Courage to follow your heart

by Christina Aas

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  About the Author

  Synopsis

  It was a summer filled of promise, but the direction it took no one could have predicted.

  Liz arrived in California for a summer of space engineering courses, with a broken and confused heart. Her goal was to focus on the summer school activities, but that was until she met Kris.

  Kris’ tough attitude has gotten her through a double PhD program and the summer school is the last step. She has just broken up with her girlfriend and is fiercely focused on her career – allowing no distractions, or so she thought until she saw Liz.

  Their inevitable and strong attraction is challenged when disaster strikes at the summer school. Can Liz trust in love enough to open up her heart again? Can Kris change her bad girl ways and let herself experience true happiness?

  To my family, for your everlasting support and love <3

  Chapter 1

  The hot and humid air struck her as an engulfing wall when she stepped down the stairs from the aircraft. Liz stretched her arms and could feel the straining muscles in her back and shoulders relieve some of the tension from the 20 hour travel she had just endured. Finally! She was here. The anticipation of the summer’s potential made her smile widen and she closed her eyes to enjoy the grazing warmth of the surrounding sun.

  First, she would retrieve her luggage, and then make her way to the hotel she had booked for the first night. The dormitory rooms should be available tomorrow after she had registered. She could not wait; a whole summer enjoying the beautiful scenery of California whilst learning more about space engineering and meeting like-minded people. This would be a once in a lifetime experience and she intended to savor every moment of it. She wondered who else would be at the summer school program, what their background would be, age and nationality. She had learned that the three months’ program hosted a wide range of nationalities and ages, usually attendants in their twenties or thirties. After her past year, this was exactly what she needed – to get away somewhere new and meet inspired people who could restore her faith that the world is a positive place to thrive.

  After what had seemed like an eternity, she was finally holding on to her luggage and making her way to the airport shuttle bus that would take her to the four-star hotel she had booked close by. She had wanted to make this first impression of California as pleasant and easy as possible, not needing to spend any unnecessary energy on stress of any kind. The weather could not have been more beautiful, and she realized the hour handle was still climbing up toward the bright noon, giving her plenty of time to relax before the stringent and fast-paced summer school program would begin tomorrow.

  ◆◆◆

  The hotel looked even better in real life than on the online website she had used for the booking. She quickly left her suitcase in her designated hotel room, changed her clothes in the bathroom and made her way toward where she had been told the pool was located.

  Wow. The sight of the crystal blue and beckoning water made her sigh of relief, especially when she noted she was almost alone on deck. Perfect for relaxation! She carefully chose a sunbed with sufficient sunlight for working on the tan she had planned, and with a short distance to the beautiful and inviting pool. Her body was strained from the long and sleepless travel, and although her jetlag told her this was the middle of the night she shed her t-shirt and dived into the pool head first. The cool water rushed past her body when she slid through its waves and made her first swimming strokes, reminding her muscles graciously how to move again after the long stiff journey. Her body gladly obliged and she could slowly feel her stress dissipate and let herself go. Suddenly Liz found herself wishing she had someone to share this moment with while she moved slowly through the water. She had a whole day to herself and normally this would be a good thing, but right now she wanted to share this joyous occasion with someone special. Someone special who didn’t exist yet. This past year Liz had discovered, to her own great surprise, that she was in fact more interested in girls than guys that way. This discovery had made her feel as if her whole life had to be reset, everything she thought she knew was no longer true. Her identity had to be reinvented and it had been quite tumultuous trying to sort through all the new feelings.

  Part of the sorting had been about revisiting previous memories in her mind and realizing that this side of her had always been present, she just hadn’t noticed it earlier. During high school she had strongly admired her young physics teacher, but now Liz wondered if this admiration in fact hadn’t been a full-on teenage crush instead… She wondered what else she had missed during her earlier years, while her mind was still clogged by preconceived ideas of how society should work and what love could entail.

  Suddenly something shadowed her peripheral vision. Liz felt her senses hone in to the presence of a long-legged gorgeous brunette entering the pool area. She was grateful for having put on sun glasses so she could stare as much as she wanted and enjoy the view without being caught. She followed the brunette’s gracious strides with her eyes, letting them linger on her every move. Thankfully, the brunette seemed completely oblivious to her presence though.

  Liz sighed to herself in frustration. She really needed to meet someone again. Her first and only experience had left her heart in a million pieces and she had lost all faith in the possibilities of loving a woman, it seemed so far out of her reach. She wondered how she would ever find the right one, the one who appreciated her for who she was, the one who would become her best friend, the one whom she wanted to share her life with.

  Flirting to meet someone was a whole new ballgame now, with completely new rules to follow. She still had to learn the subtleties of how to properly flirt with women and draw their attention. When she had been under the impression that she was straight, everything had been so much simpler. She only had to stand in a corner of a night club and send a smile or a wink in a certain direction and minutes later some guy would be there to follow up. But women demanded more effort, more from her. Why couldn’t it just be easy for once?! She dreamed of when she would be able to just smile at a girl and the girl would catch her flirtatious hint and join her by the pool for a glass of wine.

