Come With Us

by Brianna Skylark

  There was a final, lengthy pause before she heard Cassian exhale unsteadily.

  ‘Not great,’ he said, his voice wavering.

  ‘Oh gosh, you should go upstairs, walk in and be like,’ she put on a deep voice. ‘Need a hand?’

  ‘I don’t think that would go down as well as you’re imagining,’ said Cassian, laughing quietly. ‘Besides I think she’s out now, the showers off.’

  ‘Missed your window of opportunity there.’

  Emilia heard Alice say something in the background.

  ‘She’s coming down now.’

  ‘Dressed in a towel?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘The smallest one we have?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘I can’t the imagine the look on your face right now. You should probably sit down.’

  ‘Yep.’

  There was some quiet muttering, then Alice’s voice came down the line.

  ‘Hey, Em,’ she said, loudly. ‘I’m sorry. I forgot you guys were heading off on your swingers tour of the Med.’

  ‘It’s not a tour,’ she said, laughing.

  ‘So did you forget Cass?’ she laughed. ‘He’s not a dog you know?’

  ‘He’s joining us tomorrow.’

  ‘Nice, some alone time with Prince Charming and Cinderella for you tonight then?’

  ‘It’s not like that,’ said Emilia, but she could feel herself going red and hoping Cassian was out of earshot.

  ‘Of course it is, I can practically hear you blushing.’

  ‘Stop it,’ she laughed quietly. ‘So what’s wrong? You don’t normally pop round for a shoulder to cry on.’

  ‘I got fired,’ she said.

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘And evicted.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘The long and short of it is don’t piss off an oligarch.’

  Emilia frowned. ‘How did you piss off a Russian billionaire?’

  ‘It’s best you don’t know.’

  ‘Are you safe?’

  ‘Yes, I’m with Cass.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘Win,’ said Alice, laughing. ‘I don’t know how to lose.’

  ‘Please be careful.’

  Emilia listened closely as the line went quiet. She could hear Alice breathing, then she spoke.

  ‘Do you remember how we used to play chess when we were little?’

  ‘Yes I know,’ said Emilia, exasperated. ‘You don’t think like other people. But this is not the same, Alice.’

  ‘I can handle it.’

  Emilia huffed. ‘I know, I just worry about you.’

  ‘I can handle it.’

  ‘Listen, stay the night with Cass. Don’t go disturbing mum and dad, it’s late and they’ll get worried. You can stay at ours until you sort something out.’

  ‘Is that okay?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said, smiling again. ‘We’re away until Saturday, so you’ve got the place to yourself. If you need cash, there’s some in the safe upstairs. You can guess the code. There’s plenty of frozen food in the freezer so just help yourself.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said.

  ‘Cass will look after you, if you need anything tonight.’

  There came a short laugh from the other side. ‘Anything?’ said Alice, suggestively.

  Emilia grinned, but as she was about to make a snarky retort, she paused and frowned, then she shook her head and took a deep breath.

  ‘Yes. Anything.’ There was silence from the other end. ‘Just don’t wear him out. I want him firing on all cylinders tomorrow night.’

  There was another long pause, followed by quiet giggling. The next word came as a whisper.

  ‘Really?’

  Emilia’s stomach tightened, and her chest constricted. Her whole body seemed to flush with heat and goosebumps broke out along the skin of her arms and neck. She took a deep breath and a thousand thoughts ran through her mind in a matter of seconds.

  The idea was utterly and completely wrong, and yet she’d joked about it for years. She knew they both wanted each other. She knew they had harboured feelings for one another for over a decade. Cassian had joked about it. Alice had joked about it. And on more than one occasion, Emilia had voiced her approval of it.

  But now the joke seemed real.

  She was nearly a thousand miles away, under a different sky, hoping that tonight she would make love with Mark and Amy in the humid warmth of their room, and wake up tomorrow morning naked between her girlfriend’s thighs as Mark made them a continental breakfast of croissants and coffee.

