A New Alexandra

The morning sunlight shining through the window was unusually bright for Chicago in November. As she brushed her hair out of her eyes, Alexandra looked at the neat rectangle the sunlight formed on the dark wood floor. It was warm under the blankets, and her head felt much better than she expected. No hangover.

She was halfway out of bed before she remembered she was naked. She usually slept in an oversize t-shirt, and it surprised her that it took her so long to notice it wasn't there. Of course, she hadn't even brought it over with her -- but at least she had a toothbrush, which was in the purse she'd flung down just inside the bedroom door the previous night.

She smiled at the memory: it had all happened so fast, so smoothly, so naturally. She'd had sex with Kira, again. Really hot sex, again. Amazing orgasm, again. She wanted it, again. And again.

When she came back from the bathroom, Kira was awake. Alexandra felt a brief twinge of self-consciousness as she padded naked across the room, eyeing her discarded dress and tights from the previous night on the floor in the far corner.

Alexandra crawled back under the covers, feeling the warmth of the duvet and of Kira's arms around her. They kissed briefly, and Alexandra felt a small lump in her chest appear at the touch of the blonde's full lips.

God, she looks good even less than a minute after waking up.

"Sleep well?" Kira's voice had a slight rasp to it, like she hadn't cleared her throat yet.

"Mmmhm. You?"

"As always. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's sleeping." The roughness was starting to disappear, her normal clear voice returning.

Almost too bad,

thought Alexandra.

I could get used to that

.

"I can think of some other things you're not too bad at," replied Alexandra.

She felt Kira's long leg arch over her own, the smoothness gliding past and adding additional weight to the covers. "Oh," she said, "and what are those?"

"Oh, you know,

things

."

They were silent for a moment, and Alexandra realized her arms were now on the small of Kira's back, sliding downward. She hadn't even intended it. She hadn't even brushed her teeth.

Alexandra felt Kira's long nails stroking the base of her neck. It almost tickled. But not quite: it was quite something else. She hadn't been awake five minutes and already she could feel the heat building, the wetness returning between her thighs. It wasn't yet nine in the morning, and she was absolutely turned-on.

"Alexandra, you better be careful, or I might start to like you."

"Mm, well, we wouldn't want that, would we?"

"Perhaps not, but also perhaps too late." She'd begun to gently massage Alexandra's neck, small circles with her thumb and index finger.

"Why is it that I'm so comfortable with this?" She hadn't meant to, but Alexandra's tone came out almost as an accusation. She felt Kira's arm slide out from under her.

Kira propped herself on her elbow. "Problem?" Her blonde hair hung down, massing on the pillow alongside her head.

I wish I knew the answer to that question

, thought Alexandra.

It's just so fast.

"I...don't think so. I-"

"Alexandra, it's been two days." There was a slight buzzing noise in the background. Alexandra recognized it as her phone. "This is totally new. I mean me, this, everything. We can take this as fast or as slow as you need. But I like you."

Fuck, those tingles. All the way from my head to my toes.

Alexandra knew what to do. She also went up on an elbow and met Kira's lips. "I like you too. I'm not going to lie. I'm kinda scared. This is unexpected, shocking, and yes, new. But I can't deny what I'm feeling. I like you. I fucking

like

you."

Kira ran her index finger gently down Alexandra's nose. When she got to the end, she pulled it away and laughed. "I know. You hungry?"

"I think it's fair to warn you that the answer to that question is always going to be 'yes.'" It was true; getting enough exercise had its benefits, and the ability to eat, even overeat on occasion, was one of them.

"Well, you know what my favorite thing to make for brunch is?"

"What?"

"Reservations."

The way Kira had said it with such a straight face, Alexandra couldn't help but laugh. "Reservations?"

"OK, not reservations. But there's a place called Sally's just down the street on the edge of Boystown. If we can get there by ten, we won't even need reservations?"

Alexandra looked at the clock. "Nine now. Make it happen?"

"Make it happen," said Kira. "You want first shower?"

"All yours. I need to...er...find my clothes from last night."

Kira managed to point to the corner while also getting out of bed. "I was nice. Threw them all in one place." She paused. "And if you want to join me in the shower, I wouldn't hate that."

That's as good as a command

, thought Alexandra. "See you in a minute," she replied, but her heart had already started to pound again. Those butterflies.

