Amor Fabula Ep. 04

Their eyes met, as a quiet tear leaked from Cheah's eye. It had been many years since May had shed a tear like that, over parents that had abandoned her. Nowadays, she only cried when she lost a match, or when she didn't perform up to the high standards that were set out for her. May didn't even cry when she got hurt during training. She let go of Cheah's chin to wipe that tear away, as that big drop was making its way down her cheek.

"You're too soft." May criticized the other girl.

"Nobody loves me." Cheah replied.

Those words were a shock to May. They were words she didn't want to hear, because they were true for her as well. She hated Cheah, because Cheah was just like her. At the same time, Cheah was in a school of fighting and she refused to fight. What does one do when there are no options left but one, except to excel at the last remaining option? How can any person just give on all of life?

May used both hands to wipe the tears away from the other girl's face. She wished no more tears would appear, because they were bothering her now. They were making her remember how she'd felt years ago, when she realized her parents no longer cared about her. She didn't want to feel that way again.

"You must stop crying." May said, her voice not quite as hard as before.

Cheah came forward to lean on her, as if May were a warm thing for her to lean against. The tougher girl reacted too slowly in starting to push Cheah away from her. By the time May had her hands on Cheah's arms, Cheah was already embracing her. Nobody ever hugged May. Nobody had hugged May in years.

There were boys at the fighting school, but they were over on the opposite end. Only when the classes were on their way to and from the cafeteria did the girls even get to see the boys. It had been that way for years, where the boys and girls would pass one another briefly, while looking at each other strangely as if they were from different planets. In May's bunkroom, she caught two of her subordinates kissing one time with their eyes closed. When May asked them why they did that, the girls said they were pretending to kiss boys.

Nobody would hug May, and no girl would kiss May while pretending she was a boy, because she had become too cold and harsh for that. Once, May even thought of ordering one of the other girls to kiss her. She didn't do it because she would have been thoroughly humiliated if the other girls refused. She'd never been kissed on the lips by anyone. The last time she'd been hugged she'd been only eight years old.

"Cheah, do you know that game where the girls kiss each other, while pretending they are boys?" May asked. "If you kiss me, I promise you that I won't hit you."

"You'll tell the instructors and then I'll be in trouble again."

Cheah was refusing her! If this were to become known, that a bent twig such as Cheah had done this, the girls would be talking behind May's back. They would whisper their poisonous rumors to one another, and May would become the butt of their jokes.

"Close your eyes, and let me kiss you then." May decided.

"You'll still blame me. You hate me, just like all the others."

"Why are you hugging me then?"

"Because then you won't hit me. If I let you go, you're going to hit me. I know how you are."

May pushed Cheah back against the wall, pressing and pinning Cheah with her body. She used both of her hands to keep Cheah's face still. The timid girl cringed away, as if May might strike her in the face.

"Cheah, close your eyes and pretend I'm a boy." May directed her.

"Are you going to tell on me?"

"If you don't do as I say, I will tell on you." May threatened.

"Don't hit me when I shut my eyes. If you do that, you're evil."

Cheah did shut her eyes, although she was clearly nervous. May considered the girl's face, observing how soft and pretty it looked. Cheah's features were graceful and curved, while May and the other girls had faces that looked as if chisels had been used to carve them.

May brought her head closer, until their lips touched. There was a taste of saltiness there from Cheah's tears. May pulled away, long enough to lick the taste off her lips, before she came in for a second kiss. She wondered if a boy's lips would feel that soft. Cheah's mouth began moving against hers, and it was unlike anything May had ever felt before. She knew that away from the school, in the outside world, boys and girls their age were kissing and touching one another. They went on dates and chose the clothes they wore. They had no instructors watching over them or yelling at them when they did something wrong.

Cheah's lips were warm and moist, and enticing despite being a little salty. May found that she enjoyed kissing them. She thought of running her hand up a boy's arm and caressing his chest. Some of the girls talked about doing this, when the lights were put out and they were supposed to go to sleep. May listened to their conversations, but they never talked to her about it because she was so harsh with all of them. There were things she wanted to talk about too, if anyone bothered to ask her.

