Another New York Story: Mel Ch. 02

Mel's belly growled like it was threatening her. What did she have to eat? Not much. Just a stale loaf of bread and some butter. It would have to do.

Mel's breasts bounced lightly as she hopped out of the bed. From a pile of dirty laundry on the ground next to her, Mel pulled out a white cotton t-shirt she'd stolen from some frat boy back in college, and a pair of black biker shorts, and threw them on. Stepping back, Mel took a look at her messy room. Clothes were everywhere, as well as half-drunk glasses of water, and some dishes from her dinner the other night. She had been meaning to clean up. It was one thing for someone to walk in on you touching yourself, and another thing to have it happen in a messy room.

Barefooted, Mel walked down the short hallway to where the apartment opened up to a living area/kitchen, and the door to Asuka's room. Michael was standing in the kitchen, facing away from Mel, who went immediately to the fridge. She was happy to find that when she opened the fridge door it blocked Michael from view.

The cold air felt good on her face. Mel wasn't sure if she was going to eat or if she'd pick something up while she was out--or, maybe on the way back? Too much eating out, she thought. She could see the stale sourdough sitting at the back of the top shelf.

She'd also been meaning to go to the store. She'd been so busy lately. All she wanted to do whenever she got home was sleep. In addition to her survival job, Mel had recently been cast in a play. It wasn't anything crazy, just a small off-off-broadway production that was part of some play festival at this small theater downtown. They had started rehearsals for it a couple weeks ago, and it had really tanked Mel's drive to care for herself. She had been ordering in too much. She'd been skipping meals too, when she didn't feel like spending money. It wasn't sustainable, that's for sure.

Asuka, her roommate, had plenty of food, but she would never let Mel have any of it. Asuka was the type of person who knew exactly what she had in the fridge at any given point, she would notice if anything went missing. Mel was sympathetic, though, since Asuka had a lot of food allergies. It was important, the food she could have was usually more expensive than the regular stuff, and finding it was usually more difficult too. Of course, Mel thought, she was a bit picky too, on top of everything.

"Hey," Michael said, a bit too casually.

"Whatsup?" said Mel, not quite shutting the fridge door, just closing it enough to see Michael. He held an empty plate in his hand, and had syrup on his chin. Mel was suddenly aware of her nipples pressing up against the thin cotton t-shirt. The fridge, she thought. She can't win today. She crossed her arms across her chest as casually as she could.

"I didn't, like, see anything," said Michael, still avoiding eye contact. "Just in case, like--"

"Is Asuka here?" Mel asked, even though she already knew the answer. It was Tuesday, Asuka would be working the lunch shift at her restaurant job.

"No," said Michael, a little relieved at the change in subject. "She was gone before I got up."

"Probably at work." Mel said.

"I made pancakes. Have some. I can't eat them all."

Mel looked to where Michael was pointing at a plate of pancakes she had failed to notice, next to him on the counter. She wondered if he'd gotten the go ahead from Asuka, or if he had simply helped himself to her pantry. Mel didn't want to be around to find out. Her stomach growled again, audibly.

"They're gluten-free, like Asuka likes. I wasn't sure if she was gonna be back. I was actually, um, just trying to bring you some. Earlier."

"Well, thanks." said Mel, going over to the plate, a little too close to Michael.

"Here." Their fingers touched as Michael handed Mel the bottle of syrup, sending electricity down her arm. She focused all her attention on pouring the syrup.

"Hey, um, this might be a bad time, but, um..."

Mel realized she'd been distracted again, and ended up with way too much syrup on her pancakes. Whatever. She opened a drawer on her left and took out a fork. She ate slowly, cutting out small triangles of pancake one at a time, trying her best to appear lady-like, especially after everything that had transpired that morning.

"I was just wondering if, like, Asuka ever talks about me? To you. If, um, she says anything about what she, like, thinks about me?"

Mel looked at him blankly. What was happening here? Was Asuka's latest boyfriend(?) asking for advice on how to deal with Asuka? I guess Mel could be considered the leading expert in that department, even though they'd only been roommates for less than a year by then, after Mel replied to Asuka's post in a Facebook group for people looking for other people to move into the city with. Nonetheless, they had always gotten along well. They never fought, or really bickered even. After that one night, Asuka kept her sexual advances to a minimum. Only when she was very drunk or especially horny would Mel find her crawling into her bed at odd hours of the night.

Mel liked living with her. She thought their personalities were complimentary. Mel liked that she didn't have to make decisions, or worry too much about things in general--Asuka was comfortable taking the lead, in the household, and in the bed. Mel simply gave in to the wonderful inertia of it all.

"Forget it," said Michael.

"Why do you want to know?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess, I think I like her? Or something."

