Big on Education

by Laurie Ames

  Sylvia untied Natasha’s arms, then picked her up and held her head in her hands, cradling it. She kissed Natasha’s ear lobe first, softly, with just the right hint of passion, then began nuzzling her neck with delicate kisses before coming right back up for the lips, that she knew would be waiting. Without hesitation, they both slowly moved in. Her plump velvety lips united against her slim warm ones, dancing around and soon bonding together. The kiss was different this time, like this was a new beginning with a promise of much more to come. Sylvia pulled back to stop and gaze at Natasha, thrilled beyond words to be the recipient of her affection.

  She was staring intently at Natasha, almost studying her face. “Sweetie, did you really mean it when you said you loved me?”

  Natasha just grinned. “I did. To tell the truth, I had never stopped loving you.”

  ***

  Natasha announced the news to the rest of the company the next week, finally making Sylvia’s promotion official. With each other’s unconditional support for one another, they managed the company impeccably, making the company more popular and wildly successful than ever before. The next season they proved their prowess and were running alongside the top designer trends and names in the industry.

  They spent their busy lives together as much as they could. Sylvia moved in with Natasha to a sumptuous new home. They spent long hard days at work and drove home together every night. They slept together in the same wonderful bed and always woke up embraced in each other’s arms. They felt a need to pinch themselves to see if this was just a dream. It was not a dream. This was an everlasting romance that disgruntled employees would never take away again. The odd time when life became difficult, Sylvia would share the same common-sense wisdom with Natasha; “Don't go looking for happiness. Stay carefree, make love, enjoy life, and happiness will come looking for you...

  ~The End~

  Return to Table of Contents

  More Than Stepsisters

  A Taboo Lesbian Romance

  By: Laurie Ames

  Prologue:

  Elaine Dillard has the perfect life. She’s from a good family, was top of her class in college and has a great position as HR manager for a Telecommunications Company. But for all her good fortune, she’s desperately lonely. The one person she wants the most and cannot have is her stepsister Sasha Morrison.

  Elaine has played the straight card all her life but has been secretly attracted to girls since she was in middle school. Her mother married Edward Morrison and from the moment she laid eyes on his daughter Sasha, it was love at first sight.

  Years later, Elaine has moved away and loves her new life, but the only thing she misses is her stepsister, Sasha. She is determined to find Sasha and claim what has been hers since the first day they met.

  Chapter 1

  Elaine leaned back in her chair and stretched. She looked down at the pile of file folders on her desk and sighed. It seemed like there was an endless amount of paperwork to go through these days. That never changed as she worked her way up through the human resources department, it was simply the nature of the files that changed. The office was bigger, her chair was more comfortable, and she had subordinates to delegate work. But overall it felt like she was doing the same tasks every day.

  Normally, Elaine didn't see personnel files for any of the new hires. The assistant had asked her to look over them and give an opinion on which department each should be assigned. Elaine always had a special knack for fitting people into positions that would make the best use of their talents. One of the files had a name that looked vaguely familiar. She cracked the file and eagerly looked at the resume. Sure enough, the man was from her same town. He had even gone to the same prep school and community college.

  Elaine rocked back in her chair. Her body and face suddenly felt hot. She hadn't thought much about her childhood lately. She had been living away from home for years now and only came home once or twice a year. It seemed bizarre to her that simply seeing a reference from her childhood home would have such an effect on her. Elaine breathed deeply and concentrated on trying to slow her racing heartbeat. It didn't work. She pushed her chair away from the desk, stood up and paced around her office.

  Once she felt a little calmer, Elaine sat down again and opened the file. There wasn't much listed on the man's resume about his early years. She poured over his general information as she tried to get a good feel about him. As she did, her mind roamed back through the past.

  He had gone to the same high school as herself. She suspected he had also gone to the same middle school. She still remembered walking the halls, feeling the smooth wood flooring under her feet. Elaine imagined the swish of the mandatory uniform skirt brushing against her legs. She remembered the first time she watched a particular girl stride past and how it felt like so much more than just a simple friendship. A girl walking past was a sight she had seen a thousand times before, but this one felt different.

  It had been seventh grade and early enough in the year that the weather was warm. The girls were still wearing their knee socks pushed down as low as possible on their legs and had been hiking their skirts up as high as possible because of the late summer heat. Elaine watched the girl (Trina? Tiffany? Tiffany) strut past her. Tiffany had been one of those golden haired, popular children that always seemed to dominate the school's social scene. She moved with grace, her arms swinging from side to side in time with her developing hips.

  Elaine tried not to stare at Tiffany and had been shocked by her personal feelings of attraction that had welled up inside her. She had felt a hot flash of intensity between her legs and a similar rush of heat in her face.

  Elaine had turned and bent down at the water fountain, trying hard to hide her face. She knew from hearing what the other girls were saying at sleepovers that they talked about the cute guys and who they wanted to date. There were guys that all the girls swooned over and more than one friendship ended in a fit of jealousy when a popular boy paid too much attention to only one girl. It had been hard for Elaine to keep track of who was dating when really, she hadn't been interested in any of the boys.

