“What kind of name is Chenise, anyway?”
Chenise smiled, and didn’t answer momentarily. Then she stepped out of her panties, aware that Miriam’s eyes flickered to them, and lowered herself onto Miriam’s chair facing her, knees on either side of Miriam’s thighs. Her face – those wonderful, deep, unwavering brown eyes flecked (with just a trace of sadness?) – was inches away. “It’s just the name of a girl who’s with you. Who wants to be with you.” She reached forward and took a trail of Miriam’s hair between her fingers. “I so wanted to be blonde when I was a girl.”
How could this girl be so overtly sexual one moment, and so little-girl-lost the next? Miriam lowered her cheek to one side, placed it tenderly into the palm of Chenise’s hand. “You’re beautiful just the way you are, Chenise. You know you are.” For long moments they stayed like that, sun setting away now, the two women exploring the first hesitant moments of touch.
“How did you become a hooker?”
Chenise smiled. “You know how many times I’ve been asked that? Besides – it’s a long story.”
“I have all night”, Miriam murmured.
“Do you?” Chenise looked into Miriam’s eyes through locks of hair that had fallen forward, and Miriam was aware that their breasts were brushing together. Was Chenise doing it consciously?, she wondered.
Chemise suddenly pulled back, placed her hands behind her, palms down on Miriam’s knees, apparently unaware that it pressed her breasts forward. “After I left school I struggled to get a job. It was the same for many of us, but my father had left years before, and you know my mother could barely make it alone.
“Anyway – I was at a party one afternoon; I had sort of gate-crashed with some friends. The party was WAY too rich for my blood – two brothers were throwing a bash while their parents were in Europe. That gives you some idea of how wealthy they were. We were just glad to get to the free booze and the pool and the Jacuzzi.
“The party went through into the night, and the brothers were really nice to me, made sure I was being looked after.” She laughed. “I was so naïve. The crowd disappeared, my friends disappeared, but these guys were there, you know, and suggesting I didn’t leave yet. So at some point there were just four of us, these brothers and two of us girls. I thought the other girl was a girlfriend, but I realised pretty quickly I was wrong!”
“What was the other girl’s name?” asked Miriam.
Chenise paused. “Do you know I can’t remember? Of all the things I learned that night, that’s the one thing I’ve forgotten.”
Chenise adjusted herself more comfortably on Miriam’s knees. “You alright like this? I’m not hurting you, am I?”
Miriam shook her head. “No – you’re not hurting me. What did you learn that night?”
Chenise absently lifted one hand and adjusted the collar of Miriam’s formal business blouse as she spoke. It was the intimate gesture of two women who had attained some level of communication and trust.
“We were all sitting around inside, in this large open sort of lounge. I had definitely had too much to drink, but I wasn’t drunk or anything. Just tipsy. And the one brother says – It’s time to compare your tits. Just like that. So – what do you do? We laughed at the guys and said thanks but no thanks. The other girl told them to get fucked. We both stood up, but the guy suddenly pulls out a wallet of money.