Jennifer and I have known each other since high school, but we've really been good friends for about three years, since we both moved from Easton to Landover in the summer of 19-. We dated at one point for seven crazy weeks, about a year after we settled into our big city lifestyle. We crashed and burned. No one could deny that Jenny and I made a fun couple, but in truth, the relationship did not work at all. I think we're too much alike; headstrong, outgoing, competitive. On the other hand, as friends, Jennifer and I make one hell of a team.
It was a Thursday night when Jenny called me up and asked me to come over. I could tell by the intensity in her voice that something was up. Jennifer didn't disappoint me. That's part of what I like about her. She always has something going on. I let myself in and stole a beer from the fridge.
"Sit down, sit down," buzzed Jenny. Alicia sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the grey screen of the television.
"Hey, Alicia," I said, taking my appointed place on the sofa. I liked Jennifer's roommate. Alicia is very much different from either of us, quiet and reflective, but she has a wicked streak that always startles me when it peeps out. I'd been developing a thing for her, which gave me a stronger tendency to visit Jenn. I took every opportunity to be thoughtful and gracious toward the roommate, without doing anything to betray my growing affection overtly. Alicia had a relationship with some guy in Jersey and she seemed quite devoted to it.
"Here's the deal," said Jennifer, straddling a tall stool and locking her feet under the cross bars. "Alicia went to school with this guy, Phil and he's down for the summer. I've been trying to, you know, get his attention, and all he does is smile at me like I'm his bratty kid sister."
I nodded understandingly, playing the wise counselor.
"So Alicia had a little talk with her friend." Jenn sneered as she spoke. Alicia interrupted.
"He told me that he thought Jenny was a sweet girl, but he just couldn't see her that way, sexually." Alicia twisted her smile as she pondered this comment.
"Ooh," groaned Jennifer. "I mean, I've worn skirts up the here and blouses down to here and the most I've gotten from Phil is a blush."
"Are you sure he's not gay?" I asked. Jenn slapped her thigh.
"He'd better be. Can't see me sexually, my butt."
"He's not," offered Alicia authoritatively. "He's had girlfriends for as long as I've known him. He was dating this woman, Michelle, before he came down for the job at ICS. She's pretty hot, if you believe the stories."
"All right, so you're not his type, Jenny." I thought the whole thing pretty amusing by this point. I knew Jennifer well enough to understand what was going on. Her pride was wounded by this stiff, and Jenn wasn't one to take an insult calmly.
"Alicia thinks I am. And I know he's my type. Worth a test run, anyway."
"So, what's the plan?"
"I don't think she's being bold enough," said Alicia. She pushed a long silky stream of hair behind her ear. "I think Phil likes his women enthusiastic about sex, and Jenn got off on the wrong foot."
"It was that stupid movie we saw, The Pride of Joy". It was just idiotic, and I kinda went ballistic about this slutty woman in the film. But God and everyone knows, I'm no prude."
"Amen," I said.
"But if Phil thinks I'm some kind of hung-up, tight-laced choir girl, I think it's time he saw a different side of Miss Jennifer Margaret Delany."
"Which means?" I asked.
"Alicia is going to dinner with Phil on Saturday night. When they're done, she's going to bring him back here. You and I will be in my bedroom when they arrive. Alicia maneuvers him out onto the balcony, so she can complain about Brian in the moonlight." Jennifer got off her stool and lead us outside. The balcony of their apartment had sliding glass doors leading from the main living space and from both of the bedrooms on either side. The view, overlooking the river, is magnificent. With rent control, they got a fantastic deal on the place.
"I love this balcony," I said.
"So, it's dark out here and they start talking. We're in my bedroom with my lamp on and the door slid open just a crack. Alicia says, 'what's that?'"
"What's that?" Alicia asked.
"And?" I asked.
"I fuck your brains out, while Phil watches."