Unexplored Territory

Unexplored Territory

by Ann Douglas

( ann_douglas@hotmail.com )

"Here you go," Ellie Travis said to the well dressed woman on the other side of the glass counter as she handed her the small store bag continuing her purchase, "and thank you for shopping here at R.J. Nickels."

Ellie always felt a little silly saying that after every sale, but knew all too well that some supervisors were eager to write you up for not doing so. As her customer walked away from the counter, the short haired brunette took a moment to check her hair and makeup in one of the oversized mirrors. As she did so, she once again thought it incredible how some women were willing to buy a product, just because it had some celebrity's name on it. In the twenty-five year old's opinion, the cosmetics that woman had just purchased really weren't any better than the ones Ellie bought for herself at her local drug store at less than half the price.

Still, if some women weren't willing to spend a small fortune every week on overpriced cosmetics, Ellie knew she would soon be out of a job. Working the counter at the block long, midtown department store might not have been the greatest of jobs, but it was a job nevertheless. One that paid the bills and gave her enough flexibility to take some college courses designed to help her get a better position down the line. Plus, the job did come with some perks, including a generous employee discount, and while Ellie wasn't willing to buy her cosmetics here, discount or not, she did make use of it for clothes whenever she could. Despite having lived in Manhattan all of her life, there was no way she could dress the part, at least the image that television and movies projected, without it.

Glancing down the length of her counter, Ellie didn't see anyone else that needed help, so it gave her time to reflect on the state of her life. She would've been further along in her goals, she knew, if only she'd paid more attention back in high school, or even had a definite plan what to do afterwards. Unfortunately, if it wasn't part of her social life back then, few things merited her attention. Thankfully, those days were behind her now and while she still valued an active social life she tried to keep it in proper perspective.

The job, such as it was, was one thing she had going for her; having gone back to school was another. If she had to pick a third, Ellie would undoubtedly choose the nice two bedroom apartment that she lived in just a short walk from Greenwich Village. That she shared the apartment with three other roommates was something she usually failed to mention when she told people about it.

Sharing the five room apartment called for some compromises, she knew, the most interesting of which was when one of the girls had an overnight guest. Normally, Ellie shared one bedroom with Carol Murphy, and her other two roommates, Bridget Kelly and Alice Moore the other. If one of the girls was planning to have an overnight guest, three of them would use the larger of the two bedrooms, turning the smaller one over to the roommate with the guest. It was far from a perfect arrangement, since you really didn't always know beforehand if you were going to have an overnight guest.

Up until about a month and a half ago, Ellie didn't have to worry about any of that, because she'd had a steady boyfriend in David Graham, who worked in the store's delivery department. They'd met at a company function the summer before and it had been love at first sight. Okay, maybe lust at first sight, but love at eventually found its way in there as well. Or at least what she liked to think of as love.

Three inches taller than her own five six, David, who was also two years older, had the kind of body you normally associated with a professional athlete. Not surprising seeing, he'd been a high school jock who made the all city team his senior year. But high school and college football were two different things, and he dropped out of college after his freshman year when he was cut from the team.

And while he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, Ellie had never gone for the intellectual type anyway. The twenty-seven year old blond was smart enough, funny and totally awesome in bed. In hindsight, Ellie sometimes though that it was because he was such a great fuck that it blinded her to other things that she might have otherwise noticed.

During the last month of their relationship, the subject of Ellie moving in with David began to occasionally come up. Usually just after they'd finished an exhausting romp in his bed. David would be all for the idea post coitus, but then his enthusiasm would usually fade come the dawn. Ellie didn't press the issue because, given the number of nights she slept at his West Side apartment, they were practically living together already. Eventually, she reasoned, he would come to realize it and make it official.

What Ellie never understood, however, was that David didn't see it quite the same way. In fact, his whole take on their relationship turned out to be quite different than hers, quite different indeed. It wasn't until the day of the electrical fire at the store that Ellie discovered how dissimilar their views actually were.

The fire had started in a storage closet a little after lunch and while there was no major damage or injury, the store had to be evacuated and the lingering odor afterwards precluded customers returning. When the decision was made just to close up for the rest of the day, it hadn't taken Ellie five minutes to close up her counter and head for the door.

A few of the other girls decided to make the most of the free afternoon and head over to Times Square, but Ellie had other plans. David had called in sick that morning and although he said he was feeling much better when she'd talked to him during lunch, she'd promised to stop by after work to be sure.

She'd had her cell phone in hand to call him, to let him know she would be early, but then decided to surprise him instead. She'd stop at the deli on the corner by his apartment and pick him up some soup in case he was still feeling poorly. If the opposite proved true, Ellie mused, well then, a nooner wasn't out of the question.

Soup in hand, Ellie used the key David had given her to let herself into the large apartment. Almost twice the size of the one she shared with her roommates, the rent controlled apartment still had his grandmother's name on the lease, which explained how a simple delivery man could afford to live there.

When she didn't find David in the kitchen or living room, Ellie left the soup on the kitchen counter and headed down the long hallway towards the bedroom, slipping off her loafers as not to wake him if he turned out to be asleep. If he was, she'd already decided to crawl into bed with him, if only to help keep him warm.

The door turned out to be slightly ajar and, silently peeking in, Ellie realized that she could've been wearing combat boots and it wouldn't have made a bit of difference. David was in bed alright, but not only was he wide awake, he wasn't alone.

"Oh God, baby," she heard David say, his voice just loud enough to carry to the door, "your fucking ass is so tight!"

"That's because your fucking cock is so big!" came the reply from a dark haired woman, who, like David, was facing away from the door, her features hidden.

Ellie didn't need to see her face, however, to recognize the heavily accented voice of Lola Sanchez, one of the floor supervisors at the store. Ten years older and thirty pounds heavier than Ellie, the twice divorced Latina had a reputation as something of a slut. Never one to give much credence to store gossip, Ellie had never fully believed it until now.

Without a word, Ellie had silently exited the apartment, but not before leaving her key atop a hastily written note on the coffee table in the living room. The note had simply said, "It's over." The two of them had not spoken since. In fact, David never even tried to call her to try and explain - not that there was any explanation that would've mattered.

"Well, it could've been worse," Ellie's best friend from the store, Carmen Silva, told her a few nights later as the two of them commiserated in a midtown bar after work.

"How could it have been worse?" a slightly inebriated Ellie had asked.

"David could've been the one with the cock up his ass," the thirty-nine year old Puerto Rican woman laughed.

Although she had laughed at the joke, Ellie had thought, if that had been the case, she might not have felt as bad as she did. Oh, she wouldn't have been happy by any means, but at least she might have understood the reason more. In all the times she and David had gone to bed, he'd never even suggested that he'd wanted to fuck her ass. It wasn't something that Ellie had done before, but that didn't mean she wouldn't have been willing to try. After all, considering the things they had tried, David knew she was far from a sexual prude.

David must've told some story to his co-workers, because it didn't take long for the word to get out that the two of them were no longer a couple. Ellie never bothered to try and find out what he'd said, but it couldn't have been detrimental, because soon after, a number of single and some not so single men began to drop by her counter with invitations that ranged from lunch to drinks after work.

All of which Ellie had turned down as nicely as she could. Some she told that she needed some time to herself, others that she wanted to just concentrate on school for a while. Some, she just simply said no to. Eventually, she got the message across and the invitations stopped. At least for a while.

What she couldn't tell anyone, not even Carmen with whom she shared almost every confidence, was that something had changed in her life. Something she hadn't been willing to share up to this point. In fact, up until the week before, Ellie wasn't even sure how she felt about it. The only aspect of it all that she had been sure about was that it wouldn't have happened if she and David hadn't imploded, and that there was no doubt that she was venturing into unexplored territory.

-=-=-=-=-

It had all started only a few days before she walked in on David and Lola. With a two hour gap in between her Tuesday evening classes, Ellie had been enjoying a cup of coffee at her favorite shop down by Washington Square. Her enjoyment of the drink, however, was being offset by her difficulty in understanding the novel her English professor had assigned for the first exam, then only a week away.

Closing the book, having read the preceding chapter for the third time, Ellie still couldn't understand how the characters in the novel related to the questions the professor had brought up in class. Several times during her last reading, she had stopped and referenced her class notes, but found they didn't make it any clearer. It was becoming so frustrating that she was beginning to wonder if she might not be better off dropping the class altogether.

Absorbed with her dilemma, Ellie didn't notice that someone had sat down at the small table barely half a foot away from her own. It wasn't until the woman said something that she finally looked up and realized that she was there.

Her name, Ellie would learn, was Audrey Foster. Ten years her senior, although if she'd had to guess, the younger woman would've thought the difference no more than half that, she was wearing a pair of casual black slacks with a yellow top. Audrey also had curly, reddish brown hair that was cut in a style not much longer than Ellie's.

"Excuse me?" Ellie said, not having quite made out what it was that the other woman had said, but assuming that perhaps she needed something on her table.

"I said, I'm sorry to see that the professors at Eastside are still torturing students with that book," Audrey repeated. "That is where you're going, isn't it, Eastside Community?"

"Why yes," Ellie replied. "How did you know?"

"I had to read that novel during my first year there; I think every freshman does," Audrey replied. "Somehow, I doubt it's gotten any better with age, mine or the book's," she laughed.

"I'm pretty sure you're right," Ellie agreed with a smile, offering her hand as she introduced herself.

"Audrey Foster," the older woman said as she extended her own hand. "I think having to read that book helped inspire me to become a teacher, if only to save future students from having to suffer through it."

"Oh, can I transfer to your class?" Ellie asked with a laugh.

"You'd be more than welcome," Audrey said, "but I think you might feel a bit out of place. I teach over at West Side Elementary and most of my students are just hitting puberty."

"Considering some of the guys in my class now, it might not be so different," Ellie offered, recalling some of the lame come-ons she had been subjected to, in the first two weeks of class.

Audrey laughed at the remark, commenting that some men never outgrow that stage of life.

