~ Shaken ~
by KG MacGregor
© 2002
Disclaimers: See Part 1
"What did I tell you? Gorgeous, isn't it?" Kim held her arms wide in the foyer of the luxury condominium. Twenty-two hundred square feet, two bedrooms and a loft, a private patio, and covered parking. "It's gated, so you won't have to worry about unwelcome guests. The maintenance fees are only eight hundred a month. That's a steal in this neighborhood."
"I don't know. It's okay, I guess." Anna couldn't seem to get enthused about any of the properties on Kim's list. She knew it was time to give up the house-the one she had bought with Scott. She hadn't been comfortable there since the day she moved into the guest room. Come to think of it, she hadn't been all that comfortable in the master suite with Scott either.
"I wonder what Lily would think about it. She's got a pretty good sense of things." Kim had been thinking for weeks how to bring up the subject of Lily with her sister. Anna was back to working long hours, losing weight and avoiding her family again. And she wasn't spending time with the attorney, who Kim thought had come to mean more to her than any friend she had ever had. "Why don't we call her and see if she'll join us?"
Anna walked away from the realtor into the living room. "Does this fireplace work?" She needed to change the subject.
"Yes. Did you just ignore me?" Sister wasn't going to let it go.
Anna sighed and sat on the low hearth. "Lily and I aren't doing much together these days. She's been really busy at work." That was the party line.
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"We had dinner together a couple of weeks before Christmas." She was silent for almost a minute, staring at the floor. "It's like something happened at Tahoe, but I have no idea what it was." The tall woman's voice was sad, but the words were deliberate, as though she had gone over them many times in her head. "It seemed like we all had a good time. Then she got asthma that night and left the next day without saying goodbye. When we got back, she ducked my calls. I must have done something or said something."
"Did something happen in the kitchen?"
"When?"
"When you and Todd went to get drinks for everybody." Kim was straining to remember the details. She sensed that this was an important event. "Lily went in to help, then she came back and said she was sick. Come to think of it, that's the last time I saw her."
Anna's eyes grew wide as she stood and started to pace the empty room. Clutching her head in her hands, the moment came back. "She came into the kitchen? Are you sure?"
Kim nodded.
"I was in the kitchen with Todd. He was telling me how much fun he'd had and how good it was to see me again." She turned and looked out the window. "He asked if we could get together when he moved down here. Then he kissed me." Anna suddenly knew that Lily had witnessed that kiss.
Kim realized it too, and immediately understood the significance. "He kissed you?" She felt anger arise at the thought of Hal's friend being so presumptuous.
"I stopped him, though. I pushed him back. I didn't get angry or anything, I just wasn't comfortable with it. I told him that I didn't think of him that way. He said he was sorry, and everything was okay after that."
"Did you ever see Lily in the kitchen at all?"
"No."
"Then I think we just figured out what changed." Kim put her hand on her sister's shoulder. She couldn't articulate the rest. Anna would have to do that. "Honey, I'm here for you. You can talk to me if you want to."
"Thank you." Anna reached out both arms and hugged her sister. "I…want to think about it all for awhile, but I promise I'll talk to you soon, okay?" She was glad to finally understand what had changed things between Lily and herself, but she had no idea what she would do about it.
**********
The drunken blonde stumbled to the door to stop the incessant ringing and pounding. "Lay off, already. I'm not fucking deaf!" Fumbling with the dead bolt, she flung the door back without checking through the peephole. There in her doorway stood two very angry women.
"What the hell's going on with you?" Suzanne demanded. "You don't return our phone calls. You don't come by. You ignore our invitations without so much as a 'fuck you.'"
"Who the fuck do you think you are, coming into my house and yelling at me like that?" Oh yeah, really drunk. "Get the hell out of here!"
Sandy was shocked to hear the always gentle woman speaking to them in this manner. On the other hand, Suzanne's language never surprised her. She took in the dirty apartment and her disheveled friend. Never in her life had Lily been more in need of a friend.
Without another word, Sandy stepped forward and embraced the woman. Lily resisted at first, trying to turn away, but Sandy was bigger and held on tight. The little blonde finally relaxed. She wanted to cry, but the tears were gone.
"What's this about, Lily? Is it Anna?"
The drunken girl nodded. "You were right about her. And about me. She's straight, and I should have left her alone. But I didn't. I was under some grand illusion that she could fall in love me. Just like I fell in love with her."
"We told you that was going to happen. We could see it coming a mile away." Suzanne would rather be right than president.
"Shut up, Suzanne," Sandy stopped her partner.
Holy shit! That was worth letting them in!
"This is our fault," Sandy continued.
"What do you mean our fault?" Suzanne was stunned. In 12 years, her partner had never told her to shut up. She was certain she should do just that.
"Yeah, what do you mean your fault," slurred the little drunk.
"I mean that Lily has been ignoring us because she didn't want to hear us say 'I told you so.'" Lifting up Lily's chin, she said sincerely, "We didn't ever mean to give the impression that we wouldn't be here for you."
"Even if I decided to wreck my own life?"
"Especially then."
**********
The revelation that Lily had pulled away from her because of Todd made Anna want to simply pick up the phone and tell the woman that it was all a misunderstanding. However, there were several problems with that approach, not the least of which was the fact that Lily wasn't taking her calls. Besides, it was a pretty vulnerable spot for Anna to crawl into willingly, especially if Lily had already moved on. But the main thing that stopped her was the realization that she wasn't prepared for Lily's response, no matter what it was.
"Are you getting excited about our trip?" George Kaklis entered his daughter's office. On Monday morning, the two of them would leave for Germany where they would tour the BMW design center and meet with the engineers. It was something the father and daughter had done every three years since Anna was 17.
"Of course," she replied, but without her usual enthusiasm. "How about you?"
"I always look forward to these trips. Not because we're going to hear about the cars, but because I get to spend time with one of my very favorite people." George hadn't seen much of his daughter lately, and he wasn't sure why. She seemed withdrawn, much as she did before she announced her decision to divorce Scott. "Listen, sweetheart. I know you're working on something in your head. If you want to talk, I'll listen. Who knows? Maybe I can help."
"Thanks. I appreciate that. I look forward to being with you too." She hated being such an open book, but she sure wasn't ready to dump this melodrama on her father. "I love you, Dad," she added sincerely.
When her father retreated, Anna stood and closed the door to her office. Pulling from her wallet the business card she had located last night, she dialed the Seattle number. It was time to take a step.
"Carolyn Bunting please." Anna drummed her fingers nervously as she waited on the line for the familiar voice.
"This is Carolyn."
"Hi stranger. It's Anna Kaklis. How are you?" Lily's lessons in social skills were really paying off.
A brief moment passed as the programmer registered the name and voice. It really was her. "Anna? Wow, what a surprise! I'm fine. How are you?" Carolyn was genuinely excited to be hearing from her long lost friend.
"I'm fine too. And Vicki?" Anna was glad she was in the habit of writing things down. When Carolyn had given her the Microsoft business card at the reunion, she had scribbled Vicki's name on the back.
Carolyn was very impressed. She had been pleasantly surprised four years ago when Anna had responded so warmly to meeting her partner. She wasn't sure how the beautiful woman would react to learning that someone who had been so close to her was gay. She needn't have worried. Anna was still the kind and authentic person she had fallen for so hard in college. "She's fine. Gosh, I hope you're calling because you're in Seattle."
"No, I'm in LA. I…wondered if we could talk about something, but it's personal, so I thought we could set a time to talk later tonight."
Personal? Carolyn would explode if she had to wait to hear this. She gave Anna a cell phone number and grabbed her coat. "I'm going for a walk. Be back later," she told the co-worker in the next cubicle. This open corporate culture certainly had its perks.
"Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?" the programmer asked as she slowly walked the grounds of the business campus.
Where to start? How much should I say? "I…I've met somebody, Carolyn." Here goes. Deep breath. "Her name is Lily. She's smart, funny, and sweet. She's one of the finest, most decent people I've ever known."
Carolyn was astounded. She had once hoped that this woman would have those feelings for her, but she had accepted then that it wasn't possible. She had never given Anna's sexuality another thought. It seemed perfectly normal when she'd gotten the wedding invitation… "What about…Anna, aren't you married?"
"I'm divorced. It's kind of a long story, but it's not especially ugly. Some things just weren't meant to be."
"So…what's the problem?" Carolyn couldn't complete this puzzle on her own.
Anna sighed deeply on the other end of the phone. "Carolyn, I don't know where to go from here. There was only one other time in my life where I felt anything close to what I feel for Lily…and that was what I felt for you."
The rush of emotions threatened to overwhelm the woman as she walked, and she made her way to a bench. Her love for this beautiful woman had faded years ago, but the memory of how strong it was had not. Giving up Anna without ever knowing if there was a chance for them was one of the hardest things she had ever done. "I don't know what to say, Anna. I take it you know now that I loved you back then."
"I had dinner with Liz in San Francisco a couple of months ago. I talked to her about Lily and she said I needed to see it through. And she told me about talking to you that summer. Looking back on it now, I think she wishes she hadn't warned you away."
In a magnanimous gesture she didn't really feel, Carolyn smoothed things over for the benefit of her friend. "Well, who knows if you and I could have made anything work. Besides, things have a way of working out. I can't imagine my life without Vicki." That much was true. She and the sports communication director were a perfect match.
"Carolyn, I have so many questions. Some about me, some about Lily. We're in a mess right now, and I need to fix it before I lose my sanity."
"Look, why don't you come up to Seattle for a couple of days? I'd love to see you, and so would Vicki. We'll talk. I promise you won't leave more confused than you are now."
It was already late Friday afternoon. "I leave Monday morning for Germany. I'll be gone nine days." That seemed like an eternity to Anna. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take the uncertainty.
"Why don't you come up tonight or tomorrow? Go make some arrangements and call me back. I'll pick you up at the airport. You can go home on Sunday."
And so it was done. Anna would fly to Seattle at 9:31 a.m. Saturday morning. She desperately hoped she would find her answers there.
**********
There was always something instinctively frightening about the phone ringing in the middle of the night. 1:31 read the digital clock. Lily grabbed the receiver as she groped for the lamp on the nightstand. "Hello."
"Miss Stuart! Help me! He's outside and he says he's coming in. I think he has a gun!" The frantic woman spoke with a heavy Spanish accent.
"Whoa, slow down. Is this Maria?"
"Yes, it's Miguel. He's been drinking. He called me and said he wanted to see his kids."
"Listen, Maria. You need to call the police. I'm coming over right now, but you need to call the police. Can you do that?" The blonde tumbled from the bed and started to dress. "I'll be there soon. Call the police now, and whatever you do, don't let him in."
Thirty minutes later, the silver X5 stopped in front of a small white house in East LA. There were already two police cruisers on the scene, lights flashing and radios blaring. Neighbors watched the action from their yards. Lily ran toward the house to see Maria Esperanza being led away in handcuffs. The front door was torn from its frame.
"Whoa! What's going on here? Where are you taking her?" she demanded to the officer holding Maria's elbow.
"Who are you?" he scowled, pushing the woman roughly into the back seat of the cruiser.
"I'm Lilian Stuart, Mrs. Esperanza's attorney. And I'd like to advise you that I don't like the way you just shoved my client into the car," she said angrily. At that point, another officer emerged from the house with a handcuffed Miguel, whose face was bloodied badly.
"Look, Mrs. Stuart. We have our rules. If they're both fighting, we haul 'em both in. The judge can sort it out."
"This is her home! She didn't just rip her own door off! She has a right to defend herself!" This was ridiculous!
"Like I said, it isn't for me to sort out. If you want to help your client, you should come to the station with her." Resigned to wait, she cooled her heels while the officers finished collecting their evidence.
A familiar car pulled into the driveway, and Sandy got out, flashing her credentials to the waiting officer. The social worker had gotten the call only moments after the police arrived to come and collect the children, who would go into protective custody until the incident was resolved and the home deemed safe. "Lily! Is everything alright? What happened?"
"Sandy, thank god you're here. I think everyone's okay. Except Miguel. He's going to have a headache. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy," she muttered sarcastically. "It looks like he broke the door down and Maria greeted him with a two-by-four. The bad news is that she's been arrested too."
"Why don't you come with me inside? The kids know you and they won't be as scared." The two women entered the small home to find two small children sitting with a police officer in a back room. Each was holding a brand new teddy bear, courtesy of the LAPD. Every cruiser on the force held at least one of the stuffed animals to be distributed in moments just like this one. The children lit up when they saw the familiar faces.
"Hi there," Sandy started. "It was pretty scary tonight, wasn't it?" Lily admired her friend for her professional skill and dedication, but especially for the way she interacted with the children in her care. "Lily's going to go help your mom tonight, but I need you guys to come with me for now. Can you do that?"
The girl nodded, and pulled her younger brother by the hand. "Is mommy hurt?"
"No," Lily answered. "Your mother is fine, and I'm going to bring her back soon." She held her anger in check while she was with the children.
