Lukewarm (nyofruk)

Chapter seven

~Alice pov~
All day Francine has been sending me the funniest things that I could not help but laugh about. "What are you laughing about?" Alfred looked at me, smirking. "Is it a guy?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows. "No, just Francine, she is so funny," I laughed. Alfred's eyes turned away from me smirking as he continued to eat his ice cream. "Seems like you like her a lot," he said, laughing. I turned to him quickly, chuckling. "No...it's not like that...she is a good friend...perhaps my only friend," I said shrugging. "I mean... I wouldn't mind."

"What?! Mind what?" I asked, shocked. "If you liked her that way.... I mean, it is the twenty-first century. You won't get murdered," he laughed. I looked at him suspiciously and he tried not to look at me. "Same goes for you, mister! If you ever want to bring a young man home one day, I would not mind," I said in a teasing way. He nearly spits out his ice cream as he turned to me quickly. "What? Really? ....I mean.... that won't happen anyways," he said nervously.
"Hey, don't change this on me!" He said eating more ice cream.

I laughed at his behavior and wrapped the sofa blanket around me. " so you are going out tonight?" He asked. "Yes, I am excited about it... I may be in my thirties, but I can still have some fun" okay...I was like thirty-six, but I am not that old. Francine was older than me, and she looks stunning. I guess it could help me to dress nicer. Luckily Francine told me I could borrow something of hers. "They are coming at seven, Francine wanted to help me get dressed," I said shrugging.

"Oh thank god," Alfred laughed. "Wow, that hurts coming from you," I pretended to be sad and he just silently laughed. "I am joking. You know I think you look nice in whatever you wear." He smiled. I nodded at him and continued to drink my tea. I looked at the time, and it was six already. Alfred and I were doing nothing all day. I don't start working till Monday, and he has school.  So it was nice to have spent the whole day doing nothing with my son. Alfred stood up to put his bowl in the sink, coming back with a weird look.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He sat down thinking before he looked at me again. "Let's be real....would you ever date a woman?" I nearly spit out my tea from the question. "What? Why would you ask that?" I asked, horrified. "I was just wondering," he said, laughing. I set my cup down and sat up straight to look at him. "Are you being serious or are you just trying to tease me?" I asked. He lay back on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. "No...I genuinely would want to know."

"Well...... if you are being serious.... back in high school... I did think it was a phase of some sort. But the feeling never went away. Uh... I guess for me, it is more of, I do not care what gender or sexuality a person has. As long as they love me for me and I love them for them..... does that answer your question?" I looked at Alfred nervously, and he nodded slowly. "Okay, cool...that's all I wanted to know," he smirked. "What is it?" I asked concerned about the reason he smirked at me in a mischievous way.

"If I am going, to be honest...I have a strange feeling that Francine may like women...just a small one. It's just, that she wouldn't keep her eyes off of you when you first met," he pointed out. I thought about it for a second and shrugged. "She has a son."
"So do you!!!" He pointed out, and I shrugged some more. "I don't know...Besides...that does not matter to me. She is a very good friend of mine And the mother of your friend." I pointed it out, and he thought about it too. "Yeah...I guess you are right. Mattie might think it would be weird."

I nodded and started to fold the sofa blanket. "Yeah...plus, why would I want to ruin good friendships like that? It would not make sense for me," I said, and he nodded slowly. Looking upset. "Well, I should take a shower before they come. If they do, just let them in and have Francine go to my room," I said. Soon Alfred had a smirk on his face. "Oh really? What happened to everything you said," he laughed. "Not that way! She is helping me get dressed."

"Oh...you need her HELP. I am sure you will need her help to undress you too?" He asked, and I gasped. "Alfred! That's inappropriate!" I said, trying not to laugh. "I never said I liked her that way," I tried to defend, but he just shrugged. "Yeah...I am just messing with you, mom" I started to walk away, and I could hear him laugh as I walked up the stairs. He was such a teenage boy. I checked the time, and it was almost seven. I should hurry and shower before they come...which I doubt I could do. I tend to spend a lot of time in the shower.

As I stripped, I kept thinking if me moving on was betraying my marriage...I looked at myself in the mirror with my hair down. "I need to get it together," I said. I turned the hot water on and stood in the shower. "Alice, you are going to have fun tonight. You are not betraying your marriage.... you will be just fine," I said as I started washing. Once I finished the shower, I dried myself and wrapped the towel around myself. Hopefully, Francine will bring me something nice. I opened the restroom door that led to my bedroom , and seeing Francine sitting there.

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