My Wife in Another Woman's Arms

I took them in their fresh drinks informing them. "I'm making a run to the pub. Do you girls want anything special. "Vodka, some red-bulls, maybe tequila, oh... And gin, lemonade, and orange juice." Ella replied.

"Fuck me... This is gonna be messy."

"You don't know the half of it." She then gave me a big pleading pout. "How about fish and chips... I haven't eaten yet."

"Me neither." Sophie, agreed.

"No worries, half the liquor store and some food... I'm on it."

They laughed as I strode out to the car. I returned, forty minutes later with my arms full. I didn't just get the fish and chips. I got some Chinese, and a couple of take away salads.

When I walked in, they weren't anywhere to be found. I put the food down on the bench, and put the booze in the fridge.

I walked out the back, and I found them sitting together on the verandah steps. Ella, had her arm around Sophie's, shoulder, holding her tight. Sophie, had her hand resting on Ella's, face and they were kissing. It wasn't a lurid passionate tongue molesting kiss. It was a gentle loving kiss. The kind that lingers, going on forever. I could see Sophie's, face, her eyes shut tight savouring the moment.

I felt insignificant, and superfluous all at the same time, and lets not forget stupid... Yeah, fucking stupid.

"I've left the food on the bench. I decided I might go home. I've got a gig tomorrow." I said softly.

They both jumped, startled by my voice. "Oh my god. Prentiss." Sophie, spluttered in shock. I turned and walked towards the door. I called back to Ella. "I won't be able to make it over the weekend. I have a couple of gigs. Probably Tuesday before I'll get back."

She didn't say a word, but. I heard Sophie's footsteps running behind me on the concrete outside. "Prentiss, please wait. She was just caring for me."

"Don't bullshit me Sophie. I've been here every night. I watched you both getting closer. I was surprised it wasn't you kicking Ember, out. You wanted her."

"Prentiss, please, let me explain."

"No need, Sophie. I get it okay."

I jumped in started the car and reversed out the driveway like my life depended on it. At least Ella, had the decency to be embarrassed. Why it hurt so much, I can't explain. I'd watched it happening. It was there in front of me like a slow motion car crash. Still, even knowing it was coming. It hurt.

The drive home was awful. I cried, the bitch had driven me to tears. Well fuck her. Rather than go home. I went to the Star and Garter. Wally, who was on the door looked surprised. "What the fuck are you doing here bro? Thought you were knee deep in recording."

"Yeah, nah. Not tonight dude. I need a drink, a lot of them actual."

I guess he saw my red eyes and maybe some tears. "Ahh fuck dude. What happened?"

"Life, just another shit storm."

I was about to walk past and go inside when Wally, reached out and grabbed my arm. "Keys dude... Now." I tossed him the car keys, and he said. "I'll ring Joe and get him to come in and cover. Order me a bourbon as well."

"Chur bro.

At the bar, I ordered the drinks. My phone buzzed and I answered. "Hey Ella, what's the problem?"

"Food, that's the issue dude. We can't eat all this shit. Fuck we'll both be the size of a house."

"Then don't eat it. Toss it out, the Sea Gulls'll love you long time."

"Dude, don't be like that all right. Nothing happened here. You understand. She was upset and I was trying to make her feel better."

"Ella, I thought we were friends?"

"We are, that's what I'm saying."

"Then don't fucking lie to me. Jesus I'm not an idiot Ella. I've watched you both getting closer. Just be fucking honest."

"Yeah, you're right okay. I like her, but I know you love her. You told me so yourself. Honest dude, there's nothing going on."

"Yeah well, there's something going on. I'll be working with a fat chick from now on."

"Nah, don't do it bro. Come back out. Help us eat all this shit. Come on, lets talk about this."

"Nah, can't do it. Wally took my keys off me."

"Wally... The bouncer?"

"Yeah, I decided I needed a drink after all."

"Ah fuck dude."

"It's all good Ella. Have a good night, don't forget to use condoms." I disconnected my phone, and sunk my bourbon in one throat searing gulp. Then I sank Wally's as well before ordering another round.

Wally, turned up after I'd finished the third round. "Yah gonna tell me what went down?"

I spilled my guts, and he held me in one of his crushing hugs. I cried on his shoulder. He patted my back. "It'll work out in the end bro. Ella's, a top chick my man. She's no cheating slut. If she said nothings going down. Nothings going down, trust me.

After a few more drinks, I was wasted, and yelled. "Where's the fucking music Johnno?"

