She said this with such a carefree tone, that Jamie was frankly puzzled. "Why aren’t you upset? I thought it would make you crazy to let her get to you."
"Nope. I feel great, actually. She’s a big, fucking bully, and sometimes it feels nice to make a bully quake with fear. She was about to wet her pants," Ryan said, chuckling softly. "Well, she did wet her pants, but that was from me jamming her against the faucet. Today was a bad day to wear khaki’s," she said, shaking her head with false regret.
"You’re really okay?" Jamie asked, searching Ryan’s eyes.
"Yep. She can’t prove I did anything to her, and the police won’t arrest me for some idle threat about beating her senseless with a plunger …"
A hand rose, stopping her in mid-sentence. "I don’t want to know the details. I’m very glad that you got it out of your system. As long as you don’t have to go to jail, I’m happy."
"Uhm … one more little, tiny thing," Ryan said, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly. "If they believe her, they might test me for rabies."
"WHAT? Did you bite her?"
"Noooo," Ryan said. "But I … uhm … I … kinda … licked her."
"You … licked … her." Jamie said each word very slowly, her eyes narrowing with each syllable. "You licked Cassie Martin." Her head cocked, and the blonde fixed Ryan with a pensive gaze. "I can’t wait to hear this one."
Looking perplexed, Ryan once again shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly can’t explain it, Jamie. There was a moment there when I knew that she was truly terrified. I had to mark her."
"You had to … mark … her."
"Honey, it was either that or lift my leg and pee on her. I felt like a dog, claiming my territory. It was so primal, so instinctive." She shivered roughly. "I can’t describe it to you, baby. If you’ve never felt that way, you don’t have the proper frame of reference."
The smaller woman dropped her head into her hands once again, then sat up and shook her head. "I think we have to put this behind us. I don’t think I want to know the part of you that made you do that."
"Just as well," Ryan agreed. "There’s a part of me that I don’t understand, so I can hardly expect you to decipher it."
Jamie gazed at her partner for a moment, finally lifting her hand to slide her fingers through her bangs. "Are you sure you won’t have to go to jail for this, honey?"
"Nope. She can’t make this one stick," Ryan said, full of confidence. "And next time, she might have the sense to keep her ugly trap shut."
"Is there going to be a next time, Ryan?" Jamie asked, searching her partner’s eyes.
The dark head nodded. "There might well be. I’m still hungry for revenge."
Sighing deeply, Jamie took a minute to organize her thoughts. "Don’t tell me about it, okay? You know I usually like to be informed about everything you do – but I don’t want to know if you think of some way to get back at her." She stroked Ryan’s face and said, "You do what you need to do, honey – but I can’t afford to worry about you. We’ll deal with the consequences when the time comes – but please do me a favor and make it a civil suit, rather than criminal, okay? I can’t bear the thought of having to visit you in prison."
"It’s a deal. If I get my revenge, we’ll be able to buy our way out of it – and at this point, it’s worth an awful lot of money to me."
"Jamie?" Jim Evans’ voice boomed through her cell phone, bright and early on Tuesday morning.
"Hi, Daddy. What’s up?"
"Well, since I’m coming down for the weekend, I’ve decided to come a few days early and conduct some business. I thought, if you were free, that we could have dinner together … say, tomorrow?"
"Uhm … sure, I know that I can. Is … do you want Ryan to join us?"
"Oh! I assumed … of course," he said, rather enthusiastically. "I meant both of you, honey."
"Thanks, Dad," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "You’re really making an effort here, and I appreciate it so much."
"I’m trying, Jamie," he said quietly. He cleared his throat and said, "I have another agenda for the evening, honey, and I hope you can be understanding about it."
"What’s that?"
"I’ve uhm … I’ve decided to start seeing Kayla again."
She was quiet for a moment, fighting the urge to express her true feelings. "I hope that works out for you, Dad."
"That’s it?" he asked carefully. "You’re not disappointed in me?"
"Dad, Mom’s filed for divorce. As long as you’re with someone past the age of consent, it’s none of my business."
