Dorian Harper swore she'd never visit a lesbian bar. The 47 year old butch librarian was rather conservative and a hopeless introvert. She had nothing against drinking. As a matter of fact, Dorian often enjoyed a post-work beer or two in the comfort of her own home. She hated drunks though, and the drama that almost always came with it, and yet here she was...
It was Friday night, and as usual for a college town, the bar was busy. Lights pulsed and flashed with the beat of the music, and the distinctive odor of cigarettes mingling with cheap perfume invaded the butch woman's nostrils as she nursed her second beer. Dorian sat alone at the end of the bar, trying not to feel self-conscious when someone suddenly caught her eye.
From the moment she walked in, Dorian kept her eyes on the beautiful young lady seated at a table nearby. She guessed the girl was probably 20 or 21 though with her delicate facial features, she definitely could be mistaken for a teenager. She was slender and graceful with pouty full lips and dark shoulder length hair.
The girl certainly knew how to dress to impress. She wore a slinky little knee-length dress with thin little straps, natty heels, and a simple little gold necklace that accentuated her prominent collar bones. It was obvious from the time she arrived that the girl was attracting attention from all sorts of onlookers. But Dorian stared for another reason; she already knew the lovely young girl.
Dorian Harper worked the Reference desk at the Addison Memorial Library. Several months ago, she met Eden Ellis, a history major attending the local university. The librarian recalled that the girl was working on a large research project. She called ahead the day before to reserve a few boxes of microfiche so she could research relevant local news articles. The butch woman suppressed a grin when she remembered helping Eden with the microfiche reader.
"You can use this knob here to zoom in and out on the parts you want to read." Dorian said as she twisted the knob back and forth. "And this switch will rotate the document..." The librarian's hollow cheeks went flush when she realized she accidentally brushed against the girl's arm. "Sorry about that."
"That's okay." The girl replied with a shy chuckle. "Thanks for all your help, Mrs..."
"Miss Harper. But there's really no need to be so formal. My first name is Dorian."
"My name's Eden. Eden Ellis—"
"I know. Remember I was the one who took your call yesterday."
"Oh...well, thanks for your help...just wish these old things were easier to read."
"Yes, that can be a problem with microfiche." The librarian conceded. "Some of these boxes have been in storage for several years and the slides start to degrade. I'll be at my desk, and if you need anything else, just let me know."
Dorian didn't think too much of that first encounter with Eden. She figured the girl would find what she needed for her research and that would be the last she'd see of her. But she was wrong, because nearly a week later, the girl was back. Since then, Dorian slowly built a nice rapport with Eden Ellis.
The girl often stopped by the library after classes to see her "favorite librarian" as she put it once. On a couple occasions, Eden joined Dorian for a cup of coffee in the morning when the library first opened and things were slow. And she was surprised when the girl stopped by to visit a few times after the fall semester ended. Sometimes the butch woman wondered if a genuine friendship was starting to form between her and the girl or if Eden wanted something more...
Dorian glanced down at herself and shifted uncomfortably on her barstool. She took a swig of her beer and assessed her reflection in the long mirror behind the bar. She knew she was far from what most people would consider attractive and she wasn't the least bit feminine. Her fair, almost ghostly complexion was etched with the requisite lines of age and stress, emphasizing the masculine features of her face. Her very light, very ginger hair was cut short in a boyish pixie bob. She was flat chested and wore glasses and a wristwatch.
Dorian was tall for a woman, about 5'11". She was dressed in a long sleeved turtleneck shirt and corduroy slacks, the same clothes she'd worn to work that day. And her shape was slender and insect-like; perhaps a bit underweight. For a librarian, she knew her appearance was unusual and somewhat alarming.
As alarmingly butch as Dorian looked, the beautiful Eden Ellis was certainly easy on the eyes. The librarian finished the last of her beer and adjusted her glasses while she continued staring into the mirror. Like her, the beautiful brunette had come to the bar all alone. Dorian watched as Eden went to the dance floor and joined the sea of drunken women already swaying to the primal beat of a disco number. Before she knew what was happening, Dorian began to feel the first stirrings of genuine lust as her eyes followed the girl's gyrating body.
That slinky little dress clung enticingly to all the right places as Eden danced with wild abandon. The young college student definitely had no problem finding willing dance partners. But when the next song started, Dorian's cold blue eyes narrowed behind the frames of her glasses when some bulldyke started hassling the poor girl. The other woman looked like a biker type; kind of short in stature and obviously very drunk. Eden struggled to get away while the dyke tried pulling her in for a kiss.
Dorian paid the bartender and started toward the dance floor. The noise and flashing lights were disorienting, but her eyes remained glued to the struggling girl. Eden must have sensed that no one was willing to get involved, and she was a little drunk herself. The librarian stared in shock and mounting horror as Eden slapped the bulldyke's face. The astonished look on that greasy drunk's face quickly turned to blind anger. With all her force, she slapped Eden with the back of her hand. The drunk dyke was about to slap her around some more, but before she could, Dorian shoved the besotted woman backwards and the crowd of dancers scattered to avoid impact.
"Getting a little handsy with the ladies, aren't we?" Dorian's gruff voice pierced through the noise and haze of flashing lights and smoke. "You wanna tango, you can with me!" She turned to Eden. "Are you okay?"
The beautiful brunette had tears in her eyes and it was obvious she was shaken by the ordeal, but she managed a reply. "Yeah, I—I think so..."
Before Dorian could say anything else, two bouncers appeared. One of them checked on the drunken biker, now propped against a nearby table trying to regain her bearings. The other bouncer, a hulking ogre of a woman known to the regulars as Joe, went over to Dorian to get her side of what happened.
"That's my friend, Miss Harper, from the library downtown." Eden protested. "I—uh—promised to meet her here tonight for a few drinks. She protected me from that woman over there who tried to kiss me!" Eden turned to point out the greasy bulldyke who tried to manhandle her.
"Yeah, figured it was something like that," Joe said with a roll of her eyes. "She's a regular, usually harmless, but...she's kind of a handful when she gets drinking. You ladies go on. We'll take care of it."
As far as Dorian was concerned, she'd had more than enough excitement for one evening. She started to walk away and Eden followed closely behind until they were outside. The librarian paused and fished her car keys from her pants pocket.
Dorian exhaled sharply. "Yes, I'm fine." She replied. "Frankly I'm pretty shocked to see you in a place like that all alone."
"I was supposed to meet this girl from one of my classes here. She said that she'd never been to a lesbian bar before, but she chickened out at the last minute. I didn't want to let that ruin my night so I came anyway. I'm—uh—kind of surprised to see you here too."
"Well it's not actually my thing—"
"You mean lesbians? Because I kind of figured you were—"
"I mean bars. I don't really care for the crowds and it's a little too easy to find trouble."