She ran her hand up Cheah's arm, finding it as soft as the rest of her. Then her hand went over Cheah's breast, causing the captive girl to shudder heavily into May's face. Cheah's breasts were the size of peaches, while May's were much smaller.

"You said you were only going to kiss me." Cheah spoke in a small voice.

May slowly took her hand away from the other girl's chest. She wondered why she'd put her hand there in the first place. Certainly, she wasn't pretending that Cheah was a boy, as boys didn't have breasts the size of peaches.

A quick knock and furtive noise were heard outside. "May, the teachers are calling us out for dinner."

"We'll be out right away." May called out, finally putting some space between the two of them. She looked at Cheah. "If you do what I say, I'll tell the girls not to hit you any more and not to take away your food. I want you to train as hard as the rest of us."

"I'm not as good at fighting as you are."

"No, but you do have to be proficient enough to pass your classes." May said. "I'm going to help you. We'll help each other. The school will see me as an exemplary captain, and they will see that you are finally putting some effort into your training."

"I enjoyed kissing you." Cheah said. "Even if you are not a boy."

Things within May's body responded to those words, although the girl didn't right away understand why. She had set her hand on Cheah's breast, and now she wanted to touch it again. She imagined touching the rest of Cheah's body; which she'd seen nude frequently enough in the washroom. The girl's skin was paler and her body was curvier than most of the other girls.

"You're very soft." May admitted. It was the closest she could come to giving Cheah a compliment.

"Why do I feel as if I've known you for all of my life?" Cheah asked.

"I don't know." May replied. "We should go now, or we'll be late."

Cheah made to follow May out, as May considered those last few words. Now that she had relaxed a little, she too felt as if she'd known Cheah her entire life.

Red Rooster Gentleman's Club, Occupied Paris, France, 1940s:

Along with many other officers, German Lieutenant Hans Bremmler had come to the cabaret to see the French performer Maria. There was a bet going among the men, over who would bed the starlet first. From many mouths, Hans had heard of the woman's beauty and of her great talent at singing. He had to see Maria with his own eyes, to see if the stories were true or not. Hans took his seat in the audience, where many other German military men sat with their French girlfriends, but the majority of the men were alone and had come to see Maria. Their ranks were indistinguishable, as they all wore the typical, unimaginative tuxedos of black coats and white shirts.

Upon witnessing the woman walking onto the stage to begin her show, and like many other officers before him, Hans fell in love with her. She was a tall and voluptuous beauty, with auburn hair and large breasts. Her thick hips swung this way and that as she sang, with her red, sparkling dress clinging tight to her body. The officers around Hans all had wives back in Germany. If they bedded Maria, she would only be a sexual trophy for them to boast of. This would not be the same for Hans. He was married, of course, at the orders of his Fuehrer, but he did not truly love the woman that had been selected to become his wife. Instead, Hans felt a sort of deeper kinship with this woman whom he'd just set his eyes on only seconds before.

After the show was over, the hopefuls went to the back of the stage to crowd around Maria. They brought flowers and bottles of wine for her, or expensive pieces of jewelry, hoping to woo her with their gifts. The officers would not let the woman walk past them, until she chose a man to go with her into the dressing room. Maria would select a man, an officer of the German army. That man would go into the back with her, but after only a few minutes Maria would reject him and send him out. She never approved of any of them and she never accepted their gifts.

Hans did not know how this all started, but it was a great game with the officers. They would wait with high anticipation for one of their number to be chosen. It mattered not who went with Maria, as long as it was one of them. They would entertain fancy thoughts in their heads, of how they would act and what they would say to her, of how they would attempt to ply the woman's legs apart. Those who were chosen and rejected were seen at a higher standing that those who were never chosen at all. This chosen man went into the backroom with Maria, the officers would brag about the next day. He saw Maria undressing, and he spoke with her, and for a few minutes he was alone with her.

