Poly at the Poly Pt. 02

"I'm so glad to see you guys!" Cassie said, giving us hugs hello. Effortlessly cheerful. I almost believed she was happy to see all of us again, although I was pretty sure only one person in particular was important. "It would have sucked to be by myself all day."

While we had already been at the park for about two hours, Cassie was still waking up and she informed us that coffee was non-negotiable. This time, thank God, Allison relented. So, the five of us went to Starbucks and we finally got our caffeine fix. The line for coffee was worse than any ride we'd seen, but it was worth the effort.

Afterwards, we wandered around the park and watched some shows. We went to a 3-D Muppet movie in a vaguely New York-like theater. Then we saw the Indiana Jones stunt show at an outdoor arena. Finally, we did the sing along for Frozen. I actually enjoyed that one more than I thought I would -- it was cute, and the cast members were funny. On the other hand, I could have lived without Allison trying to make me belt out Let it Go.

As we went around the park, Mike and Cassie stayed close together while Allison and Emily chatted. Suddenly, I found myself as the fifth wheel. Honestly, I was fine with it. Any chance to sit back quietly was one I preferred. Still, I did think our distribution was a little odd, despite what Mike had told me earlier. I'd assumed that he and Cassie would at least be discreet. Instead, you'd have thought that they were the married couple.

Finally, right before lunch, we walked up to the one Star Wars ride currently open in the park: Star Tours. Emily knew the ride was going to mess with her motion sickness, but she couldn't back down. As soon as she saw the massive AT-AT, my adult wife squee-d like a little girl. So, yeah, I guess she was going on that ride.

Afterward however, it was pretty clear she'd paid the price for her fandom. After escaping Hoth and taking on the trench run, my wife looked so nauseous that other families were giving us a wide berth. I put my arm around her shoulders and helped keep her from swerving off the road.

"I don't know how many more rides I have in me today," Emily confided in me as we went. "Actually, I don't think I have any more rides in me today."

We walked to a nearby outdoor cafe. I sat with Emily under a bright red umbrella while the group got big pretzels and charcuterie. The place also offered beer, and we all indulged. Going back to alcohol after the night before felt both comforting and dangerous. But that didn't stop us. We sat outside, enduring the hot sun, and ate our meal. Emily's color slowly returned and that made everything seem so much brighter.

"It's easy to get fat on these trips," Mike said between bites.

"Fortunately, all the walking makes up for it," Allison said.

"We should do Slinky Dog after this," Cassie said.

Emily looked my way, nervously. She wasn't getting on that ride again; I knew that for sure. It seemed like my afternoon at the park would be coming to an end shortly.

Allison took out her phone and checked the wait times.

"It's up to two hours," she said, "I don't want to stand in a line that long for something the rest of us already did."

"Why don't we just get a FastPass?" Cassie asked.

"Believe me, I tried," Allison said, "We logged on three months ago and missed out on Slinky. We're on Tower of Terror later, but that's all I could score."

"Let me call my concierge," Cassie said. She picked up her cell. One quick conversation later, she tucked it back into her purse. "All set," she announced, "We can go when you're ready."

Allison and Mike both stared at the blonde woman like she was floating three feet off the ground. Impressed and slightly frightened. They couldn't figure out how Cassie had accomplished this amazing feat. In their eyes, she'd transformed from normal woman, to all-powerful being in a blink. To be fair, Mike always kind of looked at Cassie that way, but now Allison was giving the beautiful blonde woman a similar stare.

Emily, however, grabbed my elbow. "I think I'm going to go back to the hotel," my wife said.

"I'll come with you," I said. Sure, we'd all been switching partners, but there was no way I was leaving my wife to loneliness. Besides, it would be fun to have some time just the two of us.

"What? No!" Allison said. I guess she'd overheard us talking.

I did feel bad. Leaving Allison with Mike and Cassie was basically abandoning her for the afternoon. In truth, I didn't like leaving either woman alone. But given the choice I had to stand by my spouse.

"Come on, the ride isn't all that," Allison continued, "Plus, it isn't every day you meet someone who can pull a FastPass out of her ass."

"Seriously, I'd have been less shocked if you pulled a watermelon out of there," Mike said, "I'm so impressed."

Cassie gave a little curtsey. "Honored to be of service," she said. Holy fuck the flirting was getting out of hand.

