Trust (2 page)

2. Have you ever made love in an inappropriate setting?

3. Dinner out and the theater, or dinner in and curl up with Netflix?

I'm going to answer 1 and 3 together. I do like to cook, and I'm told I'm pretty good. I love to cook for someone special, and so I enjoy dinner in and curling up together on the sofa afterwards. However, I love an excuse to dress up, so a nice dinner out followed by the theater or one of the museums makes for a lovely evening.

And I just couldn't resist asking a potentially embarrassing question. Yes, I have. It was at a movie theater. I don't remember what was showing, but I remember I wasn't very into the movie. My girlfriend at the time whispered to me, "I bet you can't stay quiet," and then slipped her hand down. She spent the next fifteen or twenty minutes teasing the crap out of me until I couldn't hold it back any longer. Luckily, I managed to avoid screaming and only gasped a few times.

I thought we got away with it, but after the movie, we got strange looks from a few people. It might have been just people shocked at seeing the PDA we were sharing, or they might have figured out what she was doing to me. But no one screamed out, "Hussy" while pointing fingers at us, and the police didn't surround us on the way to her car.

Ironically, this was the same girlfriend I mentioned earlier, but clearly during a happier portion of our relationship.

Thinking of you,

Sable

Josie and I continued to email back and forth, as did Vic and I. Vic pressured me for a photo but didn't mention a phone number. I sent the photo, and in her next email she said, "I will be at the Westside Starbucks at 4:30 tomorrow. I hope you'll be there, too."

I stared for a long time before writing back, "I'll see you there."

* * * *

I barely made it inside the Starbucks before a tall, broad woman stepped up to me, said, "Sable, you look just like your photo," and enveloped me in a hug. As hugs go, this was the hug to end all hugs. The woman was big -- and strong -- and she actually lifted me from my feet. I let out a squeak and tried to contain my surprise.

"Okay, Vic," I said. "Put me down now."

"Oh," she said, setting me on my feet, then holding me until I was steady. "Sorry."

I stepped back a quarter step and looked up into a worried face. "It's all right," I said. "When you hug someone, she sure knows she's been hugged."

She offered a tentative smile. "You know how with some kids you have to remind them about inside voices?" I nodded. "Well, I'm sort of like that, but hugs."

I decided I liked her. So I stepped to her side and took her arm. Hey, if I had her arm, she couldn't wrap it around me and squish me to death, could she? I let her lead me to the counter. There I ordered a French roast, black. She ordered a latté. I opened my purse, but she told me I'd offend her if I pulled out any money, so I let her pay. We made awkward silence while we waited for our coffee, but as we collected them, she said, "It takes a lot of calories to keep this machine going."

I laughed. "I imagine it does."

She led us to a sofa, and there we sat, side-by-side. I turned partly sideways to face her. She was already watching me, and her look was a little hungry.

I didn't mind that at all. I offered a smile.

We made small talk for a while. The more she talked, the more I liked her. I wasn't sure I was attracted to her, but I liked her. How could I not be sure? For me, attraction is more cerebral than physical. I'm attracted to a woman who makes me think, who challenges me.

And who treats me the way I want to be treated.

But while we talked, I tried to envision us together. And I just wasn't sure.

We finished our coffee. The conversation slowed down. She stated the obvious before I could. "We seem to have stalled."

"I suppose we have."

"I wouldn't suppose you'd let me take you to dinner."

"What if I want to take you to dinner?"

She smiled broadly. "I asked you first."

"So that's how it is, hmm?"

"Yes. That's how it is."

"Where did you have in mind, Vic?"

She looked me up and down. "You eat like a rabbit, don't you?"

I laughed. "Where did you want to go?"

"Outback Steakhouse?" She made it a question. "It's not fancy. Maybe you prefer fancy."

"Fancy is nice once in a while," I said. "But I like comfortable. No blooming onion, though."

She smiled and stood.

