No, just the three of them

Nicole opens the door to find Ana Marie standing front and center in the door frame. She's a vision of beauty. Her dress is almost an exact match to Nicole's with the exception of bursts of lacy gold. Alfie is behind her in a simple, but handsome black suit with a gold tie matching Ana Marie's lace. He gives a little wave. Ana Marie, on the other hand, lunges forward and hugs Nicole. "You look exquisite!" she exclaims and steps back to take Nicole in. "Do you love it? The dress?"

"Yes, oh my gosh, Ana, you really didn't need to. I never imagined I'd own anything from..."

"Hush," Ana Marie says and places a finger on Nicole's lips. "Be thankful and pay me back by helping me celebrate Alfie." Instead of placing her finger vertically across Nicole's lips, Ana holds the tip of her fingernail on Nicole's lower lip. She holds it there for what feels like more seconds than necessary. She only moves it when Nicole says "thank you?"

"Oh and Happy Birthday, Alfie," Nicole adds.

"Well, we should get going. Ressies are at 6:30," Ana says. "Alfie, lead the way." He heads down toward the parking lot. Ana Marie hooks her arm around Nicole's and they follow. "So, did you try on everything?"

Nicole blushes. "Yes, thank you. It was a surprise."

"I have the same set and love it. I'm wearing it now, as a matter of fact."

Nicole can't help but envision Ana Marie in the lingerie. "Yeah, me too. I couldn't resist. They went so well with this dress."

Ana Marie squeezes Nicole's arm as they both get in the back seat of the car. "Did you hear that Alfie? Nicole is wearing the lingerie I bought."

Nicole sees Alfie's eyes in the rearview mirror. She blushes deeply. He didn't need to know what was under her dress. "I bet she's as beautiful as you in them."

"So," Nicole says clearing her throat and trying to change the subject from her underwear. "How many people are coming out to celebrate tonight?"

"None," Ana Marie smiles. "It's only the three of us. Alfie doesn't get out much, so he doesn't really have any local friends."

"The other TAs and the Professor gave me cake," he corrects.

Ana Marie rolls her eyes. "Yes, hun, you're the most popular boy in all of the school. Anyway, we had reservations for three and some of our other prospects didn't work out. And then I remembered you!"

'Prospects' was such an odd turn of phrase for friends, Nicole thought. Maybe it was British. She was also disappointed. All of her Ryan Gosling pilot fantasies exploded above her head, but that was okay. She was still going to make sure Alfie had an amazing birthday dinner.

The multicourse dinner was unlike anything Nicole had experienced in her life. Every bite of food was like swallowing a dream. The conversation, however, was difficult. Ana Marie had lived such grand adventures. Alfie had fascinating thoughts on his studies. Nicole, on the other hand, hadn't been up to much in the last couple of years. Her life revolved around work, masturbating, and doing tasks for her Discord friends, and, well, that was about it. She didn't have anything recent she could talk about, so she kept defaulting to boring college stories. It made her feel like her development was arrested. She questioned her decision to go all-in on becoming a pandemic shut-in for the first time. Not that it was actually a conscious decision. It had simply...happened.

"So," Ana Marie says as dessert is served, "Nicole, tell us about this man you're having a fling with. How'd you meet?"

Nicole was dreading this topic. "Oh, um, online."

"Tindr? Hinge? He doesn't really seem like the Bumble type."

"N-no technically some of my online friends found him for me and, that's all. Anyway, it isn't serious."

"Online friends found him for you? How does that work?"

Nicole realized it was odd phrasing on her part and immediately regretted it. "Well, they put an ad out for me and he was one of the guy's who replied."

"Fascinating! He isn't even a friend of a friend? And you said you only met him this week? My goodness. When I saw him in your window I assumed you must have known him longer. Naughty Nicole!"

Alfie is quiet through all of this conversation. Nicole tries to make eye contact with him as a way to ask "please help me change this conversation" but he averts his eyes. "It's not a big deal. So do you have birthday plans this weekend?"

Ana Marie doesn't take the bait. "I was wondering how you found him because, honestly, he didn't appear to be your type based on our conversations around men. How did your friends, plural, decide he was the right fit for you?"

Nicole sinks into her chair. She really wanted to be friends with Ana Marie. Maybe if she was alone with her she'd feel more comfortable, but she couldn't help thinking that Alfie was judging her. "It's complicated. The fact that he isn't my type was part of why they chose him."

Ana Marie swallows some mousse with an eyebrow cocked at Nicole. "Okay, putting all of this together. Your online friends chose someone who they didn't know and isn't your type for you to...date?"

"Not really date, no."

Ana Marie looks shocked. "Nicole," she places a reassuring hand on Nicole's hand. "Be honest, how much do you charge?"

Maybe it was the three glasses of wine, but Nicole didn't understand the question. "Charge? For what?"

"Oh sweetie," she says, "you're amongst friends. Alfie and I aren't going to judge you for sex work. In fact," she squeezes Nicole's hand softly. "That's part of the reason we invited you out to dinner. We'd guessed you were starting to, you know, expand your side gig." Ana Marie winks and, Nicole notices Alfie is now sheepishly smiling.

She scrunches up her face in confusion. "My side gig? Sex work? What do you think...I do?"

"Alfie and I weren't completely sure. But like I said before, although I never saw you with anyone you would always radiate sexual energy. And there was this one very quiet evening we were sitting outside chatting and I heard a faint buzzing coming from you. Seeing the mostly empty bottle of lube out in the open when I was at your place pretty much convinced us our speculation was right. It's why you rarely leave the apartment. You spend your nights and weekends, um, making content?"

Nicole remembered the evening a new vibrating butt plug her Discord friends had made her wear slipped out when she was talking to Ana Marie. It managed to snake it's way out so it rested on the edge of the metal lounge chair. She always worried Ana Marie heard it buzzing before she able to muffle it with her ass cheek. She was starting to understand what Ana Marie was insinuating, but she didn't want to volunteer the assumption. "I still don't understand. Making content? I do that for my day job."

Alfie finally speaks up. "Nicole, it's okay. We have one, too. Well, technically, she has one, but I make masked appearances."

"What do you think I have?" Nicole asks.

"Oh, Nicole, so many of us started an OnlyFans account during the pandemic. It's nothing to play shy about. Alfie and I, well, we were excited to see you were branching out from solo work. And I'm guessing your 'online friends' were your fans? You don't need to tell me, but I'd love to know how much that guy's paying for your expanded services."

Oh my god, Nicole thinks to herself. They made so many assumptions. It made her feel worse. They thought she was charging Huck, and all of the time she spent masturbating with her online friends she was making money.