Chapter 2
It was a beautiful day; temperature hitting the nineties, and not a cloud in the sky. Joanne was sitting on the terrace of her favorite restaurant and had just ordered lunch. She had her laptop sitting in front of her and was sipping her drink while waiting for the e-mail to download. The restaurant owners, who happened to be a couple of Joanne's friends, knew this behavior very well. It was almost a daily ritual. Joanne would come in for lunch, take her laptop out of her backpack, and start working while waiting for her lunch to be made. Once it arrived, the laptop would be put on the chair, only to come back up again when lunch was over and Joanne spent an hour, sometimes even two, just working on whatever. The owners didn't mind, regardless of them being friends. Joanne did, after all, order lunch and then drinks while working.
"My, don't we look important."
Joanne looked up to see Terry standing beside her. "Long live WiFi," Joanne grinned. "Welcome to my office. You want to sit down?"
"Oh no, I wouldn't want to keep you from your work."
"You won't," Joanne assured. "I have my own clock, as long as I get the job done. This, I can do later." She closed the laptop and put it aside. "I just ordered lunch; you want some?"
"Well, I was planning on going to MickeyD's down the road," the brunette said hesitantly. "Really, I only stopped by to say hi."
"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't let you go there and still feel good about myself. I have to save you from the Whopper, and all that. Please, sit down; my treat."
"Whopper is B.K.," Terry noted with a frown.
Joanne waved it off. "Same difference. It's fast food either way. Come on, sit down; here they serve real food."
"Oh, alright," Terry relented as she sat down in the chair across from the blonde.
Joanne lifted her hand to get the attention of the waitress, who was one of the owners.
"Yes dear?" The waitress asked with a smile.
"Pat, think you could hold off a few minutes more on bringing me my lunch? I have a guest."
"I think we can arrange that, you want a menu?" This last question was directed at Terry.
"What are you having?" Terry asked, looking at Joanne.
"Chef's sandwich. It's really good. And Peggy, the Chef, doesn't skimp on the ingredients. One of those sure fills you up."
"Alright, I'll give it a try, and a water to go with it."
"Coming right up," Pat said before walking away.
"So," Terry said slowly.
"So," Joanne repeated just as slowly.
Terry smiled before asking, "So, what was the deal with your car? Got it fixed now?"
"Yeah, it was nothing really. I know I blamed Victor for it, but it turned out that it was just bad luck. A fuse blew."
"And you didn't check that?" Terry asked amused.
"Hey, as far as I know, a very helpful individual just happened to stop and offer me a lift before I could check stuff like that."
"Uh huh, blame me. I feel so appreciated now."
"I appreciated the help very much," Joanne assured. "In fact, come to think of it, I'm glad I offered you this lunch; it's a good thank you, I think."
Terry smiled for a moment before suddenly frowning. "Wait a minute. You offered me this lunch before realizing that it would be a nice payment. So, if you think that offering me lunch is a nice payment for the help I gave, that means that you'll still owe me a lunch after this one. This one was offered to me out of the kindness of your heart; nothing more."
Joanne lifted her hands in mock defeat. "Alright, you win. I still owe you a lunch after this." Of course, this was not much of a sacrifice for Joanne because, in fact, she was hoping that the brunette would take her up on the second lunch offer.
"So, are you some kind of executive; running around with a laptop under your arm?" Terry asked, giving a short nod in the direction of said laptop.
"A kind of," Joanne agreed. "I work for a relatively large company, fifty-thousand employees nation wide. The name of the company I work for is not really known unless you're 'in the business' because our specialty is to buy local businesses and change them under the surface. To the people walking into the store or shop nothing really changes; which is what we want. We want to keep that small town store feeling. But right under that first level things are different. We have our own shipping department that's used by all our businesses... come to think of it... you drive a truck, you ever heard of 'Local Logistics'?"
"Yep. I know a few of the truckers that stop over at Jonson's Corner. I always find it funny if someone that works for 'local' logistics tells me that he has a thousand mile stretch in front of him."
"Well, that's our shipping department. The 'local' was done to give more of an impression of it being local businesses. After all, someone here in Creek Valley doesn't know that the same truck also supplies a store two states away. Anyway, my part in the company is to find new local companies to buy, pick them up, give them a good shakedown, and then fit them into our networks. I'm pretty good at my job, if I do say so myself. That's why I can sit here enjoying lunch with you on a sunny Monday instead of stuck in some office. As long as I deliver, my boss doesn't care if I spend all my time doing cartwheels along Route 66."
