This is the first of a two part story. The second and final part will follow shortly.
* * *
Ben tugged her cotton vest down and rolled her nipple around between his finger and thumb. Kiera lay on her back, staring at the white ceiling and mentally composing her shopping list. Her mind felt strangely detached from what was happening to her body. It was weird - she could feel what Ben was doing, but somewhere along the line her brain was curiously disengaged.
She wasn't exactly sure at what point this had happened. All she did know was that sex had always felt like a chore with Ben and she vaguely felt that maybe there was something she was missing. The trouble was she had no other experience to back up her theories. There had been nobody else in all her twenty-four years.
Fingers delved roughly between her thighs and she allowed an obligatory moan to escape so as not to hurt his feelings. He was liable to sulk for days if she implied their sex-life was less that perfect. Not that her enjoyment mattered particularly. As long as he was happy, that was all that counted.
The phone rang shrilly and Ben cursed loudly, pulling away from his exploration of her passive body.
"I'll get it," she said hurriedly, jumping out of bed and grabbing the phone. "Its mum," she mouthed at Ben, her palm cupped over the receiver so her mother did not hear Ben's curses. He rolled his eyes dramatically and turned away from her crossly. They both knew that it would not be a short call.
Struggling to hide her relief, Kiera straightened her vest up and walked out of the bedroom listening to her mum chattering away, telling her all the village gossip. By the time the call ended and she had made her way reluctantly back to bed, Ben was fast asleep and snoring softly. Once again she had been saved an unsatisfying half an hour. God bless her Mother.
Kiera edged under the duvet and rolled away from Ben's inert body carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was to disturb him and endure a repeat performance. No, she would rather go to sleep. Besides, she needed to get an early start in the morning. She wanted to arrive at the seminar in good time in order to ensure a decent seat.
* * *
The woman on the podium held the rapt attention of the entire audience. It wasn't her looks exactly, although she was very striking. It was her voice that soothed the senses like warm honey; melodious and charismatic. Her blonde hair hung in rippling skeins of white gold and her luminous green eyes captured the heart of every man in the room.
Kiera felt envious. She wished
she
had the same effect on the male population. Sadly that was never going to happen. She knew she was pretty enough, but it was in a girl next-door rather than a centrefold kind of way. Life could be very unfair at times.
By the time the seminar broke for lunch and everyone began to disperse eagerly into the bar, Kiera was feeling rather tired. She had not slept all that well last night -- Ben had snored for first half of it and the other half had been disturbed by fitful dreams. She desperately needed a stiff drink to inject some life into the remains of the day. Unfortunately the afternoon's schedule of lectures looked fairly dismal and she was seriously contemplating taking a seat at the back of the room and napping for a blissful hour or two.
"A glass of white wine please," purred a silky voice next to her as she stood at the bar waiting for the bar man to notice she existed. Kiera turned her head curiously only to see the woman speaker from the previous lecture. Up close and personal she was even more devastatingly beautiful.
Kiera was enviously aware of each and every man within a ten-metre radius practically salivating. This included the bar man who had miraculously appeared in front of them, despite the fact he had remained curiously elusive in the time Kiera had been waiting.
"Can I buy you a drink too?" the woman turned to ask Kiera with a gracious smile.
"Er yes - that would be lovely, thank you. I'll have a vodka and soda please."
The bar man simpered and produced the two drinks in record time, handing them over with a lingering look at the blonde. She gave him some money politely and passed Kiera her glass. "Join me at one of the tables?" she asked.
"Yes, I'd be happy to," Kiera felt rather relieved that she wouldn't have to drink alone. It always made her feel slightly sad when she knew nobody at these events.
The blonde headed towards a corner table, her shapely bottom swaying seductively in the short grey skirt she was wearing. Every single male in the room watched her progress with enormous interest, but she seemed surprisingly oblivious.
"My name's Alicia," the blonde said, holding out a perfectly manicured hand politely once they were seated.
"Hello Alicia, I'm Kiera -- pleased to meet you." They shook hands politely.
"Are you enjoying the seminar?" Alicia asked with interest.
