Opus One

Chapter 6: Intermezzo

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Richard thought his heart had stopped.  To his right, Emily was watching him with a slight grin, and in front of him Sandra was looking at him like she was about to collapse on the bed.  It was hot in the dorm, but that hot?

Suddenly Emily pushed Richard into the room.  Richard turned to her and watched as she reached to close the door. 

Is she leaving me alone with Sandra? he thought, as Emily stepped back out into the hallway, pulling the door shut. 

“Emily, wait,” Sandra called out as the door was about to shut.  Her voice sounded nervous.

The door stopped closing, and then cracked open a little more.

“Come back,” Sandra said.

Emily opened the door and stood in the frame, looking at Sandra.  Emily didn’t seem angry at all, but rather amused.

Sandra brushed by Richard and stood in front of her. 

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“For what?”

“For doing that.  I know you and Richard are together.”

Emily laughed.  “We are?”

“I just saw you kissing him in the hall.”

Emily froze for a moment, and then her face turned quizzical.

“So why did you kiss him then?” she asked.

Sandra turned and looked at Richard apologetically, as if realizing he was still there.

“I was desperate,” she said quietly.

“There’s no need to be,” Emily answered just as quietly, moving into the room.  Sandra backed up and let her in, allowing Emily to close the door.

Richard watched the girls, wondering what to do.  If he was the object of competition between them, he didn’t want to do anything to tip the balance one way or the other.  He didn’t quite understand what Emily’s mood was all about.

“Kiss him,” Emily said.  It was a gentle command.

Sandra just looked at Richard for a moment.  Then she slowly moved over to him.  With a last glance at Emily, she gave Richard a kiss on the lips. 

Richard felt his body tingle at her kiss, even though it was quick and slightly chaste.

As Sandra backed off, looking cautiously at Emily, Emily moved up to Richard and kissed him.  Her kiss was not chaste.  Richard took a step back from the intensity of her lips on his.  In response Emily pulled on the back of his head.  She slipped her tongue into his mouth, and then released herself from his body.

She looked at Sandra.  Richard did too.  Sandra was still flushed and now had a strange look in her eye.  Richard wasn’t sure what it was, but Emily seemed to know.

“What were you doing when we showed up at the door?”

“What?” Sandra said, startled out of her thoughts.

“Do you want us to give you a massage?” Emily said.

Sandra looked back and forth between Richard and Emily, seemingly at a loss for words.

Suddenly it struck Richard why Sandra was flushed.

He went up to Sandra and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly.  She softened in his arms, almost letting herself hang in them.

Richard ran his hands over Sandra’s back as Emily drew the blinds.  The room faced an open field, so it was more for mood than for privacy, Richard knew.

He stroked Sandra’s spine through the fabric of her t-shirt.  He took his time, feeling the point of her shoulder blade, and its ridge as he ran his fingers up and over her shoulders.  Sandra had her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around Richard’s middle, and her head pressed against his shoulder.

Emily had been digging in her music collection, and finally found what she wanted.  Quietly in the corner, a slow, sultry Cuban rhythm started up.  The volume was low enough so that only the pulse was really audible.  Richard felt like he was in the back room of an exotic underground club.

Emily came up slowly behind Sandra, smiling sensuously at Richard.  They looked at each other for a long minute, as Richard continued caressing Sandra’s back.

Emily put her hands on Sandra’s lower back, and began to move them slowly between and around Richard’s.  They swirled and danced their hands around each other’s, covering Sandra’s back with gentle and sensuous touches.  She shuddered in Richard’s arms, entranced.

After some time, Emily leaned in close to Sandra’s ear.

“Kiss him for real.”

Sandra took a deep breath, and then turned her head up to Richard, eyes still closed.  She waited, and Richard lowered his head to meet her lips. 

This time Sandra did not hold back.  She kissed him like she had wanted to for the last two days.  Gentle, and yet urgent.  Richard responded in kind, meeting her tongue with his in a slow dance that matched the easy movement of the music.

Emily let her hands migrate from Sandra to Richard, and she pressed herself close against Sandra’s back as she felt Richard’s body.  Richard in turn slipped his hands out from between the girls and pulled Emily tightly into the three way hug. 

