Ben and Marcie gave each other a happy smile as they were left alone for a moment, gripping each other’s hands wordlessly. Ben thought of the way his friend had carelessly gripped the bare skin of Marcie’s shoulder, but he recognised he felt no suspicion or jealousy at that, especially as he gazed into the wide limpid warmth of Marcie’s sparkling eyes under her glasses. He risked leaning forwards to briefly kiss her lips, where her glossy russet lipstick had been worn away to a thin edge by the food and wine that he could taste on her mouth. They were still at it, Marcie’s free hand gently resting on Ben’s jaw, her bangles softly jangling at her wrist, their lips parted as they pressed together, when Sofie caught them, coming back through with the rich dessert on a special decorated plate.
“Oh!” she said in mild surprise as they quickly broke apart, “I do not mind. Here you can kiss when you want to. I hope also that it is okay for you too if Geoff kisses me as well when you are here.”
Ben and Marcie both reassured her that was just fine with them as their hands remained locked together, before politely admiring the desert. Ben felt a little like a naughty teenager, but when he saw Marcie’s broad smile, he realised that he did not really feel at all guilty. He recognised that the gin and wine, as well as the generous meal, had given him a pleasant feeling of comfort that was familiar, a little like being wrapped in an internal duvet, and that lightly intoxicated feeling reenforced his general mood of joyful satisfaction. He was keen to maintain that with a few sips of the sweet Glayva, which Geoff had come into the room carrying, along with a cluster of ice-filled glass tumblers in his other big hand.
“Have I missed something?” his friend asked, perhaps catching Sophie’s last few words and seeing how the newly betrothed couple were grinning sheepishly.
“Your fiancé caught us having a little kiss,” Marcie admitted, “Apparently it’s okay to carry on like that here though, as no one minds if there’s a bit of smooching when we’re all friends together. So I guess if Ben and I notice you two having a bit of a cuddle later, we won’t tell, and your secret will be safe.”
Geoff looked a bit sheepish himself now as he set down the heavy glasses, and Ben wondered if he’d just remembered the time that Ben had slept over here before, when he’d overheard Geoff and Sofie making love. Geoff didn’t seem to be trying too hard to cover anything up though as he said simply, “Sophie knows best. I just fit in when and where she says.”
Ben wondered if the big man had meant to make an innuendo as he watched him retake his seat with a contented sigh, but the moment passed as he unscrewed the bottle’s lid to pour out some slugs of the liqueur. Sophie didn’t seem to have reacted to his remark either as she offered the slices of cheesecake that she was cutting to each of them in turn.
When they’d all been served, Ben raised his new glass to say cheers and thank Sophie and Geoff once more for the wonderful food and company, then said, “I’m sorry, we’ve been selfish, me especially. We’ve talked non-stop about ourselves, and you’ve not told us what you’ve been up to.”
Sofie scoffed at this as she took a delicate mouthful of the creamy pudding, saying, “No apology is needed. Your stories are very interesting. You know what we do. Geoff has a large project with some trouble, but it will work out. He looks forward to the sailing in the summer and enjoys the gym meanwhile. I have the new targets at work but the team do the same job. Our big news is we are engaged, but now that is your big news too. So that is very good and we can plan our weddings together! But we have said there is no rush already. Marcie can enjoy the new feeling before she makes her choice for the dress.”
That prompted Marcie to gesture urgently as she finished her own mouthful before she could speak, “Hmm, but I’ve discussed that with Ben already! I said that I don’t want a great big white meringue, but I think a part of him quite likes the idea of taking me up the aisle in something like that, with all the Catholic bells and smells! This is simply delicious by the way, the lovely pudding, but this syrupy drink especially.”
Sofie confirmed the cheesecake was just from the supermarket, but said how glad she was that Marcie liked the Glayva, as she loved the way it slipped down so easily. Marcie had clearly been having more thoughts about wedding dresses though as she went on, “But you know, that whole white dress thing is really dodgy if you think about it in some ways, isn’t it? It’s about purity, it’s about virginity, right? And is that really who we should try to pretend we are today, in the twenty-first century? We are not shy virgins being offered with a dowry by our fathers into our new husbands’ households. We are grown woman, sexually active, making our own minds up about who we want to share our lives with, as equal partners who respect and love each other, with our hearts, our minds and our bodies, right? A part of me wants to wear a sexy black number, an LBD or a great gothic witchy vampire thing. Or red, of course, in brazen scarlet as I stand beside the man I love, declaring our vows, saying that is who I am when I make my promise, I’m fire and blood, dangerous, hot and alive!”
