“I’m sure Stephen will agree to that. You’ll have to talk to him about it, but I’m sure he’ll be okay with it.”
“Okay then,” said Alma. “What time do we leave? Oh, and what sort of clothes should I bring?”
“Tell you what,” said Rachel. “As a thank you, why don’t you let me take you out to buy some new clothes? We’ll make a date of it.”
“You don’t have to do that,” said Alma.
“No, I want to,” said Rachel. “We’ll get you something nice to make you feel good being on camera. Trust me, the right clothes make all the difference.”
“Okay, you’re the expert.”
“Do you still have my card?” asked Rachel. “Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have this number. You see the address on the card?”
“Yes.”
“Meet me there at ten, if that works for you.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Alma.
“Great! I’ll see you in an hour then.”
Rachel squealed in delight and spun in a circle with the phone held above her head. The blanket fell to her feet, but she was too excited to mind. She bounded into the bedroom and leapt on the back of Stephen’s legs.
“Guess what!”
“Oh Christ!” Stephen put his head under a pillow and covered his ears, clearly a victim of their celebration the night before.
Rachel put her phone on the bed and started to spank both of Stephen’s butt cheeks independently. “Get up, sleepyhead. Butt bongos, butt bongos,” she gleefully continued to slap him like an instrument.
Stephen swung the pillow back at her haphazardly and laughed when he asked, “What’s gotten into you? How are you not hungover?”
“I am, actually, I think I might still be a little drunk. I don’t know, but that’s not the point. I’ve got great news. Huge news!”
Stephen started to turn and pushed her off the back of his legs. She bounced on the bed beside him and he slid partway over her, as if trying to pin her down with a sleepy wrestling move. However, when he realized she was partially nude he perked up.
“Are you running around the house naked?” he asked, though he didn’t seem to mind.
He groped her, misinterpreting her morning surprise, and she pushed his hand away. “Stop it.”
“What?” He tried again.
“Oh my God, stop it. We don’t have time. Someone’s meeting me here in an hour and I’ve got to get ready.”
“An hour?” asked Stephen. His eyes were barely more than slits and he had a goofy drunken grin as he lecherously stared at Rachel’s breasts. “That’s way more time than I need.”
“Aren’t you even a little curious who’s coming over?” asked Rachel as she relented and let Stephen play with her breasts.
“Sure,” said Stephen for her benefit as he started to lick around her nipple.
“You’re horrible,” said Rachel, although his attention had started to arouse her.
“Yeah,” said Stephen as he kissed his way up her neck.
She closed her eyes and enjoyed his foreplay. She’d learned to enjoy it whenever he took the time, which wasn’t as often as she would’ve liked. He climbed over her, already erect, and opened her legs. Rachel pushed his shoulders up as he had his lips suctioned to her nipple, and forced him to look at her. “Alma’s coming with us to Widowsfield.”
Stephen’s eyes grew wide and a boyish excitement overtook him. “Seriously?” He sat up straight, seeming to lose all interest in intercourse.
“Yes, that’s what I was trying to tell you. That’s who’s coming over. I’m going to take her out to buy some clothes before we head out.”
Stephen put his hands on his head and looked like a child on Christmas. “This is great! Rachel, this is huge!”
“I know. That’s what I was trying to tell you before you started trying to do me.”
“What made her change her mind?”
“I don’t know,” said Rachel. “She just called and said that she’s willing to come as long as we let her boyfriend come too.”
“She can bring the philharmonic for all I care.”
Rachel chuckled. She liked seeing Stephen this excited. “She wants to have final say on what footage airs, and what we talk to her about, but we were going to give her that anyhow.”
“Sure, that’s fine by me.” Stephen got off the bed and started to gather his clothes.
“Hey,” said Rachel as she lay on the bed, watching him get dressed. “What are you doing? You’re just going to get me all ready to go and then leave me cold?”
He looked at the alarm clock to check the time. “Don’t you have to get ready?”
She gave him a derisive grin. “I’m pretty sure we can fit in the few minutes you need to finish up here.”
“Few minutes?” He crawled back onto the bed and over her. “Baby, you’d better get ready for at least, like, five minutes of heaven.”
Rachel laughed and then squealed as he dove over her and started to bite playfully at her neck.
“Come in,” said Stephen when he answered the door.
Alma was nervous as she looked in at Rachel and Stephen’s gorgeous apartment. It was on the north side of the city, on the first floor of a converted duplex. The old, stone edifice was gated with delicately crafted wrought iron and the façade was replete with lush ivy. The wood floor looked old, but beautifully so, with dents and scratches that gave it character. All of the furniture inside was white, with black legs, and looked as if it had been set in place with the purpose of being used for a magazine photo shoot. Even the haphazardly tossed magazines on the glass coffee table looked as if they’d been purposefully disheveled.
“Your apartment is gorgeous,” said Alma.
Paul walked in behind her, and even the sound of his boots clopping on the floor was out of place. Alma knew he was uncomfortable without even looking back at him.
“Thanks,” said Stephen. “That’s all Rachel’s doing. When she moved in, she made me chuck out all my stuff. She likes to pretend she’s the one that picked out everything, but don’t let her fool you. Her father is an interior decorator. He’s responsible for all this.”
“Well he can come over to my place anytime,” said Alma.
“Hi, I’m Stephen.” He reached out his hand to shake Paul’s
“Paul.” The gruff, one word answer would have to do.
“Come on in, sit down. Can I get you some coffee or something?” Stephen was wearing a pair of tight fitting jeans and a Northwestern t-shirt. He was barefoot, and his steps didn’t seem to make a sound as he padded through the room. However, every step that Alma and Paul took seemed to echo like hammer strikes on the wood.
“I’m fine,” said Alma.
“Same here.” Paul stayed behind Alma, as if more nervous than she was. He slipped his index fingers through belt loops on either side of her waist and stayed pressed against her back.
“Rachel’s just finishing getting ready.” Stephen picked up a wine bottle and smiled as he held it aloft. “We might’ve been a little too liberal with the wine last night during our celebration.”
“What was the celebration for?” asked Alma as she stood with Paul just past the foyer.
“Besides the fact that it was Friday?” asked Stephen with a smile. “Yesterday was Rachel’s last day at the station. Yours was her last story.”
“Oh wow,” said Alma. “She didn’t mention that before.”
Stephen tossed the empty wine bottle into a trash can that had been set aside for recyclables. “That’s because she didn’t know it at the time. She didn’t decide to take the plunge until we got home from the restaurant. We got our first deposit from the online ads from our video yesterday. It was more than twice what Rachel makes per month.”