  She would not give up quite yet though, she was only in the beginning of discovering who she really was and she knew deep down that there was a whole world to get to know and experience. Perhaps this summer school would hold some interesting opportunities. She honestly had no idea. Her impression of the space industry so far was that it was a fairly conservative and straight-arrowed industry. She had told herself not to have any expectations or bring her hopes up. Just focus on the course works and the professional content to get the most out of the summer, career-wise at least. As a newly graduated aerospace engineer the world was vast with opportunities and she wanted to make the most of them.

  Chapter 2

  The wind blew strongly past her while she sped down the coastal highway, feeling the warm evening and the beautiful scenery mend her heart slowly. Kris leaned forward on her black Yamaha racing motorcycle, pushing
the throttle just a little bit further to feel the adrenaline rush even faster through her veins. She was glad she had decided to bring her motorcycle along; she would not know what to do with all her excess energy if she lacked the opportunity to swing up on the seat of the Yamaha and simply speed away.

  Almost there, she thought, while she glanced out her side angle at the fantastic sunset taking place just beside her. She looked forward to numbing her mind with a drink and hopefully a gorgeous lady on her arm, depending on the selection she would find at the club tonight. Kris had driven one day early to allow herself some final easy-going fun before the summer program would begin. She had invested quite some money into this program, so it better be worth it. Like everything else in her life, she had great expectations and knew she would not only give it her most but also expect the same in return. The past eight years taking her dual doctorate research degrees in nanotechnology and artificial intelligence had hopefully prepared her for the tough program laying ahead. Even if she had already accomplished quite a lot, she wanted to decorate her CV with the utmost of accomplishments, namely to contribute as a future robotics specialist in the aerospace industry working with astronauts. Hopefully this summer school would be the door opener she needed. And in any case, it would not be too bad to spend a whole summer in California, close to San Francisco where she’d heard it was quite the scene and lots of gorgeous girls to flirt with.

  Kris swung her cycle onto the inner circular highway of San Francisco, leading toward the Castro area, known for its vibrant gay scene and numerous night clubs. San Francisco has it all she thought to herself; a beating night life, a historic city architecture and a cozy harbor – she could certainly see herself settle down here someday. Just not quite yet, she still felt her body scream for adventure and her restlessness kept the better of her. As she cruised slowly down past the pink and leathered boys holding hands, she started to feel at home. This was where she was her best, being able to anonymously flirt around, enjoy the scenery and hook up randomly. Her lips curled up slightly into a mischievous smile, and she searched for a good parking space.

  Just around the corner one appeared, and Kris quickly drove her motorcycle into the spot, tilted it to the side and hopped off. Removing her helmet, she quickly ruffled her hand through her hair to loosen it and avoid the classical “helmethead look”. Her sun bleached short and slightly wavy blond hair responded obediently. Kris took a breather and thought about just how far she had travelled. Two days ago she had still been in her apartment in Canada, surviving the crisp and cool summer temperatures whilst drowning in work stressing to finalize all her exams before she left. Here she was 48 hours later about to enter a night club in Castro, immersed in hot humid coastal air with people buzzing past her on the sidewalk giving promise to a high tempo and exciting summer ahead.

  Kris was happy to have finished her exams, but somehow she did not think this summer would be any less stressful. She had already heard rumors about the difficult space curriculum and the tough regime with lectures all day for the first four weeks, followed by a set of advanced group assignments while each student chose their field of specialization. She had decided to follow space robotics and she already knew there would be lab work, reports to write and world-class lecturers to follow. During the last month of the summer they would all enter into three large team projects, where it was all about cooperation across nationality and professional background. It did sound hectic, but she really looked forward. The summer program would be a nice break from the double PhD research, to give her some new perspective on life and hopefully gain insight into what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She approached the entrance to one of the more famous ladies’ clubs in Castro and stepped inside.

  Julia sipped slowly to her tropical Mai Tai cocktail at the bar counter while she hungrily swiped her gaze around the room to check out the variety of ladies present tonight. So far it had been a rather poor group unfortunately; perhaps this would not be her lucky night after all. Suddenly someone caught her attention at her far left. An absolutely gorgeous specimen of the female race entered the club with slow and certain strides. Her sandy blond, short and wavy hair looked ruffled and sexy, like she’d been out in rough weather. But looking at her outfit she rather guessed she’d recently been exposed to a high-speed activity instead, as she walked in wearing a black leather jacket and holding a black motorcycle helmet with red curved stripes on its sides. She wore a perfect tan, topped by her smoky eyes grazing the scene like a true hunter. Her confident strides showed this was a power woman, used to having it her way. Julia felt her libido wake up and a slight tingle begin low in her belly. Just my kind of woman.

