Lifetime Employment

by Crow">

croaven@aol.com

LOVE/SEX WARNING Yep :) If the idea of two women in love and expressing their feelings for each other is not your type of reading, then you shouldn't read this story.

Disclaimers: not really, these are my characters they really did pop out of my head. Thanks to Barb and Jeanie for their suggestions.

Part Five

"So what are you going to do tonight?" Megan asked.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, Karla came by earlier and wanted to talk to you. I didn’t know she was in the catering business. She tried some of the chicken I brought for you and really went for it. She said she would like to sample some more of our cooking so Miranda invited her over for dinner tonight. Would you like to join us?" Jodie said matter of factly, while she picked up in the office.

"Oh yea, she’s got a really good business, she does know a lot of people. I guess I never thought of Miranda as a cook." Megan wasn’t quite sure what she thought about that idea. "Naw I’m gonna probably just go hang out at Karen’s tonight."

"Are you sure?" Jodie felt a bit disappointed, but also relieved that Megan didn’t have a date or reach for the phone and make one.

"Yeah, besides I really don’t think I can deal with Karla, I mean I did treat her pretty badly."

Jodie’s eyes widened. Did she just say that? Maybe Miranda’s right, maybe she is changing. Not that I’m really one to know.

"Ready to go?" Miranda asked as she walked into the office.

"Yeah, let’s go to the market, though. I think we still need a few things," Jodie said excitedly.

"So I hear you’re gonna cook for Karla." Megan spoke lacking the enthusiasm Jodie had.

"Yeah, Megan. That’s not gonna be a problem for you, is it?" Miranda said mildly.

"Jeesh, am I that bad, Randi? I know you like Karla. I’m sorry if I’ve been such a bitch about things."

Miranda looked confused at her boss. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Megan?"

"No, really. I know I’ve been pretty messed up about that, and I think you two will hit if off. I never really gave you a chance with her." Megan spoke sincerely.

Miranda didn’t know what to say. "Thanks."

Megan smiled and walked out of the office.

"What’s up with her?" Miranda asked Jodie whose eyes were fixed Megan.

"I don’t know, she said she didn’t really want to see Karla right now because she knows she’s treated her badly."

"Never seen her act like that before," Miranda said.

Later that evening Karla, Jodie and Miranda sat around the dining room table. Karla was impressed with the appetizers the women decided to serve. Bleu Cheese stuffed mushrooms, Lemon Prawns, and escargot in mushroom caps.

"Wow these are fantastic." Karla said between bites.

"Well we wanted to impress you with our best dishes," Jodie kidded.

Miranda came out with a tray bearing the main course.

"Smells wonderful." Karla said with a smile.

"Our version of Norinj Pilau, chicken with saffron and candied orange rice." Miranda put the tray down and placed the dishes in front of Karla and Jodie. Then she sat down and took her plate from the tray.

Karla took a fork full of food and her eyes widened at the delightful taste. "Oh, you two, this is really good. Miranda I’m really impressed."

Jodie looked over at Miranda and winked.

Miranda was having a great evening.

After dinner they decided it was too nice to be inside and went out into the garden. Karla had never seen this side of Miranda or Mandy as she now found herself calling her, and she was glad that she got the chance to find out.

Jodie was watching the other two women fall deeper into their own conversation as she kept drifting off wondering what Megan was doing. She wanted to be with Megan at Karen’s place but didn’t know how to go about it.

"Well, are we ready for dessert?" Miranda grinned.

Karla started to get up but Miranda stopped her with her hand touching gently on Karla’s forearm. The sensation ran through both their arms.

"Wait here. We’ll have it out here on the patio." Miranda said with arching eye brows.

Once in the house Miranda took a deep breath then let it out. "What do you think?" she asked Jodie.

"I think I should make an excuse and let you two be alone for a while," Jodie whispered.

"What do you mean? You’re not leaving!" Miranda said with a hint of panic.

"Miranda I can sense the vibes between you two and I think it would be a good idea for you two to sit and talk alone for a while. Isn’t that what you want?"

"Um, yes, but ..."

"But nothing. I think it’s a good opportunity for you. Right?" Jodie said, and a good opportunity for her to go see Megan at Karen’s.

"Are you gonna go to bed?"

"I was hoping I could borrow your car and cruise down to Karen’s for a cup of coffee?" Jodie asked.

"Sure - and tell Megan I said ’Hi’." Miranda smiled, knowingly as she handed Jodie the keys.

"Violet lavender sorbet," Miranda said as she walked out into the garden alone. "Jodie had to go out, she’ll be back later."

Karla smiled at the thought of her and Miranda alone for the rest of the evening. Karla felt very comfortable with Miranda, she wasn’t putting on any masks. She felt so calm - something Karla never felt with Megan.

"I picked the violets and lavender myself," Miranda said as she pointed with her chin to the flowers growing.

