ME, MY GIRLFRIEND, AND HER BEST FRIEND: PART FOUR – Day One

Me, My Girlfriend and Her Best Friend: Part Four – Day One
Or more appropriately: Me, My Ex- Girlfriend and Her Best Friend


Prologue:

Winter 2006


I had just turned 27 years old.  I was living in a garage apartment in Florida.  I was writing every day and had just gotten a deal to publish my first book with an added three book deal signing bonus.  I was seeing a girl named Amanda that lived next door to me.  She was beautiful and we were both healthy and happy.  Life had finally settled down.  Things were looking up and the future was bright…  Mundane, but bright.  Then I got a phone call that changed my entire life forever.

“Hello?”

“Johnny boy, Johnny boy!  How the hell are you man?” I heard in a thick southern accent that I immediately recognized.

“Dan!  What’s going on dude?” I asked, happy to hear from an old friend.

“Well I know it’s gonna break yer fuckin’ heart to hear this, but I’m getting married.” He replied.

“No shit?” I asked.  Dan was one of my best friends from high school.  We both grew up in Texas.  After school, I moved away.  He didn’t.  I hadn’t spoken to him in almost a year.  “Not to Charlotte I hope?”

“Hell no!  I broke up with that crazy skank last year.  No man.  New gal’s named Crystal.” He laughed.  “Anyway, I’m calling because the wedding is in March and I want you to fly yer happy ass down here and be one of my groomsmen.”  Dan wasn’t a cowboy or anything.  That was just how he spoke.

“It would be an honor Dan.” I said.  I couldn’t help but wonder…  “Are you gonna invite Belinda?”

Belinda had been my high school sweetheart.  The summer after my freshman year of college, she and I had had sex with her best friend Marcella a number of times and then once more a couple of years later.  Not too long after that last time Belinda and I had broken up.  (If you want all the gory details, read “Me, My Girlfriend and Her Best Friend: Parts 1-3)

“Yeah, is that gonna be weird for you?” Dan asked.

“No, not at all.  I was just wondering.” I calmly replied.

“Well, yeah dude.  The whole crew is gonna be there!  Chucky’s gonna be my best man.  I still need to call Joe, but Scotty’s already agreed to be a groomsman too!  The whole crew dude!” Dan laughed.

“Awesome.” I said as I immediately started wondering how weird it would be to be around all of those faces again…  But most of all, Belinda.


THE NEXT DAY

“Did you tell Amanda yet?” Alexis asked as she shoveled some spinach into her mouth.

“No.  I don’t think she’ll care though.” I replied.

“Really?..” Lexi stared at me.  “Your girlfriend isn’t gonna care that you are going to a wedding with all your old friends and that your ex-girlfriend is going to be there, and you’re probably both gonna get shitfaced?”

Alexis had been my best friend for about two years.  She was a lesbian and that kept our banter strictly friendly.  There was never a risk of getting nervous or lying to get laid.  It was nice to have a woman’s opinion on things.

“She’s not really my girlfriend…” I trailed off.

“That’s right.  You’re ‘keeping it casual’ right?” she laughed.  “So, are you nervous about seeing Belinda again?”

“A little.” I sighed.  “I mean, I shouldn’t be.  We broke up like 5 years ago.  We still talk and have dinner every once in a while.”

“Yeah, like twice a year.”  Lexi remarked snidely.  “When was the last time you saw her?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe April?” I wondered.

“Well that’s a lot longer than usual.”

“Yeah.  She started dating some guy that she works with and stopped e-mailing me.”

“Huh…  Where are you staying?” Lexi asked.

“At my mom’s.”

“Gonna get to see your dad?”

“Not this trip.  He’s in California until May.” I answered.

“Bummer dude.” Lexi said as she finished her salad.


I was sitting alone in my apartment that night.  Amanda was working late and I was drifting around in my mind. 

Was I nervous about seeing Belinda again? 

No… 

Maybe… 

Yes.  

Dan told me the entire crew was coming.  Did that mean Marcella was going to be there too?  All I did in the summer of 1999 was hang out with that crew of people and then have amazing sex with Belinda and Marcella.  I couldn’t unlink the two in my mind.  The old feelings were rising.