Central Booking was the social hub of LA at three in the morning. Prostitutes and their johns, drug dealers, burglars, barroom brawlers and all their lawyers filled the hallways awaiting their turn. It was going to be a very long night.
Lily and her client were called in at 4:15, along with Miguel and his lawyer, Pete Simpkins. "I don't want my client spending the night here," Lily said firmly to the booking officer.
"It's out of my hands. The statutes are there to cool everyone off. You can get her out in the morning." The booking officer prepared the forms, and the Esperanzas were escorted through the secure gate where they would be searched and given color-coded jumpsuits, then taken by elevator to the jail's secure upper floors.
Lily knew the statutes well. "Look, this is an open and shut case of self defense. That lunatic broke down the front door. Mrs. Esperanza had a right to defend herself against someone entering her home." Her voice rose, but she was not yet shouting. However, all she was getting was a blank look. "You know as well as I do that the officers had discretion here. They only brought her in because they were too goddamned lazy to do the work on the scene to settle it." Now she was fuming.
"Lily, can we go somewhere and talk?" Simpkins motioned toward the door.
"Not unless you're going to drop the charges and give that bastard up!" she retorted angrily. With that, she gathered her briefcase and jacket and stormed back into the busy hallway.
"Wait! We need to talk or this is going to happen again and next time, somebody's really going to get hurt," he pleaded.
She turned and poked a finger into Simpkin's chest. "Then you need to explain to your client that he blew it big time! He lost custody in the first place because he can't control his goddamned temper. Now he shows up drunk and breaks the door down. What does he expect?" The diminutive attorney stepped back and glared at her opposing counsel. "Talk to me when you've gotten your client into an anger management class. I'm getting a fucking restraining order first thing in the morning, and if he shows up again within a hundred yards of their house, he's going to jail!"
Pete was taken aback by the veracity of the lawyer's threats. He and Lily had always enjoyed a respectful working relationship, but this was not the professional level-headed woman he was used to seeing in court. "Lily, I don't know what's gotten into you, but it wouldn't hurt if you sat in on a couple of those seminars too." He waited to gauge her response before continuing. A moment passed, and the woman physically slumped, as if absorbing his words.
"I'm sorry, Pete," she finally said, almost too low to hear. "I…What can we do? I'm listening."
The tall attorney let out a breath. "Miguel tells me that Maria hasn't been letting him have visitation. She leaves and takes the kids when it's time for him to come over. He hasn't seen them since before Christmas."
"Why didn't he come to the court?"
"He didn't understand that he could. He thought since she was granted custody, it was up to her. That's my fault for not making it clear."
"I'll talk to her tomorrow," she promised. "Can you see about getting him into a class? I really think it will help."
"Sure."
Lily turned to walk away, but Pete stopped her. "Whatever it is, Lily, good luck with it."
"Thanks. I…I'm sorry for being such a jerk."
**********
"I can't believe you're really here." Carolyn looked across the table at her friend. The face was still beautiful, but the stress was evident in the firm set of her mouth and the serious blue eyes. Carolyn had brought Anna to the harbor for lunch, thinking they both could talk more candidly without Vicki around.
"Thanks for letting me come. I…I didn't know who else to turn to. I regret that we didn't stay close. We really shared so much." The years fell away as they talked, each realizing that the other had changed little from the friend they had known in school.
"So why don't you tell me about this woman you've met," Carolyn prodded as they left the restaurant for a walk along the waterfront.
Anna took her friend through the dramatic story of the earthquake, and of finding Lily after her divorce. She recounted the baseball game and the ride from San Diego, the boat trip, "the first time I ever consciously realized I was looking at another woman's breasts! Now I think I probably always have, but the sight of hers in that bathing suit just pushed a button in me or something!"
"I used to look at your breasts all the time," Carolyn laughed.
Anna blushed slightly, but took the comment in stride. "Well, if I had known that at the time, I might have stood up straighter, and worn something skimpier. Who knows?"
Who knows indeed? Though it was gnawing at the programmer that there might have been a chance for them long ago, this was about the here and now. Vicki was the here and now for Carolyn, and Lily was the same for Anna. "So go on. What else?"
Anna told her of the camping trip…
"You? I don't believe you! You're making this up."
Ignoring her friend's sarcastic response, Anna continued with the story of her father's rude remarks, the trip to San Jose, and Thanksgiving in Tahoe, emphasizing the looks they exchanged on the slope when Lily fell. "I swear, if Todd hadn't come over right at that moment, I think I might have just kissed her!" She finished with the story of Todd in the kitchen. "And now, she doesn't want to get together any more. She doesn't say no, she just says she's too busy, or she ducks my calls altogether. I want to talk to her about what's really going on, but I need to be prepared for her answer."
Carolyn was quiet as she digested the tale. Finally, she began. "Well, I agree that she probably has feelings for you that go beyond friendship. You have sort of an irresistible quality about you." She winked at the dark-haired woman. "But if she saw you kissing Todd…"
"I wasn't kissing Todd. He was kissing me!" she said indignantly.
"Lily has no way of knowing that. What she saw was the two of you kissing. As long as she had hope that you might be interested in her, she was going to stay close and be your best friend. As soon as that possibility disappeared, she needed to run away to protect herself." The familiar feelings washed over Carolyn. She was certain that she was reading Lily perfectly. "I'm the voice of experience here, Anna. I know exactly how she feels." She waited for her words to register, then continued. "Lily is a lesbian. Lesbians run the risk all the time of falling in love with straight women. It's not something we can help. But once we see the handwriting on the wall, that self-preservation thing kicks in and there's nothing to do but run."
"She doesn't need to run from me. I'm not going to hurt her," Anna protested. "And I'm not all that certain that I'm straight," she added, almost inaudibly. "But that's an issue for another day. Right now, I just need to fix things with Lily."
Carolyn thought hard about what Anna was saying, pretty sure that the woman had never before considered the possibility of being gay. "Anna, whether or not you're straight is more important than you think. It would be devastating for Lily if you were to wake up someday and decide that you need something else that she can't give you. And if she has to live with that possibility every day, it will be pretty unhealthy for both of you. There's nothing but pain in that." She let the words settle. "You need to think about whether or not you're ready for a relationship with Lily on her terms. She wants to hold you and kiss you and touch you. If you're going to go forward with her, you're going to have to want that too."
Anna grew very quiet as she processed her friend's words. She understood what Lily needed, but she hadn't let herself dwell on those thoughts. It was just too overwhelming. "You know, I really loved you a lot back in college, Carolyn. I might even have been in love with you, but I was pretty naïve about things like that. I probably would have done anything you asked, just to please you."
"Is that how you feel about Lily? That you want to be…physical with her just to please her? Just to keep her as a friend?"
"No Carolyn. I want it for me too," she admitted it for the first time. "I've never wanted anyone this much in my whole life." It was true. The idea of making love with Lily was more exciting than anything she had ever felt.
"Then tell her." Those three words summed it all up, as far as Carolyn was concerned.
"What if she doesn't feel the same way? And how can I make her trust me not to hurt her?"
"Believe me, she feels the same way. But the trust thing is going to take time. What you have to understand-and this is the hard part-is that everything has to come from you. Lily won't act on her feelings. There's too much at risk. She's worried that you'll reject her, and despise her for having those feelings about you. She can't bear that." She saw the confused look on her friend's face. "I know this, Anna. It's the truth. You have to be the one to move this relationship forward."
**********
Anna had thoroughly enjoyed the evening with Carolyn and Vicki. The pair talked about how they met and what they felt for each other. Each told a heart-wrenching tale of coming out, the problems it caused with their families, the friends they lost along the way. Nonetheless, both would go through it all again a hundred times to reach the happiness they now had with one another.
Anna wanted that kind of happiness, and now more than ever, she was certain that Lily was the key. On the flight home, her thoughts strayed to the problems this might cause for her father, but she knew that Kim and Hal would be there for her. David was a pretty cool kid, but it was bound to be weird for him. Martine's acceptance would be crucial to smoothing things at home. Without her support, this could drive a permanent wedge between them all.
Arriving home after seven, Anna double-checked her tickets and travel documents. She unpacked her small bag from the Seattle trip, then began the task of packing for nine days abroad. When she had finished, the exhausted woman set her bags by the door and went to bed. The car would come for her at six in the morning.
Anna had hoped to have this situation with Lily resolved before they left, but it was now after midnight. She had put off thinking about it as she took care of the final details for her trip, but now as she lay in bed, thoughts of the beautiful blonde filled her head.
**********
"I'm coming!" Who on earth is knocking at this hour? Looking through the peephole, Lily saw the most beautiful-and unsettling-site she could have imagined. She had already turned on the lights and yelled through the door, so it was too late to pretend she wasn't home. As she opened the door, the dark-haired woman pushed through without waiting for an invitation. Even in a sweatshirt and jeans, the woman was stunning. Lily suddenly worried that something had happened to bring her friend out so late. "Anna? Is everything alright?"
Anna took in the sight of her rumpled friend, dressed for bed in flannel boxers and a tank top. "No, it's not alright, Lily." She wanted just to reach out and pull the little blonde to her, but she held back, fearful that Lily would push her away again. Her confidence now wavering, she said what she had rehearsed in the car on the way over. "I can't stand what's happened between us. We'd gotten to be such good friends, and now everything's changed. I…want us to be close again."
Lily's own need to be close to the dark-haired woman was almost overpowering. She wanted desperately to give in, to accept on Anna's terms the simple offer of friendship. But self-preservation was a powerful instinct. She needed to guard her own heart. Meeting the blue eyes with a steel resolve, the smaller woman answered, "I can't, Anna. I just can't." Please don't push this.
But Anna wouldn't let it go. "What can't you do? Please talk to me, Lily. Doesn't this hurt you like it hurts me?" the tall woman pleaded.
"Yes, of course it does. But some things are out of our control. I want very much to be your friend again, but I just can't right now."
Anna remembered again Carolyn's counsel that only she could move things forward. It was time to take a step. "Is it because of Todd?"
She knows! The tears that Lily had been holding back since the day she left Tahoe returned unbidden, not from her eyes, but from her heart. She sank to the arm of the couch and looked blankly into the dark room, unable to meet her friend's eyes. "Yes," she whispered. There. It's out. "I know that you'll never think of me that way…or want me the way I want you. But…I can't stand by you as a friend and watch you fall in love with somebody else. I'm just not a big enough person to do that." Lily only hoped that Anna would be able to respect her finally for telling the truth.
The dark-haired woman strode silently to couch. Grasping the small hands, she drew the heartbroken girl to her feet. Locking blue eyes onto green, Anna searched her heart for the right words. "You're wrong, Lily. It's you that I want." Ever so slowly, she lowered her head and captured the waiting lips with her own.
Part 11
Leaving no room for doubt that this might only have been a friendly gesture, Anna pressed closer and raked her tongue tentatively across the smaller woman's lips to urge them apart. Staggered by the surge of emotions that welled up in her chest, she moaned into Lily's open mouth.
If I'm dreaming, god help the fool that wakes me up! For Lily, it was more than just a meeting of lips. It was an unmistakable confession from both, and the blonde was completely overpowered by the sensation. Anna's lips were the softest she'd ever kissed, and she pulled the woman's head closer, slipping her tongue inside the warm mouth.
Too soon the kiss ended, both women short of breath. Not willing to give up this intimate embrace, Lily buried her face into the long slender neck. Anxiety simmered underneath as she worried that Anna would suddenly have doubts. The words replayed in her head. "It's you that I want." If there was a chance on earth that they could really be together, Lily knew she would walk through the fires of hell to make it happen.
The tall woman pulled her closer, cupping the blonde head with her palm, swaying ever so slightly to keep the sensations alive. She held Lily like that for several minutes, not uttering a sound. Gradually, Anna felt the strain of the last six weeks recede. In its place was quiet, like a settling of her soul. "This is right," she whispered. "I feel so still inside."
"Me too. I want to stay in this…place, wherever it is." They stood together silently for another few minutes, soaking up the calm. Lily would take the next step. Leaning back, she studied the tall woman's visage, looking for signs of awkwardness or uncertainty. Finding neither, she brought her face closer, green eyes darting between Anna's eyes and lips. Turning her head slightly at the last instant, the women shared a breath as their lips met again.
The second kiss held none of the shyness of the first. It deepened with fervor as each was swept up again in excitement and wonder. Arms and hands remained still, holding firmly to the other. This was not about passion, but about connection. When they broke again, Anna kissed the smaller woman's nose, and rested her cheek atop the blonde hair.
"I have to go. I need to leave for the airport at six." She didn't release her hold, even as she talked of leaving.
"No. I'm afraid I can't allow that." Lily tightened her grip.
"Dad and I are going to Munich tomorrow for nine days. I'd like to go thinking you and I were okay again."
"We're okay, Amazon."
**********
Something is different about Anna this morning. George Kaklis and his daughter boarded the Lufthansa 747 at 7:45 a.m., taking their seats in first class. Anna was obviously excited, more so than George could remember on any of their previous trips. "Are you looking forward to Munich?" he asked his smiling daughter.
