Begin Again

by Sarah Sanders

  We sit down to play. I am paired with Radhika and Betha and Reeth form the other team.

  It is so much fun. They are so much fun. Bantering with each other and us. Betting. Arguing playfully like kids. Being competitive. They make us a part of everything. We laugh and giggle madly. Betha and I are drawn into the flow and are soon making bets and issuing challenges too. I feel so at home that it is hard to believe that less than sixty minutes back I was nervous. It is even more difficult to believe that I am sitting with two people who are both in all lists of the ten richest people in the world. They are so unassuming. So friendly. They make us feel like we have known them all our lives and that we regularly spend evenings with them playing carrom.

  The love between them is a tangible thing. I feel if I reach out, I will be able to actually touch it. And that it will be soft, tender, slightly squishy and that it will wrap itself around me with a welcoming and comfortable warmth.

  It is there in the way they look at each other. The way they speak to each other. Their tone when they address the other.

  It is easy to see that Radhika absolutely adores Reeth and Reeth worships Radhika. Their love has me melting inside.

  Radhika and I win and I let out a whoop as we enthusiastically high-five across the board.

  Sometime during the game, my bouquet has been split and some of the flowers have been artistically arranged into a vase and placed in the centre of the room. Radhika comments on how the flowers completely change the room and without needing to use the words ‘Thank you’ she acknowledges them and me with deep appreciation.

  Dinner is announced. As we are getting up, from the corner of my eye, I catch Reeth running her finger along Radhika’s exposed waist. Radhika gives her a look that is a small part admonishment but mostly fuck-me-now and so fucking sultry and erotic that I feel myself getting hot and blushing. I can literally see sparks flying between them. They are fucking wildfire together. Their exchange lasted a few brief seconds but fuck! These two are crazy intense.

  ******

  Dinner is absolutely amazing. There are some rice rolls filled with lettuce, carrots, beansprouts, Thai basil, and rice noodles served with hoisin-based dipping sauce topped with ground peanuts. Pan-fried vegetable dumplings with soy-vinegar dipping sauce and couple of types of veg sushi. There is Tom Yum Gung soup. And this is only the beginning.

  I can already see that someone is going to have to roll me back to our hotel at the end of the evening. Or maybe they’ll just let me pass out with overeating at the table and let me lie there.

  (Beth later told me that all their cooks, including Beth’s cook, Anita, are sent to a clutch of culinary schools across the world including Cordon Bleu before they start. The ones who are more ambitious and want to spread their wings beyond being cooks in one of the multitude of houses that the two own, are given opportunity in the restaurants of the Centenza chain of hotels that Radhika is a part-owner of).

  There are real live wait-staff serving us. That is all of us, except Reeth. Radhika serves Reeth with something that looks like privileged possessiveness. The way Radhika looks after Reeth is simply beautiful. It’s the kind of pure beauty, of unadulterated love that makes your eyes misty.

  They have placed some of my flowers as the centre piece of the dining table which gives me a great feeling. Reeth comments on the beautiful flowers and Radhika is quick to tell her about this whole forest of beauty that I have given them.

  They’ve also opened Betha’s champagne insisting that having us with them makes it a very special occasion that demands the celebration of champagne.

  During dinner they ask about me and listen with laser-like attention and unwavering interest. They skilfully lead the conversation so that Beth and I are doing most of the talking. They are utterly generous, gracious, cultured and sophisticated.

  ******

  After dinner we move into another room which is all minimalistic in décor. Every single room of their house has its own character and is perfection by itself. The conversation flows smoothly and easily.

  When it gets time for us to be saying our goodbyes, Radhika and Reeth exchange a look and Radhika picks up an envelope lying on the side table. She passes it across to Betha. “Beth, we really admire the work you have done and are doing. We want to give you something so that you know just how much we respect your work and value our association. We hope you will accept this,” Radhika says.

  Beth takes the envelope and toys with it. “Go ahead, open it,” Reeth smiles.

  Beth opens it and loses colour. Her hands start shaking. I am worried. Unmindful of the company, I slip off my seat and kneel in front of her. I take her cold hands in mine and chaff them. “What’s it, honey?” I ask softly.

  Betha looks at me wide-eyed and hands me the stapled sheets she is holding. I take them and go into a state of shock myself. They have transferred the house Betha is living in to her. Wow! I am stunned. I begin to understand just why no one every leaves them.

  Translink has an attrition of less than three percent which is unheard of in an organisation their size. If they look after each person the same way, who would leave?

  Bethy and I look at each other speechless. We turn to look at Radhika who is smiling. “Beth, it would be a favour to us if you would retain Anita and Ravi in their jobs. Of course, we’ll pay their salaries,” she says.

  Beth doesn’t know what to say or do. She is gobsmacked. “Breathe Betha,” I whisper to her.

  She makes a visible effort and gathers herself. “I don’t know what to say,” she says with an adorable moue, “Can I hug you?” she asks Radhika, something utterly childlike about her.

