by Laurie Ames
Alex was beside herself with relief.
“This is actually happening. I thought it was over.”
Sophia could hardly believe it.
“Someone found it and gave it to a judge? I didn’t think such people still existed.”
They sat in Alex’s house, speechless. They considered all the other ways the situation could have turned out. This was the most far-fetched.
“So what about Junior? Have you spoken to him yet?” Sophia asked.
“The last time I talked to him, he actually threatened to kill me. Truth is, he’s just a harmless alcoholic. Now he’s not answering my calls. I know he feels cheated. But I have to make him understand that this is his mother’s will. Who am I to disobey her wishes?”
“Well, how would you feel if your mother left your inheritance to your ex-husband?”
“If my ex-husband was anything like me, I’d understand.”
Sophia laughed and gazed at Alex wistfully.
“You know I’ll have to leave now, right?”
“Leave? Why?” Alex seemed shocked.
“Because you are now a rich businesswoman, a wealthy tycoon, a captain of industry… take your pick. If I stay, I could be staying for your money. You just know people will say that. So, to prove my undying love, I must ride off into the sunset--alone.”
“You’ll do no such thing. Besides, you could have stayed just for the sex if it wasn’t for this saint … whoever he is. So now we’ll never know what your true motives are.”
Sophia seemed to be considering this, “Well yes that’s true. Anyways, I guess it’s okay to be a kept woman and being kept by you is so damm hot!”
Alex placed her hands firmly on her hips. “Yes, I am the boss lady, and don’t you forget it.” She giggled as the words rolled off her tongue.
They spent the next hour arguing over the good Samaritan’s identity. Alex thought it was the priest. Sophia thought it might be someone less obvious, such as a lady from Laine street.
“Yes, that would be more interesting. We have to try and find whoever it is,” Alex suggested finally.
“How? If someone steps forward, we have no way of proving whether or not they’re an impostor.”
“Hmm,” Alex agreed.
They read the newspaper article again, just to be sure. The ordeal was over just like that. She would no longer have to worry about selling the bookstore. She renovated the store and kept it open to preserve her father’s legacy. She started programs to encourage poor children to read their way out of poverty. That was just the beginning, as the next few months brought many changes, all of which Alex and Sophia welcomed with arms wide open. They reveled in the success of their love affair and the newfound occupation which was the upkeep of Stanfield Industries. John Jr. soon learned he had some formidable foes and found it better to shut up and let the women make the money while he spent it. As long as they kept him provided for, he would cause no trouble.
Alex’s good luck became the whole town’s lucky charm. She set out to consolidate the Stanfield fortune. She purchased and renovated many of the dying front street businesses, and turned them into relevant stores, restaurants and boutiques. Along the way, she established rapport with the Laine Street ladies, finding ways to help them. They came over to enjoy lunches together. Sophia soon discovered that they made great friends because they always told you exactly what they thought. Some of the ladies on Laine Street retired from their profession and built meaningful lives by managing some of Alex and Sophia’s new businesses.
All along, Sophia spent time thinking something would surely come along to shatter their happiness, but shed her fears after a few months passed with no word from her troubled ex. The days went by so quickly that they could hardly believe it when their one-year anniversary came around. Sophia and Alex spent a lot of time exploring their relationship and learning about each other. They learned so much that they knew exactly how to push the right buttons to get at each other’s nerves. This was fun when it did not go too far. Going too far meant Sophia would pick up her coat and not be seen again for a few days. Alex found that Sophia was like still water that runs deep, in other words remarkably calm, but a force to reckon with when pushed beyond her limits. Too far could mean Alex would hurl a set of dinner plates to the floor or leave Sophia’s coveted laptop out in the rain. Sophia would sometimes deprive Alex of her company because she knew how much Alex hated being alone. Meanwhile Alex would destroy things because she knew how much Sophia loathed waste and loved working on various computer projects.
But after each storm had passed, the two lovers could no longer stay angry at each other. Sophia would spend every waking moment with Alex, leaving sweet nothings on sticky notes whenever she went to the bathroom or the grocery store. There would be breakfast in bed after making sure Alex brushed her teeth first. At noon, Sophia would insist on meeting Alex for lunch at her favorite restaurant. She would listen intently as Alex complained about one cocky colleague or another. She would make Alex’s favorite dinner and run her warm, herbal baths after she had spent long days at the office--baths Alex would never take alone. The pampering was endless, the giving sincere. Alex often wondered where anyone got the energy to be so attentive. In the end, Sophia would apologize so hard that Alex had to refuse some of these gifts. Sophia would then be warned that she was dangerously walking the line between romance and smothering.
On her part, Alex would go around the house in search of anything they did not seem to be using. She would restore it, if necessary, and then donate it. After a tantrum, Alex always swept up the broken pieces and stored them away. She knew she would need them a day or two later. When that day came, she would set everything on a table and begin to paste the pieces carefully back together. She would then have the cracks decorated so that the plates looked artistic, as if they had been pasted together with gold. Alex would put the plates in a box and bind the box with a large satin piece of cloth and place a bow around it. She would then present this gift to Sophia, a gesture which told Sophia all was officially well. A piece offering. Reparations at the end of a great war. Alex would then find one of her IT experts and send her out looking for some software that Sophia might like. Then they would go back to intervals when all was well and in near-perfect balance.