"I'm looking forward to being with you. It'll be fun to see the new designs. I just wish they would schedule this in July instead of January," she lamented. Anna hated being cold.
"You're in a good mood," her father fished.
"Yes, I am." But she was not forthcoming, so George let it drop for the time being. Breakfast was served over Arizona, and to his surprise, Anna then pulled a blanket over her head and slept all the way to New York.
**********
Lily was running on pure adrenalin. In the office by 7:30, she was smiling and friendly, a welcome change from the surly nature her co-workers had come to expect.
Unable to sleep at all after Anna's late night visit, Lily relived the kisses, the embrace, the soft words of assurance. Truth be told, she feared that if she went to sleep, she would awaken and none of this would have really happened. Her day started off with a thrill when Anna had called her from the limo at 6:15.
"I've only got a minute. The driver has gone to the house to collect Dad's things."
"If a minute's all you've got, I'll take it."
"Thank you for talking with me in last night."
"Thanks for not taking no for an answer. And for coming back after I was so… mean."
"It's forgotten. I understand why you ran."
"You do?"
"Yeah, Kim helped me figure out the Todd part." Lily cringed. She didn't want to think about that. "He kissed me, not the other way around. I told him that night I wasn't interested."
"You're kidding." If what Anna said was true, Lily was responsible for her own misery of the past six weeks.
"Honest. I was already trying to figure things out. About my feelings for you, that is."
"Well, I like what you decided."
"They're coming toward the car. I should go. I…I'll miss you."
"Me too you. Travel safely."
Anna's secretive behavior on the phone made the attorney a little uneasy, but she waved it off. This was all new to the beautiful woman, Lily reasoned with her rational mind. She herself wanted to bang a drum on the street corner and shout that Anna Kaklis had kissed her! But she was determined that Anna would lead the way. I'm not going to screw this one up with expectations about how she should act.
**********
Christ! Nine days was a long time! Her only contact with Anna had been three "thinking about you-hope you're doing okay" messages left on her voicemail, once while she was in court, another while she had been in the shower, and the third while she was taking out the garbage at home. Now resigned to let the garbage reach the ceiling, Lily planted herself on the couch all weekend waiting for the phone to ring.
Wednesday afternoon. Four more days! Anna's plane got in at 4:07 on Wednesday afternoon. She would probably be exhausted from her trip, and go straight home. Then she'd want to go to the dealership because she needed to check on things. And she'd probably have to sleep a lot on account of the jet lag. And see her family. Either way, I'll be lucky if I see her again before next weekend.
Lily's misery was interrupted by the loud ringing of phones all over the tiny apartment. She had turned all the ringers to the max to be sure that she wouldn't inadvertently miss a call. "Hello….this is she…no, I'm not interested…no, really, the only thing I dislike about my current phone service is that you have my number." With that, she hung up the receiver, immediately noticing the blinking message light.
Shitfuckhelldamnscrew! Another Lauren-ism.
**********
God, this was frustrating! Anna had tried to guess when Lily would be at home or at her desk, but she hadn't been able to get through. The time difference made it difficult, and the seminars left her with little free time. She'd hoped it would be easier to connect on the weekend, but that too went to voicemail.
Or maybe Lily's avoiding my calls again. Anna hadn't wanted to consider that possibility, but it had taken her a week or more after Tahoe to realize that getting bounced was no accident. She couldn't stop the niggling doubts as she replayed in her head the phone conversation from the car. Was it disbelief she heard in Lily's voice when she told her about Todd? Or maybe Lily simply didn't have the patience to deal with someone who couldn't seem to get her head on straight.
Curious George could stand it no longer. Anna had been cheerful and upbeat when they left LA. Now, a week later, she was distracted and withdrawn. Over dinner on Monday night, he gently broached the subject. "Sweetheart, is everything okay?"
"Of course. The seminars are good. The company is absolutely fabulous. It isn't snowing. What more could a girl want?" she answered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"You know, I'm really enjoying having this time with you, too. We don't seem to spend enough time together. That's why I always look forward to these trips." When he got no response, he knew he would have to be more direct. Something-or someone-was consuming his daughter's thoughts. "It's just that you seemed so happy when we left, and now you're quiet again."
"It's nothing to worry about, Dad." Anna didn't want to have this conversation. "It's just a small personal problem. I'll work it out."
A personal problem? Was Anna seeing someone? She was an extremely private person, not at all quick to share information about the men she dated. In fact, she had been seeing Scott for nearly two months before she introduced him to anyone in the family. Surely, George reasoned, she could use my guidance here. "Anna, I'm your father. I've been watching you worry about things all by yourself for 32 years. I want to help." She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Please let me in there."
The woman sighed. She could resist almost any force on earth, but she couldn't refuse her father. What is it they say? Stay as close to the truth as possible. "You remember my friend Lily, from the earthquake?"
"Yes, of course." Where was this going?
"Well," she started hesitantly, "we had a misunderstanding, but I thought we had it cleared up before I left. Now I'm not so sure." Anna still hadn't met her father's eyes. "I'm just worried about losing her friendship."
George weighed the possibilities. His daughter didn't have many close friends, so he knew that Lily was important to her. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than that, and it made him extremely uncomfortable. His first instinct was to dismiss out of hand his daughter's irrational worry about the state of a casual friendship. He bit his tongue though, remembering Martine's warning about inadvertently pushing Anna into something. Still, he needed to say something to convey both support and caution. "Sweetheart, I understand that Lily is important to you, but maybe it's time to start putting that terrible earthquake ordeal behind you. You can't let things like casual friendships rule your life. Your family, the business, these things are much more important in the grand scheme of things. Don't you agree?" That was a pretty good argument, if I must say so myself. But his daughter's response nearly knocked him out of his chair.
Standing abruptly, Anna gathered her jacket and purse. "You know, I think I'm going to blow off the last day." It was a half-day actually, followed by a luncheon, then a cocktail party for the North American dealership owners tomorrow night. "I hope you don't mind. I'm just going to go back to my room and call the airline. If you want to join me, I'll change your ticket too, but I don't mind if you want to stay until Wednesday."
Well, that certainly went well, George thought sarcastically. "No, you go ahead."
**********
Tomorrow! Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
The attorney was drafting an update to the court on her counsel with Maria Esperanza to cooperate with the court-ordered visitation schedule for Miguel. True to his word, Pete Simpkins had enrolled the volatile father in classes for anger management. It looked like all of them were headed for a happy ending. Lost in her work-and mercifully distracted-she missed seeing the beautiful woman exit the white Town Car at the curb.
Anna tried the door at the main entrance, but it was locked for the night. 6:40. The flight from JFK had been delayed 90 minutes, but the car she had arranged had been waiting for her at the airport. Thinking her friend might be working late, Anna took a chance and asked the driver to bring her to the Braxton Street Law Clinic. She grew excited when she saw the light on in Lily's second floor office but without entry to the building, the phone was the only option. If the blonde were ducking her calls, she'd just have to get back in the car and go home.
The tall woman walked back to the limo to retrieve the phone from her carry-on. Nervously, she paced through the menu options and pressed the call command for "Lily's office." Leaning her tall frame against the door of the Town Car, her heart skipped a beat as the blonde appeared in her view.
"Lilian Stuart," she announced formally, slapping the button to activate the speaker phone.
"Hi Lily. It's Anna." She held her breath as she waited for her friend's response.
The attorney was speechless.
This was not good.
"Are you there?"
Lily lunged to grab the receiver, very nearly disconnecting the call. "Anna! Finally! I can't believe it! I was about to leave and I would have missed you again! Oh my god!" To say that the blonde was excited would have been a bit of an understatement. She was nearly hyperventilating. "This has been so frustrating. I'm going to be so happy to see you!"
Whew! The tired traveler was flooded with relief. "Well, then you may want to look outside your window."
Lily made her way to the window and parted the blinds. There in the twilight leaning against the limo was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.
**********
I can't believe how easy this is, thought Anna. She and Lily had spent almost every evening together since she'd returned from Germany. They'd slid effortlessly back into their old playfulness, the tension of the last six weeks forgotten. Looking back, Anna realized that she and her husband had never shared this kind of compatibility. In fact, any casualness they enjoyed as they got to know one another seemed to disappear once they moved their relationship to a romantic level. At that point, the woman suddenly became more self-conscious, and she had difficulty with simple conversation. If it had felt this natural with Scott, I might never have let him go.
Tonight, Anna was stretched out on Lily's couch reading the current issue of Car & Driver while the attorney sat close by on the floor reviewing a stack of legal briefs. Neither needed the other's attention, but each relished the closeness. Their silence was relaxed, and every so often the blonde would reach behind her absently and stroke the beautiful woman's arm, leg or… "You know, I'm not going to let you get your work done if you keep that up."
Lily reluctantly removed her hand from the woman's shapely hip, arching her eyebrows suggestively as she turned. "Then maybe I should just put my work away." With that, she let the papers fall and climbed onto the couch, draping her entire body along the length of the muscular frame. "This…couch…is…awfully…lumpy. I don't know…how I ever…fell asleep here." She burrowed into the now giggling mass underneath her. "But it's definitely…softer in some places."
The kiss that followed started innocently, as just another chance to connect. As it lengthened, it deepened, and soon both bodies were responding to the exchange, moving in a slow rhythm against one another. As Lily's hand drifted up to softly stroke the side of Anna's breast, the taller woman gently caressed the shapely rear beneath her own fingers. This was the first clearly sexual overture of their young relationship, and it was escalating too quickly for either woman to keep her head.
"Oh my…you're incredible," the blonde said as she stilled and dropped her lips to the woman's neck.
"Wow, I…" never felt anything like that in my whole life. "Wow," she said again simply. Anna had always felt that she controlled her own desires, that things moved to the next level because she decided it was time. That wasn't the case here. If circumstances were different-that is, if it weren't already ten o'clock on a night before both were due at work early the next day-Anna was pretty sure that she wouldn't have wanted to stop. She had wanted to be certain of her feelings before she gave in to her body's response, but it was her body that seemed to be running this show. This was so different from anything in her past, like a craving.
Lily shifted and sat up beside the beautiful woman. "I could get lost in you so easily." Lily knew that her sentiment meant more than just the physical desire that she felt. She was falling deeply in love.
Anna was drowning in these new sensations, and couldn't think of what to say. She squeezed Lily's hand and smiled.
Well, that went over well. Lily knew she had to give this time.
**********
"Lilian Stuart," the attorney answered crisply. She was due in court this afternoon for jury selection in a housing discrimination case. It was Tony's case, but he always asked her to sit in when he picked a jury. You have a gift for reading people, he had said.
"Hi there, sweetheart. How's your day?"
Sweetheart! Lily nearly swooned. "Hi yourself. It just got better. What's up?" She stretched from her desk to push her office door closed.
"I wanted to ask you something. I'm having dinner with Kim tonight. I've been thinking that I'd like to tell her about us, if it's okay with you." They had decided-actually Anna had asked-to keep their relationship secret until they were more certain of their feelings. Lily took it as a good sign that the stoic woman was ready to share this with her sister. On the other hand, it was also a risk. Kim's disapproval would be difficult to overcome.
"Of course it's okay." More tentatively, she added, "Will you tell me how it goes?"
Anna realized that Lily was worried. "Sure, but don't worry about it. Kim likes you, and I think she has pretty good idea what's going on. She'll be okay with it, I'm sure."
Grateful for the assurance, Lily countered, "Well, I hope it goes okay. How would you feel if I talked to Mom?" She felt guilty for keeping something so important from her mother, and she hoped that Anna would acquiesce.
"Go ahead. I know how close the two of you are. I guess it was silly of me to ask you to wait in the first place." Anna really envied the closeness between Eleanor and her daughter. She liked to think that she would have been as close to own mother.
"Not silly at all. I know this is all new for you, and it'll take some time to get used to it." Lily paused before she continued. She didn't want to scare her new love away, but Anna needed to be prepared for some of the problems she might face. "As much as I hate to say it, you're right to worry about what others might think. People have prejudices, and some of the folks that you've known for years might look at you differently if they knew about us."
"Lily, I…how do I say this?" The blonde's stomach suddenly lurched with anxiety. "It isn't you being a woman that scares me. It's…it's making another mistake for everybody to see."
Lily's heart went out to the woman. As they drove to San Jose last fall, Anna had described in detail the humiliation she felt when she divorced Scott after only a year of marriage. Against her own better judgment, George and Martine had staged an elaborate wedding and reception, with more than 400 people in attendance. Anna had been almost embarrassed at the opulent display, made worse by its undoing so soon after. Lily reassured her friend, "We'll take our time with everything. I want you to be sure."
**********
"So what's it like making love with another woman?" Kim was not one to beat around the bush, especially when her sister-to her demented delight-embarrassed so easily.
