Frenemies Learn to Share

My wife Heidi had been friends with Natalie since their freshman year in college, long before I knew either of them. Well, maybe friends is too warm of a term, "frenemies" seems more fitting. Don't get me wrong, they definitely cared about each other, but their relationship was fiercely competitive.

They roomed together in the dorms as freshmen and were attached at the hip from that moment on. Their similar interests and career aspirations made for plenty of common ground as well as plenty of things to compete over. From the stories I have heard from both of them, it seemed that nothing was exempt from becoming a contest. From beating each other's times on the collegiate track team, to test scores, to the prestige of the law school they were able to be accepted into, and even the men they dated.

Unlike how men normally compete, Natalie and Heidi's competiveness was not immediately obvious to the untrained eye. In almost everything they did, they would try to get the upper hand but if questioned, both of them would deny that. It was a frustraiting and endearing fact about them that took me quite a while to pick up on.

Natalie and Heidi entered my life when they came to work at the law firm I was already working at. I was a senior associate, so I was assigned to Heidi and Natalie as a mentor for their first few years. They were both very driven individuals so mentoring them was easy. Their aptitude and drive helped them to rise up the ranks quickly and in just a few short years, they were both senior associates working right beside me as peers.

Their ambition was immediately apparent to me, but I also didn't fail to notice their beauty. Both Natalie and Heidi could have been models instead of lawyers if they wanted to. They had kept up the intensity of their workouts after being collegiate athletes and it showed. Their fitness however, was where their physical similarities ended. In some ways, you could say they were visual opposites. Heidi is a tall thin blonde with smaller breasts, a more angular face, and piercing blue gray eyes. She has a smaller but very shapely ass forged from a rigorous routine of running and weight training. Conversly, Natalie is a shorter, curvy brunette with dark skin and dark eyes. Heidi has frequently considered getting a boob job and I have no doubt it is a fueled by her love and jealousy of Natalie's incredible rack.

Personality wise, they are also different. Though they are both motivated career women, Heidi tends to be a bit more aggressive and forthright while Natalie tended to be more submissive and sly. Occasionally, Heidi will boss Natalie around and to an onlooker it would seem like she wore the pants, but Natalie has a way of steering her friend's head that Heidi often misses.

Though I was attracted to both of them, Heidi definitely won my heart. I always found her straightforward and confident demeanor very inspiring and even attractive. Though I had certainly oggled her Instagram and checked her out discreetly in person when I was feeling bold, I never even thought about approaching her as a potential romantic partner. It seemed too risky to jeopordize a great work relationship with an advance like that. The only reason our relationship ever switched from professional to romantic was all thanks to her.

At our firm's new year party, Heidi was acting especially affectionate towards me. I was talking to Natalie when Heidi abruptly entered the conversation by wrapping her arm around me and placed her hand on my chest like we were a couple. I thought Heidi was just joking around but it seemed to annoy Natalie so after a few minutes she left to talk to someone else.

Heidi stayed close to me for rest of the night. We ended up sitting down together and got locked into an intense conversation about a case she was working involving a class action lawsuit on some rogue sex toys. I had talked to her about the case before and we were always careful to talk about it in a strictly professional way but that night Heidi was being very informal in her discussion of it.

She joked about how all of the people signing the class action were horny housewives frustraited they needed to go back to relying on their husbands dicks. She even told me a story about how she purchased one and tryed it on herself to see how bad it was. She went into a lot more detail about that part than I expected and considering that I had long oogled her from afar, picturing her trying a sex toy gave me a series of thought I would need to explore later.

It was starting to get late so I announced that I was going to turn in. She requested that I walk her to her car before I left so we navigated through our office's parking garage to her car. Once we arrived, I opened her door for her, waved goodnight and turned to walk away. After a few steps she hollered, "Nate..."

