A Simple Life: Chapter 11 (Patreon)

The moment I was done work I am tearing across town straight for Kayla’s place.  Cutting through alleys and weaving through traffic I make record time to her quaint eco-friendly neighborhood in New Town.  As gas powered vehicles were not allowed within the walls I park in the lot by the gates then grab one of the whisper quiet electric scooters that were lined up there and continue on my way.

Silently I whiz along the winding teflon smooth road and marvel, as I always did, at how this area that had been scrubby bushland less than a decade ago had been completely transformed into an environmentalist’s paradise.  The area consisted of a large central complex for shops and shared services surrounded by dozens of identical white pod houses spread out across a rolling green park.  The place was dotted with decorative planting, community gardens, courts for tennis and volleyball, and idyllic little ponds but what really stood out were the houses themselves.  The way that each pod was made up of two attached symmetrical domes with the top of each dome covered with a circle of black solar panels and a small wind turbine at the peak it made them look like a pair of breasts complete with nipple pasties and spinning tassels.  It was literally a land of boobs with the central building as the great big set of knockers to rule them all.  Officially the neighborhood was simply called ‘The Meadow’ but we locals had given it the moniker ‘The Tits’.

It had been over a week since I’d been to see Kayla and now that I was here I am glad that I had.  I always had a good time with her.  She didn’t understand me, few did, but she had this easy way about her that allowed people to just be themselves.  I had known her since grade school and she was one of the few I had allowed to get close.  While she was kind, fun and understanding I was well aware that it had always an uneven friendship between us.  For Kayla, being the social butterfly that she was, I was simply one of a bevy of close relationships that she had.  Whereas myself, being the loner that I was, Kayla was the closest thing to a best friend that I had outside my grandpa.

As I glide through the Tits I wonder again what I was even doing here.  Why did Winona want me to talk to Kayla before asking her out on a date?  The three of us did share a potentially awkward connection as both Winona and I had dated Kayla in the past but I knew Kayla well enough to know that this would be no issue for her.  Known to her friends as ‘Kinky Kayla’ she was what might be politely called promiscuous.

It was her unique combination of having a caring spirit and a free and open attitude toward sex that gave me the opportunity to trade in my V card, because goodness knows I was never going to have the confidence to do it on my own.  Thanks to her matchmaking I had lost my virginity to Lauren, the woman who later went on to marry my big brother Jack.  A bit weird to be sure but this was a small island after all.  During our senior year Kayla and I messed around ourselves a bit and then, a few years later, we even gave the boyfriend-girlfriend thing a try.  The spark just wasn’t there though and the truth was that our ‘relationship’ was simply one of convenience during a moment when Kayla had little else going on.  Basically during that time we carried on being good pals just with sex involved.  We lasted close to a year but things eventually crumbled as Kayla, never one to be nailed down for too long, wanted to explore new sexual opportunities with other men and women.  She offered to involve me but I was not comfortable with that and so we called it off then on good terms.  After playing the field awhile her next quasi-serious partner was Winona, a coupling that lasted less than six months.

I roll up to her pod and park the scooter at one of the nearby charging stations.  As I walk around Kayla’s EV and approach her front door I can hear the bass of Taylor Swift’s You Need to Calm Down pumping on the inside.  Knowing the routine I step up to the door and stand without knocking or ringing a bell.  A few seconds later I hear inside the pod’s computer voice interrupt the music to announce.  “There is somebody at the door Kayla.”

“Music off Babe.”  Comes my friends muffled voice.  “Open the door.”

The tunes cease and the door clicks and slowly swings open.  A wave of hot humid air washes over me and inside I see my friend on a yoga mat in soaked skin tight gray leggings, which showed off her nice legs and tight butt wonderfully, and a sports bra.  Her sumptuous brown skin shone with a heavy layer of sweat and her naturally voluminous curly hair was wilted from the heat.  Glancing over her shoulder she sees me then spins on a heel to hurry forward.

“Avery!”

“Hi Kayla.”  I smile then look to the ceiling.  “Hello Babe.”

