Disclaimers: All characters referenced in this story are mine and mine alone. Any similarities between them and anyone else living, dead, or fictional, is purely accidental/coincidental. Basically, hands off without my permission-pretty please.
Warnings: No violence, sorry. This does involve a look at loving relationships between women. If this is not your style, you are under 18, or if this is not legal where you live: Either don’t read it, don’t get caught reading it, or forget you ever saw this stuff.
For those who think lesbianism is wrong -sorry, perhaps one day after we cure stuff like cancer and AIDS we’ll work on stupidity-until then, don’t read and don’t flame.
Sex: Of course-not in all sections but it does happen now and again.
Sue: Always for you!
Anything I missed? Fill in the blanks or email me.
All comments, questions, suggestions and nice stuff are LOVED!
Jeaninehemail-public@yahoo.com
Chapter Sixteen
Riley glanced at her watch and grumbled under her breath as she finished with her customer. She was running late for her next private lesson and she hated being late. Leaving the Pro Shop, she grabbed her clubs and clipboard and headed for the driving range where she was to meet her newest student. Strange, she thought as she flipped through the clipboard’s forms, there isn’t a name filled in, just a time and a request for me specifically. She shrugged mentally and kept walking, taking note of the grounds crew and nodding to a few late season golfers headed for the first tee. Starting a new student in mid-autumn was unusual, but not unheard of and Riley was glad of the extra work. When she didn’t have enough to keep her occupied, her thoughts wandered to Jay and her situation.
Truthfully, her thoughts also wandered to Sharon, and that wasn’t overly productive either. Other than at Jay and Bailey’s, there was little chance that she’d run into her again. All that talk about taking up golf was surely just Sharon’s way of showing polite interest in someone she had to socialize with for the evening. Pushing her thoughts away, she nodded hello to the clerk at the driving range and looked around for her student.
Standing off to one side with an obviously brand new set of clubs, was Sharon. Riley stopped short and let out a nervous breath when she saw her. Sharon offered a smile that warmed Riley to her toes and she approached her with a timid smile.
“I hope you don’t mind, I asked them to leave my name off the form. I wanted to surprise you today.” Sharon offered a shy half smile to Riley.
“Um, no, no problem at all. I just figured it was a clerical error or something. So, um, I guess you decided to take up golf?”
Riley tried not to blush as she stated the obvious but she was flustered to find the woman she had just been thinking about in front of her. Oh God, thought Riley, I’m going to spend an hour with her! I can’t behave like a blithering idiot the whole time!
Sharon simply nodded and smiled shyly at Riley, admiring the slight blush that crept over the other woman’s face. She also admired her long legs, lean build, and self-assured, athletic look. Realizing where her mind was headed, and it wasn’t to a golf lesson, Sharon quickly asked, “So, what should I do, Coach?”
Riley seemed to falter, then she quickly regained her composure, “Well, I need to find out some information, such as, have you ever played golf before?”
Sharon nodded, “Yes, but it was years ago, as a teenager. I haven’t picked up a club since I turned twenty.”
“Alright then, it will all come back to you. Let’s do some stretching and then we’ll see what you remember as far as grip and swing.”
Riley showed her some basic stretches to loosen up and then grabbed a bucket of golf balls. Riley showed Sharon to one end of the range and got set up. Riley was quaking inside, but she fought to keep her hands steady as she reviewed with Sharon the proper way to hold her club. After explaining the principles behind a good golf swing, Riley, demonstrated in slow motion and broke it down for her student. Finally, she teed up a ball and showed Sharon the proper way to address the ball before she drove her first shot. It went about two hundred and twenty five yards, not too bad for my first shot in several hours, thought Riley as she encouraged Sharon to step up to the tee. Riley watched Sharon from behind the stall and off to the right slightly, Riley felt her heart speed up as she examined the other woman.
She was dressed casually in khakis, sneakers, and a light colored polo shirt, and she looked trim and in decent shape. Focusing her attention back onto Sharon’s address and swing, she watched as the older woman took her first tentative swing. Predictably, she missed the ball entirely, hitting the Astroturf pad the tee sat upon.
Sharon groaned in frustration, but that groan made Riley’s insides twist up.
Riley walked over to the other woman and gently reminded her, “Don’t lift your head until you finish your swing. You were in such a hurry to watch the ball fly, that you forgot to watch the ball get hit.”