"As long as you deliver," Terry repeated. "You say you pick those businesses up and shake them out; you like upturning other people's lives?"
"It's not that," Joanne started, only to stop when Pat brought them their lunches.
"Enjoy. I can see that you're having a nice conversation going here, so I'll leave you alone. If you need something, just let me know."
"Thanks Pat, sure will," Joanne assured before looking back at Terry. "What I enjoy is the challenge of changing things without uprooting people's lives. Mostly, though I admit not all the time, we keep all the people that work at the companies. See, here's the thing. Small companies don't have the assets to hire a lot of people so quite often people do two or three jobs in a 'kinda' way. What we do is, because we already have those supporting structures and networks going, is to take away some of that pressure of having to do so many different things at once. Before, someone had to spend a day doing inventory, and then a second day putting the order together, then track the order. Then we come in and amongst other things bring in an electronic system that automatically keeps track of the inventory. Products that are steady and good sellers even get ordered automatically by the program when inventory runs low. The rest of the order placing is simply sending a list with what they want to have delivered; that's it. We take care of the rest of it. We make sure that it's delivered on time, and take care of any problems. And not to forget, because we're such a big company we can apply pressure for providers to stick to delivery dates. And we can buy in bulk; bringing down the prices. Also, not to forget, because we're one company instead of many small ones we save literally millions on taxes. We have bookkeepers and lawyers that are on the job all year instead of the small company having to go to a tax lawyer that one month a year when those people are already swamped with other people needing their expertise."
Joanne took a sip from her drink before continuing. She had given this explanation before, so she was well used to giving the information and covering questions she knew would be asked next anyway. "Ah, lawyers; we save millions there as well. It's actually a paradox of sorts. See, when a small company gets one of those 'slip and fall' cases where some moron trips over milk because they just dropped the container and then sues for half a million, they normally end up settling the lawsuits for sometimes even tens of thousands of dollars. But we have two fulltime civil claims lawyers on our payroll. They are well known and cost a lot more than they should, but it still pays out because now all those small companies don't have to settle. Instead we bring in this big bad lawyer to chuckle at the plaintiff and their lawyer that's more used to dealing with fender benders than going up against lawyers who's name already makes people say 'oh shit' and ask amused, 'you really want to go up against me? You want to go bankrupt that badly? Go on, make my day.' Just by doing that, they get about seventy percent of claims to be dropped even before they get to court. Anyway, because we take care of all that, it leaves those people in those shops to do that one job they're really good at, and do it all the way. Service gets better, more people come in, business booms, we make our profit and the people keep their jobs."
"Ah, and you bring those small companies into this warm and wonderful nest. So you're really just a good Samaritan at heart?" Terry asked with a teasing smile.
Joanne grinned before admitting, "Nope, for that to be true I enjoy my commissions and bonuses way too much. But yeah, I like the fact that most of the time, not always, but most of the time I can do my job, get that commission, and actually better the life of people while doing so."
Terry picked up her sandwich and took a bite. After a moment her eyes got a little bigger in surprise. "Oh, my. This really is good."
"Beats a fat-burger any time," Joanne agreed as she took a bite out of her own sandwich.
They spent a few minutes eating in silence and Joanne put those minutes to good use by studying Terry. When meeting her the first time, Joanne felt that in her mind Terry looked perfect and with every second Joanne spent looking at the brunette now, that opinion only got stronger and stronger. The grass-green eyes fit perfectly with the light brown/dark blonde hair color. A fine nose that tipped up a bit at the end every so slightly, full lips, and a set of teeth that looked so perfect that Joanne was wondering for a moment if they might be fake.
Terry apparently didn't wear any makeup, or she knew how to use make-up in such a way that she was able to use it to look like she wasn't wearing any. Joanne knew only a few people that were able to pull that off; to use make-up to make someone look like she didn't need it. Those people were actually making a living in the film industry as highly sought after make-up artists, so Joanne assumed that Terry really simply didn't need the make-up because life had favored her with flawless looks. Joanne herself never went heavy on the make-up either, but she liked to use a little lipstick or eye-shadow. Joanne also didn't need make-up to look good, but she knew that her looks could be enhanced just that little bit with just the right color make-up to go with the right blouse or such.
Joanne's eyes drifted lower while she pretended to be looking at nothing in general. An elegant neck gave way to strong shoulders. Not broad, but also not narrow or slumping. No, they gave an impression of fine lines, but still strong and self-assured. Her eyes drifted lower yet over the white T-shirt before coming to rest on Terry's chest.
