Chapter 8

The mountains surrounding them on all sides were reflecting the glare of the low-setting sun and the stores were beginning to start the late afternoon transition into evening entertainment mode repeated every day without exception.

The daytime workers started to scurry home for preparing their evening meals and the students were starting to take advantage of the special discount for beer and wine in the “Happy” hours that started off each after hours adventure with the sort of lubrication that lowered their personal defenses against the risk of meeting new lovers or other friends of assorted categories of closeness.

Laura recalled her little escapades with Clarissa up and down the streets of the picturesque village in the Alps.

She shivered at the remembrance of melting snowflakes on her face and tongue.

Quickly, she looked up into the cloudless blue sky. No danger of snow tonight from the looks of it. Still, that hint of dry cold carried the warning that things could change in a hurry and it was best to be prepared for any circumstance in the hours of darkness. The same could be said about the likelihood of some romantic involvement with some stranger never met and cast into one’s path by the quirks of fate.

She looked over her shoulder at the sound of a female entering the room. It sounded just like the “out of breath” Clarissa ready to turn up the heat and make her come alive with that sense of staying alive and never falling into the trap of accepting boredom as “normal” and always looking for that little trigger that set her pulses racing like a mysterious designer drug shipped in from some exotic location in some faraway place where danger was commonplace and people lived life to the fullest.

No, not Clarissa, but an exceptionally pretty maid with free hot chocolate for all the guests to warm them in the cooling temperatures. She was wearing the standard tutu-styled fluffy bottom that showed off the female maid’s panties when the leaned over or bent down to do some task. It was designed to inflame the libidos of the male guests and make the female guests aware of the atmosphere that accentuated the hint of romance in the air for one and all.

Laura had succumbed to the tender trap of the sexually-charged entertainment zone many times and in all honesty she had to state that she didn’t regret a single moment of her satisfying encounters. Her only regret was the certain fact that it would come to a halt one day soon and she would have to return to her reality of endless duties to meet her family obligations and perhaps even marry some family-approved man with lots of money and the connections to help the family become stronger against its enemies. That was a day she dreaded, but it come doubtless when she least expected it and her obedience was assured because of her nature to never go against the will of the family no matter how unwanted.

Finally, Laura had reached a point in her thinking that sorted out her emotions about her room-mates using her logic instead of her sinful urges that swept away her common sense.

She had decided that Clarissa was just a spontaneous reaction to overwhelming attraction and her well-recognized weakness of the flesh. At the same time her fling with Adriana was just a spur of the moment thing that flared like a brush fire and quickly died out when the light of day gave her the visibility she needed to steer a logical course. It was Gina that rang her chimes when all was said and done and she realized that now when things were seen from all angles and she was not blinded by her terrible urges to reach out and grab for the candy dangling so near and yet so far.

Gina was the one that stuck by her through thick and thin and she would be the one that would be next to her side when she attempted to ski the most difficult downhill slopes. The others were simply window dressing, nice to look at when the party was in full swing but hard to take in the harsh light of early morning when the glass slipper were off and reality took hold.

Laura knew that Gina was not a single minded Lesbian interested only in making physical contact with those of her own gender. Unfortunately, both Clarissa and Adriana were in that category and they would be far better suited to each other’s company than with either Gina or Laura. Gina was just like her, they enjoyed each other but there was always that underlying obsession with finding the knight in shining armor and a soul-mate to grow old with as they raised their children the old-fashioned way with proper instruction in correct behavior.

The evening was in full-swing now with the sound of the different live musical groups competing with each other for the customer’s attentions.

Both Laura and Gina knew where they wanted to be.

The soft lighting from the lanterns on the table cast flickering shadows on the dark recesses of the roughhewn wooden benches. They sat in the rustic booths, thigh pressing against thigh, their erratic heartbeats spoke of confused thoughts and urges that might never be fulfilled. The waiter saw them kiss with a furtive movement, tongue dueling with tongue like ships that pass in the night. He shook his head and said a silent prayer for their clear, concise understanding of the sweet sensations of heterosexual relationships that pitted the contrast of Venus against Mars in the ultimate game of passion that knew no bounds and was the light and dark of all true relationships.

He poured them both the elixir of the Gods from a one hundred year old bottle. Gina and Laura sipped it slowly savoring the flavor of time immemorial with the eagerness of hand-maidens in search of the fountain of love.

The pair of off-duty Italian cops came out of the murk of the shadowy bar and arrived at their table with a bottle of champagne to start the dinner off with a bang. At first, Laura was resentful of the intrusion, but the darling accent of their attempt to speak English was so amusing that even Gina broke out in a giggle. They saw immediately that Gina was a fellow Italian and they peppered her with questions so heavily steeped in slang that Laura was out in the cold despite her beautiful grasp of university taught Italian.