"I can't believe you went there so fast!" Anna retorted indignantly. "I just told you about this sweet woman who has touched my heart, and the wonderful sense of romance we're enjoying. But no! All you want to hear about is the sex!"
"Yeah, yeah. So? What's it like?" the imp persisted.
Anna sighed and dropped her shoulders in surrender. Kim was incorrigible. "I don't know. We haven't…exactly done anything."
"Well, what are you waiting for!"
"It's not a race, you know. Not everybody gives in so easily to their most basal instincts, like two people I know who shall remain nameless but who can't keep their hands off one another!"
"Don't go changing the subject. We're talking about your sex life here." Kim took special pleasure in tormenting her sister this way, and she was thrilled to see Anna so obviously happy.
"We are not talking about my sex life! I don't even…know what it is that we do," she mumbled the last part sheepishly. Her sister was the only living soul with whom Anna had shared the details of her intimate experiences with Scott. To her infinite embarrassment, Kim then went on and on about the things she and Hal did between the sheets. She would never look at her brother-in-law-or Al Gore for that matter-the same way again.
"You don't even know what you do? Well how will you know when you've done it?" Little Sister was really having too much fun now. Once she tasted blood, she usually badgered Anna until the shy woman spilled her guts.
"Well, I guess I sort of know what we'll do, but…people like different things." Anna had never thought much about sexual things. She liked to think of herself as more, ahem…cerebral. Now however, her attentions wandered there almost every time she thought of the cute little blonde. "Lily excites me."
Kim was taken aback by the quiet seriousness of her sister's last remark. "I'm really happy for you, Sister. What's it like, the excitement?"
Anna thought of Lily and smiled. "It's like nothing I've ever known. Being with her just makes me so aware of myself, of my own body. I want to feel her hands on me. I want to kiss her and touch her…everywhere. It was never that way with Scott."
"You didn't like to touch him?" Kim needed to tread carefully. She didn't want her sister to think she was still teasing.
"It wasn't that. I just didn't think about it. When I did touch him, I did it because I knew he wanted me to. But with Lily, it's like a hunger."
"A hunger." It wasn't a question, but an understanding. She felt the same way about Hal. "So why don't you feed it?
The tall woman blushed again. "I think that's going to happen soon."
"Then you'll tell me everything, won't you?" The old Kim was back.
In spite of herself, Anna knew she probably would.
**********
"So she doesn't seem to be afraid of getting involved with a woman?" Eleanor was delighted to hear of the new direction in her daughter's love life, but was trying to determine the source of the faint apprehension she discerned.
"No, she says she isn't. I really don't think that it's an issue for her." Lily had been bursting with excitement to finally have the chance to tell someone about Anna. But as she talked with her mom, she realized that it was also a chance to explore her own feelings about where things were going. "It's just that…well, that's not the same as saying that you're gay. And if she's not, then she'll realize it eventually. And there won't be anything either of us can do about it."
"You know, Katharine had a favorite expression she would use whenever someone worried too much about things that might not happen. She used to say 'Don't go borrowing trouble.' I think that's what you're doing here, sweetheart. You need to be enjoying this time, not worrying about it."
As always, Eleanor was absolutely right. Even if Lily couldn't control her creeping doubts, she needed to savor this time getting to know Anna in a more intimate way. "You're right Mom. I wish Katharine were here to see this. She'd probably get a kick out of seeing me so frazzled. I tell you, it's like nothing else in the world exists."
"So…are things…progressing?"
"What things?" It suddenly dawned on Lily what her mother was asking. "Oh no! No way am I going to talk with my mother about that! I have limits!"
"Okay, suit yourself. But I guess that means you don't want to hear what's new with Bill Mueller and me." Bill was a longtime family friend. In one of life's cruel ironies, the oncologist had lost his wife of 21 years to cancer three years ago. Lily knew that her mother spent a good deal of time with the doctor, but she had no idea that their relationship had blossomed into a romance.
"What's this? You and Bill? Tell me everything! No, on second thought, a girl doesn't need to hear these things about her mom either."
"Well, that's a good thing. A woman's got to have some secrets," she chided.
**********
"It was a very moving service, don't you think?" Hal offered as they left the Presbyterian Church on Endicott Avenue. Kim, Anna and Lily were near tears and unable to do anything but nod their agreement. Tony wrapped his arm around the blonde attorney as a gesture of support. One year ago today, 27 people had lost their lives at the Endicott Mall. Tonight's memorial service commemorated those lives and honored the heroes who had rescued scores of survivors. For Anna and Lily, it also marked the day that they met.
After a quick dinner with their friends, the two women headed to Anna's Bel Air house in the X5. "What on earth did you say to your sister? She kept looking at me, grinning like she knew something I didn't know. I swear she winked at me when you took my hand in the church."
"Oh, I just told her that you were special to me, and that we were having a lot of fun getting to know each other." Anna reached out and took Lily's free hand again.
What does 'special' mean? "So what did she say?"
"She was…inquisitive."
Lily sensed that Anna wasn't telling her everything, and it allowed her insecurities to creep in. Had Kim tried to dissuade Anna from going forward? Pulling into the driveway, she turned off the engine and shifted sideways to face her friend. "You mean inquisitive like 'Are you happy with how things are going?' or inquisitive like 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'"
The tall woman sighed and looked out the window so the blonde wouldn't see her blush. She hoped above all that Lily wouldn't tease her like Kim had. She had never been able to talk about intimate things openly without getting embarrassed. "No, inquisitive like 'What's the sex like?'"
"Oh." The blonde's stomach fluttered, as it did every time she thought of making love with this beautiful woman. She couldn't see her friend's reddened face in the dark, but she surmised from the turned head that Anna was unsettled by the thought. Her heart sank with the acknowledgment that they might never progress beyond friendship, but if friendship was all that Anna could give, Lily knew she would accept it just to be near her. "Anna, look. I don't have any expectations about that. I just want to enjoy being together. If it happens, I know it will be wonderful. If it doesn't, we'll be okay." And I will die.
Realizing that the blonde had misread her embarrassment as apprehension, Anna knew she needed to clear things up. "Come inside for a minute," she invited. They had already decided to call it an early night, since the car dealer needed to be on the lot at seven on Saturday morning. Lily stepped into the foyer, and Anna wrapped her arms around the small body. "Don't read anything into that stuff with Kim. She lives to make me blush, and she's pretty good at it."
"So you were embarrassed?" Lily was confused. So it wasn't…
"Yeah, a little. But it doesn't mean that we won't…you know." Anna couldn't hide this growing blush in the soft light of the foyer.
Nor could Lily hide her relief. Oh god, I'm in love with this woman! She tightened her arms around Anna's waist and laid her head on the tall woman's shoulder. "Hey, I'm not going to tease you. I'm just glad to know that you're thinking about me that way."
"Of course I am." Are you kidding? "You are so special to me. But I get the feeling you don't really know that. Sometimes I don't think I do a very good job of showing you how I feel."
"No, you do fine. You're special to me too." Very special. "I think I'm just a naturally insecure person. Probably my birth mother's legacy. I usually expect the worst, then I'm not disappointed." As those words left her lips, she grimaced at how pathetic she sounded.
Anna was gradually coming to understand the fragile state of Lily's heart. All of those people who had walked away from her-her mother, her high school friends, her lovers-had missed the chance to know Lily's capacity to give. She took the small hands and clutched them to her chest, "I don't want you to be insecure about my feelings for you. If you want to make love, I'm ready."
The blonde was so surprised by the statement that she couldn't immediately respond. She was almost ashamed that her admissions of insecurity had elicited such an offer. "Anna, the thought of making love with you excites me almost more than I can stand. But when we make love, and I hope we will, I want it to be because we're both ready, not because I've made you feel like you have to prove something to me. I need to handle my own insecurities."
The dark-haired woman relaxed, resting her cheek against the blonde head. They stood that way for several minutes, both warring with the need to share something. Talk of making love had definitely raised the stakes.
Guarding your emotions is a bunch of crap if it means not being true to yourself. "I love you, Amazon."
Anna's arms tightened firmly around her. "I love you too, Pygmy."
Part 12
"I don't understand you George. You've always been pretty open minded about this sort of thing. Why is this different?"
"I don't have anything against gays. You should know that. I just don't understand why she's being invited to our family functions."
Martine had known this wouldn't go over well, but she was glad they were having the discussion this afternoon in their bedroom instead of tonight when everyone was there. "She's invited because Anna asked if she could come."
"But this is a family thing…"
"George, we've always had an open door for the children's friends, too. Is this really about tonight being a family thing? Or is it about Anna having a lesbian as such a close friend?" Martine had been dodging this discussion ever since her husband had returned from Munich alone and in a foul mood, but it was time to finally have it out.
George finally voiced his worst fear. "Has it occurred to you that they might be more than just friends, or have you just decided not to see that?"
"Yes, it has occurred to me, but I don't think that it's any of our business unless she makes it that way."
"So I take it you don't have any problem with your daughter being a lesbian?"
"I care that she's happy." Martine meant that. "If it turns out that Lily is the one who makes her happy-and I'm not saying that's the case at all-but if it is, then I'll accept it."
"Well I'm not going to sit by and watch her make a fool of herself in front of everybody. She just needs to see that it's all wrong for her."
"George, why is it that you think you know best what's right or wrong for Anna! She's 32 years old. Shouldn't she be allowed to make these choices for herself?" Martine was on the verge of anger at her husband's arrogance.
"She made a perfectly good choice when she married Scott. I'd love to know if her little friend was the one who convinced her to walk away from her marriage. You know, it was right after they met during the earthquake that the two of them split up." George hadn't thought of this before, but it made perfect sense.
"Oh, that's nonsense and you know it! Have you ever thought that maybe you were wrong about Scott? What if he wasn't right for her? What if Anna married him because she was more intent on pleasing you than she was pleasing herself?"
The man knew there was at least some truth in his wife's words. He had been lucky enough in this lifetime to love not one but two women with all his heart, and he never once saw the proof of that kind of love for Scott Rutherford in his daughter's eyes.
Martine saw the resignation in her husband's slumped shoulders as he pondered his own role in Anna's failed marriage. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she comforted him, "George, it's time for us to step back and be confident in the way we raised her. Her happiness is all that matters, and it's important that she make those decisions by herself, and for herself."
**********
George was mesmerized by the dynamic between his daughter and her friend. They were definitely…familiar. The women seemed to touch almost every time they spoke to one another, and the man was certain that the hands underneath the table were joined from time to time.
Despite George's reservations, this night's dinner was more fun than anyone could remember. David pumped Lily for the inside scoop on living in the South Bay, since he was eyeing Stanford for his bachelor's in business administration. "Hey, I'm sure Anna can pull some strings and get you into Southern Cal," Kim kidded, her reference to Scott's position on the faculty. The shortest Kaklis-at five feet ten-then shocked everyone by sending a glazed carrot across the table at her sister's forehead.
When the laughter finally died down, Martine stood and sternly threatened the next person who threw food at her table. Each member of the Kaklis clan glanced sheepishly at one another, not willing to challenge the matriarch. The blonde guest was quiet as a mouse, almost uncomfortable with the woman's harsh reprimand. As Martine returned to her seat, she startled everyone when her hand unexpectedly tipped a water glass into Anna's lap, sending the tall woman leaping from her chair. Several seconds of stunned silence passed as everyone realized her prank. "Oh, clumsy me," Martine sighed with a wry smile.
Once she'd dried off in the kitchen, Anna returned to the table, her beautiful blue eyes shooting mock daggers at her mother. Martine, however, was the picture of innocence.
Kim's joke was the opening George had been looking for. "So Anna, have you heard anything from Scott recently?" He really missed talking business with his son-in-law, and had held out for a reconciliation until Anna had told them of his second marriage. Neither he nor Martine had any idea of Scott's unfaithfulness.
"No, Dad. I'd say he's gotten on with his life." And I've gotten on with mine. Quickly changing the subject, she turned to her brother and told him, "I think Stanford's a great choice, David. Anywhere but Berkeley."
"Hear, hear!" cheered the Bruin in agreement. With a warning look, Martine double dared Kim or Hal to throw any of the food on their plates.
**********
"So tell me again what's in South Carolina." Lily was talking on her portable phone as she got ready for bed.
"It's a BMW plant. In fact, it's where your little X5 was born." She said the latter with an intonation of family pride. She too was preparing for bed. "They're previewing next year's models."
"I thought that's what you went to Germany for." The blonde wasn't whining. She just didn't understand.
"No, the design center in Germany showed us what the next generation of cars will look like, those about three years away. I've already seen these cars in South Carolina, but we get to take a last look at the changes before they roll them out." Anna got excited when she talked about her work. There was a mechanical engineering nerd inside that beautiful casing.
"So when will you be back?" Saturday was Lily's 30th birthday, but her brain had already stored the fact that Anna would not be in town.
"My plane gets back on Sunday around six o'clock. Maybe somebody could meet me at the airport," she hinted.
