Violet And Rose

Violet and Rose

Note

This is a much slower story than my normal fare. Whilst there are some intimate moments, this isn't the full-on sex fest that some of my more recent stories have been. Instead, it is a somewhat whimsical and quirky story about a developing relationship between two women.

I hope you enjoy it anyway.

********

Introductions

"Hello."

Violet jumped as she was startled by the unexpected greeting. She had only started at the company two days earlier and was so engrossed in working out what she was meant to be doing that she hadn't noticed the woman now standing in front of her.

"Um, hello".

"Hi, I'm Rose. You're the new girl I take it."

Rose was tall and slim, and just oozed confidence. However, as far as Violet was concerned, the most reassuring thing about Rose was her smile, it was a friendly smile, and she got the feeling that Rose used it often. She guessed Rose was maybe ten years older than herself, but the smile made her look young.

"Yes, I'm Violet"

"Are you settling in OK?"

Violet confessed that it had been very daunting at first, but she felt that she was finally getting to grips with what she was meant to be doing.

"Well, if you need a hand with anything, I'm one floor up and at the end of the corridor. I'm available for any help or advice you might need."

The offer of support of support was very welcome, as Violet was was still floundering a bit more than she had let on and would be glad to have a potential friend nearby to help her navigate the minefield of the workplace.

"So, have the office Romeos been around? I hope they weren't too much of a nuisance." Rose asked.

"There have been a few, but I'm not really into guys"

admitted Violet with a certain amount of shyness. She had meant to add "at the moment", because although she hadn't given up on finding "Mr Right", she was currently taking a bit of a break from the dating scene.

The answer seemed of great interest to Rose, but Violet couldn't think why.

Coming from a small town there was an expectation that once a girl reached a certain age you started dating guys, even if in Violet's opinion, the pool of suitable guys where she had grown up was pitifully small. Even then, the guys had only been interested in one thing. They feigned the minimal amount of interest needed to get you into bed, then completely lost even that small amount of interest once they had gotten what they wanted.

It wasn't as though sex was all that it had been hyped up to be either. In her admittedly limited experience, it tended to be rushed and not very satisfying.

In fact, not having to conform to small town norms when it came to dating was one of the few benefits that Violet had found when she moved to the city. She was just too busy trying to fit in at work to worry about dating, and at the moment that suited her just fine.

Of course, she didn't tell Rose all of what she had just thought, that would be completely oversharing, and she didn't want to appear weird in front of her new work colleagues.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Violet. I hope to see you around soon."

"Yes, that would be nice."

Rose was the first really friendly person Violet had met in the office . . . apart from the guys that were obviously trying it on.

Almost as soon as Rose had gone, Sharon, one of the other girls in her section came over.

"You want to be careful of Rose. She'll eat you up and spit you out".

From the other side of the partition came a voice,

"But only if you're really lucky."

There was quite a bit of giggling from the other cubicles at this last comment.

Violet wasn't sure what the comment meant, but she had a feeling it wasn't meant to be nice. In the two days she had been there, Violet already suspected she wasn't going to fit in with the other girls from the section. They were cliquey, and their gossip tended to have a nasty edge to it.

She still didn't know what they had meant about Rose, but if Sharon and her clique didn't like her, then she reasoned that Rose couldn't be all bad.

*******

The next day Rose called around again, she was heading out for lunch and wanted to know if Violet wanted to join her?

Even though she had packed a lunch for herself, Violet readily accepted the offer. The gossiping from the other girls was getting on her nerves and she could do with the fresh air.

Lunch turned out to be a small Chinese restaurant ten minutes walk away. It was down a maze of side alleys and looked quite grubby from the outside, but inside it was immaculate. Best of all the food was fantastic.

