Disclaimer: Characters and situations are all from my imagination. In fact, a couple of them might be familiar from other stories I've written.
Warnings: Sex and love between women.
Feedback: Constructive criticism and feedback, both welcomed at neil_j_miser@yahoo.com.
by Geonn
Her patent leather shoes squeaked on the driveway as she stepped out of the car. Alicia Ryan wore her usual uniform; straight black slacks with a stripe of darker black on the outside of the legs, a matching jacket, gray vest and a white dress shirt with a simple black tie. Her curly red hair had been tamed into a bun that hid underneath her cap, her hands wrapped in white cotton gloves. She adopted a stiff posture as she moved to the back of the car and opened the back door. She moved her hands to the small of her back, gripping her left wrist with her right hand. A few seconds later, the front door of the house opened and she allowed herself a small smile at her impeccable timing.
Mayor Jameson Dugan wore a slightly rumpled charcoal suit, his tie hanging loose around his neck. She was positive he would be presentable by the time they arrived at City Hall. The tinted windows of the sedan wouldn't betray his unkempt appearance, so he generally waited as long as possible to 'tighten the noose,' as he called it.
James was attempting to read the newspaper as he came down the front walk. He glanced up and said, "Morning."
"Good morning, Mr. Mayor."
Alicia glanced over his shoulder and was surprised to see the mayor's wife was following him. Most of the people on the island had raised their eyebrows when the fifty-five year old Dugan had married a thirty-five year old woman. But since their marriage, Laura Burke-Dugan had surprised everyone by being articulate, business-savvy and open to criticism. At her first Town Hall meeting, she wore a bright yellow dress. When she took the podium, she asked, "Yellow's not really my color, but what else would a trophy wife wear out in public?"
After that, she'd become a bit of a media darling. The local paper loved her and barely went a month without a guest-editorial written by her.
This morning, her dark hair had been gathered up in a tight bun, her eyes hidden behind a pair of bug-eyed sunglasses. She wore a royal blue suit, the lapels of her white blouse sticking out over the jacket. She smiled and said, "Good morning, Mrs. Dugan. It's a pleasure to see you this morning."
"Alicia," Laura Dugan said.
James folded his paper into a tube and gestured at his wife with it. "Laura wants to go shopping in Seattle this afternoon and she <i>insists</i> on taking the ferry. I hope you don't mind driving her that far."
"Not at all, sir," Alicia said. Mrs. Dugan smiled at Alicia as she climbed into the back of the car next to her husband. Alicia closed the door and got back behind the wheel. She adjusted the rear-view mirror and said, "Will we be picking up Thomas this morning, sir?"
"No," Mrs. Dugan answered in his stead. "He insists on smoking that cigar at eight in the morning and it takes ages to get the smell out of my clothes. He can get his own ride."
James unfolded his paper and said, "I guess you have your answer, then."
Alicia smiled and pulled away from the curb. She followed the circular driveway back to the tree-lined avenue that led away from the Dugan estate. As she approached the end of the curving road, she reached onto the sun visor and pressed a garage-door opener that opened the wrought-iron gate that separated Casa de Dugan from the rest of December Harbor.
Over the years, she'd learned to tune out the conversations taking place directly over her shoulder. The Mayor's business was none of hers, be it political or personal. She focused on her driving, weaving through the streets of December Harbor as the Mayor Dugan and his wife talked quietly in the back. She glanced in the mirror at one point and saw that Mrs. Dugan had removed her sunglasses. Their eyes met in the mirror and Mrs. Dugan smiled politely.
Alicia pulled up in front of City Hall and got out of the car. She moved to the back door and opened it for Mayor Dugan. He climbed out, his tie tightened and his thinning hair slicked back rather than in the comb-over he preferred. "How do I look, Lisa?" he asked.
"Fine, sir," she said, not bothering to correct him on her name.
He tugged on his tie and leaned back into the car. "Have a good day, dear."
"You, too."
