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XIII

Amanda Shows Up

Michael was engrossed in Mr. Fuchs's story of Amanda's life. But, his training as an outdoorsman caused him to continually look around. He knew this habit bothered people and he was equally certain that it bothered Jacob as well. As he looked around, he happened to glance at a wall to wall mirror behind the bar. When he did, he saw something that caused ice to form in his veins.

As he continued to look in the mirror, Michael said to Jacob, "Does Amanda know that you're here this evening, Mr. Fuchs?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Because she just walked into Bruno's."

"How do you know?"

"I saw her in the mirror behind the bar."

"The fact that I'm here wouldn't matter to her. She knows that I come here occasionally. Normally, I entertain clients here."

"Well, if she sees you talking to me, she might become a little upset."

"Why?"

"Because I said something to her to make her angry with me earlier today."

"Oh, dear."

"I don't think she's noticed me but, I wouldn't look toward the door. If you had your back to the door, she might not pay any attention to you but, there's no way I can hide myself from her."

As Michael continued to talk, he watched the mirror. He thought that Amanda looked toward them; but, she seemed to not notice. He wondered what she was doing back in Bruno's so soon after managing to give herself a hangover until he saw Wanda and Michelle. He knew that Bertha was a member of this little clique but she was nowhere to be seen. He thought that she would be arriving soon, though.

Michael said, "Mr. Fuchs, if you're careful, you should be able to sneak out without Amanda seeing you. I'd hate to see her angry with you for talking to me after I managed to make her angry with me earlier this afternoon.

"Thanks for the talk, sir. Maybe we'll get to talk again soon."

Jacob nodded, got up and started easing toward the door. Michael waited until Jacob left before he started sneaking toward the door as well. Michael tried to keep himself out of Amanda's line of sight. Michael knew that, at the very least, she wouldn't want to talk to him if she saw him. He saw Jacob head out the door, had just breathed a sigh of relief, and was starting to congratulate himself on their success when, in keeping with the saying about counting your chickens, he felt a large, furry, yet feminine, hand grab his shoulder, spin him around and two equally large powerful and feminine arms wrap around him in a bear hug, literally. He looked up into the eyes of a brown and white bear and feeling two rather large breasts pressing into his chest.

Michael heard the voice of Bertha, who was grinning from ear to ear, saying, "Michael! What are you doing here tonight? Last night, you said that you rarely went to a bar and here you are two nights in a row."

After Bertha put him back on his feet, Michael took the time to take Bertha's arm and ease them away from the door and said, "Well, I wanted to thank Bruno for delivering my car to my apartment complex and decided to have a little dinner here. I had heard that Bruno has a rather good restaurant and I wanted to give him my business tonight. Imagine my surprise when he told me that the restaurant was only open for breakfast and lunch. Well, I need to head home. I'll talk to you Monday." He spoke fast enough to make a lawyer or a politician jealous.

Bertha sniffed his breath and said, "You told us last night that you didn't drink much and I smell alcohol on your breath." Then, she looked at Michael accusingly.

"Well, I will admit to having a glass of wine but, I really need to get home."

"You can't go home, Michael." She sang, "Wanda, Michelle and . . . Amanda are here. Come on and join us for a few minutes. I know Amanda will be happy to see you."

"Oh, I don't think Amanda is going to want to talk to me tonight."

Stopping suddenly and spinning Michael to face her, Bertha said, "What did you do to her last night?" She was glaring at him as she spoke.

"Bertha, God as my witness, I didn't do anything untoward to Amanda last night. It was something I said to her this afternoon that upset her."

"Well, now's your chance to apologize. I don't know Amanda extremely well; but I do know that she's a very forgiving vixen. Come on."

