“That was a nice gesture,” remarked Holly, as they left the petting zoo and headed toward her truck.
“I noticed that they hadn't bought any food, so I thought they'd like to watch their baby feed the animals.”
“I hadn't noticed. You're very observant,” said Holly. “I'm glad you did that. I bet you made their day.” She opened the door for Charlie, who hopped in happily.
“I guess I might have, just a little,” said Charlie smiling. Holly grinned while she gently shut the door.
When Holly drove Charlie back to her place, things happened exactly as Charlie predicted. Holly gave her one long-lasting passionate kiss goodbye, and Charlie drove home, eagerly anticipating spending the following day with Holly.
Chapter Eight
When Charlie got home, Kathy was waiting for her on the sofa. She had just finished setting up the Kindle Fire Stick that had arrived in the mail that afternoon and was watching an action movie about outer space.
“How did your date go?” asked Kathy.
“Pretty good, I guess. I got attacked by a zebra and a goat, but other than that, excellent.”
“Attacked?” asked Kathy, muting the televison set.
Charlie laughed. “I'm over exaggerating. We went to have lunch at Mickey D's, then we went to a drive thru safari place where a zebra nearly jumped in my window trying to get my bag of feed.”
Kathy laughed. “Hey, I've been there!”
Charlie was surprised. She'd known Kathy almost all her life and she'd never once mentioned going there. “You've been to the safari? Really? When?”
“No, I've never been. But I had a bag of candy once on Halloween and my nieces and nephews nearly knocked me down trying to take it away from me.”
Charlie laughed. “This wasn't at all like that. It reached in the window, then took off running with the bag clenched in its teeth.”
“Yup, same thing. My two nieces and nephews grabbed my bag of candy and ran into the backyard to divvy it up. In all fairness though, it was really their candy. I had taken it from their Halloween pails when they fell asleep and chucked it all in a garbage bag for myself. I was eating some when they woke up and they realized it was theirs,” said Kathy laughing.
“You're impossible to talk to sometimes, you know that?” asked Charlie playfully.
Kathy laughed. “Okay, no more joking around. A zebra ate your food, then what happened?”
“Well, after that we bought some cute souvenirs and saw some other animals. She kissed me, then my shirt was nearly torn by a goat that thought I tasted better than those food pellets.”
“Wait, go back to the part where she kissed you. Rewind please.”
Charlie laughed. “Rewind?”
Kathy was just as excited as Charlie and couldn't hold back. “Yes! Be kind rewind. Tell me all about that.”
Charlie smiled. “Not much to tell. We were sitting on a bench exchanging gifts. The next thing I knew, she kissed me.”
“Was there slow romanctic music?” Kathy pretended to be playing an imaginary violin. “How about sparks flying or fireworks?” she asked, then waved her hands in the air to pretend to see fireworks bursting.
Charlie giggled. “No, but she does give me butterflies. That's got to mean something. No one else has ever given me that feeling before. Not to that extent.”
“Uh huh. Just like I thought. She's the one you're going to marry.” That was the second time that Kathy had said those exact words, but Charlie couldn't decipher whether or not she was joking.
“Want to watch a movie with me?” asked Kathy. “I set up the Fire Stick. It works.”
“Sure.” Charlie took a seat on the love seat and kicked off her shoes.
“We can watch your favorite movie,” said Kathy, finding Nicholas Sparks The Notebook.
Midway through the movie, Charlie was sound asleep. She began to dream that she was in a lesbian version of the movie. She was Allie and Holly was Noah. She was on a Ferris Wheel sitting beside Kathy while Holly hung from the seat begging her for a date. She pulls down Holly's pants while the crowd laughs. Then they were paddling out into a lake with hundreds of swans swimming around. They found a space without swans, then swam in the lake and laughed while they splashed around and frolicked in the water. Lastly, they were in Holly's new house making love on the wooden floor. She moaned as Holly kissed her and caressed her body. “You feel so good,” whispered Charlie.
