My name is Brianna Hollis, and I am a 33 year old political strategist. Being a gay woman has provided my with a lot of opportunities to be shocked and confused, but, about a year ago, I attended the wedding of my business partner, Monica Vasquez, and something happened that I am still confused about.
I had been very busy, working all weekend, and I neglected to keep track of the time. Like an idiot, I missed the ceremony completely, but I pulled up to the reception just in time.
"And now for the first time, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stone!" The bride, my partner Monica, looked marvelous as usual. It was her second marriage, and, although she was nearly my age, she looked as beautiful as a virgin princess. My surprise came when I saw her daughter, Adelita, standing behind her, looking as beautiful as her mother. I couldn't help but think back to the previous August, when I had first met this amazing girl.
Monica and I were managing a political campaign for a guy running for the state legislature, and it was about midnight. We were working late and trying to thrash out our latest set of propaganda when I heard a familiar voice, A voice that I had heard only over the phone until now.
Intrigued by meeting the woman behind that terribly sexy voice, I looked up, and saw a young girl. She was about 5'1", maybe 100lbs, with deep brown eyes and soft, lustrous black hair falling over her shoulders. She still had on her uniform from school, and the white cotton blouse made her dark skin look almost brown.
"This is my daughter, Adelita." Monica said, "Adelita, this is Brianna."
Monica smiled at our mutual reactions. I heard Adelita's voice
"I thought mom said you were her age?" Adelita said.
"I thought your mother said you were a kid!" I replied. The spontaneous compliments caused us both to smile at each other through an awkward silence. Monica interrupted the moment by saying, "C'mon now, Lita, off to bed. You've school tomorrow." Dutifully, Adelita bounced off to bed, and I must have looked at her a little too hungrily, for Monica sternly ordered me to remove any seductive thoughts from my mind.
"She's only seventeen, Brianna," Monica scolded. I could tell she was joking, but she was serious too. "You remember that next time you look at her, you dirty dyke!" We laughed the tension away, but I made a serious mental note to keep this girl out of my mind.
That was, until late October. Thomas Stone's campaign was in full swing, and lots of people were bustling around, trying to make everything perfect. Being a former physical therapist, I decided to offer backrubs to release some of the tension, and almost everyone took me up on my offer. As I was making my way around the office, I happened into Adelita Vasquez sitting in front of a computer, watching a particularly impressive Emacs macro process a mailing list.
"Hi Brianna!" she said as she looked up at me over her shoulder. "How 'bout a shoulder rub?"
I smiled at her awkwardly as I quickly surveyed the situation. Her mother, Monica, had gone to sleep hours before, and I had been planning on leaving as soon as I had finished with my massages. I figured it was harmless to massage the girl. Besides, no one would even notice it in all of this commotion.
"Sure!" I said.
I began working on her shoulders and was surprised to feel how thick her muscles were. I continued on to her neck and scalp, and was working on her lower back when she asked me, "Do you think I'm pretty?"
I stopped and looked at her. "I think you're dangerously attractive, yes."
Her eyes glittered, and I went back to rubbing her. She said something very softly, and I leaned over her shoulder to ask her to repeat herself. "Are you gay?" she whispered.
I was shocked, but I thought an honest answer would be the best one. "Yes," I said.
"What's it like?" she asked. "I mean...with a girl?"
"Well," I said, "for me, it's wonderful. It's the only thing that has ever felt real to me."
"My friend, Lydia, and I kissed each other the other night," she whispered, "Does that make me gay?"
"No," I answered. "Experimenting when you are young does not make you gay. It just means you're learning who you are."
"I think I want to be gay," she said. It was such a naive thing to say, but the pure innocence of it really turned me on. Suddenly, this conversation was freaking me out.