Bertha, none too gently, took Michael's arm and guided him to the table occupied by the other three ladies of her group. Michelle smiled as Michael approached; Wanda just watched him; Amanda, on the other hand, turned her back on him. Even a blind man could see that she was upset with him. Even though he had fully expected such a reaction out of her, after his little speech at Max's Gym earlier in the day, this reaction still caused him a bit of heartache, for some reason. The only thought that crossed his mind was, "Why should her being upset with me bother me?" Bertha escorted him to a chair between Amanda and Michelle.

"Here, Michael, sit between Amanda and Michelle, just like last night."

Michael looked at Amanda and said, "I don't think Amanda would like that."

Bertha said, "Amanda, would it bother you if Michael sat between you and Michelle?"

"He can sit wherever he wants." She answered without emotion.

Feeling a bit despondent, Michael turned to Michelle and asked, "How was your date with Albert today?"

Michelle smiled shyly and said, "It was wonderful. Like I told you on the telephone this morning . . ."

Wanda interrupted and said, "You called Michael this morning?"

"No, I called Amanda."

"Then, how did you talk to Michael this morning?" Bertha asked.

Michelle said, "He was at her apartment at 0130 this morning."

Wanda and Bertha slowly turned their heads and looked at Michael, Wanda in a none-too-friendly manner. "Take it easy. Amanda called me at 2400 wanting me to help her with her hangover." He said in his defense.

"That isn't what is sounded like on the telephone." Michelle said, cheerfully.

Once again, the looks. "When I got there, Amanda answered the door without stitch number one on. Then, she wanted me to sit in the bathroom while she soaked in a tub of cool water."

Bertha leered at Michael as she said, "Did you enjoy your time in the bathroom?"

Amanda spoke up and said, "He must have because he continually stared at me while I sat there."

"Amanda!" Michael said, shocked.

Bertha, Wanda and Michelle looked at each other and then at Michael. "I wasn't staring at her. I was answering her questions. I was brought up to look you in the eye when I answered a question you asked me. Amanda asked me if she should fluff her fur to allow the water next to her skin so she could cool off better. When I answered her, I looked at her."

Michelle said, "Is that why you told her to stay in the tub and you would join her as soon as you got off the telephone?"

Once again, Michael was the subject of scrutiny. "Michelle! Don't make them think things that aren't true! I was saying that I would return to keep her company. She begged me to stay in the bathroom with her while she soaked. I've already told you that."

Changing the subject as quickly as he possibly could, Michael said, "Anyway, Michelle, you were saying about your date with Albert."

"Oh! It was wonderful. Like I told you, Albert included Janet in his invitation. Janet may be eighteen; but, she's still a kid at heart. She loves the amusement park. She wanted Albert to ride every ride with her. At first, I was happy for her; she was enjoying herself so much. But, after a little while, I started feeling funny in my chest. You know what I mean, Michael?"

Michael smiled and replied, "Yes, I do. You were jealous."

"Jealous? I don't understand. Why would I be jealous of Janet?"

"Because, Albert asked you to the amusement park and had included Janet as a way to convince you to accept. When he started spending so much time with your little sister, it bothered you.

"Albert had been nice to you last night and, despite your misgivings about being escorted home by him, you found out that he isn't such a bad guy and you wanted to spend time alone with him to get to know him even better. Right?"

Michelle thought for a few seconds before saying, "You're right, Michael. But, at the same time, I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"I'm afraid he's going to hurt me."

Michael smiled sympathetically at her and said, "Michelle, if you open your heart to Albert, you can count on him hurting you sooner or later."

"What!? Why do you say that?"

"Because he's a guy; more importantly, he's a person. It's inherent in our nature. Normally, we don't want to hurt the ones we care about but, we say or do things," Michael had turned to look at Amanda as he was speaking, "that hurt them. Most of the time, it's purely unintentional; you ask us a question and our immediate response it to say the first thing that crosses our mind. You ask, 'Does this dress make my butt look big?' Without thinking, we might say, 'Yes.' This hurts you because you think we're not happy with the way you look. When, in reality, we think you couldn't be more beautiful than you currently look but, that's the proverbial double-edged sword."