"Mmmm," Karla moaned as her tastebuds enjoyed the pleasure of the sorbet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jodie pulled up to Karen’s and was relieved to see Megan’s motorcycle parked in the front. She was worried that maybe Megan wouldn’t be there. Jodie had decided that if Megan wasn’t there, she’d go in and have a cup of coffee anyway.

Sure enough Jodie walked into the Java Hutt to find Megan and Martha in "Megan’s Spot".

"Hi, mind if I join you?" Jodie interrupted.

Megan couldn’t help the grin that took over her face. "No, not at all," she got up and pulled the chair out for Jodie.

"Good to see you again Jodie. Megan was just telling me about you," Martha said with a smile. She got up and went to get cup of coffee for Jodie.

"You were? What were you telling her?" Jodie asked.

"Oh, um, just how you’ve been really helping out a lot and I don’t know what I’m gonna do now that I finished your car. I really like ... um, you’ve been a great help." Megan felt awkward and uncertain.

"You finished my car?" Jodie said excitedly.

"Yeah. I guess you’re eager to leave, huh?"

"Well, no, I mean I still have to work off the bill ... right?" Jodie realized this meant that she would be able to leave soon, but she really didn’t want to now.

"Yeah, I guess you do." Megan said with a relieved smile.

"Yeah," Jodie said.

"So what happened with Randi and Karla? How did the dinner go?"

"Karla really liked the food. I kinda felt like a third wheel and decided I could use a good cup of coffee. Are you really alright with the two of them?" Megan thought for a moment before answering.

"I like Karla, but I guess I was just using her. I don’t know. Something tells me she’d be better off with Randi. I mean, they don’t know it yet, but they have a lot more in common with each other then Karla and I would ever have." Megan smiled at the thought. She always knew Karla wanted to settle down and Miranda was what Karla wanted Megan to be.

Conversation was easy with Jodie. Megan sat back and they both started talking about everything and anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miranda and Karla moved back into the house and got comfortable on the sofa.

"Oh, I remember this," Karla said as she picked up the dragon she had given Miranda. "You still have it."

"Yes, I do. It’s very special to me," Miranda said.

Karla looked into her eyes and saw Miranda as she had the first time they met. "It’s funny because I’ve known you these past years and yet I don’t really know you."

"I think you’ve been, um, occupied with another mechanic," Miranda kidded.

"I know. I do love Megan, but I know it would never work. I guess I always saw her as someone I could change. Megan’s a wild one and I believed that I could help her grow up. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about that. I know what I want, I want to settle down, to have a home with someone, to share the same things and I know Megan just isn’t that person." Karla looked into her future picturing Megan as part of it. She couldn’t see herself with Megan and her untempered, childish ways. "Jodie and Megan, on the other hand, I can see. Jodie is a good influence on Megan. Who knows? Maybe she’s just what Megan needs."

I’d share my home ... my life ... with you, Miranda thought as she looked into her desired future and saw Karla and her out in the garden, laughing and playfully kidding around, in the kitchen cooking and in the bedroom making passionate love.

"Well I guess it’s time for me to go." Karla got up from the sofa.

"You have to?" Miranda pleaded.

"Yes, I have an appointment with a customer tomorrow morning. I’m catering a wedding. Hey, maybe you’d like to ... what do you think about working with me on this one?"

"Really?" Miranda asked excitedly.

"Yes, you and Jodie could do some appetizers."

"I’ll ask Jodie when she gets home, but that sounds great to me. I do love cooking and I’ve been having a great time with Jodie. We’ve done some really great dishes. Maybe you and I can get together and whip up some ideas?"

"I would really like that Mandy." Karla walked toward the door, but turned around and gave Miranda a hug.

Miranda closed her eyes and melted into Karla’s embrace.

Karla felt a sudden heat rise through her whole body. I can’t believe you’ve always been here and I hadn’t noticed, she thought.

Miranda felt the rush run through her body as she returned the hug ... desire, passion, love. She didn’t want to let go. She took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of gardenias that always surrounded Karla. closing her eyes. After what seemed like forever, and at the same time only a moment, she let go. "Goodnight Karla."

Karla stepped out the door and realized her heart was pounding a mile a minute. It was a different kind of feeling than she had with Megan. It lacked the protective nurturing that Megan seemed to evoke from her. There was more of a balance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, are you gonna be okay driving back to Miranda’s?" Megan asked as she walked Jodie back to the car.

"Yea, I’ll be fine, I have a feeling Miranda’s car won’t be breaking down on me," she kidded.

Megan let out a laugh. "No, I don’t think so."

"I’ll see you tomorrow then, okay?" Jodie said as she unlocked the car door.

"Um Jodie?" Megan started to talk but then stopped.

Jodie waited a moment for the rest of what Megan was going to say. She turned to face the taller woman.

