puking her brains out at home on the toilet, you and Michael wouldn’t have met?” Michelle chuckles.
“I am sure we would have met eventually.” Jessica smiles.
“Well, you’re welcome.” I laugh.
“Why can’t I meet someone great?” Stephanie pouts.
“You’ve dated a lot of great guys.” Jessica says “What about your last boyfriend? Davis right? What was his last name?”
“His name was Andrew and his last name was Davis.” Stephanie moans, “He was a jerk with a crummy bartending job, living in a shitty apartment.”
“I guess so.” Jessica agrees.
“It isn’t fair. Michelle has a boyfriend and Matthew on the side. You have Michael, and now Megan has Steven. But I have no one.” Stephanie cries.
“Okay, I do not have Matthew on the side.” Michelle says with disgust.
Stephanie rolls her eyes and mumbles “Yeah, okay.”
“What about Eric?” Jessica suggests before Michelle can continue to protest.
“Ewe no!” Stephanie shouts flailing her arms.
“What’s wrong with Eric?” Jessica says, “He’s cute.”
“Yeah, but have you seen him drunk? Come on Jessica. He has the worst Peter Pan syndrome ever. He should really see a therapist.” Stephanie says.
We all nod in agreement and Michelle pipes up, “What about that guy who works with you at the bank? Phil something?”
“Ohmigod, I already slept with him one night after work. He was a sloppy lay. Gross, no.” Stephanie says, and we all laugh.
Jessica gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. Her eyes light up when she says the last three words I ever want to hear, “What about Ben?”
I am silently praying Stephanie will shout her usual no, ewe, or yuck. But instead she contemplates the idea in her head and places her index finger over her lips. Those few seconds feel like hours before she gushes with a wicked smirk, “I have a confession.”
I feel a lump form in my throat and my stomach clenches. No. I do not want to hear anything she is about to say.
“I have slept with Ben.”
Whack! There it is. A blow so hard it renders me speechless.
“What?” Jessica squeals, “No way? Recently?”
My heart thumps painfully in my chest as Stephanie continues, “Yeah, like less than a month ago.”
“When was this?” Michelle shouts forcing her hands to her hips.
“The same night Megan had us over at her place to go over wedding stuff. That night, and a few other times after that.” Stephanie says smiling proudly to herself.
“Megan did you know about this?” Jessica asks in a high-pitched voice.
“No.” I say feeling angry tears stinging my eyes. I take a deep breath and blink them away. I think of that party, that night, and I want to scream. I remember them flirting on my couch and Ben loving every minute of it. I remember them leaving together and Stephanie dangling off his arm as they drunkenly stumbled out of my condo and into a cab. Little did I know, they weren’t going separate ways.
“Oh, Megan wouldn’t have known” Stephanie casually says and admires her nails. “Ben asked me not to tell anybody, and pulled his typical shit by sleeping with some other chick the next weekend. You know what he’s like.”
“I can’t believe you never told me that!” Michelle exclaims with her jaw practically on the floor.
I am trying hard to force air into my lungs and not freak out right now. I want to hate Stephanie, slap her across the face, and rip her hair out. But it is not her I hate. It’s Ben.
I look up at the girls, feeling like such an idiot. I should have known. He is a player, and always will be. I take a deep breath, and wish I didn’t care that Ben and Stephanie had a secret romp together. I try my hardest to not imagine them kissing, touching and humping. But images of them together pollute my brain, making me feel slightly ill. I hate that I can’t even wail over my heartbreak and humiliation after finding out I’m his sloppy seconds. I am never speaking to Ben EVER again. Now our friendship is over and so is our secret affair.
I wince when I hear Michelle ask Stephanie what he was like in the sack. I try to block them out, so I hum the tune of “Don’t Worry Be Happy” in my head, but that doesn’t work. Instead I find myself being sucked right back into their conversation. I listen to her graphically describe his impressive length, and she even mentions the birthmark on his shaft. Then she starts talking about how great he