(From A Suggestion By MordMorgan)

Molly Kerrigan, like many people, dreaded going to the dentist. It was an apprehension she'd carried over from her childhood. The core of which was her fear of the dreaded drill. Many people dealt with their phobia in different ways, the most common of which was to simply avoid going until they had a problem that had to be taken care of.

Thankfully, Molly didn't go that far, realizing at an early age that to simply ignore dental care was only inviting worse problems down the line. Still, her apprehension was enough to put finding a new dentist after she had relocated from Boston to San Alejandro far from the top of her list of things to do. In fact, anytime it came up; she found some excuse to put it off.

The most common excuse, she usually told herself, was that her recent relocation to the West Coast had just left her with too many other things to do. Added to that, was the fact that she'd left Boston in somewhat of a rush.

Eighteen months before, while on a vacation in California, Molly had set up a few interviews with various school districts in the area. Never in her wildest dreams did she think any of them would really be interested in hiring her. After all, the then twenty-four year old had really no record to even speak of, having just finished her probationary period. The interviews had only been intended to provide the basis of claiming the trip as a professional expense in the eyes of the IRS.

So it came as somewhat of a shock when, only a few weeks ago, she had received a phone call asking if she was still interested in teaching in California. If she had taken the interviews seriously, the San Alejandro school system was hardly her first choice, or even her third, fourth or fifth. Still, the offer at least matched what she was making now, and more importantly, had come at a most opportune time.

Over the last two years, Molly had gone through a number of girlfriends, none of which had worked out, to put it mildly. The majority of those relationships had ended civilly enough, with a simple acceptance by both parties that the spark simply wasn't there. Yet there had also been a few that she wanted to bury and forget in the worse way.

Paramount among these had been her relationship with Evelyn Rossiter, which at the time had seemed to hold the most promise of her affairs. Nine years her senior, the attractive dark haired woman was the district's special education coordinator, a position that brought her into contact with Molly on a number of occasions since that was also the area in which she had specialized in, if on a more local level.

At first, it didn't seem that unusual to Molly when Evelyn had invited her to lunch a few times. After all, there was no reason for her to think the older woman was interested in discussing anything other than education concerns. It wasn't until lunch gave way to a dinner at a rather intimate restaurant that Molly realized that the interest was more than professional.

"I guess I missed all the signs," Molly had laughed the next morning when she'd woken up naked in Evelyn's bed.

It was an assessment that she didn't find all that surprising since, while she didn't go out of her way to hide her sexual orientation, she usually kept it so separate from her professional life that another woman would've had to strip naked in front of her to spark her interest. Evelyn hadn't had to go that far, but the older woman had been so captivatingly interesting that she easily overcame whatever hesitations Molly might've had about letting her two worlds mix.

Before she knew it, that one night stand had evolved into something a lot more. Evelyn had been everything Molly believed a lover should be, caring, attentive, and most of all, incredible in bed. The thirty-three year old was able to switch from gentle lovemaking to hard-core fucking with ease, depending on her lover's wants and needs. They had been going out almost six months when Molly unexpectedly discovered part of the reason Evelyn was so good. She got lots of practice and not all of it was with her.

It had all come to a head one Saturday afternoon near the end of the school year when Evelyn canceled out on their plans, saying that she had a ton of work to catch up on and was going to stay home to do it. Molly decided to surprise her lover and, picking up a gourmet picnic lunch, headed over to her apartment. After all, she still needed to eat, didn't she?

It turned out to be Molly who got the surprise as, walking into the lobby of Evelyn's apartment building, she encountered her lover coming out of the elevator. Under each of her arms was a young girl in her early twenties. Two girls who bore a striking resemblance to each other, both being freckled redheads with ample chests.

The two of them were also familiar in more ways than one. It took a few stunned seconds for Molly to remember where she'd seen the two of them, and then it hit her. Amber and Julia, as she recalled their names, had been introduced to her as new teachers in another school at a luncheon last month. Evelyn hadn't even bothered to go out of the district to find someone to cheat on her with.

Molly wasn't a prude, far from it. She'd had her own share of one-niters, as well as an instance where she'd even had sex in a rather public place, coming very close to being caught. However, she also believed in fidelity in a relationship. If you weren't seeing anyone, a quick fuck was fine. But the rules were supposed to change when you were involved.

With Evelyn, she thought she'd found a solid relationship. One that, despite the age difference, she really believed was going to work. Obviously that hadn't been a belief shared by the district coordinator. What made it worse was that in the two girls, Molly also saw herself. Shave off a couple of years, and either one of them could've been her, right down to the red hair, freckles and big boobs.

