Better Than 8 Fantasy

“How long has it been, Amara?” my girlfriend Stacey asked. Then she continued without waiting for a reply. “Let's see... the last man I heard about wanted to be your maintenance man while keeping his main squeeze. What was his name?”
“Adrian, I think…” Nicole chimed in waggling her eyebrows. "And you know everybody needs a maintenance man… to you know … maintain certain areas."
Chuckling along with the rest of my friends, I looked around my living room at them. All four of them were in relationships, save me. It had been four years since I'd been with Adrian, since he'd gotten married.
I looked around my living room at my four girl friends. We had all been friends it seemed like forever but in reality, it had only been six years. They were all the sisters I never knew I wanted and never had until now.
We had all worked together in one capacity or another. There were many friends I would say were associates or friend, the term used loosely. These girls, though, I loved.
There was Nicole aka Nikki, the party planner. The very one that had planned this little girls night we sometimes had on Sunday nights at my cozy two-story Tudor house not far from downtown Mountain View, an hour south of San Francisco. Nikki was the youngest of my friends. She was half white, half Mexican, 26 years old, tan, shorter than five feet tall, and a brunette, usually.
Then there was Vanessa aka Nessa. Nessa was brown skinned, 28, big brown eyes, with a mischievous sense of humor. She was also the whitest black girl I had ever known.
Then Stacey, the red headed, stubborn, “I ain’t taking no shit off nobody” kinda girl. She was 40 and a long way away from mellowing out.
Last but not least was Charlene aka Charlie. Charlie was the quick-witted, 30-year-old, strawberry blond shit talker.
I felt my face heat up at the mention of Adrian as I gathered the dishes off the table and took them into the kitchen. I grabbed the strawberry cheesecake. On my way back I passed by the floor-to-ceiling hallway mirror and paused. My cheeks were flaming from all the talk about Adrian. My skin was naturally all peaches. I had long dark brown wavy hair, hazel eyes, petite nose, and a full lush mouth. I was cute and curvy. I could admit that to myself.
After four years of being single, I had trouble explaining to myself why me, 35-year-old Amara Simmons, why I was still alone. Except that Adrian had burned me bad.
“Mmmmm,” Nessa hummed as she bit into the strawberry cheesecake I had served. “I swear I don’t understand why you’re still single." I shrugged.
She continued. "I mean you’re gorgeous, small waist, full breasted, phat ass; for a white girl. And…. you can cook. Hell, I’d marry you simply so I can have cheesecake!”
Amid a chorus of laughter and the clink of wine glasses lifted in agreement with Nessa’s statement echoing my own thoughts, I offered a suggestion. “I simply haven’t met the right one.” I sat with my head resting on the back of an overstuffed brown suede chair with my legs stretched out in front of me on a matching ottoman.
“The one. You make it sound like that movie, The Matrix. Is that it?" Charlie asked sardonically. She had a mischievous glint in her eye as she sat on my sofa, one leg crossed under her, the other swinging back and forth. "Are you waiting on your version of Neo, or are you stuck in the Matrix?”
“Very funny Charlie. I’ll know him when I find him that I’m sure of." I sat up quickly, planted my feet on the floor, and leaned forward. “You know I’ve been wondering though, what if I find Mr. Wonderful and he’s not as well, hmph umph, equipped as I would like.”
“Mara, OMG! I mean, are you looking for a porn star? Hell, you’ll never find anyone if that’s the criteria you’re measuring against,” Stacey said and flipped her red hair over her shoulder.
“That’s pretty vain, don’t you think?” Nikki asked. She shifted her petite self in the middle of the white sectional swirling her wine glass. “That’s like a guy saying a girl has to have a set of DDs or something for him to be satisfied. Isn’t it possible to fall for a guy or girl that doesn’t meet all your preconceived notions?”
Stacey leaned forward in the recliner and looked at the rest of us, sitting on the couch facing her, her green eyes flashing. “Well, hang on now. I think you like who you like and for me at least, I speak from experience. 'To thine own self be true!' "
We laughed at her attempt to mimic Shakespeare. I nibbled on my cheesecake. It was divine. If only I could find a man as easily as I could bake.
Stacey stood up and went behind the corner bar for another bottle of chilled wine. “I do think that it’s about knowing yourself. Me for instance, I know I like an average-sized man. I can get off no problem.” She stopped mid pour and glanced at me. “Mara here on the other hand needs a man the size of a bus to get her off!”
“No, no. I’m not looking for King Kong!” I exclaimed. That gave me a moment's pause. That actually didn’t seem like a bad idea. My friends watched me. I hummed loudly, for effect and raised an eyebrow. We all burst into a fit of giggles.
“You know, hell …” Charlie said. “I heard about this website. It’s a dating website like a lot of them that are out there already.”
A chorus of groans and a lot of “Oh no! Here we go! Not this again!”
“No, seriously. I have a friend that told me about it and she’s talked to a few guys from the site. She’s going out on a date with one of the guys this weekend.” Charlie added.
“Charlie, I’m sure it’s a great site but what makes this site different from the next dating website?” I asked as I scooted back into the cozy chair and tucked my legs under me.
“This one, you get to pick how big a lover you’re looking for!” She nodded knowingly. The room was quiet as we all exchanged looks with one another.
“You mean--,” I started.
“Yep. That’s exactly what I mean. If you need a seven-inch lover, that’s what you put. The site is called www.betterthan8.com. You may have to live outside your comfort zone and upgrade to a size eight to use the site though,” Charlie said with a sly grin. “What do you think?”
“Well, I don’t know what to think.” I said. But I was curious. Should I?, I wondered.
“Well, I know what I think!" Stacey sipped her wine. "I know that if I wasn’t happily involved and completely sexually satisfied with my Adonis of a boyfriend, I would register in a heartbeat.”
“I concur!” Nikki said and raised her wine glass. We all toasted. I hid my smile in my drink.