Endings and Beginnings

Endings And Beginnings

by Ann Douglas

(ann_douglas@hotmail.com)

The party at Jackie D's had only begun at half past six, but by a quarter to eight it was already winding down. That was pretty much the norm for after hour's parties, especially when thrown by a firm that was only willing to foot the bill for the first two rounds. Once people had to reach into their own pockets, most employees usually decided it was time to call it a night.

Overall, as such functions went, Rebecca Singleton felt that it hadn't been a bad party, short as it had been, just overly predictable. That on this occasion she'd been the guest of honor really hadn't made it seem any different. Bill Collins still had too much to drink, until he finally had to be practically poured into a cab for the trip home. Natalie Stuart was her usual flirtatious self, going so far as to disappear for a while into a back room with a co-worker half her age. Lastly, but not least, Tom Wallace made it a point to ask anyone even closely resembling the opposite sex to dance, despite not having the least bit of skill in that area.

"Last call," Stephanie London said as she came up behind Rebecca and handed her an open bottle of beer, "or at least the last one the company's paying for."

Rebecca thanked the twenty-three year old, taking a short drink from the bottle just to be gracious. The twenty-nine year old brunette wasn't that much of a drinker to begin with, and this bottle would be her third, one more than she usually managed over the course of a night, much less at an abbreviated party such as this.

Originally, Rebecca hadn't even planned to have a first drink, thinking that since the party was for her, she might want to make sure she remembered all of it. That notion was soon discarded once she realized that little about it was turning out to be memorable at all. In fact, as she took a second drink from the bottle Stephanie had given her, Rebecca wondered how many of the people who had shown up at Jackie D's had actually done so to wish her luck, and how many had just come for the free booze. Despite her years with the firm, Rebecca had made few friends there, other than the kind you just knew in the office, Stephanie being one of the few exceptions. At the slow rate that the end of the bar where the party was being held was emptying out, it was pretty obvious that most of the attendees had belonged to the latter free-booze category.

Six weeks before, Rebecca had been offered a chance to transfer to the Washington D.C. office of Pennyworth and Wayne, with a bump in both title and salary. The only catch was that the offer, the result of the unexpected passing of her predecessor in the position, had been made on a Friday and she would have to be there the following Monday. It was the kind of promotion she hadn't really expected to be considered for at the New York office for at least a year.

It hadn't taken a lot of consideration before she said yes, much to the dismay of her boyfriend, Simon Kirby. Cute, funny and financially secure, she had strong feelings for the thirty-three year old architect she had met at her sister's wedding some three years before. Yet, despite the fact that she was sharing both his life and his bed, there still wasn't a ring on her finger. A fact that she clearly pointed out to him when the subject of her transfer came up. If he expected her to pass on this opportunity, that was going to be the price. It turned out to be one Simon was unwilling to pay.

Therefore, off to Washington she had gone, quickly immersing herself in a routine that was both familiar and subtlety different. As weeks passed, she found she enjoyed the change of venue, giving her, as it were, a chance to start her life over.

Rebecca had come back up to Manhattan a few days ago to wrap up some unfinished business, stopping by the office just to say hello. Somehow, and she still wasn't sure where exactly the suggestion had come from, it was decided that she had left so abruptly that there hadn't been time to give her a proper sendoff. Then again, if someone could convince the company to pick up the tab, any occasion was a reason to celebrate.

"So are you settled in down in D.C. yet?" Stephanie asked after taking a drink from her own bottle. She was actually at least one ahead of Rebecca, but seemed to be able to hold it better.

"Well, I really haven't had the time to look for my own place," Rebecca replied, "but I've been sharing a really nice apartment in Alexandria."

"Sharing?" Stephanie asked curiously.

"Well, there were two other people already living there," Rebecca explained, "but I have my own room and it's only a two block walk to the Metro station. The trip on the Orange Line into the city is actually easier than the one I used to make on the F train from Coney Island."

"Two roommates huh? Well I can identify with that," Stephanie grinned. It was common knowledge that she shared a house in Flushing with girlfriends from college. "How did you wind up there, an agency or someone you knew?"

"The second really, well, sort of," Rebecca replied, seemingly having trouble finding the exact words. "It's the same apartment my brother used to share when he was going to Georgetown. His roommates kept it after graduation, since they were staying in the D.C. area."

"Wait a second," Stephanie said, her eyes lighting up. "Let me get this straight. You're telling me that you share an apartment with two guys who went to school with your brother."

"Yes, but..."

"I've met your brother," Stephanie interrupted. "He's what, two, maybe three years older than me."

"Yes, he is, but it's not like it sounds."

"Rebecca, I'm shocked, truly shocked," Stephanie exclaimed in mock horror. "I didn't think you had it in you."

Rebecca smiled; she knew she was being teased.

"Down girl," Rebecca interjected. "Before you go off imagining wild three-ways and other entertainments, I want to point out that it's only a two bedroom apartment..."

"Even better," Stephanie cut in, "You get to take turns. A girl your age needs to conserve her strength," she added, the smile on her face growing larger.

"Okay, you had your laugh, now let me finish," Rebecca said after a short pause. "Like I said, it's only a two bedroom apartment, one at each end. I have mine and they both share the other, the one with the double bed."

"Oh," Stephanie noted as understanding set in.

Silence filled the space between them for a few moments as they both took another drink.

"And your brother, Jimmy, was roommates with these guys?"

"Yes, for two years."

"Did he and they..." Stephanie asked letting the obvious question tail off. "Not that there would've been anything wrong with that. I'm just curious."

Rebecca laughed at how Stephanie was always curious about everyone else's sex life. Not that the question wasn't one she herself had wanted to ask back when Jimmy had first told her he was going to be rooming with Pete Tate, whom he'd known from high school, and his boyfriend.

"Well, I asked Jimmy about that once," Rebecca replied, "and he said no."

"Did you believe him?" Stephanie further asked, her puritan curiosity aroused.

"Well, if he wasn't telling the truth," the older woman answered, "it really wasn't any of my business, was it?"

"Are the guys at least good looking?"

"Gorgeous."

They both laughed.