"Yes, I thought your presentation was very good," Kiera said politely. And she had. The rest of the room faded out as they began to discuss all the points Alicia had made during her talk. Kiera soon found herself drawn to the woman on many levels - not only was she intelligent as well as devastatingly attractive, she was also incredibly sexy.
All around them, hopeful men strained to catch every word she spoke. It was almost comical the way some of them engineered reasons to walk past their table so that they could catch a glimpse of Alicia. What was more remarkable was the way she seemed utterly unaware of all the attention she was invoking.
She seemed far more interested in Kiera.
The conversation took a turn into more personal territory when Alicia asked, "So, are you married?"
"No, but I'm living with my boyfriend. We're supposed to be getting married next year though..." her voice faded as she suddenly realised that 'next year' was not all that far away. It was a scary thought.
"Wow, you seem really excited about that!" Alicia commented with a dry laugh.
"Hmm...am I that obvious?" Kiera sipped her drink and stared at the floor for a moment. "It's not going all that well," she admitted to her surprise.
Then she realised that Alicia probably did not want to hear all her problems. "Sorry," she apologised ruefully. "I shouldn't be dumping on you like this."
Alicia reached out her hand and grasped the other woman's knee lightly. "Hey that's okay -- I shouldn't be prying anyway," she said softly.
Kiera looked at her and smiled gratefully. "No, no -- it's good to talk about it sometimes." She wasn't exactly sure why she felt the need to open up to this woman who was a complete stranger less than an hour ago. There was just something about her that reached out to Kiera. The hand resting on her knee felt strangely comforting and...she hesitated now...it felt
nice
. Her skin pleasurably tingled beneath the other woman's warm palm.
She looked up into soft green eyes. There was a sudden silence between them and Kiera felt a strange tension descend. Electricity crackled as they stared intently at each other.
"Which hotel are you staying in tonight?" asked Alicia in an even voice. Her hand stayed firmly planted on Kiera's knee.
"I'm booked into The Hilton." Her voice sounded weird to her own ears and her breath caught in her throat. Why was she reacting this way? She didn't understand her behaviour at all -- it was totally out of character.
"Me too...fancy having dinner with me later?" Alicia's eyes gleamed in the muted light of the bar.
Kiera hesitated for a moment. She had been planning on ordering room service and having an early night. But then she thought, fuck it - dinner out would make a pleasant change. It wasn't like she and Ben ever went anywhere these days.
"Yeah, that would be great!" she grinned.
The other woman glanced at her watch and said, "Okay, meet me in the reception at seven-thirty this evening. I've got to go and catch up with some of my colleagues now..." She rolled her eyes and pulled a face.
"Looking forward to it," replied Kiera. She was surprised to realise that she really WAS looking forward to seeing Alicia again.
Several men's faces fell in abject disappointment when the cool blonde left the bar, her heels clacking on the hard wood floor. Kiera drank the rest of her drink and wondered just how she was going to stay awake for the rest of the afternoon.
* * *
She examined her reflection critically. The woman in the mirror stared back at her, taunting her. Wild dark hair was tamed in a black clip and brown eyes shone with a rare sense of excitement. She had been forced to wear the same skirt she had worn all day. Not expecting to venture out of her room, she had packed nothing more exciting. But teemed with a cream silky blouse, it looked rather sexy in conjunction with black hold ups. These had been purchased on a whim from the chemist round the corner. Normally she wore tights, but tonight she decided to live a little.
Kiera added a touch of lip-gloss and another coat of mascara. Her eyelids were brushed with smoky grey shadow and she decided rather grudgingly that she didn't look too bad. It had been ages since she had put so much effort into her appearance. There never seemed much point with Ben -- he didn't notice what she wore these days.
The clock on the wall told her it was nearly half past seven, so she grabbed her purse and headed for the elevators. She hoped it would be a fun evening. From within her bag, her mobile sang out annoyingly. One glance at the blue screen told her it was Ben calling. For a minute she dithered about whether to take the call. Then she stepped inside the empty lift and the signal vanished, cutting the call off and saving her any further dilemma. Not that they had anything to talk about anyway. Chances were he was only checking what time she was due back tomorrow and could she bring some KFC home with her.
* * *
