Rebound Vacation Sex: Sweet Release
Author's note:
I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with the talented editor, neuroparenthetical, on improving this piece since its original publication.
Although she was now hundreds of miles from their home state, Sara still couldn't get Alex off of her mind. It had been months since they'd broken up. Sara had slept with one other woman since Alex. Still, it was memories of Alex that arrived unbidden throughout the day.
Sara entered a grand church. She dropped a few dollars in the collection box at the front, walked past the plastic display cases housing photos of its reconstitution after a fire in 1875, and sat in the first pew. Although a dozen tourists milled around the educational exhibit at the entrance, she alone was about to use the church for its intended purpose.
Reluctant to be parted from thoughts of Alex, Sara first reflected on kissing Alex's hairline, as though kissing her goodbye. Memories of the texture of her forehead surface, its skin tanned by hours spent playing softball outdoors. Sara had spent time studying Alex's pores. She knew the geography of the light lines, the crinkle between her eyebrows.
She was yet convinced that there was only room in her heart for one personβfor one big love. Everything else was...something else. It wasn't bad or wrong or unhealthy, but it simply wasn't what she now knew love could be. Her connection with Alex had become the standard by which her connection with all subsequent lovers would be measured. Sara knew her relationship with Alex was over and that she needed to recalibrate. She eventually prayed for the strength to move on from her yearning, and to find love again in a different form.
As she exited the church, feeling unburdened, she wondered why she hadn't prayed in her home state. Instead, she'd passed too many weeks reading mostly-unhelpful articles about break-ups. The newness of her surroundings seemed to be lending her fresh perspective. It was time for Sara to focus on opening her heart to fresh people and possibilities.
Newly inspired, she sat down on the nearest bench, removed her iPhone from her pink handbag, and started re-creating her previously-deleted dating profile.
Fifteen minutes later, on the same dating app on which she'd previously met Alex, she matched with Cristina Sanchez.
***
You look like the kind of woman who would be trouble for me,
Sanchez typed out, before hitting "send" to the woman she'd connected with on the lesbian dating app two hours earlier.
Good thing I'm only here for two days then!
replied Sara, adding a winking emoji.
Sara looked at Sanchez's profile for the fifth time that afternoon: a strong jaw, prominent cheekbones, and smiling, warm brown eyes.
It was Sanchez's eyes that had first captivated her--at once both sad and joyful. In the photo, sporting a baseball hat, the woman radiated a quiet confidence and a hint of defiance. There was real spirit there. Sara yearned to know this woman. She wanted to discover what drove her, to hear her story, and ultimately to sweat under her, surrendering herself to whatever they might become to one another.
I only date women from out of town,
Sanchez replied.
It's a small town -- I know everyone here.
The tourist-friendly town near Reno, Nevada really wasn't very large. Was Sanchez worried about developing a reputation amongst people she'd gone to elementary school with...or did she already have a reputation, keeping her from making more local connections? Sara reminded herself that she was in town for just two days and those were exactly the kinds of questions that she didn't need answered, and that Sanchez, in turn, didn't need answered about her.
I think we could have a really strong connection. I'll drive over to your hotel, pick you up in my truck, and show you a night out in the real Reno.
Sara fidgeted with her new coral necklace - a recent, overpriced tourist acquisition - for a few seconds before replying,
What time?
She'd miss a planned hike if she met up with Sanchez. Still, the thought of Sanchez's full lips, the way her smile curved up at the corners like she had a secret...Sara suspected time with Sanchez would be far more memorable. She made arrangements to be picked up at 5 pm.
***
Sanchez was almost an hour late when she pulled into the driveway of Sara's hotel. Sara was frustrated, wondering if she had made the right decision in postponing her hike, and whether Sanchez was going to show up at all.
Sanchez held the truck's door open for her, and Sara seated herself, recognizing that she didn't actually know any details of Sanchez's life, and what might have detained her. She chose to focus on enjoying their limited time together; she willed her anger to dissipate.
Sanchez extended her arm across the truck's console, massaging the back of Sara's neck with her dexterous fingers. "I see my being late has made you all tense. I promise you: I'll take care of that after dinner."
Sanchez's touch was highly effective, melting Sara's misgivings. The butch moved her fingers from Sara's neck to the stereo system saying, "I made you a playlist."