[Rachel Narration]

I arrived at Quins before 9:00 a.m. and saw Connie, Heather, and Sue are already seated.

“A little anxious this morning,” I stated?

“What!” responded Sue, “We just got here.”

“Yeah, well in two years, Heather has never been less than fifteen minutes late, and yet everyone is right on time this morning,” I said with a smirk on my face.

“Alright, so we’re anxious,” said Connie.

“I don’t think Jay was pleased we were meeting without him this morning. He got this sad, dejected look of worry on his face like we were kicking him out of our group,” I said.

“Well, that’s absurd,” said Connie. “He’s the best friend… and ahh lover any of us have ever had. If anything, I want to spend even more time with him.”

“Okay, well, we can straighten that out with him when he gets here,” I said. “So, who wants to go first?”

For the next hour, we drank Mimosas, and each of us told the others about the beautiful dates and sex we had with Jay. It became immediately apparent that he knew each of us better than we knew ourselves. Listening to the extravagance and planning that went into each date made my heart flutter.

“Girls, I’m still ashamed that we seem to know so little about the guy we call a best friend forever,” said Connie. “I mean, all he needed to do was take us on a cheap date and take us to bed. Instead, Jay must have spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on each of us. I mean, I never felt like he was trying to impress me on our date, but Oh my god, afterward… well... I was impressed. Did anyone even know he had money?”

“Well, I did know his family had money, but you know our Jay, not exactly mister flashy,” said Rachel. “I mean, he drives a five-year-old BMW X5, so you have to know he isn’t exactly poor.”

“He never acted rich before our dates,” said Sue, “he’s always been humble and caring.” 

“So what do we know about his family,” asked Connie.

“Well,” said Rachel, “I’ve met his family and been to his house once. His dad is a Venture Capitalist, and his mom is an executive for a Record Label. He has a younger sister; he calls her Mel and an older brother Adam.”

“What’s a Venture Capitalist,” asked Sue?

“They’re business people that have the knowledge and a lot of money. They use that money to invest in businesses that are in trouble, or just starting up. Then they use their knowledge to save the business and make it successful,” said Heather. “Have you ever watched that show, Shark Tank?”

“Yes,” answered Sue.

“Well, those guys are Venture Capitalists,” replied Heather.

“Girls, I know the cat’s out of the proverbial bag with the dates, and how much we all know Jay spent on us. Although Jay never wanted anyone to know he has money. He asked me never to divulge that his parents were loaded, so keep it to yourselves, okay,” Asked Rachel.

Connie spoke with conviction. “Rachel, I love Jay, and I don’t care if he does or doesn’t have money. He could have taken me for a walk in the park, and I would have been just as happy with our date. Girls, I’m just going to say it; I’m deeply in love with Jay.”

“What about us, Connie?” asked Sue. “I’m in love with Jay too.”

“And what about Heather and me?” asked Rachel. “I don’t know about Heather, but I’ve loved Jay since I first met him, I just always thought he was out of reach.”

“I’m with Rachel, I don’t know if I’m ready for wedding bells, but Jay certainly rang my bell,” said Heather.

“Girls, we can’t all have Jay, he’s going to have to choose one of us,” said Connie.

“Connie, that would kill him. He would rather have all of us as best friends, then one of us as a lover or wife,” said Sue.

“And why can’t we all have him?” asked Heather. “We all just spent the last two weeks all having sex with him. Did anyone get hurt, is anyone jealous of the other three? We had sex with Jay and each other the mornings after and made that work. So, I repeat, Why can’t we all have him?”

“Heather, what would people think?” asked Connie. “Not to mention, at worst, it’s called polygamy, and it’s illegal, or at the least is polyamory, a practice frowned upon.”

“Who cares what anyone thinks?” extolled Heather! ”I mean, I love you guys, and I love Jay. No one has the right to tell me who I love or how I love.”

We all sat contemplating Heather's words looking at each other and drinking our Mimosas. Sue was right, though; it would crush Jay to have to choose one of us over the others. We had two choices; we were either all lovers or all friends. There could be no in-between, as Connie so eloquently put it, we had to remain equal.

“So girls, what are we going to do?” asked Sue. “Jay will be here any minute, and we can’t hurt him, no matter what.”

