Risky Investment

by Beth Moore

  Chris smiled, remembering what Lynn did to the man in the cafe the other day “Well, I saw what you did to that guy in the cafe. If you have a temper to go with that…”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve really been working on it. I’m as cool as a cucumber these days!” Lynn assured her.

  The lights went dim, signaling the start of the movie trailers. A couple wandered in and took seats just down the row. Lynn watched as they seated themselves.

  “Oh, great!” Lynn exclaimed. Chris turned to see what was going on just as Susan gave them a little wave.

  “Just ignore her and enjoy the movie. I’m here to protect you,” Chris soothed her.

  The movie trailers over, the main feature began. Lynn tried to calm her racing heart, though she wasn’t sure if it was due to Susan, or because Chris’s knee was resting against hers. Lynn talked herself into concentrating on the movie, and was enjoying the plot until she felt a hand on her knee.

  Chris leaned over and whispered into Lynn’s ear, “Susan’s watching. You can take my hand if you want to continue our ‘charade.’”

  Lynn’s racing heart came to a stop. She felt short of breath. Why did this woman do this to her? Ignoring the question in her mind, she slowly took Chris’s hand into her own. Chris intertwined their fingers and snuggled her body closer. Lynn didn’t care that Susan was there anymore, she just wanted this movie to last forever.

  The picture continued, right into the scene where the two main characters made love for the first time. Lynn was embarrassed as she felt her hands getting sweaty.

  Chris must have noticed, too, as she released her hand and leaned over to whisper to Lynn again. “Why don’t you put your arm around me?” she suggested.

  Lynn hesitated but remembered that they were seated in a safe area. No one could really see the activity in the back by the wall. Lynn always sat there just for that reason.

  Lynn slowly raised her arm and slid it around Chris’s shoulder. She absentmindedly caressed the skin on Chris’s upper arm. Chris moved even closer. Now Lynn was praying for the movie to end. Here she was watching two people having sex on the screen, and with the excitement of Chris’s body so close, she thought she might explode.

  Luckily, Lynn made it to the end of the movie. She hoped Chris wouldn’t want to discuss the plot on the way home. She hadn’t really paid attention to anything since she had placed her arm around Chris’s shoulder. The movie credits rolled onto the screen and Lynn reluctantly removed her arm from its position. Chris rested her hand on Lynn’s arm and remained seated tightly next to Lynn. They sat in this position until the lights were raised and the people began shuffling out.

  “Good movie, huh?” Susan said to the couple as she stood, completely ignoring the woman she was with.

  Lynn simply looked up and said, “Good-bye, Susan.”

  Susan huffed and ushered her date down the aisle, leaving Chris and Lynn alone.

  “Well, I think that went quite well, don’t you?” Chris asked sofdy as she looked straight ahead.

  “Uh-huh,” was all Lynn could get out of her mouth. She decided that she’d rather concentrate on cooling down the heat between her legs than make conversation at that moment.

  Chris wasn’t in a hurry to move either. She looked down to her nipples hoping that they weren’t showing her arousal. Unfortunately, they were. Chris crossed her arms, hiding the protruding lumps. She didn’t understand. She had never been that aroused simply by having a man’s arm around her. But yet here she was. She had been turned on just by Lynn’s hand in hers. Finally, feeling her chest returning to normal, she stood.

  “Ready?” Chris asked.

  Lynn nodded, stood, and made her way down the aisle followed closely by Chris. The two exited the auditorium and made their way through the lobby.

  Upon their approach, an employee swung the exit door open and asked, “Was the movie good?” He looked confused as the women walked out the door and both muttered under their breath, “What movie?”

  The two walked to the truck in silence. Lynn opened the door for Chris and then proceeded to open her door and slide in behind the wheel, all in silence. It wasn’t until they had pulled onto the city street that Chris dared to ask the question that was on her mind.

  “So, this is the first time that you’ve seen her?”

  Lynn sighed heavily. “Yeah.”

  Turning toward Lynn, Chris continued, “Was she always so—”

  “Brash?” Lynn finished her sentence.

  Chris chuckled. “Yeah, brash, that’s a good description.”