"36C."
"Wh... what?" Joanne asked, looking back up to see green eyes that weren't as humor filled as they had been before.
"I figured that since you've been looking at my breasts for about a minute now, I would be nice and tell you the size."
Realizing her rudeness, Joanne quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm... God, this will sound stupid, or like the worst pickup line ever, so please, don't take it as either, but... you're perfect. You are absolutely gorgeous and, wow, just wow."
Now the smile came back. "Why thank you."
"I really mean that."
"So I gather," Terry assured. "But you do know what they say, right? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If I were to be sitting across from someone who likes redheads, and women that are shorter than my five foot five frame, and not as skinny as me, that person would think of me as 'not bad' at best."
"You aren't skinny," Joanne objected before correcting the statement to; "You're slim."
"Oh really?" Terry asked amused. "And just what exactly is the difference between skinny and slim?"
"In my mind skinny is someone where you can count the ribs, someone that has no butt to speak of, and since the person has no body fat, her breast size is only still what it once was when she did have body fat because of plastic surgery. Slim, is someone that doesn't have any overly clear fat reserves, but does have padding in the right places to give sensual curves. A flat stomach, but not sunken lower than the ribs, and a great butt that fills out a pair of jeans in an incredibly sexy way."
"You forgot the breast size with the slim person," Terry noted as she took a sip of her water.
"No I didn't," Joanne disagreed. "Breast sizes are given by nature, and I know only too well that the A, and even AA, cups are a lot more common than magazines and the internet would make us believe. I for one would much rather see a nice set of A cup breasts that fit with the lines of a body than some fake D or even DD cup on a body that clearly wasn't designed for such."
"And are mine real?" Terry asked with a smile.
"They fit your body lines perfectly."
"Oh, you should go into politics," Terry laughed. "That wasn't an answer to my question."
Joanne grinned as well and this time very deliberately took some time to look at Terry's breasts. "Oh, yeah. They're real."
"Nope, fake."
"Really?" Joanne asked surprised with raised eyebrows.
"No, not really. I just wanted to see how you would react. No, I'm all real. But turnaround is fair, so?"
Joanne frowned for a moment before understanding the question. "Oh. All real, and proud of it. I've got to tell you, I slept with someone once that had my size, but fake. I don't know if it was a bad boob-job or actually a normal thing, but I sure could feel the difference. I like the way mine feel so much better. Maybe she had that hardening thing they warn on TV that it's a risk with implants. "
"Tell me something, Joanne, are you trying to get me into bed?"
Joanne looked at Terry in shock for a moment before starting to laugh. "If I was halfway sane I really should be trying that, shouldn't I? I already admitted that I think you have a killer body, and now I'm having a discussion about breasts. But believe it or not; it didn't even enter my mind, until now. So now that you've planted the idea in my head, tell me. You actually swing that way, or shouldn't I even try?"
"Let's just say that I'm an equal opportunity kind of girl. But, um, would you do me a favor?"
"Sure, if I can," Joanne said intrigued.
"As you know, I'm new to this area. I don't know many people here and right now I really could use a friend a lot more than a good lay."
"And you assume I would be a good lay? Thank you for the compliment. Alright, deal. A friend it is. You're safe from me trying to get into your pants."
A grin with that last statement made it clear that Joanne was exaggerating things deliberately. "Hey, you want something more to drink, or something other than water?"
"Water is fine, but sure, I wouldn't mind a refill. The waitress sure wasn't kidding when she said she would leave us alone."
"That's because she's a friend of mine and I come here for lunch every day that I'm not on a business trip. She knows that if she asks me how the food was, that my answer will be 'great,' because I haven't been disappointed here yet. She also knows that I normally do some of my work here and doesn't want to bother me while I'm doing it. But Pat seems to have eyes in the back of her head."
Joanne lifted her hand some and mere seconds later, Pat came walking onto the terrace.
"Anything I can do for you?" she asked as she picked up the two plates that had held the sandwiches.
"Just a refill on the drinks please," Joanne said.
"Coming right up," Pat assured as she turned around.
Focusing back on Terry, Joanne asked, "Alright, we talked about what I do, now tell me what you do. Or better said, since we agreed that I wouldn't try to pick you up, let me use a very fitting pickup line; how does a nice girl like you end up with a job like that?"
