Risky Investment

by Beth Moore

  Lynn turned. “What’d she say?” she asked curiously.

  Matt smiled. “She told her ‘If you don’t stop making eyes at my girlfriend, I’ll make sure that you don’t see anything through those eyes for quite some time.’”

  “She said that? “ Lynn said, softly laughing. Just when you think the market is crashing, you’re surprised to see that one lone stock slowly on the rise. She spent the remainder of the dinner enjoying her latest investment.

  Chris looked up from her book as Lynn walked in the door and set her keys on the table.

  “God, you look exhausted!” Chris exclaimed.

  “I am,” Lynn replied, then looking at her watch added, “and I have to be at work in four hours.”

  “I’m sorry, you probably didn’t sleep very well last night,” Chris teased.

  Lynn softly smiled. Chris knew that she had left her frustrated the previous night.

  “I’m going to take a quick shower,” she said as she headed to the bathroom.

  While Lynn was in the shower, Chris made a decision. When Lynn was towel-drying her hair, Chris leaned against the doorway.

  “You need some decent sleep. Come sleep in your bed tonight,” Chris suggested.

  Lynn shook her head. “No, if you sleep on the couch, I’ll wake you when I get up.”

  “I’m not going to sleep on the couch,” Chris answered.

  Lynn met Chris’s eyes in the mirror. She was too exhausted to do anything tonight. Please don’t let this be the night.

  Chris blushed, realizing what Lynn had thought. “We’re both adults. We can sleep in the same bed, right?”

  Lynn nodded and lowered her eyes. She could lie in the same bed with Chris, but she didn’t know if she would get any sleep.

  Lynn wandered into the bedroom and turned down the bed as Chris shut off the lights in the living room. She climbed between the soft sheets, which smelled of Chris’s perfume. Trying to calm her feelings of arousal, she rested on her side and shut her eyes. She had almost drifted off to sleep by the time Chris slid into bed.

  Chris walked into the bedroom and shut the door. Turning, she saw the outline of the body in the moonlight streaming through the window. As she approached the bed, she saw the slow rise and fall of Lynn’s chest as she drifted off to sleep. She felt the heat growing in her body as she slid into bed next to Lynn and noticed the tank top stretched tight, Lynn’s nipples protruding against the material. Chris crawled into bed and spooned her backside into the silent body.

  Lynn felt Chris’s body mold into hers. She gently placed her arm around Chris’s stomach and held back a moan as she felt the smooth skin under her hand. Try as she might, she could not resist the temptation to caress the softness under her fingertips. Chris responded by intertwining her legs with Lynn’s. Hesitandy, Lynn moved her hand over Chris’s hip, sliding across the flannel of Chris’s shorts and down onto the firmness of the woman’s thigh. The sensation made her own thighs tingle. Receiving no negative reaction, Lynn brought her hand back up, this time slightly lingering on Chris’s buttock before smoothing back over the bare skin on her stomach. Lynn smiled as she ran her fingertips gently over Chris’s belly button. Feeling the heat between them, Lynn led her palm down the same path again, over the hip onto her thigh, then backup again. This time, feeling a little more daring, Lynn slid her fingers just slightly under the bottom of Chris’s shirt, almost as if by accident. Running her fingertips lightly over the indentation of the belly button then up again, this time Lynn circled farther under the shirt material. Her journey was stopped by Chris’s arm, which had taken a somewhat protective stance, but Lynn was not discouraged. She reveled in the softness as she made her way down the familiar path of Chris’s body several more times. Deciding to make one last attempt, she brought her fingertips under Chris’s shirt, this time finding no barrier. Chris had repositioned her arm to give way to Lynn’s further exploration. Lynn took her time, feeling the heat of excitement in further discovery, first letting her fingers smooth over the softness of the skin just beneath the awaiting mounds. On her next trip upward, Lynn let her fingertips glide over the area just below Chris’s nipple.

