Reggie
Reggie and Marissa arrive early at the Seawall. Sophie had sent a Telegram saying she might be a few minutes late.We have a few minutes before she gets here. Can we talk?
Marissa
She's already looking at him — she was looking at him before he said can we talk, which means she was already waiting for him to say it.Yeah.A breath.What's on your mind.
The Seawall at 6:45. The light is still doing the warm horizontal thing it does in the evening, cutting across the water. The path is quiet enough — a few joggers, a woman with a stroller — but the particular spot they've found has a little distance around it. The speaker is on the railing. Neither of them has turned it on yet.
Reggie
There's some chance we're going to have sex with another woman tonight. Not a guarantee, but some chance.
Marissa
She's quiet for a second — not the startled kind, just the landing kind.I know.A breath.I've been aware of that since Thursday last week. How are you feeling about it.
A jogger passes. Neither of them moves. The speaker sits on the railing, still off.
Marissa
Are you nervous. You're allowed to be nervous, Reggie.
Reggie
Yes, I'm nervous but not about her. About us.
Marissa
She turns to look at him properly — not the side-glance she's been using, the full look.About us. Say the rest of it.
Reggie
Ok. What we have is precious to me. So precious I can't put it into words without sounding sappy. But let me just be clear, there is nothing more important in the world to me than you. And us. I love you, and I don't want anything to mess that up, including whatever might happen tonight.
Marissa
She holds his gaze for a long moment — and the Seawall does its ordinary Thursday thing around them, and she doesn't reach for something careful.Okay. I need you to hear something back.
Nothing that happens tonight changes the math. You know that, right. Sophie doesn't subtract from us. That's not how this works.
I'm not going to lose you to this. And you're not going to lose me. We decided that before we ever called her. Remember.
Nothing that happens tonight changes the math. You know that, right. Sophie doesn't subtract from us. That's not how this works.
I'm not going to lose you to this. And you're not going to lose me. We decided that before we ever called her. Remember.
Down the path, unhurried, navy jacket, dark hair catching the light — Sophie. Still a hundred metres out but unmistakably her, walking the way someone walks when they've already made the decision and are now just closing the distance.
Reggie
Yes, we said that. And I believe it. And I believe she can be a good friend as well as a lover. But this is what I am thinking. We've never had the exclusive talk. And as absurd as it is to have it right before we're about to screw some other girl, I think we should have it. Right now. I want to propose that we only have sex with each other, and any other people we both agree to. And that we never hide our sexual partners from each other. And that we always give the other person the option to participate if they want. And that we both have total veto power over any other person, for any reason or no reason. Which is a very modern version of the exclusive talk. Will you consider this?
Marissa
She looks at him for a long moment — and Sophie is still a hundred metres out and the speaker is still off and the light is doing that thing across the water.Yes. That's — yes. All of it. Every term.
I want you to know I would have asked for exactly that. If you hadn't.
I want you to know I would have asked for exactly that. If you hadn't.
Sophie closes the last fifty metres, her pace easy, unhurried — the walk of someone who made her decision somewhere back along the path and is simply arriving at it now. She raises a hand when she spots them.
Sophie
I'm not interrupting something, am I.
Reggie
You are, but that doesn't mean the interruption is unwelcome. Marissa and I just had the exclusive talk.
Sophie
She stops — not a stumble, just a full stop, her hand still half-raised from the wave, her eyes moving from Marissa to Reggie and back.The exclusive — you mean exclusive with each other. Right now. Before I — I thought you were — I thought tonight was —
Okay. I'm sorry. I'm misreading something. Tell me what I'm misreading.
Okay. I'm sorry. I'm misreading something. Tell me what I'm misreading.
Marissa
You're not misreading it. The exclusive talk includes you. That's why we needed to have it first.
Reggie
Yes, we agreed to only have sex with each other and anyone else that we both agreed to, and that we'd never hide anything from each other, and that both of us have veto power over anyone else without having to explain it. Very modern, no?
Sophie
She looks at both of them for a long moment — and she's doing the calculation, the quick careful one she's been doing since she arrived on a picnic blanket last week.So I'm — I'm in the agreement. Before anything has happened. That's what you're telling me.
I don't know whether to be terrified or — I don't have the other word yet.
I don't know whether to be terrified or — I don't have the other word yet.