"Did you ever figure the book out?" Ellie asked. "I ask because I'm so totally lost that I don't even know where to start."

"Did your professor give you a list of questions you were expected to answer?" Audrey asked, leaning a bit closer to look at the notes on Ellie's table but not seeing any such list.

Ellie nodded in the affirmative.

"Well, let me take a look at it and maybe I can help a little," Audrey replied, "at least enough to get you on the right track."

"Oh, I didn't mean I expected you to help," Ellie quickly said. "I was just looking for hope that it could be done."

"Be that as it may, I'd be more than happy to see if I can help," Audrey smiled. "Like I said, saving people from that book was one of the reasons I became a teacher in the first place."

Not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially one that applied to a problem that only a few minutes ago seemed insurmountable, Ellie quickly accepted the offer before Audrey could change her mind. Reaching into her notebook, she pulled out the list of questions and handed them to the older woman.

Question by question, Audrey took the time to explain just what each one meant, which turned out not to be always be what Ellie had thought it did, and how it related to the novel. By the time they reached the bottom of the list, Ellie had a whole new take on the reading matter and was certain she wasn't going to have any problems with the exam. It also wasn't until they'd gotten to the last question that the younger woman realized that she had taken up more than an hour of the teacher's time.

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe I held you up this long," Ellie said as she looked up at the clock on the wall.

"It was my pleasure," Audrey said, helping Ellie gather up her class materials. "I enjoyed teaching someone who was actually paying attention for a change."

"Well, it was definitely appreciated, believe me," Ellie said as she stuffed her notes back into her carry bag. "I wish I had the time to at least buy you dinner or something, to show how much I appreciate it, but I have another class in about twenty minutes."

"You don't have to buy me anything," Audrey said as she reached into her own bag and produced a business card, quickly writing something across it, "but I would really like to hear how you make out on the exam."

As she took the card, Ellie saw Audrey had added her personal cell phone number to the pre-printed address and phone number of the school. She promised that she would let Audrey know and dropped the card into her bag.

"Oh my, isn't that lovely," Audrey said as she suddenly noticed the small cameo pendant that Ellie wore around her neck, a white ceramic face on a green and gold-trimmed background. "It's the goddess Diana, isn't it?" she asked as she reached out and held it in her hand for a moment.

"Actually it is," Ellie replied, adding that it had been a gift from her grandmother and that no one had ever identified it before.

At that moment, Ellie found herself looking right into Audrey's green eyes and saw something she really couldn't define. At least not coming from another woman. The feeling only lasted a heartbeat, but it was enough to make her feel a bit out of sorts.

"I...I really have to go," Ellie said as she picked up her bag and started to rise out of her chair.

"Remember to call and let me know how you make out with the exam, I'd really like to know." Audrey said, the smile on her face following Ellie as she headed for the exit.

Ellie returned an awkward smile of her own as she again thanked Audrey for her help.

-=-=-=-=-

Three weeks after her break-up with David, Ellie had been emptying her bag and found Audrey's card. She had gotten her exam back a week and a half before and had done much better than she had ever expected, scoring the third highest grade in the class. Because she had done so well, she now felt a bit guilty about not having called the teacher to thank her for the help.

"Well, better late than never," Ellie considered as she picked up her cell and started to dial the handwritten number.

The number rang a few times and Ellie hoped it would go to voice mail in another ring or two. Then she could just leave a message and appease her conscience. When, on the second to last ring before that, a live voice came on the line, Ellie was momentarily at a loss what to say.

"Hello?" Audrey said, pausing afterward as if she awaiting a response. "Hello? Is there someone there?" she repeated when none came.

"Hi Audrey, this is Ellie," the brunette finally said, wondering why she felt so nervous; after all, it was only a phone call. "I don't know if you remember me, but we met at the coffee shop off Washington Square a few weeks ago. You helped me with a book I was reading for class."

"Of course, I remember you, Ellie," Audrey said, the smile on her face evident in her voice. "I had been wondering how you made out on that exam. It's been so long that I'd figured you'd forgotten about me."

"Not at all," Ellie lied, not wanting to say she'd had a few more urgent things on her mind of late. "I only got the exam back a few days ago. You know how some professors are."

"All too well," Audrey said, "but don't keep me in suspense. How did you do?"

When Ellie told her, Audrey said that she couldn't help but be impressed.

"I don't think I would've gotten half that if you hadn't helped me that afternoon," Ellie heard herself say.

"Don't sell yourself short, Ellie," Audrey said in reply. "I just gave you a little nudge in the right direction; you did the rest on your own."

"Even so, I still owe you a lot," Ellie offered.

"Well, you did offer me dinner, as I recall," Audrey replied, "but I'll settle for a drink and a little adult conversation."

"A drink?" Ellie repeated.

"And a little adult conversation," Audrey also repeated. "You have no idea how hard that is when you spend most of your day with a bunch of teenagers who treat conversational English as almost a foreign language."

Audrey paused for a second, then, before Ellie could give a yes or no answer, asked if she knew a restaurant that was only a few blocks from the coffee shop where they'd first met.

"It's more of a little bar n' grill really, but a very nice place," Audrey clarified as she rattled off the address. "What would you say to Friday night about six?"

Ellie considered for a moment that, if Audrey had once been a student at Eastside, then she knew that they didn't have classes on Friday nights, which was probably why she picked it. Still, if she really didn't want to go, she could always say she already had plans - it was Friday night after all.

She was about to do just that, when the memory of that shared look back at the coffee shop flashed into her head. Both the memory and how it had made her feel. Without immediately realizing she had done it, Ellie said that Friday at six would be fine.

-=-=-=-=-

By the time six o'clock on Friday rolled around, Ellie already had two drinks inside of her, having gotten to the bar a bit after five. She'd wanted to check the place out and was glad to find that it was exactly as advertised. So much so that it made her feel a bit ridiculous to have even thought that it might have been something else.

It had been that look, that silly, stupid look that she couldn't get out of her head. The one that so reminded her of the first time she had looked into David's eyes and saw him looking back at her with an intensity that made her quiver.

Why, Ellie asked herself more than once, was she making the assumption that that look, and the feeling it generated, meant the same thing now? It was even a leap to think that Audrey was into other women. After all, Ellie had never had any sense of what some people referred to as "gaydar." Back in high school, there had been one girl Ellie had been sure was a lesbian, who turned out to be as straight as they come, and another that she would never have suspected as playing for the home team. And if she was actually right in all of her assumptions, then what was she doing here? It was all so confusing.

If any answer was forthcoming, Ellie didn't have the time to wait for it, because as she turned her head she saw Audrey coming in the door. She waved to get her attention and, as the teacher worked her way through the crowd, the salesgirl quickly finished what was left of her beer.

"I didn't think this place would be so packed this early," Audrey said as she squeezed into the space next to Ellie at the bar. "Normally it doesn't get crowded until about eight, but I passed their competition a block back and it was closed for some kind of renovations. Good for the owners of this place I guess, maybe not so good for us."

"It'll be fine," Ellie assured her, now feeling a little more relaxed by the drinks she'd already had.

A bartender appeared in front of them and Audrey ordered her favorite beer, adding that he should bring Ellie another of whatever it was that she had been drinking.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one thanking you," Ellie said as the bartender went off to get the drinks.

"You can get the next round," Audrey said as she pointed out that one of the small tables against the wall had just been vacated. "Grab that table if you can, I'll be right behind you with the drinks."

Ellie barely made it to the table ahead of two guys who had also spotted it. For a moment, it looked like they might have wanted to join her but, as Audrey showed up with the drinks, a cold look from her sent the two of them off in the other direction.

"So tell me about yourself, Ellie," Audrey said as she took a sip of her beer and judged it satisfactory. "I didn't get a chance to learn that much that day at the coffee shop."

Ellie thought about it for a second, then began the same mini-biography she normally gave people at the store or school. Nothing too personal, but enough to give a sense of who she was. Not giving it a great deal of importance, Ellie mentioned that she had just broken up with the guy she'd been dating.

"He must've been a real idiot," Audrey said as she took another long sip of her drink.

"What makes you say that?" Ellie asked, surprised at her assumption.

"Because anyone that let a girl as pretty as you go has to be an idiot," Audrey smiled.

Audrey asked a few questions about the things Ellie had shared so far, thankfully none of them about David. Then she began to offer some details about her own life. In the middle of her narrative, a waitress came up to the table and the redhead paused just long enough to order another round for both of them.

"I thought that was supposed to be my round," Ellie said as the waitress moved off.

"Totally slipped my mind," Audrey smiled as she slid right back into her story. "You can get the next one if you want to."

It occurred to Ellie that if, in an identical situation, a guy had said that, she would suspect that he was trying to get her a bit drunk. After all, with the drink she'd had had in hand when Audrey had shown up, not to mention the one before that, she was already past her normal limit. Why then, she asked herself, didn't it bother her now? Was it because she wanted to be a little less inhibited than she normally would be?

Her mind wandering for a few moments, Ellie was only half listening when Audrey mentioned that she had been in a long term relationship but it had also ended a few months before. Because of her distraction, Ellie had almost missed it when, in referring to her ex, Audrey had definitely use the female pronoun. That answered one of the two questions she had been asking herself. Of course, that just made her wonder all the more about the other. Were the two of them on a date?

When the waitress returned, Ellie suggested that they order some snacks to go with the round that was just delivered. Audrey thought that a great idea and said she had only hesitated in suggesting it herself because she wasn't sure how long Ellie planned to stay. Saying that she was in no hurry to go, Ellie then offered the thought that they should order burger plates or something more substantial than chicken wings. A full stomach, she reasoned, would go a long way in countering the beers she'd drunk much too close together.

At one hour gave way to two, Ellie decided that if this was a date, and she still wasn't sure if it was or not, it had been one of the nicest first dates she had ever been on. The conversation had been both lively and interesting, and there was no feeling of pressure at all. When it finally came time to say their goodnights, Ellie had felt a genuine sense of disappointment.

