Mina and Lisa - by Polly+Anna (2260 words) Aviary Insemination -- for Twilight Harlequin (1/28/20)
Mina and Lisa had spent the past year working 70-hour weeks in the 54th floor "dungeon" of Dewey, Cheatham and Howe, one of the most prestigious law firms in Manhattan. It had been an iffy thing - their supervising partner Mark Quesdesade had only grudgingly agreed to give them both two weeks of vacation time after Lisa recognized a key client's distress in a conference and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Saving his life whilst managing partner Don O. Howe obliviously prattled on with his analysis of the "current legislative situation in Washington" at $600 an hour.
Three nights ago, they had arrived at the airport in Miami from Newark and boarded The Queen of the Caribbean, a huge cruise ship docked at the port downtown. The ship made port calls at Cozumel and Costa Maya Mexico and would return to Florida a week hence by way of Belize City and Roatan, but today the ship docked in Belize City.
After touring the docks of the old port, they were feeling adventurous and stopped at a Garinagu restaurant in the old town where they sat at a table on the sidewalk enjoying an 80-degree day in January. They listened to Punta music and dined on an assortment of savory, flaky, baked, yellow pasties that contained various fillings and spices baked inside of an egg-white glazed and turmeric seasoned shell.
The specialty of the house was a sampler plate with smaller versions of each type of pasty filled with different shredded meats There were several - beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and goat, as well as seafood, shrimp, lobster and fish. Paired with a plate of sliced goat cheeses and flat bread, and accompanied by a couple glasses of the local Orange Walk Rum it did not disappoint.
Looking at the ancient British Customs House up the cobblestone street, Mina said to her best friend who had recently become her lover, "only one thing could make today better."
"That would be?" Said Lisa the well-prepared lawyer. As she preferred to do, she was asking a question that she already knew the answer to.
"A baby."
"Oh, yeah," said Lisa, "you may have mentioned that."
"Only, three or four hundred times." Mina said. "Don't you feel that urge."
"I suppress it," Lisa said, "I only know one guy that would make good 'daddy material,' you could have his baby, but I can't."
"Look," Mina said, "I like Elliot, and it might be cool to have your brother's baby, it is about as close as we could come to the two of us having a baby together. But he is married, and I just don't..."
"If you don't let yourself have experiences," Lisa said, "then you can't have good experiences."
"Yeah," said Mina, "but the thing is: I have had experiences, and I haven't had even one good experience."
"There are sperm banksβ"
"And get a random sample," said Mina, "no. No thank you. Damn... I'm sorry, I'm not being 'Debbie Downer' am I?"
"No, we will just say it's the rum speaking."
"It's not that," Mina said, "I'm ovulating."
"Really," said Lisa, "you keep track of that?"
"You know me, I'm Ms. O.C.D.. It works out great professionally, then it drives me crazy in my free time. When I'm not at work."
"Well," said Lisa, "we work at the right place then, what's 'free-time.'"
***
They took a taxi to the Municipal Airport where they walked through the terminal and boarded the shimmering white Cessna Caravan through a miniature mobile stairway. The airplane was appointed like a millionaire's plaything, with five overstuffed tan leather seats and two matching sofas, deep pile beige carpeting and real polished wood trim in the passenger cabin.
Mina referred to her itinerary. It said that the little tropical resort hotel at Dangriga, their destination, was 35 minutes to the south. Although there was space for a dozen passengers, Mina and Lisa seemed to be the only ones on this flight.
"Good afternoon and thank you for flying Island Air. I am Anna, and I will be acting as your cabin steward on our little flight today," the very smartly dressed slightly older lady said to them as they sat together on the sofa near the center of the airplane. "Polly, our pilot, will be flying us to the picturesque village of Dangriga, gateway to the rainforest. Buckling your seat belts at this time is recommended."
"Thank you," Lisa said.
Mina nudged Lisa, and said, "Four girls on an airplane, guess I'm not getting preggers on this flight."