Managed by Chance

by Amy DeMeritt

  With a mischievous grin, she grabbed a fist full of pens and the stack of large index cards by Hedwig’s birdcage, and announced, “You all know what time it is. It’s first term and you’ve all been very naughty in school.” The room erupted in snickers and silly comments. “Now, it’s time for you to confess your dirty deeds in a letter to home, or you’ll lose one-hundred points for your house and no one will eat with you in the dining hall for the rest of the school year.” While she handed out the pens and index cards, she concluded, “When you’re finished, put them in the owl cage. Don’t forget to put your name on it so we all know your torrid confessions.”

  With a laugh, Katie accepted two cards and pens and handed a set to Mel, saying, “When you said we’re playing Truth, I expected it to be real revelations. This is so much better.”

  “Yeah?” Mel pinched her side. “How torrid is your confession going to be?”

  “You’ll have to wait and find out. Who reads these aloud?”

  “We usually take turns going to the cage and picking a random card to read. No one is forced to read though. Layla and I will read if people don’t want to.” Mel laughed, and added, “Some people really get into it.”

  “I can imagine. How long do we get to write this?”

  “Till you’re done.”

  “Okay, you have to move over. I don’t want you to see what I’m writing.”

  Mel darted forward to give her a kiss, then hopped up onto the balls of her feet in a squat. “I need to think about mine. I’m going to throw our plates away. Do you want a drink?”

  “Sure. Some of that honey mead would be nice.”

  “Okay, coming right up.”

  Carefully balancing both of their goblets in one hand and their plates and forks in her other, Mel tiptoed around everyone to get to the kitchen to throw the plates away and rinse their glasses.

  Blake stepped up next to her to rinse her own glass, and as Mel stepped out of her way, Blake let her know, “We’re running low on few of those jugs. We should refill them.”

  “Okay.”

  After they filled the large drink jugs, Blake stacked the plastic pitchers and brought them to the sink. “I’ll wash these. Do we need to mix another batch of anything?”

  “We don’t have enough ingredients to make more butter beer, but we could make more iced tea and cucumber-strawberry water.” Mel looked in the stock pot to see how much cider was left. “We don’t need to make more mulled cider yet.”

  “Okay. I can handle this.”

  “You sure? Did you already do your letter?”

  Blake grinned as she grabbed the box of cold brew tea bags from the cabinet. “Layla explained the game to me earlier. I got it done before we sat down to watch the movie. You write yours yet, Melrose?”

  “Not yet. I’m still mulling it over.” Mel grabbed the large bottle of honey mead, and while she was pouring a few ounces in hers and Katie’s goblet, she asked, “How much convincing did it take for you to dress up for this?”

  “None. Just because I’m cooler than you, doesn’t mean I don’t like costume parties.” Blake smirked as Mel rolled her eyes. “I did have to buy all of this, but it made Layla happy, so it’s no big deal. Go on. Go write your letter. I’ve got this.”

  “Okay, thanks for your help.”

  “Sure, no problem, Melrose.”

  Blake smirked at her again and Mel just shook her head with a small scoffing laugh. As much as Blake got under her skin with things like calling her Melrose or her silly knowing smirks, Mel had to admit, even if only to herself, that she was warming up to her. They worked well together today, she didn’t completely hate it when they’ve all hung out other nights, and she did make Layla really happy, which was most important.

  Just as Mel sat down next to her, Katie stood up with a little hop and a giggle. She maneuvered around a few people and dropped her card into the birdcage.

  Layla peeked her head around Katie’s shoulder to look at the growing messy stack of cards in the cage, and asked, “How juicy is yours?”

  Katie grinned with blushing cheeks. “It’s definitely not a letter I’d write to my real parents.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it. Are you having fun?”

  “Yeah, I’m…” Katie sidestepped to get out of someone’s way. “I really didn’t know what to expect, but I have to admit, this is probably the best party I’ve ever been to.”