Michelle asked, "Why?"

"Because you, being a woman, always want to be beautiful for your man. You don't want to be more beautiful today than you were yesterday; you want to be just as beautiful yesterday as you are today."

Michelle smiled and said, "I never thought about it that way."

Wanda was becoming visibly impressed with Michael, despite her misgivings about him being human. She said, "Michelle, until Albert proved to be a nice guy, you never cared if a guy thought you were beautiful. Now, Bertha and me, well, we've always wanted our men to think we're beautiful. Right, Bertha?"

"Yeah. You don't know how good it feels to have a man, especially a younger man, tell you that you're beautiful. You know, Jonathan had been flirting with me for almost two years. Last night, as we were lying in bed, he kept telling me how beautiful he thought I was. Of all the men I've ever been with, he's the first one to tell me I was beautiful after we had had sex. I would have never thought it made a difference when I heard it but, it does and, believe me, it's important for a woman to hear it."

Michael said, "So, Jonathan told Bertha the truth as he saw it but, suppose Bertha was getting dressed in front of him and she asked him the dress question. Now, suppose she turned around and the dress did make her butt look too big. Do you honestly think Bertha wants him to say yes?"

Michelle thought and said, "Not really."

"Exactly. But, if Jonathan tells her the truth, she'll be hurt. That's what I'm talking about. If you get involved with any guy, he's going to hurt you, sooner or later. The best you can hope for is a) it's later and b) it's unintentional. So, whatever you do don't tell Albert that you want him to be completely honest with you."

"Why not?"

Wanda said, "Because he might believe you. What if you told him you wanted him to be completely honest with you and then you asked him about any other women he might have slept with in the past? If he's completely honest with you, you'll risk being hurt, especially if you two have started sleeping together. I've never asked any of my former lovers about any other people they've been with. I won't even ask Robert about his exes. It's really none of my business."

Michael looked at Amanda as he said, "Sometimes, we men will say something we believe needs to be said. We say it so a woman that's interested in us won't expect too much from us and yet, she still gets upset because we said the wrong thing, even though we said it so she wouldn't be hurt later."

As Michael said this, Amanda turned toward him and listened. He could see sadness in her eyes as she said, "You said that earlier today so I wouldn't get my hopes up?"

Michael looked at Amanda and said, "Because of my upbringing, it will be difficult for me to be anything more than a friend. I know you have strong feelings for me and I wish that I could accept your feelings. I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told anyone. On the first day that we ate lunch together, after you left my office, I said that, if things were different, I could easily fall in love with you. It isn't easy for me to admit this. After all, I'm 20,000 years old and, as all of you know, the humanimals didn't exist back then. Because of this, it's difficult for me to overlook your ancestry. I've always been fond of foxes and tigers; I'll admit that. However, I never considered one as a potential wife; that would have been ridiculous and downright ludicrous back then. Foxes and tigers were four legged animals that I would have gladly had as a pet, even though they are/were wild animals that only acted on instinct.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Amanda. I want you to remain my friend and, if I can overcome my upbringing and accept that, despite your outward appearances, you're just as human as I am, I would be more than willing to pursue something stronger. But, I don't know when, or even if, that might possibly occur."

Amanda smiled, reached over, took Michael's hand, and said, "That's better than nothing. It even keeps the possibility open. So, would it upset you if I kissed you once in a while?"

"As much as I enjoyed the kisses you gave me last night, I can honestly say I would probably be hurt if you didn't."

She leaned over, kissed Michael on the cheek, laid her head on his shoulder, and said, "I'm sorry I got upset with you earlier today, Michael. I should have known that you didn't say what you said to hurt me. After all, you had helped me forgive my mother for being so mean to you and me this morning."