He laughed from behind the bar. "The band pulled out tonight. We got nothing." He glanced at Wally and the two of them exchanged curious looks.

"Bro, your guitars out the back. Why don't you give us a few tunes."

That's how I ended up singing my guts out. I played all the classic old covers I knew. A couple of patrons including Wally, got up and sang with me.

The crowd went off big time. The place heaved, as drunken men and women threw themselves wildly around. The whole bar turned into a giant mosh pit. They sang, they pumped their fists in the air. What a night.

I don't know how I got home, I was smashed. I woke up with Wally, crashed beside me on the bed. Thankfully we were both fully dressed.

When I woke up I had to nudge him to wake him up. "Don't tell me you drove us home?"

"Nah, taxi my man. Taxi."

"Thank fuck. You better not have taken advantage of me last night." I said mockingly.

"Oh get over yourself. If I couldn't do better than you I'd give up my gay badge."

"Bullshit, you wish you could get me." My head pounded, as I added. "I need coffee."

"Fuck that. I need a shower." Wally complained. "You gonna come in and wash my back?

"Ew, fuck off. Last thing I want rubbing up against me in the shower is your hairy body."

"Hey, there's not a single hair on my body." He said proudly.

"TMI bro." I laughed. I had the coffee made, and some toast cooking when he staggered out. "Showers free dude."

We shared a taxi back to the pub, where he gave me my keys. I was already running late and I still had to load the car and get out to Brightwater.

It was an afternoon gig. The manager gave me a nasty glare as I unloaded and did a quick sound check. I started on time, and this was a new one for me. A Saturday afternoon gig, was a first. I was nervous, especially when I started in on my first song. Jesus, my throat was raw.

Thinking back to the previous night it came as no surprise.

It took me a while to get into it, but I started with the slower songs, the ballads.

I noticed the punters gathering around, the toes tapping on the hardwood floors was a good sign. A couple of youngish girls started dancing and that's when it took off.

It was only supposed to go on until the dinner guests were finished, but the surly manager had changed his tune and asked if I'd stay on.

"Always give them what they want." That was probably one of the best takeaways I took from the band.

Sundays gig was a bit calmer. And by Sunday night I was feeling a bit better. I had no right to be upset. I had continuously pushed Sophie away. I'd never once mentioned that I was considering taking her back.

It did though leave me feeling empty inside, and I couldn't explain why. I guess what I felt was loss, like my Dad walking out on Mum. The problem was, he wasn't just leaving her, he threw away us kids as well.

Now I had to try and forge a working relationship with Ella. How the hell was I going to do that if she and Sophie, were in a relationship? Jesus, what if Sophie moved in with her? She'd be there all the time.

Even if she wasn't there every time. I could do without all the awkward tension, and bullshit that would make working with Ella impossible. The more I considered it. The easier the decision became.

Monday evening, Sophie called, sounding pensive... Nervous... Unsure. "Are you going out to the studio tonight?"

"Nah, the weekend got pretty big. I'm gonna need some time to recover."

"Big... Shit Prentiss, that hardly covers it. Haven't you looked at Facebook? There's like a ton of video of you from Friday night. Somebody live streamed a lot of it. Ella, and I watched it. You were insanely hilarious, and wow. Wally, can sing, he really can."

"Yeah, he can."

There are like millions of comments. All good by the way."

"Oh, okay. I'll have to check them out."

"Prentiss, we need to talk. You misconstrued everything."

"Nah, no more talking, Sophie. We've tried being friends, tried being polite. It's simply never going to work. The divide between us is to big."

"Prentiss, if you'd just listen for a minute. Hear me out."

"Sophie, lets agree to disagree. I don't wanna end up enemies. You go your way and I'll go mine. That way we might at least salvage a friendship." I disconnected the call. You can only go over this shit so many times.

Work Tuesday was busy, which was good. It kept me occupied. Sophie ran a Yoga class Tuesdays, so she didn't call. It gave me the space to call Ella.

"Yo, Dude. You running late. When are you getting out here?"

"Ella, I've decided to pull the pin on the recoding thing. I've deposited two grand in your account. Hopefully that's enough to cover your costs. Let me know if you need more. If you could send me the mastered copies of what we have already recorded. That'd be sweet."

"Awww fuck dude. This isn't because of that fucking kiss is it? Jesus bro. I told you nothing happened. We got wasted, and crashed. That was it."

"Ella, tell me honestly. No bullshit okay. Do you have feelings for Sophie?"

