“In bed, too?” Helena asked.
“Okay… She shouldn’t have told you that.”
“She didn’t, really.Youdid.” Helena smiled.
“I’ve had the fantasy forever, yeah – two women and me. Come on; that’s hot.”
“Yes, it is. I’ve had it, too.”
“But we’re really doing this; we’re together, right? We are not just dating and seeing other people. I know what we said last night, but I want to make sure because–”
“Nothing’s changed. I only want to be with you.”
“But do you still want to have a threesome? Have that fantasy?” Becky asked. “Just once to see what all the fuss is about? Be honest. I’m really asking.”
“Just once, and then, it’s only us,” Helena said.
“Well, if both of us wanted to do it again in the future, we could talk about it and decide, but it’s not like an open relationship or anything like that. I don’t want that. This is a fantasy thing; totally different.”
“Yes, just you and me, and maybe a third person in bed once, and if we like it, maybe again later, but it’s only in bed. Neither of us has a romantic relationship with them, and we both would have to want to do it again.”
“Agreed,” Becky said. “How does one do that, though? Find someone to sleep with you and your girlfriend?”
“First, I like that you just called me your girlfriend,” Helena noted. “Second, likeIwould know.”
“Well,Idon’t know.”
“We know someone who might know… Nia,” Helena suggested. “She arranges these events, and she’s had all sorts of situations, I’m sure. She’d know women who might be up for it.”
Becky thought about that and nodded. This was a strange thing to be talking about with the woman she’d just called her girlfriend for the first time, but one of the things she’d liked about Helena from the beginning was how easy it was to talk to her and to be herself with her. She had lied about being in a relationship, yes, but that was a lie she told everyone. In everything else, she’d been herself with Helena, and this was part of it, she supposed – being honest about what they wanted to try in bed.
“You look like you don’t want to ask Nia about it,” Helena noted after a moment.
“No, Ido.”
“Then, what was that face for? I don’t know all your faces yet.”
“You know some pretty important ones already.”
“The face you make when you come seems pretty important, yeah.”
“Nia and I technically went on one date years ago. Like, years and years ago,” she blurted out. “You should know that if we’re talking about this, I think.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“It was a long time ago,” Becky said. “We met one night at a party. This was when I was in college, so a million years ago. We hit it off and went on a date after that.”
“Did you…”
“Yes,” she admitted. “Once. It was on that date, and we knew it wasn’t going to work, so that was the end of it. I didn’t see her for a very long time after that, and then, the matchmaking kind of brought us back into each other’s orbit and into a good friendship, but we hardly see each other because she’s traveling all the time.”
“Why did you think it wouldn’t work?” Helena asked.
“We only worked in one way.”
“Ah,” Helena replied and looked out the window.
“It was almost twenty years ago. She had this whole vision for her career, wanting to travel all the time, so she was looking for someone who wanted that, too. I never have. I love where I live. I love my job, my friends, and my family is important to me. Nia always needed someone who was good on their own in between her visits, and I don’t want someone who wants to visit. I want someone who wants to be there.”