"I'm glad you understand. You are a very attractive and sweet young woman. As I said a minute ago, growing up, I always thought that foxes and cats, especially lions and tigers, were beautiful animals. You combine two of those three which makes you all the more attractive to me. With all due respect to the other ladies present, if I can overcome my upbringing, you would be the one that I can see me falling for." Michael had laid his head on top of Amanda's as he had spoken.

Bertha said, "Well, I'm glad we got that worked out. Now, all we have to do is get you two into bed together."

Michael gave Bertha a mildly dirty look as he mouthed, "Not any time soon."

As he lay his head on Amanda's, Michael sniffed and said, "Amanda, that's an interesting perfume you're wearing. I don't remember ever smelling anything quite like it before. What kind is it? I might buy some for you."

"I'm not wearing perfume, Michael."

Michael looked around the table and asked each of them if they were wearing perfume. Each denied wearing any. "Now, I know I can smell perfume."

Wanda said, "Michael, humanimal women only wear perfume when they are with a guy they intend to have sex with that night." She sniffed, thought for a couple of seconds and sniffed again. With a shocked look, she said, in a very quiet voice, "Who's in heat?" Nobody answered, although Amanda looked away. "Come on, one of us is in heat and I know it isn't me. If I have to, I'll walk around this table sniffing. I don't want to do that because it'll attract too much unwanted attention to us."

Michael said, "What!? In heat? I thought that the humanimals were exactly like humans. You're capable of having sex any time you want and getting pregnant as a result."

"We are." Wanda said, somewhat sarcastically. "But, one of the things we kept from our animal ancestry was going into heat. Unlike our ancestors, though, we go into heat four times a year, once every quarter, instead of once or twice a year; it lasts about five days. When we're in heat, we have an uncontrollable urge to mate. When we aren't interested in anyone, being in heat is tolerable. On the other hand, if we are interested in someone, the heat becomes almost intolerable and to make matters even worse, if the guy is ambivalent towards us, the intolerability becomes excessively higher. We will do anything to get his attention," she looked pointedly at Amanda and continued, slowly, "even allowing him to see us naked."

Michael slowly looked at Wanda and then turned his head toward Amanda. Wanda asked, "What's wrong, Michael?"

Michael said, "Last night and this morning, Amanda wasn't as shy as she normally is."

Bertha said, "That's right. She was kissing you and fawning all over you all night last night. I just thought it was the alcohol."

Michael said, "Alcohol lowers your inhibitions. She might have been fighting and covering her urges until she started drinking."

On one of the rare occasions where she showed concern toward a human, Wanda said, "Michael, unless you are ready to fight for Amanda, you had best leave."

"What about Amanda? What'll happen to her if I leave?"

"She's going to have to leave, too, or she'll have to fight off the attentions of every male in here, just like that Arctic fox woman last night. Now that I think about it, Amanda being in heat might be the biggest reason that Arctic fox woman was following her around until you showed up but, I've never heard of a female being affected like that by another female being in heat. This is the one time our ability to mate across species boundaries is bad, although. . ."

"Although what?" Michael asked.

"Michael, the perfume you smelled, what did it smell like?"

"It smelled sweet, very pleasant. It smelled like a flower, like--an orchid or a rose, maybe a combination of both."

"Hmm. That's not what I smelled. I smelled something tolerable but not attractive. Hold on a second." Wanda caught the attention of one of the table waiters. "Excuse me, sir."

The waiter looked at her and came to the table. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Could you tell me if you smell anything?"

He sniffed and wrinkled his muzzle. "Yes, ma'am. It isn't an unpleasant smell but it isn't a smell that I would want to smell for any length of time. In fact, it actually makes me want to leave."

Wanda said, "Thank you."

She turned her attention back to Michael and said, "In answer to your question, Michael, Amanda's heat pheromones are triggered to attract you and no one else. However, that doesn't mean that you are free from worry. Just because the smell isn't an attractant to most males, it won't necessarily stop another male from attempting mate with her. If any male realizes that she's in heat, he might challenge you for her in the hopes that she will decide that he's worthy of her attention, if you know what I mean."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

Michael looked at Amanda and saw panic growing in her eyes as she looked about. He took her arm and said, "Come on, Sweetie, if we work this right, no one will realize it's you."

