A Proper Send-off

"More cookies, I guess," the private said as he handed her the small, brown box.

Sarah gave a pitying laugh at the predictability of her mail before instantly recognizing that this was not the same old package she tended to receive every few months. The return address was not her grandmother.

It was, in fact, from June Reilly. Care of O'Flaherty's Pub.

Sarah had, much like June had predicted, not been able to forget June or their night together for a single day of her deployment. While there were moments where she was alone and thought back fondly of it, the truth was that thinking of June and the things she could have been doing with her had made her time on the base even harder. The only thing keeping Sarah going on some days was the promise of that second night.

Sarah stood up and quickly rushed from the mess. Sarah had been quartered with a mechanic in another unit and she knew that her roommate was working a different shift than she was. That meant June's package could be opened in private. Sarah completed the trip from the mess to her barracks in record time, her heart pounding with anticipation. Arriving at her quarters, Sarah rushed to her room, locking the door behind her for good measure. She didn't know what she was expecting in her package but there was a strong desire on her part to see it privately. Sarah reached for her pocketknife and was soon tearing the brown paper wrapping open, doing the same to the packing tape.

Sarah laughed when she got it open. Inside was a small metal tin. Reaching in, Sarah carefully removed the top to reveal stacks of small chocolate chip cookies. Sarah laughed at her luck. She lifted the cookie tin out and set it on her desk.

As she did, she saw that there was something else in her package. A large manila envelope was packed tightly beneath the cookies. Sarah reached inside for it and could feel it was fairly thick. She undid the small red tie at the back of the envelope and reached inside.

They were pictures. High quality, glossy, eight by elevens. The first was of June. She was standing against what Sarah recognized as the wall in her apartment where they'd first kissed. The only thing June appeared to be wearing was the olive green regulation t-shirt that Sarah had left behind. June's hands were at the bottom of the shirt, tugging it down, stretching the material over her hips and covering herself.

On Sarah the shirt had been tight. On June, stretching over her massive chest and being pulled down, the shirt was like a second skin. Sarah could clearly make out the outlines of the puffy nipples she'd so enjoyed having in her mouth. Her red hair was slightly messy and she had no make-up on. She looked, Sarah thought, very much like she had the morning after their night together.

The other photos were similar. They were all risqué and revealing but not obscene or sleazy. The next was a side shot of June in her kitchen. This time she was in high heels, perfectly made up and with her hair done. There was a string of pearls around her neck. She was making what looked like the cookies she'd sent. The only thing she appeared to be wearing was a thin, white apron and there were patches of white flour on her ample cleavage. There was another with a yellow ribbon and bow around her chest, the material just wide enough to cover June's nipples, and only June's own hands strategically placed between her legs. There were others. One of June as an impossibly busty French maid, caught in an expression of surprise. June in what looked like bridal lingerie and a veil. Each photo had a message written on the back in red lipstick. There was "34F-24-37", "Keeping the home fires burning", "Untie my Yellow Ribbon" and various other sexually suggestive notes. The very last simply read, "Your very own pin-up girl."

Sarah moaned half in frustration and half in pleasure. Each photo was one of the sexiest things Sarah had ever seen. Looking at them, how it looked as though June had used all of her skills to faithfully represent the style Sarah had mentioned and how June herself fit so well into them, Sarah could barely believed that what she was looking at was a real woman, one Sarah had been with. The thought brought a familiar heat to Sarah's insides. Suddenly Sarah was very glad she had her bunk to herself for a few hours.

That was not the only treat for Sarah in the envelope. A disc also fell out as Sarah turned it upside down. Sarah reached for her old laptop and booted it up, cursing the slowness of technology as it creaked its way to life. Eventually though, the machine powered on and the disc tray opened. Sarah inserted the disk and clicked it open.

There were audio and video files. Sarah's hands were almost trembling as she opened one of the video files. The image on her screen became one of June, standing in her living room and staring into the camera

"Hey baby," June's voice said. "Hope this picks you up."