Sandra increased the intensity of her kiss now, and Richard found he was having trouble focusing on all the sensations he was feeling.  One moment he was enjoying the touches of four female hands on his back.  The next moment it was Sandra’s form pressed against his, her soft yet firm body molding easily against his harder frame.  Then it was Emily’s back, and the fact she wore only a shirt.  And finally, of course, Sandra’s mouth making love to his.  He was on sensory overload.  But I can’t complain! he thought.

Sandra let go of the kiss as Emily pulled away.  Richard wondered if the fun was over.  Was it just an overly friendly massage?

Apparently not, as Emily pulled on Sandra’s hand.  Sandra let herself be led to her bed, where she ended up lying on her front along the near edge.

“Time for a massage,” Emily said quietly.

Richard joined her, kneeling on the floor at Sandra’s bedside.  Together they worked on her, starting with their hands on her back. 

Sandra sighed contentedly as they touched her.  It was almost like her dream.  Almost.  The clothes were still on.  As they should be, she thought to herself, trying to resist the strong urge to rip them off.

But when Richard’s hands moved under her shirt and onto the soft skin of her lower back, she couldn’t stop herself.  She rolled over and sat up.  She fluidly peeled off her t-shirt, tossing it aside and returning to her prone position on the bed.

Richard felt his heart jump at this new development.  Any doubts he had about how far things were going to go for the most part were swept away. 

And Sandra’s bare skin!  It made his insides ache.  She was amazingly beautiful to look at.  Her waist and hips were so inviting, and the brief look at her partly exposed breasts had been almost surreal.  He wondered if she still really wanted her bra on, but he wasn’t going to press the unfolding situation.  And why should he?  He felt more aroused right then than he had ever remembered feeling with Tonia.  Well, maybe.  There were some wild times in Italy with Tonia.  But still, he was fully clothed, and already he felt like he was on the tense edge.

Emily and Richard were now vigorously massaging Sandra’s back.  Richard glanced sidelong at Emily.  She seems to really be enjoying this, he thought.  He figured that this was not a planned get-together, but he had to wonder how long Emily had been thinking about doing this.  She certainly seems to be comfortable sharing me with Sandra. 

Emily caught Richard’s glance and smiled at him.  She leaned over, and it took Richard a moment to realize she wanted to kiss him, not whisper something. 

Again he found himself distracted from his hands as Emily kissed him.  When he pulled away, he caught Sandra looking up at them.  She just closed her eyes and let out a slight murmur. 

Richard decided to press a little after all.  As he took in Sandra’s body lying before him, he wanted to feel more of her.  Her long toned legs beckoned, and he responded by moving his hands over to them.  Her short jean shorts allowed him view of their entire length, but he started modestly by gently kneading her calf muscles. 

Richard moved around to the foot of the bed.  From there he pulled and pushed on her lower legs, gently, and then firmly, working out the tension in them.  They stretched on before him.  Richard went a little further with each cycle, soon reaching the back of her knees, where he spent extra time with gentle caresses.

Emily stood and then straddled Sandra’s butt, and began to really give Sandra a deep back massage.  Richard breathed deeply, trying to take in every detail of the unfolding scene before him.

As Richard moved his hands higher up onto Sandra’s thighs, he was pleased to feel her part her legs slightly.  He worked his hands around each thigh, tracing the lines of each  muscle. 

When he began to brush the rough hem of the cut-off shorts, he pulled back, and gave Sandra some long strokes.

Then he climbed up behind Emily, looking over her shoulder and down at Sandra’s completely bare back.  Emily had undone Sandra’s bra, and it lay apart to her sides.  Richard snaked his hands around Emily and added his touch to hers.  As he did so, his chin rested on Emily’s shoulder.  As he hoped, Emily turned and flitted her tongue into his mouth. 

Her hands suddenly slipped over his, and then pulled upwards.  Richard felt his hands move steadily up Emily’s front, over her taut tummy and then onto her breasts.  His fingers caught against her hardened nipples, bumping over them.  Emily moved his hands for a moment against her shirt and then let go, still teasing him with her tongue.  As she returned to caressing Sandra, she pressed herself against Richard’s mouth.  His hands ran little paths over her front, lingering only slightly each time on her breasts. 

Emily only broke the kiss long enough to let her shirt slip between their lips on its way to the floor. 

For a long time, Richard shifted his focus from kissing Emily to feeling her skin, to watching her hands on Sandra’s skin, and to imagining more.  He smiled to himself as he remembered that school hadn’t even started yet.

