you know you can always talk to me."

"I... I can't... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have come." Anna said, while tears were coming from her eyes.

Anna got up quickly and started walking hurriedly towards the mall entrance. Melissa quickly caught up and grabbed her by the shoulder to stop her. When she did, Anna just looked down, still crying.

Gently, Melissa said "It's alright, let's talk about it."

"I can't. I don't want to lose you," she said as she really lost it.

Melissa just pulled her in for a long, tight hug. After a minute of Anna's sobbing into her shoulder, Melissa softly said "It's Okay, Anna. Really."

"But you don't understand," Anna sobbed.

Melissa pulled back a bit so she could look Anna directly in the face. What she saw looked like a mixture of fear, shame, and need. Nodding to herself, she leaned forward again and gently kissed Anna on the lips. When she pulled back again, Anna's expression had changed to one of complete shock.

Melissa smiled and said "I kinda figured it out yesterday when we were on the phone."

"It doesn't bother you?" Anna said, still shocked.

"Why would it? You've always been my best friend... I guess we just got a little closer than either of us ever expected we would." Melissa gently said.

Anna just looked into Melissa's eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Suddenly, she threw herself back into Melissa's arms and hugged her as hard as she could, never wanting to let go.

"GOD! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!" she cried into Melissa's ears.

They held tight to each other for a minute or so -- until Melissa remembered where they were and that the lunch crowd was already there in force.

"Come on girl, I think we're making a bit of a scene, and there's some stuff we really need to talk about," Melissa said, gently.

Anna pulled back, blushing, and nodded, then they started walking further into the mall -- and away from the lunch crowd. A little ways in, Melissa started doing more of the leading.

"Where are we going?" Anna asked.

"First things first -- I need to find something more comfortable to wear," replied Melissa

"What do you m... LIS! Your Breasts!" Anna exclaimed -- before she could catch herself. They just looked at each other, then Melissa grabbed her wrist and they ran through the mall and ducked into a clothing store. Melissa was smiling as they stopped to catch their breaths.

"I know it's a shock, but you didn't have to be so loud about it."

"Sorry, it's just... Wow!" Anna said.

"You like, huh?"

"They look great!"

"Let me grab a couple of new bras and blouses, then we can go somewhere and talk for a little while. Okay?"

Anna just nodded, not knowing what else to say.

They both left the store a half-hour later, and decided that the best place to talk was Anna's apartment since it was only fifteen minutes away.

The moment they got inside the front door, Anna turned around and pinned Melissa to the door, kissing her hungrily.

Melissa let it continue for a minute before she finally pushed Anna back.

"Anna, we really do need to talk," Melissa said gently.

Anna got a concerned look on her face, backed off, and said "Okay."

Melissa went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of wine coolers and brought them back to the living room.

"Here."

"Thanks."

Anna was already sitting on the couch, so Melissa sat there as well, facing her friend.

When Melissa hesitated a bit while trying to think of what to say, Anna took it wrong and got depressed again.

"You don't feel the same way, do you," Anna said, feeling let down.

"Anna, listen to me."

Anna looked back up at her long-time friend.

"Look, we've been friends forever. That's not going to change... I do love you -- as a friend -- but I also love someone else," Melissa explained.

"You call what you and Jesus have LOVE?" Anna interrupted.

"NO, no, I'm done with him. Remember the guy I mentioned last night?"

"Your 'Hot Date'?"

"Yeah. Well, somehow we fell in love with each other."

"What -- overnight? Yeah, right!" Anna said sarcastically.

"Anna, stop it!"

Anna looked like she'd been slapped.

"Look, I know you're jealous... Don't be."

"But..."

"Anna!"

Anna looked down again.

Melissa sighed, gently took Anna's face in her hands, and forced Anna to look her straight in the eyes.

"Anna, I really do care about you -- just like I do him. There is room in my heart for both of you -- do you hear me? For BOTH of you," Melissa said. When she noticed tears starting to come down from Anna's eyes, she pulled her close for another long hug.

A few minutes later, after Anna had calmed back down, Melissa pulled back and seemingly changed the subject.

"Is there anything besides college keeping you here?" she asked.

"What? What do you mean?" Anna asked, completely puzzled by the change in the conversation.

"Is there anything -- besides college -- keeping you in El Paso?"

"Of course! YOU!"

"Okay, besides college and me."

"Well... no... not really... Why?"

"How would you feel about moving to North Carolina?"

"North Carolina? What are you talking about?"

(Sigh) "Xanthos is in the process of moving there... and I'm moving with him."

"WHAT?!?"

"If you go there too, we can still be close, and you can finish college there."

"But I can't afford that! With my night job, I can barely afford college. You know that!"

(Pained sigh) "We'll figure out something. ... What time is it?" Melissa said looking at her watch. "SHIT! 1:50! Let's go!" she exclaimed.

"What is it? Where are we going?" Anna asked, puzzled once again.

"We're supposed to meet Xanthos back at the mall at two! We're going to be late!"

"Why would I want to meet HIM? Let's just stay here! Please?" Anna begged.

