Chapter 287

Over a week elapsed before Arthell could keep her promise to have lunch with Laura in the city. By then, it was difficult for Laura herself to arrange it. When she had initially invited Arthell, she had known what free time she had coming up, but the following week was a hell of meetings and events. Finally, they were able to agree on a day, and Arthell arrived at Laura's office shortly after eleven a.m.

About two weeks had passed since Laura's visit with Amber to the campus, and although she had easily remembered that Arthell was lovely and sweet, she apparently had forgotten how lovely. Arthell wasn't conventionally gorgeous but instead so fresh and wholesome and pretty and healthy looking, with a broad, open smile displaying her even, blinding white teeth, that Laura's heart filled with happiness as she saw her waiting by the guard desk in the lobby, where they held visitors.

"God, I'm so glad to see you!" she blurted out, then felt guilty that she had been too exuberant or obvious in her joy.

She glanced over to see if the guards were looking at her oddly, but they had their hands full with other guests. Arthell did not seem taken aback. She beamed at Laura as if she were happy to see her too.

"I'm so nervous," she said, looking around the lobby. "I've never been to a place like this before."

Laura took her arm. Though it was unseasonably warm outside, Arthell was wearing a thick, ivory-colored, cable knit turtle neck sweater which-unfortunately for me, Laura reflected-covered up a lot of her but also looked enchanting against her smooth dark brown skin and made it look even darker. The sweater was not especially tight but it also emphasized Arthell's lovely jutting young breasts. Laura was swimming in mild lust and happiness as she escorted the girl up to her office.

In order not to seem-to herself, at least; and certainly not to send out veiled hints to Arthell or others in the office-that she was only interested in fucking the lovely, fresh, wholesome young girl, Laura bent over backward to acquaint Arthell in detail with the business and Laura's role in it. She took her everywhere and introduced her to many fellow workers, explaining the point of Arthell's visit, even suggesting to her friends in personnel that they might like to take her name for future reference. Arthell was deeply flattered and grateful.

The more open and flattered and attentive she was, the more Laura wanted her. For lunch they went to a trendy restaurant where the most stylish office workers in the city gathered, and the noise level was so high that you could barely understand your table mate's conversation. Laura gazed into Arthell's dark, unsuspecting eyes. Good thing I'm already in love, she told Arthell in her deep mind fantasy, because if I wasn't I'd be in real danger of losing my heart to you, you sweet, gorgeous thing.

Back to work. Laura took her to a meeting. Arthell sat in a chair back along the wall of the conference room and actually took notes.

"I saw you writing," Laura teased her when it was over, nudging her elbow. "What were you writing? How could you find anything to write down? It's so boring. I have to go to those things all the time."

"I saw you writing too," Arthell beamed.

"Only to save my ass," Laura said under her breath. "And to have something to do so I don't look bored."

"I didn't think it was boring at all," Arthell said, totally honest. "I thought it was exciting."

"Wait till you have to sit through three or four of them a day," Laura said.

She looked at her watch. She had been self-disciplined so far, but it was getting harder. She wanted to grab Arthell and kiss her hungrily, every minute she was with her. For a few seconds she lost sight of the fact that Arthell had displayed no inordinate affection for her, or sent any other overtly sexual signals, so that an embrace would probably be sharply repelled. Still, she could hardly bear the urge to do it.

"Look, it's almost three," she said. "I'm not going to get anything else important done today. Why don't I take you to my place, so you can see where I live? Then we can hit the bridge and get you back home, before the true rush hour crunch gets going."

Oh god, please say yes! she thought. I want you so much! But I promise not to make a pass at you if you just give me one little sign that it won't work. Promise. I don't need the ego pain, and I wouldn't have you think ill of me for the world.

"Sounds cool to me," Arthell smiled, flashing Laura with her perfect white teeth.

Arthell's legs were long and thin and dark brown and smooth. Laura had never noticed her legs, unbelievably, until now when she was sitting next to her in the car. During her visit to the college, Arthell had been wearing baggy pants. Now she was wearing a skirt, but Laura had kept her eyes discreetly away from her legs, not wanting to appear too obviously interested in any part, especially an exposed part, of Arthell's delicious young body.