* * * *

It wasn't even presented as an option that we'd drive separately. She walked me to the passenger door of her car. I was expecting a cliché -- a pickup. Instead, she led me to a cute BMW Z4 Roadster.

"Why, Vic!" I said. "You are full of surprises."

"My other car's a pickup," she said with a grin.

She handed me into the car, holding the door and then closing it once I was properly seated. As she got into the other side, I lamented, "I wished I'd known about your car. I'd have worn my hair in a pony tail."

She grinned at me then reached past me to open the glove box, withdrawing a scarf and dropping it into my lap. I laughed, and by the time I had my hair under cover, the top was down. I spent the entire 10-minute drive laughing. I'd never ridden in a convertible with the top down before, and I enjoyed it immensely. As we parked in the restaurant parking lot, I exclaimed, "I have got to get me one of these!"

"It's impractical for much of the year," Vic replied. "But I admit, it's great in good weather. I don't like it much on the freeway though." Then she began to close the roof again.

"Why is that?"

I watched as she latched the roof, and then we climbed from the car. She came around to my side, and I took her arm.

"It's loud," she replied. "And drafty. I think I can get a hard top for it. That would probably help."

"Do you ride with the top down in the winter?"

"No, but the roof is only fabric. There's a fair amount of highway noise."

"Oh, I suppose." I thought about it. "I still liked it. Is that why you have the truck?"

"I was kidding about the truck," she said, opening the restaurant door for me. "That's my only car. It drives like a dream though. And no, you can't drive it."

I put on a fake pout, but in reality, it was fun just riding in the passenger seat. But then I caught Vic staring at my mouth.

"What?" I asked.

"You have very kissable lips," she said.

I couldn't help but smile at her words.

* * * *

Dinner was lovely.

Once outside, Vic slipped an arm around my waist. She was warm, which was good, as the evening had turned chilly. She led me back to her car. The scarf was waiting on the seat where I left it, and I fingered it as she climbed in.

"We can lower the top if you want," Vic said gently, "but it will be chilly."

"No," I replied. "But thank you."

She nodded, started up the car, and adjusted the heater. I thought she was stalling. It was about to be one of those awkward moments on a first date. I continued to play with the scarf, running in between my fingers.

"My place isn't far," she said finally.

Ah. I'd wondered if she'd suggest that. I looked over at her. I liked her. I just wasn't sure how much I liked her.

"Too fast," I replied. "We only met a few hours ago."

She nodded. "Neither of us is looking for a quick hookup."

"No," I agreed.

We rode in silence back to my car. I spent the time staring down at my hands while absentmindedly playing with the scarf.

My car looked lonely in the parking lot; Starbucks had been much busier when we arrived this afternoon. She came to a stop in the space beside my car. I looked over at my car then turned to Vic.

"Vic, I like you."

"I like you, too, Sable." She reached over and tucked an errant lock of hair behind my ear.

"I don't know if you're my type." I grew silent and turned to look out the window.

"Your ad said you wanted someone strong. You meant the other kind of strong, didn't you?"

I nodded.

"I'm that kind of strong, Sable." She paused for a while. I didn't break the silence. "I'd never hurt you." Those words were said almost as a whisper. She paused. "I'd take care of you, Sable. I'd treat you very well."

I stared out the window for a while longer before turning to her. "When you read my ad, did you think I was looking for a sugar mama?"

"I thought about it," she replied.

"I'm not," I said. "Financially, I stand on my own two feet quite well." I looked around at her car. "I could afford this car. I've just never thought about one." But then I gestured with my nose. "I don't know how to drive a stick, and somehow I don't think it's the same with an automatic."

"The new ones come with a retractable hard top and automatic transmission, although you can still get a manual transmission. I could teach you."

We sat quietly for a minute. I was still unsettled. Vic was letting me work through it. Finally I repeated, "I'm not looking for a sugar mama."

"No. I didn't think you were." I looked over at her. "But you're looking for something else."

