With Maggie behind the wheel, we drove down the exit ramp and stopped at a stop sign where a road intersected. Farmland all around us. This was Nebraska. Actually, I didn’t think it was that bad if you can believe it. Sure, it could be boring, it could be monotonous — and surely nothing else in the state was like Omaha — but it was a fine drive. Just flat.
Pulling into the gas station, the only building around us that I could see, Maggie and I were in conversation as she drove up to one of the pumps and shifted the car into park. She killed the engine.
“So I saddled up to the bar,” I said. “Because I was tired of waiting for the waitress.”
“Wait… what?” said Maggie with a confused look on her face.
“What?” I said, sitting up straight in my seat. “Yeah, I told you, the waitress was taking forever.”
“No,” said Maggie. “You what-ed up to the bar?”
“Saddled,” I said.
“Like… you rode a horse?” she asked, unable to suppress her impending laughter. “Like saddled the waitress with debt?”
“What?” I said again, a smile creeping on my face. “Is that the wrong word?”
“Sidled,” said Maggie. She reached over and gripped onto my thigh, giving it a firm squeeze. “You sidled up to the bar.”
“Oh, whatever,” I cooed, tossing my hand flippantly. “Maybe the barstools were made out of horse saddles and I did actually saddle up at the bar. You don’t know.”
“You’re ridiculous, Dana,” she said, still laughing at me. I couldn’t help but laugh also. It was infectious.
“Just get the gas,” I said, swatting at her hand on my thigh but secretly loving her touch. “Do you want my credit card?”
“Yes!” she said.
“Fine, fine,” I replied, fishing through my purse and then handing Maggie my credit card. “You’re such a nut,” I said.
Maggie blew me a kiss, offered a smile, and then flung her door open. I watched as she pushed my card into the pump, removed the nozzle, and pushed it into her tank. She had left the car door open and the car itself offered up a repetitive dinging sound. Reaching over, I pulled the keys from the ignition and dropped them into one of the cup holders.
“Yeah, that was getting annoying,” I heard Maggie say, peeking her head in from outside and grinning at me. As the gas pumped into the car, Maggie put a foot up at the bottom of the door, leaning, causing the stretchy cotton skirt she wore to shift up higher on her thigh. Unable to stop myself from peeking in, I saw those same pale pink panties that she wore last night as I watched her crawl into bed. And my heart melted. It all came bubbling back into me. I felt the infatuation grow.
It was almost as if she were doing it on purpose, pumping her leg back and forth as she stood there, showing off what she wore underneath. I couldn’t stay silent about it.
“Mags,” I said. “I can totally see your panties.”
“Oh?” she said, looking down at herself. Taking hold of her skirt like she was going to pull it down over her thighs to obscure what was underneath, she instead flipped it open to give me a better view. She laughed impishly before covering herself back up and taking her foot off the car.
“I didn’t say to fix it,” I said, grinning with a feigned shyness.
“You’re lucky I’m wearing something under there,” said Maggie, quickly looking to the pump to see how far along it was, then darting her eyes back to me. “I’ve been known to go commando in a skirt.”
“I’d like to see that,” I said automatically, immediately wondering how in the hell something like that was able to exit my lips. Was I going crazy? I was never that brash, never that forward. I don’t know what was happening with me.
“Dana, Dana, Dana,” said Maggie slowly. “You’re full of surprises.”
“I’m on vacation,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Right,” she said. “A vacation from your normal life. From the life you want everybody to think you live.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing at all,” she said with a knowing smile. “I love that you’ve still got some spunk in you.” Just then, the gas pump clicked and stopped pumping. “And I’m amazed now that at 35, and for all the years we’ve been friends, you’ve never before said this kinda stuff. It’s… interesting,” said Maggie, offering me a wink before attending to the gas pump.
My pulse quickened. The conversation was taking a turn and it was definitely exciting, but also a little scary. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing, what I was saying. But it felt… natural. I was being flirty with Maggie and she was accepting of it. It just felt right. It felt like something that should have happened decades ago.
