The others walked out of the apartment, but Mary paused at the door. “Gina, are you coming to the movie next week?”
“What movie?” Gina looked directly at Roni for the answer.
“I’ll fill her in while we clean up. I’ll see you all at school tomorrow,” said Roni as she picked cups off of the floor. The door shut and she found herself alone with Gina once again. She noticed Gina’s dark brown hair was trimmed shorter on her neck, but longer up top. Just long enough to grab. “Did you get your hair cut?”
“Yeah, I did. It was getting a bit too long for my liking. I’m surprised you noticed.” Shock would have been a more accurate term.
“Well, I did, and it looks nice,” Roni smiled and stacked the cups with the rest. “So, movie night...nights, actually. We’ve never done a movie night as a book club before, but it’s Silence of the Lambs so, we feel like it’s our duty to see how true it is to the novel. We were talking about it at school and settled on Tuesday and Thursday nights next week. Would you like to come?”
All Gina needed to hear was the title and she was sold on the idea. “I’d love to go. The book was fantastic.” She did a mental check of her schedule as she picked more trash off the coffee table. “I work Tuesday night, but I could go on Thursday.”
“Great! That’s when Mary and I are going. She could only get a sitter for Thursday night and I have grad school Tuesday night.”
Gina consolidated the snack trash in the disposable cups. “I thought you were in grad school. The last time I was here you had a law book on your table. Even for someone as studious as you, I doubted that was reading material for pleasure.”
“I think I should call you Detective DiCarlo.” Gina smiled wide enough to show her lone dimple and Roni’s heart swelled at the sight. “Do you have to run home or would you like to stay for L.A. Law again?” Roni thought that was an innocent enough suggestion.
“I don’t know if I should.” She saw subtle frown lines mar Roni’s pristine face. She couldn’t be responsible for that. “What I mean is, the last time I almost missed the bus, so I could watch most of it but then I’d have to leave when there’re five or ten minutes left. You can tell me how it ends over the phone?”
“Or we could watch it together and I drive you to the bus stop when it’s over?” Friends do that.
“Sounds fun.” I’ll just sit several feet from you.
***
“Repeat that last part,” Allison asked, as she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, “because it sounds like you just said she smelled you.”
“I didn’t say that. I said ‘purposeful inhale’ when her nose was in my hair. I’m probably imagining it, but I did not imagine the hug. That happened.”
“Roni,” she drawled in warning.
“I know what you’re thinking and I’ve been good. She initiated the hug when I dropped her off at the bus stop. She was very grateful.” Roni wore a blissful expression as she thought about the embrace. “She hugs likes I dreamed she would.”
“Who dreams of hugs?”
“I do, okay! Between teaching, this class, and my married fantasy woman, all I have are dreams.” She smiled mischievously, “Which do lead to more than just hugs, but they’re just harmless dreams.”
“If you say so,” Allison remarked skeptically. “Just do yourself a favor and don’t sit next to her during this movie. The last thing you need is to sit next to her, in the dark, seeking protection during a horror movie.”
***
“Coconut. I said her hair smells like coconut.” Gina slammed the door to the back of the patrol car leaving their serial shoplifter squirming inside. “Roni drove me to the bus stop, which in the female friend world means a gratitude hug. It would have been weird if I hadn’t hugged her. And then during the hug, I needed to breathe so I inhaled. If I don’t breathe, I’ll die. That is a fact!”
Steven paused at the passenger side. “The deal was to be married a year in case there was any suspicion. You’ve only been married six months. This puts all of us at risk, Gina.”
“But why can’t I be married and see Roni? Lots of married guys have mistresses.” The idea of Roni as a mistress instantly placed sexual images of Roni in red lingerie into Gina’s mind. “As long as she knows I’m married, which she does, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Gina, eventually, you can see her romantically if she’s into it. My concern is trust more than anything. I trust you. I trust Early. I don’t trust this girl.”
Gina pointed sternly. “She’s not a girl. She’s a woman—a smart, compassionate, and beautiful woman.”