After what seemed like hours, Emily and Richard sank to the bed next to Sandra, who murmured vaguely.  Emily was next to her, still stroking her back gently.  Richard was spooned behind Emily, running a finger along the sinuous curve of her waist.

Richard felt like he was about to explode.  His back was aching, his neck felt crooked and his lips were tired, but he was on the edge of what would be a huge climax, if he had the opportunity.

But after kissing and feeling Emily’s body, they had let the passion slowly subside before laying down next to Sandra. 

He could wait, if this was all that was in store for the morning.

Sandra turned her head towards them.  As she registered that Emily was openly topless, her eyes widened slightly before melting into a content smile.

“Wow,” was all she said.

“How do you feel?” Emily asked her.

Sandra shyly squeezed her eyes shut and grinned.

“I want more,” she whispered.

“I know, me too,” Emily said.

Richard stayed silent.  He felt like the two girls were testing out their feelings about the relationship as they went.  I guess they assume I don’t have a problem with it.  He had to admit he didn’t. 

As if in answer, Sandra spoke again.  “How are you, Richard?”

“I’m good,” he said, trying to stay as nonchalant as possible.

There was a long silence as they relaxed together.  There’s no need to rush things, Richard thought. 

The last planned event of orientation was dinner at the Dean’s house out in the suburbs.  If it wasn’t for the opportunity for a good free meal, Richard would have preferred to chill in the dorm.

In the back seat of one of the large vans that were taking the students to the house, Richard sandwiched himself between his two friends. 

Jer was in the next seat up.

“Feels just like riding the bus in high school,” he said, leaning over the back of the seat.

“Where’s Jenna?” Emily asked him.

“Eh, Joey said she couldn’t come since she’s not a first year.”

“But she went on the city tour,” Richard pointed out.

Jer shrugged.  “I guess there’s only enough food for us,” he said.  “What are you all doing this evening?”

The trio in the back seat looked at each other with slight grins.

“Um...”

“Brenae is having a party,” Jer said.  “It should be fun.  Everyone’s in town, now.  Two kegs, too.”

“If it’s Brenae Smith that you’re talking about, we can’t go,” Emily said.  “Brenae and I had a falling out.”

“Why?” Jer asked.

“Long story.  Anyway, we have plans.”

Jer nodded.  “All right.”

The Dean’s house was nicely appointed.  A huge backyard was setup for hosting the forty or so first-year Wexford students.

“Now we know where our tuition money goes,” Emily said as they walked around the large and elegant house.

“Mm hm.  What are our plans for tonight, by the way?” Sandra asked.

“I need to practice,” Emily said matter-of-factly.

“Oh.”  Sandra was clearly disappointed.

Emily just rolled her eyes.  “I was kidding.  Let’s just see what happens.  I have some other fun games in the closet we can play, if nothing else.”

At that, Sandra brightened again.

Richard had a feeling he knew what was going to happen when they returned to the dorm, and he figured Sandra was thinking the same thing.  That she was excited about it made him excited.

Dinner took forever.  In an attempt to not appear anti-social, the trio split up to meet some other people, but after a half-hour they ended up alone in a corner of the yard.

Emily had brought a hacky sack and was trying to teach Richard and Sandra to hack.  Sandra seemed to pick it up pretty quickly, but Richard was struggling.

“Don’t be so spastic!” Emily said.  “It’s about smoothness.  I thought you played some soccer.”

“It’s really different than a soccer ball,” Richard protested, as he wildly stabbed at another errant hack with his foot.

“Are you going to find out when people are playing soccer?” Sandra asked Emily.

“Yeah, I’ll ask.  I keep forgetting.”

“How long are we going to be here?” Sandra said, tapping her watch.

“Another hour or so.”

“Great,” she moaned.

Richard and Emily knew how she felt.

“Are you sure you ain’t coming to the party?” Jer asked Richard as he returned from showering.

“I’m sure,” Richard said.  He chose a shirt to wear for the evening.

“What’s up with you and those two chicks anyway?”

“They have names, you know.”

“I can’t tell which one you are going for.  But can tell you that Emily really digs you.”

Richard laughed.  If Jer only knew.  “Really?  Why do you say that?”

“She checks you out and shit.”

“And shit?  Well that’s cool.”

“Yeah, you should go for her.  Leave Sandra for me, heh heh.  All right, I’m out of here.”

“Have fun.”

“You too.”

I will.

Richard lay on his bed for a while.  The girls were showering, so he wanted to give them time to do whatever they did. 

