Lightning Strikes Twice

by Erik Schubach

  Candi burst out laughing and bumped hips with the ebony maned temptress. She chuckled. “I believe that was the reaction you were shooting for. I’ll be out in a flash ladies.” She shuffled past me with her cup of coffee in hand but paused beside me to place a finger on my chin to close my mouth before she burst out laughing again as she went to my room.

  I made a beeline for the cup of coffee Mia already had sitting on the counter waiting for me. I took a sip as I regained my composure and said, “Good morning.” This just caused Mia to burst out laughing like my evil best friend had.

  I gave her a crooked smile as I tried to put on a hurt face. “Why iz you be evils to me?”

  She smiled into her cup and sipped her coffee to try to hide her mirth… unsuccessfully. She gave a tiny shrug and then absently went about straightening up the counter where Candi had prepared the coffee. Nudging the coffee maker parallel to the counter’s edge and turning the coffee can so that the label faced out. She mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Because it is fun.”

  I rolled my eyes at the minx and made my way into the great room and settled in on one of the over-comfy couches to watch the morning news. They were announcing that McKenzie Meyers was lost on a recon mission in Africa while scouting human trafficker locations and was presumed dead. My heart dropped at that. God, I had just seen the woman a few months ago, and she was so full of life. Haunted, but full of life.

  I absently pulled up every article I had ever read about the woman and all of the news reports and played them all through my head simultaneously. Damn, she was the definition of hero. I looked over when the couch shifted. Mia had sat beside me. She looked at the screen and said sadly, “That is a terrible loss.” I nodded and switched off the television when Candi joined us. She was in a new dress I hadn’t seen before, it seemed a little formal for tagging along for a boring time at work.

  Mia beamed at her. “You look positively radiant Candice.” The blonde blushed shyly. It reminded me so much of the bashful young woman I had met so many years ago. This made me a little sad as I realized that Candi would be returning home to London tomorrow. I would miss her… again, but I knew how much she missed her baby.

  I glanced at the only clock in the place, back in the kitchen. “Shall we ladies?” I motioned my hand toward the garage door. Mia grabbed her purse and I saw her instinctively check for Little Vee. I had to smile. Then the raven haired beauty opened the door for Candi, who went into the garage, but then Mia shocked me to the core by putting on some low burgundy kitten heels that matched her dress that had been sitting next to Vee’s combat boots.

  I guess I was too obvious when she bent down and tilted her head a bit to put her face between me and the boots that she had worn every day for the past twenty years. The boots she has had repaired and resoled so many times. The boots that gave her strength and reminded her of the only woman she could ever love. She smiled wistfully and said, “I won’t be needing those today.” Then she straightened up and stepped through the door, casting a slightly hesitant look at the combat boots as she passed.

  I followed in a daze. Mia changing her patterns was a monumental thing. Her obsessive compulsive nature made it an almost impossible for her to do. I knew the things that looped around in her mind over and over again as I did the same to an extent. I stared at the boots as I passed into the garage. I hopped into the passenger seat of Mia’s car, reminding myself that I needed to get a vehicle of my own since I totaled mine… trashed a piece of my history that I can’t ever get back now.

  I had to force myself from simply staring at Mia as she drove, she was a vision today. I stopped breathing when her hand took my left hand ever so delicately and laced out fingers. It was so gentle that if it weren’t for the heat where we touched traveling up my arm, I wouldn’t have felt it. She was so very careful of my injury.

  I almost jumped out of my seat when Candi spoke, I had completely forgot the fact that she was there, and that is saying something. Mia was so distracting. My British friend chirped out, “I finally get to see the Downtown Seattle Gallery. I’ve wanted to see it ever since you bought it Vic.”

  Mia appeared to be as startled as I was and we both shot a quick glance at each other then started laughing. Candi scrunched up her nose and squinted one eye. “What are you silly birds on about now?” This just got us laughing harder. Candi just crossed her arms like a petulant child and harrumphed.

  We had to make sure not to make eye contact and we took deep breaths to assuage our giggle fit. Then before I knew it Mia was smoothly parking her huge vehicle in my reserved parking spot. The lot was almost empty. That was odd, normally it was around two-thirds full at this time. I recognized most of the cars. One of the cars was Abbey’s. Didn’t she have work today? What was she doing here?

