Triple Dog Ch. 02

Anna was walking down the street and flapping the bottom of her ratty wifebeater to try and cool down some. Summer was definitely back in town. Even wearing cutoff jeans and a thong under them, she was still sweating like a pig. "Fucking Carlos," she muttered to herself.

He had let her crash at his place after she got evicted, but she had to let him hump her and all she got for breakfast this morning was a cold pop tart. Her stomach was growling as she eyed the people walking down the shady side of the street. They were too lightly dressed for her to pick their pockets. With only four bucks worth of coins in her pocket, she needed some serious cash and she needed it fast. She was eyeing the cars, looking for one to steal, when she stopped dead in her tracks.

A familiar green station wagon was parked in front of a coffee shop on the other side of the street. She ran to it, noting the out of state license plates, and looked inside. It was definitely Carsy, which meant Emma was close by. With what Anna knew of the bitch, she could squeeze a couple of hundred bucks out of her. She entered the cafe and scanned the faces of the patrons, looking for the gorgeous brunette that she made strip a year ago. Soon, she spotted Maria Lopez and Diane Novak, two other, former, close friends of hers, sitting at a booth table with and old lady.

"Well, well, well," said Anna, walking up to their table, "look what the cat dragged in." Maria and Diane had astonished looks on their faces for a mere moment, before looking sheepish. "You go off to college, you don't call, you don't write. This past year, I thought you dead!"

"I'm so, so sorry, Anna," said Maria, contritely.

"Yeah," piped in Diane. "Please, join us!" She gestured at the empty seat, next to the granny.

"Oh, no, no," Anna waved off their offer, "I wouldn't dream of butting in on your quality time with grandma. I'm just looking for Emma."

"You found her," said the grandma, laughing.

Anna turned to look at the white-haired creature, that just spoke, and jumped back in surprise. Beneath the shoulder-length, pristinely white hair, sat a face of pale, flawless, young skin. It was dominated by blood red lips, spread into a smile. Atop a triangular nose, giant, warm, brown eyes regarded Anna with mirth.

"Emma," questioned Anna in shock. "What the fuck happened to you!? When did you go gray?!"

Emma softly snorted a laugh before replying, "I didn't go gray, I dyed my hair white. Do you like it?"

Anna thought it made Emma look like a fairy tale creature, but she wasn't going to say so. "No," she said unconvincingly, "you look like a granny."

The three seated girls giggled. "Nonsense," said Diane, dismissively, "she looks like Anne Hathaway in that Alice in Wonderland movie."

"Yeah," seconded Maria, "but with bigger tits!"

Slowly, Anna slid into the seat next to Emma. "When did you get back into town," she asked.

"Two weeks ago, when I was done with my finals," said Maria.

"Two weeks, and you don't drop a line," asked Anna. Maria looked guilty and Diane as well. "Shame on you, treating a friend like that!"

"Hey," said Emma, "don't look at me, I drove home, all the way from Massachusetts. I just got into town last night. Besides, none of us changed our emails, or facebook accounts, how come you didn't write to us?"

Anna glared at Emma for a moment. What was she supposed to write? Dear friends that are away at college, I've been kicked out of my parents' house and now I sneak into people's homes and steal shit to pawn for money for food and rent, and I'm not even very good at it? Her stomach growled and she dropped her scowl. "Good point." She pointed at the girls sitting opposite her, "I'm still pissed off at the two of you. However, if you buy me some coffee and a really big heap of donuts, I might just forgive you. Maybe."

Maria and Diane went to the counter and got Anna a big latte and a dozen donuts for the table. The girls watched Anna devour all the donuts with expressions of uneasy amusement. When she was done, Anna took a sip of her coffee and then belched. "That's the Anna we know and love," said Emma, provoking Maria and Diane into laughter.

Anna was considering which girl should she spill her hot coffee on, when Diane asked, "Where's Taylor? I haven't heard from her either."

"Where is Taylor," asked Anna exaggeratedly. "Better ask, what is Taylor, nowadays!"

"What do you mean," asked Emma.

"Taylor did a complete three-sixty from when you last saw her," said Anna.

As she took a breath, Maria corrected her, "You mean a one-eighty. Three-sixty is a complete circle," Maria slowly trailed off under the heat of Anna's glare, "brings you back... where you were..."

