The Bet - Chapter 46 (Tuesday – week 7 Part 4 of 9)

The Bet
by Karen Singer

Chapter 46 (Tuesday – week 7 Part 4 of 9)

Mel glanced around the restaurant one last time as she and Gloria sat down to lunch. But as she expected, she didn’t see any sign of Robin.
“What’s wrong?” Gloria asked.
“I had invited someone else to join us today. I was just checking to see if she actually might have come.”
“Who?”
“Robin. But don’t worry, she said she wasn’t coming.”
“Wait a minute! Is this about that big mistake you mentioned yesterday that you wanted to talk to me about?”
Mel nodded, “Yeah. I really messed up.”
Gloria sighed. “Okay, out with it! Let’s get this over with so I can find out about your date instead! So I take it this concerns Robin?”
Mel nodded. “Yeah. I just wanted to meet her!” Mel explained before she said anything else.
“And what on earth did you do to her?”
Mel looked sheepish. “I told her everything about the bet. And then I took her over to see Chad at Sandy’s where she had him totally babyfied – and then some!”
“And?”
“She didn’t take it too well.”
“I’m not the least surprised. What happened?”
“She got really mad.”
“I have no doubt. And?”
“And… We were really concerned that she would blab too much to the wrong person and Chad would lose his job.”
“And did she?”
Mel shook her head. “Not yet. But she still seems to be awfully mad.”
“And you wanted to talk to her today to try to calm her down a bit. So you invited her here to lunch but she refused.”
Mel nodded. “Something like that.”
“Anything else I should know?”
Mel shook her head.
“So I take it that things aren’t as bad as you thought they were?”
“So far. In fact, I’m wondering if things are better than I thought.”
“So there’s no problem?”
“That’s just it, I’m not really sure. That’s another reason why I wanted to talk to her today.”
Gloria wasn’t really interested in talking about Robin, she was more interested in hearing the details of Mel’s date. She leaned forward, “So let’s forget Robin. Tell me about Ray!”

Robin drove around trying to figure out what she really wanted to do. She had told Mel that she wouldn’t meet her for lunch, but now she was reconsidering that. Should she talk to the crazy woman? She didn’t want to, but she still had some questions… no, to be fair, she really just wanted another chance to give the woman a piece of her mind! But should she? The restaurant Mel had mentioned was up ahead, and since she was already there, she turned into the parking lot, wondering if she should really do this or not.

