One Fine Day

by Erica Abbott

  Mrs. Appelbaum eyed her suspiciously. Apparently she didn’t quite trust flamboyant opera stars.

  “What do you want in exchange?” Emerson interjected.

  “A letter from you, as the Foundation’s attorney, stating that you have no intention of enforcing the covenant in the deed.”

  He contemplated the idea. “At this time,” he added. “No intention of enforcing the covenant ‘at this time.’”

  Jill nodded to concede the point.

  Caroline said suddenly, “I have another suggestion.”

  Jill gave her a sideways frown, but Caroline continued undaunted. “Given the generosity of the Foundation in this situation, I’d also like to propose to the board that we designate Hits You’ve Never Heard as sponsored by the Appelbaum Foundation. Corporate sponsorship or grants are common in the arts, as you know, and this would be an opportunity for the Foundation to put a paragraph about their work in our marketing materials for the Opera. What do you think, Mrs. Appelbaum?”

  Mrs. Appelbaum gave her a shrewd look. “Wouldn’t you expect a financial contribution for that sort of credit?”

  Caroline said demurely, “Well, yes, normally.”

  Jill suggested, “How about this? Why doesn’t the Foundation agree to pay for the new signage for the opera house, in lieu of a direct financial contribution? With the design subject to the RMO board’s approval, of course.”

  Mrs. Appelbaum nodded, slowly, thoughtfully. It was a consolation prize, Caroline realized, but at least they were letting her salvage something. She couldn’t help but wonder whether Wright and Emerson might be making a generous contribution to the Appelbaum Foundation very soon.

  The lawyers wrangled over more details and wording for a while longer, with Kim and Michael typing furious notes into their respective laptops. When it was finally over, there was much hand-shaking and forced joviality over how well things had gone. Emerson retreated to his office, to lick his wounds, Caroline hoped, and Michael disappeared somewhere with Mrs. Appelbaum.

  Kim said, “That was awesome, Ms. Allen. Thanks for letting me be here.”

  “Thank you,” Jill responded with genuine warmth. “Now I know you need to get out of here, so get going. We’ll talk on Monday and debrief a bit.”

  “Thanks again.” She packed up, and left, smiling broadly.

  Caroline said, “I think she might have a crush on you.”

  Jill looked at her in surprise. “Kim? Don’t be silly. She’s living with her fiancé. A man, I might add.”

  “She can still have a little straight girl crush on her brilliant, attractive boss.”

  Jill snorted at her as they walked toward the elevator. “Don’t be ridiculous, Caroline.”

  Caroline sighed. “You never did catch on when women were coming on to you. Remember your classmate in your first-year torts class, what was her name?”

  “Um. Melanie? Melinda. What about her?”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Jill. She called you at all hours, showed up at the apartment one night. She was always touching you. She did everything but take her clothes off and throw herself at you.”

  “This belief has always existed solely in your feverish imagination.”

  “I think not,” Caroline said as they stepped into the elevator which was, to her relief, empty. She stood as far away from Jill as was polite and said, “When she saw me that night at our apartment, I was afraid I was going to get a bouquet of poisoned violets in the mail.”

  Jill stared at her. “Poisoned violets?”

  “Ha, ha,” Caroline laughed mockingly. “You’re not quite the opera buff you pretend to be. I refer you to Adriana Lecouvreur.”

  “The hero is killed with poisoned violets?”

  “The heroine is, actually. It has to be one of the least realistic plot devices in an art form well-known for its outrageous narratives.”

  They were at the car when Jill asked, “I promised you a drink. Do you still want to go?”

  Caroline hesitated. She wanted much more than a drink. “I really think you’ve earned the best dinner in town. Will you let me buy?”

  Jill said, “It wasn’t just doing you a favor, you know. It’s my job, and I will be billing the RMO at my usual rate.” She grinned impishly, looking suddenly like a teenager again. “A rate which is almost as outrageous as poisoned violets, by the way.”

  Caroline had never loved her more than she did in that moment. “Jill, let me buy you dinner. Any place you pick.”