  Lynn’s body ached as she longed for the next step of this adventure. She slowly made her way down the length of Chris’s body, then back up again; from the softness of her thigh she moved her hands over the tightness of her buttock. She savored the sensation of her fingers ducking under the material to the focus of her desire. Gently, she caressed the soft mounds with her fingertips and let her thumb just slightly graze Chris’s now taut nipple. Stifling a moan, Lynn heard a slight gasp from Chris, who was now so close to her that she could feel even the slightest movement. As she smoothed her way back to Chris’s stomach, she felt fingers intertwine with hers. Chris moved Lynn’s hand under her chin and pulled Lynn’s arms tighdy around her. Lynn knew there would be no farther exploration tonight.

  To Lynn’s surprise, she was completely content. This was the intimacy that she had longed for. She wanted to tell Chris, tell her that she loved her, wanted her, needed her.

  “Chris—” Lynn began through the stillness. But her confession would not be heard tonight. Chris stopped her before she could utter another word.

  “Sshli…” Chris whispered without turning her head. “I thought you were tired. Go to sleep.”

  Maybe Chris was right. It was probably not the right time to discuss this. Lynn snuggled her face into the sweetly scented hair and immediately began to drift into sleep.

  It wasn’t that easy for Chris. She had been still, in another woman’s arms for hours. Her body felt a mixture of contentment and excitement; her mind battled the same. Now she understood the feeling of intimacy Lynn had described to her almost a week ago, a feeling that until now, she had never known. But she was lying with a woman, and this is what was troubling her. She had never thought that love between two women was wrong. But she had never, in her wildest imagination, thought that she would be one of the two women. Her mind experienced terror at the very concept. She could not be a lesbian… She finally drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lynn jerked awake and slapped furiously at the button on the alarm clock to stop the shrill buzzing sound. She tried to focus her eyes. Could it really be five o’clock already? She sensed the body behind her shift and felt the arm flung around her waist pull her body closer. Oh, how she wished that she didn’t have to go to work. Unfortunately, one of the waitresses was out due to a death in her family. Lynn had no choice.

  She slowly slipped from the bed and turned the alarm clock off. Sighing, she tucked the covers around the sleeping woman and backed away. Quietly, she pulled clothes from the drawers and tiptoed to the door. Before leaving the room, she turned to gaze once more upon the warm body now snuggling with Lynn’s abandoned pillow. Tonight she would tell Chris the truth, she decided. Lynn softly shut the door and dressed as she made her way down the hall. Running a brush through her hair, she took one last look in the mirror, and headed out to work.

  Chris felt Lynn climb out of bed and clutched at the warm pillow beside her. For a moment she wanted desperately to beg Lynn to stay, but then fell back into a deep sleep. She dreamt of the softness of Lynn’s hands on her skin and awoke to find her own hands caressing her body just as Lynn had done the night before.

  Several hours later, after a refreshing shower and a couple of cups of coffee, Chris called her answering machine and listened to her messages. There was an urgent call from Debbie, her friend at the college administration office.

  Chris dialed the number. “Yes, is Debbie available?” She was quickly transferred to Debbie’s desk.

  “Hello, this is Debbie.”

  “Hi Debbie, this is Chris. What’s up?”

  “Hey, I just wanted to know how you got the biggest investment firm in Los Angeles to pay for your next semester’s tuition!”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We just received your next semester’s tuition in full on a c
heck made payable from Peabody, Smith, Hadley, and Gregory. You did know about it, didn’t you?”

  Chris was stunned. “No, there must be some mistake.”

  “No mistake. It came with a letter stating exactly what the check represented, and for whom.”

  “My entire semester’s tuition?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I didn’t, don’t know anything about it.” Chris was extremely confused. “It came with a letter? On letterhead?”

  “Yeah, you want a copy?”

  “I would. Can I come down now and get it?”

  “No problem.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Chris hung up the phone in a daze. An investment firm? She grabbed her keys and sped down to the college office.

  “Yes, I’m here to see Debbie,” Chris said to the person at the counter. She waited only a few moments before Debbie appeared.

  “Hi, Chris,” Debbie said as she ushered her into the hallway,and handed her a piece of paper. “Here’s a copy of the letter. How strange that you didn’t know anything about it. You don’t have any kind of trust fund or anything, huh?”

  Chris took the letter from Debbie. “No, no trust fond.”

