CHAPTER 27
Nia
Nia sat at the table in the eat-in kitchen and sipped her coffee.
Debra had already made her way in for breakfast. Carrie had walked in after her, and they’d talked for a bit, saying good morning to Nia before heading outside to enjoy their morning.
Sharon had walked in soon after, said a quiet good morning, gotten herself a plate, and left her to her own devices.
Gage hadn’t made it out of her room yet, which Nia had expected.
Kristina had walked out next, grabbed coffee, and returned to her room.
Jennifer had asked if she could go for a quick run and hadn’t eaten yet, but this was a typical morning on day three.
Women were more loosened up, had spent a couple of days getting to know each other, and were starting to come out of their shells, which would only help them get what they came for and what she hoped they’d all find.
“So?” Nia asked when Becky and Helena walked into the kitchen. “It’s after eleven,” she added with a smirk.
“Don’t sit there all satisfied with yourself,” Becky stated.
“Was I right?”
“About what?” Helena asked, placing her hand on the small of Becky’s back as they walked over toward her, skipping the buffet laid out before them. “Do you want some coffee?”
“In a minute,” Becky replied with a wink. “And how did you know?” she asked Nia and sat down across from her, with Helena taking the chair between them.
“Know what?”
“Oh, come on… You knew how I felt because we’re friends, but how did you know that Helena liked me?”
“I’ve been doing this a long time now, Becky. Besides, she was pretty obvious in her application.”
“I was?” Helena asked.
“For one of the questions, you all have to tell me what you have done so far to try to find love. You mentioned you hired a matchmaker who was terrible because she kept sending you on dates with the wrong women, and you kept going back for more because you actually had feelings for her, but, eventually, it got too hard because she was in a long-term relationship. You two live in the same city. Your name is Helena. Becky here liked a client named Helena. She never told me your last name, so don’t worry about that.
I just put two and two together and figured there might be a chance your feelings were still there because I knew hers were.
It wasn’t just that, though. When I put these events together, it’s not about two specific people or even finding one possible person for someone.
People are fickle, in my experience. I could put their perfect soulmate right in front of them, and they’d argue why that person isn’t the right one for them and go for someone else entirely.
For these weeks, all of you are paired with people you could possibly be happy with; in my experience, at least. It’s never perfect, but, Becky, you could have ended up with Carrie.
According to both of your applications and questionnaires, you two could have a nice life together. ”
“Hey!” Helena said.
“I’m good, babe,” Becky replied and smiled over at her as she took her hand on the table. Then, she turned back to Nia and added, “On that note, I know this probably messes up your group dynamic thing, but I don’t want to be paired up with anyone else.”
“I see.”
“We can leave and take an earlier flight home, if we’re in the way here, but we also wouldn’t mind staying, if that’s okay with you,” Becky told her.
“We just don’t want to participate in the nightly partner swap thing, but we’re okay with anything else.
I know how hard you work to plan this stuff, including the daily events, so we’re happy to stay, but I want to be with Helena for the rest of the week. ”
“I figured you might,” Nia replied and took a sip of her coffee. “My plans for the rest of the week counted on that.”
“They did?”
“Becky, I hoped you two would figure it out. Then, I saw you constantly staring at one another the first couple of days and the looks you’d give when you weren’t paired with each other for the night, I knew you would.”
“Then, why didn’t you pair us together the first night?” Helena asked.
“You needed that first night with someone else.” Nia shrugged a shoulder.
“I knew Becky would be shocked and that Carrie would be a good person for her to talk to. And if you weren’t interested, after all, Helena, Carrie would have been a good match for her.
As for you – well, I don’t know what you’ve told Becky about your first night, and I obviously don’t know anything for certain myself, but I had a feeling you might need to… ”
“Sleep with Jennifer,” Helena finished. “She knows.”
“You knew she’d sleep with Jennifer?” Becky asked.