  Elaine knew, without a doubt, that if she had let Tiffany see her staring or if the other girls had guessed what Elaine was feeling, then it would have been all over for her. She would have never been able to make the teasing stop. So, instead, she tried her best to act normally, and had tried to keep her secret attraction to other girls pushed deep down inside.

  Then, the moment had passed. Tiffany had swept past her, paying her no attention. She was, as always, surrounded by a group of other girls and Elaine had overheard snippets of their conversation.

  "Oh my God, Ella," Tiffany had said to the mousy, brown-haired girl to her right, "did you see how Brittany was looking at me?" Brittany was one of the less popular girls. "She was so totally jealous of me because I'm dating Tom and she’s had a crush on him since third grade."

  The other girls giggled nervously as Tiffany rolled her eyes and continued talking but the conversation faded as the girls continued down the hallway leaving Elaine gulping water at the fountain. She hoped and prayed that her attraction to Tiffany hadn't been noticed.

  She had been successful. Apparently, Elaine had said and done all the right things that day and throughout the rest of middle and high school. She had been careful never to mention her attraction to other girls and had even managed to date a guy all the way through middle and high school. He had been a tall, gangly boy named Christopher who was two years older and a foot taller than Elaine. They had gone to homecoming dances and prom and she tried to politely enjoy the way he groped and kissed her when they sat in his car after their weekly dates. Her heart hadn't been in it, though.

  She hadn't wanted a boyfriend although he had tried very hard to attract her. He wasn’t aggressive and had been very careful to never go any further than Elaine would allow. She had even managed to work herself up to an orgasm a few times when they had been fooling around. But it wasn't him that she imagined
behind her closed eyelids. It was her stepsister, Sasha.

  Sasha Morrison. As soon as Elaine thought of her stepsister, she felt her stomach contract painfully. Sasha had come into Elaine's life thanks to her mother Janine's marriage to Edward Morrison. Janine and Edward had dated and had married very quickly. The wedding itself had taken place while Janine and Edward had enjoyed a weekend away. Apparently, according to Janine, the wedding itself had been a spur of the moment thing. Janine had returned from her weekend trip with new rings on her fingers and a new sparkle in her eyes.

  She had quickly packed up the small apartment that she and Elaine were living in and hustled them across town to Edward's house. It wasn't a huge house but it was bigger than their tiny apartment. On the way over, Janine had chattered on to Elaine about the new living arrangements.

  "You'll be sharing a room with Edward's daughter Sasha. There are two beds in there and it will only be until we get Edward's office fixed up and turned into a room for you. We can move the old stuff out and bring your furniture over from the apartment. It will all work out in the end. You'll love Sasha, honey. She's a really great kid."

  Elaine had sighed and stared out the window as they drove to the house. She had a sinking feeling that she wouldn't like Sasha. Sasha didn't go to the same school as she did and Elaine had no idea what she was like. She worried that Sasha wouldn't listen to the kind of music she liked or maybe she would think that Elaine was weird. When they arrived at the house, Elaine hopped out of the car and took in her first glance of Sasha.

  Suddenly, for the first time, Elaine understood what the other girls meant when they talked about meeting a boy that they liked. Her stomach fluttered and her hands felt so sweaty that her suitcase slid around in her grasp. She set it down, wiped her palms on her pant legs and picked up her suitcase again. She felt lightheaded and tried to stare down at the ground so that she could get into the house without completely losing her cool.

  Elaine tried to tell herself that this feeling would eventually go away. Surely over time, arguments about where belongings would go and who would be responsible for chores would make her attraction fade away, but that never seemed to quite happen.

  Chapter 2

  Elaine looked up at the clock and was shocked to see that it was after five. She had intended to get out on time but she had lost track due to her work load. She sighed and piled her files neatly to one side of her desk, making sure to put the one from her home town on top of the pile. Then, she grabbed her coat and purse and headed out. She passed her secretary's desk and saw that he was still hard at work. She paused for a moment.

  "Evan, thank you for getting all of that information together for me. I wanted to let you know that I appreciate all of your hard work." She smiled down at him. Evan was a good worker and always helped keep Elaine organized and on task. Evan reached down and grabbed a small carefully stacked pile of papers and handed them to Elaine.

  "These are some messages here. Some are from Tom. I'd have given them to you but you looked like you were really wrapped up in something. I'd have sent them to your phone but again, I didn't want to disrupt you." He smiled up at her. Evan knew that Elaine didn't like to have her phone go off while she was reviewing files. It was just one of the many preferences that he was quite willing to work around where she was concerned. It was true that some of her methods were a bit antiquated. After all, who took notes on paper anymore? But Elaine knew how she needed things to be done and Evan was more than happy to work with her in spite of her quirks.

  Elaine nodded absentmindedly as she leafed through the papers. She noticed that several of them were from Tom touching base with her about their plans for the evening. According to the notes, he was planning on meeting her at their favorite restaurant, a small French bistro with dim lighting, a gorgeous stone fireplace and food that was worth the steep prices. The reservations were for 7pm and Elaine glanced at her watch. She would have to hurry if she wanted to get home, get changed, and meet Tom on time.

