Candi smiled. “That's my favorite one, too. I picture myself being that woman in the red dress. She's courageous and strong. She's not afraid to be daring. There are other people in the background, but they are all wearing gray or black. Even the woman she's hugging is wearing a dark coat. But she stands there with her red dress and red heels and doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks.”
“Because she's in love,” added Suzanne. “They are embracing in Paris because it's where she's always wanted to go, and that's where her lover has finally taken her.”
Tears began to stream down Candi's cheeks. “I'm not sure that you could have ever been an artist, Suzanne Mitchell, but you certainly are a romantic. I've thought the same things as I've looked at this painting. T me, it's a lesbian couple, and they're in love.”
“So the artist, is she a lesbian? Maybe she paints women in love, or maybe this is her and her lover.”
“She's very private about her life. As far as I know, she's never been married and she lives alone. But that's not to say that she's never had lovers or anything.”
“What if she fell in love once, long ago. What if she never pursued that love? She couldn't. It was forbidden. What if all she has is memories of the woman she loved so dearly and fantasies of the things that they could have been doing; the life she was supposed to have.”
Candi clutched her hand to her heart. “I can't imagine going through so much heartache. It was a different time back then. Women couldn't be together like they can now.”
Suzanne wrapped her arms around Candi and held her closely. She yearned to kiss her, but the moment didn't feel right. There were people still around the exhibits. It didn't feel special. Somehow Suzanne felt that when the moment was right, they would both know about it; they would feel it. Candi held her tightly and rested her head on Suzanne's chest. At that moment, a woman's voice came over the intercom and announced that the museum was going to close in fifteen minutes. Many of the visitors began to exit the building.
“I recognized one of the guards and she owes me a favor, I'll be right back,” said Suzanne. Candi released her hold on her as she hurriedly left to speak to a female guard. Candi was too far away to hear what they were discussing. When Suzanne returned, she was all smiles.
“What did you do?” asked Candi curiously.
“I asked them to let us stay an hour after closing time.”
“Really? That's sweet of you, but I think we've seen everything.”
“We haven't seen everything. Come on.” Suzanne took Candi by the hand, then led her up the stairs to the roof.
“Isn't the alarm going to sound?” asked Candi. “I don't think we should be up here.”
“Relax. I took care of it. The people are gone, but the guards are still here monitoring doors and alarms. We're fine. This is what I wanted you to see. The view of the stars and the city skyline.”
Candi looked out at the gorgeous city skyline, then up at the clear, cloudless sky. The darkness filled with glittery, glowing stars seems to envelop them. “It's breathtaking. I can honestly say that I've never been up here. I've been to this museum a thousand and one times or more, and I've never been to the roof.”
Suzanne grinned. “Then I'm glad that I was the one that was able to bring you up here. This is just the start. I love feeling like I've handed you the world on a platter. Today the stars, tomorrow Paris.” She held Candi closely, wrapping her arms around her in a warm embrace, then leaned down to kiss her. Candi closed her eyes, feeling the passion of Suzanne's kiss invade her soul. She felt as though she was suddenly weak in the knees, as if her legs were going to give out beneath her, but she couldn't bring herself to pull away. When Suzanne finally pulled away slowly, Candi was breathless.
The two women held each other closely. They seemed to be slowly swaying back and forth to the beat of their hearts. Just before their extra hour was over Candi whispered, “What was that second clue all about? You said it's a big place that sometimes has an angel in it.”
Suzanne's smile widened from remembering, “It's because I figured you came here often. You're the angel.”
Candi smiled warmly as a solitary tear escaped her eye and streamed down her face, then Suzanne escorted Candi back down the stairs and out into the lobby. The guards smiled at Suzanne as they unlocked the door for the two lovebirds. “You two ladies have yourselves a wonderful night,” said the guard that had tipped his hat at them when they first arrived.
“You, too,” replied Candi.
“Goodnight, Mitch,” said the guard snickering.