She demonstrated the twisting of the waist and the levelness of her shoulders, then she had Sharon take a few practice swings before addressing the ball again. Stepping back, she watched Sharon square her shoulders and saw her take a deep breath before attempting her swing. This time, Sharon’s club connected with the ball and it flew out about a hundred yards, with a nice natural fade to it. Sharon had a delighted smile on her face that caused Riley to break into a grin as well.
“Did you see that? I actually hit the ball and it went mostly straight!” Sharon enthusiastically shouted.
Riley burst out laughing at her enthusiasm and went over to congratulate her. Teeing up another ball she challenged, “Go ahead, do it again!”
Sharon addressed the ball and took a swing at it sending it out about 90 yards but straighter. Riley pointed out that she had dropped her shoulder a bit and lifted her head too early, common mistakes for most golfers. They continued the lesson with Sharon learning a little about most of the clubs in her bag, and Riley admiring the way Sharon tackled the learning process of the game.
At the end of the lesson, Riley asked Sharon if she planned to schedule more lessons. Sharon nodded emphatically and Riley chuckled. They set up another time and date for a lesson, and walked back to the clubhouse together, each carrying their golf bags over their shoulders. When they arrived back at the Pro Shop, Riley asked Sharon, “Do you have plans after this? I mean, are you headed back to the office or anything?”
Sharon shook her head, “No, I took a half day. I decided to do something for myself for a change.”
Riley took a deep breath and asked, “Would you like to have a late lunch or an early dinner with me?”
Sharon was a bit surprised but nodded happily, “I’d love to! Did you have a place in mind or did you want to eat here?”
“Not here. I know a great steakhouse near here though, if you like steak.” Sharon agreed and they decided to have Riley drive so they could ride together.
#
Jay answered the phone, a little surprised to see Riley’s number on her caller ID. Riley was usually one of those early to bed people and it was almost nine thirty at night. Noticing the time, she was a bit surprised to realize that she hadn’t heard from her lover in a while either. Riley was excited, talking about a dinner date she had earlier in the night.
“What? Who was it and when did you meet her? Why didn’t I know about this?” Jay was full of questions about this mystery date.
“Well, actually, you know her, and I met her after your second operation. She’s a new student of mine at the club too.”
“Okay, so who is it since I know her?” Jay was silent for a minute, and then it hit her. “Oh my GOD! You mean Sharon? Sharon as in my boss? Bailey’s boss? That Sharon? When did you two …?” Jay paused at a loss for words. She didn’t know that Sharon was interested in dating anyone again.
Before she could ponder that detail, Riley was speaking again. “I know she’s your boss, and I’d totally understand if you didn’t want me to date her Jay, but I have to tell you, I really like her.”
Jay took a slow breath, thinking quickly, “Hey, you’re a grown up and so is she, date whomever you like. I’m just worried about you Rye. She hasn’t dated, as far as I know, in a long time.”
“I know buddy, we talked about it and her situation, at dinner tonight. She was my new lesson this afternoon and I’m telling you, there is just something about her that gets me stirred up. I don’t understand it, but it feels good. So, I asked her out to dinner, kind of casually, and we really talked at dinner.”
“And?” Jay was concerned, but admitted to some curiosity too.
“And, I really like her. I understand why she’s remained so closeted for so long. She was sort of scared into it. She’s the youngest of a large family and her folks are kind of old school. The fear of failing in her family’s eyes was pretty intense.”
Jay remembered that concert from so long ago. It had seemed as if Sharon was slightly paranoid about the possibility of being outed. “OK, so, based on this, what are you thinking about Rye? Is this just a fling for you or her? I doubt she’d risk her closet coming open for a fling. She hasn’t done it yet that as far as I know.”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but I can talk to her Jay. She seems to get me, you know? We’re totally opposite, from different worlds and in careers that couldn’t be more dissimilar, but we seem to have a lot to talk about.”
Jay was surprised but she kept it to herself this time. “Hey Rye, if you’re happy then I’m happy for you. It’s not as if you need my permission to date anyone. Just be careful, okay? Don’t rush into anything.”
Rye had one more question though, “You know how we all hang out sometimes? Would it be okay if she were with me? I don’t want things to be weird since she is your boss, but you guys are my closest friends. I just want to make sure it’s cool to have her mixed in, you know?”
Jay thought for a moment, “It’s cool Rye. I mean, I did invite her over that night and it went better than I thought. She seems different lately. Maybe she’s getting mellower. I’m sure Bail will be fine with it too.”
