We stayed in that embrace, enjoying the warmth of our bodies for several minutes.
Sobering the moment, Clarissa spoke first, “So we’re really a couple. Like a love triangle?” She scratched her head thinking, “There has to be a word for us.”
“Polyamorous.”
We all froze, none of us said it. We slackened our embrace and looked around for the source.
“It’s called polyamory,” said a voice again.
“It’s the computer,” said Christina pointing. There was subdued fright in her eyes.
I took the lead and moved towards the computer. Touching the mouse, the screen lit up. To my horror, I could see at the bottom, in the taskbar was the videoconference window. In my haste, I had not closed it, I just minimized it.
I maximized the window and saw the sweaty face of Athena looking back at all of us. Seeing my camera’s footage in a smaller window on the bottom left, I knew that she saw everything.
The three of us stood there, covered in each other’s sweat and juices, looking at Athena look back at us. She appeared to be catching her breath so she could talk.
“The condition of participating in more than one serious romantic or sexual relationship with the knowledge and consent of all partners. You’re a polyamorous relationship.” She did something I’d never seen before, she smiled. No malice, anger or disgust. Her eyes were soft and kind. Without words, her face said sent a message of, “Thank you.”