Steven sighed. Clearly, she wasn’t going to give up. “Just please be careful, Gina. If this Roni woman isn’t who you think she is you would lose your job and could go to jail. Early could go to jail too and I would probably be forced to resign.”
Gina stood with her hands on her hips. She hated that her partner was right. She was letting a crush jeopardize her life and the lives of her two best friends. “I know. I’ll try harder. I won’t even sit beside her at the movie.”
“Good.” Steven wanted to see his friends happy, but he needed to see that his friends were safe. However, the shift of excitement to disappointment in his friend’s eyes made him soften his harsh tone. “Look, I’m sorry you’re lonely, Gina. I really am. I want to see you happy. I want all of us to be happy. I’m just asking that you—”
“I know, Steven!” Gina snapped and instantly regretted it. “I get it. I’ll try harder.”
***
Gina stood inside the theatre and checked her watch. Mary and Roni were late, and to her knowledge, teachers were never late. That was why she had arrived early. She even had time to sneak into the bookstore and get a small gift. A quick tap on the shoulder took her attention away from the coming attraction poster she had been reading. She turned to a wonderful, but slightly surprising sight. “Hi, Roni. Where’s Mary?”
“Mary wasn’t able to come. She called me just before I was about to leave to tell me that her sitter canceled at the last minute. I guess that stomach virus is still around.” Her hands nervously fidgeted in her denim jacket pockets. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“That’s okay. Is it just us then?” Gina tried not to sound as anxious as she felt when she asked.
“Yep.” Roni rocked back and forth trying to look casual. “Well, um, I don’t know about you, but when I go to the movies, I hit the concessions.”
“Me too. Would you like to share some popcorn?”
“Yeah. And we can split a soda.”
They walked their snacks into the theatre and shared an amused look. “Where would you like to sit?” Gina asked rhetorically in the almost completely empty theatre.
Roni smiled and led the way to a pair of seats in the center. She shrugged off her coat and revealed a red sweater that was equally as tight as her jeans. This time Roni caught Gina staring, but what she was staring at she didn’t know. “Everything okay? I didn’t sit on gum, did I?”
“No! No gum. Everything’s fine,” she said as soon as moisture returned to her mouth. “I just realized I forgot to grab a second straw for the drink. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, okay.” This is good. People who are just friends don’t share saliva. “I’ll make sure no one steals your seat.”
Roni watched the screen as the previews started and Gina left to get a second straw. When Gina snuck back into the dark room, she sat and whispered, “I grabbed more napkins too. They went really overboard when I asked for extra butter.”
“I don’t mind slippery.” Did I just say that?
Did she just say that? Gina’s mind whirled with imagery of a slippery Roni as she stared at her movie date dumbfounded and tried to think of a witty retort. “I have a straw.” Smooth. “I, um...I’ll bend it so we know it’s mine.”
Roni nodded her understanding and they continued to watch the previews. As the movie opened, she reached for a fistful of popcorn and flashed an easy smile at
Gina. “I’m really excited for the movie.”
“Me too. Oh, I almost forgot.” She reached inside her jacket pocket, but kept her hand hidden from view. “Close your eyes.”
Roni smiled at Gina’s playfulness, but did as instructed. Gina reached in her pocket and removed her recent mall purchase. “Okay, you can open them now. Happy birthday! You mentioned something last week in book club about it.”
Roni smiled and took the gift from Gina. It was silly, but the silhouette dancer bookmark was the best present she had received. “Where did you get this?”
“The bookstore here in the mall. It’s just a little thing, literally, but someone said that you danced last week. I thought you might like it.”
“You were right, I do like it.” Roni leaned over the armrest for a hug. “I don’t know what I’m more struck by, how you remember every single detail or how thoughtful you are.”
The last hug they shared had a tinge of awkwardness to it, but this was so spontaneous they had no choice but to join together in a way their bodies best saw fit. When she pulled back, Gina still saw the joy in her bright eyes. Every part of her wanted to lean in further, except her brain. Don’t kiss her. With her brain engaged she was able to resume the conversation. “I make it a rule to be nice to my friends, especially the ones who have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome. You’re very kind. I hope you know that.”