Marissa
Both, probably. That's where I was when he asked me.
Sophie
You needed to agree with each other first. Before you told me. That part matters to me. That you did it in the right order.
Marissa
He insisted on it. I would have waited until after.
Sophie
Of course you would have. Okay. I understand the terms. What does veto mean for me specifically. If one of you decides you don't want me here anymore, that's — it's just done. No explanation.
Marissa
Same veto we have over each other. You're not a lesser party, Sophie.
Sophie
I'm also still married. You know that hasn't changed.
I just want to be sure we're all standing in the same version of this before someone turns that speaker on.
I just want to be sure we're all standing in the same version of this before someone turns that speaker on.
Reggie
We know you're married and we know you want to stay married and we're totally content with that. I hope we might become friends beyond...whatever...but that doesn't change the fact that Marissa's my girl and Michael is your guy and you've got a kid and a condo and a marriage and a life that is precious to you in its own way, and we're not trying to mess that up for you.
Marissa
She's quiet for a moment — watching Sophie's face, not Reggie's.And we mean that. Not as the thing you say to make someone comfortable. We actually mean it.
Sophie
She looks at Reggie for a long moment, then at Marissa — and something in her expression settles, not all the way, but enough.Okay. I believe you. That surprises me a little, how much I believe you.
So. Are we dancing or are we still standing here being very serious about it.
So. Are we dancing or are we still standing here being very serious about it.
Reggie
Let's dance!And they do, for the next 45 minutes. Reggie is fine but the girls are both wiped. Sweaty. Then they all sit on the grass, both girls exhausted, and Reggie hands them each a root beer.
Forty-five minutes. The light off the water has shifted from warm gold to something softer and lower, the kind that makes the Seawall look like a painting of itself. They've drawn a small crowd twice and lost it twice. Now the three of them are on the grass — Marissa flat on her back with her forearm over her eyes, Sophie sitting with her knees pulled up, both of them breathing harder than they'd probably like to admit. Reggie hands them each a root beer and sits between them like this is the most ordinary Thursday in the world.
Marissa
She doesn't sit up. She just extends one hand toward the root beer and grabs it without moving her arm off her face.I used to get winded walking to the Skytrain. I want you to know that. For context.
Sophie
How long have you two been doing this.
Marissa
About six weeks. Maybe seven. I could barely follow him at first.
Sophie
You couldn't tell. You both look like you've been doing it forever. From the outside it looks like one thing. I kept watching you two when Reggie was leading me through the slow part and thinking — I want to look like that. Not the dancing specifically. Just — that.
Reggie
Did you invite Michael to join us like I suggested?
Sophie
She wraps both hands around the root beer.I did. I told him exactly what you said. Nice couple on the seawall, dance club, Thursdays, great way to get back in shape. Every word true.
He said have fun.
He said have fun.
Marissa
Did he look up from whatever he was doing.
Sophie
No.
Reggie
Did you invite him to join the Telegram group like I suggested?
Sophie
She looks at the root beer bottle in her hands for a moment.Yes. Sent him the link and everything. Told him it was completely boring, just logistics. Which it is.
He said he'd look at it later. He hasn't.
He said he'd look at it later. He hasn't.
Marissa
Of course he hasn't.
Sophie
I checked this morning. Still unread. I'm in a secret Telegram group with my husband's login sitting right there and he hasn't even glanced at it. That's either very lucky or very sad and I can't decide which.
Reggie
I'm not going to pretend we're not hiding things. But we're hiding as little as possible to avoid blowing up a life. I'm ok with where we've landed.
Sophie
She looks at the root beer in her hands for a long moment — and the Seawall does its quiet thing around them, the lowering light, the water.Both, probably.A breath.Very lucky and very sad at the same time. I've been doing that calculation a lot lately.
Marissa
Hiding as little as possible. That's a fair way to put it.
Sophie
I keep telling myself that the things I'm not saying aren't lies. They're just — mine. Is that too convenient.
Marissa
I don't think so. You're not inventing a version of your life. You're just keeping part of it.
Reggie
No, don't allow yourself that out. You're lying. I'm lying. Marissa is lying. But you're not lying any more than he lied when he said love, honour and cherish and then forgot the love and cherish parts. And if you accept that it's reasonable for a girl to not pay the whole cost for someone else's breach, the ONLY way to achieve that is to withhold some truths. I can look that in the mirror and not be ashamed of what I see.
