The Congress Where We Shared Everything

I asked to meet with Rodrigo without much expectation. The week before, we had had one of those encounters in his office that made it clear that, between us, work was only an excuse. So when I went in and explained the marketing congress in Cartagena to him, his first reaction was to settle back in his chair and look at me as if he already knew where I was going with it.

—And how long would you be away? —he asked.

—Four days. From Wednesday to Saturday.

He nodded without taking his eyes off me. I was wearing a fitted blouse and had left the last button undone, not exactly by accident. Rodrigo always noticed those things.

—All right —he said—. You’re going on behalf of the company. Put together a contacts report and bring it to me the following week.

Before I could stand up, he came around the desk and stopped me with a hand on my hip. He kissed me slowly, unhurriedly, while his fingers traced the line of my skirt upward. He yanked it up to my waist in one quick motion and sat me on the desk, sweeping the papers aside with his elbow. He tore my panties off with a sharp jerk, shoved two fingers into his mouth to wet them, and sank them into my cunt without asking, with that habit of his of knowing I was already ready before he was.

—You’re soaked —he murmured against my neck—. Four days away and you’re already acting like a slut.

—Shut up and take it out —I told him, tugging at his belt.

He opened his pants. He had a hard cock, thick, with that pronounced vein I knew by heart. He spit into his palm, ran it over the tip, and pushed into me in one single thrust that tore a moan from me against his shoulder. Rodrigo fucked like that: without preliminaries, without courtesy, as if he were collecting on a debt. He pinned me against the desk, gripping my hips with both hands, and started pounding me hard, making my tits bounce inside my half-open blouse. I bit his shoulder to keep from crying out. He came inside with a low grunt, squeezing my ass with his fingers, and stayed like that for a moment, still, his forehead against my temple.

—Behave yourself while you’re there —he said, pulling out slowly, watching me leak onto the wood.

—I make no promises.

It was like that with him: direct, no detours, knowing exactly what he wanted. I let him do it. I always let him.

***

The congress brought together advertising, media, and communications professionals from all over Latin America. It wasn’t the biggest event on the circuit, but the hotel was good and the roster of speakers justified the trip. I brought Natalia, my assistant for the past two years. She spoke English perfectly, knew every detail about the clients, and, though I had never said it out loud, she was the most efficient person I had ever had by my side.

She was also, thinking about it now, considerably more than efficient.

We traveled together from the airport. Natalia had a small suitcase and that habit of hers of reading on flights without saying a word. I spent a while looking at the clouds, then closed my eyes. I thought about Álvaro, who was arriving the following day from Bogotá. I thought about Marcos, my husband, who would let me know when he was getting in as the week went on. They both knew about the other. We had been doing this for years, with that uncomfortable honesty that sometimes works better than anything else.

In Cartagena it was humid and hot from the moment you got off the plane.

***

The hotel was colonial on the outside and modern on the inside. We had been assigned a double room, two beds, sea view. Natalia left her suitcase on her bed and went straight to the window.

—This isn’t bad —she said.

—No —I admitted.

We changed for dinner. Natalia pulled a dress out of her suitcase and held it up in front of herself with a doubtful expression.

—For the first day, do you think it’s too much? —she asked.

—Depends on what you want to provoke.

She let out a brief laugh. —I don’t want to provoke anything. I just don’t want to look bad.

We started undressing with that initial awkwardness two women have the first time they share a room. Neither of us looked directly, but neither of us hid either. At some point Natalia took off her blouse and I realized she had a perfect back, light brown skin, not a single mark, and big, firm tits that shifted when she let her bra fall.

—Does it bother you if I look? —I asked, without thinking too much about it.

She turned slightly. —No. Why?

—Because I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.

—We’re two women —she said, with simple logic—. There’s nothing strange about it.

She was right. But something in the way she said it, and in the way she looked at me afterward, was not entirely neutral.

***

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant and came back early. We talked in bed with the lights off, each in her own, with the sound of the fan in the background. We talked about the congress, the clients we would see, Rodrigo and his quirks.

At some point the conversation turned elsewhere.

—Is Álvaro your partner? —Natalia asked in the dark.

—Not exactly.

—So?

—It’s complicated —I said—. I’ve known him a long time. We have an arrangement.

—Does Marcos know?

—Yes.

There was a silence. It wasn’t awkward, it was just there, floating between the two beds.

—Have you ever been with a woman? —she asked.

The question surprised me. Not because of what it meant, but because of how direct it was.

—Yes —I answered.

