Steph reveals what happened with her roommates.
This story is a work of fiction; any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. If you liked the story, please take a minute and rate it. If you didn't, please be gentle--it's my first time. All comments are appreciated, especially constructive criticism.
It was over a week later that the elephant in the room raised its big head. They were snuggling in bed, in Steph's favorite position with her head on his shoulder, when Mark began dancing around the topic.
"Steph?"
"Yeah?"
"So..." Mark started out hesitantly, "So you're always preaching about the importance of open and honest communication in a marriage. I seem to recall your motto is 'no secrets,' correct?"
Steph tensed as she knew where this was going. But a small part of her actually wanted it to go there, actually wanted to clear out the elephant skeleton from her closet, if she could mix her metaphors.
"This is about your question from last week, isn't it?"
"You know, if you don't want to tell me then that's fine. I'm not going to push the issue. It just seemed a little..." Mark considered carefully how to end the sentence.
"Hypocritical?" Steph offered.
"I was going to say inconsistent," Mark replied, "but we can go with your word."
Steph silently weighed her options. She was scared to death of what Mark would think of her if he knew everything. But her philosophy of 'no secrets' in marriage was central to her being. She debated the issue in her head, back and forth, tell or don't.
"Do you still want to know?" Steph asked, much more kindly than Mark was expecting.
"I am curious, yes," Mark responded.
"It's just something that happened. Before I even met you."
"It's not a big deal to me, honest," Mark reassured her. "I was just curious, that's all. Although it sounds like it might do you--do us--some good for you to talk about it."
He was right of course, and Steph knew it. Telling this story would require an exceptional amount of trust. But she did trust Mark more than anyone, and it was time to exercise that trust.
"OK, here goes." Steph closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to recount the details.
"It was right after I graduated from college. My two roommates, Trica and Madison, and I went on a caribbean cruise."
"Tricia and Madison, your bridesmaids?"
"Yes."
"Wow, this story is getting interesting already."
This wasn't working for Steph. She needed to do it her way.
"Mark, I'm going to have to ask you to be totally silent for this," Steph stated assertively. "I'm not going to be able to make it through the whole story unless I spit it out non-stop."
Mark got the message and clammed up.
"OK?" Steph inquired. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him. Mark raised his eyebrows in a gesture of
how can I answer you if I'm being silent?
Steph smiled at the unspoken humor, closed her eyes and laid her head back down on his shoulder. She could now continue uninterrupted.
"Tricia's mom had received a voucher for a free cabin for two on a 7 day caribbean cruise, and she gave the tickets to us. We split the surcharge of adding a third person to the room so all of us could go.
"If you recall, Tricia dropped out of college after junior year; she never finished her physical therapy degree. She had moved back in with her parents in Houston and was working as a masseuse. The week after graduation, Madison and I flew to Houston, and then Tricia drove us all to Galveston to board the cruise ship..
"The cruise was a blast--we had so much fun. We didn't even mind having three of us crammed in an interior cabin. We swam with the dolphins, snorkeled shark-infested reefs, and hiked up waterfalls. In the evening we'd get dressed up for the fancy dinner, not the buffet, and then party until late in the evening. Tricia and Madison both had one-night stands during the cruise, but I wasn't into that kind of thing.
"Oh, and Tricia was
cra-zy.
One night we had gone to the stand-up comedy show and were hanging out in the lounge afterwards. This guy who is so full of himself saunters up and starts flirting with us--all three of us. It's like he's playing the field all at once and trying to see who would bite. Well, Tricia starts flirting back. You know Tricia is so beautiful, with her long flowing dark hair, her pouty lips, and an ass that looks sexy in every outfit. She's giggling at his stupid jokes and touching his arm and everything. She doesn't even mind him staring at her titties half the time.
"So this guy is ready to score with her, so he leans in and whispers in her ear, 'Why don't we head back to your cabin?' But he's kinda drunk, and he says it loud enough for Madison and I to overhear.
"So Tricia whispers back in his ear (loud enough for us to hear) 'Just the two of us? I thought maybe we could do a threesome.'
"The guy turns bright red and drops his drink on the floor! It spills all over Madison's Jimmy Choos and she jumps. Luckily, the lounge is carpeted, so the glass doesn't break. He squats down, picks up the glass, curses, and mumbles an apology to Madison. Then he stands up, looks at Tricia and says, 'I was just thinking the same thing! Although...wouldn't it be a foursome?' grinning and nodding in our direction.
"Tricia responds, 'No, just three. You've heard the expression "Three's company, four's a crowd" haven't you?'
"He looks puzzled for a second, but then he starts checking out my tits, then Madison's tits, alternating back and forth trying to figure out which one of us is going to be joining them. Tricia is doing her best to keep from busting a gut, but she holds her tongue and gives us a wink. Finally the guy says, 'So, who's the lucky third? Stacy or, uh, you?' looking at Madison. He can't even remember our names!
"Then Tricia looks him right in the eye and says, 'Oh no, not them. It would be a threesome with you, me, and your wife. I'm guessing she's back in your cabin right now, and she'll be thrilled when you and I walk in on her so the three of us can
get it on.
'
"The guy turns bright red, drops his glass again, curses us out like a sailor, and hightails it out of the lounge. Tricia, Madison and I laugh our asses off the rest of the night about it. Tricia had seen the tan lines on his left ring finger and decided to teach him a lesson.
Anyway, after the cruise ship docked Sunday morning we drove back to Tricia's house in Houston. Madison and I weren't flying out until the next day so we spent the night at Tricia's. We did some shopping in the afternoon, but it was too hot and humid to do anything outside, so we spent the rest of the evening at her home. Tricia's mom cooked an authentic Italian dinner for us, including plenty of red wine. After dinner, Tricia suggested we hang out in her room, so we grabbed our wine glasses, and Tricia opened another bottle.
We all got ready for bed. I was wearing my usual T-shirt and boy shorts; Tricia put on some short silky robe-thingy and offered one to Madison as well.
As we were talking, I mentioned that my back was sore. There was a rock climbing wall on the cruise, and the three of us competed on who could reach the top first. I won basically every time, but now I was paying for it with some sore muscles.
Tricia offered to give me a massage. Madison thought that would be a great idea and asked if Tricia could train her on some massage techniques. I sat down in front of Tricia, but she reminded me that she was a professional and that we should do this right. She left her bedroom and in a few minutes returned with a portable massage table and some lotions.
Tricia set up the table and laid out the massage lotions. Then she said, "I'll be right back. And, um, you're supposed to be completely naked for a massage, you know." I looked at Madison, who shrugged and noted, "Well, it's not like we haven't seen each other naked before." Which was true, since it's basically impossible for three women to share one room on a cruise ship and not see each other's nude bodies. So I went ahead and stripped down to my altogether.
Tricia returned shortly with an armful of towels. She spread out several of them on the massage table and instructed me to lay face down. As I stretched out on the massage table I realized the towels were unbelievably soft and warm! "How did you...?" I started to ask.