When the job offer had come two weeks later, Molly accepted it without the slightest hesitation.

After settling into a new apartment in a new city, Molly discovered that, while she had no problem finding a new doctor, her employer's health care plan was only taken by a small number of dentists. And when she called to try and make an appointment, all of them appeared to be booked up for several months. A situation she found still to be true when she tried again two weeks later.

Finally, she found one that had only recently been added to the listing as a replacement for a dentist that had retired. The doctor had only recently gone into private practice and was still building a patient base. They said they could fit her in for a check up at the end of the month, some two weeks away. So Molly jotted down that she had an appointment with Dr. J.T. Vitola, DDS and went on about her business with one less problem to deal with.

The weekend before her dental appointment, Molly had some errands to run and found herself down by where a traveling carnival had set up shop. Feeling the need for some diversion, she decided to give it a look. After a few minutes of checking out the sights, she passed a small tent where a sign advertised that you could have your fortune told. Not believing in such things for a moment, she nevertheless decided to have a little fun and see what the stars held in store for her.

Stepping inside, she found a rather attractive young woman dressed in traditional gypsy garb. The fortune teller, more girl than woman, Molly decided, directed her to a seat at the small table in the center of the tent. A quick exchange of the amount that had been listed on the outside sign followed and the girl quickly went into her act, spreading a number of picture cards across the face of the table.

"You are not from this area," the girl said, not really impressing Molly as her Boston accent as well as the college ring on her finger giving a good clue to that assumption.

"That's right," Molly said, faking surprise as to get into the spirit of things.

"You came here to get away from someone," the girl continued, "someone who hurt you deeply."

That actually impressed Molly. It was a pretty specific statement to make, especially since the odds were that it would be wrong more than right for most people.

"There is a hole in your heart," the reader said as she turned another card face up on the table, "but it is a void that I see filling soon."

"Really?" Molly asked, thinking that was something everyone wanted to hear.

"I see someone new coming into your life very soon," the girl went on with yet another card. "Someone older, with dark hair and a very handsome face. They will heal the wound in your heart."

"Oh please," Molly thought, but didn't say, "at least she could've come up with something more original than the old tall, dark and handsome stranger routine."

The reading continued for a few more minutes, with a few more generalized predictions about Molly's future. By the time she was done, the redhead knew why the fortune teller made sure she got paid in advance.

"Even if I met this tall dark stranger," she wanted to tell the little fake, "there isn't a chance in hell that I'll have any interest in him. Unless of course he has a cute sister."

Stepping back onto the pathway outside, Molly also noted that as far as cute went, the fortune teller certainly fell into that category. Still, even if she was legal, she was a little young for her tastes. Thinking she'd wasted enough time, the teacher decided to head home where she knew waited some papers that had to be graded.

The following Monday, Molly left school a little early, giving herself some extra time to get down to the dentist's office as it was in a part of town she wasn't that familiar with yet. And of course there would be the inevitable insurance and medical forms that would have to be filled out before her exam.

The cute Hispanic girl behind the receptionist's desk, who the nameplate identified as Consuelo, was quite helpful with the paperwork. So much so that Molly might've imagined that there might be something more than just helpfulness had she not seen the engagement ring on the girl's finger. So she thanked her for the assistance and helped herself to one of the old magazines that were the staple of any medical office, while she waited for her appointment.

Twenty-five minutes later, her name was finally called by the dental technician. Following the girl past the reception desk and down the hall to one of the examining rooms, the redhead took note of the graceful sway of her ass. Reminding her again that once things settled down with the new job, she definitely had to see about finding a new girlfriend.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Vitola," a throaty voice said, interrupting Molly's study of the dental assistant's gait.

Molly turned to see a woman in her mid-thirties, wearing a white lab coat of the sort that was the uniform of her profession. Beneath which she had on a light blue blouse and black slacks. A head taller than Molly's five foot six, the doctor had a dark Mediterranean coloring that was consistent with her surname. Not especially beautiful, or even pretty, there was still a certain magnetism to her face that was immediately apparent. Few women could be called handsome, but Dr. Vitola was one of those few.

"Zoe will take care of a few preliminaries and I'll be right with you," the dentist said before stepping back into one of the other rooms where another patient was waiting.

"Hmmm, maybe that fortune teller was right after all," Molly thought, smiling at the coincidence.

After the assistant had taken x-rays and did her cleaning, Molly found herself sitting in a half finished examining room. The referral service had said that the doctor was just starting up her own practice, and evidently the offices hadn't been finished when she had.

"Well, lets see what we have," Dr. Vitola said as she clipped the strip of x-rays to a screen and examined them.

