"Carly!" Gina had never learned any other way to start a phone conversation than with an exclamation point
"Hey, guess who's going to be back in town tonight?"
That could only be the third member of our little band of confidants, Maryanne. The three of us had always been tight, all through high school. We had other friends, but we three shared the really close in feelings and stuff. You know what I mean. The relationship was just a little closer than with anyone else and we had no secrets between us. It was great.
Maryanne had been the whippiest of the three, always stirring things up and the first to do everything. She was, for example the first to lose her virginity. She couldn't wait to tell us about it and I think Gina and I were a little shocked, but completely enthralled. All through high school, Maryanne had led me into exciting, adventurous corners of life. Places I would never have had the nerve to try, Maryanne had shown me the way.
"Maryanne, right?"
"Right! Want to hang out? She brought her new boyfriend along. Shouldn't we check him out? See if he is OK?" Gina laughed that big laugh that somehow suits her so well.
"They want to go out and get something to eat. OK?"
"Ok, sounds good!"
"Cool. What are you wearing?"
"I got jeans on, think that's OK?"
Gina's car was one of those big black Crown Victoria Fords that my Dad had always thought were the most wonderful thing in the world in the seventies. They were big and roomy and soft and mushy-feeling driving down the road, but a great, roomy place for making out. The boyfriend was driving and honked outside. I ran out of the house, calling a goodbye over my shoulder.
Steve was holding the car door for me like a chauffeur when I got down the steps.
"You must be the gorgeous flaming redhead I keep hearing about!" He made a good start, I thought. He held onto my hand a little too long, though. Was he coming on to me? A little early for that, I thought. But he had a nice smile and I was willing to listen to that kind of flattery.
"Liar!" I said. "Maryanne has never told you any such thing!" Maryanne laughed from inside the bus.
"Really!" he said, his smile widening.
Applebee's OK with you? Maryanne leaned over the seatback and pulled me closer for a kiss on the cheek. She held onto my hand for a few minutes, talking excitedly about things she had been doing since we last were together. "Chicago is just great. When are you going to come look for a job? Really, you'd love it! You can move in with me, you know."
I changed the subject "Don't you love Gina's car? God, you could live in this thing. I mean, remember how great these things were for making out? Not that I would know, of course, but you guys used to tell me!"
"Ohhhhhh, right, listen to the girl!" Gina gave me a friendly nudge in the ribs as she. "Careful Steve, you have to turn here, this is the place!" She had been watching his driving all the while. The car is her baby and I was surprised she had let him drive in the first place.
"We called Carly the wild one, Steve, so don't listen to her." Maryanne leaned across and nuzzled Steve's neck.
"Hey, you two, go easy up there. We're here you know. And watch where you're going, I need this car even if you think it is funny looking." Gina snapped at them as we turned into Applebee's.
Maryanne was dressed fit to kill. Her short skirt bounced over the prominent curve of her bottom as she bounded up the stairs in front of us. Her legs were encased in sheer black pantyhose that emphasized their length.
"Nothing has changed, has it Gina, she still shows us up and makes us look like bumpkins. Do you notice that?"
Maryanne laughed and the bright red lipstick slash of her lips showed her white teeth in that familiar gorgeous smile.
"You know I wouldn't do that! Just some old thing I threw on. Besides it drives Steve crazy, don't ya know!" She turned at the top of the steps and I could see just a hint of her panties under the skirt as she turned to grinned down at us.
Steve turned out to be a very fun guy. He was laughing and teasing everyone, including the waitress, immediately. It was gonna be hard not to like him, I thought. The service was very fast and we had one of those big appetizer samplers in front of us right away.
"Oh, god, I have missed these things! Yummy. Try one, Steve." Maryanne held one of those little quesadillas for him, slipping it between his lips seductively. She reached across him to feed one to me, too, as we sat around the high round table which we used to gather around before Maryanne went off to Chicago. I took the food and she reached one of her long fingers out to brush some of the sauce off my lips. Maryanne had a sexy way of doing things like that, her eyes very intent on what she was doing.
We laughed and joked and ate too much of the heavy food, washing it down with a German beer Steve insisted on. I was feeling worn down from all the laughter. Steve was very funny. Between him and Maryanne, Gina and I didn't have to force the conversation; we were in stitches all the time.
Steve really looked at you when he talked. It was sexy. And when he made a point, he would touch my arm and look into my eyes. I was starting to like him. Maryanne didn't seem to mind, in fact she seemed to be encouraging him, if anything. She probably wanted him to get along with her best friends.
Not much that Maryanne or Gina do would shock me. We just know each other too well and have been together through to many crazy things over the years. I had come to expect the unexpected, if you know what I mean. At least that is what I thought. Until Maryanne and I went to the ladies room together. Another girl left and we had it to ourselves. Maryanne, leaning close to the mirror, was replacing some of the lipstick that Steve had chewed off.
Her eyes rolled toward me and she said: "Want to fuck Steve, Carly?"
Now even for us, that was a little surprising. I'm sure I looked shocked. I am very fair skinned, apart from tons of freckles, and I think the space between the freckles probably got filled in with my blushing. I stared back at her in the mirror, a question mark on my face.
"What? Oh, sure, Maryanne, sure. What the hell are you talking ............."
She giggled and stared back at me. "Well, you like him, don't you? I can see that! And he likes you, too. I can see that. I'm really glad, too. I wanted him to like you. He already told me he thinks your freckles are cute!"
I thought she was just kidding and would let it go at having shocked me. But she was still looking at me like she was waiting for an answer.
