by Weeks, Abby
She looked to her side at Zola and she remembered then why she couldn’t leave things as they were. Zola needed to get out of this. It was one thing to do it willingly. It was quite another for Jake to be forcing Zola into it.
V
THE WATER IN THE SHOWER felt so good that Ariel thought she would never want to get out. She was sharing the shower with Zola and the two of them were standing under the enormous shower head as it billowed water down on them.
“Thank you for doing this for me,” Zola said.
Ariel was putting shampoo into her hair. “I’m just happy I was able to help you,” she said. She turned her back to Zola. “Rinse me off, would you?”
Zola rinsed the conditioner out of Ariel’s hair. Ariel could feel how close Zola’s body was to hers. She felt a surge of desire. She was surprised. Not only was it highly unusual for her to feel desire for another woman, but coming so soon after the enormous orgasm she’d just had, she wasn’t sure she could take any more stimulation.
Then Zola’s hands came around her and cupped her breasts.
“Oh, Zola,” Ariel said.
“Shh,” Zola said. “I want to show you how grateful I am.”
Zola slowly turned Ariel’s body around to face her, and then she kissed her passionately on the mouth. Ariel loved the softness of Zola’s tongue in her mouth. It was truly delicious.
As they kissed, Zola reached down and began rubbing Ariel’s clit. Ariel pressed against Zola’s hand and put her arms around her.
The water poured down on the two of them, warming them. It felt as if the water was protecting them from the world.
Ariel reached for a bar of soap behind Zola and lathered it in her hands. While she was doing this, Zola took the handheld shower from the wall and turned on the jet. She adjusted it so that it created a large, spread out stream of water that wasn’t too powerful.
“Let’s see how you like this,” Zola said, and then placed the jet of water over Ariel’s clit.
“Oh, Jesus,” Ariel said.
She writhed in pleasure as Zola skillfully applied the water to Ariel’s tender, trembling clit. Ariel kissed her again and while they were kissing, she let the bar of soap fall from her hands. She reached down to Zola’s ass with one hand, while her other hand went to her pussy. With Zola still applying the jet of water to Ariel, Ariel slid a finger into Zola’s cunt, and another into her anus.
“Oh, God,” Zola said.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Ariel said, as her soapy fingers slid in and out of Zola’s anus and cunt at the same time.
Zola nodded and kissed Ariel again. Then she dropped the shower head and lathered her own hands with soap. She reached down and did exactly the same thing to Ariel, fingering both her anus and cunt simultaneously. The two women were quite a mess of intertwined arms and hands as they fingered each other at both the front and the back at the same time. They continued to kiss, more and more passionately, until both of them started convulsing in orgasm again.
They clenched each other so tightly, pulsing and thrusting in climax as they kissed each other’s mouths with a passion they’d never showed a man.
By the time they got out of the shower, all washed and clean, they were both so exhausted they almost didn’t have the energy to get ready for bed.
When they reentered the bedroom, both Gabe and Jake were lying in the bed, waiting for them. They looked so strange, lying there together. They weren’t touching each other, they weren’t even talking, but Ariel knew they were both naked and that fact alone was enough to amaze her. If someone had told her while she was married to Gabe that she would one day find him lying in a bed naked with another man, she never would have believed it. Now, here she was, looking at it.
The bed was easily large enough to accommodate all four of them. Standing naked in front of it, Ariel and Zola didn’t know where they were to sleep.
“You get in with me,” Jake said to Ariel. “Zola, you get in next to Gabe.”
The women did as they were told. They each got in on the side Jake told them to, and climbed over the men so that they were lying in the middle, with the men on the outside.
Ariel got close to Jake, allowing him to put his arm around her while Gabe did the same with Zola. The situation was so strange. What was it that made some people want so badly to exchange partners? She had no idea. All she knew was that she’d never been so sexually stimulated, so sexually satisfied in all of her life as she was at that moment.
She fell asleep with Jake’s hand on her pussy.
VI
THE NEXT MORNING, ALL FOUR of them went down to the hotel’s restaurant for breakfast. The dining room overlooked one of the largest swimming pools Ariel had ever seen. People were already sitting around it in their bathing suits, sipping mimosas and looking glamorous in the morning sunshine.
They got a table for six because they were going to be joined by Veronica and Hank.
When Hank and Veronica arrived, the men rose to shake hands with Hank and Zola and Ariel hugged Veronica. Ariel felt strangely close to Zola after the night they’d spent together and she noticed it during breakfast. It was almost as if Zola had become like a sister to her.
“Thank you for joining us on such short notice,” Gabe said to Hank when everyone was seated.
“My pleasure,” Hank said. “I’m glad to be able to assist. This sounds like an exciting deal. Complicated though.”
“So let me explain the transaction,” Gabe said. Ariel was impressed at the way he was able to take charge of the meeting. He was good at doing deals like this and it showed. His confidence would also be key to maintaining Jake’s interest in the deal. “I’ve got a valuable painting,” Gabe went on.