"And you don't find it kind of awkward living with them?" Stephanie asked further. "Not that they're gay, or even guys, but that they're a couple. Isn't it hard, privacy wise?"

"Not really," Rebecca said as she took another sip of beer, "I'm not there all that much and, like I said, their bedroom is on the other side of the apartment."

What Rebecca didn't mention was the time that she'd come home unexpectedly in the middle of the afternoon and walked in on Pete and Doug on the living room couch, doing something she'd never even seen pictures of. Educational as it had been, she'd learned to call ahead, even if it was supposedly to check if they needed anything from the corner grocery.

"It looks like the party has left without us," Stephanie said, changing the subject as she looked around them.

Rebecca turned and looked as well, failing to find a familiar face. She dimly remembered a few people coming up to say goodnight and good luck, but that couldn't have accounted for more than five or six of the two dozen people who had been there at the beginning.

"I guess so," Rebecca said, feeling a little disappointed, "but at least I got a chance to say goodbye to you a second time."

"Do you have a hot date to run off to?" Stephanie asked out of the blue.

"No, of course not," Rebecca answered.

"Then why are you acting like the night's already over?" the younger girl said. "We've still got you and me, what more do we need?"

"I'm sorry," Rebecca replied, "I guess I somehow thought, and I don't know why, this would've been something more. At least more than the typical Friday night after work. I mean, when you think about it, this is probably my last night in New York and ...oh hell, I guess I'm just being silly."

"No you're not," Stephanie answered, flashing a broad smile. "You wanted a memorable night and this was hardly it. You deserved more than a bunch of freeloaders who probably have already forgotten your name, that is, if they ever knew it in the first place."

Rebecca felt a little embarrassed to hear her friend voice what she had been thinking.

"But, we can fix that easily enough," the smaller girl said with enthusiasm. "I know some places we can go and have some real fun. A lot nicer than this oldies and not so goodies home."

"I'm not sure, Stephanie," Rebecca replied, hesitation coloring her tone as she remembered the last time she's gone along on one of the black haired girl's bar hopping expeditions, "I don't think I'm really in the mood to spend the rest of the night having half drunk guys hit on me."

Stephanie hesitated for a few long moments before replying to that, the expression on her face reflecting a long drawn out thought. Then her eyes lit up as she came to a decision.

"I know where we can go, it's this little place downtown," she said excitedly. "Trust me, it'll be a night you'll never forget and I can promise that you won't have any guys hitting on you."

Rebecca couldn't help but still have a look of suspicion on her face.

"Oh come on," Stephanie insisted, "What have you got to lose?

She had a point there, Rebecca thought. Right now her only options were to stay at Jackie D's, which seemed unappealing, to say the least, or take the long train ride back to Brooklyn. Neither one seemed very inviting.

For the briefest of moments, she'd even considered giving Simon a call to see how he was doing. That lasted only a minute as she realized that it wasn't so much a desire to see him again as the fact that it had been two months since they'd done that which they were so good at together. A fact she was also reminded of sometimes at night while lying in bed alone. Despite what she told Stephanie about the apartment layout, the distance between the boys' and her bedrooms wasn't really that great and sounds, especially loud ones, carried quite easily.

Busy as she had been settling in at work, there hadn't been time to meet anyone to replace Simon on a long-term basis, and one-night stands really weren't her norm. Not to say that she wouldn't if she met the right guy, but that hadn't happened either. The more she thought about it, maybe that was what she actually needed right now. Sure, Stephanie claimed that she knew a place where she wouldn't get hit on, but that had to be just talk to get her to say yes.

"Oh, what the hell," Rebecca finally said. "Let's go."

"Great," Stephanie said, a touch of the mischievous in her eyes. "And trust me, you're not going to regret it."

Rebecca had heard that before, but right now, it didn't seem very important.

-=-=-

The place Stephanie knew wasn't that far away, but in the Friday night traffic, the cab trip took the better part of an hour. From the outside it looked nondescript, much like a half dozen other bars that Rebecca could easily call to mind. There was a short rope line on the outside, which was a good sign of the place's popularity, but the younger girl didn't seem that concerned about the two dozen people in line ahead of them, waiting to get in.

Stephanie turned out to have good reason to act that way as she walked right to the front of the line and engaged the tall figure in black running the door in brief conversation. The figure, who Rebecca assumed was a guy but turned out to be a quite muscular woman, also seemed to know Stephanie. In fact, she obviously knew her well enough to pull aside the gate and let the two of them go ahead of everyone else.

"What did you tell her?" Rebecca asked in a low voice once they were out of earshot of the door.

"Oh nothing really," Stephanie replied in the same hushed tone, keeping her eyes straight ahead as they navigated their way through the long dimly lit hallway. "I just said I had a friend with me on her last night in New York and she couldn't leave the city without being able to say she'd been to Eve's Garden at least once."

"That's all?" Rebecca said in surprise, automatically filing away that the place now had a name.

"Well, I might have mentioned something about that you also desperately needed to get laid," she grinned.

"Stephanie!"

"Well, it got us in, didn't it?"

Rebecca just shook her head. Sometimes, Stephanie was just too much. Yet, in her heart, she knew that her company that was the one thing from New York that she had truly missed.

Exiting the corridor into the main club, Rebecca saw that it was just as dimly lit. A tightly packed bar that stretched from one end of the room to the other dominated the far wall, behind which stood an oversized mirror that made it all seem larger than it was. The rest of the place was divided into a dance floor which was equally crowded, and a few private booths, also filled. The music that blared from the wall-mounted speakers appeared to be prerecorded, as there was no sign of a band or even a DJ.

"Awesome, isn't it?" Stephanie asked as, holding her hand, she led Rebecca toward the bar.

"Well it's something all right," Rebecca replied, trying to be heard over the music.

Reaching the bar, Stephanie used hand signals to be understood over the din, ordering two beers, one of which she handed back to Rebecca, now standing back from the crowd by the wall.

"I really don't think I should," the brunette said, remembering the drinks she'd already had at Jackie D's.

"Why, are you planning on operating heavy machinery sometime tonight?" the smaller girl replied as she took a drink from her bottle.

