When Lyndsay's mother got back from New York, Lyndsay spoke to her mother about me and Julie moving in with them.
Mrs. Brie had already met me, and thought that I was perfect for her daughter. She seemed to think I was a good influence on her or something. She seemed thrilled at the prospect of me moving in, and becoming a more significant part of Lyndsay's life. She definitely liked me a lot better than any of Lyndsay's previous girlfriends.
However, she had never met Julie and insisted on arranging a meeting where she could get a feel for Julie's character before she approved of Julie coming to live in her house.
I was Julie's character reference, so Julie and I met with Mrs. Brie together.
"Allison Brie," I said, with my hand at the small of Julie's back, as the three of us stood in Mrs. Brie's dining room, "This is Julie Hansen, my best friend. I've known her since high school, and she is one of the most honest, trustworthy, law-abiding and gentle people I know."
All three of us were smiling. My smile was nervous. Mrs. Brie's smile was a carefully-constructed mask, like a human resource director might wear on her face while interviewing a prospective employee. Julie was the only one there who had a genuine-looking smile on her face.
"Well, that's awfully high praise," Mrs. Brie said, "I hope Julie can live up to it."
"I'll do my best," Julie said, with her amicable smile on her face. Julie really was one of the most honest, trustworthy people I knew, I just hoped we could convince Mrs. Brie of that.
"So, Julie," Mrs. Brie began, "My daughter is very much in love with Gwen. I'm not surprised that Lyndsay wants Gwen to move in with us, but I'm not sure how you fit in. Are you going to be a fly in the ointment, and possibly screw up my daughter's relationship with Gwen?"
"What? Me?"
Julie asked, flabbergasted, "How could I possibly screw things up? I think that Gwen and Lyndsay make a very cute couple! Why would I want to screw things up for them?"
Mrs. Brie arched an eyebrow and regarded Julie carefully. She seemed to be considering her words carefully. I held my breath and braced myself. Mrs. Brie was very protective of her daughter, and could be somewhat paranoid. I considered it to be a good thing when parents are protective of their children, but Julie didn't deserve Mrs. Brie's paranoia. Julie was one of the most innocent people I knew.
"Apparently, while I was in New York, you and Gwendoline were involved in some sort of a lesbian threesome. Is that true, or was I misinformed?"
I hadn't told Mrs. Brie about my threesome with Lyndsay and Julie. And I was pretty certain Lyndsay wouldn't have told her mom about it either. I quickly concluded that Dasha must have been the one who told Mrs. Brie about our lesbian sleepover.
Julie blushed a deep shade of reddish-pink, and stammered for a few seconds, before she was able to form actual words.
"It wasn't my idea," Julie protested, "I was invited! It wasn't anything sinister or nefarious! It was just-"
Mrs. Brie cut Julie off in mid-sentence and said, "People often confuse sex with love. Young people are especially prone to fall into this trap. What if Gwen falls in love with you? Gwen already thinks that you're honest, trustworthy and gentle. It sounds like she's halfway in love with you already. What happens when you use your feminine charms to pull her emotions
the rest of the way
into loving you? What happens to my daughter's relationship with Gwen then?"
Julie's mouth opened and closed like she wanted to say something, but she was tongue-tied. She obviously wasn't expecting this line of questioning, and was totally unprepared for it.
"Julie is mostly straight," I protested, trying to defend my best friend, "Sex with females is something very new for her! She's not going to seduce me into loving her! She doesn't have the skills!"
Mrs. Brie gave me an admonishing look and said, "Gwen, shush. Let Julie speak for herself. I want to hear what
she
should say about this."
"Um, okay," Julie said hesitantly, "I can speak for myself, um, look, I like Gwen. I also like Lyndsay. They're both really great. They're extraordinary, but I've also got a boyfriend. We've got plans for the future. We're gonna get married."
Mrs. Brie gave Julie a dubious look and said, "You're in a serious relationship with a boy, but you had lesbian sex with my daughter?"
"It's sort of complicated," Julie said timidly, "Gabriel is a student at Addison C Niles University. And I'm a student at Fairhaven University. Since he and I are living so far apart, Gabriel suggested that we could each have sex with the local people until we graduate and get married."
Mrs. Brie got an amused smirk on her face, but then she quickly suppressed her grin and put up a poker face, which betrayed no emotion.
"So, when you told Gabriel that you were having sex with another woman, he was totally fine with that?" Mrs. Brie asked.
"Well," Julie said haltingly, "I haven't actually told him yet. He said I could choose whomever I wanted as my sex partner, just so long as he and I became monogamous after I graduated from college."
"And who is Gabriel having sex with?" Mrs. Brie asked.
"I'm not sure," Julie said, "Does it matter? I mean, whoever it is, Gabriel with break up with her before we get married. He promised."
I could see Mrs. Brie struggling to keep her poker face intact, and then she turned to me and asked, "Is she
really
this innocent?"
I cocked my head to one side and said, "Yeah, pretty much."
Then she turned back to Julie and said, "I'm not certain who Gabriel is having sex with, but he's probably already fallen in love with her. And if he hasn't, she's almost certainly working at wrapping him around her little finger. Women can be very manipulative at times, and men are usually far too dense to see that they're being played."
"No," Julie said, sounding very defensive, "Gabriel is very loyal! We've already made plans! He wouldn't throw away everything we have, for some fuck-buddy that he met up in Fremont!"
"Really?" Mrs. Brie asked, failing at hiding the skepticism in her voice.
"Really!" Julie said defiantly.
* * * * * * * * * *
Honestly, I didn't think that our talk with Mrs. Brie had gone very well. Mrs. Brie seemed to have a low opinion of Julie. She seemed to think that Julie was short-sighted and naΓ―ve. I was pretty sure that she was going to allow me to move in, but reject Julie's request. I was really worried about that.
Julie and I had been best friends for years. I didn't like the idea of leaving Julie in our crappy, old apartment while I got to live on a luxury estate. It would feel almost like I was rejecting Lyndsay as a friend. I wasn't sure what I should do. Should I refuse to move in with Lyndsay unless Julie was part of the deal too? Should I leave Julie behind in our crappy, old apartment and try to find some way to make it up to her?
In the end, it turned out I didn't have to make any difficult decisions. Mrs. Brie allowed both me and Julie to move in. Julie was so thrilled! Lyndsay was so thrilled! I was so thrilled! We were all so happy we all just about had simultaneous explosive brain hemorrhages!
Julie and I didn't own much, but we packed up our stuff and drove it all on over to Lyndsay's house. Dasha and Lyndsay helped us unpack. All of my stuff was taken into Lyndsay's room, and Lyndsay helped me to find places to store all of my stuff.
All of Julie's stuff was taken into a bedroom down the hall from Lyndsay's. It was on the same floor as Lyndsay's bedroom, but two doors down. If Julie felt disappointment that she didn't get to share a bed with me and Lyndsay, she didn't show it. She seemed thrilled with her new bedroom.
"It's
twice
the size of my old bedroom," Julie gushed,
"It's huge!"
Julie seemed happy. Lyndsay seemed happy, and I know I was happy. It seemed like the last page of one of those fairy tales, where the author confidently claims, "And they all lived happily ever after."
Of course, fairy tales are for children. Grown-up stories are more complicated and can never end that simply.
Julie was still a university student, and still had to go to classes, attend lectures and turn in homework assignments.
And of course, Christina kept taking me to the Vineyard every weekend to be abused, humiliated and punished, like a naked Cinderella being punished by wicked stepsisters and cruel stepmothers.
I was still a stripper for Riverside Entertainment. I had to travel all around town and strip for clients and entertain them with my naked body and erotic dancing.