Audrey lived only a few blocks from the bar, and it turned out that the bus Ellie needed to take the few miles to her own place had a stop just across the street from there. The two women continued their conversation as they walked, smiling and laughing almost all the way. When they reached the bus stop, Audrey mentioned that a friend was having an exhibition of her photographs in the village next week and that she had an extra ticket. Would Ellie like to go?

Ellie said she would love to but before she said yes, she needed to know something. Audrey replied that she could ask anything she wanted..

"Would that be a date?" Ellie asked.

Audrey smiled for a moment, then said, "Sweetheart, it can be anything that you want it to be, or feel comfortable with it being."

Then, with the bus just coming into view about a half block off, Audrey leaned over and kissed Ellie on her cheek, promising to text her all the details about the show.

Sitting on the bus and giving a last wave goodbye as the bus pulled into traffic and Audrey disappeared from view, it suddenly occurred to Ellie that her question hadn't been answered at all.

-=-=-=-=-

The information about the exhibit was waiting for Ellie when she checked her messages the following day after work. Evidently the show was a dress up affair and Audrey wanted to give her plenty of time to make sure she had an appropriate outfit to wear. For not the first time, Ellie was grateful for the store's employee's discount.

Audrey had also said in the message that she'd really enjoyed spending the previous evening with Ellie and looked forward to going to the exhibition with her. At the end, she had signed the short note with a smiley face.

Ellie had stared at that emoticon for a long time, wondering how much meaning she should apply to it. Was this all a game, or was it something she should take seriously? Finally she decided that she should just go with the flow, as her little sister was always telling her, and just enjoy it for whatever it was.

That didn't mean that she was about to tell anyone, including Carmen, that she was going on a date with a woman. Or at least what she was now going to assume was a date. The funny thing was, the more she thought about it, the more she appreciated the fact that Audrey had continued to leave it vague. As she'd noted before, this was definitely unexplored territory, and it was nice to have some wiggle room if she decided it wasn't somewhere she wanted to go.

The next day, Carmen was more than happy to give up her own lunch break to help Ellie shop. The older Hispanic woman had known the salesgirls up on the sixth floor a lot longer than Ellie had, and it didn't take much convincing to get them to make sure that every possible reduction was taken off her outfit, even before the standard employee deduction kicked in. Without her efforts, the dress they finally decided on would've cost almost half a week's salary.

"That dress is impresionante," Carmen said as she watched Ellie admire it in the full length mirror, "and I'm so glad that you're getting back on the horse and moving on."

Ellie shot a look back over her shoulder towards Carmen, then back to the two salesgirls who had been helping them, looking to see if they'd reacted to what she'd said. Even of they had heard her, it was doubtful that they knew that know that "getting on the horse" was Carmen's favorite way of referring to "fucking a guy, just for the sake of fucking him." It was an expression she claimed she had learned from her grandmother.

"No one said I was getting back on any horse," Ellie said in an almost whisper. "I'm just going to a photo exhibition with a friend."

"You're not still hung up on that asshole, David, are you?" Carmen asked in an equally low tone, the possibility suddenly popping into her head.

"No, no, I'm not," Elle said as she turned her attention back to the image in the mirror.

The funny thing was, she really was over David, and had been for weeks. She never would've thought it possible before she had walked in on him and Lola, but whatever they'd had together had been wiped clean in an instant, like one of those drawing pads she'd had as a kid. The kind where no matter how much effort you put into a picture, it would all vanish in an instant when you pulled up the plastic covering.

"Is he at least cute?" she heard Carmen ask.

"What?"

"This friend, the one you're going to this art show with," Carmen expanded. "Is he at least cute?"

Ellie paused for a moment, a picture of Audrey forming in her mind. "Yes," she said as she concentrated on the image, "quite cute indeed."

As she took one last look at the dress before heading back into the changing room to take it off, one final thought came to Ellie. "Now that I think about it, if this isn't a 'fuck me' dress, I don't know what is."

-=-=-=-=-

Adjacent to the sixth floor changing room was a second room not open to the public. It contained lockers, a few showers and a row of makeup vanities. A holdover from the days when the store used to hold fashion shows, it was a boon to girls going out after work, especially those who lived in the outer boroughs. It gave them a place to clean up and change in comfort rather than having to make do in the ladies bathroom, or head all the way home first.

On the night of the exhibit, Ellie was just about to head up and take advantage of the model's room when she got a last minute text from Audrey. Once she saw "I'm sorry" in the first line of the message, Ellie was afraid that Audrey was cancelling for some reason and that thought made her feel sadder than she ever imagined it might.

To her relief, the apology was because Audrey was going to be unavoidably delayed at school and therefore might also be late for the opening. Would Ellie mind terribly, she asked, if she met her at the gallery rather than where they had originally planned? Her name was on the guest list, rather than just being a "plus one" so she wouldn't have any trouble getting into the private event.

Quickly texting back that she wouldn't mind at all, Ellie's smile grew even brighter when she read Audrey's response, "Thanks, you're a love."

-=-=-=-=-

Both the photo exhibition and the gallery it was being held at turned out to be a lot more high class than Ellie had originally imagined, and she was glad for the outfit she was wearing. Basic black, with a neckline just deep enough to show off her breasts, it also dropped two thirds of the way down her back, with her bare skin visible through a fine mesh. She'd also had her hair done during lunch at the store's salon and one of the other counter girls had helped her with her makeup. Ellie couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten this dressed up to go somewhere, but it certainly hadn't been for any place David had taken her.

Sipping a flute of champagne, Ellie found herself spending almost as much time looking at the other attendees as she did the photographs on display. The tuxedos most of the men wore were hardly the rent-a-tux that she normally saw at weddings and such, and, as nice as her outfit was, it was on the low end of the scale when compared to what most of the other women were wearing. Ellie was sure that few of them had to consider where else they might wear their outfit as to justify their cost.

There were even a few famous faces in the crowd, and Ellie had to remind herself not to stare too long at any of them, hard as that turned out to be. At one point, she found herself practically speechless when the star of one of television's top rated shows asked her opinion of a photograph that both had been admiring. It was a nude of a woman about Ellie's age that was both tasteful and highly erotic at the same time. A description that might be considered contradictory, but one that was the only way she could describe it. The expression that the television star had used in describing the image turned out to be one that could never be used on his network show.

Moving upstairs to the second floor of the gallery, where other photographers' work was also on display, Ellie noted again how much more diverse the crowd around her was, at least as compared to those at the sort of gatherings she normally attended. Age and ethnic backgrounds were only the beginning, followed right behind by the number of intergenerational pairings she observed. Of those, in at least one out of three the senior partner had been a woman rather than a man. She even came across three same-sex matches, one with two men and the rest women, with one of them falling among the intergenerational as well. It was certainly a long way from the Saturday night parties at her father's Knights of Columbus post back in the old neighborhood.

"Wonderful, I finally found you," Ellie heard a familiar voice say behind her. "I've been searching for the last fifteen minutes."

Ellie turned to find Audrey standing behind her, her short reddish-brown hair in an elaborate styling and wearing a sleeveless white dress with a blue sash across her waist. Not exactly what one thought of when one pictured a grade school teacher, was Ellie's first thought. Then again, she reminded herself, she doubted that few of her customers at the cosmetics counter would recognize her in this setting either.

"God, don't you look stunning," Audrey said once she got a good look at her guest.

"I was just thinking the same thing about you," Ellie admitted, hopping she hadn't stared at the older woman too long.

Audrey leaned close and gave Ellie a friendly kiss on the cheek, coupled with a quick hug. At the same time, she apologized for being late and asked Ellie if she had been enjoying herself.

"Very much so," Ellie replied. "Everything, everybody, is just so interesting."

"I'm glad," Audrey said as she reached out to a passing tray and picked up a pair of champagne flutes for the two of them. "I was really hoping you would like it."

With a gentle touch against Ellie's bare arm, Audrey led the younger woman back along many of the exhibits she had already seen as they worked their way back down to the main floor. This time however, Ellie was treated to a fascinating narration about the background of many of the photographs, both those of Audrey's friend as well as those that had been on the second floor.

A few people recognized and came up to say hello to Audrey, and then were in turn introduced to Ellie. After the third or fourth time, she began to get the impression that she was being shown off as much as any of the exhibits on the walls. Normally, Ellie hated having that done; but strangely, tonight she didn't seem to mind.

"This is all just so amazing," Ellie said to Audrey after the woman they had been talking to excused themselves to say hello to someone else. "Do you get to attend things like this often?"

"Now and then," Audrey said, "Often enough to no longer be in awe of it all, but not so often as to treat it as commonplace."

They were just moving out of one of the tiny alcoves that divided the large display area when Ellie heard someone call out Audrey's name. She turned her head in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in her mid-forties moving toward them. With short hair a light brown, Ellie immediately recognized her as the senior half of one of the lesbian couples she had spotted earlier.

"Audrey, darling," the woman said as she came to a stop in front of the two of them, "I'm so glad that you were able to come. When I didn't see you earlier I was worried that you hadn't been able to make it."

The two women exchanged a friendly kiss on the cheek and a brief hug, after which Audrey introduced the woman as Dorothy Malone, the photographer whose work everyone had come to see.

"Dorothy, this is my friend, Ellie Travis," Audrey said.

"My, aren't you the prettiest thing," Dorothy said as she took Ellie's hand between the two of hers. "I hope you're having a good time."

"We're having a great time," Audrey answered for the two of them. "It looks like the show is a great success."

"Who'd have ever thought it back when we were living in that little room over in Tribeca?" Dorothy laughed. "I know I didn't."

"I think your work is spectacular," Ellie said, wondering as she said so why Dorothy went out of her way to point out that the two of them once lived together. Did she think Audrey hadn't volunteered the information that she liked girls?