Not having a good retort, Rebecca thought it easier just to give in and take a taste, which turned out to be a lot better than what they'd been drinking uptown.

With her eyes now better adjusted to the low light, Rebecca looked out on the dance floor and surveyed the broad mix of people on it. It was hard to make out individual faces, but from the assortment of dress, it was obvious this place attracted all types. She herself was dressed casually in a simple blue skirt and white short-sleeved top, while Stephanie had on tan slacks and a dark blue blouse, an outfit that Rebecca admired each time she'd seen her wear it. The combination put them somewhere in the middle, the extremes ranging from jeans and a t-shirt to business suits.

"Want to dance?" Stephanie asked, leaning in close enough to be heard.

"Sure," Rebecca answered, glad for an excuse to put the drink aside. One of the iron-clad rules of safe clubbing was that once you put down a drink somewhere, you never picked it back up in case anything had been added to it in your absence.

Out on the dance floor, it was easy to lose yourself in the music and Rebecca certainly did so with enthusiasm. She and Stephanie had danced many times before so they were quite familiar with each other's moves. In fact, thinking about it, Rebecca figured she'd spent more time on the dance floor with the woman in front of her than she had with Simon over the last two years.

As their bodies moved together to the music, Rebecca thought back for a moment to the office Christmas party last year when, forgetting where they were, the two of them put on an dance exhibition that really wasn't exactly appropriate for an office party. When the music finally stopped, they realized they were the only two still on the floor and everyone else was just standing there with their mouths open, especially the guys.

Glancing to her right, Rebecca saw that they weren't the only girls dancing together, which wasn't unusual in most clubs or bars. However, when she looked to the left, all she saw was more of the same. In fact, now that she was looking, she realized that the dancers that she initially took to be men, based on their dress if nothing else, were also women.

"Oh shit!" she said loud enough to be heard over the song as it hit her.

"What?" her dance partner said.

Rebecca said something but couldn't make herself understood. Finally, she took her friend's arm and led her off the floor to a more relatively quiet corner of the club.

"I said, this is a lesbian bar," she repeated, now being able to hear herself.

"Is it?" Stephanie asked in turn, a look of innocence on her face as she looked around, acting as if it was the first time she actually took note of all the women around her. "Oh my God," she finally replied, "I think you're right."

"You took me to a lesbian bar?" Rebecca asked. "All of these women are gay?"

"No they're not," Stephanie said, not taking the matter as seriously as Rebecca seemed to be, "a lot of them are bisexual."

"Very funny," Rebecca said.

"Come on, don't be so uptight, I know you better than that," Stephanie said. "There are a lot of straight girls here too," she added. "They come here for the same reason you said you wanted to. To have a little fun without being hit on by guys all night long."

"And which one are you?" Rebecca asked.

"Does it matter?"

"No, I guess it doesn't," Rebecca's replied.

A silent paused filled the air, blocking out even the ear shattering music still blasting from the speakers. As soon as she'd said the words, Rebecca already knew the answer, or at least which one didn't apply to Stephanie.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked the younger girl.

"I wasn't sure how you'd react," Stephanie confessed. "You're really important to me and I didn't want to lose your friendship."

"You could never lose that," Rebecca said. "But why tell me now?"

"I've wanted to tell you for the longest time," Stephanie said, "and when you told me that you're living with two gay guys, it seemed the perfect time."

"I can see your point."

"There's one other thing that I need to tell you," Stephanie said, closing the small distance between them even more.

"Well this seems to be the moment for revelations," Rebecca suggested.

"I love you," she said, her voice filled with more sincerity than Rebecca had ever heard her use.

-=-=-

That revelation wasn't exactly the sort of thing Rebecca felt ready to handle. If it had been something simple, say the fact that Stephanie had been screwing Simon every night since she'd left, that she could've handled.

Needing a more congenial atmosphere than the club could possibly provide, Rebecca took Stephanie in hand and led her back out onto the street. She barely noted that the waiting line now stretched around the block as she looked up and down the avenue until she found what she was searching for. Still not having said a word since the younger woman's admission, she led the two of them to a coffee shop on the far corner.

Once they were situated in a booth far in the back, far away from the other few customers already there, Rebecca asked Stephanie to repeat what she'd said back in the club.

"You know what I said," Stephanie said, her tone now changed, "and it's already becoming apparent that I shouldn't have said it."

"Why?"

"Because it's obvious that it's upset you."

"I wouldn't say upset," Rebecca replied. "More like taken me totally by surprise. I mean, it's not like I was expecting anything like that."

The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the waitress who stayed only long enough for Rebecca to order coffee for the two of them. The blonde haired woman, who was about ten years older than Rebecca and whose nametag identified her as Mary, quickly wrote down what they wanted.

"But now that I have said it," Stephanie said once she was gone, "how do you feel about it?"

"Honestly," Rebecca replied, drawing a deep breath to give her another moment to think, "I really have no idea. I mean I love you, Stephanie, but do I love you like that? I mean, I really don't know."

"But you're not dismissing the idea out of hand," Stephanie said, more a statement than question, her tone now hopeful.

"No," Rebecca simply said, anything more cut off by the reappearance of the waitress with their coffee.

Stephanie waited a few moments as they poured the various accouterments into the hot beverage, then went right to the point and asked Rebecca if she'd ever considered a relationship with another woman?

"No, I haven't," she answered, "but that's not to say I've never been curious about the idea. But whether that's curiosity about simply being with another woman, or something more, that I don't know."

"Well, that's something, at least," Stephanie said.

"All in all, though," Rebecca countered, "the timing of all this could've been better. Like before I packed up and moved two hundred miles away."

"Yeah, I probably should've said something before that," the dark haired girl admitted, "but I didn't. The question remains, what do we do, now that I have said it?"

"I'm not sure," Rebecca said, pondering it for a few seconds then adding, "I guess the idea of just making believe we both had a few too many drinks isn't really an option, is it?"

The expression on Stephanie's face said it wasn't.

"You realize that whatever happens, I'm back in D.C. come Monday morning," Rebecca said.