Ben was surprised at how candid Marcie was being, but Sofie was eagerly agreeing, “You are right! It is very true, we are not pure little girls, we are sexy women in love! We know the passion and we show it with our men. We are as you say, the living flame, full of the red blood and the magic, and that is how we can dress.”
“Could you make a dress like that?” Marcie asked with fascination, hastily adding, “Not for me! I mean for yourself, something that looked like a living flame, with tapering layers of gauze maybe, perhaps with sparks and sequins too?”
Sofie laughed lightly, pushing her empty plate away as she took a long sip of her amber drink, “No way! Even this blouse is as difficult as can be for me, and I cheat with it. It has poppers, you see? Not real buttons.”
Ben had been keeping quiet as the two women had been speculating, inadvertently recalling the thought of Sophie dressed in her erotic costume for Geoff at the mention of a red dress. Now he couldn’t ignore her as she set her tumbler down again, then stood up to model her elegant blouse in its bright silky fabric, loose in the arms and the bust, tapering to snug cuffs and a cinched waist. Sofie had held her arms out to do a little twirl, and Ben noted with objective attention to the details that it must indeed have been complex to sew, with its pleats, its collar and its yoke. He’d also noticed when Sophie had leant forwards over the table as she demonstrated the pearlescent studs down its front. Her neckline was already gaping a little, but when she undid one popper Ben felt himself blush to see the pale skin along the inner edge of one of her small breasts momentarily exposed.
He quickly glanced guiltily first at Geoff, who was smiling happily toward Sofie, then at Marcie, who met his eyes and gave him what was perhaps an indulgent smile of her own. It seemed that if either had noticed where his eyes had lingered, they didn’t care. So he felt confident looking back toward Sofie’s sparkling eyes as she fell back down into her seat heavily and prompted Geoff to refill their glasses with a gesture and an affectionate, “Honey bear?”
Ben wanted to offer a Sofie compliment, perhaps at some level by way of thanks for the uninhibited way that she’d almost revealed herself to him, so he said, “It’s amazing, how well you made it. It reminds me of Seventies fashion, like someone in films back then, I don’t know, Katharine Ross maybe?”
“Oh don’t let him get started with his film goddesses!” Marcie pleaded with a laugh, and Ben was actually quite relieved by her teasing, as he’d just remembered that the actress who’d popped into his mind had been in The Stepford Wives. He really didn’t want to go there, as Geoff and he anticipated their married futures with their wonderfully strong-willed and enthusiastically dynamic girlfriends. He also darkly suspected the film had somehow bubbled up from the depths of his memories because of the shockingly exciting scene when the replacement wife’s breast was voyeuristically revealed through her thin negligee.
“I do not know this Katharine, Ben,” Sofie admitted with a light laugh of her own, “I hope she was not ugly. But you are serious about taking Marcie in the church?”
Ben was quite sure that Sofie was being suggestive with her question, but he tried to answer it jokingly at both it’s possible levels, saying, “I would love to take Marcie wherever she wants, but she was teasing, I think. I don’t think we will get married in church. I think you are still a Roman Catholic, deep down, aren’t you love? It was part of your childhood, part of your identity, with the Maltese community in Manchester. We can’t pretend that didn’t happen, and you still often call on Holy Mary. But we just play with it now, I think, like it’s another mythology, talking about it beside Classical gods and goddesses, and fairy stories like Narnia. I guess the only real reason we might be serious, why we’d book a church, is if it made your mum happy?”
He’d turned toward Marcie, taking her hand again now that they’d finished their puddings. She lifted her glass with her free hand to sip her liqueur before she replied, saying, “You’re too kind with my daft old mum. I’m really not worrying about what she would like, and she would be just as vague and confused in our old church in Manchester as she would be at a disco ashram in Ibiza. But you should think of your family too. What would your dad like?”
“Oh, he wouldn’t expect anything, I’m pretty sure. He’d be happy in a church, I reckon, but just as happy for us in a registry office - though a trip to Ibiza may be tricky for him. Granny would like to see us in church, I guess, making our vows in Jesus’ name, just like your Nanna too. But you know her feelings, her suspicion of vicars, and I guess Nanna wouldn’t fly over from Malta for it.”
Marcie gave him a sweet smile, perhaps he’d accidentally referred to Marcie’s Nanna as if she were part of his family now too. She obviously had other playful ideas too though, as she said, “Oh, it all sounds a bit boring and grown-up, doesn’t it? With what you said about fairy stories and myths, and what with meeting a real Heathen on the beach this afternoon, I almost feel like we should do something deliberately pagan. We could do it outside beneath the sun and the sky, the ceremony I mean! Maybe we could stand together next to the sea, linking it to all that sailing that you and Geoff do. I can even imagine us on the deck of a replica Viking longship, like your model from Skuldelev, drawn up on the Lindisfarne beach. We’d symbolically tie our knots together in the rigging, to catch the fresh wind that will carry us over the sea on our shared journey.”
