philly-1
10:08 p.m.<>2001-07-02

______________

continuing the general theme…

the next time we made room in the bed for someone else involved another one of jodie's acquaintances. she had met amy in college, and had remained in contact with her after amy moved to philadelphia for grad school. early in our relationship, when we had become comfortable enough with each other to share the gritty details of our sexual pasts, jodie had told me the time she and amy nearly got together. they were at a party playing 'truth or dare' and someone had dared the two women to dance suggestively together. they put on quite a show, caressing and grinding up against each other, eliciting whoops and cheers from their friends around the table. jodie had gone so far as to kiss her friend full on the lips, their kiss lingering until the whistles and catcalls had embarrassed them into sitting back down.

it was all in good fun, and no one, including amy, seemed to take the display as anything more than a drunken party antic. but jodie confessed to me that she had gotten powerfully aroused during their little dance. as soon as she draped her arms around amy's neck, as soon as she felt the other woman's hand on her undulating hips, she knew that she wanted to take things further. jodie, who had been with other women before, wished she could have taken her friend by the hand and led her to a dark room somewhere to continue the dance in private. she decided not to pursue it, though, because she wasn't sure how amy might react to such an advance. the incident passed without comment, and jodie was certain that amy had long forgotten it.

it was very much on my mind, however, the day a couple decembers ago when we drove up to philadelphia. amy had called jodie out of the blue, tracking down our number from a mutual acquaintance. after spending nearly three hours catching up with her old friend on the phone, jodie announced that the long distance charges were getting expensive and they would have to continue the conversation that coming weekend in philly. seeing that my beloved's mind was made up, i shrugged and said 'okay.'

amy lived with a roomate in a funky section of south philly. their apartment matched the quirkiness of the neighborhood, with asian artwork sharing space with rickety bookcases, frames and canvasses (amy's roomate, tim, was a visual artist). my first impression of amy was that she, too, fit the general ambiance. slender and petite, she greeted us at the door wearing black, paint-splattered jeans, a tight, vintage t-shirt and multiple piercings. with her short, tousled red hair and her mischievous grin, the word that immediately popped in my head when i saw her was 'pixie-ish.' i shook her hand politely and hoped that the fact that she didn't know me from adam wouldn't make the weekend too awkward

------------------------------------------------------------------

by ten or so that evening, that concern had disappeared entirely. we were well into our third bottle of wine, swapping stories and laughing uproariously, when amy leaned over and smacked my thigh with her hand. 'i like this one, jode', she said. 'he's all right.' amy had a slightly raspy voice and hooting, infectious laugh that was endearingly dorky. we talked talked the night away, with the two women recounting college exploits.

it was amy who brought up the dance they had performed at the party. 'i didn't think you still remembered that," jodie exclaimed, doing her best to act nonchalant. had almost forgotten about that myself.' amy replied that she remembered it well, partly because it had been so much fun to shock their friends, and partly because jodie's dancing, as amy put it, 'totally turned me on!'

no sooner had she blurted out the words than she clapped her hand over her mouth in embarrassment, then burst out laughing. 'oh my god,' she spluttered, her face bright red. 'i can't believe i just said that. i think i've had just about enough to drink.' jodie and i were laughing along with her, but i could sense a small undercurrent of tension ripple through the air. jodie was quiet for a moment before she said in a hesitant voice, 'well, i'm glad to hear you say that, ame, because i've always thought you looked pretty hot yourself that night.'

'really?' amy asked. the silence hung thickly in the air while she appeared to ponder this revelation. amy's eyes were languid and misty, whether from the wine, the memory or both. one black denim-clad leg swung idly over the leg of her dilapidated recliner while she stared into the middle distance. 'that's cool,' she finally murmured. amy looked up at jodie with a soft smile, which jodie returned.

'so,' amy finally said briskly, still staring into jodie's eyes. ''remember that time when mike…' the conversation resumed as before, only there was a charge in the air that hadn't been there before, and we returned to the topic of sex again and again. jodie and i finally conceded exhaustion at about 3 am. amy kindly gave us the use of her roomate's bed, since tim was away for the weekend. we fell asleep with our heads reeling with wine, friendship and arousal.

the next morning . . .

______________

Know when I update: