Sierra remembered it as if it were yesterday. She had come back to their dorm room earlier than expected and had shamefully listened at the door. It was the first time in her young life she had heard such passion. She was so turned on by hearing her best friend cry out in the throes of her incredible orgasm that she had stood outside the door wrapped in a blanket and masturbated, finger fucking her own pussy, playing with her own clit, wishing it was her that was being made love to with such zeal, wishing it was her tongue being washed over with those sweet juices, wishing the pair might invite her to join them. Hailey’s relationship with Sam had gone on for at least a year, but Sierra knew her friend well enough to know that it wouldn’t last.
“You’re makin’ me sound like some sort of ice princess. I’m not saying I’m incapable of love. I just don’t get this end-of-the-world kind of love that people profess to be in. All I’m sayin’ is that that kind of love is nothing more than a chemical reaction; a combination of hormones and pheromones; similar to the reaction you might get to being thirsty. I mean really, have you ever seen a person who hasn’t had anything to drink for an extended period of time. There’s no difference between that and what some people swear is love. Now, Melvin and me, we love each other, but we’re sensible about our love. That’s why we’re such a good combination. We want the same things, we have the same goals, we’re sexually compatible, and we’re realistic about our relationship. After witnessing the things my mother did for love, I have no intention of going off ‘half-cocked’ so to speak, because of some chemical imbalance brought about by lustful urges.”
“What you keep forgetting, Hailey, is that you can still fall head over heels in love and not make the same bad choices your mother made. Being in love doesn’t necessarily translate to being a victim. That was your mother’s choice. It doesn’t have to be yours.”
“Damn right, it doesn’t have to be. That’s why I’m being logical in my approach to love.”
“Speaking of lustful urges, do you and the Ice Prince have any lustful urges? He reminds me of one of those ‘missionary, half-quarter turn of the nipple, three times for the right and three times for the left, with a quarter-turn swerve of the pelvis’ kind of guys. I mean, really, Hailey. I know you don’t believe in romance and all, but did you have to pick the most boring brother in all of New York to marry?” Sierra asked.
“Melvin is not boring. We go to museums and we’ve traveled everywhere together. We’ve gone white water rafting and mountain climbing. We even jumped out of an airplane together and, for the umpteenth time, our lives are compatible,” Hailey assured her friend.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but can he fuck?”
“Sierra, you are by far the most vulgar person I have ever known.”
“Yeah, but you still love me. Now, back to the point. Stop dodging my question. Can Mr. Man lay the pipe; not that I’m sure that’s what you’re really into anyway? I offered to make the supreme sacrifice when we were in college and make that pussy of yours shake, but you turned me down.”
Through the years many of Hailey’s and Sierra’s friends and family alike just assumed that they were lovers, since Sierra was so open about the fact that she was a lesbian, but nothing could be further from the truth. Hailey and Sierra had never had even the slightest sexual contact with one another throughout four years as roommates in college and another five years sharing an apartment after graduating. Hailey had had her fair share of sexual encounters with both men and women while she was away at college. However, all of that changed when she graduated. Hailey considered her sexual exploration just that—exploration, nothing more, nothing less. She considered herself straight and, as far as she was concerned, everything she did in college was part of her “discovering herself.” Her best friend Sierra, on the other hand, disagreed.
“Sex with Melvin is good. We fit. And, that is all I’m going to say about my sex life; thank you very much.”
“You fit. What the fuck does that mean? You complete me?” Sierra joked, using her hands to mime a scene from an Austin Powers flick.
“You are one crazy bitch, you know that, Sierra. You are really, really crazy.” Hailey laughed. “I know you hate this kind of shit, but as my maid of honor, you better be at my rehearsal dinner tonight, and I expect you to be on time. None of that two hours late shit, okay? Okay, Sierra?” Hailey asked again.