"Why, thank you," Dorothy replied, turning her attention to the younger woman and giving her a look that could easily be described as predatory, suggested as she did so that perhaps Ellie might like to pose for her sometime.

"I don't know," Ellie said, surprised by the suggestion. "I've never thought of myself as a model."

"None of my subjects ever are, my dear," Dorothy offered, "and if you did pose, then I'd have a matched set."

The look on Ellie's face said she didn't understand the comment.

"Both you and my darling Audrey," Dorothy explained. "Didn't she ever tell you that she was once one of my favorite subjects? In fact, my favorite shot of her is the jewel of the exhibit." She paused for a second as she looked around at the photo lined display walls before adding, "In fact, it's right over there."

Ellie turned in the direction Dorothy indicated and let out a light gasp of surprise. The photograph in question had been the nude she had been admiring with the television star.

"Dorothy, Robert Burton is looking for you," a young, long haired blonde woman, who seemed to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, said.

It only took a moment for Ellie to realize that of course the woman hadn't really appeared out of nowhere, but rather had walked up to the three of them while she had been distracted, looking back at the photograph on the nearby wall. Once she looked at the blonde, she recognized her as the woman who had been with Dorothy earlier in the evening. What was also now apparent, now that she saw her close up, was that the girl was even younger than she was.

"May I introduce my lovely Cassandra?" Dorothy said as she took the girl's hand in her own and brought it up to her lips. "Both my muse and taskmaster, who makes sure that I'm in the right place at the right time. And in this case, I was supposed to meet Robert, who is the owner of the gallery, some fifteen minutes ago. So, if you both will excuse me..."

Ellie waited until their host was out of earshot, then asked Audrey how long the she and Dorothy had been roommates.

"We were together almost four years," Audrey replied, her choice of words answering the question Ellie really wanted to ask, "but that was about ten years ago."

"It's nice that the two of you are still friends," Ellie said, her mind quickly doing the math as she realized that, back then, Audrey had just about been her age and Dorothy would've been close to the age Audrey was now. What she decided not to think about was that she herself had been only fifteen at the time.

"Being friends was never the problem," Audrey said, not elaborating on the reason they had broken up.

Ellie heard what Audrey said, but now found her mind more occupied by what Audrey had done during the brief exchange with Cassandra. As she had introducing Ellie, Audrey had placed her outstretched hand against her thinly covered back, in a way that could only be described as possessive. The touch of her palm against Ellie's flesh had been electric, and not something the younger woman would soon forget. She was also fairly certain that Audrey hadn't even been consciously aware that she was doing it at the time.

They spent a while longer at the exhibit, during which time Ellie made sure to get another, much longer look at the photograph that she now knew to be Audrey's. With the subject now identified, it was a lot easier to recognize the face that had already become so familiar.

Audrey insisted that they share a cab ride home as neither of them was dressed for mass transit. When they got to Ellie's building, Audrey asked if it would be okay if she walked her to the door. If not, she would understand.

Ellie didn't even take a moment to think about it before saying of course she could. Once they were in the foyer, Audrey again asked her if she'd had a good time.

"I had the best time," Ellie replied. "I really mean that."

"Then do you think you might like to go out again next week?" Audrey asked, her face close enough to Ellie's that she could see that familiar look in her eyes. "But before you answer, I want to answer your question from last week. This time, I don't want there to be any doubt that I'm asking you out on a date. So if you want to think about it a little I - "

Audrey didn't get the chance to finish because at that moment Ellie threw her arms around her and, pulling her body against hers, kissed her right on the mouth. It was not a kiss that could be mistaken as one that might be given to a sister or a close friend.

"I take it," Audrey said breathlessly once Ellie was done, "that would be a yes."

-=-=-=-=-

That had been seven days ago, and as Ellie glanced at her watch she saw that her work day would be over in just under an hour. Three hours after that, Audrey would be picking her up so they could go out to dinner.

"I can't remember the last time a week has been so long," Ellie thought to herself as she put away the samples that her last customer had tried. "Every day seems to have taken forever to go by."

Filled with excitement after the kiss she and Audrey had shared, Ellie had suggested that they go out the next day instead of the following Friday. After all, they still had the weekend before them. Unfortunately, Audrey said she had a family function to attend upstate, and while she would love for Ellie to come with her another time, it wasn't what she envisioned as a real "first date." Thinking about it a bit, Ellie had to agree and reluctantly said she would wait until Friday. The idea of blowing off school one night before that did occur to her, but died stillborn as she realized that would be the last thing a teacher would be happy with.

Also, in her exhilaration, Ellie had forgotten that she'd promised Carmen that she would have dinner with "la familia" on Saturday night. She could've backed out of it, of course, but not without a really good excuse. But then she would've felt guilty about having lied to Carmen.

When she'd showed up for dinner the next night, just a bit late because she misjudged how long it would take to stop at the liquor store to pick up a bottle of wine, Ellie discovered why Carmen had been so insistent that she come to dinner. When the older woman led her into the dining room, Ellie was surprised to find that, in addition to her husband, Juan, and her two sons, Juan Jr. and Martin, there was a rather handsome young man sitting next to the chair Ellie normally sat in when she visited.

As the oldest boy got up to make room for Ellie to pass, Carmen quickly introduced the young man as Wayne Richardson, their new neighbor, who was a recent transferee from his company's Boston office. As she took her seat, Ellie considered the odds of Carmen having invited both her and Wayne to dinner on the same night being only a coincidence to be roughly equal to those of the sun not coming up tomorrow morning.

Still, it wasn't his fault, and Ellie was sure to be as nice as she could be to him, even as she was just a bit embarrassed by the way Carmen was praising her charms. When it came time to clear the table and bring in coffee and dessert, their hostess was quick to suggest that Ellie help her in the kitchen.

In keeping with the manners that had been drummed into them since they could walk, the boys both offered to clear the table instead, only to be quickly told by their father to sit down and let the women take care of it. From past experience, Ellie knew that a statement like that would've normally gotten Juan a quick slap across the back of his head from his wife.

"So, what do you think of him?" Carmen said as she hit the on switch on the coffee machine, which was all that needed to be done, since the cakes were already laid out on the serving tray.

"He's nice," was all Ellie said.

"He's nice," Carmen said, "as in he's just nice, or he's nice, as in you'd like to find out just how nice."

"He's nice; there's not much more that I can say," Ellie replied.

"It's that prick David, isn't it?" Carmen said after a momentary pause, just a touch of anger in her tone. "I saw him skirting around your counter during the week. I told you he's yesterday's garbage."

"It's not David," Ellie answered, as she recalled that she was as surprised as anyone else when her ex-lover had unexpectedly shown up on the sales floor twice in the last few days.

"Then what's the problem?" Carmen asked. "Wayne is a good guy, and I'm not saying you have to start looking for china patterns, but it wouldn't hurt for you to have a little fun again. Sweetheart, no one should be alone when they don't have to be."

"Maybe I'm not as alone as you think I am," Ellie said with hesitation and a low voice that was almost hard for Carmen to hear.

"Are you seeing someone that I don't know about?" Carmen asked, her voice reflecting a mix of curiosity and slight resentment that her friend hadn't cared to confide in her.

"It's complicated," Ellie said, "quite complicated."

Carmen stared at her for a minute, and then told her to wait there in the kitchen and she would be right back. Ellie used the time it took for Carmen to bring the coffee and cake into the dining room to try and compose what she wanted to say. She was no closer to an answer when the older woman returned.

"I put the ball game on in the living room," Carmen announced. "The four of them will be occupied for at least the last few innings."

"Carmen, I don't know how to tell you this," Ellie said, the hesitancy in her voice still there, "and I think the reason is, because once I tell you I'm afraid that you might not be my friend anymore."

"Honey, that's never going to happen," Carmen insisted as the two of them both sat down at the kitchen table. "Now you just take a deep breath and tell me whatever you need to tell me."

"I'm seeing a woman," she said, so fast that the words almost ran all together. If she didn't force them out as quick as she could, she was sure she couldn't finish the sentence.

Carmen sat there in silence for what seemed like a very long time, but, if either of them was watching the second hand on the wall clock, they would've seen that only about twenty seconds had passed.

"Not exactly what I was expecting to hear," Carmen finally said, "but not the worst thing I might have imagined either."

Ellie let out an audible sigh of relief.

"So, do you want to tell me about her?" Carmen asked.

Tell her she did, starting with how they met at the coffee shop and every little detail after that. The places they'd gone to, the hours they'd spent texting and talking both in person and on the phone. All the while, Carmen just listened and didn't even nod her head.

"So you and her haven't..." she said when Ellie was done, her tone as neutral as she could make it.

"No, not yet," Ellie admitted. "In fact, our first real date is next week."

"What do you mean, your first real date?" Carmen asked. "Unless I've forgotten how to count, that would be your third at the least, fourth if you want to count the coffee shop."

"But those weren't really dates," Ellie offered.

"Really, then what where they?" Carmen inquired.

"They were...I mean, I wasn't sure if they were dates," Ellie explained.

"And what made them not dates?" Carmen further asked. "What made them different than when you went out with a guy?"

Ellie opened her mouth to answer, but then hesitated. The only answer that came to mind was that, if she'd been out with a man three or four times, it was pretty much a certainty that she'd at least have sucked his cock already, if not gone to bed with him. And yet all she and Audrey had shared so far was a single kiss. One that was mind blowing enough to have made her toes tingle, but still just a kiss.

"Honey, you don't have to answer," Carmen finally said, when it was obvious to her that her younger friend really couldn't articulate what it was that was different. "The bottom line is that, if this is what you really want, then I'm happy for you. That being said, can I offer one small bit of advice?"

"Of course," Ellie quickly answered.

"I think you were probably right to keep this to yourself up to now," Carmen said. "Well, maybe not the part about keeping it from me, but I can appreciate why you did. Not everyone is going to be as accepting."

