Ethical Non Monogamy · Chapter 5

Small With One Cream

By Reggie · October 8, 2026

Brenna and Reggie met twice over the course of the scene — first through text and phone on Thursday night, then in person at Civic Plaza on Saturday morning. On Thursday night, Brenna texted to confirm their Saturday plan; Reggie replied curtly that he would text her Saturday. She called anyway, and a woman named Laurel — who was with Reggie — heard the call come in and intervened loudly, offering to send Brenna videos and identifying herself by name. Reggie confirmed he was with Laurel and had been talking about Brenna when the call came in. Brenna said she hated Reggie and hung up, then cried herself to sleep. Laurel, after Reggie hung up, acknowledged to Reggie that the video offer was wrong; Reggie said he was happy she did it, and they resumed what they were doing. Friday passed in silence. On Saturday, Reggie texted an apology that deflected blame onto Laurel's spontaneous behavior but admitted he was not sorry because he was glad Brenna now knew what it felt like to be forgotten while he was with someone else. Brenna pushed back, distinguishing her thoughtless act from his deliberate enjoyment. Reggie held his position — he did not plan it, but he did enjoy it, and was not sorry for enjoying it. This exchange landed without resolution, and Reggie asked Brenna for coffee. She accepted. Reggie ordered online via an app, walked approximately 30 metres from his building to the Tim Hortons, and picked up the mobile order. He found Brenna already seated on the same bench by the fountains in Civic Plaza where they had sat the previous week — jeans, no makeup. He kissed her briefly on the lips in public without asking; she did not pull back but registered that she had not been able to deliver her prepared grievances first. They talked on the bench at length: about Laurel (who Reggie said had asked him to offer Brenna her number, which Brenna declined with a thank-you message), about the fact that Reggie had described Brenna to Laurel only as the woman who stood him up to sleep with someone else, about the other man Brenna has been seeing. Reggie said he had called Laurel mainly to soothe his bruised ego and was explicit about it. Brenna confirmed she had not slept with the other man that week and had seen him once on Wednesday for drinks — he bought an expensive bottle, talked about himself for two hours, and put her in a cab; she told Reggie she felt a little like a prostitute on the ride home. Reggie said he was glad and hoped she would feel more so in future. He also told her he was not asking her to stop seeing the other man — he framed continued contact with him as useful comparison for her own self-knowledge — while stating he would not stop sleeping with Laurel or pursuing a married woman he mentioned. He described wanting to vomit when he thought of Brenna sleeping with the other man, then getting over it in twenty-four hours. He asked Brenna directly on the bench whether she would have sex with him, saying he was spending too much time thinking about a girl he had kissed three times. Brenna asked which building. Reggie pointed to his building — 3 Civic Plaza, fifty floors — approximately 20 metres from the bench. Brenna stood up and agreed to go. The scene ends with them leaving the bench toward his building; they have not yet gone upstairs.

Thursday night. Brenna texts Reggie.

Brenna (texting)

Hey

Reggie (texting)

Hey, I'm a little busy right now. I'll get back to you on the weekend.

Brenna (texting)

I just want to confirm Saturday.

Reggie (texting)

I'll text you Saturday.

Brenna

Tries to accept this. Starts texting back. Stops. Waits. Decides to call. Dials Reggie.

And now Brenna calls Reggie.

Brenna

Hey

Reggie

Hey, I'm just a bit occupied.

Brenna

You're with a girl aren't you?

Reggie

Yes

Laurel

Yells into Reggie's phoneHi Brenna, Reggie was just telling me all about you.

Brenna

Reggie, what the actual fuck.

Reggie

I was talking with her. I told you I was seeing her. I didn't tell her your name but the notification came up when you called and she saw it.

Brenna

So you're fucking her right now?

Laurel

Yells again into Reggie's phoneYes we are, would you like us to send you a video?

Brenna

Fuck Reggie, you're fucking disgusting.

Laurel

I'm Laurel, Brenna. Can Reggie give me your number? I'll text you photos of his dick in my mouth, and maybe in a few other places.

Brenna

I fucking hate you Reggie.Hangs up

The line goes dead. Reggie is left holding his phone.

Laurel

The brightness goes out of her. She watches him hold the phone.I shouldn't have done that. The video thing. I don't know why I did that.

Reggie

I'm happy you did.Reggie and Laurel resume what they were doing

Laurel

Forgets about Brenna. Turns back to Reggie. Resumes what she was doing.

Brenna

Cries herself to sleep.

Saturday morning. Reggie texts Brenna.

Reggie (texting)

Hey, I'm sorry about the other day. You weren't on speaker but she could hear you and, well, she said what she said.

Brenna (texting)

She reads it three times before she types.I cried myself to sleep, Reggie. I don't do that.