"But I'll be 30 by then. If I show up at the airport, I'll probably need a skycap with a wheelchair." Now she was whining. "I'm going to miss you. What am I supposed to do by myself for five whole days?"
"Think about me." Anna had turned out the lights in her house and was now getting in bed.
"I already do that." Lily too had finished with her own nightly tasks and was pulling back the covers. "Morning, noon and night."
"What do you think about?" Anna settled between the sheets and switched off the bedside lamp. It was after 11, but her plane for Greenville-Spartanburg didn't leave until 11:30 the following day. She could talk for as long as Lily wanted.
"I think about being with you. About some of the things we've done together, like the boat ride, the camping trip, and the time we drove to San Jose right after I got the X5."
"Not very racy. Well, except for the X5 part, Mario." Anna was feeling playful. Lily had finally fessed up about the $534 speeding ticket she had received on her way home from Tahoe.
"Oh, you want racy, do you? Well what do you think about?" The gauntlet was thrown.
"Well…I think about a certain cute little blonde attorney. How sweet her kisses are. How she makes me feel inside." Anna's tone lost some of its playfulness. She was thinking about how her body had responded to the woman's touch.
"How do I make you feel?"
Anna had trouble putting such intimate feelings into words, but she wanted to try. She hoped they would be able to talk about these things, especially given her naiveté about what Lily would want from her. She would need Lily's help to take the next steps in their relationship. "You make me feel warm. My heart beats faster and…my body wants to press against yours." I can't believe I just said that!
Lily shifted slowly under the sheet. Anna's words had certainly stirred a response in her own body. "God, you can't imagine what it does to me to hear you say that."
"Tell me what it does, sweetheart. Tell me what I do for you." Anna focused her thoughts on the beautiful, slender blonde that set her blood racing.
"You make my stomach flutter. My knees go weak. Everything else disappears." She shifted again.
Anna needed to know more, but the thought of asking for what she needed was terrifying. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about these things at all. On the contrary, she'd been thinking about them more and more every day. She needed to know if she could do this, if this was what she really wanted. "Lily, if I were with you right now, what would you have me do? How would I make love to you?" Anna's voice was low and sensuous.
There went the stomach flutter. "You want me to tell you how I want to be touched?" This was interesting.
"No, I want you to tell me how you envision me touching you." Anna couldn't believe the words that left her mouth. She'd never done anything like this before in her life. With uncommon boldness, she asked, "What are you wearing to bed?"
"I've got on a long tank top and panties. That's all." Lily was becoming very aroused.
"Take them off, baby." Anna listened while the woman removed her sleep shirt and panties.
"Okay, they're off. What about you?"
"I'm taking off my nightshirt too. Now I want to just go there, Lily. Describe it to me." Anna leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. She wanted to be there with her love. How close could they get?
"Okay, we're lying together, naked with only a sheet covering us. I'm on my back, and you're on your side looking down at me."
"Which side am I on?"
"You're on my right side. So you're lying on your left side alongside me."
The tall woman rolled onto her left side and pulled a pillow to her. "Tell me what I see when I look at you."
Oh my god!. We're really going to do this! Lily couldn't have stopped now if she wanted to. And she definitely didn't want to. "My eyes. The first thing you see is my eyes. They're full of love for you. And desire." She paused to let the image settle. "I lift my lips to your face, reaching behind your neck to pull you down." Lily closed her eyes to imagine the sensations. "I'm trembling, and so are you."
Anna could picture Lily's green eyes. "I'm going to kiss you."
"Yes, your lips are on mine. Then they travel ever so slowly across my cheek, down to my ear." Lily trailed her own hand softly along the path she described. "I feel your warm breath in my ear. Your tongue and your teeth tease my earlobe, then they wander below to my neck. I love to feel your mouth on my neck."
"Yes, your skin is so soft there." Anna's body began to stir as she imagined her lips and tongue on Lily's neck.
"You raise up on your arm to look at me. You pull the sheet back to my waist. Your eyes take in the sight of my naked body. I'm aching for your touch, to feel your hands on me." She was.
"Tell me what I see." Anna wanted to see it. Tell me what you look like.
Lily was tentative, but she knew somehow that Anna needed this. "First you see my breasts. My nipples…they're dark. They're hard, like pebbles. I need you to touch them."
"Yes." Anna was trembling all over. She pictured again the full breasts she had admired that day on the boat. To that image, she added the hard, dark nipples.
"So you cover my left breast with your palm. You squeeze it softly, then stronger, more possessive." Lily's own hand began to squeeze her breast. "Oh, I like that," she moaned.
Anna then knew with a certainty that Lily was touching herself. She was becoming crazy with desire.
"Then you take my nipple with your thumb and fingers, and you start to pinch it. Gently at first, then with more pressure. When you tug on it, it makes me gasp for breath." And she did.
"Ahhh." Anna's fingers pulsated as she imagined them on Lily's breasts.
"I need to feel your mouth on my breasts. I'm lifting my body up to your face. I feel you take me into your mouth, you feel so good." Her fingers closed again around the nipple, but she imagined the beautiful woman's mouth. "Your soft tongue draws circles around my nipple, then your lips close around it and you suck it into your mouth. I can feel your teeth teasing me. Your hand has closed around my other nipple and you're pulling on it with the same rhythm."
"You're so exciting." Anna had never experienced anything so erotic in all her life.
"My hips are pushing toward you now, in the same rhythm as the sensations in my breasts. My whole body needs you."
Anna's body was moving rhythmically, matching Lily's pace.
"You bring your lips to mine again, then you look at my rolling body. I'm hot and I want you so much. Your hands are roaming all over my chest and my stomach and hips." Lily's own hands stroked the heated planes.
"Yes, I need to feel your naked skin. Tell me what I see when I look down at you."
Lily opens her eyes to describe the sight. "You lower the sheet to my knees. You see the patch of hair that hides me from your eyes. It's light brown, thick and curly. It's already damp from what you're doing to me."
Oh god, Lily. "What am I doing? Tell me." Anna was desperate.
"Oh, you're exciting me, sweetheart. I want you so much. And you want this, everything I'm offering you."
"Yes, I want it." Anna's voice was raspy.
"Now I've raised my knee so that I can open myself for you."
"I need to touch you, baby." She needed to be closer.
"And I want you to. So badly I might explode. Your hand crosses my stomach and stops to twirl around my navel. You're such a tease." For Lily, it was no longer her own hand at work. She felt it as though it were Anna's. "Then you brush against that curly hair. Your fingers run through it, lower, until you feel it getting damp. Then lower…there! Right there!" Lily gasped for breath as she touched herself intimately for the first time since they began.
Anna shuddered with anticipation. "Please, baby! Tell me what I feel."
"You find me wet, so wet! And I'm warm and swollen, begging you to touch all of me. So you slide your long fingers through me. Up and down." Lily moaned softly as she mimicked what her lover would do. After several long moments, she began again. "You linger on the outside, circling my opening. Then you slip two fingers inside."
Anna was shaking with excitement. "Oh, yes. I'm inside you now," she whispered.
"You push deep inside, and you feel me clutch your fingers with my walls. You move inside me, in and out."
"Oh god, you're so hot."
"I'm moving with you, rocking against you so you'll reach deeper."
Both women were writhing now, Anna against the pillow, Lily against her own hand.
"Then you slowly pull your fingers out and touch me where I'm hard and swollen. Oh, I need that." Again she grew quiet while she brought herself closer to climax. "Your fingers are making circles, and I'm lifting up off the bed to get closer. To feel more of you." She was drawing deep rapid breaths to keep up with her body's need. "My fingers are digging into your back, showing you the rhythm I want. Harder, you press harder."
Anna closed her eyes tightly as her senses filled with the image.
"And now I'm coming, baby." Lily filled her lungs with a deep gasp, then released it in short, steady bursts. "Yes, baby, so strong."
"Oh god, Lily. Oh god, I love you." Anna shuddered as she listened to Lily's release. Her desire to pull the woman close was overwhelming, far more than a mere physical need. She wanted to look into Lily's eyes to see how the sensation had moved her, to confirm that Lily too had shared her heart along with her body. Anna had never felt such a need to connect with another in her life. She resisted reaching between her own legs, already knowing what she would find. Her body craved release, but she would wait for Lily's touch.
Lily gradually lowered her hips to the bed as the waves receded. Her body was spent, but her thoughts remained attuned to the woman on the phone. What was Anna thinking? Had she felt the emotional connection or was this merely a sexual display? Lily suddenly worried that she had exposed too much. She felt vulnerable, embarrassed even.
Both women were quiet for a long moment, one embracing her feelings, the other anxious with her own. Finally, Anna broke the silence. "Lily?"
"Yes, I'm here."
"I want you to feel my arms around you, my whole body against yours. I'm going to hold you tonight while you sleep."
Lily relaxed and lost herself in the comforting image. "I love you, Anna."
"I love you too, baby." Anna saw herself place a kiss on Lily's forehead. "Goodnight."
**********
Lily searched among the stacks of paperwork for the file she needed. Pauline had gotten better about keeping her records in order after the incident last year with Maria Esperanza. Maria's now very thick file rested on the corner of the cluttered desk. "Yeah, Pete. I've got it right here. What do you need? ...Yeah, that's what it says…She isn't?" Miguel had complained to his lawyer that Maria and the children were gone the last two times he went to see his children. "When did that start? ...Okay, I'll give her a call right now…Thanks for the heads up."
Lily placed the call, but got a recorded message that the cellular service had been discontinued. Thumbing through the file, she came across the number for Maria's sister, the one who lived in Culver City. The attorney dialed the number and asked to speak to Serena Whitman. "Hello, this is Lilian Stuart. You may remember me. I'm your sister Maria's attorney."
The voice on the line hesitated. Then formally, "How can I help you, Miss Stuart?"
"I'm trying to reach your sister. Something very important has come up with her case. The number that I have for her is no longer in service. I was hoping you might have a new number, or a way that I could reach her."
"No, I don't know where she is," the woman answered quickly.
A little too quickly, Lily thought. She needed to make the woman understand what was at stake. "Listen, I have an urgent message for her. If you see her or hear from her, she needs to know that there is trouble with her case. Mr. Esperanza's attorney plans to ask the court for custody of the children because she had not allowed him to visit them. I will not be able to help her if she doesn't call me soon." Lily hoped that Serena understood the gravity of the situation and would pass the message on to Maria.
In the meantime, Lily had a hunch that Maria was hiding out at her sister's home. Sometimes she had very little patience for her adult clients, but the children she served needed her to work on their behalf. The Esperanza children were pawns in this battle of wills between their parents. Lily wondered if perhaps they weren't better off elsewhere, but that was the judge's call. She was reluctant to step into the middle of a volatile domestic dispute, but guarding the children's interest was part of her job. She picked up her keys and purse, and stopped to let Pauline know where she was headed.
Driving through the Culver City neighborhood, Lily was suddenly flooded with memories and images from a year ago. Like then, it was mid-morning on a Thursday, unusually warm for a February day. She marveled at how her life had changed since that fateful day. She'd gone from being a loner to being one-half of something that seemed greater than a whole. She could no more imagine her life without Anna than she could imagine it without her work, her mother, her past. The beautiful woman was now part of who she was.
Her daydreams nearly caused her to miss what she was looking for. From her vantage point in the tall vehicle, she could barely see the rear bumper of the old red Ford Escort that was parked behind the Whitman house. "I knew it," she said aloud triumphantly. Parking across the street, Lily set up her surveillance of the home. Neither of the sisters would recognize the X5.
Nearly 45 minutes passed before she observed activity at the home. Maria's children, Sofia and Roberto, emerged from the side door to play in the small yard. "That's good enough for me," the attorney muttered as she exited the vehicle and dashed quickly to the front door.
Serena answered almost as soon as Lily knocked. "I told you, I don't know where Maria is."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have been more clear. It isn't really Maria that I need. It's the children. I just saw them in the yard. They're supposed to be with their father, so I'll just call the social worker to come pick them up and take them to his house." She reached for her cell phone, prepared to call Sandy to the scene.
"No, wait!" As Lily had expected, Maria miraculously appeared to head off the call. "Please don't call him. He's been hurting the children. I can't let them go."
"Goddamnit, Maria! I told you to call me if there were problems. He's going to try to get custody again." She was furious that Maria would put her children at further risk by keeping this from her.
"I was afraid he would hurt them worse if I told on him." The woman was nearly hysterical.
"Your children will be safe. But I have to put them in protective custody while a judge considers new charges. You can't just violate the court order."
"No, please don't take them!"
"I have to. It's to keep everyone safe." Maria wailed into her sister's arms as Lily called Sandy. While they waited for the social worker, she helped the children pack a few items for their next placement in foster care. A flashback invaded her thoughts, that of a small child placing her few belongings in a brown grocery bag as a woman waited.
**********
"You wouldn't believe the new models! We're going to have to trade yours in. You would love this edition!" The X5 Anna had in mind would go for $68,000 next year.
