Heather’s eyes shoot open as beeping from her noisy alarm wakes her. She thought she adjusted the timer to fit her weekend sleep schedule but apparently not.

“Ugh,” she groans, fumbling for the snooze button on her phone. She doesn’t remember putting the device on her nightstand, but maybe she did. Reaching over to the other side of the bed, she feels for Max, but the spot is cold. Did he leave? She frowns at the thought.

Lying in the bed for a moment to gather herself, Heather wonders why he would go in the first place. She felt a real connection with him last night and based on how he was with her, she knows he did too.

God…last night, she thought to herself as she ran a hand over her face. It was the most pleasurable and enlightening experience that she’s ever had and she wants more. He was kind, caring and just plain amazing, not to mention the sex was off the fucking charts. She’s been with other men before, but after having Max inside her in every way imaginable, she doesn’t want anyone else. Strangely, it was as if a part of herself that she didn’t even know was missing became whole.

How crazy is that?

Heather is startled by a loud clanking noise in the bathroom. Believing it’s Max, she removes the covers from her waist and hops out of bed. Her hopes are dashed when she sees Fred standing on the sink and her toothbrush on the floor.

“Fred,” she scolds as she glares at the mischievous animal. “That was not nice.” The cat purrs and then lets out a soft meow that always seems to lessen her ire toward him. Damn that cat.

“Where did Max go?" she whispers as she picks up the cat. The animal gives her a look like I don’t care and where’s my food, so she shakes her head at him, returning to the bedroom and tossing him on her bed.  She plops her butt down near the headboard and sighs. She really wanted to spend more time with him this morning, perhaps enjoy another round of naked time and have some breakfast in bed. That so would have been great.

Rubbing her temples, she glances to the left and notices a folded piece of paper with her name on it. She opens it and reads:

Heather,

Sorry I had to leave early, but I had a work appointment that I couldn't miss. I had a wonderful time with you last night and really want to see you again. I promise to call you later so we can meet up.

Love, Max

“Love?” she blurts out, considering his words. “But we just met.” She places the note back on the nightstand and shakes her head. Weirdly, Max’s voice suddenly pops into her head whispering the words, “I love you, Heather.” For a short moment, the thought of him saying that makes her heart melt; however, she knows it’s not real and even if it was, it’s too soon for anything like that.  Heather is pretty sure that the phenomenal sex turned her brain to mush because centered Heather would never have these types of thoughts.

Scrunching her eyebrows, she tries to recall how the night ended but can’t come up with anything. To her mortification, what she does remember is not using a condom. “Such an idiot,” she mumbles, shaking her head. Pregnancy is not an issue because she’s on the pill. Though, she’s a little concerned since they didn’t discuss their sexual pasts. She was just so caught up in the moment with him that she didn’t even think about it. She’s never done anything like that before, but there was just something about Max that made her relax and at the same time want to let go.

“I have no brain cells to digest any of this,” she mutters to the cat as he rubs his middle against her back. “Must do coffee now, Fred,” she says, while scooting the cat away from her side.

As Heather starts to stand, her phone rings. Kat’s name flashes across the screen so she picks up the call.

“Hey girl,” Kat says a little too loudly.

“Hey,” Heather replies weakly, yawning at the end of her response.

“You sound like shit, hon.”

“Gee thanks,” Heather grumbles, as she heads to the kitchen. Need coffee now, she thinks to herself, but then decides that she mind as well deal with the first date inquisition of questioning from Kat.

“Must have been some night,” Kat remarks, with a sound of mirth in her voice. “Please tell me you were thoroughly fucked by Steve and not binge-watching Netflix all night.”

“No Netflix was involved in anything I did last night,” she admits, inwardly grinning. “My whole body, including the lady parts are sore.”

“You’re welcome,” Kat states, chuckling into the phone.

“What the hell am I thanking you for?” she responds. Searching the refrigerator; she finds a bottle of water, opens it, and takes a swig.

“That was actually meant for your lady parts,” she says with confidence. “Though most normal people call it a pussy. Please say the word pussy. It’s freeing.”

Taking another sip of water, Heather rolls her eyes as Kat continues. “Now we’ve been friends for a while, and as your friend I felt it was my duty to get your pussy tended to. Sure, Jess knew Steve, but I was the one who initially suggested it. So in theory, your pussy owes its happiness to me.”