But now, as she drove, she could hardly keep her eyes from darting down to them. They were not really well-shaped, the part from the knee down anyway, but very thin, and yet she wanted desperately to rub her cheek against them. She controlled herself by scrutinizing the traffic, and soon they arrived at her condo. She prayed that neither Joy nor Carmela would be waiting outside, or peeking up the street in her direction from Joy's house. She tried to remember if today was cheerleader practice but couldn't.

Safely inside, she threw her coat and purse on a chair and heaved a sigh, really a sigh of relief though she tried to disguise it as being merely a sigh of weariness after a day in the office. "How about a glass of iced tea?"

Arthell smiled. "I could use one. It's a little hot out there today."

"You must be hot in that sweater."

Arthell grinned ruefully. "I thought it was always cold in the city."

Laura nodded. "Usually. This heat is weird. I could get you something to wear if you want to take it off. Something a little lighter."

Oh god! she thought. She could feel her pussy pulsing and itching and creaming a little. Don't get ahead of yourself, Laura.

Arthell shrugged. "I guess we won't be here that long."

"You could just keep it and give it back the next time I see you." Laura tried not too obviously to press her advantage. "Really... why not."

"Oh... okay. I guess it is a little hot."

"Come with me."

Laura took her into the bedroom. As soon as she did, she thought better of it. Oh damn, if I try to kiss her or anything in here, it will look so planned. It will look like the only thing I want is her pussy. Like I invited her here just for that. So I could make a pass. What a horny old devious shit you are, Laura.

They looked through her drawers and found a thin, blue, ribbed cotton sleeveless top for Arthell to wear.

"We're about the same size," Laura said, taking the opportunity to look at Arthell's marvelous young body, as if gauging their similarities. "You have a little more umphhh up here, that's all," she smiled, making a playful little shelf with her fingers under her own small breasts. "I think it'll fit."

"Me too," Arthell nodded. "God, I love your bedroom." She looked around. Laura smiled, having tidied it up purposefully this morning before leaving for work. "You live here all alone? What about your cat? I haven't seen her."

"My cat?"

"You know, Rhonda. The one you said would scratch your eyes out if you didn't get home to feed her. I'm allergic to cats, but I don't seem to be having a reaction. I was a little worried about it when you invited me here."

"Oh... the cat," Laura stammered awkwardly. God, the cat. I forgot completely about telling her that. "I had to give her away. I... wasn't home enough to keep her company. She kept getting lonely. And fat. I had to give her away."

"That's sad. I love cats. You must've had professional cleaners. I don't smell any cat dander around anywhere."

"Oh... yes... I did," Laura stammered again, wanting desperately to change the subject. "Well... just put this on. I'll wait for you in the living room. In fact, I'll get us some iced tea."

Laura wanted to hang around and watch her change and was hoping that Arthell would say: Don't bother to leave. I'm not the modest type.

In a way she couldn't help being reminded of her first girl, Karen, and how Laura had unintentionally glimpsed her naked body when Karen was changing into a bathrobe Laura had offered her, after they had both been caught in the rain and Karen's clothes were soaked. It had been the beginning. She had never looked back, and here she was hoping to look at Arthell's naked body, or near-naked body anyway, and feeling more and more like a disgusting voyeur.

This feeling of revulsion and anger at herself propelled her quickly into the kitchen, where she mixed up a pitcher of iced tea in a fit of concentration, willfully expelling from her mind the thought of the darling Arthell half-naked in her bedroom, slipping into one of her own tops. Arthell reappeared moments later, carrying her thick white sweater in one hand. The cotton top Laura had loaned her clung much more to her body and emphasized the thrilling curve of her breasts. Again Laura could see the outline of her bra straps through the thin fabric.

"I'll bet that feels better," Laura said, handing her a tall glass of iced tea. "Just put it over there on the chair where we won't forget it."

They sat and talked. Laura felt very odd. She realized how weird it was when two people had completely different agendas and yet were pretending to be on the same wave length. Arthell had nothing on her mind but absorbing Laura's external life style, probably fantasizing about how one day soon she too would be a single working girl, happy, surrounded by nice things, living in her own neat condo, pulling down some respectable bucks working for an exciting business firm.