By the time Alexandra gathered her clothes together in a rough pile next to her purse and got to the bathroom door, she could already see the steam clouding the bathroom mirror.

Kira's form was obscured behind the glass shower door. "Ready?"

"I did invite you, didn't I?"

Alexandra opened the door. The shower stall was clearly installed in place of a bathtub as part of a larger remodel. Spacious. And there was Kira, all five-feet-ten of her, her lean arms flexing slightly as she shampooed.

"Hi." Alexandra felt weird stepping inside. Weird-good, weird-bad, both maybe. She couldn't escape the feeling she was doing something wrong. Then she understood -- it wasn't shame, it was anxiety. Next to Kira, Alexandra felt insecure in her body. Her smallish breasts seemed inadequate next to Kira's large augmented pair, her light brown hair less bold next to Kira's brassy blonde, even her toned stomach somehow inadequate next to Kira's long, tight abs.

"Hi," said Kira, opening her eyes and blinking out the suds. She looked Alexandra up and down. "Come here."

Alexandra ducked under the showerhead and instantly felt her lover's arms around her waist. She felt Kira's breath on her neck before the words in her ear: "Get used to this, Alexandra."

They kissed. Slowly at first, but not for long. The water ran over them as Alexandra felt her tongue twisting with Kira's. Comfortable; already familiar; comfortably sexy.

The whisper in her ear again, and the rasp back in Kira's voice: "Now or later?" She kissed the side of Alexandra's neck.

"Both."

"Mm," said Kira. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, letting the water run onto Alexandra's breasts. "My turn, but let's make it quick."

Before Alexandra had a chance to respond, Kira had bent over and was sucking on her left nipple, with her left hand again tracing its nails along Alexandra's neck.

Alexandra gasped. She felt her nipples begin to stiffen despite the hot water and reached out to the wall for support. Her knees almost instantly weakened. If she'd been turned on before, she didn't quite know what to call

this

.

Kira paused for a moment. "Like I said, quick," she said.

"Please." Alexandra did not feel she needed to elaborate.

I don't want to think, let alone talk.

Kira's mouth came back to her nipple, gently sucking, almost nibbling on it.

Fuck,

thought Alexandra

, how could she know how well that works for me

? She felt the fingers raking her ass, then squeezing, and she heard herself moan.

Alexandra was now supporting herself with both hands, pressing her palms into the vertical surfaces of the wall and the shower door. As she tensed her back to support the slight press of Kira's face on her body, Kira's fingertips finished their inevitable drift to Alexandra's drenched pussy.

She felt Kira's index finger find its mark, settling quickly on her clit and teasing it slowly, then much faster, pressing harder as Alexandra leaned her head back, purring in excitement. The shower water continued to run down her front, splattering on the floor somewhere between their feet.

Stop worrying about what it means

, Alexandra thought. Her body was on fire, a rapidly-building orgasm threatening her at any moment.

Stop concentrating on standing up and just let it happen.

Kira stood up and moved behind her, bending her over slightly. Now the water was on her head, running down her mousey brown hair and onto her back. The long fingers moved back between her legs and gently nudged them apart, and she now leaned forward with her hands on the wall in front of her.

I'm not going to last long this way,

thought Alexandra. Kira had directed her hair aside now and was kissing her neck and jaw, nibbling on her left ear. "I...oh...oh...oh..." Alexandra was having trouble getting the words out.

"Yes, honey?" Kira's voice in her ear was strong, confident.

"I...Kira, oh...yes, yes-"

"You want to cum for me, Alexandra?"

"Yesssss," she hissed. "Yesssssss." The speed of the fingers over her clit increased now to a feverish pace. "Oh god! Right there! Don't stop!"

Her left arm shot up to behind her, holding Kira's head onto the side of her own neck as she careened towards climax. Her knees grew weak as the waves of pleasure traveled throughout her body, then hit her right where Kira's hand met her body.

"Aaaaaaaaah! Cum...CUMMING!"

The orgasm was not quite as powerful as the first one she'd had with Kira two nights ago, but it was close. She felt all strength leaving her and understood that the other arm Kira had wrapped around her waist was all that was keeping her upright. And when it was over, Alexandra felt like she was going to collapse onto the floor of the shower.

She turned around and kissed Kira on the lips, their faces meeting directly underneath the water, her forearms resting lightly on Kira's shoulders.