Roni had been called a lot of things: obsessive, neurotic, a control freak—kind was not an adjective she heard often. “I honestly don’t know what to say.”
Gina smiled softly. “You don’t have to say anything except maybe ‘thank you’.”
Roni reciprocated the sweet smile directed at her. “Thank you.”
Gina gulped and turned her attention to the screen. Any more eye contact with Roni and she knew she would cave. “You’re welcome.”
During the film, they sipped their Coke and ate their very buttery popcorn while occasionally they asked the other a question or commented about the movie. Generally speaking, they were pleased, but noticed discrepancies between what was on screen and the novel. At one point, Gina made a disgruntled noise, but the movie still captured their full attention. When the film reached its climax in the pitch-black basement, both Gina and Roni felt Clarice Starling’s fear.
Especially Roni.
Instinctually, Roni gripped Gina’s forearm as Clarice was stalked with night vision goggles. Gina gripped the armrests on each side of her and hadn’t noticed Roni’s hand clutching her until after Buffalo Bill met his demise. She felt Roni’s fingers wrapped around her, but the experience was short lived. Roni realized her faux pas and removed her hand.
When the credits finally rolled, they were both completely overwhelmed by their cinematic experience. Between the movie and their close proximity, their heart rates had yet to come back down to normal as they exited the theatre. They left together in silence until Gina said what they were both thinking. “That was intense.”
“Thank God you thought so too. I thought maybe I was being a wimp.” Her sore fingers were a reminder of that fact. “And I’m sorry about your arm.”
“It’s okay. Nothing a little ice and compression won’t take care of. You have quite a grip.”
“It must be from all of those notes I take and papers I grade.” Despite being scared out of her wits for the past two hours, Roni did not want her evening to end. “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty wound up right now. Would you like to do anything else?”
“Well, there is something I’d like to look up in the book that’s going to nag at me if I don’t confirm my suspicions. Do you still have it by any chance?”
“I do. What do you want to look up?” Roni unlocked the passenger side first when they reached her car. Gina looked at her quizzically. “You’re getting in the car,” Roni said with a confident grin. “There’s no way you’re waiting in the damp cold for the bus to go to my place.”
“Guess that makes sense,” Gina said as she got into the vehicle. “Anyway, to answer your question, Lecter said something in the movie that I’m almost positive wasn’t in the book. When he was talking about eating that guy’s liver, he said he paired it with Chianti. I know that was changed from the book.”
Roni started the car. “Is that why you made that little upset noise?”
“I made a noise?”
“You did.” Roni pulled out of the dark lot. “Maybe after we check out this supposed inconsistency of yours we can have some wine and talk?”
“Sounds good to me.”
***
Roni let both of them into her apartment and threw her keys on her desk before going over to her ample bookcase. Gina hung her coat on the back of a chair and watched as Roni immediately plucked the book out between the others.
“Your job is to find the answer. My job is to open the wine.”
“You drive a really hard bargain.” Gina made herself comfortable by loosening a few top buttons on her black shirt, exposing the low black tank underneath, and settling on the couch. She knew the exact scene so it didn’t take her long to find what she was searching for. “Eureka!”
“Ow!” Roni yelled from the kitchen. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“Roni?” Gina rushed to help and saw Roni huddled over the sink with running water flowing over her bleeding hand. “What happened?”
“I was folding the corkscrew back in place and it got stuck so I tried to force it shut, but my hand slipped and it went into my palm.”
“Can I see?” When Roni nodded, Gina took her injured hand and examined the wound. Once the cut was out of the cool water, the half-inch gash filled with blood once more. “It’s not too deep, but it definitely needs some treatment. Do you have a first aid kit?”
Roni moved her hand under the running water again and applied more pressure with her other hand. “Under the sink in the bathroom.”
