In Plain Sight

by Sherryl Hancock

  Kiery22: Oh God… I can almost feel that…

  Oh-Liver23: Imagine my hands cupping your breasts, leaning down, and taking a nipple into my mouth, my fingers sliding over the other.

  Kiery22: Ohhhh…. That is so…

  Oh-Liver23: Shhh…. Stop typing, just read… I want you to touch where I touch…

  Kiery22: Okay, trembling right now…

  “Holy fuck… This shouldn’t be this damn hot.” Memphis felt her body reacting to what she’d just read, imagining this girl across the ocean getting so hot.

  Oh-Liver23: I’d lay you back on the bed, my body over yours… kissing your lips then moving to your neck, kissing it, sucking at your skin, pressing my body against yours with just enough pressure, my thigh between your legs, pressing, moving against you… my mouth on your skin, biting gently, moving down your body, sliding my tongue over your nipple, sucking then biting. Moving down your torso, kissing your skin, tasting it… My mouth moving lower, you can feel my breath above you… sliding my hands under you, pressing you up to meet my mouth, my tongue sliding between the lips of your slit, feeling your heat, sliding my hands up to touch your nipples while my mouth plunders your very core

  Kiery22: Oh my God! I just came so hard!

  “Yeah, and I need a damned cold shower…”

  Oh-Liver23: That’s good…

  Kiery22: I have something for you…

  Oh-Liver23: Okay…

  Kiery22: It’s a sound file…

  Oh-Liver23: Of?

  Kiery22: Me… coming for you.

  “Holy Christ! And Oliver will never, ever hear it, not as long as I live.”

  Oh-Liver23: Wow… Will you send it?

  Kiery22: Yes, to that address you sent me the files from?

  Oh-Liver23: No, use this one, LiveLoud@msn.com. That one has longer storage.

  Kiery22: Okay, sending now. I hope you like it…

  Oh-Liver23: I’m sure I will.

  They chatted for a while longer, and if Kieran wondered why Oliver didn’t ask her to get him off, she didn’t say anything. They signed off a half hour later. Memphis thought Kieran probably figured the sound file would get “him” off, and it definitely would have, if Oliver had ever heard it. Memphis hadn’t even decided if she was going to listen to it yet; part of her felt like it was an invasion of Kieran’s privacy. Then again, she reasoned, if the girl had wanted to keep it private, she shouldn’t have sent it on the Internet.

  After she put down her phone, Memphis lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She put her headphones in and cranked her music, closing her eyes and moving her head to the beat. Her mind kept wandering back to that sound file sitting in her account. She told herself she didn’t need that kind of thing, but her mind wouldn’t drop it.

  “Goddamn it,” she muttered as she sat up and opened her emails.

  She found the file and saved it to her phone. She debated listening to it for another full ten minutes. Finally, she gave up, and with her headphones firmly in her ears, she hit play. Her head was filled with the sounds of a woman pleasuring herself, and she was fairly sure she was going to come just from hearing it. In the end, she helped things along, and lay spent on her bed, breathing heavily.

  “Well, that was new,” she said, sighing.

  She locked the audio file and password protected it so no one could accidentally stumble upon it. She then responded to the email Kieran had sent the file in.

  That was the most amazing, sexy thing I’ve ever heard, Kieran. So hot… I’m still tingling from it… thank you for such an amazing gift. I loved it. You are so damned sexy! Talk soonest!

  She didn’t sign it; she refused to put Oliver’s name to her own email. That was why she hadn’t allowed Kieran to talk her through an orgasm—she knew the word “penis” would be uttered, or worse, and she didn’t want that kind of thing assigned to her, ever.

  After arriving in Los Angeles, it took another two weeks to find someone who was able to get her a fake ID. With that, she was finally able to use the information on the piece of paper she’d carried for weeks. Even as she gained access to the account, she knew she was taking a big risk. She didn’t care—they had used her long enough, and it was time she took something from them.

  The next day she found a small apartment that she rented using the account she’d started. Then she bought herself a computer and found a local high school where she could take her GED. Once she had that, she enrolled at the Art Institute in Hollywood to get her bachelor’s degree in Audio Production.

  With the fake ID, she was able to get into night clubs, where she would sit fascinated as she watched the DJs doing their sets. One night she happened upon a club in West Hollywood, the “gay” area of the city. Inside, it was almost all women. Women dancing with women, women kissing women—and they all seemed to be perfectly comfortable. For the first time, she watched the people at the bar rather than the DJ. The women fascinated her. There were all shapes and sizes. Some were dressed more masculine, in jeans and T-shirts or even full suits. Others were dressed in feminine clothes and high heels and wore work makeup. They smelled really good when they passed by.

  She just watched them, trying to decide which she liked better. She liked the way the feminine women sparkled, with the sequins and glittery makeup. Then, she liked the way the other women looked tough, like no man would dare try to hurt them. Some of them were as big if not bigger than some of the men she’d known. They smelled good too, just in a very different way.

  “So what are you doing, sitting here all by yourself?”