All through lunch Rose kept asking her questions about herself, she seemed genially interested in what small town life had been like for the young Violet. Rose was also very free with her compliments, at one point complimenting Violet on her outfit, although Violet assumed Rose was just being polite, as her clothes didn't hold a candle to the sleek elegance Rose was currently wearing. Still, Violet wasn't complaining, it had been a long time since anybody had taken this much interest in her, so the compliments were just a nice bonus.

During lunch she had glanced at Rose's left hand. No ring.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No," laughed Rose, I gave up on men a long time ago."

Rose was looking at Violet as though expecting a follow up question, but Violet couldn't think what it might be.

"Don't give up, I'm sure there is a someone out there for you somewhere."

Rose gave her a curious look again, then gave her a non-committal

"Maybe."

The meal over, the two women walked back to the office.

"Thanks for asking me out for lunch, I really enjoyed it."

Between living alone and working with the gossip girls, this simple lunch date was actually the nicest time Violet had had since she had arrived in the city two weeks earlier.

"We could do it again some time,"

suggested Rose.

"I'd like that."

******

Revelations

Lunch together soon became a regular thing for the two women. Rose seemed to know a hundred little restaurants and cafes near to where they worked. They were nearly all hidden away, all unassuming, but uniformly they all served great food. Violet joked that if she kept going out to lunch with Rose she would soon have to buy clothes three sizes bigger. Rose had laughed, but had told her not to worry, in her opinion, Violet looked absolutely fantastic.

That was the great thing about Rose, she was always quick with the compliments. She always managed to say just the right thing to make Violet feel good about herself.

Rose was also a bit more tactile and touchy than Violet was used to. Little touches, like the brief touch on her arm as Rose held a door open for her, touching her hands as they sat talking, just little touches every now and then. However, Violet didn't mind, she reasoned it was just the way Rose was. It wasn't as though Rose meant anything by it.

A few days later one of their lunchtime conversations took a surprising turn.

"Ever been with another woman?"

asked Rose. The question was completely out of the blue and asked as causally as if Rose had been enquiring if Violet had ever been skydiving.

It took Violet a moment to realize what was meant by "being with another woman".

"No"

she laughed nervously to cover her embarrassment at such an unusual and personal question.

"Not even kissed a friend out of curiosity?"

"No"

, Violet had never had much in the way of close friends growing up, and certainly not one that she would be "curious" with.

Then a thought occurred to Violet,

"Have you been with a woman?"

"Once or twice"

. The response had been casual, but Violet wondered if Rose had maybe been a bit too casual with her answer.

Violet was very relieved when Rose soon dropped the topic and shifted the conversation to something a lot less personal.

It was another two weeks before the penny dropped for Violet.

By this time Violet and Rose had become firm friends, not just going out to lunch together each workday, but also calling each other in the evenings at least every other day.

Having a friend like Rose was the best thing that had ever happened to Violet. Growing up she had always felt a bit of an outsider. She generally got on well with other girls but had never really gotten close to any of them. And boys were best kept at arm's length as far as she had been concerned. But Rose was different. Rose had time for Violet, she was always attentive, ready to listen and always had words of support and compliments for her.

She was glad to be out of the office this lunchtime, the gossip girls had been getting on her nerves again. They had noticed how often Violet and Rose were going out to lunch together and she suspected they were now gossiping about her. Well, let them gossip . . . there was nothing wrong in two friends just going out to lunch.

"So, who's your ideal partner? Describe them"

asked Rose.

Violet completely missed the fact that Rose hadn't asked about her "ideal man" or "ideal boyfriend" as she prattled on about her ideal Mr. Right.

"So, who's your ideal man?"

she asked, having finally finished reeling off her list of perfect and totally unrealistic qualities needed for Mr. Right.

It was several seconds into Rose's description before Violet realized that Rose wasn't describing her ideal man, she was describing her ideal woman. It took a lot longer for Violet to realize that Rose was in fact describing HER.

Having finished her description, Rose sat quietly staring at Violet, waiting for her response.

