Part Two of 12 Lays of Xmas, the full novella version. Chapter Eight is flying along as I type this. Be warned, the whole thing is already 27,000? words long, though this is a short chapter.
Any similarity to any persons living, loving or otherwise - well - you know who you are.
The Twelve Lays of Xmas: Two Turtle Doves
The following day was a long one, and to be honest I got a little distracted from Jessica's present. One of my clients was being difficult about a project that was supposed to have started on December 1st, and threatened now to make me work over Xmas. Luckily, there were subcontractors involved, and I was pretty much able to tell him that wasn't going to happen.
Then he wanted to be taken out to lunch, which I did. Then I had to go to pick up the CD Rom of the pics for Jessica, which wasn't ready. The prints looked great though, and they were going to make an impressive series of posters. I imagined again them lining the entrance vestibule to Jessica's building, and wondered what visitors would make of them.
One of the most impressive pictures was of Laurie, one of the two lesbian girls who lived across the street. Jessica had the hots for Laurie, but had never made a move on her, because her partner - Katherine - wasn't really part of our little group. Work took her away all the time, and she was really a one-on-one, relationship sort of girl. There was, noticeably, no picture of Katherine in the portfolio.
The one of Laurie was quite decent too... teasing, provocative, but not really showing anything too much. She was looking back over her shoulder, one hand and arm discretely shielding the side of her breast, and a convenient plant leaf hiding most of her pert ass. Still, it showed her stunning, dark, Mediterranean good looks, and that would make my lady purr.
Jessica was on the phone when I arrived, sitting on the couch looking out over the street through the bay window. She leaned back and I kissed her mouth. Lisa strolled in from the kitchen.
'Do I get one of those?'
'Seems fair,' I asked, and we kissed deeply. I had been about to comment on how much time she was spending here, but that seemed more than churlish after the park last night. Instead I asked her - jokingly - how the 12 days project was going.
'Finishing touches to Day Two,' she said, matter-of-factly. 'We're running late.'
I laughed, and went to get a beer. Dinner was on the stove, the apartment was warm and bright with Christmas cheer. Life was good.
'Did you get the CD-Rom?' Lisa was in on my plan too, of course. The pictures we had shot of her were a lot more explicit than the ones of Laurie. I was almost ready to demand a refund from the photographer, who I was sure had been well-paid several times over.