Landing on the Right Ey

(See Ch. 01 for background)

==Trepidation==

One would have thought that seeing what she had seen would cause Esmeralda's relationship with her cousin and friends to change. After seeing Veronica poolside with Flor, she had retreated to her room and sat in the dark for a while. She felt betrayed that she had been left out like some sort of child. Also, there was the issue of knowing such secrets about one another, as they had been so trusting of one another as kids.

After sleeping on it a little, Esmeralda looked at it from a different perspective. Maybe Veronica wasn't totally comfortable talking about her sexual life. Or she didn't want Esmeralda to think that she was the odd one out, although in this case that's exactly what had happened.

Up until now Esmeralda had believed, maybe wrongly, that she was in a more open household than her own back in Buffalo. It was also true, though, that there the atmosphere was less open because there was often nothing to report! In fact, Esmeralda was pretty sure that the drama alone was enough to attract people to Miami, never mind the more picturesque environment and the fun-friendly climate.

The rest of the evening was still unusual for Esmeralda. She had to pretend she had just arrived home by sneaking out the door and back in.Even after that, she found that every phrase that Veronica or Flor spoke to her or each other seemed to be a double entendre:

"I hope you got abreast of what your gonna be doing the rest of the summer."

"Do you think my mom oughta find someone to lay carpet in the foyer? The tile's really cold."

"Why are your hands so jittery, Esmy, you used to having muffs around them in Buffalo?"

This was undoing the positive feelings she had had during her trip down to the campus in the morning. The chilled atmosphere, casual conversation with the skater boy, and long bus ride home had given her pause to think that maybe a permanent move would be worth looking into. Instead now she was following their conversations more closely, and was wondering if this was all that was being hidden from her.

They were sitting at the dinner table that evening eating a traditional meal of seafood, rice, and plantains, while Flor was chattering away about the next day. "I'm gonna have to ask Gwen tomorrow how it worked out at that new gym."

"What new gym?" Veronica asked in reply.

An unusually intense look accompanied Flor's answer. "Um. . . that one she told us that her friend just opened. What did she call it? Incline-Nation. She said she'd try to check it out in the morning."

Esmeralda filed this information in her memory.

"That's a weird name," she remarked. "What do they focus on treadmills and stair climbers?"

Flor and Veronica stopped and looked at her. "Well. . . uh, I guess that's as good an explanation as any."

"Enough about that," Gladís interrupted. She focused on Esmeralda. She peppered her with questions like whether she had talked to her parents over the weekend or how she'd been impressed by the Miami Dade campus. Esmeralda felt that they were trying to divert her attention, and made a note that she should look up the gym that Flor had mentioned.

Later that night she logged on to her Acer laptop and typed in several spellings of inclination cross-referenced with Miami and gym, until finally a location in a building in Midtown popped up. She noted the directions to it, and reminded herself to visit it the next day.

Esmeralda then settled into her bed to go to sleep. It was past 1 AM and she knew she wanted to be awake and on the go the next day as she was still dependent on the buses, but her earlier forced nap after seeing Flor and Veronica at the pool had left her both overcharged from the sleep and wound up from the scene. Her night outfit of a t-shirt and boy shorts also had her feeling hot. She tried several methods to cool down, such as removing the covers and checking if the AC flow was good from the vents, but finally decided to sleep with the covers and remove her t-shirt and shorts. She was now laying there cooled and comfortable but the sleep wasn't forthcoming, so she began massaging her exposed breasts and playing with her nipples. Rarely had she touched herself in the past, and often Esmeralda had wondered why boys were so obsessed with their own pleasure. Her few successful attempts to relieve her desires solo were enjoyable, but left her unfulfilled when finished.

Now, however, she decided it would be a good way to expend energy and relax, and so she hooked her hands under the waistband of her simple purple cotton panties and peeled them off of her slim hips. Spreading her legs wide under the covers, Esmeralda began running her right hand over her slit and tried to concentrate on her body. Surprisingly, the images that then popped into her head were of women, bodies exposed grinding one on the other, and moaning in passion. It wasn't one continuous scene; rather it was sometimes her cousin and Flor in the same place she had seen them today, and sometimes they were random women she had known in high school or someone else, like her former lab partner Chloe, a shy and skinny raven-haired girl with a slim wiry body and clear pale skin.

This was unlike any previous session, as she continually was able to get her vagina moist and responsive, and after only a few minutes her pelvis convulsed in a climax for what was a short period of time but felt like a lot longer. The satisfaction was brief afterward, so Esmeralda reengaged afterward now imagining herself in tandem with the women she was conjuring up. Then, after what must have been the fifth time, Esmeralda's energy tapped out, and she settled in for a contented fitful slumber.

