All rights reserved by the author, biznes11@yahoo.com. This is a work of fiction. All the usual laws, provisos, and rules apply.
To The Lighthouse -5-
New York, Here We Come
Portia and Hadley took the Express train from Boston to NYC for the Lesbian Conference. It had the big, comfortable seats seen in movies such as The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, starring Jennifer Jones and Gregory Peck. Hadley handled most of the details so Portia could focus on her presentation. The Lesbianism 2024 and Beyond Conference ran from 2:00 p.m. Friday to Saturday evening. Ironically, that was the book title that Portia was going to pitch. She had finished her book on Jane Austen six months ago.
The book, for which she had already been chosen as the editor, was one in which she would lay out the general state of lesbians in 2024. One full of statistics, charts, and graphs, but also full of stories, pictures, and significant exposition on the life of lesbians in the U.S. The basic idea is that lesbianism is healthy and proliferating, but there are still many ways that the patriarchy is blocking women.
The conference would anoint specialists and assign them each a chapter. They would share in the profits of the book.
The apartment where they met could only accommodate ten or twelve attendees. The others would be Zooming in. After they got down to business that Friday, they laid out the book: 12 chapters, with Portia's being the first. She was to trace the overall history of lesbianism and bring the reader up-to-date. She would do this by treading lightly on the ultimate goal: the subjugation of men. Women were beating men in so, so many categories already.
The conference leaders requested that the year in the title be changed to "2025" as they couldn't get it out in time.
The writers were encouraged to use images. Each chapter was required to have at least one picture. "Let me remind you all, the pictures can show breasts, but not a vulva unless it is covered with hair," said the conference leader. "I'm especially thinking of you, Portia."
"Me? Just because my latest book on Jane Austen is full of pornography..."
The attendees, including Portia and all the women on Zoom, erupted in laughter. She basked in the heady glow of being recognized as a leader, even though she was the second youngest at the table.
With that, the Conference went into celebration (drinking) mode, with spouses and friends expected after 5:00. Portia had an hour before she expected Hadley, who was already a hit due to her name. She could have picked off any of the women but made a beeline for the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine.
"I'm so happy you could come," said Portia.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, babe," said the famous editor.
Then they kissed on the lips, and the editor said to her, "I have a room up two short flights of steps. Let's go." They strolled through the kitchen and then, turning to see who was watching them, slipped out the maintenance doorway. The lesbian whose apartment they were using saw the two leave, shook her head, and smiled.
"Bless them," she said quietly to herself.
A couple of other women saw the two peel off, and they all got tingles in their groins and passing bouts of jealousy. They all wished they were Portia or the editor, bolting from the room just then like a couple of randy schoolgirls. Thankfully, the women were discreet.
The two took the back stairway, and they laughed out loud as they scurried up the stairs, grabbing each other's fit asses and squeezing the mature but perky tits. The editor lost control of her keys as Portia was assaulting her, loving her. Finally, she dropped them at the door and turned to give Portia the most sensual kiss.
"Ahh, my god, you don't know how I've looked forward to that, my dear," said Portia.
When they made it into the pied-à-terre, the editor said to her,
"Just like the old days, wow. Come here and let me undress you." And she proceeded to do that, throwing Portia's clothes all over the place but leaving her pearl necklace on.
Portia stood there in all her wild beauty, looking as fit as ever, her tits standing at attention.
"You're working out, it seems, and looking so good." She kissed her protégé, her big tongue finding the place on her neck that was particularly sensitive.
The Editor got undressed, too, with some help from Portia. It had been a particularly hectic week for her, but she relished the time spent alone with Portia. She hadn't gotten laid in two days.
"You devil you. You've been working out too, and you look so good," said Portia, as she stuck two fingers in her pussy while mouth kissing her. She was so wet, and they were still wildly attracted to one another.
"I remember those days so vividly. Aahhhh, right there, like that please. More of that," said the editor. "Sneaking into the stairwell at the magazine and fucking and doing all kinds of stuff. I will never forget them. People thought we had a coke problem. He he. We had a girl fix we needed to take care of!"
Portia was a junior staff writer, advancing quickly up the food chain at Cosmo, and the editor was her boss. They had a fling that lasted months but still managed to pound out the award-winning articles on sex, lesbian sex, clothes, and everything female.
"Portia got in the middle of the bed and unconsciously wagged her ass, waiting impatiently for it to be filled with silicon. She cried, "Oh please hurry, my ass is calling out to you. Do you hear it?"
