Chapter 5

Vince had called Lizzie while Gabriella's perfume still hung in the air. Although Gabriella had taken a hard line with him, he felt confident he could convince Lizzie to see things his way.

"I'm really sorry, Lizzie," Vince said as soon she arrived. "I really screwed up. I miss you, Baby."

"Really, Vince?" Lizzie replied. "Ohhhh, that's so nice to hear."

"Oh, yeah. I shouldn't have ever done that stuff. You know how much I care about you."

Vince was sure he would soon be rekindling things with is second most recent ex. But he hadn't counted on the self-confidence Lizzie had found (along with serious sexual satisfaction).

"So, you're done with Gabby?" Lizzie asked.

"Totally. It's you I want to be with, Lizzie."

"Have you talked to her?"

"No way. I didn't need to talk to her. I just wanted you. I was so wrong."

His second mistake.

"Really, Vince? Because Gabby texted me on my way over here and she said she had just talked to you."

Vince gave Lizzie a blank stare.

"Oh ... you mean did I talk to her ... uh ... today? Oh yeah, of course I talked to her. Actually, we just texted. I didn't know what you meant."

"You're such an ass, Vince. Seriously. I know she was here. I can still smell her perfume. Gabby didn't want to get back together, so you called me as soon as she was gone. And now you're lying to me already."

Vince wasn't used to Lizzie, or any girl, speaking so directly and firmly to him. He was briefly at a loss for words. As he had with Gabriella, he tried to gain Lizzie's sympathy. At the same time, Lizzie was surprised at how confident she felt. It was new for her.

"I just didn't know what I was doing," Vince said. "I miss you and I feel so bad about what happened. I need you, Baby."

"You're unbelievable. You don't have any answer about lying to me. And now you're telling me how bad you feel? What do you feel bad about, Vince? Do you even know?"

Vince quickly switched to feeling annoyed.

"Come on, Lizzie! Who have you been talking to, anyway? This isn't like you. What's going on? What the hell was Gabby talking about, anyway? Who was she with?"

"Now you're worried about who Gabby might have hooked up with? You don't even know which one of us to pretend you want to be with."

"Seriously. Who was it?"

"It wasn't like that, Vince. We just had some help figuring ourselves out. You just can't deal with the fact that we care about our own needs and not just yours. You can't handle it."

"Wait a minute, Lizzie. 'We'? You and Gabby were with somebody? What the fuck?"

"It's none of your business, O.K.? Somebody just helped me. I was really upset about you and Gabby. And I talked to somebody who really listened to me. And then you and Gabby broke up. And I just thought the same person could help her."

"I don't get it, Lizzie. Gabby said something about never having cum before. What was that all about?"

"Well, it's pretty simple, Vince. You never made me cum. In all the times we had sex, I never did. Did you even know that? Have you ever made a girl cum?"

"This is too fucking weird. You and Gabby are both nuts."

"Think whatever you want. But now I know what an orgasm is. And I like it. I like cumming. And I'm grateful that somebody helped me understand that."

"Who?" Vince said, nearly shouting. "Who the hell were you and Gabby with? I don't fucking believe this."

Soon Lizzie was leaving Vince dumfounded, just as Gabby had done not long before. And Vince was more confused than ever. He decided to call someone he hadn't talked to in a while in hopes of getting some clarity on the collapse of his sex life.

"Hey," Vince said into the phone.

"Oh, hey ... what's up?" asked the person on the other end.

"I don't know. Just haven't talked to you in a while."

"Guess not."

"How 'ya been?" Vince asked.

"I'm good."

"Have you talked to Lizzie lately?"

"Of course, why?"

"I don't know. I ... did she say anything about me?"

"Vince, yes, she did, O.K.? I know you guys broke up. She told me all about it."

"So like, does she hate me now?"

"No, I don't think so. I think she's just tired of the stuff you pull. It gets old."

"I know," Vince said. "I fucked up. Hey, did she say anything about talking to somebody?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she told me there was somebody who ... well, Gabby told me first. She said there was somebody she talked to that helped her out."

"Gabby? What does she have to do with this? Oh wait, she broke up with you too, right? Vince, Vince, Vince."

"I know! O.K.? Look, do you know who they were talking to?"

"No, I don't ... wait. Well, Lizzie came over to my house while my mom and I were away. My dad was here and she came in and talked to him. She told me later that he really listened and everything, and she felt a lot better. That must be it. But I don't think Gabby was there. It was just Lizzie."

"Oh," Vince said. "Your ... your dad? No, it must have been somebody else."

"Why, what's the difference, anyway?"

"Uh ... nothing, really. Don't worry about it, Alexa. Look, I'll talk to you later, O.K.?"

"Sure. Bye Vince."

"Yeah, thanks a lot. Bye Alexa."

Alexa furrowed her brow as she considered the information she had heard from Vince. She knew who else she wanted to talk to.

"Hey, Dad?" Alexa shouted out to Nate, who was in the kitchen.

"What's up, Honey?" Nate asked when his daughter entered the room.

"Hey," Alexa began, "when Lizzie was here talking to you..."

