A Wedding and a Funeral Pt. 02

Sandra has been introduced to her colleague Annalisa and was her bridesmaid and has also met Annalisa's ex-girlfriend, Saoirse. In this part she explores her sexual orientation. NB* Author's note, in this part I make reference to Robyn's story in Women Who Talk as published on Literotica. The final extended version of that story was much longer and had Robyn experimenting with four women before she got together with Penny instead of just two, just to update people who've read Women Who Talk.

I've reread what I wrote last night and there are a couple of things I need to elaborate on because it was kind of brushed over. The first thing was my feelings for Emma. We'd teamed up together at Tafe and I kind of mentioned that I felt something, but what I didn't mention was that whenever she got changed in front of me I always felt embarrassed. At the time, I'd thought it was because of my Christian past but considering mum was now an atheist, and the church I went to was more into the social justice side than bible thumping, it doesn't make sense. It felt almost as if I was perving at her when she got changed, Emma didn't appear to notice my embarrassment.

The second thing concerns my total lack of boyfriends right through high school and into Tafe, I'd had guys I dated, but they were just friends, they got a goodnight kiss, but it was a brief peck on the cheek. As soon as a guy tried to take it further I always said I wasn't interested, it soon gave me the reputation of being either frigid or shy. Nathan was the first guy I'd kissed properly, to look back, I was very naive when it came to sex, but I wouldn't say I was frigid. I'd simply been a very serious young woman who dearly wanted to launch my working career. A sex life was on the agenda, but it played second fiddle to the above-mentioned.

Another thing I completely forgot to mention was that when Saoirse dropped me off at home, she suggested we see each other again the following weekend.

"It's been a pleasant few hours," she squinted through the windscreen, "not sure if we'll get time to see each other before Christmas, but if you get time," she flicked at her hair.

"Sure, okay. I'd love to, I'm still getting my head around Robyn's offer."

"You'll manage, I'm sure, but no one deserves it more than you."

"And this doesn't cause any drama between you and Ling?"

"I should think not," she smiled crookedly, "it's a complicated situation anyway, besides, she'll be busy with her family in the lead up to Christmas."

So, with that said, let me continue with the story.

That second week was a little busier because Josef had his own cases to work on as well as hers, my job consisted of ringing her clients or forwarding emails to Josef and waiting for him to deal with them. But, I'd get another call from a client saying he hadn't heard back yet, and thus I ended up going to Nicola, one of the senior partners. She went through the backlog of work and called Josef in but ordered me back to work. I could hear her yelling at him from the other side of the building. I'd hate to get on her bad side.

Of course as well as that, there was Christmas shopping. I'd go out shopping after work but didn't buy much that week, I just wanted to get ideas first. Someone tried to recruit me into taking part in the carols by candlelight service, it's an Australian tradition. I however didn't feel like standing on a stage in the middle of Croydon Park performing. Fortunately, there were a few volunteers desperate to take my place. It was the first time in three years when I hadn't been on stage, even mum was surprised.

"I'm too busy this year, mum."

That Wednesday night, Annalisa called me from Rome.

"I hear you spoke to Nicola."

"I did, I've been struggling with the workload, Josef was supposed to be helping, but it was all left up to me."

"I'm so sorry about all that, it'll all change tomorrow, she'll get Roberta to help you out."

"Thank you, Josef was okay the first week, but he got too busy," I replied, "I could hear her yelling at him from my desk."

"I can imagine," she chuckled, "she don't take prisoners, but he knows the score. If he'd needed to handball the work to other lawyers he could've done it."

"How's Rome?" I changed the subject.

"It's nice but hot, we're in Venice at the moment, and we leave in a few hours for Rome and then we're onto Hamburg, Rachel's grandfather was stationed there after the war."

"So, you'll be home for Christmas then?"

"Yeah, absolutely, we're due back on the twenty second, but hopefully the jet lag has worn off by the time Christmas day comes around."

"Have you done any preparations yet?"

"We did a deal with Rachel's family, they'll set up the tree if we bring presents from overseas," she paused, "what do you want?"

"Um, whatever, a hat, a tee shirt, but don't waste much money on me."

We talked for a bit longer and then farewelled each other. Saoirse called me half an hour later as I was sitting watching television with mum and Stan.

