When I heard that our good friend Helen was gay, I was surprised and delighted. Well, not that surprised, on reflection; Helen was a policewoman, and a pretty tough one at that, and it seemed that most of her lady friends and female colleagues were gay. It was only a matter of time before she came out, really. Even so, it was quite an alluring piece of news.
In case you haven't guessed already, I'm one of those blokes who find the concept of lesbian sex incredibly arousing. I'm not sure why it's the case. Perhaps it's simple mathematics: twice the breasts equals twice the fun. Or perhaps it's some old-fashioned taboo titillation β a little bit wrong, but oh so right. Though I can't figure out the precise reason why, I simply cannot deny there's something about the thought of two beautiful young women, hot and naked together, clambering all over each other and getting down-and-dirty that works me into a lather like nothing else. Should I be ashamed? Probably.
But that's by the by. Helen had been best friends with Jill my wife since childhood. When she came out, Helen was on the phone to Jill nearly every night, and Jill helped her cope with the conflict and guilt and all of that, while relaying to me all the juicy lesbian details afterwards. Helen had hooked up with some hot young thing named Elise β she was described to me as slim, blonde, leggy and gorgeous. "Nice work Helen," I had commented at the time, earning a slap and a grin from Jill for my trouble.
"You be good, Michael," she warned me. "Helen wants us to meet Elise. They're coming to town for dinner next Friday night."
"Oh really?" I asked, cocking an intrigued eyebrow that Jill probably tried to ignore. "Are they staying in town? You said Helen wasn't sure if she should tell her parents about Elise..."
"She's still not sure," Jill reported. "Helen's family is a pack of rednecks, they'd never accept her being gay so she doesn't want to tell them. So they're going to stay the night here, at our place."
"Really really?" I asked, that eyebrow cocking itself again.
Jill wasn't going to ignore two consecutive cocked eyebrows, so she punched me again. "Michael: behave," she instructed.
"Ow," I replied.
So I had something to look forward to: a dinner double-date with a lesbian couple. More than a few lecherous fantasies about the course of that evening crossed my sordid little mind. And it turned out that Helen herself would do little to quell my dirty little mind β in fact I suspect her mind may be deeper in the gutter than my own.
One night leading up to the double-date, Jill was on the phone with Helen; I was busy doing the dishes, when Jill called for my attention. "Helen says you and her have lots in common now," she reported. "Now that she has a bossy, demanding, high-maintenance woman for a lover, she knows how you feel."
"Finally!" I cried. "Someone to share my pain!"
Jill flipped me half-a-peace-sign as she relayed my comment to Helen. "She says she might also have a few pointers for you, to help in the bedroom," Jill added, with a ribald wink.
"Oh really?" said I. "Are you saying I need the help?"
"Couldn't hurt," Jill told me, rather viciously I thought. I'm sure she was kidding though β Jill and I had a long, varied and colourful sex-life. She comes for me at the drop of a hat, always has and always will, so I paid her jibes no serious heed.
"Well, I'll take any help I can get from Helen," I said instead, deciding to play along. "A few instructional videos might be useful... no, wait, don't tell her that!" I added, as Jill relayed my pervy little joke to Helen.
"She says to be careful what you wish for β you just might get it!" Jill chuckled.
I stood frozen to the spot, transfixed by the concept: Helen and Elise, buck naked in bed, writhing around together in front of a camera and filming 'instructional videos' for my personal benefit... "Cor..." I muttered to myself. "What if she's not kidding?"
Jill laughed β she had heard me. "Michael says, 'what if she's not kidding?'! How do you like that, Helen?" And I'm sure they both had a merry old laugh at my expense.
And that was how the concept of the 'Camera Bear' eventually came about. Jill relayed various sordid jokes and jibes between Helen and myself, and we somehow came to agreement that Helen herself would help me hide a video camera inside one of Jill's stuffed teddy bears. Then we would hide the Camera Bear in the spare bedroom where Helen and Elise were to spend the night, and then Helen would seduce Elise in front of the camera and make sweet love to her β without Elise knowing, and all for my education. But it was all jokes, of course. We were all mucking around and not a word of it was serious.
