This is one of those stories that started with snatches of a love scene and then I had to work backwards to find out how these two women got to know each other. I'm not sure how many parts this story will have but there will a part two at least.
*****
They say that love is like a butterfly, the more you chase it the more it eludes you, but if you sit still long enough it sits on your shoulder. Toni frowned as she knotted the tie. She wasn't sure if that was the way the proverb went, maybe it was happiness that sat on your shoulder but as she slid the knot up to her throat she felt a slight tremor of anticipation at the thought of seeing Carina at work again tonight.
Does this mean we're lovers? Toni pushed her glasses further up her nose, daring herself to ask the question. Does this make me a lesbian? She opened her mouth but the words never came out and as she recalled the previous night it seemed almost natural despite the forbidden aspect. She was a straight girl or had been until she moved to Chicago, chasing the American Dream, her dream was to be a writer.
Perhaps that was what had drawn her to Carina, the daughter of an embassy official. She'd lived in three countries, Indonesia, Pakistan and finally Jordan, although there was a brief stint in Syria before the war broke out. They'd met when Toni took on a part time job at a restaurant, Carina was a full time waitress and she'd taken Toni under her wing as part of her job requirements.
Carina was a half head taller than her with a statuesque figure and a thick mane of dark brown hair that was always tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were brown and when she smiled she exposed her dimples, her complexion was dark brown. She was a marked contrast to Toni's petite figure, pale complexion, long blonde hair and blue eyes.
Carina was patiently saving money for a flight to Britain, where she intended to take advantage of her mother's British nationality to enrol at Glasgow university to study political science. She had studied politics at a community college but had spent the last two years working in restaurants and cafés. But last year she'd experienced a close call with death when two rival drug dealers decided to take each other out on a public street, Carina was only saved when a man threw her to the ground and covered her with his body. In the aftermath of the attack Carina decided to do two things. Move to a country with stricter gun laws, and enrol at university and do a proper degree.
"My grandparents live in Glasgow, along with two uncles, three aunts and God knows how many cousins, this is my chance to get out and make my mark."
Their conversations covered a broad range of subjects from politics and music to travel and books, although her political views were an eye-opener. Despite her Conservative upbringing, Carina had a very cynical view of American foreign policy, describing it as a 'train wreck of monumental proportions.'
"Dad likes to think we're making a difference," she remarked during a meal break one night, "but then again he brought me up to believe in Santa Claus too."
"I support the troops though."
"And what about when they come home with no legs because our Congress decided to export American democracy to another country? Then they suddenly can't find money for veterans and don't get me started on health care, we spend more than the next ten countries combined on our own military but can't set up a public health service."
Toni pushed her glasses further up her nose as she tried to formulate a reply.
"Sorry, too radical for you?"
"I agree," she replied a moment later, "on everything you said. I just never heard anyone say it quite like that and I didn't know we spent that much on our military."
There was one topic however where she definitely acknowledged a divergence of paths. Carina was very open about sex and sexuality, indeed if you got her talking she could tell you things they didn't tell you in school and she put that down to her travels throughout Europe.
"They're very open about sex in Europe, here it's like a taboo subject."
It was certainly taboo for Toni. She was the youngest of three girls born to free-wheeling parents born too late for the Flower Power movement but they'd certainly inherited some of their creeds, which included sex education. It was embarrassing enough to have hippy parents in a Republican area, but when Toni's mother pulled a condom over a banana in the presence of her daughter's girlfriends it had taken her months to live it down. It went right around the school and she even had to face up to the school counsellor and submit to his rather halting appraisal. Suffice it to say, her mother had been warned by the Deputy Head that such things were not to be discussed in front of teenagers.
In hindsight, her mother's 'tutorial' was harmless enough and she could even smile about it through gritted teeth but sex and sexuality was definitely not a dinner subject. Her two sisters on the other hand seemed to have gone the other way and embraced the hippy lifestyle up to a point but Toni found discussing sex so openly merely opened old wounds.
Toni ran a hand over the sofa bed she'd slept in last night instead of her own bed. It was the second time she'd slept in this bed, the first time had been when the sofa bed was delivered. It was one of those spur of the moment decisions when fantasy rode roughshod over reality. There was something about a sofa bed that hinted of romantic nights in with someone special but the reality was that her shifts at the restaurant and a heavy workload at college meant she had little time for romance. The few dates she went on saw her either farewelling her date on the train or spending a night in some guy's apartment. More often than not she preferred the first option because it was safer emotionally and physically.
Toni glanced over as the phone beeped and she picked it up to read the message from Carina.
Carina: You be at work today?
Toni: Yeah, just getting changed now.
Carina: How naked are you?
Toni took a selfie and sent it. The reply came back a half minute later.
Carina: Oh well, I was hoping for more of a peep show. You feel like company after work?
Toni flopped onto her back as she tapped out a reply.
Toni: Okay, sounds like a plan. See you there.
Carina: You okay about last night?
Toni: Kind of, still trying to wrap my head around it.
Carina: I get it, I was the same. No pressure, just talk, I'm here for you.
Toni swallowed as she stared at the peeling paint on the ceiling. It held her attention for a few moments as she recalled looking up at it last night while Carina finger fucked her.
It was only twenty hours ago she realised with a start.
Not even a day and already I'm thinking of batting for the other team.
The seduction had started about a month ago she reasoned, with a hasty dinner after work when Toni confessed she was running short of cash. Carina shot her a sideways glance as they headed for the station and then nudged her in the direction of a café.
"Go on, my treat, besides, I'm starving too."
Nevertheless, Toni felt a little embarrassed at her kindness, she'd been raised to pay her own way but hunger pangs and the offer of food overrode her principles and over the next half an hour it took to eat their meal she opened up a little to the older woman. She told her about her free-wheeling parents who met at a rock festival and fell in love. Her father owned a music store back home in Marysville, Ohio that had survived the assault by online music providers by branching out into musical instruments and sheet music. These days the store had a much smaller music section and had become a mecca for budding musicians from all over Union County.
"Dad is a session guitarist for local bands, he's a pretty good player and mom is part owner in a bakery in town, and in her spare time she runs ceramics classes at a local studio."
"Do you play any musical instruments?" Carina asked as she stirred the remains on her plate.
"Guitar but I was classically trained on the piano."
"Wow," Carina propped a palm on her chin, "I'm impressed, have you got a You Tube channel?"
