Frozen Over

by Tarrah Anders

  Great, just who I wanted to see.

  “Yes Mother?” I say with annoyance, preempting that this conversation will piss me off.

  “I just wanted to check in with you and make sure your head was on straight.”

  “And why wouldn’t it be?” I sigh.

  “You’ve got that floozy taking stake in your business, that’s why. After all, she is technically an M.D. employee being a part of the new line and all. Anyways, you’ve never let one stick around for any length of time. Didn’t you learn from your father to never let pussy interfere in your business?”

  “Mother, not this again. Please just stay out of it, what I do in my personal life is none of your business.”

  “It is, when it interferes with the company.”

  I slam my hands down on my desk and lean towards her direction.

  “This company, mother… is mine! You are no longer apart of Mad Designs. I am the CEO, not you. Get that through your thick skull, will you! My business both personal and professional is just that… Mine! Now, if you would excuse me, I have plans to tend to, which do not involve further discussions with you.” I seethe at her and briskly walk to the door for the stairs. I don’t feel like standing in the elevator with her and I could use some time to let the encounter run through my skin before facing another person.

  I smooth my features as I open the lobby door and walk through the lobby towards the garage. I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and dial for Beth.

  “Sup dude?” She answers.

  “Beer thirty on University?” I ask.

  “With me? Yeah sure. The usual spot?” She asks seeming worried.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there in about 40 minutes.” I say hanging up.

  I notice my text message indicator has an unread message in the folder and pull it up as I slide into my car.

  Allison: Hot date with my calculator tonight. Hope you had a good day.

  Tyson: You plus me, subtract the clothes, divide the legs and multiply.

  Allison: Pervert.

  Tyson: Having drinks with Beth, my mother paid me a visit this evening. Come by later?

  Allison: Not tonight, I have a pre-calc test tomorrow, Must. Not. Have. Distractions.

  Tyson: I provide no distractions.

  Allison: That’s a lie, because the thought of you is even a distraction.

  Tyson: You are good for the ego.

  Allison: Your ego needs no help. Have fun tonight, talk later. Xo

  The drive to Palo Alto was quicker than I anticipated and I got there before Beth did. I sat at a table close enough to the bar and waited. I ordered us a pitcher of beers and some house fries to munch on. When Beth showed up a few minutes later, I felt relieved as soon as she sat down.

  This was what I needed, a friend, and she was solid one. Random meetings with my mother always provided for a stressful few hours after as I have to detox after being surrounded by her nastiness.

  “You good?” She asks cautiously.

  “Yeah. I needed a breather. Mother came by as I was leaving the office.”

  Beth lets out a breath of relief, which puzzles me, but I let it go.

  “What did the royal pain in the ass want now?” She asks popping a fry into her mouth from y plate.

  “The usual. She must not be getting any from Martin anymore, so she has to interfere with my life.”

  “Martin’s wife found out he was sticking it to your mom. They’re in couples counseling. And your mother is solo again.” She says as if it’s nothing.

  “Way to go mother.” I say faking enthusiasm.

  “So mommy dearest just as mean as she was after the party or worse?” Beth asks.

  “The same. It was about Allison. Mother must have spies or something and noticed Allison as being more than a one timer and came to tell me to keep my head in the game.”

  “She’s just the right person to do that too!”

  “I made it official with her.”

  “I know.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I have my spies too.” Beth smirks. “I talked to Allison today. We went to lunch.”

  “Ah, so you’re ‘the lunch in the city with a girlfriend’.” I say using air quotes.

  “That would be me.”

  “And what were you and my girlfriend talking about?”

  “You.” Beth says refilling her glass.

  She’s being invasive, and I’m not fond of it.

  “Listen, if you know something, I suggest as my closest friend, my best friend that you tell me.”

  “Everything is cool Ty, ease up. Get your panties untwisted. A girl can have lunch with someone else and it be good.”