"She’s young, but she’s not that young, Jamie," he said with a hint of a tease in his voice.
"How old is she, Daddy?" she asked in kind.
"She’s uhm … she’s 26," he said, grimacing as the number left his mouth.
"Mmm … two years older than Ryan," she said. "Well, age is just a number, Dad. What matters is that you enjoy being with her, and she with you."
"I don’t know if this will last," he said. "But I’m going to try to make a go of it. I’d like to introduce you, Jamie."
She sucked in a breath at that, but did her best to sound calm. "Well, Dad, if you can get over your initial feelings about Ryan, I guess I can get over my initial feelings about Kayla. I’m willing to give it a try."
On Tuesday afternoon Ryan walked into her advisor’s office and knocked on his cubicle wall. "Hey, Vijay. Got a minute?"
He gave her his usual, warm smile and nodded. "Always, for you," he said, in his clipped, Bombay-accented speech pattern. "What is it, Ryan?"
"Well, I know you have more work than you can handle, but I was wondering if you could give me a hand with some programming. You’re the best programmer I know, Vijay."
He gave her a curious look and said, "What part of your project needs a program written? Have I missed something?"
"No, no, this is a special project I’m working on. It’s a personal kinda thing. I shouldn’t need too much of your time, actually. I only need you to help me chart it out and steer me in the right direction."
"Okay. I can spare some time. But you owe me dinner."
"Easy trade, Vijay. It’s a deal."
When Ryan walked into the house on Wednesday night, she went upstairs to get ready for their dinner engagement with Jim. After some negotiation, they agreed to have dinner at Chez Panisse, the site of Jamie’s birthday dinner. This time they had reservations in the more expensive upstairs dining room, and she knew she would have to dress up. Calling out a greeting to her partner, Ryan headed into the bath for a quick shower, then put on her suit, or as she now called it, her uniform. She went with the femmier look, wearing the sterling silver satin tank top and her dressy black flats, and she was just fastening her platinum necklace when Jamie came into her room.
"Zip me up?" the blonde asked.
"Okay," Ryan said, "but you know I far prefer the flip side of the job."
"I wish it were time for the flip side of the job," Jamie grumbled. "I so don’t want to do this."
"Honey, we had trouble accepting Aunt Maeve, and we loved her like a mother. This will take some getting used to."
"My dad and his girlfriend," she said with distaste. "That’s so trite!"
"Well, it’s certainly common," Ryan said. "But the only couple we have any control over is us. I’m bound and determined that our kids will always know only Mom and Mama."
Slipping her arms around Ryan’s waist, Jamie looked up at her and said, "You’ve got this all figured out, don’t ya?"
"What’s that?"
"Our names. You’ve already decided on what our kids will call us."
"Well, no, I haven’t," Ryan demurred. "I know they’ll call me Mama, but I’m guessing you’ll choose Mommy, which will turn into Mom when they’re old enough to be embarrassed."
"Like I said," Jamie insisted, "you’ve got this all figured out."
They arrived at the restaurant right on time, and as Ryan waited for the receipt from the valet,
Jim and Kayla pulled up in a taxi.
"Good timing," Jamie said, giving her father a warm hug.
"Yes, it was," he said, looking very nervous. "Uhm … Jamie, this is Kayla Horwitz. Kayla, my daughter, Jamie."
The women shook hands, and Jamie was pleased to see that Kayla’s hand was slightly wetter than her own. Ryan came over and kissed Jim on the cheek, patiently waiting for her introduction. "This is Ryan O’Flaherty," Jim said, omitting her title. "Ryan, Kayla Horwitz."
"Good to meet you," they both said, nearly simultaneously.
They were shown to their table almost immediately, and Jim ordered a bottle of white wine for the table. Jamie knew they could all use a little loosening up, but she had already decided that she was going to stay completely sober – not liking where her mouth sometimes led her when she was tipsy.