“Goodnight, Ed,” said Suzanne as she entered the driver's side door.
“You know him?” asked Candi curiously.
Suzanne grinned. “I may not know anything about art or the exhibits, but I used to work here. I was a security guard before I joined the fire department.”
Candi laughed. “You sneaky little devil. That's how you got them to let us stay after closing! And that's why they trusted us on the roof! I wonder what other tricks you have up your sleeve.”
“I think that was my only trick. If you want to even call it that.” Suzanne drove back to the apartment, then walked Candi to the bedroom door once again. After the kiss that Suzanne had laid on her, Candi was left wanting so much more, but she didn't want to rush things. Instead, she allowed Suzanne to set the pace. Suzanne was still ever much the perfect gentleman. She kissed her on the hand after she walked her to the door, then kissed her on her forehead to say goodnight.
But each woman tossed and turned that night. Suzanne on the couch and Candi in the bedroom. Each was unable to sleep because both women couldn't stop thinking about the other; wishing, wanting, fantasizing about what it would be like to spend the night in each other's arms making love until daybreak.
Chapter Six
That same evening, Suzanne was awakened by a loud crash. She sat up in the darkness and swung her legs over the side of the couch. “Who's there!? I'm warning you, I know Karate, and I'm not afraid to use it!”
The chandelier above the table turned on and Candi stepped out. “You know Karate?” she asked.
“Geezus. You scared me half to death! Are you okay? What are you doing in there? Herding elephants?”
“I'm sorry. I was trying to be quiet. I was searching for a microwavable bowl, and I dropped a plate on the floor. Don't worry. I'm sweeping it up. I didn't get to eat much earlier, and I'm hungry. Want to eat with me?”
Suzanne wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Sure. I can eat. I can always eat. I have the metabolism of a track star.” She sauntered over to the table to sit down while Candi finished microwaving the rest of the spaghetti.
When the microwave dinged, Candi served two plates, then microwaved the bread sticks for about thirty seconds. She finally sat down wearing a blue plaid terry-cloth robe. “Here's your plate,” she said setting Suzanne's steaming plate of spaghetti in front of her. “You're going to need to keep your energy up for all those Karate tournaments, Miyagi son.”
“Oh, shut up,” grumbled Suzanne. “So I really don't know Karate. A burglar wouldn't know that.”
“He would if he tried to kick your butt,” laughed Candi. “I can just picture you trying to Karate chop someone to death.” She motioned a Karate chop and shouted, “Hiii-ya!”
“Very funny,” grumbled Suzanne. She still had her eyes squinted as if she was trying to adjust to the well lit dining room. “Is that my robe you're wearing?” she asked recognizing the blue bathrobe.
“It is. I thought maybe I shouldn't be wearing the other one in case your ex comes by. Do you want it back? I can give it back to you, but I sleep in the nude.” She began to untie the waistband.
“No, no,” said Suzanne, waving her hands in the air. “Please don't. There are times and places for being nude, and right now isn't one of those times.”
Candi giggled. “Okay. Didn't think so. So it's okay if I wear it then?”
“Uh huh. You're fine.” Suzanne paused for a moment.
“Wait? You sleep in the nude? Do you ever wear underwear?”
Candi grinned. “No, I don't. Why do you ask?”
Suzanne smiled. “Now I know why I saw your bare ass at the hospital. I wondered why you weren't wearing underpants. I thought maybe you weren't aware you had to keep your underwear on when you wore a hospital gown.”
Candi laughed. “Oh, I'm sorry. If I had known that my apartment was going to go up in flames and that I was going to wind up being gawked at by a firefighter in my hospital room, I would have bought a pair of panties for the occasion.”
Suzanne chuckled. “A pair of panties just for the occasion? Would they have had firetrucks on them or firefighters? Maybe some ladders?”
Candi rolled her eyes and laughed. “You're impossible, you know that?”