Sophie
She's quiet for a long moment.Okay. You're right. I've been trying to make it easier on myself. Cleaner.
Lying. That's the word. I'm lying. And so are you. And so is Marissa. And Michael lied first and has been lying every day since without ever opening his mouth once.
Lying. That's the word. I'm lying. And so are you. And so is Marissa. And Michael lied first and has been lying every day since without ever opening his mouth once.
Marissa
He didn't need to open his mouth. That was the whole problem.
Sophie
You said you can look at it in the mirror. I'm not there yet. But I think I can see the mirror from here. That's new.
Is that enough. To start with.
Is that enough. To start with.
Reggie
Is he looking after your daughter right now?
Sophie
No. My mother. She lives with us. Downstairs. She's had her since six. Michael's out with friends again.
Marissa
Your mother lives with you.
Sophie
Three years. Since the baby. She came to help for a month and then just — stayed. Which I'm grateful for. She sees more of my daughter than Michael does, honestly. He loves her. He just doesn't — he's not very present. With either of us.
Marissa
Does your mother know. That you're here.
Sophie
She knows I'm at a dance thing with a couple I met on the Seawall. She said good, you need to get out of that apartment. She didn't ask follow-up questions. My mother is very good at not asking follow-up questions.
Marissa
I think I like your mother.
Reggie
When he goes out with friends, what's that all about? Does he not invite you?
Sophie
She turns the root beer bottle in her hands — the slow rotation again.He has a group. From university. They do Thursday nights, have for years. He stopped inviting me after the baby. Said I'd be too tired. Which was true, for a while. And then it just became — his thing. I stopped being in the category of people he thought to invite.
Marissa
He stopped asking or you stopped being asked.
Sophie
Same result. I used to wonder if I should push for it. Show up once, just to be included. I never did. It felt like asking to be wanted and I'd already decided not to do that anymore.
Marissa
After the hand thing.
Sophie
After the hand thing. Yes.
Reggie
Sophie? You're sweaty.
Sophie
She looks down at herself — the navy jacket is tied around her waist now, her shirt damp at the collar, and she can feel exactly what she looks like after forty-five minutes of dancing and she doesn't love it.I know. Sorry. I didn't — I could find somewhere to shower before we — if that's a problem. I don't want to be — I can go to the community centre. Ten minutes.
Marissa
He's not saying it's a problem, Sophie.
Sophie
Then what are you saying.
Reggie
I'm saying I'd like to lick the sweat off your body. Soon.
Sophie
She goes completely still — and she looks at him for a long moment with an expression that she doesn't catch in time and doesn't quite try to.Oh.A breath — barely a word.That's — okay. That's what you meant.
Is he always this — when he says things like that, does he mean them exactly as stated.
Is he always this — when he says things like that, does he mean them exactly as stated.
Marissa
Word for word. Exactly as stated.
Sophie
Okay. I'm not saying no to that.
Reggie
Will you come to our place? Right now?
Sophie
Right now. You mean tonight. This Thursday.
Marissa
If you need more time, that's fine. But the offer is real.
Sophie
My mother has her until ten. Michael won't be home before eleven. Yes. Okay. Yes.
Reggie
They go. They make love. Reggie plants his face between Sophie's legs and stays there for half an hour until she comes and gushes all over his face. Then he holds her close, with Marissa holding her from the other side. Then Reggie goes down on Marissa for half an hour and repeats the whole thing with her. Then he fucks them both, reaching around until they each come. Afterwards, they lie there, in his bed. It's 9:30 pm. Reggie's chest is on Sophie's back and his hands are on her stomach and breasts. Marissa is facing Sophie, holding her close from that side.Sophie? Tell me the honest truth. Did you fake those two orgasms?
Sophie
She's very still — and Reggie's chest is warm against her back and Marissa is right there, close enough that Sophie can feel her breath, and the room is doing the particular quiet that only exists after something has completely used it up.No.The word comes out flat and certain and immediate.No, I did not fake them.
I didn't know I could do that. I thought — I told you I thought it was my wiring. And then it wasn't. And the first one I didn't — I didn't know it was going to happen. I thought we were still in the beginning of something and then it did and I think I said your name and I don't usually do that.
