And Then There Were Three (14 page)

“Wow this is really real,” Cordelia
exclaimed, smiling from the doorway. Shantell, Amber, and Amy
looked on in fascinated horror. I tried to remove the look of lust
from my eyes but I was beholden to how Nicole made me feel.
Nicole’s eyes wanted to love and protect me, not necessarily in
that order.

“Eva, you are kissing a woman,” Shantell
bellowed as if it were news to me.

“Shantell, I love Nicole. I kiss her every
chance I get.”

“This is so fucking weird,” Monica
interjected. Taking in the scene of Nicole and I in a passionate
embrace was too much. Shantell took out her cell phone dialing
rapidly.

“Mark there is no way Eva should be here
explaining this without you.”

“Shantell, I understand that this maybe hard
to comprehend or understand. I do not owe anyone an explanation
except my children and that has been done. Eva decided to tell you
and the rest of the ladies out of a mutual respect. I respect your
opinion and the remainder of you ladies but it will neither sway
nor destroy what we have with Nicole, no matter how much you may
disagree. I have only loved two women in my life and they are both
in that room with you now. I will never apologize for feeling this
way,” Mark responded, matter of fact.

“But you are putting your kids through this
Mark. They will not understand how their parents can love another
woman. What about when this is over and they miss Nicole?” Shantell
continued to question.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t
underestimate our kids. Our kids are the only creatures on this
planet except the man above that can put an end to this. They have
chosen acceptance without our coercion. Besides I am not in the
mind that this will end. I love Nicole very much as does Eva. My
kids have asked tougher questions than this Shantell and while I
appreciate your concern I am done defending my relationship with
Nicole for the seven sisters. You ladies find a way to enjoy your
weekend. Nicole and Eva I will see you two at the airport Monday
morning.” Mark waited a few seconds just in case. I spoke up first.
“We will see you Monday morning sweetheart.”

For the next few hours Cordelia and I were
the only people speaking to Nicole. We decided after a while that
we would get a separate hotel room and enjoy our weekend.

“You have already paid for your share here
and it is non-refundable,” Monica pointed out.

“I am not going to spend my weekend being
ignored or judged when I could be having fun with Nicole. No
worries I will still pay my share on this room.” I went to my room
to collect our luggage.

“Do you see all the trouble you are causing
already? We have a long friendship. Do you want to be the reason
for its demise?” Amber vehemently interjected.

“Do you remember that you have a long
standing friendship with Eva? Do you remember how she stood by your
side through all of life’s curve balls? Do you remember that
friendships should be unconditional? Do you know how much you are
asking her to give up to make these meetings every three months
comfortable for you? Do you know that people grow and change? Do
you even care about Eva’s feelings? You do understand that our
relationship has nothing to do with you,” Nicole hissed at
Amber.

“Do not presume to know my best friend better
than me because of some kinky pillow talk?” Amber shouted. I pulled
our luggage from the room fighting my anger.

“There usually isn’t much talking when we are
in the bed. But I can see on each and every one of your faces that
you’re more worried about how this will look and reflect on you.
How much have you leaned on Eva in the past? How many of you
swooped in when her marriage was really in trouble during her
postpartum depression? I am not the one you are mad at and the
sooner you realize the better. I have never in my life been in a
relationship like this and I am more scared than any of you have a
right to be. If this doesn’t work out, I lose not one but two of
the most amazing people I have ever met plus their wonderful kids.
You all seem to have forgotten just how strong Eva and Mark’s
marriage was before I happened on the scene. They would survive and
thrive without me in a heartbeat. So before you make a decision and
lose Eva, I seriously think you should consider her feelings first,
not your own.”

Nicole took her rolling luggage bag from my
hand, giving me a chaste kiss before placing it back in our
room.

“We are not going to waste this room. Let’s
have dinner downstairs sweetheart,” Nicole said softly. I could
tell she was feeling really bad about the turn of events. Having to
confront her mortality in our relationship was not something that
brought her joy. And while I could ply her with reassurances up the
wazoo, she was right Mark and I would survive if this relationship
didn’t last. During dinner we rehashed our little vaudeville
act.

