by Michelle M Pillow & Mandy M Roth

            Mandy watched as Elizabeth turned her cold blue eyes on Armando.  A chill ran down her spine and Armando tried to pull her closer to him.  She pushed at him to keep him at arms length.  

            Elizabeth’s laugh made her blood run cold.  “Trouble in paradise, my love?”  

            “Tell her the truth,” Armando said, pushing Mandy towards the crazy vampire.  Mandy yanked on his arm to get him to stop, but he ignored her.  “TELL HER!”  

            Elizabeth licked her thin lips as she walked towards Mandy.  Armando tightened his hold on her arm.  Elizabeth noticed his grip and let a wicked smile cover her face.   

“Shall I tell her how you enjoyed fucking me so much so that you wept when you found me with another?” asked Elizabeth. 

Armando stiffened and tried to pull Mandy back to him.  She held her ground, not wanting to be near either of the crazy corpses that surrounded her.   

“Or,” Elizabeth persisted.  “Should I tell her of the time that I gave you the Dorson triplets as a gift?  Oh, Armando, the things you did with them….”  

            Mandy fought the wave of nausea that threatened to overtake her and put her hand on the table next to her to steady herself.  Armando put his hand on her shoulder and she cringed at the feel of his cool touch.   

“Mandy,” Armando said her name softly, and Elizabeth let out a screech.  

            “Oh, that’s it…coddle the poor, defenseless human girl.  She’ll never be the lover I was to you, Armando.  She’ll always just be….”  

            “Alive?”  Michelle said, appearing next to Mandy.  She reached down and took Mandy’s hand in hers and gave her a little nudge.  “Thought you could use some moral support from someone with a heartbeat.”   

Mandy chuckled weakly and nodded her head.  

            “Maybe you’ll find it funny to know that your dear Armando lost his virginity to me.  It was me that he spent the greater part of thirty years buried in.  It was me that….”  

            Mandy rolled her eyes and cut Elizabeth off.  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it already.  You were the queen seductress.  All hail Elizabeth, taker of Italian virgins.  Whoohoo,” she mocked, twirling her finger in the air.  Armando grunted and she turned her head to him.  “Don’t think for one minute that I’m done being pissed at you.  As far as I’m concerned you can take that three decade boner of yours and stick it….”  

            “Mandy,” Michelle began, pulling to get her attention.  

            Mandy ignored her as she glared at Elizabeth.  She wanted nothing more than to toss holy water in her perfect little face.  “I’ve had enough drama in my life lately.  I’m done with all of it.  If I never lay eyes on another vampire, it’ll be too soon.”  

“Do you want me to give you a lift home?” asked Michelle when she reached Mandy.  Mandy was closing her cell phone. 

            “No, don’t worry about it,” Mandy closed her eyes tight and Michelle knew it was to keep from crying. 

“They aren’t married, Mandy,” stated Michelle.  “Never were.  She’s a liar.”  

Michelle waited for a sign that Mandy was relieved.  It never came.  Her cell phone rang, but Mandy refused to answer, she said instead, “I just called James.  He’s on his way down to take me home.”  

Michelle bit her lip, but didn’t comment.  Mandy looked over at her and stopped dead in her tracks.   

“Say it,” Mandy demanded, her face going hard at the look Michelle gave her. 

            “Okay,” Michelle answered, matching the hard look with one of her own.  “You’re using James as a crutch.”

            “I’m afraid to ask what that means,” Mandy said, glancing back to the front of the club.  Michelle looked too and noticed Armando, Dmitri, and Mike corralling Elizabeth in the corner.  “I hope she falls on a broken chair and impales herself.”  

            “Armando could die too.  She sired him,” Michelle said, quickly. “That’s why they don’t—” 

            “Again, I hope she falls on—”  

            “Mandy!  Come on!”  Michelle growled in irritation.  “You’re putting up your famous ‘don’t care’ walls again, and I didn’t spend the last two years breaking through them to watch the queen vamp build them back up.  As for James, I know what you’re doing.  You were doing it before this fiasco ever happened.  You’re using him to test Armando.” 

