Sitting back in her seat, taking another sip of her Starbucks coffee, Diane returned her attention to her convention notebook. Skim reading the pages, her eyes flicked over the lines of text without taking in their content. Lost in a world of her own, she ignored the mass of humanity that buzzed purposefully around her.
"What am I doing here?" She thought as she watched people scurrying to register for the conference and check in at the hotel front desk.
Pausing only to take another mouthful of coffee, Diane turned the page then reached for her bag. Seconds later, the filter tip of a cigarette between her lips, she flicked open her lighter and brought the flame towards the end of her cigarette. She inhaled deeply before expelling the smoke from her lungs with a sigh. She hoped that since she was at a child's pastors' convention that she would not get many stares for being a sinful "smoker". Diane, who was a hair stylist by trade, was there with a group of women from her church that volunteered to work with kids in their Methodist Church. She kept telling the others that this was not her crowd and that she felt a little unworthy of attending a conference like this. The ladies assured her that this was for all people who helped out and not just a bunch of pastor's and their stuffy wives.
Diane, who was 37, was beautiful both inside and out and she was usually the life of the party with her friends. Everyone loved her from kids to adults. She was divorced and had a beautiful 8-year-old daughter she was raising on her own since her ass on an ex skipped town. She was beautiful in a very sensual way. She did not need to wear much make up because her natural features were more than enough. She had sultry blue eyes and long honey hair that hung down below her shoulders. Diane stood at 5'5" and still had the tight body of the gymnast she was in her youth.
A voice intruded itself into her awareness. "Diane?" it said, "Diane Moore? Is that you?"
Puzzled, Diane looked up. A woman, about the same age as herself, stood at the other side of the coffee table. Her friendly smile and her deep, hazel eyes shone out from an attractive yet strangely familiar face framed with shoulder length auburn hair.
"I'm sorry," said Diane with a smile, trying to collect her thoughts and figure out where she knew this person.
"It's me, Audrey Steele," said the smiling woman, "We were at St. Joan's together back in high school."
"Audrey, of course," said Diane warmly, "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. It has been what? 20 years nearly?"
Audrey shrugged. "Well, it has been at least 15 years since we last saw each other so that's understandable, she said. "You haven't changed a bit," she added. "Mind if I join you?"
"Be my guest," replied Diane, closing her notebook and putting it in her bag. "What brings you here?" she asked.
"Work," replied Audrey with a shrug. "I work for an accounting firm," she said, "I'm here for a couple of days doing an audit. What about you?"
"I am here for a conference," said Diane, "It is a children's pastor's conference. This is where the convention is and where I'm staying while I'm in town."
"Wild Diane Moore is now a pastor?" enquired Audrey with a shocked laugh.
Diane shrugged. "Not exactly, I help out with the children in our church on Sunday's" she replied. "I am actually a stylist for a salon in Austin, TX."
"You do not look like most of these women around here," said Audrey, smiling sweetly. "You are beautiful girl! Seems like even more so than you were in high school."
"Great jean pool I guess," replied Diane with a wink, "C' est la vie!" answering with a smile of her own. "You look very good yourself Audrey!"
"Thank you," Audrey blushed, "I torture myself on an elliptical machine 5 hours a week. May I sit down with you?"
Diane nodded and Audrey sat down in the chair next to Diane. They drank coffee and chatted, filling each other in about the events of the last 15 years. Diane learnt that Audrey herself was divorced and she was raising two teenaged boys. She had been divorced for three years and had not dated much because she had lost over 80 pounds in the last 2 years.
"80 pounds!" Diane said amazed, "I am totally impressed Audrey! I am sure you have guys hitting on you left and right now."
"Thank you Diane," Audrey blushed again, "But hardly."
"So you and Craig never did tie the knot then?" Audrey enquired regarding the boy that Diane had dated for 3 years in high school.
"No," replied Diane, "it finally fizzled out once I left for college. We're still very good friends and our paths still cross a couple of times a year." She smiled, wickedly. "He's married now and lives in Lubbock, but we still rekindle occasionally."
"Some things never change," laughed Audrey. "I was always slightly envious of you when we were at St. Joan's," she added.
"Oh," said Diane, raising an eyebrow enquiringly, "Why?"
