October 2021
I've got quite a few stories to tell for 2021. I haven't even started telling of the year yet, just that I kicked it off with Lucy Hale in New York. Since we were fucking after midnight, she counts as the first girl I saw for the year. She certainly wasn't the last, as there were numerous encounters over the winter, spring, and summer. But, I'm just too giddy about what happened recently to wait to tell the story.
Things with Anya had been going very well over the past year. While she was around whenever she could be anyway, the fact that so many things brought her to Los Angeles meant she was around even more than usual. Queen's Gambit brought in a load of activity for us. For starters, all the awards she was nominated for had her hanging out in LA extra time. And at the same time, her newfound popularity meant she was getting a whole new kind of attention at the Lodge.
While she had always been something of a queen bee from being the first one to ever come to the Lodge, she often delegated herself to the background during large parties. Partly because she loved to watch me with other women, but also because a lot of the girls at the Lodge had their own previously established friend groups that they stuck to. Those that had worked together or known each other from before seemed to gravitate towards each other. But now, Anya was getting attention from plenty of new parties. Like Cara Delevingne (story for another time). In this instance, Anya's particular magnetism attracted the eye of someone else.
Anya liked to keep me up to date on what she was doing, which often meant random texts while she was out filming. It was the best way to keep in touch when she was out of the state, or country, for months at a time. In the summer of 2019, she was filming "Last Night in Soho". It sounded like a fun experience on its own, but more than a few times Anya mentioned the girl she was working with during a lot of it. Thomasin McKenzie. I wouldn't become aware of who she really was until later that year when Jojo Rabbit came out, but Anya had her on her radar from the first time they met. They met again in 2020, when the film had some reshoots, and Anya again brought her up to me in a text.
Anya: She's reeeal cuuuute. *wink emoji*
Me: She sure is.
Anya: Maybe someday.
She didn't need to be explicit. We both knew what she was referring to. It was a delicate process, inviting someone to the Lodge. With some, it just wasn't meant to be. In this case, I thought Thomasin wasn't meant to be. Frankly, she just didn't seem the type. But then Anya brought her up to me one more time, when Last Night in Soho was finally premiering, and they were together again. Press and premieres had them spending quite a lot of time together. As that went on, Anya brought her up again.
Anya: I'm getting a vibe from her.
Me: What kind of vibe?
Anya: Like she wants to hang out more.
Me: You should definitely do that.
A couple more days went by with the same updates from Anya. Thomasin's interest seemed definite at this point. To hear Anya tell it, Thomasin was looking up to her, wanting to be close to her, and generally thinking she was amazing. It seemed to me that Thomasin was like a freshman looking up to a senior in high school. The slight age difference, and the fact that Anya was exploding right now, made it easy to see why. So when Anya texted again, I suspected what was going to happen.
Anya: She said "It would be cool if we could hang out just the two of us."
Me: Nice.
Anya: So, should I tell her I have a place we can hang out out of the public eye?
Me: Of course you can.
Anya: I just want to make sure it's cool with you. Because even if something happens with her and I, it doesn't necessarily mean that you'd be involved.
Me: That's fine. I just want you to have fun.
Anya: K. *wink emoji*
That was apparently all it took, and Anya soon informed me that she and Thomasin would be coming up to 'hang out' at the Lodge in a couple days. Naturally I prepared a specific room down the hall from my master bedroom. Then, wanting to account for all possibilities, I prepared another. If things didn't go the way Anya anticipated, I just wanted to make sure there were as many ways to avoid awkwardness as possible.
True to her word, Anya brought Thomasin up to the Lodge a couple days later. When they arrived, I did my best to seem casual. I was in the kitchen at the time, and since Anya knew the code to enter, I had her let the two of them inside. When I emerged from the dining room, I found Anya explaining the layout of the house, while Thomasin had her head craned upward in awe at the enormous ceiling of the main foyer.
"Helloooo?" I called as I entered through the door to the dining room.
"Hi!" Anya called as she scooted over. She greeted me with a very tight hug, which was a disappointment to the reflex in my body that made me want to throw Anya down every time we saw each other.
"Ohhh, glad I could see you while you're still in town," I faked like Anya and I were old friends, instead of the two people would had fucked in the foyer we were standing in several times.
"Of course, and this is Thomasin obviously," Anya said as she gestured to her.
"Hello! Welcome welcome," I said with a smile.
Thomasin lightly took my hand and shook it with a polite smile.
"Hi nice to meet you," she said. That voice of hers was so flinty, so quiet.
"We were hoping to just have a girl's night. Get away, hang out, you know, girly stuff," Anya explained as she stepped next to Thomasin and put her arm around her shoulders. Thomasin looked over and up at her, as Anya was slightly taller, and then flashed an excited smile on her face.
I gestured vaguely to the house laid out before them.
"The place is yours, as always. If you need anything just give me a shout..."
And now I need to note that at this point I'm telling the story exactly how Anya told it to me. Since she and Thomasin went off by themselves to hang out, I didn't see any of this go down. But Anya relayed it to me in great detail, and based on what happened later I had no reason to doubt her.
Anya and Thomasin left their bags behind in the entryway, as Anya grabbed her hand and led her into the bar area. The first thing to do on Anya's list was show Thomasin the jukebox by the bar, which was coincidentally loaded up with exactly the kind of music their characters listened to in the movie. At the time I was generally creeping around nearby, but still leaving them alone. All I heard at first was Anya put on The Kinks, but to hear Anya explain it, the two of them had an intense dance party, fueled by 'only' one drink.
I didn't really see them the rest of the day, not wanting to butt in. The two of them continued to hang around the house, but as far as I could tell weren't doing anything as sexy as spending time in the pool or the hot tub or anything like that. They hung out in the bar and danced and talked, went to the lounge to watch old movies, spent a long long time in the kitchen, and before I even knew it, it was getting late at night. At that point, Anya suggested they finally go make up a room upstairs.
"Is there um, space for both of us?" Thomasin said, rife with nervous energy.
"Oh there's tons of rooms available upstairs. But if we're having a proper sleepover we should share one, right?" Anya asked.
Thomasin smiled at that, and nodded her head enthusiastically.
The two of them made their way upstairs. Of course Anya would normally stay in my room, but since she was maintaining the charade, she knew which of the other rooms was the biggest, and led Thomasin to that one. It was pretty standard overall, despite how spacious it was. A king bed, adjoining bathroom, tv mounted on the wall, etc. Anya pointed out the bathroom, and Thomasin went in first to prepare for bed, taking her bag with her.
"I'm gonna change as well," Thomasin announced from the bathroom.