Was I happy with Amanda?  I like her…  Like?…  Is that enough?…  I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.


TWO WEEKS LATER


I got home from work and found my wedding invitation in the mailbox.  I had already bought my plane ticket.  I hadn’t been home in a while, so I booked it for two days before and two days after the wedding.  I could only imagine that Belinda had gotten her invitation too.

I waited a few days and got on MySpace.  (That’s right.  MySpace) and sent Belinda a message asking her if she was going to go to the wedding.

That night I got her reply.  She was indeed going and then said that she would call me at lunch time the next day.


THE NEXT DAY


“Hello?”

“Hey Johnny.”  I would recognize Belinda’s voice in a hurricane.

We spent the entire lunch hour on the phone.  I asked her why I hadn’t heard from her in so long.  She told me that her boyfriend is a little possessive.  His name was Bruce.  (A few months down the line, Bruce and I would be in a fist fight, but that’s another story.) 

She was interning at a law firm and in order to make ends meet, she had taken a hostess job at a local night club.  I hate night clubs.  Anyway, Bruce owned the club.  After a few months, they started seeing each other and about four months ago she moved in with him. 

She was 28 years old then.  Bruce was 43.  I didn’t like that very much either. 

Apparently, ole’ Bruce had a reputation for being a bit of a philanderer, but as usual, Belin chose to see the best in him. Bruce couldn’t come with her to the wedding because he had some investors coming in that weekend or some such bullshit.  I was at least glad for that. 

I asked her if she still talked with Marcella and she said they e-mail, but that’s about it.  She then told me that Marcella was also coming to the wedding.  I asked if her husband John (not me.  It’s a common name) would be coming.  She said “Oh no.  No, they’re separated and she’s filing for divorce.  It’s pretty nasty from what she’s told me.”  All I could think was ‘Who in their right mind would ever let a girl as beautiful and sexually uninhibited as Marcella get away?’ 

Anyway, I said that since we’re all planning on going stag, why don’t the three of us go together? Belinda said that she was in, but asked me to keep it on the down low.  She told me not to put it on MySpace (that’s right…  MySpace) or anything because Bruce might not like the idea of her hanging out with her ex-boyfriend.

That night, after a great deal of hesitation and a few beers, I called Marcella.  I hadn’t heard her voice in almost three years.  She still sounded exactly like she did in High School.  I ran the idea of the three of us going together past her. 

“That would be so great!” she gasped.  “I’m sooo looking forward to seeing you!”  There was a pause.  “And Belinda and everyone else too.” She finished.

The last time I saw her she had been engaged.  Despite that fact, she and Belinda and I had had a very intimate threesome.  Something happened between us that night.  There was this unexplainable connection.  The next day, she met me alone and we made love for the first time without Belinda being present.  When we kissed, it was deeper than just physical.  There was passion and there was love.  We admitted that we were in love with each other on that day.  We had just waited too long.  Soon after that, she was married and I never heard from her again.  Now, all of a sudden, she was single and we were about to be in the same place at the same time.  Did she still harbor those feelings? 

Did I?

“Yeah, me too.  It’s been way too long.” I said as casually as I could muster.  “I can’t wait.”


TWO MONTHS AND ONE WEEK LATER


I spent my first night back home with my mother.  We went out to dinner and caught up.  My step father was in the hospital with cancer and she wasn’t handling it well.  It was great to see her again despite the undeniable sadness in her eyes. 

I slept in my old room that night.  They had converted it into a guest bedroom some years before.  It was strange being in that room that was so clearly ‘my room,’ but just…  well, NOT anymore.



DAY ONE:

I woke up to the smell of coffee.  It was the day of the rehearsal dinner and I was excited about seeing everyone again.  Belinda and Marcella were not actually in the wedding, so they wouldn’t be there, but Dan had planned a get together at the Cider House afterward and all of the guests were invited.

On my way to the church, I called Belinda.  She asked me what time the after party was.  I wasn’t really sure, but I told her I would call once we were heading over there.  She said that she would go get Marcella and meet us there.