Laura, on the other hand, was looking for a moment of opportunity. She didn't want to let this moment pass, as the last one had when she had dropped Arthell at home after first meeting her at the college, without trying to bend their relationship in the direction she herself was seeking. I want her, she thought. I don't necessarily have to have her right now. I can wait. I'm patient. But I want to nudge it that way. I guess I want her to know, before I take her home, that I want her, and that I'm willing to take it as slowly as she wants to.

"Have you ever been married?" Arthell asked her at one point.

Laura shook her head. "Never."

"I've got this guy who wants to marry me." Arthell sighed in such a way as to indicate that he was a gigantic pain, which made Laura's heart flutter excitedly.

"I take it you don't want to."

Arthell made a sour face and shook her head. "It's nice to be asked, though. I have two friends who got married because they were sure no one else would ever ask them." She smiled enchantingly at Laura, the smile that made Laura's blood shriek happily and started prickly little beads of moisture oozing deep inside her pussy. "I'm glad you're not because it gives me courage to stand up for what I want and not just give in to what everybody else is doing."

There's a reason why I'm not, Laura wanted to say. But she quickly thought better of it. "Can I get you another glass?" she asked, noticing that Arthell was down to the ice cubes.

"I better not have another," Arthell laughed softly. "I'll have to pee before I get home. What if there's a traffic jam on the bridge?"

"I have an idea," Laura said, getting up and retrieving Arthell's nearly empty glass, taking it with her own and heading for the kitchen. "Why don't we just hang out and go to dinner here in the city and drive back later after the rush hour traffic has thinned out a bit?"

Oh god, please say yes! I can't think of any way to move this forward, and I need a little more time with you!

But Arthell shook her head. Laura's heart sank, and it was all she could do not to let her face sink too.

"I have a study group tonight. I really need to be there. They sort of depend on me, if you know what I mean."

Laura's shoulders sagged, but she took a deep breath. "Maybe next time."

Arthell had followed her into the kitchen while talking. Feeling her close behind, Laura turned suddenly and with her elbow knocked over one of the iced tea glasses, which fell to the tile floor and shattered at their feet. Cold ice cubes and water splashed their ankles.

"Oh shit!" Laura gasped. "God, how could I do that!"

Arthell, looking down, backed up a little. She bent down at picked up a couple of the larger shards of glass as well as an ice cube. "Where do you want me to put these? Is there a trash can around here somewhere?"

"Under the sink," Laura said, trying to figure out what to do next. "Just step back. I'll get a broom and a mop."

Arthell leaned around Laura, not wanting to step in the mess, but also reaching for the cupboard knob on the door to the trash can. Her breasts brushed Laura's leg. Laura reached behind to open the cupboard door for her, and their fingers met on the knob. Laura pulled the door open, and Arthell deposited the shards of glass in the can. She still held a half-melted ice cube in her palm and looked up at Laura, their faces only inches apart now.

"Don't want me to put this in there," she said. "It'll melt."

"Put it in the sink. Here."

Laura took the ice cube from Arthell's palm, which was still wet. But her eyes never left Arthell's face. This lovely girl. Her smooth dark brown cheek. She smells so good. I've got to kiss her. Oh god, Arthell, please understand. Don't push me away.

This was a moment of suspended animation. It was like a slow-motion scene in a movie, each movement painfully arrested and agonizingly delayed. Arthell's eyes did not leave Laura's either. Laura moved her face closer, closer, letting her eyes drop to Arthell's thick, sensual lips, glimpsing Arthell's pink wet tongue behind her gleaming white teeth. In another split second her own lips were brushing Arthell's, then pushing into them, curving sideways to make their two mouths fit together better, and she was trying to pour all of her throbbing emotion and desire into this one sweet kiss, not knowing if she would ever have the chance to do it again.

Arthell did not try to stop Laura immediately, but neither did she kiss back. After a few seconds, she pulled away.

"That was nice," she smiled politely. "But I'm not that way."

Oh god, Laura thought, mortified and pierced with shame and sorrow. The same words Amber had predicted. I'm not that way. Sorry.

Laura smiled with regret, pulling back too. She shrugged. "Couldn't help myself," she confessed. "You're too much for me. Too... wonderfully sweet and pretty."

