Wednesday during her lunch break that Aria was able to meet up with Kay. The first thing her best friend asked, predictably, was how their first night of BDSM play had gone. Aria went on to tell her it had been wonderful.
“It was so much more than I ever could have expected,” she told her earnestly.
Kay wanted more details, but Aria felt hesitant to tell her. She wasn’t sure if this was something Billy would want people to know. Of course he knew how open she was with Kay and had never found it a problem that Aria confided in her so much, including things regarding all aspects of their relationship, but this was all so new Aria wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Kay understood her reluctance when she explained why she wasn’t dishing on all the dirty details.
“I will say I don’t think we did anything all that extreme,” she told Kay.
Kay nodded. “Well as long as you both really enjoyed and it’s what you really wanted, that’s what matters.”
Aria nodded vigorously. Kay giggled and took a sip of her iced tea.
“So John’s having a party at his place this Saturday and he left it up to me to convince you and Billy to go,” she informed Aria.
“We’ll go.”
“That was easy,” Kay said. Then Kay pressed her lips together as if she had something more to say but wasn’t sure if she should or how to bring it up.
“What is it?”
“Well, someone is back in town and it seems like she is here to stay. I’m pretty sure she will be going to the party.” Aria tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows in question as she tried to think of who might be back and part of their larger social circle that would bother her, but she drew a blank.
“It’s Tina.”
Aria coughed as the water she had just taken a sip of went down the wrong way. She felt like she was choking or drowning, she wasn’t quite sure. Kay fanned her and waited a moment so Aria could collect herself.
“Tina? Seriously?” Her best friend nodded sympathetically, completely understanding Aria’s reaction to the news.
Tina had been Billy’s last girlfriend before they met and she had been an important part of his life. He had even confessed one night to Aria he had planned to propose to her before she ended things. She knew he was hung up on her for quite some time after the break up.
Tina had broken his heart by leaving and Aria had an inkling it wouldn’t be easy for him to be around her.
Later that evening as she sat on the chair out on the balcony of her apartment she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact Tina was back. Kay had mentioned she was likely here to stay which meant Aria would end up seeing a lot of her. She wasn’t insecure about her relationship and she definitely trusted Billy, but it was still an uncomfortable situation for her.
She had only met Tina once and that was the day she discovered they shared mutual friends in her extended social circle. She still remembered how striking Tina was. She was the kind of woman who wasn’t just conventionally attractive but actually interesting. She was the kind of woman people noticed for her looks and personality and it hadn’t taken Aria very long to figure out why Billy had been so in love with her.
She trusted Billy and had faith in their relationship, but this was still far from ideal. But there was nothing that could be done about it. They would just have to learn how to deal with having her around now. The good thing was that they didn’t share any close mutual friends. But her return and attendance at larger social gatherings afforded her the opportunity to become close to others.
“It doesn’t matter,” Aria muttered to herself.
She heard the apartment door close and she turned to see Billy placing his car keys on the hook. He saw her out on the balcony and greeted her with a nod and smile before