Threading the Needle

Thank you Terry, careythomas and snow for all your help in editing and improving this chapter. I couldn't have done it without you.

Like almost all of my series, this one will only be understood if you have read the chapters before it. Thank you to my readers for going along this journey with me.

Threading the Needle

Chapter 7

Reaching up to rub her temple, Marika looked away from her computer screen. So far, the whole morning was spent going over one spreadsheet after another. "I need a break," she thought. She spun slowly in her chair to look out the window. Unfortunately, the beautiful view of Mount Rainier was nowhere to be seen today. The sunny weather of the weekend was still in Eastern Washington, but it was back to rain in Seattle.

"It's grey," Rikki thought. Even though it was mid-morning, the sky was a dark grey and the lights in the office were necessary to see well. For the second straight day, a steady rain fell. "Dismal. That's the word for it," Marika said aloud. Normally the Seattle weather didn't get her down, but it seemed to match her mood this week.

When her cellphone rang, Marika picked it up and smiled. A call from Yamile was always something she enjoyed. "Just the break I'm looking for," she thought.

"Hey there," Marika said.

For once, there was no sunny voice answering. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you answered," Yamile replied. Her voice was tight and broken up by little breaths as if she was sobbing.

"Yamile, what's the matter," Marika said. Something was terribly wrong. She heard her friend take a shaky breath.

"It's Claudio," Yamile said. "I got a call that he has been in a car accident. It's bad, Marika. He's dead. Oh, my Querido is dead!" She broke down crying. Marika felt her heart wrench at the thought of the man who was so full of life not being alive anymore.

"Oh Sweetie, I am so sorry. So, so sorry. What can I do?" Marika asked. Yamile wouldn't have called unless there was something.

"Can the girls stay with you? I thought about taking them, but the doctor said.... He said, oh God, that he is so mangled. I don't want the girls to see him like that." Yamile could barely get the words out.

"Of course. Paloma and Rosa are welcome to stay with us as long as you need," Marika said. "When are you leaving?"

"I have a flight just after 2 PM. The girls are here with me at home," Yamile told her. "I need to leave for the airport in two hours. I don't want them to be alone, Marika. I know it's a lot to ask but can you take off and get them before I go?"

"Yamile, you know I will. I'll shut down here in a couple of minutes and let my boss know," Marika assured her. "Don't worry about it. You need me and they need me."

"Oh thank you. You are the best friend! Claudio's father and mother are going with me, or they could stay with them. We'll get in late and then there will be things to take care of tomorrow, so we should be back in two days, on Thursday," Yamile said. "This is such a relief. Thank you again."

"You're welcome. At least I can do something to help. Oh Yamile, I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say," Marika said.

"Thank you. Okay, I have to go. I need to pack. I will see you soon," Yamile said.

"Bye Yamile. I love you. I'm thinking of you and the girls. See you in a bit," Marika told her just before the call ended.

Now that she was off the phone, the full impact hit Marika. Before, she just stayed focused on what she could do to help Yamile. She felt the tears began to fall. Leaning over, she put her hands over her face and sobbed. "How will Yamile survive?" she thought. She never knew anyone so in love with her husband. They were perfect for each other. Claudio loved her just as much.

"Marika? What's wrong?"

Looking up with her mascara running, Marika saw Winnie hesitating at the door. The concern for her friend was clear. The hesitation didn't last long and she came around the desk to put her arms around Marika. "What's wrong?" she asked again as she held her tight.

Having Winnie's arms around her helped a little. Hugging her back, Marika didn't speak as she struggled with getting her emotions back under control. At last, she felt the sobbing begin to subside. She took a long shaking breath, but she still didn't let go of Winnie.

"You remember me telling you about my friend Yamile?" Marika asked with her face pressed into Winnie's neck. She felt her nod. "She just called. Her husband was killed this morning in a car accident. Oh my God," she said as the tears threatened to overwhelm her again. Winnie's arms tightened around her and pulled them closer.

"Oh Marika, I'm so sorry," Winnie said in a whisper. She didn't know what else to say. Losing someone close was something she fortunately had yet to deal with. She felt Marika letting go and pulling away. Reluctantly, Winnie did the same. It was all she had to offer her friend.