Molly really wasn't paying that much attention to what the doctor was saying, thinking instead of all she had to do once she had been given a clean bill of health. It became impossible to ignore the doctor, however, when she leaned over her to take a first hand look into her mouth. Especially when, in adjusting the hanging light, the dentist illuminated a chest even more impressive than Molly's own.

"I'd glad all my patients don't have teeth as good as yours," Doctor Vitola said as she checked Molly's mouth, moving the small mirrored probe from side to side, "otherwise I'd probably go out of business before I've really got started. They're almost perfect."

Upon hearing the word, almost, Molly's attention shifted from the doctor's breasts to what she was saying. Never in her life had any dentist said they were anything but perfection itself.

"It's only a little thing," the woman in white said, seeing the sudden concern in her face. "One of your back molars has a small crack in it, nothing major but it's best to take care of these things before they become something worse."

Molly quickly agreed, knowing that if there was even the smallest problem with her mouth, it would drive her crazy until it was fixed.

"The only problem is that I won't be able to get to it today," she said as she turned off the exam light, "and we're going to be closed next week while the contractor finally finishes up the office. Would it be possible for you to come back in, say this Thursday night and I could do it. If not, it's really nothing that can't wait a week or two."

"No, Thursday would be fine," Molly quickly replied.

"Okay, just tell Consuelo that I said to give you the last appointment for Thursday and we'll take care of that without a problem." Doctor Vitola said as she took off the Plexiglas face shield that she had worn during the exam, revealing a beautiful pair of bright blue eyes.

"Thanks," Molly said as she watched the older woman head off to take care of yet another patient.

"Thursday at six-thirty," Consuelo said as she handed Molly a card with the appointment. "If you can't make it, please try to let us know beforehand. Especially since we're closing the office for vacation after that. My fiancee is taking me down to Catalina."

"Well we wouldn't want you to miss that," Molly smiled back at her, thinking that even if it wasn't the version of it that she preferred, it was nice to see that someone was getting laid regularly.

The next few days passed rather quickly and Molly soon found herself back at the door to Doctor Vitola's office. Stepping inside, the first thing she noticed was that there seemed to be a large number of people in the waiting room for this late in the day. The second was that the receptionist seemed to have an especially harried look on her face. Stepping up to the desk, Molly soon found out why.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Kerrigan," Consuelo said in an apologetic tone, "but the doctor is running a little behind. Zoe had a family emergency and had to leave. It's pretty hard getting a substitute on such short notice so J.T. has been doing double duty."

Zoe, Molly remembered, was the cute dental assistant whose ass she had so admired on her first visit.

"I hope everything is all right," Molly said, her concern genuine.

"Oh it is," Consuelo replied. "Her son had a little accident on the baseball field, but he's already been checked out by the family doctor and he's okay."

"That's good," Molly said as she headed for one of the empty seats, taking out the paperback that she remembered to bring with her this time from her bag. From the looks of things, she was going to be there a while.

After a few minutes, Molly looked up from her book and noticed that the woman sitting across from her was staring at her. When she noticed Molly looking back, she buried her head in a magazine. At first, the teacher didn't think anything of it, but a few minutes later, she looked up again and saw that the woman was again staring.

About Molly's age, the woman was of Indian descent with small, round breasts. Taking a longer, closer look, the redhead noted that she was also braless, allowing her large puffy nipples to be seen through her blouse. Molly flashed the cute woman an inviting smile, which elicited the same in response. Unfortunately, Consuelo called her name a moment later and when the woman finished, she exited the office through the other door.

Bit by bit, the chairs around her began to empty and eventually Molly was the only one left. When Doctor Vitola came out of her office to hand Consuelo the chart of the next to last patient, the teacher had been waiting over an hour past her original appointment time.

"I'm so sorry to have kept you so long," the dentist said as she took the near empty folder that contained Molly's chart from Consuelo. "It's been one of those impossible days."

"I understand," Molly said as she headed down the hall to the examination room the doctor indicated.

"Why don't you take off, Consuelo," J.T. said before she followed Molly into the room. "I can finish up here and put away the files when I'm done. I'm sure Jason is waiting for you to get home."

"Are you sure?" Consuelo asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"I'm sure, now pack up and go."

She didn't have to be told a second time as the twenty-two year old picked up her bag from under the desk and tossed a few things in it that she wanted to take home.

"Oh and Consuelo," J.T. said, causing the shorter woman to pause at the door. "Thanks for all the extra help today, enjoy your week off."

"You too, J.T.," she said as she closed the door behind her, waiting on the other side until she heard the doctor lock it from the inside.