"What're you doing this weekend? I've got a function to go to on Saturday night, and I'm kind of busy on Sunday, but I'm free on Saturday during the day, although I've got to catch up on some of the housework."

"Oh, okay," I nudged my glasses.

"We can cancel it, or I can drop in on you for a couple of hours if that'd suit you. I don't work on the weekends normally, but I have to go up to Robyn's to pick up the clothes I ordered on Sunday and then I've got to pull my finger out and go Christmas shopping."

"Sure, come around to my place then," she replied, "I'll text you the address."

We arranged it for lunchtime and chatted for a bit about work, she'd been quite busy with a probate case that had grown arms and legs now that a second will had been uncovered.

"It's all very bizarre, it's like something out of a Miss Marple mystery. One of the claimants is the former live in partner slash maid who's fighting the ex wife and her kids."

"Sounds complicated."

"It is, I've had to contact the police to ascertain there wasn't anything suspicious, the coroner hasn't issued a finding yet so it's going to take another six weeks before the hearing and if it doesn't go the way the ex wife wants she might try and appeal."

That conversation caused me to go and read up on probate law and kept me occupied for the rest of the night. I had no real interest in probate law and a lot of it went over my head but I had this desire to know a little bit more about her world.

On Friday I was at Tafe, and Emma dropped in to see me after work. She'd just started work at a Thai restaurant out in Ringwood North, and looked very dapper in her uniform. She had to wear a white blouse, black skirt, black waistcoat and a black tie.

"It's okay money, but I get a free meal every night so mum is rapt that she doesn't have to cook a meal for me as well."

"I might have to check it out sometime."

"Yeah," she undid the tie, "what're you up to on the weekend?"

"I'm going to see Saoirse for lunch on Saturday, and probably church on Sunday, why?"

"Do you fancy coming over on Sunday arvo? I'm not working on Sunday, they won't let us work all weekend."

"Not possible," I replied, "I've got to focus on Christmas shopping this weekend, I haven't started yet, but we can go for a coffee sometime next week as long as it doesn't make Roxy jealous."

"Roxy? I don't even know if she's interested. Sometimes I think she might be, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking," she plucked at the sleeve of my blouse.

"I haven't seen this before, where'd you get it?"

I looked down at the tan-coloured blouse. Because I was Robyn's model, I wore her creations to work and whenever I went out. The bodice and sleeves were silk, but the placket and cuffs were a darker shade of satin, the collar was fastened with two buttons. Two box pleats added to the degree of sophistication. Today, I'd matched it with a pair of fawn-coloured trousers with a side zip, and hook and eye fastening. Several women had commented on my outfits and I dutifully passed on the web address, it seemed as if my new role was starting to bring in customers, so I was feeling quite pleased with myself!

"Ah, that one's handmade," I grinned, "my dressmaker made it."

"Your dressmaker? Since when did you have a dressmaker?"

"A few weeks ago, this one cost," I frowned, "seventy dollars."

"Looks more expensive than seventy," she felt the wide placket, "very chic. What other things does she make?"

"Pants," I tugged at my trousers, "she made them too."

"Ooh," her eyes fell, "fancy pants, I love those side fastening pants, you're hot to trot, babe."

"Thanks," my eyes shifted as she undid her top button, "um, can I ask you a favour?"

"Sure, what?"

"I've got to house sit my boss's place from Christmas Eve until New Years Day, she's flying up to Queensland to be with her parents."

"Okay, and?"

"My car's starting to play up and she's all the way out in Warbie. Mum can take me to work on the twenty fourth, but she'll be hungover on the twenty sixth. I can get there okay, don't worry but it's getting back that's worrying me."

"Sure, okay," I shrugged.

"You mean, you'll do it?"

"Yeah, I'll pick you up on Boxing Day and take you back home again, I can drop you at home a few days between then and New Years Day."

"Thanks, it wouldn't be every day, mum can do it a couple of days that week but I was trying not to put it all on her, if you know what I mean."

"Of course, just pitch in a bit of money for petrol and we'll call it even."

"Don't worry," she squeezed my arm, "I'll fill your tank and give you restaurant vouchers."