Charlie was suddenly awakened by laughter. “You're talking in your sleep,” said Kathy giggling..
“Wha-? What did I say?” asked Charlie groggily.
“You had a big goofy grin on your face and you said, 'You feel so good.' Do I even want to know what you were dreaming about?” asked Kathy with a smirk.
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep during the movie. And I'm not telling you what I was dreaming about,” said Charlie embarrassed. “I'm going to bed.” She got up from the love seat and went to her bedroom to turn in for the night.
“You feel soooooo good!” shouted Kathy, as Charlie shut her bedroom door. Charlie could hear Kathy giggling as she changed her clothes to get ready for bed.
“What a goof,” whispered Charlie to herself as she got into bed. Once she hit the sheets, she was fast asleep, dreaming of Holly once again.
*****
Charlie was up nearly thirty minutes before her alarm went off. She took a quick shower and left before Kathy got out of bed. The last thing she wanted was to be asked nosy questions about her dreams or teased any further about having talked in her sleep.
When she pulled up to Holly's apartment, Holly was having coffee. She answered the door with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. “Is it 10AM already?” asked Holly.
“No, it's early. We didn't set a time, but I thought I'd come over early.”
“Come on in. You want some coffee?” asked Holly.
“Sure, I'll have some.”
Holly handed her the cup she was holding. “I just served it. I hadn't even taken a drink yet. Honest.”
“Okay,” said Charlie, taking the cup. She made herself comfortable on the sofa and sat down with a sigh.
“Is something troubling you?” asked Holly curiously.
“No, not really. I was talking in my sleep last night, and Kathy just so happened to hear me say something. That was why I crept out of the apartment, so I wouldn't have to face her this morning,” said Charlie, sipping on her warm coffee.
Holly laughed. “Oh. I didn't realize you two slept in the same room.”
“Oh no. We don't. I fell asleep on the couch while we were watching TV last night. I'm sure it will blow over by the time I go home. No worries.”
Holly served herself a cup of coffee and sat down beside Charlie. “Now I'm going to wonder all day what it was that you said that was so embarrassing that you just couldn't face her.”
Charlie smiled. “I knew I shouldn't have told you.”
“Were you singing I Got You Babe?” inquired Holly jokingly.
“No, nothing like that. Tell me about your new house,” said Charlie, changing the subject.
“You're going to love it. It's a small one bedroom cabin with a loft. It's a quaint two-story house. I was so glad when I got the call that the family had moved out. They really hated to leave, but they needed a bigger space since they were planning on having kids, at least, that's what the realtor told me.”
“Don't realtors always know all of the scoop?” laughed Charlie.
Holly chuckled. “Yeah, I guess they do. They usually want to know why you're moving or what kind of place you're looking for. My realtor's nice. Her name is Roseanne. She knows I'm moving to be closer to my folks. It's why I'm going to school to be a nurse, too.”
Charlie crossed her legs. “Really? You hadn't told me that.”
Holly sipped on her coffee. “Well, I had to leave something to talk about on our other dates,” offered Holly with a grin. “I'm nearly done with nursing school, and I plan on applying to wo
rk at the hospital that's near where my parents live.”
Charlie pressed her lips together trying not to frown. “Does that mean I'll see you less?”
Holly shook her head. “No, not at all. It means, I'll have fewer reasons to commute. Right now I've been wasting a lot of gas going back and forth to the city and back to the hill country for this, that, and the other.” She set her empty coffee cup down on the coffee table. “I'm ready whenever you are.”
“Oh, me too,” replied Charlie. She set her cup on a coaster on the end table. She wandered into the kitchen and picked up some small boxes and proceeded to take them to her car.
Meanwhile, Holly went into her bedroom and came back out with some larger cardboard boxes. She left the apartment door open while she took them to the car. They shoved as much of the boxes into both vehicles until it didn't seem like they could possibly fit anymore in there. It hadn't taken more than a couple of hours, but they made sure to shove anything that didn't fit into the back of the truck or the trunk of the car onto the floorboards and the seats.