He smiled politely to Alicia and then headed to the door of City Hall. Alicia climbed back into the car and set a course for the ferry lanes. She found Mrs. Dugan's eyes in the mirror again and said, "What made you decide to take the ferry, if I can ask?" The Dugans, after all, had access to a plane that could take them to the mainland any time they wanted in a fraction of the time.
"I love boats," Mrs. Dugan explained as she watched the streets roll by out the window. "I've always liked boats. James insists on using the plane, but if it's just me... the ferry will be fine."
Alicia nodded and opened the glove compartment. She found the ferry schedule she kept there and unfolded it with one hand. "Looks like we're going to just make it."
"Good." She paused and then said, "Are you sure you don't mind this? You're going to be stuck on the ferry for about an hour and a half, then sitting around while I do my shopping..."
"I don't mind," Alicia assured her. She reached into the seat and held up a paperback novel. "I always keep a book in the car with me. Goes back to my days as a cabbie."
"Ah, I see," Mrs. Dugan said. She slid forward in her seat and held out her hand. Alicia hesitated, but finally handed the book over. "It's, ah... you might think it's a bit of an odd subject matter..."
Mrs. Dugan slid back against the seat, scanned the cover and then turned the book over in her hands. "Oh," she said when she'd read halfway down the summary.
Alicia felt her cheeks burning. The book was a lesbian romance novel. The description for the book began "Vicky's former lover, Allison..." Alicia held her breath as she eased the car into the ferry lanes, only looking in the rearview mirror once the car had come to a complete stop. To her surprise, Mrs. Dugan had opened the book and was thumbing through it. "Is it any good?" Mrs. Dugan asked.
"Yes," Alicia said. "It's actually quite good."
"Maybe I'll borrow it once you're finished." She held the book back over the seat.
"Sure," Alicia said as she took the book back. She tucked it back into her bag and met Mrs. Dugan's eyes in the mirror again. "I'm kind of surprised you'd be interested. I mean, after the hubbub over the summer about that book in the library..."
"Oh, that nonsense," Mrs. Dugan sighed. "I begged James to come out in defense of that poor disc-jockey, but he didn't think it would be 'politically feasible.' Those were his actual words." She sighed and shook her head as she looked out the window.
Alicia kept her hands on the steering wheel, watching as the row beside them slowly rolled forward to the ferry entrance. She was speaking before she even realized she'd formed the words in her mind. "So you supported the disc-jockey?"
"Of course. No one deserves to lose their job merely because of their sexual orientation."
It was time for their row of cars to enter the ferry, so Alicia eased the sedan forward. They rolled onto the car deck of the ferry, following the man's directions to cut to the far left. They parked on the absolute edge of the car deck, with a window looking out over the water just beyond the driver's side of the sedan. Alicia turned off the ignition, unfastened her seatbelt and settled against the seat.
She looked over her shoulder when Mrs. Dugan didn't move to get out. "Were you going up to the sun deck, Mrs. Dugan?"
"And waste this view?" Mrs. Dugan said, gesturing out the window. "No, this is perfect. That is, if you don't mind..."
"Not at all, Mrs. Dugan."
"Please. Laura."
Alicia met her eyes in the mirror again. "Okay, Laura." She leaned back against the seat and rested her hands in her lap. A few minutes later, the ferry horn blew and signaled the ship was preparing to shove off.
"Don't let me stop you from reading, please."
"No, that's all right."
"Well, it will be unbelievably awkward to just sit here quietly. Why don't you read out loud?"
Alicia turned in her seat and raised an eyebrow. "Read out loud?"
"Sure," Laura said with a shrug. "Unless you think I can't handle it. Tell you what, you read a chapter and then <i>I'll</i> tell a story of my own."
Alicia smiled and faced the front again. She picked up the book and said, "Should I start from the beginning or just pick up where I left off?"
