Just Friends

A few weeks later, Sophie felt much more comfortable with her relationship with Justin. They would chat about everything. They reminisced on childhood. They shared jokes and observations. Sophie even let Justin tease her, which was something she was normally very guarded about, although he teased her more on her size than on her source of income. Sometimes, however, Sophie couldn't help wondering whether Justin was gay and that was why it was possible for them to maintain a non-sexual friendship.

Except, of course, that he wasn't gay.

This Sophie was partly convinced of after talking to male porn stars who also worked in gay movies. Not all of them did so merely because the money was better. Some men had a definite preference for male company.

But the real clincher was Ashley.

And here was Ashley, still with Justin all those years later. It was Ashley, in fact, who spotted Sophie sitting alone on the patio under the sun, rather hoping that she'd not be noticed.

"My God! It isn't! It is! Look, Justin! It's Sophie!"

"Goodness me!" said Justin, adjusting his eyes to the gloom of the shade. "Sophie! Howare you? It's been ages!"

"I'm fine. D'you want to join me, you two?"

"Well, sure, Sophie," said Justin with a smile. "But aren't you with someone?"

"I was. But not now. Come on! I could do with the company."

The three of them sat together and exchanged life histories. Ashley and Justin had both gained promotion and more responsibility in their own careers and were very impressed by the huge turn-about in Sophie's career.

"Don't you miss the money and excitement?" Justin asked.

"Not really. It's not something I'd have been able to keep up forever. I'm over thirty now, after all."

"Bloody hell!" said Justin, still grinning with evident pleasure at meeting his old friend again. "So, you are! Over thirty! Grim, isn't it? Growing old and everything!" He stood up. "Look, your glass is empty. What do you want to drink?"

Sophie was then left alone with Ashley while Justin made his way to the bar. She was relieved that Ashley seemed genuinely excited to meet her, which was in such acute contrast to the first time they met all those years ago. Surprisingly, it was Ashley who was the most enthusiastic of the couple, eager to fill Sophie in on the lives of people whom Sophie had never really known that well and on the benefits of the life of domestic bliss she and Justin were enjoying. She was especially happy that Sophie was herself looking forward to settling down with Malcolm.

It was so different in the Star and Garter when they first met. Indeed, when she arrived, late as usual, she didn't expect to see Justin sitting with anyone. Normally when Sophie met Justin he would be patiently working his way through a newspaper crossword or playing solitaire on his PDA. He'd got resigned to Sophie's unreliability, which was just as well as there were times when Sophie didn't make the appointment at all.

Today, however, Justin was sitting next to someone else and a woman at that. Compared to the buxom, peroxided, heavily made-up women of Sophie's normal acquaintance, this woman was decidedly plain. Her hair was short, her clothes were rather ordinary and functional, and she even wore glasses. She wasn't unattractive, though. It was just that nothing proclaimed her beauty in an obvious way.

"This is Ashley," said Justin, who was squeezing the girl's hand. "We've been seeing each other for about a week now. And when I said I was going to the pub, she asked if she could come along. You don't mind, do you, Sophie?"

"Of course not," said Sophie with a barely contained snarl. "Why should I?"

She sat down on the seat opposite Ashley and glowered at her while Justin stood up to buy the drinks with the twenty pound note Sophie forced into his hand.

Ashley was nervous. She smiled shyly.

"So you're Sophie? Justin's friend. He's told me about you," she said. "Not a lot, but he said you work in the media."

Sophie pulled a cigarette out of a packet and lit it. There was nothing about her casual clothes that announced which aspect of the media she was associated with, but Sophie didn't intend to leave Ashley uninformed for long.

"Media? Yeah, that's right. Media."

"That must be really exciting."

"It is," agreed Sophie, blowing smoke out of her mouth and not caring that it got in Ashley's eyes. "Especially if you like fucking as much as I do."

Ashley swallowed and ruffled her brow. "Sorry? Did you say...?"