“I think we're ready to take our first load,” said Holly, looking around for anything else she could grab on the way out.
“Okay. You lead the way, and I'll follow you.”
Holly drove forty-five minutes out towards the hill country, and Charlie was pleasantly surprised to see what a nice area it was. There were beautiful trees, wide open spaces, horses on the property next door, and right as they walked in the door with their first load of boxes Charlie found a bouquet of flowers and a loaf of banana nut bread sitting on the kitchen countertop.
“Whatcha got there?” asked Holly as she noticed Charlie reading the note.
Charlie's face was expressionless. “It's flowers from your realtor. That's odd.”
“Why's that odd?” inquired Holly. “I told you she was nice. What does it say?”
“It says, 'Welcome to your new home. Enjoy the homemade bread. Roseanne.' Should I be worried?” Charlie set the note back down on the countertop.
Holly laughed. “No, of course not. Roseanne's happily married with three kids and one on the way.”
“That doesn't stop some women,” said Charlie.
“I promise you. Roseanne isn't a lesbian. She's just a real nice lady. She helped my parents when they purchased their cabin out here, and she gave them flowers and bread, too. But it's cute that you're jealous,” said Holly grinning. She walked back out to get more boxes.
Charlie followed her out and unloaded some boxes from her car. “I am not jealous.”
Holly was beaming. “Sure you are. I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your tone of voice. You were so jealous.”
“I'm not a jealous person whatsoever,” replied Charlie. It was true, she had never been the jealous type, but for some reason she had thought the flowers had been meant for her. When she read the note and saw that they were from another woman to Holly, she felt a bit of jealousy singe her like an open flame. She didn't want to admit it, but wondered if it was obvious, or if Holly was simply giving her a hard time.
The two women returned to Holly's apartment for a second trip, then returned to the house to unload more things. By the third trip, they were exhausted. They shoved the sofa and love seat through the door, set up the TV set and coffee and end tables, then had to make another trip to get the bedroom set and mattresses. When they were finally done, Holly began the painstaking process of opening some of the boxes and hanging her clothes in the bedroom closet.
Charlie plopped down on Holly's bed and leaned back. Her upper body was lying down on the bed while her legs hung over the side of the mattress and sat firmly planted on the hardwood flooring. She turned over on her side and watched Holly organize and separate her long sleeve shirts, blouses, pants, and jeans. She rose from the bed and strolled into the walk-in closet, shutting the door behind her.
“What are you doing? I can't see now. I haven't put a bulb in the socket yet,” said Holly.
“Mm hm,” whispered Charlie as she approached her. She could feel her heartbeat increase and her breathing became shallow as she became aroused. She leaned into Holly and kissed her tenderly. She tugged on Holly's bottom lip with her teeth before kissing her again. Holly wrapped her arms around her and began kissing back. Their passion intensified as they kissed more, and Holly pushed her body into Charlie as Charlie's back was against the wall. Charlie let out a soft moan as she felt Holly's warm hands slide into her blouse. She felt her undo her bra strap and run her hands over her breasts. Holly found that Charlie's nipples became hard and erect to her gentle caress. Charlie removed her blouse, then lay on the closet floor where Holly continued to kiss her, tease her, and fondle her. Holly tugged at Charlie's jeans, and once removed, she slid her fingers inside her moist center. Charlie groaned and rolled her hips upward and into Holly's hand every time she slid inside her. Holly was so aroused that she moaned every bit as much as Charlie did. The sound of Holly's moaning further aroused Charlie who searched for Holly's zipper. She unbuttoned her pants and pulled down her zipper, sliding her hand into Holly's inviting moistness. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they were better able to see the expressions on one another's faces as they pleasured each other. They brought each other to orgasm again and again, neither woman wanting the night to end.
Charlie and Holly made love countless times until Charlie fell fast asleep. When she awoke she wondered where Holly had gone. She put on one of Holly's t-shirts, then looked out the window and saw that Holly's truck was still parked out front. She went upstairs to the loft and found that Holly had opened the second story window and was sitting on the roof of the first story.