"Anyway," continued Anna angrily, "Taylor got hijacked by the pod people or whatever. She's not the girl that just rolled over and let Emma take Carsy last summer. Not anymore. She's quite the opposite. Oh, and see here," Anna leaned forward and pointed at the middle of her nose, "this is where she broke my nose, like, a month or so after you guys left. I haven't seen, or heard of her since."

"Bullshit," exclaimed Emma.

"Yeah," agreed Diane, "There's no way Taylor would ever hit anyone, not even you."

"Not even me," growled Anna, questioningly.

Diane stayed cool as she clarified her previous statement, "I meant, especially not you."

"Fuck you," spat Anna. She had her fill of food, but she still needed some cash. She looked over the girls and decided it wasn't the time, or the place, to put the heat on Emma. She also decided she would never stoop so low as to beg cash off of Diane or Maria. She stood up and said, "Well, nice seein' ya!" She turned to leave.

"Hey, wait," Maria said. "Let's get together tomorrow night and have some fun. You know, for old times' sake!" Emma and Diane nodded. Anna had nothing better to do, so she agreed to a time and place to meet.

After Anna walked out of the coffee shop, Emma picked up her cellphone and dialed Taylor's number. "Holy crap, guys," she exclaimed, "Taylor's number is disconnected." She dialed the number for Taylor's house. Diane and Maria sipped their coffees as Emma rolled her eyes and patiently waded through Taylor's grandmother's ramblings to get her new number. After a few minutes, she began making interested inquiries. Maria and Diane patiently waited for Emma to finish the call and explain the odd questions she was asking. "Mrs. Sourkis says that Taylor moved out last November and that she moved to Bainbridge Depot."

Diane let out a low whistle, even as Maria's jaw fell. Bainbridge Depot was the seaside resort for the rich that was less than half an hour's drive away from their town. "What the fuck is she doing there," asked Diane.

"Apparently, she got a job there," answered Emma.

"I can't believe she left her grandma to live alone," whispered a stunned Maria. "I mean, the woman not only raised Taylor, she is literally all the family she's got in this world. I can't believe Taylor would leave her all alone."

"Apparently, she didn't," said Emma. "She got her a nurse to call on her every day. She calls every day and visits a couple of times a week."

"What job does Taylor have, that she can afford a nurse," asked Diane. The girls shrugged. They wished they knew.

Emma dialed Taylor's new number, then hung up. "Voicemail. Let's go over to her house and surprise her!" The other girls agreed, but were dismayed when they couldn't find an address to go with the number. "Her number's unlisted. Fuck it, I'll leave her a voicemail."

"No, wait," said Diane, smiling, "Give me five minutes." She got up and left the shop to make a phone call on the sidewalk. When she got back in, she sat down and smiled. "I really want to surprise her too."

"Yeah, but we don't have her address," said Maria. "Besides, it's surprise enough when we call her out of the blue after almost a year. Let me have her new number!" Just as she finished typing it into her phone, Diane's phone chirped of a received text message.

"Well," said Diane, reading her text, "if we want to surprise Taylor, we can. I've got her new home address."

"How," asked a surprised Maria.

"Never mind that," said Diane and smiled mysteriously. "Are we going or not?"

The girls piled into Carsy, put the address into Diane's smartphone and followed the satnav directions to an apartment complex. After Emma parked in a designated visitor's parking, they took the chance to admire the place. It was definitely a high-end residence. They quickly found Taylor's door and knocked. Their jaws dropped when Taylor answered the door.

Taylor smiled broadly and hugged each girl in turn. "Hey you guys," she greeted, "I've missed you so! When did you get back into town?" The girls barely managed to get their answers in, they were so stunned at Taylor's change in behavior. There appeared to be no timidity left in the tall girl. "Oh, you guys, I wish we could hang, but I gotta go to work, right now! Can I give you my new number? Call me and we'll get together, go over the good old days!"

Diane got her wits about her and said, "We're meeting with Anna tomorrow night, we'll make it a reunion, if you come too."

"Excellent," responded Taylor with enthusiasm. She got the time and place, before inquiring, "Laurie will be there too, right?"

"No," said Emma, "Her dad moved to be with her. They don't live here anymore." Unseen by any of the girls, Maria's brow drew down at the news.

"Yeah, but they're both in town this week," said Taylor. "Give her a call, get her to come. Now, I really must dash, like, right away." Taylor gave them each a kiss on the cheek and closed and locked her door, before walking to the sidewalk and whistling loudly. She waved at a taxi and imperiously pointed to the street before her. The taxi obediently rolled to a stop right where she pointed and she waved at the girls one more time, before getting in the cab and driving off.