"Fucking. That's what I do. Fucking! I'm a fucking porn star. The real fucking deal. Didn't Justin sweetie tell you? I fuck for a living and get paid for being filmed doing it. And you know what?"

"No?" asked Ashley in a low voice.

"I fucking love it! It's fucking great! And Justin didn't say a word?"

Ashley shook her head and looked distinctly uncomfortable. Her eyes flew all around the place, partly towards Sophie and partly towards Justin at the bar. This was not a situation she wanted to be in.

"Justin didn't say anything?" Sophie persisted.

"He just said the media," said Ashley in a low voice.

"Yeah. I star in porn films. The type you see in basements in Soho.Busty Babes Eat Each Other.Anal Excursions.Blow Job Honeys. You ever seen any of them?"

"I can't say I have."

"It's not simulated. It's the real deal. Two cocks front and back. Spunk all over the face. And most of all, I like doing girls."

"Girls?" wondered Ashley, looking at alarm at Justin, who was returning with glasses of beer and wine.

It was Sophie who spoke to Justin as he sat down, clearly aware from Ashley's face that the conversation wasn't exactly going well.

"Shame on you, Just," said Sophie. "You never told your little sweetheart what I do for a living."

Justin bit his lower lip. "I wasn't sure that you'd want me to."

"Why should I be bothered? It's what I do. And fucking with girls is what I like doing most. Strap-ons and dildos, fisting and fingers, I love it. Do you like it, Ashley? Is that what you'd want to do?"

Ashley looked down nervously at her drink. "I've never thought about it."

"Y'ought to try it, sweetie," sniffed Sophie. "I can give you a lesson if you like."

"Lesson?"

"You know. Bit of girl-on-girl. That appeal to you? I won't charge you."

"Sophie!" Justin blurted. "What's going on? You're not usually like this! What's got into you?"

"Don't be soft, Just," Sophie continued, blowing out smoke through her mouth. "Bit of fun never hurt anyone. What d'you think, Just? You wanna join in?"

"I thought we were friends, Sophie. If I'd known you were gonna be like this, I'd never..."

"Never what?" Sophie asked with a sneer.

"Never, you know, never have come out to see you this evening with Ashley."

"What? Would you keep me your dirty little secret, lover boy?"

"No, it's not that. It's just... it's just..."

"Oh! Don't mind me, Justin. Don't fucking mind me. What about you, Ashley? What do you think, eh?"

Ashley gripped Justin's hand in hers and glared back at Sophie. This act of proprietary ownership troubled Sophie, but she pretended to ignore it.

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked.

"What do you think?"

"I don't know," she answered. She looked at Justin, who was distinctly uneasy but gripped her hand rather more tightly than before.

The conversation continued in this vein. Sophie taunted Justin for his reluctance in telling Ashley what she did for a living, fantasized what it would be like for Ashley to have sex with her, and made some unkind comments about Justin's sexuality.

"In all the time I've known him he's been like some poof. Is he like that with you, sweetie? Or perhaps he's got no prick to speak of. Have you and Justin fucked together?"

"What a question!" said Ashley angrily.

"Don't be a prude! You haven't, have you? He's fucking impotent, isn't he?"

"Well, actually..." began Ashley tentatively, and then she thought better of what she was about to say. "Look, Sophie. It's obvious you don't like me. What I do or what I've done with Justin is really not your business."

"Well, really!" said Sophie affronted.

"Come on, Justin!" Ashley commanded, standing up with her glass of wine still mostly untouched. "This is not what I was hoping for when I agreed to come out with you."

"But I..." said Justin, still holding his pint of beer.

"Leave it!" Ashley commanded. "We'll go to another pub if it's a beer you want."

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" asked Sophie in mock sympathy. "Don't you want to know what Justin's friends are like?"

"That's not it," said Ashley aggressively as she sidled out of her seat and buttoned up her jacket. "It's not what Justin's friends are like. It's what you're like. I wasn't expecting anything like this at all. Justin told me that you and he were just friends."