On the ride from the Bois de Vincennes back into Central Paris, Runa and we detour through an old residential neighborhood that somehow eluded Haussmann's 19th-century wrecking ball. We stop at a cafe with a Belle-Epoch facade and Art Nouveau lettering.
"Can you imagine?" I ask as we sip cafe expresso. "Cezanne could have sat here? Or Gauguin? or even van Gogh?"
"Jason," Runa says, looking at me like I've just gone around the bend. "With 40,000 cafes in Paris, you think those guys hung out here because it has a pretty sign?"
Harsh. But true. Runa may be blond, innocent and painfully beautiful. But sometimes she's more logical than Mr. Spock.
The text message saves me from further embarrassment. It's from Violet, who, just in case I had forgotten her own nubile beauty, includes a selfie of herself in a semi-transparent blouse standing on the Charles Bridge in Prague at sunset.
"Remember me handsome? I'm getting into the swing of things here. But I miss your big hazel eyes, and other things. And remember that Skype address I gave you? How about using it tonight at 23:00?
"And, yes, you can bring that pretty sweetie you've found. (It's been two days, of course you've hooked up by now.) I'm not sure I mentioned it, but I'm the kind of girl who appreciate girls the way boys do! XOXO Violet."
"Let's see if we like the same things in a woman?" I text back.
"OK! You start," Violets responds.
"Whip smart and logical?" I text.
"Definitely," Violet replies.
"Yup," I concur, "Tan lines or not?"
"Tan lines are so sexy."
"Agree! Natural or shaved?"
"Shaved, except maybe for natural blondes."
"Yup! Ideal age and dress size."
"Mmm... 19 or 20. Size six."
"Check. Extrovert or introvert?"
"Doesn't matter."
"OK," I text. "I think I have a candidate. Let me ask."
I pass the phone to Runa who studies the text message thread.
"I think she is saying she wants to have cam sex with you tonight at 23:00," Runa says.
"Yes. But not just me. With us. You're invited too."
After this afternoon in the Bois, I know one thing. Runa won't be shocked. If anything, watching and being watched made her even more aroused.
"Is she nice, this Violet?" Runa asks.
"Very nice. And very sexy," I reply.
Runa thinks it over for a moment, then pulls out her phone. After a brief conversation in Norwegian, she turns to me. "Let's do it. And maybe we have surprise for this sexy Violet."
"What's that?" I ask.
"Raven and Robert," she says with a mischievous grin. "They want to join."
I put my arm around Runa, hold my phone at arm's length and take a selfie of the two us. "C U @ 23:00," I type. "Jason & Runa."
"This is going to be interesting," I tell Runa, draining the last drop of expresso .
"You have no idea," Runa answers with smug smile.
As soon as we return to HIJ, Robert, the hostel clerk who has been hanging with Raven, Runa's Norwegian "Twin," finds me as I'm locking up the bikes.
"So, it's going well with Runa?" he asks, indirectly reminding me that I had him to thank for meeting the Twins in the first place.
"Very well," I say with a conspiratorial smile.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," I tell him. "I have no secrets."
"Good... Is Runa?" he asks, making a certain obscene gesture with his fingers.
"A virgin? Yes, she is."
"Ah, Raven also," he sighs dramatically, as if carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"So what," I tell him. "There's more than one way to scratch an itch. I thought the French were famous for inventing most of them."
This gets a laugh from Robert. "Do you always see the glass as half full?" he asks with a grin.
"As long as I have fingers to grab it, and a tongue to drink with," I say, making an obscene gesture of my own.
"Such an optimist," he says, putting his arm around my shoulders. "No wonder the Twins like you. Which reminds me, what about this adventure tonight?"
"The Skype session?"
"Exactly! Have you thought about where it can be done?"
Actually, I hadn't. And I could see his point. Where could the four of us find enough privacy, not to mention WiFi bandwidth, for cam sex? "I see what you mean," I concede.
"I think I have a solution," Robert says. "Follow me."
We climb three flights of stairs to the least desirable floor of the hostel. The air is hot and sticky and the ceiling so low we stoop. After a couple of twists and turns along a narrow corridor, we come to a dead end at some kind of service closet.
Robert pulls out his key chain and unlocks the door. Inside is a spiral staircase that emerges into a small glass pavilion built into a valley between chimneys.
"What is this?" I ask.