I whipped around quizzically. Without another word, she stepped forward, wrapped her hand around my tie, pulled me close to her face and gave me an open mouth kiss. When our lips unhooked, I stared back at her bewhildered but delighted. She stared at me, straight in my eyes with her intense steely gaze. She dropped her chin and said in a nearly a low raspy whisper, " I don't fuck around Nate. I like you. When I see you next week, you can ask me out to dinner if you are interested in me too and my answer will be yes."

She abruptly pulled me in for a second, but shorter kiss. Then, without another word, she plopped into her car, backed out and drove away. I watched her drive away and slid my hands into my pockets.

After she turned the corner I looked up at the ceiling and chuckled to myself. I had dated a number of women, but I had never met someone like Heidi before. I knew I would be a fool not to ask her to dinner and see where things go, so I committed to ask her out and see where things headed.

After our first date, our relationship blossomed quickly, faster than any other relationship I had had thus far. There were no secrets with Heidi, so I felt like I got to know her on a level I didn't know anyone else in a relatively short period of time.

On our third date, we consummate our growing interest in each other with a romp in the hay. Sex with Heidi is about like what you would imagine. She doesn't play games or try to shelter your ego if you are not getting the job done. If she liked something, she would make it painfully obvious by rewarding the behavior with a series of unmistakable moans. If she didn't like it, she would end it abruptly and move to a new position or activity to try.

There was no guessing with Heidi and I loved that. I also felt like her honesty helped our sex life reach heights I never had with any other woman I dated. I wouldn't describe her as sexually creative, but the intensity of our love making was always high.

The one thing that always surprised me, is that she would generally expect me to lead out in most cases. I figured that a confident woman like that who knew what she wanted would want to lead out occassionally, but for the most part that wasn't the case.

Dating Heidi was really easy, but one peculiar thing was how often she wanted to include Natalie on our dates. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Natalie's company, but to me it always seemed like Natalie was, understandably, uncomfortable always being with us as a third wheel. It was almost like Heidi was trying to rub our relationship in Natalie's face and I watched Heidi and Natalie start to drift apart because of it.

A few months after the New Year's party, Heidi and I started officially dating. Once we made that announcement, Natalie and Heidi's friendship seemed to end upbruptly and transition to strictly professional. Every time I saw Natalie at work it made me sad because I knew how much that friendship meant to each of them. Life at work didn't have the same dynamic without the three of us cracking jokes and hanging out. At the same time though, I was relieved to have a bit more 1:1 time with Heidi.

This continued for a few months but everything changed when Natalie found a beau herself. Once Natalie announced that she had a boyfriend, her relationship with Heidi seemed to reignite overnight. It was weird to me, but I was just happy to see those two talking and hanging out again just like old times. Heidi and I's 1:1 dates now switched to being almost predominately double dates.

Natalie's freshly procured boyfriend, Derek, was a tech mogul, and massively wealthy. I mean massively wealthy, like Scrooge McDuck, swimming in a pile of gold kind of wealthy. I wish I could produce another adjective to describe him, but his copious amounts of money seemed to be the extent of his personality.

All of our dates and hangout always seemed to revolve around showcasing Derek's wealth. Fancy restaurants, rides on his yacht, exotic weekend vacations, trips to one of Derek's cabins/mansions/islands you get the idea.

At first all of these trips were a lot of fun, but after a while they seemed to be taking a toll on Heidi. Even though Heidi and I were decently well off, rolling with Derek and Natalie was like hainging out with a different species of human. We were doing activities we never thought possible in our lifetime and Derek would more often than not just foot the bill. It was a little emasculating if I am totally honest, but it seems like a small thing to complain about when someone is being so generous.

Our conversations could be a little taxing to. Frequently when we were visiting, Natalie would brag about some accomplishment Derek had acheived or Derek would simply share an everyday fact from his atypical life. Often I couldn't relate to what they were talking about but I was happy for him all the same. Heidi however, seemed to take these bragging conversations as a threat.