"It's even finer than it looked during your interviews at Cosmo," said the editor. "How I remember that first one like it was yesterday. Damn you Portia, you're so fine."
Portia giggled.
"Are we doing all of your holes today?"
Portia's voice became gruff just then, sounding like a man. "Fuck yes, we are. It's been so long since we've been together."
And so, Cosmos's senior editor plowed the elysian fields until the harvest, so to speak. When they were done, the laid side by side in the messy bed, recalling the old days, and thanking the gods for bringing them together again at the Conference. The giggled and laughed like two school girls.
It was 4:50, and it was time to meet the guests. They stood side by side in the mirror and adjusted each other's clothes--just like in the old days. With some touch-ups, like lipstick and foundation, they looked as good as new.
"I've got to say goodbye, my love; I've got a date for tonight that starts in an hour with dinner at Chef Louis."
"When it rains, it pours," said Portia. "Think of us little people when you're consorting with all the glam ladies."
"You left because it was too much for you, if I recall. Not because you didn't like it or couldn't handle it. We could have been so good together. Alas."
"Hadley knows about us, but she's a big girl and can take it. You met her at the Met that time. Same girl, and we're getting married in the spring. She'll probably be down there when we arrive. Oh well."
"You've done very well for yourself. I hope I'm invited to the wedding," said the editor. "Portia, you're the best thing I ever saw. You broke my heart, you know."
"Let's not get into all that right now," said Portia. "I love you and always will. We've got separate lives right now."
She leaned in and kissed her lightly. "Time to go."
The editor left a fifty-dollar tip and a note to housekeeping, thanking them for everything.
When they emerged from the pied-à-terre, another couple from the conference came out of the apartment next door. They laughed, knowing they were being a little naughty and had been discovered. But Portia avoided the subject, saying,
"Are you going to the Happy Hour Club?" asked Portia.
The other girl, a New York lesbian leader she recognized, said, flicking her bangs out of her eyes,
"Of course!" she said. "Afterwords, many of us are going to Henrietta Hudson's afterward. The plan is to be there by seven. There are two there now, holding a table for us." She would do the chapter on the state of the lesbian bar scene. Go figure.
Hadley Meets the Cosmo Girl
"Of course, you're all she talks about," said Hadley. "This girl, with a recent book ready to pop and a new project on the table. She reminds me of Susan Sontag."
"First, it goes without saying that you have an incredible first name," the editor said. "Hadley. I don't know what your mother thought at the time, but she nailed it."
"Oh, thank you," said Hadley. "Even though she was married to an asshole." She was referring to Ernest Hemingway.
"And as to Portia...what can we say other than to thank the gods she's on our side."
"She's incredible, really," said Hadley. "She wrote the Jane Austen volume in one draft, with very few edits. How does one do that? Anyway, have fun on your date tonight, and do look us up when you're in Boston. We love to play."
"Oh, will do," said the editor. "I've got business there in the fall, and I'm looking for a place to stay. I'll be in touch with you guys." Then they kissed on the lips, the editor holding Hadley just long enough to whisper in her ear, "I think you're beautiful, and I'd love to play any time, even with just you. Rather, especially with you. This card has my phone numbers and my private email. See you."
The fair Hadley felt good about that and licked her lips, tasting the editor. She coughed in disbelief as her eyes followed the editor out the door. If there was any suspicion of hanky panky between the editor and Portia, Hadley didn't let on.
"Portia has chosen well," said the editor to herself as she said goodbyes.
It was after 6:30, and the others going to Henrietta's were leaving. Portia and Hadley were going along for the ride.
Henrietta Hudson's
"Gees, that went well," said Portia. "Gloria accused me of using pornography in my Jane Austen book, and the crowd went wild. I was touched. I truly was by the love they all had."
"I got there at a little after five," said Hadley. "There was a party atmosphere for sure. Oh, and I ran into the editor at Cosmo."
"Oh, yeah, what did she have to say?"
"Not much," said Hadley. "And we only talked for a minute...about you. She'll be in Boston in the fall and wants to stay with us."
"That would be great," said Portia. "Supposedly, we have a table at Henrietta's. It's just drinking, I think. Do you want to stay long?"
"I want to do whatever you like," said Hadley.
"Well, I'm pretty hungry," said Portia. "Ravenously so. Let's stay for an hour and then get something to eat. OK?"
"This is your trip, so whatever you like, baby."
"I've got a full day tomorrow and don't want to be hungover. I'll call a restaurant right around the corner from Henrietta's and make reservations."
