Confronted

"What are you really after?" Noah said to me. "Come on, tell me."

"Simone is interested in you," I said. "Well, you and I. Together."

"She thinks we're having an affair?"

"No -- she wants a threesome."

What I thought would take a fifteen-minute explanation was revealed in just four sentences. Noah seemed amused, amazed, and just a little incredulous. Simone was beautiful, he said, and most beautiful women are very territorial over their partners.

"Simone isn't actually your average woman," I reminded him. "She and I were both escorts, remember? Besides, it's not like I haven't had a threesome before."

"Really?"

"Yes," I said, and told him the time Adam and I met with a client. Noah sat back, wide-eyed and mouth open, as I recalled the details of double-penetration and the feeling of Adam's arm, leg and other body parts brushing against my own. The sweat, the moans, the veil of heat over all out bodies -- I remember it like it was yesterday.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Noah asked. "This Adam, was he--?"

"He was an acquaintance first, then a friend," I explained. "And it wasn't the worse night at work I ever had, no."

Only after a pause in the conversation did I realize where I was: Noah's apartment. It was a studio-come-loft in downtown Manhattan. Clean lines, dark cherry wood floors and exposed beams were proof enough that Noah was quite successful. No help from mommy and daddy here -- he earned this place fair and square.

"I should get going," I said, and rose from my leather chair. "Work tomorrow..."

"I'm in," Noah said.

"Sorry?"

"The threesome -- I'm in."

"I thought you were gay?"

"Most of the time," he replied, grinning like Cheshire cat. "On this occasion, I'm willing to make an exception."

He walked me to the door, then to the elevator, and ended our night with this:

"I never forgot, you know. That night, at the party. I never, ever forgot."

Before I could make my reply, the elevator doors shut. I caught a cab, slumped into the back seat, and pondered my life on the ride through the light and sound of the Manhattan night.