Violet didn't know what to say or think. She was stunned. Surely she must be mistaken? But the way Rose was still looking at her left no room for doubt.

"But . . . but . . ."

"Yes?"

"But . . . I had no idea."

"Surely you had some idea",

Rose replied incredulously.

"No."

Violet really didn't have a clue up to this moment, either about Rose being into women, or Rose being interested in her in

that

way.

Suddenly Violet remembered what the gossip girls had said that first day she had met Rose,

"Eat you up . . ."

,

"Only if you're lucky . . ."

. She remembered the looks the girls had been giving her each time she went out to lunch with Rose. The way they gossiped . . .

"Oh my god. The girls in the office. They think I'm a Lesbian!"

"So? Do you care what they think?"

As far as Violet was concerned, Rose had obviously missed the importance of what she had just said.

"But I'm not a Lesbian!"

Immediately Violet regretted the tone and forcefulness of her denial. She had actually managed to make the word "Lesbian" sound somehow distasteful.

Seeing the wince and the hurt look on Rose's face made Violet instantly regret the words that had burst out from her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You just caught me by surprise. It's just . . ."

"It's just that you're not a Lesbian"

Rose finished for her in a quiet voice. There was a note of disappointment in her response. Violet wasn't sure if the disappointment was because of what Violet had said, or the way that she had said it. Possibly both.

"I'm flattered, but . . .",

Violet really didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"Sure. Forget I said anything."

Then Rose brightened up and started talking about something completely different. Something a lot less important. But Violet could clearly see the forced cheerfulness in Rose as they continued to chat. It was clear bringing this up had been important for Rose, but it had gone as badly as is it was possible to go.

The two women kept chatting all the way back to the office. It was as if they both realized that if they kept talking about anything else, they wouldn't have to acknowledge what had just passed between them.

******

The next day Rose called around to Violet's desk to see if she wanted to go grab some lunch? She was clearly quite nervous as she stood waiting for an answer.

Unfortunately, Violet would have loved to have gone, but as she pointed out, an urgent job had just come in that she needed to finish. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow?

The next day Violet found herself having lunch in the basement mailroom by herself. She was in hiding. She hated herself for being a coward, but she just couldn't face Rose at the moment. She was still too confused. She wouldn't know what to say.

That evening Rose called her. Violet could see by the caller ID that it was Rose. But she let it ring without answering.

Rose rang again half an hour later. She let that ring out as well.

Violet felt absolutely miserable. Rose had been the best thing to have happened to her in . . . well, forever. Then she had gone and done this to Violet. Her first real friendship, ruined.

But what had Rose actually done to her?

She had been kind, attentive and supportive. She had made Volet feel good about herself, made her laugh, made her feel special. And now . . .

All that Rose had really done was to be honest with her. That had probably taken a lot of courage.

Violet didn't want to give it all up. She really enjoyed being friends with Rose.

But she wasn't like that. She wasn't

that

way.

Did it matter? Couldn't they just be friends?

She wasn't sure, but suddenly it seemed vitally important for her to find out.

******

The next day it was Violet who called into Rose's office to see if she wanted to go out for lunch?

Whilst waiting for their lunch the two women casually chatted. Everything was friendly enough, but there was a discernible tension in the air.

Violet didn't want to be the first to bring up the subject, but having invited Rose to lunch, she knew it was expected for her to start things off.

"About what you said the other day."

"Yes?"

, Rose was cautious, but Violet could hear the hope in her voice.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted and what I said. And I'm sorry for avoiding you for the last couple of days. You just caught me off guard. I really want you to know that I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"It's OK."

Rose's voice was quiet, but the hope was still there.

"But there's something I still want to know."

Rose was put on guard by the tone of Violet's voice.

"You've always been nice to me, but were you only being friendly to me because you . . . you know, wanted to . . . you know",

Violet really didn't want to have to spell it out. She was still a little uncomfortable with the idea.

Rose took her time to think through her answer. Violet deserved the truth.

