Jackie was late to lunch as usual. Cassie could count of a few things in life. Day, Night, Taxes, Tom of course and Jackie being late. When she first started to notice this, she adjusted her schedule 5 minutes or so. But being late, even if you don't care if the other person is, just drove her nuts. So she developed other ways of handling the time at the table alone. She would plan things in her head, her shopping lists, or projects that need to be done at home. But mostly she would just sit there and people watch, making up stories in her head about the different combinations of people around the room. Who was here on business? Was that romance that is flashing between those two over there? The older woman and her daughter... had to be a medical discussion. She would play this game for as long as it took Jackie to finally drag her butt over here.
Why did Jackie want to meet her for lunch? Cassie hadn't thought about that much before agreeing to the time and place, but they had just been to lunch last week and thinking about it, this was a bit unusual.
Cassie was pondering this question when a whirlwind blew Jackie into her seat, pulling a waiter behind her with menu and water glass in hand. "Hey sweetie!" Jackie had been shopping and set several small bags with handles down on the floor next to her feet. "I got stuck checking out at Saks. Behind some old gray hair who was disputing the way things were ringing up." And with that the old friends fell into their usual pattern of talking about anything and everything.
Jackie had been her best friend since she move to town from college. They met at her first job and Cassie knew within minutes of meeting her that they would be friends forever. They had lived through each others personal and professional successes and failures, horrible boyfriends, bad haircuts and talked each other down from suicide by chocolate. And even though Jackie had enough quirks to drive most people crazy, to her they were just "Jackie" and she loved her all the more for them. It was Cassie who introduced Jackie to Paul. Paul was in town on business with one of Cassie's boyfriends company and she liked him, as it turned out a whole lot more than her old boyfriend. It took some coaxing to make sure Jackie would show up, but when she did and they met Cassie felt the air get sucked out of the room. Six months later Paul moved his business to town, Jackie moved in with him and six months after that Cassie had to wear a horrible coral color dress in the wedding.
And in a way, it was Jackie who facilitated things to allow Cassie to meet Tom. It was Jackie who told Cassie to get out of the apartment "NOW!" To go someplace, anyplace before the boyfriend got back. Cassie grabbed a handful of things and disappeared, moving with Lois for a day or two. Jackie handled the boyfriend, getting Cassie's stuff, making arrangements for her to miss work for a day or two to avoid a stalker, even arranging an appointment with a lawyer. The lawyer wasn't Tom, although Tom was a lawyer. The lawyer was a female attorney who specialized in domestic violence cases. Cassie couldn't believe that she was in a middle of a domestic violence "situation", although everyone around her kept telling her that she was. After a while, she moved into Jackie and Paul's place until everyone was convinced that it was safe and that the jerk was going to finally leave her alone.
Jackie was the one who filled up Cassie's days and nights with conversations and plans. Thinking back about it, it had to be a real sacrifice for the relative newlyweds to make for their sad, sorry friend. But Jackie would hear nothing of it when Cassie suggested she get a hotel room while she looked for a new apartment. And Jackie had Paul drive to get Cassie when she thought she saw her old boyfriend's car following her home one night. They were the best friends anyone could ever hope for and she loved them dearly.
And it was Jackie who insist that Cassie go to the party when Margie invited her. It was some business thing at downtown restuarant. Never mind it was probably a ploy to give the newlyweds an evening of uninhibative sex without Ms. Third Wheel hanging around the apartment. With no joy in her soul, she let Jackie push her out the door and on with her life. And it was at the party where she met Tom. It was actually in his honor, although you couldn't tell by him. He had won a big case and the firm was basking in their portion of a huge settlement. But the lead lawyer on the case kept finding himself drifting further and further from the center of the party. He was out on the patio when he and Cassie met.