The quality wasn't great but Sarah could clearly make out enough. Music came on in the background and June began swaying her hips. Then the clothes started coming off. Sarah hit close. She didn't even know why. She just wanted to see if they were all like that. Sarah eagerly opened an audio file named "ALONETIME."

"Hey baby," cooed June's seductive voice as the file opened, "I thought maybe, when you get some alone time, after a hard day of dispatching our nation's enemies, you might want to lay back, get comfy, start thinking of me. Of what we did that night. Maybe unbuckle your pants. Remember how you fucked me. How you took me. How you made me scream and moan for you. How you fucked me like nobody ever had. Remember my taste, my sounds, my smells."

Sarah smiled as she leaned back in her bed. She remembered. It was vanilla and jasmine. She did as the tape suggested, sliding her fingers below the waistband of her fatigues.

"Remember baby, how I was between your thighs, licking you..."

Epilogue Two:

It was ten o'clock. Just another dead Tuesday in a string of them. Jim Keenan was, again, June's only customer. Still, June saw the plus side. If she got rid of Jim she could at least close early.

"One more for the road, Jim?" June asked, hoping he might get the hint.

"Maybe, doll," Jim said, his raspy voice slurring only slightly. "If I can finally convince you to come home with me."

June smiled at their familiar routine.

"I'd give you a heart attack, Jimmy," June said with a wink as she poured the shot of bourbon in front of him.

"Probably." Jim nodded. "But that's at the top of my list of ways to go."

June laughed as she emptied the bottle, noting she'd have to get another one from the back.

"Besides," Jim continued, "you're not still seeing that McPhee kid, so what, you finally decided to date what's-his-name? Nichols?"

"You're the only guy in my life these days Jim," June said with a wink, trying to cover up what her statement meant. It was true, June wasn't seeing anyone. After Sarah, June had tried to get into the swing of things again. She'd gone on a few dates in the first month, but both guys, while nice, seemed utterly pointless to June. The old her might have taken one home just to clear her cobwebs, but June couldn't. It just didn't feel the same anymore. Her hands and her battery-operated toys had been her only lover for the better part of a year now and her sexual thoughts were consumed by her night with Sarah.

June had tried to break the habit. Tried using her old masturbatory fantasies. But each time they'd left her frustrated and, when she'd break down, she'd again find Sarah in her minds eye. Not just in one of the acts they'd engaged in but in new ones. Fantasies that June found herself having as she invariably would continue masturbating.

That had been one of the reasons for the package she'd sent. She'd hoped that shooting herself dressed up for some of those fantasies might get them off her mind. Cooking for Sarah before sex on the kitchen floor. Sarah coming home to untie that yellow ribbon. Even the bridal lingerie was the result of the idea of a hetero fantasy June used to have being transferred over to Sarah. June had joked in bed about Sarah turning her into a lesbian, but, more and more, June was starting to believe it was true. Even scarier, June didn't even mind the thought so much.

That was why now, a few days away from Sarah's return, June was so tense. June didn't know what she wanted to happen. The thought of Sarah showing up in the bar in a few days terrified her. The thought of Sarah not showing up terrified her. June had no idea what to expect or how she'd react. She felt like she was back in school with a book report due and she hadn't read the book.

"I'm going to go get another bottle from the back, Jim," June said, letting the business of running her bar interrupt her sexual identity crisis for the umpteenth time in the last few months.

June made her way to the back. June stood there for a second, thoughts of Sarah again distracting her from the simple task, before she shook her head clear and grabbed a bottle. She made up her mind to get good and plastered once she kicked Jim out. She stood in the cool back room of her bar for a second before walking out to something she hadn't expected.

Standing in the doorway, large green bag slung over her shoulder, was Sarah.

At first June thought it was a mirage. Some sort of sex-starvation induced hallucination, but that idea was quickly dismissed. It was Sarah. Tall, well built and pretty, her sandy blonde hair still in the ponytail beneath her camouflage cap and dressed in fatigues. There was no mistaking the girl she hadn't managed to stop thinking about for five consecutive minutes for lunch. She looked harried and exhausted, but no less appealing for it. Absence, it seemed, had really made the heart grow fonder.