“Hey, you wanna finger me?” I heard Maggie say, sticking her head back into the car.
“What?”
“Do… you… want… to… switch with me?” she said, correcting my mishearing. “I can still drive if you’re not ready.”
“Yeah, I’m not ready,” I said, shaking my heard, feeling dizzy. But maybe Maggie did say ‘finger me.’ She was the type of chick to screw with you like that, to make you feel like you misheard her but doing the whole thing on purpose. She liked to joke around.
“You got it,” she said, climbing back up into the car and positioning herself in the driver seat. It was kind of humorous to see her small figure in charge of the SUV. Whenever I drove, I had to lower the seat down a bit.
“Saddle up,” I said to her as Maggie put on her seat belt. Looking over to me, she dramatically rolled her eyes.
“Please,” she said. “You’re incorrect and you’re a total creep for looking up my skirt.” Maggie started the engine and put the car into gear.
“You’re the creep for flashing me,” I said. “I know you got a rise out of it.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Maggie had a wide smile on her face as her eyes focused on the road, pointing the SUV back toward the highway. We sat there together, both of us feeling pretty good I imagine, as we returned to our drive, still with plenty of Nebraska road ahead of us. We were eager for what Colorado would bring, excited for the new landscape, and enthusiastic for everything that was to come with our trip. It was becoming such a magical experience. I loved every second of it.
“Ah!” squealed Maggie, pointing her finger out toward the impending horizon as I drove. “Mountains!”
“Whoa,” I mused, tilting my head slightly to look out of the highest part of the windshield. “Those are definitely some big mountains.”
“I can’t believe how amazing they are,” Maggie said, still gazing out at the majesty of the range in front of us. The highway was nice and smooth, not congested at all, giving us an easy path to our destination. “I mean, you hear about how awesome the Rockies are but… this?” She motioned with both hands. “Why do we live in Chicago again?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a laugh. “You’re still navigating, right?”
“Yeah,” said Maggie, not paying attention to the GPS or the notes on her phone at all. She was still mesmerized by the landscape.
“I think there’s an interchange coming up we need to take to get to Boulder,” I said.
“Fine, fine,” said Maggie with a sweet grin, looking over at me like she had been caught. Hoisting up her phone, she looked down into it, then back up at the road, to the GPS on the windshield, then once more to the phone. “Yeah,” she said finally. “Take this upcoming interchange.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You may now return to mountain gazing.”
But how could I blame her? The scenery was incredible. It was like a different world out here. We were used to the flat plains of the midwest and while rolling green fields can be beautiful in their own right, the mountains definitely had our home beat. I could see why Piper had moved out here from Chicago. If you were into the outdoorsy lifestyle, Colorado was your place.
Something I noticed about Boulder once we arrived was that everything was clean and well taken c
are of. We drove up around a hill through a neighborhood and things were peaceful. A group of kids roller skied down in the hill in the bike lane. Yeah, roller skies. I’d never seen anything like it before. I guess when there’s no snow on the mountain, people still need to get their skiing in somehow. I thought about how idyllic this place was, how it was probably an amazing town to grow up in.
“This is it!” called out Maggie, pointing to a stand of townhouses upcoming on our drive. “Piper said there’s a parking lot in the front area that we can park in. She’ll give us her pass.”
“I’m pulling in,” I said. “I am definitely ready to not be driving.” Maggie laughed at me.
“I offered to switch back again,” she said, wagging a finger at me. “But you wanted to make good time.”
“Don’t point that thing at me,” I said, reaching over and wrapping my hand around her finger. “We didn’t need to make another stop.”
“You’re going to miss the turn!” Maggie protested, trying to pull her finger back. After a moment, I released her and began my turn into Piper’s housing complex.
The grouping of townhouses were designed with a very ski lodge type feel. Wooden and earth toned. The area was surrounded by old growth trees and everything just felt really comforting. A light drizzle of rain had started coming down, but nothing crazy. It was misty and the sun still shone through the clouds above.
