Ronda and the Twins, Part One
“Come here baby,” Mark said, grabbing Ronda’s waist and pulling her in close to him. “Give me another kiss.”
Ronda giggled and stood on one foot to lean up and kiss her boyfriend, then rubbed her hand over his chest as she smiled at him, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. “I’m going to miss you, baby,” she said.
“I’ll miss you, too,” Mark replied, kissing her again, cupping her ass in his free hand as his other hand held her close.
A white pick-up pulled up to the curb and the driver honked the horn.
“I gotta go,” Mark said, tossing his backpack over his shoulder, picking up his suitcase, and leaning down for another kiss. “I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Mark went down the stairs two at a time and got in the pick-up. As the engine roared to life and they pulled away from the curb, he waved out the window.
Ronda waved and then watched until the pick-up was out of sight. Once they had rounded the corner she went back into the house, shutting the door behind her. She walked into the living room where three of their friends were sitting around watching t.v.
“They took off?” Matthew asked as she walked into the room. Matthew was Mark’s identical twin brother. Both were just over six foot tall, athletic and trim, with light blue eyes and broad smiles. The only real difference was their hair. Matthew’s was light brown and cut very short, while Mark’s was dyed blonde. He wore his a little longer, and it spiked out from his head in all directions.
“Yeah,” Ronda said, throwing herself into a chair across the room from him. On the couch, Ronda’s best friend Charlotte sat curled up next to her boyfriend, Dan.
“What do you guys want to do tonight?” Charlotte asked, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn.
Ronda shrugged and looked at Matthew. “Ideas?”
Matthew winked at her. “Well, I should probably keep an eye on you for my brother,” he said.
Ronda rolled her eyes. “That’s not an answer,” she said.
“Let’s go for a cruise and see what’s going on,” Dan said. This was their nightly ritual. Someone would ask what they should do, Dan would suggest a cruise, and they would go drive around for hours until they found something to do. It was almost set in stone. As they headed out the door, Ronda smiled at the comfort she found in the ritual. At least she wasn’t going to sit around at home and feel bad because Mark was out of town for two whole weeks.
Six days later Ronda knocked on the front door and Matthew let her in the house that Mark and Matthew had shared since high school.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
Ronda sighed deeply and plopped herself on the couch. “I’m so bored without Mark,” she said. “I miss him.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he misses you, too,” he agreed.
The phone rang, and Matthew picked up the cordless that sat on the coffee table. At first a smile enveloped his face as he laughed and chatted, but it didn’t take long for his face to fall. His eyes held Ronda’s as he spoke quietly.
She started to ask what was wrong, but he waved his hand to quiet her. Instead he walked over to the end table and very slowly picked up the extension. He handed the phone to her, motioning for her to listen quietly. When she held the phone to her ear, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Ronda listened in as Mark bragged to his brother of a conquest the night before. He had met what he described as a “slamming red-head” at a party, and he proceeded to unravel a lengthy thread of sexually explicit details as his brother listened. Anger rose to Ronda’s cheeks as he described a list of sex acts he and the girl had performed – it was far more than she cared to hear, but she couldn’t make herself put the phone down.
Matthew watched Ronda almost silently as his brother rattled on. He looked increasingly ill as his brother spoke, and after a few minutes he had clearly heard enough. “Hey, I gotta go,” he interrupted. “Ronda just walked in the door.”
“Don’t tell her it’s me,” Mark replied. “I’ll call her later or something.”
“Yeah, bye,” Matthew said.
“Talk to ya later, bro,” Mark said, and the line went dead.
Matthew put the phone down and then crossed the room to take the other phone out of Ronda’s limp hand. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sitting next to her on the couch. “I thought you should hear that.”
Ronda nodded, choking as she tried to speak. “It’s not your fault,” she whispered. She burst into tears and Matthew pulled her in close to his chest, wrapping his arms around her and rocking back and forth.
“It’s alright,” he whispered into her hair.
The two of them sat there, him holding her in his arms, until she couldn’t cry anymore. Curled against his chest she struggled to regain her breath and then her composure as he smoothed her hair.
“You deserve so much more than that,” Matthew said.