“What do we mean by valuable?” Hank said. Hank had a notepad open in front of him and was taking notes.
“I’m going to say five million,” Gabe said.
Ariel looked at Jake. She could tell by his reaction that the deal now had his full attention.
“I see,” Hank said.
Ariel smiled at Veronica. Veronica had explained most of what was going on to Hank. Hank understood that the entire deal was a sting, that its purpose was to set Jake up. Hank was as interested in helping out Zola as any of them.
“So are you buying the painting from Gabe?” Hank said to Jake. He knew the answer but he was playing along with the plan.
“No, no,” Jake said. “I’m going to sell the painting for Gabe.”
“I see,” Hank said. “But forgive me, Gabe, don’t you own an art gallery?”
“Yes I do,” Gabe said.
“So why don’t you sell the painting yourself?” Hank said.
Gabe laughed. Everyone was playing their part to perfection. Ariel was so impressed with the way it was going that she thought she might have even fallen for it herself.
“It’s not that kind of painting,” Gabe said. “It’s a Rembrandt.”
There was silence around the table. While Hank and Veronica and Zola, all of them, knew the painting was a forgery, they all acted as if they were surprised at the news.
“How the hell did you get your hands on a Rembrandt?” Hank said. Everything was for Jake’s benefit.
“How is not important.”
“It’s important to me,” Hank said. “I have to know it hasn’t been stolen.”
Gabe was prepared. He took some documents out of a briefcase. “These are the plans to a building I own in Amsterdam. The painting was recovered from a safe in the building that hadn’t been opened in years.”
Ariel was beginning to see that if Gabe had been trying to sell the painting to a museum, as had been his original intention, this story would have been subjected to such intense scrutiny that she wasn’t sure it would hold up. She would not have liked to be at the meeting where she and Gabe tried to convince the curators of the top art museums in the world that the painting was for real. They might never have gotten away with it.
This was a lot easier. Jake wasn’t nearly a
s inquisitive as he would have needed to be to avoid being duped in this situation. Perhaps all of the sex had fogged his thinking on the issue.
All the same, Jake spoke up at this point. “So how do you know it’s the real thing?” he said.
“Because I’ve had it tested. It’s the original. I’m certain of it.”
“So what are you going to do with it?” Hank said.
“That’s the thing,” Gabe said. “I don’t know. Jake told me he knew some internet guys who might be willing to make a big investment in some art.”
“So he’s going to introduce them to you?”
“I think so,” Gabe said. “Is that right, Jake?”
Ariel was looking directly at Jake, giving him the most seductive, tempting look she possibly could. She was lucky Jake knew so little about art. Anyone with even the slightest idea of what was going on would have known that the painting was a world famous Rembrandt the moment they saw it. They’d also know that the painting had been stolen in one of the most famous art robberies of recent history. The only possible money they could make from it would be by returning it to its original museum for the reward. Jake knew none of that. Ariel knew though that it was only a matter of time before he found out.
“That’s right,” Jake said. “I’ll find a buyer.”
“And take a commission, I assume?” Hank said.
Jake looked at Gabe. It was a tense moment for Ariel. She knew that Jake was trying to rip off Gabe, and that Gabe was trying to rip off Jake. She prayed she knew the situation well enough to make sure it was Gabe who came out ahead.
Suddenly she began to feel very worried. What if this plan didn’t work? What if Jake found out what the painting was, what it was really worth, that it was stolen? If he started showing it to his investor friends around the city it wouldn’t be long at all till someone did a little research. No one bought art at this price without doing research.
She had to talk to Gabe. They had to change the plan. This wasn’t going to work. Her heart was fluttering. She was breathless. How could she have been so stupid? No one was going to buy a stolen Rembrandt. It was just impossible.
VII
AFTER THE BREAKFAST MEETING, VERONICA and Hank were the first to leave. They had the valet bring their car around. They wasted little time saying their goodbyes and were out on Hollywood Boulevard within minutes. Hank had another meeting across town that he had to get to and he was going to drop Veronica at the restaurant site on his way to it.
“Thank you for agreeing to get involved,” she said to Hank.
“I’ve watched that man abuse Zola for far too long,” Hank said. “I’m happy to have a chance to help her. Truth be told, I wish I’d stepped in to do something for her earlier.”
“But it’s impossible to interfere in other people’s marriages,” she said.
He looked at her. She knew that he knew that something had happened between her and Matt. They hadn’t spoken of it but somehow words just didn’t seem to be necessary.
“Sometimes,” he said.
“Yes,” she agreed, “sometimes.”
He put his hand on her knee.
“You know I love you very much,” he said.
“Yes,” she said. She knew that was true. She also knew that he’d been a good husband to her these past few years. She really had nothing to complain about apart from the fact that she wasn’t in love with him. She wasn’t in love with him and she was in love with Matt Harkness. That was her only issue!
“I’m so sorry, Hank,” she said. Suddenly saying those words, out of nowhere, brought the emotions that had been buried deep inside her up to the surface. She started to cry. She hadn’t meant to. She couldn’t help it.