"I have to go," Marika said as she sat up straight. "It happened in Boston so she needs to go out there. I need to pick up her daughters in a little while." She began to save her work and then shut down her laptop. "I'll be online later, if anyone needs me."

"What can I do to help?" Winnie asked. Marika paused and looked at her. Despite it all, the running mascara, the grief that verged on becoming tears again, Winnie noticed how lovely she was. Her own heart hurt for her friend, but at the same time, she missed the feeling of Marika's body against her. "I'm crushing so hard on her," she thought to herself.

It wasn't a new thought. Since the weekend, it was hard not to replay it in her mind. While watching Liz and Jana was exciting in a very raw way, and both almost kissing Lena and actually kissing Logan was more sensual in their own ways, it was spending the night next to Rikki that was most on her mind. Why had it bothered her so much? Now, a couple of days later, she had worked it out in her mind. "I've got a huge crush on my married, straight co-worker," she admitted to herself.

With their faces close together, Marika smiled at her and reached out to wrap her hand around Winnie's wrist. She squeezed gently and managed a little smile. Her voice was soft and she was completely unaware of how seductive it sounded to Winnie. "You already helped with your hug, Winnie. Thank you," she said.

It was all Winnie could do to hold back from kissing Marika. "Anytime," she said with a little nod. Standing up, she moved back to the door before turning and leaning against the door jam. "But if you need anything at work, let me know that too," she said.

Pausing in what she was doing, Marika looked over at Winnie. "I will, Winnie. Thanks," she said. "Actually, could you ask Arlene to come here? It will save me the time of going to see her," Marika said. Telling her boss what was going on was something she couldn't forget.

"Of course," Winnie said. She took a few steps before turning and looking through the doorway. "Don't forget. If you need anything, you let me know!" she said. Winnie didn't wait for an answer. She needed to track down Arlene so that Marika could leave. It was a little thing, but it was one thing that she could actually do for her.

Later that day, Marika was in the kitchen with her laptop. It took a while, but both girls finally settled down. Rosa was out in the family room, playing with Kieran. He didn't quite understand what happened, but Kieran could see that his big friend was sad. He was making every effort to make her feel better. It gave Rosa something to focus on and helped to stop her crying. Kieran got more hugs than normal from her, but he didn't mind. Other than his mother, Rosa was the girl he liked the most.

Closer to adulthood, Paloma wanted to be with Marika. Wrapped up in a blanket right next to her, Paloma watched her work on spreadsheets. At first, Marika tried talking with her, but the teen didn't have much to say. She just needed that presence of someone who cared about her. Paloma leaned against her and Marika frequently paused to give her hugs. When the reality of what happened overwhelmed Paloma, she held her as she cried, sometimes joining in.

Right now, she seemed to be doing okay. Marika took the opportunity to go check on Rosa. Putting some cookies in a plate, she walked to the door of the family room. Kieran seemed to be in the middle of explaining something to Rosa. He was so cute that she paused to listen.

"The lions were sleeping in their cave so we couldn't see them," he was saying. He was wiggling as he lay on the ground. "But we saw the giraffes. They didn't care it was raining," he said with a giggle.

Marika frowned. "When did Kieran go to the zoo?" she wondered. He loved it, but she couldn't remember ever taking him in the rain. When she and Samuel had their little fight about doing things with Kieran, she mentioned the zoo, but Samuel hadn't said anything about going. It did rain this weekend, though.

"The otters didn't care either. They were running around and playing," Kieran continued to tell his story. It was his typical wandering tale of free association as thoughts came to him. "Jasmine held me up so that I could see better. She was nice. She smelled pretty too, like Mommy when she goes out to dinner." He looked at Rosa. "Remember, this is our secret," he said in a very serious voice. "I'm not supposed to tell Mommy because Daddy said she would misunderstand. Jasmine is Daddy's friend but mommies don't like daddies to have girl friends."

Facing away from the door, Kieran hadn't noticed that Marika was listening. He wasn't even paying attention to Rosa. He had one of his Lego toys in his hand and his attention was on that, waving it about as he talked.

Rosa, however, saw Marika. Her eyes were huge as she looked at Marika. At fifteen, she was old enough to know what was going on. She didn't say a word.

"She's pretty, but not as pretty as Mommy," Kieran said in his serious voice. "We had burgers afterwards." He dropped his voice conspiratorially. "She let me have half of her fries!" he said as if that was amazing.