Now that Arthell knew that there was more to this visit than mere friendship, she seemed instinctively to back away from Laura, but not with any hostility. This hurt Laura probably more than having the girl reject her kiss.

"You want to tell me where the broom is?" she asked. "I can get it."

"No. I'll get it. Just go in and sit down so I can clean this up."

A few minutes later everything was back in place, the floor dry, the broken glass disposed of. Arthell, following Laura's request, had returned to the living room and sat silently while Laura finished. She was calm and seemingly unruffled by this experience when Laura returned. But her appearance pinched Laura's heart more than ever. Arthell sat sweetly in the chair, but her body was somehow more alluring to Laura than ever since she was wearing Laura's own ribbed cotton sleeveless top, which accentuated her lovely breasts and showed off her long, bare, brown arms and exquisitely shaped shoulders.

Laura caught herself looking before Arthell appeared to notice. She was avoiding Laura's gaze with a studied indifference.

"I'm really sorry about what happened in the kitchen," Laura said, vowing to herself to face this rejection head on.

Arthell smiled. "I break glasses all the time. I'm so clumsy."

"I mean the other."

Arthell looked at her with her limpid black eyes, her face a blank. Laura couldn't tell if she were upset or daydreaming or completely abstracted from the experience. Finally she shook her head and came into focus.

"Don't worry about it. It was nice, like I said. I just don't go for it, I guess. I'm flattered that you... wanted to do it, though," she added politely.

Laura didn't know if she meant it or was simply being polite. Arthell was very polite.

"I guess you want me to take you home now," Laura said, glumly.

"Any time you're ready. I just have to be there by seven."

God, I've ruined everything, Laura thought. Now she's so distant. So reserved and on guard. I guess I really blew it this time.

"Okay, let's go."

It was the most painful drive Laura had ever made, she thought. At least in years. The silence was excruciating. Arthell looked out the passenger side window constantly, making no effort to break the silence. Laura was too chagrined and sorrowing to do it herself. On the lower deck of the bridge, heading east, the radio reception was impossible, but once they emerged from it she could pick up a jazz station she knew they both would like.

Arthell even swiveled her head and smiled at her when she turned it on. Laura smiled back but only a nervous half-smile. She felt so guilty and embarrassed she hardly knew how to behave.

"I'm really sorry, Arthell," she said again, instantly hating herself for giving in and bringing it up again.

"Will you quit saying that?" Arthell said impatiently. She didn't raise her voice, but she didn't quit looking out the window either. "I'm glad you like me, Laura. I like you too. Just not that way."

When they arrived at Arthell's house, Laura noticed two cars parked in the driveway which had not been there on the night she had given her a ride home from the college. It was only dusk so the lights were not on, but the windows in the living room were open. I guess we won't be listening to records this evening, Laura thought. Or any time, ever, from now on. Oh god, Arthell, I'm so sorry. I pushed it too soon!

Arthell smiled tightly at her. "If you want to wait here, I'll pop inside and take this off and give it back to you." She plucked at the thin cotton top Laura had loaned her.

Laura smiled, feeling tears come to her eyes. She shook them away, knowing how she had a weakness for cheap manipulation at a moment like this. Anyway, she was sure Arthell would see through a minor crying fit. Arthell was sweet but not stupid.

"Please keep it," Laura said. "My gift. Think of me when you wear it."

"You sound like we're not going to see each other again," Arthell said matter-of-factly.

Laura sniffled. "I thought you wouldn't want to."

Arthell beamed at her, the white teeth megawatt smile. "I do want to. I just don't have a thing for girls, that's all. Can't you spend time with me without that?"

Laura made a resigned half-smirk. "I don't know, frankly. I can try."

"Then try." She opened the door and got out of the car. Laura tried to keep her eyes from roaming over Arthell's bottom as she scooted off the seat. Arthell closed the door and looked back through the window. "Are you going to try?"

Laura nodded. "I'll try."

Arthell stood by the curb and waved to her as she drove off, but Laura was certain that she would never see her again.