"Where you left off is fine. I'm sure I'll pick it up quickly." She settled back against the seat and crossed her legs. Alicia glanced in the rearview and saw a flash of the top of the white stockings Laura wore. She cleared her throat, opened to her bookmark and began to read: "Vicky went in through the kitchen, furious at herself for losing her cool with Allison. She'd worked too hard getting over her to start falling again now..."
~
"'...they weren't all bad memories, were they?' Allison asked softly. 'No,' Vicky admitted as she traced a finger down Allison's cheek. 'They weren't all bad.'"
She closed the book on her thumb and turned in her seat. "End of Chapter Six."
Laura blinked. She had been in a bit of a trance while Alicia read. "Wow. If you ever lose your driver's license, you could probably get a job reading books on tape."
Alicia grinned and faced forward again. They were about halfway through the island chain, about forty minutes from the mainland. "Okay, well... you got my chapter. It's your turn, Mrs. Dugan."
"Laura."
"Right."
Laura smiled and looked out the window. She sighed and said, "It's not a very long story. Not all that happy, either."
Alicia looked over her shoulder. "Does it have a happy ending?"
"Maybe," Laura said. Her eyes were locked on the water outside the window. She cleared her throat and said, "Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was about twenty, in college and looking to take the world by storm. But then her father died. He left behind a lot of debts and a lot of problems for the girl to take care of by herself. So the girl quit school and moved back home to take care of her mother.
"When her mother died two years later, the girl was devastated. She couldn't afford to keep her parents' home, she could barely afford her own little apartment. She wanted... she needed security. She needed something to fall back on. But college was out of the question, with working two jobs just to keep the lights on in a home she never got to see.
"Then, one day, a man showed up. A famous man, relatively speaking, the biggest name on the girl's little island home. He sat down in her section and, even though she was a little naïve, she knew that the man was smitten with her. For the next few weeks, this big man would come into her tiny little diner, sit in her section and chat with her. He finally asked her out on a date and she said yes. Then he asked her to marry him.
"She knew it would be a lie. She knew she was only saying yes for the money, for the security he provided. But she didn't care. Her entire life had been such a struggle, and here was a person willing to take the weight off her shoulders. So she quit her job and clung to him and his money."
Alicia was watching Laura in the rearview mirror. She was a little naïve herself, but she didn't have any trouble following where this story was going. "What happened?"
"On the wedding night, she admitted she didn't love him. Not truly, not the way he deserved to be loved. He was compassionate and assured the poor girl that it didn't matter. The truth was, he had watched her. He knew she was smart, literate, educated... he knew that he could use her to boost his own status in the community. So they decided that they would live the lie. They would pretend to be married and any... extra-curricular activities would be discrete and would never become an issue."
"And what become of them?"
"They became friends," Laura said with a smile. "He learned to trust her opinion on things that were outside his area of expertise. She learned to smile and wave and feign love to someone she could never feel more than friendship for."
"You never started to love each other? Not even unintentionally?" Alicia asked, unaware she'd slipped out of the story.
"No. You see, we were the perfect cover for one another. He had been elected mayor, so his life was under a microscope. He was terrified of people finding out that... well, that he was..."
Alicia frowned.
"Oh, dear," Laura sighed. "It never leaves this car?"
"No question," Alicia said.
Laura exhaled. "Jameson and I are homosexual. We keep our relationships off the island as much as possible. In fact, that's part of the reason for this trip today."
"So we're not going shopping?"
"Well," Laura said with a half-smile, "I am. Sort of. Just not for clothes."
Alicia swallowed and coughed into her hand. She opened the book and said, "So, ah... Chapter Seven?"
Laura nodded; just a quick dip of her chin towards her chest and then back up.
Alicia cleared her throat, smoothed down the page in the hopes it would still the tremors of her hand and began reading again. "'Vicky could barely move. The memory of what she and Allison had meant to each other had frozen her in place. She moved her finger from Allison's cheek to her bottom lip. Allison parted her lips and sucked the tip into her mouth. Vicky shivered as her former lover's tongue slid across her fingertip.'"