“You do know that your marriage to Mark is
the standard by which they measure their own relationships?” Nicole
asked popping a shrimp into her mouth.

“No, they have their own relationships and
standards I am sure.” I replied nonchalantly. Nicole shook her head
laughing. “Eva, wake up. They are angry because from day one your
marriage has shown them how it could be. You have shown them
nothing but success. Everything you touch turns to gold sweetheart.
They need your indirect Midas touch to improve their lives. You
have much more power than you think.”

“That’s absurd Nicole. Cordelia is an openly
gay partner in a large law firm. She fought through mountains of
adversity to finally achieve her dreams. Shantell is a highly
successful pediatrician with research papers on child development
in some of the most highly respected journals. Uwimana has proudly
kept her Rwandan heritage alive with her amazing humanitarian
efforts. Monica, well she is just Monica and drama but it adds
spice to our friendships. Stacey is like a super-genius working on
James Bond type stuff in a secret mountain laboratory, or at least
that’s what I think. Amber is happily married enriching the lives
of children through language. Amy is like a wizard with numbers and
has a great husband and cutey patutey daughter Penelope. So you see
these women are amazing in their own right without my
influence.”

Nicole still smiled at me gorging on the
shrimp. It was starting to irritate me the more she did that.

“What the fuck Nicole? Why are you grinning
like a damn Cheshire cat when my friendships are in jeopardy?” I
managed to say exasperated.

“Now what’s the real scoop? They didn’t wake
up to greatness they trudged through life making mistakes before
they started hitting goals. And while they were making those
mistakes who was right there?”

Nicole finished her last shrimp before
leaning over the table to kiss me. After the kiss I tried to
process those words. There were deep dark secrets that I would
never recount, even in this juicy tell all. Those seven sisters of
mine had done a number of things to survive and achieve success in
both their careers and relationships.

“Damn, I now have to get used to two
know-it-alls in the family,” I retorted, my smile widening. Nicole
shook her head up and down, giggling. Once we finished dinner we
decided to head to the hotel club for some dancing. I needed to
have some fun on this trip and dammit I was going too. The beauty
of Atlantic City was that for once we were not the weird ones. Our
obvious handholding and affection went largely ignored. On the
dance floor we would bump and grind against each other without a
care in the world. Scoring a few drinks we people watched and
chatted.

“Um excuse me but I think you two lovely
ladies need to have those drinks refreshed.” A tall average looking
but well dressed older gentleman explained. Nicole and I exchanged
glances as a waitress handed us each a drink.

“Thanks but this is unnecessary, we just want
to enjoy our date,” I replied hoping he would get the hint.

“I can see the love between you two. I just
want to be surrounded by it, even if I can’t sample the delectable
main course.” He explained smiling. Nicole and I chatted with him
in the VIP area. We told Anderson Manchester about Mark, our
husband, and the real purpose of our trip. There were several
people at his table but his attention was focused on the two of us.
They did Anderson’s bidding whenever he directed them but they
seemed to be enjoying a fun night out as well.

“Eva, I think that you are a brave woman. You
followed your heart and stuck to your guns. I would never let
anyone talk me out of a gorgeous woman like Nicole.” Anderson said
throwing Nicole a knowing look. “Just be patient Eva, we are afraid
of the things we do not understand. Trust me your friends will come
around. Now let’s party.”

We took turns dancing with Anderson, who
remained a perfect gentleman. Anderson plied us with many drinks
and happily took us to the crap tables. Nicole and I were able to
win back the money we spent on our trip, with Anderson’s knowhow of
course. Anderson’s people took copious amounts of pictures with us
on our fun night. Anderson knew how to party and he would have
loved to sample our wares, but he realized he didn’t have a
snowballs chance in hell. Ok so in the elevator back to our suite,
Nicole and I may have drunkenly started to make out while he
watched. Thankfully none of his people were privy to this little
show. Mark, do no kill us when you read that line, I didn’t
remember until days later that we did that. Anderson made sure we
got to our suite safely. We gave Anderson a chaste kiss before we
stumbled into our suite.

