Chapter 21: Wednesday (Melanie)

I looked down at Sylvia, next to me. She was wearing one of those peasant blouses that lets you show a lot of shoulder and chest. "Do they always card you?" I asked.

"Only the ones who don't know me. I've gotten in the habit of just handing them my license before they ask. They can't help that I look like a kid."

Ned sat next to her, peered discreetly into her cleavage. He said, "Sylvia, nobody in his right mind would confuse you with a teenager. You just don't look the part."

She smiled at Ned and gave him a little better view. "One waiter told me that's just exactly why he carded me. He wasn't sure I wasn't play-acting. He was pretty cute, so after I got to know him, I proved it."

"Makes me think," I said. "You having any luck here? You can bring him here, if you want. We don't poach."

"Well, I have one prospect," she said, her elbows - and her breasts - on the table. "I was sort of waiting until I learned the rules."

Ned snorted, and Toni, who was sitting opposite me, opened up. "We don't have rules, Sylvia, but if you've got questions, you need to speak up."

Sylvia took a long draw on her beer, shrugged. She looked at me, then back at Toni. "I notice some of you girls are pretty chummy. What's that mean as far as I'm concerned?"

Toni glanced at me. "Sylvia, not a thing. Some of us are bi, but, for example, I'm not. If you aren't interested, it's no issue." She smiled. "Someone try to feel you up?"

"Hey," I said, "I don't care how you swing, but the first time I saw you, you had your clothes off and waved your cute little butt at me."

Sylvia chuckled, low in her throat. Surprising voice for such a small woman. "Hey, yourself! I like going bare and I've got a body I'm proud of. I'm just not into fucking girls." She turned to Ned, speaking seriously, "Sorry, hope my language doesn't offend you."

Ned's face was wreathed in smiles. I could tell he was about to burst into laughter. But he replied seriously. "Sylvia, if guys are allowed to talk like that, girls should be too."

"Right," she said. "And for the record, tell me what's with these guys here. I can't tell if you're all screwing each other, or if you're exclusive and just playing games. And I can't figure where I fit into that - or if I want to."

"Fair enough," Toni said. "But it's a little hard to answer, too. I guess we sort of take things day by day. Melanie and Rudy are the only ones who're married."

"That's not what I mean, Toni. You know as well as I do that marriage doesn't have much to do with who you fuck." She giggled. "Whom you fuck?"

I said, "Well, Sylvia, you're just going to have to play it by ear. If you get an offer, it's up to you to make the decision. We're pretty open - I don't think you'd get an answer like you're getting right now from most people - so be open yourself and see where it goes."

"You're on, Mel. And you're right, most people would think I'm being rude or nosy or half-a-dozen other things. And right, too - a lot of this just isn't my business. I ask because I like you guys and I need to know which way to hop. Now, where can a girl go around here and take her clothes off without getting raped? And don't talk to me about Boulder Reservoir. I went out there the other day, and it's a zoo. Most of them are either exhibitionists or voyeurs."

Toni looked over at Ned. "Why don't you come over to Ned's place with me some Saturday afternoon? Stay for supper. We don't wear much but skin, and if you can take that, you're welcome."