Her text came in just before eleven the Sunday before the new semester was set to start. But I saw it the Monday morning, when I woke up to get Chester ready for school.
Ten days without a word from her had been tough. I'd known beforehand that she was going to be living out of cellphone range, in the hills in South America, but it didn't make it any less frustrating.
So the arrival of her message brought relief and joy. Relief because it meant she was back on North American soil. Joy because it meant I was still on her mind.
She'd stuck to her promise and returned. None of it had been a lie. Her message said she missed me, that she was counting down the hours until she saw me again. I'd worried for nothing, having convinced myself that I would never see her again. That maybe her plane would go down over the Andes. Or any number of things that would keep us apart forever.
Chester and I met up with Beth on the way to school that morning. Beth looked the worse for wear.
"I'm glad that vacation is over and that the little demon has gone back to school. I thought it would never happen!"
"Was Oklahoma really that bad? You usually love it out there," I asked. Her parents had moved out there four years ago, sold up one day and bought a place by the lake.
"Jack was a little shit all week! I don't know what got into him. It didn't help that my parents spoiled him rotten, gave him everything he asked for, even after I told them not to," she groaned. "I thought about leaving him on the highway multiple times on the drive back."
I chuckled. "That's not a very motherly thing to say."
"Ach, what do you know? Your son's an angel."
I certainly had been blessed. Although Chester did have his little tantrums, he was a well-behaved kid, mature and polite ninety-five percent of the time. The other five percent I attributed to his father's genes dominating.
"But enough about me. You're in high spirits today. Relieved to be getting your days back, huh?"
"That too," I said, a coy smile settling on my face. I'd been smiling like that ever since reading Ava's text.
Beth gave me an intrigued look. "Oh? What aren't you telling me? What's got you grinning like that?"
"Gosh, you sound just as bad as Dominic. Can't I smile because it's good to be alive?"
"No, I know you, Danielle. Something's going on with you. You've been like this for a while. Whatever it is, I could do with some myself."
I laughed. The cause of my elation was something I didn't ever want to share. And somehow I didn't think Beth would have gone for it anyway. Well, four months ago I wouldn't have imagined myself sleeping with a woman. Now I couldn't imagine not doing it!
A nauseous feeling swirled in my stomach – the type of pang you get when you're about to go on stage in front of a bunch of people. But this was more nervous excitement than simple nervousness. It started as we approached the school gates.
My eyes scanned the crowded playground, expecting to see her among the parents. But she was nowhere. I left Beth and the kids in the playground, and headed inside to find her. I couldn't wait any longer to see her; I'd just about survived ten days.
There were still ten minutes till school started. The classroom door was closed, but I saw her through the window. The blood rushed to my head.
"Come in," she called when I tapped the door.
Moment of truth.
She was fixing the books in the reading corner, and when she turned around, her face lit up. God, she was more beautiful than ever. Maybe because I'd missed her so much. But I think it had something to do with the new tan she now sported. Golden, sun-kissed skin complemented her blonde hair perfectly. She looked as Hollywood as it got, except there was no airbrushing here.
It was all I could do not to run up to her and kiss her. My mind went racing back to the last time I'd seen her, how naked she'd been, and all the things we'd done together. It almost seemed wrong to think about them in the classroom, but I couldn't help it.
"Hey," she said. "I was hoping you would come find me."
"You look great." Now that we were reunited, I didn't know what to say. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, however.
She made her way to me until only a few feet separated us. Any less than that and it would have looked suspicious if anyone were to walk in. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." I held back from telling her never to leave again, because that would have been coming on too strong. Heck, we'd only spent one night together. Getting attached this quickly wasn't healthy. "How was your trip?"
"Very unglamorous and tiring. So, in other words, amazing! I can't wait to go back. They've invited me back in summer."
"For the whole summer?" I asked, unable to hide the worry in my voice. I'd barely managed a week and a half. What would I do for six?
"Yeah. Maybe you should think about coming with me this time."