  Radhika smiles warmly and stands up coming over and opening her arms. Bethy is taller than Radhika, but she is the child in this embrace.

  “Thank you,” Beth says, emotion dripping from every syllable. She steps back, looks at Reeth and repeats, “Thank you.”

  Reeth smiles and says self-deprecatingly, “Not me…it’s all Ika.”

  But having seen their dynamic, even I know that they are a team, they are partners, in every sense of the word…in everything, in every decision no matter where an idea originates.

  I am once again struck by the grace with which they both conduct themselves. They remain endearingly human and approachable only because of their interaction with each other and the fire that flares frequently between them, else they’d have been too perfect to be true.

  ******

  Our hostesses walk us to the elevator. I notice that more of my flowers grace the whatnot in their doorway and also the mantle on their landing. They have spread my presence everywhere and it is so gratifying.

  As the elevator approaches, Reeth places her hand on the small of Radhika’s back and I swear I see Radhika’s entire body heave a sigh and I can actually see her melting. My heart literally clenches as it goes “awwwww”.

  You can read about Radhika and Reeth in Jump Then Fall

  We get into the elevator and I fall into Beth. Her arms come around me and land on my ass. I cross my arms at her clavicle, bat my eyelids at her and say, “When I grow up, I want to be them.”

  Her chuckle is a vibration against me and she bends down to kiss me. I press my hips into her and grind our centres together slowly, kissing her, till the elevator ding alerts me that we got to straighten up and get off.

  ******

  There is a buoyancy to Betha’s lovemaking that night. There is a euphoria. It comes not from the fact that she has been gifted a spectacular house, but from the fact that she and her work are deeply valued.

  She has me riding her fingers.

  She has me riding her tongue.

  She kisses, nibbles and sucks me into new worlds.

  She comes noisily (okay, her sighs and moans may be hushed whispers compared to my practically ear-splitting screams but by her standards they are veritable shouts)…and what more, she actually comes more than once during the night. (Someone, somewhere needs to mark this as a red-lett
er day in the calendar.)

  She makes love to me for endless hours. She is tireless. She only stops fucking me when I have dissolved into a fluid state.

  I snuggle into her. Her hand slides between my legs, but I gently remove it and place it on my butt. “I cannot handle you touching my pussy or my tits any more tonight,” I mumble into her before I fall asleep.

  ******

  I wake the next day and just lie in Bethy arms reliving the previous evening. I sense that Beth is also awake but lost in her own thoughts.

  I have discovered something new about Beth last evening. She thoroughly enjoys textures. I saw it as she ran her fingers along the various textures that adorned the furniture at Radhika and Reeth’s. I heard it in the hushed comments she made to me. I saw her visible enjoyment of the textures of the food we ate. She was savouring the textures as much as the tastes. I always knew she was a tactile person but I hadn’t quite realised the extent of her enjoyment of the sense of touch.

  I think about it. The thing that she has the most in her mouth and in her hands is my cunt. (Okay, my mind resides in the gutter when it comes to us…so shoot me). I wonder how she likes me.

  “Betha,” I call her softly.

  “Good morning, princess,” she kisses my head.

  “’Morning, sweetie,” I smile at her. “You know, I was wondering,” I start. I know what I want to ask but I am not sure how I can frame it.

  “Mmmmmm?”

  “How do you like me, Betha?”

  She looks confused. “Huh?” obviously she doesn’t understand the question at all.

  Of course!...She wasn’t in my head following the whole chain of thought that led to this question, so she justifiably cannot quite fathom my rather abrupt question which must sound distinctly random to her. It has no context and no real meaning when blurted out like I just did.

  I am unaccountably shy. Given the things we do to each other and the frequency with which we do those things to each other, I shouldn’t be shy – but I am. I don’t know how to word what I’m really asking. I turn towards her and place her hand on my pubis. Right now it is all trimmed neatly. I had a bikini wax done a couple of weeks back. “How do you like me there, honey?” I am blushing something fierce. “How would you like me to groom myself?”

  “Princess, I love you any way and every way that you are comfortable.”

  “Yeah, but last evening I saw how much pleasure you take in various textures…and, you know…,” I am blushing redder now, “…my pussy is in your mouth and in your hand more than anything else…so I was wondering…” Oh Sweet Heavens! If I blush any more I am going to combust. What possessed me to start this conversation? I am happy to see that she too blushes.

  She kind of rubs her face with her hand and runs the tips of her fingers all over my pubis, caresses my lips. She flattens her palm a little more and moves it on my cunt to feel the texture with middle and the heel of her palm. “Seriously love it in all states of grooming.”

  Okay, so this is something I’m going to have to figure out. And it is something I really want to know.

