People call me BC. Big Cat. A nickname I've had since I was a boy. However, during my years at art college I was known as 'Fluffer'. These are the stories of that time. Fluffer's tales.
#
To introduce you to Anne-Marie I need to take you back to the Saturday evening of the infamous weekend that I was both crushed by my ex, and "educated" by my best friend, Sara.
Sara arranged/contrived this dinner party to unashamedly hook me up with a "nearly single" friend of hers, a fashion student called Anne-Marie. The idea had been to have four of us: me and Anne-Marie, Sara and her boyfriend (Rubbish-Alan) but he'd gone out with his rugby mates instead— much to Sara's irritation. And my relief. He was not too pleased with me practising cunnilingus on his girlfriend.
At least Anne-Marie was a laugh. And exactly my type: Clearly defined and easy to read, even for an emotional dimwit. Her tumble of black hair said she didn't care too much about her appearance, her dark, cleopatra eyes invited you in for a gossip. And she was, literally, all mouth. As if her constant, delightfully unfiltered chatter had, over the years, exercised her lips out of all proportion to her face.
I couldn't keep my eyes off her, or my ears for that matter. And I had to sit with my hands wedged between my knees to keep everything else locked down.
But it was Sara that demanded our attention for most of the meal. I took Anne-Marie's cue and let our mutual friend splurge it all out. She clearly had a lot to get off her chest about Rubbish Alan. I kept it to myself that it sounded a tad like post-rationalisation for the morning's infidelity.
"And he never goes down!" Sara finally paused her rant to glug wine and knit a frown. Anne-Marie sighed, and Sara softened. She squeezed her friend's hand. "Oh you poor thing I'm such a selfish cow, how are you coping?"
Anne-Marie shrugged and swirled her glass. "He's just not that into me, I guess." She tipped toward me, but didn't meet my eye. "I just left my bastard boyfriend because he only wanted to fuck other girls. Not me. I was just for blowjobs, apparently."
"He never went down either!" Sara barked. Then flushed. "Sorry. One track mind today."
Anne-Marie drained her glass. "But what is it with guys and giving head? They always complain, and if they ever actually get down there then it's for 2-minutes and then it's like they've done you this huge favour and deserve, like, a month of blowjobs?"
The girls cackled. I squirmed. Anne-Marie didn't help, explaining earnestly: "He says I'm too wet? Can you believe that? He says he can't feel anything when he fucks me, and literally gags when I make him eat me. I can't help it. I'm just a juicy girl!"
Their laughter blared. My smile ached.
"I think you've just met the wrong guys," I said.
Sara smirked. "Yes, we know an oral ninja don't we, BC?" She nudged my shoulder and winked bawdily. This was a surprise. We hadn't discussed whether we should tell anyone about our unusual morning. She continued as if recommending a plumber. "Well, someone in Berlin anyway." She grimaced at me. "Sorry. Is it still a sore point?"
I filled Anne-Marie in on how I had been perma-dumped the day before; my ex gloating about the mind-blowing oral she'd received from her sister's boyfriend in Berlin.
Anne-Marie narrowed her eyes and squirmed theatrically. "Lucky girl. Could you get his number?"
That wasn't the reaction I'd hoped for. But then I think she knew that. She patted my arm. "Mind you," she added, "just because he was good at it doesn't mean he liked it."
"What's the difference?" I said. "Girl gets off, everybody's happy, right?"
Both girls shook their heads emphatically. Anne-Marie made their point. "No, no, no. Enthusiasm is the thing. There is nothing worse than a limp licking." More cackles. Anne-Marie wrinkled her brow at me like we were discussing Plato. "But it's the same for both sexes don't you think? Someone has to be eager to go down or it's just no fun at all, no matter how good their technique." She stretched with clasped hands. "Well, I'm always dead keen. Once, I sucked-off my ex so thoroughly that I came."
I blasted a laugh. But no-one else did. Sara stroked her friend's arm. "His loss, for sure, Babe." She refilled our glasses. "I'm not bothered. I like a good licking and a good shag but don't really care if I suck cock or not. Sometimes it's ok. Mostly I do it to shut him up." Sara widened her eyes at me and nodded theatrically at Anne-Marie. "You like to get stuck in, though, don't you, BC?"
This was my moment. I cleared my throat, nodded. "Yep. Like you, I'm dead keen. I mean with a girl's..." I actually attempted to mime a vagina.