  Layla did a cute little happy dance. “Thank you very much.” She leaned in closer to Katie and lowered her voice. “I’m glad you patched things up with Mel. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time.”

  They looked over at Mel to see she was bent over writing on her index card. Katie’s chest warmed, and she quietly answered, “I’m crazy about her. And I’ve never been as happy as I am with her.”

  “I think that’s true for Mel as well.”

  Katie looked away from watching Mel to meet Layla’s eyes, and with her nerves clenching her stomach, she asked, “What about Justine? She had to have been happy to have proposed to her.”

  “She was, but I think you two mesh better. Mel and Justine as a couple was like a modern contemporary painting. The colors clashed, it didn’t make sense to everyone, but it worked. You and Mel as a couple are more like a Van Gogh, like Starry Night or something. You’re bold, vibrant, full of life, and timeless. You and Mel as a couple make sense to everyone.” As Katie reached up to dab at tears sitting in the corners of her eyes, Layla gave her a tight hug. “Mel’s not thinking about Justine, so you shouldn’t either.” As she pulled away, she gave Katie’s arms an encouraging squeeze. “I’m going to check on Blake.”

  With Layla’s wonderful assessment of her relationship making her feel like she was floating on clouds, Katie joined Mel on the floor. She rubbed the back of her neck, and Mel looked up with a silly grin, making her stomach tickle with happiness.

  “How’s your letter coming along?”

  “Just about done.” Mel offered Katie her smoky gray and cobalt goblet. “Here’s your honey mead. Oh, and we’re on the last jug of butter beer. So, if you want any more of that, you might want to keep an eye on the level.” Mel craned her neck to see the drink table around everyone. “Looks pretty full still.”

  “Thank you.”

  While Mel finished the last paragraph of her letter, Katie massaged her neck and scratched her fingernails through her soft, short hair at the base of her skull. And after Mel put her letter in the cage and sat back down on the floor next to her, she tugged on Katie’s sleeve, encouraging her to sit between her thighs, then wrapped her arms around her from behind.

  After everyone finished their letters, Layla started the game by being the first to choose and read a card from the birdcage. While they listened to the cards being read, which ranged from innocent kisses, blowing up toilets, being caught half-naked, and other silly pranks, they laughed with the rest of the group and continued to sip on the honey mead. The mead, the laughter, and the warmth of each other’s bodies was a heady mix, making both of them feel completely intoxicated.

  Raven whistled as she waved a card at Layla. “I picked Blakes.” She cleared her throat and stood in front of the fire that was burning on the TV screen. In a huskier voice that made everyone quietly chuckle for a moment, she began reading.

  Dear Ma and Pa,

  Professor McGonagall thinks this is something I ought to be ashamed of and she’s making me write to tell you about it as a form of punishment. Jokes on her though because I know you’ll understand. You took me to my first Muggle Pride when I was twelve. Anyway, what I’m supposed to confess to you is this – I was caught snogging and fondling another Gryffindor girl in the astronomy tower last night. We snuck out after curfew to look at the stars and make some of our own. But I don’t have a single regret and I’m going to do it again at the first chance I get. Her name is Layla and I’m in love with her. I can’t wait to introduce you.

  Hoping you are well,

  Blake

&nb
sp; The room whistled and cheered as Layla strutted across the room and threw her arms around the back of Blake’s neck and pulled her into a kiss, which caused the ruckus to increase. Raven, of course, was dependably hovering around them snapping pictures of the entire beautiful moment. As Layla broke from the kiss, she caressed Blake’s cheeks, then playfully slapped her chest.

  “I can’t believe you asked me to meet your parents for the first time through Raven.”

  Blake chuckled with a broad grin. “I thought I’d keep with the theme of the party and add a little magic to our fictitious snogging session.”

  Katie leaned back to whisper in Mel’s ear, “That was cute. Do you think they’ll make your wedding invitation out to Melrose?”