Suzanne took a bite of spaghetti after having been rolling it over and over on her fork. “I thought I was quite adorable and charming.” She shoved the forkful in her mouth, then grinned. A touch of spaghetti sauce was on the sides of her lips.
“So I guess it's my turn to make dinner tonight,” said Candi, changing the subject. “I was thinking rib eye steaks and loaded baked potatoes.”
“That sounds good. It sounds better than this,” remarked Suzanne motioning to her plate of spaghetti.
“I thought your spaghetti was delicious. You did a pretty good job considering it was your first time cooking anything.”
Suzanne raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You really think so?”
“Yes, I wouldn't be eating it a second time if I didn't like it,” remarked Candi as she bit into a forkful. “You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure the next meal you make will be just as good.”
“How do you feel about spaghetti again?” asked Suzanne.
Candi laughed. “Is that what you planned on making?”
Suzanne shook her head. “No, but you liked it so much and that's the only recipe I know.”
“How about we make the last meal together before you go back to work? Since you like pasta so much we can do Fettuccini Alfredo with shrimp. It'll be fun and easy. I promise. They even sell the jars of Fettuccini sauce already prepared.”
Suzanne cut a piece of a bread stick with her hands, then took a bite. “Okay, it's a deal. Tomorrow steak and potatoes, and my cooking night will be shrimp Alfredo.”
“Our cooking night,” corrected Candi.
“Right, our cooking night.”
Candi couldn't help but fantasize about the kiss she and Suzanne had shared earlier in the evening. If kissing was any indication of how good Suzanne would be in bed, then Candi imagined that she would be a very passionate lover. Her mind wandered as she began to imagine herself straddling Suzanne in the chair where she was seated. She pictured Suzanne running her hands all over her body, then dropping her robe to the floor as she began to caress her breasts with her fingertips, then following those same caresses with gentle kisses and playful teasing as her nipples became hard to the touch. She felt her face become hot as she blushed and the sides of her lips turned upward as she grinned at the thought.
“Are you listening to me?” asked Suzanne interrupting Candi's erotic interlude.
“What? No. I mean, what? What were you saying?” asked Candi flustered. She felt guilty almost as if Suzanne knew what she was thinking and as if she had been caught red handed with her hands in the cookie jar.
“I was asking you if you wanted to watch TV with me. I have quite a few programs recorded on the DVR if you want to watch something.”
Candi breathed a sigh of relief. Suzanne hadn't asked her what she was thinking about and she didn't have to explain away her blushing. Maybe Suzanne hadn't noticed. “Sure. We can watch TV.”
The two women snuggled in front of the television and watched part of the first series of The Fosters. By morning, both women were fast asleep on the sofa when the door bell sounded and a loud knocking ensued. “I know you're in there! Open up! I'm here for my stuff!”
Suzanne and Candi jumped up from the sofa. “Shit! It's Patrice!” exclaimed Suzanne.
Candi opened the door and smiled. “Good morning,” she said to Patrice. “I've got to get dressed. Come on in.” She excused herself to go into the bedroom while Suzanne talked to Patrice.
“You look like hell. What were you doing?” asked Patrice looking around the apartment.
Suzanne sounded flustered. “I just woke up. We just woke up. What are you doing here so early?”
“I told you I would come by, didn't I? I can't believe you have that skank already staying over here. I haven't even completely moved out yet.”
“She's not a skank. She's a friend.”
“A friend, huh? In your bathrobe? I was hoping that we could work things out. It hasn't been that long. My things are still here. I thought maybe I could move back in, and we could get back together.”
“What?” asked Suzanne puzzled. “That's really what you want?”
“Well, I did until you had your little tramp open the door. Is she living with you now or what?”
Suzanne was starting to wave her hands in the air as she spoke in frustration. “She's not living here with me. She's just staying with me temporarily.”
Patrice was shooting questions at her as if she was shooting a gun at a firing range. “Who is she? Where did she come from? Were you seeing her when we were together?”