“I don’t really ever know anything. I have ideas, theories, and thoughts, and I work with them to provide the best possible experiences and outcomes to my clients. Based on what I knew about both of them, I thought that they could be good together in bed and that Helena might need that.”
“She needed to sleep with someone else before me?”
“I thought that she might need someone to help relieve some stress in just the right way so she could be ready to be brave and tell you how she felt, yes. I thought that she might need someone to be open to possibilities.”
“But not…” Becky faded out, and Nia understood. “I mean, you didn’t… She didn’t…”
“You want to talk about that?” Nia asked.
“Talk about what?” Helena asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
“I haven’t told her about that thing I mentioned to you, like, one time when I was drunk,” Becky said to Nia.
“Three times. Twice while you were sober.”
“What are you two talking about?” Helena pressed.
Nia looked at Becky, giving her the chance to either explain or leave it for later with Helena.
Becky turned to Helena and said, “A threesome. I told Nia that I wanted to try that at least once in my life. It’s like a sex bucket list thing. I think she’s trying to suggest that maybe Jennifer would be up for that without telling me what was in Jennifer’s application because she can’t.”
“Oh,” Helena said.
“But I don’t need that. It’s just on a silly list,” Becky tried to explain. “And it was in my application, in the section about fantasies and things, but Nia knew because I told her. I want you and me to–”
“I want that, too,” Helena interrupted. “I’ve never done that before, but it’s on my list, too.”
“You do?” Becky asked.
“I put it in my application for my primary sexual fantasy. Two women. I didn’t know that you would be here or that we would be doing this now, but it’s a fantasy that I’ve had for a long time, so it’s in my application.”
“It is, is it?” Nia teased. “Strange coincidence.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you think Jennifer would want–
“That’s not what I said,” Nia interrupted.
“I wouldn’t reveal something about her application to you two without her express permission.
I do have an idea, though. Why don’t you two have fun with us today, and tonight, you can go to your room, and I’ll even have caterers bring you dinner for two in there instead of having you eat with us?
That will give you a real chance at a first date, and the rest of the night will be yours. ”
“What about the rest of the week?” Helena asked.
“If you can agree to participate in the daily events you’ve previously committed to, you can enjoy the house and anything else you’ve already paid for and leave when you’re supposed to.
If you decide to leave early, you can do that as well.
We’ll figure out the refund situation later.
Normally, I would not offer one, but Becky is here for free anyway, and you’re – well, a friend of a friend, so you can get a partial refund if you leave early. ”
“Not necessary,” Helena stated. “I got what I paid for. I got more than that.”
Becky turned to her, smiled, and said, “That’s sweet. It makes me sound like an escort, but still sweet, babe.”
“I’m making you coffee,” Helena told her, laughing, and stood.
Becky watched her walk over to the kitchen and pour them both a cup of coffee, and she asked Nia softly, “You had to pair her with Jennifer first?”
“I told you before that there’s a reason for everything. Jennifer got her to open up a little and realize what she wanted. I bet if you ask Helena, the sex was fine, but it was more that after it, she felt like she didn’t want to do that anymore and wanted you.”
“She told me that already,” Becky said with a smile.
“She might not have otherwise. Technically, I did try to keep the two of you apart for most of the time, but I didn’t stop you or her from talking to each other outright during cocktails or dinner.
You two didn’t speak, though. You just kept dancing around each other.
Neither of you was ready to have that conversation until last night. ”
“Fine, I’ll let you have this one. But we’re good, right? It doesn’t screw things up for you?”
“Nope. All good. Are you happy?”
Becky smiled and replied, “Definitely.”
“That’s all that matters,” Nia said with a smile.
“Here you go: coffee with cream and no sugar,” Helena said as she placed a cup of hot coffee in front of Becky.
“How did you know my coffee order?”
“We had coffee in your office. I remembered,” Helena replied and leaned down to kiss Becky.
Just like that, Nia knew she was at least hitting one out of four for this event, and she was hoping for the rest of her plan to work out, too.