  We hopped out and the object of my desire claimed my arm for Mia-opolis. Ownership I gladly ceded to yon raven haired maiden. I had to fight a sigh as we walked to the main doors. There were big signs on the door. “Closed until noon for private showing.” What the hell was that? I quickly went through the schedule for the entire year in my head, the next private showing wasn’t for a couple months. The Thanksgiving benefit for the Callahan Foundation was being hosted here. This must be a last minute thing that Missy arranged, that’s part of her job, to determine what is best for the gallery, but I’d at least like an email about it.

  The door was locked so I produced my key card from my purse and waved it over the lock and the lights turned green and we opened the door. We walked in and the gallery was almost deserted and all of the art was missing. There was just the huge cavernous room with only five canvases covered with sheets.

  There was a single group of people gathered near the stairs, drinking champagne. My parents, the Roths, June, Missy, Abbey, and Samantha. They were all in formal wear, and all cheered a little when they saw us. I could see my staff peeking through the windows in the door to the staging area. Missy motored over and said with a smile, “Spaz, freak, Brit.”

  We all fought back smiles at her greeting. I blurted out, “What’s going on here Missy?”

  She shrugged and looked at Mia, “Ask the other Lez-migo.” And with that, she looped arms with Candi and pulled her over to the group with a conspiratorial grin.

  Mia blushed and looked extremely embarrassed, but she started talking slowly and deliberately, capturing my eyes with hers. I couldn’t have looked away if I were hit by a bus. There was something sparkling around in her eyes, something that was reserved for only one person, but she was looking at me with those eyes now. “You remember our talk before… when I wasn’t sure just who I was without Abbey?”

  I opened my mouth, but she just put her fingers on my lips. “No, let me finish.” I just nodded and she smiled. “I had defined myself in college with Valla. The woman I knew was the once in a lifetime love for me, like a lightning strike from the heavens.” There was a tinge of sorrow in her eyes and voice, I felt the loss like it had just happened.

  Then she shot a loving look toward the group. “Then I defined myself with Valla’s final gift to me, the most precious daughter anyone could wish for. I wanted to give Abbey all the love I could. Enough love for both Valla and me. To give her the happiest life, I could.”

  I glanced over and Abbey appeared to be tearing up. Then I was captured by Mia’s dazzling emerald greens again. “I have thought about this long and hard since then, I haven’t been able to think about anything else since to tell the truth. I have sort of been obsessing over it. I came to an epiphany, something that was staring at me the whole time. The truth of it all. I wasn’t defined by Valla nor Abbey. I was defined by myself. I defined myself by what made me happy, and believe me, Valla and Abbey make me so happy.”

  She motioned her eyes at her shoes, the absence of the combat boots looming ominously. “I’ll always have Valla in my heart. She showed me how to live for the first time in my life, but I am not defined by her. I know as a fact that beyond a shadow of a do
ubt, and above all else, she would have wanted me to be happy, and she would cry tears of joy at my decision to tell you something Victoria Amelia Davenport.”

  I was crying and I couldn’t tell you why. She gently led me over to the group and Missy handed me a white silk string. I looked around at everyone, they all had expectant looks on their faces. What was this conspiracy that they were obviously all part of? I tugged the string and the sheets fell from the large canvases twenty-five feet away.

  My hand shot up and covered my mouth. A brass plaque labeled each canvas, the grouping was entitled “Lightning Strikes Twice.” The first four canvases showed photo-realistic portions of a woman. A long elegant neck. The curve of a cheek from a profile, showing the corner of a smiling mouth. Brilliant blue eyes that looked intelligent and haunted with little crows feet in the corners that could only be formed by years of smiling. A cute nose with shy, smiling lips that had this crooked smile that made you smile yourself.

  Each one had a word that looked to be formed of sparkling gold on them. “I’m” was on the first. “in” on the second, followed by “love”, and finally “with” on the fourth. I choked back a sob as I started at the fifth canvas, at the impossible figure on it.

