I would just like to thank Tall Poppy for helping me edit my story. If there are any mistakes they are mine. If some characters are familiar it's cuz they're the characters from my story 'Worth It Completely.' Enjoy!
*****
Marie Garcia was finishing her report as she glanced up at her window to take a break, looking at the setting sun. She leaned back in her chair, her elbow on the armrest; her forefinger tracing her lips as she thought again of how she came to be there. Looking at Marie you could definitely see from her long dark brown hair, almond eyes, and brown skin that she was most definitely not an American. Still, some mistook her for being Spanish or Mexican and were always surprised when told she was actually Asian.
It had been a year since she left her country to move to Denver, U.S.A. Growing up, she never would have imagined she could do such a thing, considering she was born and raised in a very strict and conservative society - a culture where the women only got to leave the house when they were married off and not before then.
Her reason for leaving was to be with the woman she loved. A woman she thought felt the same way about her. Her move to Denver was supposed to have been a wonderful surprise for Jasmine, but Marie ended up being surprised... no, make that shocked & devastated. Her heart twinged at the thought of Jasmine... Jasmine Ward. Even after things went bad, Marie decided to forge ahead and accept the overseas job that had been offered to her. It would give her a chance to live a life of independence away from her restrictive family and upbringing and most of all to be herself... a woman attracted to other women. Although there were women like her in her country, it was most definitely still not accepted and was frowned upon.
It all started with the two women meeting online in a chat room. Marie was hesitant to connect at first since she had never done anything remotely like it before. For reasons she could not for the life of her explain, she took to Jasmine right away. All she knew was that she felt very calm and comfortable with her. They were both career women - Marie was a loans officer at a local bank in her country while Jasmine, although British by birth, was working as a doctor in Denver. She had studied in the US and decided to stay and work there, electing not to return to London.
They chatted innocently at first but as the weeks went by, they realized that they had a lot in common. Both women were single... they had both had their share of boyfriends and although both had been attracted to women in the past, neither had done anything about it. Each had an experience where they had a female friend come on to them but were afraid to pursue it despite their attraction for fear of how their personal and professional lives would be affected. Although Marie had dated men in the past, she had never felt so attracted to anyone that she wanted to share everything with them. She was still a virgin and at some point had begun to believe that she must actually be as frigid as past dates had described her. That thought was blown apart when she met Jasmine in cyberspace.
When they moved from the chat room to e-mail, Marie was the first one to send her picture then Jasmine followed after a while. Both definitely liked what they saw and slowly their conversations turned flirty...then seductive...then sexual. As the months went by, they progressed to other means of communicating, moving from e-mail to text messages and voice calls to video calls. All of their messages or calls started with the two women sharing their thoughts and visions of how they wanted to be with each other and ended with them coming together. They had explosive phone sex which left them both satisfied but wanting so much more.
They had been corresponding for close on a year when Marie thought of applying for a job in Denver so that they could finally be together and be each other's first time with another woman... to be able to finally do to each other what they had imagined so many times. She didn't tell Jasmine her plans since she wanted to surprise her, so when her application was approved she couldn't wait to tell her the news when they had their next scheduled video call.
The moment the call started, Marie felt that something was off with Jasmine - her attitude and demeanor spoke volumes even if she said nothing. Finally, Marie could no longer handle the tension and asked her point-blank what was wrong. Jasmine couldn't even look her in the eyes as she said, "Baby, I don't want to say this...this is so hard for me...but it would never work with us. What we have is a long-distance virtual relationship. I think we should both move on and be with someone that we can actually be with...I mean physically." Marie could feel her heart thumping so hard and fast. It clenched so tight and hurt so much she thought it would literally break into pieces. With effort she kept calm, looking at Jasmine and in a soft voice asked, "Why don't you just tell me what's really going on? You and I have discussed visiting each other so that's not the problem. At least give me that."
"Ummm...Tracy is back here in Denver...and I...ummm...want to see if...." Jasmine said hesitantly. Marie closed her eyes from the intense pain she felt with those words and hearing that name. Tracy was the friend who had come onto Jasmine a long time before, but she hadn't done anything to pursue it despite her attraction, fearing the reaction of her family and friends. "You want to see if things could finally work out between you." She finished for Jasmine.
"Baby, I'm...." and before Jasmine could say anything more, Marie lifted her palm to the screen to stop her. "Please...please don't call me that...you don't have the right to call me that anymore. I'm no longer your baby...I don't think I ever was." Taking a deep calming breath, she prayed to all that's holy that she wouldn't break before she finished. "I... I really wish you all the best. Goodbye, Jasmine." She ended the call as tears started to run down her face.
Marie's thoughts were broken by knocking on her office door. Coming back to the present, she was surprised to find wetness on her cheeks. She quickly wiped the tears away as she answered, "Yes? Come in." She turned towards the door which opened to reveal her boss, Toni Stevens.
"Hey Marie! It's quitting time. You about ready to join me in our other job? Liz is waiting for us...says it's a slow night at the bar and with our combined beauties it might encourage both the women and men to enter the place!" Toni said with a smile. "Hey, you alright?" she asked, noticing the telltale redness of Marie's eyes.
"Oh! I'm fine...thanks for asking. Well, we can't have Liz waiting now especially with her being pregnant and all. Just let me shut off my computer and get my things." Marie stood up from her chair and packed up. "What about Laurel? Will she be joining us? With her around we would be like the femme fatale trio!" Marie said with a big smile on her face.
"You know Marie you're very pretty but when you smile it makes you beautiful. Just keep smiling and be happy alright?" Toni encouraged Marie. "As for Laurel, my beautiful baby, she'll join us as soon as she's done with her client. Now let's haul ass shall we?"
*******
It was a slow Tuesday morning at work as Marie looked at the e-mail message sent to her by Jasmine just a few minutes before. It wasn't the first time that Jasmine had sent her an e-mail. In the previous six months she had sent numerous messages asking how she was and if they could talk. Marie ignored every one, wondering what on earth they possibly had to talk about. And if Jasmine wanted to be friends...well tough cookie! Marie couldn't think of them being 'just friends' after everything they had shared over the course of the one year they were corresponding. How could she go from explicit talks of caressing, touching, kissing, and making each other come to "how's the weather" and "how's your day coming along?"
The e-mail was simple: "Hey there...I know we didn't end things right and it was all my fault...You could probably just ignore this message along with the others I've sent you these past months...But if you could please, please talk to me...It wouldn't take that long I promise you...And you don't have to say anything...I would just like to say what I have to say and that would be it if you prefer. Jasmine."
Marie took a deep breath and without really understanding why, she replied to Jasmine's email. "I'm ok to talk now." It wasn't even ten minutes later when an alert popped up for a new mail. "Hey! Hi! Do you still use the same user name?" Jasmine replied. "Yes." was all that Marie could write, already half regretting her actions.
Marie felt like she was going to have an asthma attack. She couldn't breathe properly while waiting for Jasmine to go online. Her whole body felt like it was shaking. She started taking deep calming breaths as Jasmine did just that and started the video call. Both their breaths hitched at the same time when they saw each other on the screen for the first time in a year. "Ummm... Hi... Thank you for allowing me this.... You look great... Your hair is longer ... It...ummm... It suits you." Jasmine stumbled on her words as she was rendered breathless by the sight of Marie on the screen. 'God! She looks so gorgeous with her long dark hair falling just below her grogeous breasts. Her full lips still look like a perfect bow' she thought to herself.