Conversation was at a premium at the table, each person trying to get something going, but each failing miserably. The effort was giving Jamie a headache, and she excused herself to go to the rest room to get a moment alone. To her surprise, Kayla was practically on her heels, and when they reached the confines of the small room she said, "Look, Jamie, I know this is awkward. If I were in your shoes, and my dad was dating someone almost my age, I would hate it. I know you and I probably won’t get to be best buddies, but it’s important to your dad that we can reach some kind of accommodation."
Jamie looked up at her, then smiled gently and nodded. "I’d like to normalize this as soon as possible. You’re not the bad guy here, Kayla. It wasn’t you that caused my parents to split up." Even though you didn’t help matters, she conceded to herself. Extending her hand, they shook once again. "I’ll do my best."
"Me, too," the redhead said, following Jamie to return to the table.
When Jamie took her seat, things were already going along better, with Ryan having set her mind on getting the conversation moving. She had brought up Jennie, and Jim immediately started to ask a plethora of questions. Kayla had volunteered at a legal clinic that dealt with a lot of child custody and other juvenile law issues, so she was interested, too, asking her own share of questions.
Once they had thoroughly covered Jennie and her progress, they were all more comfortable with each other, and the conversation started to flow. Jim was working on some interesting things, and he and Kayla complemented each other nicely as they jointly talked about their work.
Kayla was Jim’s junior legislative aide, but it was pretty clear that she was serving in a greater capacity. Jamie privately wondered what the senior legislative aide thought of the relationship, but she decided that really wasn’t her concern.
By the time dinner was over, they were all fairly comfortable with each other, and Jim seemed positively buoyant. Jamie and Ryan saw them off in a cab and stood by the valet stand while they waited for the Boxster to be delivered. "Thanks for putting the car in valet. I appreciate not having to walk blocks and blocks in heels."
"Well, I don’t like to, but since you insist on going with me to fetch the car, you’ve tied my hands," Ryan said.
"Mmm … don’t give me any ideas," the smaller woman murmured softly into Ryan’s ear.
The blue eyes widened perceptibly as she blinked slowly at her partner. "Do I make you horny, baby?" she said in an imitation of Austin Powers that she used exclusively to annoy Jamie.
"If you repeat one more line from that movie, I’m going to tie your hands and gag you," the blonde threatened.
"Ooo … big talk. Let’s see you back it up with some action, hot stuff."
Jamie shook her head quickly and said, "I was about to make a comment about my father and Kayla, and all of a sudden we’re talking like we’re in a porn movie!"
"You haven’t seen many porn movies, if that’s how you think people talk," Ryan said. "Actually, you haven’t seen many porn movies if you think people talk at all!"
"Well, actually, I haven’t seen any, but that’s beside the point. What did you think of Kayla?"
"I liked her well enough," Ryan said. "She seemed to click with your dad, and after we got over our initial nervousness I thought things went well. Now about those movies …"
"Focus, tiger," Jamie chided. "I feel pretty good about the evening, too. If she sticks around for a while, I think I can tolerate it."
"I don’t see them together long term," Ryan said, as she tipped the valet and got into the Boxster.
"How come?"
"Mmm … I guess it’s possible to bridge the age difference, but she’s a very young woman. I can’t imagine that she won’t want kids at some point, and I can’t see that your dad will want to have them when he’s fifty. I could be wrong, but I think a twenty year age gap – at this point in their lives – is too hard."
"I don’t see it lasting, either," Jamie said, "but for another reason. I can’t imagine that she’ll keep him interested. He’s not very mature, as you may have noticed, and I think the lure of the unknown will always tempt him."
"Time will tell," Ryan said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Now about those movies …"
Ryan’s motor was running by the time they returned home, and when Jamie went into the bath to get ready for bed, she heard her partner banging around in the bedroom. "What are you doing out there?" Jamie called out.
"Getting ready," Ryan cryptically replied.
When Jamie emerged, the grinning brunette was finishing hooking up and plugging in the VCR. "Have you ever used this thing?" she asked.
"Not often. I used to have it in the library, but I rarely watched it down there. I thought I might use it more up here, but I obviously haven’t," she said. "Advertisers are going broke with us, and we’re the prime demographic."
