Who is She

by Glina Fastiv

  "You look perfect." Leah says when I walk into the kitchen.

  She's got her camera around her neck and her keys in her hand. "Thank you, baby." I say and walk over to her.

  She stops and looks at me for a second in silence. "You never call me baby."

  "Yeah? I never let people take pictures of me either." I giggle and hug her tightly.

  She smiles and slaps my ass playfully, "come on."

  Leah and I walk around for hours, she keeps taking tons of pictures of me.

  Finally, we get to a rooftop of a pretty tall building and she makes me go towards the end of the roof.10

  "After these we can go home." She says and I nod my head and she smiles back and holds up her camera. I pose and she shakes her head, "I don't buy that smile. I want a real one... and a laugh. Just think about what you said the other night about our sex life." She says.

  I laugh a little bit at this and she continues saying things that she knows will cause me to laugh. Eventually I can't take it anymore, I walk over to her and cover my face with one hand and push the camera down with the other. She lets it hang freely around her neck and then she puts her hands on my face and kisses me slowly.

  "This is my favorite photo shoot I've ever done." She whispers. I grin and drape my arms over her shoulders and she kisses me again.

  In the middle of this I hear someone say her name.

  "Leah?! This is a sight for sore eyes." A guy says.

  I take my hands away from her and she looks at this guy and smiles.

  "Holy- Hi! Oh my god, what are you doing here?!" She asks, and hugs, this stranger.

  "I saw you come up with your camera, I figured you were doing a shoot. Sorry if I interrupted..." he says.

  "No, you're fine. Brent, this is Jennifer. I've worked with him before." Leah introduces me and I shake his hand.

  I let Leah catch up with her friend for a few minutes and then we head to my apartment.

  When we get there my sister is no where to be found, so we have the place to ourselves for the time being.

  "I'm excited to see these." Leah says and goes straight for my room to get her laptop.

  "I don't know if I am." I laugh and kick my shoes off before hopping up onto the kitchen counter.

  Leah returns and connects her camera to the MacBook and she does her thing. She keeps smiling and making little comments, but she refuses to show them to me.

  "Show me!" I plead with her.

  "You can see it once its published." She grins.

  I slide closer and try to see for myself, but she grabs my chin and kisses me instead. "Nope." She whispers.

  I roll my eyes and then she gets a notification. "Brent sent me something." She says and clicks the image and lets it load.

  When it opens she smiles a little and bites her lip. "I might have to show you this one...." she says and turns the screen to face me. It's a picture of us kissing on that rooftop right before Brent announced himself. The sunset is in the back and it really is a beautiful picture.

  "He took this?"

  "Apparently, he's a photographer and he's always got his camera. Catches the little moments I guess..." Leah says.

  "We're pretty damn cute." I grin at her.3

  "I think so too." She laughs.

  26

  Leah remains glued to her laptop for the next fifteen minutes and I slide off of the counter to get myself a drink.

  I walk back over to her and slide my hands around her waist and underneath her shirt. I cup her boobs and kiss her back multiple times.

  "Those...are my boobs." She laughs and I give them a squeeze.

  "Look it." I mumble. She turns and faces me and leans against the counter. I bite my lip and look up at her a little while sliding my hands underneath her shirt and letting them rest on her stomach.

  "You're really hot." I whisper and grin softly.

  She smirks at me and licks her lips. "And you're really not..." she jokes.

  I roll my eyes and walk away from her. "Fine, whatever." I groan and go back to my drink.

  She laughs and steps behind me, putting her body against mine. "You know I'm kidding." She says and hugs me.

  "No." I pout and she laughs and kisses my neck. I try not to react to it and I'm successful.

  "Mm, wanna play it like that?" She mumbles and her hand ventures down in between my thighs. I close my eyes and place my palms on the countertop and force myself not to give into her, but god it's so difficult.