“I know,” Hank said.
“I should never have done this to you. I care so deeply about you,” she went on.
“Don’t apologize,” Hank said. “It had to happen. Love finds a way. It always does. For a long time I fooled myself into thinking you loved me.”
“But I do love you,” Veronica said.
“I know,” Hank said. He reached up and touched her cheek gently. “But not the way I love you.”
She was amazed at how understanding he was being. She’d just slept with Matt, somehow Hank had sensed that something had changed, and he wasn’t trying to make things difficult for her at all. All he wanted was for her to be happy. That was real friendship, and friendship had always been the true nature of the relationship they shared.
“You know,” she said, “I treasure the years we’ve spent together, Hank.”
“I do too,” he said.
“No one ever treated me as well as you have.”
Hank nodded. She looked at him and saw that the emotion was getting to him too. There was a slight quiver of his lip, then she saw a tear fall down his cheek.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” he said.
That really got Veronica’s heart going. She started crying openly and she couldn’t stop. Why did life have to be so painful? Why did these matters of the heart always have to be so difficult?
“I’m so sorry,” she said again.
“Don’t be sorry,” Hank said. “Follow your heart. Always follow your heart. I’ll make out alright. I’ll just miss you is all.” He was trying to control his emotions as he spoke but Veronica could hear them all there, just beneath the surface, bubbling like lava in a volcano ready to erupt.
He pulled up outside the restaurant. She put her hand to the door.
“I wish you only the best,” he said to her as she opened the car door.
Veronica didn’t know what to say. He was being so kind to her, as he always had. He was a good man and she knew it. She was leaving him only because her heart demanded it. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. She still felt such love for him and she wanted to tell him that. She wanted to tell him that she still loved him, but she knew it wouldn’t sound right. The words would sound hollow and empty and false. How could she love him if she was leaving him for another man? There was nothing she could say.
She got out of the car and shut the door behind her. She watched Hank pull away from the curb and drive off into the traffic. She knew that everything in her life would be different from this moment onward. She’d finally made her decision, she’d taken action, and she’d done what she needed to do to end her relationship with a man who loved her very dearly. She prayed she’d made the right decision.
And then, Matt’s truck pulled up and parked in the very spot Hank’s car had been. Immediately, as soon as she saw the truck, before Matt had even stepped out of it, she knew she’d made the right decision. Matt was the true love of her life, and no matter how much Hank loved her, no matter how kind and understanding he was, she owed it to herself to be with the man she truly loved.
When Matt got out of the truck she ran around to meet him at the door. He held out his arms and she leapt toward him, hugging him intensely. He lifted her up into the air and held her so tight, with so much love, that all she cared about was spending the rest of her life in those strong, protective arms.
“I love you, Matt Harkness,” she whispered in his ear.
“I love you, too,” he whispered back to her.
VIII
ARIEL RUSHED AFTER GABE AS soon as the meeting was over.
“We need to talk,” she said.
“What is it?”
She looked at him. She had been meaning to discuss the painting but instead she brought up the night before.
“Well,” she said, “how did you like it?”
Gabe shrugged. He seemed a little shy. “It was something,” he said.
“Did you like it?”
“Sure,” he said.
She felt tenderness for him. Despite all they’d been through he was still probably the best friend she’d ever had in her life.
“I liked feeling you inside me again,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yes,” she said and smiled.
“I liked it too,” Gabe said.
“Did you like the other stuff?” she said, mischievously.
“Ariel!” he said, “could we not talk about that?”
“Sure,” she said but the look she gave him was playful.
“I mean, not ever,” he said.
She smiled at him. Then she nodded. “We’ll lock it up in a secret vault,” she said.
“Thank you.”
She took a step toward him. “Do you still think about our marriage sometimes?” she said.
“Ariel, you know I do. I think about it every day. It’s all I think about.”
“What do you think about it?”
“I think how stupid I was. How foolish. I regret ruining what we had. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. You are the love of my life. Even if we never sleep together again, as long as we live, and I go on to marry someone else and spend thirty years with her, you’ll always be the one true love of my life.”
She reached out and touched his hand.
“Maybe…” she said, and then she stopped herself. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. She didn’t want to start something and then regret it.
“Maybe what?” he said.
She looked into his eyes. “Nothing.”
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me.”
She sighed. She might as well. What did she have to lose? “Maybe we should be open to giving things another try,” she said uncertainly.
Gabe almost lost his balance he was so surprised at her words. “Really?” he said.
“I’m not saying we should get back together or anything,” she said. “I don’t want to move in with you.”
“No,” Gabe agreed. “Of course not.”
“But maybe we could go on a date or something.”
“Oh God, Ariel. I would love that. I swear I won’t let you down this time.”
“Well, let’s not get carried away,” she said. “It’s just a date.”
“I know,” Gabe said, obviously thrilled. “I know. Just a date. Thank you so much!”
