Welcome readers to the latest installment of Grounded in Toronto. It is helpful though not essential to read the prior installments.
Camille - works for international pharma company. Confident, attractive business woman in her 30's, single.
Eleanor - well known author of lesbian themed fiction. Bisexual. Long honey blond hair usually worn up in a chignon. In her 40's.
The flight they are on is cancelled and rescheduled for the following day. As seat mates, they agree to meet at the airport hotel and have dinner together. They discover that they are attracted to one other, and even though Camille is straight she is open minded to a relationship with a woman and is captivated by Eleanor's elegance, intelligence and beauty.
The two of them spend a memorable evening together making love and decide to skip the flight and spend the next three days sampling the international fare in Toronto during the day and making love all night. On the fourth day they fly to London so that Eleanor can keep her appointment with her publisher.
They spend a week in London, but not without crisis as Camille has second thoughts about her impulsive decision to stay with Eleanor in London. Eleanor is able to assuage Camille's concerns. They make plans to move temporarily to Camille's apartment in New York, and ultimately to relocate to San Francisco.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, merchandise, companies, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All characters are 18 years or older when in sexual situations.
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Chapter Five
What an interesting three months after Eleanor and I left the comforts of her London hotel room for the hustle and bustle of New York. I was getting used to having Eleanor in my daily life and we soon settled in a satisfying routine in my Upper West Side apartment. Eleanor's career as a writer allowed her much more flexibility in her scheduled time so she typically made dinner for the two of us. My job with an international pharmaceutical company had fairly regular hours (when I wasn't travelling) so I would usually get home at 7 and dinner would be on the table. As I agreed with Eleanor earlier, I put in for a transfer to our San Francisco office so we could have a fresh start in a new city.
I had no idea that Eleanor was also a great cook, but knowing her it was not unexpected. She truly was the most passionate, beautiful and interesting person I had ever met and I could no longer imagine my life without her. It was also a great feeling to be madly in love. I loved being in love.
My visit with my parents at their house in upstate New York was another story. I told them that a woman had moved in with me and that we were in a long-term relationship. My father was stoic and hard to read but my mother broke down and cried. Both of my parents were conservative and somewhat religious, so to hear that their only daughter was a lesbian was a crushing blow. I didn't know how to cushion that blow. My mother went upstairs to her bedroom, leaving me with my father in the living room. He asked me a number of questions about Eleanor and about our lifestyle and I tried the best I could to answer them. He quickly reached the end of his questions, which left us both with a long embarrassing silence before he excused himself to tend to my mother.
I went into the refrigerator and saw that my mother had bought pork chops for dinner. I decided to brine the pork chops and then grill them. I found some potatoes in the pantry and put on some water to boil. My mother finally pulled it together to come downstairs to have dinner with us. She was quiet at the beginning but then began to talk about the sons of her girlfriends in some sort of attempt to see if I was still interested in men. I told her I wasn't and she again started crying and went back to her room for the remainder of my visit. I spent the rest of the night talking (or not talking) with my dad and then went to their bedroom the next morning to say goodbye. My mother had apparently been up all night crying and her puffy eyes made me cry as well. I didn't feel it was right to apologize because I had nothing to apologize for, so I told her that I hoped that she felt better soon and that she could understand and accept my lifestyle change. I wasn't terribly optimistic.
After a short stint in New York my requested transfer to our San Francisco office was approved. Eleanor was pleased to have a new city to explore. Neither of us had spent any significant time in San Francisco.
Eleanor never told me about her finances, but apparently her writing career was ultra-successful. I'm embarrassed to give you the purchase price, but she purchased a two bedroom house in Noe Valley, a charming neighborhood in San Francisco, for the two of us. I offered to pay rent but she laughed and dismissed me with a wave of the hand as being silly.