"It... thanks," Terry waited while their drinks were replaced and continued as Pat moved away again. "It's really a temp situation that never stopped being temp. My dad was a trucker. He was always on the road making money to support his wife and kid. He wanted to give us a good life, which he did. He just didn't realize that he was keeping one of the best parts we could have in our life out of it; him. Then one day my mother died. My dad knew that he wouldn't be able to take care of me. He was a trucker; that was his thing. So he decided that I would go live with some family. But they couldn't take me in right that moment, so my dad decided to take me along on one of his runs and by the time we would be back I would be able to move in with the family. Things didn't turn out that way though. We both realized that we loved the time we had together and so one run became two, two became three. Soon years had passed and I was old enough to get my truck license. My dad passed away three months after I turned twenty-two; four years ago. Since the house was sold after my mother died I had nothing but my dad's truck and a savings account with a tidy sum in it. Enough to buy a house, a car and then start me off in a new life. But that didn't happen. I liked the truck driving, so I kept doing it. My savings aren't going anywhere and I can keep doing what I like until I get tired of it."
"So you normally live in your truck?" Joanne surmised.
"When I'm on the road, yes. It's only if I stay somewhere for a few days, say if I'm waiting, and getting paid to wait I might add, for a load, that I'll get myself a motel room. But, I don't know. I'm so used to living in my truck that sometimes a motel just feels weird. I know that you couldn't see it last time because I had the curtain closed, but don't underestimate the amount of room I got in my Mack Pinnacle. Dad bought that truck with the biggest cabin available because two people were living in it. I even have a cabinet, fridge, TV, and coffee maker in there. But I must admit that I like the deal I have now even better. Because my new employer wants to set up a foothold in this region he needs someone here so that they can say 'sure we can handle that.' So, because I'm basically on call for him 24/7, I get paid a flat fee now. He also rented a small condo for me in the next town."
"Flat fee? Not bad," Joanne had to admit.
"Sometimes I got to push to get things done in time; but what else is new, right? But take now. I have nowhere to go because there's no order, but I still get the whole day paid. A month ago I even had a full week off."
"But surely that won't last. At some point the decision will have to be made to either stop trying, or your employer gets what he wants which means that you'll have to work more and would actually make more if paid per run than your flat fee now covers."
"That's why this deal only lasts for another two months," Terry said with a grin. "I like this quiet time; it's kinda like a working vacation. I can start pushing again after two months."
"So you don't have anything to do today?" Joanne asked.
"Nope, can't say I do; why?"
"Well, then how about I do the good friend thing and take you for a tour? Introduce you to some people. I also need to do some shopping at Wally-World, and after that you can do the good friend thing and help me carry my bags."
"Should we take my truck?" Terry suggested with a grin.
"Grocery shopping, not 'grab all you can' shopping; my car will do just fine." Joanne stood up and looked at the door where Pat had to be. When the waitress didn't come out, Joanne assumed that she was taking care of customers inside the restaurant. "Come on. I have a tab here; she'll write it down."
"Don't you own a normal car?" Joanne asked a week later when Terry hopped out of her truck at the place where they agreed to meet.
"Why should I? Remember, normally my life is driving from one place to the next. Having a normal car would be a waste of money. I can drive my truck around just as well."
"And pay a fortune in Diesel."
"Still cheaper than owning an extra car where I have to pay for gas as well," Terry bantered back. Then she grinned. "Besides, I never have to deal with road-rage. I never have someone wanting to push me off the road because I didn't slow down while they passed me, or people not wanting to get out of the way for that matter. Trust me, when they've looked in their rearview mirror three times and all they see is a big-ass Mack sign because I'm practically riding their bumper, they get nervous and move."
"That is until you meet the person that wants you to hit them for insurance money."
Terry ginned again. "Nope, not even that. They know a truck can't stop as fast as a car does, and if they were to hit the brake abruptly they'll end up in the hospital, at best. They move; believe me, they move."
"If you say so," Joanne said, not really convinced, but understanding that it was more than likely that Terry was speaking from experience. "Anyway, we still have an hour before the movie starts. You want to go eat somewhere first? Or we could also walk through the adjacent mall and eat after the movie."
"Walk now, eat later," Terry decided.
They were browsing through an electronic store when a local news station on TV caught their attention. It was, once again, about the UFO's. It first showed some footage, and then showed a few interviews in which most people seemed scared.
"You know, we met up four times already in the last week, but we never even talked about that," Joanne noted.
"You're right. It's just... I don't know, I kinda like talking about every day things with you and talking about the UFO's never enters my mind," Terry said thoughtfully.
"Want to talk about it now, so that we have it over and done with and can talk about every day things again?" Joanne asked with a grin.