"That bastard," Marika thought. Jasmine was that young assistant at Samuel's work, the young and pretty one. Marika met her at his company's Christmas party. She hadn't cared for her much. While she was used to Samuel flirting, Jasmine seemed a little too responsive, although Marika stopped objecting to Samuel doing that a long time ago. When she did, he made her feel like a jealous and overly possessive wife without ever admitting any responsibility for her acting that way. This time she knew she wasn't jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"He's fucking her! And now he is introducing her to our son?" Marika thought to herself. All her fears and worries coalesced in an instant. How much did he care about their marriage if he was doing that? In the next moment, a flare of deep anger began to burn. "I don't know if it fucking matters how much he cares."

Turning around, she went back into the kitchen and put the plate down on the table there. Getting a glass, she filled it full of milk and placed it next to the cookies.

"Kieran, I have some cookies here for you!" she called out. She heard him jump up and the little patter of his feet as he ran into the kitchen. His eyes were bright and looked at the plate. "Sit down," she told him. "You can eat three, if you drink all your milk." She reached over and picked up a couple cookies. "I'll go see if Rosa wants some," she said. Kieran didn't need to be asked again and climbed up onto a chair and grabbed a cookie.

Pausing before going out into the other room, Marika looked over at Paloma. "Make sure he drinks that milk, okay?" she said. "Have a cookie or two yourself, if you want." Nodding, Paloma got up and shuffled over to sit with Kieran, still wrapped in the blanket.

Walking into the living room, Marika sat down on the couch. Rosa was on the floor next to it. She still had wide-open eyes and clearly didn't know what to say. Patting the sofa next to her, Marika said, "Come sit here and have a cookie, sweetie."

As Rosa took a cookie, Marika put an arm around her and hugged her. "You have enough to think about, Rosa. Don't worry about me, okay?" she told the girl. "You and your sister need to help each other and help your mom." She felt Rosa lean against her.

"But Mr. Samuel, he's..." Rosa started to say before trailing off. It was hard to say the actual words. She sounded even younger than she was.

"I know, but right now that isn't as important as what you are going through, and your sister, not to mention your mom." Marika turned to look Rosa in the eyes. "Sweetie, I need you to keep this to yourself. If you tell your mom, it will just take away from what she needs to do. She is one of my best friends and she will want to take care of me. Rosa, I need to help take care of her. So this needs to be our secret, alright?"

Rosa slowly nodded before giving her a hug. As she pressed her head against Marika's shoulder, she spoke very softly. "Miz Marika? I'm sorry." The way she said it almost brought on the tears that Marika was holding back. "You don't deserve this," Rosa added.

"Thank you, Sweetie. You don't deserve what's happened either," Marika said.

The anger and sorrow over her marriage mixed with the grief over Claudio's death. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts. "He was such a good guy. It's not fair. Why him? Why not...?" She stopped herself before completing the thought. It was too horrible. "I don't want him dead," she told herself, "but I can't help wishing it was Samuel instead. Just a little." That thought was almost as tragic as Claudio's death. How had they got to that point, she wondered.

Absentmindedly, Marika took a bite out of the other cookie and slowly ate it with her arm around Rosa. After a little bit, Kieran came back into the room and looked over at his mother and his friend. The feeling of sorrow touched even him. Walking quietly over, he climbed up into Marika's lap and snuggled against her when she put her other arm around him.

"Don't be sad, Mommy," he said. His childish voice was in stark contrast to how seriously he spoke. "It will be okay."

Marika hugged him harder. She didn't say anything. As the tears started to run down her face again, she thought, "Oh my sweet angel, they won't be. How can they be?" She didn't know if that was for herself, or for Yamile and her girls. It didn't really matter.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on for everyone. When Marika got a text from Samuel saying he needed to work late, it was a relief. The last thing she wanted tonight was to have to spend time with him. It would make it easier on Rosa too. All of the kids went to bed a little early. Having Rosa around wore out Kieran and there were no protests when Marika took him to bed.

The girls got a call from their mother before bedtime. She and Marika only talked for a little bit, mostly so that she could assure Yamile that they were doing okay. The stress Yamile was under was easy to detect. After the shock of the news and the flight across the country, she needed to get some sleep. For the girls, the long stressful day left them feeling exhausted too. Since they had to share a bed in the guest room, Paloma decided to go to bed at the same time as Rosa. It was easier.