Silence again. Then the sound of her moving, sheets rustling, and suddenly I felt her hand on mine. Just that. No pressure, just contact.

I let it be.

***

I don’t know how much time passed before we moved closer for real. What I do remember is that at some point she was sitting on my bed and I had a hand on her thigh, and she didn’t pull away. She looked at me, and on her face there was that mix of curiosity and something else that can’t be faked.

—I’m not really sure how this works —she said softly.

—It doesn’t have to work in any specific way.

I kissed her slowly. Her lips were soft and responded without hesitation, as if she’d been waiting for exactly that for a while. She ran a hand through my hair and we fell together onto the pillows. I slipped my tongue in without hurry, tasting her, while I slid a hand under her T-shirt and squeezed one whole breast. Her nipple hardened instantly against my palm.

I pulled her T-shirt up over her head. Her breasts were big and firm, with dark areolas. When I removed her bra and had them in front of me, I took my time looking at them before touching them. I ran my tongue over one nipple, then the other, sucking them slowly until they were fully taut. She closed her eyes and arched her back.

—Is this okay? —I asked.

—Yes —she whispered—. Keep going.

I traced her neck with my mouth, slowly went down her sternum, her stomach. I unfastened her pants and pulled them down with her panties in one motion. Her cunt was almost completely shaved, with a short line of hair above, the lips already swollen and glossy. I spread them with my thumbs and looked at it for a moment before burying my face there.

I licked her from bottom to top, flat and slow, savoring the thick wetness already leaking from her. Natalia gripped the sheets with both hands and said nothing for a good while. She just breathed faster. I found her clit with the tip of my tongue and made small circles, then pressed and sucked it whole while I slid two fingers inside her. She was incredibly tight, scorching hot. I worked them in slowly, curling my fingers upward until I found that rough little spot that made her moan out loud for the first time.

—There, there, don’t stop —she panted, one hand tangled in my hair.

I didn’t stop. I licked her clit faster, finger-fucked her harder, feeling everything inside her clench. I heard her lose control, her body shaking, her legs closing over my shoulders for an instant before she completely relaxed and let out a long, broken moan as she came in my mouth.

I moved up until I was beside her, my face still shining with her. We looked at each other in the dark.

—Your turn —I said.

Natalia laughed, an honest laugh, and leaned over me. She kissed me on the mouth without caring about her own taste. She took off my nightgown. She started with my tits, with the sweet clumsiness of a first time, sucking one nipple while she squeezed the other with her hand. She moved down my stomach kissing every inch, and when she reached between my legs she paused for a moment, looking at me.

—Show me —she said.

I grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her slowly against my cunt. The first lick was timid, but she learned fast. She licked my clit with the tip of her tongue, then with her whole mouth, sucking it the way I had done to her. I buried a hand in her hair and set the pace, moving her head. She started sliding her tongue inside me, fucking me with it, and when I asked for fingers she put two in and searched for that same spot I had found in her. I came against her face in a few minutes, hips lifted off the bed, pressing her mouth against me until I couldn’t take any more.

She fell asleep between my legs, her cheek resting on my thigh. I let her.

***

Álvaro arrived at noon the next day.

We were waiting for him in the hotel lobby because my phone alerted me when he landed. Natalia got nervous in a way that didn’t match meeting a work colleague, and I didn’t say anything. I let her feel whatever she felt.

When he came through the revolving door, suitcase in one hand and that habit of his of looking for me with his eyes first of all, Natalia squeezed my arm without realizing it.

—Is that him? —she asked.

—That’s him.

Álvaro was tall, with big hands and a voice that tended to go lower when he talked up close. He hugged me first, lifted me off the ground for a second like he always did, and kissed me on the cheek. Then he turned to Natalia.

—So you’re the famous Natalia? —he said.

She smiled. —Famous for what?

—Laura talks about you a lot. —He looked at me with complicity—. Good, huh?

Natalia looked at me sideways and I held her gaze without moving.

The three of us went to get something to eat before the afternoon block of the congress. Natalia was quieter than usual. I knew what she was thinking, and it wasn’t about the menu.

***

That night, in our room, she asked me what Álvaro was like. I told her he was generous. That he knew what he was doing. That he had very big hands.

—Is what they say about the hands true? —she asked.

—Find out for yourself —I answered.

She was silent for a moment.

—Would you introduce me like that?

—If you want to.

She nodded slowly, as if she were making a decision she had already made a long time ago.