“Girls, I think we need to take a step back. We all love Jay, but the truth is that we helped our best friend come out of his shell. He’s a great guy, and we need to continue to help him, so he never goes back in a shell. I think he needs successes with other women, so he’s not afraid of being rejected again.” said Rachel.

“I agree with Rachel,” said Heather. “I love Jay, but we’re the first girls he’s ever been with. If we stick him in a cage, he could have regrets later. He needs to explore and experience his newfound awakening.”

“NO!” exclaimed Connie. “I’ll share him with you guys, but I don’t want to even think about him with anybody else.”

“Connie, honey, Heather and Rach are right,” said Sue. “I gave him my virginity, and now I couldn’t imagine ever having sex with anyone but him. However, I at least had the experience of dating dozens of different guys and learning what I liked and didn’t like. Jay only knows us and pardon the expression, but we were easy. At least we were for Jay anyway.”

“Yeah, Connie,” said Rachel, “up until now Jay has been… well… just one of the girls.”

“Jay is not a girl,” said Connie!

“Honey, we know Jay is all man… god, is he a man!” said Sue, “but what Rach was saying is we never looked at him as a person beyond just being one of us. Until last week you all thought he was gay.”

“What do you mean, ‘you all?’” asked Rachel.

“I mean, I have always known or at least suspected Jay was not gay,” said Sue. “I thought he could have been maybe asexual, but suspected he was just super shy like I was. We took him to Jaspers, and those good-looking gay guys hit on him. He was oblivious, and I never caught him looking at any guys. Us, though, I’ve caught him looking at us plenty.”

“I’ve never caught Jay staring at me,” said Rachel.

“Oh, and you probably never will,” said Sue. “Jay is slick about it. I suspect he is good at using his peripheral vision. I’ve been carrying on a conversation with him before when one of you was changing behind me. I’ll get this feeling that he’s not looking at me, even though he’s looking straight at me. I’ll make a funny face, and he doesn’t react. He’s either daydreaming during our conversation or focusing on something or someone else in his vision. I know he hears every word I say, so I don’t believe he’s daydreaming.”

“I don’t know whether to smack him or hug him for that,” said Heather.

“Heather, he has never been anything but our best friend, and now lover,” said Rachel. “I don’t care if he looked at me, or wanted me secretly. It’s not like any of us weren’t trying to get him to look. I made a mistake two years ago by labeling a friend. I realize now if I had forced the issue with him, we would have gone out once or twice, I would have thought he was lame, and he would only be a distant memory. Instead, the four of us have one of the best friends anyone could ask for. I can’t regret how this all started.”

We all sat, contemplating for a few minutes while sipping our Mimosas. The waitress came over and asked if we would like to order yet, as it was after 11:00, and brunch ended at 11:30.

“Rachel, where’s Jay,” asked Connie; “he’s always right on time? It’s 11:05.” 

“I don’t know, he was still sleeping when I left, but I set the alarm for 10:30.”

“I’m calling him,” said Connie.

‘This is Jason, leave a message’

“Jay, honey, it’s Connie and the girls. We’re waiting for you at Quins. Hurry up and get here, we miss you.”

[Jay Narration]

My eyes opened to music coming from my phone; it was 10:34 a.m. I looked around, but Rach was gone.

“RACH!” I called. No answer. Where are the girls, they usually wake us up after a date? I hope they aren’t mad because everyone didn’t get backstage passes. I lay in bed a while longer before getting up to take my shower. I started the shower before looking into the mirror, only to look at myself surprised; I was covered in marks… teeth marks. What the hell bit me? I thought…  this one on my chest stings.

I had just stepped in the shower when I heard the phone ring, but let it go to voice mail. The bite on my chest stung and bled a little as I washed it. I got out of the shower and heard the phone ring again, but dried off and put some ointment on the bite. Damn Rach, that really hurts, I thought to myself.

I finally reached for my phone, it's 11:26, and saw Connie has called twice, and Sue was the last call. It dawned on me, OH SHIT, QUINS. I hurried and got dressed and grabbed my phone on the way to the door. I pressed redial as I opened the door, only to hear Sue’s ringtone. The door opened to the four girls standing in a semi-circle around my door.