            “I’ll admit that it may seem that way, but James isn’t a crutch, he’s a friend.  That’s all.”  

            “Yeah, if that’s what you need to tell yourself,” Michelle said, giving her a ‘whatever’ look.  “I know what you’re doing.  You want James to come between you and Armando.  No matter how he reacts, you’ll end up sleeping with James to push Armando away.  You want Armando to fail you.  You want him to leave you.  Even if he forgave you for sleeping with James, you’d never respect him for it.  You’ve been looking for him to mess up…misreading every little detail with your warped reasoning.  Well, I for one am not going to stand around and continue to watch you be a stupid ass.” 

Mandy’s mouth dropped open.  Michelle rushed on before she could scream at her. 

“Listen, you’re about to screw up the most important thing in your life and if you want to throw it all away for bleach-blonde dead boy then fine, go ahead, but don’t expect me to stand by and support your decision.”  

“That’s not—” began Mandy, lifting a finger and ready for a fight. 

“No!” ordered Michelle, shutting her up.  “I want you to sit in this office and think about what you’re doing.  You may not like me right now, but I’m the bestest friend you have and by God if I have to—” 

            “Bestest?” inquired Mandy with an arched brow. 

            “You know—er, just stay in this office and think, damn you!”  Michelle pointed at the couch and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.  

            Michelle took a deep, angry breath.  AH!  Mandy made her so mad sometimes.  Instantly, she was sorry for her harsh words and the pain that had flickered over Mandy’s face.  But, Michelle knew she couldn’t take them back.  Mandy needed to hear the truth.  It was long overdue. 

            Stalking to the bar, she saw Mike and smiled weakly.  “Hey, can I get a coffee?”  

            Mike smiled at her.  “Anything for you baby.” 

Michelle grimaced as Mike laughed.  She glanced over the bar and saw Dmitri and Armando were still dealing with psycho vamp, though Elizabeth looked to be subdued.  They all sat at a table talking.  

            “Good thing Mandy can’t see that,” grumbled Michelle.  “Then she’d really call off the wedding.” 

            “Mandy your fiancée?” 

            Michelle had reached the bar and blinked in surprise to hear the strange question. 

            “She mad ‘cause you have a thing for men, too?” 

            Michelle gasped, realizing the questions were indeed directed at her.  She looked at the tall woman next to her sipping on a drink.  The woman was at least 5’7” if not taller.  She looked like the child of an Amazon warrior and a librarian.  She wore a black suede cowboy hat with a silver band, suede half-boots, a black silk shirt, leather pants, and a loosely knotted, blood red tie.  Inch-long nails that were unpainted and natural, twisted around her drink.  She looked like an exotic dancer.  

“Ah…?” Michelle began weakly, at a loss. 

            “Hi, I’m Lena Austin.”   

            Michelle took the woman’s hand for lack of anything better to do.  She was truly at a loss.  With all that had happened, she really couldn’t process the fact that this Lena woman thought Mandy was her lover.  It was just too much. 

            “This here is BDSM Mistress, well, I’ll just call her the Black Widow—everyone else does.”  Lena laughed as she looked over at her friend.  Michelle nodded weakly.  The friend was shorter, but wore a black T-shirt that said BITCH in curvy red letters.  Whoever Mistress Black Widow was, she was all attitude and mischief.  “She’s about to marry her Demon Lord and I just had to drag her out for a good time.” 

            “Ah,” said Michelle.  Where was Mike with the coffee?  She leaned over, trying to see him.  He was fumbling with a new filter. 

            “So, you didn’t answer,” said Lena.  “You fighting with your lover?” 