  Why do I not believe that statement?

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  TYSON

  Tyson: I don’t like this whole you being at your place and me at mine, sleeping apart thing.

  Allie: You’re a grown man, you’ve slept alone before, I’m sure. Wait, don’t answer, don’t want to know. LA LA LA *Plugs ears*

  Tyson: Funny, that doesn’t work via text BTW. We’ve been together the past 4 nights, my bed is missing something

  Allie: And why pray tell would that be?

  Tyson: You in it!

  Allie: And what would we be doing in that warm comfy bed of yours?

  Tyson: Are you asking for dirty sexts from me?

  Allie: If you’re interrupting my studies of mathematical equations, then it better be worth it.

  Tyson: I’d rather show you than tell you

  Allie: Oh you’re no fun.

  Tyson: You know, as well as I do, that I’m barrels of fun

  Allie: Barrels eh?

  Tyson: As in Monkeys

  Allie: Still not making my study break worthwhile…

  Tyson: If you come over, I can make it worth your while

  Allie: I wish I could, but I really do need to stay focused

  Tyson: I could quiz you

  Allie: Math skills are something that I don’t do well with groups, I’m a solo learner when studying for this

  Tyson: I can quiz you on answers and each one you get right, I can tear off a piece of your clothing

  Allie: Shouldn’t it be your clothing?

  Tyson: That’s the reward that I would get from doing math, you naked

  Allie: You’re ridiculous

  Tyson: And once you’re naked, you know I would be too, there’s math there somewhere.

  Allie: As much as I would like to Mr. Maddox, I will have to politely decline for this evening

  Tyson: How about tomorrow evening?

  Allie: Perhaps. I’ll let you know.

  Tyson: Meaning?

  Allie: If I’m in a positive mood, depends on my test tomorrow. If I’m in a poo-poo mood, I’m not good for company other than Ben & Jerry’s, even they wouldn’t deserve me at that point of my wallowing.

  Tyson: I’ll pretend you didn’t say most of that and I’ll see you tomorrow.

  Allie: Whatever floats your boat

  Tyson: Keep studying, you don’t want any distractions if I remember correctly

  Allie: Sure, just need to rub one out or take a cold shower now

  Tyson: Ugh, Yeah, me too.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ALLISON

  I suck. I majorly suck, or at least at differential equations. I kept getting my X’s, Y’s and U’s mixed up. I kept forgetting where each interval would go and then get lost in the process. I finished most of the test, but for the life of me, couldn’t pass go and get my ducks in a row.

  I did several practice problems last night, and this same question was so simple, yet I couldn’t keep my letters together.

  I was walking to my car in the parking lot when Dean, from my advanced statistics class was calling my name from a distance. I turned and waited for him to catch up.

  “Hey,” He catches his breath. “Ratliff has decided to give us a pop quiz on Bayesian Analysis and Sequential Bayes next week.”

  “How did you c
atch wind of this?” I ask adjusting my bag on my shoulder.

  “His TA, she told me he was discussing it with her and wanted her to make copies and buying spare blue books.”

  “His TA? Since when do you and his TA share trade secrets?” I ask cocking my head.

  “Shush you. Point is that we only touched on the Bayesian briefly, like hardly. Mel’s down to study this weekend, are you?”

  “If he’s getting blue books, that means part of the quiz will be written, we don’t need a study group for that.” I point out.

  “We can spitball off each other.” He offers nervously.

  “Yeah, good point. Okay, I’m in. Can we do it over food? I hate having to order pizza when we can just go somewhere for a few hours.”

  “Deal. I’ll let Mel know and will text you details later.”

  We say goodbye and I turn towards my car. Tyson is perched on my hood, watching me. His shoulders are tense as he watches me walk up and move between his legs.

  “Hi, what are you doing here?” I ask looking up at his face, his eyes cold and calculated as he watches Dean walk away in the distance. He finally looks at me and smiles.