Ellie was overjoyed that Carmen understood. Keeping it from her had been the hardest part of these last few weeks. The only other person whose opinion that mattered to her was her little sister. But Alice was a few thousand miles away on the west coast and not someone she had to deal with on an almost daily basis.

"Carmen, can I ask you something?" Ellie asked.

"Always and anything," came her reply.

"Have you ever..." Ellie said softly, "I mean, have you ever even thought about it?"

"No, not even once," Carmen replied. "I just love cock too much."

"Oh," Ellie said, having thought that might have been the reason Carmen had been so understanding.

"But my little sister, Maria," she laughed, "when we were young, all she ever wanted to do was play spin the bottle with the other girls." Carmen laughed again. "Now she does a lot more than play kissing games with them."

The image of Carmen's younger sister, who she'd only met once, popped into Ellie's head. With the image came the memory that, before they'd been introduced; she'd thought the twenty-nine old Hispanic woman was a teenage boy.

"Now let's get back inside, before the boys start wondering where we've gone off to," Carmen said as she started to get up. "Oh, and don't worry about Wayne; you were just at the top of my list. I still have a couple more nice young ladies that I can introduce him to."

-=-=-=-=-

"Wow, this mystery date of yours must be someone really special," Carol Murphy said as she watched Ellie check her appearance in the mirror that hung on the door of their shared bedroom.

"What makes you say that?" Ellie asked as she turned first one way, then the other, trying to make a decision about the dress.

"Because that's the fifth outfit that you've tried on in the last forty minutes," Carol laughed. "I've never seen you try on more than two in the last three years."

"Yeah, I guess special is the word," Ellie smiled, turning around all the way and asking Carol what she thought of this dress.

"I liked all five of them," she replied, "enough so that I'm already planning to borrow at least two of them, "but this one, this one is the best."

"Really?"

"Nah, I'm just saying that to get you out of here, because it's my turn to have the apartment to myself for the night," Carol laughed.

Ellie spun her head back over her shoulder, giving her roommate a mocking glance.

"Truthfully?" Carol said in a more, but not much more, serious tone. "As good as you look in that dress, I'm almost tempted to call Tony and tell him he can stay home tonight."

Ellie laughed, but the comment did make her wonder. Had Carol or either of the other girls ever been in her situation? As interesting as some of the secrets that came out during their occasional, alcohol-fueled truth or dare sessions were, that was a subject that had so far never been touched on. But that was a question for another night. Turning back to the mirror, she agreed with Carol - this was the one.

-=-=-=-=-

Audrey's instructions had been to wear something casual and not too restricting. That had certainly left out the outfit Ellie had worn to the photo exhibit. Nice as it had been, there had been times when she'd thought she'd burst out of it if she took too deep a breath.

The dress she'd finally decided on was one of the store's best sellers, and actually one she could've afforded even without the discount. Royal blue with short sleeves, it had a neckline low enough to give just a hint of her charms and a hemline that came to an end just above her knees. It was just tight enough to give a firm definition of the body beneath, yet flexible enough for her to have once actually gone bowling wearing it. That had been a now long forgotten boyfriend's idea of a special night. Around her neck she wore her grandmother's cameo, and a pair of her most comfortable black shoes and a matching bag completed the ensemble

She'd only been waiting outside a few minutes when a taxi cab pulled up along the curb. Before Ellie could lean down to see if this was her ride, the door swung open and Audrey climbed out.

"You look perfect," was the first thing she said as she moved closer and gave Ellie a perfectly respectable kiss on the cheek.

Ellie was relieved to see that her outfit complemented the one Audrey was wearing. A pleasant green shade, the material just about matched her eyes. The older woman was a bit more endowed, but the design accentuated more than displayed those attributes.

"Ready?" Audrey said as she motioned to the waiting open door.

As Ellie stepped past her, her curiosity got the better of her and she asked where they were going.

Not to give away too much too soon, Audrey just replied, "Not far," and then, as she climbed in after her asked, "You do like Italian, don't you?"

As Audrey closed the door behind her, Ellie replied in the affirmative, and, as if that was a signal, the taxi driver turned the cab out into traffic and they moved quickly down the street.

It turned out to be a short trip, no more than ten minutes, until they came to a stop on a street down on the lower west side. Glancing out the window, Ellie didn't recognize where they were, but then again this wasn't really a part of the city she regularly passed through.

On the way there, Ellie also hadn't paid much attention to the streets as they passed by, her attention more on the way Audrey was holding her hand and the not so respectable kiss the older woman had given her as soon as the taxi had pulled out into traffic. The kiss, and the fact that the driver didn't react to it in the least, both took Ellie by surprise. It had to have been visible in the rear view mirror. It wasn't until they were exiting the cab that she realize that the cabbie was in fact a middle aged woman, who gave them both a warm smile as she wished them a most enjoyable evening.

-=-=-=-=-

At first glance, Ellie thought the driver had dropped them off in the middle of nowhere. All the buildings around them looked deserted. It was only when the sound of a door opening and voices to her left drew her attention that she realized that the basement stairs must lead to the restaurant they were headed for. The set-up was sort of like that bar in a television show she had watched growing up, the one set in Boston. As Audrey led her to the stairs, from which another couple was emerging, Ellie now noticed a sign that read "D'Antonios, established 1918."

Holding her hand, Audrey walked Ellie down the stairs and into the vestibule, pausing for a moments to let their eyes adjust to the dimmer light. Once they did, the twenty-five year old felt like she'd been transported back to the year on the outside sign. The decor around her was a near perfect recreation of what the restaurant must have looked like the day it opened. There where a few practical changes, of course, electric lights instead of gaslight, but even those fixtures had been designed to look like the originals. In fact, the only modern aspect easily identified was the emergency lights over the door that the law required.

As they waited to be seated, Ellie looked beyond the front counter and saw that each of the opposing walls was lined with small booths, each with a semi-private partitions. Scattered between those rows were a number of small tables for two, each covered with a white tablecloth and illuminated by a glass enclosed candle. Only a few of the tables were occupied, but from her perspective it was impossible to tell if any of the booths were.

" Buona sera e benvenuto a D'Antonio," a middle aged woman, who looked as if she'd just stepped off a jar of spaghetti sauce, said as she stepped out from behind the counter.

Much to Ellie's surprise, Audrey answered the woman in Italian, at a pace that far outstripped what little she remembered from her own high school days. The conversation only lasted a few seconds, after which the hostess led them to one of the rear booths, one that afforded the most privacy.

As soon as they'd been seated, the older woman excused herself to greet another couple who had come in right after them. Ellie's limited language skills were just good enough for her to understand that before leaving she had said that their antipasto would be right out.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'd called ahead and pre-ordered for the both of us," Audrey said.

"No, not at all," Ellie said, although she normally hated it when someone did that. Tonight, however, more than one aspect of what she normally did had been tossed aside.

They made small talk for a few minutes, discussing how their respective weeks had gone, until they were interrupted by the appearance of their waitress. The girl was about Ellie's age, wearing a black skirt and a white peasant blouse. Even in the candlelight it was quite apparent that the well endowed brunette wasn't wearing anything under her top.

Placing a small dish of assortments in front of them, the waitress then poured a small measure of olive oil into a dish and set that next to a basket of still warm bread. Finally she poured two glasses of white wine before excusing herself.

"This is all so romantic," Ellie said, marveling how the candlelight reflected in Audrey's eyes.

"I was hoping you'd like it," Audrey replied.

"Like it?" Ellie gushed. "I love it."

They took a few minutes to sample the delicacies that had been set in front of them, with Ellie proclaiming each treat more delightful than the one before it.

"None of them are more delightful than you," Audrey said as she reached over and took Ellie's hand in hers, prompting the widest of smiles from the younger woman.

"Audrey, can I ask you a question?" Ellie said as they finished the last of the appetizers.

"Of course, you can ask me anything," she assured her.

"What made you think that I would be interested in going out with you in the first place?" she asked. "I mean, I'm so glad that you did, but what was it that made you even think I might be receptive?"

"You mean, were you giving off some sort of signal that said you might like girls?" Audrey smiled.

"I guess something like that," Ellie smiled back.

"An old friend of mine lives by the notion that every woman is only so many drinks away from being a lesbian," Audrey offered, "and the trick is to figure out how many drinks that is."

She paused to let Ellie consider that.

"But I've never really believed that." she continued, "although I think a considerable number of women are curious enough to experiment with it, as long as they can later blame it on having had too many drinks."

Blaming it all on having had too many drinks was an excuse that Ellie had heard girlfriends use all too often in reference to waking up with the wrong person on the other side of the bed. It was an excuse she herself had used on a few occasions, with it having actually been true two or three times.

"My own theory has always been that in a neutral setting, as opposed to say being in a lesbian bar or club, you never really know who might or might not be interested. So, if you meet someone you find interesting, why not give it a shot and see what happens?"

"Is that what I was," Ellie asked, "a shot?"

"More like a hope," Audrey said, again reaching her hand across the table and placing it on top of Ellie's. "I was taken with you the moment I saw you, and once I got to know you I was even more so."

They were interrupted again by the return of the waitress with their soup and salad, followed a short time later by the main entree. Each course surpassed the one before it and it was only with great reluctance that Ellie left a small portion on her plate, pushing it away lest she give in to the temptation to put away that as well. It was rare for her to eat so much at once, but the food had been that good. In a tone mixed with both satisfaction and regret, she remarked that she'd be paying for that meal all weekend with extra time on the treadmill.

"Oh, I'm sure there are more fun ways to work off those extra calories than just running in place," Audrey offered, as the waitress appeared once more to inquire if they'd like dessert or coffee.

"I think we're good," she said to the server, with Ellie nodding her agreement.

While Audrey waited for the check, Ellie excused herself to use the ladies room. It was only as she worked her way around the scattered tables that she realized what she hadn't noticed earlier. All of the couples at them were made up of women. There wasn't a man in sight. How had she not seen that before? The answer was, of course, that she'd only had eyes for Audrey on their way in.

