The next Saturday I wanted to avoid the consequences of my actions as much as possible so I stayed in bed until noon. Jennifer was having lunch with Kim’s family for granny Ninny’s birthday anyway. I did pray she wasn’t going to make any grand gestures and skip the party for my sake, you know, to make things better between us. The irony would have been too much. I might have burst out laughing the same way Eleanor did the night before. It was twelve-thirty when Eleanor yelled up the stairs that I had a visitor. It couldn’t be Jennifer because she would come straight up to my room.
“Is it a visitor worth getting dressed for?” I shouted back.
“By all means no. You can come down naked if you want, I’m sure she won’t mind.” Eleanor replied. I quickly slipped into yesterday’s clothes and rushed down the stairs, only to find Lucy sitting in the living room. Of course.
“I told you, Auntie, I’m here to see you, not Lee.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?” Eleanor asked. I could tell by the growing arch in Lucy’s eye-brows that her suspicion increased by the minute. She shot me a quizzical look. I just shrugged. After all, Lucy wasn’t some innocent by-stander in all of this. I may have let her kiss me − and more − but she was the one who had put it all in motion as soon as I had mentioned my fight with Jennifer.
“I’ll give you ladies a minute to talk,” Eleanor said. She was visibly amused by the whole situation. She was a funny old bird.

“Did you tell her?” Lucy fired.
“I’m sorry, your name just slipped out. I really didn’t mean to.”
“I can’t believe this. What did she say?”
“She laughed, loud and hard.”
“She what?”
“She was almost hysteric. I was as astonished as you are now.” Lucy shook her head in disbelief.
“I was going to take her out to lunch and prepare her for it gently,” she said.
“This is Eleanor we’re talking about, she doesn’t need to be treated like that.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Do you want to join us for lunch, now that it’s all out in the open?” Lucy asked, with a big grin on her face. This family, and its liberties, was starting to drive me crazy.
“No, Lucy. No offence, but I don’t want to have lunch with you. That would be even worse than Jennifer having lunch with Kim’s family.”
“Fair enough, but we will have to talk about it sooner or later.”
“Later suits me just fine, and there really isn’t that much to talk about. It was a mistake.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“I am.”
She leaned a little closer towards me then and whispered, “For me, it was the best sex I had in a very long time.” Her mouth lingered at my ear a bit too long for my blood not to pick up speed in my veins. “As a matter of fact,” she breathed into my ear, “I would like to kiss you again, right now.” I took a step back.
“I’m not in the habit of kissing straight women anymore. I’ve gone off that a long time ago.”
“Oh well, you can’t blame a girl for trying.” She winked. “Anyway, I must be at least bisexual or bi-curious by now.” Then she walked away, into the kitchen, and I heard her say, “Come on, Auntie Eleanor, we’re going out for lunch. We need to talk.” What a peculiar family, I thought, not an ounce of drama in their blood.

To be continued…