            “Excuse me?” asked Michelle 

            Lena let loose a sultry laugh.  “I can tell by your look—the way you’re eyeing the fine piece of lycan bartender over there.  You need to get laid and bad.  Not that I blame you—hey, have you ever heard of a Seattle Swing Kit?  I sell them.  I got one in my car in case of emergencies.  If you like, I can go get it.  They’re easy and a lot of fun.” 

            “I’m sorry?” asked Michelle not following.  “A Seattle what?” 

            “Well, you see, you take some—” 

            “Coffee.  Here you go, sweetness,” said Mike setting the cup before Michelle with a wink.   

            “Ah, no,” broke in Michelle weakly.  Lena blinked, confused.  “I mean…Mandy is not my…lover.” 

            Mike burst into laughter.  “That, I would pay good money to watch.” 

            “You’re not helping,” hissed Michelle.  Never had she felt so conservative or confused in her life.  A Seattle what? 

            “Oh,” said Lena.  “Then, it shouldn’t be a problem.” 

            Just then, Mandy came out of the office, dry eyed and very somber.  Michelle watched as she walked over to the bar to join her.  Never had she been so glad to see Mandy in all her life.  Surely, if anyone, Mandy would make sense out of what Lena said.  She waited, thinking Mandy might scream at her.  Mandy just nodded her head and looked towards the door.   

“Who’s the blonde chick?” asked Mandy, as if the fight hadn’t occurred—though it was evident she was still hurt and sad.  “I bet she’s here with the Eliza-bitch.” 

            Michelle peeked back to see who Mandy was talking about.   

            “Oh, damn honey!  I’m sorry.  It looks like that lycan is already taken,” said Lena.  Michelle felt the woman pat her thigh.  “Don’t worry, we’ll find someone else.  Too bad though, he’s a handsome one, isn’t he.  Damn, I just bet he could ride a woman hard until sunrise.” 

            “I wouldn’t know,” whispered Michelle, feeling tears trying to form in the back of her eyes.  She was stunned.  The blonde Barbie doll Mandy had pointed out threw her arms around Dmitri with a loud squeal. 

            “OH BABY!” the blonde bombshell fairly screamed in excitement as she hopped onto Dmitri’s neck and pulled him down to her lips.  She kissed him soundly.   

“Oh, no,” breathed Mandy. 

Michelle couldn’t move.  Her eyes roamed over the outfit of black lace that barely covered the bimbo—thigh high stockings, a flimsy robe-like jacket, a black leather bra and panty combo.  She wasn’t wearing clothes.  She was wearing lingerie.   

“I missed you last night,” the woman said.  Michelle realized she had stepped away from the bar and was walking towards Dmitri.  She stopped in the middle of the bar, staring, numb.  The woman continued in her loud pout.  “Where were you?  I waited up for you and you never showed.  You weren’t cheating on me with another woman, were you?” 

Michelle felt Mandy’s hand on her shoulder.  She instantly turned, knowing she was going to be sick.  In horror, she ran to the bathroom and threw up.  Sliding down the stall wall to the floor, she sat on the floor.  Miserably, her heart pounded, mimicking the thundering in her head.  What a fool she was!   

Of course a man like Dmitri was getting sex somewhere, if not with her.  She felt like an idiot.  She should have known.  She’d done enough research about lycans to know they had barely contained appetites—especially when it came to food, drink and women.  She’d seen Dmitri pound back enough liquor to floor twenty men without even blinking.  She’d seen him down nearly a whole large pizza in one sitting.  It was because of their high metabolisms they ate so much.  So, if he was typical lycan in those things, it only stood to reason he was typical lycan in the bedroom too. 

Michelle stood, feeling dejected as she looked at herself in the mirror.  Her lips trembled.  Her face was pale.  Her hair pulled back, very Plain Jane—like always.  Never had she felt so undesirable in her life.  She looked down at her T-shirt and jeans.  She looked nothing like the playmate walking around in stilettos and lace.  How could a man like Dmitri want her?   