  “I came to see how everything went.” His hands wrap around my middle.

  “Miserably. I spaced.” I playfully bang my forehead against his hard chest.

  “What’s your favorite flavor of Ben and Jerry’s?” He asks.

  “They don’t deserve me right now.” I continue hang my head in dramatic form.

  “I’m sure that they’d be happy to help you. So fess up woman?”

  “That Jimmy Fallon one.” I offer a tentative smile.

  “I prefer the Americone Dream myself, more of a Colbert fan, but I can get you some Fallon flavor, just this once.” He smiles.

  “You really don’t have to. I’m okay without it.”

  “I’ll have Lincoln pick some up, he’s getting groceries right now as it is. Come to my place tonight?”

  “I’ll have to stop off at mine first to shower and change.”

  “Shower at my place with me?”

  “We’ll see.”

  “None of that, I want you in my shower. I want to feel your slick body on mine as I get you dirty and then clean you up.” He pecks my lips between words giving me the shivers.

  ***

  I pressed the code on the panel as Tyson instructed at his main gate and pulled my car up towards the garage and parked in front of one of the doors. I walked through the garage and into the house after entering in another code by the door that unlocks the entrance door from the garage and closes the garage door simultaneously. I wandered inside through the long hallway, admiring the scene of his backyard. I walked around a wall and was in the kitchen. Lincoln and Tyson sat at the counter laughing over something they were both looking at in a magazine, their backs to me. I wanted to observe him before letting them know of my presence.

  “So you’re saying, this one was a screamer?” Lincoln asks. Seems I walked in during locker room topics!

  “And aggressive, I thought she was going to tear my ears off, she’d grab on and pull like I was Dumbo or something.”

  I cleared my throat not wanting to hear any further conversation about Tyson’s past conquests.

  “Sorry to interrupt man hour. I can come back if you guys want to continue, it sounded interesting.” I say sarcastically coming to a stop in front of them. Hiding my jealousy and the uneasiness I was feeling over hearing about a past conquest of Tyson’s. Noting they’re looking at a magazine with a beautiful leggy blonde on a centerfold spread, tastefully done in one of the fashion magazines you’d see at the checkout stands.

  “Someone you know?” I point.

  Lincoln excuses himself quickly, gives me a sympathetic nod and starts putting away the bags of groceries on the counters by the stove.

  “She’s someone I hooked up with once.” He says. His honesty sometimes, I could do without.

  “So why were you guys talking about her?” I ask, noticing the cracking of my voice.

  “Are you jealous?” He teases.

  “No, it’s just not every day when someone walks into a room to hear guys talking about Disney characters and sex.” Okay, so I’m a little jealous.

  “She’s got nothing on you. Don’t worry babe.” He says closing the magazine. “Linc got the magazine because there is a write up about Mad Designs and I wanted to check out the spread. Someone that I happened to hook up with was part of a separate feature and Lincoln oogled her.”

  Lincoln chose that time to put the pint sized carton of The Tonight Dough in front of me with a spoon, then backed away, not wanting to invade in the conversation. I practically ripped off the lid and devoured the top layer of the ice cream with ease as Tyson looked at me, licking his lips.

  “Listen, we need to talk about something tonight.” I say, before I don’t have the nerve any longer.

  “Something good or something bad?” He asks hesitantly.

  “I’m not sure, but it’s one of my secrets, a big one. And I figure that since we’re actually a real couple, that you should know this.”

  “Oooo-kay.” He says slowly.

  “I want you to share your secret too, you know if you can?”

  “My secret?” He asks.

  “The reason why you have trust issues.”

  “Babe, that isn’t something that I can just spill out like it’s nothing, I have to be ready to dive into my past for that, open up wounds and right now, I’m not ready to do that. I will tell you soon, but when I’m ready.”

  “Okay.” I say defeated. I rethink my plan to tell him ,y secret, but figure that it’s something that may help his whole trust thing. “Can we go somewhere, more private to talk?” I ask.

