Work took away Zizakh again. Would you ever take me with you? Akheri texted him. If they ever send me anywhere more interesting than Provo, he replied. The same night Zizakh told her he arrived at his destination to find the upper management being escorted out of the building. At that moment, catastrophe management replaced emergency containment. The result for him: the trip became open-ended.
On the way to her job Akheri swung by his house, guided by the half-formed idea she should check if his A/C had stopped working.
Akheri found a parked white minivan speckled in rust and dirt. The front door of the house was open. Before Akheri could call a timid hello, a youngish woman walked past the patio doors. The A/C kept up a fine drone. She heard Big barking. The woman knelt with treats. She made it easy to see her voluptuous shape. She wore a shirt tied beneath her sternum, black swim shorts, and sandals. A pile of blond hair topped her long head. Akheri turned to go. But Big bounded to the window, barking and hopping.
"Hello," the woman said from the door. "I'm Simka. Are you also part of Team Zizakh?"
Trying to sound less jealous as she felt, Akheri said, "He asked me to make the sure air conditioner was working. And the yard. To check the yard for debris, I mean."
Big became insistent. Simka invited Akheri to join her for the early morning workout. Akheri's emotions swirled around two poles: one, her discomfort of seeing another woman obviously comfortable with both the space and the dog; and two, shame at such a negative reaction. Zizakh had told her he kept a dog caretaker on retainer.
Simka's obvious good energy dispelled Akheri's mood in the time it took Big to finish his morning workout.
Simka directed Big into the air conditioning. As the dog lapped at its water, she withdrew a jug of lemonade from the refrigerator and poured two glasses over ice. Akheri again fought down a crawl of jealousy. The woman seemed entirely at home. Of course, she undoubtedly had known Zizakh longer, probably far longer. Simka continued to talk in a way that was engaging rather than chatty. Akheri paid attention in time to hear Simka's description of her history with Zizakh.
"My -ex dumped my belongings in the yard," she said, "and it was take the first available situation or sleep in the parking lot at the mall. This woman's Addams Family-ass boarding house had one room left--in the attic. No windows. I did whatever odd jobs I could find to get out of that situation at light-speed. Doggie daycare provided the most reliable gig by far. Zeez had just adopted this lunatic pup and did not speak Dog. At all."
Five minutes later Simka dumped the ice into the sink. She had to get in the rest of her stops before the real heat of the day descended. On the way out she surprised Akheri with a brief hug.
By noon, Akheri knew she wanted to run into Simka again. As a rule, Akheri's attractions for women steadily grew alongside a friendship. This person's allure, however, triggered her the way men did. Akheri's mind's eye considered and reconsidered Sikma's body. But her work had a way of deadening emotion--the will to live, at times--and by the end of the day Akheri settled into a too-familiar state of repression.
Akheri was a sweaty mess long before her car's air conditioning revved up. At home she hurried through a shower and into a newish, shortish floral dress.
She arrived as Simka unlocked the front door. Simka wore the same clothes as in the morning. Her sunburn made it clear she had spent the day outside. Akheri was surprised to hear the solar panels had arrived.
"Solar panels," she repeated.
"Oh. I assumed you stopped to check they arrived. Hey, let's say you did. Brownie points."
Simka put a hand on Akheri's arm and guided her around the corner of the porch. The panels remained in boxes. On the way to the curb Akheri asked, trying to sound casual, how long she had known Zizakh.
"About five years," Simka replied. "To be honest, he's one of my best clients."
Having made the trip across town, Akheri wanted to help Zizakh in some small way. Big declined her company, as usual. She swung a yard tool like a pendulum, trying to push the edge of tall grass further from the house. The tool, whatever you called it, had a wooden handle. It soon hurt her hand. She unwrapped the hose and sprayed the strip of grass on either side of the property line until it looked good and damp.
Akheri emerged from the driveway as a woman slammed the door of her pickup. It took a moment for the visitor to notice--her sunglasses were aimed at her tablet--but when she looked up, she crossed the lawn. Akheri saw the dark slacks and polo of the fire department. The woman brushed back her hair and put on a baseball cap.
How many attractive women does he keep around?
"My name's Mayim," she said with her hand out. Her firm grip went with her strong build. Akheri had heard both women and men described as built to last. Mayim fit the bill. Zizakh volunteered as a fire watcher, she said. With the fire threat creeping higher, she stopped to check the defensible space--Akheri nodded in what she hoped was a knowing way--and the dryness of what she called the tinder.
Mayim tilted her head and said, "I've seen you out and about."
Akheri listened to the description of the bar. "It's an after-work place at my job. I have no idea how we settled on it. Is it a firefighter hangout, too?"
"Not exactly," Mayim said with an odd laugh. Seeing Akheri's expression, she added, "Around town it's considered a female hangout."
"Oh."
"New in these parts?"
"About five months. There was a job here. I--well, nothing special."
To change the subject, she asked if she could help with the fireproofing. But Zizakh kept the situation in hand. That Mayim patronized a lesbian place reassured Akheri about any relationship with Zizakh. On the other hand, Akheri had spent time in the same place and, prior to moving, with similarly inclined women, and look whose bed she shared these days.
The next morning, Akheri found the front door open and heard water running in the downstairs bathtub. She was about to speak when a sound interrupted her. Just as she gave up placing the noise, she heard an unmistakable rolling moan through the rushing water. Akheri slipped off her shoes and tip-toed forward. Simka had left the door half open. Akheri drew a breath. Simka was lifting her crotch into the stream of water. A soaked mound of hair filled the area between her strong thighs. Akheri's heart pounded as the moans turned to cries. Simka cried out in a way that made it easy to imagine the good-humored joy on her face.
Akheri waited in the car with her phone pressed to her ear until Big's barking in the back yard signaled the all-clear.
Simka greeted her with a hand shading her eyes. Though dressed for work, Akheri felt a momentary worry about revealing her physical reaction to the sight of Simka in a two-piece swimsuit. Her sunglasses hid her embarrassed expression while also allowing her to study Simka's body.
Akheri finally managed to say, "You're going swimming in this heat?"
"One of my part-time jobs is cleaning up the waterways in the national forest." She looked into the hazy sky. "I'll split the time between morning and evening, I think. Sunstroke is not in my budget. Take water, Biggy. We'll go again in a minute." Simka bent to root in the bag in her feet. "I'm a contractor. Poverty wages. But it's an excuse to play with my boat. At least the government buys the fuel. For now." She rubbed sunblock on her shoulders. "Do you like boats? You're welcome to join me."
"It sounds like it'd be against regulations."
"Eh. Technically."
Akheri motioned to her outfit. "Work, unfortunately." She almost added, And I should get going, which was true, but Simka held out the lotion and said, "Do you mind helping with my back?"
Akheri shifted left and right, the better to glance over Simka's shoulders, and went slowly with the lotion, or more slowly than necessary. Simka jotted her cell number on the back of a business card.
Akheri decided to take the offer by the time she reached the end of the block. Throughout the day, however, she tried to talk herself out of it, and back into it, and around and around. Did she owe Zizakh fidelity at this point? How did he feel? Was his sleeping with her an experiment that let him check a box on his list of sexual experiences? Was it fair to him to ask that question? Was it fair to herself not to?
For that matter, was it fair to herself to pass on spending time with a woman she found knock-me-down attractive?
Simka owned a canoe-style motorized raft built to carry four people. At present it was as cluttered as a teenager's bedroom. A collection of nets and poles made up the most important part of the clutter. Once they glided into the center of the river, Simka cut the motor and invited Akheri to take her pick. Akheri volunteered to manage the trash bag. Simka handed her a pair of work gloves.