“Hello Mr. Beckett.”  Comes the pod’s AI.

Kayla and I hug despite her damp state.  “Just in time.”  She says.  “I’m about ready to melt.  Whooo!”  She waves me outside.  “Babe, environment to normal.”

“Yes Kayla.”  Answers the computer after which comes the immediate hum of venting fans.

After grabbing a glass water bottle and a small towel she comes out to join me, the pair of us sitting on her front step with the door wide open behind us.  Letting so much heat just escape to the outside didn’t seem very environmentally conscious to me, but what the heck did I know about this stuff.

She leans her shoulder into mine as she quenches her thirst.  “Ahhh.  What’s up pal?”

“Um…Jack and Lauren are having a party tomorrow.  They were wondering if we wanted to come.”

“Ewww!”  Kayla’s expression scrunches up like she just bit into a lemon.  “How about, fuck no!”

I giggle at the expected reaction.  “There will be barbecue.”

“I think I’m vegetarian that day.”  She quips then as naturally as breathing she provides me an easy escape.  “How about we do a movie instead?  You can tell him we already had it planned.  I can invite a few people over.  We can have a little party of our own.”

Still giggling I say.  “I already said no.”

“Good.”

I sigh.  “I…I tried to punch him today.”

“You…you what!?”  She turns to me.  “No way!  Are you serious?”

I nod, fully ashamed of myself.  “Yeah.”

“Ha ha!”  She gives me a shake.  “YES!  It’s about time!  I hope you…”

“I missed.”

“Oh.”

“And then it was nighty-night time.  Right there in the store.”

“God damn it.”  She pats my knee.  “Fucking asshole.”

“Yeah.”  I take a deep breath.  “But forget about him.  I’m actually here to talk to you about something else.”

Daubing the sweat from her brow she asks.  “What’s on your mind pal?”

My chest lifts and my voice brightens.  “Winona.”

“Winona?”  She looks at me, in general puzzled but even more so when she sees my grin.  “Winona Crow?”

“Crow?  Is that her last name?”  She had a bird for a last name?  Cool!

“If we’re talking about the Winnie that I think we’re talking about, then…yes?”  She says.  “Why are you thinking about her?”

“She’s back on the island.”

“No way.  I hadn’t heard that.”

“She just got back yesterday.”  I say.  “I helped her move in.”

“You helped her…?”  She waves her hands.  “Woah, woah, woah.  Hold up.  What is going on?  Are we talking about the same girl that you specifically told me to keep away from you?  The same one that you told me you hated?”

“I never HATED her.”

“Avery!”

I laugh.  “I got to talk to her a little and…she’s…not actually that bad.”

“Not that bad, huh?”

“In fact…I kinda like her.”

“Oh boy.”  She says.

“I’m…thinking about asking her out…on a date.”

“Ohhhh boy.”

“She wants me to ask her out!”  I hasten to add.  “But…she wants me to talk to you about it first.  I don’t know why.”

I look to her expectantly.  She stares back at me for a few seconds, seemingly at a loss, until a look of realization gleams in her brown eyes.

“Ohhhh no!”  She shakes her head side to side.  “No way.”

“What?”

“I am not doing her dirty work for her.”  She laughs.  “That cheeky bitch!  Ha ha ha!”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“She swore me to secrecy.”  She continues to chuckle.  “What the heck is Winnie playing at?”

“Secrecy?”

“You are having me on.  Are you serious right now?”

Clutching my hands together I say.  “Um…yeah.  I-I-Is that okay?”

“Avery.”  She turns to face me directly and takes me by the shoulders.  “I like her.  As a friend she is great.  She’s nerdy and rough around the edges, but I like her.  She’s fun to hang out with.  Great in the sack.  But I’ve known you a lot longer.  And I care about you Avery.”  She peers into my eyes.  “Take my advice my friend…and run.”

My heart drops.  “Run?”

“Run.”  She says again more firmly.  “I never told you about Winnie because you didn’t want to hear about her.  There was a reason she and I didn’t last too long.”