  Her blue eyes wide, she turned to look at the young woman. She hadn’t expected anyone to talk to her. Usually she just blended into the background. She wasn’t the kind of girl that men paid attention to, especially since she always wore clothes two sizes too big, to hide any kind of shape. Men looked for women with sexy bodies—she made sure she didn’t have one. She rarely ate, so she’d become a lot slimmer over the last few months. She closely resembled a teenage boy at this point.

  “Just looking around,” she said softly.

  The woman smiled. “See anything you like?”

  She just looked back at her, not sure what she was supposed to say.

  “You really need to lighten up, sweetie,” the woman said after a few long moments. “Have a drink, loosen up a bit.”

  “I don’t drink.”

  The woman winked. “Maybe you should start.”

  She just blinked a couple of times, once again unsure what to say.

  “Jesus, kid, I didn’t mean to scare you.” The woman sighed. “I’m Sandra—and you are?”

  “Jessie.” The song “Cowboy” by Kid Rock had just started playing, and she’d been thinking of Jesse James.

  “Well, Jessie, let me buy you a drink.” Sandra signaled the waitress.

  She looked the woman over as she ordered. She was definitely a feminine one, with her curly hair and pretty, dark green eyes. She wore dark makeup on her eyes, and she was dressed in a flowing green blouse, black pants, and black high heels.

  When the waitress came back with the drinks, Sandra tossed a twenty on her tray and picked up the shots.

  “Okay, this is pretty tame,” she said, “but I think you’ll like it.” She handed her one of the glasses.

  She tasted it and was surprised by how sweet it was. The alcohol still burned, but it had a really good flavor.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s Bailey’s Irish Cream and Buttershots. It’s called a buttery nipple.”

  “I like it,” she said, feeling the warmth of the alcohol spreading in her body.

  “Then we found your drink,” Sandra said, and ordered her another.

  Later that evening, Sandra got her out on the dance floor. She was feeling quite loose by then and danced to the music, feeling her body moving of its on volition.

  “Well, look at you…” Sandra smiled as she slid her hands around her waist, pulling her closer.

  It felt good, be
ing up against this woman, and when Sandra lowered her head to kiss her, she felt desire rising. She moved her lips with Sandra’s, mimicking her movements. Not long after that they left the club and went to Sandra’s car, a huge SUV. Sandra pulled her into the back seat, pressing closer to her.

  They kissed again, for what seemed like forever. Sandra started touching her, and she jumped.

  “Is this your first time, honey?” Sandra asked, sitting back to look at her.

  She nodded, biting her lip nervously.

  “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” Sandra said softly, moving to kiss her again.

  This time, when Sandra touched her she relaxed, and before long she was touching the other woman in the same way, hearing her moan and gasp. When she orgasmed the first time, she thought her entire body would fly apart. She was so completely overwhelmed with emotion that she felt tears sting her eyes.

  “Oh, honey…” Sandra said softly, holding her as she cried. “It’s okay. It’s okay…”

  Sandra held her for a long time until she calmed down. “Is it always like that?” she asked. She sounded very young.

  “You’ve never had an orgasm before?”

  She shook her head, her eyes wide.

  Sandra smiled. “Well, now I really do feel privileged.”

  “Show me how to please you,” she said then, wanting to give Sandra what she’d given her.

  “With pleasure, honey.”

  She and Sandra saw each other a few times, but only ever at the club. She learned a lot from the other woman. Eventually she stopped going to the club and faded back into obscurity.

  Eventually they made it back to the United States. They’d been on tour for over a month and they had six shows until their next break. Everyone was getting edgy.

  It was the dead of winter, and the bus was freezing as they made the long trip down to New Orleans. Even Memphis, who’d finally switched to the bus Wynter, Remington, Xandy, and Quinn were on, was getting tired of being cold all the time.

  Memphis turned over on her bunk, trying desperately to stay warm. Her bladder had woken her, and she knew she was going to have to freeze her ass off to go to the bathroom. She hopped off the bunk and made her way to the back.

  As she got back to her bed, she heard her phone chime. She’d talked to Kieran a few times since their cyber session. She’d gone back and erased the conversation that night because she’d decided she didn’t want Oliver to even see what she’d said to Kieran. If he cybered her he was on his own; she wasn’t going to give him that. She’d found that she’d started feeling rather proprietary about Kieran, so she’d done her best to ease back from the situation.

  Now, she felt an immediate desire to answer the message. She curled up in the covers, trying to ignore her phone. Finally, she sighed and reached for it. She opened Messenger and read up on what Kieran and Oliver had been talking about. She saw a cyber session and quickly skipped it. She knew it was stupid, but she didn’t want to spoil what they’d done. She scrolled to the most recent conversation and saw that they’d started talking on the phone at some point.

  Her lips twitched. She knew it was time for her to step out of the way. It bothered her that she felt regret, but she knew that she’d allowed herself to get too involved. Now it was time to become uninvolved. She closed the screen and deleted Messenger from her phone. She found the audio file, and even though she was sorely tempted to listen to it again, just one last time, she deleted that too.

  She put her phone back in its spot, plugging it in to charge. She put in her headphones, selected some of her angrier music, and cranked it. Pushing the curtains aside and opening the window slightly, she lay watching the lights of the highway flash by, letting the air on her face chill her to numbness.