"Sure, why not," Terry agreed. The next three hours were spent with mostly Joanne talking and a very interested Terry listening. The time for the movie came and went; both decided that the movie could wait.
"God, I can't believe you let me talk like that without telling me to shut up," Joanne said a little bemused, when she realized that she had been the one doing most of the talking.
"Normally people can only stand so much of that before they threaten to kill me. It is, in fact, the reason why I'm not in a relationship. They get sick and tired of my hobby."
"Your hobby being astronomy?" Terry surmised.
"Right." Joanne cringed when thinking back for a moment. "My biggest blunder was with the last try I had at a relationship. One night she asked me, 'Want to come to bed? I'm horny.' And I very stupidly said, 'Would you mind waiting an hour longer? That alignment I was talking about is at its best in ten minutes.' She left that night."
"Well, I for one also love space," Terry assured. "So I would never have left. I would have indulged you, and then later have you work extra hard to make it up to me that you left me waiting."
Joanne answered Terry's smile with one of her own. "Unfortunately we made a deal; friends only."
Terry hesitantly took Joanne's hand and looked at their entwined fingers for a moment before looking back up. "And what would you say if I told you that I'm seriously rethinking that deal?"
"I would say that I'd be really surprised."
"Really surprised, or pleasantly surprised?" Terry asked.
"Definitely pleasantly surprised," Joanne assured. "But I thought you only wanted a friend."
"And don't I have one?" Terry reasoned. "The fact is, I really like you. I like having you as a friend, but more than that. Remember, I asked for the 'just be friends' favor right after you were checking me out. I didn't want sex. If it's sex I want, I know enough places where I can get it. What I really wanted was a friend. You're a very good friend Jo, so much so that I see the potential for more."
"So, you're saying that now you're open to me trying to seduce you?"
Terry smiled. "Jo, don't you understand, you don't have to try; you're already seducing me by not trying to seduce me. What I want is the friend that you are. I'm just telling you this so that you aren't surprised if I do something before I can stop myself. Something like this." At the last word, Terry stepped closer and placed a soft kiss on Joanne's lips, not caring in the least that they were standing in the middle of a busy mall.
"I, I see," Joanne stammered as they broke apart. "You're right, that would definitely have kicked my feet right out from under me if I hadn't been warned."
"You like?" Terry asked with a shy smile.
"I like very much. Is there a chance for a replay of that?"
"There might be." They stepped closer again and this time it was Joanne that started the kiss.
Before either of them realized it, tongues were involved and hands started to roam. The sound of catcalls and whistling broke them apart and made them realize just where they were.
"Oh damn, I've never done that before," Joanne said while the red blush of embarrassment rose to her ears.
Terry licked her lips and smiled. "No? Could have fooled me."
"Not the kissing part. I did that before. I'm talking about kissing in public like that."
"When was that next show starting again?" Terry suddenly asked. "I think we could use some cooling off time."
"In fifteen minutes," Joanne said after checking her watch. "Just enough time to get the tickets and some snacks."
The movie itself turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. A good story idea told in an incredibly boring way. As the movie started to unfold it also soon became apparent that cooling off really wasn't that much of an option. With no movie to speak of to keep their interest, the dark theater soon lent itself to other opportunities. It once again started with a shy kiss that soon turned into much more. They were in the last row of seats and therefore could see that the five other people in the show were watching the screen; totally oblivious to what was going on behind them.
Tongues started to play and hands started to roam once more. But this time there were no catcalls or whistles to stop them, and the fondling they were doing felt much too good to even think about stopping. Looking around the theater once more, and making sure that what they were doing went totally unnoticed, Joanne got daring and moved her hand under Terry's T-shirt. Up her hand went until she was cupping one of Terry's firm breasts.
Terry moaned her encouragement into Joanne's mouth, and with that seal of approval Joanne pushed Terry's bra up. Her fingers immediately found a very erect nipple and she boldly started to play with it. Only to be shown mere seconds later that she wasn't the one making the boldest move. Joanne felt Terry slip her hand into her pants and moments later a confident finger touched an aching clit. After the initial wave of pleasure, Joanne noticed that Terry wasn't moving her hand and quickly realized what Terry was waiting for.
Joanne reluctantly broke off their kissing and moved her mouth to Terry's ear. "Yes, please yes," she pleaded softly before trailing the edge of Terry's ear with her tongue. Terry's fingers started to move, and it wasn't long before she had Joanne panting, and at her complete mercy. Suddenly a quiet part of the movie set in and Terry laughed softly before whispering, "You are in so much trouble."