...or was it?
There had always been something about Helen that made you think twice when she cracked a joke. For example, before Helen had officially 'come out', she had said on more than one occasion that if given the opportunity she would turn gay for my Jill, straight away and without hesitation. And we'd all smile and laugh at the joke.
But in the back of my mind, as the imagined lesbian affair between Helen and my wife played out, I had thought 'aww, gee, how good would that be...' and I had looked at Helen and seen the same wistful, 'aww gee if only...' sort of look in her eye. No wonder her 'coming out' came as little surprise. And I couldn't blame her: my Jill was a curvaceous bombshell, all tits and hips and arse β who could resist her? No lesbian I know would turn her down, and nor could I or would I ever say no to a steamy offer from our Jill.
So as the highly-anticipated double-date approached, I harboured a secret little hope. Perhaps, with the aid of a few wee drinky-poohs, a few little half-serious jokes might be seized upon and acted out... perhaps I might finally be able to witness a bit of girl-on-girl, or (dare I even say it) girl-on-girl-on-girl action?
Nah. No way. I knew it was a vain hope, too vain even to bother fantasising about. And so I dropped the matter. Just as well I did, because the night before the big dinner-date Jill told me, "Helen mentioned the 'Camera Bear' to Elise."
That intrigued eyebrow of mine cocked itself again β it was forever cocking itself, much like the leg of an incontinent dog, I'm sure. "Helen mentioned the 'Camera Bear'?" I repeated. "And what did sweet young Elise say to that?"
"Helen says Elise nearly died!" Jill smirked. "She went white as a ghost! Elise said if she sees a teddy-bear in our spare room she's gunna have to tear its head off and search its innards for electronics before she can get any sleep!"
"Ha ha," I said, with a slightly chagrined smile. "Oh well: Helen and I will have to come up with another way to make our secret lesbian-romp movies. 'Camera Lamp', perhaps? Or 'Antique Camera Vase'?"
"Settle down, Michael," Jill instructed, her tone taking a serious turn. 'Here comes a lecture,' thought I.
"Now you know I don't mind all this pervy, half-serious joking around about your lesbian fetish," Jill began. "And though Helen's putting on a brave face and cracking all these jokes with us, she's actually really fragile about the whole thing β she's really conflicted about all of it, she had such a homophobic upbringing and now that she's finally recognised that she's gay, it's really tearing her apart." Jill sighed. "Just be good tomorrow night, okay hun?"
"Okay dear," I assured her. "I'll be a very good boy. I promise." Hey, it's not like I'm a total arsehole. I know how to behave, when push comes to shove. It's just that most of the time, I'd prefer not to behave.
So Friday night rolled around, and Helen and Elise drove down from the city to meet us at a restaurant for dinner. Helen was right: Elise was a total stunner, blonde and fair and leggy and busty all at once; I wanted to nudge Helen and give her a congratulatory wink, but Jill was watching me like a hawk so I didn't dare.
The atmosphere was actually a bit strained at first, as we all sat down at our table to study the menu. Elise seemed nervous to meet us, she was a bit shrill and she sounded very eager to please, afraid that we might judge her poorly. And Helen was strangely quiet; I realised that she really was a conflicted soul.
Helen knew us, she had known me for a few years and Jill most her life, and she knew she could trust us. But even so, it was obvious she half-expected us to deride her for a dirty fucking homo and shun her forever. I knew now that all of her joking around and bravado over the phone was actually a front, a brave face to hide her fear of rejection. I suddenly felt a bit bad about the sleazy fantasies I had been harbouring, the drooling expectation that perhaps I might witness a bit of lesbian sex that night. 'I really am an arsehole,' I thought.