After publishing chapter 5 I got some comments criticizing the repetitive use of the game "Truth or Dare" in this story. I'm really sorry if this annoys any of you.
I personally find the essence of repetition useful from a storytelling point of view. On chapter 5 the game was suggested by the narrator (Owen) as a fun thing to do after dinner, when Joey was a guest at Song's, Lisa's and Owen's home. For Joey, the newcomer, this sounded like just another game to play, although quite an odd one for four grown adults. But for Song, who had played this game before (on chapter 3), this meant her boyfriend and girlfriend have planned a surprise for her.
I personally find this feeling highly erotic, when a character realizes what is about to happen before it actually does. In that particular case she realized her boyfriend and girlfriend have arranged for her to have sex with Joey, after she confessed she was attracted to him.
Why am I writing about it? Well, guess what? This chapter also features an expedited version of the game. For those annoyed by this, I'm truly sorry. For those intrigued by it, well, read on :-)
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About a month after having Joey as our guest, and after Song has encouraged him to find a girlfriend who would better match his soul and not only his body, Joey told me he just found the love of his life.
"Two weeks ago," he told me, "I was visiting the bookstore I usually go to, to find a new sci-fi book to read, like I do every month or so. There was this saleswoman there, who must have read all the books there, because she could tell me exactly what I would like and what I wouldn't. She introduced me to some great books, and that time she introduced me to another one she thought I'd like.
"I saw this woman maybe seven or ten times before, and she always offered me good books to read, and always knew what they were about. But in all these previous times, I didn't give her a second thought. She was a saleswoman in a store. Nothing more. She was short, even for a woman, and a little overweight. Until that day, I wouldn't even look at someone like that.
"But then, when she was talking about this new book, I thought to myself, this was exactly what Song was talking about. Although I was just a customer, she knew exactly what I would like and what I wouldn't. It was as if she could look into my soul!"
"So what did you do?" I asked.
"I asked her out."
"Really? And she said yes?"
"Not at first. I think she was suspicious why someone like me would want to date someone like her. But then I told her why."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her she knew me so well through those books, and that I wanted to get to know her."
"So she said yes?"
"Yep. We went for dinner the next evening, which was really nice. She is so interesting. She knows so much about everything and is so interested to know more."
"That's a change for you," I said. "Your exes were never the sharpest pencils, forgive me for saying."
"I forgive you," he said with a smile. "They were asses. I know that now. They were trophy girlfriends. Ones I could win because I have a good body, forgive me for saying..."
"I forgive you," I said. "So, this woman has a name?"
"Alicia. Her name is Alicia."
"And now you are together?"
"Yep. I practically live in her place. She is not a Barbie doll like my exes, but she's funny, smart and very-very sexy. I want you guys to meet her sometime."
"Sure. I'd love to meet her. I'm sure the girls would too."
"I told her, I asked her out thanks to you guys," Joey said.
"Song, mainly," I suggested.
"Well, she said the words, but what did it for me was seeing you together. I never saw love like that, and I wanted it for myself. And now, with Alicia, I believe I found it."
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We set a date to meet all five of us in a restaurant for dinner, one week after my meeting with Joey. Dinner was nice. Alicia was nice. She was everything Joey said she would be. She was indeed short and a bit overweight, but she had a pretty face, illuminated by a heartfelt smile and two big brown eyes.
Alicia didn't go to collage. She had three siblings, and her parents could not afford higher education for all of them. She ended up working in retail, selling shoes, clothes, and other things.
She was always into reading books. That was her thing ever since she knew how to read. She was a regular at the public library. She read three to four books per week, on average. After reading all the novels she could lay her hands on, she moved to popular science books, and when she exhausted all of these, she moved on to textbooks. She read history books, philosophy books, biology books, psychology books, and anything else she could find.
One day she came across an ad for a retail job at a bookstore. She knew this one had her name on it, so she applied and got the job. That gave her access to more books, the opportunity to talk to customers about them, and the ability to read a little during the off hours.
Between Lisa, Song and myself we had six academic degrees. Alicia had none. But during that dinner, as our conversation moved from topic to topic, SHE was the one who had the facts for everything.
Alicia was the main topic of our conversation in the car, as the three of us drove back home. Song and Lisa were just as impressed with her as I was.
"Joey found a keeper," Song said. "I'm so happy for him."
We all were.
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Two weeks later, Joey called me and invited us to dinner at Alicia's place, which was practically THEIR place, as he stayed with her every night.
"Alicia's a great cook," he said.
Being so impressed with Alicia, and seeing their great connection, we were excited to come. Being a threesome, we didn't have many friends who were "our friends". Each of us had a few friends, but to most of them, we didn't tell about our unconventional relationship. This opportunity of having friends with whom we can be ourselves was very appealing.
We came to Alicia's apartment. It was a one-bedroom apartment, in an old building. As we came in, we smelled the delicious dinner they had prepared for us.
"What a wonderful smell," Lisa said as we walked through the door.
"Thanks you," Alicia said, "I hope you'll like what we made for you."
"You're really into books," I said, seeing the piles of old books she had everywhere.
"Sorry for the mess," she said. "I just love these books, and although I've read them all, and will probably never read them again, I don't have the heart to throw them away."
Joey fixed each of us with a glass of red wine while Alicia set the table. Then we sat around the table and had a delicious dinner.
"I loved the roast," Lisa said as we were done. "You're a great cook, Alicia!"
"I had a lot of help," Alicia said, and looked at Joey with a loving smile, caressing his arm.
After dinner, Alicia asked us to come sit in her small living room. Joey opened another bottle of wine, and emptied it in our glasses. Then he placed the empty bottle on the coffee table. We all sat around the coffee table, Song, Lisa and myself sitting on the couch with Song in the middle, while Joey and Alicia sat on armchairs in front of us.
Alicia looked at the bottle sitting on the table. Then she looked at Joey, who looked back at her, smiling at each other. Then Alicia picked up the bottle.
"Joey tells me you guys are into 'truth or dare'," she said.
Song, Lisa and I looked at each other, not knowing exactly what hides behind this statement, but understanding the evening had just turned very different than what we expected.
Seeing our confusion, Alicia explained:
"You guys have such an unusual relationship, and for what I hear from Joey, a really great one. I'm just curious about how this works for you. And Joey and I will be happy to share with you all the intimate details about our life together."
She paused for a second and added, "It's totally OK if you don't want to. We can talk about other things. We can still be friends. It's just that, I'm dying to know everything about you guys..."