“Umm, Kat. This is seriously the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had. Please stop talking about my lady parts because it’s really creeping me out.” Kat laughs, the sound so loud that Heather has to momentarily pull the phone away from her ear.

“Why are you so damn chipper anyway?” she scoffs. “The last time I saw you, you were drunk off your ass and sandwiched between two men, who might I add, were freaking hot." She thinks about her last statement and then says, “Scratch that, two hot men would make me chipper, too.”

“Yeah, girl, I had an interesting night, but I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

“Kat …” Heather admonishes. “You know I don't kiss and tell.”

“What?” she exclaims.  “After I took care of your pussy you owe me. Spill or we're not friends anymore.”

“No,” Heather replies sternly.

“C'mon. Please, please, please, please ...”

Heather doesn’t know if it's the annoying amount of times Kat uses the word please or her scrambled sex brain, but she finally caves.

“Okay,” she sighs. “But I tell you both together because I do not want to repeat myself. Where is Jess anyway?”

Kat giggles. “I sent her home in a cab. She was so wasted last night that she could barely see straight. I bet that's the last time she'll ever agree to one of my drinking challenges.”

Poor Jess.

“I called her this morning and was somehow able to convince her to come out for a bite. I'll pick you up in thirty minutes by the way.”

“Ugh,” Heather whines. “But it's so early.”

“Yeah nympho, it's like 11:00a.m..”

“11:00a.m.?” she furrows her brow.  “But my alarm just went off.” Weird.

“Well, maybe you changed it, but whatevs. Get your shit together and I'll be there soon.”

“Okay,” she sighs.

“See ya in a few, woman.”

“Whatever,” Heather groans, hanging up the phone. Annoyed that there is no time for coffee, she heads to the shower.

As she rubs the soap over her body, her mind drifts to last night and Max.  The way he caressed her face, kneaded her breasts and did this incredible thing to her nipples with his tongue. The heat and slickness of the warm water continues to cover her skin, as Heather’s hand slowly glides south. She bites her lip as she reaches her clit.

Hell.

Even the thought of this man turns her on and her body aches for another release. She longs for Max’s presence to soothe her need, but since he’s not here, she’ll have to take care of it herself.

“Max,” she moans as she continues to rub her sensitive nub. When she closes her eyes, flashes of him burying his head between her legs— of him licking her center as she writhed beneath him, appear in her mind. She circles her clit faster as she remembers how he flipped her body around so fast, as if she was as light as a feather, and then slammed his extremely large hard cock into her wanting center. Heather is on the precipice of coming hard so she quickens the pace, using one hand to squeeze her breast while the other continues its ministrations on her wet center. Her legs get wobbly as her clit contracts, that familiar pleasure throbbing in between her legs. Of course, this was nothing compared to last night, but for now, it will have to do.

Heather places a hand on the shower wall, panting, as the orgasm subsides, the aftereffects causing her body to shiver. Not wanting to be late for Kat and Jess’s arrival, Heather quickly finishes up her shower. She can't believe this man has her all hot and bothered from one damn night.

After jumping out of the shower and drying off, she checks her phone. Shit. Thanks to her mind wandering to Max and her wayward sex thoughts, she took longer than she intended to so she frantically searches her room, quickly finds, and puts on an outfit. She’s got roughly ten minutes before Kat and Jess arrive, so she heads to the bathroom to apply make up.

“Dammit,” she yells, as she falls forward, the bathroom door preventing her from completely toppling over. She balances herself up and glares down at the culprit.

“Seriously, Fred. Are you trying to kill me?” The cat goes doe-eyed and rubs his body against her legs. Fucking cat.

“I will feed you before I leave, now scoot.” She gently pushes him away from the bathroom door and shuts it behind him. The feline likes to interrupt her morning routine on occasion, especially if she wakes up later than normal.

Looking in the mirror for the first time today, Heather takes in her appearance. She notices a certain brightness in her eyes that wasn’t there a day ago, and her skin appears to be glowing. Max has this strange effect on her that a small part of her finds unsettling, but she pushes that out of her mind, focusing instead on how good last night was and the fact that he made her feel like she was the only one that mattered.

Choosing to forgo the concealer and cover up, she turns her head slightly to the side to apply a little blush and notices some fading marks on her neck. Where did those come from? She moves her hand to touch them and winces at the soreness. Uneasiness seeps into her being as she again tries to recall some parts of last night. She remembers him kissing her there and mostly everything, but her gut is telling her that she’s missing something important. A honking horn startles her out of contemplation so she quickly finishes her abridged make-up routine.

