Dinner and a call out
Getting ready for our second date however was a little stressful. Our first one had clear boundaries, I was just her plus one but this one had romantic overtones. She had dropped hints on Wednesday night that those lines had shifted when she confessed she was the curious kind.
"I'm fluid," she admitted, "which is a new way of saying bisexual but up until now I haven't had sex with a woman so all bets are off."
I dithered over several dresses before eventually discarding the lot and opting for jeans and one of the pussybow blouses Danita had given me. It had a flowery pattern on a light pink background and the buttons were covered by a placket. I left the collar button and the top two buttons undone and let the ties hang free as well. A pair of heels completed the outfit but I took a change of clothes with me as well just in case there was a call out. I looked quite nice I thought when I surveyed myself in the mirror but I was outshone by Lamara. She'd chosen a white, off-the-shoulder dress with a flared skirt and a matching cream wrap and four inch heels in black leather to match the black belt that cinched her waist.
"Nice," she looked me up and down, "I see my auntie's clothes went to a good home, mum will be pleased," she closed the door behind her, "I assume we're taking your car or is that forbidden?"
"It's my car," I replied, "we have our own cars at work."
"I know," she pinched my arm playfully, "I was just winding you up, let's hit the road."
Because I didn't want to jinx the night I didn't tell her about the situation with Serbian Steve and she didn't ask either. We talked more about her holiday. She loved the train ride to Paris and the café atmosphere. I came out with a comment comparing our public transport to Europe's and she agreed wholeheartedly.
"It's a different culture altogether, it's actually accountable to the public."
"Now that's a novel idea," I commented.
Grattan Street, Carlton has a chequered history. It has that inner suburban feel with terrace houses in between restaurants and cafés, but the street has seen its fair share of murders and other crimes and so I was naturally on the alert for trouble. I have a good memory when it comes to faces and names and I recognised at least two men with criminal connections, one dealer and his bodyguard. I didn't tell her that though for obvious reason and thankfully, she didn't ask.
"I've been thinking of learning Mandarin," she squinted at the menu, "but it's finding the time."
"It looks hard," I stared at my menu.
"Be harder than Russian, that's for sure," she signalled a waitress, "nine hundred characters in their alphabet," she smiled as the waitress approached.
"I'll have the number sixty nine," she grinned.
Item 69 was stir fried king prawns, cashew nuts and a sweet and sour sauce, she added egg-fried rice and glanced at me.
"The same," I replied.
"You like prawns?" Lamara asked me.
"Just trying to blend in," I flicked at my hair, "so, you speak Russian?"
"I'm learning Russian at the moment," she replied, "but I speak French, Spanish, Italian and mum taught me Swedish when I was growing up so I'm a bit of a polyglot I guess. It makes a nice change from waiting for a guy to call me."
"I only speak English," I ran a hand through my hair.
"So, how many siblings do you have?"
"Two, a sister and a brother, my brother lives with his girlfriend out in Warburton and my sister is in North Ringwood. Mum lives in Croydon and her boyfriend lives in Bayswater, they get on like a house on fire but only because they don't live in the same house."
"Sounds like an equitable arrangement indeed," she glanced at me, "what's your sister like?"
"Amanda is highly strung, she's bipolar but we had problems getting her to stay on medication, she had a couple of suicide attempts that were half hearted but after the last one she fell under the spell of her nurse, David. He goes to one of those happy clappy churches and to cut a long story short she started going along as well, they got married a couple of years ago."
"And is she still on medication?"
"She's on it and off it, mum worries about her because David seems to think all she needs is prayer and the power of the holy spirit."
"I've seen a bit of that in the past," she mused.
We moved onto other subjects over dinner. She talked more about travelling, she'd been overseas a few times and even lived in London for six months after she graduated. It was where she'd met her husband, a man she described as pleasant enough, a perfect gentleman but in the end the spark had died when she brought him back to Australia.
"Boris had this quaint idea of how a woman should be and I thought I could change him once he had a ring on his finger. Big mistake, he interpreted that as a licence to reproduce. We were married for eighteen months before I finally decided that I wanted to focus on my career and that killed the relationship," she smiled.
"He wanted to go to marriage counselling, I disagreed and he left, he's married now to someone else and I have no regrets, I actually get on well with his wife to be honest but I was so glad to get rid of him, I like my own space."
"So you're not into commitment."
"It's not that, I'm the oldest child but mum has always been clear that my life is my own, I know she'd love me to give her grandkids and maybe I might go the IVF route but it's not a priority for me to be honest. Besides, she's got three with Yolanda and Ron and Gisette has one child from a previous marriage."
"Sam seems like a decent guy," I ventured.
"Absolutely," she raised her glass in salute, "Sam's a lovely man. He kind of reminds me of our dad when he was younger and less stressed out, he's so easygoing it's almost obscene."
"He certainly seemed that way at the barbie."
"I heard about that," she smiled slyly, "consider that an informal family introduction."