Alicia shifted in her seat and glanced in the rearview mirror. Laura's eyes were closed and she was slumped down so that she could use the headrest as a pillow. She had uncrossed her legs and her hand pressed lightly against the hem of her skirt. "Should I keep going?" Alicia asked.
"What?" Green eyes fluttered open and locked on Alicia's in the mirror. "Yes. Go on."
Alicia cleared her throat and turned the page.
"'Vicky withdrew her hand and stepped forward. She could feel Allison's heat through her thin t-shirt as she cupped her one-time lover's face. 'We shouldn't,' she whispered against Allison's lips. Instead of answering, Allison stepped forward and forced Vicky to complete her kiss. Their tongues met and, in an instant, Vicky was tossed back in time. It was as if the past five years had never happened.
"'Her hands moved to Allison's shoulders as Vicky fell into the kiss. Allison walked her backward toward the bed and Vicky moaned helplessly. She dropped roughly to the mattress and spread her legs, gathering Allison into her arms and pulling her down on top of her. She bent her knees and brought both legs up, hooking her ankles behind Allison's back. Allison slid her hand down the outside of Vicky's leg, tracing familiar terrain through the denim of her jeans.
"'Allison broke the kiss long enough to sit up and began pulling at the buttons of Vicky's shirt. 'Take this off,' she panted. 'I want to see you again.'"
Allison wasn't the only one panting. Alicia was beginning to get a little hot under the collar herself. She closed the book on her thumb and reached up, hooking a finger into the stiff collar of her shirt. She tugged gently, trying to get a bit of relief without undoing her tie. She swallowed hard and said, "Are you sure you want me to..." Her words died in her throat when she turned to look into the back seat.
Laura's eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping. Her right hand had ventured under the material of her skirt, while the left was gently massaging her breast through the thin material of her blouse. Alicia could clearly see the line of her bra against the slightly darker plains of tanned skin that surrounded it. Laura arched her back, her hand invisible between the white stockings of her thighs, and cracked her eyes. "Keep going," she whispered.
Alicia turned back to face the front. She opened the book and rested it against the steering wheel. She put her thumb in the crack between the pages and let her other hand drift between her own thighs. She shifted in her seat and cupped her mound through the thick material of her pants. She risked another glance in the rearview mirror, licked her lips and cleared her throat.
"'Vicky quickly undid the buttons of her blouse and lifted her shoulders off the mattress. Allison helped her tug the material out of the way. She kissed Vicky's exposed shoulder and ran her tongue along her collarbone. Vicky arched her back and moaned...'"
Laura moaned in the back seat. Alicia's hand tightened between her legs and her breath caught.
"'...m-moaned as Allison's lips moved to Vicky's... breasts. She teased the nipples erect with quick swipes of her tongue, licking... and bi-biting through the lace. Vicky writhed beneath her and tightened her vice-grip around Allison's waist, drawing her closer... Allison could feel the heat between Vicky's legs against her stomach..."
Alicia gasped and closed her eyes. She swallowed hard, using her middle and ring finger to rub quick circles against the seam of her trousers. She released the breath she'd been holding in a slow, drawn-out moan and sagged against her seat.
"Don't stop," Laura said from the back seat.
Alicia moaned and kept her eyes closed. Her hand slipped and the book fell. It bounced off her thigh and landed in the floor under her legs. She stretched her feet out and said, "She couldn't believe this was happening. All the times she'd fantasized, all the times she'd... laid awake at night dreaming, she never imagined anything like this really happening. She looked in the rearview mirror and locked eyes with the woman she'd spent years fantasizing about..."
Laura's eyes opened and met Alicia's.
Alicia groped for the catch of her trousers and tore them open. She gasped as she shoved a hand inside the warm cotton, under her panties, to cup her pussy. Her middle finger dipped immediately inside and she sagged forward against the steering wheel.
"She couldn't believe," Laura said, her voice was slow and deliberate as she took up the thread of the story, "that this beautiful young girl would ever have looked twice at her. She never allowed herself to believe that this gorgeous young woman, in her crisp, dark suit, would bother with someone so much older than her..."
