"What?" I laughed. "Well, I don't think that."
"Sure you don't." she said back. I could hear her voice relaxing just a little. "It's just that you helped me so much and you've been very; well, seductive with some of your gestures toward me. So I really should blame you one hundred percent for my fall from grace."
A girl who made me laugh was a rare and precious thing.
"Natasha, I don't do these things for just anyone."
"Yeah, I bet you say that to all the girls."
It took me a good while to convince her I'd be on my best behavior. Finally she agreed and at the end of that second date she left me at the stoop of her apartment with nothing more than a kiss and an ache in my lower extremities.
The Universe was having a grand time making me work. But every time I saw her I felt closer to solving this mystery of Natasha Morgan. What I needed was a little inside information.
It had been about four months into our relationship and still Natasha had not given herself to me again. I knew she wanted to. I could tell by the way she got all breathy before she'd leave me and the way her eyes would glaze over just a little as she looked at me. But the girl's willpower was like steel. "When do I get to meet some of your friends?" I asked her one night while we sat in a quiet corner of Amici's. I liked that restaurant. They didn't let just anyone in and they took pride in making sure no one on the outside knew who was filling the seats there. It was romantic for her and discreet for me.
"You want to meet my friends? Well, I've only got one."
"Why is that?"
Natasha smiled and shrugged he shoulders as she took a sip of her martini.
"I don't know."
"Well, I'd love to meet your one friend."
Again, I was very surprised. In the past I've told women I want to meet their friends and they gush and go into a rant about this girlfriend or that girlfriend, making sure to tell me which one has bad breath and which one just got out of an abusive relationship and which one was totally hilarious but you can't take anything she says seriously.
But not Natasha. It was like I had told her: “By the way I have quite a hole in my sock”. She shrugged her shoulders, took another sip and batted those big blue eyes at me. She had to be a witch because I was succumbing more and more to her spell.
When she put her hand over mine on the table and just looked around, her thumb caressing the crease between my index finger and thumb I felt something.
"Her name is Diamond. She's been my best friend for a couple years now."
"What is it you like about her?" I asked, looking for clues into Natasha's way of thinking. Women almost always saw each other with a more judgmental eye than they ever would with a man.
"She's a real person." she took another sip. Her lipstick had left a ring around the edge of the glass and I found myself longing to touch it. "She'll tell me when I'm screwing up but she won't take any pleasure in it, you know what I mean?” she looked at me pursing her eyebrows together. “Some women will call you a friend but take every chance they get to knock you down a couple notches. It isn’t like making me feel bad about my haircut will make the cellulite melt off your thighs. Hell, if it did there’s be fights on every corner all day every day.” Then she burst into hysterical laughter at her own joke. She did that a lot. “I bet you have a friend like that. Someone who keeps you in check."
I nodded my head.
"Sort of. My brother has always been the guy to tell me when I'm screwing up."
"I didn't know you had a brother." Her eyes lit up as if it was some huge accomplishment to have a sibling. "I'm an only child. I'd have loved to have a brother or a sister growing up. I had a dog. Not the same thing, I bet."
"Actually, you're not far off." I replied, watching her nose wrinkle as she laughed.
"Well, maybe I could meet your brother some time."
How could she know, right? I knew my face gave me away as I felt the muscles tighten in my jaw and the look on her face suddenly became very concerned.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No." I said, taking her hand and bringing it to my lips. But I couldn't help feel maybe I should tell her. No. There was nothing to say. Besides, it was her shell that needed to be cracked. Not mine.
It didn't take long for Natasha to arrange a date with this Diamond friend of hers. Of course I sent the car to pick them both up. I had expected to see a frumpy, slightly overweight thing that was a little more conservative in her dress and reserved in her demeanor. That was usually how these kinds of meetings turned out. But Diamond shined as brightly as her name implied. The game had suddenly become a lot more interesting.
We were at a regular bar where the waiters and waitresses had to wear a white button down shirt and black pants to give it a hint of cheap elegance. They took drink orders without writing them down and smiled professionally as some trippy techno music was piped through the speakers.
The introductions were made and I squeezed between the two girls making sure my hand was placed firmly on Natasha's thigh so Diamond could see.