  “All right. You asked for it. Get in.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Dinner was at Elway’s, and Caroline was suitably impressed that she could actually buy a fifty dollar steak in Denver. She had to have the waiter wrap half of it, though Jill, surprisingly, did a better job and finished her salmon. Dessert was too good to pass up, and they shared do-it-yourself s’mores, created over a small candle at the table. Caroline had been tempted to order the house-made Ding Dong as well, so Jill promised her a return visit.

  As they waited for the valet to bring Jill’s BMW, Caroline looked up at the night sky and exclaimed, “I can’t remember when I felt this good. You were really wonderful today. I feel like a weight has been lifted from me.”

  “I’m glad,” Jill said. “I don’t mind telling you I was a little worried. If they’d laughed in our faces, it was going to be touch-and-go.”

  “You were worried?” Caroline asked. “I honestly couldn’t tell. You looked completely self-possessed to me.”

  Jill shrugged casually. “It’s my job to look like that. Most clients don’t go through legal conflicts like that often, so they stress out. I’m supposed to be the voice of reason, the rock of calm.”

  They got in the car and Caroline studied her for a moment. “But you don’t really feel that way?”

  “Sometimes I do. But not today.”

  “Why was that?”

  Jill was quiet for a while before she answered. “Because it was you. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

  “Oh, Jill.” Caroline wanted to reach for her. “You could never disappoint me.”

  “But I did, didn’t I?” Jill said softly. “When you called from Paris that night, I was supposed to say I’d go with you, wherever.”

  “I’m tired of talking about the past,” Caroline said abruptly. “We disappointed each other, all right? We have a beautiful spring night and a triumphant day behind us. Let’s focus on that.”

  “You always were good at living in the moment,” Jill said, smiling a little.

  “And you were always good at planning ahead, making sure we had enough money to make the rent payment. We were good together. I gave you some fun in your life, and you kept me grounded.”

  While they were sitting at a stoplight, Jill said, “I have missed the fun, Caroline.”

  “Yes,” Caroline said gently. “Life hasn’t been as much fun without you.”

  They pulled into the lot where Caroline’s Audi was parked. She realized how little she wanted the evening to end. “Jill,” she said impulsively. “I feel like an after dinner drink, and maybe some music. Is there somewhere we can go?”

  Jill hesitated. Finally she said, “Would you like to see my condo? It’s only about fifteen minutes away, and we can talk there a lot better than in a bar somewhere.”

  The warm feeling Caroline had been carrying all day blossomed out from her chest, flooding her limbs. “I’d love that.”

  “Okay. It’s on Cherry Creek Drive. Just follow me over.”

  As they drove down Speer Boulevard, Caroline reminded herself that she had decided that she was going to give Jill time to trust her again. It was just a drink, and some music, and perhaps some conversation.

  When she stepped into the foyer of the condo, she exclaimed, “Oh, Jill. It looks just like you.”

  “Let me get your coat,” Jill said, and hung it up in the closet with her own suit jacket. “How does it look like me?”

  Caroline laughed. “Well, it’s tidy, for one thing
.” She stepped into the large living and dining room. “And you’ve got books everywhere.”

  As Jill went into the kitchen to put the leftover steak in the refrigerator, Caroline crossed the room to run her fingers over some of the titles. The newer titles were non-fiction, history or biographies, the older books classic mysteries: James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler. Caroline smiled at the thought that Jill’s tastes hadn’t changed much over the years.

  When she came back into the living room, Jill asked, “What would you like to drink? I can make you a gin and tonic, or a martini, and I’ve got some Bailey’s. Oh, and some single-malt Scotch, a gift from a client. It’s very good.”

  “The Scotch sounds great,” Caroline said.

  Jill fixed drinks and brought Caroline’s glass to her. Caroline exclaimed, “Oh, Jill! You have a piano.”

  In one corner of the room, a baby grand was tucked, gleaming ebony in the light.

  Jill said, “I just play for myself, these days. It’s relaxing after a long day sometimes.”

  Caroline smiled at the picture of Jill sitting at the piano, playing quietly in the night.

