's Candy

Part 2 The First Week

We got on well. Saturday evening and Sunday I helped Katherine get unpacked and settled; she didn't seem to mind and in fact welcomed the help as far as I could tell. I made sure to limit my "helpful suggestions," as I know how annoying that can be, and at any rate Katherine was the kind of woman who knew exactly what she wanted, obviously.

Katherine gave me some money Sunday afternoon, for groceries, as promised. I was a bit disconcerted by this, since I hadn't said I was going grocery shopping, although I had been planning on it. So she either guessed that I was going, or she

expected

me to go. I started to get a little annoyed at that thought but then I remembered that I

had

agreed to do the shopping and cooking, and well, tomorrow was Monday . . . it was reasonable for her to assume that our arrangement would start right away.

The rest of Sunday flew by, as weekends always seem to. In a way I was anxious for the week to start, though . . . you don't really know what someone is like to live with until you see them after a good day, after a tough one, etc.

Things went great, as it turned out. Katherine seemed pretty even-tempered. She wasn't particularly cranky in the mornings, and seemed to come home from work in a more or less good mood.

For my part, it

was

a bit of a hassle. Some nights I just didn't feel like cooking, of course, and on those nights I'd just pick at whatever was around. But taking Katherine's money made me feel obligated to produce a meal of some sort, and Katherine, nice as she was, made it clear that that's what she felt entitled to, although she didn't say a word about it, directly. In the end, it didn't bother me. It was our agreement, and it would lead to me eating better/healthier.

I also quickly noticed that Katherine was in the habit of ordering people around. She was some sort of manager at her work, and she had a way of willing those around her to do her bidding, but without seeming bitchy or overly demanding. That carried over to home. She would ask me to do things, little things, in a way that didn't seem like she was asking for something . . . it was as if it was a natural sort of thing that she would ask and that the other person (me, in this case) would simply do it. The things were so trivial and didn't bother me in any case that I didn't give it much thought. She would ask for a glass of water, or the newspaper, and I get them. Not a biggie.

There was another dynamic, this one a bit more disturbing. I'd never been with a woman before, sexually, had never really even considered it. But I found myself with strange feelings about Katherine, feelings that didn't feel like normal girl-girl friendly feelings. More disquieting to me was the odd, embarrassing certainty I had that Katherine not only had the same feelings about me, but

knew about my feelings towards her.

I didn't know what to do about these feelings, and I certainly wasn't going to talk about them. I figured that they were a little blip on some cosmic radar, a momentary crossing of wires, and that they would soon fade. At any rate I was more consumed with thinking about the fact that Monday was a holiday . . . ah, bliss, a three-day weekend coming up. I had no particular plans other than to have no plans. What a wonderful thought.

I got through the day Friday, mostly watching the clock and daydreaming. I like my job well enough, but I am not exactly what one would call ambitious in career terms. I am essentially a glorified secretary (often not that glorified, actually), and that's fine for me. I stopped off at the market on the way home, having realized that I needed something for what I'd planned to make for dinner, and raced home, happy to be free of that place for a long weekend.

I was starting to pull the things out to get dinner going when Katherine came home, toting Chinese takeout and champagne. She caught the look of relief/surprise/happiness in my eyes.

"I figured that since it's a long weekend, and, the end of our first week together, you shouldn't have to cook tonight. So I figured we could celebrate with Chinese and champagne."

I laughed, because Chinese and champagne aren't two things I normally think of together, but I couldn't think of a better treat than not having to make dinner and clean up. We laid out the cartons and sat on the floor around the coffee table. Katherine popped the bubbly, and I laughed, seeing she'd brought two bottles.

Katherine had a laugh, too. "Well . . . I figured better safe than sorry."

We had a great time, watching trash on TV, eating the yummy Chinese food and drinking down champagne.

Now, I'm not a big girl, so it doesn't take a lot of bubbly to get me feeling really good, and tipsy. So before long I'm in a very good mood, on top of how excited I was about it being Friday night and having the long weekend ahead of me. Katherine was having a good time, too . . . we were having a great time together, the living situation was working out well . . . I was feeling a really nice buzz. Not stupid drunk, not sickish at all, just . . . perfectly fun and tipsy, and really enjoying that feeling.

In this state, I looked at Katherine and realized for the first time that she wasn't just pretty, she was downright beautiful. 5' 9", blonde, blue eyes . . . pretty much prefect breasts from what I could tell, long legs, knew how to dress. I figured her for the total package type, most likely fending guys off with a stick. I thought about that, and realized how ridiculous it was to be attracted to her, and even more ridiculous for me to think that had I picked up a feeling that she was attracted to me. Perhaps I might get a reject or two of hers; that was a much more realistic thought.

Then, as always in life it seems, reality has a way of instantly blasting one's thought process to shreds. I was idly watching the TV, thinking all these thoughts, head spinning just a tiny little bit, when, all of sudden Katherine took me in her arms and kissed me, hard, deeply.

My head spun more. I had never felt a kiss like that, so passionate and urgent, yet with a woman's softness at the same time. I felt something in me melt, give way. I kissed her back, hungrily.