"No way! I'm driving my car until it falls apart." Lily pulled the phone from her ear and shouted her intention into the mouthpiece.
"What? I didn't tell you that yours was on a custom lease that expires at the dealer's discretion when new models become available?"
"Just you try it, Amazon. Besides, the one I have is already smarter than I am. I'd have to go to school to learn how to drive a new one."
"Funny you should say that. There's a school here. We all had the chance to take out the new models and crank 'em up. You could come and do it too if you wanted to. There's nothing quite like the feel of an open course with all that muscle."
Lily loved it when Anna talked about her powerful cars! It was almost…butch.
"So, Birthday Girl, I'll try to call you tomorrow, but it will probably be after seven or eight your time. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, but don't forget, I'm going to dinner at Sandy's and Suzanne's tomorrow." What a bummer that her girlfriend-girlfriend?-was out of town on her birthday.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Your real friends are the ones who are with you on your birthday." Anna was chiding Lily about her earlier pout.
"Well, I'll forgive you this time. But I sure hope this 'next model year' preview doesn't always fall on my birthday." Fuck! I can't believe I just said that!
Oblivious to Lily's gaffe, Anna warmed at the thought that she would spend more birthdays with the cute little blonde. Maybe next year, I'll just take you with me. "Goodnight, sweetheart. And happy birthday all day tomorrow."
Lily's gut tightened as she hung up the phone. Goddamnit! Why didn't I just drive over to her house with a U-Haul! She was suddenly afraid that Anna would bolt at her presumption that she'd be with her next year. She had made that same mistake with Melanie, Becca and especially Beverly. She and Anna had been taking things slowly, the older woman needing time to adjust to the idea of being in a new relationship, let alone a relationship with another woman. Fuck me.
**********
Lily laughed aloud as she pulled onto the freeway from Sherman Oaks. Her "dinner" with Sandy and Suzanne had actually been a surprise party, attended by 12 of her closest friends, mostly from work or from her socializing with the couple, all dressed in black to commemorate her passage "over the hill." Her gift haul included not one single serious gift. Instead, she had opened such things as wrinkle cream, denture adhesive, and a Lawrence Welk CD. Looking back, she couldn't fault their sense of humor. She was the last one in the group to hit 30, and she had given several of them a box of Depends on their significant birthdays.
Pulling into her covered spot, she gathered the gag gifts and cards from the passenger seat. Despite the darkened apartment, Lily did not feel so alone this year. Flipping the light switch with her forearm, she dropped her gifts onto the kitchen table. To her disappointment, the solid red light told her there were no messages. As if reading her thoughts, the phone suddenly rang. Anna!
"Hello," she answered cheerfully.
"Happy birthday to you," the voice sang cheerfully.
God, what a sexy voice!
"Happy birthday to you."
It is now!
"Happy birthday dear Pygmy."
My Amazon!
"Happy birthday to you."
"You just made my day, Amazon."
"Is that so?" Anna could picture the blonde in the kitchen, probably leaning against the counter while she talked.
"Yeah, it's so. Just hearing your voice makes me warm all over. I love you." Lily checked the clock on the microwave. It was after ten, so that meant it was after one a.m. in South Carolina.
"I love you too, baby. I really wanted to make your day. So I started thinking about what I could do on your birthday that was really special."
God, I love it when she calls me baby. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, so when I tried to think of something really special, I started thinking about what we did on the night before I left. Do you remember what we did, Lily?"
Every detail. "How could I forget that?" Her voice grew very small. Do I need to be lying down again?
"Yes, that was very special indeed. In fact, there was only one thing I could think of that would be more special than that."
"And what's that?" Only one thing.
"Why don't you come upstairs and find out?"
Part 13
It was at that moment that Lily first noticed a glow from the barely cracked door at the top of the stairs. That light hadn't been on when she entered the apartment-she would have seen it from the walkway. Turning off the lights in the kitchen, the blonde nervously made her way up the darkened stairway, trying to envisage what she would see when she got to her bedroom.
No imagination could have done justice to the sight that greeted her as she gently swung open the door. Anna Kaklis sat in the corner armchair by the window, the picture of calm with one long leg crossed over the other, one hand raised so that her fingers rested on her chin. Her features were shadowed by the dim light from the small lamp on the far side of the room. The woman was dressed in dark slacks and a long sleeved white shirt, the black hair draped loosely around her shoulders. Her elbows rested nonchalantly on the arms of the chair and her other hand held a cell phone in her lap. Beside her on the bedside table sat a small wrapped gift.
Lily walked slowly into the room, stopping at the end of the bed. "I can't believe you're really here," she said with guarded excitement. If they both kept their nerve, they would be lovers soon.
"I didn't want to miss your birthday," Anna answered quietly. "A girl doesn't turn 30 every day." Despite her seeming composure, the beautiful woman was quickly losing the bravado she had needed to set up this scenario in Lily's bedroom. Never before had she stood on this end of a seduction.
As Lily's eyes adjusted to the lighting, Anna's features became clearer to her. The woman wore a look of apprehension that bordered on panic. Crossing the room, Lily calmed her by placing a hand on her knee. "Well, just having you here is about the nicest birthday present I could have imagined," the blonde woman said from her heart. It was clear from her presence in Lily's bedroom that Anna had intended for this to be the night that they made love. Yet she had come as far as she could of her own volition. Lily knew that she would have to lead her lover the rest of the way.
Silently, she took Anna's hand and pulled her up into a confident embrace. Looking into the blue eyes, she leaned forward into a gentle probing kiss that quickly became deeper, more passionate. There was no need this time for either to hold back.
Placing the woman's long hand against her pounding chest, Lily told her, "This is only one of the things you do to me." With that, she slid her palm inside the open collar of Anna's shirt, finding a rapid heartbeat that matched her own. Ever so deliberately, Lily's fingers moved to undo the buttons of the shirt, pushing back the collar to reveal the top of a lacy white bra. Pressing her lips against the soft skin between the woman's breasts, deft hands gently tugged the shirttail free.
Without a trace of shyness, Lily stepped out of her shoes and removed her own jeans and sweater, leaving her standing in dark green panties and bra. Anna then matched her movements, finally reaching behind her to unfasten her bra.
"Please, I want to do that." Lily stepped forward and reached around the woman. Releasing the clasp, the bra slipped loosely from Anna's shoulders. Lily lifted both hands to caress the soft naked breasts, then brought her face once again to the woman's chest, brushing her cheek against a hardened nipple. "Beautiful," she murmured, as she pressed her lips to the smooth skin. Kneeling on the edge of the bed, she guided Anna to sit beside her.
Anna was trembling with anticipation as she watched the smaller woman remove first her bra, then her panties. Lily's naked form was far more beautiful than Anna had imagined from their late night telephone interlude. Overwhelmed with the need to touch this woman, she ran both hands up Lily's waist, trailing her fingertips against the sides of her breasts. She realized now that she had wanted this since the day on the boat.
Remembering perfectly the touch that Lily had described, Anna gently pushed her lover back against the pillow. Slowly, lovingly, wondrously, she made love with this beautiful woman, repeating each stroke of the fingers and mouth that Lily had asked her for that night. Every facet of the experience was more incredible than her meager imagination had allowed. When she drew her fingers from the warm cocoon to touch the hardened nub, her whole body thrummed with excitement. Anna watched in wonder as a deep red flush covered Lily's chest and neck as she climaxed. With one arm underneath, Anna pulled her close and searched for the green eyes. "I love you, Lily. I love touching you this way." Lily, look at me! Yes, that's it. In her entire life, she had never felt so connected to another person.
Lily looked back into the blue eyes that seemed so desperate to hold her own. In all the scenarios that she had dreamed, none had involved Anna being first to touch her. When her tremors ceased, she gently nudged the beautiful woman to her back and cradled her as she herself had been held, all without breaking the intimate link. "I want to make you feel as wonderful as I do," she said. With that, she covered Anna's mouth with a deep kiss, breaking after several moments for air, but not moving her face from that of her lover. "I want to know you, Anna, every inch. I want to touch you, kiss you and taste you," she whispered. She could feel the shudder underneath her as Anna's mind journeyed to the intimate act of which she spoke.
Lily's kisses and strokes stirred Anna to such arousal that when she finally lowered her mouth to taste her lover, the woman released within seconds, calling Lily's name as she went over the edge. The skilled tongue drew back, barely touching the tender spot, waiting…waiting for the woman to still. Once she did, Lily pressed harder and drew out a second climax, then a third when she entered Anna as her lips once again encircled the sensitive bud.
**********
Anna awoke before dawn and slipped into the bathroom. She and Lily had made love until after one, when both collapsed physically spent. That in itself was remarkable, since Scott had never continued their lovemaking once she had an orgasm. Last night, she had lost count of the times Lily had brought her to climax. Splashing water on her face to clear the cobwebs, the dark-haired woman removed the traces of her lover's arousal from her chin. Now that had been an amazing experience. She surprised herself with her own lack of reservation-she had simply wanted to devour the woman. In fact, she was astonished at her own need to give Lily pleasure, almost unmindful of her own body's desires.
Almost, that is. It had certainly been the most satisfying physical experience she'd ever had. Okay, it was more than satisfying-it was incredible. Hell, it was mind-blowing. That's what it was. Remembering now the thundering physical sensations, the tender words and intense looks they had shared, and the way they held onto each other as they climaxed, Anna finally knew what all the fuss was about. It was about connection.
She had questions, complicated questions for herself about her own expectations for where this all would lead. But right now, she needed to return to Lily.
The blonde in the bed was starting to grow concerned about the length of time that had passed since Anna had gotten up and disappeared into the bathroom. What is she thinking about? What is she feeling? A part of her wanted to go see if everything was okay, but another part was too afraid of the answer. Traumatic imaginings tumbled unbidden through her head. She supposed first that Anna had awakened with guilt or disgust at what they had done last night. Or perhaps it was just disappointment because Lily hadn't lived up to Anna's hopes or expectations. Worse, she had come to Lily simply for the experience of being with another woman, and now that they had shared this sexual encounter, she would move on. Either way, Anna was probably in the bathroom contemplating how to dress and leave without a word.
With her imagination running wild, Lily was simply astounded when Anna returned to the bed and turned on her side to draw the smaller woman close. As she began to doze again, the blonde woman noted that the very worst thing about insecurities was that they robbed you of energy that you could be spending on more pleasurable pursuits.
The sun streaming in through the narrow window above the balcony door stirred Lily awake. To her delight, a sleeping Amazon draped over her from shoulder to feet, dark hair splayed across her chest. Unfortunately, nature's call was adamant.
"This is the lumpiest mattress I've ever slept on," the blonde mumbled mischievously as she returned, lifting the covers and crawling across the tall naked form. "Just can't seem to get comfortable," she continued, shifting her head from one breast to another. Finally, she settled in and began a series of obnoxious snores that dissolved the "mattress" into fits of laughter.
"That's a gift you have, finding lumpy things to crawl on," Anna laughed as she poked the woman in her ribs.
"Hey, who are you? How did you get in here?" Lily demanded playfully.
"Isn't this Apartment 12? I was told to wait for the lady in Apartment 12."
"No, I'm afraid this is number 10."
"Does this mean I'm not going to get my money?"
Good one, Amazon! "Sorry, I'm but a penniless champion of the oppressed. You're going to have to take it out in trade."
"That can be arranged," Anna agreed, arching her eyebrow suggestively.
And so began Sunday morning in Apartment 10.
**********
"Lilian Stuart," the attorney answered.
"So what are you wearing?" came the sexy voice over the speaker phone.
Lunging across the desk for the receiver, Lily absently checked the door for traffic in the hallway. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking," she scolded.
"That'll teach you to answer your speaker phone without checking caller ID," the car dealer chuckled. Pausing a moment, she followed, "So? Are you going to answer my question?"
"I'm wearing a suit. Court clothes. I have a hearing this afternoon on an adoption proceeding. What about you? You in your grease monkey clothes?" Lily had stopped by the dealership last Saturday to find Anna working with one of the mechanics under the hood of an early model BMW. She was dressed in a grease-smeared pin-striped jumpsuit, her long ponytail pulled through a Dodgers baseball cap. Lily had never seen a sexier sight.
"Not today. I've got an appointment this afternoon with Steve French. Remember him?"
"Of course. The San Diego Sleaze. Maybe a grease monkey suit wouldn't be such a bad idea."
"But you said I looked sexy in that. Are you saying that I should look sexy for Steve?" Anna enjoyed poking at the green-eyed monster.
"No, I'm saying that I should come down there and sit in on your meeting. If that jerk so much as looks at you, I'll clean his clock with a crow bar." She fingered her birthday present, a delicate gold bracelet from the box beside the bed. The casual observer likely wouldn't notice the series of BMW emblems etched into the small links. It just screamed Anna!
"My hero," Anna sighed in a mock swoon. "Can we do dinner tonight, sweetheart? I'll take you out or pick something up and bring it over. I just want to see you." Work and family obligations had gotten in their way this week. They had spent nearly every night together over the last two weeks, but the only chance they had gotten to see one another this week had been lunch on Tuesday, which meant they had none of the private time that each of them now craved.