“Okay, okay. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll be there with bells on. Besides, this is fun for me. Every gathering of the bride and groom is an opportunity for you to once and for all come to your damn senses and put an end to this travesty; and for me to witness it.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but no one is calling off anything. Melvin and I are getting married and we are going to be very, very happy.”
“Well, I personally think you’re trying a little too hard to convince me, but we’ll drop it; for now. So what
time does this little shindig start again?”
“Eight o’clock, Sierra,” Hailey responded with irritation.
“Well, I guess I better go and get beautiful,” Sierra said, rising from her comfortable spot on Hailey’s loveseat.
Just as Sierra was about to open the door to leave, Hailey spoke and her mood along with the look on her face softened.
“Sierra, no pressure, but could you try to get there a little early? I’m meeting Melvin’s sister for the first time. He doesn’t have any other family and he and his twin sister Nelly are so close. I’m a little nervous about making a good impression. Melvin is so conservative, but him and I, we know each other. He’s gotten used to me and accepts me as I am, but I’m just worried that his sister will think I’m not good enough for her brother. You know, the whole struggling artist thing and all.”
Hailey never ceased to amaze Sierra. One minute she could be tough as nails, sprouting her radical views on love and physical attraction and the next minute she was like an insecure little girl wanting approval.
“Damn, girl, you’re going to have me believing you love this man yet. You know I’d do anything for you; even be early. I’ll be there by at least seven; not that you need me. You’ll be fine on your own. You’re beautiful, intelligent, a gifted artist and anyone would be lucky to have you.”
With that, Sierra left and headed for her cramped apartment in East New York. The artist in Hailey wanted to wear something color-blocked and bright with raging colors, but she instead decided on a conservative black silky dress that skimmed her knee, exposing her shapely calves and the muscular tone readily apparent while wearing a four-inch pair of heels. She almost removed the dress and wore something else, because she could notice, even through the dress the deep valley between her legs, whenever the dress shifted back and forth. Melvin had once commented that the first thing he noticed when he met her three years earlier was the fact that she was wearing a pair of jeans and the tightness of the jeans accentuated this huge valley. He said it reminded him of a promise, almost like the gap between her thighs was beckoning him to enter. He might have liked it, but Hailey learned very early that that gap just brought her more male attention than she would have liked. After the rehearsal, the next stop was the rehearsal dinner, which was being held at Ashford and Simpson’s restaurant, the Sugar Bar. Melvin and Hailey would arrive early to greet their guests.
“You’re like a little kid on Christmas morning,” Hailey said to Melvin.
“I know it’s silly; it’s just that my sister and I have been through a lot together and I really miss her. I can’t wait to see her.”
“No, it’s not silly. I love that you care about another human being that way. It’s what makes you the person you are.”
Hailey softly touched her hand to Melvin’s cocoa brown face and brought his face down to meet hers, running her fingers through his curly black hair, admiring the sexy cleft in his chin. It occurred to her, for the first time, that he really was sexy, but she never really seemed to notice that. Why? Maybe Sierra was right, maybe there was something not quite right about this union. Melvin and Hailey kissed briefly before he pulled away and gazed into her dark, haunting eyes, her similar cocoa complexion, the beautiful dimples that dotted her beautiful face. It occurred to him that they were perfect for one another.
“My sister is going to love you,” he said. “I’m going to go and look for her outside.”
Sierra had arrived impressively early and was now circulating among the guests. Sierra had always been possessing of more charisma than any one person needed. That was one of the things Hailey loved about her. Just as Hailey was about to cross the room to join Sierra, the look on her best friend’s face stopped Hailey in her tracks and she turned to see what had Sierra’s attention. Hailey could barely breathe. Taking strides across the room were her fiancé Melvin and the reason why Hailey had long ago reevaluated her take on love. It was Samantha (Sam for short), her lover in college and the last and only person she had ever gone completely “crazy” in love with. Hailey had been obsessed with Sam; that is until Samantha disappeared from her life never to be seen from or heard from again. It was suddenly as though she were that twenty–year-old college girl again. Melvin approached her; smiling.