“Hi Jay, we’re standing outside your door waiting for you,” said Sue, while smirking at me.

“Girls, I am so sorry! I was totally out of it this morning and just realized it was Sunday.”

“Jay, there’s blood on your shirt,” said Connie.

“Oh, I thought it quit bleeding.”

Connie quickly lifted my shirt, and Connie, Heather, and Sue let out gasps.

“What the fuck?” said Heather.

Rachel slowly backed out of the room as the girls looked at the bites on my chest and stomach.

“Oh no, you don’t!” exclaimed Heather as she turned and grabbed Rachel. “What the fuck did you do, Rach!”

“What, it’s just love bites,” said Rachel.

“That bitch is not a love bite,” said Connie, pointing to the bleeding bite on my chest.

“No, that one was punishment,” answered Rachel.

“Punishment for what?” asked Sue.

“Do you want to tell them, or should I?” answered Rachel.

I replied, “Last night, Rach and I were having sex in front of the stage. Rachel had an orgasm, so I pulled out of her, and the girl next to us grabbed my cock and started stroking it. She asked me if my girlfriend would share, and I told her no. She told me, 'too bad,' and pushed my cock into my pants and let go. Rachel turned and gave the girl a look before taking my arms and wrapping them around her.”

“And how long was she holding your cock?” asked Connie.

“I don’t know, it all happened so fast, maybe thirty seconds.”

“Try more like a minute dickhead!” exclaims Rachel.

“Oh, well, Jay, honey, I understand why Rach was mad,” said Connie.

“What was I supposed to do, nothing like that has ever happened to me before. Rachel and I were having sex in public, I didn’t exactly want to draw attention to us, so I just politely declined her offer. I mean, I didn’t ask her to grab me.”

“Listen, dickh…”

“RACH, let me handle this,” exclaimed Connie.

“Jay, honey, we know you didn’t ask for it, but you need to understand that in today’s world, women can be just as depraved and inappropriate as men can. The four of us have all had to deal with inappropriate touching.” Connie quickly grabbed my ass. “Now slide your hand between your body and my hand and gently move it away.”

I did as Connie said. “Now look at me and say ‘Sorry, I’m taken, but thanks for the compliment.’”

I respond, “Sorry, I’m taken, but thanks for the compliment.”

“Great, now that whole action would have taken less than ten seconds. Most girls would have backed off, and Rach probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it. It was the lingering time that pissed Rach off, as it would have the rest of us. Baby, it showed that you liked it, and that’s what pissed Rach off.”

“So is that what you girls do when someone grabs you?” I asked.

Heather laughs, “Hell no, someone grabs me, they’re getting slugged, my drink in their face, or both.”

“Yeah, but baby, girls can get away with defending themselves. If a guy did that to a girl, he’s getting his ass beat by the guys around, and will end up in jail. You just stick with polite as possible, okay?” said Connie.

“Well, that’s what I was trying to do last night, and she bit me for it.”

“I’m sorry baby; I didn’t mean to bite you so hard. But you know how to act in the future, so I trust you will be much more discrete next time.”

“Girls, I need to get something to eat.”

“We do too, sweetie. We were waiting for you at Quins, but you never came. All we’ve had are Mimosas,” said Connie.

“Oh, I’m sorry, let’s go back to Quins, maybe Frank will make our favorites anyway.”

We headed back to Quins, where Megan Quin, our regular server, and half owner of the restaurant greeted us. Megan immediately came to me and hugged me. Then, she stepped back and slugged me in the arm.

“What the hell, Jay!” said Megan. “We waited for you for two hours this morning. Fred and I were worried sick that something happened to you.”

“I’m sorry, Meg, last night was a little crazy. I woke up late this morning in a daze, and it took a bit longer than usual for my brain to engage,” I said, getting laughs from everyone. “Do you think Fred could still whip up the usual?”

“I don’t know Jay, Fred stood ready to make five orders of Eggs Benedict for two hours this morning. He was pretty upset you didn’t show. I think he’s going to require some groveling on your part,” said Megan with a little grin on her face.

All the girls look at me and then pointed to the kitchen door. I slunk back to the kitchen; 

“JAY, WHAT THE HELL!” said Fred.