Curious to see if the same held true for the other booths, Ellie couldn't resist an unobtrusive glance into the ones she passed. In one of them, the salesgirl had spotted a woman who bore a striking resemblance to the middle-aged anchorwoman of her favorite news show. She couldn't be a hundred percent certain it had indeed been her, but wasn't about to take a more obvious second look.

On her way back from the bathroom, which was decorated in the same old fashioned style, Ellie was stunned when she saw a woman walking toward her whose identity was unmistakable. After all, she had only met her the week before. The girl the brown haired woman had her arm tightly wrapped around was a mystery, however, but even in the dim light there was no way the diminutive Asian girl could ever be mistaken for "the lovely Cassandra."

Dorothy walked right by Ellie without a glint of recognition, her attention solely focused on her latest conquest. As they disappeared into the ladies room, Audrey's comment about her ex-lover came back to Ellie. "Being friends was never the problem."

Their waitress was just handing Audrey her credit card when Ellie got back to the table. In the short time it had taken her to return, she'd decided that what she'd just seen was really none of her business and best forgotten. Certainly it was nothing worth mentioning to Audrey, especially on the slim chance that it might upset their evening.

"So what's next?" she asked instead.

"Well, you did say you needed to work off some calories, didn't you?" Audrey said, a touch of the mischievous in her voice.

"I did say that, didn't I?" Ellie replied, remembering how many of her dates over the years had ended in calorie burning workouts.

"Well then, I have just the thing," Audrey said as she dropped a generous tip on the table before picking up her bag.

"Would that be something that I might enjoy?" Ellie further asked, her tone now suggestive and hopeful.

"I know I always have," Audrey smiled for a very long moment before adding, "I'm going to take you dancing."

-=-=-=-=-

They exited the restaurant, hand in hand, and were lucky enough to catch a taxi that had just dropped off another fare. The driver was definitely male this time, and despite the temptation the two of them acted with a bit more decorum during the ten minute trip northward. Ellie now paid more attention to the streets passing by and, based on the partial intersection she had heard Audrey give the cabbie, wondered if they might be going to the Chelsea Piers. That thought proved wrong, however, when the taxi abruptly came to a stop just a few blocks short of them.

Glancing out the window as Audrey paid the driver, Ellie saw a long line of people on the other side of the avenue. Once they were both out of the car, she saw the two story structure out on the old pier that had once been a warehouse, and concluded that was where they were headed.

Crossing the street, Ellie got a better look at their destination and was suitably impressed. Whereas D'Antonios had been a trip to the distant past, Lilith's Garden, which was what the bright neon lights identified the dance club as, was a journey, if not into the far future, then at least to the day after tomorrow. It took up nearly the last third of the refurbished pier, with glass walls made almost transparent by the interior lights. The line became more identifiable once they approached it and this time Ellie wasn't surprised to find it was entirely made up of women.

"Look at how far back this line goes," she said to Audrey as they stepped out of the crosswalk and she saw how it looped around the corner, "we'll never get into this place."

"Trust me," Audrey said with a smile, before turning away to survey the crowd by the entrance, appearing to be looking for someone.

Ellie did a double take at the phrase, her thoughts jumping back to it being used by one of her best friends back in high school, Cindy Marinelli. The fun loving redhead had convinced Ellie to go with her and a few other girls to what was at the time, Brooklyn's hottest night spot. The line in front of that club hadn't been half as long as the one here and Cindy had been just as certain that they would get in.

Ignoring the loud and descriptive complaints from people who had been waiting on line for more than an hour, Cindy had led her small entourage to the front of the line where she caught the attention of a large black man standing behind the velvet rope. She whispered something to the man, then told her friends that she would be right back.

When they emerged a few minutes later, the tall man walked right to the velvet rope and opened it for them to get in. As they passed inside, Ellie noted a satisfied look on his face.

Later on in the evening, when it was just Cindy and her at the table, Ellie decided to satisfy her curiosity. She asked Cindy how she had convinced that man to let them in. Had she given him money?

Cindy had just laughed at the suggestion and then, without hesitation, told her that all it took to get them all in had been one of her world class, at least in her mind, blow jobs. Ellie at first thought her friend had been joking, but then realized she was totally serious. It was one thing to meet a guy at a club, hit it off and wind up doing that by the end of the night, but this was something totally different. Even back then, Ellie was far from innocent, but that, to her, had been way over the line.

That memory quickly fading back into the past, Ellie watched Audrey mimic Cindy's actions and step right up to the VIP entrance, catching the eye of a tall, quite muscular blonde. Dressed in black jeans and boots, the thirty-something woman had a full bust barely restrained by a matching black top. At first she had a look of annoyance when Audrey called out to get her attention, but that quickly turned to recognition and a smile once she got a better look at who was calling her. The blonde exchanged a few words with Audrey that Ellie couldn't make out, then lifted the barrier to let the two women pass. They'd only walked a few feet before Ellie knew that this time her curiosity wasn't going to wait.

"Okay, I have to ask," Ellie said as they walked the carpeted path between the street and the club's entrance, "how did you do that?"

"It wasn't hard," Audrey smiled as she handed Ellie one of the VIP passes that the gatekeeper had slipped into her hand before opening the barrier. "Jennifer," she started, giving a name to the tall woman, "just happens to have a nephew in my third period class. It sure as hell beats bringing in an apple in for the teacher, don't you think?."

With the "A List" badges now around their necks, Audrey and Ellie were spared the prospect of squeezing their way onto the overcrowded dance floor in front of them and were instead able to glide past the two equally imposing women that guarded the staircase leading up to the second floor VIP area. Once at the top, they saw that the upper level was a smaller version of the floor below, but occupied by only about a third the number of women.

"So what would you like to do first," Audrey asked over the din of the music, "have another drink or try out the dance floor?"

Still feeling a buzz from the wine they'd had at dinner, Ellie didn't really need to think about it. She took Audrey's hand and led her out onto the dance floor. For a brief moment, as they started to move to the music, Ellie worried that the older woman might not be able to keep up with her. It didn't take long for her to realize that it was the reverse that she should actually be worried about. Audrey moved with the dexterity of a woman half her age, and with a vitality that caused Ellie to give pause.

They danced the entire set of songs, covering a playlist that reflected the multi- generational scope of the participants. Glancing around them as she moved, Ellie noted that there were just as many women older than either of them as there were younger on the dance floor. One or two even seemed familiar, but moved out of view too quickly for her to be sure. The last dance was a slow one older than either of them, and that was the one Ellie enjoyed most, mainly because during it Audrey held her tight against her, close enough for her to feel both their hearts beating.

When the music finally ended, they left the dance floor to catch their breath and have a drink to cool off with. Audrey ordered a tall mixed drink that sounded so refreshing, Ellie said she'd have the same when the bartender looked at her.

"This place is really amazing," Ellie said as both drinks quickly appeared and she took a taste of hers, giving it a soft purr of approval.

"It does have its advantages," Audrey replied as she sampled her own drink with similar result.

"Are all the women here..." Ellie started to ask, but then paused, thinking it might be an inappropriate question.

Audrey evidently didn't think so and answered without hesitation.

"Not as many as you might think," she replied, pausing long enough to take a much longer taste of the multicolored concoction. "A lot of the women here are as straight as can be. They come here with their girlfriends to enjoy a night out without a lot of guys trying to hit on them. Then there are others who might be just a bit curious and come here to explore that curiosity. It depends on the night sometimes."

Lifting her own tall glass to her mouth, Ellie looked at the variety of women all around them and wondered which category each of them fell into.

They talked a bit more as they finished their drinks, then took another turn on the dance floor. As before, they shared a few kisses between songs as well as the occasional touch of each other's hands. As they walked off the floor for the second time, Ellie asked Audrey what was behind the curtain draped doorway that she'd noticed off to the side. While they had been dancing, she'd noticed several couples disappearing behind through it.

"I was wondering if you had noticed that," Audrey laughed as she took Ellie in hand once more. "It really doesn't have an official name, but some ladies call it the maze, others the parlor. I like to think of it as the privacy zone."

"Privacy zone?" Ellie asked, her curiosity aroused. "As in a place where you might want to do something that requires a bit of privacy?"

"Pretty much so," Audrey grinned.

In some clubs that Ellie had been to, there had indeed been certain areas that a couple could sneak off to, where, while they might not have been as private as you might have liked, no one seemed to pay too much mind to what you were doing. Her curiosity about what might be beyond that curtain was too much to resist.

"Think we might check it out?" she asked, hoping that the answer would be in the affirmative.

"Certainly," Audrey said with an eager smile. "If you really want to." she added.

The look on Ellie's face said she definitely did.

-=-=-=-=-

As they passed through the curtain and down a long hall, they passed from a world of brightness to one of shadows. Small, low powered recessed lighting dotted the ceiling, and along the walls hung a single strand of rope lighting to guide the way. Following the path, they stepped into an enclave of four foot room dividers; within each sat a plush love seat. Even in the muted lighting it was obvious that all of them were occupied, and it was also quite noticeable, at least in the case of those closest to them, that the intertwined bodies on those sofas were missing various articles of clothing.

"Okay, I get the parlor part," Ellie whispered as quietly as she could, "but why the maze?"

Audrey held an index finger to her lips and simply led Ellie through another curtain and then down another corridor. This one, however, only went about a dozen feet before it made a ninety degree turn to the left, then, in the same distance, it changed direction again.

Silently, Ellie questioningly turned to Audrey, and was answered not with words but a pointed finger to another even smaller curtain along the wall ahead of them. Taking a good look at it in the dimness, Ellie realized that the curtain was covering a small alcove. Now that she knew what she was looking for, she glanced up and down the hallway and noticed two more, one on each side of the corridor. They reminded her, if nothing else, of the confessional booths in her neighborhood church. As they quietly passed the one Audrey had pointed out, Ellie realized that not only was the niche occupied but the sounds behind the curtain were more in tune with the type of things you normally confessed in those booths come Saturday afternoon.