When they got to Henrietta's, it was packed. The women had saved two spots for Portia and Hadley, and they squeezed in. Although there were other academics at the gathering, people seemed to want to talk to Portia and Hadley the most. Gloria, the conference host, made a toast to Portia and Hadley. Hadley pinched herself; she was astonished at the love and enthusiasm in the crowd. She was marrying a star.
Most of the Conference attendees wanted to know when Portia and Hadley would move to New York. Portia looked at Hadley and gave her a visible "That's a great question" look. They would mull that question for some time, but it eventually resolved itself.
Hadley was quiet on the taxi ride to the hotel after dinner.
She grabbed Hadley by the arm in the elevator and said,
"I've been unfaithful to you, dear. And I'm ashamed of myself," said Portia.
When they exited the elevator, it seemed like a long walk to their room. Hadley slumped in the chair, facing the end of the bed where Portia sat. Hadley just stared at her....
"Dear, I just wish you would tell me before you do it instead of sneaking around," said Hadley. "I can live with it. You're incredibly popular with all the women. I was so proud of you tonight, and since we're confessing, I haven't exactly been a saint, if you must know. Women seem attracted to me, though not for my brains."
"What the fuck are you talking about? You're a professor at goddam Wellesley College, one of the Seven Sisters. You're confusing me, honey. You pick up everything you read in one sitting. A gift I don't have."
"But I'm nowhere near your star status," said Hadley.
"Star, shmar, I'd give it all up for you, bae," said Portia.
"Besides Joan and the Cosmo editor, has there been anyone else?"
"No."
"Well, we're even then," said Hadley. "I think you know about the English department administrator. You were a trooper because I knew you knew. There was also the young wife of a professor of history. Dr. Albert's wife. So you see, I'm no different. We're just two horny bitches, trying to get by in this world."
They had a big laugh at that. It broke the building tension.
"Let's recommit to fidelity," said Portia. "And to always be playing together. If push comes to shove, admitting the infidelity afterward. OK, sweetie?"
"For sure, 100%," said Hadley, who took off her jacket and went to Portia at the end of the bed and kissed her.
"How did you know about the Cosmopolitan editor?"
"I smelled sex on her, and I was pretty sure she had fucked you. Do you remember discussing getting your start at Cosmo when we first started dating? How it was just a bunch of lesbians in one long fuckfest. I will never forget your comments about your boss, how she was horny every day, all day.' About how we did it in the stairwells during work, and, the women were just fucking everything that moved.' I get it; I really do. To be twenty-three again."
"Yep, that's all true," said Portia.
"But I see the attractiveness in her," Hadley said. "She's still as hot as hell, and we talked briefly tonight."
Hadley reached into her pants pocket and pulled out the editor's card with her personal information. She handed it to Portia.
"She gave me a parting kiss, and it was heartfelt, and it was longer than it should have been," said Hadley. "If I recall, the last thing she said after I told her that we love to play was that she would like to play with me, just with me. After all, we're coming clean, aren't we."
"I don't even have this fucking card, you horny dyke," said Portia. There was a pregnant pause. Then they both started laughing, long and hard. As you can imagine, they had absolutely the best makeup sex ever that night at the hotel. They saw the editor in Wellesley in a few months. Together.
What About Joanie?
She would make love to Joanie one last time and then call off their trysts. Of course, she would explain it all to Joanie, but she felt good about Hadley in every way. She was breaking it off for Hadley's sake and their imminent marriage.
"I knew this was coming," said Joanie in the afterglow at the same hotel room, number six. "I just wanted more time with you. Oh, Portia, I love you. We could have been so good together. But believe me, nothing changes with us four. I've already explained it to Lila."
Inexplicably, Portia heard her voice drop an octave as Joanie continued,
"Portia dear, listen to me."
Suddenly, the bed stand's light went out, and a breeze in the darkened room ruffled the drapes. Portia was still and at peace.
"You're my baby girl, and you have my blessing, and it falls on Hadley, too," said Joanie. "You've passed the test with flying colors. The New York people need a strong leader, and they love you. If you keep on, many good things will happen to you, and you'll fight the fight with me by your side forever."
Portia lowered her head at Joanie's words. She was filled with pride and lust and a personal power that she couldn't explain.
Joanie spoke briefly in some ancient language that Portia couldn't understand. Then, the low light in the room came back on after a moment. The two women clung to one another tightly and soon fell asleep. Portia wasn't afraid of anything ever again, and she never told Hadley about the energy or the spirits that seemed to surround her and Joanie that night.
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