***

The next day the three of us ended up in Álvaro’s room after dinner. Natalia had had two more drinks than usual, but she wasn’t drunk. She was nervous, which is different.

Álvaro noticed. He took it slowly, talking to her, asking what she wanted before doing anything. He kissed her first, long, holding her neck with that hand of his that covered half her head. I sat in the armchair facing the bed and opened my robe without taking it off, letting him see me if he wanted to look. Álvaro slowly slid Natalia’s dress down her shoulders, kissing her collarbone, biting her shoulder. When she was naked from the waist up, he took both her tits at once and squeezed them with open hands.

—Fuck, they’re gorgeous —he told her in a low voice, sucking one nipple.

Natalia let out a short moan and looked for me with her eyes. I held her gaze.

Álvaro knelt in front of her, pulled down her panties, spread her legs, and buried his face there. He licked her without hurry, with that technique of his I knew so well, gripping her ass with both hands to press her harder against his mouth. Natalia started panting, covered her mouth with one hand and grabbed his hair with the other.

—Wait, wait, I’m going to fall —she said with nervous laughter.

Álvaro lifted her in his arms as if she weighed nothing and laid her on her back on the bed.

She relaxed little by little. When she saw it, when Álvaro took off his clothes and she had him in front of her, she opened her mouth without saying anything for a few seconds. He was hard, thick, hanging heavy between his legs.

—It’s real —she said at last.

Álvaro laughed. —Did you expect it not to be?

—It’s just... —She looked at him, then at me—. It’s very big.

—You’ll get used to it —I said from the armchair.

She touched him carefully at first, wrapping her hand around him, measuring with fingers that wouldn’t quite close. Then with more confidence, she started stroking him slowly, looking at his face. When she took him into her mouth, Álvaro closed his eyes and leaned his head back. She sucked just the tip at first, wetting him with saliva, and then began to go lower, helping herself with her hand at the base. Álvaro put a hand on her neck without forcing, barely setting the rhythm. Natalia choked once, pulled away for a second coughing with a smile, and took him back in. She filled her mouth with him, sucking hard, strings of saliva dripping down her chin. I watched them from a distance, one hand already between my legs, unhurried, enjoying watching them.

Álvaro laid her on the bed on her back, spread her legs slowly, and prepared her with his fingers before coming closer. He slid one in, then two, curling them, until she started moving her hips against his hand. He ran his own cock along the slit of her cunt, wetting the tip with her juice, sliding it over her clit.

—Put it in already —Natalia asked, tugging at his arm.

He penetrated her centimeter by centimeter, pausing each time to ask how she was doing. I watched the flesh of her open around him, watched her stretch to take him.

—Good —she said, her voice breaking—. More. Keep going.

When he had almost all of it inside, Natalia let out a long, low sound that was not from pain. She clung to his shoulders and started moving her hips on her own, setting the rhythm. Álvaro pulled out and went back in, this time in one single push all the way to the hilt, and she gave a muffled cry against his neck. He started fucking her hard, with those heavy thrusts of his that made the bed creak, and Natalia wrapped herself around him with her legs crossed behind his back.

—God, so big, you’re so big —she moaned, her voice getting louder and louder.

I slid two fingers into my cunt from the armchair, watching them. Álvaro turned for a second to look at me over his shoulder and gave me a crooked smile without stopping his thrusts. Then he put her on all fours, grabbed her by the hair, and went at her from behind again. Natalia lowered her head onto the mattress and lifted her ass, letting herself be fucked like that, biting the pillow. She came twice before he did, the second time screaming without covering herself. Álvaro pulled out just in time and emptied the entire load over her ass and lower back, his cock trembling in his hand.

I watched them until I couldn’t keep looking without doing anything. I went over and cleaned Natalia’s semen off with my tongue, along the dip of her back, up to her shoulder. Álvaro gave a low laugh and collapsed onto the other side of the bed.

***

Marcos arrived at the congress on Thursday morning.

We had been like this for years: he arrived, I welcomed him, and between us there was that easy trust of two people who know each other too well to pretend. He held me in a long hug in the lobby. He asked how the week had gone. I noticed him looking toward where Natalia was.

—You already know her? —I asked.

—Not in person. But I know who she is —he said, and smiled.

That night the four of us had dinner together. Álvaro and Marcos had known each other from before, from earlier congresses, from those silent agreements men make when they share a woman and decide to get along. Natalia watched them take turns, listened to them laugh, and at some point she asked me in a very low voice:

—Is it always like this?

—How?

—So normal.

—When everyone knows what’s going on, yes —I said—. It’s easier.

