Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this interlude. It's something fun, I think, and helps us get more deeply connected to the characters we love. Tell me what you think. I love feedback.
* * *
The wait for Kat's pregnancy test had seemed interminable. In the end, it was a total anticlimax. She got her period as usual, right on cycle. We could have treated it as a disappointment, but we knew from experience that this was nothing to take for granted. It might take months. It might require fertility treatments. We didn't know. But we were a solid, collective unit of four with a positive attitude. We would try again, and we would surround ourselves with love. In a way, we simply had faith this would work out for us, and we were willing to ride it out.
But that didn't mean we were without distractions. With their increased tennis regimen, Kat and Rita thought it would be fun to enter a local charity tennis tournament. The organizers were eager for their participation and suggested that they play against another local TV station's morning traffic-and-weather team. It was a good gimmick, which ended up having even better results than the girls could have dreamed.
* * *
"We are going to beat their asses on the tennis court like we beat them in the ratings," Kat said as we drove to the country club hosting the tournament.
Rita laughed, and Jess and I joined. It was a friendly rivalry, but Kat and Rita were competitive. They wanted to win, and they also didn't mind talking a little trash.
"Jen has twice as many Instagram followers as you, Kat," Rita said. "But I've got twice as many as she does."
"I'm amazed at that because Jen has bigger tits than you do," Kat teased.
"Yeah, but she's not cute and proportional like I am," Rita said. "More of a bimbo."
"Right," Kat said. "Like I said, I'm amazed you have more followers than she does."
We all laughed again, and the good vibes carried us through the short drive to the country club. Kat and Rita looked gorgeous in their matching tennis outfits. They wore short, white ruffled skirts and red tank tops that clung closely to their bodies. The hours of tennis they played each week had made their bodies tight but not too hard. They took the court with confidence and a bright vivaciousness.
Their opponents couldn't have made for a starker contrast. The weather girl, Kim, was amazonian. Almost six-feet tall, she had a sturdy body with improbably long legs. She was well-proportioned, however, with thick, athletic thighs and large breasts packed into a sports bra that was visible beneath her white one-piece tennis romper. The traffic girl, Jen, was a short and curvy Hispanic girl with spectacular breasts. They were obviously fake -- and obviously perfectly constructed. She wore the same romper as Kim but in black, and she had a reputation as being a bit of a bad girl. A few years before, Jen had been caught in a nude photo scandal when an ex-boyfriend leaked some private pictures on the internet. She took a couple years off from reporting to let things die down, but the incident had stirred up a voracious social media following for her, and she embraced her notoriety now with a flirty, highly sexualized attitude.
When it came to the match, Kim and Jen definitely looked better on the tennis court than they were at playing the game. Kat had a killer forehand that seemed to find the line shot after shot. Rita had a devastating backhand that neither Kim nor Jen had an answer for. The only disappointing thing was that, because of the disparate skill levels, the match was so short. I loved watching the four beauties scramble around the court, working up a sweat as I tried to catch glimpses underneath their tennis skirts. The girls had drawn a good crowd, and they seemed to all be good sports and get along well. It was a bit of a surprise to me how familiar Kat and Rita seemed with Kim and Jen.
Jess and I, who had court-side seats, greeted them after the match. It had always been a slightly dicey topic about how to address our four-way relationship in public. We opted to just keep it secret, essentially, so Rita introduced Jess as one of her and Kat's closest friends, and Jess introduced me as her boyfriend. It was simpler that way.
The girls laughed and complimented each other on the match and their cute outfits. It was all a giddy lovefest, and then Kim offered that they should see each other more often. The girls agreed it was a good idea, and then Kat spoke up.
"Why don't you come over to our place for happy hour?" she said, and she knew it when she said it that she had let something slip.
"Oh, you and Rita are roommates now?" Jen said.
It had been such an innocent invitation that now presented a bit of a thicket to work our way through.
"We've got an amazing place," Rita said, brushing aside any confusion. "Fabulous pool. All the wine you could ever want. Come on. It'll be fun. We've even got a pool house and extra swimsuits if you want to shower and hop in."
Kim and Jen looked at each other with a shrug and, almost simultaneously, said, "All right, that sounds fun."
* * *
Back in the car, Kat was apologetic.
"Oh my god, guys," she said, "I'm so, so sorry. It just slipped out!"
"It's no big deal," Rita said. "I don't think they really understood it."
"Yeah, but what will they say when they see the house?" Kat said. "We couldn't afford that."
"I'll say I got it in the divorce," Rita said with a laugh. "Your settlement wasn't chump change, either."
"Okay, fair point," Kat said, her voice calming somewhat. "But why would we live together?"
"You've been friends forever, haven't you?" Jess offered. "Why not? Living alone is no fun!"
"And Jen knows we've been friends forever," Rita said. "Don't you remember she used to come party at our old apartment pool sometimes?"
"I totally forgot about that," Kat said. "She's still a party animal, I hear."
"Oh really?" I asked. "Is that like a prerequisite for the morning shift?"
"Jen is competitive," Rita said. "She always wants to win, whatever the prize that's up-for-grabs is. But she's usually most interested in party favors and men."
"Sounds like my kind of girl," I said with a laugh.
"This will be fun," Jess said. "Don't worry about it. Who cares if they do find out what the real situation is?"
"I'm not worried about it," Rita said. "You shouldn't be either, Kat. I've always heard Kim is genuinely very sweet. She's always been nice when we've crossed paths from time to time. And you know that Jen isn't going to be a gossip queen, not after what happened with her ex."
"And didn't she also have a stalker?" Kat offered.
"Yes!" Rita said. "So I think they're fine. We can have a few drinks. Maybe go for a swim. I don't think anyone is going to be asking too many questions. It's just a little post-tennis fun."
"I'm probably overreacting," Kat said. "It's no big deal."
"Exactly," Jess said. "Nothing a couple drinks can't fix!"
* * *
At home, Kat and Rita took quick showers and changed. Jess and I threw together a little happy hour spread of cheese and charcuterie. I pulled out a magnum of Champagne, and Jess and I drank as we put together the tray.
"They were cute, huh?" Jess said of Kim and Jen.
"Very," I said.
"Want to see if we can get them drunk enough to get naughty?" she teased.
"I doubt that's going to happen," I said with a laugh.
"Don't be too sure, darling," Jess said. I knew the look in her eye. She knew something.
"What is it?" I prodded her.
"One of my clients was Jen's sugar daddy," she said. "That's why she quit after her ex leaked her photos."
"Seriously?" I asked, incredulous.
"I think so," Jess said seriously. "I didn't put it together until today. But he would go on and on about this thick, sexy TV girl he rescued from a bad situation and how they spent two years partying and flying all over the world."
"I mean, who else could it be?" I said.
"Right?" Jess agreed.