He wondered what his relationship with Emily and Sandra was going to turn into.  He was still expecting one of them to pull out of the situation, but so far both girls seemed very interested in pursuing the three way relationship.  The massage had proved that fairly conclusively. 

What sort of public face would it take on, though?  Close friends, or more?  At some point people would know what was going on, unless the three of them kept their relationship very private.  Richard wasn’t sure if he’d like that.  He’d kept his relationship with Tonia in Italy concealed from the town for various reasons (mainly due to her aggressive asshole brother), and it was the main regret he had.  There was no way to steal a kiss at the café, or stroll arm and arm through the piazza.  The secrecy certainly lessened the romance of the relationship, despite heightening the excitement of the sex.

The phone rang, but he decided not to answer it.  His father’s voice came over the answering machine speaker.

“Riccardo, I hope everything is going well for you.  Call us when you can, and let us know how you are doing.  I expect you are practicing hard!  Ciao.”

A relatively short message, Richard thought.  His dad could be pretty long-winded at times, particularly when it came to practicing and working hard.

He still had a few days until his next lesson.  Even though he had gotten some hours of practice in earlier in the day between the morning massage and the Dean’s house, he was distracted, and didn’t feel like he had really made progress on Ms. Tertychnaya’s suggestions.  He was having trouble getting his head into the music.

The excitement in his life lay elsewhere at the moment.

Tomorrow, he promised to himself.  School hasn’t really started yet.  Nothing wrong with a little break.

Sandra was unusually giddy as she returned to her room after her shower.  Emily had just finished drying her hair and was cleaning up the general disarray that had settled onto the floor. 

“You know, I vowed to turn over a fresh leaf and be neat and tidy in college,” she lamented. 

“Me too,” Emily admitted with a slight laugh.  “I didn’t have anyone breathing down my neck to clean my room, so I got really bad.  This is actually very clean for me.”

“Same here.  When I moved out last week, I was surprised that the rug in my room was actually green.”

Emily laughed.  “Whoa, that’s bad.”

“Can I ask you something?” Sandra said, her tone more serious.

“Sure.”

“Why were you going to leave me alone with Richard this morning?”

“I wasn’t sure how you felt about... me being there.”

“Oh.”

There was a brief pause.

“How did you feel during the massage?” Emily asked, looking Sandra in the eye.

“It was really cool,” Sandra said, quicker than she wanted.  “And a little strange, afterwards.”

Emily nodded slowly.  “Yeah.  But not bad strange?”

“No,” Sandra agreed.  “It seemed like you were ready to let me have Richard alone, though.”

“I was.”

“Why?  I know you really like him.”

“And I know you really like him too,” Emily countered.

“So if I wanted to be with him alone, you would allow that?”

Emily weighed Sandra’s expression, trying to judge what she meant.  “Of course.”

“And you wouldn’t be jealous?”

“I don’t know.  For now I’d try not to feel that way,” Emily said cautiously.  She knew that jealousy was inevitable, if Richard and Sandra chose to be together and exclude her. 

Is Sandra looking to take Richard for her own?  I can’t tell, actually, Emily thought.  Her heart started to pound a little harder.

“He’d probably pick you anyway,” Emily said at last.

“Why?”

“Because you are really pretty.”

Sandra furrowed her brow.  “So are you.”

“No, not like you are.  People think I’m cute, or whatever.”

“It’s not all about looks.”

“No, but at this stage that’s a part of it.”

Sandra sighed.  “You don’t know what type of looks Richard is attracted to.”

“Maybe not, but I’m sure that you are in his type.  You are in everyone’s type.”

Sandra didn’t reply.  Emily moped on the bed for a moment.

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t...” Emily said.

Sandra sat next to her on the bed.  “I’m not looking to take Richard away from you.  I know you really like him.  So do I.  I’ve never done anything like this.  This whole week I keep expecting to wake up feeling jealous that you like him too.  But that isn’t happening.  I don’t know why, but... I think it’s because I really like you too.”

Emily didn’t say anything, so Sandra continued.  “And you’re not the first person to tell me that they are intimidated by my looks.  What’s funny is that when I was in eighth grade, I really liked this guy, Jarrett.  I’d write whole novels about my crush on him in my journal.”

Emily laughed a little.