  The trouble was she hadn’t talked to Cassian about it.

  She should’ve done, but somehow, it had seemed like a huge deal.

  ‘Look, I’m not telling you to get off the phone, drop your towel and bend over the dining room table. I’m just saying, I love you both. If the situation arises, you don’t have to say no. I want you to be happy.’

  Emilia’s heart fluttered as she said the words out loud. It didn’t seem real. As though they were being said by someone else.

  ‘How do you know I’m in a towel?’ said Alice, quietly down the phone.

  ‘Cass mentioned it.’

  ‘Did he now? Interesting.’

  ‘Alice.’

  ‘I love you,’ she giggled.

  ‘I love you too, now put my husband back on, you dirty cheating whore.’

  Her sister burst into laughter as she called for Cassian.

  ‘Hi Em,’ she heard him say, as he cleared his throat.

  ‘Can you go somewhere private?’ she said, straight away.

  ‘Erm, sure. Hang on.’

  She listened, shaking with a mixture of excitement and arousal as Cassian made his way to what sounded like the back garden decking.

  ‘Ok, I’m outside.’

  ‘Alice needs somewhere to stay for tonight and a maybe a little while longer.’

  ‘Ok,’ he said, she could almost hear him frowning with curiosity.

  ‘That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about though.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘I miss you.’

  ‘I miss you too.’

  ‘You’re so good to me. You’re always looking after me,’ she smiled but then she hesitated. ‘I don’t know how to say this.’

  ‘You want to know if I mind you having fun with Amy and Mark, without me there.’

  Emilia stayed silent for as long as Cassian paused, waiting for his response.

  ‘No, I don’t mind,’ he said at last.

  Her whole body sagged as all the tension she had allowed to build was released. She breathed deeper and more completely than she had done in what felt like hours, then she laughed.

  ‘I love you,’ she said.

  ‘I love you too.’

  ‘Do you think there’s something wrong with us?’

  Cassian laughed. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I’m in the south of France, hoping I’m about to have a threesome with a married couple and you’re back home, probably about to fuck my sister in our bed.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You heard me.’

  ‘I’m not going to fuck Alice.’

  ‘You can though, if you want to? She wants you to.’

  ‘What? She said that?’

  ‘Sort of.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘What do you think I said?’

  ‘I don’t know, I’m not psychic.’

  ‘I said yes.’

  There followed a silence. It went on for so long, Emilia wondered if they’d been cut off, but then she heard him breathing. ‘Really?’

  There was that feeling again. The heat in her chest. The goosebumps on her arms.

  This was it, her last chance to change her mind.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Really.’

  *

  CHAPTER TWO

  EMILIA TUCKED HER phone i
nto the back pocket of her jeans and stepped carefully over the threshold of the sliding rear doors of the villa.

  It was cooler inside the building. The air conditioning had been on for a while now and the temperature had dropped enough that it almost felt cold. Mark seemed to like it that way and she smiled as she thought about how different he and Amy were sometimes.

  The lights were off in the living room, so she meandered her way slowly towards the hallway that led to the kitchen, listening to Amy chatting cheerfully with her husband.

  As she passed the leather sofa she brushed her fingers along the top. It felt warm to the touch. She wondered if it was real or faux, scratching her nails softly into the textured finish.

  Her mind was preoccupied with the conversation she’d just had. She was struggling to understand her own emotions. A few weeks ago, life was simple, but something was missing.

  Now she felt complete.

  But a part of her kept telling herself that all of this was wrong. Not by her standards, but by everyone else’s. That if her mother were to find out, she wouldn’t approve.

  She couldn’t take Amy and Mark home to meet her parents. Hi mum, this is Amy, she’s my girlfriend. This is her husband, he’s my boyfriend. Oh and you already know, Cassian. Surprise, we’re polyamorous now! P.S. Cassian and Alice are fucking too.

  That last part was the bit she was struggling to reconcile.

  She should feel sick with jealously, that right now, her husband and her sister might be about to make love in their marital bed. Instead she felt compassion and love.