Heather shoves her sneakers on, runs to the kitchen to feed the cat, and then heads out the door. Kat motions for her to get in the car causing Heather to pick up the pace. As she rounds the vehicle to the passenger side, she catches a glimpse of Jess in the back seat wearing large black sunglasses. She looks terribly pale, but she did it to herself, drinking like a crazy person the night before.

An idea pops into Heather’s head as she approaches the door. It’s actually retaliation for something Jess did a while back. Jess thought that it would be hilarious to strategically place catnip in Heather’s room. It took her forever to find the herb. Fred was in rare form the entire time, barely leaving her room. He also rubbed up against her at the most awkward moments. Heather had been meaning to get her back for that little gem of a prank, but got too distracted with everything else to even think of it ... until now.

Heather advances toward the rear window, bending her head so that she can get close to Jess’ ear. “Hi Jess,” she squeals, causing Jess to jerk up from her resting position. Heather backs away from the back door and gets into the car. “So glad you could go out with us today,” she shouts. Kat covers her mouth and giggles.

Jess removes her sunglasses and glares at Heather. “If you value your life, you will tone it down. Some of us are sensitive to noise right now,” Jess snaps.

“Was I being loud?” Heather replies in a sarcastic tone and a huge grin on her face.

“All right Heather,” Kat scolds. “How about we all get some coffee before Jess decides to throttle you?”

Heather breaks the stare down first. “Sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I still owed you for nipgate.”  

“Nipgate? Is that what you call it?” Kat questions as she pulls to the main road near Heather’s house.

“Yeah, why?”

“Of course, you can use a word like nipgate, but refuse to say pussy,” Kat mumbles.

Heather rolls her eyes. “Are we back to the lady parts talk again?”

“Listen you two,” Jess interrupts. “I’m too hungover to hear about pussy, lady parts, nipples or any other cock related topics.” She rubs her forehead. “Where are we headed?”

“Well I was actually driving to Bob's Diner,” Kat says, making a right turn to merge on the highway, “but it’s probably crowded.” She glances in the rearview mirror at Jess’s reflection. “You okay with the Usual Place?”

That is the real name of the diner. Heather lives in an interesting town where popular establishments tend to take on unique names. There is also a strip club called Piece of Ass. Heather went once on a dare by Jess, but the strippers were scary. She watched one manhandle a patron when he only stuffed a five-dollar bill in her G-string. She stole his wallet, removed a twenty and threw it back at the guy in plain sight. She took that as their cue to leave and never come back.  

“Guys, I don't give a flying fuck if we go to a gas station and eat sushi. As long as we stop for some Tylenol, I'm good,” Jess grumbles.

“No need to be testy,” Heather says, turning around to face Jess. “Keep it up and I won’t say a thing about the naked tango I did last night.”

Kat shoots Jess a death glare in the mirror. She loves to hear gossip of any kind and will not be deprived of it because Jess can’t hold her liquor. “Check in there.” She juts her chin toward the glove compartment. “There might be a couple packets inside.”

Heather thoroughly searches and finds two extra strength capsules. She reaches under the seat, finds one of Kat’s spare water bottles and hands the pills and drink to a slightly annoyed Jess. After she takes the pills her body visibly relaxes, which is weird because it takes at least twenty or so minutes for the medicine to actually do anything. Heather doesn’t bring this fact up because spending time with a pissed Jess is not what she wanted for her Saturday.

“Your urge to kill level back to one now, babe?” Heather asks cautiously, placing her arm on her shoulder. Jess doesn’t answer. “Hey, I was just messing with you before,” she confesses. Jess releases a sigh. “I know. Sorry about nipgate,” she murmurs.

“No worries, babe,” Heather offers. “It was kind of funny. I’m usually afraid that Fred will try to kill me in my sleep.” She grins. “It was new experience worrying about him trying to hump me.”

“That is one crazy pussy,” Kat blurts. “And speaking of pussy, please tell us about your night.”

Heather rolls her eyes at the usage of the “P” word. “It was really nice. He was gentle and kind and—”

“Nuh uh, girl,” Kat interjects. “You said you would spill.”

The car pauses in traffic. Kat turns her head to face Heather, but Heather won’t look directly at her.

“Ooo, you’re in trouble,” Jess giggles.

“It must have been that good, huh?” As traffic begins to move, she turns her head away from Heather and takes the exit toward the diner.

