Ellens Tale Pt 04

In Part Three, Ellen and her old friend from school, Jacinda have reunited and after going back to Ellen's bungalow had a torrid one night stand, with a promise of more to come, if Ellen wants to play the game. Anna on the other hand was at Kym's place and after smoking some weed they too ended up in bed together. Considering both women are straight it has been quite a leap and they agree to meet up on Saturday to discuss the encounter. In this part however, Kym decides to do a little more research as she explores her sexuality, utilising a method that would have seemed wrong to her a few years ago. Another woman, Shobi however has noticed Anna and sensing the shift in the wind, Shobi also makes a move on Anna.

Author's note: This part is much shorter than part three, which looked to be too long after it was published on the site. Therefore, I've decided to cut this part in two and submit the next part shortly after this one.

Anna stared at her reflection in the mirror. The blouse she was wearing was almost cut in the same style as the one she'd worn yesterday but this one was an off-white with thin blue stripes down it, a pocket was over her left breast and at some point in the past the old State Bank logo had been on it. The blouse was a gift from Kym along with the skirt she was now wearing. A black garbage bag filled with clothes was on her bed. The clothes had come from Kym's mother who'd given them to her daughter rather than taking them to the charity shop. The only problem with that however was the fact that Kym had put on more weight around her hips and breasts.

"She means well," Kym held up a blouse, "but she probably hasn't even checked the sizes, she wore these when she was much younger. I just didn't have the heart to tell her that they weren't my size, a few of the tops are stretchy but the rest," she frowned.

"Why don't you take them to the shop?"

"I was, it's been on my bucket list for the last month and then you turned up and I noticed the size label on your blouse and thought, eureka, I've found a home," she put the blouse back into the bag, "they've been washed recently though," she sniffed the bag.

"If you can't use them then just take them to the Salvos. I really won't be offended."

"I like this one," she picked up the blouse Kym had been holding, "it's like the one I'm wearing now," she looked down.

"It used to be her work uniform when she worked at the State bank, there's another two in there just like it, minus the logo."

"Thanks," she sniffed it for herself, "smells fresh though."

Anna ran a hand down the edge of the blouse. Two rows of six buttons ran parallel to each other and she looked down at the buttoned skirt. The black pencil skirt had black buttons down the front and was fastened with a thin belt with a silver buckle, the overall effect was stylish.

Her phone beeped and she glanced at the phone lying on the window ledge of Gitti's bathroom, a moment later her regular alarm sounded, it was the tolling bell from

Hell's Bells.

She wasn't a big fan of of the band but found the bell alarm was one of the few alarms that actually woke her in the morning, along with the chiming bells from a Pink Floyd song. This morning however it had been an Abba song,

Knowing Me, Knowing You

that woke them. It was playing on Kym's phone and the older woman had sat up slowly and poked her.

"You awake?"

"Hmm, mm," she opened her eyes, "what time is it?"

"Six," she ran a hand through her hair, "you wanted to wake up earlier so you could get back home and change."

She remembered now, the arrangement had been made after they just shared a shower although that was not all they'd shared after making love again. Kym had been on fire with desire and had gone down on her knees to give her what she'd always fantasized about, her very own shower scene that had her sliding to the floor of the cubicle in exhaustion.

She silenced the alarm and then opened the message app to read the most recent one again.

Kym: Hiya, sorry for kicking you out the door so early. Won't be available tonight but I will be free Saturday arvo. Text me when you're ready for our talk.

Anna's eyes flickered to the mirror briefly. The talk referred to the morning after talk, they'd had a one night stand and seeing as neither of them had ever slept with a woman before it was probably a good idea to at least discuss their reactions. There had been no promises whispered in the dark, no I love you, just a promise to talk and that had to be a good thing.

A knock sounded at the door followed by Gitti's voice.

"Hey, can you unlock the door please?"

She turned and walked to the door and unlocked it. Gitti was wearing her pyjamas and she raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the bathroom, which was normally left unlocked.

"Sorry," she managed, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"That's cool," she reached the toilet and dropped her pyjama bottoms, "even I forget sometimes and I've been living here for years," she sat down on the toilet.