And every so often they wondered what had happened to the mysterious good Samaritan.
***
The scrawny young man scribbled furiously in his notebook as he recorded his adventures in Bryony. He had sketched as many drawings of Sophia and Alex as possible so that he would never forget them. Brandishing Alex’s plum-colored nail polish, he remembered the tour he had given himself of her house. It was not his fault that she was careless with regards to locking doors.
Of no importance to him was the fact that they would never get the chance to acknowledge him and his gift to them. A few more scribbles and he was done. He flipped the page and wrote down the name of his next destination.
~The End~
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Desires of the Golden Girls
Behind Closed Doors
(Straight Romance with a Lesbian Twist)
By: Tina Bedard
Prologue
Helen Patton had recently turned fifty, she was officially in the golden girl club now. For her, it wouldn't be so bad if she had a companion to share her life. Helen ached to have a partner to share intimate moments with, missing the warm touch of another across her skin.
Living a lonely solitary life was not what Helen would have chosen, but it is the life she is now living. She had been married for twenty-three years, when suddenly she found herself being divorced at 46. Her husband left her for a younger woman he had met in his poetry club that he had started three years previously.
Sitting back enjoying a nice herbal tea on her back deck while surrounded by the peace and calm of her garden is something, she gains much pleasure from. But it does not fill that void in her life where she aches to be touched and
held in a passionate embrace. Her mind wanders as she looks back into her past, to a time when she was full of love and passion and felt desired in a sexual way. It has been too long that she has gone without love and affection in her life. She wanted to have that back in her life, but had she left it too late—was she too old or too late to find her soulmate?
So now Helen finds that she is living in an empty nest. If she didn't have her three close friends Rita, Lily, and Val, she doesn't know what she would do. Recently she had her three friends over for a girl's night at her place. Helen enjoyed the company of her friends, while sitting out on her back deck—sipping on long island iced-teas. Soon after, Rita mentioned an online dating site called “Golden Dates.” Rita suggested that Helen should check it out, that she should try to meet a hot male companion. Rita had explained that the people on this site were like themselves, in their golden years, looking for companionship. After some coaxing from Rita, Helen finally decides to check out the dating site, and this is her “Golden Dates” story.
Chapter 1. New Member of “Golden Date”
Helen sits down at Jenna's Java shop where Rita has been waiting to join her for lunch. She places her usual order of Chi tea, mushroom omelet and brown toast. Rita is sitting very patiently but is almost ready to explode. She bursts out as soon as the waitress walks away from the table — “Well, did you do it or did you chicken out?”
“Yes, I did it last-night after watching the Jimmy Fallon show, you are looking at a new member of the Golden Dates site.” replied Helen “I can't believe I am on a dating site.”
“Hey just because we are in our golden years doesn't mean we are dead, we girls need some lovin, just like everybody else” replied Rita with a chuckle. “Just think about it, we might be able to go on a double date, how much fun will that be?”
“Rita, this feels so weird—but at the same time it does have a bit of excitement to it, I have to admit” replied Helen with a devilish grin as she thanked the waitress for her tea. “I haven't put a picture or any major details about my past, just my birth date, how old I am kind of thing, just basic info. I was wondering if you could come by on Sunday for lunch, and help me spruce it up a bit, that is if you are not too done-in from your big Saturday night date.”
“I would love to come over on Sunday and tell you all about my hot date—and get your profile spruced up, so you too can find yourself a hot stud. I’m going over to Sara's boutique shop after lunch to get myself a sexy outfit for Saturday night. I want a new dress, some very sexy lingerie, and maybe a new pair of shoes too” replied Rita as she took a sip of her coffee.
“God, the last thing you need is a new pair of shoes, you have a whole closet full of them, in every color and shade known to humans!”
“I know I do, but you know I love to shop, especially for a new dating outfit—I am feeling like a young school girl—I am so pumped up about Saturday.”
“Where are you meeting your date—what was his name again?”
“His name is Stan Barton, and I am meeting him at Claiborne’s Steakhouse in Rutland at seven. I have booked a hotel room at the Stanton Hotel for Saturday night, because I plan on having some late-night fun—so I won't be driving back that night” Rita replied with a catlike grin towards Helen.
“Did Val seem okay to you the other day—she seemed a little on the quiet side I thought—is everything alright with her and Brian?” replied Helen quietly over the table to Rita. The waitress placed their lunches on the table, the women thanked her, and she went on her way.
“Well, now that you mention it, she was not her usually happy and yappy self” replied Rita as she took a bite of her Turkey sandwich. But, keep in mind that Val is not one to talk about her troubles. It is like pulling teeth trying to find out what is going on with Val. I just hope that Brian is not out screwing around on her again. She should have left that useless man a long time ago. I would have kicked his sorry butt to the curb” replied Rita with a look of disgust on her face, as she took a sip of her coffee.