Nearly a month went by before she did. It wasn't such a bad month for Laura. Bad, but not too bad. She ached for Arthell, and yearned for her, and fantasized about her, and felt a crushing sense of loss for having destroyed their budding relationship before it could even blossom. But she had Joy and Carmela, both individually and together, now that they had got used to each other's right to Laura, and she had Sara on most weekends. Amber had flown off to Paris to see her French 'sweetie pie, ' but Laura did not miss her much since she knew Amber would not be able to resist good-natured taunting about Laura's failure with Arthell.

One evening she was leaving work and exited through the main lobby since she wanted to stop at a drug store on the corner before going to her car. She rarely did this, usually preferring to leave through a back exit to the parking garage. And so she was truly shocked to discover Arthell leaning against one of the city's composite gravel curbside trash cans, as if waiting for her.

It was, as it had been last time, an unseasonably warm day, and Arthell was wearing white shorts, white socks, white sneakers, and a sleeveless yellow top. She looked like she had just wandered off the tennis court, fresh, wholesome, athletic, her long thin dark brown legs glossy and smooth.

"Hi," she said brightly, as if this meeting had been arranged. As if to say, Well, you finally got here. I've been waiting for hours.

"Hi," Laura drawled more slowly, a half-smile spreading over her face, unable to believe this was happening. What did it mean? "You know, I hardly ever leave this way. I usually go out the back."

Arthell was unfazed by this. "My lucky day, I guess. Why did you come this way today?"

"I... have to stop by that drug store," Laura pointed.

"Mind if I walk with you?"

"I would consider it a terrific pleasure." She glanced boldly down at Arthell's long bare legs. "Dressed for the weather today, I see."

"I checked the weather report first."

They walked to the store, where Laura purchased some cosmetics. As they left, she was wondering whether to make some sort of invitation when Arthell spoke up.

"Suppose I could get you to drive me home? I know it's a long way. I promise to be nice. I could even pay you for the gas. I just can't get home from the BART station because I don't have a car. And I hate taking the bus, it takes so long. You have to wait forever."

"Arthell. Stop. You're babbling. Of course I'll drive you home." Laura looked long into her shiny black eyes. "And I won't make a pass at you either."

Arthell frowned. "You didn't have to say that."

"I said it for my sake, not yours. Come on, my car is parked in the garage around back."

"So," Laura asked when they were finally underway, "what would you have done if I didn't show up? If I took the back exit, as I usually do."

Arthell seemed unconcerned. "Oh... taken the BART train home, I guess." She fiddled with the hem of her yellow shirt. "Or maybe called you. Remember, you gave me your business card and scribbled your cell phone number on the back?"

Laura smiled, this time to herself. Were things changing? However, she was terrified of getting ahead of herself and having things end up as they had last time. Also, Arthell lived at home with her parents. Whatever her motives might be in crossing the bay to see Laura, they would not include letting Laura make love to her.

Still, Laura was happy enough just to see her. And those long, dark brown legs were there next to her where she could glance over at them from time to time as she drove. She didn't have to be so surreptitious about it now, either, since Arthell knew she was 'that way, ' as she had put it, and would obviously be interested in Arthell's lovely though thin bare legs.

When they pulled up in front of her house, Arthell did not immediately get out. Laura noticed that there were no cars in the driveway, as before.

"If you want to come in, I'll get that top you loaned me last time," Arthell said.

Laura smiled. "Maybe I better not. I can just sit here and you bring it out to me."

Arthell pursed her lips in annoyance. "You can come in. I don't think you're going to attack me or anything."

"How do you know?"

"Because I told you I don't like it. You'll respect my wishes."

Laura sighed. "You're right. I will. Okay, just for a few minutes."

Arthell's parents were again not there. "Back to Fresno," she explained. "Probate. My uncle had more money than anyone else in the family, so they have to quarrel endlessly about it with the other relatives. Want to listen to a few more Sarah records?"

They spent another enjoyable half hour listening to Arthell's father's record collection. Arthell disappeared for a moment and returned with the blue top Laura had loaned her.

"See," she said, as she handed it to Laura. "We can be friends without having... that other stuff... get in the way."

"Maybe you're right," Laura said, though she knew Arthell was not right.

It had been torture for her the whole time, looking at Arthell, looking at her bare brown legs, her deliciously shaped bare arms, her gleaming shoulders, the thrust of her fine young breasts through the thin yellow top she wore. Smelling her, being blinded by the glint of her even white teeth, falling into her flashing black eyes, enchanted by her conversation. It was impossible to keep 'that other stuff' at bay for Laura.