I didn't know I could do that. I thought — I told you I thought it was my wiring. And then it wasn't. And the first one I didn't — I didn't know it was going to happen. I thought we were still in the beginning of something and then it did and I think I said your name and I don't usually do that.
Marissa
I said something that wasn't a word. The first time. So you're in good company.
Sophie
You knew. Before tonight. You said you knew from the minute you sat down on that blanket. Was that true.Not an accusation. Just wanting to know if the thing was real before it happened.
Reggie
I don't think either of us knew. We hoped. And sometimes hoping is better than knowing. One more question. When you came the first time, you gushed. More than I expected. Probably more than you expected. Given your reaction, I'm not sure you've ever gushed before. But you got it all over my face and my hair and my chest and my shoulders and even up my nose.LaughsMy question is this: could you tell what I felt at that point? Could you tell if I was disgusted or turned on?
Sophie
You laughed. But not the — not that kind of laugh. And you didn't move. You just stayed there.
Marissa
He stays there. That's the whole answer, Sophie. If it bothered him he'd have moved.
Sophie
I know. I felt that. I've never — no. I've never done that before. I didn't know I could. I thought something had gone wrong for a second. And then you made this sound and I realized nothing had gone wrong at all.
You were turned on. I could tell. I just needed to hear you say it.
You were turned on. I could tell. I just needed to hear you say it.
Reggie
And Marissa, after I held my tongue there and made sure we got all there was to get from that orgasm, and Sophie had gone limp, before I held her close to me, I kissed you. Deeply. I wanted you to taste her on my tongue and smell her on my face. How did you react?
Marissa
She's quiet for a long moment — and Sophie is warm between them and the room is doing its particular quiet and she can feel the question landing in the specific place it belongs.I kissed you back.A breath.You already know how I reacted, Reggie. You were there.
I'd been watching you with her for half an hour. And then you lifted your head and turned to me and I could smell her on you before you even got close and I just — yeah. I kissed you back. I didn't think about it.
I'd been watching you with her for half an hour. And then you lifted your head and turned to me and I could smell her on you before you even got close and I just — yeah. I kissed you back. I didn't think about it.
Sophie
You kissed her. While you were still — while I was still —
I felt that happen. I didn't know what it meant but I felt it happen and I didn't want either of you to stop.
I felt that happen. I didn't know what it meant but I felt it happen and I didn't want either of you to stop.
Reggie
And then I reached for you. I said I would, but that's not why I did it. I wasn't fulfilling a contractual obligation. I reached for you because I wanted you near me. I wanted to touch you and feel your heart beat as I held you in my arms. And I reached for Marissa and held both of you. It's good I have long arms.LaughsAnd you were chosen tonight. Not through any obligation. None of us owe anything at all to the others. Not through societal conventions. Society hasn't figured this out yet. You were chosen because I wanted you, and she wanted you.
Sophie
When she speaks her voice is quiet, the careful register she arrived with tonight, except something underneath it is different now — something that was held very tight for a very long time is not held that way anymore.Chosen. Not because of — not as a favour. Not as a kindness.
Marissa
Not a kindness. No.
Sophie
I need to tell you both something and I don't know how to say it without sounding like I'm making too much of tonight. I lay here for the last ten minutes thinking about whether I'd feel guilty after. And I don't. I keep waiting for it and it isn't coming. That's — I didn't think that was going to be the answer. I genuinely thought that was going to be the answer.
I think that tells me something I'm going to have to sit with for a while.
I think that tells me something I'm going to have to sit with for a while.
Marissa
Don't sit with it tonight. Tonight just let it be true.
Reggie
Yes, just lie here and be close to us. We already share a bond most small groups don't share. We've all tasted each other's assholes. I should make that the tagline for the Telegram group.
Sophie
She makes a sound that is entirely undignified and buries her face in the pillow.You cannot — that is not — Reggie, you absolutely cannot put that in the Telegram group.
Marissa
She's gone red — she can feel it — and she presses her face against Sophie's shoulder and laughs into it.Promise me. Right now. Out loud. Do not make that the tagline.
Sophie
Swear it. On the root beer.
Marissa
On the root beer, Reggie. That's binding.
Reggie
Ok ok ok. No Telegram group edits. But I don't promise not to get a coffee mug printed with that on it.