"Well, this shouldn't take too long," the doctor said as she stepped into the examination room. "Let me just give you a shot so it doesn't hurt."

"Couldn't you fill it without a shot?" Molly asked, feeling like the little girl she once was.

"I'm afraid that the drill would be quite uncomfortable without it," J.T. said as she filled the hypodermic needle. "Don't worry, I promise it won't hurt."

"Don't all dentists say that?" Molly asked as she accepted the inevitable and tilted her head back, opening her mouth wide.

Shutting her eyes, the redhead was pleasantly surprised that it actually hadn't hurt at all. She had felt worse when she cut her legs shaving.

"We'll just have to give the Novocain a few minutes to take effect," J.T. said as she sat down on a stool next to the dental chair.

Normally, she would use this time to start work on someone in one of the other rooms. But with only her and Molly in the office, getting to know her new patient a little better seemed as good a way to pass the time as any.

"Consuelo tells me that you're new to San Alejandro," J.T. said.

Molly responded yes as she explained that she had just moved from Boston to take a local teaching position.

And so it went for the next few minutes as Molly told her the sanitized story of what led her to start her life over. J.T. in turn related how she decided to strike out on her own after the older dentist she had been working for decided to retire. Thankfully, a good number of his patients had made the move with her, otherwise she'd be having a rough time of it right now.

"Have you sampled the local nightlife yet?" J.T. asked as she pressed a gloved hand against Molly's lower lip, testing the effects of the anesthetic.

"I haven't had the chance, what with the new job and all," Molly said, her speech slightly slurred by her now numb jaw.

"Do you like clubs?" J.T. asked, deciding to give it another minute or two since this was the first time Molly had taken Novocain and she wanted her to feel confident of its pain deadening effects.

"I love them," the redhead replied. "Back in Boston I used to practically live at one called Scarlett's Rose."

No sooner had the name passed from her lips, Molly admonished herself for using it. She didn't hide her sexuality but neither did she wear it around her neck like a sign. Besides, her favorite club was three thousand miles away, and the name really didn't tell much about what kind of club it was. She'd be really stretching things to think that she'd have to find yet another new dentist because this one thought she was making a pass at her. A conclusion that, with all the staring that Molly had been doing, might've been encouraged if J.T. had a few more facts to add to it

"I've heard of it," the doctor said as she tested Molly's lip one more time and decided she was ready.

"You've heard of it?" Molly mumbled in surprise.

"Well not the one in Boston," J.T. said as she tested the drill by pressing on the foot pedal, "but there was one up in Sacramento where I went to school. Now just lay back and relax, this is only going to take a few minutes."

Molly didn't even feel the drill as it evened out the small jagged hole in her tooth. The revelation that J.T. knew about Scarlett's had made her mind as numb as her jaw. What exactly did what she had said mean? A lot of straight women knew about Scarlett's back in Boston, Sacramento probably wasn't any different. J.T. hadn't said that she actually went there, just that she had heard of it.

"All done," J.T. said after she finished smoothing out the filling. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No," Molly managed to say, her tongue feeling like it was twice normal size.

"Just try and not chew anything for the next few hours and it'll be fine in the morning."

"Thank you," the redhead nodded as she got up out of the chair.

Freeing herself of the face shield and rubber safety gloves, J.T. walked Molly to the door to let her out. The doctor had just unlocked it when she turned to her.

"I'm afraid that you're not going to find anyplace like Scarlett's here in San Alejandro," she said as she held open the door and Molly stepped out into the empty hall, "but you might try the Candy Store over on Piedmont Avenue, it draws a nice crowd of pretty friendly people. I sometimes drop by there on the weekends."

With that, she said goodnight and wished the stunned woman a safe trip home. It would be a good two minutes before Molly thought to move from in front of the now locked office door.

Saturday night found Molly doing the same thing that she had spent her weekends doing since moving to San Alejandro, catching up on paperwork from school. She now understood why the school district had been willing to reach across the country to find new teachers. With the limited budget they had to work with, just about every teacher did double duty, taking care of work that a clerical staff would've done back in Boston.

Still, even with the extra work, Molly had no cause to regret what she now could look at as an impulsive decision to come out to California. It was already late Fall and the weather was still warm and comfortable. Back East, she would've already been making sure of her winter gear.

The people on what her father had always referred to as "the left coast" were also an interesting mix. Molly had been surprised to discover that there was an open lesbian on the staff. Madeline Stein had been a teacher for almost thirty years and no one seemed to care that she had been living with another woman for two thirds of that time.