Before Joanne could ask what the brunette meant, she felt the fingers start to pick up speed and she knew full-well what Terry was going to do.
"Bitch," Joanne panted before burying her face in Terry's neck and moaning out her release while Terry's skilled fingers sent her over the edge.
Terry stilled her fingers but didn't remove her hand. "Liked that?" She asked softly.
"Oh yeah. I liked a lot." Joanne gave Terry's nipple a last squeeze before removing her hand.
Terry had to smile when she realized that Joanne was thoughtfully, though a little clumsily pulling the bra back into place. She lifted her breasts to settle the bra, and relieved the pinch that Joanne had inadvertently caused. Finally she, slowly, removed her hand from Joanne's pants and brought her fingers to her mouth. "Mmm, nice."
"Like that?" Joanne said, repeating Terry's words.
"Oh yeah, I like that a lot," Terry confirmed.
Joanne looked around her seeing that the other people were still apparently oblivious to that was going on behind them. "Another thing I never did before. So, would you do me the honor of allowing me to repay the favor?"
Terry also looked around the theater before nodding and standing up enough to let the folding chair flip back. Then she sat back down on the edge; her hips now a little higher than the arm rests. She bent down a little and whispered in Joanne's ear. "Now, let's see how daring your really are."
After a last look around the theater, Terry stood again, opened her pants and let them drop before sitting down on the edge of the folded up chair. "Go on, I dare you."
"My, you are a naughty girl; commando?" Joanne asked with a soft whisper as she slowly moved her hand up the inside of Terry's thigh until she was cupping the brunette's center.
"Normally I prefer to wear panties, but when I wear my tight jeans I don't like the feel of panties underneath them," Terry admitted. "So, you want to make good use of the fact?"
Joanne didn't have to be asked twice, and kneeled in front of the brunette. It was a tight fit, but she managed to bend enough to bring her mouth to Terry's warm flesh. She smiled when she heard a soft gasp coming from above her. She knew that she really should tease Terry for making her come during one of the quietest times in the entire movie, but she decided that teasing would be for, hopefully, another time. Now she was enjoying herself way to much by licking away Terry's wetness. Joanne took pride in the fact that she was the one that had caused it.
Knowing that this couldn't take too long, Joanne concentrated more and more on Terry's clit. But she wanted more. She wanted to be inside, to feel Terry come around her fingers. She brought her fingers to Terry's opening and waited, basically asking permission to enter her. A hand came down and placed itself around Joanne's wrist. Slowly, Terry moved the blonde's fingers inside, and then took a moment to set a rhythm of moving in and out; showing Joanne just how she liked it. Not long after that Joanne felt Terry's hand on her head, pulling her even closer and then her fingers were gripped and released in an irregular pattern as Terry reached her peak.
Joanne slowly removed her fingers when she felt that Terry had stopped shaking. She looked up with a smile, but didn't see much in the dark theater. So instead she placed a final kiss on Terry's sensitive bundle of nerves before moving away to allow Terry to reach down and lift up her pants again.
"Want to get out of here?" Terry asked once she had her clothes in order.
Joanne could only nod her agreement to that idea.
Ten minutes later they were standing in front of Terry's truck. "I wasn't planning on that," Terry admitted. "I kinda, um, thought that things would evolve slowly. But, I definitely don't have any regrets. Do you?"
"I don't," Joanne assured. "But I have to admit that I'm a little worried about what's going to happen now."
"Well, let's first make sure that the friendship stays firmly alive. I have another day off, the day after tomorrow. Want to meet up again and do something that doesn't involve sex?"
"Absolutely," Joanne agreed immediately.
"Alright, with that covered," Terry walked to the door of her truck and opened it. "Want to come in for a moment?"
Joanne knew what Terry meant. There was a bed in that truck and enough room to move around comfortably. This was different than in the theater. In the theater things had just... happened. Now they would make the very deliberate choice of going to bed to have sex.
"I would love to join you in your truck, but hopefully it's longer than just for a moment."
Terry smiled. "I sure hope so."
The next two weeks turned out to be the best time of Joanne's life. She and Terry spent every free moment they could together, and by the last day of those two weeks Joanne had to admit, if only to herself, that she was totally and hopelessly in love with Terry Lee. She was scared of admitting as much to Terry, but she realized that she would never be able to forgive herself if she didn't mention it until it was too late. So, she decided to confess her feelings for the brunette at the next opportune moment.