  Her fingers move back and forth, applying lots of pressure. "I'm impressed..." Leah whispers and her teeth pull gently at the skin on my neck. "I'll break you, Jennifer." She continues and I feel her starting to suck and kiss my neck, most definitely creating a hickey.

  My breathing gets uneasy, but I keep it under control. She unbuttons my jeans and pushes them over my hips and leaves them on my thighs.

  "See how long you can go? Is that what this is?" She continues talking and teasing me, and in all honesty I am loving it. Danny never talked to me like this... it was just going straight in and pleasing himself.

  With my jeans now out of the way, the fabric is much thinner and each touch hits me a little bit harder. I leave my palms on the counter, but I push down as hard as I can because I want to scream so badly.

  Leah takes her hands off of me and spins me around. She pulls my jeans completely off and leaves them on the floor and then takes my shirt off of my body. I'm lifted onto the countertop and I just sit there, looking at her.

  She grins and takes a sip of my water and then touches my thighs, stroking them. She leans her head down and that's when I figure out what she's doing. She has a piece of ice between her teeth and she's dragging it down my body. She gets to my hips them looks up at me.

  I shake my head and she makes a face at me. She then takes my bra off and begins making small circles around both my nipples.1

  She then moves back down my body, leaving a wet trail as she goes. She pulls my panties down and then it's over.

  The moment that cold ice touches me, "oohhh- f--uck." I hiss and my whole body flinches.

  She looks up at me and grins. "I'm sorry for joking with you." She grins and then begins doing what she does best.

  Leah and I eventually move to the couch and I find my head between her thighs. She runs her hands through my hair and then pulls me up to her face and kisses me.

  "You're so beautiful." She whispers. I smile and lay my head down on her chest and end up falling asleep.

  * * *

  I wake up and hear my sister's voice. She's standing outside the door of the apartment trying to unlock the door. It's too late for Leah and I to jump up and run... she'll see us. So I just lay here silently on top of Leah.

  The door opens and my sister sees us. We're both naked, but I'm laying on top of Leah and there's a blanket over me.

  "Seriously?" My sister groans and closes the door. She hangs up the phone with whoever she was talking to and this causes Leah to wake up.

  She instantly puts her hands on my ass and I look at her and smile. "We're busted." I giggle and kiss her softly.

  "Damn." She says. My sister shakes her head and throws a pillow at us before walking to her room. I climb off of the couch and quickly run to my bathroom with Leah following behind me.3

  * * *

  Leah's voice says a lot. The way she speaks to me, or anyone she is talking to allows me to read her like a book. I just walked into her parents house and I hear her on the phone and she seems really stressed about something. I walk around the corner and to the office area and she is pacing back and forth while she talks. She sees me and forces a smile and I walk over to her and hug her. She pecks my lips quickly and I take a seat on the desk and wait until she's done talking.5

  "Who was that?" I ask her.

  "A friend. She's asking about some photos." Leah says and sighs.

  "Oh, for you to take photos?" I ask again.

  "Yeah."

  I nod my head and sit quietly. She's not happy ri
ght now. "Wanna talk about it?" I ask and bite my cheek nervously.

  I've never seen Leah truly angry and I don't want to, so talking to her when she's like this makes me nervous.

  I'll never forget he first time Danny and I got into a fight. It was that first time I've actually seen him angry like that and I was scared. He gets physical when he's mad. Not with me, but with things around him. Our poor bedroom wall had been repaired so many times from his fist slamming through it... not to mention the countless picture frames I replaced over the years. Anyway- the point is that I'm worried that Leah might be the same as Danny in that way. Makes me anxious.

  27

  "I said do you wanna talk about it?" I ask for the second time.

  Leah sighs and looks up at me. "No, I'm good." She says and takes a few deep breaths.

  She walks over to me and puts her hand on my chin to kiss me. "I'm sorry, I just- I'm okay." She gives me a fake smile and kisses me again. "How are you? Are you hungry?" She asks.

  "I'm good, and I'm a little hungry." I tell her and slide off of the desk.