“It sounds like you have very good ideas from the Viking biker friends you made,” Sofie said with a delighted chuckle, “We have no plans for a wedding in church. There was no religion when I was growing up, and Geoff is not a holy man, so maybe we can share your pagan ceremony outside. But I think maybe you two had the exciting ideas to celebrate outside in nature by yourselves already. This afternoon you made love in the dunes on Holy Island?”
Marcie laughed aloud at Sofie’s shockingly blunt question, almost stated as if she knew the truth and was challenging them to contradict her. Ben felt the familiar ticklish warmth returning in his cheeks once again as he wondered how to avoid answering without lying, perhaps by diverting them with the story of the motorbike cavalcade.
However Marcie seemed confident as she tightened her grip on Ben’s hand, setting her bare shoulders back as she said clearly, with a smile playing on her lips, “Yes, we made love just before Ben proposed. After we’d finished our lunch, we had a kiss and a cuddle, and then we both let that go further in what seemed a very natural way. It was so quiet and open there, with no one around and nothing to hear but the birdsong, a beautiful and magical place to be truly together. I hope Ben agrees that it felt as if we were transforming the simple act into our own kind of spiritual rite, more profound and satisfying than it is in the bedroom, even if we weren’t under a comfy duvet.”
Ben felt proud of Marcie for being so honest with their friends as they looked deep into each other’s eyes. He saw her chest rise and fall with deep breaths, and noticed the colour on her own cheeks beneath her olive skin and freckles - all as if she’d just faced a physical challenge, so that her broad grin arose from a great athletic triumph. He returned that smile with what he hoped was encouraging warmth to reassure her that she’d said exactly the right thing.
But Ben turned back to Sofie as she spoke wistfully, taking Geoff’s big paw in her delicate hand too, “I thought it was as you say. You are brave. I remember one time last year on the summer holiday we made love outside. It was above the beach in Croatia, but it was nighttime and maybe we were a little drunk, like we are now, just a little. It was beautiful, there were so many stars. Geoff took the time slowly, until I was gasping for air, and I truly felt our love! It was a big romance for us. But your story is a big romance too. You made a magic love, and then Ben asked you to marry, and you said yes! For us it was the other way around.”
“How do you mean?” Marcie asked, leaning forwards with a cheeky curiosity and carelessly pouring them all more Glayva.
Sofie took a sip from her recharged glass as she leaned back, sending a sly smile Geoff’s way, as she began, “It was an evening in the pub in the big town. Not the time we first met, when I made my new friend Marcie, when we both saw the funny boys’ tattoos, but soon after. I think my big strong man at last realised he did not want me to go home with a different funny boy. We were back at home and we were having just one more drink before bed. We were on the sofa having a kiss and a cuddle as you say. We were undressed and stroking each other, touching the vagina and the penis. Do not worry! The cover had a wash after this, it is clean. But this night when we cuddle and lose our clothes, it was nice, but I was tired and maybe it would not go further, as you also say, but maybe Geoff would like it to further.”
Ben suddenly felt that Sofie was being more graphic than he’d ever have expected, and far more candid than even Marcie had been. But as he glanced around, he saw Geoff looking relaxed as he reclined and cradled his glass, smiling at his fiancé, whilst Marcie was grinning with rapt attention. He felt a part of his mind give a mental shrug as he took a sip of his own liqueur and listened without interrupting as Sofie went on, “Well now Geoff has a way to wake me up and make me feel more love. He has a ring already that he has bought secretly, just like Ben I think. He rushes to get it, running to the secret place with his penis big and sticking up! He shows it to me, the ring I mean, not the penis, and he says he wants to marry me! I scream, I think, I am so excited and happy. Of course I say yes, and I feel sexy, I feel it very strongly when he wants to put the ring on my finger. But the ring then is a little small so it won’t go all the way down my finger. We need something to make it more slippy.”
Marcie gave an excited laugh of delight as she dropped Ben’s hand to cover her mouth, “Mother of God, you didn’t, did you?”