"I'm sorry," Emily said, "Just thinking about that ride makes my head want roll off."

"But Paul, can stay, right?" Allison said. She wasn't even pretending to hide her pleading tone anymore. "You don't need him if you're only going to lie around our hotel room."

Actually, I was pretty sure that having me around would made lying around our hotel room especially fun for my wife. But I decided to keep things clean and so I told the group I didn't want to leave Emily alone.

"Jack's back at the hotel right now," Cassie said, "Em, why don't you go hang out with him? His kids are gone for the day, so I'm sure he'd love the company."

Emily's eyes went wide. My stomach clenched.

"That's perfect!" Emily said, immediately. "I mean, um, that way Paul can still have fun."

"Exactly," Allison said, "That totally works."

"I'll text him to let him know you're coming," Cassie said.

"You're sure?" I asked, pulling my wife aside.

"I'll be good," Emily said, showing me a smirk, "Mostly. Like we agreed this morning. You have fun with Allison."

"I'll take good care of him," Allison said, pulling me away from Emily. She wrapped her arm tightly around mine. The tall blonde must have been listening in again.

"You're all set," Cassie said to Emily, "Jack's over by the pool already."

I tried to give my wife a quick clasp goodbye but with Allison holding me on one side and my wife practically squirming away from the other it wasn't much of a hug. As soon as I let go, Emily scampered off. I stared after her for as long as I could, but she was quickly swallowed up by the crowd.

Meanwhile, Cassie grabbed Mike's arm and the four of us headed back towards Slinky Dog. Two happy not-couple-couples.

"Thank you for staying with me," Allison said. She looked pointedly up at her husband. The beautiful blonde Cassie was hanging on to him like she was a koala, and he was a eucalyptus. "I don't think I could take being by myself with those two."

I shrugged a reply. It didn't seem like that big a sacrifice to spend time with the attractive Allison. Especially if my wife was running off to who-knows-what with Jack.

"Emily will be fine," Allison said, "Trust me. Your wife thinks the world of you."

Unless she's distracted by a different heavenly object, I thought to myself. But I didn't say that. We'd all agreed that this was OK. The boundaries had been set. I just hoped my wife would abide by them.

"Emily, of all people? You can trust her to follow the rules," Allison said.

"And you?" I asked, "You'll also follow the rules?"

Allison raised her eyebrow and shot me one of her wicked smiles. "Always," she said.

We got back to Slinky Dash and, sure enough, we were able to skip right past the line. I felt like some low-key VIP, walking around the crowd while everyone else stood there, stewing in sweat.

We climbed into our cars, Mike and Cassie in front of Allison and me. As soon as they sat down, Mike leaned over and gave Cassie a kiss. Not a small peck on the cheek, but right on the lips. She giggled and smooched him back.

I looked over at Allison. "It's OK," she said, resting her hand on my chest. I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or to herself. But it didn't matter because she immediately kissed me. Any thoughts I had about how appropriate all this was rapidly scattered from my mind.

"You're good at that," Allison said as she pulled back with a wet smack. She touched her finger to her lips. "I remembered that from last night."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I kissed her again. We traded little smooches until the ride surged forward.

As we went, I realized that the real point of the day wasn't to ride Slinky Dog or watch Indiana Jones. That was all an excuse, a distraction, that allowed us to make out with our non-partners as much as possible. It was another game like the one we'd played in the hot tub, where we each tried to test each other's limits.

After Slinky, we left Toy Story behind and headed back down into the Hollywood area. We took a left turn I hadn't noticed before, by the far side of the Starbucks, and passed some shops. The tall, ominous hotel I'd been seeing all day, Tower of Terror, loomed ever closer.

I didn't like drop rides, but I wasn't going to look like a coward in front of Mike, Cassie, and (especially) Allison. This time, Allison was able to provide the FastPass she'd reserved months earlier, and we raced past the line. Soon we were in the elevator shaft, taking our seats. This one was four across, and I ended up on the end with Allison next to me.

The athletic blonde must have sensed my nervousness because she grabbed my hand, squeezing it.

"This is scary but it's good," Allison said.

At first, I wasn't sure whether she was referring to the ride or what we were doing together as couples. I realized that, honestly, it applied to both.

