Serenity

by Jesse J. Thoma

  “I try to anticipate all of your needs and come prepared. How’d I do?” Nothing about this date had gone as she’d planned, but she had no complaints.

  “I think you know exactly how well you’re doing.” Thea opened one eye and looked at Kit. “But there’s one more thing I need you to do for me to make this date perfect.”

  “Anything.”

  “Get your sexy ass up and walk around to the other side of the tree. I’ll be right there.”

  Kit was a little surprised by the request, but she did as she was asked. She would have rather stayed on the blanket and had Thea take care of the throbbing between her own thighs, but if needed she could take care of that on her own later.

  “Are you where you’re supposed to be?”

  Kit leaned against the tree trunk, one foot propped against it. “Yep. You going to come join me? It’s lonely over here.”

  Thea joined her. Kit thought she might come just from the sight of her. Thea had ditched her dress and was wearing the button-down shirt she’d pulled off of Kit. Kit was quite a bit taller than Thea so the shirt fit like a very short, very sexy dress. It was the best piece of clothing she’d ever seen.

  “You said no one would bother us here, right?” Thea trailed her finger down Kit’s chest.

  Kit could only nod.

  “Good.” Thea reached for Kit’s belt and unbuckled it. While she worked open the button and fly, she kissed Kit’s face and neck. Once she had Kit’s pants open she pushed them down, along with her boxer briefs, then kissed a trail down Kit’s chest, abdomen and finally knelt in front of her.

  She looked up at Kit.

  “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?”

  “Strip me naked in a field and fuck me against a tree?” Kit was more turned on than she could ever remember being. Almost all of it had to do with Thea, but a small part was also knowing they technically could get caught since they were out in the open. It felt very unlike something Thea would do and that was thrilling too.

  “I would have been happy doing this anywhere,” Thea said.

  Kit was going to come up with some snappy comeback, but Thea ran her tongue along the entire length of her clit and Kit lost all coherent thought. Thea gripped her hips and dipped her tongue in again, circling Kit’s clit. She teased and toyed with her until Kit didn’t think she could take any more. When she thought she might have to resort to begging, Thea sucked all of Kit into her mouth.

  Kit bucked her hips and was vaguely aware the cries she heard were her own. What Thea was doing was magic and she was so close to coming. She felt like she was about to tumble over the edge when Thea stopped. She kissed Kit’s inner thigh and stroked her abs.

  “I was so close.” She sounded pathetic.

  “I know,” Thea said. “I wanted it to last just a little longer. It’ll be worth it, I promise. This time, come for me.”

  Kit thought she could come if Thea simply kept talking to her about sex for another few minutes, but she really wanted Thea’s mouth on her again. She nodded. Thea teased her again with the feather light touch of her tongue. Kit tried to seek more but Thea wasn’t giving in.

  Thea moved her hand to Kit’s leg and lightly scratched her way from her calf to her ass. Kit’s muscles jumped at the sensation. Thea continued her ministration around the front of Kit’s thigh until she turned her hand and slipped two fingers inside her. Pleasure exploded, and before she had a chance to fully comprehend the new wave of pleasure, Thea sucked Kit’s clit back into her mouth.

  Kit dropped her head back against the tree trunk and hoped her legs would hold her long enough to let her orgasm crest. It wouldn’t take long. Thea thrust into her while she sucked her and she held Thea’s head in place, urging her to suck harder. She bucked her hips faster as her orgasm built.

  She felt her muscles clench around Thea’s fingers as she came. She thought she cried out in pleasure, but sound was rushing in her ears, so she wasn’t sure.

  Thea stood up and pulled Kit’s pants up for her.

  “Now that was a date.”

  Kit nodded, assuming she’d never be able to walk or form sentences again.

