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Eric laughs too and takes me by the waist as we follow Frida and Andrés to their car. “We’re going to have a really good time.”
At nine thirty, we arrive at a majestic mansion decorated in Roaring Twenties style. I’m enchanted. As I look around, I’m a little surprised to see a live band playing at the far end of an enormous room. The musicians are dressed in white, just like in the gangster movies I used to watch when I was little.
Eric introduces me to the hosts, and they compliment me on my dress. I smile. Andrés and Frida greet them as well. As we enter the room, there’s spirited conversation, and I notice everybody knows Eric. He introduces me to the other partygoers, but I can’t help being taken aback. It’s really shocking that this is a sex party. There are people here of all ages. Young and old.
When the introductions are over, Eric and I listen to the music for a while. It turns out Frida is an expert on the Roaring Twenties, and she tells me which number is a boogie-woogie, a fox-trot, or a Charleston. It’s all new to me. I’m more of a rock girl. After we’ve had a few drinks, I learn that Frida helped Maggie, one of the hosts, organize the party. As the night continues, I become more aware of how men come up to us and eat me up with their looks. I know what they’re thinking, but I’m cool. Nobody, absolutely nobody, says anything that makes me uncomfortable. Everyone here is very well mannered.
After a few more drinks, I go to the bathroom with Frida. There are two empty stalls, and we each claim one. Then we hear the bathroom door open, and several other women come in. There’s a lot of chatter, but when I hear Eric’s name, I’m on alert.
“Isn’t it wonderful to see Eric again!”
“Oh yes ... I’m so glad to see him here. He’s so handsome.”
“How long has it been since he’s been to one of our parties?”
“Two years.”
“He’s looking really good. As attractive and sexy as ever.”
“Yes ... He seems to have recovered. Poor man.”
Recovered? What happened to Eric?
I’m certain I want to know more, but then I hear Frida.
“Girls, you’re looking marvelous! Where did you get those dresses?”
They immediately switch subjects and focus on shopping. When I leave the stall, I join them. Frida introduces me, and they’re all very charming.
As I’m leaving the bathroom, one of the women, Marisa de la Rosa, sidles up to me. “You came with Eric, right?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you from?”
“Madrid.”
“Oh, I love Madrid! My husband and I are from Huelva, but we go to Madrid quite often. We have a little place there, on Princesa Street.”
That surprises me.
“I live over on Serrano Joven.”
“There’s a gym on that street, right?”
“The Holiday Gym?”
She assents.
“I go to that gym.”
“What a small world,” Marisa says. “Our apartment is very close, and that’s the gym Mario and I go to when we’re in Madrid.”
“Then surely we’ll see each other around.”
“Of course.”
We talk about a thousand things while I keep an eye on Eric, who is speaking to a man and a woman at the other end of the room. He seems to be having a good time. Marisa is delightful. She jumps from topic to topic and introduces me to several other women. When we’re left alone again, she picks up two glasses of champagne from a nearby table and offers one to me.