  Chris read the letter to herself, “This represents payment in foil for the fall semester for Chris Newman.” What was going on? She reviewed the letterhead, “Peabody, Smith, Hadley, and Gregory, Investment Analysts.” Wait a minute, “Gregory?” She scanned the left side of the letterhead, which contained the names of the Partners and the Associates. She couldn’t believe what she saw: “Lynn A. Gregory, Partner.”

  Debbie must have read the shock in Chris’s eyes. “What? Did you figure it out?”

  Chris nodded and raised her eyes from the paper. “I’ve been kind of hanging out with Lynn Gregory. But I had no idea that she was a partner.”

  “Wait a minute,” Debbie interrupted. “You’ve been ‘hanging out’ with Lynn Gregory?”

  “Yeah,” Chris answered. “Why?”

  Debbie looked at her for a moment before responding. “You do know that she’s a lesbian, right? I mean, what are you doing hanging out with a dyke?”

  “How do you know so much about Lynn Gregory?” Chris asked suspiciously.

  “I tried to get an internship with that firm last year. I wanted to find out everything that I could about the company. The three men partners are married with children and Ms. Gregory is openly gay,” Debbie explained, then asked again, “You know that she’s gay, right?”

  “Of course I know that,” Chris answered with irritation. “Why are you acting like it’s such a big deal?”

  Debbie brushed at her skirt and tried to sound nonchalant when asking her next question. “So… are you fooling around with her?”

  Chris felt all of the air leave her lungs. “What?”

  “Well, you know… you two are friends, she paid your tuition… it just kind of looks like…”

  Chris cut her friend off in midsentence. “Looks like what, Debbie?” She felt her voice rising in anger, or was it in embarrassment? “What? Payment for services?”

  Debbie signaled for Chris to lower her voice. “No… but maybe trying to coax you to… you know, show your gratitude?”

  Chris looked at Debbie while she pondered the question herself. Then, folding the letter, she shook her head in disbelief. She quickly turned and jogged back down the hall, and, ignoring Debbie’s voice, ran out to the parking lot.

  Chris climbed in her car and slammed the door shut. Then she just sat there. The questions entered her mind so quickly that she couldn’t even concentrate. Why would Lynn lie to her? Why would she portray herself as she had, a struggling waitress? It was almost as if Lynn had been an actress playing a part. And how did Matt really figure into all of this? She tried to make sense of it all. Then she remembered something Sam said, something that had nagged at the back of her mind, “seducing women is land of a game for Lynn.” Could it be true? Had this been a game for Lynn? Had it taken too long, leading Lynn to play her last card… money? Chris knew that there was only one person who would tell her the truth. She started her car and headed back down the highway.

  Chris drove like a wild woman to Matt’s garage. She jogged into the building, where Matt smiled at her from behind the counter as he helped a customer. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the counter. The customer tore out the check in payment for repairs, thanked Matt, and hurried out the door.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Matt asked.

  “This is what’s wrong with me,” Chris answered as she slid the letter across the counter for his perusal.

  Matt picked up the letter, quickly scanning it, then ran his fingers through his hair and placed the paper back on the counter.

  “Well?” Chris remarked.

  “She’s going to be really angry about this,” Matt replied.

  “So, you knew about this? You knew about her?” Chris backed away, running her fingers through her hair this time.

  “Look, she doesn’t like anyone to know,” Matt said, trying to explain.

  “She doesn’t like anyone to know what, Matt?” Chris was irritated.

  “That she has money and—”

  Chris interrupted, “That she’s working in some dive as a waitress?”

  Matt smiled. “Don’t let her hear you say that. She owns that dive.”

  Chris couldn’t believe it. You could have knocked her over with a feather. “So, everything about her has been a lie?” Chris asked, feeling betrayed.

  Matt shook his head. “Nothing has been a lie. She never said that she wasn’t rich. She never said that she didn’t own the restaurant, which by the way, her employees don’t know. She never told you anything that was untrue.”

  “So, why did she do it?” Chris asked. “Why did she pay for my tuition, Matt?”

  Matt shrugged. “I don’t know, just trying to do something nice, I guess.”

  “Something nice? Are you sure? Or was she trying to buy me?”