"I know that," Stephanie assured her.

"Part of me, the logical part, says I should just say, sorry, Steph, but I don't love you in that way, and leave it at that," Rebecca said, "but the emotional part of me says what if that's not the answer I should be giving."

Rebecca paused for a moment, raising her coffee cup to take a sip and collect her thoughts. Then she continued.

"Also, and most importantly, I don't want to be making a decision for the wrong reason. Back at the club door, you joked about my needing to get laid in the worst way, and I'd be dishonest if I didn't say there wasn't some truth in that. I haven't been with anyone since Simon and I broke up, and I'm sure that's affecting my judgment as well. It has in the past when I went to bed with someone for no other reason than that I was incredibly horny. I'm not saying that happened a lot, but it happened. The only up side to it was that those guys never meant anything to me, so it didn't bother me that it had only been sex. You on the other hand are my dearest friend and I wouldn't want to use you like that."

"What if I didn't mind being used?" Stephanie asked.

"Do you really feel that way?" Rebecca asked.

"Honestly," she said, echoing Rebecca's words from before, "I'd really rather have more. But, if all I could ever have you for is a single night, then I think that would be a night worth having."

"Even if this was something we decided to do," Rebecca said, not saying it was something that had decided, "it would leave us with the where of it all."

Stephanie had to agree, also ignoring the fact that no decision had been made. Neither of them lived in Manhattan and it was at least an hour's train ride to her house in Queens or Rebecca's parents' home in Brooklyn. Not that either location would afford them the privacy they would need.

"Do you know what we sound like?" Rebecca laughed, "Two high school kids looking for a place to fool around where they won't get caught."

A clearing of a throat made them away of the unnoticed presence of their waitress, who had come back to see if they wanted anything else. The same thought occurred to both girls, how long had she been standing there? Assuming it hadn't been long, they said they didn't need anything else. Mary jotted something on her pad, then ripped off the check and put it down on the table. She started to leave, then paused as if she was deciding to say something.

"Excuse me," she said, "I know this is really none of my business, but you two seem like really nice girls and I couldn't help but overhear most of your conversation. Now I know what kind of club that is down the block..."

"Oh Christ," Rebecca said under her breath, thinking the last thing they needed right now was a lecture from some know it all moralist about the sins of lesbianism.

"In fact, I even went there one night, just out of curiosity you understand," she continued, that admission instantly changing Rebecca's assumption. "I guess what I wanted to tell you was that if you were looking for a place to spend the night in the city, there's a really nice little hotel about three blocks over on Third called the Riverside Arms. It's nothing special really, but it's both clean and inexpensive and a lot more private than the back room over in the club. Lord, the things I saw going on in there, it certainly was an eye opener."

Having said what she wanted to say, Mary went back to the front counter.

"Back room?" Rebecca asked, looking at Stephanie for an explanation.

The only one she got was a "what can I say" look.

"So I guess if we want it, we now have a where," Rebecca said.

"Which brings us back to the if," Stephanie said, stating the obvious.

They looked at each other for what seemed the longest time, until finally Rebecca said, "One night, no matter what tomorrow brings."

"One night," Stephanie agreed, her face unable to hide how much she'd wanted to hear those words.

Paying the bill at the counter, they both flashed Mary a smile, knowing that they'd left her a tip back on the table that was five times what the two cups of coffee had cost.

As they walked down the street towards Third Ave, a thought suddenly occurred to Rebecca.

"I wonder," she said to Stephanie, "if Mary was in that back room, and it was as wild as she made it sound, how much further did her curiosity take her?

Having been there a time or two herself, Stephanie could only smile.

-=-=-

The Holiday Inn it wasn't, but like Mary had said, the room was clean and while inexpensive was a matter of opinion, it wasn't as bad as it might have been, especially split between the two of them. In most places, even in Manhattan, two women checking in together, with no luggage might have at least raised an eyebrow or two. At far as the middle-aged woman behind the front desk was concerned; all that mattered was that a guest had cash up front, or at least a valid credit card.

"Be it ever so humble," Stephanie laughed as, after closing the door behind them, the two women looked about the small room, "and I do mean humble."

"Oh it's not so bad," Rebecca replied after finishing her quick inspection, thinking as she did that she'd up wound in worse places at the end of a date, most of which had charged by the hour. "It's clean, private, and had all the necessary accouterments," she added, glancing at the double bed on the right, even as she mentioned the bathroom to their left.

"Speaking of which," Stephanie said as she excused herself, suggesting that Rebecca make herself comfortable while she was gone.

Rebecca watched Stephanie disappear into the bathroom, noting that she didn't close the door behind her, an invitation to continue their conversation.

Slipping off her shoes, Rebecca sat down on the center of the bed, her legs curled up beneath her. There was a question on her mind, and this seemed as good a time as any to ask it.

"Stephanie," she called out, pausing a moment in order for her friend to reply before going on, "when did you know...I mean when were you sure that you were attracted to girls?"

"August 10th, 1999," the younger woman replied without the slightest pause, her voice loud enough to be heard over the sound of running water in the sink.

The exactness of her answer took Rebecca by surprise. She had expected something a lot more generalized, maybe a particular age, but hardly a specific date.

"That was the night of Sarah Burton's fourteenth birthday party," Stephanie clarified as Rebecca heard the water shut off. "It was a pretty big affair at her house, after which a few of her closest friends had been invited to stay for a sleepover."

Stephanie paused a moment as she dried her hands on one of the towels, then continued.

"There were four of us, Sarah of course, myself, Ginger Lee, and Mary Lou Spencer, and like most sleepovers, sleep was the last thing on any of our minds. I remember us all staying awake until the early morning, talking about the boys that had been at the party, well, at least most of us were, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself."

Even though she knew Stephanie couldn't see her, she silently nodded her head. Just about every girl, she knew, had similar experiences with their girlfriends while growing up.

"The other girls were all pretty excited, and with Sarah's parents having long gone to bed up on the second floor and us down in the basement playroom, the talk didn't take long to get pretty intimate. We had started off just trading opinions about what guys we thought were hot and who were really dorks; then it got a little wilder and we were soon asking each other who you would actually do it with. Ginger, I want to point out, claimed that she and her boyfriend had actually done it already, but none of the rest of us believed her."