  Thea refused to give Kit her shirt back. She let Kit have her undershirt, but she kept the button-down and wore it over her dress. As they climbed over the fence and back the way they came, hand in hand, Kit couldn’t remember ever being happier. Thea made her happy. She surprised her. She challenged her. She made her laugh. And apparently, she was creatively amazing in bed, or under a tree, too.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “Oh shit, Kit, look. Guess someone forgot to give you some important news about fifteen years ago. You got some child support back pay due,” Felix said.

  “Damn,” one of the other guys said. “I didn’t take you for the type that would piss off a girl so bad she wouldn’t even tell you she had your baby.”

  “What the fuck are you guys talking about?” The day was already taking too long without the guys riding her. Since getting out of bed this morning, she’d been counting down the minutes until she got to see Thea later.

  “The kid over there waving at you like she finally found the one person in the world she wants to meet. Do you know her? Or should I get my phone so I can record the moment you become a daddy?”

  Kit turned. Frankie was on the other side of the construction fence trying to get her attention. She looked at her watch. For a day that was dragging, somehow she’d managed to let time get away from her. She shoved her gloves in her back pocket.

  “That’s Frankie. Not mine, although I’d be lucky to have a kid that great. Act like you’re potty trained when she’s around.” Kit shot a warning glare in the direction of all the guys.

  A couple of the guys barked as Kit made her way over to Frankie. Outside the library, Frankie looked a little less confident and a little bit more like the teenage kid she actually was.

  “Were those guys saying something about me?” Frankie glanced nervously in the direction Kit had come from.

  “Yes. No. It wasn’t about you. They were busting my balls.” Kit pointed back at the guys. “They saw you waving and said you were here to hand me paternity papers and a life changing surprise.”

  “That’s a dumb joke, since you’re a woman, and we’re friends.”

  “Of course it is.” Kit smiled. “Every joke here is a dumb joke. Even the ones we think are actually funny would never pass teenage inspection. Come on, let’s go find Josh.” She clapped her hand on Frankie’s shoulder hoping to relieve some of the tension radiating off her.

  Kit led Frankie through the work site in search of Josh. Frankie had asked Thea for help with a project at school, which required interviewing and profiling a local business owner. Thea had suggested Josh. Now Kit was playing tour guide so Josh and Frankie could connect for the first of three scheduled interviews.

  Josh was ass up with two other guys looking at the foundation of the building they were working on. He straightened when he heard them approach.

  “Problem?” Kit asked.

  “Usual stuff.” Josh shrugged. He wiped his hand on his pants before holding it out to Frankie. “You must be Frankie.”

  They shook hands and Josh showed Frankie to his high end office on the tailgate of his truck. Kit stuck around so Frankie had a familiar face close by. Kit knew all the guys here and that they were all big teddy bears, but Frankie didn’t. She didn’t want her to be uncomfortable. And she said she’d walk her home.

  While she waited, Kit put out a few fires with the crew that didn’t need to escalate to Josh, tried to collect her tools, and she texted Thea. They’d texted and talked on the phone since their date to the oak tree, but they hadn’t seen each other. It was driving Kit nuts. It seemed like they reached a new level of intimacy, not just physically, and Kit was sure Thea felt it too. But the longer they went without seeing each other, the harder it was to hold on to that feeling and solidify it so they could build on it.

  “Hey, lover boy, you mi
nd moving over so those of us who are working today can do our job?”

  Kit jumped. She had no idea how long she’d been standing still, holding a hammer in one hand and daydreaming. She flipped off her hecklers and resumed collecting her tools. When Frankie was done with her interview, Kit was finally packed and ready to head out. She tossed her tools and gear in Josh’s truck and she and Frankie headed toward the library. The closer they got the more Kit’s stomach began to flip and flutter.

  “You don’t have to walk me, you know,” Frankie said.

  “I know you don’t need a chaperone,” Kit said. “Humor me.”

  “It’s not that. I don’t mind the company, but if you want to run to the library to see Thea, I understand. Because she’s super smart, and some kind of librarian rock star, and nice on top of it all, and really hot.” She flinched. “NOT. Really not, I meant to say not. Really not. Like, I mean, really not an asshole like she could be because she’s so amazing.”

