Back when I was in my early twenties I moved in with a girl that I had known since grade three. Her name was Sheri. She was a cute blue eyed blond and probably the first girl I ever had a crush on. From the moment we met we just seemed to gravitate toward one another. What I remember most was how on field trips the two of us would lag behind the group, annoying our teacher and just making each other laugh.
All through elementary school and the first years of high school we had on and off interest in one another. Unfortunately our mutual interest rarely seemed to align at the same time. It wasn't all sunshine, because there were stretches that neither could stand the other too. One thing that stuck with me about Sheri no matter how I felt about her was her scent. I don't know if it was the conditioning of my earliest childhood attraction, but to me Sheri always smelled so sweet. The memory remained, but high school turned out to be a new season for us. There were new people and new formations with first loves receding.
As years passed we always remained friends to at least a casual degree. We shared friends, so circumstance always kept us moving in the same circles. Even during our university years in Montreal we had the same core of friends. As mentioned we even ended up sharing an apartment. Which takes us roughly to where this story begins.
I had just spent the summer in Key West with my girlfriend. By the time we got back to Montreal, it was a little late to line up an apartment for school. Sheri had a really nice place that she shared with a couple roommates and they had a small extra room. Originally thinking of it as a temporary solution I asked Sheri about the possibility of moving in to their spare room. She was actually not so big on the idea, since she thought I was too much of a slob. It took a little persuading, but she agreed to put it to a vote with her roommates. For students the chance to split the rent with one more person was just too appealing to pass up. I was in, but I don't think I managed to get Sheri's vote.
Apart from my small room the apartment was really quite large. Sheri was the lone female in the place and had been living there for a few years. She had just finished university the year before and had started working, while Rob, Jean and I were still in school. We all got along well and for the most part there wasn't much discord on the upkeep of our apartment. I was still seeing Chelsea, the girl that I went to Key West with and she was also a common fixture around the apartment.
While there was nothing going on with Sheri and me, Chelsea was starting to build up a bit of jealously towards her. It wasn't anything extreme, but Chelsea was complaining that we never seemed to do anything without Sheri coming along. If it were one of my one of my male roommates that was always around, likely Chelsea would have had the same complaint. She did have a point, but aside from not wanting to hurt Sheri's feelings I found myself increasingly liking her company. Aggravating the problem, Sheri and I had known each other for so long that conversations could often stray to our shared history. The result being that Chelsea also started to complain about being left out.
Aside from the jealousy, Chelsea and I were having other problems too. I once read somewhere that if you want to find out how compatible you are with someone, try traveling with them. It tends to compress things, so problems that would initially go unrecognized quickly rise to the surface. Chelsea and I had been going out for about five months and spent three of those on a working vacation in Key West. By measurement in travel time we might have been dangerously close to the seven year itch.
One morning I heard Sheri bumbling down the hallway to the living room. She used the phone in there to call in sick. Then instead of going back to her room, she just stepped into mine and flopped down beside me. She crawled under the blanket and snuggled against me.
This could have seemed like a come on, but considering the sort of relationship we had I didn't think anything of it. However, Chelsea had only just left, so I was still naked under the sheets. Having Sheri suddenly beside me against my skin had my mind touring less innocent territory than normal.
Other than throw my leg over her, which I was just as likely to do while watching TV, I didn't do anything to push things beyond a platonic embrace. The way I felt though, if Sheri had started something I don't think I would have stopped her. Nothing happened, but I was suddenly thinking of Sheri in ways that I hadn't for years.
In the days that followed things were pretty normal between Sheri and me. As the week went on we started making plans for Friday night. While I didn't have a thought out scheme to exclude Chelsea, I found I wasn't making it easy her to join us. Whether I admitted it to myself or not, I really wanted to have a night out with just Sheri.
