Informed Consent by Saorise Roghan Page A

By degrees, and small portions, she coaxed the huge beast out the door
before throwing the entire piece to the bottom of the steps.
    From distant regions of
the house Denise heard screams.   They sounded like happy screams though so she ignored them and began to
shift the salad from its 85 % recycled post-consumer content container into a
large salad bowl.   Since she was
able to locate a platter that would hold the pizza she tossed the boxes under
the butler’s sink in the pantry.
    Returning to the kitchen
an object landed hard between her eyes and someone, two someones, snorted.
    Denise yanked a Nerf
arrow from her forehead and put her hands on her hips. It took spit to get a
Nerf arrow to stick like that to human skin.   “Come out with your hands up!”
    Zander crawled from
behind the island on hands and knees, his bow clamped between his teeth. “We’re
the ones who’re armed,” he complained around the plastic weapon he held in his
mouth.   He clambered up to his
feet.
    Her best friend Robert
appeared on the floor and then he too stood up.   “Gimme some love, Babe!” His arms opened wide and he bent
his knees so she’d be able to throw herself into his arms.   She preferred that to having him hulk
over her while he hugged her face into his chest.
    She threw herself and he
grabbed her, hoisting, boosting her to his waist where her legs wrapped around
him.   “My sweetie!” Denise
squealed, and gave him a big wet smack on the lips.
    Because they were the
very best pals, because they had known each other since the second grade,
because a long time ago they’d actually had hilarious,
how-the-heck-do-you-do-this-best-friend-experimenting sex, they shoved their
tongues into each other’s mouths and made exaggerated moans and groans, each
one of them using their hands to roam the other’s body in an overly dramatic
fashion.
    Zander had seen it all
before; “ick.”   He fired an arrow
into Denise’s backside.
    The large dog suddenly
joined the circus, barking, thumping his huge tail into cabinets and making
dull whomping sounds. Denise was too busy running her hands up Robert’s chest
and crooning to think about how Goliath had gotten back in.  
    Then she saw her
husband, standing in the door way, a cool, somewhat bored look on his face that
couldn’t possibly be anything except a mask.   Andrew had never cared for Robert.
    Shit.
    Denise slapped Robert’s
chest for real, and wriggled to get free.
    Robert laughed and
pulled her groin against his, making oooh baby sounds.   When he finally registered the look on
her face he dropped her.
    Zander let another arrow
fly, once again choosing a spot between the eyes for a target.
    Andrew put his hand up
and removed the arrow.
    “Not in the face, Kid.
Scram.” But he ruffled the boy’s hair and tossed him the arrow. He stood there,
hands on hips, waiting for the boy to leave.
    Zander, sensing the
sudden drop in temperature, left at once.
      Robert had social skills.
      “Andrew Cross! My Man!
Congratulations!   I knew you’d win
her back!”
    Andrew allowed Robert to
seize his hand and pump it up and down.   His gaze remained shuttered.
    “I was rooting for you,
dude!   Way to go!”
    “So you were kissing and
fondling Denise as a way to congratulate her on her wedding?”
      “Don’t be a dick, Andrew.”   Denise moved away from Robert and past
the island toward safety.
    His hand shot out and
grabbed her by the arm, bringing her to a sudden halt and wrenching her around.
    There was a now familiar
if still jolting flip from her lower abdomen.   A warning knell sounded in her head, banging up against her
skull.   She felt herself flush.
    “Chill.   Chill.” Robert tried to insert himself
between them.  
    The very large dog
pressed its body against Denise. Then the large dog growled.
    “Don’t be an ass.” Andrew’s
voice was flat.   He lifted an eye
brow at the beast. “Are you growling at me?”
    The dog’s tail whomped
again.