“Right there in the movie theatre?” Gloria asked incredulously.
“Right there!” Mel confirmed. “Believe it or not!”
Gloria shook her head. “Oh God! If it would only happen to me!” She leaned forward, anxious for more details. “What did you do?”
Smugly, Mel leaned back in her seat. “What else? I reached over and put my hand right on his…” She stopped, startled because out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Robin in the restaurant, standing near the front and looking for her. “I don’t believe it,” Mel said. “She’s here!”
“Who?” Gloria asked, frustrated that the story had been interrupted.
Mel stood up and waved her hand in Robin’s direction. “Robin,” she called out without trying to be too disrupting to the other customers.
Gloria looked and saw a woman walking towards them, obviously Robin. She wasn’t very happy – and neither was Robin from the looks of things. “You’re going to owe me big for this one,” she muttered.
Robin walked up to the table and eyed the stranger uncertainly. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I didn’t know you would have another guest today.” It was only because of Gloria’s presence that Robin hadn’t already started giving Mel another mouthful.
“Robin, this is Gloria,” Mel introduced. “Gloria, this is Robin.” Then she sat down. But Robin remained standing.
“I’m sorry,” Robin said again. “I should leave.” She started to turn away, but Mel stopped her.
“You’re here. The least you can do is let me buy you some lunch. I owe you that much at least.”
Robin bit back the remark she really wanted to make. As far as she was concerned, Mel owed her a lot more than that. “I don’t know,” she said with a glance at Gloria. “There are things I was going to talk about that aren’t for…” She glanced in Gloria’s direction again.
“Are you talking about Chad?”
Robin nodded.
“It’s okay. Gloria here knows everything about it.”
“And then some,” Gloria muttered half to herself.
Robin stared suspiciously at Gloria, still unsure.
“Sit down,” Mel told her. “You’re here. Let’s talk.”
Robin finally pulled out a chair and sat down, but her stare didn’t leave Gloria. “Are you another one of those… dominant type women who goes around with a whip in your hand?”
Gloria’s eyes bulged and before she knew it, she let out a big laugh. “No! I’m a therapist. I specialize in relaxation therapy.”
“A therapist?” Robin repeated. Then she looked angrily over at Mel. “She’s the one who needs therapy, but not the relaxation kind.”
Gloria laughed again. “I couldn’t agree with you more! But to be honest, since this whole bet thing started, what I really think is that both Mel and Chad really need is someone to knock their heads together and pound some sense into them!”
Robin was totally surprised to hear Gloria say that. “You mean that?”
“Totally!” she replied with a cautious look straight at Mel. She saw Mel smirking back at her.
It took a moment for Robin to take that in. Here was someone who was on her side! “So I’m not wrong in the way I think?” Robin asked.
“Not at all!”
“Then why don’t you do something about it?”
“Like what?” Gloria asked.
“Like stop them! It’s madness!”
“Yes, it is. But it’s a lot more complicated than that.”
Robin momentarily buried her head in her hands. Complicated! “Chad used to tell me that it was complicated, and I didn’t believe him. Now I find out that it really is incredibly complicated. I don’t think I can take any more!”
“I know what you mean,” Gloria replied. “Unfortunately, it goes with the territory.”
Ignoring Mel completely, Robin said, “Look, I just want to know why they’re doing it in the first place. It’s stupid!”
With a glance at Mel, Gloria replied. “That it is. But like I said, it’s complicated.” She paused to figure out where to start, but just then the waiter came back with Mel and Gloria’s drinks.
“And what would you like?” the waiter asked Robin. Robin hadn’t even seen a menu. She wasn’t really sure she wanted to eat.
“It’s my treat, so order whatever you want,” Mel told her.
Taking a stab at something she liked, she asked, “Do you have chicken fingers and fries?”
“Of course,” the waiter replied as he wrote it down on his pad. “And to drink?”
“Just tea,” Robin told him.
The waiter finally left and Robin looked back to Gloria, once again ignoring Mel. “So what’s the answer?”
Gloria stared at her for a moment before replying. “Unfortunately, what they’re doing ‘is’ an answer. Maybe not the best one, but it is an answer.”
Robin was puzzled by that. “What do you mean?”
Gloria took a sip of her drink before replying, trying to give herself a bit of time to collect her thoughts. “Most people wouldn’t think of doing what they’re doing,” she started.
“You can say that again!” Robin agreed.
“But then, you and I are most people. They’re not – especially Chad.”
“Chad?”
Gloria nodded. “Most of the parts you don’t like really boil down to him and his individual needs.”
“His… needs? He needs to have his head examined!”
Gloria smiled. “Maybe, but the truth is, it wouldn’t do any good. Those needs in him are awfully powerful. He can try to suppress them, but in the end, they’re going to find a way to come out, no matter what he does.”
“Wait a minute,” Robin interjected. “What needs?”
“They’re actually based on sex, but as I said earlier, it’s a lot more complicated than that. In his case, he has somehow gotten his brain confused between normal sex, and humiliation – in his case, specifically transgenderism and infantilism.”
“You know you’re on the verge of losing me,” Robin replied.
Gloria nodded. “I’m sure. Let’s just say that Chad craves humiliation. He has to have it. It’s like a drug. Eventually, he’ll do anything to get it. And the diapers and dresses and stuff are his ways of attaining that humiliation.”
Robin shook her head. “You have no idea how sick that sounds!”
“Oh yes I do! But that’s the way it is. This bet works out well for Chad because it fulfills all his wildest fantasies.”
Robin jerked her head towards Mel. “And what about her?”
Gloria smiled. “Mel? Well, let’s just say that she’s not without a few needs of her own.”
Robin tried to digest that. “So what am I supposed to do about it?”
Gloria looked at her with surprise. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? How can I do nothing? I have to work with the guy!”
“So?”
“So I’m just supposed to pretend that I never heard any of this stuff in the first place?”
“You can try if you want. But what you do is really up to you. And you don’t have to do anything.”
“Up to me?” She shook her head. “Maybe I don’t have to do anything, but that doesn’t mean I have to like any of this!”
Gloria leaned forward. “That’s the best part. You don’t have to.”
“I don’t?”
Gloria shook her head. “I don’t like it either.”
Now it was Robin’s turn to shake her head. “So what do I do? It’s driving me crazy! You have no idea how angry I am at him for doing something so… idiotic!”
Gloria shrugged. “Like I said, deal with it any way you want. Whatever makes you feel the best. But just keep in mind that Chad’s problem is not going to go away. It’s like a disease he has to live with it for the rest of his life.”
Mel finally leaned forward, she had been sitting back somewhat amused by the fact that Robin had ignored her completely. But now… “If you’re looking for ideas about what to do about it, then maybe I can help.”