The girls looked after the cab for a minute in stunned silence. Finally, Diane spoke, "The fuck was that?"

"Yeah," said Emma.

"She was wearing makeup," exclaimed Maria.

"Yeah," said Emma.

"And she was making eye contact the whole time," said Diane.

"Yeah," said Emma.

"And the clothes," inquired Maria.

"Women's clothes," commented Diane. None of the girls could ever remember Taylor in anything but shapeless, men's wear. "And she had makeup on!"

"And her hair," Emma chimed in, "I've never seen it combed before, let alone looking like that! She looks like she went to a salon to get it done, and done well."

"Yep," said Diane nodding, "that settles it. Anna was right, Taylor was taken by the pod people." The girls burst in laughter and climbed into Carsy. A visit to the McArdle residence was just what the doctor ordered. Mr.McArdle answered the door and bid the girls enter. They found Laurie in the upstairs den and exchanged perfunctory greetings. Both Laurie and Maria looked downcast. Diane, Emma and Laurie's father chatted a bit, but soon ran out of topics.

Diane invited Laurie to their informal reunion the next evening and Laurie started to hem and haw, but was interrupted by her father. "Nonsense, Laurie," he gently reproached, "I didn't bring you with me so you could sit here and be bored to tears while I'm away at meetings. I brought you here, this week, precisely so you could see your old girlfriends." He gave Maria a big, knowing smile and she looked down, red-faced.

Laurie looked at Maria for a few seconds before saying, "Alright. I'll see you all tomorrow night."

The evening sun was painting the sky red when the girls met up. They exchanged pleasantries, for a few minutes, before Taylor invited them all back to her place for beer and scotch. The girls happily agreed to free booze and piled into Emma's car.

"This is just like old times," exclaimed Emma happily. All the girls looked pensive as they thought back to the last night they were all together. The ride was quiet, but when Taylor let them into her house, the girls couldn't suppress their admiration. Her apartment was huge, two-storied, and tastefully appointed. Taylor accepted the compliments gracefully and poured shots for all the girls. After a brief tour, they all sat down in the spacious living room and began to pepper Taylor with questions, while sipping on their beers.

The girls all marveled at the positive changes in Taylor's personality and guessed that she had a boyfriend. Taylor smiled at their inept and laughable attempts to deduce his identity. She insisted she was single, but the girls refused to believe her. Taylor merely said she got a job and that it was explained to her just how much appearances mattered. The questions piled on and Taylor started to feel a bit self-conscious under the onslaught. Several shots of scotch later, she stood up, wobbled, and exclaimed, "That's enough, you little missessessess... es Gestapo! I invite you in my home and you give me the third degree? Not cool!"

"Alright, alright," conceded Laurie, "Just tell us what is this job you have."

"I work at this agency that, um, finds positions for young, talented people," Taylor giggled at her double entendre.

"Like a job center," asked Diane.

"Yes, exactly," confirmed Taylor, "Only much more, erm, selective, and stuff."

Taylor steadfastly refused to answer any more questions, but she did drop the name of the agency she was working for. At the mention of the name, Diane's mouth opened and her eyes bugged out. She quickly recovered, but not before Anna noticed her reaction.

Diane had gone to take a leak and, exiting the bathroom, she found herself face to face with Anna. "You know something," said Anna, pushing Diane back into the bathroom and locking them in.

"What," asked Diane.

"Something about Taylor's agency," clarified Anna. "Don't deny it, I saw it plain as day, all over your face. Now spill!" Diane hesitated talking about it, so Anna stepped into her personal space and said, "If you don't tell me, and tell me true, I'm gonna give you a swirly. Right fucking now!"

Diane caved at the fire in the tiny blonde's eyes and held her hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok," she said, appeasingly, "I'll talk! Look, the agency she works for? Escort service! As in, a front for high-priced prostitutes. Don't ask me how I know!"

"How do you know," asked Anna.

"I said don't ask," repeated Diane.

"I said swirly," Anna mimicked her tone of voice.

"Look," Diane considered her words carefully, "I volunteered at a state congressman's office this spring and I, like, just heard about it. Ok? That's all!"

