The first part of
In the Warm and Cozy
introduces all of the characters. It's a bit long but then their romances are pleasingly complicated. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Comments are appreciated. All characters are 18 or older.
In the Warm & Cozy, Part II Literotica
Chapter 1
With a half dozen bags and Janie's inimitable rolling cart at their feet, the girls impatiently wait for the train. The big silver double decker rumbles in:
At last, the train! Almost there!
Snooky thinks, excited by the newness of their huge move, of the cooking school where she will test her skills, of Janie and she being together, friends or lovers, any which way they want to be, of... Well, she sighs, the waiting now at an end, so to begin their fairytales--their stories of adventures with unknowable endings.
"Let's go girlfriend!" She says aloud, reaching for Janie's hand.
In the backward seats, faces pressed to the window, they wave to the loved ones left behind: Wistful Nellie, her blond hair frilly in the breeze, a 'wish you well, wish you'd stay' look sad-sweet upon her face. Bad, bad Irma, her hand on Nellie's hip, winking at the girls through--could it be?--glistening eyes. There stands Snooky's mother, Dessi, mouthing a single word at the older Janie, her if-only lover, a word on behalf of her beautiful virgin daughter: "care..." uttered on the curve of her cautious smile, careful do not break my daughter's heart; the other a mother's wish, care for her. Papa Roscoe, his arm snug around Dessi, nodding, goodwill wide upon his open face. Goodbye! Goodbye! They all wave, bittersweet, but bright in the sunny promise of the girls off on own: big city Boston, here they come.
As the train moves down the track, Snook says, "Us...finally!"
"Finally?"
"You know what I mean, Janie. Now you can turn all of your attention on your girlfriend. Your undivided attention. My Mom will not be at the cooking school to distract you."
"Dessi and I were only flirting." Janie says a tad defensively.
"I was there behind the couch listening. Who knew Mom was that hot."
"Your aunt, of course...and Irma. There's a list." Janie giggles.
"And you."
"Only a little...in the moment, but Roscoe hired me off the streets, a stranger. I didn't want to risk messing everything up. Nellie gave me a place to stay and you made me feel so...so accepted, like I was a long lost sister."
Snooky looks thoughtfully at her best friend and potential lover, "You are part of everything now, part of me, part of my family, part of the Bella Rosa Bakery, and someday part of the team of hot girl chief's in the Bella Rosa Bistro.
......
Together they stare at their new digs in the 'dorm' of the Masterson Culinary School. Unfortunately, dorm is a misnomer, but as their benefactor reminded them it is rent free. Gazing doubtfully through cobwebs, they step over piles of discarded kitchen equipment. Like a warehouse, it is a big room filled with a sea of boxes. In the eerie half light from windows blocked by unrecognizable stuff, it is a spooky panorama ready to sweep them away into kitchen chaos.
"A little gloomy," Janie says.
"Ya think!" Laughs Snooky.
"Well," Snooky says, "it is on the top floor--kind of an attic--and you know how much we love attics," and hugs Janie, who is still looking skeptically at the clutter everywhere.
"We might be able to use some of this stuff," Janie says. "We'll have to do some rearranging. Mr. Masterson said we could relocate as much as we can fit into the other rooms on this floor."
"At least we have a big stove, and gobs of pans and, hmm, dinnerware--lots of dinnerware" or so the labeled boxes stacked in a narrow row along the wall advised.
Following a goat trail lined with stuff, they discover the bathroom--well a shower and toilet, anyway.
"What happened to the sink?" Janie asks.
"I guess we have to use that metal monster in the kitchen," Snooky giggles. "You can have a sponge bath while you wash the veggies with your toes."
Under a tarp in the corner, they find an old cracked leather couch and a rocking chair, its seat sunk low.
"Our own little 'horny couch,' "Janie laughs. "Want me to pull it away from the wall so you have a place hide, Miss Sneaky Snook?"
"Careful with the nick names, Miss Virgin Vamp. Don't we want to start fresh in the big city?"
"Yes," Janie says, looking closely at her best friend. "We do want to start fresh--sorry."
