Getting Coffee (WIP)

“Uhm,” I said, looking around, “Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure,” Samantha said, echoing my own awkwardness, “Where’s....” She intentionally left the question hanging.

“She’s... out of it right now. She’ll be ready in like 10 minutes.”

Wordlessly we went to the kitchen, and I started preparing the coffee. It wasn’t until I placed the cups on the table that either of us spoke.

“So... how was it?” I asked with a bit of hesitation.

Samantha was just in the middle of a sip, and nearly choked at the sudden question.

“Oh, um, it was... intense.” Samantha looked into the distance for a bit. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, but who’s idea was all of” she waved her hands in a circle, “this.”

“It was Maris’s idea all along. In fact, she had to convince me to go along with it!”

“Really? I thought, you know, guys were always...”

“Ready, willing, and able?” I chuckled a bit, “Well, it’s just like anything really.” I left it at that, not knowing how to finish that statement.

“Cause, like, I was really surprised when Maris contacted me.” Samantha looked into her coffee, remembering the time, “Usually these types of things don’t amount to anything. At most, you send each other a few pictures, then one of you just stops responding...”

“Well, Maris did literally everything to set this up. I don’t even know how she found you. I’m assuming the Internet?”

“Basically. There is this forum for swingers, but I’d wager like 90% of the people there are singles just looking to, I don’t know, fantasize I guess. That’s kind of why I joined. It was just fun to write about all the “sex” I was “having” with other “couples”. It was kind of like pro-wrestling, we all knew what was and wasn’t happening, it was just...” Samantha trailed off.

“Like a game?” I said, filling the silence.

“Kinda, except there wasn’t really any goal or point or anything. Just, people being people. So, it really shook me when this random MissMariss PMs me and seems to take things seriously.”

We talked for about an hour or two, sipping our coffees. The topic wandered from how this strange event took place to the usual topics, weather, jobs, family. Samantha was actually an accountant for a local grocery store. I mentioned my gardening, she talked about her baking. We went outside to see some of my squashes. It was almost like we were just two neighbours getting to know each other.

It was then that Maris walked in the room, completely changed. Gone were her powersuit, her sexy librarian glasses, and her done up hair. Instead, she was in some comfortable pajamas and had on her thick rimmed evening glasses, and her long hair fell flat, framing her face. You could almost swear she was a good few inches shorter, as well.

“Oh, there she is!” I said, standing up, “You want some coffee? I just made a pot.”

She grunted an affirmation, grabbed a mug, poured herself some coffee, then sat down. She didn’t say a word.

“So, Samantha was just talking about how you set this whole... thing up.” I started to explain, “Anything you want to add?”

“Mmm” Maris grunted, before taking a sip. I knew this meant “no”, and she just needed to recharge.

Samantha looked at Maris, looked at me, looked at Maris, then back to me, back to Maris, back to-

“Yeah, this is how it usually is. She’s very much the ‘strong silent’ type.” I explained, “I like to call this ‘Clark Kent mode’.” I made a pair of glasses with my hands.

Maris grunted in annoyance, almost in the background.

“I’m just... Is that... Is this a prank or something?” Samantha stammered for a bit, trying to piece together what she was seeing.

“No, I assure you, this is the very same Maris that... ahem handled you before. Isn’t that right sweety? Pumpkin pie? Pwetty pwetty pwinc-” I was immediately flipped off by the mass of hair at the other end of the table.

“It’s just, you see, now I’m almost sure it was you messaging me, not this... this...” Samantha still just couldn’t wrap herself around this whole thing.

“Starlight662,” came a voice, soft and mouselike.

“What?” Samantha looked at me. I exaggeratedly shrugged my shoulders, and pointed my thumb to the end of the table.

“That was your username, right?” Maris was talking in a light and soft voice. One that you could hardly hear over the deafening sound of silence.

“Yeah...” Samantha said, still unsure about everything.

“You like walks in the park. You go with a vibe stuck up your ass. You once went into a gloryhole. No one else came in. You waited for an hour. You schedule dates. You always flake on them for some reason. You think you might have a thing for feet, but aren’t quite sure.”

I could see Samantha’s face redden. “Really?” I interjected, “For feet?”

“What? No! Yes! Maybe? I don’t know. It’s complicated! I think!” Samantha quickly turned to Maris, “Really, it’s you!? This... this... this...”

“Recluse?” I interjected again, “Loner? Hikikomori? Weeb? Tumblr writer from the 2010s? Sawako if she was into yaoi? Cousin Itt’s nerdy sister?” That last one was responded to with two middle fingers.

“No, this is indeed Maris, or was it MissMariss? I don’t know. As I said, she was the one who set up literally everything. Hell, I barely knew what was going to happen until this morning.”

“Really? It’s just that the Maris I talked to was so...” Samantha trailed off.

“Confident? Powerful? Intimidating? Articulate? Well spoken? Sexy? Domineering? Slutty?” I leaned in closer to Samantha, “See how she’s not denying any of this? That’s how you know it’s true! Look!”

I pulled away Maris’s long hair to reveal the bright cherry red face of my wife. She quickly moved her head away, covering her crimson face in dark hair again.

“Anyways!” I stood up quickly, “I made some cookies the other day, you want some?”

“Listen, Kyle, this is just a bit much. I know you’ve probably done this lots-” Samantha was looking around.

“Oh, no, this is our first time.” I interrupted with a little smile.

Samantha looked even more bewildered than before. All of a sudden, Maris spoke up, “Who did you like more?”

“Uhmm, well, uh,” I stammered a bit. I always thought this was going to come up, but I just kind of hoped it... wouldn’t, “Well, I can’t say! You both... I mean... It... She was really good. You are really good. You both are really good. I would never leave you for her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Maris laughed, her voice creaking and cracking, “Don’t worry! You get more pussy, I see you getting more pussy. I get you.”

Maris leaned over to Samantha, her face peeking out from behind her long hair, “I like you, you know. You’re fun.”

“Okay, I can’t stand this. What is... well... why are you so different from before?” Samantha stammered.

“That was a sprint. I’m tired now.” Maris muttered.

“You see, Samantha, for Maris doing stuff like that is like running. Sure, you can jog for a few hours and not get tired. If you’re really fit, you can basically jog all day! And marathon runners can run for literal hours with only a few bleeding nipples and lost toenails. But, you get anyone to sprint, like sprint super hard, and they’ll be wiped out for a bit after just a short time. Our little... adventure... was like a super sprint for Maris, so she’s all tuckered out.”

Maris just sat there, sipping her coffee, sometimes nodding along to my explanation.

“You see her tomorrow, and she’ll be basically at the exact midpoint from now and before. In the meantime, it’s like, I dunno how to explain it, she’s ‘out of mana’ and needs to recharge.” I looked at Maris again, “But I can tell she really liked today, and would love to do it again. Of course, she’ll be the one to set it up, if you’re okay with it.”

“Yeah, I’ll... uh... I’ll contact you later.” Samantha was clearly still a bit overwhelmed, so I stood up and motioned for her to stand. She stood, and I gave her a big, warm hug. Just a tender embrace. No hugging naughty bits, no massaging anywhere, just contact.

“Hey, you okay?” I said, arms still around her.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

I let go, put my hands on her shoulders, and looked into Samantha’s face. “No, seriously, you good?”

“No, no, I’m fine. It’s just... I don’t know what was more intense. The savage fucking, or seeing Maris ‘drained of all her power’.”