Together, Maggie and I hefted our bags up on our shoulders and I reached up, pulled the back door down, and slammed it shut. It was nice to get out of that car. Don’t get me wrong, there’s an amazing feeling driving long distances on an open road but once you reach your destination, it’s a great feeling to plant your feet on solid ground.
“I can’t believe you never met Piper before,” said Maggie as we walked up toward Piper’s townhouse. “She sort of ran in our circle for a while.”
“If you recall,” I countered. “I pretty much dropped out of that social circle after I started seeing Paul.”
“Right,” said Maggie absently as she remembered. “I guess that did happen.”
“Not my greatest moment,” I said. “Very ill-advised.”
“Well, whatever!” replied Maggie brightly. “That’s all in the past. You’re here now. Dana’s back!”
“Dana’s back!” I repeated, smiling over at my friend. Maggie had her glasses folded and stuffed into the neck of her shirt and she had the most wonderful eyes. Vividly blue. Swirling with excitement. Her nose was like a button, facial features petite. I felt myself yearning for her. She drew me in and I couldn’t help it. Maggie had a communicable happiness in her surrounding aura.
Reaching the front door, Maggie stepped ahead of me and knocked a few times and then leapt back. She smiled at me and I returned her expression. After a moment of silence, the door swung open and behind it stood Piper. She was incredibly sweet looking, pretty really, a short pixie style haircut, a slim and wiry body, with a hippie punk vibe about her. Piper had on a vintage rock t-shirt, tightly fitted and demonstrating that she had no bra on to support her small chest, with matching tight jeans on below, ripped at the knees. She was barefoot.
“Ladies!” said Piper with glee. She jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Maggie, the two of them hugging tightly. I felt a little jealous for a moment but that quickly subsided. The feeling made me think, though, it made me question what was going on with me and these growing emotions I felt over whatever was between Maggie and I. I just pushed it down and put on a happy face as Piper then approached me and offered me a hug.
“This is Dana,” said Maggie, motioning toward me after Piper released me from a hug. “And Dana, this here is Piper.”
“I can’t believe we never met before,” mused Piper as she smiled at me. “How long have you lived in Chicago?”
“Like a decade or so,” I admitted.
“And we never met? That’s crazy!” she said.
“I thought so, too,” said Maggie. “But she was involved in this guy and she dropped out.”
“Bah,” said Piper, waving it off. “I’m glad to meet you now, Dana,” she continued on. “You’re cute.”
“Ha!” belted out Maggie.
“Oh jeez,” I blushed.
“You ladies need to get in here,” Piper said, moving out of the doorway to let us inside. “Put that stuff down and let’s have a beer to celebrate!”
Piper’s home was three levels. The top floor was a loft that made up her own bedroom and a small office that looked over a balcony to the main living space, the kitchen, the dining area, a first floor bathroom. And the finished basement had a spare bedroom, the room in which Maggie and I would stay together, as well as her laundry area and a second bathroom. It was a quaint space, enough room for a single person. And like the outside, it had that wooden ski lodge feel. I was really digging it.
“I can’t believe the scenery out here,” said Maggie, cradling a beer bottle between her hands as she sat cross-legged on an oversized lounge chair in the living room. I sat on a couch while Piper had pulled up this modern minimalist style chair and plunked down in that. I felt all the driving tension easing out of me. I drank from my bottle, sighed, smiled.
“Uh, yeah,” said Piper. “If you love nature, love hiking, this place is tits.”
“Tits,” said Maggie, laughing.
“Titties!” said Piper, taking another drink. “But no, really, you girls definitely need to do a hike. I recommend Chautauqua. It’s right in town.”
“Done,” said Maggie. “We’re game. Right Dana?”
“Absolutely,” I smiled. “I’m down for anything. I’m on vacation.”
“Anything?” said Piper with a devilish smile.
“Within reason,” I corrected. Both women laughed at me.
“Well, I hope you two are into weed because it’s obvious that we’re going to hit up a pot store and check that scene out,” said Piper.