“You know it already,” Sofie said with a huge grin, still clutching Geoff’s hand with affection, “I put the finger inside the vagina where it is wet, and I rub it all around. When I take the finger out it is very slippy with my own juice! Geoff is very excited, his penis is standing up very strong and tall now, and he puts the ring on easily. You know what happens next too, I think. So we make love then, just after we get engaged, when you two make love just before. I wonder what you think, which is better?” Sofie was rocking with laughter as she finished, and Marcie was joining in, almost shrieking with delight as tears rolled down her cheeks, gripping Ben’s hand again.
Ben caught Geoff’s eye, and he saw his friend was smiling a little guiltily, “I’m sorry you had to hear that, matey. I blame the Glayva. It’s not a story I’d repeat to anyone else.”
“No bother,” Ben said, smiling back contentedly, “You can trust Marcie and me, like you know we trust you both. Anyway, Marcie has already spilt the beans, about what we did in the dunes.”
“It wasn’t the beans that got spilt there!” Marcie said cheekily, leaning across and pushing her chest forwards provocatively as she placed a quick wet peck on his cheek. But then she immediately rocked backwards and joined Sofie in another peel of wild laughter.
“But your old Viking strangers, they were already watching when you spilt Ben’s beans? They did not just see him on one knee?” Sofie asked urgently, catching her breath and sipping her drink again.
Ben tried to regain some control of the ribald conversation by answering truthfully on behalf of them both, saying, “We don’t think so. I walked with the man, Graham, while Marcie spoke to Marion. They told the same story. They heard us, and Marion worked it out, but then they hung back, guarding us from other passers-by even. But we were trying to be discrete anyway, arranging things so no one would actually see, well, see our private bits.”
“What if they did watch? What if they did see the penis? Would that change how it felt?” Sofie asked with suddenly sharp acuity.
Marcie seemed to ponder the question seriously as she cradled her glass, and Ben was curious to hear what she’d say too. After taking a small sip of the amber liquid, she’d obviously made up her mind as she set the glass down and said firmly, “No. No, it changes nothing, does it? If you take it right back to first principles, here is a couple, faithful lovers, genuinely, and ready to get married as it turns out. Their love includes expressions of physical intimacy, just as it does for almost every other couple at some point in their lives, throughout history and around the world. It’s a cliche, but we’re also like other animals, other mammals at least, in our biology. It’s important for us as individuals and for our species that we find a partner and that we mate with them. It’s an energy that drives us to do all sorts of things, but it comes down to putting those private bits together. Perhaps someone saw Ben and me do that, but so what? I’d be embarrassed if everyone saw - as it breaks social taboos and I wouldn’t want us to be singled out as perverts who go against the established conservative mores of public decency - but we didn’t deliberately set out to be seen, to be exhibitionists, and we certainly meant no harm by it.”
“So it is okay if someone sees, perhaps a stranger, or perhaps a close friend who you can trust with a secret, but you do not need to make an exhibit? It is not more exciting because you are seen?” Sofie asked earnestly, clearly with a sincere interest in Marcie’s feelings.
“That sounds about right,” Marcie agreed decisively, “And I think Ben agrees. We would not seek to intimately expose ourselves deliberately, but if someone just happens to see us and they don’t mind, then where is the harm? So long as they don’t try to join in, to get involved in the action, it is still just our own personal and honest love, bringing us together in our natural union.”
“Aye, I’ve said we are two become one,” Ben contributed, demonstrating that honesty, he hoped. He explained, “I mean it emotionally, as it’s the way I truly feel, but it happens physically too, making our bodies join together. It’s a natural thing, as Marcie says.”
“I think we are almost the same,” Sofie said softly, her voice suddenly quiet and serious, almost as if she were shy or unhappy, “I also do not want to break taboos, and I do not want the others to join in when I make love with Geoff. But I do not mind if another person sees, if this someone knows we are making the union. When it happens, I want to become one with him, like it is an ache, but maybe I want the others to know that. Then it feels better, stronger. It is more true. So maybe I am the exhibitionist, I am the pervert, who wants her true love with her man to be seen.”
Ben could tell that Marcie clearly had sincere sympathy for Sofie’s tender feelings, which had become exposed as she’d tried to share these previously hidden thoughts. Ben felt a strong compassion towards his friend’s future wife himself as Marcie dropped his hand to reach across the table and clasp Sofie’s free hand in both hers, saying firmly, “No! It is no perversion, and if you do like to play at being an exhibitionist, there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you keep yourself and Geoff safe. If anyone wants to take offence, then that is their problem, not yours. The love you two share is a beautiful thing and as sacred as anything else on this living Earth. You are right to celebrate it and to want to show it off, especially if the people you show it off to are kind and respectful towards you both, if they want you to be happy. And who wouldn’t? You are a truly a beautiful and loving couple, and Ben and I are very lucky to be your close friends.”