“It was,” Heather whispers. What she really wants to tell them both is that it was life changing, but it would probably freak them out. Shit, she was panicking about the whole situation as well. She needed to speak with Max to soothe her nerves, but this crazy morning didn’t allow her the chance.  

“Steve is great, isn't he?” Jess beams.

“Yeah he really was.”

“Geez, we get it,” Kat grumbles. “He’s the sweetest and most kind person in the whole wide world, but I want deee-tails.”

Kat pulls into the parking lot of the diner and double parks at the entrance. “You two go get us a table.” Pointing at her Kat orders, “You be ready to spill.” They both exit the car as Kat searches for parking.

“Why are you being weird?” Jess asks her as they walk into the diner.

She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. It’s just ... I was embarrassed because he left before I woke.” Jess’s jaw drops as she continues. “We had some great sex and then he was gone. I mean he did leave a note explaining about work or something, but still it sucked. I just don’t want her making fun of me is all.” Not a good reason, dummy. If she could internally face-palm herself then she would, but oh well.

“Hmm. Steve doesn’t usually work weekends,” Jess mumbles, “but back to what you were saying. There is no way Kat would do that.”

“I know,” she sighs. “Like you said, I’m just being weird.”

Jess gives her an annoyed expression. “Yeah you are.  I mean the girl had a damn threesome last night so I’m fairly certain you’ll be in a judgment free zone for the next hour. Anyway, I’ll go get us a table while you get your shit together.” Jess turns from her and approaches the counter.

Relax, she thinks to herself as she releases a calming breath, resigning herself to the fact that she will probably spill most of it, except for the emotional connection that Max somehow brought to the surface. That, she’ll need to keep to herself until she figures out what the hell it all means because seriously, she’s never been this confused in her life.

While Heather waits for Jess to grab a table, she takes a moment to check out the restaurant. She has always loved establishments with decor from the fifties. From the black and white checkerboard floors to the baby blue booths, it always feels like home. Her mom and dad used to take her for shakes on Sundays at a place similar to this, but as she got older their trips became few and far between. Maybe when all of this is over, she can finally reconcile completely with them. It will have to wait until Kylie is finally back.

She walks to the jukebox to see what music is available for selection because when in a fifties style restaurant, one should at least play one nickel song. She chooses “The Magic Touch” by The Platters because it reminds her of Max. The song is really cheesy, but the words ring true. When the lead singer gets to the lines ‘I didn’t know too much, and then I felt your touch,’ she closes her eyes, remembering how simple skin to skin contact with him ignited something inside her. When the later lines ‘I’m feeling the glow, but where can I go from you’ begin, her heart can’t help but ache. She’s not sure if it’s out of happiness or fear. After all, he left her this morning, and even with him writing the note, part of her thinks that he might not come back. Like the song says, where can she go from him?

She is startled out of her thoughts when Kat taps her on the shoulder and says, “Time to get a bite to eat, dork.”

Quirking a half smile, Kat continues, “You looked deep in thought there, but I’m hungry and Jess got us a table. Kat points to a booth to the left of the entrance at Jess who is motioning them to come sit down.

Returning Kat’s smile, she nods. “Yeah. I was just thinking about last night is all. I’ll tell you guys, I promise, this is just all so overwhelming and new. I haven’t been laid in a while so maybe it just scrambled my brain.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kat locks arms with her as they both head to a waiting Jess. “I’ll keep my teasing to a minimum if it means you are finally putting yourself out there again.”

“Okay,” she mutters as they separate and then take seats facing each other, Jess and Kat sitting on the same side of the booth.

There’s a beat of awkward silence when Jess blurts out, “So… I have a confession.” Kat and Heather both turn to look at her. Jess, feeling the pressure, looks down at the table avoiding eye contact with both of them. “Talk,” Kat demands. Jess opens her mouth to speak, but then bites her lips. She lets out a sigh. “You heard her,” Heather states, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Talk.”

Jess lets out a second, more exaggerated sigh. “Well you see… I sort of …umm.”

“Spit it out,” Kat and Heather shout in unison.

“Fine,” Jess agrees, rolling her eyes. “You remember the cop that I was seeing a while back?” They both nod in agreement as Jess reluctantly continues, “I uh, called him last night.”

Heather scrunches her eyebrows. “Why?”