  Kit knew Frankie wouldn’t appreciate it, but she found it really endearing how much of a hero crush she had on Thea.

  “I’ll stick with you.” Kit glanced at Frankie and caught her smiling. “Someone said patience is a virtue, although I think that someone was full of crap, or had to wait for something and wanted to feel self-righteous about it. I think Thea will forgive me if I take a few minutes longer so I can walk you home. I’m going to a meeting anyway, so I might not get to see her at all.”

  “I’m actually going to the library too. It’s easier for me to get my homework done there. My place is too chaotic. Do you need a college degree for your job with Josh?”

  “No. I don’t have a degree. Josh does. If you want to be an architect or engineer, you need bachelor’s, usually graduate degrees. But the tradesmen usually follow a different path. Why do you ask?”

  “Can you start right out of high school?”

  Kit was startled by the quick subject change from Thea and homework to post-high school employment. She started to think now she was being interviewed. She replayed what Frankie had said about completing her homework at the library. Thea said Frankie had asked for as many hours at the library as possible and now she wanted a job as soon as she graduated.

  “In theory, yes. You’d need to get an apprenticeship usually. When you dream of your future, are you working in construction?”

  Frankie kicked at a can and looked down at her toes as they walked. She wouldn’t look Kit in the eye.

  “Let me tell you a story.” Kit searched for the right words. “When I was younger, I couldn’t stand living at my parents’ house any longer. I had to get out. I didn’t care where I went or what I did, as long as it was out of where I was. So I made a rash decision because I was young and stupid. But I’m older now and only a little less stupid. I can look back and see that I should have taken a little more time to think about what was best for me, not just the fastest way out of the situation I was in at the time. It might have saved me a lot of trouble if I’d figured out the best thing first, not just the first thing I could do.”

  “Are you saying I shouldn’t try to get a job as soon as I graduate just to get away from where I’m living now?”

  “You said that, not me.” Kit put her hands in her pockets and purposefully avoided looking at Frankie. “I just asked you what you see when you dream of your future. And because we’re becoming friends, I told you a story from my past. Isn’t that what friends do? Oh no, did the rules of friendship change while I was making drug use my full-time job?”

  Frankie assured Kit she was quite old and that wasn’t really what friends did at all. Apparently, friends liked, tagged, and shared memes and other social media content with each other. Frankie listed what felt like a thousand social media platforms Kit had never heard of. Even though the age difference was only a decade, Kit began to wonder if she and Frankie were even the same species.

  They walked in silence for a while. Kit didn’t push Frankie to answer further questions. She’d never been good with being prodded into doing or saying something she wasn’t ready for, so she certainly wasn’t going to pressure Frankie.

  Frankie, though, wasn’t quite done with the conversation.

  “It’s stupid.” She kicked at the can again. “What I see when I dream is a lawyer. I want to be a lawyer. To help people like my mom who had no one on her side.” She glanced at Kit as though expecting to see ridicule.

  “You’ll be a great lawyer, kid. Do not let go of that dream. Sometimes college comes with dorm rooms, and if you want to go to college, then focus on that. Keep talking to Thea. Keep talking to me. Talk to your aunt or your dad, whoever you trust. It feels weird to say this, but ask the Zookeeper what law school was like. We’ll help you make a plan. How is your mom?”

  “She’s okay, I guess,” Frankie kicked the can hard enough this time that it shot into the street. “I mean, that’s what she tells me at least. There’s a real nice guard there, her name’s Reggie. She lets me give my mom a quick hug if no one else is around. I think she looks out for her too, if she can.”

  “Don’t give up on her.” Kit wasn’t sure if it was wise advice, but it felt right.

  “Nah,” Frankie said. “Haven’t yet.”

  They walked up the steps to the library together. Kit reached for the door to hold it for Frankie, but she grabbed Kit’s arm to stop her.

  “Do you want me to go in first and you can come in a few minutes later singing and dancing in your underwear or something? You know, some fancy entrance to get her attention?”