After dinner, Álvaro suggested we all go up to his room. Marcos agreed. Natalia looked at me, waiting for me to say something.

—If you want —I said.

She wanted to.

***

Álvaro’s room was bigger than ours. No one rushed. That was what I liked most about those nights: nobody hurried, nobody pretended.

Marcos undressed me with his back to me, kissing my neck while he did it. He slowly lowered the zipper of my dress, biting my shoulder, until the fabric fell to the floor. He turned me to look at me, ripped my panties off by tearing the elastic on one side, and sat me on the edge of the bed. He knelt, spread my legs, and licked me slowly, with that husbandly patience of his that knows exactly how I like it. I buried my fingers in his hair.

Álvaro was with Natalia on the other bed, speaking to her in a low voice, and I could hear her answering him, more loose, more confident every time. I heard the wet sound of him licking her, then her short moans when he slid back inside her.

I lay back with Marcos on top of me and let him do what he knew how to do: that way of his of taking his time, of knowing me. He ran his cock along my open cunt a couple of times, sliding it over my clit, and then he pushed it in slowly, all the way, to the hilt. When I felt him inside me I closed my eyes and stayed still for a moment, just feeling the weight of him, his breathing against my neck, the way his cock filled me exactly where I expected it. He started moving with long thrusts, pulling almost all the way out and driving back in to the hilt.

—You’re still the best thing —he whispered in my ear.

—Shut up and fuck me harder.

After a while we switched. Álvaro came to me. Marcos went to Natalia.

I heard her pant when Marcos entered her, and then I heard his deep voice telling her to relax.

—I am —she said—. I’m relaxed already.

Marcos put her on her side, lifted one leg over his shoulder, and fucked her like that, going deep, holding one breast with his free hand. Natalia panted looking at the ceiling, biting her lip.

Álvaro positioned himself over me and we looked at each other. There was something about those nights, about that exact moment, that always felt the same to me: as if everything else stopped mattering for a while. He had his cock hard again, still shining with Natalia’s cunt, and I didn’t say anything; I didn’t care.

—I missed you —he said.

—I was here all week —I replied.

—I know. —He kissed me—. Anyway.

I took him inside and let out a long moan. With Álvaro there was always that first moment of adjustment, of letting my cunt settle around his thickness. He started fucking me slowly, almost torturously, propping himself on his elbows to look at my face while he came in and out. Then he sped up, grabbing my tits, sucking my nipples. I tangled my legs around his waist and pushed him deeper with my heels.

—Like that, harder —I asked him.

He drove into me hard, making the headboard bang against the wall. I thought there was no way to improve this, this feeling of being exactly where you want to be.

Marcos was still with Natalia. He had put her on all fours beside us and was fucking her from behind, one hand on her hip and the other in her hair, tugging. She was asking for more out loud now, no shame left, and hearing her like that excited me even more. I turned my head and watched Marcos drive into her all the way each time, watched Natalia’s ass bounce against his hips.

—Look at her —Álvaro whispered in my ear—. Look at what your husband is doing to your assistant.

—I’m looking —I said, and came.

Álvaro picked up the pace when he heard me moan, pounding into me faster, harder, until he came inside me with a grunt, biting my shoulder. Almost at the same time I heard Marcos groan deeply and Natalia scream against the mattress. All four of us finished almost at once, in that ordered chaos that only happens when there’s trust.

No one moved for a while. Only breathing could be heard. At some point Natalia crawled over to where Álvaro and I were, and settled between us, her skin still shining with sweat. I ran a hand down her back.

***

Later, when the four of us were exhausted and silent, Natalia came over to me in the dark. She lay down beside me, her head on my shoulder, and stayed there for a moment without saying anything.

—Will I always remember this? —she asked very quietly.

—Yes —I said—. Things like this aren’t forgotten.

—Does that happen to you too?

—It still happens to me. That’s why I keep coming.

She laughed softly. The two men were asleep. The fan turned. Some light from the city came in through the window.

—Thank you —Natalia said.

—Don’t thank me.

—Why not?

—Because I didn’t do anything. You decided on your own.

She was silent a little longer. Then she settled closer against me and closed her eyes.

The next day, Álvaro took the early return flight. The three of us saw him off together in the lobby, Natalia included, and when the taxi pulled away, Marcos put an arm around my shoulders.

—Was it a good congress? —he asked.

—The best in a long time —I said.

Natalia looked at the two of us with that new smile she hadn’t had before the trip, and said nothing. No need to.