"6:30? I can stop and get Chinese food." Lily's mind was already way past what they would eat for dinner.
"See you then. Love you."
"Love you too." The attorney wanted to pinch herself every time she heard or said those words.
**********
"I can't believe there was ever a time when I didn't need this," Anna sighed, rolling onto her back and pulling the blonde on top. Dinner had been a blur, both women looking ahead to having one another for dessert.
"Oh, you always needed it. You just didn't know it." Lily trailed her fingers softly across Anna's thin collarbones, down between her breasts and back up again.
"Well, I think you've ruined me."
"How so?"
"Well, I think about this every six minutes, no matter what I'm doing. I think I would have driven through a police barricade to get here." She chuckled, remembering her excitement on the way over. "I love this. I mean, I also love talking to you, or going out, or just sitting around. But this is what I need," the last part emphasized with a squeeze around the blonde's middle.
"Yeah, I need it too, sweetheart. All of those things." The more time she spent with the beautiful woman, the more secure she felt about their relationship. But Lily knew better than to presume anything. She would take all that Anna had to offer, even if it meant losing her in the end.
**********
"Anna Kaklis, you have a call on line two. Anna Kaklis, line two." The normally animated Carmen always sounded so official and reserved when she used the intercom.
The car dealer swung into an empty office to grab the blinking line. "This is Anna Kaklis. How may I help you?" She had been on the lot with Holly, a new saleswoman she had hired yesterday. Holly was one of the top sellers at the BMW dealership in San Diego. Anna was pleased to find that she knew her stuff when it came to the BMW line; it was only a matter of learning the ins and outs of Premier Motors. They were lucky to get her.
"Anna, it's Mother."
Well, here was a surprise. Anna couldn't remember the last time her mother had phoned her at work. "Hi Mom. What's up? Is everything okay," she asked anxiously.
"Yes, of course. I was calling to invite you to dinner on Saturday. I'm preparing a London broil." Anna knew that was one of her father's favorites.
Anna was confused. It was usually her father who delivered these types of invitations, since they saw each other every day at the dealership. Nonetheless, Martine was waiting patiently on the other end of the line for her answer. "Saturday?" That bought her a moment. Saturday evening was Lily Time.
"Yes, about six. Kim and Hal are coming, of course. And David is bringing Heather. It would be nice if Lily could come too." There! She'd just told her stepdaughter that the attorney was welcome in their home. She wanted to create a comfortable setting that would allow her husband to get to know the young woman, and to see how happy the two were together.
They know! The car dealer was flabbergasted, to say the least. "I think that would be very nice. I'll call her and call you back. Thank you, Mother."
**********
"I'm not kidding! She called me herself at work last Thursday, and she asked me to invite Lily too." Anna was filling her sister in on the details of Martine's call.
Lily was outside by the pool with the rest of Kaklis clan, telling them all about the plans for the next Kidz Kamp outing, slated for next month. She was trying to sell David on the idea of coming along. Community service looks good on a college application, she reminded him.
"How do you think she knew about Lily?" Anna did not attempt to conceal her accusatory tone with Kim.
"I didn't say anything, I swear. Not like I would have to, though. All anyone has to do is look at the two of you together, or listen to you talk about each other. You're in love, Sister." Kim smiled knowingly. She loved seeing her sister so happy. "And it really looks good on you."
Anna couldn't help but return the smile. "So do you think I should say something? If they already know, it's like an elephant in the parlor."
"Well, I'd just be sort of casual about it if I were you. I don't think it calls for any big announcement. Does it?" Kim was fishing.
"No, of course not! I do love her, but there's really nothing more to say."
"Just remember, you promised to tell me all about the sex," Kim reminded playfully.
"I did not! Just because you asked me to promise doesn't mean I did!" Anna folded her arms in mock indignation, a pose she adopted often when dealing with her little sister. "But since you brought it up…"
Kim's attention was instantly riveted to her older sister. "Oh yeah?"
"Oh yeah! God, I had no idea it could be like that," she whispered animatedly, unable to hide her excitement. "It was never like this with Scott. Not even close."
"I told you, Anna. Scott was not right for you."
"I know. I just wish I knew if this was right for me," the tall woman said wistfully. "I don't think I've gotten a perspective on the lesbian thing yet."
"Well, what about it? If it feels right for you, that's all that matters. You don't have to worry about what to call yourself." Kim was open minded and accepting, but she didn't quite understand Anna's dilemma.
"It's more complicated than that, though. I…I feel like Lily has shown me what real love is supposed to feel like. Now that I know, should I be looking for that feeling with a man? Or what if I really am a lesbian? Is Lily the right woman for me? Am I right for her? I'm plowing all new ground here."
Kim recognized the seriousness of these questions, but wasn't about to spoon-feed her own opinion to her sister. "Well, you're the only one who can answer those questions. Do you have any interest in going out with anyone else? A man? Another woman?"
"No, not at all. If I could have this from now on, I'd be happy." The enormity of that struck Anna suddenly. From now on.
From now on? Wow! "What do you think Lily wants?"
"I don't know. I mean, I know she loves me, but she's been burned before. I get the feeling sometimes that she really doesn't expect this to be permanent. I doubt she's thinking about anything long term."
"You're already thinking long term? You've got it bad, don't you?"
"No, it's not that I'm already thinking long term. But why keep seeing somebody, especially intimately, if you know that there isn't any chance for a commitment at some point down the road? I'm just not into dating or sleeping with somebody for recreation. That's not me." That was it, she knew. She wanted Lily, but only if Lily also wanted her. Anna wasn't looking to get her heart broken either.
"Well, give it some time, Anna. There's no rush. I think the answers will come to you." Kim was pretty sure that they already had, but that her sister just needed to try them on for a while. "So I take it you've figured out what it is that you do?"
Anna turned red and smiled. "I should have known I couldn't distract you from your mission." Kim smiled triumphantly. "Yes, I've figured it out. Yes, it's wonderful. Yes, we do it every chance we get." That last bit was actually more than she had intended to say. "Now, we'd better get out there. Lily's going to think I've thrown her to the wolves."
George Kaklis was soundly impressed at the way the little blonde attorney had coaxed his son into agreeing to help out with Kidz Kamp. In his father's opinion, David was pretty self-centered, though not unusually so for most young men his age. Padding his college application was certainly a plus, but besides that, he seemed eager to have the chance to work with some of the younger boys that Lily spoke of. The elder Kaklis found himself genuinely liking the woman, despite his misgivings about her relationship with his daughter. She was obviously a good, decent person.
George followed Martine into the kitchen so that they could have a few minutes alone. Wrapping his arms around his wife from behind, he told her, "Dinner was marvelous darling. You're the best." There was more, but it was going to be difficult to get out. He waited for a moment, anticipating the argument he would get when he voiced his thoughts. "I…I really like Lily, but I just don't want that for Anna."
"George, please. It isn't your choice." Martine wasn't going to put up with this any longer. She had orchestrated this entire evening as an opportunity for her husband to get to know the young woman better-Martine was certain that Lily herself could win him over. "Can't you see how happy Anna is? Are you so selfish that you'd deny that for your own daughter?"
"It isn't right for her," he practically wailed.
Martine hated to do it, but it was ultimatum time. "As long as this is my home, Lily will be welcome here, no matter what her relationship is with Anna. If you can't deal with that George, then you can go spend the day at the goddamned dealership." With that, she turned and headed back into the dining room.
Part 14
"I'm sorry Sandy and I spent so much time talking shop." Anna and Lily were headed home in the black sedan from having dinner with Sandy and Suzanne at their home. It was the first time the dark-haired woman had socialized with her lover's longtime friends.
"Oh, it wasn't a problem at all. I think your work is very interesting." Lauren and Sandy were going to court the next day to petition for Sofia and Roberto Esperanza to be removed from Maria's care, and placed with their aunt in Culver City. Maria had not complied with the visitation order for Miguel, and there was growing evidence that the children's abuser was actually Maria's new boyfriend, Jose. The final impetus had been a call from Serena, asking Lily to help her get custody. Since she was already Maria's attorney, she had referred the case to Lauren. "And it's important. I'm very proud of you and what you do."
"That means a lot to me, sweetheart." Lily immediately reddened with shame as her mind flashed back to the scene before Christmas when she had derided Anna's work as inconsequential. She hoped her lover wasn't thinking of the same thing, as some things were best forgotten. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but now that you've spent a little time with my friends, what do you think of them?"
"I think your friends are very nice, and it's obvious that they think the world of you." Anna was especially fond of Sandy, and it appeared that she and Lily shared a unique friendship, reinforced by their working relationship. "Why were you afraid to ask?"
"Well, it's just that Suzanne can be sort of abrasive at times," Lily said meekly. "It took Mom a while to get used to it. She's really a sweet person, but she doesn't always come off that way."
Anna chuckled. Suzanne had cornered her in the kitchen and threatened to break off her arm and beat her with the bloody end if she hurt their little friend. "Yeah, she did sort of warn me that I should treat you well, which I intend to do, by the way. I mean I might have treated you well anyway, but she gave me a little added incentive," she teased.
They were nearing Lily's apartment. "Can you stay tonight?" The blonde was hungry for her lover, especially after the hot tub scene. She had told Anna that they usually had an after dinner soak, but she would beg off if that felt uncomfortable. On the contrary, the beautiful woman nearly stole Suzanne's breath when she pulled off her clothes and climbed into the tub in all her glory. Eat your heart out, ladies. She's mine.
"Sure, I'd like that a lot."
Lily had momentarily forgotten her own question as her mind wandered back to the majestic sight of the tall woman standing to leave the tub, water cascading down her sinuous body. Once she realized that Anna had just agreed to stay the night, she reached across the console and laid her hand in the woman's lap.
Anna loved their nights together. Making love was wonderful, of course, but their connection now went far beyond that. The soft words they'd share as they lay in one another's arms seemed to close a circle with both of them inside. Her whole world went still each time she awakened to find herself entwined with the naked blonde. This was contentment like Anna had never known.
**********
A whole corner of the VP's office at Premier Motors was devoted to putting the Chamber of Commerce records in order, as Anna was happily passing the baton to the incoming treasurer. It had been a busy year for the Chamber, and the car dealer had made quite an impression on the members with whom she had dealings. Several were pressing her to run for vice-president next year, which would mean an automatic ascension to president the following year. On the one hand, it would mean a lot of extra work, with meetings, committee work, and special events. On the other hand, community service was something she believed in, and it was good business.
"Anna, do you have a minute for your dad?" George poked his head into his daughter's office.
"I'm sorry, do you have an appointment?" Anna was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all of the things she needed to finish by the end of the week. This was definitely cutting into her Lily Time.
"I can come back later if you want." It was almost comical seeing the distinguished man pout.
"No, silly. I always have time for you." Anna stood up to move a pile of paperwork from one of her extra chairs.
George sat down and cleared his throat, obviously waiting for his daughter's undivided attention. He had a plan. "I've been giving some thought lately to how I…I tend to interfere sometimes in matters that really aren't any of my business."
Where on earth did that come from? In her 32 years, Anna couldn't think of a time when her father had come to her with such an admission.
"Anyway, I think I may have jumped the gun a while back when you were going out with Steve French." Anna couldn't believe her ears. "I talked with Steve the other day. He really is a nice guy, and I'm sorry if anything I said about him dissuaded you from seeing him again." George reasoned that if Anna just got back into dating, she would surely abandon this fixation with her attorney friend.
"Steve French?" A knot in her stomach told her this wasn't about the account manager at all, but about a certain blonde attorney.
"Yeah, he's really a very interesting fellow. You two probably have a lot in common. I mean, with both of you in sales and marketing and all. Sure, he drives a Jaguar, but we'll win him over in time." He winked at his daughter, but this time, his usual charm fell short. Way short.
"I'm not really interested in Steve French, Dad." That might have been the understatement of the year. The guy still gave her the creeps.
"You should give it a chance, darling. He offered us tickets on Sunday to the skybox. I told him you and I would come together."
"You're right, Dad…."
George let out of a sigh of relief. That was actually easier than he thought it would be.
"You do sometimes interfere in matters that aren't really any of your business," she finished.
What?
"I already have plans for Sunday." Lily Time. "I'm sure David will be glad to go with you," she said coldly, turning back to her work.
George was taken aback by his daughter's tone. There were plenty of times that she resisted his guidance, but never before so…adamantly. "Anna, I'm worried about you." He would try a different tack. "Ever since Scott left, you've stopped dating. It's like you've…given up on…finding someone to love." Actually, it was more like she'd given up on men, but he wasn't going to voice that one.