Suzanne began pacing back and forth. “It's not like that, Patrice. Geezus. You're twisting things around. I don't even really know her. She's a nobody I rescued from a fire. I brought her here because she had nowhere to go,” said Suzanne flustered. She realized how bad it sounded after she said it, but she couldn't take it back. The words had already come out like a wrecking ball and destroyed her budding relationship with Candi.
Candi stepped out of the bedroom with her bags of clothes already packed and ready to go. “I'm a nobody, huh?” she asked, as she took her bags and walked past the arguing couple. She walked out the front door and didn't bother saying goodbye. She let the tears fall down her cheeks as she walked toward the bus stop.
Patrice stood there snickering, then went into the bedroom to retrieve her belongings. Suzanne sat down on the couch. She wanted to throw Patrice the hell out, she wanted to chase after Candi, but her legs felt as if they were in control, and right now, they were frozen to the ground. She couldn't move. She felt defeated. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn't want to give Patrice the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Finally, she stood and walked toward the bedroom and stood in the open doorway as Patrice dug around the closet. She was tossing her clothes and jewelry boxes on the bed.
“Take as much as you can carry because anything you leave behind is going in the garbage,” stated Suzanne matter of factly. Patrice couldn't believe that Suzanne had said that, but she knew by the look in her eyes that she was serious. And so, with her hands full of clothes, Patrice dragged out a hamper full of jewelry boxes, knick knacks, and shoes and never returned.
As soon as she was gone, Suzanne got dressed and rushed out toward the direction that Candi had walked towards, but found that she was gone. She jumped in her truck and headed to the one place she thought she would have gone, the burned apartment complex, Heart's Desire.
When Suzanne arrived, she rushed into the apartment office in a huff. “Have you seen Candace Beacon? She was supposed to come by today to look for an apartment availability.” She was out of breath and exasperated.
The woman at the desk nodded. “She was just here about ten minutes ago. You just missed her. I think she took the bus right here at the intersection.”
“Which direction? North or South?”
The woman pointed to the right. “She was headed North towards town.”
Suzanne hurried back out into the parking lot and hopped into her truck. She was determined to catch the bus or die trying. She turned the ignition and headed out of the parking lot. She had barely passed three intersections when traffic came to a stand still. Someo
ne up ahead was moving a house and traffic was backed up in all directions. “Come on!” she shouted. “My life is going friggin' bonkers and someone has to drop a house in the middle of the road like a tornado in The Wizard of Oz.”
Traffic was inching slowly and people were growing impatient and beginning to honk their horns. Some vehicles turned around to drive the opposite direction or to try to find an alternate route. From where she sat, all of a sudden, Suzanne could see the city bus that Candi was on. She knew it had to be the one. It was on the right side of the road heading North towards town. If ever I was going to make a move, the time is now, she told herself. The bus was only two traffic lights ahead of her, but it seemed like it might as well be on the moon. She hopped out of her truck and began to run down the block. She felt as if she was running in slow motion through knee deep mud.
“Wait!” shouted a man in a car through his open window. “You can't just leave your truck there!”
“Tow it!” shouted Suzanne. She knew she had to get to the bus before the Wide Load finally made it's turn. If she waited until the house was gone, she might lose the bus in the insane traffic, and she wouldn't know where it went or where Candi had gotten off.
When Suzanne finally arrived at the bus doors, she pounded on the glass with the palms of her hands. “Open up!”
“This isn't a bus stop. I can't just open the doors,” said the bus driver. He was a thirty-something dark haired Hispanic man with glasses.
“Open the hell up. Fire department official business!” she shouted through the doors.
The man opened the doors and she climbed the steps to look through the crowd. Candi was seated at the back of the bus, unaware that Suzanne had boarded.
As Suzanne made her way to the back of the bus, Candi turned her attention from the window to see her approaching. “What are you doing here!? How did you find me?” asked Candi puzzled.
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