  “I guess so,” Lynn answered. “I hadn’t really seen it that way before.”

  “Can I ask what you saw?”

  “I think I just admired her self-confidence.”

  Chris shook her head slowly. “I just can’t imagine you with her.”

  Lynn laughed. “I’m glad. I guess that I’ve changed a lot in the past year.”

  Several minutes passed as Lynn replayed in her mind everything that Susan had said. Had Susan really believed that Lynn thought of herself as perfect? Had that been the problem?

  “If it matters at all, I don’t think you’re perfect.”

  Lynn snapped her head toward the direction of the statement. “How did you know…”

  Chris softly smiled and shrugged. “I just knew that it would bother you.”

  “Well, your opinion matters a great deal. But do I act like I think that I’m perfect?”

  “Sometimes.” Then laughing, Chris continued, “But I never take you seriously!”

  Lynn joined in Chris’s laughter. “You and Matt, you’re really good for me.”

  Chris turned forward and pretended to dust off the dashboard. “So… you wouldn’t mind keeping in touch with me after this little charade is over?”

  Lynn’s heart burst with happiness. She tried to calm her voice before answering. Unfortunately, her brain and tongue did not cooperate. “I’d love to touch…” Lynn’s face turned red. “What I meant was…”

  Chris smiled softly and her eyes warmed Lynn’s heart. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “Whose car is that?” Lynn asked as they climbed out of her truck in front of the house.

  Chris shrugged. “Are you sure it isn’t another one of your old girlfriends? They seem to be coming out of the woodwork today.”

  Lynn unlocked the door and pretended to strangle Chris as they walked into the living room.

  “Are you killing my fiancee?” Matt asked from the couch. Sitting next to him was a very attractive man.

  Lynn laughed. “And you’re next if you don’t introduce us to your friend within the next ten seconds.”

  Paul stood. “Hi, I’m Paul. You must be the best friend and enemy.” And then turning to Chris, he remarked, “And you must be my competition,”

  That got a chuckle out of Chris. “Well, I don’t think that I have the necessary parts to be any kind of competition.”

  Lynn had to put her two cents in after that comment. “Oh, I think you have great parts!”

  Matt groaned. Paul clapped his hands together. “Girl, you and I are going to get along just fine!”

  The four sat around the living room sharing stories and laughter over drinks. Suddenly, Lynn looked at Chris. “Did you happen to tell Matt what happened last night?”

  Chris shook her head and turned to Matt. “We had sex last night.”

  “Well, I’m gone for one night and I miss all the fan!” Matt chuckled and looked over at Paul.

  Lynn, feeling like the statement needed some clarification, looked over at Matt. “No, she means you had sex last night,” she said, motioning to Matt and Chris. She looked at Chris, who had lowered her head and was blushing at the misunderstanding.

  “Well! I guess I really did miss something! Was I good?” Matt kidded.

  “You were terrific!” Chris responded and then filled him in on the details of what had happened the night before.

  “You should’ve seen the looks on
your parents’ faces!” Lynn laughed.

  Matt’s face looked panicked as he quickly glanced at his watch. “Speaking of my parents, we’re meeting them in an hour.”

  “Uh-oh,” Chris remarked. “I’d better go get in the shower. Lynn, do you…”

  “Want to join you?” Lynn finished her sentence with a straight face.

  Chris smiled. “In your dreams!” she answered as she made her way down the hall.

  Lynn looked at the men and shrugged. “Can’t blame a girl for trying!”

  An hour later, the three joined Charles and Marie, who were waiting in front of the restaurant. Charles immediately approached and put his arm around Matt. “Hey son, hope we weren’t too much of an interruption last night!” Laughing, he pulled his arm tight around his son as if to show Matt that he was proud of him.

  Marie blushed and turned to Chris. “We really are sorry about barging in last night.”

  Chris, pretending to be embarrassed, laughed softly.

  The next hour dragged on, partly because of the slow service, but mosdy because the conversation lulled. Lynn attributed it to Marie, who kept her fingers at her temples most of the evening.

  When Marie excused herself from the table, Matt seemed to jump at the opportunity to call it an early evening.