“Hey Fred, sorry I kept you waiting this morning. It was a crazy night last night. I woke up late and didn’t remember what day it was.”

“Those girls are keeping you hopping, son,” answered Fred with a wink.

“They are a handful; you have no idea, Fred. Hey, you think you could still whip up our usual?” I asked.

“I don’t know, Jay; you kinda messed up my mojo this morning.”

“Fred, man, I’m begging you. The girls are going to string me up if I don’t get them their Eggs Benedict.”

“Weeelll, Okay, since you guys are my best customers, I’ll take care of you. But you owe me one, Jay,” answered Fred.

“Fred, man, you and Meg are the best. Anything you ever need of me, just ask.”

“Count on it,” retorted Fred.

Fred and Megan Quin are co-owners of Quins Cafe & Grill. They have been married for thirty-two years but never had children. Megan liked to say, one child, Fred, was enough for her. They had both worked on Wall Street and made enough money to retire in their forties. After traveling for a few years, they decided they had had enough and wanted to do something they’d enjoy. Fred had always loved grilling food, and Megan was a gourmet chef at home. 

Fred and Megan were driving their motor home through town about five years ago when they broke down. They had coasted into the parking lot of a dumpy little grill on a Sunday at 9 a.m. Fred went to the door to find in locked but saw someone inside, so he knocked. After talking to the owner, he found out the place was for sale, so he bought the place. That dumpy little grill was torn down and rebuilt into Quins Cafe & Grill.

I get back to our corner booth with a sad expression on my face. The girls all looking at me with disappointment until I smiled and told them Fred was making our brunch. “Yay,” they all screamed. 

“Good thing,” said Heather, “we were fully prepared to strip off your clothes and make you walk home naked if you failed.”

“So, baby, you know the girls and I talked this morning about our dates,” said Connie. “Well, we all loved that you quite literally came up with the perfect date for each of us.

“Yeah, baby,” said Rachel, “it showed us how much you pay attention to each of us. And the sex, my god Jay, you even custom-tailored the sex for each of us.”

“Not that we have a single complaint, but why, Jay?” asked Sue. “We were all quite literally a sure thing, you could have taken us to Applebee’s, Chili’s, or something, and you still would have had sex with all of us.”

The girls all look at me intently as I contemplate my response for a moment. “Girls… you are the best friends I have in the world. I’ve listened to every lousy date or bad relationship story you told me or cried on my shoulder about. I always thought to myself, ‘If you were my girl, I would have shown you the time of your life. I would have made sure you felt loved and respected.’ So, when I finally got my chance to impress you, I took it.”

“But Jay, honey,” retorted Sue. “You didn’t need to impress us or buy our love. We love you for who you are.”

“You misunderstand me, Sue, it wasn’t about the money. I love you guys. Yes, I spent a lot on each of you, but what I wanted to impress you with, was how much I cared, and how much I knew each of you. I didn’t want you just to have a good time; I wanted you to have a good memory. So even if that were the only date we ever went on, you'd still remember it ten or twenty years from now. That… that you’ll always remember me.”

“Jay, honey,” retorted Connie, “we will always remember those dates, but even without the dates, I could never forget you, not as long as I live.” The other three girls responded in kind.

“Thank you, girls, you don’t know how much that means to me,” I responded.

Our brunch arrived, and we all ate and had the usual chit chat about campus life until Heather turned the conversation to me.

“Jay, baby,” asked Heather, “we all know you don’t act like you have money, but you drive a five-year-old BMW, so we know you’re not poor. I guess what I’m getting at is, how could you afford those dates?”

“Jay, you don’t have to answer that,” responded Connie. “I wouldn’t care if you were poor.”

“Yeah, Jay, we all love you for who you are,” said Rachel.

“I know you guys don’t care about money,” I answered. “My family is wealthy, but growing up, I came to realize many of my so-called friends were only my friends because my family was rich. In High School I started driving an old beat-up car, I bought my clothes from goodwill, usually a size or two big, and I just lived cheap. If people didn’t want to know me because of my clothes, or the car I drove, I didn’t need them anyway.”