  “Buy you? What do you mean?” Matt answered, cleaning the oil off his hands with a towel.

  “You know, her little game wasn’t working. I wasn’t responding to her sexual overtures, so…”

  Matt’s face turned red with anger. “Don’t even go there! I can’t believe that you would even think Lynn would do something like that!”

  “How would I know?” Chris said sarcastically. “I don’t even know the real Lynn Gregory!” She picked up the letter, folded it, and left the building.

  Matt jogged to catch up with her. “Chris, this doesn’t change anything! She’s still the same person,” Matt tried to explain.

  Chris opened her car door, not muttering a word.

  “You see? This is why she doesn’t tell anyone. People treat her differently when they find out who she is.” Matt acted disgusted and turned to walk away.

  “I wouldn’t have thought any different of her if I had known!” Chris called after him.

  Matt turned around. “Are you sure about that? You saw her as your equal before. Now how do you see her?”

  Chris paused. Matt shook his head, flipped the rag in his hand motioning her to leave, turned, and walked away. Chris sped out of the parking lot. Matt watched her drive away and thought, This confusion about her sexuality is going to drive her crazy.

  Lynn towel-dried her hair and ran gel through it. Humming to the music that was blaring, she buttoned her shirt, and tucked it into her favorite jeans. Looking in the mirror, she checked her hair and unbuttoned one button to reveal just a bit of cleavage. She wanted to look her best, maybe even a little sexy for Chris. Looking at her watch, she felt the excitement growing inside as she hoped Chris would be home soon. She had been disappointed that Chris hadn’t been there when she had gotten off of work. Knowing that Chris didn’t have class on Fridays, Lynn wondered where Chris had gone.

  Chris sped down the freeway, thoughts racing in her mind. Why didn’t she tell me who she really was? After all the discussions that they had, Chris thou
ght they didn’t have any secrets from each other. She was so confused. People don’t just give money away. Especially investment analysts, knowing that there was no tax benefit. And if it was supposed to be anonymous, why send it on letterhead? She screeched to a stop in front of the house and stormed to the door.

  Chris walked in, confusion and betrayal filling her head.

  “Hi there!” Lynn smiled as she turned down the volume of the music.

  Chris began pacing back and forth in front of Lynn.

  “Hey, calm down, what’s wrong?” Lynn said, placing her hand on the woman’s shoulder.

  Chris pushed Lynn’s hand off of her arm and shoved the letter in front of Lynn’s face. Lynn took the letter and sat down on the couch. She scanned the piece of paper, placed it on the table, and turned to Chris, who was still pacing.

  “I don’t know what to say. You weren’t ever supposed to see this,” Lynn explained.

  “I wasn’t supposed to see it? You mean I wasn’t ever supposed to know it was you?” Chris said, irritation filling her voice. “If I wasn’t supposed to know, why send the money on a company check, with letterhead?”

  “Those weren’t my instructions,” Lynn said calmly.

  “Are you sure? Are you sure that maybe you didn’t do it on purpose, knowing that I would find out?”

  “Why would I do that?” Lynn asked, still trying to remain the calmer of the two.

  “You know, just part of your little game you play with your women. Maybe you thought a little money would make it easier for me to sleep with you?” Chris shouted.

  Lynn felt like a knife had just entered her heart. How could Chris even think such a thing? Standing, Lynn lashed back.

  “Look, if this was just a game, I would’ve taken you already! I could’ve had you any night this week if I had wanted!”

  “Taken me? Did you really use those words, ‘taken me’? Why didn’t you just use the word ‘fuck,’ Lynn? You could’ve fucked me already?” Chris was pacing now, words spurting out of her mouth. “That’s all I am to you, isn’t it? Just another person to add to your list. I didn’t even have a choice in the matter, did I? The mighty Lynn Gregory set her sights on seducing me. And I was falling straight into your litde trap. But I wasn’t responding quickly enough, was that what it was? So you threw a little money my way.” Suddenly she stopped. “God, I just figured it out. I bet you lied to me about Susan, too! I bet that you’re the one that screwed around on her! That’s why Susan used that term, isn’t it? That’s why she asked if you were fucking me now!”