Cabin In The Woods

by Kristine Robinson

  The phone didn’t ring until her second cup of coffee. It was Nicola.

  “Teri speaking, hello,” she answered formally, unsure of where she stood with the woman who only hours ago shared her most intimate experience – and then left.

  “Teri, I’m so sorry…” Nicola didn’t quite sound herself – she was almost frantic, but trying to restrain herself.

  “You left,” Teri said simply, accusatory.

  “I couldn’t stay. It was great fun and all but I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

  “The wrong idea? What do you mean?” Teri was even more confused, trying to keep the hurt from her voice.

  “I told you before, I can’t get into a relationship or anything serious. I have to focus on my career. I don’t want you to get attached,” she sounded conflicted.

  Teri didn’t know how to respond so didn’t.

  “I’m not ready for a commitment… But I really like you. Last night was fun but it can’t ever be any more than that. With my uncle needing me and work and…”

  “It’s fine, I understand. I’m not asking you for a commitment, but I’d really like to see you again,” Teri said, trying to convince herself that she could handle a relationship based exclusively on sex. Even if the sex was the best she’s ever had.

  “And I’d like to see you. But I don’t want things to be weird between us. I…”

  “It’s fine, Nicola, I get it. Stop explaining. Have a nice day," Teri said coldly, trying to process the conversation in the context of the passion of the night before and finding her brain unable to join the pieces.

  “Let me take you out for dinner tonight, Teri. Please. I have to see you,” Nicola pleaded.

  “Thanks but no thank you – that sounds too much like a date and clearly that’s not what you want. So I’ll have to decline. Goodbye, Nicola,” she said firmly, putting down the phone before bursting out in confused tears.

  The phone started ringing again immediately but she put it on silent and finished her coffee.

 

  Renovations on the studio started the following week and Teri tried to stay focused on keeping classes running with minimal disruptions. This was much easier to manage than the disruption in her head but she tried to put Nicola out of her mind as best as possible.

  But when Nicola showed up at the studio four days later, this proved impossible.

  “Hi,” Nicola said awkwardly, walking into the studio where Teri was busy packing up.

  “What are you doing here?” she responded coldly, turning her back on the visitor and carrying on with the task at hand.

  “Well, I’ve come to check on the renovations you know, that was the deal after all,” she laughed nervously but Teri didn’t join on.

  “Well go right ahead, the builders are in the other room.”

  “Teri, can we talk – please,” Nicola begged, the cold response cutting to her core.

  “We are talking, aren’t we?” Teri replied simply, stacking the chairs in the corner without looking at Nicola. Her whole body was stiff and cold, agitated fingers digging deeply into the chairs as the moved it about deliberately. She wasn’t trying to separate the other woman in the studio from the one who fulfilled her every desire not too long ago, but it was proving more difficult than anticipated. Her mind was trying to be stubborn, but her body was unavoidably aware of Nicola’s presence. The effect she had on Teri was undeniable, especially after the other night.

  “Not here – in your office.”

  “Why?” Teri turned around bluntly, finally looking at the desperate woman in front of her. Nicola looked tired and unkempt – far removed from the flawless demeanor she normally portrayed. Teri almost felt sorry for her, but quickly regained her composure again as she remembered her anger.

  “Just listen!” Nicola walked up to her and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her to the office next door.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Teri screamed angrily, shaking her arm loose as Nicola slammed the door shut behind them. “You can’t just walk in here whenever you like and abuse me, I…”

  Nicola looked at her blankly for a moment before drowning out her anger as she passionately pushed Teri up against the closed door. She kissed her deeply, hungrily, as she pressed her body up against the small frame she had missed so much.

  Teri’s anger instantly melted away as she relaxed, wrapping her arms around the familiar body in her embrace.

  It felt as good as either of them remembered, better, and Teri in vain tried to slow down her quickening breath. Nicola didn’t pull away and Teri didn’t want her to as she slipped her hands under the shirt to grab the flesh she had dug her nails into so eagerly only a few days ago. Teri breathed her in deeply, hands still exploring the figure pushing her up against the door. She never wanted to let go in fear of losing her again. But it wasn’t just that – her body couldn’t get enough of the electric clashing of touches.

  “I’m sorry,” Nicola mumbled when they finally came up for air, resting her head against Teri’s, gently stroking her hair. “I really am.”

  “I missed you,” Teri admitted, leaning in for another kiss and wrapping her arms tightly around the confused older woman.

  "I've missed you too – so much more than I thought. I've been an idiot. Let me make it up to you. Let me take you to dinner tonight. We'll get all dressed up, do it properly – everything," Nicola whispered, still holding her close, relieved to have her back.

  “Okay,” Teri agreed. “But only if you let me pay this time,” she smiled.