  She nods and puts her hair into a messy bun. "Let me finish up here and we can go eat or something. My parents are gone for the night, my dad had a business party and their rental house is closer so they're staying for the night." Leah says and goes back to her computer.

  "No rush, baby. I'll go wait in there." I say and leave the room.

  Ten minutes later Leah comes and finds me, "ready? I found something for us to do but it's gonna have to be a surprise." She says.

  I smile and look down at what I'm wearing, "am I dressed appropriately?"

  "You're dressed fine. I'm gonna go change and then we can go." She says and runs up the stairs.

  Soon after, we're on the road to our mystery destination and Leah's back to her usual, peppy self. I don't know what all that was about earlier, I'm just glad she left it out of our relationship.

  We finally get to where we are going and it's a little street carnival. Food trucks, booths selling little things, games, and a small ferris wheel.

  "Plot twist, I only brought you here for the fried Oreos." She jokes and I smile and we head over.3

  "I haven't done anything like this in years." I say and she smiles grabs my hand as we walk.

  "No? I've been to a few more than I should've. Traveling around I see a lot of festivals and carnivals... so I make the most of it." She explains.

  "I bet it's cool seeing this in other countries. Do you ever meet people in other countries and keep in touch?" I ask her.

  "If you're asking if I meet women and sleep with them while I'm working, the answer is no... not anymore at least." She laughs.

  I look at her and bite my lip. That's exactly what I was asking.

  "I only slept with one woman I met on my last trip... and that was a consistent thing. We 'dated' while I was there." She says.

  "That's nice. Gives you some entertainment while you're away." I smirk.

  "Mmhm, I actually have her in some of my photos. Nothing big, just filler photos." She tells me.

  "I love how happy you are when it comes to your work. You're passionate, I love that." I say and she smiles and kisses my cheek.

  "Come on, let's go be fat kids for a few hours." She says as she begins dragging me in the direction of a food truck.

  Hours later we leave the place, still hungry, and head home.

  "You're sure you don't want to go eat?" Leah asks for the tenth time.

  "I'm positive. We can eat in!" I say.

  She sighs and drives home. We go inside and Leah heads upstairs, "you want clothes?" She asks me.

  "Yes, please. I'll make us some dinner." I call back.

  A few minutes later she comes back down and tosses a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt at me. "Thank you. Dinner is ready." I grin.4

  "That fast? What the hell are we eating?"

  "Instant ramen!!" I laugh and hand her one of the two cups.

  She laughs and shakes her head. "I hate you, but fine. I get to eat you for dessert." She says and kisses me.

  "Mm, I like the sound of that." I grin and bite my lip.

  Leah goes and sits on the couch while I change. I join her and we both eat. We talk about whatever comes to mind, mainly about today and Leah's travel history. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Leah's eyes light up when she talks about her work. It makes me happy to see her so happy about something. I would kill for that.

  An hour passes and it's pretty quiet. I'm getting tired and I'm laying in Leah's lap while she plays with my hair.

  "You okay?" I ask her and put my hand over hers.

  Her eyes almost look glazed over. She's thinking hard. She looks down at me and slowly shakes her head no.

  "What's wrong?" I ask her and sit up.

  "I got a job offer." She says.

  "That's good! Isn't it?!" I ask and grab her hand, squeezing it.

  "It's amazing. It's like... my dream job." She pauses and then looks down at me. "I'd move to London." She says.

  When she says it my heart sinks a little bit and I get quiet. "Is this what you were upset about?" I ask her and she nods her head.

  "I don't want to leave you." She admits and I shake my head and hug her tightly.

  "Shh." I whisper. I look her in the eyes and grab her chin. "Listen, I don't want you to leave me either, but I don't want your to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime because of me. Okay? I know how much what you do means to you... I see how happy it makes you. Don't include me in this decision. This is about you, baby. Do what you want and what's gonna make you happy." I say, as painful as it is.

  "I'm so stuck. If I hadn't met you I would have already taken the job. I just... I can't let go of you. You are such a big part of what makes me happy." She says.