The rehearsal dinner was fun.  I got to pal around with the boys a little as we ran through all the motions.  Honestly, I couldn’t wait for it to be over.  The anticipation of being in the same room with Belinda and Marcella after all so much time was just too big. 

I hopped in my mother’s SUV that I had borrowed and immediately called Belinda.  My palms were sweaty.  I was actually nervous!

“Hey, it’s me.  We just got out of the rehearsal and I’m driving toward the Cider House now.”

“Cool.  Marcella and I are at the mall.  We’ll meet you there in thirty minutes or so, okay?”  I loved hearing the sound of her voice again.

“See you there.”

I had beaten them there by a good twenty minutes and was glad to have the extra time to down a couple of shots of whiskey to help ease my nerves.  We had pushed about four tables together and everyone was laughing and yelling and having a good time when the door swung open, and there they were.

It was so strange.  It was like the whole room froze completely around me.  They walked in laughing and it was like they were in slow motion.  My two Latina goddesses, together again at long last.

Belinda looked amazing.  She always did.  Her hair was cut a bit shorter than I had ever seen it.  It was still long though, hanging in light brown wide spirals down to the center of her back.  She was wearing dark boot-cut jeans and a tight beige sweater with half sleeves.  It had one of those big wide hoops around the collar that hung down above her perky C-cup breasts.

Marcella was wearing knee high boots and a black skirt that hung just below mid thigh.  On top, she was wearing a red lacy top that was covered up by a tight fitting denim jacket.  She looked absolutely amazing.  Her breasts had always been larger than Belinda’s, but that night, they seemed even larger than I remembered.  Her hair was longer than Belinda’s and was jet black with blonde high-lights.  Her eye make-up and lip liner were both dark.  I always thought of Marcella as being beautiful in a classic sense, but that night, she looked flat out ‘hot!’

I was suddenly thrown back into reality by Dan’s shrill voice shouting “Look who’s here!  It’s Johnny’s Angels!”  The comment was met with a chuckle.

I rose to meet them and shared a strong hug with them both.  Marcella lingered just a bit longer than one would in a casual hug and I immediately wondered again if she might still have feelings for me still.  It was short lived though, as Belinda and Marcella joined the table and ordered some drinks.  In just moments, it was as though the last eight years had never happened.  It was the gang again!  It was the summer of 1999 again and we were all just a bunch of crazy kids with too much time on our hands and the whole world out there just waiting to be conquered. 

We laughed and told stories and drank for a couple of hours before one by one, folks started saying their goodbyes.  By midnight, Belinda, Marcella and I had broken away from the group and were seated in a cozy little booth in the corner.  It dawned on me that it was the exact same booth we had been sitting in nearly five years earlier before we went back to my place and all ended up naked for the last time.  I had a little smile over that all to myself.

We got another round and kept talking.  We talked about Belinda’s boyfriend and she apologized for never writing or calling me anymore.  She told us that he’s a little possessive and sometimes it bugs the shit out of her.  Then she told us that he shouldn’t be that way because he’s such a flirt and he’s always talking to other girls.  I was beginning to like Bruce even less than I already did.

The mood was immediately brightened when Marcella told us that she couldn’t have been happier!  She had a few unkind things to say about her soon-to-be ex-husband and it was very clear that she was ready to be rid of him once and for all.  I guess in the end, she felt like he held her back.  He was just a boring old soul and would stop her from doing the things she wanted to do at every turn.  I actually felt a little sorry for him.  I knew Marcella was a wild and passionate woman and I could only imagine how hard it would’ve been to keep up with her.

It wasn’t too long until last call was made and we had to leave the bar.  Like a god damned rat, those gears in my brain started creaking back to life.  I thought:  Amanda and I are just casual, right?…  She’s not here anyway.  Belinda seems like she’s pretty annoyed with her current man, and Marcella is ready to celebrate being rid of hers…  Maybe if I just…maybe.”


I was driving back to my mother’s house and could see Marcella’s head lights in the rear view mirror.  She and Belinda followed close behind and I smiled to myself again.  I wasn’t ready for the night to end and, thankfully, neither were they.  I knew my mom would be asleep by then and I knew there were several bottles of wine in the liquor cabinet.  It was an easy sell.

I parked mom’s S.U.V.