Chapter 9

Sleep came to me easy and pressed onto me hard. I was encapsulated in loving warmth. I squeezed Max against my chest. Sam knitted her knee through mine. She snaked an arm under my waist and under my upper arm. She molded against my back. Alex lay against Max’s front. Alex laced her fingers with mine and laid her ear on my palm. My queen-sized bed was filled to capacity.

I could feel the cold, the winter, but we were protected from it. I was dreaming; I was sure of it. I remained in bed with the women who had come to me. I looked over Max’s shoulder and into Alex’s peaceful face. She smiled in her sleep between loose-jawed bouts of drool. Her nose twitched with every breath.

I heard the wind stop. I heard the door close. I saw the pair climb the stairs into my apartment.

What to call her? ‘Faye’ was the first name I had learned. Had ‘Gretchen’ and ‘Carmine’ even been real? Maybe ‘Faye’ wasn’t either, but the name had calcified in my brain. She wore her shredded skirt green dress. Her hair was curled, and framing her worried frown. Her green toque and knit sweater seemed too little to have on for such a storm.

Winter was a pace in front of Faye. She was regal. Her dress was white, slit up one leg, the skirt hung below her knee. She wore black leggings and walked in white crystal shoes. Her black shawl, lifted over her hair, shadowed her face. She scrutinized me with icy blue eyes.

“He’s asleep,” she announced.

“You sound uncertain.” Faye was surprised. “He’s only a mortal.”

“He’s practically a king for the riches you’ve foolishly heaped upon his lap! Earth, fire, and gold. The air stinks of sex.”

“I find it a quite charming aroma.” Faye took a deep breath. The girls forced themselves tighter to me. I could feel Alex shivering. I reached down and pulled my blanket higher. It blocked their faces from view but we were all better covered. “Like the mixture of flavors of a grand meal and well-paired wine.”

“You oversell your mucking-up. You won’t redress your fault by claiming it a triumph,” Winter scoffed. “Save your breath, Girl. Your excuses should have been petitioned and discarded well before this was brought to my attention. You’ve made no inroads in correcting anything. That, I suppose I must forgive. I don’t think you would’ve been capable of rectifying this, even if you hadn’t been simpering over his brown eyes.”

“I wasn’t surprised by his looks. I’m no creature ruled by animal desire. I acted out of earned respect. I was welcomed into his home and treated beyond my station. It was right to reward him.”

“You give a good craftsman a clever trinket or bear him a son,” Winter shook her head. “We save these gifts for someone regal. Even the ginger is too good for him.”

“Your barbs will not wound me.” Faye laughed. The mellifluous sound forced me to smile. “He claimed his home needed a woman’s touch or three. I only offered him his pick.”

“Then give him one or all of your faces. He’s hardly worthy of this boon.” Winter was very near the bed. She examined each girl. Her nose liked Alex, but Winter’s head nodded upon evaluating Sam.

“I fear he would agree with you.” Faye tutted. I never had a dream like this before. I kept pushing on my teeth with my tongue, certain they would wiggle and pop free, and I’d wake up and be away from this bizarre commentary. They’d be gone from my home.

“You fight for what he is smart enough to reject?” Winter retreated to stand by Faye. They finally looked each other in the eye. The room was infinitely colder. I held the warmth of Max even tighter. Sam’s breath on my neck kept me strong. “We should be off. Break the charms and let me return my focus to more interesting games.”

“I fight for his worth, because in this, I would not call him smart. He was knightly.” Faye shook her head. “I will not break the charms on a whim and a word. Everything he has done is worth love and home.”

“A whim? A word? No, this is by my word, Girl! You don’t speak to me that way.”

“Apologies, Lady.” Faye sounded so sweet and deferential. I could feel the insincerity and the sarcasm billowing off of her.

“I do not compromise lightly. This one, the truly wealthy one,” Winter said. “Leave her to him, as she’s the only one he’s devalued. He had three nights and he has chosen. It befuddles me that he abstained. They should all be fattening with children. Surely he sees them for their beauty, their youth, if not their worth?”

“Men will often surprise you,” Faye replied. In a heartbeat too long to go unnoticed she addended: “Lady.”

“Yes, until they don’t.” Winter shook her head. “He’s no hero. He claimed her; she will be his. Break your charms and--”

“Yet, she is empty of his seed. The golden-haired one is filled,” Faye countered. “Surely she is the best for him.”

“Yet she remains unspoilt,” Winter argued.

“I expect that’s of less value to him or to any other suitor to whom she might be given,” Faye rebutted.

“Some things are not as modern as you’d believe,” Winter scoffed. “Very well, the sullied one remains his bride. The vessel may be handmaiden to the claimed. We’ll at least break loose the pristine girl. Lessen the charm so that it will fade in time.”

“Yet, the fire, as you say, is in his arms. She’s the one he holds dearest. You even named her the least. Why should he not retain her?”

“Because three is too many!” Winter’s voice hardly changed in pitch. Her impatience was the wind rattling the building. “Wealthy, unsullied, fecund, courteous, beautiful, clever brides for a creature of sloth? He should strive for their station, as unattainable as that should have been for him. You perverted that. One such bride is too many. Three is a farce! Break the redhead free, and twist the bearer of seed so that her bond will break when Summer commands and you cannot force her love to hold.”

