I’m quite good at providing ... inspiration,” she said suggestively.“Ah, I see. In any case, I hope you enjoy the performance young lady, and go...d luck to you Mr. Braxton,” the man said, beating a hasty retreat.Chuckling, Mike turned to Melody. “Yet another pompous idiot with no idea how out of his league he is.”“Never gets old,” she replied with a grin.Mike’s parents rejoined them soon, his mom saying that they had a celebratory gift for his winning the principal position.“Mike, we want you. I opened my door to find my neighbor Jill and her very excited daughter, Sandy. They were wearing swimsuits with little wraparounds and carrying huge towels. They burst into my house and took positions on my sofa."We're going to the beach Jim, can you come with us and show us the best places to go?" Sandy was really animated as the words just flew from her mouth."If you could spare the time, Jim, I'd really appreciate it if you came with us. I'd hate to get lost or end up at a beach where there. It wasn’t till I was closer and stopped at a red light that I realised it was Val.I got to admit I thought for a second of just driving on and pretending that I hadn’t seen her to save that awkwardness but I had to talk to her soon so I could eventually fuck this leather wearing granny. Plus, I couldn’t just leave her carrying a load of bags in the rain.So I pulled over next to her and opened the window.‘You got some nerve Mark.’ She snapped. ‘What the fuck was that about the other. We lived two doors apart and our parents knew each other from way back. I have pictures of us in the paddling pool together or laughing as we attended some party. They were happy times and it wasn’t until we were about 14 that we realised our friendship was different from all the rest. We loved being together and I would track Louise down to show her some model I had made, her delight and interest making me feel warm inside. Our parents were happy of course. My friendship with Louise kept me.