"What's wrong with you? You've always been more mature than this!"

"But, Lis..."

"No, Anna, LISTEN to me. I -- LOVE -- YOU -- and I love HIM. I WANT to always be around YOU, but I AM going to be living with HIM. I would LOVE for the three of us to all be together, but this jealousy of yours isn't getting us anywhere."

"I... I... (sigh) I'm sorry. ... What do you want me to do?" Anna said, giving up.

"Xanthos is waiting for us at the mall. Both of us will go there and meet him. I want you to give him a chance and just try to get to know him. He really is a nice guy. Okay?" Melissa gently urged.

"Okay..."

"Good. Let's go then."

Melissa gave her one last hug, and they left in Melissa's car for the mall.

Xanthos -- 2:10 back at the mall food court

Hmm... I wonder where they are... Heh. They probably lost track of time... Might as well grab something to drink.

While I was at the counter buying a Dr. Pepper, I noticed them entering the mall from the outside.

There they are... coming from the outside? ... O...K... Hmm... Then I noticed Anna's puffy eyes and forlorn expression. What the... O...K... something is definitely wrong. Melissa probably told her about us moving to North Carolina... but I don't think that's all that's going on... Maybe Melissa made a pass at her? ... No... I don't think that would have happened yet... and I don't think that would be the reaction if she had... Hmm...

Melissa came up, dragging Anna behind her. "Hi, Xanthos. This is my best friend, Anna Li. Anna, this is Xanthos Pendragon -- the guy I was telling you about," she said, smiling.

"Hello Anna, it's nice to meet you." I politely said. Anna just nodded, not really even looking at me. I glanced over at Melissa and she was standing there frowning at Anna. Not good. "Are you Okay?" I asked, still looking at her.

"Not really," she responded.

"I'll tell you what, why don't you go freshen up a bit, and I'll get us something to drink." I suggested.

She looked up at Melissa.

"You do need it." Melissa urged.

"Okay," Anna replied, and headed off towards the restrooms.

As she was walking off, I asked Melissa what they wanted to drink. They both like Diet Coke, so I ordered a couple for them.

When Anna was out of site, I turned to Melissa. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

She sighed and said, "I'm sorry, this isn't like her. I expected her to be jealous of me -- not you."

"Jealous? You're saying that she's in love with you?" I asked.

"Yeah. When I got here this morning, she was really broken up. I kind of suspected she might be leaning toward women when I talked to her yesterday, but apparently she's been in love with me for a while and she's been afraid to tell me because she thought I wouldn't want to be her friend anymore."

"And how do you feel about her?"

"I love her too -- as a friend."

"And romantically?"

"I... I don't know. I never thought about her that way before."

"From the way she looked, I take it you told her about us moving to North Carolina."

"Yeah. She didn't take it well. She thinks you're trying to take me away from her. I thought she might move there too, but she can't afford it."

"What if she didn't have to worry about the money?"

Melissa's eyes went wide at the suggestion. "You're willing to pay her moving costs?"

"Yes. She can even live with us if she wants." Melissa was amazed at the suggestion, so I continued. "Look, I'm not going to be jealous of another woman. Another man, probably," I said grinning. "but if you love another woman -- and you want to have sex with her -- I don't have a problem with that, because that's just one more thing that we have in common."

She looked at me, curious about the last comment I made, so I smiled and explained: "We both love women." Melissa smiled, so I pulled her into another hug, then gave her a gentle kiss -- as Anna was coming back from the restroom.

When I noticed her, I saw that she had an angry look on her face. Wonderful. Jealousy in full bloom. (sigh) I was almost tempted to use Master to clean up this mess, but I had a feeling I'd regret it later...

Melissa noticed the look on my face and looked over to see Anna coming back. She apparently caught the expression on Anna's face, because she let out a sigh, then turned back to me and said "I'm gonna go see if I can calm her down again," but before she could get up, I put my hand on her arm and shook my head once when she looked back at me. Melissa sat back down, obviously dreading the argument that was obviously coming up.

Anna came back to the table, glaring at me, and forcefully said "I am NOT going to let you take Melissa away from me!"

Gently, I said "I'm not trying to take her away from you, now calm down." ... And she did -- instantly. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen before -- one second she was cold and determined; the next, she was nice and calm. My jaw about hit the ground, and I imagine Melissa's did the same.

Suddenly, it dawned on me what had just happened. My "Seed" macro... It must have already gotten to Anna, so when I told her to "Calm Down," she had to instantly obey. While this was definitely NOT what I had in mind when I wrote the macro, I was going to take some advantage from it -- I just had to be VERY careful with whatever I said. Unfortunately, the mall is not a good place to do what essentially boils down to "Mind Control" on someone -- it's far too public.

"Both of you -- come with me -- now" I ordered. I got up and started leading them to my car.

"Xanthos, what's going on?" Melissa asked.

"Something I wasn't expecting, but this isn't a good place to talk about it." I quietly replied.