"That sounds a lot like blackmail to me," I joked.
She laughed. "Perhaps it is." Then she touched my hand with the back of hers, her fingers stroking mine as discreetly as she could manage. "I really missed you," she said again.
The touch was everything. We were like forbidden lovers, like something out of a 1950's film.
"I want to kiss you," I said.
"It's killing me to see you right now and not be able to do that...and more."
I felt my cheeks heat up. It didn't matter that I'd been thinking the same thing, hearing her say it made it all real.
"I know you're probably jet-lagged and want to rest tonight–"
"No, I want to see you," she jumped in before I could finish. She squeezed my hand. "I want to see you every night."
I couldn't believe this was happening. Someone who wanted me as much as I wanted her, and who wasn't afraid to make it known. Had I walked into an alternate universe where I got everything I ever wanted all the time? It sure felt that way.
"Will you come this evening? Just for a couple of hours if that's all you can manage?"
I didn't even need to think about it. "Yes."
The door opened then and our hands quickly separated. One of the fathers, come to do his routine flirting, oblivious to the fact that he was not only barking up the wrong tree, but was in the wrong forest entirely!
I said goodbye to her then left the room, grinning from ear to ear. He could flirt outrageously till the cows came home, but I was still the one she wanted.
"Did you brush your teeth, honey?" I asked Chester, when I came to tuck him in that evening.
He nodded, and when I sat on his bed, he provided the proof by breathing his minty breath in my face. I chuckled, ruffled his hair, then tucked him in.
"You look nice, Mom," he said, yawning, his eyes heavy.
"Thank you, baby. Always such a gentleman." He certainly didn't get that from his father.
"Are you going out?"
"I am. To see Miss Petal."
"Why?"
"Because she's my friend, and I want to hear all about her trip to Bolivia." Among other things.
"Are you going to her house?"
"I think so." Where was this questioning going?
"Can I come?"
I laughed, kissed him on the cheek. "Not tonight, honey. Maybe another time, if Miss Petal is all right with that." I watched him yawn again, barely able to keep his eyes open. "But I think you've had enough for one day. Goodnight, sweet dreams."
I switched off the light, and bumped into Dominic on my way out of Chester's room. He was like a pimple – unwanted, infuriating, hard to get rid of.
"So yet another night you're spending out with that woman? What exactly is it that you do together?" I heard the insinuation in his voice, and it frightened me. He wasn't stupid; sooner or later he would join the dots.
I decided not to fuel the speculation and said, "We do what women do, sit around bitching about how worthless the men in our lives are. What else?" Yeah, you wish! He was hardly even a passing thought, and certainly the last thing on my mind, when she was inside me, when her tongue was down my throat. If he knew how little he mattered when Ava and I were together, it would have depressed him.
"She'll get bored soon, Danielle. Everyone does with you, I should know."
"So you keep saying. Goodnight, Dominic." I laughed to myself. Nope, he couldn't get to me no matter how hard he tried. Not tonight. Tonight was about Ava and me. I was mere minutes away from making love to a beautiful woman again; none of the junk that he spewed could hurt me.
The second her door closed, I pounced on her like a tigress devouring a deer. Up against the wall, I kissed her hungrily, skipping the hellos. I could say hello any time; this was far more important.
And inevitably, the kissing, for me at least, didn't suffice. I tore her clothes off frantically, right there in the hallway, and she did nothing to stop me.
I stripped her down to her panties, frilly, expensive-looking things. Pretty, but right then simply an obstruction.
I kissed down her body, gobbling at her breasts the way I had before. But they were just a stop on my ultimate destination. And the panties had to go.
I slid them down her thighs, not taking my time. I sank to my knees as she stepped out of the thong and kicked it away. I put one leg over my shoulder and buried my face in her crotch. Her scent drove me wild. She smelled like paradise, and I imagined she tasted that way too. Time to find out.