"Tomorrow’s Sunday. We’re closed, remember?" Megan finally said, though it wasn’t what she wanted to say. Please stay with me tonight, is what she wanted to say. She thought about how much she’d been thinking about Jodie and how she completely stopped dating and fooling around since she met the smaller woman.

"Oh, yeah," Jodie said, a bit disappointed. "I forgot. Well I’ll see you first thing ..."

Before Jodie could finish, Megan lunged forward and kissed her.

Jodie responded by wrapping her arms around Megan’s neck and pulling the taller woman down closer to her smaller body. Megan’s words came into Jodie’s head, HELL NO, I'm to young to settle down with just one. She felt her heart begin to ache at the thought of being just another one. Jodie pushed Megan away with her hands. "I can’t do this Megan, I’m not just another one of your little challenges." She got into the car and started the engine.

Megan was left standing there in the parking lot as Jodie drove off. "I’m sorry Jodie," she said out loud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jodie pulled onto the driveway and could see Karla had left. The lights in the house were still on which meant that Miranda was still awake.

"Hi," Jodie said as she entered the house and found Miranda in the living room in front of the television.

"Hi, yourself. What’s the matter?" Miranda saw the look on Jodie’s face. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just ... Megan kissed me," Jodie said then flopped down on the sofa next to her friend.

"Oh, it didn’t go well I see," Miranda said as she lowered to volume on the T.V.

"Miranda, I don’t know what to do. I think ... I think I’m in love with her." Jodie chastised herself. "How could I let myself? I know what kind of person she is, I know she doesn’t want to settle down with just one person, but I also know that she’s kind and has a lot of love inside her."

"So, what do we do about it?" Miranda asked.

"What do you mean?" Jodie wiped at her eyes.

"Well, do you really want to settle for Megan - I mean, settle down with her?"

"I don’t know. I just feel like we could be good together. These past months have been, just wonderful for me. I mean, I really love working with you and Megan. I’ve been feeling so much happier. When I look at her, my heart aches to touch her, to kiss her. I kissed her back then I pushed her away. I don’t know. I really don’t know." Jodie looked at Miranda hoping that she’d have an answer.

The phone rang startling the pair on the sofa. Miranda got up to answer it.

"Hello? Yeah, she’s here. You want to talk to her?"

Jodie was uncertain but felt it was Megan on the other end of the phone. She sat up thinking about what she was going to say.

"Okay, I’ll tell her. Are you okay? Alright, jeesh, calm down. I was just asking. Bye." Miranda hung up the phone.

"Megan said to tell you she was sorry about the kiss and hopes it doesn’t mess up your working with her, but she’ll understand if you don’t want to work there anymore." Miranda said with a roll of her eyes.

"What? What does she mean?" Jodie asked worriedly "Of course I want to work there."

"I know honey, Megan’s just throwing a little tantrum. She’ll be okay on Monday," Miranda replied.

Jodie sat there staring at the television without really watching it.

"Hey, don’t you want to know how it went with Karla and me?" Miranda said hoping to lighten the mood. They both talked into the early morning light before they turned into their bedrooms.

Finally Monday morning came and Jodie was ready to go to the garage. She had tried to call Megan the day before but to no avail.

Miranda and Jodie arrived at the garage and noticed it was still closed up. Usually Megan had the shop opened and was already working on a car when they arrived. "Hmmm. That’s strange, I don’t think I’ve ever opened the shop up before Megan. I have the keys but I can’t remember ever having to use them," Miranda said as she opened the garage doors and unlocked the front door to the office.

Jodie went up to Megan’s apartment and knocked a few times. There was no answer so she went back down stairs. "Megan where are you?" she thought worriedly as she started cleaning the office.

A powder blue Mustang pulled up to the garage and Megan got out of the passenger side. She walked over to the driver and stuck her head in the window whispering something into the red haired woman’s ear.

Jodie saw this through the glass door but from her view point it looked as though Megan was kissing the woman. She suddenly felt ill. She took a deep breath and chastised herself again.

Megan walked into the office. "Oh, hi, um, sorry about the other night. I guess I assumed you were out for a good time and since that’s all I’m known for ..." Megan stopped when she saw the hurt on Jodie’s face.

Jodie stiffened. "Megan let’s not do this okay, please just forget all about it."

"Fine, forgotten," Megan said then turned and walked up to her apartment. "Why am I being so mean to her. She didn’t do anything." Megan said to herself and walked into her room. She had called Monique thinking she would be able to forget about Jodie but ended up talking with Monique all night until she fell asleep on the couch.

Miranda walked into the office to find an angry Jodie. "I know, I told you she doesn’t know anything but how to play around."

"I just can’t believe that she was going to ... that she thought I wanted to fool around with her and think nothing of it," Jodie said with an angry tone.

"You know that’s pretty rotten." Miranda said then turned and headed toward Megan’s apartment.