“Anyway, I asked him to go to the spring dance at the end of the year,” Sandra continued.  “And he said no!  And then he ended up going to the dance with someone else.  Lucy Barber.  And I feel terrible saying this, but at the time I thought she was ugly.  She had that feather cut, you know, that everyone had stopped doing a few years before that.  Kids said she looked like Mick Jagger!”

Emily really laughed this time.  “That’s pretty mean!”

“Yeah.  But it turns out that Jarrett and Lucy got engaged this summer.  They were meant for each other.  They are way more happy than I’ve ever been with any of my boyfriends.”

“Mm.”

“Jeez, I sound like such a mother!”

“It’s all right.  I haven’t had one lately,” Emily said.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!  I didn’t mean it that way!”

Emily smiled.  “I know.”

Sandra gave Emily a brief hug.

“So,” Emily said, “basically what you are saying is that I look like Mick Jagger?”

“Emily, of course not!” Sandra said, still horrified from her previous comment.  Then she realized that Emily was just joking, and the two girls started laughing uncontrollably.

“So what are we going to do with Richard?” Sandra asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Be friends, have fun,” Emily said.  “Drink wine.”

Sandra chuckled.  “You and your wine.”

“You love it and you know it.  You better get changed; he’ll be here soon.”

Sandra gave Emily another squeeze and then stood to put on her clothes.

“You know, it could be worse,” Sandra said.

“What?”

“Richard.”

“Yeah, he’s a good find,” Emily agreed.  “Definitely not Mick Jagger.”

“I wonder what he thinks about all this?”

“Somehow, I doubt he’s complaining.”

Sandra giggled.  “Yeah, he must think he landed in heaven.”

Emily watched Sandra put on her clothes.  “He has.”

Richard wasn’t sure where the nervousness in his stomach was coming from as he walked down the stairs to the girls’ room.  Clarinets, violins, and sopranos greeted him, as people tried to get in their last bit of practicing before quiet hours.

It’s Saturday night.  Do they practice twenty-four hours a day?  He heard his father’s message again in his head, urging him to work hard.  Tomorrow, I buckle down.

When he knocked on the door, Emily told him to hold on.   Apparently Sandra was still partly nude.  A risqué remark almost jumped out of his mouth, but he decided to take the more gentlemanly approach and he told her to take her time.

Finally Emily opened the door, smiling broadly. 

“Look, Anne Ramsey is here!” she said to Sandra, who was out of sight.  Sandra started laughing.

“What?” Richard exclaimed.

“Nothing.  Inside joke.”

“Well, can I come inside?”

Emily paused, narrowing her eyes.  “I’m definitely okay with that.  You have to ask Sandra, though.”

Sandra appeared.  Her hair was wet and close against her head.  “Hey.  Why are you still in the hallway?”

Before Richard could protest, the two girls pulled him inside and shut the door loudly.

They seem unusually bubbly, he thought.  He wondered if they had already gotten into the wine, but the two bottles on the desk were unopened.

“What took you so long?” Emily asked, as she uncorked a wine bottle.

“I had to shower, too,” Richard said.

“Didn’t know you were that prissy.”

“Prissy?  Whatever.  I was lying on my bed doing nothing for twenty minutes.  I figured you two would need prissy time.”

“Nah, we’ve also been laying on the bed waiting,” Sandra said.  Emily glanced at her with a slight smile.

“And yet you were just now putting on clothes?”

Sandra gave an innocent shrug.  She couldn’t help but laugh as she saw Richard start imagining things.

“Wine?” Emily said, offering two glasses.

“Thanks.  So who the hell is Anne Ramses?” Richard asked, taking one for himself.

“Ever see that movie The Goonies?” Emily said.

“Yeah?”

“She played the bad momma.”

Richard thought for a second, and then realized who she meant.  “What the fuck?  How am I Anne Ramses?”

“It’s Ramsey,” Emily corrected.

“We were just talking about how some people look like famous people,” Sandra explained casually.

“And you think I look like Anne Ramsey!?” Richard said.

“There’s a resemblance,” Emily said.

Sandra continued to laugh as Richard checked in the mirror.

“I look nothing like her!”

Sandra was laughing so hard she spilled some of her wine on the rug.  There were now two purple stains on the white weave.

“Hey!  Quit spilling on my rug!” Emily cried.

Richard sprawled into Emily’s desk chair.  “You two are out of control.  Already.”

His comment was met with scowls, followed by more laughter.

It was going to be a long evening, Richard knew.

Forward to Chapter 7

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