They were standing by the front door. Laura was getting ready to leave. Without skipping a beat, or changing her expression, Arthell said,

"You remember in the kitchen... when you broke that glass?"

"How could I forget?"

"I thought about it a little bit. When you kissed me. I thought about that."

Laura tilted her head to the side a little, waiting.

"Do it again?" Arthell said, in a softer, more tentative voice this time. "Nothing else. Just that? Before you leave?"

"Are you sure?" Laura asked softly back, wondering whether to believe it herself.

Slowly, Arthell nodded. Her eyes even fell to Laura's mouth briefly before she raised them again self-consciously.

"I would be so happy to..." Laura whispered, bringing her lips closer to Arthell's sensual mouth.

Again Arthell's eyes dropped, and Laura's too. Their mouths brushed, then tilted and flowed together, Laura's lips seeking the curve of Arthell's large, pillowy lips, melding into them slowly, with agonizing tenderness. It was almost a sacrilege, Laura realized, to be feeling this way since for her the pinnacle of perfection was Sara's mouth, Sara's exquisitely plump and pillowy lips curving into hers, and yet she felt almost the same way about Arthell's. The true problem for her was how to restrain herself from fiercely ravishing this adorable mouth, and instead keep exploring it patiently and tenderly, as she was doing.

They kissed slowly without parting their lips, and Laura, who was absolutely in no hurry now that she had caged her desire to rape Arthell's mouth hungrily, let the full range of her kissing skill emerge, content to love the girl as the girl was willing to be loved and not an iota more until it was permitted. After a while, Arthell's lips began to part almost of their own accord, and her teeth too. Laura's followed close behind, and before long she was insinuating the tip of her tongue into the opening, hoping to find Arthell's tongue meeting hers.

But this was the moment Arthell chose to stop. Abruptly she pulled back, but Laura noticed that she was breathing a little more rapidly than before.

"There," Arthell said in a hushed voice, almost to herself, as if that was task she had finished. But her eyes were a little glassy.

Laura put a hand on each of her shoulders, which were bare and wonderfully smooth and round under her palms, the first time she had ever actually touched Arthell's flesh apart from her fingers. Arthell pulled away. Her eyes were suddenly streaked with faint alarm.

"No," she said. "Just that."

Laura's arms fell to her side. Her face fell too, she knew. "Sorry. Didn't mean to do that."

A sudden smirk of self-satisfaction crossed Arthell's face. "Did too," she grinned.

Laura shrugged. "I really enjoyed it. The kiss, I mean."

Arthell nodded slowly, as if hypnotized by the after effects. Laura pressed her advantage.

"How about another?"

Not grinning any longer, but simply staring blankly at Laura, as if she were having difficulty coming to terms with her own feelings, Arthell shook her head. "You're a good kisser," she whispered.

"So are you," Laura smiled. "This time, at least."

Arthell opened the door, a not so subtle hint. "Thanks for the ride."

Laura left graciously, hurting fiercely, feeling her pussy juices almost trickle down her thigh. She knew Arthell had to be feeling the same thing. "Thanks for the visit. And the music."

"I'll... be seeing you," Arthell said through the screen door.

"Okay," Laura smiled, not trusting herself to say anything more.

"Drive carefully!" Arthell shouted after Laura as she got to the curb and unlocked her car.

Laura waved. I could come back, Arthell. We could continue that kiss. Nobody home. I could kiss you all over that lovely young body and make you pant. I could. Make you whimper.

But I won't. Not unless you ask. Bye. She waved and drove off.

And nearly another month passed. Arthell made not the slightest effort during this time to get in touch. Amber returned, then left again for another long distance rendezvous. Laura and Sara cocooned on weekends. Weekdays in the evenings when possible Laura spent exuberant and carefree moments in bed with Carmela and Joy. Life went on. She mooned a little over Arthell when alone, wishing things had worked out, but she could not afford to worry too much about it. She had given the girl every chance, and even been very respectful of her feelings, so that if Arthell didn't want to take the final step, that was up to her. Laura was proud of herself for being so philosophical about it.