The scent of my mother's friend, Katherine, hasn't changed over the years. I change my choice of perfumes often, never satisfied that the one I was wearing at the time was appealingly representative of me. Not so with Katherine, who my mom always called Katie. The first time I noticed her scent was when I was sixteen. I was trying to learn what being a woman was, and I very much admired her.
"You smell nice," I had said politely one day when I was particularly close to the woman I had called Aunt Katherine since childhood. She placed her hand on my lower back, close to my hip, and reacted with a smile. That sent a chill, the pleasurable kind, up my spine. I didn't understand my body's response to her touch, but it felt good.
Aunt Katherine and I were estranged after my mother passed away tragically in an automobile accident. It was four years ago when I was a junior in college. My father would have nothing to do with her. I sensed something that caused tension between them, and I was told, rather ordered, not to have any contact with her.
When Katherine arrived for the meeting in the boardroom, I first smelled that familiar scent. I immediately got up from my chair, turned around to see if it was Aunt Katherine or some other woman wearing her perfume.
"Jenny, this is Ms. Katherine Jenkins. She has just come on board as the Senior Project Manager for the new Billings construction project," my boss told me. I was to be her personal assistant.
My mother and Katherine were engineers. They both always had good salaries, which is one of the problems with my father. He was a very talented chef at a hotel but earned less than my mother. There was some envy, especially because he needed to work on weekends. That's when my mother and Katherine would always be together.
I was naïve at first, but as I grew older, I began to understand that Katherine and my mother were lovers.
"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Jenkins," I said tepidly.
"Call me Katie," she responded with a smile. That's what my mother always called her. The awkwardness was growing.
"Ms. Jenkins, Katie, is an accomplished engineer. You'll learn a lot from her working closely together," my boss told me. I appreciated the opportunity to have an experienced engineer mentor me, but I was bewildered in my thoughts how it would work out with my mother's lover.
Katherine settled into her office. My desk was right outside her door. After about an hour, she called me into her office. "Let's go to lunch," she said. I didn't refuse her.
We sipped on iced tea while waiting for the salads we had ordered to arrive at the table. Katherine began the conversation.
"I loved your mother," she began. "I know your father never understood that and somehow thought she betrayed him." She paused reflectively for a moment. "Your mom loved him and wanted us to be happy together, but he could not relinquish his strict, old-fashioned ideals about love and marriage. He turned his back on both of us."
I let her confessions sink in for a moment and then had to ask," You and Mom wanted to have sex with my father? The three of you together in bed?"
"Yes, I suppose you could put it that way," Katherine replied. "I know polyamory sounds strange and dirty to you, but it isn't."
"Did you think what an impact that would have had on me?" I asked somewhat angrily. My father imbedded his immovable ideals of love, marriage, and parenting in my character.
"We were careful to hide it from you when you were small, but when you became a teenager, you could understand," she told me. "You are a grown woman now, and I'm sure you've had different experiences with men and, maybe, also with women."
"All I know is that my father told me you had betrayed our family," I said, confused. I know my mother loved Katherine, and my father hated her, only tolerating her presence to preserve their marriage. "I'm sorry, we are not beginning this relationship very well," I apologized.
"If this is too uncomfortable for you, I will request that another assistant be assigned to me," Katherine replied.
Something about her, more than her scent, unconsciously appealed to me. The warm feelings I had with her and my mother touched me the moment she walked into the boardroom. I won't tell my father about this, I concluded in my mind.
"No, please don't do that. I want to work with you," I pleaded. I was drawn back to the time she touched me and excited me. My mind said I should listen to my father, but my feelings for this woman were stronger.
Over the next few weeks, Katherine and I reviewed all the preliminary reports, hydrology, and essential infrastructure for the Billings project. I had never been to Montana, and soon, we were about to spend the next two years there.
"The summer there will be much more pleasant than here in Phoenix," my boss assured me when he originally offered me the project. Being only three years away from obtaining my engineering degree, this seemed like an opportunity to work with a great team and learn - a great start to a successful career, much like my mother's.
Since the company was covering my housing expenses in Billings, I was able to keep my apartment in Phoenix. This was convenient for the six weeks in winter when construction was paused due to the holidays and the cold temperatures. I figured it was better to pay the rent than to have to stay with my father and his new girlfriend.
What I didn't anticipate was going to Montana with Katherine.
"They secured us a two-bedroom apartment in Billings," I informed Katherine two weeks before we were scheduled to leave. She seemed to take the news that we were sharing an apartment in stride. I decided to keep our relationship strictly professional as well. It was a chance to learn from one of the country's most respected female construction engineers.
"That will be nice," she responded with a smile. "Since working together, I have felt very comfortable with you. I hope you feel the same with me," she said easily.
Once again, I felt this tinge in my pussy, dampness that came as I briefly pictured living alone with this woman, my mother's lover. Was there a gene I inherited that attracted me to her? I quickly realized that I needed to control my burgeoning desires for her, or I would jeopardize my professional career.
I arranged to ship most of our belongings, only taking a week's worth of clothing on the flight to Billings. It was like checking into a hotel. The two-bedroom, one-bath apartment was adequate, with a workable kitchen, a small dining area, and a living room with a single desk, a sofa, and a chair. The television was mounted on the wall.
"I think I'll buy myself a television for my bedroom," Katherine said as we surveyed our new living quarters. "I'll need to check the internet for streaming."
I wasn't sure why she needed a television unless she liked watching shows late at night, in which case she could use the living room.