After two more turns, they came across a recess with the curtain still open. Opportunity and desire, the latter of which had been building within Ellie for the past two weeks, suddenly intersected. Giving in to that longing, Ellie impulsively grabbed Audrey and pulled her into the opening, sliding the curtain closed behind them.

"I think this one is ours," she softly laughed, a mischievous glint in her eye.

The cloth panel was barely in place before Ellie's mouth was pressed against Audrey's, her tongue slipping past her lips and seeking out its counterpart. The older woman was quick to respond, the tip of her own tongue also reaching out. Ellie felt Audrey's body press against her own, soft hands pressing against equally soft flesh. No larger than an old style phone booth, the dark enclosure brought to mind the first time Ellie had played seven minutes in heaven at a friend's birthday party. Thinking back, she couldn't remember being as excited with Chris Pike, the most popular boy in her class, as she felt now with Audrey.

Ellie might have initiated the encounter but it quickly became clear that Audrey was taking control of it. Pressing Ellie against the back wall, she cupped the brunette's left breast even as she tilted her head to kiss her neck. Moving onto her earlobe, she softly asked the younger woman how far she wanted her to go.

"As far as you can," Ellie whispered back, her eyes tightly closed as she tried to take in all the sensations that Audrey's touch had produced.

"I hoped you would say something like that," Audrey purred as she brought her lips to Ellie's one more time.

Ellie felt Audrey's hand slide around her to her back, to grasp the zipper of her dress. As it slid downward, her outfit became loose around her body, allowing the older woman to shift the palm of her hand beneath the material and onto the bare flesh beneath. The dress had come with built in half cups, avoiding the need for a bra. Her fingers closed around the brunette's excited nipple, causing Ellie to let out a soft, satisfying moan.

With only slight difficulty, mostly due to the fact that she was working in the dark, Audrey managed to work Ellie totally out of the dress, at least down to her waist. Her mouth replaced her hand as eager lips closed around the hard tip. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Ellie to keep her voice low, and as Audrey continued to suck at her breasts, moving back and forth between the two, she found that she no longer cared that there were two other couples not five feet away in each direction. After all, hadn't she once given Jimmy Kirkland a blow job in the front seat of his car while her cousin Patty did the same to her date in the back seat, and never felt the least bit embarrassed about it?

Even as she continued to feast on Ellie's bounty, Audrey slipped one hand under the hem of the brunette's dress and ran her fingers across the cheeks of her ass, moving upward until she had a grip on the elastic band of her panties. With a powerful tug, she ripped the thin material until the fine cloth came apart in her hand. Then it was just a matter of relaxing her grip and the now useless undergarment fell to the floor. It mattered little to Ellie at that moment that those had been her favorite pair, or how much they had cost. She had worn them for Audrey and right now they were just in the way.

Fingers extended, Audrey moved her hand up alongside Ellie's legs, caressing her flesh as it moved ever closer to the lightly haired mound between them. With a skill born of countless hours of practice, they found their goal, and the softness of their touch sent a jolt of pleasure racing through Ellie.

Starting with just a finger, Audrey effortlessly penetrated the barrier to the younger woman's sex, a passage already moist with anticipation. A second finger soon followed, with the third right behind it. In and out they slid, probing further with each thrust. All the while the two women continued to trade kisses long and deep.

"God, that feels so good," Ellie moaned, tremors of passion reverberating across her body.

"If you think that feels good," Audrey whispered into her ear, even as she slid her tongue inside it, "then you're really going to love what comes next."

In one fluid motion, Audrey pulled back just a few inches, then dropped down to her knees. Before Ellie could fully fathom what she was doing, Audrey was down between her legs, having replaced the wonderful touch of her fingers with the even more delightful one of her tongue and mouth. Yet to be accurate, her fingers hadn't really been replaced, just supplemented. They continued to work their magic, even if it was in a lesser capacity.

Ellie was now beyond words, only able to let out moans that increased in length and volume with every thrust of Audrey's tongue. The fires within her had quickly flared into a bonfire, raging out of control. The sounds of her joy were now clearly evident to anyone within earshot, the proof of which came in a cheer of encouragement from the other side of the curtain, urging Audrey to give her a lick for one who was enjoying the erotic symphony.

It was a concerto that was reaching its zenith as the forces that had been building within Ellie cried out for release. There had been times when she might have tried to hold back her climax, to prolong her anticipation. But this was not one of them. With a cry that she was sure could be heard out on the dance floor, Ellie exploded with the most powerful orgasm she could remember.

"Ohhh Goddddd!!!" she screamed as her body rocked, all while Audrey continued her efforts, not stopping until Ellie's body finally stopped quivering.

"I take it that was good," Audrey said, just after she brought herself back to her full height and kissed Ellie with a passion that reflected the fires that still simmered inside her own body.

"Good?" Ellie panted. "That was fan-fucking-tastic."

It was then that the two of them recognized the sound from beyond the curtain as clapping. Evidently their audience had enjoyed the show as well.

"You think we should go out and take a bow?" Audrey laughed, softly kissing Ellie again.

"All I want is to try that with you," Ellie said, never wanting to please another person more than she did right now.

"Feel free," Audrey grinned.

"I just wish we had a little more room," Ellie mused, not really meaning to say that out loud.

"Well," Audrey said, stretching out the word to almost three syllables, "there is someplace else we can go."

"You think we could find one of those couches out there empty?" Ellie asked, thinking that was what her new love was referring to and no longer caring if they were start naked on them with every woman in the place gathered around them.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind," Audrey said with the broadest smile of the evening.

Ellie just looked at her, not quite understanding.

"Remember when I said that this place had its advantages," she explained, giving Ellie a moment to recall the comment. "Well, if I wanted to list them, I think I'd top the list with the fact that it's only six blocks from my apartment. An apartment, I might add, that has a queen sized bed that right now is just sitting there empty."

-=-=-=-=-

Not having to be asked twice, Ellie set a new place record for putting her clothes back on. The previous one had been the night her parents had come home early back in high school and nearly caught her and a boyfriend in flagrante delicto on the basement couch. This time however, Ellie didn't care about trying to look respectable, much less innocent. As they exited the alcove, she saw a few women loitering in the small hallway, curious as to who had been behind the curtain. Walking past them, the brunette noted an exchanging of silent looks among them, mixed perhaps with just a touch of envy.

"Maybe we should have taken a bow," Audrey whispered once they had moved far enough down the corridor to be out of earshot. She had noted the looks as well.

Ellie could only grin in response.

Back out on the street, Ellie anxiously waited for the traffic light to change so they could cross the wide avenue. Twice she had stepped off the curb, gauging the flow of traffic against the chances of successfully crossing on the red light. Understanding her impatience, Audrey pointed out a trip to the emergency room would really put a damper on the rest of the evening. That finally made Ellie throttle back her engines, but not by much.

Once across 11th Avenue, the remaining normal sized streets passed quickly behind them and in much less time than it would've taken to hail a cab and maneuver through Friday night traffic, they reached the high rise Audrey called home. The doorman greeted the teacher by name, wishing her a good evening as he opened the door for the two of them. That he didn't blink an eye at the sight of Audrey having a guest at this time of night made Ellie wonder for a moment how often that occurred. It was a question that was just as quickly tossed aside because, no matter who had been there before, she was the one there now.

Audrey, it turned out, lived on the second floor of the building, so rather than wait for the elevator it was quicker to just dash up the stair, exchanging both a smile and a laugh as they did so. Keys already in hand, Audrey had the door open less than half a minute after they'd reached it. In took even less time for her to turn the two deadbolts once they were inside, finally granting them the privacy they craved.

Audrey didn't even have time to turn before she felt Ellie's hands on her, one running down her side, the other across the cheeks of her ass. She felt the younger woman's body press against her own, sharing the warmth of her excitement.

In response, Audrey slowly turned, firmly planting her lips on Ellie's as her own hands made contact as well. Tongues intertwined once more with anticipation of what was to come.

Continuing to share the tenderness of each other's mouths, they pressed even tighter together, until each could feel the beat of the other's racing heart. Time seemed to stand still, until finally Audrey gently broke their embrace and, taking Ellie by the hand, led her to the soft bed she had suggested earlier.

Holding both of Ellie's hands in her own, Audrey sat on the bottom edge of her bed and stood the brunette between her outstretched legs. She leaned her head forward, placing it against Ellie's breasts, while her hands ran up and down the back of her legs, cupping the cheeks on her bare ass as she did.

Ellie ran her own hands across Audrey's shoulders, then to the clasp in the back of the older woman's dress, undoing them with ease. From there her fingers glided across the bare skin to the straps of the teacher's outfit, sliding them downward.

The strapless bra that held Audrey's bounty in check had a clasp in front, and it took but a breath's length for her to undo that. The no longer tight undergarment fell free, giving Ellie her first look at the delights it had contained.

Audrey's aureoles, which Ellie had felt but not before seen, were wider and darker than her own quarter sized circles, with nipples that stood out like the erasers on a pencil. She brought the palms of her hands against the underside of Audrey's breasts, marveling at the weight and warmth of the soft flesh. Bringing her head downward, she kissed each one repeatedly, softly closing her lips around each tip as she took it into her mouth.

Back in her junior year of high school, on a sleepover at a girlfriend's house, Ellie and three other girls had played a game of truth or dare. The level of daring made much more than what it might have been by the introduction of a bottle of Johnny Walker that their host had snuck out of her parents' liquor cabinet. After a few of the girls had kissed each other, Suzie Cooper had upped the ante by daring Ellie to kiss her breasts. To the amazement of all the girls, Ellie included, she had done so. The memory of what it had been like had been blurred by the alcohol. That was one of the reasons that she had been carefully watching how much she'd had to drink tonight. This was a memory she didn't want to forget.

"Mmmm, that feels nice," Audrey moaned softly as she felt the wetness of Ellie's mouth on her flesh. "Are you sure you've never done this before?" she jokingly asked.