  “What’s the fucking problem!” Billy screamed again.

  “It’s the system,” Memphis said into her mic. “I’m working on it.” She shook her head. She was probably going to have to kill Billy Montague sometime soon if the woman didn’t get off her back.

  “Look, everyone take a break, okay? This is going to take some time,” Memphis said, sounding as frustrated as she felt.

  She spent half a day going through all the relays in the system, finding all kinds of breaks and having to repair them. She and another tech were exhausted by the time they were able to call everyone back in. The sound checks went much smoother, much to Memphis’ relief.

  A week later, however, she came unglued at Billy Montague.

  They were in Houston, Texas, and the system in the arena had so many issues that even Memphis and a team of technicians couldn’t resolve them. They’d been there all day, from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., when the talent arrived. Whereas everyone else had been understanding about the ongoing issues, Billy decided to flip her shit, screaming at Memphis. One of the other techs had just walked into the sound booth when Memphis finally completely lost it. She ripped her headphones off, throwing them across the booth.

  “I’m done! I’m fucking done!” she yelled, striding out.

  “Where the hell are you going!” Billy screeched into the microphone. “We haven’t finished this yet!”

  “You know what, Billy—fuck off, okay? I’m so done with your shit—I can’t even begin to tell you how fucking done I am!” With that she marched up the stairs and continued until she was outside the arena.

  She shoved her headphones into her ears and hit her playlist. She pulled out her cigarettes, lit one, and started walking. She had no idea how long she’d been going when her phone rang. She saw that it was BJ, and she imagined he was calling to fire her. At that point she didn’t care. She answered through her headphones.

  “What?” she said sharply.

  “So they weren’t kidding when they said you were pissed,” BJ said mildly.

  “She’s a fucking cunt, BJ, and you should know I don’t use that word when referring to women unless they just are—and she is, and I’m fucking done getting screamed at by the bitch. I just am, I’m sorry. So if you gotta fire me, do it, ’cause I just don’t fucking care anymore right now.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line.

  “Oh… kay…” BJ said. “Where are you?”

  Memphis stopped walking and looked around. “I’m near some fucking Baptist church, which doesn’t narrow it down around here. Why?”

  “’Cause I’m gonna send someone to get you. They said you walked out in a tank top, and it’s snowing.”

  “I’m not putting up with any more of her shit, Beege. I’m serious,” Memphis said. She saw someone coming out of the church and looking at her curiously. She turned her back; the last damned thing she wanted right now was to deal with some Bible banger.

  “Okay, I get it, but you freezing to death isn’t an option right now either, so figure out where you’re at.”

  Memphis turned around and saw that the man from the church was now walking toward her with intent.

  “Beege, I’ll call ya back.” She hung up before he could get another word out.

  “Are you lost, my friend?” the man asked, his tone overly kind.

  “Nope,” Memphis said, giving him a look of barely veiled disgust.

  “You look like you are, sister.”

  “Don’t call me sister,” she said sharply. “I’m not your sister. Just leave me alone.”

  She started to walk back the way she’d come, which unfortunately took her past the man. He had the temerity to reach out and take her arm. Memphis whirled, knocking his hand away violently.

  “Don’t fucking touch me!”

  “I was only trying to help,” he said, stepping toward her again.

  Memphis backed up immediately, holding up her hands to ward him off. “Get the fuck away from me, dude. I’m not kidding.”

  “We can help you.” The man looked her over, noting the rainbow necklace and the tattoo on her arm, which looked like skin ripping away to reveal a rainbow inside and had the word “PRIDE” printed boldly under it.

>   “What makes you think I want your fucking help?” Memphis snapped.

  “This is not the way, child.” The man gestured to her tattoo. “God hates the sin, but he loves the sinner. Let me show you.”

  Once again he reached for her arm. Memphis had had enough. She punched him in the face and turned to stride away. Just her luck—there was a cop sitting on the corner, and he immediately lit her up.

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” she said, grabbing her phone to dial BJ.

  “Okay, where are you?” he asked as soon as he answered.

  “Yeah, I’m probably about to get arrested, so…”

  “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  “Wish I was,” she said as she held out her hands to the officer, who was now approaching her.

  “Who’re you talking to, miss?” the officer asked, his hand near his weapon.

  “My boss,” she said. “Beege, I gotta go now. Looks like Houston PD, badge number 1267, Officer Brown.” She hung up.

  ****

  In Los Angeles, BJ Sparks sat staring at the phone. She had to be kidding, right? With a sigh, he got on the phone again. Some days he could just kill Billy Montague!

  Remington LaRoché and Quinn Kavanaugh walked into the Houston police station two hours later. Remington spoke to the officer at the front desk and indicated that they were there to bail out one Memphis McQueen. The desk sergeant looked up the name and shook his head.

  “Yeah, we got a problem with this one,” he said.

  “What’s the problem?” Remington asked.

  “Just have a seat.” The sergeant didn’t like the look of either of these women.

  Two hours later, Remington was fit to be tied and Quinn was ready to storm the jail and break Memphis out. Remington went back to the desk.