- * *- The Road To Take-* *-

Morgan and CJ rode home silently in the cab; Morgan taking in deep and laboured breaths and CJ with just a hint of a smile on her face. Morgan ran upstairs to her room and shut her door. CJ listened closely, all she heard was sobbing and the tearing of paper, photographs she thought. CJ continued to listen at Morgans door, but what she was listening for she wasn’t sure. “Is there anything that I can do for you Mo?” CJ finally yelled through the door. “Just leave me alone!” she yelled back. “I can’t believe he did this to me, what would ever possess Kevin to tell Howie!” she cried. CJ shrugged her shoulders and turned and walked back to kitchen, picked up her keys and purse and left.

Brian somehow managed to navigate he and Kevin back to Howie’s apartment, he really hadn’t been paying that much attention before, but he did it. Kevin sat in the passenger side, silent. He was devastated for Morgan, he never intended for any of this to happen. He would never have even slept with her if she hadn’t lied to him. He tried to console himself by saying that what was done was done and he couldn’t change the past. He looked up at the moon and began to worry about the future, as Brian parked the car outside of Howie’s. It was obvious to Kevin that CJ had told him, but how much she knew was uncertain. The fact remained though, that all of their stuff was upstairs at Howie’s and welcome or not, they were going to have to go and get it.

The door to the apartment was ajar. Kevin made Brian go first, seeing as he was an innocent bystander in this whole mess. Brian saw Howie sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of milk. “I left the door open for you guys...I wasn’t sure how much later you would be.” Howie said as he casually dunked an Oreo in his glass. “What happened after I got thrown out?” “Well,....” Brian started as he cleared his throat and glanced at Kevin. “Not too much. The girls ran for a cab and we followed soon after.”

“How could she do that to me? What would ever possess her to fall for a creepy guy who would pick up a singer in Vegas? Who would do that?” Howie asked as he scanned Brian and Kevin for answers. “No one I know....” Kevin replied quietly, relieved that for the time being, it seemed that CJ, if she knew, had not named names. “So, do you guys golf?” Howie asked, obviously changing the subject. “I was thinking about booking a tee time for tomorrow; there’s a great course in Scottsdale that I love to go to. Interested?” Brian and Kevin both nodded and Howie placed the call.

“I guess I’ll go to bed, our tee-time is at 7:30 so we have to leave by 7.00.” Howie said as he yawned and stretched. “In the MORNING?” Kevin exclaimed. “Of course in the morning, now let’s get some rest. Do you need anything else before I go to bed?” Howie asked as there was a knock at the door. “Just for you to answer the door,” Brian laughed. Howie peeked through the peephole and then unlocked and opened the door. It was CJ. “Oh guys! I’m so sorry, but Morgan’s furious with me and I just didn’t know where else to go.........” she said as she stood there pathetically, in Howie’s kitchen. “Can I crash here tonite?” “Oh yeah, of course....uhm, Brian you won the spare room in the toss, right? You won’t mind crashing on the floor out here so that CJ can have some privacy will you?” Howie asked. Brian graciously said “Of course not!” Kevin stood with a big grin on his face, realizing that the couch wasn’t sounding so bad now after all.

“Good night Brian.........you don’t snore do you?” Kevin said as he snuggled into the couch. “NO! Do you?” Brian said . “I don’t think so......” Kevin replied. “OK then, goodnight Kevin.....”

Howie lay in bed fighting the urge to fall asleep. He wanted to relieve his last trip to Vegas. He tried to think of when Morgan would have had the time to cheat on him. He replayed every moment until the sandman took hold of him and he drifted away. He drifted to a happier place, where Morgan was waiting for him to give her a big hug and kiss. He obliged and held her tight to him. She smelled so good, her long auburn hair always smelled of passion flower and mango. He drifted further to where he was lying on the couch with Morgan; she had fallen asleep in his arms as they watched TV. He kissed the top of her head gently and then he felt her stir. He felt her hand slide under his shirt and along his chest. Then he felt her hand sliding up along his thigh. He felt his body wanting her, wanting to pull her close and embrace her, but then he began to drift further away from her, further away from his dream, yet all of the sensations seemed to be becoming more vivid. He opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. The room was pitch black, but he knew that he wasn’t alone. Someone was holding onto his engorged manhood. “Please, dear god, don’t let it be Brian or Kev.” he thought to himself.

“Relax Howie, you know you want it. You know that you want me!” CJ said as she climbed on top of him and pushed him back onto the bed with great force. She kissed him so hard that he thought that his lips were going to bleed. Her tongue found his and together they danced a magical tango..... Her hand worked faster, she knew what she wanted and he didn’t fight her. Her hand worked hard until she knew that he was ready for her then she repositioned herself until he slipped into her with ease, the two becoming one. When he was done, she rolled off to the side, kissed Howie gently on the cheek and went back to her own room.