Rebecca smiled; she'd had those discussions too.

"It wasn't long before we wound up discussing who we thought had big cocks. It's funny, but I remember the girls in our class talking about that almost as much as the guys talked about what girls had big boobs. Of course the guys were more open about it, I guess because they could tell by looking at us with our clothes on. Unless of course the girl in question was stuffing her bra."

There was another momentary pause and Rebecca wasn't sure what Stephanie was doing, but the narrative picked up again before she could ask.

"That of course led to the question of what you would do with one of those big cocks if you had the chance," she said, still from inside the bathroom. "It wasn't so much the question of if we would let a guy put it in us, that pretty much seemed a given eventually, but whether or not any of us was willing to take one in our mouth. For some reason, most of the guys seemed to be more interested in getting a girl to do that than getting between her legs. I guess that maybe they thought that it was a lot safer, pregnancy wise and such. Also, there were a lot more places you could have oral sex than intercourse, at least comfortably."

Having had her share of backseat romps in her early years, Rebecca understood exactly where Stephanie was coming from.

"Well, anyway," Stephanie said, realizing that she was getting off the point, "there we were, engrossed in the discussion of heterosexual splendor, and all I kept finding myself thinking was that Mary Lou had the most perfect breasts I had ever seen."

"Oh my," Rebecca silently said, trying to imagine what a revelation that must've been.

"Mary Lou, I should mention, was one of those girls who developed early, the kind that drew guys like moths to a flame," she said, drawing her lengthy answer to a conclusion. "Even now, I can still remember the nightgown she was wearing that night, pale blue with material so translucent that you couldn't help but see her big nipples right through it. There was nothing in the world that I wanted so much at that moment than to just reach out and touch them. Hell, I wanted to suck on them and I didn't care who else was there or what they might think."

If Rebecca had considered a reply, it vanished from her thoughts as Stephanie picked that moment to reemerge from the bathroom. Gone were the tan slacks she'd had on, along with just about everything else she'd worn to work that day, the sole exception being the dark blouse she had admired. Yet even that had so many buttons opened on both top and bottom as to now prove practically useless as an article of concealment.

"The bathroom's all yours," Stephanie smiled.

Rebecca sat stunned for a moment, then slid off the bed and walked past the younger girl into the bathroom.

"Don't take too long," Stephanie grinned, letting an outstretched hand glide across Rebecca's ass for the briefest of moments as she passed.

The touch didn't go unnoticed by Rebecca but she let it go without comment. Not that it hadn't sent a tingle of excitement though her.

Looking at herself on the cheap mirror, Rebecca asked herself once more if she was sure she wanted to do this. The answer came as quickly as the question had been posed and she began to unfasten the clasp on her skirt.

Sliding it off, she carefully folded it and laid it on the vanity next to the small pile of Stephanie's clothes. It took her a few seconds to realize what was missing from that pile; her friend hadn't been wearing any underwear at all. She couldn't have imagined that they would've wound up where they had, so that meant that she did so normally. Rebecca could never imagine having that much nerve to go into work like that. Maybe that was the problem she mused.

The rest of her clothes followed; until all she wore was the simple, practical white bra and panty set she had put on this morning. Part of her wished she had picked something more provocative, but how could she have known?

"Everything okay in there?" she heard Stephanie asked through the half open door.

"I'm fine," Rebecca replied.

"Just checking," Stephanie added.

With that, Rebecca took a short breath and stepped out of the bathroom, drawing an appreciative whistle from Stephanie as she did.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" Stephanie asked.

"Not many women," Rebecca said, blushing.

"Their loss," came her reply as she reached out her hand.

Together they walked over to the bed, hands coming together and fingers interlocking.

"Stephanie, I was wondering," Rebecca said, talking to keep up her courage. "Did you and Mary Lou ever..."

"No," Stephanie quickly answered, a touch of regret evident in her voice. "Although I did spent the rest of that night watching her and imagining what it might have been like. Mary Lou turned out to be one of those girls who not only was willing to take a guy in her mouth, among other places, but actually really got off on it. By the time senior year ended I don't think there were a half dozen guys in our class who hadn't had the pleasure of her affections. No, she was definitely too into guys to have any interest in me."

Rebecca silently nodded her head, having known a number of girls like that in high school herself. In fact, while not in the volume that Stephanie implied Mary Lou enjoyed, the twenty-nine year old had been a kindred spirit. Yet, here she was with Stephanie.

"Can I ask you a question?" Stephanie said as the two of them parted hands and climbed onto opposite ends of the bed.

"Certainly," Rebecca smiled.

"Are you nervous about being here?"

"Maybe a little," Rebecca answered honestly.

"Well, I just want you to know, we don't have to do anything if you're not sure," Stephanie offered. "We could just crash here for the night and go home in the morning, pretend none of it ever happened."

"No," Rebecca immediately said, "we can't do that. If we did, I think I'd spend the rest of my life wondering what might have been."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Stephanie said as she pulled herself a little closer to the center of the bed, "I'm a little nervous too."

"You are?" Rebecca said, surprise abundant in her tone, "but I thought that you..."

"...had done this before," Stephanie said, finishing her sentence for her.

Rebecca's expression said that was it.

"I have, many times," Stephanie confirmed as she brought her hand up to just under Rebecca's chin, "but never with anyone that I cared about as much as you."

Their lips met in a soft kiss, one as brief as it was exciting. A second followed immediately, this one longer and even more enticing as Stephanie brought her other hand up and cradled both sides of Rebecca's face. A third kiss followed the second as naturally as three follows two, after which Stephanie paused long enough to ask her friend if she was okay.

"I'm fine," Rebecca said, the broadest of smiles adding to her words. "I guess I'm just not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do next."

"Why don't you let me worry about that," Stephanie smiled in return as a fourth kiss followed. "After all, I've been dreaming about this practically since the first day I saw you in the office."

"Stephanie," Rebecca said, pulling back in surprise, "that was over two years ago."