  “Are you going to lock that door in the meantime or what?” Nicola grinned as she moved her embrace to Teri’s breasts, playfully.

  “Nicola – there are kids here!” Teri scolded dramatically before bursting out in laughter.

  “Teachers are allowed to have fun too,” Nicola said simply, bending down to bite Teri’s neck seductively, a move that instantly weakened the teacher in question’s knees.

  She slid her hand to the door as she kissed Nicola deeply, locking the door as instructed.

  Teri pushed Nicola away from the door with a strength that caught the tall woman in her embrace unexpectedly. She kissed her fervently as she pushed her even further back – back until her thighs caught the desk onto which Teri subsequently pressed her down.

  The desk was covered in papers and scatterings of forgotten tasks, but neither noticed as Teri climbed on top of Nicola, knees digging into the hard, wooden surface, without ever breaking the kiss.

  There was a knock on the door. “Teri – you have one of the parents here to see you,” the temp’s voice broke through the door. She sounded confused – probably because she wasn’t used to the door being locked.

  Teri broke away from Nicola’s mouth only for long enough to answer, her voice shaky as the woman below her zealously massaged her breasts, distracting her from even the basic task of speaking proper English. “I’m sorry, I’m in a very important meeting…”

  Nicola laughed as soon as she said that and Teri playfully slapped her arm. “Shh!” she whispered. “Behave, damn it!”

  “Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” the confused temp said from the other side of the door.

  “Please reschedule… And cancel the rest of my day. I’m very, very busy,” she winked at the woman still pinned down between her strong thighs on the desk that was supposed to be for working purposes only.

  Today it would be used for a different work altogether, but work no less passionate than her day-to-day teachings. Yet it would satisfy her on a whole other level than the sense of accomplishment she got after a productive day.

  “Okay, fine,” the temp disappeared.

  “Right, where were we?” Teri winked at her, slipping her hands under Nicola’s shirt, fingers sneaking over the firm flesh of her belly below.

  “I believe I was about to be taught my place,” Nicola joked.

  “Oh yes, my favorite lesson,” she grinned, playfully biting Nicola’s bottom lip
. “I hope you’ve done your homework, Miss Clarke.”

  “Oh no, I’ve been a very bad girl. I’ve been too busy fantasizing about the teacher to do any homework at all. You’re going to have to spank me,” Nicola smirked.

  “Naughty, naughty girl indeed.” Teri pinned her arms down on the table authoritatively. “I’ll make a good student out of you yet!”

 

  They left the office and went straight to dinner. None of the dressing up and glamor Nicola promised but neither could be bothered as they drunk in every drop of one another in the afterglow of their passionate love-making on Teri’s desk.

  On the desk. On the couch. Later on the black, fluffy carpet that her one friend had always referred to as a ‘shag-rag’, finally earning its rightful name as the two women entwined their naked, lustful bodies over its textured surface. They would lie on the floor for what felt like hours afterward, just holding one another tight as they whispered secrets into each other’s ears.

  It wasn’t really a date as much as a carbo-loading spree to feed their ravenous bodies after the appetite they’ve worked up during the afternoon of what could probably be considered ‘make up sex’. But they still chose a fancy-ish restaurant for the occasion.

  The two couldn’t keep their hands off each other all night as they playfully grabbed at one another under the table while they pretended to make casual conversation. They stared deeply into each other’s eyes over the wine (this time more expensive than at the Mexican joint of their first ‘date’).

  Good thing their table was situated in a corner, dimly-lit and private. The waitress must have noticed something but if she did, she suitably played dumb and let the lovers be, teasing one another in stolen moments of privacy in public.

  Teri wouldn’t be allowed to pay this time either, but she didn’t even care. The only thing she cared about was the desire building up inside of her as Nicola secretly played her long, elegant fingers over her thigh, pushing her skirt further and further up.

  Afterward demolishing plates and plates of Italian food, followed by a decadent chocolate cake slice for dessert, they went to Nicola's place – a modern apartment on the other side of town.

  Even in the car there, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and Nicola was so distracted, she almost ran a red traffic light at a nearby intersection.

  Nicola’s upmarket home dwarfed Teri's abode not only in its size, but its grandeur as well. No expense was spared and its flawless design offered every comfort. This was a big step for Nicola – she normally went to the other person’s place. Her home was her sanctuary that she selfishly guarded. But this time was different – she wanted to show Teri her world.

  They spent the night lying by the fireplace and fooling around, drinking expensive wine in even more expensive glasses.

  The following night they found themselves back there again, chasing each other in the heated pool, playing around as their naked bodies slid through the crystal-clear water.

  A simple routine developed as the hard working days ended in passionate nights at Nicola’s. They couldn’t get enough of each other’s bodies and Nicola’s place provided the perfect private playground for the young lovers.