  Mel grabbed her sides to tickle her, making Katie laugh and squirm between her thighs. Layla looked over at them and when she locked eyes with Mel, she released Katie and smiled at Layla – trying to convey that she was happy for her. Layla’s face brightened, and after she gave Blake another kiss on the lips, she turned to grab the birdcage.

  She walked over to Katie and Mel, and instructed them to, “Pick a letter to read.”

  Mel stuck her hand in the cage with her eyes closed, fluffed the cards around, and withdrew a card. She skimmed down to the signature hoping it was Katie’s, but it was Gene’s. The letter was amusing, but it was not salacious at all. The card Katie read next was very naughty and made her blush and have to clear her throat a few times, making the guests laugh and catcall.

  They got through a few more cards, including Mel’s, which was more romantic than naughty, then Alice drew Katie’s card from the birdcage. She skimmed the letter silently with her eyebrows heightened, laughed, then licked her lips as she cleared her throat.

  “This is good.” She cleared her throat again, then began reading.

  Dear Parents,

  I guess I’ll cut right to the chase. I narrowly escaped being expelled, in exchange for being candid with you about something. And since you have always tried to deny and ignore who I really am, I feel no need to sugar coat anything for you. I met a girl and you’ll probably read about it in the Daily Prophet tomorrow. Raven – the photographer caught a picture of the beginning of what I’m about to confess.

  Everyone laughed a little as Raven made a dramatic and proud bow before Alice continued reading Katie’s letter.

  It started with a smile across the corridor between Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then we bumped into each other on the way to the Quidditch match. We never made it up to the bleachers.

  Alice paused and scanned the room with a meaningful raise of her eyebrows. Everyone rewarded her with whistles and catcalls, and Mel squeezed Katie tighter while giving her a nibble on the side of the neck. As Alice flipped the card over, everyone quieted down so she could continue reading.

  We talked for a bit, then we did a ton of snogging. I looped my fingers in the waist of her pants, and she groaned into my mouth when our hips smashed together. The surge of her pleasure that she ejected into me vibrated like a thrum of a harp string down my throat, into my belly, and out to my fingers and toes. Every nerve in my body wanted to extend and wrap around her, fuse with her. Right there under the bleachers, we ripped each other’s clothes off. Even though the snow was falling and blowing in through the curtains, our skin was hot and damp with sweat. We shook in each other’s embrace like leaves dancing in the wind. We moaned like wolves singing to the full moon. In the ecstasy of our love, we became one body, one mind, one heart.

  Your unapologetically satisfied daughter,

  Katie

  While everyone clapped and made comments about how hot and juicy Katie’s letter was, Mel whispered, “Holy shit.” She swallowed hard, then blew a whistling breath. “That was amazing.”

  Katie looked over her shoulder at Mel smiling and gave her a kiss on the lips. “Glad you approve. In case you weren’t certain, you’re the girl I got caught shagging under the bleachers.”

  “Oh, I know, and I loved it.” Mel kissed her lips. “And I love you.” Mel pressed her mouth against Katie’s ear, and whispered, “I can’t wait to duck my head under that skirt later.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  For the third night in a row, it was after seven o’clock and Katie and Mel were still at work. And even though she had a million and one things she needed to be doing, Katie had spent the past twenty-plus minutes struggling to keep focused on work. A little after five o’clock, she got an email notification on her cellphone that she just couldn’t resist opening. Mel’s friend, Raven sent all of the Hogwarts party guests a link to all of the pictures she had taken and edited. And Katie couldn’t stop picking up her phone to look at all of the pictures of her and Mel. They looked so happy together that it caused emotions to bubble up in her chest and the feeling was intoxicating.

  “Hey.”

  Katie startled and nearly dropped her cellphone as Mel walked into her office. She blushed as she set her phone down and Mel sat in a chair across from her, looking exhausted.

  “You okay?”

  She released a long breath as she rubbed the back of her head, and answered, “Yeah, just tired. And my eyes are killing me. I just finished fixing that file Harold was working on – the one that kept becoming corrupt every time he moved it to the new server.”

  “What was the issue?”