I continued, "The girls in middle school I’ve told you about, I thought they were my friends. They started hanging around me the first year, would always ask to study at my house. They would have dinner with us, even went on a couple of vacations with me. Then, on my sixteenth birthday, they were spending the night. We had played the typical games and watched a movie. Until Crystal suggested, we play spin the bottle. We played, the girls all kissed me, kissed each other until I had to go to the bathroom. The playroom, as we called it, had a heavy door down a short hall that was propped open."

I carried on, "I accidentally hit the thing holding it open, and it slammed shut. I started to open the door when I heard Ally laugh and say; 'Oh my god, if I have to kiss him one more time, I’m going to puke. Crystal, why did you have to suggest we play?'

'I thought you liked Spin the Bottle,' answered Crystal.

'I did with Billy Johnson; he’s good-looking. Jason is such a wimpy little dweeb, though. The only reason we hang around him is that his dad is rich, and his mom buys us stuff. Every time he touches me, I want to run to the bathroom and wash.'

I had walked out of the hall and was standing behind them when Tiffany noticed me and kicked Ally. I was crying when Ally turned around, looked at me, and said, 'Oops.' Instead of apologizing, she and the girls started teasing me for crying."

“Jay, honey, we all love you so much, we can’t believe anyone could be that cruel to you,” said Connie.

“Anyway,” I said, “that’s why I don’t like people knowing I have money. Rachel found out during our first semester. Her parents went on a cruise over Thanksgiving, so I invited her to come home with me. My mom was ecstatic that I brought a girl home, even though I kept telling her Rach was just a friend. When we got back to campus, I made Rachel promise not to tell anyone.”

“In the interest of honesty, baby,” said Rachel, “I told the girls a little this morning, but not everything. I kinda figured the cat was out of the bag with how much you spent on our dates, and I didn’t want to lie when they asked what I knew.”

“It’s okay Rach, I know you kept your word, and I wouldn’t lie if any of you had asked. You guys always treated me with respect before you knew I had money, so I don’t care what you know. Just, please keep it between us.”

My dad started giving me an allowance when I was sixteen, which was more than most people make in a year, and I was expected to take care of my own needs. Buy my clothes, special snacks, games, anything like that. I didn’t need to buy food or necessities like soap and shampoo. Unless I wanted something different than what our house manager bought.”

“House manager!” exclaimed Sue.

“Mrs. Graves is our house manager or mom’s assistant. She takes care of all the household needs, like buying groceries, arraigning repairs, paying bills, and coordinating schedules. She also manages staff, two maids, and a cook.”

“What do you do with your money?” asked Heather.

“Mostly, I just save or invest it. I have an investment firm that takes care of it. Honestly, I transfer 90% of what my dad gives me into my investment account every month. I haven’t even looked at the account since I was sixteen.”

“How do you know they’re investing your money properly?” asked Sue.

“Well, it’s the same firm my dad uses, and they consistently give him returns in the 20% range. I just trust that they are working for my benefit. I mean, the more money they make me, the more money they make for themselves.”

“Baby,” ask Connie, “tell us about your family?”

“Well, my dad’s name is John, and he started out working on Wall Street for a prominent investment firm. He created an investment portfolio that his bosses told him was crazy, and would lose money. He told his boss, a partner in the firm, that he was so confident that he would put his own $10,000 savings in the portfolio to prove its viability. The partner gave him an additional $100,000 to test the portfolio and told him he had a month to double it or lose his job. At the end of the month, there was $800,000, so the firm gave him $10 million. In two years, the portfolio was worth over $200 million. Anyway, dad is good at what he does."

I continued, "Dad got tired of working for other people and losing the lions share of the profits. He opened his own Venture Capital firm about twelve years ago. Now the company has something like 200 employees and owns equity in hundreds of businesses. He helps people who have good business ideas, but maybe not the full knowledge to make their business successful." 

I finished with, "My mom Katherine is an executive at a record label. My dad met her singing at a Manhattan Jazz Club. He always said meeting her was fate. A taxi dropped him off at the wrong address, he went into the jazz club to use the phone and heard my mom singing. He said it was love at first sight. They went together for about a year before mom got a call from a record label she had sent a demo too. Dad said she was on cloud nine when she left for the interview, and they hired her… as a receptionist.”

“So your mom worked her way from receptionist to an executive,” asked Heather.