  There, larger than life I stared at myself. It was an idyllic version of my face. I was looking absently up like I was deep in thought, I had my reading glasses in my hand as I idly chewed on an earpiece. It was almost tranquil. I almost looked sexy in the picture Mia had created.

  I dropped my hand and I looked at her. She placed her hands on my cheeks and wiped the tears gently away with her thumbs. I glanced between her and the artwork. She whispered, “No guilt… no running… only the truth. I know what will make me happy, and how I want to define myself. I want you Vicky.”

  I nodded as I started sobbing again. She pulled me into a warm hug. I could feel her heart beating against me. She pulled me back and locked eyes with me and said in a wavering voice, her own eyes tearing up. “I’m in love with you Victoria.”

  I nodded and said hoarsely, “I’ve always been in love with you too Mia. You and Vee.”

  She was smiling through her watery eyes, “I know.” Then my soul was on fire with want and desire as our lips met. I was only peripherally aware of the people around us cheering. The only thing that existed in my universe at that moment was Mia. My mind was silent, something only she could do for me. I found peace in that silence, peace in our kiss.

  I couldn’t get close enough to the woman I loved. We never tore our eyes from each others as people congratulated us. Before long Missy was announcing. “Okay, you sorry lot, get your asses out of here. I have a Gallery to run!”

  With that the doors to the shipping area opened and my employees streamed in with carts containing the other exhibits and started hanging them again. Adam was loading the Lightning Strikes Twice exhibit onto a cart. Mia grinned at me and said, “Those are mine. For my studio.” I smiled and kissed her. Oh, my Gawd! I can kiss Mia now! I ran around super fast in tiny circles in my head.

  I whispered to her, “I will so make an awesome girlfriend. I promise Mi-Mi.”

  She giggled and dragged me through the door with the rest of her evil conspirators. We all stood in the parking lot and I marveled at these people I considered family. Then Kimi’s stoic look broke into a smile as she looked at the two of us, “It’s about damn time.”

  This caused me to blush like a friggin’ schoolgirl as everyone voiced their agreement. Abbey gave me a hug and whispered, “Now don’t make me wait too long before I can call you mom. Love you.”

  I whispered, “Love you too baby girl.”

  Then I was dragged physically to the car by a deceptively strong black haired angel. “You are mine today, you can work tomorrow.”

  We drove in relative silence. I tried to voice my guilt one last time but was shut up by Mia saying softly but firmly, “Don’t you dare feel guilty, you know damn well Valla would be so happy right now, knowing we had each other as she looks down from heaven.”

  We spent the day wandering the city, just being close to each other, discussing all the ramifications of this. Expressing our love to each other. We ate at the Pike bakery at Pike Place Market. We wandered the piers and then went down to the Ballard Locks and watched the boats rise up from the Sound to the lake.

  Then we went home. Home… it was my home wasn’t it? Wherever Mia was, was my home, always has been. My mind was obsessing, replaying every moment I had ever spent with Mia. It felt almost odd, not making white noise to push the thoughts aside, I just welcomed them in for the first time. Oh my god, was I… happy?

  We ordered pizza and I almost died, my heart was beating so fast as Mia started a slow, steamy makeout session with me as we waited for the food to be delivered. I was so hot, so aroused, so… squee! I was curling my toes as we surfaced for air, panting. Then Mia pulled back a bit with a seductive smile and cocked her head toward the door. A moment later the doorbell rang. How does she do that?

  Then she hopped up and went to pay as I jumped up and retrieved some colas from the fridge and joined her on the couch. It was a seduce-off, not a meal. It was a battle to see who could make the other one squirm in need and want as the other took seductive bites of pizza. I forget what the pizza tasted like, Mia was winning by that much.

  Finally, she just shook her head in frustration and grabbed my hand and dragged me down the hall to her bedroom. I turned to talk to her, but she physically pushed me back onto the bed and straddled me. “No talking.” She gave me such a heated kiss I almost lost it right there, I melted into her as our hands started exploring each others curves. She paused a second then looked sheepishly at me. “Ummm it’s been a couple decades since I…”

  I grinned and took advantage of her distraction and turned the tables. I wound up on top. I kissed her hotly then I sat up on her and pulled off my suit jacket. She was tugging and pulling at my blouse. I started unbuttoning it for her, but I must have been taking too long. I giggled as she just tore it open, buttons flying everywhere. My arousal went off the scale as her hot lips were on my bare belly, leaving a trail of kisses.

