Chapter 9

On Saturday, I got a message from Erika. It contained some of the pictures that Katya had taken yesterday. I had the mental image of her face covered in all kinds of gooey stuck in my head, but seeing it again was great. It also came with some text saying that she and Katya had a great time and to give Dogmeat some extra snacks today.

I agreed Dogmeat deserved a reward. I took him on a long hike that day. It was partially for me as well, as I wanted time to go faster. Katya wanted me to call at 11 PM and I had trouble waiting.

At exactly 11 PM I called the number that Katya had given me. Within seconds, she answered.

“Hi, thanks for calling. I am not big on text messages”, Katya said as she answered. She had gotten straight to the point. She proposed that I come over on Tuesday at 6 PM for dinner, and I readily agreed. I would have rearranged most things just to see Katya again.

“What is your favorite thing to eat?”, she asked, mentioning that it would be just the two of us as Erika would be working that evening from 6 PM to 11 PM.

It would have been easy to make a joke to say her pussy or something, but I resisted. Instead, I said that I liked seafood and that I was not a picky eater.

“I can make that.” She said, “And thanks for not saying my cunt or ass because I would have had to slap you.”

I dodged a bullet. The call was over shortly after that line, less than three minutes after the call had started. And as if my patience hadn’t been tested enough already that day. Now I had to wait three days.

Tuesday couldn’t come fast enough, and I was relieved when it finally arrived. I am not a person who gets nervous easily, but I was anxious to see Katya again, especially since it would be just the two of us this time.

“Keeping it low-key,” Katya had said on the phone. I was sure she had an agenda for inviting me over. In my head, I had gone over hundreds of scenarios, but I wasn’t 100% sure which one it would be.

When Katya greeted me with a hug and a kiss, I felt like I had been upgraded. I must be doing something right. Her hair was styled in ponytails that might make Harley Quinn consider a copyright infringement lawsuit, and she wore light makeup.

Her outfit was unlike anything I had seen her wear before. She had on high-end leggings paired with a bright-colored top that featured a plunging neckline, barely street-legal, accentuating her ample cleavage. She also wore a nice, expensive-looking necklace. On her feet were the bunny slippers, which didn’t quite match the rest of the outfit, but I guessed they must be very comfortable.

“You look very nice. Not your work outfit I assume?”, I asked as I walked in. I recalled that she had worn her work clothes on our previous encounters, even on the double date with Jozsef.

“I left a bit early from work as I had to cook and I had time to change.”, Katya responded and guided me to the kitchen.

“We will start with a small fresh lobster bisque appetizer. The main course is tuna with Brussels sprouts and diced potatoes. And we can discuss what we want to do for dessert.”, Katya explained.

So much for a low-key dinner I thought and I had some ideas for dessert as well. Only some of them involved food.

Dinner was very nice. She had made a cocktail based on my alcohol of choice and we had a nice white wine during the main course. It was unlike our previous encounters. Our conversations were about video games we played, TV shows we watched, and our work. We also made fun of Erika’s terrible choice of TV shows, mostly reality and dating programs and other random topics.

After dinner was over, Katya suggested moving to the couch and she poured us a glass of Port dessert wine. We talked about the couch. She wanted a new one as this one had stains from Erika, but the apartment was too small for the couch she liked. After a while, she looked at me, waited for a second, and asked me a question.

“Do you know why I invited you over?”, Katya asked. Her voice had a serious tone.

“I can guess, but I will probably be wrong.”

“Yes it would be.”, she said with a smile. She asked if I knew the joke about what a lesbian brings on a second date. I didn’t. The answer was ‘a U-Haul truck’. It made more sense to her than to me, but she explained that the stereotype is that lesbians get serious fast.

“So here is a topic that is not a joke.”, Katya said, “I think Erika and I should move in with you.”

I like to think that she had waited till I had emptied my Porto wine or there might have been another stain on the couch.

“There is more to this, isn’t there.”, I asked, not sure what to make of the question. I was trying to hide my surprise. It had not been one of the scenarios I had imagined.

“Bear with me and I can explain why I believe it makes sense.”, Katya said.

“Erika and I do not have much family. We have each other. Our mother lives far away, and we have a pervy uncle, that’s it.”, Katya started, “I love Erika and my life choices always involve how it would impact her.”

“You love Erika,” she asked, “I see how you look at her and I know how special that is for somebody like you.”

I wondered for a second what somebody like me meant, but decided to ignore that part and focus on the first part of the sentence. “I believe I do, but we tried a relationship and it didn’t work.”

“Why do you think it didn’t work?” Katya asked.

“Compatibility. Sex-wise it worked, but we didn’t have much else in common.”, I replied.

“Wrong. It had very little to do with you. Erika is just not a relationship person. She is a butterfly, going from flower to flower. She needs to be free. The fact that she got so close to you and still wants to see you is a miracle. She has not done that since she was an adult and hadn’t done it since you broke up.”

I thought for a minute. And that allowed Katya to continue her sales pitch.

“She doesn’t make much money. She couldn’t afford to live by herself. So what are her options? Get locked down by a man. That doesn’t make her happy. She can live with me almost for free. She doesn’t need to work but feels guilty for not contributing any money, even though it is peanuts. So with the two of us moving in with you, and both you and I are working, she can be the best version of herself she can be. She wouldn’t have to worry financially, as both of us would work. She can focus on her art and crafts. And related to her sexual escapades, but you there and me there we can monitor her better and maybe keep the itch down.”

This was the first time I saw Katya struggling with her words. I figured it was caused by her emotional involvement with Erika.

“Have you considered putting a tracker in her?”, I asked and was half serious.

Katya laughed nervously. “I guess that would work.” Katya hasn’t fully recovered from her emotional speech.

“Okay, what would be the reason for you to do this?” I asked Katya. I could see the benefit for me even if it would be a super rushed decision. Having both girls around full-time seemed like a dream and worth the risk.

“That is mean. Fine. Fine. I will answer.” Katya said.

“Okay, I like you. I think that has been clear to you too. I can see myself sort of tolerating you. Anyway, you know some of the reasons why I like you, but maybe that is not so important. More important is why move to the next step so fast.”

Katya swallowed and took another sip of the Porto wine before she continued.

“We do this as a threesome. We need to grow together. Erika knows you better than I do and I want to catch up. The only way to do that is to dive in deep. Otherwise, I might fall behind and this whole us thing might fail.”

Katya drank again. Opening up like this must be difficult as she was making herself very vulnerable. After a short break, she continued.

“You were right about what you said earlier about my dating style. It could go wrong any day and then not only I would be in trouble, but Erika would be as well. You defuse a time bomb. And as I said, I do like you.”

Katya paused and looked up at me. She was waiting for confirmation.

“Well spoken.”, I replied, “The time-bomb part applies to me as well. It is why I am so careful with dating. One misstep and my life is over.”

“Exactly. It seems far riskier to not do this than to do it.”, Katy said, visibly relieved that her message had been received well.

“But what about regular relationship things, like family, habits, life goals etcetera? How do we know we align, so this will work?”, I asked. It seemed like a valid question to ask. I had a feeling how it would work, but felt if we wanted to make this work, that it should be out in the open. I realized I was already starting to believe in the idea myself.