"Yeah?"

"Was Gabriella here?"

"Uh ... Gabriella?"

"Yeah. I don't know if you've ever met her, but she went to High School with us."

Nate's mind was racing as he tried to figure out what to say next. He remained silent with a ponderous look on his face.

"Was she here, with Lizzie, Dad?"

At that moment Alexa's phone rang again. Seeming to forget what she was asking her father, Alexa began a new conversation and returned to her room. Thirty minutes later Alexa found her dad in his basement office. She entered the room, closed the door and sat on the chair next to his desk.

"Hi, Honey," Nate said. "What's going on?"

"I need to talk to you, Dad. That was Lizzie on the phone."

"Oh?" Nate said with a gulp that was nearly audible. "How's she doin'?"

"Dad, what happened when Lizzie was here?"

"What do you mean, Sweetheart? You know ... she was upset about that Vince guy, and she needed to talk. You said she told you about it."

"She did. But I know something more than that happened, Dad. When I was talking to her, I could tell there was something she wasn't telling me, just like I can tell that there's something you haven't told me. I asked her, a bunch of times, but she wouldn't say anything more."

"Alexa... ," Nate said, "this is so ... awkward. I don't ... I don't know how to..."

"Seriously, Dad. You're starting to freak me out. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

Nate paused and hung his head. But he knew his daughter would find out one way or another.

"Sweetheart, this is really embarassing. When Lizzie and I were talking about Vince, we ended up talking about sex. She told me Vince had broken up with her, and that he had a new girlfriend, but he was still texting Lizzie and asking her to have sex."

"Yeah, that sounds like Vince."

"Really? How well do you know the guy?"

"I know him enough. So, what else? What else with Lizzie?"

"Well, the talk about Vince and sex led us to talking even more about sex, I'm afraid."

"I'm not surprised about that, either. Lizzie has sex on the brain. But, what were you talking about? What about sex?"

"Uh ... she just seemed so unhappy. She told me she had had sex a lot. I didn't know what that meant."

"I don't know either, exactly. But it seems like a lot to me too."

Nate momentarily wondered again about how sexually active Alexa herself was, but he knew he had to press on.

"So, I ended up asking her if ... Uh ... I don't know how I said it exactly, but I guess I asked something about the sexual relationships being mutual."

"Whaddya mean, Dad?"

"Well, basically, if the guys she was satisfying were satisfying her back."

"Seriously, Dad? You asked her that?"

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"Wow, that's wild. So, what did she say?"

"Well, she sort of, didn't really understand the question."

"What? What does that mean?"

"What it seemed to mean was that she ... uh..."

"She what, Dad?"

"This is so awkward, Alexa."

"It's fine, Dad. Just tell me."

"She ended up saying that she didn't think she had ever had an orgasm."

"Dad! You talked to Lizzie about that?"

"Yep, I'm afraid so."

"Holy shit!" Alexa exclaimed.

Nate thought about telling her to watch her language, but he quickly rejected that idea as absurd.

"Yeah, that's about right."

"I can't believe you! So what did you say to that?"

"I asked her some questions and ... it got more awkward. And then...

"What, Dad? What then?"

"I told her that she should probably try some things out, maybe with somebody she trusted. Not Vince. I told her definitely not Vince. But I said she should try to figure out what felt good to her, so she could tell her partners, so they could make her feel good too."

"Incredible. Only Lizzie could get you to have this conversation. And what did she say then?"

"Alexa, do we have to keep talking about this? I'm really uncomfortable."

"Please, Dad. You have to tell me what happened. I really need to know. What did Lizzie say?"

"She ... she said there was somebody she trusted, who she thought cared a lot about her, who might be able to help her figure it out."

"She said that? Did she say who it was?"

Nate just looked at his daughter.

"Dad? What did she say? Who did she think could help ... No. No way. Dad ... No way!"

"Honey, I'm so sorry. I never meant for..."

"Seriously? Dad! What did you do? What did she do?"

"Well, before I knew what was happening, she was starting to ... to touch herself."

"Oh my gosh! You have to be kidding me!"

"Alexa, do you hate me? I'm so sorry."

"I don't know what to think, Dad. No, of course I don't hate you. But I'm ... I'm blown away. I can't believe what you're telling me."

Nate imagined what his daughter would think if she knew all of what had happened that night, not to mention the morning after.

"I know, Honey. I never, ever thought ... I never thought anything like that could happen."

Alexa took a few moments to collect herself and try to determine how she felt about what her father was telling her.

"Dad, does Mom know?"

"No!" Nate exclaimed. "Please, please don't tell her, Alexa. She knows I talked to Lizzie, and that we talked about sex, but that's all."

"So, what you're telling me is, Lizzie masturbated in front of you. Is that right?"

"Yes, Honey. I'm so sorry."

"And, did it work?"

"What do you mean?" Nate asked.

"What do you think I mean? Did she have a 'happy ending'?"

Nate was extremely relieved to see his daughter smile when she said 'happy ending."

"Yes, she did in fact."

"How did you help her, anyway?" Alexa asked.