"Hey, it was great to get your call," Joanne said as Terry got out of the truck. Then she saw the sad look on Terry's face, and remembered that on the phone the brunette had sounded a bit down as well. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Terry assured before coming to the point. "Listen, I just got a call that I have to pick up a load."
"Oh, that's alright, we can meet up again some other time," Joanne offered, thinking that the unplanned interruption was the cause of the sadness.
"No, I, um, I wanted to ask if you would like to come with me, we could use the time to talk."
"Sure, let me get my stuff," Joanne agreed.
Once on the road, Joanne tried to start a conversation several times, but for someone that wanted to talk, Terry sure was very quiet. Then, twenty minutes into the drive, Terry started to talk. "You know, we talked a lot about those UFO's and just what it could mean. I think that you're right on a lot of things, and the things that you're wrong on, you're wrong on because you don't have all the information. Do you really think that just having a conversation can change so much?"
"Well, yeah, I do," Joanne affirmed, slightly surprised that Terry would start with this subject now. "Mind you, the first condition is obviously that people are open to listening, but if they are, sure. It sometimes takes little more than a suggestion of 'you could also do it this way'."
"So, let's pretend I'm crazy for a moment, if I were able to make it possible for you to meet the leaders of these aliens, would you talk to them, give them your opinion?"
"In a heartbeat," Joanne assured.
"Aren't you afraid of what they would do to you?"
Joanne shrugged at the question. "Everyone can do stuff to me. I could get arrested by some gay hating cop and get the living crap beaten out of me. Life is full of chances, and if you don't take some of those chances you aren't living life; just existing."
"So, if I were to take you with me, and if I were able to let you meet my leaders, would you give them your view on things?"
Joanne looked at Terry bewildered for a moment before starting to laugh. "Oh, that's precious. For a moment I thought you were serious."
Terry looked at Joanne for a moment with a somewhat pained expression. "Jo, I 'am' serious. Will you talk to them?"
A silence fell between then and with every passing second Joanne realized that Terry was indeed telling the truth.
"Hot damn," she finally exclaimed. "You're a god damn alien?!"
"I am a human, I just wasn't born on Earth," Terry corrected. "Jo, I've been called back and will be reassigned somewhere else in the country. I can drop you off somewhere and we'll never meet again; you can forget everything I just told you. Or..."
"Or I come with you and see where things end," Joanne finished. She thought about it for a moment and quickly realized that simply watching Terry move out of her life was unacceptable. Which only left one option. "Alright, I'll come with you."
"Thank you," Terry said softly, never taking her eyes off the road.
"So, all that talk of driving a truck ever since you were legally allowed to was a lie?"
"I think it's better that we save the questions for now. If things need explaining, my leaders will do so, otherwise it might be best for you to know as little as possible."
Even though Terry had decided to say as little as possible, there was one thing she just had to mention. Looking at Joanne she gave that sweet smile that Joanne had come to love so much. "Thank you for doing this. You have no idea what this means to me."
They drove on in total silence for more than half an hour on roads even Joanne didn't know existed. Then Terry suddenly pulled onto an unmarked dirt road and they followed it for ten minutes. Finally Terry pulled to the side of the road. She looked at Joanne and took a nervous breath before saying, "Now we wait."
Terry got out of the truck and Joanne followed suit. She walked around the truck and saw that Terry had sat down on the truck's footboard.
Joanne slowly sat down as well. "You said that I would have to wait for information. Care to bend that a little? Alright, you can't tell me a lot, but why are you taking me along when apparently it's not what you were told to do?"
"Jo," Terry started.
"No." Joanne interrupted. "I'm not asking you to tell me all there is to know about you, I'm asking you why you're doing this; nothing more."
Terry sighed before starting hesitantly. "I, and others like me in different locations, were ordered to study Earth Humans' behavior first hand. Interact, ask questions, and then report what we learned to our leaders. That's also the reason why I'm driving around in a truck; to meet people. A truck driver asking some questions; who would be suspicious of that? Everybody knows that truck drivers just love to talk, right? The thing is that we were only allowed to observe. Under no condition were we to expose our true nature."
"And yet, here you are not only exposing yourself to me, but even asking me to come along," Joanne said. As they had been talking, Terry had turned away a little so that Jo was no longer able to see her face fully. But Joanne didn't need to see the brunette's face to hear the mix of sadness and fear as Terry continued.
"I disobeyed my orders and will accept my punishment; whatever it may be. But just like you, I think that our leaders are not on the right track, and I think it should be pointed out to them by someone that can say that they're pretty sure because she's someone that is actually affected by the things we do."