“Yeah, she went from reception to artist acquisitions, was a talent scout for years. Then artist representative, few other positions, and a few years ago they made her vice president of the artist and repertoire department,” I answered.

“Of course, you all know I have an older brother Adam and younger sister, Melony. Adam just turned twenty-four, and Melony is eighteen.”

“So Rachel has met your family. When do the rest of us get to meet them?” asked Connie.

“Well, you are all welcome to come home with me for Thanksgiving in a few weeks, but just be warned, my mom and sister are huggers. And that first time I brought Rach home, they went crazy asking her questions, which is why I never took her back. I can’t even imagine what mom will be like if I bring four girls home. Mom knew how bad those girls destroyed me and my confidence. So when I brought Rach home, she was both happy and suspicious, even though I kept telling her Rach was just a friend.”

“Well, bitch, now you have four friends… with benefits,” said Heather.

“HEATHER,” admonished Connie!

“What, it’s true, he just has to ask, and any or all of us with sleep with him,” exclaimed Heather.

“Wait, what?” I asked, “I thought this was a one time deal?”

“Only if you want it to be,” answered Sue.

“But, babe,” said Rachel, “We all talked and thought you should use your new-found confidence, and ask some other girls on dates. Not that we don’t want you because we do. We just don’t want you to feel obligated to date only us.”

At that point, I noticed Connie and Sue glare at Rachel.

“Yeah baby, Brandi likes you, you should ask her out,” said Heather.

“Oh… well, thanks, girls, but I don’t know,” I responded.

“Honey, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You can date us if that’s what you want,” said Connie.

“YES, he can do that, CONNIE, but WE want you to try dating other girls too,” said Rachel.

“Well, if you guys want me to,” I said. Connie looked like she wants to say something, but I saw Rachel giving Connie a look.

“Hey guys,” said Sue, “speaking of Brandi, wasn’t she reading her poetry at the coffee shop this afternoon?”

“We’re probably too late,” said Connie.

“No, she wasn’t supposed to go on until 2:30,” answers Heather.

I’m not sure why, but Connie didn’t look happy as we all walked to the coffee shop. At one point, she came up alongside me and took my hand. Until Rachel jumped on Connie’s back, forcing our hands apart.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothing, just messing with my best girl Connie,” answered Rachel.

We continued to the coffee shop and found Brandi sitting by herself.

“Hi guys,” said Brandi. “Thanks for coming out to support me. What’s wrong, Connie, you look upset?”

“I’m fine, Brandi, just drank more than I should have at brunch,” said Connie. “I’m just feeling a little woozy.”

“Sweetie, you need me to take you home?” I asked.

“Ye...”

“NO, I have some pills for you right here, Connie,” Rachel talked over Connie.

“Oh, well, if you want me to take her home, I can.”

“I’m fine, baby, the girls will take care of me,” responded Connie.

We stayed a while drinking coffee and listened to Brandi’s poem. This one was about a butterfly and took Brandi about five minutes to read. As usual, we gave her our attention and clapped when she finished. She came over and sat with us once she finished her reading.

“What did everyone think of ‘Ode to the Butterfly,’” asked Brandi?

“It was beautiful, Brandi,” said Rachel. “I think it captured the essence of the butterflies places in nature.”

“Yes, Brandi, another beautiful poem,” I said.

“Thank you,” replied Brandi, “you guys want to take a walk in the park with me?”

“I think we are going to take Connie back to her apartment,” said Heather, “but Jay can go with you.”

“I’m okay, ouch!” exclaimed Connie as Rachel pinched her.

“We would hate for you to throw up in the park Connie,” said Rachel.

The girls all got up and dragged Connie with them, pushing her towards the door. Brandi and I sat for a few more minutes and talked before we head to the park. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, but a little on the cool side as we walked and talked in the park. I had never really considered Brandi for anything but being a friend, but as we walked and talked, I looked at her more. She was quite beautiful, but her dress, multiple piercings, and tattoos detracted from natural beauty.

Brandi was the average height for a girl, maybe five-foot-five inches tall. She looked to be a natural blonde, with a beautiful shape. The biggest problem was she seemed depressed, and just looked sad most of the time. Her upside was she was incredibly smart, and an excellent conversationalist. I wasn’t sure, but I suspect she has a photographic memory. She was often described as being a Professional Student. She started college at sixteen, and was a few credits from a business degree, a few credits from an engineering degree, and was now working on a literature degree. 