I had no idea what I was doing, but did what I liked myself. I also utilized some of her own moves, the ones she'd used on me. She was already wet. I didn't know how long she'd been like that, or if that was my doing. But I lapped up her sap, maneuvering my tongue all around her sex, bottom to top, top to bottom, side to side. Leaving no area untouched. That was more for my enjoyment than hers, as her taste, as predicted, was delicious and addictive. Far better than the male equivalent, which I had never liked. This I could eat for supper, every night, for the rest of my life.
She moaned a little while I worked, her hand touching my head lightly. "That's it, sweetie."
Hearing her moan because of my tongue made me proud. Encouraged me to go ahead. I hit her bean next, and kept hitting, striking with my tongue, doing gymnastics against it.
Her new, louder whimpers coincided with the assault. Her grip on my hair tightened. I felt her fingers digging into my scalp. If someone walked past her house they would have surely heard her, and probably me too, lapping away like a thirsty animal to water.
I knew that she'd climaxed because I felt the tremble against my mouth, and her final whine was louder, deeper and lasted longer than the rest.
"You weren't lying when you said you missed me too," she said with a breathless laugh.
"Sorry, I just really needed to do that."
She took me to bed after, and we drank wine.
"Are we going to have to talk about what this is at some point?" I said. We were sitting up in the bed, naked, me in her arms.
She kissed at my neck and the side of my face. "I thought it was pretty clear what this is," she whispered against my cheek.
Her breath tickled, and I giggled. "What is it?"
"Two women who can't get enough of each other. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes...but...can anything ever be that simple?"
"I suppose not. But we could make it as simple as possible."
"How can it be if I have a husband?" I wanted her to tell me to leave him, to force me into action in order for our affair to continue. It was unreasonable to expect that request from her so early on in our relationship. Our second time together, hardly enough of a preview to be sure she wanted more from me than a few rolls in the hay.
"I don't like that this is the only way to be with you, and it will be difficult to look your husband in the eye from now on, but...well, Mrs. Thomas, you're just too damn irresistible."
I kissed her, and when that one ended, I kissed her again. I had never been, and didn't know I could ever be, irresistible to anyone. The self-confidence my husband had spent years trying to insult out of me had been officially restored by her.
"Does he know where you are?"
"Yes, he overheard me telling Chester. I think he was insinuating something, about us. Or maybe I was being paranoid."
"He won't come to that conclusion, don't worry. Men never do. They think they're imperative to our happiness, and can't really fathom a world in which they don't factor. He probably thinks we're doing each other's makeup or something!"
I burst into a laugh. "At nine in the night? Yeah right."
She didn't laugh though, and when I turned to look at her, she looked slightly agitated. "What's wrong?"
"I don't want to laugh about it. I feel bad. I respect the sanctity of marriage, I really do, and–"
I kissed her, cutting her off. "My husband has been cheating on me since we started dating. In fact, he was still seeing his ex-girlfriend when I fell pregnant with Chester. Two wrongs don't make a right, I know that, but it's a bit too late for anyone to gain a conscience in this marriage."
She looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't, just smiled sadly. "He probably doesn't deserve you, but I still don't like sleeping with someone else's wife."
It annoyed me that she saw me as that. It ruined the paradise I was trying to maintain, where here, with her, was the only place Dominic didn't feature.
"I know he spoke to you about our marriage a while back," I said. "Told you we were as good as done."
She looked away. "That was just because he..."
"You can say it. It doesn't bother me. He wanted to get into your pants. Wanted to convince you that you weren't breaking up a happy home if you slept with him. Well, he wasn't lying. We haven't slept together in almost two years."
"If that really is true, why do you stay together?" The million dollar question.
"Convenience. Chester." I shrugged. Terrible reasons to stay in an unhappy marriage. "I don't know. But you have to know that it isn't for love. It hasn't been about that for a long time."
She wanted to say something else, but yet again kept it to herself and just wrapped her arms around me tighter.
"Let's not talk about him anymore," I said.
"Deal."