“My charms are only strongest in the snow,” Faye replied. “Our bickering has brought in every inch of snowfall I could muster. I am not able tonight.”

“You’re stalling.” The apartment rocked in time with Winter’s frustration.

“I am currently unable to alter the charm. I could break it, but I will not punish him for his kindness,” Faye said. “Let us return, in three nights.”

“Why not make it a year and a day?” huffed Winter. “He’ll have every one of them debased and heavy in three nights, Girl.”

Faye shook her head. “I think he’d protect them from that. They are too young to bear his heirs.”

“Ludicrous!” Winter scoffed. “You overestimate him and underestimate the three of them.”

“I may do the latter,” Faye had to admit. Sam stretched and yawned, drawing the blanket down so I could see our guests again. Winter, though smaller, more feminine, more dainty, imposed upon Faye. Winter’s impatience was at its peak. She threw a dismissive gesture at Faye.

“Hurry, this is childish.”

“Three nights,” Faye reiterated. She rolled her shoulders back and dared Winter. It seemed suicide to make such a demand. I watched, confused but honored that this act was for me. I squeezed Maxine tighter. I rubbed my butt into Samantha’s belly. I traced the shell of Alexa’s ear. “Surely he’ll have narrowed his choice by then.”

“This is the third night already,” Winter scowled. “Your incompetence has forced my hand. I cannot play with your charm but I can tear it away. I’ll do it myself. Their minds and hearts will writhe. Remember, Girl, you robbed these three of their solace and him of my compromise. You denied me ... you denied them ... and you denied him.”

“No! Let me, I can at least save them heartache...” Faye sounded panicked now. She whimpered. “Please, Lady.”

“You’ll waste more of my time.” The wind wracked my building. “What is this? Still more snow? So, you were holding ba--”

The wind blew itself out with a last roaring gale. I was startled into wakefulness.

“Gene?” Sam whispered. “Is the storm over?”

I shushed her, but couldn’t get out of bed without upsetting Alex and Max before me. “I don’t hear the wind anymore.”

“Is it still night?” She yawned. The windows were still dark.

“It’s still night.” I rolled my head back but I couldn’t see her sleepy face. “Go back to sleep.”

She already had. So did I. I forgot a timeless dream before I opened my eyes again. Alex’s fingers tugged on mine. I looked over Max’s ear and could see just the silhouette of Alex’s ear and hair.

“Mmmm, that’s nice,” Max mumbled.

“What is?” Alex said.

“I feel Gene poking at me.”

“You know what that means?”

“He thinks I’m hot.”

“No, it means he needs to pee.”

“What?” Max woke up too loud and too quick. Sam groaned. There was a bump and a struggle -- actually several bumps and a half-dozen to spare. Max had flipped and was face to face with me. Alex pushed in tighter, and Max yelped to be pushed hard against my chest.

She wasn’t panicked. I had just had a ridiculous dream of my neighbor and a waitress with many names. I reflected Max’s smile. I had been eating myself up for days. I was looking for any excuse to hate myself for taking advantage of these girls. I had fucked that teenager behind me. There were two other amazing girls in my bed. I needed a lungful of fresh air and a long shower.

“You need to pee?” Max whispered with frightened excitement. I kissed her nose. Just to touch her, and feel better for touching her. “Alex, move, he’s gotta get up.”

“Sam, you gotta let go.”

“Don’t wanna!” she moaned.

“You gotta let go,” I stroked her hair.

“You wouldn’t let me go...” She snuggled in tighter. I smiled.

“I would let you go to the bathroom.”

“But you’d come rescue me if I needed you.” She rubbed her nose on my shoulderblade as she shook her head.

“Of course I would,” I whispered. She still seemed more asleep than awake despite her active squeezing. “Can I go pee now?” She kept her arms tight. “I’m going to put you in the hands of someone I trust. Do you want Max? she’s cuddly.”

“But she always sleeps in her own bed, and doesn’t share. I don’t know how to make her ... be my friend.”

“Sam ... Samantha... , “ Max murmured. She and Alex had gotten out of bed, but they were now both leaning over Sam and me. I picked at Sam’s arms and tried to slide forward. She came with me. “Let Gene go to the washroom. We’ll keep the bed warm for him. We’ll be friends. We’re going to be closer than any girlfriends have ever been. Thanks to Gene. Thanks to Alex too.”

“Um, how close?” Alex chirped. “This close?” She strangled up Max in a tight embrace. I dragged Sam another handful of inches across the bed. “This close?” Alex wrapped a leg around Max’s and snaked her arms under Max’s armpits. She squeezed the redhead’s boobs tight together.

“Almost there,” Max said, and I realized they were riffing on something.

“This close?” Alex stuck two index fingers into Max’s mouth and pulled her friend’s lips wide open in a Joker-ish smile.

“Zackly tha clobe,” Max nodded.

“That’s pretty close.” Alex reached over me and put her slightly-damp-with-Max’s-spit finger into Sam’s ear. Sam shrieked and let go of me as she thrashed and pushed herself away. Alex’s eyes widened. “Oh my god! Sorry! I’m sorry! I wasn’t being mean! I was being funny! I’m sorry!”

“It felt mean,” Sam whimpered, then laughed hugely. “But it was pretty funny.”

“That’s my girls,” I said as I inched across Max’s front and went into the bathroom. As I did, the last candle, the one on the stove, burned out. There was no window in my washroom. I retreated back to the main room.