  Jill went over to her stereo. “What do you feel like tonight? Jazz, classical?” She smiled. “I have a lot of opera, too.”

  “You,” Caroline said.

  “What?”

  “Play for me, Jill.”

  “I’m not exactly in performance form,” Jill demurred.

  “I don’t care. I haven’t heard you play in years. Just play, anything.”

  Sighing, Jill went over and sat down on the padded piano bench. “Sure you don’t have any requests?” she said, setting her glass on a coaster on the piano top.

  “Anything,” Caroline repeated.

  She sat on the sofa, where she could see Jill play. She reached up and turned off the lamp, leaving the room illuminated only by the light from outside, spilling into the room through the French doors to the balcony.

  She knew, just before Jill touched the keys, that it would be Moonlight Sonata. She let her head drop back onto the sofa, and closed her eyes. She could hear Jill in the piece. Anyone could play the notes, but somehow Jill always played the pauses, too, shaping the spaces between the notes in a way that left Caroline full of longing.

  The soft opening chords filled the room, then the single line of melody began, almost hesitantly. It did sound, somehow, just like moonlight.

  She took a sip of her drink. The Scotch, smoky and tasting of oak, burned a path down her already heated body. She wished she had thought to ask Jill for ice. God knew she needed to cool off, badly.

  The music seeped into her, winding its way into her, wrapping around her bones. She could hear Jill in every note, in every rest. Part of her wanted to stay here forever, lying back comfortably on the couch, listening to Jill’s hands caress the keyboard.

  But a much larger part wanted Jill to caress her the way Jill’s fingers were touching the keys, gently, demanding, drawing music from her body the way Jill drew music from the piano.

  She’d heard the Moonlight Sonata dozens of times since she’d left Colorado, just as she been with other women since Jill. But no one had ever played like Jill, and no one had ever really touched her heart. No one else.

  When Jill played the final chord, Caroline wanted to weep. After only a moment of hesitation, Jill began the Chopin Etude in E (“No Other Love”), and Caroline almost burst into delighted laughter. Had Jill been reading her mind?

  She listened to Jill manage the complex middle section of the piece pretty well, then return to the familiar melody that pulled on Caroline’s heart. Give her time, she reminded herself.

  But instead she put down her glass and walked over to Jill. As Jill finished the piece, Caroline sat down next to her on the bench.

  “Oh, Jill,” was all she could say.

  Jill put her hands in her lap. The warmth from her presence was filling Caroline again, flooding her, driving out all logic, any plan.

  She said, “I need you, Jill. I need what we had together, everything. I know I can’t just make you trust me again, but I need to be with you.”

  Slowly Jill turned to her until they were facing each other. Jill lifted one hand and put it against Caroline’s face, her fingers gentle on Caroline’s cheek, her thumb brushing her lips.

  “You can’t leave me again,” Jill whispered. “I won’t survive it.”

  Caroline put her own hand over Jill’s, running her thumb against the soft skin. “I’m not perfect,” she said softly. “I’ll make mistakes, we both will. But I can promise you this: I won’t walk away again. We’ll talk it out, whatever it is, or we’ll fight it out, if we have to. I don’t know what will happen, but I promise you, I will never walk away from you again.”

  Jill’s eyes, dark and glittering as black onyx, burned into her. “I won’t let you walk away,” she murmured. “I promise.”

  Caroline met the kiss halfway there, her lips against Jill’s mouth in heated demand. Jill kissed her a very long time, and Caroline felt the heat within her body begin to blaze into an inferno.

  Jill shifted, straddling the bench so that she could face Caroline and pull her into her embrace. She had her arms all the way around Caroline, holding her tightly as the kisses continued. Caroline was all but gasping for air, unable to breathe, unable to stop.

  Finally Jill pulled away a little space and said roughly, “God, Caroline. If you don’t want to make love, you’d better tell me.”

  “If you don’t make love to me right away,” Caroline responded, her voice hoarse, “I think I’m going to collapse.”

  Jill gave her one final kiss, deliciously soft and light, and said, “Come with me. I’m not going to have you on the piano bench. At least not the first time.”