We explored the city together, first doing the touristy things such as Fisherman's Wharf and walking the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we started hitting the restaurant and night scene, enjoying the vibrancy of the city's culture. We went to the new hotspot, a Chinese restaurant featuring handmade dumplings and noodles, and then a women's only club that Eleanor was introduced to in London that had an affiliated club in San Francisco. The club, tucked away in a dark corner of North Beach, featured a world class DJ and an excellent assortment of creative cocktails. I had learned to expect that Eleanor would be recognized, and sure enough after ten minutes in the club Eleanor was surrounded by a gaggle of fans. The drinks kept flowing as friends and admirers brought them to us. We were both a bit tipsy. Eleanor was asked by some of the women to dance and I stood to the side as each of them in turn laughed and casually touched Eleanor while they were on the dance floor.
A small modicum of jealousy was washing across me when a woman approached me and handed me a drink.
"Here sweetheart, I think you need this."
She was a tall redhead with long flowing wavy hair and the typical pale white freckly complexion. She was wearing a cream colored silk blouse, a short black pencil skirt and high heeled sandals. She was stunning.
"I've about had enough," I noted as to my current condition of sobriety.
"Honey, after seeing your girlfriend on the dance floor with all of those women you'll need more than this drink."
"Do you know Eleanor?"
"No, I don't. But I do recognize a jealous girlfriend. You haven't taken your eyes off of her."
She was right. I was staring at Eleanor and not being subtle about it. I'm sure my jealousy was easy to read as well.
"You're beautiful you know," said the redhead.
I was flattered. Here was a gorgeous woman telling me how beautiful I was. It was also a new game for me. I've always dated men and have a basic understanding of the unwritten ground rules between the sexes. But being approached by a woman was new to me. I had fallen in love with Eleanor but had no experience in the mating dance between women.
"Thank you. I don't hold a candle to you," I confessed.
"Nonsense, every woman's eyes in the room are on you. They're watching us now."
I was oblivious to that fact. But this woman had my attention.
"I'm here with some friends, but they've already gone home," said the stunning redhead. "My name is Kasey Parker."
"I'm pleased to meet you Kasey. I'm Camille Durand."
We had a polite handshake, but Kasey didn't let go, but instead used the fingers on her other hand to trace up my arm to my elbow.
"I'll bet you this is Camille's first girlfriend."
"How did you know?"
"It was an educated guess, given how you've been looking at your Eleanor with puppy dog eyes. Look at what a great time she's having."
Eleanor was on the dance floor with yet another one of her admirers, now holding her sandals in her hands as she danced barefoot. They were dancing close together and Eleanor had thrown her head back laughing at something they were sharing. My jealousy was festering like a wound.
Kasey could clearly sense the conflict going on within me. "You need some TLC right now." She put her arm around me and drew me close to her so we were side to side. We started swaying in sync with the music ... I was a bit lightheaded from the drinks ... I was thinking Kasey was so desirable ... Eleanor's eyes did wander ... I then resumed hearing the pounding beat of the music as my head was turned towards Kasey. Perhaps it was the moment. I leaned forward to accept her lips, momentarily forgetting Eleanor and thinking only of my carnal desires. Her lips were so soft, so enveloping, so moist. I was lost in them when our lips parted and our tongues met. It was raw passion. Eleanor was my one and only woman I had ever been with. With Eleanor it was love, always love. This was different. This was lust. I had never felt lust as I did when I was kissing Kasey. I was drinking from this well for the first time.
Kasey was the one that broke the kiss. I wasn't done and was hoping for more. She went into her purse and pulled out her business card. She jotted her cell phone number on the back and then mouthed "Call me." As she walked away I saw the reason for her quick exit. Eleanor was approaching me and apparently had not seen my stolen kiss with Kasey. She was giddy from the drinks and the dancing.
"Having fun sweetie?"
"I was, and it looks like you were too."
Eleanor's smile waned as she picked up on the slight annoyance in my voice. "I'm sorry honey. I thought you were OK with me dancing with some of my friends."