== Confrontation ==

The 8 AM bus down to Midtown was packed on this weekday, and Esmeralda had to stand initially. She knew she had to be at Incline Nation in the morning so as not to miss what she wanted to see. It was hard to improvise a real excuse for her aunt and cousin on why she needed to leave for the day and by herself, but she finally just told them that she had had enough of being cooped up or driven around and wanted to explore. This was very true in more ways than one. She had packed her tennis outfit and a racket in her bag so that she would have what to wear at the gym, and told them that she was going to check out some courts in the city.

She scanned the faces of the other commuters. Most of them seemed to be boring people, just like in Buffalo, with their business or other work attire, and briefcases. The glimpses she saw of the teens on the bus set her mind back to the images she had imagined the night before. Again, most of the subjects she was focused on were female. What was going on in her mind; had her cousin and friends flipped a switch that Esmeralda had never known she had? Or was this an inclination that she'd always possessed and had always waited for the right event to catalyse it?

Esmeralda shook out of her contemplation and realized her stop was only a block away. She pulled the stop cord and positioned herself near the door. Once the bus had come to halt, she practically leaped out and her bag swung freely against her frame propelling her outward. She adjusted her pace quickly realizing that people would think that somebody walking around like she was would be in distress. Tentatively, she withdrew her directions from her phone and began locating Incline-Nation. It took her more than ten minutes to locate the back-lit blue sign with large bold pink letters embossed on it that pointed an arrow at a stairwell descending below and behind a large storefront building. As she descended the stairs, she could hear the bass beat of some dance music, Groove Armada by the sound of it. Entering into the lobby, Esmeralda surveilled the large space sporting numerous treadmills, stair climbers, ellipticals, stationary bikes, and the like.

She went up to the reception desk. "Hi, I'm Terry," said the woman there, looking to be in her mid-20s, of thick build, but rather fit, "welcome to Incline-Nation."

"Hey. . . um, I'm Esmy. I'm looking to try this place out."

"Oh, I thought you looked new." Terry opened up a drawer and pulled out a flier showing the subscription pricing and periods. "That's so you know how it works here. And there's a list of all of the facilities and machines we have here," she pointed at a different side of the flier. "And you can actually start your free 7-day trial period today, if you want."

"I think I'll do that," Esmeralda answered.

"Great," Terry said as she pulled out some forms and gave them to Esmeralda with a pen to fill out. After that was done, Esmeralda smiled and handed back the clipboard,and she was handed a towel with the Incline-Nation logo, a globe with a treadmill track crossing it.

On first impression Esmeralda began to suspect she had wasted her time. She had to be discreet so that she wouldn't be recognized, so she made sure to wear a bandana, a pair of tinted shades, and an IPod (which was on, but also on very low volume). But it was obvious on first sight that Gwen wasn't there, at least not yet, because at this hour the fitness room was almost deserted apart from a handful of women ranging from their twenties to their fifties. Hopefully, Gwen hadn't come in the early morning.

Esmeralda figured that while she was waiting she might as well fit in and get a nice workout in the mean time. She went to the changing room and put on her outfit of grey lycra tights under a teal leotard. These were actually clothes that she hadn't used since she had been a volunteer for the youth gymnastics team in Buffalo, and the only reason they had been packed was because she had searched for a similar program to work with in Miami. After putting on her Skechers

For the first hour she alternated between the elliptical, the small free barbells in the weight room, and doing ab crunches and push-ups. Esmeralda had never prided herself on being especially fit or athletic. In fact, since outgrowing her gymnastics competitions by attaining a certain height, she had struggled to find a hobby that could take its place, often resorting to the exercise bike at home which allowed her to read simultaneously.

While finishing up her ab crunches, Esmeralda caught sight of about a dozen women leaving one of the side rooms with yoga mats. One of the last was Gwen, her dark cocoa skin accentuated by a golden yellow full body set of tights covered by turquoise shorts. Gwen always dressed well in the clubs, but Esmeralda had to admit that until now she hadn't noticed how good she looked, maybe because she simply wasn't as assertive and flashy as some of the rest of the girls in the circle, like Flor. She was speaking in hushed tones with one of the other women, a tanned brunette with soft doe eyes and flowing curls held back with a head band. They split from the rest of the group, which headed to the showers, and instead headed past a couple of doors that were labeled "Administration Only".

