“It’s haunted me too,” Kelsey admitted, giving herself over to Tala’s kiss and reaching to lift the folds of Tala’s skirt.
Tala felt herself grow wet at the warmth of Kelsey’s hands on her thighs. Their kiss intensified and she drew Kelsey’s hand in deeper. She wore nothing under her skirt and Kelsey smirked.
“It is hot in the Philippines,” Tala said, grinning shyly.
“I’m not complaining.”
The covers slipped away as Kelsey rolled Tala onto her back and began removing her skirt.
“You always sleep naked?” Tala asked, admiring the curves of Kelsey’s light skinned body.
“It is hot in the Philippines,” Kelsey teased. She lifted Tala’s shirt over her head and marveled at the beauty before her. Tala had grown even tanner in the Filipino sun. Her prominent nipples were hard as her hips thrust against Kelsey’s thigh, grinding against it in desperate motion.
“I’ve wanted you so long, Tala,” Kelsey whispered, taking Tala’s face into her hands and kissing her.
Tala threw Kelsey on her back. “I have wanted you longer.” Her head dove down between Kelsey’s legs and she thought of all the times she’d imagined doing exactly this. “When I touch myself, I imagine it is you touching me.”
Kelsey groaned as Tala’s tongue moved over her clit, gently at first, then firmer and quicker.
“Oh God!”
“Not yet, Kelsey,” Tala commanded. She slid two fingers inside as her tongue continued its work.
“Oh God, Tala!”
“Yes, say my name again, Kelsey.”
“Tala!”
“Again!”
“Jesus Christ!” Kelsey’s body shook as Tala expertly brought her to orgasm. No one had ever made her come so quickly.
“You’re even more beautiful when you reach completion,” Tala said, sliding to the top of the bed to lie beside her.
Kelsey laughed. “This is in no way completed.” She pulled Tala to her and began the process all over again.
They made love in the bed, on the couch, in the shower, and by the end Tala was screaming so loud, Kelsey was sure every guest in the hotel must have heard it. Her legs gave out and Kelsey held her against the wet shower wall as the warm water cascaded over their battered bodies.
“You are amazing, Kelsey,” Tala moaned, her wet hair dripping onto Kelsey’s face. “And I love your pink nipples.”
Kelsey laughed. “You’re even more beautiful than I thought you’d be, Tala.”
Kelsey reached for a towel and wrapped it around Tala’s small frame before grabbing one for herself. Finally, they got dressed.
“I am divorcing Stephen,” Tala said, over lunch at Le Bar, one of the hotel’s popular restaurants.
Kelsey sipped her rum and coke, or Cuba Libre as she’d learned, and smiled. “I know.”
“Then you did receive my email?”
“No. I ran into Stephen. He was putting a for sale sign on the house.”
“Yes, he is to give me half and then we will part ways. I asked for nothing more.”
Kelsey thought that was both honorable and foolish of Tala, considering she’d been married to Stephen for five years. She was entitled to more than just half of the house. At the same time, Stephen was a kind man and it wouldn’t surprise Kelsey if in the end he offered Tala more on his own.
“He also said you’re staying in Manila.”
Tala saw the pain in Kelsey’s deep green eyes and grabbed her hand across the table. “I am not. I will stay if there is nothing for me to go back to, but if you tell me there is Kelsey, I will believe you and I will return.”
Kelsey had made a lot of relationship mistakes in her life and she didn’t want Tala to be one of them. She wanted Tala to come back, but she was afraid of being the sole reason she did so. What if things went wrong? What if Tala turned out to be another Julia? Then Kelsey would want her out after a few months and where would Tala go then? Kelsey realized she hadn’t thought everything through before flying to Manila. She had been caught up in Alison’s words and the romance of it all. She loved Tala, but she had been in love before and it hadn’t turned out well.
“I can’t promise you things will be perfect, Tala,” she warned.
“I am not looking for perfection. Do you love me, Kelsey?”
Kelsey didn’t hesitate before answering. “Yes.”
“And I love you. So, whatever obstacles we find before us, we will face them together. If you are willing, that is.”