She stayed long enough for a cup of coffee and we pencilled in a time for Friday afternoon to have a coffee. I also showed her the other clothes Robyn and her people had made. It felt as if we were in college again but with a difference. I could privately confirm that I was attracted to her, and I'd already admitted to her that I was attracted to women, but so far neither of us had said anything to each other. And yet it was there, a kind of inevitability about it. When she gave me a farewell hug at the door, it lasted for a bit longer than usual, leaving me with the feeling that things were about to change.

All it would take was for one of us to make a move and the other would reciprocate, but who would move first?

***

"It's hard to say to be honest," Saoirse mused as we sat in the living room of her cosy home, "I've been that way with lots of women and most of the time nothing happened."

"Why not?" I fixed my eyes on a framed picture of Kakadu.

"A lot of it came down to me," she lowered her coffee cup, "one of my character defects is what I call the law of consequences. I look too far in the future and decide it's not worth going on. I'm not a spontaneous woman, everything is measured and precise," she looked past me.

"I mean, with Ling, I'm the one in control. She'll never leave her husband, she comes here twice a month or so, we have sex and she leaves. There aren't any great expectations, it's just a good fuck and that's as far as it goes," she looked past me.

"It's cool," I replied, "but tell me about this women's meeting."

She told me more about the meeting and the group members. The founding member was Nicole, who had been one of Penny's clients years ago. She was living with Tillie, who'd once worked at her shop in Mountain Gate. Nicole's best friend, Zara also went to regular meetings along with her partner, Tracey. They were the core members, but Saoirse also mentioned other women, Rebecca, Jodie, Jennifer, Charlene, and Debbie.

"About half of us are gay, the rest are straight or bisexual," she shifted in her seat.

"Have you thought about any of the women at this group?"

"For sure, Beckie is ultra cute and so is Jodie, but I find myself drawing back from them."

She wasn't about to elaborate, and I didn't want to push the issue but it sounded mysterious, and it just made her all the more attractive, and it also felt familiar.

"When it comes to you and your friend, if the opportunity does arise then don't be afraid to take it, in spite of what I've just said. Sometimes you have to take a chance, and at some point I might even take my own advice," she smiled crookedly.

Oddly enough, Robyn had the same advice a couple of hours later as she handed me the clothes that I'd ordered the previous weekend.

"It'll happen in a place and time you least expect, and with someone who's not on your radar, so to speak. One moment you'll be kissing and the next you'll be getting naked. The biggest mistake we make is trying to micromanage our love life, I had all kinds of fantastic fantasies about my very first time in bed," she grinned.

"But I was always very spontaneous. I get it from my dad, he was the same, he still is but he's a lot older now and his idea of spontaneity is a meal with his wife."

"So, what do you think of Saoirse?"

"What do you mean? I like her."

I related part of the conversation we'd just had, and she looked thoughtful.

"It's not something I'd do, having an affair gets complicated but it's not unusual, but she sounds as if she's using Ling as a barrier against other women. If Ling decided to leave her husband she might just drop her like a hot brick. You'll probably find she's fallen heavily for a woman in the past and it hasn't worked out," she leaned on her palm.

"Penny was the same when I met her, she'd been hurt by a woman but she went the other way and just shut down completely."

"So, how did you and her get together?"

"Oh, that was a saga," she grinned. "I was the ultimate virgin, a Christian, but I was also curious because of my nanna, she'd been a closet lesbian for years. Penny offered to give me theory lessons in sex, but all the time I was lusting after her."

"How did it happen?" I looked up from her laptop.

"It was," she smirked, "let's just say it was a series of encounters with three different women, none of which ended in actual sex but each time I went further. Finally after Helen tried to seduce me and failed I gave Penny the option, take me back to your place because I'm as horny as hell. She did and the rest is history."

"Uh huh," I glanced up briefly.

"So, what're you going to choose next?"

"Um, yeah, it's that time again."

I stared at the laptop and then at the small pile of clothes on the cutting table, I'd ordered seven days ago, it was amazing that she'd managed to finish them all in such a short space of time but she had a small staff of full and part-time employees. I'd ordered two double-breasted silk blouses in white and red, a purple silk pussybow blouse, a royal blue satin pussybow blouse, a cream satin tie blouse, a white blouse with a princess collar and placket, and a red dress that stopped a few inches above my knees.

"Suits perhaps?" Robyn suggested.