Bertha said, "If you walk out together, only the most aggressive males will try to challenge you for her. I think you'll be safe, though; none of these males look overly aggressive or they're too busy with other females. Of course, the desire to mate can make even the most meek of males become rather aggressive."

Michael held out his arm. She stared at it for a second and then she grabbed it in a death grip, but she didn't grab it in fear. She lay her head on his arm and started caressing it, lovingly. Like last night, she started rubbing her cheek on his arm and sniffing the spot. She even started caressing his chest and nuzzling his neck. It felt good but he knew it was just her heat making her do it; at least, he hoped it was her heat making her act that way.

Amanda and Michael walked arm in arm to the door. When they reached it, Bruno sniffed and snapped his head toward them and Michael thought, "Oh, great. I'm going to have to defend her from one of the most dangerous dog breeds ever developed." However, Bruno quietly said, "Hurry and get her out of here. I'll stop any male that tries to follow."

Michael said, "Thanks, Bruno. Why aren't you affected?"

Bruno leaned toward Michael and whispered, "I've got a woman I love more than life itself and, in bed, she never tells me no. Now, get the Hell out of here. Amanda, please don't come back until your heat cycle is over."

In a voice that sounded like an amorous drunk, she said, "I won't, Bruno. Thank you. Come on, Sweetie."

Michael walked Amanda to her car and, when they got there, she turned, hugged him and gave him a big kiss. Then, she said, "Don't worry, Michael. You're the only one I want to mate with." She smiled shyly, got in her car and drove away.

Michael stood there for a moment with his fingers rubbing his temple and took a deep breath when he felt a large hand on his shoulder. Michael turned and saw Bruno looking at him. "You aren't going with her?" Bruno asked.

"No, Bruno."

"Hmm. She's going to want you."

"I know. She's already told me so; but, we have an understanding."

"And that is?"

"No sex until marriage."

Bruno grunted and said, "That's what my wife told me when we were dating. When her heat would hit, it was all I could do to remind her of her wish. She would call me in the middle of the night begging me to come over and mate with her. Fortunately, humanimal engagements rarely last more than three months."

"Only three months? Why so short amount of time?"

"Because when a humanimal female enters heat, she becomes almost insistent to have sex with the male of her choice. If she's a virgin when she becomes engaged to be married, there is little chance of her being a virgin on her wedding night, if the engagement lasts more than three months. Of course, unlike humans, humanimals don't worry too much about a woman's virginity when they marry. So, if you're one of the humans that is worried about it, I hope you are strong enough to resist if Amanda does that to you."

With a small, weak laugh, Michael said, "Me, too, Bruno. But, I'm not worried about her virginity, or lack of, except that, if she is a virgin, she may not want to give it up to just anybody."

"You're a good human, Michael. Most humans, even today, consider it a badge of honor to take the virginity of a humanimal woman."

"I couldn't do that to any woman, especially Amanda. She's a very special person to me; maybe, in the future, I can overcome some mental blocks I have and start a relationship with her."

*****

As she drove home, Amanda was thinking. "He said that, if he could accept a relationship with a humanimal woman, it would be me. I've got to do whatever I can to convince him to fall in love with me."

When she arrived at her home, she walked up the three flights of stairs to her apartment. As she rounded the second floor level, she heard her downstairs neighbors making passionate love. Angelique, an American river otter, was always very vocal when she and her husband, Oskar Protelo made love. On the rare occasions that Amanda was invited to visit, Angelique was always hanging on Oskar like she was afraid he would run away from her. She rarely wore more than her underwear whenever she answered her door. She always told Amanda that the less she wore the quicker she and her husband could make love whenever the urge struck them, and the urge seemed to strike them several times a day.