  She looked at my black satin bra and whimpered. I quickly reached back and released the clasp. I don’t remember much after I got her to shimmy out of that spectacular dress. The foreplay went on for almost an hour, I thanked god over and over for Mia’s obsessive compulsive nature as she made it her sacred duty to touch or caress every inch of my body, pushing my arousal beyond my own breaking point.

  I tried to keep up, I’m quite proud of my effort, but I almost passed out when she wound up on top again, kissing a trail down my side and around to my belly and started downward. I gasped, I was hers in every sense of the word. She coaxed sounds out of me I didn’t even know I was capable of making.

  For the next hour, she made me hers over and over, and I re-payed the favor. I realized at that time that I had never truly made love before. I thought I had, but nothing could ever compare to this, this was something beautiful, something soul affirming. I felt… sexy.

  We fell asleep, a tangle of limbs and hot flesh, we were one, I didn’t know where I ended and where she began and frankly I really didn’t care. For the first time in my life, I truly knew what happiness was, what love really was.

  The next morning when I woke up, a tiny part of me was embarrassed, I was naked pressed up against the naked form of the most-beautiful creature in creation. Then a little voice in my head said, “Yeah, but she chose you, idiot.” I grinned and basked in the heat of my skin touching hers. My arousal was building.

  I licked my lips and started sampling her hot flesh. This got what sounded like a purr from her as she stretched like a cat. She whispered, “My god. That was… I… wow.” Then she caught my lips with her’s again. I sighed as she yielded to my tongue gently probing and tracing her lips.

  It was around noon when we finally made it out of the bedroom, my entire being buzzing. As we sat on the couch with our coffee, she leaned in and
put her forehead against mine and whispered, “I love you Victoria Amelia Davenport.”

  I was mesmerized by her loving eyes as I whispered back, “And I love you Mia Jessica Jacobs.”

  Her eyes went wide and she said softly, with awe tinging her voice, “There it is again, that deafening whisper.”

  Epilogue

  I looked over at my Vicky, god she was spectacular. I swear she dresses provocatively on purpose, just to get my motor running. The past few months have been like a dream. For the second time in my life, I am finding a direct correlation between my zipper and my smile. The woman is insatiable. That’s not a complaint mind you. Just a super happy observation, since I’m the same way with her. We fit like two puzzle pieces. She has awoken the portion of me that has laid dormant for so long. My passion.

  So here we are on Christmas Eve, speeding to city hall. I loved her idea, instead of some big wedding, just eloping. All we need is each other. We can’t help it that about twenty others were following us. Well, so what if we aren’t eloping right. Our families would kill us if we didn’t let them tag along.

  Just a block away, at the Hitching Post, we listened to the minister babble on an on, but finally, he shut up and for the second time in my life, I was a married woman. After the kiss Vickster laid on me then, I almost melted and would have just let her take me on the floor right then and there if Abbey weren’t clearing her throat and fanning her face. I blushed and buried my face in Vicky’s shoulder.

  I snorted when the minister asked for two witnesses to sign the paperwork and everyone fought over who it would be until they found a solution. I giggled knowing that we’d have the only wedding license with twenty witness signatures on the bottom of it.

  I cried when Abbey walked right up to Vicky and said, “Hi, MOM, I love you.”

  Vicky hugged her desperately. “I love you too baby girl!”

  We chose the golden arches for the reception and Vicky cutely fed me fries as I sorted them on a napkin, smallest to largest. That’s when we informed everyone of our plans. I started, “I know everyone keeps asking about out honeymoon plans. We didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag until everything was finalized. We got the final confirmation this morning. Vicky and I are going to be taking a two-year sabbatical. To tour all the prominent museums and works of art around the world. It has always been a dream of mine, but I’m sort of scared of the world. Vicky and Valla have both shown me how to be strong, and I’m finally going to do this… with the woman I love.”