“Val forgave him, and he promised to smarten up, but I just wonder if maybe he is back to his old tricks. I hope not for Val's sake. It would break her heart; she is such a sensitive soul. I'll give her a call and see if she wants to come over too, on Sunday for lunch. I'll invite Lily as well and make it a girl's luncheon” Helen replied just before taking a mouthful of her omelet.
“It looks like Lily was the smartest of the bunch of us—not getting married or having kids. Her life has been built around running her bed and breakfast, she seems happy enough” replied Rita as she took a bite of a pickle.
“But not all of us are meant to be living a life of solitude” replied Helen. “Lily always has people around her at the bed and breakfast, she enjoys her moments that she can spend alone.
But I know I want to find a lover, friend, companion all wrapped into one hot sexy body!” Rita laughed.
Helen headed back to her flower shop after lunch with Rita, finding herself wondering if she could indeed find that special companion—maybe her soulmate is waiting to meet her on the Golden Date site. Miracles do happen, so she figured the only way to find out if there is someone out there waiting for her is to get off the sideline and into the game—beginning with setting up her profile on Sunday. There was this little bit of warm excitement in the pit of her stomach as she began to look forward to trying her luck on Golden Date—after-all it found someone for Rita—she certainly seems to have an extra spring in her step! This was not Rita's first date, but she had dated numerous men since she joined the site three years earlier. She was enjoying meeting new and different men. Rita was just looking to have some fun and excitement in her life. She was happy that the site had opened a whole new social scene for her. Helen wondered if she would fare as well with the dating site as Rita had.
“Hi Miss Patton, how are things going today? So, you have five deliveries for me to do today?” asked Kyle, who was Helen's delivery man for her flower shop. He was a long-haired, happy go lucky seventeen-year-old that was working doing deliveries for Helen part-time after school. But now Kyle was off school for the summer break, so he was available to come into the shop earlier to pick up the deliveries.
“I can't complain, my day so far is going pretty good. Here are the addresses for the deliveries, and I have them all ready to go in the back-storage room.”
Kyle picked up the note with the addresses and headed into the back. “Is Forest going to be coming home to help you with the flower shop this summer?” he replied as he strolled into the back-storage room.
“She is going camping with a group of girlfriends at a beach in California for a week, then she is going to stay with her dad and Dana. They are taking her to Hawaii for a week, she can't wait to go there. She has booked her flight home for August 2nd. It will be so nice to have Forest home again” replied Helen.
“Wow—lucky Forest, I would love to go to Hawaii and check out surfing—but no worries Miss Patton, she will be back before you know it. I had better get these deliveries out—bye Miss Patton” shouted Kyle as he stepped out the backdoor of the shop to load up his blue, rust-coated, Jeep Cherokee, with the deliveries.
Helen began to think of how nice it would be to see her daughter again in person and be able to hold her and make her favorite meals, and just enjoy their time together. Forest loves going to stay in Manhattan, she finds the big city so exciting and exhilarating, on a much faster pace compared to here, in Woodstock, Vermont. This year she was going to have to wait a little longer before she would have Forest back home with her. Helen was glad that Forest got along well with Dana, Helen too did for that matter—she had no ill feelings where John and Dana were concerned. Strange as it may sound they all got along quite well.
John and Dana live in Manhattan, New York, not far from central park. John still works as a copywriter and Dana as a yoga instructor. They have shared custody of Dana's ten-year-old daughter Verity.
Helen watched Kyle's truck drive off down the bac
k alley, as she shut the backdoor, the front doorbell rang alerting her that someone had entered the shop. She shouted out letting them know she would be right with them, as she finished locking up the backdoor. She walked into the front of the shop to find Toni, whom owned and operated the “Green Living Health Food Store” over on Church St. It was where Helen bought her herbal teas as well as other natural health related products. They saw each other at least once a week, as Toni would come in and purchase some daisies and sunflowers to display in her shop.
But today Toni was not here for daisies for her shop. She was picking up flowers for a blind date that was set up for her by a friend. Toni asked Helen what her favorite flowers were, and what would she choose out of all the flowers in the shop? Helen said she should go for an assortment of lilacs in white, purple, and pink because she was crazy for the smell of them!
“Fine, then can you give me a dozen of those please?” After some more pleasantries, Toni headed out the door with the bouquet of lilacs for her mysterious friend. Helen was not a nosy type and would not think of prying into someone else's affairs. But she knew that Toni was a single lesbian woman, she too was in her golden years—she wondered if Toni was also a member of Golden Date, Helen grinning at the thought.
Chapter 2. Lilacs on the Porch
As Helen approached her house after walking home from her flower shop, a light summer rain started to come down, cooling her warm skin. As she turned into the driveway, she saw sitting on her front porch a big bouquet of beautiful mixed lilacs. With a look of surprise and confusion she walked onto her porch, leaned over and picked the flowers up. Underneath the bouquet was a small card that read: Date cancelled, didn't want to waste the flowers, had an inside tip these are your favorites—please enjoy! Signed Toni:)