  She wanted them to be together, they wanted each other after all and who was she to say they couldn’t be physical together? Who was she to say who her husband had coffee with? Or played squash with? And for that matter, who he fucked? He wasn’t her property, and neither was she. And why wouldn’t she be happy that two people she loved, would want to share their love with one another?

  The idea was thrilling.

  That right now they could be wrapped in each other’s arms, making love?

  She couldn’t help feeling as if something was wrong with her though. As though if she told someone they would become angry and demand to know what her problem was.

  Should she tell Amy and Mark? She didn’t want them to be angry at her. But like Amy had said on the plane, There shouldn’t be any secrets between us. It was a joke at the time, but it was true. There shouldn’t be any secrets. The foundation of their new relationship was based on trust. Honesty, openness and trust. She’d never been happier, but everything somehow felt more precarious now.

  Amy had described something similar to her a few weeks back. How during their game night, as Cassian was fucking her from behind in the dark corridor of their home, she could hear Mark and herself in the lounge, making love, and instead of feeling anger or resentment, she had been filled with joy and compassion.

  It was as though by opening up their relationship, not only had all their preconceptions of love and monogamy been challenged, they had been smashed to pieces. But the key to all of it, the single link in the chain that held it all together, was communication and honesty. If the trust was broken, it all fell apart.

  Amy’s laugh interrupted her thoughts and she smiled, enjoying the sound of her girlfriend’s voice as it drifted through the villa.

  It was strange, being in love with more than one person, but it felt right. That was another preconception that had been shattered. The idea that her heart could love just one person, that somehow she would fill it with love until it was full and that was that. It turned out that the more she loved, the more her heart seemed to grow. Now it felt like it was bursting.

  She took a deep breath. Cassian was as much a part of their new relationship as she was. Yes, she was here, and he was at home, but that didn’t make her more important. She had to tell them, honestly and openly what she had agreed to. What she had suggested. They should be a part of that decision and if they were uncomfortable with it, then she would call Cassian back.

  She walked out of the lounge and along the corridor, breathing slowly and preparing herself, stopping a few feet away from the open door and closing her eyes, before stepping through into the light of the kitchen.

  ‘Hey sweetie,’ said Amy. ‘Did you get through?’

  Emilia laughed. ‘I did, I think he’s doing pretty well.’

  ‘Is he missing you?’

  ‘Not tonight,’ she smiled knowingly. ‘My sisters with him.’

  Amy raised her eyebrows and laughed. ‘Oh gosh. Is she okay?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Emilia. ‘She got fired today. She also said something about pissing off an oligarch?’

  Mark frowned and turned to her as she spoke, curious.

  ‘What is it she does again?’

  ’She’s a corporate accountant.’

  ‘How does a corporate accountant piss off an oligarch?’

  ‘I have no idea, I don’t really understand what she does. She travels all over the world, doing financial consultancy work for various firms. Her most recent account was in Moscow.’

  ‘Where did she study?’

  ‘Oxford.’

  Mark raised his eyebrows and grinned, turning back to the cooking.

  ‘What?’ she said.

  ‘Nothing,’ he laughed.

  Emilia frowned and carried on. ‘She’s going to stay at ours for a while, whilst she sorts herself out.’

  ‘That’s good,’ said Amy. ‘Do you think we’ll get to meet her when we get back?’

  ‘Yeah, I’d like that,’ she said. ‘She’s hardly ever around, so now’s a good time. Although she’ll have probably moved on by the time we’re all home.’

  ‘How will you introduce us?’ grinned Amy, raising her eyebrows.

  ‘She already knows.’

  Amy’s expression dropped. ‘Oh, really?’

  Emilia laughed. ‘Yeah.’

  Mark turned his head, nodding and smiling. ‘Bold move.’

  ‘How did you tell her?’

  Emilia went red and took a deep breath. ‘Well, actually she was at the masquerade party that night.’

  ‘She was?’