"Knock, knock," the door sounded.

"Go away," Megan said from the sofa she lay face down into.

"Megan, let me in," Miranda called.

"It’s open."

Miranda came inside and sat down on the chair next to the sofa. "Megan, what’s going on. Why are you treating Jodie like she’s just another conquest? You know she really likes you."

"I know, I lo-... I like her, too. I thought I had a chance with her the other night. It wasn’t just going to be a one time deal - for once in my life." Megan sat up and held the pillow in her lap.

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked with surprise.

"Randi, I haven’t been with anyone since I met Jodie."

"What about Cindy? Or what’s her name - Monica?" Miranda questioned.

"Monique. And no, not with her, we sat at her place and talked. Well I mostly talked. I told her about Jodie and how she’s been taking care of things around the shop," Megan said with a long sigh following. And that I think I’m falling in love with her.

"Megan why don’t you go downstairs and tell her," Miranda suggested.

"I can’t, she must think I’m a real shit." Megan sighed again.

Jodie was down stairs talking to her mom. She had decided it was time to go home and she had her mother wire her the rest of the money she owed Megan. It hurt way too much to see Megan kissing the other woman. Jodie wasn’t going to stay around and watch as Megan continued her gigolette ways.

Miranda came downstairs and wanted to tell Jodie how Megan really felt, but before she could say anything, Jodie told she had to leave and would be back later. She jumped in her car that was now running like a dream and drove off.

A few hours later, Jodie drove back to the garage, her car loaded up with her stuff after stopping at Miranda’s and packing. She walked into the garage to find Megan in the office on the phone.

"Okay, just bring it in and I’ll run it through the scope. Yeah, bye." As Megan talked on the phone, her eyes followed Jodie around the room.

Jodie started putting some of her things that found their way on the desk into a bag.

"Hey," Megan said softly after hanging up the phone.

Jodie set the bag down and reached into her pocket to pull out some cash she’d picked up at the Western Union. "Here, this should cover what I owe you for the car." She handed the money to Megan. Her stomach was turning like she wanted to throw up.

Megan took a deep breath, feeling pretty much the same as Jodie. "I thought you were gonna work it off?"

"Megan, I can’t. I think it’s time for me to go home."

Megan stood silently and watched as Jodie walked out of the office into the garage. She talked briefly to Miranda then gave her a long hug. Megan still stood watching as Jodie got into her car and drove away.

Miranda walked into the office to find Megan standing motionless except for the tears running down her cheek.

"Megan, you idiot! Can’t you see how much she loves you. You’re gonna let her get away?"

"She loves me? Me? I’m no good for her and that’s why she left."

"Megan, she left because she doesn’t think you’d be with her - and only her."

"What? Randi, I love her, I don’t want to be with anyone else. That I know already. I love Jodie." Megan felt light headed, her heart pounding out of her chest.

"Then I suggest you go after her and tell her that. Megan don’t screw it up. If you really mean it, go after her, but I swear if you ever hurt her or mess up on her, I’ll kick your ass."

Megan wiped her face and grabbed her helmet. She got on her motorcycle and took a short cut to the highway she knew Jodie would be on.

Twenty minutes down the highway Jodie was still wiping at the tears rolling off her eyes. "What the - ?" Jodie said out loud. Pulled off to the side of the road, a motorcycles sat alone with a flat tire.

"No, that couldn’t be Megan’s bike, but it looks like it." Jodie decided to pull over. As she got closer she saw the driver sitting on the ground on the other side of the bike. It was Megan.

"Are you okay?" Jodie asked.

"My bike’s flat and I don’t have my phone to call for help," Megan said with a sad look on her face.

Jodie sighed. "Okay, hop in. I’ll give you a ride to the nearest phone so you can call Miranda."

Megan got into the car. Just tell her, she thought. But no words came out.

"Megan I’m really sorry, I guess my feelings got the better of me. I know we made a deal, but when you kissed me the other night, I just felt like you were ... you know."

"Jodie, I’m really sorry about that. Believe me I don’t ever want to hurt you. I love you." Megan couldn’t believe she’d said it.

"What? What did you say?" Jodie couldn’t believe her ears.

"I mean, um," Megan looked at Jodie and knew she was the one. Megan knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with the woman behind the wheel. "I love you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miranda came home and found Jodie’s car parked in the driveway. She looked in the car window and saw that Jodie’s stuff was still inside. "Hmm, I hope ..." Miranda said as she walked inside the house and headed toward the room Jodie had been staying in. The door was closed so she knocked then began to open it.

"Ooops!" she said as she found Megan and Jodie wrapped in each other arms, their naked bodies barely covered by the sheets. They hadn’t heard her knock or known of her presence since they were so involved with each other. Miranda closed the door softly. Inspired by the two she went happily to the den to call Karla.

To be continued