Esmeralda walked to a stair climber that was adjacent to the doors, but still slightly out of sight if somebody were to walk through. For about ten minutes, she figured that she was wasting her time again. Gwen could be in the offices for any number of reasons, including business. She could also be there for an eternity, and Esmeralda was already tiring of this exercise session. And another contingency that had occurred to her in that state of mind was that Gwen and her companion had left through a back exit, which meant that this was all a worthless pursuit. The other yoga women were leaving the showers and exiting the building, and for two more minutes the exercise club was practically deserted.

But just as she was about to give up and pack it in, Esmeralda perked up upon hearing the doors to the offices open. She saw Gwen and the other woman walk with purpose toward the showers, and her eyes arched in excitement as she saw the girl grab Gwen's hand. They were an eye-catching pair, and not just because of their very different complexions and colour schemes. Gwen was 5'9", while her companion was pushing six feet, both of them towering over her. Esmeralda bolted toward the showers, after carefully grabbing her towel and bag, and carefully opened the doors, thankful that the hinges were practically silent and there was no heavy thud when it shut. She tiptoed around the lockers until she heard the light sound of dragging fabric accompanied by giggling. Esmeralda peeked around a corner and almost gasped at the sight. Gwen's friend had removed her turquoise shorts and was peeling the yellow tights off of her shoulders.

"It's gonna take a lot of me to clean up a girl like you," proclaimed the woman. Esmeralda wondered who she was, and if her cousin and the rest of the gang knew of her. She revealed Gwen's breasts, medium sized orbs that were firm and somewhat muscular. and lowered her tongue to one of her nipples. "I get a real appetite after stretching."

"I'm gonna see if you can still hold some of those positions now," Gwen replied with a mischievous smirk. She now drew back away and turned around allowing her lover to slide off the rest of her outfit. Gwen giggled and hopped on one leg as she kicked out of it, and spun around to reveal her coffee brown skin glistening with the sweat of her exertion. She shimmied seductively and curled a finger in invitation.

"You gotta undress me too," teased the other woman, and she coyly snapped the straps of her own outfit. Gwen was in a buoyant and fun mood as she returned the favour by slowly and steadily unveiling her partner's physique from under the tight material, revealing soft sloped shoulders, a slender waist, and a beautifully toned ass. Although both were well sculpted, the mystery girl seemed to be the more athletic one, whereas Gwen's body had a softer feminine texture. After they were both completely in the buff, Gwen embraced her partner and drew her into a long, savoury sequence of kisses to her mouth and along her shoulders. Meanwhile she walked her deliberately backward towards the row of showers.

Once she had placed her lover there, Gwen ran back towards her locker. "You get started, I'll be right back. I'm just getting this showering lotion that you'll love." After Gwen had retrieved the item and returned, Esmeralda creeped behind a wall barrier and inched toward a better vantage point of the communal showers. She now saw in the clearest light the full bodies of these girls. The sight of water dripping down their forms from the gentle shoulders over the breasts and slim bellies and finally the flowing over their perfectly hairless vulvas was hypnotizing.

Esmeralda was transfixed as the two ladies shamelessly caressed one another. Gwen applied the lathering lotion liberally and was gratified by the moans and entreaties of her lover.Eventually Gwen's delicate hands dipped in between the valley of her friend's cunt and began focusing there. The sounds emanating from their mouths became more and more frenzied.

"Oh, you have to give me the full effort, baby," cooed the girl to Gwen. Gwen raised one of her legs up in order to spread her genitals, and then kneeled down to floor and looked up bringing her lips and tongue in contact with her lover's pussy. She began to carefully kiss and massage the girl's most intimate parts.

"You taste better than the best meal," remarked Gwen looking up. She was surprised to see that her lover's face was not looking at her but was frozen in surprise and looking ahead.

"What the hell do you think you're looking at?" exclaimed Gwen's lover. Gwen was indignant at having to break off her oral pleasuring, but reluctantly turned her head around and caught sight of Esmeralda standing with a digital camera in her hand.

Esmeralda hadn't really figured out until now what to say when she finally would have this confrontation. But after an awkward pause of a couple moments she recovered. "I thought it would be a shame if I was the only spectator to this great show."

"Esmy, are you out of your gourd?" proclaimed Gwen. "How? why? I can't even put into words these questions. Why are you here?" she finally stammered.

"Wait a second, you know this girl?" demanded Gwen's lover, and Gwen instantly caught the tone of jealousy. The room became prickly with tension now.

To be continued. . .