Ana Marie the Flight Attendant

Nicole quickly rushes downstairs to the door. She peeks through the blinds she always had closed and smiles brightly. She happily opens the door for her neighbor, Ana Marie. "Ana! Welcome back! I feel like we haven't caught up in ages."

"Hi," she says stepping forward and giving Nicole a big hug. "I actually arrived back yesterday afternoon." Breaking the hug she steps further into Nicole's apartment and walks toward the living room. "Mind if we sit and chat for a bit?" She says with her eyes briefly focused on the big window with the blinds drawn. She then looks down and Nicole thinks her friend scrunches up her face as if trying to select the best place to sit.

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to catch up. So what exotic locale did you jet off to?"

Ana Marie finally makes her decision and sits on the far end of the couch. Nicole joins her on the other end. She crosses her legs remembering she isn't wearing any underwear under her short sundress.

"This was a long and exhausting one. Here to my hub. Off to San Francisco from there. Down to Mexico City. After that Rio De Janeiro. A day off at Copacabana Beach. Up to Puerto Rico. Stop in Atlanta. And then home."

"Oh my god, I'm really starting to question my life choices," Nicole says realizing it was a bigger understatement than Ana Marie could ever know.

"Well, it can sound glamorous, but it can be grueling. It was easier when Alfie and I lived closer to my hub, but those are the sacrifices we chose so he could finish school. Now he has to spend days on end alone imagining some Brazilian stud rubbing suntan lotion on my back."

This was a fairly common Ana Marie joke, but Nicole was positive she'd never really cheat on Alfie. They were the cutest married couple she'd ever met. Nicole usually simply laughs at the joke and moves the conversation along, but for some reason this time she questions it. "That's just his imagination, right?"

Ana Marie smiles softly but doesn't answer. Instead, she redirects the question to Nicole, "so, it seems like you're finally getting out and dating?"

"What?" Nicole's eyes go wide. If Ana Marie was traveling how would she even know? Oh my god, she said she arrived home yesterday afternoon. Did she? No, she couldn't! "Um, why do you ask?"

Ana Marie raises an eyebrow and that soft smile turns a little devilish. "Well, I saw a man..." she pauses for a moment and bites the tip of her finger "leaving your place when I came home yesterday. I mentioned it to Alfie and he said he saw a man of the same description leaving your place Monday afternoon. He thought he might be a repairman, but, well, he isn't, is he?"

Ana Marie was the closest person she had to a friend in the complex and Nicole really didn't want to lie to her. Plus, she could really use a live in-person confidant. She takes a deep breath. "I wouldn't call him someone I'm dating. He's just...just...a fling." Not completely accurate but it would do.

Ana Marie slaps the couch. "I knew it! You never ever talk about dating, so Alfie and I would often debate whether or not you were asexual. But so often when we'd be sitting and chatting I was sure I could sense all of this sexual energy coming off of you."

Nicole blushes hard. It was true she'd avoid topics of sex or dating because her sex life for the last two plus years was wound up with her Internet group. It shamed her and she didn't want Ana Marie, a beautiful jet-setting woman with a handsome in a Wes Anderson sort of way, smart soon-to-be Professor husband, to know she was essentially an online goon. However, so many of the times when they'd be chatting outside and drinking wine Nicole would either be wearing a butt plug or one of her remote vibrators. That's why she was radiating sexual energy because sometimes her Discord group members would turn on her vibe while she was talking. She clenches her thighs together thinking about how obvious she must have been.

Ana Marie continues, "so, how'd you meet?"

"Uh, online."

"Of course, I only saw him from the distance and the reflection of the window, um, car window was in my eyes, but you're into the bear body, yeah?"

Nicole really didn't want Ana Marie to think the man was her type. "No, I mean, maybe sometimes. I hadn't been with anyone in a long time so I didn't want to be too picky, you know?" it was fairly clear to Nicole that Ana Marie was trying to save her from embarrassment by not admitting she saw him in the window.

"I'm totally the same way," Ana Marie says which Nicole found odd for a married woman to admit, but she must mean before she was married. "You learn so much by being with different body types. How long have you been seeing him?"

Nicole is feeling very uncomfortable about this conversation. "Oh, we only hooked up this week for the first time."

"And is the first person you've been with since the start of the pandemic?"

Technically, Nicole had been with lots of people virtually, but not physically "yes."

"I see," Ana Marie says standing up and walking toward the dining table, "that's surprising."

Nicole was confused. Why would it be surprising if Ana Marie and Alfie spent the last two years wondering if she was asexual? And that's when Nicole sees it. Ana Marie picks up the bottle of lubricant she'd carelessly left out in the open. "Why is it s-surprising?"

Ana Marie holds out the bottle. "Well, even when I'm having a lot of sex it would still be a challenge for me to get through a 24-ounce bottle of lubricant." She turns it over "and this expiration date suggests this is a fairly new bottle." Ana Marie smiles. "I had you all wrong. You're a horny, naughty minx, aren't you, Nicole?"

Nicole doesn't know what to say. She stares silently at being outed by this confident, beautiful woman. She was ashamed.

Ana Marie gently laughs placing the bottle back on the table. "I can tell by the look on your face I'm right. It's okay. I was so worried you were going to end up a sexless spinster. This makes me happy for you. Anyway, I really need to get going, but come over here and hug me goodbye."

Nicole is still silent. She felt outed. Someone who lived two doors down from her knew some of her dirty secrets. She stands up and crosses the room feeling meek. She loosely wraps her arms around Ana Marie.

"You can hug better than that, Nicole. Tighter."

Nicole hugs her friend tighter. As she does Ana Marie wraps her arms around Nicole outside of her arms. This hug is different than when they greeted one another. It's strong and Nicole's arms feel pinned. Ana Marie hums gently and pushes her cheek against Nicole's cheek. Her lips near her ear. "Last weekend was Alfie's birthday and, sadly, I wasn't in town to celebrate. Friday night we're having a make-up dinner and I'm wondering if you have plans?"

"Not at the moment," she was starting to feel weird about Ana Marie holding her so tightly. When she says she doesn't have plans the woman squeezes even tighter.

"Good, I'll add you to the reservations. We'll swing by at 6 p.m. We're eating at Cibo Matto, but don't worry, I'm paying."

Cibo Matto. The two-star Michelin restaurant in town. Nicole would never in her life imagine eating there because the multi-course omakase-style dinners start at $400. "I-I can't. I mean, yes, I'd love to, but that's much too much for you to spend on me. And, I'm embarrassed to say I don't think I have an appropriate dress. I've sort of...filled out around the edges because of the last two years."

Ana Marie pushes Nicole back and holds her by the shoulders. She shakes her head. "Nope. I think you're worth the investment. Plus, the more the merrier. And no body image issues allowed on my watch, Nicole. Text me your measurements tonight and I'll see if I can find something for you to wear." She releases Nicole and steps out through the door. "6 p.m. Prompt." She leaves Nicole confounded as to what just happened.

Nicole spends the next hour trying on clothes and measuring herself trying to figure out what to send to Ana Marie. As much as she hates it, she simply sends her all of her measurements: bust, underbust, waist, high hip, low hip, weight, and height. She feels exhausted as she sends the text and wants nothing more than to sit down and process what just happened with Ana Marie. And that's when she hears the key in the door. The man stumbles into her kitchen looking more ragged than usual. He throws a bag of Taco Bell and four-sixths of a PBR tall boy six-pack on the counter.