Gin with Jenny................................


I was in an open relationship. Not my idea, but I was stupid in love and willing to endure any indignity to hold on. I didn't want to be the boyfriend who is in an open relationship, meaning his girlfriend sleeps with other people while he gets rejected by the girl who works at the comic book shop. More accurately, I didn't want to appear to be that guy.
I needed to screw someone, if only to keep up.
Perfect time to run into Jenny. She was stunningly beautiful. I hadn't seen her since we were kids and since she was a couple of years younger than me I had never looked at her that way before. Now she was an adult, and what an adult she was.
We ran into each other and she invited me to come by her place and listen to records. She said she never slept at night and that I could come by any time.
It was quickly apparent that ours was to be a platonic relationship, but it was an unusual platonic relationship. Jenny liked to wear toenail polish but did a miserable job of putting it on. She did fine with her fingers, but just couldn't seem to get the toes right. So, I took care of her toes, and in return she painted mine. This meant hanging out in the bathroom, soaking our feet in an old claw foot tub. Her apartment had a private bath. It was hers and hers alone, but it wasn't in her apartment. She had to cross the hallway and unlock a separate door to get to it. So, rather than pass back and forth we'd just hang out in the bathroom, soak our feet and make each other's toes pretty.
Jenny had a big bottle of gin that didn't mix well with her prescriptions but I made a good dent in it every visit. As I drank my gin Jenny would play music from a wonderfully eclectic collection of tapes. When I heard something that aroused my curiosity Jenny would refuse to tell me what I was listening to until I confessed to liking or not liking it. She felt that most people didn't listen to music honestly since they'd already made up their mind about who they like and don't like. This drove me crazy as it resulted in my digging some Bruce Springsteen! I've bought some Bruce since, and have never recreated the experience.
The Gin ran out eventually and Jenny bought another bottle, then another. I asked if she could buy something other than gin and she explained that she didn't buy it for me but just to have on hand. I pointed out that I was the only one drinking it, so she might as well get something more to my liking. She looked me in the eye and said to me with great conviction, "Keith, we're not that kind of friends." I continued to drink her gin, and she continued to replace what I'd consumed.
Eventually Jenny went off to Europe to try and work out a relationship with an x-boyfriend. I really enjoyed the nights spent at Jenny's place, and I really enjoyed coming home to my open relationship. I said nothing as I climbed into bed, slightly drunk and with my toenails freshly painted. My girlfriend never asked about my mysterious nighttime adventures and I never said a word.