Allison kept a firm grip on my hand the whole way. By the second drop, though, I was fine. Again, I was caught by the oddness of it all. My wife was... I tried not to think about what Emily was up to. I wondered, though, if she was equally as anxious about Allison and me as I was about her and Jack.

We left the haunted hotel and headed further back in the park, onto the Rock and Roller Coaster. We didn't have a way to skip that line, so we joined the rest of the peons in waiting. The sign said it would be 40 minutes, but after all that line-skipping that felt more like 40 years.

Our time together had only brought Mike and Cassie closer. The two of them had gotten ahead of us and were further up the line, making out so overtly, it seemed they'd forgotten about us entirely. They spent the wait like horny teenagers, touching and teasing each other (within reason, of course).

Allison, however, stared off to the horizon. Her eyes empty.

"OK?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Allison asked.

I gave her a wounded look.

"It would help if you would talk to me," Allison said, "More than two words at a time. I've seen you do it. I know you can."

"You seem upset," I said, keeping my accent as neutral as possible.

"Oh please, like you're not thinking about what Emily is up to right now," Allison said.

I conceded that I was.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you," Allison said, "Look, I told Mike it was OK. Hell, I practically encouraged him to go after Cassie. I mean, I get it. But agreeing to let him fool around with another woman and watching it happen are two different things."

"I know."

"I like you, Paul," Allison said. She turned my way and grabbed my hands. "I have since we met. Don't misunderstand, I'm glad we have this time together. Mike thinks he's getting away with something and I'm happy to let him so long as things stay like this. But I'm getting something too. You're so smart and sweet and sexy."

Sexy?

Allison looked down at her shoes. "So that's something good, right?"

I didn't know how to respond. Was I supposed to confess now that I, too, had been harboring a crush on my wife's best friend? Was that even an appropriate thing to admit?

I noticed Allison was still watching me, subtly licking her lower lip. I wasn't used to the usually confident, outgoing woman looking so nervous.

Without warning, Allison leaned down and kissed me. Not the quick kisses like before. The tiny pecks that could be explained away. This was passionate. Powerful. I felt drawn in by the softness of her lips. The warmth of her breath and body. It was different to have to lean upwards to kiss like that -- Allison had nearly four inches on me -- but not in a bad way. Kind of neat, actually.

A moment later, Allison stepped back. The look on her face was thrilled but guilty. There was no explaining away that kind of a kiss. We stared at each other silently, like goofy teens.

"Say something, Paul," Allison said, "Seriously."

"That was nice," I said, "Though it could have been longer."

Allison mimed being mad at me, but her cocky smirk snuck through.

The line started to move and soon we were on the ride. It was the fastest, most aggressive thing I'd been on all day. And yet, considering everything else that was going on around me, it felt rather tame.

*

"I think we should head back to the hotel," Mike said, as the four of us walked up the street to the center of the park. He and Cassie continued to hold hands. Allison must have noticed because she reached down and grabbed mine.

"I suppose," Cassie said, wistfully, "There isn't anything more we can do at the park?"

I noticed Mike's wince before he could hide it. I hoped I wasn't nearly so obvious. I'd spent most of the afternoon torn between excitement over what was happening with me and Allison and obsessing over what might be going on with Jack and my own wife. Now that Mike made going back to the hotel an option, I realized I very much wanted to check in on Emily.

"Unless you want to meet Doc McStuffins, there's not much else to do," Mike said.

"They're building a bunch of new rides," Allison said, "But right now it's kind of empty."

We came back to the area in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater. As if it had been placed there to reinforce Allison's words, a sign hung on the building advertising a new Mickey and Minnie ride coming in the near future.

"I suppose I could find a way to enjoy some more pool time," Allison said, giving me a little wink. I knew she was thinking of our drinking game from the night before; all the things we almost did before we got distracted.

Could we have found something else to do and spent more time at Hollywood Studios? Probably. But when you think of all the things that we could accomplish elsewhere, I know why we decided to call it a day.

I texted Emily, "Heading to the hotel."

"Good," she wrote back, almost immediately. "Miss you."

Those two little words, sent back so quickly, made me feel infinitely better about everything.

When we got on the bus to the Poly, surprisingly, we actually split off to our seats in a way that made sense. Allison grabbed Mike's arm and pulled him to the rear of the bus, leaving me to sit closer to the front with Cassie.