  "I'm not yours to hold onto." I remind her. She closes her eyes and looks away from me.

  "I'm leaving for two weeks as a trial run. I have one month after that to give them my final answer." She says.

  "Two weeks? Starting when?"

  "I leave next Saturday." She says.

  Bombshell. "Okay, that's good. You can see if this is really gonna make you happy. It'll be a good thing. It can also be a test for me too..." I say.

  She sighs and hugs me tightly. "You make me happy." She whispers.

  I smile at this and she stands up and starts to carry me to her room.

  She tosses me onto her bed and cuts the lights out before straddling me and kissing me slowly. "I don't know what I would do without these lips." She whispers and we start to make out and things get more and more intense. I'm sure you know where it goes from here...9

  28

  "Rachel, I really can't. I've dropped my rate by $500 for you already! I have to make some money in there somewhere. It's going to take a village to make this happen." Leah argues into the phone. "$4,000. That is my lowest, babe. Take it or leave it." She says.

  The next thing I see her do tells me that Rachel took it.

  "Great. I'll start making arrangements. Send me the venue address so I get out out there and have a look tomorrow." She says, victoriously.

  "You're doing the wedding?" I ask Leah and walk over behind her, putting my arms over her shoulders.

  "I am."

  "$4,000 for wedding pictures?" I ask.

  "It's crazy, but it's not a normal wedding. This girl and her fiancé have so much money they don't know what to do with it and they're asking for albums of photos. I'll be the only photographer/team in there... which takes a lot." She says and starts working on her computer.

  I smile to myself and kiss her neck softly. "I find it extremely sexy when you talk about numbers and your work..." I whisper.

  She laughs and kisses my lips. "I find you sexy all the time." She says. I grin and straddle her chair and she kisses me a few times, then it gets a little dirty. "Mm- fuck." She mumbles.

  I grin at her and drag my tongue from her collar bone to her jawline and she laughs and grabs my waist. "You know I would love
to do this, but I really need to get this done today. Tonight, I promise." She says.

  I roll my eyes and she bites her lip and watches me as I climb off of her, "shit, you're hot." She shakes her head and looks me up and down.

  "You know what else I am? Wet. So I'm gonna go shower and handle that... you keep working." I grin and her jaw drops.2

  "Jennifer!! That's not fair... come on. Wait one hour."

  "I can't, I need it now. Bye!" I tell and close the bathroom door behind me. I love teasing her, it's so entertaining.

  It's been a few days since she told me about the job in London, we haven't said much about it since. I'm not sure what's gonna happen honestly. I just hope she makes the right choice. I've been working during the day and coming home to Leah at night. It's good... my sister probably feels like Leah's moved in with us, but I don't care. I'm gonna spend every second I can with her.12

  * * *

  Work is boring most of the time... like really boring. I've played through hundreds of levels of every game available on my phone and my boss doesn't seem to care. He pays me to sit here and answer the phone every few hours and check his emails sometimes.

  "Jennifer, hey." My boss says and steps into my office.

  "Hey, how are you today?" I ask happily.

  "I'm great, but I have a conference call that I'm late to, so if you could go grab me some lunch that would be fantastic. I'll even let you drive my car." He says.

  I laugh and nod my head, "no problem. I'll be back in forty-five minutes. Just text me your order." I say. He hands me his keys and I panic. This is a NICE car.

  While I'm driving Leah calls me. "I was just thinking about you." I say as I answer the phone.

  "Were you? That's good to hear. Thinking about me enough to go get lunch?" She asks me.

  "Ooh, I would love to. I have to go pick up my boss's lunch though. If you meet me there I could see you for a few minutes." I say and she happily agrees.

  "See you in fifteen minutes."

  I have my boss's food sitting in the passenger seat of his car. I spot Leah pulling in and I get out so she sees me. She pulls up beside me and her jaw drops. "Who does this car belong to?!" She asks.