Beats thumped from the sound system set up in the lounge. It was some mix of electronica that Claire hadn't heard before and was pretty sure she didn't want to hear again. The plastic cup she held in her hand was supposed to have just soda in it, but it currently was filled most of the way to the brim with a sweet mix of vodka and soda into which someone had dumped a handful of coloured candy. The result was a rainbow coloured sweet cocktail that she was fairly sure she had never seen or tasted before. Claire didn't drink beer, and she was fairly sure that she didn't drink a lot of spirits, either. That particular milestone had been several hours ago and she was currently swimming in a happy haze that was going to be quite painful in the morning. At least she was already home, so it wasn't going to be a very far crawl.
All around her, the sounds of a reasonably happy house party were mixing with the shouted conversations of those nearby. Someone was reliving some sporting glory from years gone by; another group trying to recall snatches of a forgotten weekend, but failing hilariously. All those little snippets were lost to the room when she overheard one of her close friends, Samantha, admit that she found the female form more attractive than the male, and loved nothing more than the feel of another woman's body against hers.
At the time, Claire was engaged in a conversation with some random guy that was going nowhere. Because of the limited space available to them, she was pressed back-to-back with Samantha, and when she said she loved the feel of another woman, Claire could swear that Samantha pressed harder into her. It was enough, combined with what she had overheard, to make her forget all about the conversation, her drink, and the guy standing in front of her.
They were somewhere in the midst of a completely forgettable line of conversation, but Claire stopped dead in her tracks, completely stunned into silence.
Eventually, with no response coming from her, the guy moved on to another group, shaking his head at the random chicks that were at this party.
Claire didn't even notice, still lost in her thoughts. She had always suspected there was something a little bit special about Samantha; it had been years since she had seen her with a partner, though everyone suspected that she'd had at least one in that timeframe. Perhaps she was just a very private person. The pressure against her back suddenly lessened as Samantha realised that someone was pressed into her, and that the same someone hadn't moved since she had finished her conversation.
Samantha turned around and hugged Claire.
"I take it you were there the whole time?" she asked, a little bashfully.
Claire didn't answer; she was still processing the shock of what she had heard.
"Did something surprise you?" She cooed.
"Umm, I think so," was all that Claire could reply.
"That wasn't the way I planned on telling you, and certainly not here. I hope you can accept that."
"Look, I really don't know how to take what I've heard, let alone what any of it means." Confusion was starting to be replaced by questions. "I mean β how, who, what, where, when, why? Most of all, why?"
"Okay, since the why seems so important to you, I'll address it first, but I really want to do this privately. How about we move this conversation somewhere a little more secluded, like the balcony upstairs?"
It was a fair suggestion; the only people who had been seeking out the balcony so far were couples seeking a bit of privacy. Once upstairs, the need to yell the conversation disappeared.
Samantha took Claire's hand and gave it a helpful squeeze. "I'll give you all the answers you want, just please respect my choice."
"You're still my friend. That's not going to change because you like girls more than guys β or even instead of guys. What about the boyfriends you had in the past?"
They pushed through the French doors to the balcony and found a relatively quiet spot where they wouldn't be disturbed.
"I thought you were more interested in the why, but since it's the last thing you asked, my boyfriends were all wonderful. I've just moved along from them; I've found something that I enjoy more."
Rather than answer, Claire took a much-needed hit of her drink that she still held in her free hand β she was beginning to feel that she would be needing something much stronger before they got through this conversation.
"Okay, since I'm the one talking, I'll address your questions as you asked them." Samantha stared out into the darkness to compose herself before actually commencing with the reply.
"How is easy enough. My partner and I at the time had been joking about a threesome, when he suggested we actually do it. Not knowing what I was getting in for, I agreed, if only to watch him squirm and sweat trying to sort it out. Sort it out he did, though, and one wonderful evening a couple of years back, we had a fateful mΓ©nage Γ trois. I don't remember her name, only that it started out simple enough, a bit of social lubricant, a little bit of kissing and awkward groping. She knew what she was doing and he was getting really into it. I wasn't so sure, but as the evening went along, I ended up coming a number of times, so that's a success in one aspect.
"It was only at the end, watching him come all over her face that I realised he hadn't touched me at all. It turned out, later, that he'd been wanting to fuck her for some time and wasn't game enough to cheat in the normal fashion. What we didn't know was that it unlocked something inside me. A secret desire suddenly burst into life. I agreed to another few mΓ©nages, but as the two of them paid more attention to each other than me, it wasn't much longer before I got rid of the both of them. At no time was he touching me β and, at the end, he wasn't allowed to, but I still came healthily and easily. It was exhilarating."
Claire was amazed at Samantha's openness and forthrightness. If the rest of her answers were like this, it would make an even more interesting night.
"Who β well, I never bothered to learn her name. I could label her a slut for taking my partner from me, but I have to thank her for opening me to another world of pleasure. Since then, I've had a handful of partners, some for as few as a couple of weeks, and others for months. The difficult thing is that because I am still fairly new to this part of sexuality, I haven't quite worked out the keepers from the one night stands, short flings, or fuck buddies."
Samantha paused for a quick drink from Claire's cup and continued: "What β well, that's easy enough. Sex. Without a guy. It doesn't always have to be sex. There are some partners I know of who probably have never had sex, but are in a dedicated lesbian relationship. It's the companionship and deep emotional love that binds them.
"Where. I've had a live-in partner only once since turning lesbian, and that was for a few weeks before we discovered some irreconcilable differences. It does make clearing out the bathroom cabinet more difficult in a breakup after having a live-in relationship. Most of the time, it's only one or two nights at each other's place. I generally spend my time at home by myself. In fact, if you can recall a small party I had six months ago, my partner at the time was there. I just introduced her as a friend from summer vacations when we were younger. And, yes, when we disappeared early, it was to go and fuck each other's brains out. It didn't last much longer after that, though."