  ‘She gave us the tickets,’ shrugged Emilia.

  ‘Is she married?’ asked Mark.

  ‘No, in fact she’s always had a bit of a thing for Cass.’

  ‘I don’t blame her,’ laughed Amy.

  ‘That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.’

  Amy frowned, and Mark turned his head back as he stirred.

  ‘About your sister’s crush on Cass?’

  She nodded and took a deep breath. ‘Ok, this is going to sound weird.’

  Amy laughed nervously as Emilia continued.

  ‘So Cass and Alice have always had a thing for each other. We all went to school together and she was in the same year as him, so we’ve all known each other since forever but I’ve always known that she likes him. She’s not subtle about it, she quite openly tells me she fantasises about him and is always joking about fucking him behind my back, but she never would. Not without my permission.’

  Amy stared at her, waiting for her to finish and then realised that she had.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ she said, turning to Mark as he looked back at the pan and then back to Emilia who smiled awkwardly.

  ‘I’ve always said that they could sleep together if they wanted, and that they should just fuck one day and get it out of their system and that I wouldn’t mind.’

  ‘Ok?’

  ‘She’s at home with him tonight.’

  Amy’s jaw dropped.’ You think they’re going to have sex tonight?’

  ‘I said they could, if they wanted.’

  Mark stopped stirring and turned around as Amy’s eyes went wide. ‘You’re okay with that?’

  Emilia nodded slowly. ‘Are you both okay with it?’

  ‘I don’t think it has anything to do with us,’ said Amy, confused. ‘She’s your sister?’

  ‘I kn
ow, but we’re all in this now. If you don’t feel comfortable with it, then you can say and I’ll call him back.’

  ‘Do you feel comfortable with it?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘You think so?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Amy took a deep breath and huffed, rubbing her eyes. ‘I take it back, you are an eleven on the crazy-hot scale.’

  Mark laughed and carried on stirring.

  ‘So does that mean you’re okay with it?’

  ‘If you are sweetie, then yes I am, I’m not sure I understand though.’

  Emilia looked down at her feet and then back up at Amy, trying to find the right words.

  ‘It’s like you said at our house on the game night, I should be clawing her eyes out, but instead I’m just really happy for them.’

  Amy nodded and after staring for a few moments, she opened her arms, inviting Emilia for a hug.

  She took a few unsteady steps towards her and they embraced.

  ‘You are crazy, but I love you,’ whispered Amy.

  Emilia pulled back and smiled. ‘So, what’s for dinner?’

  ‘Ratatouille,’ said Mark, continuing to stir. He dipped the wooden spoon into the pot and came out with a small amount, turning and holding it up to Emilia’s lips for her to taste.

  She delicately accepted, doing her best not to spill any.

  ‘Oh my goodness, that’s good,’ she nodded, dabbing at the hot sauce around her mouth.

  Amy leaned up and kissed her, running her tongue along her lips as she tasted the flavour.

  ‘Wouldn’t want to waste any,’ she giggled, laughing as she turned away.

  ‘Shall we?’ said Mark. ‘It’s ready.’

  Amy nodded, grabbing three plates and some cutlery.

  ‘Can you grab the wine glasses, Em?’

  Emilia followed Mark through to the dining area as Amy fluttered past, laying the table and singing softly as she did so.

  ‘You sing beautifully,’ said Emilia, smiling as she listened and stepping aside as Mark returned to the kitchen.

  ‘Don’t be daft, but you’re very kind to say. Mark, can you bring the salt and pepper?’

  ‘It doesn’t need any,’ he shouted. ‘And yes, she has a beautiful voice.’

  ‘You do,’ laughed Emilia.

  ‘Can you bring the salt and pepper anyway?’ shouted Amy, ignoring them both.

  Mark appeared at the doorway a second later, holding salt, pepper and a carafe of wine, wiggling them all and smiling with a wry grin. He placed the grinders down in front of his wife and then poured out three glasses of red. The girls took their seats and as Mark sat down, he raised his up.