Anna regarded her friend with suspicion, but soon realized there was no way Diane was a high class call girl. Taylor, on the other hand... Anna fumed at how haughty the bitch was acting. She even dared to break her nose when she was homeless and tried to move in with her grandmother. She was so angry, she hardly noticed Diane slipping past her to rejoin the others in the living room. She stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes and thought of how best to exploit this little tidbit of information, when she realized Diane was in a position to do so first. She dashed back and plopped down on her seat with a shit-eating grin on her face.

Anna quickly picked up the thread of the conversation and steered it back to the last night they spent together. She revealed Emma had fucked the whole staff of the Tittie Licker and the white-haired girl turned red as a beet. In response to the girls' outrage at the gangbang, she pointed out that Diane had a threeway, and that Laurie had sex with a friend of her father's in a sex-shop. Diane and Laurie defended their actions angrily. Laurie let slip Maria had sex with her father, and that shut everyone up.

"Yeah, he told me," said Laurie, glaring at Maria.

Anna laughed, "What a bunch of sluts!"

"Hey," shouted Diane, "You started it, and you blew Ray like a fucking skank!"

"Actually, Diane," Emma interjected, "You started the whole ball rolling that night. You dared Anna to suck Ray and you pissed off Taylor enough to send you to that car." Diane looked like she had been slapped. "We were all game for what happened that night, but I think we all had a much, much tamer and PG-13 game in mind, before you blew the lid off."

"You're one to speak, slut," jabbed Anna. Recriminations started flying to and fro, and the girls were starting to insult one another in earnest. The argument was escalating past what Taylor was comfortable with, particularly as Maria kept using her as an example of chastity and restraint.

"Even I got fucked that night," she shouted during a lull in the bickering. The girls all shut up and turned to look at her. "A pair of pimps stopped me that night on Cedar and deflowered me on the hood of their car." All the girls looked aghast at what she said, but Maria looked positively suicidal.

"And not only that," Ann spoke up with glee, "but this job, that so transformed our timid, little Taylor into such a hot and refined piece of ass, is an escort job." Despite Anna's inept phrasing, all the girls cottoned on to her meaning.

Taylor met their reproachful gazes with an even one of her own. Eventually, she shrugged into the stunned silence and said, "It's a good job and I love it."

Anna sat back with an evil grin, and the rest of the girls started pestering Taylor to say it isn't so. Then they tried to get Taylor to realize she didn't have to do that. Taylor pointed out that she understood that, but that she enjoyed her work. The girls only redoubled their efforts and kept talking at Taylor. She was starting to get a headache.

"How can you possibly," here Emma paused to emphasize her incredulity, "enjoy those men pawing at you?!"

Taylor rolled her eyes. The one thing that always angered her was hypocrisy. "How can you," she shot back, giving Emma pause. "Oh, yeah, I know you're a stripper. I once accompanied a client to your club. The Avalon, was it? It was nice to see you've kept your stage name, Emmanuelle."

Emma once again turned beet red. Anna cackled in delight. Emma shot her a look and then set her jaw and looked Taylor over. "Hey," she retorted, "I only dance to turn those guys on. I don't let any of them touch me in any way. After I'm done with them, they go home to their wives to get their fuck on!"

The girls looked at her in mute shock, only Anna's guffawing was heard. Maria nodded and resumed her hounding of Taylor. "How are you not ashamed," she asked, "of sleeping with married men?"

"I don't know," said Taylor, "You tell me, Maria."

Maria's righteous rage floundered somewhat, and she looked uncertain, for a moment. "I don't know what you mean," she said, unconvincingly.

"Oh, yes you do," snorted Taylor, "Or you should know. What with fucking your college professor who also happens to be married. And a parent! Is his oldest child our age, yet?"

Maria looked down and shut up. Anna laughed even harder. "How do you know that," whispered Maria.

Taylor shrugged and nonchalantly said, "The same way I know about Diane fucking a married man as well."

Diane inhaled sharply and looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Anna paused her howling to ask, "Is it the state congressman?" When Diane's blush turned to white-faced dread, Anna resumed her laughter.

"How," asked Diane, breathlessly, "How did... how do you...?"

Taylor shrugged with an easy smile. Laurie shook her head in disgust. She always detested the women that preyed on married men, and here she used to be friends with two of them. She shook her head and spoke, "So many single boys and men, and you go for the married ones. You sicken me. Both of you."

"We sicken you," asked Maria in anger. "At least we don't fuck our own fathers!"

Laurie was shocked. How could Maria have known about that? A long silence descended on the whole group, as they looked upon Laurie with pity.