  All the wine, sex, and fun they wanted – but only with a single condition always: Teri couldn’t spend the night.

  Their clothes came off the moment they entered the sanctuary of Nicola’s apartment and they would remain that way, comfortably naked, until reality pulled them back to the responsibilities they couldn’t deny as the sun rose through the designer curtains.

  Soon the sex became meddled with existing routines as they comfortably navigated each other’s nakedness. They wouldn’t even get dressed to prepare dinner. On several nights they burnt elaborate meals, forgotten in the oven after Nicola would wrap herself around Teri’s naked body from behind while she tried to be domestic in the kitchen. She could always feel Nicola sneak up on her before she heard her but no matter how she braced her exposed body, chopping vegetables or doing dishes, the lustful touch always sent her into instant arousal – overwhelmed by the proximity of the dark-haired goddess.

  They made love all over the place, tearing each other to pieces on some nights and gently caressing the wounds on others. No surface lay unexplored in their desire as they kept inventing new adventures in the make-shift playground, seemingly removed from the outside world.

  Friends would complain that they never saw them anymore. Nicola even stopped visiting the hospital as regularly. Their entire worlds became each other as they built an aviary away from it all.

  The days would drag by in endless minutes that stood between them and their passion – unavoidable but no less tedious. Teri even stopped enjoying her classes as much and found herself only putting in a mediocre effort with the kids, her mind always (uncontrollably) wandering off to the thought of Nicola.

  As the day, of what felt like rehearsed living, finally freed her from her responsibilities, Teri would find herself drawn immediately to outside the fancy apartment that she had started to consider her permanent escape.

  But it was an escape that she had no entitlement to – she was never allowed to stay. She once brought up the subject of getting an extra key made but Nicola shut her down so quickly, she would never mention it again. It would take a whole bottle of red before Nicola let her near her again that night. That was it then – end of story. Yet, with every fiber of her being, she wanted this to be her life, for this to be their shared home. That wasn’t part of the deal, though.

  She knew she was falling for Nicola and falling hard. Each night it was getting harder to leave as her naked body lay comfortably nestled against the figure that had become so familiar to her over the past few weeks. Teri tried to push the thought out of her head. She knew Nicola didn’t want any commitment – that much she had made clear from the start. But some part of her couldn’t help but secretly hope that she could change her mind, that this could become their world for good.

  Teri had never been happier, she wanted to share her entire world with Nicola. But she couldn’t help but notice that the moment their conversations got too personal or started in that direction, Nicola would quickly steer it away, shutting down as the walls went up again. Sometimes she felt like she was getting through to her, but then she’d find herself locked out of Nicola’s world again.

  Yet she kept coming back. Every night. Even if she couldn’t have all of Nicola, not having her at all would be unbearable.

  She tried to resist going over once or twice before, to try and force herself to go back to her own apartment after work. But it felt empty, foreign. It was distinctly void of Nicola. Her possessions provided no comfort and she couldn’t even sleep in her own bed anymore – it was cold without the embrace that she had become accustomed to. She needed that warmth wrapped around her body. But she was never allowed to get too comfortable… and inevitably found herself returning to this empty space every night.

  The early morning hours were for lonely taxis home and exhaustedly tossing and turning in the bed that still reminded her of that time Nicola followed her home and they made passionate love for the first time. But Nicola hadn’t been back since and no amount of blankets could cover the longing left by the steady beating of Nicola’s heart against her back.

  But the next day she’d forget all about the sad and lonely morning hours as the fairytale continued. Some days they didn’t even have sex. They just lay in each other’s arms and watched a movie or read passages from their favorite books to one another by the fireplace.

  It felt like the passion would never end as they lived this reality happily. But all it took was one simple mistake to shatter the entire illusion…

  It was a Wednesday night, Teri would never forget that day. They had chased each other around the kitchen until they made passionate love on the counter, scatterings of cutlery still decorating the floor as a testimony of their impulsive desires. The two empty bottles of wine sat perched next to
the stove where the curry stood – unfinished.

  Afterward, Nicola had carried her to the bedroom and they cuddled and told each other ghost stories that they made up on the spot. Nicola had made a habit of carrying her around like a cave woman and Teri found this highly amusing. She wasn’t much smaller than the strong-willed goddess, but in Nicola’s determined arms, she felt as light as a feather.

  The last thing she remembered was Nicola’s terribly-presented story of a single, white fluffy ghost looking for pen pals. She never did find out how the story ended…

  “What are you doing here?” the hysteric voice dragged Teri out of her deep slumber. She sleepily turned around in the bed, pulling the covers over her head. The light shone brightly in her eyes.

  “Teri!” Nicola screamed, pulling the covers off the naked girl in her bed.

  “Jesus, Nicola, calm down – why are you screaming?” she sat up confused, looking up at her angry lover hovering over her.