“You fucking idiot,” Michelle spat at her reflection.  She took a deep breath.  “You fucking, fucking, stupid idiot.  How could he want you?  Look at him.  He’s too handsome for you.” 

Michelle eyed the narrow window, knowing from experience she’d never make it out of it.  Besides, her purse was in the office.  She’d have to grab her purse and then she’d have to quietly and very quickly sneak out the front door.

Walking to the bathroom, she listened before opening the door.  Michelle stood before the sink, staring into a mirror.  Slowly, she went to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“I didn’t know plastic could walk,” said Mandy.  “I wish we had a camera.  Those tabloids would pay good money for that one.  Do you think the toy manufacturer knows that one got away…if I only had a brain.”  Mandy did a tiny dance motion and made a goofy face at Michelle.  

Michelle began to laugh, despite herself.  She sniffed.  “I thought the same thing.  She is such a Barbie doll.” 

“Want to light a fire and watch her melt?” asked Mandy, smiling.  “Hope springs eternal.”  

“Nah.  It doesn’t matter.  It was bound to happen sooner or later.  Dmitri isn’t interested in me that way.  He hasn’t even tried to come on to me.” 

“Then what’s he doing with you?” 

“Pity dates,” offered Michelle.  Mandy frowned.  “I don’t know.  I think it’s just a casual friend thing.  I was stupid to think it was more.” 

“You’re not stupid.  I know you, don’t beat yourself up over this,” said Mandy.  “I am sure there is a logical explanation, if you’ll only listen.” 

“Like you listen to Armando,” said Michelle, a little too hard. 

“Fine, truce,” said Mandy, not wanting to fight with her best friend.  “This is one thing we can’t agree on right now so we won’t even try.  For the sake of our friendship, beyond making fun of Barbie and Elizabeth, we’ll agree to disagree.  Agreed?” 

“Agreed,” whispered Michelle.  “Get my purse out of the office?” 

“Sure,” said Mandy.  She left Michelle in the bathroom and noticed Eilza-bitch and bim-Barbie were no longer in the bar.  Neither were Armando and Dmitri.  With a sigh she went to the office.  Dmitri was there. 

“Oh, hey, Mandy, Armando had to take—” said Dmitri. 

“I really don’t want to hear it,” said Mandy, her chest tightening at the thought of Armando with Elizabeth.  

“All right,” Dmitri allowed.  “Have you seen Michelle?” 

Mandy saw a wave of fear pass over Dmitri’s eyes. 

“Yeah, I’ve seen her.  I’m getting her purse so she can go home.  I know her.  You don’t want to talk to her right now if you value anything you have with her.  She’s a little upset.” 

“Did…?” 

“Yeah, slick, she saw you and Barbie.” 

“You mean Barbara?” asked Dmitri. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.  It’s official…you got me!  Barbie it is then.”  Mandy walked to the door.  “I know that Michelle might just be a casual fling to you and honestly, it’s really none of my business.  But, I want you to understand something.  Michelle doesn’t have casual flings.” 

“She could have fooled me,” said Dmitri.  “She’s made it clear that’s all I am to her.”

Mandy had to bite her tongue to keep from answering.  She closed her eyes.  It would be so easy to fix the gap between the two of them.  It would only take a few simple words.  Dmitri, Michelle is madly in love with you but is too scared to tell you for fear you’ll reject her.  I know because I know her.  Now, get off your ass and tell her how you feel before you drive her away with her own insecurities—and for God’s sake shag her already. 

Mandy held quiet.  In order to help Dmitri, she’d have to betray Michelle’s trust.  She couldn’t do that. 

“I wish I could help you, buddy, I really do,” said Mandy.  “But I am afraid this one you’ll have to figure out on your own.” 

“What about you, kid?” asked Dmitri, crossing over to her and laying a hand on her shoulder.  “Want to get a drink and talk about it?”