Jess shrugs her shoulders. “I was really drunk, horny and jealous that you bitches were getting some.” She plays around with her table napkin. “It was a rash decision I know, but I missed him or more importantly his dick.” She pauses then mumbles, “I think I broke him.”

Kat covers her mouth and snickers. Heather, barely holding back her laughter asks, “How?”

“I may or may not have, in my inebriated state, slipped him some Viagra.” Heather’s jaw drops. “You did what?” she exclaims as Kat laughs uncontrollably while wiping tears from her eyes.

“Viagra, you know the man meat master controller,” Jess replies, staring at Heather. “He came over. We talked for a bit, there was some heavy breathing, then blah blah, Viagra.”

Heather rubs her temple and sighs. “You know drugging someone, especially a cop is illegal, right?”

Jess waves her off. “I told you I was horny. Little Jess’s happiness always comes first. Besides, he was extremely satisfied. In fact, he didn’t even wake up when I left.” She proudly smiles. After brunch, I plan on attacking him again.”

“I highly doubt that,” Kat declares. “He’s probably left anyway.”

A slow smile creeps across Jess’s face. She reaches in her pocket and pulls out a little key. “I’m pretty sure he’ll be there considering he’s cuffed to the bed.” She places the key back in her pocket. Kat and Heather glance at each other and then back to Jess, unsure of what to say next. “Relax guys,” Jess snickers. “I left him some water and an energy bar. He’ll be fine.”

“I can’t even with you, girl,” Heather groans.  “Remind me to never send any of my guy friends your way.”

Kat quirks an eyebrow. “You feel better after that confession?”  

“Yup,” Jess agrees. “Now your turn. Tell us about the threesome please.”

Heather’s eyes shoot to the waitress, who appears out of nowhere to places three waters on the table. She is the epitome of the fifties fashion with her pink and black poodle skirt and matching white top. She finishes the outfit off with her black-rimmed glasses and Saddle Oxford black and white shoes.

Her blush tells Heather that she probably heard the last portion of their conversation. “So, what'll it be ladies?” the waitress stutters, biting her pencil at the tip.

“Uh, I'll have the egg special with a coffee and dry toast,” Kat replies quickly in an attempt to diffuse the embarrassing situation.  “My friend here,” she points to Jess, “Will have plain oatmeal and water.”  

“I want eggs,” Jess whines, lightly banging the table.

Kat rolls her eyes and exhales. “Um, no honey.  I remember the last time I let you eat a real meal after a night of drinking. I still remember the smell of your vomit.”

“Okay fine,” Jess grunts.

“How about you, miss?” The waitress looks at Heather expectantly, pencil poised.

Heather stares down at the menu for a second and her eyes zooms to the steak and eggs. Mmm steak. Her mouth waters at the thought of having a juicy piece of meat in her mouth. A low growl releases from her throat. Or was it her stomach? She doesn’t even like steak, but the thought of it excites her. Weird.

“Miss?” The waitress asks. “I don’t have all day.”

“Oh um, sorry. Can I have the steak, no eggs, cooked medium … no, medium rare, I mean rare and uh, a coffee?”

The waitress scowls at Heather, but writes the order down. As she trudges away she mutters, “Ordering breakfast can’t be harder than choosing to do a threesome.”

The all look at each other and laugh, refusing to comment on what was just said.

“So, umm, since when do you eat beef and for that matter, rare?” Kat asks, seemingly concerned.

“Yeah,” Jess agrees, taking a sip of her water. “You always give me shit about eating red meat.”

“I don't know.” Heather shrugs. “Maybe I need a little bit of iron and protein after that serious fuck-fest I had last night.”

“Finally. Dish please.” Kat rubs her hands together.

“It was … God, it was phenomenal, guys.” Her eyes brighten as she talks about how funny Max was and the great conversation they had. She also goes into how powerful his kisses were and about his sexy body.

“He flipped me around on my stomach like I weighed nothing, and even thinking about it makes my lady parts quiver. I may need a daily cold shower for the next two weeks.”

“It’s pussy,” Kat mumbles under her breath, rolling her eyes at her.

Smiling, Heather says in a low voice, “I mean, pussy.” Jess and Kat erupt into laughter and Heather can’t help but crack up as well. She is so happy that these two women are in her life and the fact that they forced her on this date. Which reminds her…

“Jess, why didn't you tell me he went by his middle name, Max?”