“I’m willing, Tala,” Kelsey said. Tala was worth any obstacle Kelsey could imagine.
Chapter 14
“Where is Tala?” Dalisay demanded of her children. Dalisay had prepared Tala’s favorite pork sinigang for dinner, but she still had not arrived home.
“I saw her and Mia sneaking out this morning,” Doneng offered, wanting to please his overbearing mother. He didn’t care that it was at the expense of his sisters. He bit into a steaming hot lumpia and focused his hard dark eyes on Mia.
Dalisay folded her arms across her ample chest and stared at her middle daughter. “Where did you take her?”
“The mall, mama,” Mia lied, fingering the hundred dollar bill in her pocket. “She said she would be back later.”
Dalisay suspected Mia was not being truthful but had no proof. She knew her middle daughter looked up to Tala and was sure there was a lie in here somewhere. The phone rang before she could start her interrogation.
“Hi mama,” Tala said, when Dalisay snatched up the receiver. “Please do not worry about me for dinner tonight. I am with friends. I will see you again in two days.”
“What do you mean two days?” Dalisay demanded. A bad feeling turned up in her gut but she tried to push it away. “You are with friends from college? Why two days?”
“From America, mama,” Tala said. “We will visit some tourist places then we will come to the house.”
The bad feeling in Dalisay’s gut grew stronger. “Okay, anak,” she said. “But you must return in exactly two days.”
Dalisay hung up the phone and turned to face her family. Doneng and Cristano continued to eat while Mia pushed her food around her plate and Ligaya stared down at her cell phone. Dalisay’s hard eyes landed on Mia. Ligaya looked up just in time to spot the danger in her mother’s glare and was glad it wasn’t directed at her.
“Where did you say you took Tala?” Dalisay questioned her middle daughter again.
Mia was the strongest of all four of Dalisay’s children and Dalisay knew breaking her wouldn’t be easy. Tala had craftily chosen the right sibling for her deception.
“Mall of Asia,” Mia lied again. She’d learned long ago that the best way to deal with Dalisay was to stick to your story, no matter what. Dalisay had a killer instinct. She knew when she was being deceived but without proof –without getting you to admit your deception—she had nothing to confirm her suspicions.
“Doneng, what did Tala say to you when they left?” She now questioned her son.
“Nothing, mama. Mia did all the speaking.” He shot his sister another look. She was obviously lying to mama and he would have no part of it.
“She will be home,” Cristano said trying to calm the volcano he sensed was about to erupt within Dalisay.
Dalisay dropped into a chair at the table but her eyes remained hard on her middle daughter. “You do realize,” she said, reaching for the plate of lumpia, “that your sister could very likely go back to America. And then we will lose her, anak.”
“We will not lose her,” Cristano said.
“Cristano, I am talking to our daughter.”
Mia sat straighter in her chair and met her mother’s challenging gaze. “Maybe I shall go to America too.”
“And how will you do that?” Dalisay countered.
“Same as Tala. I will meet a rich man.”
“Ha,” Dalisay scoffed. “You will have to lose weight first.”
Ligaya laughed and Cristano slammed his fist on the table. �
�Ta mana! Stop!” He hated when his wife spoke to their children in this demeaning manner. “Do not speak like this.”
“I am not fat by American standards,” Mia said, unwilling to back down. The rest of the family may be afraid of Dalisay, but Mia was not. She had dreams. Big ones. And she would not let Dalisay squash them.
“You are not fat at all,” Cristano said, consoling his daughter. Yes, Mia was curvier than his other daughters, but it was nothing to be concerned about.
“Do not lie to our children, Cristano. Mia is fat. I am fat. You are bald.”
“And Doneng is ugly,” Ligaya offered.
“That is your kuya!” Dalisay admonished her youngest child. But secretly she agreed with Ligaya. Doneng was not an attractive man. He cared little for his appearance and it showed. His teeth were yellowed from smoking and lack of proper hygiene, his skin often looked oily, as did his hair, and he had the unnerving habit of sneering at everyone who came into his line of view.