Another interesting person was Andrea Kelpler, who managed the small registrar's office with unbelievable skill. A twenty-two year old whose, at first impression, sole qualification for her job seemed to be a thirty-eight inch bust. That wasn't something Molly usually held against a woman, especially if she was holding it against her. School gossip made no secret of the fact that Andrea's main job function under Steven Manchester, the recently retired Principal, was helping him with stress relief. Said relief taking the form of coffee break and lunch hour blow jobs. Still, people were more than willing to overlook how she got the job since they couldn't remember the last time the office had run so well.

Another staff member who might not have been welcomed in most schools was Benjamin Logan, who had already been a teacher when Molly was just starting high school. As a teacher, Ben really knew his job and in that regard, she had no complaints. The problem was that the forty-three year old had the political sensitivity of a brick. There were already no less than four complaints from minority personnel about comments he'd made this year alone. That Ben was black didn't seem to matter.

Strange as it was, Molly really felt at home with these people. If only for the reason that what really seemed to count was how good a teacher you were, and not what else was important to you in your life.

"Evelyn really would've hated this place," Molly said to herself as she put down the last of the files, remembering what a control freak the coordinator was at times.

The mention of her unfaithful lover reminded the redhead of her still unfulfilled promise to look for a new girlfriend. Glancing at the clock on her desk, she noted that it was still only a quarter to nine. Most clubs wouldn't even be warming up by now.

"Enough of this crap," she said as she got up from her desk. "This is one lady who needs to get laid."

Heading into the bathroom, she stripped off the T-shirt and shorts she'd been wearing and turned on the shower. Stepping under the hot water, she remembered the club Doctor Vitola had mentioned. Since she hadn't any other prospects, she might as well check that out.

As for the doctor herself, Molly had finally decided that while the dentist was probably into women, she really didn't have an attraction to her newest patient. Otherwise, she wouldn't have waited until she was literally out the door before mentioning the club to her. She could've just as simply asked Molly out for a drink or something.

No, no magic there, Molly thought as she got out of the shower and dried herself off. Still, it was nice of her to mention the club in the first place, giving the redhead someplace to at least start looking for Ms. Right.

Moving to the bedroom, she pulled panties from one of the dressers and a favorite dress from the closet. While the school was pretty lenient as far as a dress code went, this went pretty far beyond their limits. It had the right combination of comfort and sexuality. A sleeveless black number just low cut enough to accent the deep valley of her breasts. If she wanted to make an impression, this would certainly do it. The dress practically screamed "Fuck Me".

After checking her appearance in the mirror, she combed out her short red hair. Molly then applied just the right amount of make up and finished off her outfit with a small gold chain around her neck. From which hung an Egyptian Ankh, a gift from an old love that she always felt gave her luck.

Leaving her work problems sitting on the table, Molly headed downstairs to wait for the cab she had called for a few minutes before.

She didn't have a long wait as the cab showed up only five minutes later. As she climbed into the back seat, the young man driving the car turned around as to give himself an eyeful of the body he had only gotten a quick look at as he pulled up.

"And where can I take you tonight, pretty lady?" he asked, a smile on his face and his eyes glued to her breasts.

"I'm not really sure of the address, but I know it's on Piedmont Avenue," Molly said, ignoring his stare. "It's a club called The Candy Store, do you know where it is?"

The sudden change in his expression told Molly more than any thing he said that not only did he know where it was, he knew exactly what kind of woman went to a club like that. With a simple okay, and not another word, he turned around and started the meter as the cab pulled out into the light traffic.

During the short trip, Molly caught the driver taking a few peeks at her in the rear view mirror. No doubt, he was trying to imagine her doing things with another woman. Long used to such narrow-minded people, she just ignored him.

"Here we go," he finally said as the cab came to a stop on a deserted street. "That'll be eleven twenty-five."

Molly handed him a ten and a five, telling him to keep the change. The tip didn't make him any more sociable as the cab took off the minute she stepped out onto the curb.

It wasn't hard to locate the club as it was the only place open on the entire block. The rest of the businesses in the area were more suited to the nine to five crowd. Originally built as a disco back in the late eighties, the club had gone bust a decade later and reopened two years back catering to a narrower clientele.

"Well, Doctor Vitola was right about one thing," Molly thought as she stepped inside, "it's certainly no Scarlett's."

Still, it was far from the worst place she'd been in. A long bar took up the left side of the club, with the other two thirds taken up by a dance floor. There was space for a band but at the moment, the music was coming out of a CD filled juke box that was hooked up to the wall speakers. The lighting was subdued, but enough to see where you were going, and more importantly, who you were talking to.