“Oh?”

“So many reasons actually.  Where to start?  She is jealous.  She is possessive.  A bit obsessive.  She acts tough but on the inside she is as fragile as glass.  Maybe a tad too desperate for love or something.  For reasons that are her own she doesn’t date very often, but when she does yikes.  Clingy!  Not an attractive look.”  She says.  “She has these sappy, romantic notions of soul-mates and ‘the One’ and all that stuff.  She’s not chill like us Avery.  Not at all.  Stuck in the old ways she is, mainland ways.  I mean, she comes from South Dakota.  Ya know?”

“No.”

“Did you know that she tried to give me a promise ring after just a couple of months?  Can you believe that?  A promise ring, nowadays?”

“Oh.”  What was wrong with promise rings?

“And envious!”  She continues.  “Now that I think about it…shit!  She might only be going after you to get something that I once had.  I wouldn’t put it past her.  That’s probably why she sent you to me.  Rub it in a little.”  With another shake of her head she says.  “I told her what a good lover you were, yeah, I bet that’s exactly what she’s doing.”  I blush at the compliment.  Kayla had always told me that, though I knew it just her trying to boost my confidence.  “Yeah.  Yeah.  Banging the blond pretty boy so that I can’t hold it over her.  I bet that’s it.”  She nods to herself.

“That d-doesn’t sound like…her.”

“You did catch her eye on that game night.  She used to ask about you.”

“I did?  She did?”

“Listen Avery.”  Gripping my shoulders she leans in.  “Either she’s going after you just to assuage her competitive ego or she’s going to try to chain you down.  Either way, it’s not good.”

My shoulders sag.  “Oh.”

“Besides, she is…erm…a lot to handle.  In the bedroom.  A LOT to handle.”  She says.  “Kind of selfish and domineering.  I could barely hold my own with her.  You wouldn’t stand a chance.”  She smiles warmly as she rubs my back.  “You’re a soft boy Avery.  She’d chew you up and spit you out.”

“But…I like her.  I think she’s beautiful.  I think she’s nice.”

“She is certainly a one of a kind.  I’ll give you that.”  Seeing my crestfallen disappointment Kayla pulls me into a hug.  “Hey pal.  There are plenty of fish in the sea.  This one’s not for you.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m pretty impressed that you were willing to ask her out though.  That’s a big step for you.”

“Yeah.”

She tilts her head and searches my expression.  “Hey, if you’re ever feeling that itch, for a little feminine companionship, you know the invite is always there.”

I shake my head.  “No.  I’m okay.”

“I could hook you up.”  She offers.  “I met this shy, sweet little thing at the college last week.  Real nice girl.  You two would be absolutely adorable together.”

“N-no thank you.”  Looking up the slope toward the island’s center I sigh.  “I-I’m supposed to meet her tonight.  To make a character.”

“Do you want me to call her for you?  Get you out of it?”

“No, I’ll do it.”  I say sadly.  Looking down at my work clothes I only now realize that I hadn’t even bothered to take off the apron before I shot out of there.  “I-I should get going.”

“Sure Avery.”  She says.  “You okay?”

“Yeah.  I’m good.”

“Call me if you’re interested in the movie idea.”

“I will Kayla.”

We get up and say our goodbyes.  Kayla heads back into the house.  “Babe, continue the music.”

“Yes Kayla.”  A moment later the tunes start again.

As I walk down her drive I am lost in a sea of thoughts.  I had been so looking forward to sharing my excitement but now I just felt confused.  That had not gone the way I thought it would.  And I’m pretty certain it wasn’t what Winona had expected either.  Kayla’s heart seemed to be in the right place but…I was so confused.

“Hey Avery.”

I turn.  “Yeah.”

“If you do end up asking her out just…uh…erm.”  She struggles to think of exactly what to say.  “Keep an open mind and…bring lube.  Okay?”  She gives me a weird sort of sympathetic grimace and repeats.  “Just bring lube.”  With that she heads back inside and closes the door behind her.

Now I was even more confused!

Chapter 12