Ligaya was beautiful like Tala. The difference was Ligaya knew it, while Tala seemingly did not. Tala was modest. Ligaya was a show off. Dalisay knew she and Cristano were to blame for Ligaya’s entitled ways. They had spoiled their youngest daughter, giving her everything they had never been able to give Tala and Doneng, and this was the result.
Dalisay overlooked that they had also given Mia everything they had given Ligaya, but Mia did not act this way. Mia had strength at her core that Dalisay both admired and hated. She admired it because it reminded her of her, but she hated when it challenged her authority, as it often did.
“Just eat now,” Dalisay said, ending the conversation. She was meeting one of her sisters for Bingo later and did not want this bad energy to affect her luck.
**********
Tala and Kelsey lounged by the pool, drinking tall beverages with umbrellas and slices of fruit balanced on the rims of the glasses. They had gone shopping, made love again, and were now enjoying the resort’s stunning view of Manila Bay.
Kelsey admired the view of the bay while Tala admired the sight of Kelsey who wore a black bikini that made her white skin look even whiter. Her long legs stretched all the way to the bottom of the lounge chair. Tala thought about how tightly those legs had been wrapped around her hours before and smiled. For the first time in years, she was happy.
“You’re grinning again,” Kelsey said, feeling the warmth of Tala’s happiness surround her. She couldn’t have predicted two days earlier when she was packing her bags for Manila that it would turn out like this. Hoped, yes, but being here with Tala now far exceeded that hope. The woman she was in love with loved her. There was no better feeling in the world.
“I am always grinning when I think of you, Kelsey.”
Kelsey grinned back. “What would you like to do for dinner?”
By Tala’s calculation, Kelsey hadn’t slept much since leaving America. “I think you must still be tired from the trip. Why don’t we order room service tonight and rest?”
“Okay,” Kelsey said. “But fair warning; when I get you back to the room there may be no rest for either of us.”
Tala laughed. “I like that idea too.”
When Kelsey awoke the next morning it was to the sound of a ringing phone and the feel of Tala’s warm body reaching across hers to answer it.
“Mia?” Tala spoke softly into the phone.
Kelsey’s mouth covered the small breast that fell in her face and Tala giggled, twisting away from her.
“What do you mean you are here?”
Tala continued her conversation as Kelsey pushed back the covers and trailed a line of kisses down Tala’s stomach. She glanced up at Tala who was shaking her head no but smiling. Kelsey gently parted Tala’s legs. Her eyes met Tala’s as she leaned in to taste her.
Tala gasped and grabbed a handful of red hair, pulling Kelsey away but thrusting her hips in closer at the same time. Kelsey laughed.
“Please, not now Kelsey,” Tala whispered, covering the phone with her other hand. She wanted to pull Kelsey in deep and feel her tongue do its magical work all over again but her sister was right downstairs.
“I will come downstairs,” Tala said. She hung up the phone and laughed. “You are crazy, Kelsey. My sister is downstairs. Please get dressed and I will go get her.”
Kelsey didn’t move. “Just give me five minutes first.”
“I cannot. If you start, we will not stop.”
“Five minutes, I promise.” She bent her head to Tala again.
Tala grabbed another handful of Kelsey’s hair and thrust forward as Kelsey’s mouth did what it promised in less than five minutes.
**********
Mia’s suspicions about what her sister was doing were confirmed the minute she entered the hotel room to find a beautiful woman with long red hair making up a messy bed. The room smelled like pineapple and sex. The fruit platter on the table explained the smell of pineapple but—
Mia gave her sister a sideways glance.
“This is Kelsey,” Tala said, quickly introducing the two women. “This is my middle sister, Mia.”
Kelsey crossed the room and extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mia.”
“It is nice to meet you too.” Mia turned to her sister and smirked. “So it is not just Stephen who has been enjoying the company of other women, I see.”
“I was faithful during my marriage,” Tala asserted.
“And now?”
Tala shrugged. “Now I love Kelsey.”
Kelsey smiled at the easy way in which Tala expressed her love for her.