"Well, it was just the way that you were sot hot and confidant and seemed you never used to give a crap about anything," said Audrey. "You did what you liked with who you liked and didn't
give a care about what other people thought. Your exploits were legendary and I wanted to be more like you." She shrugged regretfully, "I was always the quiet shy one and would never do anything that I thought my mom and dad would disapprove of," she said.
Diane laughed. "The ironic thing is that I was jealous at how determined and dedicated you were in school and athletics. I used to be amazed at what a great basketball player you were Audrey."
"Thanks Diane," said Audrey, "I loved to play and it helped me pay for college with a scholarship."
"Really?" asked Diane, her surprise clearly evident, "That is so cool!"
"Oh yes," replied Audrey, "I even kept it going for about six months professionally in Europe until I met my ex-husband in Greece."
"Greece huh?" Diane smiled, "I though all women basketball players ended up being gay."
"Not all," Audrey smiled bashfully, "Some of us did not play for the same team. Although, I cannot say that I never did have a few flings."
"Oh my!" Diane exclaimed with a laugh and she let the comment pass without anything else.
"Well thank you Audrey." Diane smiled and began wondering what this was about.
"I am sorry Diane," Audrey looked at her with regret, "I know you are at a church conference and I should not have said that. Please forgive me."
"Sweetie," Diane winked, "I am a hair stylist I have seen and heard things much worse than that.
"Ok," Audrey said in relief, "I did not want you to think I was some crazed tramp."
"Hardly Audrey," Diane replied, "You do not look anything like a tramp."
Audrey smiled shyly.
Audrey was feeling a little embarrassed now and she told Diane she had to go check in to her room and start working on the audit. Diane asked her how long she would be in Kansas City and Audrey told her until Wednesday. Diane suggested they meet later for a glass of wine in the lounge. Audrey agreed and Diane told her she would be done that the dinner she was going to that night would be over at 9:30. They agreed to meet in the lounge at 9:45. Audrey stood up and smiled and told Diane how great it was to see her again and she looked forward to catching up with her later on.
Diane could not help but watch Audrey's nice Khaki covered butt as she walked over to the front desk. Audrey certainly was hot! Diane looked around as if she thought people could hear her thoughts and quickly got up and headed to her room.
After dinner they met at the lounge on the second floor of the hotel. Audrey still had her clothes on from before as she had been working the last 6 hours and was in dire need of some unwinding. Diane, on the other hand, looked amazing! She was wearing a pair of black slacks that showed off her incredible butt and she wore a black blouse with black see-through sleeves. She was wearing a pair of 4" heels that only made her look even hotter. As she walked into the bar, there were plenty of men gazing at her with lust in their eyes and sin on their minds.
The two women settled into a corner booth and placed heir drink orders. Audrey also ordered a salad because she said she had been two busy to eat dinner earlier. The two women quickly caught each other up on their lives and what they had been doing since high school. Diane asked Audrey how come she never really dated or hung around at parties like a lot of the people they knew back then.
"I Dunno," replied Audrey with a shrug, "lack of confidence I guess. I wanted to go out; however, getting good grades was very important to me and my parents at the time. I was always envious of the way you just seemed to live life as a party Diane. The only way I could be better than others in my mind was to be even more of a goody-goody than everyone else. Definitely made for some lonely Saturday nights."
"Audrey." Diane smiled and touched her arm, "Everyone was jealous of you! You had it all! Brains, body, and a great athlete to boot! I know of many guys who wanted a piece of you back then."
"Well, hanks for not telling me then." Audrey laughed and threw up her hands in mock disgust. "I actually came out of my shell in college after I got away from home. I played basketball with a great group of friends. We partied hard! Played hard!"
Audrey began telling Diane about some of her overseas experiences and how she met her husband, who at the time was her basketball coach. She told her of the partying they did and the incredible times she had. She said she did have to be careful because there were some bull dykes who were always cornering her to try and make her their bitch. Audrey told Diane that she actually met a woman from Greece, who turned out to be her coach (Ex-husbands) cousin and she spent a weekend with her at a beach villa. What happened between them was never spoken to anyone else until now.
"For some reason with you Diane I have no trouble saying that." Audrey said as she gazed into Diane's beautiful bedroom eyes. Subconsciously she may have been feeling Diane out.