“Awesome, thanks Jay. So, both of us can come over tomorrow night? I still want to see you before you start treatment. And remember, I’m serious about helping with rides, I don’t want you driving yourself when you’re sick or worn out.”
“You got it. We’ll see you both tomorrow night then.” Jay paused before adding, “Hey Rye, I’m glad for you, you know that right?”
“We’re cool Jay, I know you’re just being protective, but even though it’s scary, I think she might be worth it.”
“Alright buddy, be good then, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
After hanging up with Riley, Jay decided to track Bailey down, but before she could dial, the door opened and her lover walked in looking worn out.
“Hey honey, where have you been? I was starting to get worried.” As Jay said this she got up to go hug her lover, and give her a kiss hello. Bailey gave her a tired smile and gratefully leaned into Jay.
“I’m sorry, I should have called, but I lost track of time. When I realized how late it was, I decided not to call in case you were sleeping.”
They walked into the living room and Bailey sank gratefully onto the couch. Jay sat next to her and raised her arm so Bailey could snuggle in against her.
“What’s going on Bail? Do you need to talk? I know we have a lot going on but I’m still here for you, you know?”
Burrowing into the warmth of Jay’s body, all Bailey could think about was going to bed and blocking out the world for a little while. She voiced that to Jay, and after extracting a promise from Bailey that they would talk in the morning, the two women went off to bed.
#
Bailey awoke the next morning and felt the arms of her lover wrapped around her. She let herself relax back into the warmth and safety of Jay’s arms, trying to block out the fears and anger running through her head. There was no answer to her fears other than time, patience, and faith but she wished for some magic solution. She felt Jay stir behind her, and rolled over to find those beautiful brown eyes looking at her with nothing but love shining in them. Bailey was overwhelmed, and buried her face in Jay’s neck.
“What’s wrong honey? What can I do?” Jay was perplexed by Bailey’s recent behavior. Bailey starting crying softly against Jay’s neck and she burrowed in tighter.
“Please, just hold me, and promise you will fight this with everything you have available. Please don’t give up on us Jay, please.”
Bailey started crying in earnest, tears flowing freely down her face and Jay turned so they could face each other.
“I promise you Bailey, I love you with all that I am. I will do my damndest to stay here with you. I’ll be the best patient ever, and take whatever treatment they throw at me. I can’t promise not to complain at times, but I’ll do it all, so that we can spend the next fifty years together.”
Bailey’s tears had started to ease as Jay talked with her. Bailey hugged her and said, “I’m sorry I’m so messed up. You’re the one going through the hard stuff. I’ll try to keep myself under control.”
Jay shook her head and replied, “Don’t say that sweetie! We’re both going through this, just like you told me. I get that now, and you need to remember it too. We just need to tell each other when we’re scared, or angry, or whatever else we are. I promise to do my best to get you through this, and you will get me through it. We’re going to be fine and stronger than ever. Remember, fire forges iron ore into steel and makes it much stronger, just like we’ll be after walking through our fire together.”
Bailey nodded and smiled then took wrapped her body around Jay’s. “I’m still not willing to let you go right now. Are you okay with some cuddles this morning?”
“This morning and any other you wish,” replied Jay as she settled back into her pillow and tried to silently give Bailey the strength and love she needed.
#
During breakfast, Jay recounted her conversation with Riley the night before and verified that Bailey was okay with Sharon coming over again. They decided to do a quick and easy dinner that night, just a basic chicken stir-fry with brown rice that Bailey would handle. They had everything they needed on hand, so they could let dinner preparations wait for a while.
This was the last weekend before treatments started for Jay, and she was plenty nervous. She decided to ask Bailey to go for a walk with her so they could talk. Jay seemed to think better when she could move around, and she wanted to get out while she could, not certain how the treatments would affect her mobility.
They cleaned up from breakfast and headed out to walk around Old City. The two women did some window-shopping as they walked through the artist refuge of the city. They talked about the possible side effects of the treatments, likely timing of those affects, and whatever else they could think of that bothered them about the upcoming treatments. There was no skirting the issue anymore, the time was almost upon them, and there were things to be said before it started.
They reminisced about their time growing up together and they talked more about their time apart. Mostly, they tried to reassure each other that they would get through this horrible nightmare they were living in. As they approached their street again, they both felt better after having the conversation they had avoided for so long. Each of them was afraid, it was natural, but they were both fighters and they wouldn’t give in willingly.