"You look like you're about to tear your hair out." Lee said coming into the records room and handing Kristen a coffee from the break room. "They're out of cream." She said in an apologetic tone. "You want to take a break?"
"Thanks," Kristen said, taking the coffee. The way today was going, she didn't mind taking her coffee black. "A break sounds good right now."
"Come on, break rooms empty." Lee said, heading towards the door. As they walked to the break room Lee glanced at Kristen. "I haven't talked to you since Ed got out of the hospital. How's he been?"
"He's …" Kristen shook her head, sitting down at the break room table. "Stressed. He can't sleep, or concentrate … He says he's fine, but he's been having a difficult time." There was only so much she could tell her, though, without divulging exactly how Edward had ended up in the hospital in the first place.
Lee looked confused. "I … Suppose stress could do that. Has he seen a doctor about it?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
"He … has," Kristen admitted. "And it seems to be helping some, but … It doesn't seem to have really fixed things."
"I bet." Lee said. "Jim has a few leads into finding who did it, but nothing really solid." She said, doubting she was supposed to talk to Kristen about this. "Who ever did it, was very good at hiding his tracks. The only thing they can really find is Ed's fingerprints. It's strange though …. That they managed to clear out their own fingerprints and stuff, but leave Ed's, don't you think?"
"That is strange," Kristen said, disguising her reaction with a thoughtful frown. "Maybe the kidnapper wasn't as concerned about Edward's fingerprints? I mean, we already know who the victim was."
"Yeah." Lee said, wrapping her hands around her warm mug. "So I heard you moved in with him. Or so rumour has it."
"Rumour has it right," Kristen said, smiling slightly as she took a sip of her bitter coffee.
"No way …" Lee said. "I'm happy for you two." She said smiling. "You seem like the perfect couple."
"Things are definitely going well on that front," Kristen agreed. Together, they'd managed to get through every situation that had been thrown their way. "Though … We've been trying something a little different lately." She fidgeted with her coffee cup. She didn't know how Lee would react to their relationship with Deidre. In general, Lee was a pretty open-minded person, but even so, a lot of people tended to draw the line at relationships with more than two people in them. Still, Lee was a good friend, and she wanted her to understand, to acknowledge her relationship as valid.
"Different?" Lee asked, raising her eyebrows. "Like … In the bedroom different?" She asked, a grin on her face.
"Well yes, that's a part of it," Kristen said, blushing a little. "Um … You remember that night we all went out for karaoke? And my friend Deidre was there?"
"Yes." Lee said, not really understanding where this was going. "You three all left a bit early."
"We did," Kristen nodded. "And all three of us ended up back at Edward's place, drinking, and somehow a game of strip poker between the three of us happened and then … well … a lot of other things between the three of us happened." She looked back at Lee, trying to gage her reaction.
Lee looked confused a moment before a look of amused surprise came over her. "You didn't."
"We did," Kristen confirmed, feeling her face blush a deep red. "So … in the morning, when we were all a little more sober, we had a kind of awkward talk about where we all stood and kind of worked things out."
"Worked things out …. How?" Lee asked curiously. She had no doubts that would have caused some kind of drama in their relationship.
"Well … long story short, Deidre's in the relationship now," Kristen said. "It's … kind of difficult to explain, but … I think she's brought some kind of balance to the relationship."
"So, you're all dating each other? Like a three way relationship?" She asked. "Do you ever get jealous of each other? Even a little?" Before Kristen could answer her her phone started buzzing loudly on the table.
"Um … hang on a second," she said, seeing Edward's number appear on the screen. She picked it up and answered. "Hi, Edward."
"Hey." He said before he whispered 'stop it' to someone in the background followed by Deidre whining in the background. "Um … Can anyone else hear me at the moment?" He asked.
"Not you, no," Kristen said, by way of indicating that someone would still overhear her. But he wasn't on speakerphone; Lee wouldn't be able to hear him. "What is it?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. Stop it." He said before Kristen heard a soft smack followed by an ow that was clearly not upset. "I just-"
"I told him he doesn't need permission." Deidre said into the phone and Ed pulled away from her.
"We never really talked about it before but …"
"I want to fuck his brains out and he wants to ask mommy if he can play first!" Deidre yelled loud enough Kristen could hear.
Kristen burst out laughing. "Well … um … I guess we didn't really talk about that," she said, avoiding Lee's curious eyes. They'd both done things with Deidre, but that had been all three of them together. "Do you want to?"
Edward was silent for a moment. She didn't sound upset. "Well … I wouldn't be asking if I didn't."
That he had felt the need to stop what they were doing and ask her … Kristen was both amused and comforted by that. And the image of the two of them together made her blush even further. "Go ahead," she said. "But I reserve the right to ask for details later."
"We'll paint you a watercolour!" Deidre asked. "Now come on!" Deidre said before there was a clear scuffle for the phone and the line went dead.
Kristen shook her head in amusement as she put the phone away and returned to the table. "Sorry about that," she said, before answering Lee's question. "Jealousy … just hasn't turned out to be an issue between the three of us. So far, everyone's been pretty good about communicating when we're unsure if something's okay."
"I can see by the sounds of it …" Lee said chuckling. "I have to say, when I first met Ed I couldn't even imagine him dating, let alone dating two beautiful women … Forgive me for saying but … He seems like he would be so awkward in bed."
"He's … full of surprises," Kristen said, knowing what Lee meant. "And he's definitely gotten more confident in that area."
"I take it you're training him well then." She joked. "I'm still trying to teach Jim a few tricks but … He doesn't catch on very well." She said with a laugh. "If you don't mind me asking … You know, girl to girl, for curiosity sake. How big is Ed?"
Kristen smiled and looked around the break room. "No word of a lie …" She said picking up two can drinks from the table and stacking one on top of the other.
Lee stared at the two cans stacked on the table, her eyes wide, before she looked back up at Kristen. "You're kidding," she said in a quiet, conspiratorial tone. "Really?"
"Really," Kristen confirmed, nodding. She couldn't help smirking slightly at Lee's reaction. She hadn't believed her own eyes when she first saw it either. "One hundred percent serious truth."
"Can I borrow him one night?" Lee joked, her eyebrows raised still before she laughed.
"Lee!" Kristen scolded, laughing. "That's not how it works!"
Lee laughed as she pushed away her empty coffee cup. "I know, I know, I'm joking." She said playfully pushing Kristen's arm. "Hey, me and Jim wanted to invite you and Ed to dinner tomorrow, Deidre is invited too, if you three want to come."
"That … sounds really great, actually," Kristen said, grateful that Lee was being so accommodating. Though she was also probably curious. "Won't Jim be a little weirded out by all of this, though?"
"I don't think so. He was fine hanging out with you three at the karaoke bar." She said with a shrug. "Besides, your relationship isn't really any of his, nor anyone's business."
"True," Kristen said, relaxing a little. "Thanks for being so accepting. I know it's not exactly … conventional, but this is the best I've ever felt about a relationship."
"Well, so long as you're happy." Lee said smiling as she patted her arm.