We had talked for about an hour before I built the nerve to ask her out. “Hey Brandi, I was wondering if you would go out with me some time?”

She looked a little taken aback but responded, “But, I thought...”

“I was gay,” I finished her sentence. “No, I’m not, just timid around most girls.”

“Oh, well, Jay, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I don’t think you’re my type.”

“Well, how do you know unless you try me out?” I responded.

“I guess we could go out and see how it goes, but I’m busy all this week, and next weekend I’ll be out of town. Wait, if it’s okay, we could go someplace tonight,” She responded.

“Sure, tonight is fine. What time would you like to go?” I asked.

“I don’t want to be late, so how about 6:00, and I’ll come to your apartment,” She responded.

We walked from the park back to the apartment complex and parted ways at her building 502. I continued and was about to walk in my apartment when I heard screaming coming from Connie’s apartment. I was just about to knock when Heather opened the door coming out. 

“Oh Jay, you’re back, how’d it go with Brandi,” she asked?

“Fine, we’re going out tonight. Who’s screaming and breaking stuff?”

“Connie is just taking a little break from reality."

“Is that him at the door, let me by,”

Crash! 

"I think she just wasn’t paying attention and had too much to drink. We can take care of her, you just go on your date with Brandi and have fun,” Heather responded.

“Are you sure, Heather? I can usually calm Connie down pretty quickly whenever she gets upset.”

Heather closed the door, came over, and gave me a sweet kiss while she caressed my cheek. “Go, baby, we need you to know you can have anyone you want, but we are always here for you. Oh, but Jay, honey, nothing extravagant, just take Brandi somewhere nice, but simple.” 

“Okay,” I responded. Heather went back into the room, and I went into my apartment to get ready. I spend a few minutes glancing through the student events calendar, and a local events paper. I found there was a dinner theater production starting tonight at 6:30, so I called and made reservations. Luckily they had one table for two left, so the evening was set.

I had taken a shower and just finished dressing in some tighter fitting chinos and a printed tee that Rachel bought me last week. There was a knock at the door, and I opened the door to find Brandi in a lovely dress, but all her piercings were out except a tiny stud in her nose and one earring in each ear. She was quite stunning.

“Brandi, you look stunning, but what happened to your piercings?”

“Well, I didn’t want you to be embarrassed by me, so I took most of them out,” she responded.

“Brandi, I would never be embarrassed to be seen with you. You’re beautiful just the way you are. I want you to feel you can be yourself around me.”

Brandi smiled brightly at my response and asked to use the bathroom. She went in and came back out a few minutes later with five earrings in each ear, a larger stud in her nose, and the small stud in her lip.

“There’s the Brandi I know and love.” Brandi walked over and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

“Thank you, Jay, you’re a lot better man than I gave you credit for.” Brandi simply beamed ear to ear. In all the time I had known her, I had never seen her smile so bright.

We drove to the Dinner Theater about a mile from the apartments. Brandi seemed surprised when I pulled into the parking lot but didn’t say anything. I opened her door, and we went in and were seated in the front. The hostess told us we are lucky as a pair of regulars called to cancel a few minutes before I called. They would typically give us seats at the back, but it was too close to showtime. They didn’t want to move anyone else around.

The play was a comedy called Cat Scratch Fever. It was hilarious, with lots of sexual innuendos, but apart from that, used actual cats in many parts. As Brandi was a vegetarian, we both had a vegetarian dish. She told me not to feel I needed to order a vegetarian meal. I explained that while I wasn’t a vegetarian, I always tried not to eat meat a couple of days per week.

We left the theater, and I turned into her parking lot, but she put her hand on my shoulder and asked if I had anything to drink at my place. I said I did and asked if she would like to come up for a nightcap. We walked into my apartment, and I told her to make herself comfortable.

“I have beer, wine, vodka, or rum,” I said.

“What kind of wine,” she asked?

“A Cab, or White Zinfandel.”

“The Zinfandel,” she responded.

[To be continued, Chapter 3 Part 2]