"Yeah, I told you. I like her, but that's it big guy. Nothing went down. Nothings going down. I took her back to her place Saturday morning."

"But you do have romantic feelings for her?"

"Told you that dude." She sighed, a defeated air of frustration oozing out of her words.

"You think she's got feelings for you?"

With a deep exasperated sigh, she replied. "Yeah, she's feeling it as well."

"Ella, I like you. You've been really generous with your time and talent. I don't want shit to get awkward or uncomfortable between us. Give me some time. Maybe in the future we can finish this."

"Fuck you Prentiss, this is way more complicated than you think. I don't wanna do it over the damn phone. Come on out, I know Sophie's got yoga tonight. It'll give you and me a chance to talk through some shit."

"Nah, I'm not in the right frame of mind. If you could send those songs it'd be sweet. Be good aye."

Disconnecting was harder than I thought it would be.

Sophie, walked into the Star and Garter Wednesday lunch time. "Hello Prentiss."

"Hey Sophie. What can I get you."

"Orange juice please, and a cappuccino."

I wandered off to get her drinks. The bar was quiet, although the lunch time crowd were slowly rolling in. I passed her the orange juice. "Coffee'll be a while." I walked down the bar taking bar meal orders and getting drinks. Some of the patrons I knew, and they wanted to chat. It gave me the chance to dodge Sophie, without appearing rude..

Finishing up the orders, I went back to making her the cappuccino. "Can we talk for a moment?" She asked as I slid the cup across the counter.

"Sorry, you picked a bad day. I'm the only barman on." I wandered off to serve the new customers. Again. When I turned back to Sophie, she was gone.

"Oh well."

Thursday, when I got back home. There was a parcel in my letterbox.

Inside was a CD, the cover art was several different photo's of me performing out at the studio. The cover was an awesome photo of Ruby Bay beach, from outside the back of the studio.

There were only five songs, but it was something.

I pressed play on the stereo and turned it up loud. Damn it sounded amazing. I had heard worse shit come out of the best studio's around the world. I spent a couple of hours researching where I could get some pressings made. Couldn't believe, I got all of that for two grand. Although, if Ella decided she wanted more. I'd have happily paid.

The weekend was full of gigs. Friday night at Styx, Saturday arvo at Brightwater and Sunday out in the boatshed at Mapua.

The boatshed, was one of my favourite gigs, not because of the crowd, it was more the vibe. I guess I had some regulars who liked to come along. They always came up for a chat and they enjoyed my music.

They were a Sunday crowd, they came for the quirky stalls and shops, and came in for lunch. The food was great, and they looked after me with drinks.

There wasn't a stage as such, it was just a little corner on their deck. I was on my second song when I spotted Ella and Sophie, walk in. This was my first look at Ella, in something other than her jeans and a Tee Shirt. Her wild unruly hair pulled up into an overflowing twisted bun showed off her angelic face.

Angelic was a fine descriptor, She wasn't breathtakingly gorgeous, but she was pretty. Her big brown eyes and luscious lips. First time I'd seen her in makeup as well. Her bright red lipstick really highlighted those oh so juicy kissable lips.

Sophie, again not a startling classic beauty, but she always looked wonderful. Dressed in a white cotton flowing dress, the square cut bodice showcasing her breasts perfectly.

They looked good together. Ella, her beautiful dark brown mocha skin, a perfect contrast to Sophie's, creamy pale alabaster skin. Their hair as well, Ella, had that unruly mass of black wickedness, whereas Sophie had the cute little blonde bob.

It was a surprise to see them, I wasn't expecting it. I hoped to get some time before I bumped into either of them. There weren't a lot of tables, they had to take one in the corner at the back.

They joined the applause as I finished my song. I chose purposefully to stay away from the ones I recorded at Ella's. I threw in a few covers to finish my set.

As I put aside my guitar, and put on some music from my phone. The bar staff brought out my meal and drink, placing it on the small table by where I was set up. Just as I was about to sit down, Sophie, came over. "Would you like to sit with us? We would both like to talk to you?"

I didn't want to, but creating a scene was just going to spoil the friendly vibe. I followed her back to their table. "Hey Big guy." Ella, greeted as I sat between them.

"What are you girls doing here?"

"We came to talk, to listen and catch up with a friend." Sophie said warmly.

"Hows work been?" I said to her.

"You know, like crazy busy. Not enough doctors, and too many patients. It creates havoc."

"Yeah, it must be awful."