The girls snorted, enjoying my discomfort. Sara, bless her, stepped in to smooth my awkwardness. "Don't let his modesty fool you. He's the best head I've ever had."
Anne-Marie blinked at us individually, as if adding us up. "Oh, so you two—"
Sara waved. "Way back, we were drunk. But he was very eager. I felt like the world's most delicious ice-cream. And..." She mimed a hard-on with a rigid forearm. "He really enjoyed it."
Anne-Marie beamed. She fluttered her eyelashes playfully. "Well you may need to go to the top of my naughty list!"
My turn to blink. Sara explained. "Anne-Marie has a slutty list of slutty boys to call on if she needs... doing."
Anne-Marie dropped her jaw. "It's not slutty! I'm just done with relationships. Fuck-buddies for me from now on."
"Or lick-buddies," I said.
Anne-Marie rolled her eyes. "In my dreams! Do you know I have five boys on my list and they're all about the fuck and suck? You are literally solo on my lick-buddy list."
I laughed rather too loud.
#
It was maybe three months later, a few weeks after Orla, that I next met Anne-Marie. In the meantime I'd done little else but whinge to Sara about women wanting me only for sex since the Fluffer thing. How I felt objectified and, in not being worth getting to know, an outsider.
A bloke like me was not common in architecture school. I found that, apart from Sara, most students seemed to judge me on my thuggy appearance and avoided me. Being six years older and six feet taller than most of them, the elegant little tossers treated me like a caveman. And this suited me fine, day to day. It was easier to scare them than to make the effort to fit in. And I am aware of how cowardly this is too. Sara told me.
But now. With this Fluffer thing? Gossip spread and the arty posh kids had something on me, something that made me less scary. They didn't call me Big Cat or BC, they called me, to my face, Fluffer, with that educated smirk that says, "I know I'm taking the piss, but you're too stupid to notice, aren't you?" To them a Fluffer was a debased menial, not the star of the show; working behind the scenes for the glory of the real stars. I was a labourer. They were the artists.
So let's just say friends were hard to come by being the only builder in a college full of architects. Girlfriends doubly so.
Sara's insightful opinion on this matter? "Get the fuck over yourself."
As usual she was right. There was no point whining. I'd found Anne-Marie after all. She was cool. I told myself, next time I met her, I was going to take Sara's advice. I would literally get over myself and make it all about her. I'd listen, and do as much as I could to please her. Delight in her dirty chuckles, console her about her selfish boyfriend. If she wanted me to do her then I'd do that, too, and it would be the best she'd ever had whether I came or not. Then maybe, Anne-Marie might see more in me than my tongue. This had worked with Fleur that time, putting her first. We'd properly found each other, even if she did decide to stay single. So I was capable of connecting with a woman outside of their knickers. I mean, take a look at Sara.
Actually, don't.
So this one morning, I was on my way back from an early shift hauling lumber around a local building site to make some extra cash. I'd showered back at the site in one of the freezing portacabins so I could go straight to college, but had forgotten my books so had to stop off at my flat anyway. And who should I find sitting on my doorstep?
Anne-Marie watched me approach, head cocked and smiling as if to say. "Yes it's really me." She was even prettier than I remembered; dressed in some fashionista autumn collection of argyle knee socks, tweed skirt and jacket over a cream French polo. On anyone else it would have looked prim and preppy, but her shaggy hair and thick black eyeliner made it look more punk-ironic than ivy-league.
Her cheeks were pink, but it wasn't that cold. She had her knees up with arms wrapped around them and if I was in any doubt as to the reason for her visit (and for a moment I had forgotten her "naughty list") she twisted her loafers at the ankle, creating a cheeky up-skirt view of a neat, be-knickered bulge. And at its pristine, white cotton epicentre, a distinct damp patch. My knees wobbled.
"I did ring," she declared as I fiddled with, and dropped my keys. "But there was no answer, so I thought, well I'll just surprise the old Fluffer!"
Jittery with anticipation, I let her in to my bright and way-too-fancy, loft-style studio. I'd moved out of the house by the sea in a rush since my flatmate's sister, Orla, had taunted her brother about our afternoon delight. This crazy-expensive luxury apartment was all I could find at short notice.
I was glad of that now, though, as I took in the double-height acreage of white-on-white surfaces through Anne-Marie's saucer-eyes. "Cool digs," she said. "Did you see the state of my knickers?"