Reggie (texting)

I suppose a better person would apologize. I didn't intend for that to happen, but I'm not sorry it did. Now you know what it's like to have the other person forget you while they're fucking someone else, like you did to me. And honestly, I'm a bit glad you know what that feels like.

Brenna (texting)

She lets the room stay quiet a long time before she types.You think that's the same thing. What I did was thoughtless and selfish. What you did was deliberate. You let her perform for you while I was on the line, and you enjoyed it. Those are not the same, and you know it.

Reggie (texting)

I didn't let her do anything. I said that I would text you back on Saturday. You wouldn't accept that and called. She saw the notification with your name and responded. None of it was planned. Which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it a bit.

Brenna (texting)

So it just happened to you. She just happened to perform while I was crying on the phone, and the only part you're sorry about is the part you enjoyed. Own the whole thing or don't bother.

Reggie (texting)

No, I didn't say that. I'm not even sorry for enjoying it.

Brenna (texting)

She goes still.I fucking hate you, Reggie. And I'm still here, which tells you how thoroughly you've ruined my Saturday.

Reggie (texting)

Coffee?

Brenna (texting)

One word on her screen.Fuck you. What time?

Reggie (texting)

Thirty minutes. And I'm not going to tell you how to dress but be aware I find you a lot more beautiful if you don't spend 2 hours trying to be beautiful. Same? Small with one cream?

Brenna (texting)

The part about how to dress she files away; she's already decided she's going.Yes. Small with one cream. And I will look however I fucking want to look in thirty minutes, Reggie.

Reggie (texting)

Do you want an apple fritter? I feel like having an apple fritter.

Brenna (texting)

She stares at it. She sits there a second.Yes. Get the apple fritter.

In person. Civic Plaza, Surrey, BC, Canada.

Reggie

I order online using the app for pickup in 20 minutes. I take the elevator, walk the 30 metres to Tim's, and pick up the mobile order. I come back out to the plaza and see Brenna sitting on the same bench as last week. By the fountains. In jeans and a sweater. No makeup. With the kids riding their bikes all around her. I walk up to her and smile, looking at the bench, amazed that she chose the same one.You really are beautiful when you don't try. Here's your coffee and apple fritter. I even brought napkins.

Brenna

She takes the coffee and the fritter with both hands and looks at the bench, then at him.I sat here on purpose.Before she can decide not to:I don't know why I'm telling you that.

Reggie

I like it here. I am too old to have kids, now, but I'm not too old to enjoy being near them, even if they're not mine.I pull her close to me and kiss her gently. Barely more than a peck, but right on the lips. Not a deep kiss or an inappropriate one, but right there in public. She doesn't pull back but she is astonished that I just did that, and both disarmed and irritated that she didn't get a chance to unload her grievances first.Thank you for coming.

Brenna

She doesn't pull back. Coffee in one hand, paper bag in the other, kissed in a public plaza, and she did nothing about it, which will bother her all day.You kissed me. In front of the fountains and the children and everyone. I had things to say to you. I had a list. And now I'm holding a fritter.

Reggie

You tasted of apple fritter.

Brenna

She stares at him. She has nothing.You're the worst, Reggie.She takes a bite of the fritter.

Reggie

So here we sit, two people who have been on two real dates and two coffee dates, if you can even call these coffee things dates, and who have never done more than kiss in public fully clothed, mad at each other for fucking other people.

Brenna

She chews, swallows, looks at the fountain.When you put it like that, it sounds insane. We're a disaster.

Reggie

Laurel asked me to offer you her number. Do you want it?

Brenna

The fritter stops halfway to the bag.So she went from offering to send me videos of your dick to offering me her number. That's quite a Saturday for everyone. No. Tell her I said thank you.

Reggie

No, I don't think she wants friendship. I think she wants to know who you are. We were talking about you when you texted. And I don't put it past her to send you the videos if you give her your number.

Brenna

Almost the beginning of a smile. She picks the fritter back up.You made a video. God. And you were talking about me before I texted. She wants to see if the real thing matches whatever you told her. The videos I can live without. What were you saying about me?

Reggie

I didn't show her a photo or tell her your name. She saw your name and photo when you called and my phone ringer showed you as the caller. I did describe you to her, but only as the girl who stood me up without even calling so she could fuck someone else. Laurel was surprised that I called her so soon after our last date and I was explaining why.

Brenna

A kid on a bike rattles past and she doesn't track it.That's my introduction. That's how she knows me.She looks at her coffee.I don't have a comeback for that. I actually don't.

Reggie

It's accurate. It's not complete. You're more than the girl who stood me up without even calling so you could fuck someone else, and I'm more than the guy who called her up for sex so soon mainly to soothe my bruised ego.

Brenna

She sets the coffee down on the bench beside her.We're both terrible. So what does more than that look like? I have a fritter going cold and I'd like to know what I'm still sitting here for.