  “There was one very old spreadsheet that had a ghost session open on it, so it was preventing a successful move. I had to kill the ghost.”

  Katie released a small laugh. “To anyone without an IT perspective, that would probably sound very weird.”

  “Yeah.” Mel chuckled. “I guess it would. They’d probably picture some weird combination between Jumanji and Ghostbusters. I’d be dressed up in that Ghostbusters jumpsuit with the proton pack on my back, then the computer would just suck me in like the boardgame does in Jumanji.”

  “That’s a really interesting image. And now I want to watch those movies.”

  Mel smiled as she looked over her shoulder at the open door, then as she looked at Katie, she asked, “Movie binge this weekend?”

  “Sounds good to me. You ready to get out of here?”

  “Hell yes. Let me get my stuff.”

  After packing her laptop to take home, Katie met Mel in the hallway to walk out together.

  “Do you have any plans for dinner?”

  “Layla texted me earlier to let me know she’s staying at Blake’s tonight after they go out to dinner with Blake’s parents. So, I’m on my own tonight.”

  They stopped at the corner of the hall before getting on the elevator because the elevator was equipped with cameras and they didn’t want security eavesdropping on their personal conversation.

  “Do you want to come back to my place? We can cook or order in if you’re too tired.”

  “Yeah, that sounds great. Do you have beer? I could really go for a beer or two.”

  “I do. I picked some up last night after work.” As Katie continued walking towards the elevator, Katie said, “Thanks for fixing that issue for Harold.”

  Mel smiled as she let her laptop bag lightly bump Katie’s hip. “No problem, boss. I didn’t get to check the rest of the team’s progress before leaving. Did we meet our data-transfer goal for today?”

  “Exceeded it, actually. We’re on target for meeting the deadline next week. I’m really proud of how hard everyone has been working.”

  Mel covered a wide yawn as she nodded and leaned against the back of the elevator. “Yeah, they’re great. I always take the team out for drinks or dinner after we finish a big project. Do you want to plan it together?”

  “Yes, I’d like to continue your tradition of appreciation. We’ll take a look at the calendar tomorrow. I know a few people have days scheduled off shortly after the server swap deadline, so we need to make sure we don’t pick one of those nights.”

  “Okay, boss.”

  As Mel covered another yawn, it took every ounce of restraint Kati
e had not to pull her into her arms so she could rest her head on her shoulder. Luckily for her, the elevator reached the ground level and the doors slid open, ending the battle.

  They walked in comfortable silence out of the building and across the parking lot, and after an innocent, work appropriate farewell, they separated to get in their own vehicles. As they had done several times before, either to hers or Mel’s place, they caravanned to Katie’s house.

  After setting their bags down in the living room, Katie led Mel up to her bedroom so they could change into something more comfortable.

  “You know if I put these pajamas on, I’m not going to want to leave later.”

  Katie smiled as she continued to unbutton Mel’s shirt for her. “I don’t want you to leave. I want you to spend the night.”

  As she pushed the shirt off of Mel’s shoulders, she leaned in to give her a long, slow kiss. While their lips and tongues danced together, Katie took her bra off, then unbuttoned and unzipped her pants and pushed them off of her hips. She released her with a sucking nip of her bottom lip, then bent down to take Mel’s shoes and socks off so she could take her pants off from around her ankles. After she helped Mel into a tee shirt and pair of cotton sleep shorts, she got changed, then they hung their suits up to be dry-cleaned.

  When they got to the kitchen, Katie popped the caps off of two bottles of beer, and asked, “What would you like for dinner? Do you want to cook or order something?”

  After taking a sip of beer, Mel asked, “Would you mind if we just order? I don’t think I have the energy to spend an hour in the kitchen.”

  “No, I’d prefer not to cook either.” She pulled a small stack of takeout menus out of a drawer and spread them over the counter in front of them. “What are you in the mood for? Pizza, Chinese, Thai, barbeque, Mexican?”

  “Anything that isn’t super healthy.”