Page 8 of Be With Us: An Urban Foursome Love Story

Emilia sat waiting impatiently for her sister in her favourite little coffee shop, nestled amongst the trees of the local park, and situated just a short walk from their home.

Spring was underway and she sat gazing out of the window at the blossom tree that overhung the entrance, the beautiful pinks and whites of the petals shimmering in the evening sun.

She had texted Alice that afternoon, once her shift at the hospital had finished, and asked to meet up so they could talk. Her sister had agreed immediately and said she was working late, but she that she would be happy to take time off from work for half an hour to chat whatever it was over, but also because Alice loved a good bit of gossip.

She sipped at her coffee. It was uncomfortably warm still, but she’d been nursing it for ten minutes now and it hadn’t reached drinkable temperature yet. She’d asked them to make it inside her reusable cup, but the insulation was so good it seemed to disregard the laws of physics and heat up after the drink was poured in. She was nervous, and not just because her neighbour had been acting weird when she left the house this morning, making Emilia wonder if she had seen or heard them making love. She was nervous mostly because Alice was late, but also because of what she wanted to talk to her about.

She must have been delayed at work, thought Emilia, but it always worried her when friends or family were late. She was naturally anxious and found it hard to stop her imagination running away with dark thoughts about what fate might have befallen whoever it was she was meeting with.

Emilia snapped herself out of the mental picture of Alice being hit by a bus, as her very much alive sister walked in through the entrance. She waved and Alice saw and headed over swiftly.

‘Hey gorgeous,’ she said as she approached. ‘How’s things?’

Emilia got up and hugged her tight.

‘Did you order me anything yet?’

Emilia shook her head and sat back down as Alice darted off again and a few minutes later she returned with a mug full of Mocha.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, looking genuine. ‘I know you hate it when I’m late, but I was stuck in a meeting with Tony and Giles and you know how they have to explain everything back to each other three times. Skip to the fucking end guys. I swear, you could boil most of the meetings I have down to two sentences, we want the thing, but we want it cheaper.’

She sipped at her coffee, and Emilia did the same, now it had finally dropped to an acceptable temperature.

‘So what’s going on?’ said her sister, smiling brightly.

Alice was two years older than Emilia, and much more liberal. For a start she hadn’t married the first boyfriend she’d ever had. She had never married in fact, and didn’t seem to be planning to do so anytime soon. She was openly bi-sexual too, which had rather surprised their parents the first time she bought a girl home from college. Dad had decided it was just a sleep over, but they all had ears and knew what was really going on. Alice was also whip smart and a brilliant mathematician. She had graduated from Oxford University with a first and landed a job as a corporate accountant for an international law firm that included several governments amongst their high profile clients, but the job had also meant that she could stay living in Oxford where they had been brought up and be close to her sister and their parents. Although she often had to travel, her base was always back home. They both took comfort in knowing they were usually never more than half an hour apart.

Emilia looked around nervously and then leaned in closer.

‘Oh shit,’ said Alice, sitting up. ‘This is serious?’

Emilia laughed and shook her head.

‘What then?’

‘Cass and I,’ said Emilia. ‘Um, I don’t know how to say this.’

‘You’re breaking up?’ said Alice, a look of shock crossed her face.

‘No, no! Nothing like that,’ said Emilia, smiling as Alice’s shoulders relaxed. ‘Ok, so you know how you are, like, free?’

‘Like, free?,’ she said in air quotes. ‘As in, I’m not locked up in the local supermax? Or I’m a cheap shag?’

Emilia laughed again, she loved sparring with her sister.

‘You should be locked up and you are definitely not a cheap shag,’ said Emilia. ‘No, I mean, how you are free to, you know… have, relations? With whoever you want.’

‘Yes?’ said Alice.

‘Well, Cass and I have been talking-’

‘I’m not having an incestuous threesome with you,’ said Alice. ‘I mean don’t get me wrong, I’d fuck Cass, but I’m not fucking you.’

‘Stop interrupting,’ said Emilia. ‘And you two really need to shag and get it out of your system.’

Alice snorted this time, drawing the attention of a nearby elderly couple who smiled in their direction. She smiled back, winked and took a small gulp of her drink, still laughing.

‘Shhh,’ said Emilia, waving her hands to quiet her sister down. ‘Listen. Cass and I have been talking… about opening up our relationship.’

---