Mia laughed. “Oh, mama is not going to like this. She was most upset after Ruby.”
“Ruby?” Tala blinked. “What does mama know of Ruby?”
Mia sat in the chair by the window and Kelsey offered her some fruit. Kelsey didn’t know who Ruby was but it didn’t take much to put the pieces together.
“Ruby came to see mama after you married Stephen. She told her of your…involvement.”
Tala turned to Kelsey. “Ruby was my girlfriend before I met Stephen. I do not know why she would go to my mother though. We had not been together for months before I met him.”
“Well, she did,” Mia said. “She told her everything.”
Kelsey watched the two sisters talk. Mia didn’t look much like Tala. She was shorter and more voluptuous, but she had the same kind eyes.
“Anyway, you must come home today. Mama knows I lied to her.”
“You told her where I am?”
“No, but she is very suspicious that you went to the mall and then will not be home for two days. She is asking me over and over again where I took you.”
Tala considered her options. She glanced at Kelsey and tried to figure out the best course of action from here. Did she go home with Mia? Tell Mia no? Bring Kelsey home with her? Her thoughts were halted by the sound of Mia’s phone ringing.
“Hello, mama,” Mia said.
Dalisay didn’t waste words. “I am in the lobby of the Sofitel hotel, Mia. Tala is here?”
Mia’s hand darted out to cover the phone. “Mama is here! She must have followed me.”
Tala’s heart dropped. She hadn’t planned on hiding Kelsey from her family but this wasn’t how she wanted her to meet them either.
Kelsey glanced from Mia to Tala and couldn’t help thinking this was some fucking crazy shit! She knew from Tala’s stories that Dalisay was overbearing, but stalking your grown daughters, well that was something else entirely.
“Doneng has driven me here,” Dalisay said. “I will tell him to go home but you must come to the lobby to get me.”
Tala and Mia both looked frozen so Kelsey took action. “I’ll call the front desk,” she said.
“You will have her removed?” Mia squealed, her hand still covering the phone.
“No, I’ll tell them to let her up.” She turned to Tala. “Okay?”
Tala nodded.
“Go to the front desk, mama,” Mia said into the phone. “We are calli
ng to have you sent up.”
Tala sat on the bed while Kelsey called the front desk and Mia opened the balcony door.
“What are you doing?” Tala asked when her sister began swinging the drapes back and forth.
“I am trying to get the smell of sex out before mama gets here.”
Tala blushed. “There is air freshener in the bathroom.” She went to retrieve the can and began spraying it everywhere.
Five minutes later Dalisay stormed through the door of Room 523 like she owned the hotel, along with everyone in it.
“What is going on here?” She said in Tagalog. “Why are my daughters lying to me?”
Tala tried to introduce her mother to Kelsey, but Dalisay ignored her daughter and continued her rampage in a language Kelsey didn’t understand. There were a lot of hard C’s accompanied by a shitload of arm-waving.
“You will both come home with me now,” Dalisay said in English so that the American woman would know she was the one in control here.
Tala crossed the room to stand beside Kelsey. “I am not going home, mama,” she said, taking Kelsey’s hand. “I am staying here with Kelsey.”
Dalisay caught on quickly and her eyes narrowed on her eldest daughter’s face. “You will not do this, Tala. You are not like this.”
“Like what?”
“You think I did not know about Ruby? You are a married woman, anak.”
Tala rolled her eyes. “My marriage is over and you know it, mama.”
Dalisay turned to Kelsey. “Kelsey, your name is? I am sure you are a nice woman but I must speak to my daughters alone now.”
Kelsey nodded and stepped toward the door but Tala latched on to her arm. “You are not leaving. This is your room.”
“It’s okay, Tala,” Kelsey said.
“I said no.” Tala’s tone was so stern Kelsey almost laughed. “I am with Kelsey, mama. The same way I was with Stephen, and yes, the same way I was with Ruby. This is how it is.”
“Anak—“
“No.” Tala shook her head. “Do not say anything because your words will not change it. I am in love with this woman.”
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