"You do a hell of a quickie."

Kira kissed her on the forehead. "Glad you liked it. Plenty more where that came from."

"Can't wait," replied Alexandra, the glow of the orgasm slowly fading and the world around her returning to normal.

If this is the new normal

, she thought,

just wow

.

Kira stepped out of the shower first, and Alexandra noticed when she finished a minute or so later that a full second set of towels had been set out. She wrapped herself in one of them and sighed. It was approaching winter, or in Chicago terms, the season of wet hair freezing when you go outside.

She checked her phone. No messages, just a bunch of alerts from apps she rarely opened. She tapped the weather icon. To her surprise, it was going to be almost sixty degrees once the sun did its work, and it was already fifty now. So much for the worry about her hair freezing.

Alexandra located the change of clothes she'd hastily packed the prior day: jeans, a forest-green sweater, bra, panties, flats. Slowly pulling them on in order, she felt her stomach growl. She checked her phone again: nine-thirty, time to get moving pretty soon if they were going to make it comfortably to the restaurant on foot by ten.

As Alexandra turned back to the bathroom and finished drying her hair, she passed Kira coming in the opposite direction, hair mostly dry and light makeup applied, but wearing only a towel.

She looked Alexandra up and down and then laughed. "So, when our powers combine, we can get out the door?"

Alexandra smiled. "Hey, I could walk right out the door right now and be totally street-legal. You, on the other hand..."

Kira gave her a playful smack on her jean-covered ass. "Dry your hair, slut. We need to go."

Alexandra dried her hair and quickly threaded it into a loose braid, then quickly slapped on some foundation and a tiny bit of mascara, then brushed her teeth. She checked her eyebrows. Not great, but livable.

She called out over her shoulder. "You almost ready?"

"Nope, not even close...just sitting on the couch waiting for you," came the reply. "It's fifty degrees out. Want to borrow a lighter jacket?"

Yes

, thought Alexandra

, but is 'yes' the correct thing to say? Is it okay?

Before she figured out a response, Kira called out again from the front hall: "Never mind, I picked one for you if you want it. Definitely lighter than that parka."

"Be right there," Alexandra said. It was the second time in two days Kira had picked something from her own clothing for Alexandra to wear. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about it yet, but for some reason the idea of Kira suggesting things for her to wear didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. After all, the woman had the most stylish wardrobe Alexandra had ever seen.

Okay

, she thought.

Roll with it. She always looks amazing, so maybe it won't look too ridiculous on me.

Alexandra cut quickly through the bedroom, bending over to pick up her wallet out of her nearly empty purse. When she reached the front hall, Kira handed her a jacket. It was a light beige peacoat, double-breasted and flared at the bottom, with a cinch around the waist.

"Looks better on you than it does on me," Kira said, kissing her lightly on the lips. She was wearing a mid-length grey coat over what looked to be a black sweater, black tights, and a knee-length grey plaid skirt. Alexandra was relieved to notice that she too was wearing flats.

Alexandra tightened the belt and looked in the mirror. Kira was at least half-right: the coat really did look quite good on her.

"Ready."

"Ready," said Kira, opening the door.

Outside the elevator, they ran into a thin blond man in a black coat and jeans coming from the opposite direction. He and Kira did a brief little dance, then hugged.

"Alexandra, meet Paul. Paul, Alexandra."

"Nice to meet you, Alexandra," said the man in a smooth, high-pitched voice. "As she says, I'm Paul. Paul Lilienthal, which I thought was a rather cruel rhyme for my parents to impose."

"Alexandra Henderson," Alexandra replied. "Which was a syllable or two too many for mine to impose."

"Paul," said Kira, "is the partner of Darnell, who so nicely gave us a ride home last night."

Paul winked at Kira, then stage-whispered to them both, "Oh yes, he told me." Alexandra felt the blood running to her cheeks. The previous night, she and Kira had semi-drunkenly made out in the back of Darnell's car as he'd driven them home.

What are the odds of getting an Uber ride with the guy down the hall, making out in his car, and then running into his boyfriend the next morning in the hallway

?

"I'm afraid we got a little carried away," said Kira. "I hope he didn't mind too much...". Alexandra could tell from her tone that she already knew he didn't.

