Living
By
Lena
“I really don’t want to go out tonight, Jen. I have a lot to do here.”
“Like what? Organizing photo albums? Come on, Jessie. Rickie and I just want you to leave the house for one evening and relax with your friends.”
“If I go with y’all tonight will you leave me alone?”
A wide grin stretched across a freckled face. “Absolutely! Girl Scouts’ honor.”
“Oh, please, they kicked you out of scouts for tongue kissing that red head.”
Jenny felt the heat radiate off of her. “Oh, you remember that, do you.”
“Oh, is right. I had a Hell of a time explaining that one to Mom.”
“I could always depend upon you to defend my honor, Sis.”
“What are big sisters for? It would have really freaked her out to discover both her daughters were dykes.”
“Hey, I’m not a dyke. I’m a “Lipstick” lesbian.”
“Sorry, I should have known by your biker boots and muscle shirts that you were the fem type.”
The sisters giggled until it was time to get dressed for a night of dinner and dancing.
. . . .
Rosie’s wasn’t the fanciest place in town, but it had the best pizza and live music in the University section of New Orleans. The club was becoming louder as the evening got later and the girls decided to head out to the Fauberg for a little dancing and romancing.
Although Jenny and her partner, Rickie, danced with Jessie and introduced her around, she couldn’t help but feel like a fifth wheel and wished she were home with her memories. She was just about to excuse herself from the table and catch a cab home when a small hand squeezed her shoulder and a soft voice whispered in her ear.
“Hi, would you like to dance?”
Jessie looked up into the greenest eyes she’d ever seen. “No. I mean, I’m with them.” She pointed at her sister and Rickie dancing on the floor.
“Come on, one dance. . . please.” The petite blonde batted her eyelashes and pouted. Then, with a strength belying her size, pulled Jessie up from her seat and shoved her onto the dance floor.
“Whoa, you are strong.” Jessie didn’t know what else to do so she danced to the music. It was fast and the beat was relentless. She found she was enjoying herself and forgot about her pain for a while.
The music slowed and the blonde took the tall brunette into her arms, then swayed side to side. “What’s your name?”
“Jessie. What’s yours?”
“Anna, Anna Wise.”
“Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Wise, of course.” Jessie grinned.
Anna rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother.”
“Sorry.”
Jessie almost ran when the blonde put her head upon her broad shoulder and Jessie breathed in her scent. She felt a tingling sensation where she hadn’t felt a thing in months. She thought to push Anna away but Jessie’s body got the last word and she held the softness of the young woman against her and sighed.
“Gosh, you feel good.” Anna purred as she ran her hands up and down the taller woman’s broad back, raking her fingernails against the silk of Jessie’s deep purple blouse.
As they danced, they moved their bodies against each other. Anna slipped her leg between Jessie’s allowing further contact and higher arousal. The taller woman looked down into heavy lidded eyes, the blush of desire clear upon the lovely features of the stranger. But this stranger felt so familiar. She had awakened a burning need inside, a throbbing that made her a little dizzy. It was too long denied desire and the wine talking telling her to take what she needed from this creature.
Before Jessie could reproach herself the small woman pulled the dark head down and seared her lips with a gentle, needful kiss. Jessie’s ability to reason left her as she felt fingers outline her sex out of view of the other dancers.
Her hand was taken and she was lead to and gently pushed through a hidden door.
“Where are we?” Jessie wondered aloud.
“My sister’s office. We’re safe here. We can bolt the door from the inside. Now, shut up and kiss me, please.”
Their lips met with an urgency neither woman had ever felt before. Jessie felt her blouse being unbuttoned and warm wet kisses placed where they had once been. She felt small hands everywhere, on her heaving breasts, between her legs, unzipping her jeans, then inside her sopping panties.
“Oh, God, yes!!!” Jessie felt herself falling, but trusted her lover to protect her from harm. She landed upon a large, soft mattress, with an even softer warm body on top of her. A pliant nipple was shoved into her mouth and she suckled and reached behind the smaller woman to find soft bare skin. Jessie groaned her desire and moved one hand around to the wet warmth of this incredible woman. The moan that followed nearly sent her crashing, but she resisted. Her tongue was suckled, then her breasts. Her nipples were chewed as her lover responded to her fingers. She nearly screamed when a small hand manipulated her clitoris, while a warm mouth alternated suckling and nipping her breasts. Jessie let go of the delicious flesh before her and screamed out her orgasm to the skies.
“Oh yeah, Christine!!!!!!”
A long moment passed as the sated women caught their breaths. Anna never before experienced the thrill of climaxing with a lover. It was awe inspiring.
“Stay there for a moment and I’ll get us some water.” Anna stood in all of her naked glory and padded over to a small refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water. “Here. You should drink this.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jessie grinned up at her lover and was taken aback by the sadness in those soft green eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Anna sat next to her. “Who is Christine? I mean. I don’t mean to pry into your business. But, this was the most incredible sex I’ve ever had and I want to know if there is a chance we could maybe get to know each other and maybe see how it goes. Anyway, who the Hell is Christine?”