Kevin, Brian and Howie pulled into the parking lot at the golf club 5 minutes before their scheduled tee time. Kevin had slept reasonably well for being on a couch, while Brian was feeling very stiff from Howie’s not-too-comfortable floor. Howie himself, was perky after an invigorating night. He hadn’t mentioned anything about CJ to either of the guys, he wasn’t entirely convinced that he hadn’t dreamt the whole thing. CJ was still sleeping when they left. Brian left a note for her, saying that he hoped that she would have lunch with him today. “Is it OK that we are a three-some instead of a foursome?” Kevin asked as he paid for his rented clubs. “Oh, you mean you’re missing a person.......we prefer that you play in groups of 4 or 6 at this club,” said the man behind the counter. “Well we only have 3, what are you going to do about it?” Kevin asked quite snappy. “I dunno, my boss will kill me if he sees that I’ve let a party of 3 head out....it messes up the whole flow of everyone on the course. Would you be open to having someone from the club join you?” said the clerk. Howie nodded as Brian and Kevin exchanged glances. “I guess so, as long as he’s not too good, cuz we just want to have some fun out there, right guys?” Kevin said as he turned to look at Brian and Howie. “Not to worry, I know just the person for you, I’ll send him out front to meet you.”

Brian rented golf spikes along with his clubs, Kevin had refused saying that he would be just fine in his newly purchased running shoes. As they changed their shoes, a man about 23 years of age approached them carrying some clubs on his back. “Are you the 3some that I’m supposed to join?” he asked as he set down his clubs. “Yes, we really appreciate you doing this. We didn’t realize...” Howie started to say. “Oh, don’t worry about it, I would much rather be playing any day than giving lessons or selling balls in the pro shop,” the man replied. “Well, I’m Kevin and this is Brian and Howie.” “Hi, I’m one of the pro’s here, my name is Alex.” the man said smiling into the sunshine. He was wearing a white baseball cap with a white golf shirt and navy shorts with blue sox and white and blue golf shoes. He looked as though he was heading off to play tennis, rather than golf. He was sporting sunglasses, the kind with mirrors for lenses, which bothered Kevin a little, cuz he could see himself in the reflection.

After Alex explained that walking was the only true way to enjoy a golf game, the golf cart was left back at the club house. After playing the first couple of holes, it became obvious to the guys why Alex was one of the pros at this club, he pared almost every hole. Brian was having a fair game as well, where Howie and Kevin were struggling a little. Alex had given some great pointers to Howie to keep him from splicing the ball on his drives. Kevin wasn’t overly anxious to accept Alex’s help, but remained gracious about him trying to help, after all, that’s what he gets paid for. Kevin just wanted to go out and whack the ball around, he only played a couple of times a year. He was the kind who didn’t even really want to keep score, but they did and he was 4th in this foursome.

Brian was just about to complete his putt on the 15th hole when the shrieking of a woman’s voice distracted him. He looked up, as the rest of the guys turned around, to see a woman traipsing across the course in a full out march. Her long blonde hair was untied and flowing carelessly behind her. As she drew closer, it appeared that she was heading directly for them. As she came closer, her hands began to flail in the air and Brian could see that her brow was furrowed. She continued her march until she was up on the putting green and standing directly in front of Alex.

“ALEX! What the hell are you doing?” she demanded, her arms still flying around in the air. “WORKING! What the heck are you doing here? Are you trying to get me FIRED?” he said as calmly as he could, while trying not to die of embarrassment. “You call this WORK!” she laughed. “You are out here playing golf, when at home we have no MILK!” “What? Ireland, you came all the way over here to tell me that we have no milk? Are you crazy?” he said in a quiet voice.

“Do you even care that I woke up this morning and there was no milk for my cereal?” she continued to yell. People on the course began to stare as Alex tried to calm her down. The ‘milk’ discussion went back and forth until Alex handed her $50.00 and told her to go buy some milk and something else that her heart desires. She quickly snapped the bill from his hand and pocketed it. Without apologizing for her behaviour she turned and started her trek back from which she came. Everyone on the 15th hole stood in silence for a moment, not entirely sure of what they had just witnessed. “Sorry guys,” Alex began. “You’ll have to excuse Ireland....she can be very.........demanding.” “Wow! That’s some woman you got there!” Brian said “Does she do that often?” “That’s my girl!” Alex defended. “She’s amazing, really. Otherwise I wouldn’t have followed her out here from New Orleans.” “Oh,....” Kevin started, still not quite sure to make of what just happened. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Almost 4 years. She’s in her last year of university here. I met her the summer before she came out. We fell in love immediately and when she told me that she was going away to school, I knew that I couldn’t let her go, so I came out here and got this great job doing something that I live for. Life couldn’t get much better.” Alex said in a tone that seemed like he was trying to convince himself of that fact as much as he was the others. Alex was a bright and out-going person, yet Kevin couldn’t shake the feeling of an inner sadness. He had sensed it from the moment they had met outside of the club house and now, watching Ireland make her way back across the course, the feeling grew stronger.

The rest of the golf game went as expected, Alex won with a 63, Brian was second, just breaking a hundred, while Kevin and Howie fought for 3rd place. As they returned their rented clubs and shoes, Kevin thanked Alex for a great game and for the pointers. As they got into the car, Brian remembered CJ and wondered if she would agree to have lunch with him. There was something alluring about her and even though he was mending a broken heart, a little lunch with a beautiful lady wouldn’t hurt. “Are we going back to your place?” Kevin asked Howie as he pulled out into the traffic. “If you don’t mind guys, there’s someplace I need to go first. There is some unfinished business that needs my immediate attention.” Howie said as he put on his sunglasses.