"Well, you know what they say." the younger woman replied, stroking Rebecca's hair, "Some things are worth waiting for."

Their lips met again, tongues interlocking as their bodies came together. If any hesitation remained, it was quickly banished. Stephanie eased Rebecca back onto the bed, telling her to just relax and she would take care of everything.

She kissed Rebecca, even as the palm of her hand came to rest on her left breast. Softly she squeezed the rounded orb, eliciting a soft moan of delight in response. Sliding her hand back and forth, she continued to massage both mounds, with similar results. Rebecca's simple bra unclasped in the front and Stephanie's nimble fingers were quick to see it undone.

A deep kiss followed, after which the black-haired girl brushed away the now loose material, closing her mouth over the exposed nipple. The tip of her tongue swirled around the dark circle, tickling the thickness rising up from the center.

"Oh yes," Rebecca moaned loudly as she felt the warm wetness engulf her breast. She closed her eyes as Stephanie's lips moved down into the deep valley between her breasts, leaving a trail of gentle delight.

The other hemisphere of Rebecca's bra followed the first and the already excited nipple just as quickly disappeared between Stephanie's lips. Her body was soon awash in a river of satisfaction, in which she could only imagine what further pleasures awaited her.

Stephanie continued to lavish her attention on Rebecca's chest, even as her hand slid down the prone woman's body, moving along the length of her leg. Gently her fingers glided up and down, caressing the soft skin as they moved.

Shifting position, Stephanie began to retrace the path of her fingers with her mouth, leaving a wet trail of kisses. An action that only increased the depth of Rebecca's satisfaction. Her fingers now free, they moved to the softness between her thighs and gently stroked that sensitive area too.

"Oh God, yes!" Rebecca gasped, unable to remember the last time anyone had taken their time in making her feel so good.

Following her hands, Stephanie brought her head down between Rebecca's legs and with outstretched fingers, pushing aside the plain white panties. The light brown bush beneath was tightly trimmed, the short hairs of which glistened in the overhead light with the dampness of her arousal.

Still taking her time, Stephanie ran an extended finger across the length of Rebecca's mound, tenderly parting the fold in the middle to expose the rich pinkness within. The tip of her fingers pressed forward just hard enough to expose the hard nub at the top, causing it to grow with anticipation.

Only then did she bring her face closer, so that an outstretched tongue could follow the passage of her finger, the tip of which came to rest on Rebecca's now highly accessible clitoris.

Rebecca again responded, this time with an inarticulate shout that proved to be the sweetest music that Stephanie could've desired. No words could've expressed what the older woman was feeling as effectively as her loud moan, or been as greatly appreciated.

Rebecca arched her body back, lifting her legs high and further apart to give Stephanie even greater access to her charms. With her tongue securely in place, the dark haired girl moved her hands to the underside of Rebecca's thighs, supporting her new position to both of their satisfactions. Her hands now free, Rebecca ran her fingers up and down her upper legs, a new trail that Stephanie followed. Her tongue rolled up and down the outstretched legs, before returning to the proverbial prize in the center.

A treasure she now spent, what seemed an eternity to Rebecca, bringing incredible joy to. Her hands again sought out Rebecca's exposed breasts, rubbing them vigorously in time to the pace of her tongue, .adding to the pleasures racing through the woman beneath her.

After a while, Stephanie relinquished her prize to again meet Rebecca's mouth with her own. At the same time, unwilling to totally lose the extraordinary feeling that had been filling her, Rebecca brought her own fingers down between her legs and duplicated her friend's ministrations as best she could.

"Horny little thing, aren't you?" Stephanie laughingly thought, realizing that perhaps she had underestimated her friend's urgent need for some sort of release.

Once more shifting position, Stephanie guided Rebecca into one that she found, at least at first, quite confusing. Stephanie was now lying beneath her, her back against the mattress and Rebecca was atop Stephanie, her back to the younger woman. In her experience, it didn't seem to make sense, at least at first.

Then in a rush of clarity, Stephanie's plan made sudden sense. If they had been standing up, Rebecca would've understood it immediately. After sharing a kiss over her shoulder, Rebecca felt Stephanie take hold of her arms and place them flat against the pillows. Stephanie, in turn, brought her own hands around to take the place of Rebecca's. With one hand on her breasts and the other down between her legs, she picked up where the brunette had just left off.

"Oh, that is nice," Rebecca purred as she felt one set of fingers play with her nipples and the other with her clitoris, both producing a set of pleasing waves that met somewhere in the center of her body.

Her upper hand began to move in an ever increasing circle, expanding the zone of pleasure it was creating while her other hand took the opposite tack, moving in a contracting motion until it was totally focused on the tiny pearl that was at the center of Rebecca's sex.

Both acts seemed to prove equally effective as under Stephanie's guidance. Rebecca's body responded like a well-tuned instrument. One playing the most delightful concerto she could've imagined. One that quickly rose to a crescendo unlike any in recent memory.

Stephanie's tongue reached out and tickled the lobe of Rebecca's ear, while at the same time the soles of her feet rubbed against her ankles, both adding to the melody. She temporary abandoned the treasure between Rebecca's legs, just long enough to run her hands up her sides, taking hold of each of the beasts and rubbing one against the other. Then she quickly brought that hand back to its primary task, sliding once more beneath the elastic band of her panties, leaving the other to do as well as it could on its own. Which in the end, turned out to be quite considerable.

Rebecca added to the symphony, gyrating her body against Stephanie's, the firmness of her back and the softness of her ass pressing against the younger woman's breasts and mound respectively. Faster and faster their bodies moved, with breaths becoming shorter and droplets of sweat covering damp flesh.

Finally, it was more than Rebecca could stand and she felt her body respond of its own accord. The tremors that had been steadily rising within her exploded with erotic intensity as her body began to quiver and quake with resounding force - the epicenter of which could be found between her legs. An eruption that left her both drained and satisfied.

-=-=-

"I can't tell you how much I needed that," Rebecca said long minutes later, breaking the silence that had taken hold of the room. "I can't tell you because until this moment I didn't know myself."

