"What, no free porn tonight?"

Friday, March 18, 7:45
Memorial School gymnasium

I paid as little attention to the play as possible, making things-to-do lists in my head and wondering what is going to happen after the four of us go to dinner tonight.

"You guys wanna go to Captain's?!" Susan says, with a smile. It's an effusive, huge, toothy smile, like you see on a cheerleader. "I'm in the mood for seafood!"

"Sounds ok," I say.

"Steve and Steph, can I talk to you for a minute," Susan says, as Brian gets into their Nissan Pathfinder.

Steph and I stop, shoulder to shoulder, and look at her.

"You guys," she says, grimacing. "This is really hard for me to say." She breathes in deeply and exhales, her chest heaving. "I am SO sorry you heard us the other night. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm so embarrassed."

"It's all right," Steph says.

"I heard it wasn't your idea anyway," I smile.

"No, Brian and I are both at fault," Susan says. "Are we ok?"

"We're fine," I smile.

The cheerleader smile is back. "AWESOME! You guys ready to go eat!?"

8:00pm
Captain's Seafood and Spirits

There are fat people everywhere. As I have discussed previously, that is the mark of a good restaurant.

I order the scallops, and they are just average. Maybe below average. As I look around the table, everyone's got something left on their plate. As hungry as they all were, that's a very bad sign.

"This place sucks," Brian says, finally, throwing a napkin on his plate.

There are "yeah's" all around the table.

"I'm glad YOU said that," I say. "Being that we were your guests and all, I didn't want to be the first to say it."

"What do you mean?" asks Brian. "We're not each other's guests. We're friends! Say whatever you want!"

"WHATEVER you want," Susan says. "We love you guys! We want to hear what you have to say always!"

"You LOVE us?" I smile. "You guys are gettin' serious so fast!" I say.

"You know what I mean," she says. Her face goes serious again. She looks at Brian. "Should we tell 'em?"

"What?" I say. "You didn't see us screwing in the coat room, did you? You told me you closed the door, Steph!"

They laugh. Steph rolls her eyes.

"Guys, we can't invite you to the wedding," Susan says. "We were hoping we would get a cancellation so we could invite you. Well, I mean, we weren't HOPING to get one, but we were hoping that-"

"Don't worry about it. We understand we just met you. We appreciate you thinking of us!"

"But, maybe you could come to the church?"

I hate church. I look at Steph. She doesn't look thrilled either.

"What day is it again?"

"April 23rd."

"Ahh, April 23rd, ok. Hopefully we don't have anything going on."

10:00pm
Steve's house

After a very mediocre dinner we decide to head to my place for drinks and a movie. If you want to laugh, you can do a lot worse than Midnight Run.

Brian comes to the kitchen with me to make another round. "Sorry about dinner, man."

"Not your fault."

"Hey man, about the hotel-"

"It's forgotten."

"So does that mean no revenge?" He flashes a mischievous smile. The Kevin Bacon resemblance is uncanny.

"Don't count on it."

"Steph's pretty cute," he says, nodding and twisting his mouth, as if appreciating a fancy car. "You guys must have a lotta fun."

I laugh. I don't know whether to be pissed off about him prying, or proud that he's so impressed. "I'd ask you, but I already know," I say.

"Yeah, that's true. Hey, I thought all was forgotten!"

"Oh! Yeah! You got me there," I say.

"So is she, ah, pretty wild or what?"

"I have no complaints," I say, handing him a drink. "Are you always this curious?"

"Pretty much."

Part of me wants to be offended. But as perverted as I am, I shouldn't complain. Besides, he's just wondering the same things we all do; he's just doing it aloud.

Saturday, March 19
12:30am

The movie is over and we're watching TV. Brian and Susan are huddled tightly together on one couch, Steph and I on the other. I glance over and see her nestled under his right arm, whispering softly to him.

He whispers back. Something tells me they ain't discussing China patterns.

"....gonna make me dinner tomorrow night?" Steph is saying.

"Hm? Am I gonna make you dinner tomorrow?"

"Pleeease?" she whispers.

"Where did you get this idea?"

"I just want some one-on-one time."

"Did you not wanna go tonight?"

"No, tonight was ok, but-"

"You want me to yourself."

"No restaurants, no crowds, no friends, no-"

Brian's hand slips down Susan's back and under the waistline of her jeans. They kiss softly. She slips her hand under his shirt and rubs his chest.

"You guys, we should probably get going," Susan says, standing up and straightening her shirt.

The cheerleader smile is gone.