(Special thanks to SexperimentalSu for her editing assistance)
AFTERNOON
"This must be a fancy building, there are coat hooks in the elevator."
Amy chuckled at her naive thought. She had only been to Manhattan once before and knew enough to know she knew nothing about it. So far, Gramercy Park seemed like a great area to live if, she thought, she'd ever want to live here. This "warm patch" in January was still freezing for her and she already missed the Nevada heat.
She looked at her carry-on, next time she'd pack long instead of thong underwear. Hopefully Tracy would let her borrow a thick coat. Amy was looking forward to seeing her friend and having a quick night out before Tracy's flight in the morning. Amy had agreed to watch her friend's place for a week, figuring it would be a fun way to see the city with no hotel charges.
House sit. Too bad it didn't pay, Amy was making a career of this. She thought back to the night with Chad, now more than a year ago.
It wasn't that he didn't try to contact her , he had, they had even been out a few times. And in a few times. The brief encounters had been fun but neither of them revealed much of their feelings. Neither had tried hard enough to see where it could go. And Chad was too shy, too busy, too everything.
Their tryst had died with a whimper.
But she shook these thoughts from her mind as the elevator arrived at Tracy's penthouse. The girl lived well.
Amy had met Tracy or "Spacey Tracy" a few years ago in a pottery class back home. Amy admired Tracy's free spirit, her professed wanderlust as well as her sexually liberated nature.
Exiting the elevator car, Amy stepped to the apartment's front door and rang a worn bell. A beat later, a slobbish but good-looking guy answered. 30's, unshaven, lean but broad shouldered.
"Yeah?"
Amy suddenly felt very foolish, "Sorry, I must have the wrong address. Do you know which of these places are Tracy's?"
The guy gawked at her blankly before calling inside, "Tracy, it's for you."
Amy blinked. Did this guy live here? Had Spacey Tracy not told him Amy would be staying too?
Tracy came out of the bedroom, all gorgeous svelte blonde of her. A little bit hippie, little bit New York trust fund in a sheer white dress. Her four-inch heels CLOPPED over to Amy, bear hugged her, powerful for such a trim package.
"I see you've met Warren, my roommate."
Within moments Tracy was showing Amy around the apartment, a large place by Manhattan standards. There were pieces of priceless artwork mixed with Tracy's own "Art." The girl had dabbled in everything from watercolors to sculpture. Very little of it good.
A roman-style collum ran from floor to ceiling in the middle of the living room. "Too thick for pole dancing," Tracy joked as they passed it.
Tracy had the master bedroom and Warren seemed to live on a futon in the living room, as well as in the guest bedroom and also had set up a kind of camp in the 2nd bathroom. "They can't be fucking," Amy thought, "Because her bedroom is spotless."
Tracy led Amy to her attached bathroom. "So it's a long flight, you probably want a shower."
Amy looked at the ornate bathroom, all marble and stone. The shower was huge with multiple heads, including one at waist level. Amy remarked that sounded good and Tracy handed her a towel and excused herself. Amy peeled off her clothes, the scent of air travel on them.
The water refreshed her. A few moments under the jets and Amy felt any stress slipping away. Her mind wandered, settling on an image of Tracy and Warren in this same shower. Soap and water on their rock-hard bodies.
Amy was tempted to touch herself under the steaming jets. The desire surprised her, though she still found herself moving closer to the waist-high nozzle. She began to imagine Tracy's body pressed up against the glass, Warren holding her firm as he took her from behind.
In the real world, Amy began to maneuver the nozzle and then herself so the pressure would fall just on her...
"How's the water?" Tracy was standing in the room. She held two martinis, watching Amy under the stream.
Amy jumped, instinctively covering herself before realizing the futility of it. She let her arms drop.
"Just, great."
Tracy motioned the second Martini was for her and placed it on the marble sink. The woman had the barest smile and sat on the edge of the shower. Her eyes roamed over the naked girl.
"Wow Amy, I forgot how amazing your body is! I can't wait to lend you something for the clubs tonight!"
---
The next hour involved drinks and more drinks as Amy tried on Tracy's itty-bitty outfits in the bedroom. When Tracy wanted a useless opinion, she would pull Warren out one of his assorted lairs for feedback. Later, in hushed tones, Tracy revealed that Warren was a good but struggling writer who she just liked having him around.
And no, they hadn't had sex. The guy had never even made a move on her.
When both of them had finally settled on ultra-short skirts and had dressed (more like undressed, Amy mused) it took just one more drink for Tracy to gush she thought Warren was hot. But he was also a slob and it was driving her crazy.
Amy knew that when Spacey Tracy used a word like crazy, she meant it.
NIGHT
A nonstop blur of a night. Amy followed Tracy from bar to bar, club to club, a dizzying array of sights and sounds. Tracy seemed to know almost everyone and they all wanted to do her a favor, buy her a drink, give her whatever she wanted.
In true voyeur fashion, Amy observed from afar as much as Tracy would let her. They rubbed shoulders with bouncers and bums, beautiful people and handsome cab drivers.
Somehow, someway they found themselves in a Japanese convenience store. (Japanese Target Tracy had called it) Amy hadn't questioned how they had left the last club or what semi-black market item Tracy was originally looking for when she froze, called to Amy.
"Shit! Look at this!"
It was an electronic dog collar with a remote attached to it. Probably not legal, the store's owner explained that it sent a jolt through the neck of any badly behaving dog.
Tracy looked shocked, as strange as she could sometimes act, she had a big soft spot for animals. In moments she told the owner she'd take it.
Amy questioned, "Tracy, you don't have a dog. And if you did, this would be a cruel way to..."
Tracy cut her off. Explained she wanted to get rid of the torture device. When Amy began to explain that Tracy was actually rewarding the owner and manufacturer by purchasing it, perhaps even leading to more being built down the line, Tracy shushed her.
The owner shot Amy a glare as he rang up the collar.
A beat later both women were back in the hustle of the city, the collar in Tracy's bag. Tracy took Amy's arm and led her toward a dive bar, its lit-up red sign simply beckoned COCKTAILS...
LATE NIGHT
Their heads swimming, Amy followed Tracy back to the apartment. They rode the elevator in a kind of giggling silence. Stumbled out of it and to the front door of the apartment. Tracy struggled to find her keys, moving aside the dog collar in her bag.
A moment later Amy followed her inside. The place was dark, save for the blue glow of the television.
Tracy found the light switch, flicked it on and gasped. The place was a disaster. Clothes scattered everywhere, empty beer cans, some kind of failed egg experiment in the kitchen.
And in the middle of it all, Warren snored on the couch. The television on mute, the man had fallen asleep while watching a porno. On the screen a nude, whisper-thin woman was roped to a bench while a female bodybuilder flogged her.
Amy looked at Tracy and saw her friend's lips were pursed. Tracy had the kind of face that could look cute in a pout, but this was drunk-fueled anger.
Amy hated conflict, wanted to say something, anything to defuse the situation but Tracy seemed to swallow her anger. Walked quietly over to the sleeping Warren.
"Oh, good," thought Amy, "she's calming down." But Tracy removed that dog collar from her purse...
With a CLICK it was instantly around Warren's neck. She gripped the device's remote.