  Kit opened the door. “Get inside. Singing and dancing in my underwear would definitely get attention. And get me arrested. Not quite how I’d like to spend the evening.”

  As soon as they walked through the doors, Kit could tell something was wrong. The usually quiet library was buzzing. There wasn’t anyone at the desk. Quite a few patrons were standing and looking toward the back of the library, speaking to each other in non-library voices.

  Kit’s heart started to race. All she could think about was Thea. What if the Zookeeper and Parrot Master had gone back on their word and a drug deal had gone wrong in the library? What if something else had happened and Thea was injured? Kit was about to charge off in the direction everyone was looking, ready for whatever Thea needed, when Thea herself sprinted by. Thea didn’t glance their way as she ran past. Kit thought she looked scared. It took her a second of processing and then she realized why. Thea was sprinting at full speed through the library carrying her naloxone supply.

  * * *

  Thea couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt as scared as she did now. She raced after Walter toward the bathroom near the community room. Her worst fear was finally materializing. Someone was overdosing in her library.

  Where’s Kit? Please don’t be Kit.

  “Do you know who it is, Walter?” Thea was hyper aware of her surroundings and every sensation. Every footfall felt like it ricocheted around her head.

  “It’s not Kit.”

  She shouldn’t be happy. Someone was barely clinging to life in the bathroom of her library. She couldn’t help it, she was overcome with relief. She didn’t know what she would do if it was Kit she was rushing to save.

  Although she knew how to administer naloxone and thought she was prepared, the closer she got, the less sure she became. What if it was a man who looked like her father? What if she couldn’t save them? What if it was already too late?

  She gripped the box holding the naloxone doses tightly as they rounded the corner. Her palms were hot and sticky with sweat. She pushed through the small crowd outside the bathroom. A woman was lying on the floor of the bathroom. Her skin had an unnatural blueish tint and although her eyes were open, when Thea leaned over she could tell she was unconscious. Thea could hear a gurgling sound coming from the woman’s throat. Fear marched along her spine at the sound of the “death rattle” It was time to get moving.

  Thea quickly unwrapped the first dose of naloxone and handed the box t
o Walter. She put her hand under the woman’s neck and put the applicator in her nose. She depressed the plunger, gave the dose, rolled the woman onto her side, and waited.

  “How long?” Walter looked as ill as Thea felt.

  “Sometimes right away, sometimes a couple minutes.” Why was her voice so even? It scared her she was so calm and it terrified her that that might change. “If nothing happens and the paramedics aren’t here by then, we give another. Naloxone works by—”

  “I don’t need to know how it works.”

  “But I need to tell you. It boots the responsible drug off the opioid receptors. Fentanyl and a few other opioids aren’t especially interested in giving up their seats on the receptors and are harder to reverse. This is taking too long.”

  Thea prayed to every God she could think of that this woman wasn’t going to die right here in front of her, under her care. How could she live with herself if she did? She studied every detail of the woman’s face looking for a sign of improvement, losing the battle to hold the anxiety at bay. Hours passed in each second they waited.

  Ten seconds passed. Fifteen seconds. Thirty seconds. Suddenly, the woman gasped and sat bolt upright. There was fury in her eyes.

  “What the fuck did you do to me?”

  She got to her feet on wobbly legs and stood over Thea. Thea was intimidated by her anger. She was unprepared for the rage and aggression some experienced coming out of overdose she’d read about. There wasn’t much room in the bathroom. She felt trapped. Where was the door? How could she get away?

  “I was fine. Now not only did you ruin my high, but now I’m in fucking withdrawal.” The woman’s fists were clenched, and she began to lift one.

  Thea tried to scramble backward away from the impending hit, when she was pushed back down by someone stepping in front of her quickly. She looked up in time to see the woman punch Kit in the face.

  Kit raised her hands in self-defense, clearly trying to placate the woman. “She saved your life, Ethel. Don’t you ever raise your hand to her again.”