"You're up early though," she went on, "you were up an hour before your alarm went off."

"Did I wake you up coming home?"

"Huh?" Gitti closed her eyes as her flow started, "that's the first time I've heard you say that."

"What?"

"Refer to this place as home," she opened her eyes, "and yeah you did but there's no curfew here, the only times I have curfew is when I'm babysitting for Ellen and even that's pretty casual."

"I was at Kym's joint last night, I had a few drinks and decided to crash the night."

"Good, there's enough drunken lunatics on the roads, more people should follow your example," she glanced at her.

"You look different though and I'm not talking about the clothes. Did you stop by home on the way back to grab some more clothes?"

"No, I came straight here, these belong to Kym's mum."

"Huh," she smiled crookedly, "but as much as it feels weird saying this while I'm sitting here you look nice this morning."

"Thanks," Anna walked to the vanity basin to retrieve her phone and makeup case, "it's an old State bank uniform, minus the logo."

"God, that brings back memories, my first ever bank account was at State."

Anna smiled and nodded and then left the bathroom.

I should have said something. Why didn't I just say something?

The answer came to her as she prepared breakfast a few minutes later.

Because you haven't got anything to tell her. You don't even know if you are gay,

she stared out at the bungalow. There were signs of life visible through the front window. Ellen was standing with her back to the window wearing just her panties, she was talking to someone on the phone and as if sensing something, she turned and looked directly at the kitchen window. For an instant Anna did nothing and then she raised a hand in greeting that was acknowledged a moment later and then Ellen turned away and walked towards one of the bedrooms.

Am I attracted to her?

The answer was yes but it was still complicated. She was attracted to Gitti but not sexually, just like she was attracted to other women but some of those women could be sexually attractive. So was this something she'd been harbouring for a while or was it just a way of dealing with separation from her husband and the inevitable divorce? Was she just using this as a smokescreen to retreat behind so she could come to some kind of resolution?

So much had changed since she first reached out for help. She'd reported her husband Ritchie for threatening her with a pistol and after searching the house they'd discovered guns that hadn't been registered in his name. After his arrest she'd moved into Gitti's place, temporarily, and then things had taken a distinctly dramatic turn when one of Ritchie's 'business partners' had been implicated in a major gun running operation. The former policeman had been charged and released on bail but one of his colleagues, a serving detective named Tom Steele had been suspended from duty and then promptly arrested and jailed on remand.

Ritchie was still on remand but after being moved to the Melbourne Remand Centre there were hints that he might be prepared to give evidence against his co-conspirators in exchange for a get out of jail free ticket and entry into the witness protection program. It would mean he'd be barred from ever contacting anyone including her and even his parents. It was a brutal price to pay and there was a part of her that pitied him but she was also somewhat befuddled by the actions that had led to this situation. His parents had money, they were independently wealthy and as he was their only child he stood to inherit the lot when they died and there was a lot to inherit.

Anna glanced at the microwave as it pinged and opening the door, took out the scrambled eggs and stirred the mixture before putting it back into the microwave and setting the timer again. That was another change. She'd gone from two slices of toast and coffee in the morning to either scrambled or fried eggs on toast, juice and proper brewed coffee. She put a hand on her belly and looked down at it, and she'd put on a bit more weight although after last night, she managed a tight smile, they said there was nothing like sex for losing weight.

She picked up her phone and swiped the screen. She activated the camera app and walked back into her bedroom and stood in front of the mirror. She aimed the lens at the full length mirror and took a picture of herself and then sent it to Kym.

Anna: Sorry, I was getting ready for work. The clothes fit! Thank you so much! Wearing them to work today. Have a wonderful day.

The reply came back some five minutes later as she was putting the scrambled eggs onto her toast. The picture had been taken in front of a mirror and showed Kym wearing a beige blouse tucked into a white, pleated knee-length skirt.

Kym: Glad to see it. You look fabulous and there's room on my wardrobe floor for all my shoes now, it's a win win situation. Off to negotiate with mini terrorists, have a great day yourself.

She stared at the picture for the better part of a minute and then came out of her reverie as Gitti stepped into the kitchen. She was wearing a bulky flannelette bathrobe and had a towel wrapped around her head.