Amanda made it to her apartment feeling funny while still hearing Angelique and Oskar going at it. She went to her bedroom and removed her clothing until she was completely naked. Her heat was making it hard for her to wear clothing unless she absolutely had to. She pulled back the covers of her bed and got in. She lay in bed and started thinking again. "I wonder if Michael and I would be as passionate in our lovemaking as Angelique and Oskar. I wonder if we'd make love as often as they do." While she was thinking these thoughts, she fell asleep.

*****

After watching Amanda drive off, Michael went back into Bruno's for several minutes. He walked back to the table that Bertha, Michelle and Wanda were sitting at. He asked if it was alright if he joined them and, after receiving an affirmative, sat back down.

Bertha said, "Michael, why are you still here? Aren't you going to go to Amanda's to keep her company?"

"No Bertha for two reasons. First, I don't want to be tempted to do something that Amanda might regret tomorrow and, second, I have that mental block about humanimal women. Amanda's a sweet and wonderful girl but she deserves a humanimal man, someone who doesn't have any qualms about spending the rest of his life with her."

Wanda said, "I'm impressed. You're not like most humans I've ever met, Michael. Most humans, especially guys, wouldn't hesitate to take Amanda home with the hope of enjoying her body for a night. Is your upbringing the reason you don't want to take advantage of Amanda's predicament?"

"Yes, Wanda. Amanda's the kind of girl I'd love to have a relationship with, if she was human but, she isn't, so I can't imagine me having a relationship with her. I don't want to hurt her that's why I accidentally upset her earlier today."

Michelle looked at Wanda and said, "See Wanda. I told you Michael wasn't like most humans. He's got honor and scruples. I bet he wouldn't hurt anyone of us, except in self-defense and then only if he was backed into a corner."

Bertha said, "Wanda, during that year in which I was wild and sleeping with just about any guy that even remotely showed any interest in me, I met a couple of human guys and took them home with me. I know you hate humans but I can assure you that I don't regret one second of those encounters. Amanda's going to be one lucky and happy girl if she can win Michael's heart."

Michael laughed and said "Well, I've always considered myself to be more of a lover than a fighter and I'm not much of a lover."

Michael spent another hour in the company of the three ladies and learned quite a bit about each of them. He was a bit surprised to learn that Wanda and Bertha were part-time lovers. He was even more surprised to learn that Wanda was the only woman that Bertha had ever had sexual relations with. Neither Wanda nor Bertha bragged about their relationship; they just talked about it matter-of-factly, as if it was common knowledge. Wanda even told Michael the story of how she learned that she was bi-sexual and how it affected her first marriage. Bertha told Michael about her marriage and how it ended. Michelle told Michael the story of why she was so afraid of men in general and caracals in particular. Michael even told them about his situation with the HEV and how it brought him to the 22nd millennium.

After the hour, Michael started yawning and said he needed to get home to get some sleep because he had a busy day tomorrow. He also mentioned that he had to have dinner with his "family" and he wanted to be fresh and awake because he knew that little Anne was going to want him to spend a lot of time playing games with her. This confession impressed Wanda because she still had a hard time believing that Michael, or any human, could love a humanimal the way that Michael so obviously loved Anne. Michael bade them good night and left.

*****

Michael got into his car and started home after wishing Bruno a good night. He drove toward his apartment but, made a side trip to Amanda's apartment complex. He drove through the parking lot of the complex and made sure that she had made it home all right. Even though he told himself that he wasn't interested in a relationship with her, he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

After verifying that Amanda had made it home safely, Michael drove to his apartment. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and unlocked the door to apartment 2-G. He went straight to his bedroom, got undressed, climbed into bed, and, in about 10 minutes was fast asleep. That night, he dreamed of a tiger-striped vixen who continually hugged and kissed him. Most of the time, she was completely naked and he didn't seem to mind that even a little bit. Even though he couldn't see it, he wore a smile the whole time he was dreaming of the tiger-vixen.