  Kris looked around the club to see if she saw anybody interesting. No one drew her immediate attention so she decided to grab a beer from the bar to quench her thirst from the long ride. While she approached the bartender, she couldn’t help but notice a pair of eyes rather fixated on her from the right side. They were matched by a pretty looking girl, a typical femme fatale as Kris used to call them. The girl obviously had the hots for her and was not afraid of showing it. Usually this kind of strong femme did not really do it for Kris, but tonight she was in for a quickie, since she did not expect to find many lesbians at the summer space school. Better satisfy some of her needs now before they grew too strong. She always had enjoyed a healthy sexual appetite.

  Kris leaned over the counter, ordered the beer and threw a wink in the direction of the hungry girl. The girl responded immediately with a big bright smile and scooted rapidly over toward Kris. She was at least not slow in reading signals, that’s for sure. “Hey”, Julia said with a sensuous tone in her voice, “new in town?” “Passing through on my way to Silicon Valley, just looking to have some easy fun tonight” Kris responded in a low and deep voice which immediately stirred deep down in Julia tingling her with anticipation. “Mmmm, you’re gorgeous”, Julia replied whilst smiling and stroking her fingers across Kris’s hand, noticing her solid long fingers. Julia couldn’t help but imagine what those fingers could do, how deep into her they could penetrate and she felt herself getting wet by the mere thought of it. She straightened a little in her seat to hide her immediate turn-on. Kris noticed the girl’s eyes haze over and could almost smell her sexual appetite growing stronger by the minute. This one would be easy to take home for the night, if she wanted. And why not, she thought. She owed it to herself to just have some fun after the major fight she had gone through just a few weeks ago. Her girlfriend had not been happy about her spending three months in California, that became quite clear from our last discussions. She had complained repeatedly, but Kris always thought she would come around in the end. However, she finally had to acknowledge that they just had different prospects in life. Her now ex-girlfriend had dreamed of the two of them settling down up there in Toronto, perhaps have a couple of kids in a few years. Kris was nowhere near ready for all that yet, she had a career to build and a world to discover.

  For now, she would settle with discovering the body of this voluptuous woman sitting in front of her and almost drooling all over her. She grabbed the lady by her hand, tipped the bartender and pulled them both away from the counter toward the door. “You got a place to stay somewhere close to here?” Kris asked huskily. Julia explained she was borrowing the condo of a friend of hers and it was just around the block. That’s convenient Kris thought, she could just keep her bike parked here and drive down to the school in the morning. Things seemed to be working out after all, no need to book that hotel she thought with a smirk on her lips.

  Julia could not help but notice how stunningly hansom this woman was. She was literally breathtaking. It seemed everyone they passed could not help but stare. Julia felt a little shiver of joy knowing she was the one taking this woman home for the night.

  Kris followed Julia in through the door of the apartment, saw how her ass nicely shaped itself in the tight jeans the girl was wearing. Her lower back was visible under the short top, and she c
ould see the contours of some kind of tattoo. The prospect of a tattoo in that location had originally been incredibly sexy, she thought, but with the large number of skanky looking girls also having this kind of tattoo Kris noticed she had lost her taste for them. However, it still did the trick sufficiently. Kris wrapped her fingers around the waist of the girl and twirled her around and into her arms while she moved her free arm up to her chin and guided their lips together. She kissed the girl hungrily and hard, letting her tongue freely explore inside her mouth, feeling the girl’s tongue respond instantaneously to her playful touches. She withdrew slightly and nibbled briefly at her lower lip, indicating how much she wanted her. “Where’s the bedroom in this apartment?” Kris asked while she let her eyes wander up and down the girl’s body.

  “Oov… Over there” Julia responded and pointed shakily, lust clouding her mind. This girl was reeling her in by the minute, and she had lost all control of her senses. She decided to simply follow the girl’s lead; there was no stopping her body anyways. Julia felt the buttons of her jeans being loosened and she stripped the leather jacket off the woman in front of her. Underneath she wore a sexy black shirt with the collar open and buttoned deep enough that she could clearly see the outline of some very nice breasts. Julia let out a sigh while staring down the woman’s cleavage. Get a grip on yourself Julia! she scolded herself while she shook her head slightly to get back to the scene at play. She tugged quickly at the shirt to get it over the woman’s head. Underneath she got an even better view of her luscious breasts, just the perfect size. She rested one hand over one of them, noticing how the woman’s breast fit nicely into her hand. Meanwhile she felt a pair of hands ease over her own breasts, underneath her shirt, and she felt a thumb stroke gently across her nipple. The woman dragged her further toward the bedroom while she pulled off the rest of her jeans. “Nice panties”, she exclaimed with a smirky smile and quickly pulled them off Julia too.