Jessie jumped off the bed as if she’d been burned and grabbed her clothes. She dressed awkwardly in the dark as she tried to grasp what had just happened here.
“Are you gonna tell me or was this just what it appears to be, a one time fuck fest. I want you to know that this has never happened to me before. I don’t know about you but I don’t just go around fucking strange women. I don’t know why you were different but you were. Or, perhaps, I just thought you were.”
Anna got up and began to dress, leaving Jessie to collect her thoughts.
When Anna was certain she looked presentable she reached for the doorknob to leave the room and the woman with whom she just shared the most intimate experience of her life.
“Goodbye Jessie. Have a nice life.”
‘What are you doing? Stop her, you fool.’ “My partner. Christine is . . . was my partner.”
“Oh, so you’re with someone.” Anna felt the other shoe drop.
“No. I mean . . . Christine is gone.” Jessie felt the tears prick her eyes.
“Oh, so y’all broke up?” Anna felt a bit hopeful.
“No, DAMN IT, she’s dead.” The dam broke and the tears fell in rivers of grief.
“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Anna wrapped the grieving woman in her arms and sat her back upon the bed.
When her new friend was all cried out Anna felt safe to continue.
“What happened to her?”
“Cancer. We were together for three years when she complained that sex was sometimes painful for her. She didn’t want me to enter her.” Jessie looked away embarrassed by the intimacy of their conversation. “I took her to see my GYN and the pap came back bad, real bad. She had chemo and radiation treatments, but within the year she was gone. It was horrible to watch her suffer like that.” The tears began anew.
“I’m sure it was a living nightmare for you both. I’m so sorry, Jessie. And, I’m sorry for making you relive something so painful.” Anna spoke softly as she stroked the dark head that now lay in her lap.
“She wanted a family. I thought I had it all. Then, in one word it was all destroyed. Cancer. It’s worse than anyone knows who hasn’t lived it.”
“I know it is. My Mom had it. She survived. After the treatments, the mouth sores, the weight loss. It was just agony. I’m so grateful she fought to stay with us kids and my Dad. He couldn’t live without her. I can only imagine how you must feel. How long has it been?”
“It was a year last Thursday.” Jessie grew silent for a while then began to share her memories.
“I was there every step of the way. I watched her die a little each treatment, until her body just gave out. We went to bed that night after watching some silly romantic movie. I made her a snowball with Ensure and Hershey’s chocolate. She ate it all for me. I know her stomach was upset, but she did it to please me. When I woke up the next morning I went to run her bath, got her toiletries together, then put the coffee pot on. When I went back to our bedroom to fetch her she was dead. She died in her sleep and I didn’t even notice. I was on automatic pilot by then. I didn’t notice my partner’s dead body was lying next to me in our bed. Jesus!”
Anna wiped the tears away and hushed her lover’s words. “You are not a bad person.”
“How do you know? You hardly know me.” Jessie sat up and turned away.
“I know. I don’t know how I know. I just know.” Anna pulled the grieving woman into her arms. “You must forgive yourself. You must move on with your life. I’d like to help you do that . . . if you’ll let me.”
Jessie took a deep, cleansing breath. A sense of peace and belonging enveloped her. “I’d like that. Let’s get cleaned up. I want to introduce you to my sister. She must think I deserted her.”
“By the way what do you do?” Jessie asked as she washed her face and hands in the office sink.
“I’m a writer and proof reader.”
“Wow! That sounds exciting. What kind of writing do you do?”
“Children’s books mostly. I write about the history and geography of the places I travel to from a child’s point of view. My main character is a little girl named Daphne. She’s kind of a Dora the Explorer for the pre-teen set. I guess it would be kinda like Dora meets Johnny Quest.”
“That sounds great. Does it pay well?”
“What are you, a gold digger?” Anna grinned. “It pays a little in monies and a lot in joy.”
Jessie smiled back at her. “Good for you.”
“So, what do you do for a living?” Anna took Jessie’s spot at the sink.
“Well, mostly, I help out at our Animal Shelter. Then, I like to travel and study the religious and spiritual beliefs of other societies.”
“Wow, that’s deep. And, how do you pay for your spiritual journeys?”
Jessie looked down and sighed, then looked into curious green eyes. “Trust fund.”
“You’re kidding me.” Anna stated wide eyed.
“Nope. I have one and so does Jen. That’s my little sister. Our parents set them up before they died. We live off of that money and do the most good we can with it. We’re not rich. But, we’re comfortable.”
“Holy smoke! I’ve hit the jackpot. You’re not only beautiful, a great lover, but you’re rich, too. I like it!” Anna giggled and swatted her lover on the arse. “Let’s go meet your sister. What was her name again?”
“Jenny.”
“I hope she likes me.” Anna stated as she unbolted the office door.
“Believe me. Jenny is gonna love you. By the way, were you ever in the Girl Scouts?”
The beginning
October 7, 2008