Sapphic Voices Romance

Notes

by Mary Dawn
Contact The Writer
Copyright © by Mary Dawn 2007

Terrie threw the briefcase into the passenger seat, and flung herself behind the wheel of the car. Simultaneously she revved the engine and turned up the volume of the music to start the drive home in an improved mood. Loud music always did the trick. Dancing in her car also worked; she enjoyed putting on a show for her fellow commuters.

As she backed out of her space, she saw an 8 x 5 card stuck underneath her wiper blade. Normally she would have kept driving and let the wind take the advertisement, but this was a note in someone’s painstakingly correct handwriting. She put the car in park and grudgingly retrieved the note which read:

I know you will want to follow these directions. You can meet me tonight only. I’ve had you on my mind. I think you might appreciate my company as well. We share a mutual friend; I’m sure we will share much more. Dakota Club, 9:00 p.m., stand at the rail with your back to the bar. Wear the outfit from Natalie’s party three weeks ago.
S.

Terrie re-read the note three times, car idling, music blaring. She looked at the clock on the dashboard, 6:00 p.m. She looked at the much-decorated letter S. Who did she know who knew where she worked? What stranger would know her car and her workplace? She looked about her quickly…shit! She could be watched or being stalked!

It’s a joke, she decided, one of her crazy friends wanting to get her to the bar on a weeknight. If she actually showed up they would never let her live it down. What kind of a slut meets a person based on a few lines on a card? It was easier to think her friends were up to no good, besides, she’d love to see their faces when she showed up all decked out.

Nat’s party had been a fundraiser and she had purchased an especially fetching outfit for it. Lined black crepe drawstring pants, and a flowing, beaded crepe jacket with a black silk camisole underneath. She tried to remember some of the guests, anyone that caught her attention.

She turned the car homeward and chided herself for getting carried away. It was a joke and she would go out just to catch the culprits, have a few drinks, and get home at a reasonable hour.

Once home she devoured take out leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, paid some bills, and rode the exercise bike in her underwear before adding bubbles to the tub and setting it to be filled. She found the black suit in a cleaning bag, and decided not to wear it. Why get it all smoky? Then again, her mind offered, what if there really is someone to meet? She laid out the suit and a pair of jeans and decided to delay the choice.

The hot sudsy water immediately soothed away any vestiges of stress. Terrie closed her eyes and laid a warm washcloth over them, letting her mind drift back to that party . Lots of women mostly coupled. She drank too much, danced until her feet hurt, then danced barefoot until only she and a few die- hards were left. She had slept in one of Natalie’s kid’s rooms, and left early the next morning, a little hung over and sorely needing food and a night in her own bed.

Surely she hadn’t been dancing alone the whole night? Although it was entirely possible. Terrie thought about calling Nat to see what her opinion was about the note, and brainstorm about who was at the party with first initial S, or was it last initial? It was fruitless. The note could be from any prankster, even Nat, and perhaps S wasn’t a first initial or a last? It didn’t matter really. She was going to find out one way or another.

Terrie willed herself to let the whole matter drop and enjoy the bliss of her one extravagance in life .. her sunken, oval soaking tub. She began to feel the floating sleepiness that always overtook her when she was very tired. How nice it would be to sleep, suspended in warm water, one’s head held aloft by pillows, no chance of drowning. She dozed until the water became uncomfortably cool, and finished her bath by shaving her legs and underarms, then rinsing off another round of fresh suds with the shower attachment.

She wrapped herself in a thick towel, and reached for the oil. Which oil was appropriate for the occasion? She skipped over the jasmine, and found one she rarely used – Hot Six – a blend of oils that left her smooth, silky, and smelling good enough to eat, like pineapples, coconut, and musk all rolled into one.

On the way to choose between the jeans and the suit, she checked the time, and cursed. No time to drag the whole affair out. She hastily dressed in the black suit, combed her wet hair and applied some gel to it. She slipped into some strapped sandals without the hose . Lip color was applied, the remnants on her fingers hastily rubbed onto cheeks. It would have to do, she thought, rounding up her purse and striding out the door.