Halting her laughter, Jess’s brows draw together. “What are you talking about? He never told me that.” Jess’s eyes dart away and then slowly comes back to Heather. “Come to think of it, his middle name is actually Robert and before you ask how I know this, we’ve been friends since middle school. Not sure why he would tell you that, but I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.” Jess pulls out her phone, types a text message and then puts it back into her pocket.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Heather insists, part of her wondering why he would lie. She doesn’t want to think about that now, but mentally adds this to the list of things to speak with Max about. “I'm sure there's a logical explanation. Besides,” she turns to Kat and wriggles her eyebrows, “she is supposed to tell us about her soldier adventure.”

Kat grins slyly and goes into a very descriptive explanation about her first ever threesome. Their names were Joel and Richard. They both were bi and apparently wanted to spice up the relationship, Kat being that particular spice they needed. Kat names so many positions they tried that Heather has to use Google images to keep up. Jess gives Kat a high five when she tells her that they offered to fly her out for Joe’s upcoming birthday. Heather shook her head at the two of them as they continued to discuss the merits of a Male Male Female threesome versus a Male Female Male one.

Her mind starts to wander as she takes a sip of her coffee, which arrived a moment ago. She wonders why Steve would ask her to call him Max and for that matter, what is it with this strange attraction that she has to him? Even now, her body craves his presence, to touch him, to—

“Order up,” the waitress shouts as she approaches their table. Heather’s mind jolts from her contemplations, and she zeros in on the steak placed in front of her. She licks her lips and without a thought, grabs the piece of meat, causing the waitress to take a quick step back.  Using both hands, she holds the steak taut and bites into it. Her eyes close as she moans in ecstasy, savoring the red juices sliding down her throat. It tastes like heaven.  Heather hears familiar muffled sounds so she slowly opens her eyes. Jess is staring at her with her mouth wide open while Kat is calling her name. Even the waitress’s eyes remain fixed on Heather. She glances around the room and peers at the other patrons. They have all stopped what they were doing to watch her devour this delicious ….

“What are you doing?” Kat barks at her, her eyes scanning Heather’s face and strangely stopping at her throat.

She completely snaps out of her feral mood and tries to formulate a response, but she can only muster, “I ...” Instead of continuing, an embarrassed Heather grabs her purse and bolts out the front door.

She appears crazed as she hops into the first taxi she sees.

“Where to?” the cabbie asks.

“Just drive,” she orders. “Give me a minute to, uh …”

She turns around and glances at Jess and Kat chasing the cab, but then notices the waitress behind them waving the check. What the hell is wrong with me?

Heather rubs her eyes as the cabbie continues to drive aimlessly.

“You okay, miss?” The cabbie asks in his heavy accented voice.

“F … fine,” she stutters, rattling off her address in the next breath. Heather wraps her hands around her waist and rocks in the back seat of the cab. She tries to muffle the sound of her cries but fails miserably.

The cabbie glances at her in the rearview mirror. “You sure you okay? I call somebody.”

“Nn … not necessary,” Heather replies weakly. “I’ll be fine.” Her phone rings and it’s Kat. She sends the call along with four others from Jess to voicemail. Heather is in full on freak out mode and she just needs to get a handle on her emotional state before she talks to either of them.

About ten minutes later Heather arrives home. When she gets inside, she bypasses Fred and heads directly to the bathroom. She glances at her reflection and is shocked at how disheveled she really looks. Her face is tearstained and the dried blood from the steak stains her mouth. She turns on the faucet and quickly washes away the remnants of the food. Hoping to get her mind off her current state of confusion and despair, Heather escapes in the direction of her Kylie research room.

Her home phone rings, it’s Jess. She lets it go to the machine, still not ready to speak with either of them.

“Pick up your damn phone. You better be home because we are on our way. Seriously, what’s wrong with you? You know what, I don’t care. I have some news. Steve called me to apologize. He said that he stood you up last night because he was robbed and thrown into his trunk. What the hell? Who did you go out with last night, because it sure as hell wasn’t him?”

With a trembling hand, tears streaming down her face and her panic and fear at an all-time high, she picks up the phone and whispers, “What did you just say?”

“Oh, thank God. You’re home.” The relief in Jess’s voice is palpable.  “I don’t know who it was you screwed last night, but it was not Steve.”

“But why would he …” Heather comes to a stark realization.

“Kylie,” she croaks out, dropping the phone on the floor. She quickly runs to the research room and holy fuck. The wall is empty except for one note and it says,