Chad had gotten back a bit early from lunch, but now it was past time for everyone to be back to work, except he was fairly sure that Robin wasn’t back yet. Or was she? He never once heard any sound coming from the other side of the wall between them. Since he thought she wasn’t there, he chanced getting up and checking to see, hoping that if she was there that she wouldn’t get too mad at him for disturbing her. But fortunately she wasn’t back yet. Or unfortunately. Now he was worried that she may have had an accident or something.
He went back to his desk still worried about her. Since she wasn’t there, he chanced opening up the spreadsheet he kept for keeping track of his bet progress – or lack thereof as was usually the case. Seventeen more days to go before the testing would start. It seemed like an eternity. No, it was an eternity. Sort of. He found yesterdays date so he could fill in the amount of time that he remembered being able to hold back. Five minutes. Just five little minutes. Five lousy minutes. How had he lost so much? And how had he lost so much over the weekend? Well, to be honest, yesterday hadn’t been the best of days and mostly he had been too worried about Robin and what she might do so he really couldn’t try very hard. Even though he only filled in five minutes for yesterday, he was confident that he could do a lot better today. He had to!
He closed the spreadsheet quickly before Robin could see it – if she ever got back. Where was she?

Robin knew she was running late, very late. And she cared, but not all that much. She simply had too many weird things rattling around in her head. She also was trying to figure out what had just happened during lunch. She had gone there to get some answers. No, that wasn’t really right. She had told herself she was going just to get answers, but in her mind she had only seen herself yelling and venting her rage at Mel. But that hadn’t happened! Instead, she had sat and talked, calmly, mostly with Gloria – and then finally with Mel. But the things that Mel was suggesting… It was too strange to contemplate. And in the end she had been forced to turn Mel down flatly! Before lunch, she had felt angry. The same anger she had carried for days. But now? Now she was just confused.
With her head practically spinning, she entered the building again, not bothering in the least to even try hurrying. Who would care if she was late anyway? For that matter, who would even know? Well, there was Chad, but she didn’t count him – anymore.
As she approached his cubicle, her steps faltered, but only momentarily. The guy was sick! Literally! And there was nothing that could be done about it. Purposely, she strode right past him and went to her desk. She had too many weird things to think about right now before he could even think about dealing with him.
“Robin?” Chad called as soon as he realized that she had just gone past his cubicle. But he got no answer. He got up to go see her, worried that the reason she was late was because something might be wrong. He found her at her desk. “Robin?” he said again.
“Go away!” Robin replied, but while she wanted her words to sound angry, they didn’t have the same force behind them as everything she had said to him earlier.
“I was just worried about you,” Chad explained. “Is everything all right?”
Robin looked up at him. “Everything all right? No! It’s not alright! ‘You’re’ not alright!” She looked away from him. “And I don’t know what to do about it.”
Rather than temp fate, Chad went back to his cubicle. At least she didn’t yell at him – so bad. He turned to his computer to get some work done, but before he barely got started, she was back in his cubicle again.
“Sissy…”
Chad turned quickly toward her, afraid that he had somehow angered her again.
“…or Chad.” She stared at him for a moment. “No, it has to be Sissy. Especially when you’re dressed like that.”
Chad suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. But at least she wasn’t yelling – that he could tell anyway.
“Look,” she said, “I know you’re sick. Or you’ve got these… perversions… and you can’t do anything about it.”
Sick? Perversions? But unfortunately, Chad knew all too well what she was talking about.
“Personally, I think you need a doctor or something, but I understand now that even a doctor can’t help you.”
That much Chad knew to be true. Not that he even wanted help to be normal. He cherished his “perversions” all too much.
“And my problem is that I can’t deal with it! I don’t like it! I think it’s sick! And… And I just don’t think I want to be around you!”
Chad was disappointed, but he was forced to understand things from her point of view.
“So what I want,” she continued, “is for you and I to have as little to do with each other as possible. Like hopefully no contact at all! Because otherwise, just looking at you makes me so angry I could scream!” And with that, she walked out.
Chad stared at the empty space where she had been standing. No contact at all? Or as little as possible anyway. He wasn’t even sure how possible that was. But he supposed he would have no choice other than to try. He turned back towards his computer feeling like he had just lost something major in his life. He opened his email program and started typing a message for Mel, updating her on the latest. At least he wasn’t going to get fired! So far.