"Not that I can remember," Ellie said softly as she let the nipple of Audrey's left breast slip from her mouth.

Audrey reached up and once more undid the top of Ellie's dress, revealing the treats she had sampled back at the club. Ellie's cryptic reply to her question made her wonder if she had indeed been the first woman to sample them, but only for a moment as, with both hands around Ellie's waist, she brought the brunette low enough so that she could sample them again. It didn't matter to her if she wasn't the first, just that she was the best.

After a few minutes pleasing Ellie with her mouth around her nipples, Audrey shifted up onto the flat of the mattress, working her way up it's length. Ellie climbed into the bed as well and followed her close behind, closing the small distance between them until their lips met once more.

Hands and mouth again explored each other's exposed bodies, with exclamations of passion filling the air. Never had Ellie felt this excited to be with anyone, it was as if she was a virgin all over again. If she really thought about it, in a way she was.

As they continued to explore each other's bodies, each also took every opportunity to expose more of the body that so held their interest. It finally reached a point where they had to stop what they were doing and take off the dresses that were now just bunched around each other's midsections.

"God, you are beautiful," Ellie said of Audrey as she got her first unrestricted look at her body.

"I was about to say the same thing about you," Audrey smiled at she took a similar appraisal of Ellie.

They both laughed for a moment, then fell back into each other's arms, hands and eager mouths picking up right where they'd left off.

Bodies pressed tightly together, Ellie moved her hand down between Audrey's legs and for the first time in her life touched the sex of another woman. The wetness that greeted her as her fingers gently ran alongside the fold of the lightly haired mound sent a tremendous shudder through her body, one filled with both excitement and anticipation.

Audrey's hands were likewise busy, covering every inch of Ellie's skin. Tiny ripples of pleasure followed in their wake, adding to the ever increasing fires that were again building in each of them.

Audrey's hand moved to Ellie's mound, duplicating her actions of earlier in the evening with equal effect. Using the motion of the more experienced woman's fingers as a guide, Ellie began to move hers in a similar manner. Back and forth they gently rocked, their mouths still locked together as each pumped several fingers in and out of the other.

What had started as small waves of ecstasy, mirrored in both their forms, quickly grew in length and intensity until their motions became almost animalistic. Harder and harder they rubbed against each other, as hot, sweat covered flesh became as one.

The brief but nevertheless pleasing orgasms that erupted in both of them came close enough together to be seen as one continuous climax. Each of them shared the joy of the other, with a passion that passed back and forth for what seemed like forever.

The tremors had barely stopped before Audrey was again focusing all of her attention on Ellie's breasts, running her tongue across them and savoring the womanly scents their mutual orgasms had produced. Starting at the tip of Ellie's nipples, Audrey worked her way down across the length of her breasts, onto her stomach to the brunette's thighs. Then she reversed herself and left a trail of kisses all the way back up to her mouth. Through it all, Ellie did what she could to add to Audrey's own pleasure by moving her hands to caress what parts of her body she could.

Another long session of shared kisses followed, until Ellie again tried to duplicate Audrey's actions and moved back down to her breasts. Soft moans again filled the air as she flicked her tongue across the older woman's hard nipples, taking them deep between her lips and lavishing all the attention on them that she could.

Back and forth she moved between the large mounds, guided by the sound of Audrey's moans, the shifting tempo of which led her to her most sensitive spots. It amazed her how easy it was for her to pick up on the most subtle of clues, but then she realized that the path that Audrey was leading her down was not all that far from the one she herself liked a lover to follow.

Three times she worked her way up and down Audrey's body, covering it with licks, touches and kisses both soft and hard. When she reached the previous terminus of her journey once again, Ellie knew she needed to go further. It was important that she chart her own course, not just follow what had been laid out before her.

Reaching down between Audrey's legs once more, she started to again rub her hand against the damp mound, slipping a solitary finger this time past the folds. She moved that single digit deep inside Audrey, covering it with the fruits of her excitement. Then she carefully removed it, bringing it up to her mouth and placed it inside, her lips closing around it as she licked it clean.

On several occasions, Ellie had tasted the results of her own orgasms, both on a guy's cock when she had gone down on him after fucking or, on a few occasions, when she had licked her fingers after her own climax. But she had never compared her juices to those of another woman. She found Audrey's to be just different enough to know they weren't her own, but similar to what she had already experienced. Her one worry had been that when she finally did what she now planned to do, it would somehow freak her out. With that small fear now banished, she again shifted position so that she could now taste Audrey's nectar right from the source.

Audrey didn't need to be told what was on Ellie's mind; she'd seen comparable actions taken by other inexperienced lovers. Once she was sure that Ellie was comfortable with what she had done, Audrey moved her own position on the bed so that she was now totally stretched out on her back. Her legs parted just enough to be taken as an invitation, one that Ellie could either accept or decline.

Declining had never entered Ellie's mind, even if she thought she might hate it as much as the first time she'd taken a boy in her mouth. Climbing down to the bottom of the bed, Ellie parted Audrey's legs even wider apart, them moved down between them. She kissed the soft flesh around her belly button, even as she ran extended fingers all the way down and let them dance across the excited, eager flesh.

As she pressed her tongue gently against the small gap in Audrey's mound, Ellie tried for a moment to remember just how the men who has been in a similar position with her had done it. Few had really been good at it, so it wasn't a large number that she had to try and remember. Then, as she used her hand to part the way and slid her tongue into the moist pink canal, she realized that she didn't need to remember how a man had done this. It was more important that she do it as she thought she should. Audrey knew this would be a first for her, and she wouldn't expect it to be perfect. What was important, was just the fact that she wanted to do it, bringing whatever pleasure she was capable of bringing.

Slowly at first, then with increasing firmness and frequency, Ellie used her tongue and fingers to please Audrey. Her technique was a bit awkward, at least at first, but as she had hoped Audrey seemed quite happy with her efforts. As before, moans of encouragement, varying in length and volume, helped to guide her, until eventually they were no longer needed. Boundless enthusiasm seemed the order of the day, or night if need be, and it wasn't long before Audrey's body was rocking in sync with her attentions. She felt the gentle touch of the older woman's hand against the back of her head, gently guiding her in her effort.

An effort that began to pay off quite visible dividends as Audrey's body began to once more exhibit the signs of approaching orgasm. Signs that spurred Ellie to even greater efforts, until it would have been clear even to the most inexperienced lover that Audrey was about to climax.

Ellie buried her face as deep against her sex as was possible, her hands tightly wrapped around her legs. Audrey exploded with a force that took Ellie by surprise as she never imagined that she might be capable of producing such a reaction. Still she stood her ground, continuing her ministrations until long after the quaking in the woman beneath her had ceased. When she finally released her grip and lifted her face back into view, it was totally covered in the sweet, sticky aftermath of Audrey's eruption.

"Omigod, look at you," Audrey exclaimed as she looked down as Ellie lifted herself between her legs.

"I guess I must look a sight," Ellie grinned as she climbed back up on the bed alongside Audrey.

"I don't think you ever looked more beautiful," Audrey smiled, meaning every word, because she had gotten that way in an effort to please her. To emphasize her declaration, she leaned inward and gave her lover the most passionate kiss she was capable of giving.

-=-=-=-=-

After stepping into the bathroom where they could take a washcloth to Ellie's face and clean up the rest of themselves as well, the two women climbed back into the comfort of Audrey's bed. Laying naked in each other's arms, they were now content to just enjoy the warmth of each other's company.

"So what did you think?" Audrey finally asked after what she considered an appropriate interval.

"I think that was incredible," Ellie replied, the smile on her face lending truth to her conclusion.

"Oh, I'm not talking just about the sex," Audrey went on, "but it was incredible, wasn't it. What I meant was, what do you think about you and I?"

"You and I?" Ellie repeated, if for no other reason than to give herself a bit longer to think about the question.

"Yes, you and I," Audrey repeated as well. "Do you think we might have a future together, or would we be better off just saying we had a great time these last few weeks and just leave it at that?"

"I'm not sure," Ellie admitted. "I mean I have thought about it, I've thought about it a great deal."

"I would hope so," Audrey replied. "If all I wanted with you was a romp in the sack, I'm pretty sure I could've talked you into it that night at the bar. I'm positive I could've done it after the gallery show."

Ellie didn't reply but without saying so, knew both to be true. In all honesty, a small part of her had been disappointed that Audrey hadn't tried on either occasion.

"Do you need an answer this moment?" Ellie asked.

"No, of course not," Audrey replied. "Besides, I really wouldn't trust any answer that came right after you'd had a few orgasms. It tends to cloud up rational thinking."

Thinking back for a moment about the post coitus discussions she and David had about their future, Ellie immediately agreed.

"So take your time, well, a few days as least, and think about it," Audrey finally said. "Then let me know what you decide."

"Okay, I can do that," Ellie assured her.

With that, she started to lift herself up and tossed her legs over the side of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Audrey asked, surprised at her action.

"I thought you said..."

"I said that you need to decide if you really want a relationship with me," Audrey said. "With another woman, that is. I'm hoping so, because I would really like to have one with you."

"Oh."

"What I don't remember saying is that you had to get up and out of here until you did decide," Audrey added.

"I guess I misunderstood," Ellie admitted.

"That you did," Audrey smiled.

"So what do we do until I do decide?" Ellie asked.

"Again, that's up to you," Audrey answered.

"Could we have sex again?" Ellie said, with just a touch of hesitation in her voice.

"I would think the situation demands it," Audrey grinned, "if only to allow you to make a fully informed decision."

With that she leaned across the bed and kissed Ellie again.

Ellie was pretty sure she already had her answer as she returned Audrey's kiss, but it wouldn't hurt to be totally sure she told herself. As the two of them dropped back onto the bed, Ellie couldn't wait to again venture again into what was no longer unexplored territory.

END

Copyright 2012 Ann Douglas. All Rights Reserved.

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