“Hey there. What are you doing out here?” asked Charlie. Holly was sitting wrapped in a blanket just as she was the night they drove out to Lookout Point.
“I'm a star gazer. This loft was one of the reasons why I really liked this place. I knew it would be a great place to climb out of the window and sit.” She looked up at the millions of stars in the night sky. “Here, you shouldn't be out here in just a t-shirt. Take this blanket.” She handed Charlie her blanket and watched her snuggle in and sit down beside her.
Charlie took a deep breath and took in the view. “It's beautiful out here. Was it expensive?”
“Yes and no. I pay for most of it. My parents agreed to help me out financially if I should need it, but I'd rather pay for it myself. I go to school until two o' clock, then I have a job data processing in the evenings. It's part-time. My full-time job is working at Saint Jude's. I'm a nursing assistant in the cardiac ward.”
“That's commendable,” remarked Charlie, crossing her arms and interlocking them as she pulled the blanket tightly around herself.
“Yeah, once I graduate though, I hope to get hired out here at Southwest General.”
“You're a pretty busy woman. When you hardly called or texted and didn't want to see me during the week, I thought I was doing somethig wrong. Then you didn't kiss me that night under the stars, and I started to wonder if I was supposed to be the one making the first move.”
Holly giggled. “I guess I should have told you. I'm just sort of a private person, and I don't like to tell too many people about my plans. I'm scared that if I get too far ahead of myself by talking about them, that I'll spoil them somehow.”
Charlie smiled. “So you really do come out at night and make wishes on stars?”
“I used to, but I think that my days of making wishes on stars is over. I enjoy coming out here to look at them, but I decided that I want to be a doer and not a dreamer. Nothing is going to fall into my lap. I want that degree, I want that career, and I want you. Nothing is going to keep me from the things I want in life. In order for me to be successful, I have to stop dreaming and start working for the things I want.”
“You want me?” asked Charlie surprised.
“That shouldn't come as such a shock. I know you said that you weren't a jealous person, but I know I can be. Ever since you told me about that
roommate of yours, I've been wondering if you two had a thing for one another or a past. I also wondered why you didn't want us to meet.”
Charlie giggled. “You're jealous of Kathy? I swear, she's my very best friend in the entire world, but if she was the last woman on the planet, I'd just have to be single.”
“How do you know she isn't interested in you though?” inquired Holly.
“Even if she was, would it really matter since I'm not remotely interested in her? She's more like a sister to me.”
“I guess not,” replied Holly. “Please don't tell her I was jealous of her.”
Charlie inched up close to Holly and leaned up against her. “I won't. She would have too much fun knowing that.”
“That reminds me, what was it that she overheard you saying in your sleep?”
“Do you really have to know? It's kind of embarrassing.”
“I don't really have to know, but I'd like to know. What was it?” pleaded Holly.
“I was having a sexual dream about you, and she heard me whisper that you felt good. She was ribbing me about it last night.”
Holly giggled. “You were dreaming about me?”
Charlie grinned. “Are you surprised?”
“No, not really. When I've actually managed to fall asleep, I've had a couple of dreams about you, too.”
“Anything you care to tell me?”
“Nope,” said Holly grinning, shaking her head.
Charlie laughed. “That's not fair, is it?”
“It's perfectly fair. I only asked because someone heard you talking in your sleep. No one was around to hear me, so you can't ask if I talked in my sleep or if anyone heard anything.”
“I don't think I like your logic,” said Charlie playfully. Charlie stood up and reached down with her hand. “Dance with me.”
“There's no music playing and you're in a t-shirt and a blanket,” said Holly grinning.
“We can dance to the music in our hearts,” said Charlie, stretching her blanket to envelop Holly. They held each other closely and slow danced underneath the moonlight. Charlie rested her head on Holly's chest. “I can hear your heartbeat.”
Touchdown Hero Page 7