Yep, this was definitely about Lily! Anna now saw clearly through her father's charade, and was appalled at his obvious attempts to manipulate her. Truth be told, he had always done this, granting or withholding his approval as a way of bending her to his will. It was time, she thought, to lay her cards on the table. The woman's voice was shaking as she began. "Dad, I think there's something you should know…." She stopped herself. She needed to have this conversation with her mother also. "I was wondering if I could stop by the house tonight, about 7:30. Would that be alright?"
George nodded grimly. He knew it was time to face this, and that his daughter was thinking the same thing. "Sure, I'll call your mother. Do you want to have dinner with us?"
No, we may not have much of an appetite after you hear what I have to say. "No, I'll probably eat dinner later."
When her father left her office, Anna crossed quickly and closed the door. She called Lily first at her office, then on her cell phone. Getting her lover's voicemail, she left a message. "Hi sweetheart. Listen, I need to go to my parents' house after work tonight. It's time for us to have that talk." She knew Lily would know to which talk she referred. "I don't know how long it will take, but I'll come to your place when I'm done. Love you."
Promptly at 7:30, the black sedan turned through the hedges of the Kaklis home in Beverly Hills. George met his daughter at the door and ushered her into the family room, where Martine sat waiting nervously for the fireworks to begin. Anna sat not on the offered sofa, but on the ottoman next to her mother's wingback chair. She could be closer to both of her parents this way.
"I've been feeling like it was time that we talked about Lily," Anna started. A pin dropping at that moment would have been deafening, she thought. Martine looked at her and smiled softly, while her father wouldn't meet her eyes at all. Turning to her stepmother, she continued, "Dad stopped in my office today and told me that he was worried that I'd given up on love. I want to assure both of you that that isn't true at all, because I have fallen in love. With Lily. She feels the same way about me, and I hope you'll be seeing a lot of her in the future."
Martine reached out and placed her hand on her stepdaughter's knee. "I'm really glad to hear that, Anna. Lily's a wonderful person." Anna squeezed the woman's hand and turned to her father, who stared numbly at his lap. As family moments go, this one was pretty uncomfortable.
Finally, George broke the silence. "Anna, I just don't think this is right. I think you're letting all of the emotions from what happened in the earthquake cloud your judgment."
The words were all too familiar. "That's funny, Dad. That's exactly what Scott said when I told him that I wanted a divorce. It pains me that both of you think I'm so weak that I'd give in to emotional moments."
"It isn't that I think you're weak at all. But sweetheart, did you ever consider that maybe Scott was right? I hated seeing you leave him. He was so good for you."
"I hated seeing you leave him." The woman cringed inwardly at those words. What about what I wanted? Reluctantly, Anna acknowledged that it was time to knock Scott off the pedestal her father had created for him. "I had never intended to tell you this because I know how much you both liked Scott. I divorced him because he fathered a child with another woman, the woman that he later married. I probably could have forgiven him for that, though it wouldn't have been easy. But I realized that I didn't want to work that hard for something that had never made either one of us really happy in the first place." She paused to let the words sink in. "I realize now that I didn't know what happiness was until I found Lily."
George was dismayed to hear of his son-in-law's infidelity. Still, he didn't want to see his daughter giving up on men just because of Scott had turned out to be a louse. "Anna, darling, why didn't you tell us this about Scott? We don't blame you at all for leaving him under those circumstances. But all men aren't like that."
"Which circumstances, Dad? His betrayal or the fact that we weren't happy?" No matter how he answered, Anna acknowledged a bitter truth. If her father was happy, that was really all that mattered to him. "I want you to be able to accept Lily as the person I love, as the person that makes me happy. But if you don't, it isn't going to change anything. I don't know where it's all going to lead, but Lily and I are going to play this out." She looked for her father's eyes, but he still refused to look up from his lap.
Anna stood and reached for her jacket, a grim look of resignation on her face. This was one of the most difficult moments of her life, and she knew her heart would break the moment she left the house. For now though, she was determined to stand her ground.
Martine got up and pulled her stepdaughter into a tight hug. "I'm happy for you, sweetheart." The tall woman could have cried on the spot, but she wouldn't give her father the satisfaction of seeing anything he might construe as weakness. "He'll come around," she gestured with a nod of the head to George, speaking as though he weren't even in the room. "He's hard headed and selfish, but he loves you very much."
Fortunately, that much was true.
**********
"I'm sorry it was so hard for you, baby. Maybe your mother's right. Maybe he'll come around." Lily comforted her lover, trailing her fingers under the shirt across the bare abdomen. It wasn't meant to be a sexual caress, just a way to keep contact while they shared their heavy emotions. Anna was still distraught about what had transpired earlier at her parents' home. She had arrived about an hour earlier, eyes red and swollen, unable to talk. Lily sat with her in the darkened living room for long quiet minutes until the woman finally found her voice. When she had finished with her tale, there was nothing for Lily to do except to hold her.
"I meant what I said, Lily." Anna spoke again after a long silence. "I have to see where this will all go."
Her words were meant to be reassuring, but the blonde woman still was unable to accept that Anna could really let herself do this. "Darling, I know this is hard for you. If…" Lily couldn't believe she was going to say this and mean it. "If it's too hard, I understand. I won't ask you to give up your family." What was that old Indian proverb about setting free something you loved? Lily had always thought that hokey, but at this very moment, she understood just how much you needed to love someone to make such a deep sacrifice.
Anna couldn't believe her ears. "You'd really let me go?" she asked.
"Yes." And then I would die.
I would fight my own family for you, and you'd just let me go? Had she been reading Lily wrong all along? Anna was ready to give this woman everything, but Lily didn't seem to want it. Abruptly extracting herself from the arms that held her, the tall woman stood and gathered her things as she moved toward the door. "I need somebody who'll fight for me, Lily." With that, she was gone.
**********
Lily finally got it-Anna was really in love with her. Real love, lasting love, not just filling a gap in their lives. The stoic woman was willing to forsake her own family to see if she and Lily could build something together that would last. Instead of embracing this offering from Anna, Lily had held back, protecting herself against the certainty that Anna would someday leave. The real Lily would have worn her heart on her sleeve and Anna would have had no doubts at all about where she stood. Fuck me. She needed to show Anna that she wanted her badly enough to fight for her. How would the real Lily do that?
Anna saw the X5 through her bedroom window when it pulled up. She debated simply not answering the door, doubting that Lily would use her key if it were clear that she wasn't welcome right now. Deciding instead that nothing could happen that would make her feel any worse, she made her way downstairs to answer the persistent bell. She needed to know where they stood.
Despite herself, the sight that greeted the dark-haired woman brought a smile to her face which she quickly covered with her hand. Standing on the doorstep was the love of her life, dressed in a short brown skirt with a ragged hemline and a matching sleeveless top. Across her chest was what appeared to be a series of coat hangers, spray-painted gold and twisted into curly-cues to cover her breasts. Boots and kneepads covered her legs, and her forearms sported black cardboard gauntlets that matched her arm bracers and shoulder pads.
"Who on earth are you supposed to be?" Anna was losing the battle with covering her smile. Her sparkling blue eyes had already given away her delight. Lily looked adorable.
The costumed blonde reached over her shoulder and extracted a sword made of cardboard and covered with aluminum foil. Its business end curved significantly to one side, only adding to the comical effect. In her other hand, she gripped a plate-sized ring, also covered with foil, but painted gold and black. "I am Lily, the Warrior Princess. I have come to fight for you."
"Get in here before somebody sees you and calls the police!"
Lily lowered her sword and stepped into the darkened foyer. The Halloween costume from a couple of years ago had had the desired effect. She had managed to get herself invited in. Now it was time to lay it all out there. "Anna, can I have my words back and tell you how I really feel?"
Anna walked to the foot of the steps, turning to take a seat on the third step. Lily's face was now illuminated by the light from the upstairs hallway. "How do you really feel?"
Lily hadn't practiced this. Somehow she just knew the right words would come out if she only spoke her heart. "I love you, so much that sometimes it just takes my breath away. When you tell me you love me, or when I wake up and find you in my arms, it's almost surreal. I just can't believe that someone as wonderful as you would choose me." She walked forward and kneeled on the bottom step. "What I said earlier about not asking you to give up your family had nothing to do with what I really want from you. Because I want everything you'll give me, Anna, absolutely everything. If you someday decide that you just want to be friends, then I'll want to be the best friend you have. If you want just to be lovers for now, then lovers we'll be." Okay, here goes. Please don't run away from me. "And if you ever decide that you want to be partners, then I'll promise myself to you for the rest of time."
The anxiety that Lily expected from within herself never surfaced at all, since Anna's response didn't matter this time. What she'd told the beautiful woman wasn't a question, as it had been with lovers in the past. It was a statement, and whatever Anna wanted wouldn't change a thing about what Lily felt. She was offering everything, and Anna could take whatever part she wanted.
Indeed, Anna did understand what Lily was saying. Her words about needing the woman to fight for her seemed silly now. All this time, she'd been waiting for Lily to feel secure enough to move ahead, and the little blonde had just covered all that ground in one fell swoop. The tall woman shifted on the stairs to touch her lips to those of the green-eyed warrior. "Will you come upstairs and hold me tonight?"
Lily knew that Anna had a mental block about making love with her in this house. "I'll do whatever you want. If you'd rather go back to my place, I'll bring you back in the morning."
"What, and miss seeing you drive home in that outfit in the light of day? Not a chance, Pygmy."
**********
Lily noted the caller ID before slapping the answer button on the speaker phone. Reaching instead for the receiver, she kicked at the door to send it swinging shut. "Lilian Stuart. How may I be of service?" The last time she had answered "How may I service you?" and it turned out to be the service department at Premier Motors calling to schedule her 7,500 mile check-up. She was mortified, and only hoped that she would have the chance to tell Anna before one of the mechanics did.
"Oh, I can think of several ways. But for starters, I wanted to know if you could get off early today." Anna was working hard to contain her eagerness.
"Sure. I can come in a little early tomorrow. I'm prepping for a court appearance tomorrow afternoon." Maria had asked her to help get her kids back from her sister, but Lily had convinced her to petition the judge instead for visitation. That, the attorney knew, was best for the kids until Maria broke things off with Jose. The Esperanza children were going to have a happy ending if it killed her!
"How soon can you leave?"
Lily glanced at the clock. 3:30. "How about 30 minutes? Where should I go?"
"Meet me at my house. I have something to show you."
Traffic was crawling at four, and Lily didn't make it to Bel Air until 5:15. Her beautiful lover met her in the drive and hopped into the passenger seat. At Anna's direction, Lily wound through the back streets and side roads until they reached Brentwood, one of LA's most upscale suburbs. On a quiet street, they stopped in front of a beautiful two-story Spanish-style home, white with a multi-level red tile roof.
"So what do you think?"
"Wow! It's beautiful! Did Kim find this?"
Anna nodded excitedly. "I've got the keys. Let's go take a look." She had seen the house yesterday and again this morning. Lily gasped when they entered the grand foyer. Stained glass above the door played colors all the way up the swirling staircase. Anna walked her lover through the house room by room. Downstairs, there was a small formal living room, a dining room, a family room with a cozy office off to the side, and an enormous kitchen with a breakfast nook. Both the family room and kitchen opened up onto a beautifully landscaped patio and yard. The pool featured dark blue concrete and Spanish tile, with an attached hot tub. Anna pointed out the two-car garage in the side yard. Upstairs, they found three bedrooms, including a large master suite. The suite and one of the bedrooms had balconies overlooking the pool. Lily had never seen such a beautiful home, and she really hoped Anna had decided to buy it.
"So what do you think?" Anna could already tell that Lily loved it.
"Are you kidding? It's wonderful. Are you going to buy it?" she asked excitedly.
"I put a contract on it this morning." Anna paused and watched the smile that started to form on her lover's face. "I wanted to ask you about it first, but it was set to go on the market today and I was afraid it would get snatched up."
"Well, you sure didn't need my help. I think it's a smart move."
"Yeah, it's a great house, but that's not why I wanted to ask you first." She took her lover's hand and brought it to her heart. "Will you live here with me?" she asked hopefully, locking blue eyes onto green.
Lily's stomach did that thing again. Not the fluttering and sinking thing it did when she was nervous or anticipating bad news. This was a fluttering and soaring. The same thing it did every time Anna whispered to her while they were making love.
Anna waited nervously as a long quiet moment passed. Lily seemed to be thinking about it. That was a good sign, wasn't it?
"I don't think I've ever told you before, but I love it when you talk to me in bed."
Okaaay. It was kind of exciting to hear her lover say that, but Anna was certain that she had asked a different question.
"I know, you're probably wondering where that came from. It's just that when you talk to me while we're touching each other, I get this…giddy feeling in my stomach. It's a pretty powerful sensation. It's when I know how deeply I love you."
Okaaay. This was all good news. But what about my question?
"I just got that feeling again when you asked me to live with you. That stomach thing."
"So, will you?" Help me out. I'm dying here.
"Oh yeah." With that, the Pygmy dragged the Amazon to the floor of the master bedroom for a proper christening of their new home.
The End. Really. Thanks for reading. kgmacgregor@yahoo.com
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