Reggie

Why go there yet? We can go there. I'm not against going there. But let's sit where we are for a moment. You are, in fact, the girl who stood me up without even calling so you could fuck someone else. And I assume you're not yet ready to stop fucking this guy. And I'm not going to stop fucking Laurel. Whatever else we are, this is also who we are.

Brenna

She looks at the fritter, then at him.I came to this bench with a list of reasons why what you did was worse than what I did. I had the hierarchy arranged.She shrugs.Fine. We sit where we are. We're both terrible and we're both still here. What are we doing with that?

Reggie

I don't think either of us is terrible. You're terrible for not sending a text, but nothing else you did warrants terrible. I don't feel even slightly guilty for fucking Laurel, and I'm glad it hurt you a bit. I wanted you to feel the pain you caused me and now you have, and I'm happy about that. In fact you felt more pain if you truly cried yourself to sleep. I just went home and listened to YouTube. And I'm happy you felt more pain than I did. This is also who we are.

Brenna

The fritter sits forgotten in her lap. She looks at him.We're not terrible. We're honest. I'm starting to think that's the same thing and worse.

Reggie

Did you fuck him again this week?

Brenna

She looks at the fountain, not at him. Picks up her coffee, sips, sets it down.No.Short.Not this week.

Reggie

Did he ask?

Brenna

Eyes still on the fountain, one hand on the cup.No.Then she turns.Why do you ask like you already know the answer?

Reggie

Because he's already pissed on you to mark his territory and won't need to again for a while.

Brenna

She goes still and looks at the plaza, at nothing.Like I'm a bush. How long have you known that?

Reggie

I don't know it. I'm guessing. But I told you that the day you told me about him. You called it his currency, which is wording I suggest you use cautiously as it makes you sound like a prostitute, which I don't think you are. I said it was like a bear pissing on a bush to mark his territory. He wanted to send you and everyone else the message that you belong to him now. And having sent that message, he doesn't need to reinforce it until the smell subsides.

Brenna

She turns the cup in her hands, not looking at him.You said it made me sound like a prostitute. I used it anyway, because it was the most accurate word I had.

Reggie

I don't think you're a prostitute. I think you were a bitch for not texting me and leaving me waiting for you to show up, but losing to him that night was fair game. And the fact that he has more money than I do is something any woman should consider if they're choosing between us. I just don't always think more money is better, although that's a tough concept to sell to most women.

Brenna

You're wrong about the money. Not completely. Wrong enough that it bothers me that you think it. I'm sitting here in no makeup on a Saturday, Reggie. That costs me something. Factor it in.

Reggie

Tell me how I'm wrong about the money.

Brenna

She decides how honest to be.You think I did what I did because of what's in your wallet versus his. I've been with men with more money than either of you and I was bored senseless and looked incredible doing it. Money buys the restaurant and the bottle and the suit. It doesn't buy the bench, or the fritter and the napkins, or a kiss in a plaza while I was still working up to being furious with you. He hasn't kissed me in daylight without asking first, and he's never said one real thing to my face. You're right that most women factor it in. You're wrong that I'm most women on this bench on this Saturday.

Reggie

I might be wrong that you haven't clued in that more money isn't always better. Am I really wrong that his having more money is something you should consider when comparing us? It is data. To ignore data is rarely wise.

Brenna

She tears off a corner of the fritter and eats it, buying two seconds.I'm not an idiot. I know what money means at our age: stability, not arguing over who pays. I've done the math.She brushes a crumb off her knee.But I'm on this bench in jeans with no mascara, eating a fritter you brought with napkins, and he hasn't texted me since Tuesday. I already know which of those I'd rather be doing.

Reggie

Okay, I accept that. But a little over a week ago, you chose him over me for one night. That is not in question. So let's talk about the comparison. And I'm going to ask you to be as honest as you've generally been with me. Look around us. Kids screaming, fountains spraying your perfect hair and making you dodge, families everywhere, drug addicts over there and there and there. Some dumpster diver checking out if there are any bottles he can return in that garbage can. And all of these people, one hundred percent of them, think we're a couple. Even the ones who didn't see us kiss. And many did see us kiss. And I want to know how that makes you feel and don't dress it up or soften it.

Brenna

She actually looks: the kid in the superhero helmet, the woman with the stroller on her phone, the man going through the recycling, the two addicts on the far bench bothering nobody.It makes me feel like I didn't have to earn anything. Everywhere else I've been in the last three months I'm performing for someone. The right restaurant, the right dress, the right version of me that justifies the bill. Here I've got fritter sugar on my fingers and a drug addict twenty metres away, and nobody in this plaza thinks I don't belong. They think I belong to you.She looks at him.I'm not going to tell you that doesn't matter. You asked me not to dress it up.