"No guilty feelings?" Stephanie asked as she lay parallel to Rebecca on the bed.

"How could anyone feel guilty about something that felt so good?" Rebecca replied, without having to even consider it.

"Then you might want to try it again?" Stephanie further asked, a slight hesitation in the question.

"Definitely," Rebecca said, again without hesitation. "After all, you didn't come yet, did you? If I was going to be that selfish, I might as well be ..."

"A guy?" Stephanie chimed in, seeing that her friend was looking for an appropriate word.

"Not exactly the word I was looking for," Rebecca smiled, "but accurate enough nevertheless."

Stephanie laughed.

"We did pay for the room for the entire night, didn't we?" Rebecca unexpectedly asked.

"Yes, we have it until ten o'clock tomorrow," Stephanie confirmed.

"Good, because I have to close my eyes for just a few minutes before we try anything else," Rebecca said as she laid her head back on the pillow and did just that.

"Rebecca?" Stephanie said softly, realizing when there was no response that she had fallen instantly asleep.

She brushed Rebecca's hair away from her eyes, then lay down up against her. In only a few minutes, she too was asleep.

-=-=-

At first, Stephanie thought she was having a dream. A very pleasant dream, but a dream all the same. It wasn't until she finally opened her eyes that she realized it was an even more pleasant reality. That the warmth that had spread across her body from between her legs had been much more than her imagination.

"I hope you aren't angry," Rebecca said, once she realized that the woman beside her was awake again, withdrawing her hand from between Stephanie's legs as she spoke. "I woke up just a little while ago and was just watching you sleep, then you rolled onto your back and spread your legs and ..."

"And you took that as an invitation to do more than look," Stephanie said, her tone revealing no clue as to her mood.

"I guess I was just thinking how I used to sometimes wake up Simon some morning, and ..." she paused for a second. "Oh please tell me that you're not mad."

"As someone I greatly admire once said," Stephanie said, her tone now obviously positive, "how could I be angry about something that felt so very good?"

Rebecca was quite glad to hear that, the smile on her face stretching ear to ear.

"The only thing that might make me a little disappointed, however," Stephanie added, "would be if you don't plan to continue."

"Oh, I plan to continue all right," Rebecca laughed, leaning forward and undoing the two buttons that still held together Stephanie's blouse. "Let me help you out of this, and then I want you to just lay back and relax. This time it's my turn to make you feel good. I don't have your experience but I promise to do my best."

Slipping out of her blouse and then down on her stomach as she had been instructed, Stephanie thought that just by being here, Rebecca had already made her feel as good as she could have ever imagined. Anything else, would just be icing on the cake. She vaguely remembered her friend mentioning that back in college, she had worked part time as a masseuse at a health spa. From the way the two of them were now positioned, it looked like she was about to get a first hand demonstration of those long ago talents.

Kneeling about Stephanie's head, Rebecca leaned over and placed both her hands on the small of her back. Strong fingers pressed into her flesh, moving in an expanding circle until they covered her entire back. They continued up to her shoulders and then all the way down to the cheeks of her ass, a pleasant caress that brought forth a series of soft moans of delight.

Continuing to work the rounded globes, Rebecca moved her body so that it now rested alongside Stephanie's legs. Her hands worked their way up and down each leg, fingertips applying just enough pressure to excite the nerves beneath. Again shifting position on the bed, she let one hand slide between the cheeks of her ass while her head moved up to Stephanie's neck and she kissed it softly. A second kiss followed and the younger woman turned her head just enough to meet the third.

"Turn over," Rebecca whispered into Stephanie's ear.

While she did so, Rebecca returned to the first position between Stephanie and the headboard.

Placing outstretched hands on Stephanie's midsection, Rebecca worked them upward and cupped the underside of her breasts. The brunette noted that the rounded mounds, slightly smaller then her own, were capped by much larger nipples, both of which were already standing at attention. Her fingers brushed against each, eliciting another set of quiet cries from the woman beneath her.

Both hands closed around first her left, then her right breast, squeezing them softly as her mouth dropped downward and closed around the excited tips. Her tongue caressed them just enough to add a sharp cry of pleasure to the quiet melody Stephanie had been singing. A melody cut short as Rachel's mouth met Stephanie's once more, her tongue driving deep within to caress her inner reaches.

"I imagine this wasn't exactly the kind of massage that you gave all your clients," Stephanie said in a hushed tone when their mouths finally parted.

"Not quite," Rebecca laughed, "but if I had, I might've gotten better tips."

Again moving to Stephanie's side, Rebecca parted her legs wide, exposing the hairless mound that had previously fascinated her. She had never seen one before, at least not past the age of puberty, and had been drawn to it. Eagerly, she reached out with an outstretched hand and ran her fingers across it.

"I'd certainly have left a big tip," Stephanie gushed as she rolled back her head, closing her eyes as a pleasing wave washed over her.

Rebecca continued to glide her hand over the sensitive mound, even as her mouth returned to Stephanie's breasts, tickling them with her tongue. Another kiss followed, as her index finger worked its way past the folds of her sex, producing the loudest cry yet. One that was swallowed by the passion of their kiss.

Their tongues continued to intertwine as a second finger joined the first and Rebecca explored the soft, wet interior of Stephanie's sex. The tips of her fingers quickly found her clitoris, massaging it gently at first, then with more vigor. Stephanie's body began to pulsate in time to the sensations Rebecca's attentions had produced, urging her friend to go both faster and harder.

"And to think," Stephanie said in a sot voice as Rebecca again kissed her way down across her body, "I thought I was going to be the one teaching you how to please another woman."

"To tell the truth," Rebecca replied as she paused a moment, "I'm making this up as I go along."

"Then girl, I can't wait to see what you come up with next," Stephanie laughed.

She didn't have long to wait as Rebecca's downward journey concluded with her mouth resting at the epicenter between her legs. With much less hesitation than Stephanie remembered from her own first time, the Sapphic virgin thrust her tongue deep along the path her fingers had paved, spiraling along the inner walls until the tip of it reached the pearl at the center of it all.