Gina returned a short while later with the supplies. “Has the bleeding slowed down enough to put on some gauze?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Okay, let’s sit down and I’ll patch you up.”
With the medical kit on the coffee table and seated hip to hip on the couch, Roni’s eyes caught two very new observations. One, Gina had a delicious line between her breasts that disappeared into her tank top. The second new observation, or object, was that there was a gold cross resting against her chest’s light olive skin.
“Are you okay? You’re awfully quiet,” Gina said, as she carefully applied antibiotic ointment to the cut.
“Oh, sorry. I got lost in my own thoughts.” Roni was amazed at how careful and precise Gina was with the salve. “I guess I’m just embarrassed. Who injures themselves with a corkscrew?”
“You’d be surprised what kind of injuries I’ve seen. Steven and I were once called to a car accident—a woman was rear-ended while she was using her eye pencil.” She saw Roni’s look of profound horror. “Maybe that isn’t the best story to tell.”
“Please don’t. I’m sure there’s something else you can think of to tell me.”
Gina nodded and tore a strip of medical tape to secure the gauze. “Well, I found the answer in the book.”
“You did?” Roni had been so preoccupied with opening the wine, the revelation of cleavage, and then watching Gina treat her wound that she had forgotten all about Gina’s quest. “What was it?”
“In the book, Lecter drinks an Amarone, not Chianti. It struck me as interesting at the time I read it because my Dad’s father was from that region of Italy. My other grandparents are all from the Apulia region...that’s the heel of the boot.” As a final treatment, Gina kissed her two fingers and placed them on top of the gauze. “Pronta guarigione.”
Roni’s gaze went from Gina’s fingers still on her hand to her penetrating brown eyes. “I forgot that you spoke Italian. What does it mean?” Roni asked as her heart pounded harder in her chest.
Gina felt the tension too and reached with her other hand to cradl
e Roni’s injury. “Quick healing.”
Roni felt more of her body respond to the warmth of Gina’s eyes and hands. She knew that she should pull away from the contact, but the intensity of the moment wouldn’t allow her to. “Gina, I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Gina asked in a whisper.
“This.”
Roni leaned forward the extra few inches and kissed her. Tentatively at first—a brief exploration to finally learn what Gina’s lips felt and tasted like. When Gina reciprocated, Roni felt encouraged to deepen their kiss. She captured Gina’s bottom lip with her own and moved her tongue slowly over the softness.
Gina was so wrapped in the sensation of the exquisite feel of Roni’s lips that all thoughts vanished from her mind. This was a fantasy come true and she did what she had wanted to do since the moment she had arrived at Roni’s apartment three months prior—she ran her hands through Roni’s full, blond hair. It was like combing her fingers through satin and the motion wafted a mild coconut scent towards her.
The kiss was powerful and reassuring, but they both wanted more.
Roni massaged the muscles of Gina’s lower back and explored Gina’s mouth further. Gina responded to the extra contact and moaned at the new touch. She slid her hands down to Roni’s waist and brought her as close as their clothing would allow. Their breasts pressed firmly against each other, but still, Gina wanted to be closer. A hand that had been resting on Roni’s hip moved slowly underneath her thigh and started to lift.
Roni felt the increased pressure under her leg and knew what Gina wanted. Without breaking their kiss, Roni swung her leg to straddle Gina. The softness of the cushions allowed her to sink onto Gina’s thigh causing the seam of her jeans to press into her already sensitive center. She gasped into Gina’s mouth.
Gina felt a surge of blood go down her body at the sound of Roni’s erotic inhale and pulled her closer, desperate to relieve her own building ache. As if her hands had minds of their own, they glided under Roni’s red sweater. There was so much that Gina longed to touch. The heat from Roni’s skin traveled from Gina’s fingertips to her palms and then to her pulsating core. She luxuriated in the feel of velvet skin with an occasional rise to the contours. Gina pictured Roni’s naked skin as her fingertips mapped the topography of the sexiest woman she had ever known.
Beards Page 4