With the wedding events and her maid of honour duties behind her, and Hannah and Jeff out of town on their honeymoon, Emmerson poured herself into work and self-care. She was still smarting from the whiplash of breaking things off with Ezra and Cisco getting deployed, followed by inadvertently hooking up with a married man.

She was thankful her family hadn't been able to make it to the wedding because her mom and her brother would have known something was going on with her right away. For now, Nell had turned out to be a very wise and understanding sounding board. Though that also meant returning the favour and hearing all about Nell's complicated love life, which was admittedly a welcome distraction.

For a nice little treat, Nell and Emmerson decided to indulge themselves with fancy spa pedicures. They were seated side by side with their feet immersed in warm soapy water when Nell launched into her latest update on what was evolving into a complex love triangle with Will and Dave.

Since each confessed their attraction to her, Nell had allowed herself to be courted by them separately, which they were all aware of. Nell was impressed with how mature Will and Dave had been since learning about her side hustle and was touched by how protective they were of her and her privacy.

"You know, I just thought they were like, these dumb meatheads, but each of them has a really sweet side. When I'm with Will, it's like, just me and him. He's totally focused on me. He's interested in what I'm saying, and he tells me all about his dreams for his business in the future. And then when I'm with Dave, it's like, the same. It's just me and him. We talked until three in the morning the other night. I don't even know what we were talking about, but I've never experienced that before."

"Ok, so all I'm hearing are the positive things. It all sounds great right now, but can you really date two guys at the same time?" Emmerson was trying to be the supportive friend, so she thought it was also her duty to play a bit of the devil's advocate role. "Aren't someone's feelings going to get hurt when you have to make a choice between the two of them? I mean, they're best friends."

"But that's just it. I don't think I have to choose. I told you before. I don't think I can be satisfied with one partner for the rest of my life. You know, what they say, variety is the spice of life," she giggled, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder.

Emmerson surveyed her friend. She's always thought Nell was incredibly gorgeous in an overly sexed girl-next-door way. In fact, she looked a bit like an older Sabrina Carpenter. In Emmerson's opinion, she could have any guy she wanted, which is why she found it so perplexing that she wanted Will and Dave. But there was no polite way to say that, so they sat in silence, each presumably pondering Nell's future.

Emmerson tried to think of what Hannah would say. Then she thought of it.

"Have you had sex with either of them yet?"

"That's the crazy part!" Nell gushed. "Neither one has tried anything with me yet. I mean, there's been some heavy petting and kissing, but that's it!"

"Ok, so what's the next step for you? Are you ready to have sex with either of them? Or both of them?" Emmerson laughed nervously. This conversation was well outside her area of expertise.

"I think I need to talk to them. I mean, they know I'm dating them both. Like, I'm assuming they've talked to each other about me..." Nell looked pensive.

Emmerson was stuck again. She didn't know how to respond. Thankfully she was saved by the attendant asking them to pick a nail polish colour. They both chose a fiery red.

"This colour says, GIRL POWER!" Nell proclaimed. "Plus, I've got a couple of subscribers who will absolutely cream themselves when they see this," she squealed with delight.

Emmerson extended her toes and admired them, wondering what Cisco would think of her nicely manicured bright red toes.

"Let's snap a pic and send it to Hannah," Nell suggested. "Thanks for doing this with me Em and listening me to blab on about men," she said as they leaned together to pose for the picture with their toes pointed to the camera.

"I sorry I'm not quite as good as Hannah at giving advice. She's got a bit more experience than I do," Emmerson said apologetically.

"Are you kidding? I'm going to start calling you, Dr. Emmerson Green, the love doctor," Nell declared with a massive grin on her face. "I really mean it. Thanks for being here for me and not being like, all judgy about the way I live my life and stuff. You know?"

Emmerson laughed amiably as they headed out of the salon. "What's the plan for tonight? Are you free for a movie and some takeout?"

Nell blushed, which was something Emmerson had never seen before.

"Sorry, I've got plans with Dave... and Will. I texted them while you were paying. I'm going to broach the topic of polyamory with them to see how they react."

"Ok. Wow. That is a big deal. Well... good luck, I guess? I mean, not that you need it because I mean, what kind of idiot would say no to you and..." Emmerson realized she was rambling.

Nell pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh, I just love you so much! You are the best friend a girl could ever ask for."

Emmerson hugged her friend back just as tightly. "Ok, well I guess, keep me posted?"

"You bet!" Nell said with a wink and then she sashayed away, a pintsized bombshell on a mission.

***

Emmerson didn't want to be alone. She picked up her phone and started to reread the text thread with Ezra. She scrolled through their spicy messages, then got to a pic of his penis, followed by another, then the picture of her breasts, which she quickly skimmed by. She knew Ezra would move heaven and earth to come be with her. All she had to do was text him... she threw the phone down on the couch with a sigh of frustration and opened her laptop. She had a bit of charting to catch up on and a bunch of prereading work for an upcoming dental conference.

She opened her email and scanned for anything that looked urgent and there it was, a message from Dr. Franciso Lopez, U.S. Marine Corps. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she all at once felt like she was going to cry and laugh maniacally. She quickly clicked on the email:

Dear Em, I hope you are well. I finally got clearance to connect with the people most important to me and you were at the top of my list. I hope you had a good time at the wedding and I want to apologize again for not being there. I am a man who always lives up to his word, so it broke my heart to have to let you down, as well as Jeff and Hannah.

I know I told you not to wait for me. So I want to ask your permission to at least write to you, as a friend while I'm deployed. If you don't want to hear from me again, I totally understand it.

Yours truly,

Cisco

Emmerson fell back into her chair. Her heart was pounding. She hadn't expected to hear from him. She had of course hoped he would reach out, but given his line of work, she wasn't sure it would even be allowed. She was positively giddy and reread his email several times before pouring herself a glass of wine and composing a measured response confirming he was welcome to keep in touch.

She tried to keep it light and casual, when she really wanted to use a lot of exclamation points and gush about how much she had also been thinking about him. She proofread her email at least ten times, obsessing over how he would perceive her reply. She poured her second glass of wine and hit send, which sent a thrill through her body.

Begrudgingly, she surveyed the number of unread emails and skimmed for any others that piqued her interest. Sure enough, there was an email from Irena, the wife of her mentor Dr. Henry Saunders. She did her residency in Dr. Saunders' office and had grown close to him and his wife. They'd hosted her for many meals, including major holidays. They were only about ten years so older than Emmerson, and she'd always thought of them more as friends than her boss and his wife.

She was in semi-regular communication with both of them and was curious to receive the email. Irena had forwarded an excerpt from the upcoming dental conference. Irena and Henry would both be there. Irena wanted to know which sessions Emmerson had signed up for, and if she would have time to meet up for dinner.

It was just the distraction she needed. She pulled up her itinerary, she was in some of the same sessions, which would give them the opportunity to catch up a bit, but it would be great to see them outside the conference. She opened the chat group with the three of them and excitedly messaged the confirmation that she would be at the conference and listed off the courses they were in together. She also suggested they grab dinner or breakfast to catch up properly.

The enthusiastic responses came back quickly, with a suggestion to meet up for dinner the night before the conference. Emmerson replied with a big grin on her face. She finally had something to take her mind off of men, for the moment.