"Mia always has the TV on in her room. She can represent the whole house. Now, we have two choices," she said, eyes flashing with excitement.
"Are we really going to watch a porn movie?" Jamie giggled, looking mildly embarrassed.
"Well, yeah," Ryan said, giving her a puzzled look. "Don’t you wanna?"
"I don’t know." She looked down at the ground and said, "It feels kinda weird."
"Because?"
"I don’t know," the blonde repeated. "I’ve never watched one before."
"It’s not a difficult thing to master," Ryan teased. "You watch for a while, you get hot, you have sex. It’s a snap!"
Her well-defined chin tilted, and Jamie looked at her partner curiously. "You get hot watching them?"
"Yeah. Definitely. That’s the point. They’re some of the worst examples of movie making in the universe. If they didn’t get you hot, they’d have no value whatsoever."
"I don’t know," Jamie said for the third time. "I’m not sure if I’ll think it’s erotic. I’m not all that fond of penises, and watching straight girls have sex for a guy doesn’t do a thing for me."
Ryan gave her a completely puzzled look and asked, "Have you confused me with another? There aren’t any men in the movies I own. Geez! Give the girl a break!"
"Oh!" Jamie started to giggle. "I thought there would be guys, and girls with big hair and high heels and lacy undies. That’s what you always see in the X-rated section at the video store."
"You, my friend, have been going to the wrong video store. Now, I don’t want to pressure you in the least. If you want to watch this, fine – if you don’t, that’s fine too. But, just so you know, it’s made by lesbians for lesbians. There isn’t a penis in the neighborhood."
"Bring it on," Jamie declared with a big smile.
Ryan stuck the tape in and hit play. Then she climbed onto the bed, and snuggled up next to her partner. They were both wearing T-shirts, but not another stitch, and before the credits rolled, Jamie had to get under the covers. "It’s cold in here," she complained. Ryan complied with her wishes, and soon thereafter the screen was filled with the image of a woman, standing out on a redwood deck – a beautiful tree-lined vista filling the sky behind her.
The doorbell of her home rang, and she walked inside to answer. "Here come
s the biggest patch of dialogue," Ryan advised.
The woman opened the door to find a friend she had obviously been waiting for, for after 15 seconds of small talk, they started to kiss. "Oh, they kiss nice," Jamie mused. "I’ve never watched women kiss before."
"What? Mia and Jordan are attached to each other like they’ve been super-glued at the lips!"
"Yeah, but I don’t watch them. I see that they’re kissing, and I avert my eyes."
"Heh." Ryan tried to look innocent, but as usual her act backfired.
"You look, don’t you!"
"Of course," Ryan said. "I mean, I don’t stare or anything, but I like to check out a good kiss when I see one. Mia has a style that is … decidedly enthusiastic," she said with a wicked smile.
Jamie slapped at her thigh and said, "You’re the last one who needs lessons in enthusiasm."
"Shh! The clothes are gonna start dropping."
"How many times have you seen this?"
"Mmm … couple dozen," she guessed.
"A few dozen times?" Jamie cried.
"Yeah. I bought this when I was seventeen. I had some real dry spells back then. Watching this made me feel like I wasn’t the only lesbian in town."
"And it got you off," Jamie added with a little smirk.
"Like a charm."
"Hey! Where did you watch these movies? Did you have a VCR in your room?"
"Heck, no," Ryan said, shaking her head as she laughed softly. "I had to wait until Da and the boys were at work or at school. I think that’s why I can get turned on so quickly. I had to make the most of my opportunities."
Jamie blinked at her, raising her eyebrows in a look that was partially disbelieving and partially repulsed. "You’d lie on your father’s bed and …"
"No!" Ryan cried, slapping her partner’s thigh. "That’s gross!" She sniffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I sat on the floor." Giving Jamie a randy wink, she added, "Brought me closer to the screen, too."
"Lord, Ryan, with one TV in the house, one of the four of you was probably trying to get a half hour alone to watch porn constantly."
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