I nodded hesitantly.
“But there’s more Kar. I’m more than a flight attendant.”
Her nose wrinkled.
“Totally get it,” she said, waving a hand in the air. “The way corporate America is these days is completely shameless. They expect their workers to be everything and anything, from janitor to handyman to secretary, you name it. Of course you’re not just the stewardess,” she said sympathetically. “Are you the cleaning staff and the chef too? You have a ton of “extra” responsibilities that they play off as “part of the job,” right?”
I nodded again slowly.
“Yes, to an extent,” were my hesitant words. “I do have a ton of extra responsibilities, but it’s not cleaning or cooking.”
Karen scrunched her nose.
“Then what could it be? Do they expect you to fly the plane as well? That’s bullshit Joanie, you have to call them out on that.”
I took a deep breath.
“It’s not flying the plane, Kar. No, it’s that … I make love with them. With the six men, I mean,” came my stammer. “When we’re up in the air.”
For once, my chatty friend had no words. She gulped, eyes wide and staring.
“Wha--?” was her slow exclamation. “Are you --? No way, girl. That can’t be true.”
I nodded miserably again.
“It kind of just happened,” I said sorrowfully. “I did it with one, and then another, and pretty soon, it was all six of them.”
She cut me off again.
“You don’t mean six at once, do you? Just one at a time, right? You know, like in a line.”
My eyes looked down, afraid to face her judgment.
“No, I do mean six at once,” I whispered. “It just happened, kinda sorta. But it felt really good!” my voice rose a little then, eyes pleading. “It’s not bad. In fact, it’s really good, please don’t judge.”
My voice broke then. I understood how ridiculous this sounded. I was admitting that I was sleeping with six men, and not only that, but enjoying it too.
“It’s not so bad,” I said, my tone stronger this time. “I like it,” was my admission, “and that’s why I’m in New York right now. Because one of the guys has a penthouse in Manhattan, so I was staying there.”
Karen’s eyes narrowed.
“So what went wrong?” she asked slowly. “If you like it so much, and this is what the guys want from you, then what went wrong?”
Okay, this was the hard part.
“Me and one of the guys went out for the day, and two of the alphas were waiting for us upon return. They were jealous. Real jealous, like got into a fight in the hallway jealous. I thought I was gonna have to call 9-1-1,” I confessed in a shameful whisper.
But Karen didn’t think this was embarrassing at all. Instead, she tilted her head back and laughed, her tongue ring glinting under the fluorescent light.
“So? They like you, sweetheart. They think you’re sexy. You’ve got a pack of men fighting over you, and you’re upset about that?”
I sat there stunned.
“Well, yes, kinda sorta. Because it’s not cool,” I said slowly. “I don’t like fighting. I don’t like war. I like peace and harmony, and this was only three of them. What happens when all six fight? How are we gonna work it out?”
Karen eyed me, a little skeptical.
“Yeah, but isn’t that their problem? Why is it so upsetting to you?”