  We are quiet for some time. Betha has been unusually still this morning. It is not like she is particularly active or noisy but even for her this is rather quiet. I can practically hear mental gears turning furiously in her head. Maybe it is some work-related thing. Maybe she is thinking of ways to make a quantum leap in what she is doing. Maybe lying with me in the morning, playing with me absently is her equivalent of running thinking beads through her fingers. I giggle a little at that thought but don’t want to disturb her. I am content to lie with her, if that’s what she needs, and let her dream up of ways to change the world.

  “Princess,” she says, very softly. She sounds a little nervous and a little determined. It is as if she has reached a major decision in her life and is taking a scary plunge by giving that decision words.

  “Yeah, sweetie?”

  “You know, you might think this is a little weird…you know…considering the way it is now…but I want to ask you…”

  “What’s it, honey?” I ask rolling over her so that I can look into her eyes. It is not often that she fumbles and stumbles around saying something. She is usually quiet while she sorts out what she wants to say and then when she does, she does grasp around for words. But right now she is. Grasping for words. Grasping for what she wants to say. She is spewing almost sentences that a fading into nothingness. It doesn’t look like she is going to form a complete sentence and a complete thought anytime soon unless I stop her meandering and help her focus. “Tell me, sweetie…you know you can tell me and ask me anything.”

  “Kat, will you move in with me? I mean I know we are practically living together…I have been wanting to ask you but I wanted to have a permanent home to take you to and I just couldn’t find something as nice as the house we had from Translink…” she is babbling. She actually seems anxious. It is so endearing. Does she really think there is an iota of probability that I’ll refuse? So this is why she was all quiet and still this morning.

  “Yes,” I interrupt her. “Yes,” I repeat peppering her face with kisses. “I have been waiting for you to ask for so long,” I confess, dropping more kisses all over her face.

  She laughs in delight and hugs me tight.

  ******************************************

  Today was a Fairy Tale

  It’s our first anniversary. It’s been a year since we got together. We actually celebrate two days as our anniversary…the day Bethy rescued me in the restroom of that bar and the day I told her I liked her, liked her; and we actually got together.

  Both days have been red letter days for us and deserve to be commemorated. To Betha the day I came back in her life after high school was life-changing and to me the day I recognised and acted on my attraction to her was the turning point.

  This has been the most perfect year of my life. Beth says it’s her dream come true…for me, I didn’t even know that this bliss could’ve been dreamt. Workwise also, I have been promoted and made a senior partner. It’ going great.

  Today is the anniversary of the day I asked Bethy to kiss me. We’ve taken a short break and come to Grand Canyon and Monument Valley to celebrate. It’s a mini-vacation of just three days.

  We reached the Grand Canyon early afternoon and first did the shorter rim, the North Rim. The next day we spent the morning trekking around the South Rim. Just walking around the Grand Canyon with Betha has been so much fun.

  I love how irreverent she can be when she calls one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World aka the much esteemed Grand Canyon ‘a big hole in the ground’. She can be ridiculous, absurd, incisive and sarcastic in her wit but always has me laughing.

  Neither of us care much about taking the more arduous treks down the canyon to river Colorado so after we come back to our hotel mid-afternoon after finishing the South Rim, we check out and make our way to Monument Valley. We are booked in a hotel that has rooms facing the Monument Valley and balconies to sit in and view the picture-postcard perfect view.

  It’s the eve of our anniversary.

  I have something special planned for Betha tonight. When we come back to our room after dinner, I have a shower – solo, for a change, at my insistence and her extreme befuddlement (we do a whole lot of conserving water on the daily) – and then send Bethy for one.

  When she comes back, I have dimmed to lights to create a mood between sultry and romantic. I have cued the music and am ready.

  When she comes back into the room, I sit her down comfortably on a chair and proceed to give her a show of her life.

  I have cut and mixed Britney Spears’ I’m a Slave for You and Madonna’s Fever for a striptease.

  Then I give her a lap dance to Kylie Minogue’s Slow.

  She is grabbing me and groping me throughout but I tease and tease and tease till she is growling. I mean, she is actually growling with desire and frustration.

  I end the show straddling her. I admit that b
y now I am a dripping mess too.

  “Happy anniversary, honey,” I whisper into her ear. She sinks her teeth into my neck none too gently. It is just on the borderline of pain and pleasure. I shiver with arousal at the feel of her roughness.

  It’s a different sensation to have her being a tad too rough with me. Right now, I like it. Very much.

  I close my mouth on her ear. I lick it, nibble it and suck her sensitive earlobe. “I want a change of pace from you today,” I purr. She stills a bit. I know what she’s thinking, but that is not it.

  I look into her eyes. “I want you to rough me up tonight, Betha,” my voice is throaty. I move to her other ear. “I want you to manhandle me.” I kiss the sides of her lips. “I want you to tie me up,” I nibble her jaw. Oh, my words are so winding her up…but I am not done yet. “I want you to bruise me,” I husk, running my tongue over her lower lip. “I want you to hammer your fingers into me and pound me into next month,” I say against her lips.