Once she had them all tucked in, Marika got ready for bed too. She wasn't quite ready to go to sleep, but it felt comforting to get into her nightshirt and slip into bed with the covers pulled up around her. With the pillows piled up, she leaned against the headboard. The empty space next to her was a reminder of Samuel's betrayal.

"Am I surprised?" Marika wondered. Not really was the only answer she could find, but having vague suspicions wasn't the same as knowing it. Before, she could push those away. Now, decisions needed to be made. She just didn't know what they would be. Nor did she really want to make them just yet. Her situation was systemic. Yamile's problems were a crisis.

Marika felt restless and wasn't feeling any sleepier than when she got in bed. Part of it was not having anyone to talk to about it. Not about Samuel, it was too soon for that. She still needed to sort out her feelings a little more. It was talking about Claudio and Yamile that she needed. It was the type of sorrow that would only be helped by sharing with a good friend.

Maybe Liz would be free, she thought.

*****

Miles away, only candles lit Lena's apartment. It seemed like a romantic thing to do when she and Liz came back there after they met for dinner. If she thought about it now, she might have wondered why she bothered. There was nothing particularly romantic about what happened after she finished lighting them.

As she turned, Liz was right there behind her. Only inches separated them. With both of her hands, Liz cupped her face and pulled her into a kiss. Lena's lips only stayed closed for a moment. When she felt Liz open her mouth, she did the same. Tilting her head slightly, Lena accepted her tongue. The kiss turned hungry immediately. Both of their mouths pressed hard against each other.

If Lena had any thoughts about playing hard to get, they vanished in an instant. Placing her hands on the small of Liz's back, she pulled her into a tight embrace. As Liz's arms went around behind her neck, Lena moaned into the kiss. Her body felt on fire. At last, she was getting what she had wanted for weeks. Liz's full attention felt as good as she imagined it would.

She wasn't even aware of how she was grinding her pussy against Liz as all the pent up desire was unleashed. Lena felt Liz spinning slowly around and then pushing her up against the wall. One hand moved down Lena's body to grasp her t-shirt and yank it up.

"Oh, fuck yes!" Lena hissed as she felt Liz pulling it up higher. It went up and over her breasts to bunch below her neck. Liz's hand slid down over her bra to touch the bare skin of her tummy. The shudder that went through her body was easy to feel and even see. A hungry look flashed on Liz's face and she pushed at the t-shirt a little more.

Figuring out what she wanted, Lena slipped her arms out and then pulled her shirt over her head. Dropping it to the floor, she replaced her hands on Liz's back. After another hard kiss, Liz began to kiss down her neck. Each kiss forced out a little gasp from Lena, and by the time she felt those lips touch her collarbone, they were full-fledged moans.

With all the erotic noises Lena was making, Liz felt her own excitement rapidly burning higher. Still, she wanted to keep it under control and concentrate on giving Lena as much pleasure as possible to make up for her long and mostly patient wait.

Now that her shirt was off, Lena felt the air touch her nipples, already constricting into hard little points. With breasts that were exactly right for her size, she had the option of not wearing a bra, and that is what she chose to do tonight. After all, her purpose was to capture Liz's interest. "God! I really succeeded, didn't I?" she thought to herself, gasping as she felt Liz's warm mouth cover the tip of one of her cone shaped breasts.

Lightly sucking on it, Liz caressed Lena's nipple with her tongue. Taking her time, she moved her tongue around the areola, tracing the tiny but detectable bumps that marked its edge. When she heard a long drawn out moan, she knew it was having the desired impact.

Moving her hand up into Liz's hair Lena pushed her head a little, wanting Liz to ratchet up her activity. Drawing out the long flirtation of these weeks was both frustrating and thrilling. All of her fantasies about Liz as a lover were proving to be true, but now Lena couldn't wait any longer. She wanted Liz to take her the rest of the way.

Baring her teeth, Liz grasped the hardened nipple and tenderly tugged. It provoked a long groan that only encouraged her in continuing to play. Cupping the other breast in her hand, she moved over to it. Opening her mouth wider, she took in as much of it as would fit. Sucking on it and swirling her tongue around made it moist, and when she lifted off it, Liz pursed her lips and blew a drawn out breath onto it.