She would almost frantically try to one up their stories by bragging about me or something I had occomplished. She would detail out how I had crushed some high profile case or how I was so close to becoming a partner and how the owners loved me and saw a big future for me there. Derek and Natalie were generally pretty cordial about the whole thing but it made me very uncomfortable, especially when she would ask me to detail one of my successes to them. I felt like I was the monkey she was trying to make dance for the captive audience.

As soon as we would enter our car to drive home from one of our adventure, Heidi would become unhinged. She would yell and curse while she reflected on the time we spent with them. She would remark how Natalie thought she was so much better than us and how she was only dating Derek so that she could flaunt how much wealthier Derek was than us. She always said "us" but I knew what she really meant.

I had never outright asked Heidi, but It seemed obvious to me that she was jealous of Natalie, especially that she had such a wealthy boyfriend. Honestly, I don't totally understand it, and it is kind of an ugly thought, but I theorized that Natalie snagging the richer boyfriend meant that Natalie had snagged the "better man" and somehow that gave her the leg up on Heidi and that thought seemed to eat Heidi up inside.

After an especially fiery rant from Heidi one night that ended in her crying, I suggested that we start spending less time with them and after some pushback, Heidi conceded.

Two years into dating Heidi, I had made my mind up and decided I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life. I proposed and she enthusiastically said yes. A year later we were married. In that same year I also finally became a partner at the law firm! Heidi made some great progress in her career as well and was right on my heels in line for promotion. It was an excellent year for both of us and when we celebrated our first kiss anniversary on New Years we just reflected back on how lucky and fortunate we were to have each other and be where we were at. We looked forward to what a new year would hold with high hopes.

The next year however, didn't start out great at all. Natalie and Heidi both applied for Partner at the same time and both seemed likely candidates. When the decision time came though, Heidi was denied while Natalie was accepted.

I had never seen Heidi so furious. She took a whole week off of work because she was not ready to forgive the board or Natalie. I mean, it was understandable, Natalie was her peer and they had started at the same time and by all accounts both seemed like great candidates for partner.

When Heidi returned from her leave, things got much worse. The day she came back into the office, Natalie announced that she was getting engaged to Derek and that, despite recently achieving partner status, she was quitting her career to spend more time with her soon to be husband. I looked around frantically for Heidi to ensure she didn't commit homicide, but when I saw her eyes, she just looked beaten and dejected.

Heidi quickly spiraled into a deep depression. I wasn't sure if Heidi was so down in the dumps because Natalie just threw away a position that Heidi was working so hard towards, that Natalie had snagged a millionaire, that she would no longer be working everyday with her best friend, or a combination of all three but Heidi was in rough shape.

She seemed to have lost all motivation and the fire in her eyes had flickered out almost entirely. Her cases struggled, the care she put into her physical appearance decreased, and worst of all, her overall confident demeanor that I was so attracted to and impressed by was practically absent.

Our normal energetic and passionate sex life had devolved into a once or twice a month quick and dirty bang session. Occasionally during one of our infrequent sexual encounters, she would simply lie on her back, like a dead fish, and just expect me to "do my business." It was a hard situation for me to deal with and I became quite concerned about her being stuck in this funk forever.

I knew she was going through a hard time and I just tried to not be hurt by her lack of affection or interest, but it was challenging. I was really horny and having her interest sapped made me feel pretty lousy. Deep down, I knew not to take it personally, but it was hard not to.

Months later, out of the blue, Natalie texted us to see if we wanted to go on a ski trip with her and Derek to one of his private cabins. We hadn't even seen Natalie or Derek since well before Natalie and Derek had gotten engaged.

I was about to respond with a "no thank you" for Heidi's sake, but Heidi texted back before I did that she would love to go.

Later that night I confronted her and asked why she wanted to do that when she was hurting so much and all she could come up with was that maybe a change in scenery would help her get out of her funk. Eventually I conceded and hesitantly agreed. Maybe a change in scenery would help, but I also worried that time with Derek and Natalie would send her even deeper into her depression.