  She led Caroline to her bedroom. They stood by the bed, and Jill began, very unhurriedly, to unbutton Caroline’s blouse.

  Caroline couldn’t bear it, not one more second. She was going to explode. “No, not slowly,” she almost whimpered. “I have to have you now. Right now.”

  Jill gave her one look, then pushed her back onto the bed, pulling up on Caroline’s skirt. Caroline helped her, grabbing at the material until it was bunched over her hips, almost to her waist.

  Jill reached up and jerked Caroline’s underwear down and off in a single swift motion. When the cool air hit her burning flesh, Caroline cried out.

  “Now, Jill, please!” she begged again.

  Jill dropped to her knees, and Caroline felt a single brief brush of Jill’s lips against her bare thigh.

  Then, like the music, there was a brief pause, a rest between the notes, and Caroline thought she might truly go insane with wanting.

  In the next moment, Jill had her mouth against her, inflaming her beyond reason. She reached down with both hands, thrusting them into the head of thick hair, reminding herself with the touch: Jill.

  It’s Jill, at last.

  She came within a few moments, the fire inside burning her to ashes.

  She lay on her back, panting, almost faint with relief. Then Jill rose and bent over her, giving her the kiss she had always craved, the flavor of her own sex on Jill’s sweet mouth.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” she moaned.

  Jill nuzzled her and brushed a single damp strand of wavy, dark red hair away from Caroline’s forehead. “I always loved that about you.”

  “What? My demands?”

  “That you always said what you wanted.”

  Caroline had just enough energy to run her fingers down the curve of Jill’s waist. “You didn’t always love it.”

  Jill laughed softly. “Maybe not. But I always loved it in bed. I always knew I was giving you what you needed, that I was pleasing you. You always made me feel like the world’s greatest lover.”

  Caroline gazed at her. “For me, you are,” she murmured. “And you always will be.”

  “Are you all right? That was really quick.” She stroked Caroline’s stomach.

  Ca
roline said, “It was wonderful. And now, since I’m allowed to make demands, I’d really like it if you’d get in bed with me.”

  Jill smiled and stood up beside the bed. She unbuttoned her shirt, slipped off the bra, and stepped out of her trousers, not too fast, but not too slow. Caroline watched her, the long, lean shape of Jill’s legs beginning to ignite the heat inside her again.

  She slid all the way onto the bed, then reached for Jill. Her voice low and rough, she said, “Come here.”

  Jill eased in beside her. “I’d like to reacquaint myself with certain other parts of you.”

  She pulled Caroline’s blouse off without bothering with the buttons, and leaned down to bury her face deliciously between Caroline’s breasts. Desire surged up again, tightening the muscles in Caroline’s belly, and her thighs parted to let Jill shift on top of her, Jill’s hips easing between her legs.

  As Jill reached behind her back to release the hooks, Caroline lifted herself up. Jill’s mouth began a tantalizing journey across her flesh, and Caroline shivered with the pleasure of it.

  Jill murmured, “I’m going to take all the time I need now.”

  Caroline whispered back, “Whatever you want.”

  She regretted saying it a few minutes later, as Jill seemed intent on arousing parts of her body she barely remembered she had. Caroline could feel the wetness beginning to flood between her legs.

  When Jill caressed one nipple with her tongue again, Caroline felt the throbbing throughout her body. She couldn’t avoid uttering one low, needy moan.

  Jill murmured, “Are you ready for me?”

  “Jill, please,” Caroline pleaded.

  As Jill entered her, Caroline could feel every movement, every caress of her flesh, inside and out. Jill stroked her slowly, then more firmly as she found their rhythm together.

  Caroline reached a long, shuddering climax with Jill inside her body, drenching them both.

  She barely felt Jill withdraw, barely felt her soft kisses of comfort. She couldn’t keep her eyes from closing, she couldn’t lift her arms or move her legs. Jill wrapped her arms around her, laying her head on Caroline’s shoulder, and the security of being held by Jill was all she needed to sleep. She did have one final thought before she slid away into darkness.