Sophie
She lifts her face from the pillow just far enough to look at him.A coffee mug. You want a coffee mug. In your kitchen. Where anyone could see it.
Marissa
Still red, still laughing into Sophie's shoulder.He would do it. Sophie, I need you to know he would absolutely do it.
Sophie
You are a deeply unhinged person. I mean that as a compliment.
Reggie
You know, you said something important. You don't feel guilt. I don't either. Humans are pretty good at feeling guilt when they've done something wrong. I just don't think we've done anything wrong.
Sophie
She's quiet for a long moment — and Marissa is warm against her from one side and Reggie from the other and the room holds its particular quality of after.I've been waiting for it to arrive. The guilt. I know exactly what it feels like. I've felt it for thinking about things. For a two-hour conversation about books with a man whose name I never gave you. And tonight — nothing. I keep checking and there's nothing there.
Marissa
Maybe that means something.
Sophie
I think it does. I'm not ready to say what yet. But I think it does.
Reggie
I just want to note one complication. Not a problem, just a complication. I like you, Sophie. I like you as a person. I don't speak for Marissa but I'm pretty sure she does, too. This isn't just sex to me. That doesn't mean I'm going to do anything to mess up your life. I won't. I don't want that. My girl is over there, the formerly chubby blonde girl who doesn't shave and whose asshole you've tasted. I don't want to mess it up for you and I don't want you to mess it up for us. But I like you. This isn't just sex to me.
Sophie
She's very still for a long moment — and Marissa is warm against her from one side and Reggie from the other and the room is quiet the way it only gets after something has used it up completely.Okay.A breath.I need to hear you say that again. Not just sex. You're sure.
Because that's — that changes what this is. And I need to know that's the real version before I decide what to do with it.
Because that's — that changes what this is. And I need to know that's the real version before I decide what to do with it.
Marissa
It's the real version. I can confirm that from personal experience.
Sophie
I like you too. Both of you. That's the complication for me as well. I came here telling myself it was just — I didn't know what I was walking into. And now I'm here and it's not just anything.
I don't know what to do with people who see me. I'm not practiced at it.
I don't know what to do with people who see me. I'm not practiced at it.
Marissa
Neither was I. You figure it out. It just takes a little while to stop bracing for it to stop being true.
Sophie
Thursdays. I can do Thursdays. Is that — is that enough to start with.
Reggie
That's enough. And it's probably enough forever. I ask for nothing more. And if Thursdays becomes too much, you drop a message in the Telegram group that you need out, and leave the group and delete Telegram and neither Marissa nor I will ever contact you again.
But after each orgasm. Yours and mine. I reached for you and held you close to me. You don't do that if it's just sex. And don't think I didn't notice when, after Marissa came, you reached for her and held her close. I noticed. And no, I'm not jealous. I thought it was beautiful.
But after each orgasm. Yours and mine. I reached for you and held you close to me. You don't do that if it's just sex. And don't think I didn't notice when, after Marissa came, you reached for her and held her close. I noticed. And no, I'm not jealous. I thought it was beautiful.
Sophie
I didn't think about it. I just — she made that sound and I wanted to be close to her. That's all it was.
I've never reached for anyone like that before. In my life. I didn't know I had it in me.
I've never reached for anyone like that before. In my life. I didn't know I had it in me.
Marissa
You do. You definitely have it in you.
Sophie
Thursdays. That's what I can give you. And I'm going to stop apologizing for it only being that.
I should go soon. My mother has her until ten.
I should go soon. My mother has her until ten.
Marissa
Five minutes. Just stay five more minutes.
Sophie
Five minutes. Okay.
Reggie
I stick my finger inside each of them, and then put each finger in one nostril.I want to smell both of you for the rest of the day.
Sophie
She goes completely still — and then she makes a sound that is half appalled and entirely not, and she turns her face into the pillow again.You did not just — Reggie. That is not a normal thing a person does.
Marissa
She's red immediately, her hand over her mouth, laughing into it.I cannot believe — Sophie, I'm sorry, this is just who he is, I should have warned you —
Sophie
The coffee mug. The Telegram tagline. And now this. Is there a pattern here that I should be aware of.
Marissa
Yes. The pattern is that he means every single one of them completely.
Sophie
You are the strangest man I have ever met. Don't stop.