She drove the short distance to Dakota and parked, aware that only on a Thursday at 8:30 would one find a place to park in the parking lot. She decided to sit in the car until 8:45. The tingling in her stomach had not been noticeable when she’d originally read the note – she had conscientiously chose not to give into the temptation of working herself up over it. Again her mind wandered to the party, conjuring up faces and finding no one. Belatedly, it occurred to her to look at the cars about her to see if she could identify any of them as belonging to the possible note writers. It was too dark, and now that she was there, it seemed less likely that her friends would travel to the suburbs to place a 3 x 5 card on her windshield, even as a joke, when they could easily pick up the phone and tell her to meet them around the block for dinner or a drink. The tingles in her stomach, in an instant, grew to sizable bats, swatting their wings against her ribcage.

Terrie checked the time – 10 minutes. Time enough to get home and watch her favorite TV program, or get into the bar, pee, and down a shot or two before whatever was going to happen at nine. The bats voted for alcohol, and she pulled out her license, a twenty-dollar bill, and locked her purse in the trunk. Once inside she made a beeline for the toilet, purposefully not looking at any of the patrons.

She peed, checked herself out in the mirror, and checked the time – 8:57. Terrie ordered a shot of tequila at the bar. The bartender was feeling friendly and shooting the breeze with her regular customers and was quite slow in preparing the salt-rimmed glass and limes. As the glass and napkins were placed before her, the seat at her side became occupied.

“Make that two, please.”

Terrie watched a manicured hand with a diamond and rainbow stone studded ring on its ring finger place a fifty-dollar bill between them.

“You want two of your own, or is that two together?” The bartender motioned to them as a couple. Terrie turned to the woman for clarification as well. The word ‘glamorous’ immediately sprang into Terrie’s mind as she scanned her seatmate. A mane of gold and burnished copper hair framed a vaguely familiar face. Her eyes were a true green. The woman looked directly at Terrie, raised one sculpted eyebrow, turned the corners of her glossy lips into a grin, then addressed the bartender, “Two drinks, together.”

Terrie made up her mind to protest, but the woman interrupted her thoughts by offering the bejeweled hand, “Samantha Dunne ….. and you are Theresa who doesn’t follow instructions.” Samantha shook Terrie’s hand and neglected to release it. She watched Terrie’s face do several interesting things until her eyes widened and understanding flushed her cheeks. Terrie had come to the realization that Samantha was the note writer. Samantha released Terrie’s hand and pointed, “ You are supposed to be over there, waiting patiently, not hanging out at the bar.”

Terrie, still speechless, watched Samantha become momentarily distracted by the additional drink being placed before them. Samantha handed Terrie a glass, “I think we could both use one of these first, hmmm?” Terrie recovered the use of her vocal chords, “Of course, thank you.” Terrie tipped the rim of the shot glass to her lips and welcomed the assault on her senses. She chased the liquid fire with lime. The bats were not impressed. She turned to Samantha in time to be mesmerized by her exposed neck and throat as she finished her shot, and licked her lips. Her green eyes sparkled with tears; her dangling diamond earrings did their best to compete.

With effort Terrie turned her mind from its contemplation of Samantha’s features to the matter at hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember meeting you at the party.”

Samantha nodded, “That’s correct. I wasn’t at the party, I was there before, when you were getting dressed. I was working. You even complemented my work and asked for my card, which as luck would have it, I didn’t have.” Samantha rolled her eyes self mockingly, “ Nat said she’d give you one later. I thought this meeting was more creative than just calling you out of the blue.”

“Ahhh”, Terrie smiled, remembering the expensively designer overalled woman in a baseball cap arranging blooms and ordering a small cache of gay boys around. Samantha’s note was absolutely correct, she had noticed the other woman, however she had not followed up with Nat to find out if the floral designer was straight. She had just assumed so based on the upscale look of her. “So did Nat tell you where I worked?”

“Nope, I called to ask you out to lunch and your assistant said you were out, so I got the address from her, and I already knew what you drove. Those beads are a dead giveaway, you know.” When Samantha grinned, everything sparkled – her teeth, eyes, earrings – it was all too much.

“Very observant, aren’t you?” Terrie remarked, surprised by Samantha’s candor and assertiveness.