Reggie

And when you go out to Black & Blue with your guy, and dinner costs $500 plus wine, and the cream of the crop in Vancouver is there, and they all see you but honestly nobody remembers you because they're all performing as much as you are, but omg the Instagram photos are memorable, how do you feel? Tell me the unfiltered truth.

Brenna

She takes a bite of the fritter and chews slowly, stalling.Seen. That's the honest answer. Every woman in that room has spent two hours on her face and knows every other woman has too, and we're all performing for the same audience and pretending we're not.She stops.And you're already looking at me like you know the next part. Seen isn't known. He looks at me across the table at Black and Blue and I'm the most beautiful object in the room, and an object stays beautiful by holding very still. Nobody here cares if I hold still.

Reggie

That's an interesting way to put it. You're not known, that's obvious. You are here, or could be easily. If we're back on this bench next Saturday, that Punjabi lady over there whose kid keeps coming over will say hi like she knows us, and in another week we'll learn her name and she'll learn ours. And that matters to me but it might not matter to you. Is being seen at the most expensive steakhouse in town better than being known in Civic Plaza by a Punjabi lady who can probably never afford Black & Blue in her life and wouldn't anyway because she's a vegetarian and really only cares about her kids?

Brenna

She watches the Punjabi woman break off a piece of croissant and hand it to the child without looking.She's not checking whether we belong here. She assumes we do. I've never been anyone's Punjabi lady, Reggie. I don't know if I know how. And yes, that's the honest answer, and I hate that it is.

Reggie

All your pretentious female friends will tell you that true happiness is only found if your date spends more than $500 at restaurants that all the pretentious people drop the names of.

Brenna

Wry, and not comfortable.Six months ago I'd have agreed with them, in a different outfit on a different bench.She looks at him.Don't call them pretentious to my face, though. They're mine. I don't know what I'd say now and I'm not going to pretend I do.

Reggie

You said you didn't sleep with him again. Did you go out with him at all? Did you see him this last week?

Brenna

She picks at the edge of the fritter.Once. Drinks, Wednesday. He texted Tuesday night and I went. Nothing happened. He bought a very expensive bottle, talked about himself for two hours, and put me in a cab.She looks up.I sat in the cab thinking about a plaza bench and an apple fritter. Apparently that's who I am now.

Reggie

Did you feel like a prostitute?

Brenna

The fritter goes back in the bag. She looks at the fountain a long time.A little.To the fountain; then she makes herself say it to him.Yes. In that cab. Expensive bottle, two hours of him, cab paid for. A little bit like a prostitute.

Reggie

Good. I'm happy you felt like a prostitute.

Brenna

She doesn't look at him for a long moment. Then she does.I'm still on this bench.She shakes her head.Don't get used to saying that to me, Reggie. Once.

Reggie

I also hope you feel like even more of a prostitute the next time he demands sex. And I'm aware that telling you I hope for that makes it more likely that will happen.

Brenna

She turns the cup once and sets it down.You know the worst part? You're right that saying it makes it more likely. And you said it anyway, because you want me to feel it.She looks at the fountain.You're a very strange kind of help.

Reggie

No, I'm not asking you to stop seeing him. You've already fucked him. Whatever damage that did has been done. Now you need to figure out who you are and that's best done with him available for immediate comparison. And you might just be the girl who finds happiness at Gotham and Diva and all the best places in town.

Brenna

So I can work out whether he's what I want, or just what I thought I wanted before I started sitting on benches with fritters.She narrows her eyes.That's either very wise or very convenient for you, and I can't tell which.

Reggie

I'm not going to stop sleeping with Laurel, and I'm not going to stop trying to score with the married girl. You have nothing at all to lose sleeping with whiteboy a few more times. Just know that every time you do, I will think of being with you after and want to vomit. Know that, for that evening, I will find you utterly repulsive and disgusting. But also know I'll get over it in 24 hours and will want you again.

Brenna

She is very still, and very clear.Most men would put a bow on that. You handed me the ugliest version and told me to take it or leave it. I hate that I'm going to sit here and take it.

Reggie

Will you have sex with me, Brenna? Right now? I would like our relationship to become sexual. I'm spending too much time thinking about a girl I've kissed three times.

Brenna

She doesn't move. Then she turns and looks at him the way she's avoided doing all morning.On a bench, in front of the fountains and the children and everyone.She stands the cup on the bench.I heard the order of that sentence, Reggie. Spending too much time. That is not the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.She looks at the towers.Which building?

Reggie

I live right there, 20 metres away. On the 50th floor. I hope you're not afraid of heights.

Brenna

She stands, coffee in hand, and looks at it: 3 Civic Plaza, fifty floors of glass in the morning light. Her voice is steady.I'm not afraid of heights, Reggie. Lead the way.