Once we got to my car, I opened the door so they could both get in the back seat together. When they were in, I closed the door, got behind the wheel, and started driving North on I-10. When I glanced at my rear-view mirror, I saw Melissa with a concerned expression on her face, looking back and forth between Anna and me, but Anna's face was still calm.

At some point, Anna asked where we were going. Her expression was calm but curious, so I just told her that we were going someplace more private to talk. She just said "Okay." This was too weird.

One of the few nice things about El Paso is that it has a nice little mountain in it that divides the West Side from the Northeast. Fortunately, there's a road called "Transmountain" that cuts across the mountain and continues all the way to the far-east end of El Paso.

When I took the exit to get onto Transmountain road, Melissa calmed down a little bit, but not much. I wanted to tell her to calm down, but I couldn't take the chance that she might have already been affected by the macro too.

A few minutes later, we got to the top of Transmountain where there are a few "Picnic" areas. Since they were all empty, I pulled into one, stopped the car, and we all got out. Once we were all seated at the table there, it was time to see if I could straighten this mess out without causing too much damage.

Anna was sitting on one side of the table, while Melissa and I were sitting on the other.

I reached forward and gently took Anna's hands in mine and looked her in the eyes. "Anna, I want you to listen to me very carefully, Okay?"

"Okay" she said calmly.

"I know that you love Melissa -- I don't have a problem with that. I love her too. Melissa told me that you think I'm trying to take her away from you. I'm not. I am more than willing to share her with you if that is what she wants. If you're concerned about her moving to North Carolina with me -- don't be. If you want to remain close to her, you can either move in with us or I can help you find a place of your own -- and you don't need to worry about the cost of moving either -- I can cover it easily."

"I don't understand... Why would you do that?" Anna asked.

"Let me tell you a little about my life -- then maybe you'll understand. I've lived a life of loneliness, shyness, and pain. Out of my thirty-three years of life, I can count those who I considered to be good friends on one hand, and most of those are gone -- never to be seen again. I've always been painfully shy -- in fact, I was almost twenty-one when I finally lost my virginity -- and I'm not real proud of the way that happened either. Imagine the tension of being oversexed, but only having had one girlfriend within more than thirty years. Pile on top of all that the fact that from the time I was in preschool, all the way into the early 90's, I had headaches literally almost every single day. It's a wonder I didn't try to kill myself after some of the more severe ones. I've even seen lives ended in front of me, and felt the frustration when the person responsible only gets a slap on the wrist. But even with all the bad, I've had some good. I've always had a 'giving personality' -- even with as jaded as it's become, it's still there. And a couple of weeks ago, I gained the ability to do some good and make a difference. In the process, I went from unemployed, after working for the same company for nine years, to permanently retired. (sigh) I guess the answer to your question boils down to: I enjoy making people happy. If you're happy, and Melissa is happy, then that makes me happy." I finished, sadly.

Anna sat there, wide-eyed, stammering "I didn't know. I..."

"There's no way you could have known. ... Look, it's starting to get a little late... Why don't I drop you two off back at the mall so you can spend the night with each other... and you can decide weather or not you want to come with us. Besides, you don't look like you've gotten much sleep lately." Then I turned to Melissa. "Would you stay with her tonight -- help her decide what she wants to do?"

"Yes," she weakly said. Considering the expression on her face, and the tears in her eyes, I guess my little tale had an effect on her too. "Will you be Okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's just another bout of depression."

Melissa pulled me into a hug that lasted a while. A few seconds into it, Anna decided to join in too, forming a nice three-way hug.

When we finally separated, I thanked them both for the hug, and we drove back down to the mall. Before they got out, we all exchanged phone numbers and I told Melissa that I'd give her a call in the morning. I gave her one more hug and kiss, then left for the motor home.

When I finally got back to the motor home, I put some of the leftover pasta in the microwave and sat down at the computer to undo some of my overzealousness.

Melissa -- Back at her car with Anna

Man, I'm feeling drained. I don't think I've had a day that was this emotional in several years. He wasn't kidding about his life having improved. Only one girlfriend in his life? Headaches almost every day for more than a decade? It IS a wonder he didn't kill himself.

I guess we'd better get going.

"So... your place or mine?" I asked her.

"Huh? -- Oh, mine, I guess..." I wonder what she's thinking about...

"Lis?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know... From what he said, he's had a pretty miserable life..."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"I also get a feeling that he's really powerful..."

You have no idea!

"But it also seemed like he was really lonely, too."

"Yeah, I felt all that too... When I was at his place last night, he mentioned that he got some sort of 'ability to do some good' -- as he put it -- just a few weeks ago... and he does seem to be a 'giver' ... and the fact that he's willing to share... I don't know... I just love him very much, and I know that he feels the same way about me. I wish I could be with him all the time, but right now I'm just too emotionally fried."

"I know what you mean, but I hate seeing anyone who's as depressed as he was when he left."

"Yeah, me too... It really hurts knowing it's someone I love, too.

Anna turned and looked at me for a few seconds then asked "Lis?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna make it his place instead?"

I looked back at her for a second and nodded. "Okay, but we need to stop and grab some clothes for tomorrow..."

(Nod)