Ella and Max tag-teamed. They told them everything. How they had fantasized about having threesomes. How they were both cheating and Ella caught Max and Hannah in the act and Ella admitted her affair with Carly. How they were both betrayed, but they were both guilty and had accepted it. How they couldn’t be mad at each other, they were equally culpable.
Carly and Hannah sat and listened, barely moved their heads and hadn’t said a word.
“We love both of you. You both are an important part of our lives, and we realized that part of the reason we both let it happen, on the eve of our wedding day nonetheless , is because we love you,” Ella said.
“Not only let it happen once, but again and again,” Max added. “We don’t want anybody to be mad, or hurt. We want you in our lives.”
Finally Carly and Hannah spoke up. Carly started to apologize, but they cut her off. No need for that, they said. We all four did what we did. We all had the same desires.
Hannah cleared her throat. “Ella,” she asked, and paused. “Does Max know about us?”
There was an uncomfortable silence as the question sunk in. They could almost hear Ella’s eyes watering up.
“No. But I will now. It’s about time, don’t you think?”
Hannah nodded. Ella turned to Max and unburdened herself.
“Max, I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time. I almost did, many times, but always chickened out. The time never seemed right, and I figured you might have guessed it anyway. When my father passed away, Hannah and I were devastated. I was close to my father, and she’d lost her husband. She hadn’t even been married two years. It was such a shock. Not just to us, but to everyone who knew him. He was so vibrant. I wish you could have met him; I know he would have liked you.
“Well, it was just the two of us,” she said, and looked at Hannah, whose eyes were glued to hers. “We got through all of it together. The hospital, the funeral, the burial, the insurance, the estate, you name it. It wasn’t easy, we helped each other, we held each other, and we both had our rough patches, believe me. We became very close. We hugged, we kissed, we made ourselves feel better. And, well, we became lovers.”
Ella dabbed tears from her eyes and cheeks. She took a sip of wine, then continued.
“We slept in the same bed for nearly a year until we chose to end it. We ended it, not because it didn’t feel right, but because we didn’t know if it was right. Some people suspected. We heard the whispers. Anyway, I’m sorry it took this long. And I hope you don’t think it’s crazy or sick or anything because she’s my stepmother. Because I love her.”
Ella and Hannah both wore soft, tired smiles. All three women now had tears rolling down their cheeks. Max passed out cocktail napkins in lieu of tissues.
“I’m so relieved,” Ella said. “Sorry to dump this on you, Max.”
Max didn’t know what to say. He nodded his head and mumbled, “It’s okay.”
She turned to Hannah and said, “I miss you,” and burst into tears. Then, she said “Excuse me,” got up, walked to Hannah and kissed her on the mouth. She strutted out of the room, down the hall and into the master bedroom.