Cassie knew nothing of the firm, the case and the lawyer. She was there because Jackie kicked her out and Margie had dragged her here. But somehow, the two loners started talking. He was different from the other men to that moment. He was nice. He was shy. He wasn't pushy. He listened! He was tall, kind of skinny, looked ackward in his expensive suit. But over time, he became the most beautiful person she had ever met. And of course Jackie like him, which sealed the deal. One year later Jackie had to wear a horrible dark blue dress at Cassie's wedding.
So there was little that the two women could not talk about. Family? Cassie knew the names, ages, peculiarlities of Jackie's family, most of Paul's and had Jackie's mom's cell phone number on speed dial. Finance? Jackie had a copy of Cassie's lock box key, just in case of emergency. Sex? What each woman knew more about each other and their friends spouses bedroom activities would shock most people. But when two women are so close and share everything else, why not share that also?
"So," Jackie paused to look around, making sure no one was listening, "how's things?"
Cassie smiled. "Things? Things are very good, thank you. And you?"
Jackie laughed. "Well, we had an interesting "thing" happen to us about a month ago. Remember when the four of us went to dinner and the movie?"
"Yeah?"
"It got pretty steamy later that night."
"Oh really?"
"I'll only going tell you if you tell me an equally good story."
"What if my story isn't as good?"
"Yours never are."
"I'll take my chances with Tom, thank you very much."
"Oh I didn't suggest Tom wasn't a good time. I'm suggesting that you leave out all the best stuff!"
"That's not true... OK. Maybe I do, a little bit. Anyway, what about Saturday night?"
"Well, You were wearing that green sweater of yours. And honey, you were showing a bit of cleavage."
"Yeah. You told me to "put those away." And?..."
"And as soon as you leave, Paul starts kissing my neck and rubbing me from behind. Then he starts feeling me up. So I turn around and push him into the bedroom and he practically rips off my clothes and he keeps going back to my tits. So we're doing the deed and I lean up and he kissing and nibbling on my breasts and I said, "So you're thinking of Cassie's tits aren't you".
"You didn't"
"Like hell I didn't. So he doesn't answer right away, but I can tell he's getting even more excited, so and I hope you don't mind, but I tell him "Oh, you like Cassie's tits don't you. Kiss them. Yeah, you'd like to doing this to Cassie wouldn't you?"
"JACKIE!"
"Well, that set's him off and I was pretty close behind. I tell you it was the ride of my life. He just about blew me off the saddle, so to speak. So we talked afterwards and I wasn't mad or anything, but I asked if he was as turned on as he seemed."
"Do I really want to hear all this?"
"I don't know... do you?"
"Well, you've gone this far... and?"
"So you know how men are, they get all weirded out trying to figure out if something is a trap or not and he starts to give me this mamby pamby answer. So I stop him and I start to tell him that Its OK and I tell him how I could get excited thinking about Tom and taking off his clothes and pulling down his shorts and..."
"OK, now this is getting weird!"
"Now? Honey, we were past weird twenty minutes ago. So I notice as I'm talking, the old soldier is being to respond. So I keep it up, talking about doing stuff and next thing I know he's on top of me and he's taunting me about Tom fucking me and spliting me wide and me begging for it and..."
Cassie was being to feel a bit flushed. They had talked about sex for the last four years and often it was even more descriptive than this, but in her minds eye she could see Paul naked and hard pounding a needy Jackie towards a climax.
"... and I'm wanting more and more and..." Jackie looked around and then back to her best friend smiling. "God, it was incredible."
Cassie could imagine that it was. She felt the slight presence of moisture between her legs and the telltale longing to touch herself. "My god," she heard herself say, "that could be pretty hot."
Jackie heard that and instantly relax a bit, as if she wasn't sure how her friend might relax. "Oh, honey. Go home tonight and try it!"
Cassie was affected by Jackie's story all day. She tried to concentrate on other things, but her mind kept going back to a scene where Jackie is taunting Paul. Or was she taunting Paul? "My god, stop it!" she told herself. Somehow she made it through the afternoon and got home a bit before Tom. It was Thursday, which was pizza night, and she called in their order and then call Tom on his cell.
"Hey."
