Denise woke up.
It was Sunday morning. She, Elaine and Susan had spent the whole of Saturday together, just simply enjoying each other's company.
Susan's bed was crowded with the three of them, and Denise wondered idly for a moment whether she should broach the subject of getting a bigger bed.
She twisted over and met the twinkling eyes of Susan. They both heard a soft snore from Elaine, and smiled at one another. Susan mouthed "Coffee?" at Denise, who nodded, so they carefully got out of bed, grabbed robes and went into the kitchen.
"Do you think we went a little over the top with Elaine last night?" asked Susan.
"Nah. Though it was fun, wasn't it?" answered Denise.
She thought back. They'd double-teamed Elaine, giving her no mercy, each delighting in pushing the diminutive blonde higher and higher, until eventually Elaine had screamed "Stop!" and curled into a foetal position. Then they'd both hugged her, feeling her come down gradually, body quaking, as they delighted in expressing their love for and joy in the pretty girl.
Once she'd recovered, Elaine had simply wanted to roll over and go to sleep, so Denise and Susan had let her, making a bedtime drink of hot chocolate and relaxing, feeling the love between them deepen, but though both were aware of Denise's words from the previous night, neither had spoken openly of them.
Now, in the wan Sunday morning light from the overcast sky outside, Susan brought it up.
"Denise, you recall what you said just before you went to sleep Friday night?"
Denise blushed. She hadn't been certain that Susan had heard her.
Susan laid a hand over the older redhead's. "It's okay, I understand. We'll have to see what can be done, won't we?"
Denise looked glum, despite her companion's upbeat mood.
"I don't think it'll be that easy. I really think I've burnt my bridges with those two. Friends, yes, but I think Stan's out of my reach now."
Denise couldn't help it. Unbidden, tears began to fall as she said that, and a lump filled her throat. She opened her mouth to add that she was happy with Susan and Elaine, but couldn't get a sound out.
Susan stood, came around the table and hugged the older woman. Denise simply let it happen, her mind elsewhere. Stan was nice, protective, and friendly to her. It was
Anne
who'd been distant, but even she was being friendlier now.
Could
it be possible? The concept of a 'troi', three people committed to one another, not just some fun for a night or two, was very new to her. She resolved to see if there was anything she could find out about such things.
In the meantime, life still had to be lived. She pulled away from Susan, wiped her eyes and said, "Are we going to go down to
Iorio's
for breakfast today?"
Susan resumed her seat. "I don't see why not. I quite fancy something nice this morning, and the walk will do us good – wake us up. We'll need to check with Elaine, of course."
"Of course!" said Denise.
"Besides," said Susan with a sly grin at her new lover, "A certain gentleman and his girlfriend might be there.
- - - - - - - - - -
Elaine, Denise and Susan walked down the hill and onto the High Street to
Iorio's
. The three of them walked in together and greeted Tony.
"What-a can I get you, ladies?" he asked.
Denise took charge, this time. "Three cappuccinos and, I guess, six butter croissants? Yes?" she asked, checking with the other two. Hearing no objection, she confirmed, "Yes, six of those please, Tony. We'll be at the back."
"My, who's got all assertive?" teased Elaine as they walked to their usual booth.
"I have!" laughed Denise. "Well, about breakfast, anyway!"
The three ladies sat, with Elaine and Susan next to one another, Denise opposite. They chatted about this and that for a while, then tucked into their croissants when Tony served them up with the coffees.
It wasn't long afterwards when Susan saw Stan and Anne coming towards them.
"Hey, you two! Come and sit with us!" she called.
"What makes you think we weren't going to gatecrash anyway!" laughed Anne.
"And look who we've found here!" said Stan, grabbing the only newspaper from the rack. "A fine group of young ladies – I expect we'll be reading about you in here soon!" The newspaper he'd picked up was well known as liking risqué tittle-tattle, the more salacious the better, especially if the people involved were in the public eye at all.
Stan sat next to Denise, while Anne perched on the end of the bench next to Susan. Once again the friends settled down to talking about nothing much. Tony brought Anne and Stan's breakfast over, and the five friends enjoyed their Sunday morning.
Anne turned to Denise sitting diagonally opposite her and asked "Are you looking forward to the dancing tomorrow night, Denise?"
"Yes, very much – but I wonder if Tom will be there. It might be a bit awkward if that two-timing bastard's going too."
Stan assured her, "Tom would
have
to be a dick to go, surely?"
All there agreed with him, but Denise wasn't so sure. She said, "Yes, but he
is
a bit of a dick, isn't he?"
Denise was reassured by everyone there. Anne said, "Even if he is there, Denise, stick with us and we'll make sure there aren't any problems. Okay? Besides, I'm getting excited just sitting here and
thinking
about doing that dance."
Denise nodded, but Anne could tell she wasn't happy. Susan changed the subject to Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld movies, "Don't you think she's hot?" she asked.
"Well, she's not really my type!" laughed Anne, but she added "Mind you, she does look very sexy in that outfit!"
Susan filed the information away. It might be useful in the future.
- - - - - - - - - -
Monday morning found Elizabeth in a good mood. James had come round again, she told Stan, "Just to do a bit of gardening, and to fix up a shelf of mine, you know."
"And to have a nice meal, and perhaps a little wine?" he asked, with knowingly raised eyebrows.
"Well, it seemed only fair to cook him a meal, after all!" replied Elizabeth.
Stan smiled. It seemed that Elizabeth and James were seeing a lot of each other lately. He knew that Elizabeth had, herself, been lonely. She'd told him once or twice, long ago, how