I turned away again. "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do," she said. Then she shifted in her seat, and I felt her hands as she unwrapped the silk from around my wrists and put the scarf back in the glove box.

"I've never done something like that," she said. But then she leaned back in her seat. "Of course, not that I'd need to."

That broke the tension, and I found myself laughing. "No, I suppose you wouldn't." I looked back at her and smiled. "Walk me to my car?"

She laughed, and we climbed from her car together. I waited for her, and then I let her put an arm around me to walk me the five steps to my car. I unlocked the door and tossed my purse inside but then turned to her, stepping closer. Her arms went around me, and I set mine atop hers, my hands on her shoulders. I stepped closer and laid my head against her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around me more completely.

I closed my eyes, and we stood like that for a while. Then she shifted slightly, and I felt a finger underneath my chin, lifting my face. She was gentle, and I allowed her to tip my head back. Our lips met.

It was a good kiss, a really good kiss. I pressed against her more completely, although I didn't deepen it. But when she pulled away, I sighed and laid my head back against her shoulder again, not saying anything.

"Will you let me see you again?" she asked.

"I'd like that, Vic." I lifted my face and then pulled her head down for another kiss. I let this one deepen, and we teased each other with our tongues before we withdrew. I knew I was flushed, and I thought perhaps she was as well.

"You feel good, Sable," she said softly.

"You do, too." But I slipped out of her arms. I backed into the gap framed between my car and the open door. "I don't like to lead, Vic."

"Good," she replied. "Because I do. So I may call you?"

"Yes, but give it a day or two."

She nodded then stood there until I drove away.

Hello, Sable,

I haven't heard from you for a couple of days. I hope you are well. If you write back, I have a new game for us.

In anticipation,

Josie

She'd been patient, and I felt guilty. I hadn't read my gmail account since the date with Vic. But it wasn't right to let things sit any longer. I crafted a simple reply. I offered my phone number and the simple sentence, "I'm up most nights until eleven."

Five minutes later, my cell phone rang. I was puttering in the kitchen, glanced at the phone, and didn't recognize the number. I almost didn't answer, but then, of course, I did.

"Hello?"

"Is this Sable?"

"Yes. With whom am I speaking?"

"This is Josie Baker, Sable. It's good to hear your voice."

"Oh. Josie!" I smiled. "You must have been on your computer."

"Oh, you know us old people," she said. "I was just engaged in a little online gambling."

I stilled. A moment later, she began to laugh.

"I got you with that one! Oh, Sable. I was just doing a little research, deciding where I'd like to have my next adventure."

I laughed nervously. "You got me, Josie. But you know I'm going to check the browser history on your computer, and if you erase it, or if I find any gambling sites, I'm going to be very nervous."

"Come on over," she said immediately. "I'll make dinner for both of us. You may snoop through my computer all you want."

"And I won't find anything incriminating?"

"Of course you will, Dear," she said. I could hear the smile. "But I don't mind."

I walked out to the living room and sat down. "Tell me what I'll find."

"Oh, no," she replied. "You're just going to have to snoop if you're that curious."

"You'd really let me snoop through your computer?" I asked slowly. "Because I'm not sure I'd let you snoop through mine."

"I guess I'm just a more open person," she said teasingly.

"What would I find?" I asked again.

"What would I find on yours?" she countered.

"Nothing, because I'm not giving you the password."

"There's a term, Sable," said Josie. "Perhaps you've heard it." Then she spoke each word carefully. "Quid. Pro. Quo."

"You think so, hmm?"

"It's up to you, Dear. I'm looking at quite the shocking web site as we speak."

"I'm not sure I entirely believe you."

"I am hurt!" she exclaimed. "Wounded to the quick no less, to suggest I might lie, and so early in our budding relationship no less."

"You're not at all hurt," I said. "But you are very manipulative."

"Hurt again, I say. Now you have to share."