Hans had no gift, for this was his first time in watching Maria perform. He had nothing material to give her, and yet here he was, a Lieutenant in a huddle with Majors and Captains, and other Lieutenants like him. He wanted a glimpse of Maria from only a meter or two away. As with the others, he would not be satisfied with seeing her only from a random seat in the audience, along with so many other pairs of wanting eyes.

When Maria came, the officers at first parted a path for her, lapsing into silence as she strode through their eager number. Once she was in their midst, the military men surrounded her. They grinned and smiled, holding their gifts out toward her in the hopes of catching the woman's eye. She paused, her face showing impatience and a wish to reach her dressing room quickly. Maria set her hands on her hips and turned in order to scrutinize the lot of drooling men around her.

From the spot where he stood, Hans could see the magnificence of her body, with her handsome jaw and her large breasts partially exposed by the low cut of her dress. Maria lifted her arm and pointed, and incredibly, she was pointing at him.

"You there." She said, in her voice that was strong and carried well, thanks to her gifts as a singer. "I haven't seen you here before. Lead the way for me."

She had chosen him, Hans realized. This woman whom he had only seen for the first time tonight, and yet here he was as smitten with love as anyone else around him. Hans felt the eyes of his fellow officers on him as he stepped forward. Already, he could see that some eyes were resentful of him, while some were hopeful that he would have a good story to tell when he returned from Maria's dressing room. He hoped they would not call him a peacock the following day, as some of the more boastful men were called. Maria had chosen these men in the past and they had walked before her with haughty expressions on their faces. The others had taken to calling them peacocks, braggarts, as if they were privy and could get farther than any other officer had before them.

In a dignified manner, Hans strode ahead of the beauty, listening to the rumors starting up of who he was and what his rank was. These men would marvel or seethe once Hans was out of sight. For now, they merely whispered, but whether they whispered of roses or thorns he did not know.

The men moved aside, making it easy for Hans to know which direction to walk in. He found the right door and opened it, standing straight and tall as Maria walked through, as if she were a dignitary of some sort. She was only a cabaret girl, after all. He went in after her, shutting the door and creating a tiny, isolated world for them, with dark walls, mirrors with big round lights on them, and a number of lavish outfits on racks.

The first thing Maria did was to go to the mirror and lean toward it, to check her hair and make-up. In her thick voice, she asked, "What is your name, German?"

"Hans, Hans Bremmler."

"I've never seen you here before."

"Tonight is the first time I've come. I wanted to see if it was true, that you are the most beautiful woman in Paris and that you have the voice of an angel."

"And now that you have seen me, how do I compare to the myth of myself?"

"You are very talented, and also very beautiful."

Her stare turned icy, as if she had heard those very same words countless times before. "Listen to me, Hans Bremmler. My country may have been conquered by yours, but do not think that I will swoon to your rule. I will not spread my thighs like the other French women are doing for you Germans. My lands are conquered, but I am not. I choose what man I will dine with, instead of having a man choose me. The other men, they try to purchase me with gifts, as if I am an expensive perfume at a store that they can put upon their necks, so that other men can smell them."

Hans watched as the woman reached behind her to loosen up her dress. Surely, other Germans that had been backstage with Maria had rushed over to assist her, if only to have their bodies closer to hers. Hans simply watched, not moving at all from where he stood.

This was not lost on Maria. "Where are your gifts, Hans Bremmler, that you wish to buy me with?"

The man's first impression was to admit the truth, that it was his first time to the cabaret and he had brought no gift with him. Hans kept his mouth closed, however, as he thought of what he might offer to the starlet that richer, more powerful men than he had not offered before.

"Do you have a lover?" He asked.

"No, I do not." Maria revealed, as she shimmied out of her dress. Her breasts had large and dark areola on them, and were very well rounded. Her thighs were thick and creamy. "I did have one before you Germans scared the man away. Perhaps his life was threatened by one of your jealous army men."

"Do you have a knife?"

Upon hearing this, Maria cast him a suspicious glance. This worry was only short-lived, however, as she glanced toward the drawers of her dresser. "In the first drawer. I keep one there ever since a man tried to rape me in this room."

"A German?" Hans wondered, as he started to the dresser.

