25 - Valerie
“Val! You look different. Something’s different. What happened?!”
I haven’t even seen Emma for five seconds and she already knows something’s up. I’d never be able to hide anything from her, not that I’d ever want to. She spreads her arms and gives me a big bear hug. Her hair smells like fresh flowers and I can’t help but feel comfortable in her arms. We pull away and she looks at me, searching my face.
“That,” she declares, “is the glow of someone who has had an orgasm!” She’s almost triumphant when she looks at me with raised eyebrows, waiting for me to confirm.
“Emma, shh!” I laugh, looking around. How can she just blurt these things out without thinking of who’s around us.
“So you’re not denying it.”
I look at her and my face breaks into a huge smile.
“I can’t hide anything from you,” I say. She lifts her arms up in celebration.
“Yes!!!! I’m so happy!” She grabs me and gives me another hug. “Tell me everything. When, how, what,” she pauses. “Who?”
I’m blushing now and I can’t help it. She inhales dramatically and brings a hand up to her chest.
“Valerie Brooks! Who was it!” She’s laughing now and guides me over to a table. We sit down and I wait for the waitress to give us a menu and take our drink orders before I say anything to Emma. She’s staring at me.
“Val, if you don’t start talking I’m going to jump over this table and strangle you. What happened!!”
“It was the doctor,” I finally blurt out.
Emma’s jaw drops. “No!”
“Yep,” I say, laughing.
“The doctor?!”
“The doctor.”
“And he made you… he got you there?” Now she’s the one who’s tongue tied.
“You’ll never believe what happened.”
I tell her every detail from the morning, starting with picking up the keys from the other real estate agent. She’s hanging on my every word and laughing and asking me for more details. I only pause my story when the waitress comes back to take our orders. When she walks away I continue.
“He just grabbed me and kissed me and I didn’t know what to do so I ran away!”
“You ran away? What do you mean you ran away?”
“I mean like I turned around and ran out the door.”
Emma is cackling and people at the next table are turning their heads.
“I don’t even know why, it was like my brain just noped out of the situation and I had to leave,” I laugh. “I made it to my car and then I turned back. He had ran out of his apartment after me and we kissed again out on the street.”
“This is like, some RomCom shit. You ran away and then ran back and he had come out to run after you?! If it was raining it could have been in The Notebook.”
I laugh. It’s nice to talk to her, to digest what’s just happened. I feel like I can relax and think about the crazy morning I’ve had.
“So tell me about the sex. I want to hear everything. How big was his cock?” She holds up her hands, index fingers an inch apart. “Tell me when,” she says with a raised eyebrow before slowly starting to spread her fingers apart from each other.
I laugh, but still, I hesitate. Somehow it doesn’t feel right to tell her every detail about that. It was so intimate, so private. I want to keep it that way but I’m not sure why. I ignore her hands and keep talking.
“Yeah I don’t know it’s kind of a blur. We just… it just happened.”
The waitress reappears with our food and it saves me from skirting her questions any more. I change the subject.
“So what about you, Em? You sounded a bit down about that guy not calling you back.”
“Oh, I’m not down,” she says. “I’m fine. It’s fine.” She waves it away but I can tell there’s a sadness in her eyes. “I just thought we had a bit of a connection I guess. Like, we talked a lot more than just a hookup, you know? We laughed a lot and I slept over and I thought that he wanted to see me again.”
“Maybe he’s just a jerk. It sounds like he was using you.”
“Probably.” Her eyes are still sad when she looks at me. “Rejection just sucks, you know? Especially when I felt like we actually got along. As many single people as there are in New York, having an actual connection doesn’t actually happen that often.”
“Believe me, I know.”
She shakes her head and changes the subject. “Enough about me. It was just a random hookup and I made the mistake of getting attached. It was one night! It’ll blow over though, I don’t even remember his name.”
I think she’s lying about that last part but I don’t push it. It’s rare for her to be vulnerable like this, and I know her well enough to just let it go for now. She’ll open up when she’s ready, and it’s nice to be here together and share this moment with her.
“And you know what they say,” she continues. “The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. I see that you’ve finally taken that advice to heart.”
I can feel myself blushing at her words but I can’t help but laugh along with her. She has a way of making me feel good about anything, and I feel so lucky to have her as a friend. We finish our food and I’m happy that I’ve come to see her.
She gives me a big hug when we leave and squeezes me tight. I think she’s tearing up when she backs up and looks at me.
“I’m really, really happy about you and Doctor O. You deserve to be happy and have lots and lots of orgasms.”
I laugh and say goodbye. Maybe she’s right, I do deserve to be happy. I can’t help but smile at the thought of going back to Clay’s house tonight.