"Punishment, what punishment? And just who are your leaders?"
"I don't know yet what punishment, but I'm sure that there will be one. After all, I disobeyed orders. As for my leaders, I think that it's better to leave that for what it is for now; you already know too much as it is."
Joanne wanted to put her arm around Terry and take her in a comforting hug, but something inside her told her that this would be the wrong thing to do at that moment. Not really knowing what to say, she asked the question she had been wondering about from the moment Terry told her she wasn't from Earth. "So, you really are a human, or do you just look like one? You know, like the Betazoids and others on Star Trek?"
"Why? Are you freaked about having had sex with a 'god damned alien'?"
"Whoa, easy on the attitude there," Joanne objected. "First of all, you should know me well enough by now to know that I would be more interested about finding interesting spots on a body that isn't human, than being freaked about the fact that this body isn't human. Also, let me remind you that you just told me that you aren't from Earth. I don't think I'm out of line to ask if you're a human or not, because up until half an hour ago I knew for a fact that humans only lived on Earth. I thought that there might be other life out there, but humans could only be found on Earth because we evolved here. So excuse me for being curious about whether there are physical differences and I simply didn't find them when we made love. And just for the record, in my mind we only had sex once; in that theater. After that we made love."
Terry sighed and nodded her head a little. "You are right, of course. I know it won't count for much when I say this now, but trust me; I'm all human. I'm sorry about my reaction. It's not every day that I tell people that I'm not from Earth; I'm kinda new at this."
"I guess you got a point there," Joanne admitted. "I can't even think about how I would handle admitting something like that."
"Let's just... wait."
"Alright," Joanne could only agree.
They sat in silence for almost half an hour before eventually Joanne heard a soft humming sound that was slowly getting louder. She wanted to ask if that was the spaceship they were waiting for, but one look at Terry told her enough.
All those warm emotions that had radiated off the woman only minutes before were gone. Those normally sparkling green eyes had lost their shine, and when Terry stood up her whole body took on a rigid stance.
A minute later one of the spaceships Joanne had seen several times on TV descended and landed about fifty yards away from where they were. A large door started to open at what Joanne guessed was the back of the ship and she hesitantly took a step towards the ship, only to stop when Terry gave her a short gesture to wait. The brunette walked towards the ship where she spent a moment talking in a clearly heated discussion with a person that had appeared at the door as it was opening before finally coming back.
Joanne wanted to ask what the situation was, but Terry walked straight past her and got into the truck, which she then drove towards the ship and in over the ramp that had been extended in front of it. Joanne had been amazed by the person she had seen when Terry came walking back. That cold and remote person couldn't possibly be the same woman that Joanne had fallen in love with.
Joanne was brought out of her musing by movement by the door of the ship. The person Terry had been talking to a moment before was now waving her closer. Nervously Joanne walked closer, and then into the ship when the man waved her onward. The man, who Joanne guessed to be about fifty years old, showed Joanne to a chair and motioned for her to sit down. As she did, the man was mumbling something in a strange language, but Joanne didn't need to understand it to know that the man was not happy with the situation.
The man walked back to the door and started to close it. Joanne used the time to have a look around her to see if she could find where Terry was, but all she found was the brunette's truck parked silently a little further into the ship. After the man had closed the door he took a seat across from Joanne and gestured to some kind of belt hanging on the side of her chair. The belt looked like a mix between thick tin foil and rubber.
Obviously Joanne had no idea what the whole meaning of it was, so she took hold of the belt and lifted it to see if this would give her an explanation. Then she looked back at the man who apparently understood the problem and demonstrated the use with the belt attached to his own chair. The belt turned out to be a seatbelt of some kind, and even though it looked like some kind of metal, Joanne could bend and handle the belt like the softest silk she had ever touched. She was also surprised to notice that this 'metal' seemed to have some kind of internal heating source.
After a minute or so a lamp came on and Joanne saw that the man across from her quickly changed the position of the belt, probably for comfort reasons. Mere seconds later she got the explanation as to why the man had shifted his belt a little. Suddenly the temperature of the belt dropped a little and it became as stiff as steel; literally.
Joanne heard the man mumble again in the language she didn't understand and she spoke up to ask if he was talking about her. The man gave Joanne a dirty look for a moment before finally saying in English, "This will cause nothing but problems."
But before Joanne could ask what the man meant, the ship started to move and shot up into the air so fast that the resulting g-forces rendered Joanne unconscious.
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Continued...