“How big is it out here?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s big,” she said. “Who’d of thunk it, right?” Maggie laughed and I smiled.
“Hey,” I said, waving my hand over at Piper. “Maggie told me you do something weather related? I’m interested. What do you do?”
“Little ol’ me?” said Piper with a grin. “I’m a scientist at NCAR. It’s, like, literally right down the street from me. I bike to work most days. I work in the Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling laboratory. ACOM represent!”
“All right,” I said, laughing a little bit.
“Right?” said Piper, scrunching her face up, still grinning, knowing I probably wasn’t following her. “I also do modeling for the Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology laboratory.”
“Piper’s a model,” Maggie interjected jokingly. This caused Piper to strike a pose in her chair, lifting her hand up and placing her palm against the back of her head.
“What can I say?” Piper intoned. “I know how to work it.”
“Do I dare ask what mesoscale and microscale even mean?” I said.
“You dare,” said Piper. “Mesoscale refers to the weather that’s happening within a range of a couple hundred kilometers, while microscale is smaller than that. It’s all about short-lived atmospheric phenomena smaller than, say, one kilometer.”
“Okay,” I said. “That makes sense. And you do computer models of that sort of thing?”
“Exactly.”
“Piper’s a smarty,” said Maggie.
“Looks, brains, I mean… I’m definitely blessed,” said Piper, ending her humblebrag in a laugh to indicate how silly she thought it all.
“Are you going to be able to hang out with a us a lot while we’re here?” asked Maggie.
“Well,” said Piper, her jovial tune changing slightly. “Probably not a ton. I still have to go to work every day. But I definitely want to go hiking with you ladies and mess around. During the day… you’re on your own. There’s plenty to do, though, so you won’t get bored or anything without me.”
“
That’s fine,” said Maggie, looking over at me. “I’m sure we’ll find plenty to do.”
I smiled at her. I felt really, truly happy to be there in that moment.
Maggie and I had just returned to the house from a short hike not too far from NCAR, Piper’s research facility. I was freshly showered, lying atop our shared bed on my stomach, wearing khaki shorts and a v-neck, starring down into my phone like it had anything important to tell me. Really I was just waiting for Maggie to get out of the shower. I was so eager to spend time with her. Any time we spent apart, even if it was just for a shower, I felt lonely. I yearned to see her smiling face.
I had definitely loved Boulder so far. It had only been a couple of days but it was an enjoyable place to be. Awesome restaurants, beautiful landscapes, healthy looking people. I could only describe it as yuppie heaven. I imagined you needed a nice chunk of change to live there — it was indeed an expensive place — but if you were well off and liked the finer things, Boulder was your place. I could have easily seen myself settling in there and I admit I gave it some serious thought as I compared it to Chicago.
But maybe I just loved Boulder so much, and this trip, because I had Maggie by my side. Some sort of love by osmosis, if that makes any sense. Maybe I was drawn to this town just as I was feeling drawn to Maggie. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what to think about any of that. It was too confusing for me to work out. It was always confusing until Maggie walked in and showed her smiling face.
And that’s what she did. Wearing just a towel, Maggie strutted in from the bathroom down the hall, her wet blonde hair dangling down her back, holding the white terry cloth against her chest as she entered the room. As our eyes caught, Maggie gave me that joyful smile. It warmed me.
“Hey,” said Maggie in a joking ‘valley girl’ type tone. “Miss me?”
“Always,” I said with a grin.
“I’m already totally achy from that hike,” said Maggie, nonchalantly removing her towel to reveal her nakedness underneath. As she reached up to toss the towel over the door, I couldn’t help but stare. She had an abundant chest that belied her small frame, a slim stomach with just the slightest hint of a belly, and a bubble butt that jutted out from her lithe legs. Between those legs, downy blonde fur that matched her hair up top. It made me remember of that time in college I’d seen her shaved. The contrast. As Maggie moved, both her chest and her rear subtly bounced with her step.
Restless On A Road Trip: A Lesbian Romance Page 4
