” Mel blushed slightly. Craig smiled. He ordered more drinks. I moved back and sat on the stool opposite them, my mind racing. Again Craig sat clo...se to Mel, side by side. “So, who is this tart you have been eying up, Craig?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “She isn’t a tart; well, I don’t think she is.” he replied. “But Sheila is a lovely woman; you wouldn’t really cheat, would you?” Craig looked a little more serious. “No, I don’t think so, but sometimes I think I deserve to.” Craig. Except me.Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.Zoey really did like me.I sat back and wrapped my head around that. Zoey. Likes. Me?"Something just made him excited," Zoey said to me suddenly with a shit-eating grin. "Thinking about me in a bikini, Shakespeare?" If he's not, I am," Jon said before I could say anything."Nothing like that," I said, trying to give Zoey a knowing grin. "Uh, I, uh, just thought of something funny."She gave me a crooked look, searching me like I was a math problem she. Add a man to the mix and you have a powder keg with a lit fuse.This is where my story begins...She was my best friend. In the way that girls have best friends. We did things together, we shared our stories we laughed at other people, we watched T.V. together, we talked about everything, never kept secrets from each other, and told each other the most intimate details of our lives.She lived downstairs. I lived with Hubby. She knew every single detail of my sex life with him, she giggled with me. But to have it all out in the open like this, suddenly,with no indication of what was coming, was quite something else. My mouth wentdry, my pulse quickened and I started to sense a butterfly feeling in the pitof my stomach. Where was this going I asked myself?Ididn't have to wait to find out.Itwas John's turn to talk. "Steve, this arrangement we are discussing is nota zero-sum gain for us. If you or your work is inadequate, we cannot simplyfire you because you will then have no job to pay.