We flew in and arrived a few hours before Natalie and Derek were scheduled to arrive. The cabin was exquisite. There was a huge great room with a tall ceiling and a big lambskin rug in front of a large brick fireplace. The kitchen was lavish and there were large windows where you could see the large snow covered mountain with a few skiiers going down the mountain.

It was snowing softly when we arrived and the sky was starting to change as the sun began its descent behind the mountains. It was picturesque! The beauty and ambiance of the setting started to get me in the mood so I mustered up my courage and some confidence and attempted to make a move on my wife.

Heidi was looking out the window at the mountain and the sun setting over the snow capped peaks. I crept up behind her and draped my arms over her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I held her for a few minutes while we watched the sun go down. I slowly raised my arms down to cup her pert butt and began to nuzzle her neck. This went on for only a few seconds before Heidi abruptly stepped forward out of my grasp and plainly stated, "I need to take a piss." She then turned and briskly walked away down the hall.

I slunk my shoulders dejectedly. I was trying my best to be patient with her while she sorted through her personal issues but it was really starting to wear on me. I hung my head down for a moment before taking a deep breath and regaining my composure before working on settling us into our room.

Several hours later Heidi and I were in the front room watching a movie. We were snuggled up tightly wrapped in a blanket. It wasn't sex, but the contact was very welcomed. It seemed to be a full moon and it was shining brightly on the snow. The night sky was filled with stars in a way you can't see in the big city. Finally we heard a car pull up and a few rapid footsteps before Natalie busted through the door.

At a glance, she was a wreck. She had dark mascara streaks down her face like she had been crying for hours. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her pink down jacket was half zipped up and was only covering one of her shoulders, and she was holding a crudely packed duffle bag with some of her clothes poking out of the zippers.

After taking one look at her, Heidi and I both shot up and rushed over to her to see if she was okay. She just grabbed both of us and burst into tears.

We moved her over to the couch and I got her a glass of water while Heidi tried to get her to calm down. I gave her the glass of water and then I went to look out the window to see if Derek was coming with the luggage but he was nowhere to be seen. The only thing I saw was Natalie's empty rental car.

I came and sat on the other side of Natalie while she drank from the glass of water. She brought the water down from her lips and seemed to be regaining her composure.

I put my hand gingerly on Natalie's back and inquired gently, "Where is Derek?"

"Not coming," she sobbed in response, "And none of us are going to see that asshole again!" And then she threw her head back and started bawling again.

Heidi and I both reached forward and held her from either side. I looked up at Heidi to see if she had any clue what was going on. She met my gaze and just shrugged quizzically.

After a few minutes, Natalie finally was able to settle down enough again to tell us what had happened. The story went back much further than I thought it would and Natalie was a lot more frank and forthcoming than she normally was.

She recounted how she originally got into her relationship with Derek because she felt so lonely and jealous of our relationship. She told me that she had had a crush on me since starting at the firm and that she and Heidi were in a kind of competition to kiss me first. I looked at Heidi since she had never bothered to tell me that fact and she just looked at the floor and blushed.

No wonder she had been so forward that night! My mind started to wander before I rangled it back to focus on Natalie's story.

Natalie went on to say how she fell into Derek's arms on a rebound and thought that being with a rich guy would make Heidi jealous. I chortled softly to myself. Natalie had no clue how effective her strategy was. Natalie continued by detailing how she wasn't crazy about Derek but that over time got used to the idea of being with him because of the security his wealth brough. I thought that that was a hell of a thing to admit to but tried to just listen and not judge too much.

She went on to say that she always felt like she had to convince herself that she was making a good decision so she would frequently invite us out to try to persuade us on how great he was so that she could convince herself.

I looked over at Heidi again and she was still looking down at the ground while she listened. Natalie and Heidi's behavior and relationship began to make even more sense to me while Natalie talked and I wondered what Heidi was thinking.