She could tell he was being serious. She took a good look at him for the first time. He was tall, with a full head of curly hair, and his arms were long, and gangly, and a bit thin, but his legs looked strong. He must run, she thought. She couldn't see much of his chest but she could imagine how lean it was, given the way his shirt hung from him as he hunched forward slightly. He was still wearing the same shirt, and the boxers that had been stretched at the sight of Mel touching herself to the thought of Asuka.

His face was beautiful, like the Roman statues she had seen at The Met. Maybe it was the hair? All those men in those busts had curls like his, like wreaths around their heads. But, it was more than that. He had chiseled features. A sharp jawline. Long eyelashes. And blue-green eyes. Asuka really knew how to pick them.

This one was more conventionally attractive than her last few choices had been. Asuka usually got with more pretentious, artsy types. Mel could tell Michael wasn't like that. He seemed simple. Honest. She suddenly realized she hadn't spoken two words to him since he'd practically moved in with them. Why was that?

Maybe it was because the two of them, Asuka and Michael, basically barricaded themselves in Asuka's room whenever they were home. They were like rabbits. Mel could hear them from her room down the hall, going at it at odd hours of the night, in the afternoon, too, and only sometimes in the morning. In bed, Asuka was very vocal. Mel almost thought she did it on purpose, like she was teasing her or something, the way she'd moan and cry out like her mind was melting from the feel of it. Or, Mel would be getting a glass of water at night, and hear behind the door the sounds of Asuka sucking the dick of whoever she was with at the time.

She had considered knocking once or twice, maybe try her luck, see if she really did want Mel to come and was just, maybe, too shy to say anything. Or too proud. Probably a combination of the two. In Mel's experience, she'd found that people who were too proud were almost always, at the end of the day, as afraid as the rest of us.

Mel looked at Michael looking at her. What was he thinking about? Mel had the strange urge to reach up and cup his face in her hand, maybe give him a kiss on the cheek, and tell him it would be alright, it would all be alright.

Then, she felt moisture again between her legs. She desperately needed to cum. Is this what the boys called blue balls? She thought of Michael's dick, how hard it had been. Would it be crazy to ask him if she could just see it? Maybe hold it in her hand, feel it twitch, and swell. He wouldn't even have to take off his pants, just lower them so she could lift a leg up and slip it in, standing there in the kitchen. He could lift her up even, maybe hold her by her ass cheeks as she wrapped her legs around his torso, taking him deep inside her.

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose with his index and thumb, furrowing his brows. "I sound ridiculous."

What was he saying again? Oh, right: Asuka.

"No. Sorry. You don't sound ridiculous." Mel said, as she took her now empty plate over to the sink to wash it. The warm water felt good on her hands. "I mean, yea, a little. But, not for the reason you think." She set the clean plate to dry on the rack, and, turning back toward Michael, crossed her arms once again."Asuka doesn't really talk to me about boys."

That was a lie. Sort of. Why was she trying to spare this guy's feelings? It was true Asuka had yet to talk to Mel about Michael, but it was also true they hadn't seen much of each other in the two weeks since he'd been around, on account of how busy Mel had been with rehearsals. She just didn't have the strength to tell him all of that just then.

Mel checked the time on the microwave. She had to leave. Of course, she knew Isabel would be late to their date like she always was. But, that didn't matter to Mel. She didn't want to waste the best part of the day.

"But, if she does say anything," Mel said, "I'll let you know. Okay?"

Michael perked up a bit at that. "Yea. Okay. Cool... Thanks."

"No problem. I gotta go now."

"Cool. Okay. Later."

Mel turned and, stepping lightly around the corner, walked back down the hallway to her room--her bare feet sticking lightly to the wood floor with each step.

Back in the room, Mel shut the door behind her, making sure to lock it this time. She made her way to the dresser, wrenching open the top drawer to reveal a mess of thongs, socks, bandanas, hair bands, and a purple vibrator that needed to be charged. She stuck her hand into the fray, looking for something.

After a minute of searching, Mel succeeded in finding a bikini bottom, and top, only, they were from different sets originally. The top was white, and the bottoms were green. She didn't have time to go looking for a match. She hastily removed her clothes and tied up her bikini. It could be worse, Mel thought, looking at herself in the mirror. She must have bought the bottoms a long time ago, when she had been smaller, because they exposed more skin than she remembered. Her ass was practically hanging out.

Whatever, Mel thought, they were supposed to be tanning in the park anyway. This might actually be perfect. Full body coverage.

With the addition of sandals, sunglasses, and a blue sundress she pulled from one of the hangers in her closet, Mel felt sufficiently kitted. She packed her water bottle, the book she was reading, her earbuds, and a beach towel into one of her larger purses and left after saying goodbye to Michael through the closed door to Asuka's room.

***

Thanks for reading! More coming soon.