  A short time later, the three walked out of the restaurant and into the lobby. Matt turned to Chris and asked, “Would you mind if Lynn took you home? Since it’s so early, I thought that I might drop in on Paul.”

  “Weren’t you with him all afternoon? Matt, is this serious?” Lynn kidded. “But I promised to stop by Sam and Beth’s place.”

  Matt rolled his eyes and looked at Chris for her answer.

  “I don’t mind, if Lynn doesn’t mind me tagging along,” Chris said.

  “No problem,” Lynn responded.

  Lynn turned onto the highway and headed toward their next destination.

  “Sam told me about Beth being an alcoholic,” Chris remarked. “That has to be hard, her owning the bar and all.”

  “Yeah, it is. But they must be doing something right, they’ve lasted longer than most couples I know.”

  “How long is that?” Chris asked.

  “They’re having their ten-year anniversary in September.”

  “Wow, that’s great!” Chris said, thinking that even some of her straight friends didn’t last that long. “What do you think their secret is?”

  “Compromise, definitely compromise,” Lynn stated, then upon further analysis continued, “and respect, honesty, and faithfulness.”

  “Sounds like things that should belong in any relationship.”

  “Yeah, sometimes people just forget what is really important,” Lynn answered, feeling a little guilty about her lack of honesty with Chris.

  Lynn drove into the condominium complex and parked. Walking around to the passenger side, she again opened the door for Chris. Chris had come to expect it and was waiting patiently.

  “Nice place,” Chris commented as they walked down a pathway to arrive in the doorway of their hosts.

  Lynn rang the doorbell, which was immediately answered by Sam.

  Swinging the door open, Sam tried to hide the surprised look on her face upon seeing Chris. “Well, look who we have here, honey.”

  Chris stepped into the house followed by Lynn. She was approached by a tall, slender woman with long blonde hair, which was pulled back in a thick braid. Chris was taken aback by the woman’s beauty. She hadn’t really had a clear picture in her mind of what Beth would look like, but this definitely wasn’t close to anything she would have imagined.

  “You must be Chris! Lynn didn’t tell us you were coming with her!” Beth exclaimed.

  “Kind of a last-minute thing, I hope you don’t mind,” Chris explained.

  “Not at all. I’ve been dying to meet the woman who has”— Beth thought quickly; she was going to say, “who has smitten Lynn,” but instead, she finished—”graciously saved Matt’s butt.”

  Chris smiled. “I was just telling Lynn how beautiful your place is.”

  “Yes, we got it for a steal!” Sam exclaimed. Turning to Lynn, she said, “Lynn helped…” Quickly noticing the look in Lynn’s eyes, Sam who was about to say, “Lynn helped us out with some investment advice,” stopped cold. “Lynn helped us move,” she corrected herself.

  Beth, catching Lynn’s glance, offered Chris a tour of the house while Lynn and Sam stayed to discuss matters.

  As soon as the two women left the room, Sam questioned Lynn. “You mean you haven’t told her yet?”

  Lynn, acting as if she was examining a picture on the wall, replied, “Told her what?”

  “Don’t act dumb with me!” Sam exclaimed. “I saw the look on your face when I was about to tell Chris how you helped us get this place!”

  Lynn turned to look Sam straight in the eye. “No, I haven’t told her yet. I don’t know, there just never seems to be the right time.”

  “You’re just asking for trouble, Lynn. How do you know that she won’t get mad when you finally tell her? She’ll probably feel like you’ve been lying to her!”

  “Isn’t this coming from the person who told me that I was asking for trouble just falling for a straight woman?” Lynn argued. Then lowering her eyes, she mumbled, “Besides, what will it matter? The feeling isn’t mutual.”

  Sam sighed and finally admitted to Lynn, “I may have been wrong about all that.”

  “Why do you say that?” Lynn asked, confused.

  Sam shrugged. “Just a feeling I have.”

  Lynn smiled. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really,” Sam said as she picked up the packet meant for Lynn, threw it to her, and walked from the room.

  “I hope that I’m not imposing,” Chris said to Beth.