“Please tell Mark, he is the luckiest man I
have never met,” Anderson growled as he adjusted his visible
hard-on. We waved our goodbyes. Anderson walked awkwardly away and
we erupted into a round of drunken giggles.

“Shhhhhh,” I giggled as we made our way to
our room. There was someone I couldn’t make out watching TV in the
living room area of our suite.

“I am quiet,” Nicole replied equally as
giggly. I shut the door to our room as Nicole walked into the
bathroom. The sound of running water and Nicole reappearing froze
me in my tracks. I watched as she slowly unbuttoned her dress
before slipping off the silver belt. The navy blue dress hit the
floor and my breath hitched. Nicole was standing before me in a red
thong and navy blue high heels. I licked my lips before pulling my
dress over my head. Nicole flicked a finger in my direction and I
happily followed her into the bathroom. We slipped beneath the
bubbly water giggling once more.

“Anderson looked as if he was going to hurt
someone with what he was packing,” Nicole stammered. That brought
on a fresh round of laughter. When our laughter subsided I took a
few minutes to gaze into Nicole’s eyes. Running my wet thumb over
Nicole’s lips elicited a gasp. Hungrily I took possession of her
lips, gorging myself on the suppleness that was her mouth. I
straddled Nicole as she began a blissful assault on my breasts.

“Up for a second sweetheart,” Nicole
murmured. I watched her wet body slink out of the bathroom. Nicole
walked in with her cell phone immediately taking pictures as I
seductively posed. When she was in the water once more, she turned
the phone around and captured pictures of us in the tub. Nicole in
a fit of play sent the pictures to Mark. We laughed when the phone
rang within a few minutes of the first pictures hitting Mark’s
phone.

“Now why in the hell would you two send me
pictures in a bathtub while I am far away?” Mark said his voice
groggily. No matter how much I enjoyed Nicole it felt weird not
having Mark close, he was such an integral part of our wonderful
triangle.

“Sorry sweetheart. We miss you so much,” I
said pouting.

“We wish you were here,” Nicole added. She
slipped her finger inside me and I moaned. I reciprocated the
gesture and loved her soft moan in response to my fingers.

“Damn! I wish I was there too. Are you drunk?
How are the sisters behaving?” Mark was concerned that I was hurt
by my friend’s lack of acceptance.

“Yes, we are making our own fun, husband,” I
slurred my words as Nicole continued to move inside me.

“Don’t have too much fun without me. You two
are going to get it when you get home. I am hard as a rock right
now.”

“Touch yourself and think of us, sweetheart.”
Nicole encouraged as I allowed her touch to take over my thought
process. Mark obliged and the three of us had incredible phone sex.
Nicole and I took more dirty pictures in the tub, sending them to
Mark, who responded in kind. Pictures of my husband’s brilliant
erection flooded our phones.

“I miss that dick.” I moaned sitting on the
side of the tub as Nicole licked my sweet spot. Mark ended the
conversation after he finished with promises to have his way with
us upon our return. He left us to our drunken fun. We greatly
missed his presence in that moment. Nicole provided me with enough
stimulation for two orgasms. I tried to control the volume of my
moans but her fingers and mouth were marvelous. She tenderly washed
my body and I reciprocated, enjoying the look of drunken happiness
on my beloved’s face.

The bed was calling and we slipped beneath
the covers. I forced Nicole’s legs apart turning the tables, making
her come. I loved her pleas for mercy, which I completely ignored,
while sucking, licking, and teasing her relentlessly. She did her
best to keep the volume low but a few noisy responses escaped her
lips.

“Ah Eva, baby that feels so damn good.” She
whined while I worked. The soft unintelligible mews let me know my
woman was coming, hard. I looked at Nicole, still writhing from her
orgasm before retreating to the bathroom. The warm washcloth was
used to wipe off Nicole who was grateful.

She gave a loud sigh, “Thank you. I do not
think my legs work. You are so good to me baby.”