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16th Apr, 2020
Four women were sitting in her living room. She was the youngest among them, hence it was her turn to be the host for their little Saturday brunch club.
Annie was almost of noble blood, her family was old-money, so she, being the youngest daughter, was spoiled rotten and conservative to the bone - just like daddy wanted. In this day and age one can't see a lot of young 24 years old women still virgin. The irony lay in her best friend being a 30-year-old hussy and self-proclaimed feminist called Virginia. Annie was fair, blonde, blue-eyed and endlessly naïve, whereas Virginia was a fiery ginger with lavish curls and curves to boot, green eyes and just a few freckles. Izadora was the oldest of the lot, 45 and twice divorced, but not through her own fault, she just trusted too easily and fell in love quite often, which was contradictory to her authoritative nature. Men with husky voices made her weak at the knees, and all the other club ladies, and those who were less than a lady to say the least, scolded her profusely each time she came to the club meeting with a box of tissues and chocolates. Ariana was this week’s hostess. She was looking at these women chatting each other's ears off and thought: “What a lovely group of friends. I hope I'll be their friend some day.”, for she was only an acquaintance, the latest club member...for now. The last person in Ariana's house was Melanie. Always calm and composed, not stiff, not overly confident, nice, warm, brunette. She reminded Ariana of a big sister or a young fun aunt everybody either had or wished to have.
That's precisely why everyone was startled and a little bit shocked when she opened with a new topic for the debate saying:
"There is something in men, especially the young ones, which compels us to stoop to our baser instincts. We don't have to act on our infatuations, but we, women, can at least daydream. It doesn't even matter if your heart already belongs to somebody, you can allow yourself to fantasize about the strong muscular arms of that boy next door. You can certainly appreciate the dreaminess of your colleague's smile and feel appreciation for the piercing gaze of that guy in the elevator. Some men would now say: "Out of such notions one can only conclude that women are fickle creatures. One is not to trust their souls, hearts, emotions, and certainly not trust their claims." without an ounce of doubt in their utterance... Pompous, hypocritical lot, I shall say. Women fantasize, men act. And a woman will rarely let you down. She will try with all her might to be there for a man."
"Are we not all the same?", Ariana asked.
"Oh honey, we think we are, we consider ourselves equals, but the real creatures unworthy of trust who are the epitome of fickleness, men, do not consider us their equals. Such blindness, such stupidity...", responded Virginia.
"Don't be prejudiced and don't generalize." Interrupted Annie "Men and women are and are not the same because people are and are not the same. Various personalities are found within different people. It's not defined by a person’s gender."
“I don't suppose we will address the issue of different types of infidelity? In my opinion if you strip somebody in your mind and hump their brains out, so to speak, it's not as god-awful as actually jumping somebody's bones, but it's still a form of infidelity.” Said Izadora.
“I shall certainly agree. I will go so far as to say that those two are the same.” Interjected Annie again.
“Well, I must protest. I'm sorry, I really am, but I think it's not the same at all, not even close. Did you ever consider that proverb "actions speak louther than words"? Therefore if we agree that that is applicable in this case you shall certainly see that words are louder than private thoughts, obviously, and if actions contain a stronger consequence than words, and words are a greater action than thoughts, there can be no doubt that acting on an infatuation and stooping to the level of the animal drive is certainly much worse than just thinking about it. Wouldn't you agree?” Continued Melanie.
“There's truth in your words, there’s no denying it. I must say I do agree somewhat, but we should consider to what extent are those private thoughts occupying one's mind. Is it just a split second, a few minutes or every waking hour? If you see a handsome man and you think of what you would do to him or with him, there's no harm done in thinking that on the spot. But then you remember that you have somebody you love and everything goes back to the way it was…is…should be. But if you go off thinking of him even when you're with your significant other... Well then... That's not nice, polite or fair, is it now?” rebuked Izadora.
“Oh, this topic is going nowhere, and quite frankly, I’m bored. Let’s change it, hm?” pleaded Annie.
“Annie, sweetie, we all know that you are a nice girl, but how can you be bored of talking about men and power we women can sometimes hold over them? And the sex part with the hunks surrounding us all over this city should just be a cherry on the top.” Said Virginia playfully.
“Don’t you dare mock me, Vi! Why should I be entertained by the topic I have nothing to contribute to? I certainly have no experience in that department, do I now?!” shouted Annie back at Virginia whose poker-face stayed plastered on with just a smidge of the mischievous smile lingering in the right corner of her lips, but quickly disappearing at the end of her best friend’s speech.
“Oh Annie, love, I didn’t mean to offend you, and why did you have to bring up your virginity again? It has nothing to do with the topic now, does it?” Grunted Virginia frankly.
“Don’t play coy with me missy, you were the one who started it all.” Cried Annie.
“Me?!” Exclaimed Virginia with genuine outrage.
“Yes, you.” Said Annie
“Well I’d never…” countered Virginia, but not without everyone else noticing a slight quirking of the corners of her lips. It was extremely funny to her how, each and every time the topic of sex would arise, her best friend would find a way to feel offended by it and consequently start a mini fight.
“Both of you stop.” Said Izadora, exasperated. “ Annie, Vi didn’t start anything, you started with the talk about your virginity, but Vi, we all know how funny it is to you that she always brings up her lack of experience in the pleasurable activities you have been partaking in on a regular basis since you were, like, 15 years old. Calm, now. And let’s get off this topic. It’s impossible to come to an agreement about it anyway.” She finished in a voice oozing authority.
“But, why would it be impossible to agree?” asked Ariana in a way only a 20-year-old could, all innocent and wide-eyed.
“Because, my sweet child, I have known this lot the longest and I can tell you that all of us, albeit extremely different personalities, have one thing in common – we stick to our guns and we rarely change our minds, if ever.” Explained Izadora patiently, like speaking to a child, which Ariana kind of was for all of them, being the youngest and all.
“Oh… I understand.” Murmured the girl.
“Sweetie, don’t feel bad. It’s just the way we are. But that is precisely what makes these Saturday brunches so darn interesting.” Piped in Melanie, coming to Ariana and stroking her cheek, smiling reassuringly. “Now come all, let’s agree to disagree. I kind of feel bad for talking about this in the first place.”
“By the way, why did you start that topic, Mel?” Asked Victoria with a shrewd smile plastered across her face.
“Yes, Mel, why did you?” Agreed Izadora, and suddenly all eyes were on Melanie, expecting a conclusion to this whole episode.
Melanie smiled one of her warm smiles with just a hint of mischief in it and simply said: “Wouldn’t you like to know?” And then the whole room exploded with more questions, threats and pleadings. But she kept her secret and just continued smiling, sticking to her guns, just as they all always do.