  “Don’t be silly. There’s plenty to go around!” Beth assured her as she pulled a pan of hot brownies from the oven.

  “Can I help with anything?” Chris asked as Beth ran a knife through the chocolate, cutting the brownies into squares.

  “Well…” Beth began to answer as she pulled some bowls out of the cupboard.

  “No. Why don’t you go relax in the living room, you’ve had a tough week,” Sam said, entering the room and the conversation all in one sweep. Sam grabbed ice cream from the refrigerator.

  Chris shrugged and turned to leave when she saw Beth place a brownie into one of the bowls.

  “Umm… you may want to leave the brownie out of Lynn’s dish. She doesn’t like nuts,” Chris suggested as she left the room.

  Beth looked over at Sam in amazement. “How long have we known Lynn and I never knew that she didn’t like nuts. Did you?”

  Sam shook her head. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

  Beth smiled as she scooped the ice cream into the dishes. “Yeah, just a coincidence that this woman has gotten to know Lynn better in two weeks than we have in over a year. I don’t think so.”

  Chris strolled into the living room to find Lynn focused on the paperwork in her hands.

  “Hey, what’s that?”

  “Oh, nothing, just something Sam wanted me to look at,” Lynn replied, shoving the papers back into the envelope.

  Chris nodded. A picture album sitting on the coffee table caught her attention. Sitting down on the couch, she leaned forward and opened the book.

  “Are these their wedding pictures?” she asked, looking up at Lynn.

  “Yes, among other things,” Lynn replied. She walked over and sat down on the floor in front of Chris. Chris placed her hands on the shoulders in front of her as Lynn flipped through the pages.

  “Okay! Dessert time!” Sam said as she entered the room carrying the tray of bowls. Beth followed her with a pitcher of tea.

  Beth nudged Sam and whispered into her ear, “How cozy they look. She can’t even keep her hands off Lynn!”

  Sam shrugged and continued on her way toward her awaiting guests.

  “What are you guys looking at?” Sam asked.r />
  “Pictures of you when you were younger,” Lynn answered sarcastically.

  Sam set down the tray and handed out the bowls, while Beth handed out the glasses of tea.

  Lynn looked into her bowl, then into Chris’s bowl. “Hey, how come I didn’t get a brownie?” she exclaimed.

  “Nuts,” Chris answered nonchalantly. Lynn nodded in understanding.

  Sam sat down on the couch and Beth settled down in front of her, adjusting the album so that all could see.

  “Yeah, ten years sure adds the wrinkles!” Beth commented.

  “Honey, you’re more beautiful now than you’ve ever been,” Sam replied, Beth just rolled her eyes. “Hey, there are a few pictures of you in here, too, Lynn!” Beth said, flipping ahead a few pages.

  “I want to see!” exclaimed Chris, leaning over for a better view.

  Beth looked through the photographs, then found the one she was looking for. Picking up the album, Beth handed it to Chris.

  “Where were you guys?” Chris asked, focusing on the picture in front of her.

  “I think that was the time we went down to Tijuana, thus the sombrero,” Beth answered.

  Sam took the book from Chris to examine the picture. “Yep, that was a wild time!” Then, looking at the opposite page, she said, “Look, here’s another one of Lynn and one of her conquests of the week.”

  Sam handed the book back to Chris, pointing at the photograph in question.

  “Conquests of the week?” Chris questioned.

  “Yeah, you know, seducing women is kind of a game for Lynn.” Sam chuckled. Realizing what she had said as soon as the words left her mouth, she backpedaled. “Well, not all the time…”

  Beth reached up and slapped Sam’s leg and turned to Chris. “Please excuse my wife, sometimes she doesn’t think before she speaks.”

  Chris laughed and ran her fingers through Lynn’s hair. Looking down, she teased, “Is that right Lynn? Always a game, huh?”

  Lynn’s face turned red. Beth watched as Chris’s fingers stroked Lynn’s hair, then nudged Lynn and made her face turn even redder.

  “I think we’ve seen enough pictures for one evening!” Lynn exclaimed as she reached up and snatched the book out of Chris’s hands. Then trying to change the subject, she complimented the chef. “Really good dessert, Beth!”