As they passed us, I heard Allison ask her husband, "You having fun?"

I realized that they were debriefing about everything that had happened. That was probably a good practice. I planned to do the same with Emily when we got back. It was one thing to agree to do stuff beforehand, but once things happened, a little check-in couldn't hurt. I wasn't an expert on these things, far from it, but it seemed like the only safe path forward for our marriage was one without any secrets.

Since she was sitting with me, I guess Cassie decided we should try to talk, too. "You having fun, Paul?" she asked, parroting Allison, as the bus rumbled down the road. A jangly ukulele solo played quietly in the background.

At first, I thought that the blonde woman was teasing me for not talking. You know, like most people. But Cassie was smiling so hard, it hurt my face. I could tell by the crinkles in her eyes that it was genuine. The beautiful woman truly seemed to be permanently friendly. I imagined it would get old after a while, but in the moment, it felt nice to have her shining down on me. Plus, I thought, afterwards, we could grind her up and cure clinical depression.

I nodded my head. "Disney is nice."

"I meant with Allison," Cassie said, "I bet Jack and Emily are having a good time. Your wife is so sweet and super cute. Jack's into her, I can tell. I don't mean that in a mean way. Just that you should know. My husband has a way about him."

I'd already figured that part out. I could tell that Cassie was trying to reassure me, so I let it go. In a strange way, Cassie seemed legitimately happy for Emily and me. Like we'd gotten a new puppy or something.

"I can tell you're nervous," Cassie said, "Don't be. Jack will take super good care of Emily. And I can tell Allison really likes you. It kind of works out perfect, if you think about it. But only if you let yourself relax and enjoy it."

"You're right," I said, meaning it. "Thank you for saying all that. I appreciate it."

Cassie's face broke into a wide smile. "I made him say a whole sentence!" she shouted. Allison cheered from the back of the bus. The two women whooped the whole way home like they'd won the Super Bowl.

*

As soon as we got back to the hotel, I realized we were in trouble.

The first raindrop hit my cheek as I got off the bus. Another came soon after. Suddenly, we were caught in a torrential downpour, sprinting to the lobby, desperate to escape as water cascaded down on us like we'd stepped under Niagara Falls.

Fortunately, it wasn't far. The lobby doors slid behind us, leaving the storm safely outside. The place was filling with people like us from all sides, racing to escape the rain. Like the reverse of a crowd fleeing a sinking ship.

The four of us huddled in a corner of the lobby by a set of small rattan seats, dripping and shivering. The icy cold air conditioning felt particularly insulting now.

"Florida being Florida," Allison said with a shrug, "It'll stop in a sec and be back to sunny like nothing happened."

I texted Emily again to see if she'd gotten caught in the sudden storm, but I didn't hear back. The worry began to gnaw at my mind once again. I found myself cycling through a bunch of scenarios, but I pushed them back. Whatever was happening, I was sure Emily was fine. Just hopefully not too fine.

Mike, Allison, and Cassie all dripped next to me. We stood there in the lobby like vagrants, our clothes soaked and heavy, unsure of what to do. Despite Allison's prediction, the weather outside wasn't slowing at all.

"We might need to rethink our pool plans," Cassie said.

"We were going to get dinner at Disney Springs tonight," Mike said.

"I don't want to go out in this," Allison said.

"We can figure it out, maybe eat something here instead," Mike said, "There's always Kona Cafe. Or take the monorail to another resort maybe?"

My pocket vibrated and I saw I had a two-word text from my wife. "With Jack."

"That's perfect," Cassie exclaimed when I showed the group.

Personally, I was less sure of how flawless it was. I'd been so amped up for an answer to my text, but when I finally got one, it only made me feel worse. My imagination was running wild with what my wife might have meant by the word 'with.'

"We should head back to our place and meet up with them," Cassie said, "It's not that far."

We all agreed. At that point I would have consented to walk back to Pennsylvania in a blizzard for a meetup with Emily. I told myself I trusted her. I did. But that couldn't slow my creeping concern.

Mike pulled his backpack off his shoulders and dug in, finding four plastic ponchos. It kind of felt like putting on a condom after we'd already had sex, but I guess it was better not to get wetter than we already were.