I laughed. "All right. Give me a minute." I leaned forward to the coffee table and retrieved my laptop. "I'm going to put you on speaker phone." I set the phone down, opened the laptop, then began checking my history, looking for something that was incriminating, but only
mildly
incriminating.

"All right," I said finally. "My most recent activity has been boring, but I found one I can share with you."

"Is it... shocking?"

"Let's just say I'm going to blush when you see it. Now, you promise. I'll mail you a link, and you'll mail me a link."

"Agreed."

I cocked my head. "An
incriminating
link."

"Of course."

"All right." I pasted the address into an email to her and poised the mouse over the "send" button. "Ready."

"Set..."

"Go!" And I sent the email.

I could hear her clicking her computer mouse, and I was clicking mine, refreshing my email, waiting for her mail to arrive.

"There it is!" we both exclaimed at the same time. I frantically opened her mail and stared at the link.

"Victoria's Secret?" I screeched. "You promised incriminating."

"What can I say?" she asked sweetly. "I enjoy looking at the pictures."

"Oh, I bet you do. I feel cheated."

I heard her clicking in the background, and then she said, "Oh, my."

"Who have you become?" I asked. "George Takei?"

She didn't answer, but I could hear her tapping away at her computer. "Oh, my," she said again.

"Josie!"

"What does that one do?"

"I might be able to answer that if I knew which one you meant? Come on. They're just vibrators. I feel robbed though. I give you a web site that sells self help devices, and you send me to Victoria's Secret?"

"Self help devices? That's what you're calling these?"

"Well, sure," I replied. "Is this the most incriminating thing on your computer?"

"Is this the most incriminating on yours?"

"No, but it's a lot more embarrassing than Victoria's Secret."

"I can't help it. It's what I was looking at when I got your email."

"You said you were researching your next adventure."

"Don't you think some of those women would be a grand adventure? Imagine, climbing some of those peaks."

I began to blush again. "Josie!"

"Are you a prude, Sable?"

"No, I'm not a prude." I knew she was teasing me, and while a part of me was deeply embarrassed, a much larger part of me loved it. "Robbed, Josie. I was robbed."

"Oh, this one looks interesting," she said. I heard clicking, and then she began reading the description. Out loud.

"Oh, god," I muttered.

"That does sound lovely," Josie said. "I think I'm buying it." I heard more clicking. "Hang on, Dear, I have to get my credit card."

"Wait," I said.

"But I need my credit card. If I order in the next twenty-three minutes, it'll arrive on Monday."

"Don't get that one," I said quietly.

"Excuse me."

"Trust me. Don't get that one."

"But it's already in my cart."

"So take it out of your cart and put it back on the shelf."

"But what should I get instead?"

Again, I knew she was teasing me. Or thought she was, anyway.

"Are you serious?" I asked in a soft voice.

"Of course, Dear."

"You're not just teasing me."

"Of course I'm teasing you, but I really was going to buy it."

I sighed. "You owe me."

"I offered to make you dinner."

"You owe me more than dinner." I leaned down to my computer, went to the same site, poked through it for a minute, then emailed her another link. "There. That one's good."

There was a pause, then more clicking, and then Josie's voice, sounding skeptical. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me, Josie," I said. "That's the one."

"I trust you," she said. "Give me a minute, Dear. I have to get my purse. I used to have my credit card memorized, but I just received a new one, and I don't remember the security code yet."

I heard her set her phone down. I waited patiently but then clicked on the link from her email, landing on the Victoria's Secret site. I wondered whether this was the opportunity to do a little shopping for myself.

I heard Josie return, more clicking, and then she picked up the phone. "There. I made it."

"You owe me, Josie."

She chuckled. "Very well. Just a moment." There was more typing, then a pause. "Sable, I'll send you something a whole lot better than Victoria's Secret, but if I do, then you have to promise to do something I ask."

"What's that?"

"I'm not telling you yet, but it will only take a few minutes."