"No, it was a Frenchman. There are monsters among my people as well."

Hans pulled the drawer open, spotting the knife right away as it was on top of everything else. As Maria selected an evening gown and put it on, Hans used the knife to cut a few locks of his hair off. He set them on the dresser.

"There is my gift to you." He said. "It isn't very expensive, and it isn't flashy at all, but know that it comes from my heart. In addition, I will sing for you, if given a chance to. I am not as talented as you are, of course, and you may hate me once you hear my voice." He allowed a grin to appear on his mouth. "But I will do what I can. You sing for others, hundreds of others even tonight. How many men have ever sung for you?"

Maria walked over to the dresser, wearing another red dress, one that was as dark as blood. It clung to her body as closely as the dress she'd performed in. She studied what Hans had left on her dresser. "You've given me your hair?"

"I have." The German replied. He noticed he'd left the knife beside his locks, and took a moment to return it to its drawer. "I suppose it would be a good time for me to leave now. I'm sure you have an engagement to get to, seeing as how you've dressed up so prettily. It was a pleasure to meet you, Maria."

The Lieutenant started toward the door. He got as far as reaching for the knob, when Maria spoke to halt him.

"Wait, Hans Bremmler." She said.

He turned, watching as she pulled an envelope out of her dresser. Into this envelope, she scooped his hair. After this, Maria found a pencil and began scribbling on it.

"No one has ever given me hair before." Maria laughed, before she straightened up to face him. "I've put your name on the envelope, to remind myself that the hair has come from you. Do you know that the other Germans will pester me once I leave this room? They will follow me all the way to the front of the cabaret, and hound me as I hail a taxi. I would like it, Hans Bremmler, if you could walk out to the street with me."

"Of course." Hans nodded his head. "I would be delighted to."

"I would also like it if I didn't have to dine alone tonight." She added.

Hans looked into the woman's eyes, and in his heart he felt that he had loved her in other lives as well.

"I would like that also, very much." He said.

"Mindy, that was amazing!" Bethany squealed out in delight. "I was Cheah and I was Maria. I was looking through their eyes and I was feeling everything they were feeling!"

The two teenage girls were lying on a bed of pure white in a white room. Everything was pure white and perfect, from the covers to the walls to the white light coming in from the floor to ceiling windows.

Bethany glanced around the room, as if she were only now becoming aware of it. "We're going to get snow blindness or something, if we keep looking at all this white all around us."

"We're not in the regular physical dimension, bitch." Mindy said, in her usual sassy tone. "Our eyes won't have a problem here."

The beautiful redhead glanced down at her long and lovely body, observing that she was fully naked. This made her feel more than a little frisky. "Mindy... Mindy...." She started, but she had so much swirling around in her head that she didn't know where to go from there. Mindy was also naked, lying right next to her. She shoved Mindy back by the shoulder. "I was really scared of you when I was Cheah! You used to beat me up!"

"That was only one lifetime." Mindy reminded her. "In the lifetime before that one, you were in control while I was the suck-up German guy. We take turns like that, one life after another."

"And who's in charge in this lifetime?" Bethany wiggled her head.

"You own me this time." Mindy giggled. "But I own your ass. That's the best part of you!"

Bethany jumped on top of the smaller blonde. A sensual wrestling match erupted, with a lot of giggles and pinches and rolling around. Because both teens were very competitive, this wrestling lasted longer than it would have with most people. At the end of it, they were both so turned on they kept making bedroom eyes at one another, with Bethany's long body sprawled over Mindy's.

The crimson-haired girl looked around. "What is this place, anyway?"

"It isn't a dream exactly, but it kind of is like that." Mindy explained. "Sometimes people need a location away from Time and Space to talk things out. This is a separate location, so you are not currently in New York and I am not at our apartment wishing you were in my arms."

"How long do we have here? When does our quarter run out?"

"We can stay here as long as we want to."

"Really?" Bethany flirted. "Mindy, you know I can't bring myself to say this in the real world, but I love you so much!"

The redhead lowered her head and planted her lips on Mindy's. The blonde shivered and ran her hands along her lover's ribs.