Turning A New Leaf

Two

Zoom meetings were so much fun. Not. Atira preferred in-person, face-to-face work, but after Covid came around, her Human Resources position became completely remote. She missed the office and having a reason to, well, put actual pants on. She missed having lunch in the cafeteria with her colleagues and the fun activities the office would do for holidays, birthdays, spirit week, and the just becauses. Now, everything was limited to what could be done in Microsoft Teams or on Zoom.

The silver lining to remote work was the capability of not being tethered to a home office, so when she, on a whim, decided she should move in with Krist after a month of dating again, she was able to. They'd talked about the possibility of him moving up to Seattle (or, as Rocco called it, "Saddle"), where she'd been living at the time. Still, it seemed unfair to do to Rocco, whose entire extended family lived in the Portland-Metro area.

They were still in the process of moving her out of her Seattle apartment and planned on having her entirely out that upcoming weekend. Fun!

Combing two households into one had been a chore itself. She and Krist had to decide whose furniture was better and who had the better kitchen items. It seemed easy enough, but Atira found that Krist was very particular about things, especially his things, so Atira agreed to donate most of what she had in her apartment. They had decided to swap Krist's bed out for Atira's as she had a nearly California King, and Krist had the same queen-sized bed since he'd gotten Rocco.

Atira also felt a bit of yuckiness, knowing Krist had a few women in said bed prior to them getting back together. Yes, it was a little immature or petty to be bothered by it, and she was no virgin herself. Still, if this was going to be their bed as man and wife, she didn't want to think about whomever Krist had been fucking (gross) in their marital bed.

Krist had given her some pushback initially about keeping his bed. "I got this bed brand-new when me and Rocco moved into my mom's. It doesn't make sense to haul yours down from Seattle when this one is fine."

Atira had stared at him, debating on how she would win. "Did you sleep with anyone and in that bed before me?" She'd asked.

Krist's eyes narrowed, and he clicked his tongue on the back of his teeth. "Oh my god, it's not like I don't wash my bedding," he sighed.

"So, if it was the other way around and we had to share a bed that I'd been with multiple men within, it wouldn't bother you?" Krist was jealous, and she knew it would. She could see him squirm as she asked that.

"It wasn't multiple people," he insisted. His mortified smile indicated it definitely was.

Atira cocked her head, "How many?" She asked, knowing she didn't want to know and that he didn't want to tell her.

"That's irrelevant. How many dudes did you fuck on your bed?" He asked, a smug smile playing on his lips.

Atira pretended to think, "Hm...including you?" She tapped her chin. "Just one." It was true. Atira had only been with two other men. One was a one-night stand, and the other was Kevin Tarantino, whom she'd been with for six years. She'd slept with Kevin once in her apartment after they broke up, but it had been on the couch. And then the floor. And then the shower. Never on her bed.

Krist had pinned her on his bed, their bed, playfully, "I'd better have been the only one," he teased, his teeth grazing her earlobe.

One thing about Krist was that not only was he a little jealous, but he'd also had some double standards about men versus women. She knew he'd been with a ton of women, no clue what the ballpark figure was on that number, and that was fine with her. Atira didn't want to know. Firstly, because it was in the past, and secondly, she knew it was undoubtedly very, very high. Krist had gotten around when he was on drugs.

Although his own personal body count was higher than Guy Fieri's blood pressure after a round trip to Flavortown, he flat-out told her he would never be in a serious relationship with anyone who had slept around the way he had.

Jeordie and Cami had been there when he said it; Cami was quick to point out that both Heather and Lainey had slept around just as much, to which Krist replied, "And that's exactly why I would never be in a serious relationship with a whore."

"Why is a woman who has slept around not someone worth being in a relationship with?" Cami had asked, bemused.

"Because you would have to be a fuckin' simp to settle down with someone who's been run through by everyone," Krist smirked.

"Okay, so why would a woman want to settle with a dude who ran through everyone?" Cami countered.

"Dude, that's different," he'd argued without actually giving much rhyme or reason as to why.

Cami loved calling him out on his shit. Atira always got a kick from watching Krist try to talk his way out of things. He wasn't a bad guy in any way, but he had some opinions Cami didn't care for, and she was never afraid to let him know.

Jillian, her love-hate best friend, texted her as she sat through one of her Monday morning Zoom meetings. Girl, what are we doing for your bachelorette party?

Atira glanced up at her laptop screen, nodding along to her boss's boss ramble on about how they needed to gear up for a massive hiring event and focus on recruiting candidates.

She glanced down at her phone, discreetly replying IDK, do I even NEED to have one?

Jillian: Um YES.

Atira looked back up at her laptop, zoning out. Why did she need a bachelorette party? She didn't drink, she didn't go to clubs or bars, and there was so much she needed to do in the days leading up to the wedding. The last thing she wanted to do was try to handle everything with an atrocious hangover.

She texted Krist to get his opinion, though she had an idea of what it was.

Babe, should I have a bachelorette party? Julian wants to throw me one.

Krist: If that's what you want. They're throwing me one down at the club, I guess.

Atira felt her face flush with jealousy. Krist had worked at a strip club as a bouncer up until the middle of December when he'd gotten stabbed one night. You never mentioned that to me.

Krist: Just found out, baby. If you want to come along, that's cool with me. I ain't tryna do nothing but kick it w my old co-workers.

She had met his co-workers at the strip club and had no issues with them. Nobody had come off inappropriate with him, and as far as Atira could tell, Krist didn't seem to be sexually interested in any of them.

Still, it didn't mean that she wanted him drinking around naked women. It also didn't help that Krist had relapsed not too long before they became engaged. That was her biggest concern, more so than him being tempted by another woman.

She shot Jillian a text, I'm not looking to do anything super crazy. Krist is having a bachelor party at his old job, so can we have my party the same night? Maybe combine them?

Jillian: oh my gosh. No! Same night, yes, but partying with them, no! You aren't gonna want to cut loose with him there.

Atira didn't want to cut loose anyway, but she wasn't about to tell Jillian that.