  Traffic was starting to build and the cab she had taken drove much more quickly and skillfully than Elaine could have done. She wasn't a confident driver especially not in heavy traffic. As the driver sped through traffic, Elaine carefully went through the emails that had arrived, skimming over each one of them and sorting them into their respective files.

  When the driver pulled up in front of her building, Elaine paid the driver, grabbed her things and hopped out. She checked her watch and sprinted into the building. She would still be able to get to the bistro on time assuming that there were no other delays. Luckily, she had already laid out her outfit that morning and getting ready would simply be a matter of throwing it on and touching up her makeup.

  Elaine tossed her purse and her briefcase onto a table and headed for the bedroom. In minutes she had stripped off her work outfit and was preparing to put on the little black dress that Tom loved so much. She had worn it many times before but every time she did, he always told her how great she looked. Elaine sat down at her makeup table and began to apply more eye shadow. She sat back and stared at herself in the mirror. While she wasn't one hundred percent happy with what she saw, she knew that she looked good.

  Elaine had long black hair that fell in a thick cascade that ended half way down her back. No matter what she tried to do, it always remained poker straight. Styling it in anything more than a braid or French twist usually took the talents of a professional. Elaine had pale skin that never seemed to tan or freckle. Her face was delicate with high cheekbones. Her eyes were grey and surrounded by thick alluring black eyelashes.

  She stared at her body, or what she could see of it from her seated position. She had small breasts that were enrobed in a deep blue lace bra. It had been a Valentine's Day gift from Tom. He wasn't a fan of black lingerie and said that red made her look cheap but he did love dressing her body in deep, jewel toned lingerie that always seemed to flatter her figure and make her look curvy and more feminine.

  She was grateful for the gym in her building and the elliptical machine that she had stationed in a corner of her living room for keeping her as slender as she was. She often worked long hours and tended to survive on a combination of bad office coffee and bagels from the deli that was just down the street from her building. She hadn't bought groceries in weeks and even when she and Tom were eating in, they tended to rely more on take-out meals than on cooking things from scratch.

  As Elaine applied blush and high-liner, she thought about Tom. They had met while she was completing her Masters in Human Resources. He had been attending the same college but had been working towards a degree in corporate law. They had bonded at the college pub, while debating ethics and legalities over cheap beer and wings. As time had progressed, they had fallen into a comfortable relationship and now after years together, Elaine wondered idly whether Tom would propose to her.

  He had been hinting that he wanted to propose and had even gone so far as to talk about their marriage as though it was a sure thing. He just hadn't put a ring on her finger yet. Elaine's family loved him and she felt comfortable with Tom's family whenever he had taken her with him during the holidays. Elaine knew that if they got engaged, it would make everyone happy on both sides. Her relatives had started to hint and then ask her outright when she thought he would pop the question.

  Elaine knew that Tom liked her best when she wore very little makeup. "You're beautiful enough without all of that crap on your skin," he would say to her. She liked that about him. He liked her the way she was and managed to make her feel pretty whether she was dressed to the nines or had thrown on yoga pants and a tee-shirt.

  Elaine stepped into her dress and checked her watch again. She knew she would need to leave soon if she wanted to get to the bistro on time. One thing Tom hated was tardiness and Elaine tried her best never to be late. She grabbed a pair of high heeled shoes and headed for her living room. Her loft was big and airy and she truly loved the way coming home made her feel. She supposed that her love for th
e loft had been one reason why she had never pushed the idea of moving in with Tom. If he had asked to move in with her, she supposed she would have agreed but he was equally comfortable in his own loft.

  Elaine sighed. Her place was beautiful. She had a job that paid well enough that she could surround herself with wonderful things. She was even relatively content with the way she looked. She just felt hollow inside. She felt like something was missing and she hoped that if Tom proposed, that the final, empty part of her would feel full. That had to be the missing link, Elaine thought as she slipped on high heels and started the process of changing her wallet, keys and phone from her work bag to one that was suitable for a lovely dinner out.

  Finally, once that was finished, Elaine was ready. She checked her watch again, hit the Uber app on her phone and threw her coat on. Soon enough, she would be on her way to the bistro and, she hoped, her questions about Tom's plans for the future would be cleared up.

  Chapter 3

  Elaine checked herself in the mirror that was hanging beside her front door. She played with her hair a little, trying to make sure it was perfectly arranged. The app had told her she had a few minutes until her ride arrived. Elaine heard her phone going off deep in her purse and she digged to pull it out. She half expected that it would be Tom, calling her to ask where she was. Instead of his familiar number, it was one she rarely saw. It was her Aunt Bethany.

  Her aunt never called her. Elaine didn't know that Bethany even had her number. Her correspondence with her aunt was typically limited to a Christmas card once a year and a scant handful of letters, the last of which had arrived a year or more ago. It wasn't that Elaine didn't get along with her family, it was just that they weren't all that close.