“Sweetie, you probably know your style is as easy on the eyes as Aerin’s, right?” Helena said smiling at me. Amongst the three, she’d been the most welcoming towards me.  She and I had assumed an easy intimacy almost immediately. When she’d asked about where I sourced my face cream, fifteen minutes into the easy group chatter, “ you have the most gorgeous, clearest skin Harley. However do you keep that up in the sun and environment we have here in LA?!” I promised her I’d get a bottle for her from the store in AK Blvd that I sourced it from.

Now she insisted with hand motions that I take a whole brownie instead of splitting it with her, as I’d suggested earlier.

I blushed on hearing this compliment as I took a big bite of the brownie.

“Aerin said you were beautiful, but we all thought that she was talking about her usual ice princess, top-of-the-market woman, who couldn’t give a shit …” Helena continued and then turned to the other two. “Am I right? Weren’t you thinking the same thing? Aerin has a certain type, right?”

“Absolutely,” Shane nodded. “Leggy, fashion-plate, “u-can’t-touch-this” …”

“Except for Chris,” Alice jumped in.

They all swiveled to look at me, suddenly looking like they’d all stuck their feet in their mouths.

I gave them a small smile, and decided to tease them a bit.

“Aerin has a type, huh? Seen enough of them so that you know what that is? What are we talking about here? A few women? A parade?”

“Umm… not a few women, no…”

I pretended to frown. “So how long of a parade?”

Alice thwacked Shane on the forearm that rested on the table.

“Did you have to…”

“I’m sorry! I thought that she knew of …”

“Can’t you see that they’re just starting …”

“C’mon Al! You heard Aerin this morning …”

I interrupted them, “What was Aerin saying this morning?”

They stopped bickering and swiveled to face me, again, looking chagrined.

“What did she say?” I repeated and set my cup down.

“Umm … that she had met you …” Alice started.

“Uh huh? And?”

“And that she felt you and her had this strong connection,” Helena added, licking her lips nervously.