"Days," June blurted, trying to think of what to say but not finding much. Eventually her mouth and brain reached some sort of tentative agreement and a passable sentence left her lips, "You're not supposed to be back for days."

"Caught an earlier flight," Sarah said. Immediately June could see that fierce, intense desire in Sarah's brown eyes. The same that had made her feel so uncomfortable the first time she saw it and that had made her feel so sexy when they'd fucked. June felt her heart skip a beat and her mouth dry. "Don't mind, do you?"

"No, I'm just not ready is all," June sputtered. This was true. In her fantasies, Sarah had come back to a perfectly made up June who'd planned ahead. June had bought the white bridal lingerie for their next night together. Candles, roses, a bubble bath together, other things. June had planned it all out in her head. "I look like a mess."

Sarah walked into the bar, a broad grin on her face.

"June, you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Sarah said as she leaned forward and passionately kissed June. It was a repeat of their kiss at the bus station, hungry but restrained. June felt herself melt into Sarah's strong arms. The kiss lasted longer this time, breaking only when June felt the need to break for air.

"Even if you're a bit of a tease for that fucking package," Sarah winked as she looked down at June.

"I thought you'd like it," June said slyly.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Sarah said plainly.

Looking up at Sarah, being held in her arms, remembering Sarah's power and performance in the bedroom, all doubts were erased from June's mind. She knew exactly what she wanted.

"I was thinking, by the way," June said. "You know how I said I should set a time limit on your nights?"

Sarah nodded. "I know, I know, we went a long time last time but I'm thinking--"

"I'm thinking I've set a fair one." June said, interrupting Sarah with a determined voice. "I'm thinking weeks. Months. Hell, years and years and years if you're inclined."

Sarah smiled broadly. June could instantly see that her feelings were reciprocated, fully and completely. Lesbian, straight, June didn't give a shit about labels any more. All she knew was that she wanted to be with Sarah, now and for as long as she could see into the future.

"That's a lot of fucking," Sarah said. "Might even wear me out."

"Well, you know," June shrugged, "I figure there'll be breaks for eating, sleeping, work, taking me to the movies, things like that."

"Sounds good to me," Sarah said with a wink. "Because I meant what I said you know, I loved fucking you."

The words hung in the air for a second. Both women knew exactly what Sarah meant.

"Me too," June said softly, looking down at her feet. Both women knew what June meant as well. As far as romantic moments went, it may not have been traditional but, June had to admit, it fit her and Sarah pretty well.

"Soooo," Sarah said, motioning to her head upstairs. June just nodded and turned back towards the bar.

"All right Jimmy, it really is time for you to go now," June said firmly. The older man rose unsteadily to his feet and walked towards the door.

"Alright, alright, what's so all-fire important that it's got you so worked up?" Jim asked as he made his way past the two women, seemingly not noticing their embrace.

June considered the question, looked at Sarah, then back at Jim.

"My girlfriend is back from overseas and wants to fuck the hell out of me," June answered.

Jim grabbed his hat and coat from the rack before opening the heavy door into the cool night air.

"Well, as reasons go..." Jim said with a bit of a twinkle before quickly and silently disappearing into the night.

As they watched him leave, Sarah wrapped her arms around June's waist, kissing her neck softly from behind.

"Now you, missy, have about thirty seconds to get that gorgeous ass of yours upstairs," Sarah said as she placed a kiss just below June's ear and began groping the soft body that had been on her mind for far too long.

"Mmmm," June moaned as she felt Sarah's hands on her breasts. "Is that an order?"

"It is," Sarah confirmed.

"And if I don't comply, I assume I get punished severely?" June asked breathlessly.

"You do," Sarah said, biting her ear gently. Her words hung in the air several seconds without any movement from June. "Well?"

"I'm thinking. I'm thinking."

And with that, Sarah leaned down and threw June over her shoulder, lifting her easily, and made her way to the small staircase to their apartment amid June's delighted shrieks of laughter.