"When are you coming back to finish that damn album Prentiss." Ella, interjected sternly.

"I don't know. I need some time to figure everything out."

"What's to think about? If it was that damn kiss, I'm gonna be pissed." She replied.

"Ella, it's too difficult at the moment. I can't go back. I figured that I would give you and Sophie, a chance to figure out your relationship. Maybe once you have that sorted. I could come back. At the moment, everything's too damn connected, personal lives and the music side of it."

"We have no relationship Prentiss." Sophie, blustered.

"Jesus, Prentiss. I told you, I was just consoling her. I knew what she was feeling. Been there, done that. Ember, can do that to you. We might have gone a little far, but nothing went down."

I chomped away at my burger and chips. Between mouthfuls, I muttered. "You both told me you had feelings for each other. You might not want to admit it, but there is a relationship. Me being around is getting in the way... Stopping you from expressing how you feel about each other."

"Blast it Prentiss, You can be so clueless sometimes." Sophie sighed. "We do have feelings for each other, but it's way more complicated than that."

"Explain then?" I grumbled through my mouthful of food.

"Okay, here goes. When I said you're clueless. I was talking about how you see things. Ella, flirted like mad with you. She blatantly hit on you so many times, and you simply ignored her. Like, you weren't even aware. What do you think we were laughing at in the control room?"

"What..." I spluttered confused.

"Ella, likes you, you stupid head. She asked me how I would feel if she made a play for you. At the time I was focused on trying to sort out what was happening with Ember. So I said go for it."

Turning to Ella, I sought some form of confirmation. I saw her blush, it was quite funny, not something I expected to see. "You like me?"

She looked completely embarrassed, even with her brown skin the blush was apparent. "Yeah dick head. I like you."

"But you and Sophie, that was undeniable."

"Not arguing with you. I like Sophie as well. Come on dude, she's a hottie."

"Hang on a minute. Where are you going with this?"

Sophie, interrupted. "I told you it was complicated Prentiss. Ella, is bi. Like me, she likes us both. We actually talked about it a couple of times, joked about it. The only sticking point was Ember. When she walked out on me, it opened the door for us to explore what we were feeling. We were going to talk to you about it the night you ran off."

"Bloody coward." Ella sniggered.

I didn't know which way to look. "I don't understand?"

"You've heard of threesomes, right?" Ella, said with a condescending smirk.

"Yeah..."

"Well, that's where we were going. Unfortunately you got home and we were already getting to know one another. You just jumped to the wrong conclusion. Then you fucking ran of like some crazy jealous dick."

"Yeah, I admit it. I do have some issues with jealousy. I'll own that. But this is difficult for me. I'd been building up towards Sophie, and me getting back together. I never liked Ember, I thought she was an awful evil person, and that's what held me back. That night after you announced Ember had left. I was secretly ecstatic. I thought with her gone, maybe, just maybe we could do it. Then I saw the two of you together and it blew everything up. I was back at square one."

"You were..." Sophie gushed, grabbing my arm. "Oh shit babe..."

Her sad eyes, getting sadder. "I have so wanted that."

"Do you Sophie? This is where it gets difficult for me. I always believed relationships were two people. But now that you have Ella, where does that leave me?"

"I know it's difficult for you to get your head around Prentiss, but I do love you. I believe we could do this, I do have feelings for Ella, and I admit I would love to explore that."

"Explore..."

"Yes, with you. We could all explore together. See where that takes us. She likes you, I like you."

I finished my drink, and muttered. "My next set is due."

As I stood up, Ella, said softly. "Prentiss, there's a problem. When you showed no interest in my clumsy attempts at flirting. I lost heart. Sophie assured me you're really clueless. Is that true, or are you just not interested? You just don't see me that way?"

Leaning on the back of my chair, I looked down on both of them, and thought carefully before saying. "Ella, you're a stunningly beautiful woman. I admit to being unaware, naive, and yeah probably clueless. If I had picked up on your signals, this might be a whole different conversation..."

The grin that spread across her face stunned me even more. When she smiled, her inner beauty really shone through.

Working my way through my last set was difficult. Right in front of me, Ella and Sophie, danced, and swayed, sung along with the few songs they knew. Their dancing dragged up a few others and that led to more people taking on the challenge.

I made it easier for them by slipping in mostly danceable classic covers. After talking to my regular fans, and a few new ones. I started packing up and the girls gathered around. They rolled up cables as I carried the amps and speakers out to the car.