I considered carefully. "You're not going to ask me to sext you or something, are you?"

"I don't even know what that is, Dear."

"Take a picture of my lady bits and send it to you."

She laughed. "Good heavens, no. If I want pictures of your lady bits, I want to be the one to take them myself."

"Josie!" I screeched. She only chuckled.

"So. Promise, and I'll send something you'll
love
." I hesitated, not answering. She gave me a little time then asked, "Do you trust me? Trust begins somewhere, Dear."

"All right," I said. "Sure."

I heard her hit one key on her computer. I began clicking madly, waiting for her email to arrive. When it did, I opened it and immediately clicked on the link.

I watched as the web site loaded. It took me a minute to realize where she'd sent me.

"Lesbian erotica?"

"Uh huh. Better than Victoria's Secret?"

"Oh yeah," I said.

"Click on the one titled
Always and Forever
."

I searched the list of titles and then clicked through to the one she'd suggested.

"Now, read it to me."

"What?"

"You promised, Sable."

"You want me to read this story to you?"

"It's not very long. It will only take a few minutes." I hesitated, and she repeated, "You promised."

"I suppose I did." I took a breath and began reading.

* * * *

Josie was silent the entire time. I reached the end of the story, and a moment later, she sighed.

"Were you-"

"No," she said. "Thank you, Sable." Her tone was subdued.

"What's wrong, Josie?"

"Not a thing. So, are you coming to dinner?"

I laughed. "Maybe next time."

"Pity. Do you mind if I cook while we chat?"

"Not at all."

* * * *

We talked for a long time. We both made ourselves dinner. Then we sat at our respective tables, put each other on speaker, and ate together, so to speak. We each cleaned up, and then we each returned to our living rooms, still talking.

She made me laugh, a lot.

She teased me, also a lot. I loved it.

Finally I said, "You told me you had a new game for us."

"Ah. Yes. Did you want to play?"

"I'd love to play."

"All right. But we both have to get comfortable. Go to your bedroom and describe your home as you do."

"All right. I have a house. It's not a big house. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths. One of the bedrooms and the half bath is in the basement. I don't really use it except as a place to store out of season clothing."

"So you do your living on one floor," she replied. "Where are you now?"

"Hallway to my bedroom."

"Which way do you turn to your bedroom?"

"It's straight. Guest room to the left, bathroom to the right."

I continued to describe the house, and then the bedroom itself, sitting on the end of the bed as I did so.

"All right," she said. "Put me back on speaker and get ready for bed."

"Ready for bed?"

"Have you checked the time?"

I pulled my phone away and looked at it. "Holy shit! Do I have any batteries left?"

She laughed. "Maybe you should plug me in."

So I did all that, bustling about, in and out a few times, talking loudly to each other. Soon I was propped up in bed with the phone back at my ear.

"Are you ready, Sable?"

"I'm not at all sure. Why did you send me to bed?"

"Because I wanted to climb into bed, and I wanted to think that you were doing so at the same time."

"You're game isn't X-rated is it?"

"Not hardly. It's called the wishing game."

"Wasn't that a movie?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, but this is different. We're going to make wishes. We'll start with a topic, like Animals. And then we'll each make a wish related to animals."

"Who picks the topics?"

"We'll play four rounds tonight," she said. "Me, you, you, me."

"All right." I settled more fully into the bed. "So the topic is Animals?"

"Oh heavens, no," she said. "The topic is Careers."

"Are there rules about these wishes?"

"Yes. They must be real wishes. Don't wish to be elected President if you don't like politics."

I laughed. "All right. Are you going first?"

"Unless you're ready."

"I don't have a clue."

"Well then. I wish I'd been able to share my joy of marketing with my daughter. I would have loved to see her take over my business."

"You have a daughter," I said quietly.

"I do. Her name is Lydia. She's somewhat younger than you are."

"How much younger?"

"She's 22."

"If she didn't go into marketing, what does she do?"