"Not that much older," Alicia said with a weak smile. She added a second finger. "And gorgeous? I... Alicia... couldn't take her eyes off the gorgeous woman in the backseat. She prayed every morning that the enchanting Mrs. Dugan would accompany her husband to City Hall. She would have given up her salary for a whiff of that sweet perfume, she would have given up everything for just one small glimpse at the top of Mrs. Dugan's sheer white stockings."
She looked over her shoulder and, sure enough, Laura spread her knees apart. She drew the hem of her skirt higher and revealed the lacy tops of her stockings as requested. Her hand was inside of her panties, her fingers making peaks and valleys as she stroked herself.
"Mrs. Dugan," Laura said, "thought it was hardly fair that she was the only one playing show-and-tell..." She arched a dark eyebrow and bit her bottom lip.
Alicia hesitated. The side windows were all tinted so no one could see in, but the windshield was not. If someone happened to walk by and glance in, they would be able to see her. It was bad enough she was touching herself, but...
Laura seemed to understand her hesitation and said, "Maybe in a different setting, Mrs. Dugan would have gotten lucky."
"Maybe... in a mainland hotel or something..."
"Maybe," Laura said.
"But for now... Alicia slid her fingers inside..."
"Laura thumbed her... clit..."
"Oh, God, Mrs. Dugan..."
"Yes, Alicia. Are you coming?"
Alicia gripped the steering wheel with her free hand and bit her bottom lip. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately not to cry out. She rocked her hips against her hand. A moment later, Laura said, "I'm coming, Alicia. I'm coming with you..."
Alicia gasped, "Oh, God. Fuck, oh..." She fell back against the seat and whipped her cap off. She closed her fingers in the red waves of her hair and gasped as she waited for her thighs to stop quaking. An arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her tight against the seat. Laura's lips found her earlobe and sucked it as slick fingers brushed over Alicia's lips.
The fingers slipped into Alicia's mouth and she sucked them hungrily. Laura released Alicia's ear and she whispered, "Maybe we won't have to go shopping after all..."
Alicia opened her eyes and looked back at Laura. "Yeah?"
Laura's eyes danced as she smiled.
~
The next morning, Jameson Dugan strode out the front door with his newspaper in hand. He had a Bluetooth headset hooked on his ear, a newspaper in one hand and his briefcase in the other. "I don't care. The money isn't in the budget. Make him understand that."
Alicia opened the back door for him and said, "Good morning, Mr. Dugan."
"Felicia," he said as he ducked into the car.
The front door of the house opened and Laura Dugan came hurrying down the walkway. She was holding a travel cup in one hand. She was apparently still in the process of getting ready for the day; she wore a red kimono that was open at the neck to reveal the lacy throat of a pink chemise. She leaned into the car and Mayor Dugan took the coffee from her with a muttered thank you.
Laura straightened and smoothed her hands down the front of her robe. "Sometimes the man needs three hands," she muttered.
Alicia closed the back door and smiled at Mrs. Dugan. "No errands on the mainland today, ma'am?"
"Unfortunately, no," Laura said with a slight grin. "Although... I do have some chores to do around the house. If you'd like to come back to help."
Goosebumps rose on Alicia's arms and she said, "I'll see if Mr. Dugan can spare me for the afternoon."
"Morning," Laura said quickly. She glanced at the car to cover her excitement, and casually said, "Uh, i-if you can get away sometime this morning, it would be a lot better."
Alicia grinned. "I'll try not to keep you waiting, ma'am."
"See that you don't. Drive safely, Miss Ryan. Be sure to keep your eyes on the road."
"I'll try," Alicia promised. She got behind the wheel and shut the door. She watched Laura walk back up to the house and smiled when she stopped at the front door and looked back at the car.
From the backseat, the Mayor said, "Is there a problem?"
"No, sir," Alicia said, putting the car in gear and pulling away from the curb. "No problem. Next stop, City Hall."
end