As Marcie spoke, Ben remembered once again how he’d accidentally heard Geoff and Sofie making love before, and he guessed Marcie was now leaving the metaphorical door open for them to do so again. He realised he felt at ease with that, just as he did with the thought of them overhearing Marcie’s passionate vocalisations, were he to help her achieve her orgasm while they were in the room next door. Yet he had no time to work out a polite way to phrase these thoughts, to find a way to further reassure Sofie, before Sofie herself said decisively, “Thank you. You two are very beautiful and loving also. I am very lucky and very happy to be friends. But you are here tonight to watch the big Matrix film, not to listen to my nonsense speaking!”
She was already rising to her feet as she gathered their empty plates, saying that she would make a coffee to settle the meal and balance the alcohol, then asked what everyone else wanted. Marcie had immediately risen to her feet too, saying that she’d love a cup of tea, but that she would help. Ben began to push himself up and offered to help too, but Marcie told him firmly to stay in the living room and help Geoff get the DVD ready instead.
Ben acquiesced as he understood that she and Sofie might want to continue some kind of girl-talk on their own in the kitchen whilst he and Geoff set up their boys’ film. He felt that he and Marcie had both quite suddenly become a lot closer to Sofie and Geoff though, reaching a surprising new level of honesty in their friendship this evening, perhaps as a consequence of them all deciding to move on to the next stage in their lives together. There was no chance for him to say this out loud though as he reached out to give Marcie’s bare shoulder a parting caress and share a smile of deep contentment. Marcie didn’t say anything either, but Ben guessed she felt the same way, as she pouted her lips as if blowing him a kiss and ruffled his hair with her free hand, before following Sofie out of the room, scooping up a bunch of empty wineglasses as she left.
Geoff was stirring himself from what Ben guessed was a deeper fug of alcohol-assisted contentment, standing up to draw the curtains on the darkened sky and to switch from the overhead light to a pair of cosy lamps. As he moved around the room, he asked Ben vaguely, “Are you doing okay, matey? Are you and Marcie doing okay, enjoying yourselves?”
Ben reassured him that he was doing very well indeed and that he was sure Marcie was enjoying herself just as much as he was, “Thanks to the delicious food, and your kindness. It’s like the meal was a celebration, not for my birthday, but for us all getting engaged. I feel we’ve got closer, as friends, does that make sense?”
“We are all friends, aren’t we?” Geoff said, gesturing for Ben to follow him over to the sofas. As he squatted down by the television and hi-fi, fumbling about with a DVD case, he went on, “I’m really glad you’re getting serious with Marcie. She’s given you new life, I think, and her and Sofe get on really well. It’s like they’ve known each other forever, like they’re sisters under the skin. I’m glad you’re staying over, that we can all have a drink together. You must do it any time you like, coming around here. Sofie’s made sure the sofa-bed and the spare duvet and pillows are all clean for you. It’s ready to fold out whenever you want.”
Ben thanked him, wondering at just what might be going through Geoff’s mind as his thoughts had clearly gone straight to his and Marcie’s bedtime arrangements here. But his big friend was clearly a little confused himself as he got the television working and went on, “There it goes, not too loud, ‘Menu, play movie, pause,’ that’s it. I’m sorry, matey, I think I’m a bit bleary with all the booze I’ve had today. I admit, I wasn’t sure if I was following what Sofe and Marcie were saying just then, or if I was imagining things. Was Sofie asking too many personal questions about what you and Marcie were up to on your trip to Holy Island? I hope it was okay, that you and Marcie are still enjoying yourselves.”
Ben was aware that Geoff was repeating himself a little, but he thought he understood the underlying worry in his friend’s thoughts. He tried to set his mind at rest without embarrassing either of them too much by saying, “It’s all okay, skipper. Marcie and me are having a lovely evening. Marcie loves sharing things, the cheeky ideas too. She’s close to Sofie now, I think. We’re all close friends, even closer now, like we’re in synch, deciding to get married. You and I, we know we’ve found our special companions. Marcie and Sofie were just saying it’s okay to love, I guess, to be honest about that. And I’m happy being honest too, with you and Sofie.”
“Well you know you can count on us, matey,” Geoff reassured him vaguely, rising to his feet, “We’re a solid crew, there’s no doubt about that. You can trust us with everything. There are no secrets when you’re sailing offshore together, right? But shall we check on the girls, to tell them we’re ready to go with the film? Do you want another drink too? I’ve got a nice bottle of Speyside if you wanted a wee dram.”