Paul laughed. "Honey, you know quite well that Darnell doesn't mind that one bit. I swear I wonder sometimes..." He paused. "Especially the way he went on about you two when he got home last night."

"Oh?" Kira squeezed Alexandra's hand as she said this.

"Honey," he said, now speaking to Alexandra, "He would not stop about how you had just the prettiest eyes and how sweet you two were together. Said he felt bad even picking you up, you looked so nice standing there on the sidewalk."

"Well, I'm glad he did," said Kira.

"Yeah," agreed Alexandra. "Freezing out there last night."

The elevator arrived and they stepped in. "Not today, though," said Paul. "Today's one of those days all these people come in dressed like it's eighty out, just because it's warmer than yesterday. Some people."

"As you may have noticed, Alexandra, Paul and I talk the way most people only talk with their hairdressers. Which he is, and a damn good one, if I may give him an unsolicited compliment."

"And I'll always make room for one more client if I like them."

"I'll keep that in mind," replied Alexandra.

He looked at her hair, which she touched self-consciously in response. "Seriously, Darnell was right, you're really quite pretty. We could do something cool and kick it up even another notch."

The elevator pinged as it hit the ground floor, and they stepped out of the small lobby and out the front door. "OK, well off to work then. Have a splendid day, ladies!"

They waved as he turned and headed the opposite way down the sidewalk.

"So, that's Paul," said Kira.

"He seems sweet," said Alexandra, "but didn't he just basically say my hair sucks?"

"I don't think it sucks. Just remember, he's a guy who cuts people's hair all day. Where you see a face and hair, he sees unlocked potential to be oh-so-fabulous." She said this last phrase in a clearly joking tone.

"I still think he said my hair sucks."

"Your hair doesn't suck, and if you think he thinks so, you can always pay him to change it. Now, breakfast awaits."

"Aye-aye, captain."

Alexandra felt a bit conspicuous in her borrowed jacket as they walked slowly, enjoying the unseasonably warm morning. After a few blocks, it dawned on Alexandra, that many -- if not most -- of the couples they were passing were same-sex. Just a week prior, this scene would have been foreign to her, if not uncomfortable. The phrase stuck in her mind: same-sex couple. She looked down and her hand entwined with Kira's and tried to merge the two ideas: herself, on the one hand, same "same-sex couple" on the other.

It doesn't have to go there,

she thought. But before that idea even finished forming:

Yeah, it's probably going there. Might have already.

Then the next step, which sent a chill up her spine:

Fuck.

I want to have a

girlfriend.

Alexandra and Kira didn't talk much as they walked, both lost in their own worlds of thought. They came to a used bookstore that had not yet opened for the day. "Pages for the Ages," the sign over the door of the repurposed rowhouse read. They browsed the eclectic selection in the front window, which ranged from academic publications to fiction, history to sci-fi, crime novels, biographies, and even books of poetry.

"Which one would you get?" Kira's question hung in the air a moment. Some of the books were expensive, first editions probably. "Assume price is no object."

"Just to read, or for some other reason?"

"Just to read. Actually, both."

Alexandra thought for a moment. "This is going to be a little embarrassing. To read, that one over there, '

Killer Deal

.'"

"Why that one?"

"Like I said, a little embarrassing," Alexandra said. "I like reading those Scandinavian crime novels, but I've only read, like, maybe two written by women. And that one is supposed to be pretty good."

"Cool," replied Kira. "Let's come back and get it after we eat." She gently kissed Alexandra on the forehead. "And which one would you buy for some other reason?"

"Oh, I'd just find the oldest one and get it. I'm a total sucker for old books. Like, the smell, you know?"

I sound like a total idiot

, she thought.

Kira smiled broadly. "Why do you think I work in a library? Peace, quiet, and books."

They started walking again and came to an intersection. "Not much further," Kira said as they waited for the crosswalk. "Which is good. I'm absolutely starving."

As they waited to cross the street, Alexandra noticed a couple standing across the street for them, waiting to cross in the opposite direction. She knew she recognized them both but could only place one. That one was easy: she was a former grad student in the economics department at UChicago. She'd been a teaching assistant in a course Alexandra had taken as a sophomore, but Alexandra had a different TA. She was also, Alexandra recalled, openly and proudly a lesbian -- something that was highly unusual in their conservative department.

Michelle Kirby. That's her name

, thought Alexandra.

But who's the other one?