"Maybe. Maybe a little at the beginning. But that was before we became friends."

It still wasn't quite enough for Violet.

"Do you still want to, you know . . ."

The tension had gotten to Rose.

"You mean do I still want to fuck you?"

In her nervousness she had spoken louder than she had intended to. She noticed a couple people glance in their direction, but she ignored them. Then in a much quieter voice,

"Yes, I do find you very attractive, and yes, I would still want to sleep with you . . . but not if it meant we couldn't be friends anymore."

Violet was a little put off by the directness of Rose's answer and the openly honest look Rose was currently giving her. She tried to ignore the fact that her heart skipped a beat when Rose said she thought she was attractive (

"very" attractive, she corrected herself, whilst still trying to ignore the comment

), but it was the last part of what Rose had said that Violet was hoping to hear.

"So, you would still be willing to be friends even if we weren't . . . physical?"

"If you don't mind me occasionally fantasizing about you with your head between my legs, then, yes, I really would want to still be your friend, even if we weren't

"physical

"".

Rose then burst out laughing at the shocked look on Violet's face, but then Violet joined in the laughing. It felt good to laugh after such a tough couple of days.

After all the built-up, worry and anxiety, Violet found she couldn't stop laughing. Through the tears of laughter she could see other diners beginning to look at them curiously, but she didn't mind, she had her friend back.

******

Over the course of the next few days, Violet inundated Rose with questions. She had never had a lesbian friend before, and now that she was over her initial shock, she was VERY curious - in a non-physical way of course.

In response, Rose regaled her with stories of her early experiences and first naive attempts at dating other women. Some of the stories were hilarious, some of them were shocking. By turns Violet laughed, exclaimed in amazement and shuddered at how embarrassing some of the events must have been. She had never thought about how hard it must have been for someone like Rose. It had been difficult enough dating boys, but to be young, vulnerable and "different" must have taken real courage.

However, things hadn't always been plain sailing for the young Rose. Although her father had immediately embraced the news about his daughter, her mother hadn't been so accepting. The first time Rose had brought another girl home there had been an argument, a bad one. There were even more arguments as Rose's mother had come to realize that this wasn't just a "phase" her daughter was going through, it was almost as though her mother thought Rose was doing it just to spite her.

The arguments with her mother had become relentless and it was these arguments that had eventually led to Rose moving away from home.

Violet was deeply moved by this confession of family hurt and had held Rose's hand for support during most of the telling.

But as Rose later pointed out, it had probably all worked out for the best. Moving to the city had really let her be herself, and she had got to meet a lot of new people who didn't automatically judge her for who she was.

Violet was absolutely sure she wasn't being included as one of the judgemental people, but still felt a little guilty at the memory of her initial reaction when Rose had first opened up to her.

******

Rules to be Friends by

With their new honesty came a period of adjustment. Rose would occasionally still get a bit "hands-on". There were plenty of subtle "accidental" touches, as if testing the waters; but she would always back off if Violet indicated she was going too far. It was almost like a game that they both played in good humour. There were boundaries, they both just needed a little time to work out where exactly the boundaries were.

Not only were they now meeting up every lunchtime and calling each other every night, but Violet was now staying over at Rose's on Friday and Saturday nights so they could spend the weekends together.

The first time Rose asked if Violet wanted to stay overnight was a big step for both of them. It made sense, because on Violet's meagre salary, the nearest accommodation she could afford was more than an hour's train journey away.

Violet still hadn't been sure at first, but Rose explained she had a spare bedroom. It was very small, "compact" as the letting agents would call it, but it was available for Violet to use whenever she wanted. She also promised not to go into Violet's bedroom unless Violet asked her to. Then with a comical waggle of her eyebrows, stated that of course, Violet would have to ask Rose really nicely if she wanted Rose in her bedroom. Some things never changed about Rose, and Violet was beginning to hope they never would.