“I am when it counts.” Samantha wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.. eliciting a tension releasing chuckle from both of them.

“So,” Samantha continued unflustered, “are you interested?”

Terrie’s bats began to play a gut quaking game of tag. The liquor hadn’t yet reached them. She smiled, not sure what the catch was, but knowing there was one, “In what exactly?”

“In going out with me sometime?” Samantha stated simply.

Feeling emboldened by Samantha’s forthright question, Terrie countered, “I am out with you already, and yes I’m interested.”

Samantha smiled suggestively, and arched her perfectly sculpted brows, “Just what I wanted to hear.” She caught the bartender’s attention and ordered herself a glass of wine, and reached over and touched Terrie’s arm to indicate Terrie should also order what she liked. Samantha kept her hand there until the drinks were delivered, then suggested they find a table.

Once seated, Terrie asked, “Why did you ask me to wear this outfit specifically?”

“I wanted to be sure to recognize you in the dark, and also because, “ she sipped from her goblet and looked directly into Terrie’s warm brown eyes, “you look so good in it.” Samantha punctuated this statement with a salacious wink.

Terrie grinned, mockingly shaking her head in disapproval, “You are such a flirt!”

Pleased, Samantha did her best impression of Southern Gentlewoman, “Whay, thank you very much!”

Terrie moved the conversation into safer territory, “Where do you live, what are your hobbies, any vices?”

“Well ….”, Samantha swirled her drink, then set it down, “I live in the Grove, I have no pets because I’m rarely home. I listen to lots of books on tape because I can never find the time to read, and I drive a lot. I talk too much on the phone, and I’m addicted to caffeine.”

“That’s all?” Terrie admonished, “No dirt?”

Samantha laughed, “ Plenty of dirt, but I have to leave something for next time. Actually, I’ve spent a lot of time and energy on my business, and it is doing well, so I can have a life again – sort of.”

“So is this your normal operating procedure, sending provocative notes?” inquired Terrie.

Samantha shook her head, “Normally I don’t chase after women so boldly, but I’m making an exception in your case. Besides, I think you can be pretty bold yourself.”

“Oh really, and why is that?”

“Just a feeling. You know, I watched you for a bit before the party, and the next day I came out early to clean up. I passed by the kid’s room and saw you all curled up on that little race car bed.. it was very ..”, Samantha tilted her head and gave Terrie a sweet, soft smile, “intriguing, is all.” Samantha pushed her wine glass aside, “I should stop. I feel as if I’m monopolizing the conversation.”

“Not at all.” Terrie soothed, forgetting her self-consciousness and allowing her eyes to go where they pleased: Samantha’s eyes, flushed cheeks, the contrast between her lips and brilliant straight teeth, her delicate ears. Everything about the woman shimmered. She was beautiful, simply gorgeous. “You’re very pretty.” Terrie realized she had admitted this aloud, that it was not an errant, private musing. She apologized, “I’m the one who should stop drinking!”

Samantha smiled slowly, and covered Terrie’s hand with her own on the table. “Thank you, I’m very flattered. I find you very attractive as well. What did you think of the note?”

“I thought one of my friends was playing a joke on me, but as you can see by my outfit, I wasn’t sure.”

“I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Me too.”

Terrie’s inebriated bats wheeled in her stomach. Samantha’s fingers had interlaced themselves with her own so that it was hard to distinguish who was holding the other’s hand.

Samantha interrupted Terrie’s reverie, “Your turn to tell all.”

“What do you really want to know?” Terrie asked.

Samantha closed her eyes, smirked and then replied, “I really want to know… quite personal things about you which I would rather find out about first hand. I guess I most want to know when I can see you again.”

Terrie replied that she would think about it on the way to the ladies room, and excused herself. She snagged a blank card from the bar and wrote a small note for Samantha, and tipped the bartender twenty bucks to deliver it immediately.

The note read: Samantha, now that we have established that we do indeed appreciate one another, as you so elegantly put it, let me thank you for the drinks and offer to reciprocate at my place… right now. 1815 Darden Rd. Go to Sienna, Left onto Darden, end of the street, park in front of the gates. Apartment #4.

Tag, you're it.
T.

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