Snooky wraps her arms around Janie and burrows into her warm neck, murmuring, "Fresh start!" Freeing herself reluctantly, she adds, "So we have most of the day to find a place to sleep in all this junk. Let's check the other rooms. We need a bed.--And a frig. Maybe, there'll even be a little space somewhere to shift things around..."
The door across from them is locked. None of the keys on the big ring Mr. Masterson lent them fit. So they go down the hallway to the rooms at the back of the building, where they find the right key only to reveal--yuck!--more junk, lots more junk. A light switch adds a little depth to the piles and there they spy--way in the back by a window that overlooks the alley--an old wooden bunk bed.
"A bed?" Snooky says dubiously, she had dreamed of a queen bed--one big enough to share comfortably with her Janie.
"Maybe we can take it apart to maker one big bed," Janie tickles Snooky. "Anyway, wasn't the bed at the Bella Rosa about the same size?"
"I guess..." Snooky pouts, then smiles, "hmm, you can sleep on the top, especially when it's cold and you hog the covers, although I will miss your warm bottom!"
"Yeah that'll happen, but our bigger problem is going to be moving this heavy thing," Janie says as they get closer. Then she giggles. "It's still neat, like living in a giant yard sale where everything is free for the taking..."
"And we have a week before school starts." Snooky adds, starting to widen the path to the bed. "If we stack the boxes more neatly, we should be able to slide it to that door, but it looks too small. How did they get it in here?"
Rummaging through another path, they find a box labelled tablecloths, "Sheets!" Janie points. "I hope they don't smell greasy." Then along the side wall they see a double door. "Ha! We can get the bed out through there."
After moving the boxes blocking the doorway, they turn the handle. The door squeaks like something caught and soon to be put out of its misery. Warily, they peak in. The room is pitch black, no windows.
"Ok, Miss Vamp, your territory, I think. Hope your relatives are friendly," Snooky laughs, as they pat along the wall looking for a light switch. "I don't want to go in there without a flash light."
"I'll go get one. You can stay here and guard the spooky door. I hope you're alive when I get back!" Janie grins, poking Snooky in the ribs.
"Ow!" Snooky says, "You are such a bitch. Wait..." and searches her pockets, until she pulls out a phone, "the flashlight app!"
Into the dark, down a path created by the silvery beam, they find a room filled with shelves of books, a few more boxes, and an antique chaise lounge. A desk and a light sit in the corner and there on the opposite wall another set of double doors and a light switch.
"Ha!" Snooky says as she flicks the switch.
In the mellow light of a dusty chandelier, they find a half-habitable room, a room that looks used. The desk is neat and not dusty and on its blotter an open book rests. "Want to check out your master's reading list, Miss Vamp?" Snooky asks.
Janie is looking at the titles of the books, many are classics, formally bound, sometimes in what looks like leather, old, without colorful jackets. Several shelves are full of large half-folio illustrated cookbooks.
"Look at all these great cook books, Snook!" Janie points. "We have our work cut out for us."
"We better get permission before we move anything in here." Snook says. "I think that chaise would be neat to study on."
From behind them then comes a deep voice: "I always thought so, too, until I feel asleep on it too often."
"Oh!" Janie says as Snooky jumps to her side. "You scared us."
"How could I scare you, Miss Vamp!"
"Yes, well...maybe by eavesdropping...you and Snooky might have something in common."
"Sorry! I'm Ernie--Ernie Holmes, I live on the other side of the hall. I just got here or I would have said something earlier. I wanted to see what you thought of the library."
"Hi Ernie! This is Snooky and I'm Janie."
"Please to meet you, I hope!" Ernie laughs as he smiles at the girls. He is a handsome boy with dark eyes and curly locks. Despite the deep voice he is thin and gentle looking, standing there in cutoffs. He looks sensitive but anything feminine is countered by his broad shoulders and strong, capable arms. Janie smiles when she spies Snooky admiring his body.
"You look like you could use some help." Ernie observes. The two girls are covered in dust and their hair is disheveled, but Ernie can see two beauties, smiling through the grime at him.
"We do! We want to move that bunk bed down to the room at the end of the hall. Did you say you live up here, too, Ernie?"
"Yep. Just across from you, if that open door down the hall is yours. Hope you're not into loud parties.
"No worries, we will be too busy studying. So, is this cozy library open for everyone to use?"