"Suits," I looked down at the laptop, "yeah, suits. This feels so weird, just ordering stuff without paying for it."

"You're certainly bringing in more customers," she sat on the table, "your mum put in two orders, so did Roberta and Georgie, and I've just had one from Nicola."

"Nicola McKay?"

"Yeah, one of your colleagues?"

"She's a senior partner, second only to Michael. I didn't think she'd noticed me that much."

"She noticed something, she's just ordered four trouser suits and expressed her interest in one of my pricing plans, she's due up here later to get measured."

"At least I'm bringing in customers," I teased a lock of hair over my ear.

"You certainly are, but as I said before, don't feel like you're under pressure. Women automatically compliment each other, it's in our DNA, and in your case it's a good way to gauge their reaction to being touched by other women."

"Good to know," I smirked.

I ordered two, three-piece suits in black and dark blue, a white skirt suit, a black pinafore dress, a third double-breasted blouse with blue and white stripes, two three-quarter length dresses in black and white, a grey shift dress for work, and a pink ruffled blouse with side collar buttons. I also got a chic Oriental-themed blouse with a dozen or so buttons inside button loops instead of buttonholes.

"That's very popular," Robyn walked over to a wardrobe reserved for customer orders, "we've just made three in the last week," she took out a white blouse.

"This is for Roberta," she laid it on the table, "she'll pick it up today."

"It's beautiful," I felt it, "love the fastenings."

"Done, standard collar or mandarin?"

"Mandarin, of course."

"Okay, that'll keep me going. They won't be ready until after Christmas, I'll text you when they're ready to pick up."

***

Christmas shopping hadn't been one of my favourite pursuits for the last few years, because I was a student on limited funds, but this year I had a job and savings. However, Eastland Shopping centre is somewhat daunting. Mum once showed me pictures of her and her mother back in the eighties at the shopping centre, it'd just gone through yet another expansion. It just keeps expanding every few years. You can get lost in it, one time when I was eighteen, I'd just gotten my driving licence and I came out to the carpark but couldn't find my car. So, I went over to the police station to report it. A detective volunteered to drive me back to look for it, and you can imagine my embarrassment when he went up another level and I suddenly saw my car sitting there.

"Oh, shit," I blushed, "that's it."

"Don't worry about it, it happens a lot more than you think," he stopped behind my car, "that's why we take people for a drive first. Just make a mental note of the level when you get to the escalators in future."

It was simple but good advice, I've never lost my car since!

As I've already mentioned, I had money to burn this year and I was so busy that I didn't hear the very familiar voice until she said my name again.

"Elizabeth," I nudged my glasses, "wow, it's been so many years."

"Four and a half years or thereabouts."

"I know," I glanced at the woman standing beside her, she had short pink hair, tattoos and a ring through her nose. Elizabeth, my former babysitter on the other hand had long blonde hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a white blouse and jeans.

"This is my girlfriend, Shona, and this elegant young woman is Sandra, I used to be her babysitter for a couple of years. You're looking fabulous, where'd you buy this," she touched my blouse.

"This thing?" I glanced down at the red satin, pussybow blouse with an elaborate pattern of gold chains over the red background, "Robyn made it."

"Who's Robyn?"

"My dressmaker," I replied.

"You're kidding me?" Elizabeth's eyes fell, "wow, you must be making serious money."

"I'm a legal secretary, but they're quite cheap, I took out a plan."

That necessitated another explanation about Robyn's plans, we continued the conversation at a café in the food court where they could browse the website.

"We must catch up again soon," she eventually said, "I'm living in Croydon North now."

"With Shona," she added as she squeezed her leg.

"Sure, I'd love to come over. I've been questioning my orientation lately."

"Huh?" Elizabeth's eyes widened, "well, that's not so surprising, but what does your dad think?"

"Dad doesn't know yet," I looked past her, "mum and Stan know but dad's another matter."

"You'll be fine," she patted my hand, "well, I hate to love you and leave you, but we've got to keep on shopping."

We exchanged phone numbers and I stared blankly ahead as they walked away, dad and I hadn't seen much of each other in the last few months. I felt mildly guilty about it and that made it worse, I should've felt worse but I didn't. Elizabeth's casual remark however had reminded me that if I came out to him there would be a major fallout.