  He stands and reaches for my hand and brings us to the third floor master bedroom. I sit in the middle of his bed and play with the hem of my shirt. It’s silent for several moments before I begin to speak. My nerves are killing me, but I know that I need to just ante up and tell him while I have the nerve, before we get too deep. Before I’ve fallen even more in love with him than I already am.

  “So, I’m not close with my family, like other young girls are. It’s only me and my dad, my mom passed when I was in high school and her life insurance went to paying off the mountain of debt she gathered. My dad, does what he can, but he lives paycheck to paycheck and can’t provide for me either. I’m an only child, with no other relatives that I know of, so it’s just us. But in all reality, it’s just me surviving and making ends meet. I didn’t grow up like you did, I’ve fended for myself. I have for years. ” I take a deep breath, still playing with the hem of my shirt, he sits on the bed and then pulls my nervous hands away, forcing my eyes to look at him.

  “So, I somehow was blessed with the genes of intelligence, even though it seemed my parents lacked it and managed to get into Stanford. I’ve got by on federal grants, financial aid and modeling. Yet that still wasn’t enough to make ends meet. My dad never had enough money past making his bills to fork over to me and I still needed to make up the money that my sources weren’t paying for in order to keep a roof over my head. Some months it’s really hard, whereas other months are so easy it seems un-real. Lately, with the gig of MD, my finances fall into the latter.” I take another deep breath avoiding his gaze.

  “With my schedule with school and modeling being sporadic, I needed to get a night job. I had a friend my first year of college present an opportunity to me, she hooked me up with the info on the job and I started making decent extra money that allowed me to pay the remainder of the bills. I never had set hours and could work really whenever I wanted, I don’t work all the time, it’s only occasionally. The job liberated me and makes me fearless and so open-minded, which is probably helpful at that time in life too. I just want to say that I ask you to keep an open-mind about this too?” I am terrified of telling him now, feeling like he will reject me and be disgusted.

  “Okay, I’ll try.” He says slowly.

>   “So, for the past two and half years, I sign onto a service to accept phone calls. The phone calls range depending on which customer is calling… it’s a phone sex service.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  TYSON

  Did I just hear her right? Phone Sex Calling service? My girlfriend, the first girlfriend that I’ve had in years, the unbelievable and amazing chick sitting in the middle of my bed, is a phone sex operator?

  My mind is spinning. I have so many questions and a lot of hindrance about this. I attempt to swallow, because I feel like I need my mouth to not be so dry in order to talk. But I feel like I swallowed some cotton and talking is difficult, not to mention the millions of thoughts running through my mind. First, I thought she was hitting me up for money, not telling me about her moonlighting as a sex phone operator in the evenings.

  “So you take calls, and on these calls you get guys off? I ask finally, my voice probably a little harsher than I intended. I try to remind myself to stay calm to talk about this.

  “I would provide the fantasy in their minds that they need sometimes yes. Sometimes, it’s just some person calling needing attention. It’s acting, none of it is real to me.” She looks thankful that I’m speaking.

  “Yet, it’s you, who is helping some of these guys climax?”

  “Yes. Sometimes, but not always. I don’t do anything on my end though. It’s all fake. They get themselves there, I mean I’m not right there with them.” She says looking at her feet, She won’t look at me, which is pissing me off.

  “Sometimes, it’s them just needing someone to talk to. It varies.” She continued.

  “Have you ever, met one of these callers?” I ask, I’m still slightly shocked that this is an actual conversation that we’re having.

  “Never. I have been requested to sell off used clothing, like some other people do. But I’ve never done that. It’s not something to be even considered.” Her eyes finally meet mine.

  “And you get paid to do this? To get guys off over the phone?” My voice again, more harsher than intended.

  “Yes.” Her chin tremors as she speaks, she wringing her hands in her lap nervously.