Home > Dark Intentions(6)

Dark Intentions(6)
Author: Charlotte Byrd

"I don't know where there is to stand on that kind of thing," I said with a shrug. "As they're all happy and consenting, I don't know, why does it matter what anyone thinks?"

"I don't know. I know that you talk a good game. You're all open-minded and whatever, but I know who you are, Jacqueline."

"And who am I?"

"You are Jacqueline Archer."

I nodded. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"You're shy, you're not that outgoing, and you'd like to be in these long, boring relationships where all you talk about is what does this all mean?"

I knew that she was quite intoxicated, but the words still hurt.

Allison knew all about the men that I couldn’t stand and the ones who had broken my heart, and I hated the fact that she was throwing it in my face.

"Okay. I'm sorry.” She walked over. "Don't look like I just kicked your puppy. You were pretty much just getting into one relationship and then another. I wouldn't say that you are that sexually adventuresome."

"Yeah, that's true,” I admitted.

"And that's why I went without telling you."

She poured herself another glass and offered me one. I wanted to say no, but I didn’t want to confirm her opinion of me as being kind of straightedge.

"So what was it like?" I asked.

"Well, Dean and Melanie were the ones that brought me, so I was kind of with them. Met their friends, the ones they play with."

"Play with?"

She nodded.

“Is that what it's called?" I asked.

"I've actually met a couple there who I had previously met at one of their barbecues, if you can believe it."

"Wow.” My mouth dropped open.

 

 

7

 

 

Jacqueline

 

 

Dean and Melanie are as plain as white bread. We met in Dartmouth, they graduated a year ahead of us, and I was never really that close to them.

But I'd see them at parties. They’d been together for almost four years by the time they graduated after meeting at freshmen orientation.

After college, Dean got a job on Wall Street at an investment bank and Melanie got a very prestigious internship at an art gallery in Soho. A year later, they held their three hundred person wedding and bought a house in Greenwich, Connecticut, where schools are good and the commute isn't too bad into Manhattan.

"The last I heard from Melanie was that they had two kids and besides being a stay-at-home mom, she had opened a Pilates studio,” I said.

"Something tells me that this story will probably be a little bit more memorable." Allison laughed.

"So did you reach out to them?"

"I've been in touch with Melanie for a while and she told me. I remember her mentioning that they were doing something like this back in college, you know, swapping partners. When we met up for lunch, I just sort of asked her about it again and she told me. She was very frank."

“What about their friends from the barbecue?"

"I saw them again at Redemption,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “Then I slept with the husband. Actually, both husbands."

"What about Dean and Melanie?"

"Um, I was a little bit apprehensive about that, given our friendship, so I told her straight up that I just wanted to feel the room out when I got there, but not to get their feelings hurt if I didn’t want to hook up. It is my first time and all and I've never even kissed a girl."

The following morning, I called Allison again who was very hungover and sorry about oversharing. I guess, in the light of day with a sober mind, she was no longer that sure that it was such a good idea to tell a friend of hers about her private life.

When I brought it up again, she brushed me off and I figured the conversation was over.

Still, I was interested.

I was in between relationships, dating, meeting people, not really looking for anyone in particular, but still looking to meet someone. I went on these dates, I was bored by most in the first ten minutes, but there was no escaping.

I mean, I did manage to leave early a few times when the conversation became very unbearable. Sometimes, I would just go home and wonder about the stupidity of it all, because what I was really doing was going out there wanting to hook-up with someone, but I was pretending that it was something else.

I was pretending that this guy was going to be someone significant or someone whose name I would even remember. Neither of those things turned out to be true.

Still, I didn't dare ask her about the club again until she came over for the third time to try to get me out of my depression after Michael was killed.

"Come on," she said. "Come with me. We'll go to Lemons, meet some guys, have some drinks, have some laughs."

I finally caved. The guys were nice enough, mildly interesting, but my head wasn't in it, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I wanted to get laid.

"Tell me about Redemption again," I asked, as we sat in the back of the bar right before last call.

Her eyes lit up. She wasn’t inebriated but not sober either, and I figured this might be a good time to inquire.

"What if I wanted to go?” I asked. "How would I do that?"

"Well, I can reach out to Dean and Melanie, or you can come with me."

“Okay, don't take this the wrong way," I said, "but what if I just want to go by myself? You know, I want it to feel like a regular bar, picking up someone, having a good time, then leaving.”

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I get it."

"So what would I do? How would it happen?" I asked.

"Well, after I make the introduction, I suggest that you go tell them that you'd like to go as a single woman. They'll send you this application, you fill it out, make the video, and wait for a gold envelope to arrive."

"A gold envelope?"

"Yeah, it's all gold. Nothing on the front and somebody is going to hand deliver it, just to you."

"Like a courier?" I asked.

She nodded. "You'll have the date and time of the next party or event, and I guess you just go there."

"So this is just parties, or is it like a club or a bar that’s open whenever?"

"When they bring in new people, they have special parties just for that. But after, if everything goes well and you'd like to come back and they want you there, then you tell them. They'll tell you the hours that they're open.”

"Okay.” I nodded. "That sounds good."

Suddenly my hands got clammy and my heart started to beat out of my chest. This is the first sign of life that I've experienced in two months and I want the feeling to stay with me.

"Can I ask you something?" Allison reached over and put her hand on mine. Her hands were cold, and I jerked away because they reminded me of the way that she’d held my hand at Michael's funeral. "I think you're only doing this because he's gone."

I nodded. "So what?"

"Well, I just wonder if maybe you should see a therapist, or go to meditation, or do something healthier."

"You mean having anonymous sex with strangers is not the healthiest thing I can do for my mental state?" I asked sarcastically.

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