"Omigod!" Stephanie cried out as Rebecca continued to drive her tongue deep inside of her as possible. With one hand on her thigh, Rebecca reached up with the other and spread the palm of her other hand across Stephanie's right breast, squeezing it tightly. As if to keep a balance, Stephanie brought her left hand down to its counterpart and did much the same, eventually replacing Rebecca's hand on the first mound with her own.

Time passed quickly or not at all, Stephanie couldn't be sure which. All she knew for sure was that Rebecca seemed filled with boundless energy, all of which was directed toward pleasing her. A rising tide had been building for what seemed like forever, one that could crest at any moment.

In the beginning, Stephanie had decided to take a slow approach in her planned seduction, as not to scare away someone who was already so dear to her. It was apparent now that slow wasn't exactly a word in Rebecca's vocabulary, at least in situations like this. It was time for Stephanie to catch up.

Concentrating what will power remained in her, she lifted Rebecca from between her legs, a reluctantly undertaken task if there ever had been one, and brought her own body upward to meet her in half-motion. Their lips joined and this time it was Stephanie who initiated the shared passions. Their bodies slammed together as she pulled Rebecca to her, wrapping her hands around her ass, their breasts pressed against each other in an attempt to become one. Back and forth they rocked, hands and mouths caressing eager flesh, discovering the most sensitive points on each of them.

Another shifting of bodies brought one pubic mound tightly against the other and in unspoken consent each concentrated her energies at that location. The fires within each continued to build, long passing the level that each previously had regarded as her limit. It was as their bodies refused to give in until they had explored every last option.

Rebecca moved her body forward, so that she could reach back and play with Stephanie's sex with her hand, while at the same time presenting her own to the younger woman's mouth. It was an offering that was quickly taken up on, the fury of that acceptance exhibiting a fervor equal to that she had presented.

It was now Rebecca's turn to once more cry out as surges of passion raced across her body, driving her into a whirlwind of ecstasy. Drawing on every bit of her experience, Stephanie pressed her tongue far inside Rebecca, making the most of each motion and driving her ever nearer to the edge.

Finally, it was obvious that the limit of their resistance had finally been reached and they slid their bodies along each other one last time until each of them had the other's head buried deep between their legs. After that, the end came quickly but not quietly, as the explosions triggered in each of their trembling forms were enough to send them into a resounding rapture. One that each of them tried to hold onto as long as they could.

-=-=-

The exhausted slumber that followed this time lasted well past the morning's first light. As it was, once awakening did come, it was all they could do to wash up and check out before being charged for another day in its entirety.

Filled with a desire to talk about what had happened, Rebecca and Stephanie found themselves back at the small coffee shop where their journey of discovery had begun so short a time before. Sitting in the same booth, they were both thankful that Mary was hours away from the start of her shift.

"Well," Stephanie said, staring down at the untouched cup of coffee sitting in front of her.

"Well," Rebecca repeated, her own drink equally ignored.

"I guess it would be fair to say that neither of us regrets last night," Stephanie said, finally picking up her cup to take a sip, if only to give Rebecca time to answer.

"I would say that would be a fair assumption," Rebecca replied, following her lead and taking hold of her own cup.

"So I guess the thing we need to decide is what do we make of it?" Stephanie offered. "Was it a one time thing, something to just store among pleasant memories, or the start of something more?"

"I don't see how we could make anything more of it than just a memory," Rebecca replied. "Come Monday morning I'll be two hundred miles away again," she added, bringing that harsh reality back to the forefront.

"If we weren't that far apart, would you want it to be something else?" Stephanie asked.

"Perhaps, but I'm not planning to give up this opportunity in D.C. and I hardly expect you to just toss away your own life here to follow me there," Rebecca said.

"But what if I already had a life waiting for me there?" Stephanie added, a sense of urgency in her voice.

"I don't understand."

"I didn't want to bring this up before," Stephanie said after a slight hesitation, "but I have family in Silver Springs down in Maryland. If I remember right, that's less than an hour away from Alexandria on the Metro."

"Yes it is," Rebecca said as she did a quick calculation in her head.

"My aunt runs a bed and breakfast there, quite successfully in fact," Stephanie further explained, "but she's getting up in years and it's beginning to become too much for her, especially since my uncle passed away a few months ago."

"And you're thinking that you could quit your job here and go work for your aunt," Rebecca said, jumping ahead. "Do you think that you'd be happy doing something like that instead of working here in New York?"

"Actually, I more than just think it," Stephanie replied. "I used to work summers there back during both high school and college and when I really think about it, I'm sure I'd be happier running that place than being a very junior associate here in New York. Even before last night, I had pretty much made up my mind to take up her offer."

"And if whatever you think might develop between the two of us, doesn't?" Rebecca asked.

"Then it doesn't," Stephanie smiled, "I really meant it when I said last night, that as much as I'd like it to be more, I had been willing to settle for only one night as your lover, as long as I still had the rest of my life as your friend."

"I don't even know if I could have a real relationship with another woman," Rebecca said, still trying to sort out the flood of feeling that filled her. "I might be worse at it than I've been with men."

"Again, that's a chance I'm willing to take," Stephanie replied.

"I'm sure there are a dozen reasons why this is a really bad idea," Rebecca said after sitting silent for a few long moments, "but for the life of me I can't think of any right now."

"Well, I don't plan to make the move to Maryland until next month," Stephanie said. "That should give you plenty of time to think of a few."

"And if I can't?" Rebecca replied.

"Then so much the better," Stephanie smiled.

"This is crazy," Rebecca said, her tone, however, lacking the conviction of her words.

"It certainly is," Stephanie agreed, her smile growing broader, "but then love usually is."

Rebecca reached across the table and took Stephanie's hands in her own, their eyes meeting as their shared a long moment between them.

"Well, if we do try this, you'd be an improvement over my last lover in at least one way," Rebecca grinned as they returned to the here and now

"How is that?" Stephanie replied, taking the comment as a sign that she was considering the idea.

"At least you wouldn't always be leaving the toilet seat up," Rebecca laughed.

"That much I can promise," Stephanie laughed in turn, still holding her friend's hands in her own and enjoying their warmth.

END

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