"Wow," she looked at the phone, "I wish I looked like that first thing in the morning."

"She is cute," she picked up her phone and plate, and stepped over to the breakfast bar.

"Did you resolve anything last night?" Gitti asked her as Anna stepped around to the other side of the bench.

"Huh?"

"Your property settlement," Gitti opened the fridge, "what did you think I was talking about?"

"Um, yeah, I got some ideas."

"And?" Gitti took out the egg carton.

"I'm going to push for a bigger slice. We lose the house insurance if one of us is convicted of an offence and if I transfer the insurance to my name then I can claim more. Even if he goes into this witness protection program he'll still have a black mark against his name."

"Wise move indeed," she put the eggs on the bench, "I might boil these fuckers today," she glanced at her, "and the other thing?"

"It was, yeah, it happened but we haven't talked about it yet. Neither of us planned for it but she's supposed to be coming around tomorrow arvo."

"Another wise move," she took two eggs out, "promises in the dark are so yesterday."

Anna frowned as she swallowed a mouthful of scrambled eggs and a few seconds later she voiced her thought.

"I don't know what to tell Ellen though."

"What do you mean, Ellen?"

"Isn't she you know?"

"After you?" Gitti opened a bottom door and took out an electronic egg boiler.

"You're certainly on the radar but I get the impression she has the same obstacle as you, namely that you both live here but that problem might have been solved if my theory is correct."

Gitti carried the egg boiler over to the sink to fill the small reservoir.

"What do you mean? Did something happen last night?"

"Possibly. She came back from ceramics with a friend last night, Julie turned up with some clothes for her and then left but her friend didn't leave for another couple of hours."

"Oh, okay," Anna stared at the window, "that's interesting although they could have just been you know, talking."

"Granted," she filled a small measuring cup, "but she was all nicely buttoned up when she arrived but afterwards she looked... unbuttoned although not obscenely so."

She turned back to the breakfast bar.

"But I guess we'll hear more about it sooner rather than later."

"Yeah," she took another mouthful and stared at the laundry door as if Ellen was about to walk in and announce she'd just fucked some woman's brains out.

"I mean, I like her, a lot but you're right. There is a chance, especially from my perspective that things could get difficult and my options are a bit more limited. The only other place I can go has just recently been a crime scene."

"Ellen's options are even more limited," she plugged the device into a wall socket, "my opinion, for what it's worth is that you two can be shagging each other's brains out all night but if you break up and start clashing with each other then I have to make a decision about who stays. And let's not forget that there's another person who's affected as well."

That was another issue to consider she mused as she had breakfast. Kym had children. In fact, her oldest son was only a few years younger than herself but when she mentioned that to Gitti the older woman simply shrugged as she eyed her egg boiler.

"Age is a number. When I was a teenager we had this idea in our heads that a woman had to go for a man five years older than herself, but even back then there were plenty of examples of women who didn't conform to that stereotype and cougars were running around on four legs," she smirked.

"You need to come to your own decision. I personally wouldn't suggest jumping into another full time relationship right now, partly because you can't walk down the aisle until your divorce goes through but even living with a partner is dicey. We carry baggage with us for years, even I do it, I got involved with a guy about two years after my divorce and it lasted all of two months before I threw his shit out into the front yard."

"I can't imagine you doing that," Anna put her juice down.

"I was younger then but I'd been shackled to a man who wasn't actually that bad but he was one of those control freaks and he always had a logical reason for his pet peeves."

"Such as?"

"Eggs," she flicked the button as the boiler started whistling, "he wanted them hard boiled but not too hard, he wanted his fried eggs sunny side up and don't get me started on Christmas dinner. The second Christmas I decided to go to my mother's place and pack him off to his parents."

"How did that work out?"

"He actually got the hint a few days later and even admitted he could be a bit anally retentive, the third Christmas though was still a bit tense but that was because he bought me the same present he got me the previous Christmas. They were the same style of earrings just in silver instead of gold, I just looked at them and asked why he couldn't use a bit more imagination."

The conversation after that moved to other less personal topics and sometime later she finally gathered her things and headed out the back door. The bungalow door was open and she paused at the back gate as Ellen and Tabitha came out. Tabitha was carrying a bag filled with food and was wearing a backpack.

