Chapter 34
On the way home Stan had dropped into an off-licence and bought some
Dom Perignon
. Now the ladies were sat in his living room with champagne flutes in their hands, glasses that Stan was filling.
After filling his own glass, Stan once again lifted his own. "To us." He said, simply, and the three drank a toast to their new relationship with one another.
Once they'd drunk the glasses down, Stan refilled them and then sat back.
"Now, that's better. We can talk without having to lower our voices or worry about passers by." He grinned, "Anne, that was one heck of a bombshell you dropped on us in the pub. On the other hand, all three of us have been thinking of something similar, you just articulated it first. So you have the floor!"
Anne stood and took a mock curtsey. "Thank you, thank you!" she said, sitting down.
"Right. I've been reading up on some of this. What we're talking about is a polyamorous relationship – one where all three of us are in a romantic relationship simultaneously. This lucky dog here," she indicated Stan with a hooked thumb, "is in love with both of us," indicating herself and Denise, "and we're in love with him!"
"With you so far!" said Denise. Stan nodded.
"What we should do now is work out what we want out of the relationship, what we do to
get
that, and some idea of the practicalities. Your situation is doubly complicated, Denise, because of Elaine and Susan."
"Ummhmmm. Yes, but... well, later. First off, what
do
we want?" Denise asked. "Well, I want to be able to be with Stan, here, to love him, to spend time with him and be romantic with him, to
make love
with him. Stan?"
Stan sat for a moment, trying to work out how to answer. "I'm not sure what to say! This whole thing is completely outside my experience. I love you, Anne, you've got to believe that first, but I find I can't hide it; I love you too Denise. I want
both
of you. But isn't that wrong?"
Denise spoke up. "Pah! Who says it's wrong, Stan? Am I
wrong
to be with Elaine and Susan? Am I
wrong
to be bisexual? Are
they
wrong to be lesbian?"
Stan felt suitably humbled. "Sorry, Denise. No, you're not wrong of course. You have every right to your feelings. It's just that... well. I was brought up traditionally, I guess. Lord knows I'd find it hard to explain this to my mother, and my father would be sitting there winking at me as if I'd managed to work the best scam ever!"
"Yes, Stan," Anne broke in. "But we're different people to your parents, in different times. Conformance to the norm isn't quite so socially
necessary
now, as Denise just pointed out. Plus, we don't exactly have to advertise what we do."
"So, do you still think it's
wrong
, Stan?" asked Denise, with an arched eyebrow.
"When you put it like that... no! Just different, I guess," he answered.
"Vives les différences!" Anne quipped. Denise giggled, and Stan added "Quelles différences!"
"Anne?" Denise asked, "What do
you
want?"
Anne sobered. "I want Stan to be happy. I can't be happy myself unless he is, and he'll never be happy unless you're in his life. I realized that for certain when I saw you two dancing the Tango together, and I've been wrestling with myself ever since." Stan's wry comment of "Did you win?" earned him a cushion thrown in his direction.
"Denise, one thing. Are you going to want me, too, in this?" Anne asked. There was anxiety in her tone.
""Well, I want you to
be
in this, Anne, of course! But you're asking 'am I going to want to have sex with you', aren't you?" Anne nodded, and Denise answered the question. "Yes, of course, but only if you were willing. You're
beautiful
Anne, and as sexy as hell as well – not always the same thing. Of
course
I'm attracted to you. But I would never push that if you didn't invite me. Let me ask you something though: How about the three of us together at the same time, where you and I are both taking care of Stan? Would
that
be too much for you?"
Anne looked uncomfortable. "I really don't know, Denise. Honestly, I don't know if I could. It's going to be hard enough to
share
Stan at all, let alone actually be
there
taking part. I think I'm going to have to take things slowly, Denise. Stan, if you're thinking of frolics in a threesome, don't get your hopes too high!"
Anne took a deep breath. "Okay, practicalities. How do we do this?"
Stan answered first. "We each have separate houses and I'm guessing we'll be wanting to keep it that way." There were nods from the others. "So, who visits who?"
"Well, I know you've got the bigger house, but it
would
be nice if sometimes you were to visit me, Stan," said Anne. "I expect Denise feels the same way."
"Yes, although my little cottage
is
a little cottage, I do have room for a double bed!" Denise replied. "So sometimes, yes."
"Okay. So if you two aren't going to be, er, 'fooling around' I guess, then, what? Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays one, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the other and on Sunday I get to rest?"
"Well, that's certainly one way, Stan," said Anne. "Another question: If we're going to be 'We Three', then what do we say about seeing others?"
"Others?" asked Stan. Anne just looked at him.
"Don't play the innocent, Stan. You've eyes and a brain in your head – but sometimes you let your 'little head' think for you. If, say, Pamela from the dance group were to come on to you, would you be thinking, 'Well, I've got Anne, and Denise, why not add Pamela too?'"
Anne was serious, Stan saw.
"Anne, don't think for one moment that I'd betray either of you. You were, of course, dead on the money with that threesome remark. You're right that I probably would think that way,
for a moment
. I would never go behind your back, or Denise's back, though."
Anne turned to Denise. "Denise? That means other women, too, of course."
"No, I agree with Stan. If we do this, it's got to be something we do just as if it was a normal relationship, no cheating." Both women nodded agreement, but Denise added "If anyone wants to change the arrangement, we'll have to talk about it. That means if we want to drop out, or if we want to add someone new. For example, what if I fall out with Laney and Susan? I might meet another woman – and you know, I need to express that side of me just as much as I needed to express my hetero side while I was with
them
."
Anne answered, "Yes, Denise. Actually, what we really, really need to make sure we
all
do is
talk
to each other, all three of us. If there's
anything
we feel we need to bring up, we should make sure we do that. That's what all the websites I've read say."