Eventually however, we had to make a move. My phone still hadn't rung and on the way back I commented that perhaps it might be a quiet night for a change.
"Don't say that," she slapped my leg playfully, "you'll jinx yourself."
We pulled into her driveway a little later and she fell silent as she stared at the house. We could hear Milo barking from inside.
"Do you want to come in for a cuppa?"
"Don't mind I do," I replied.
***
Sex for the first time with a woman can be a minefield and it's even worse if you read what experts have said on the issue. I get that they've got a point of view to push but it's not helpful to trumpet that as being the definitive answer. Granted, they'll offer up useful bits of information but women are all different and what works for one woman will just turn another off. I've seen women just about throw themselves at me but then get funny when things go further or turn cold afterwards. I had no such illusions despite her admission that she was curious and indeed as we walked to the front door half an hour later I thought that perhaps she just needed a bit more time.
We'd spent a bit of time talking, after Milo was fed but the conversation had been a little mundane to say the least, it was almost as if she was trying to keep the conversation going, carefully skirting around issues like sex. She was looking forward to seeing her mother and sisters tomorrow and she was already planning her next visit to Europe sometime in October. One of the places she wanted to visit was Auschwitz.
"It's a place I've been told you need to visit at least once and probably only once."
I agreed but shortly afterwards I stretched and yawned and Lamara smiled.
"Keeping you up, are we?"
"Kind of but I'm not that tired yet but I guess I should make a move soon."
As we made our way to the front door she seemed preoccupied as if she was trying to think of something to say but when we reached the door I turned to look at her and she looked past me for a moment and then stepped forward. One hand looped around my neck and she grabbed one of my hands with the other. She leaned forward and brushed her lips across mine for what I thought was a brief kiss. A split second later she broke free and her eyelids flickered and then she kissed me again and this time she opened her mouth slightly and pushed hard against me.
I reciprocated, letting the moment play out for as long as possible. She pulled back and pursed her lips as she savoured the moment. Lamara let go of my hand and raised it to my cheek and brought her other hand down to rest on my other cheek and leaned in for a much longer kiss that left me in no doubt that she'd been working herself up for this moment.
We stood at the door kissing for the next five minutes and with every passing minute I could feel the urge growing inside me but I wasn't prepared to take things further until I had a sign from her and that came soon enough when she locked the deadbolt and pulled the key out. She had a slight smile on her face as she tugged at the front of my blouse and dropped the keys down my front, I winced slightly at cold metal against my bare skin. Lamara grabbed my tie ends and stepped back and pulled me forward for another kiss.
Milo whimpered excitedly as we moved past the living room door and further up the passageway, I had a vague idea of where her bedroom was and when we reached it Milo trotted out of the living room. Lamara looked past me and snapped her fingers and he laid down with his head between his paws. She nudged the bedroom door open and pulled me inside for another kiss. The bedroom door clicked shut a moment later and I was pinned to the door as she kissed me again, parting her mouth and forcing me to respond. I was feeling aroused by that stage and I wasn't the only one, her face was flushed and her breathing slow and steady.
Lamara grabbed my tie ends firmly and stepped back towards the bed and when we reached it she turned me around and put her hands over my breasts. She had a studied look on her face as she felt my breasts and then she pushed me backwards. I landed on the bed a moment later and propped on my elbows as she looked down on me. She smiled crookedly as she lifted one of my legs and took off my shoe and sock.
"One of these days I'm going to buy you a pair of heels," she murmured as she dropped my foot and picked up the other one, "you've got perfect feet for heels," she pulled the shoe off, "but let's not quibble over shoes," she pulled my sock off.
"Okay," I finally managed.
"Well that was easy," she lifted her dress and straddled me. I fell onto my back and reached for her but she grabbed my hands and pinned them to the bed as she leaned over to kiss me on the mouth with a long and passionate kiss. When she broke free she had a crooked smile on her face and I laid there and waited to see what she'd do next.
I didn't have to wait long.
Lamara straightened up and slid her hands up and down my front a few times before undoing the third button on my blouse to expose the top of my bra and then she leaned over to kiss my throat and front with soft, sucking kisses that had me groaning. She alternated her kisses with feathery touches up and down my front. I desperately wanted to touch her but decided that I should just let her keep going.
A fourth button came undone and she pushed the blouse over my breasts and I arched my back for her hands as she massaged my breasts, drawing her thumbnails over my nipples. A fifth button fell through the buttonhole and she straightened up again and undid the sixth button and caressed my belly with light strokes. She smiled crookedly as she pulled the blouse out of my jeans and stroked my front again.
"What's good for the goose," she reached behind herself and unzipped the zipper while I watched, the side zipper was next. The dress fell down over her bare breasts and I finally raised my hands and felt them. She rested her hands on top of mine and leaned into them. A low moan escaped her throat as I massaged them and a minute or so later she unbuckled my belt and undid my jeans. We were both aroused now and I sat up and she rose slightly to let me suck one of her nipples.