"Good morning," Anna greeted them.

"Shit," Ellen turned around suddenly, "you took me by surprise."

"Sorry," Anna eyed the clothes she was wearing, "you're wearing a new blouse."

"Busted," she grinned, "but it might be a bit warm for the buttoned to the neck look today."

"Yeah," she smiled, "thank God I'm in an air conditioned office and my car has it too."

"Whatever did we do without air conditioning?" Ellen flicked at the pussybow ties, "well? What do you think? Do I pass for a lady?"

"You do," Anna stared at the red pussybow blouse. It was buttoned to the top and the material had interwoven yellow chains, "the trousers are a nice match."

"So, how was your night?"

"It was... interesting... I stayed the night."

"Oh? Get lucky did we?"

"Drunk," she replied, "not falling down drunk but over the limit, so Kym put me up for the night."

"Cool," she started walking towards her, "I missed you last night."

"You did?"

"Yeah, at my ceramics class," she smirked, "I had to put the tables and chairs away myself, but you'll be there tomorrow arvo won't you?"

"Shit," she opened the back gate.

"Why? Have you made plans?"

"Shit, shit, shit," she waved them through first, "I have to send a text. I totally forgot about the whole day, Kym was going to drop around with something."

"Well, if you've got plans," Ellen turned around.

"No, it's cool, I'll just text her and try to slot in another time slot. I'll be there tomorrow."

"Well, whatever, I'm cool," she reached out and gave her a brief hug, "see ya later," and with that she and Tabitha were heading towards her car leaving Anna trying to set up a different time.

She sent the text whilst she let her car idle.

Anna: Change of plans, I'm helping Ellen with the ceramics class in the afternoon, I do ceramics once a week on Saturday arvo between 1:00 and 4:00, but I also help her set things up and pack up as well. Any chance of rearranging a better time? Sorry to be such a pain.

The answer didn't come until she was pulling into the carpark at Boronia Shoppingtown.

Kym: Morning or evening?

Anna: Any time before 12:00 or after 6:00. I'll let you make the decision.

Kym: No worries, I'll let you know tonight, gotta go. Bye.

"Well that was abrupt," she let her head hit the headrest, "almost like a school principal."

Her eyes shifted as she spotted a familiar figure walking along the pavement adjoining the carpark, she was wearing a grey trouser suit and white blouse. Her black hair was tied up into a bun and she was texting as she walked.

Shobi.

She looked down at the passenger floor. The bong Kym had given her to take away was now under the front passenger seat and she reached down to check it was still there but when she looked up again Shobi had turned down a walkway leading to their place of work.

I'll see her inside,

she decided.

Even so, she felt nervous leaving her car in a public carpark with a bong under the passenger seat and she checked and then double checked every door until she was satisfied.

It only occurred to her as she headed into work that the bong was probably too big to fit into the small handbag Shobi had been carrying and her car was apparently off the road after the police gave her a yellow canary. The unroadworthy certificate hadn't been such a blow according to her, she was apparently selling it off for parts via ebay and a local paper. It seemed like an onerous way to dispose of a car though but she'd worked out that she could get more if she sold it piece by piece than just selling it to a wrecker's yard. It meant she could spend more money on a better car that wouldn't be cop bait.

Shobi was sitting at her desk when Anna entered the open plan office but she nodded at some of her other friends first. Shobi was arranging files in order of priority when she neared her desk. Their desks were joined together so that they were opposite each other.

"Hiya," she greeted her.

"G'day," she smiled, "looking as ravishing as ever."

"Thank you," she sat down and stared at her computer as she tried to think of a plan but it seemed as if her mind had gone blank. She chanced a look at Shobi as she set her phone on the table and turned on the silent mode. Shobi was two years younger than her and quite confident. She had a slim figure and light brown skin. The child of a mixed marriage, her mother had come here from Sri Lanka thirty years ago and married a white Australian. The marriage however had failed after seven years and so she'd married a Vietnamese immigrant and produced three more children, all girls and now she was living with a Kenyan man. Shobi had once quipped that her mother was trying to start her own United Nations. Shobi however was openly gay.