Love, Lust, and Spirit: Who Is Mrs. Perfect?

Mike laid face up on the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, as he thought about the upcoming days. Niki and Alec had gone back home to attend a funeral for Alec's uncle and won't be back for about a week and Brittney got two days off work to visit. He's grateful all three of them won't be together at once, but he isn't sure how he'll feel just yet. The urge to see her is breathtaking, but when he imagines Brittney, Alec usually pushes her way into his mind.

He shakes his head to clear his thoughts and groans aloud.

He heard a door close and Brittney's voice fill the halls of the stadium. He walked across the hall to the lounge area where Billie was sitting on the couch restringing his guitar and Tre was sipping a beer. Brittney turned on her heel and ran to him. She threw his arms around his neck and he kissed her on the top of her head.

"I've missed you so much." But I've been thinking about someone else too. He hugged her tighter. "How has it been at home?"

"Well, about normal, only a little different with you not around."

"Been chasing off the men?"

"Oh, by the dozen," she winked. He hugged her again and led her over to the table next to Tre. Mike opened two more beers for them to sip on. They have been away from California for two months and Brittney is visiting for a few days before they leave again to the east coast. They filled each other in on their time apart. Tre would tell his occasional story and he would eye him fretfully just hoping he doesn't slip anything about Alec. They did, however, talk about Niki and how she and Alec hung out the past two months and left yesterday. Mike sighed in relief inwardly because Tre never brought up Alec other than minor details about her visit. Billie sat quietly on the couch and continued restringing his guitar chiming in only when to correct Tre on his details.

"I'm going to test these strings and make sure they sound okay."

They nodded and he left the room.

Mike continued to listen to Tre and Brittney talk and his mind started drifting to long golden brown locks of hair. The head turned and Alec stared him right in the face. Suddenly she started snapping her fingers in his face. He looked over at Brittney who had her eyebrows raised.

"What are you thinking about? Your face started flushing."

Mike hid his fear behind a grin and wrapped his arms around her waist, then buried his head in her shoulder.

"Wat do you think I was thinking about?" He kissed her neck, then her jawline. "Hmm?" She grinned.

"Well, what are we waiting on?"

He hoisted her up into his arms and carried her off into a room. Tre sat and watched as his back disappeared out the door. He sighed and thought back to his first outing with Niki. He smiled and let his mind reel through the images of Niki.

He fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed her number.

Niki dug through her purse for her phone before it stopped buzzing. She set it on vibrate before she forgot about it during the funeral. She pulled it oug and checked the screen.

"Hey, babe, what's going on?" she asked.

"Just thinking about my sexy doll walking around without me."

"Really now? What's her name?"

"Rosie," he chuckled.

"Be sure to tell her I said hi and to enjoy you and her legs while they're still in tact," she laughed along with him. "So, what were you thinking about?"

"Japan, my bed, the couch, as well as multiple other places."

She couldn't help but smile. "Funny, I was just thinking of reenactments." She wiggled her brows to herself.

"We'll need to do that when you get back. Rosie is getting tired." She chuckled. "But I just wanted to hear your voice."

She smiled to herself.

"How's Alec?" he asked.

"She's doing better. I'm heading out to pick her up now."

"Alright, well, the concert is tonight at seven. Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Text or call when it's over and tell me how it went."

"Will do. I love you"

"I love you too. Bye."

"Tootles."

He put his phone on the table and took another sip of beer. His mind wandered over to Alec and Mike, wishing everything would settle down and become normal again, but that didn't seem to be close to what was about to happen.

Tre stood up and walked down the hall following the sound of Billie's guitar. He poked his head in the door and Billie motioned him in with a nod. He closed the door back behind him and unfolded a chair.

"So what's up?" Billie asked.

"Same old. Brittney and I just got done chatting and Mike went off into Alec-land. He covered it up by saying he was thinking about her, not Alec, and ran off to a room. The entire time they were talking and I would speak in he would look at me with a distraught expression like he was waiting for me to slip and blab about Alec. I was then keeping her occupied so he wouldn't have to think of a ton of shit to say to her then he spaced out. Britt snapped him back, but it's getting old. I can't just sit back and watch my best friend walk out on a mine field. It's not going to happen."

"Look at it this way, we've tried to help him. He's not going out there blind. But the problem is, what would, or could, we do about this anyway? If we tell her then hell will explode and we'll all be drug into it then one or two things could happen. Niki might get angry, and we know how bad that could be depending on how mad she gets. It shouldn't be too bad since she already knows the situation. Or Alec could show some new colors and fly off the deep end. That's what I'm afraid of."

Tre stared down at his shoes and hummed softly. Billie placed his hand on his shoulder and stared at the top of his head until he looked up into his eyes.

"It'll work itself out for better or for worse, but somehow it will. Mike knows what he's getting himself into whether he realizes it now or not. Hopefully he'll get his shit together before anything bad happens."

Tre looked back down and clenched his hands together. He nodded. "I guess so." He paused. "I just want this to be done and over with. I've watched those two for almost two months and it's making me want to pull my hair out. How he pretends to love the other is beyond me. Whether it's pretend or not, it's not love, that's for sure. He doesn't, can't, love both of them at the same time! There's no way!"

Billie tightened his grip on his shoulder. "There's nothing we can do here without being a catalyst to destruction. If we do anything then we'll be sucked in too and we can't afford that. Our, and their, sanity will be destroyed. Have you ever been nagged at and followed around by an angry or upset woman?"

He just stared at him in almost disbelief. "Dude, I've been divorced twice...duh?"

"Well, take those two and another one all angry and upset with each other and Mike."

Tre cringed deep inside himself. The thought of it shook him to the bone. "You're right. I guess we'll have to man up and swallow and quit spitting."

"That's it. Feel any better now?"

"Sort of. I guess as good as it's going to get in this situation. I'll just have to keep thinking about Niki's sanity and friendship with Alec to keep myself under control."

"No kidding. Just try not to crack. It's hard, I know, but just try."

Tre nodded in response. "I'll do my best. Thanks, man."

"No problem. Anything for my best friend." They smiled at each other.