Bridesmaids

"To help people."

To my surprise, she nodded. "That's what I thought."

For a half-dozen seconds or more she just stared, as if she expected me to add something, but my mind was a blank. "What about you?" I asked. "Why a dentist?"

"I love the sound of the drill."

I inhaled a crisp gasp. "You do?!"

For the second time in as many minutes, Kayla laughed through a smile. "Of course not. I hate that sound, just like everyone else."

I smiled back, more at my own gullibility than her jest. "Why then?"

"It's a long story."

"How long can it be?"

"Not that long. I just didn't wanna bore you."

I smiled. "You don't."

"Ok," she began. "Same as you- I wanted to help people. Or animals. When I was younger, I wanted to be a vet, but then, when I was a teenager my dog and cat got old. I'd had them longer than I could remember. Then we took them each to the vet and they didn't come back. That was the end of me wanting to be a vet."

I nodded. "That would have done it for me too."

"But I still loved animals," Kayla said. "So I majored in biology, even though my dad said there was no money in it. Maybe that's the biggest reason I did it, because he didn't want me to, but he was right, there's no money in it." She paused for a grin and a wink. "And I like money."

I couldn't help but return her smile as she continued, "Anyway, I was a bit more mature at twenty-two than I had been at eighteen, so I looked a bit more seriously at health care. But being a doctor would have taken another decade and a nurse, well, that never appealed to me.

"Then, one day, I was at the dentist, lying in that chair, holding my breath, my ankles crossed, my fingers clawing the handgrips- and it dawned on me." She paused for a breath, glancing up and away for a second before looking back to me. "Why does it have to be so unpleasant? I mean, how many dentists can you say you actually liked?"

I smiled at once. "One."

Again her head leaned toward her shoulder. "One?"

"You."

The biggest smile yet spread across her face. "I meant as a patient."

"Ok. None."

"Exactly," Kayla began. "Me neither. That's when I decided I would be the dentist everyone likes. Doesn't hurt I'm good with my hands. Always have been. I like painting, and playing the guitar. I make it more fun and less pain. Ok, at least more fun so they don't notice the pain. And for that, they pay me. Pisses all the older dentists off that I have better clientele."

"Better?" I queried.

Kayla smiled. "Richer."

My lips pressed together, I nodded, then swallowed. I knew she wasn't flaunting her wealth, but I could not help but rue the contrast between her financial situation and mine.

"You had that same look last night."

"Excuse me?" I said with a shake of my head.

"That sad look. You wore it most of the night, poupée. Why?"

"I cried?"

She smiled. "Well, not at first, but later you did. A lot."

My shoulders sagged as I released a long breath. "I don't want to go home."

"Is it someone?"

"No." I shook my head. "More like no one. Nothing either. Just a tiny apartment and a ton of bills."

"Money troubles?"

"Job troubles."

"I thought you liked being a waitress?"

I nodded. "I did, but my boss wouldn't give me the weekend off, so I quit."

Kayla's eyes widened. "You just quit? To go to a wedding?"

"I told Melissa I'd be here." I paused to shrug. "I may not be much, but I keep my promises."

Across the table, Kayla's head moved in a slow, deliberate shake. "You're wrong."

"I do keep my promises!" I insisted.

Kayla's smiled. "That's not what you're wrong about."

"What then?"

"You're wrong about not being much."

I opened my mouth to ask for an explanation, but the waitress arrived instead. "Who had the flounder?"

I looked up and raised two fingers of my right hand. "Here."

The girl placed one dish before me and turned to my companion. "I guess that means you had the shrimp?"

Kayla smirked. "Yeah, guess so." Her eyes followed the departing waitress for several seconds before she turned her attention back to me. "You lied to me." Her gaze did not waver in the few seconds it took me to finish chewing and swallow my first bite.

"When?" I asked.

"When you said you had to be back Monday for work."

I tongued my lips once and swallowed again, this time sans fish. "I guess I did."

Kayla leaned until her chin was over her plate. Her eyes bored into mine. "Don't do it again."

My tongue still teased my lips, but neither could muster a single word. With a gulp, I nodded.

Kayla sat upright and smiled. "How's the flounder?"

My nod became brisk. "Fine."

"Last time I had flounder was on the beach during a jubilee."

My lower lip departed from my upper one. "You've been to a jubilee?"

Kayla laughed through a smile. "Yes."

"You've lived in Mobile?"

"No. I was just visiting."

For the second time within a minute, my jaw succumbed to gravity. "I've lived in Mobile most of my life and never been to one!"

My companion shrugged. "Just lucky, I guess."

"I guess," I agreed with a sigh. "Seems like you've done so much."

"Yeah, but there are a few things I haven't done that I'd like to."

"Like what?"

Kayla smiled. "Like finish this food so we can get our dresses on time- we don't want to give that clerk an aneurysm by being late two days in a row."

* * *

Three hours later, I was in my dress, following Kayla up the aisle. As ceremonies go, Melissa's was mercifully brief. The reception afterward followed the traditional pattern.

The groomsman with whom I was paired turned out to be an excellent dancer. He was good-looking too, and polite. Of course, he was also married. Any good ones that aren't sure hide well. After the customary dances, he proved my suspicion regarding his virtue by abandoning me as a partner in favor of his wife. I returned to my place at the long table, hoping another gentleman might come and ask for my hand upon the dance floor, but none did.

My attention lingered on Kayla and her handsome opposite in the bridal party as they spun across the dance floor as a couple. I looked away several times, but my eyes wandered back on each occasion. After one dance, I noticed my lips had formed a pout. After another dance, I admitted I was jealous. It was not until after the third dance that the revelation struck me- that I was jealous of him, not her.

A half-hour later, the dance floor had emptied and the DJ picked up the pace a bit. I noticed a group of other young ladies approach the floor. With a smile, I decided if they could dance without partners, so could I. In my naiveté I walked onto the floor and began moving to the beat.

Within seconds, I discovered my folly- the girls did have partners- each other. They proceeded to bump, grind, spoon, and even mock spank one another. I bounced on the perimeter praying for the song to end sooner rather than later- and that I might go unnoticed.

Neither prayer was answered. A smiling twentyish brunette with a boy's haircut whirled, grabbed my hand, and prepared to rub her body against mine. With a tilt of her head, she released my fingers. "I don't know you, do I?"

"No," I said, pausing for a swallow. "So please don't do that to me."

Her smile vanished. For a long moment we just stared, each, I suspect, trying to evaluate what the other felt. If her appraisal was more successful than mine, she understood the cowardice within me.

"I'm Delia," she said at last. The corners of her mouth crept upward. "Now you know me."

I swallowed. My head moved in a slow bob. "I'm Sandy. But I still don't know you."

"No problem," she said at last. "If that's what you want."

"I didn't mean it in a bad way," I insisted. "It's just, I don't know you, that's all."

"I heard," she replied with a shrug. "Let me know if you'd like to get to know me." Turning away, she sought and quickly found another partner.

I returned to the table after that dance. Though I tried not to stare, the spectacle of the lesbians dancing was too much for me to ignore. After one song, the surprise began to fade and I came to admire their pluck. A song later, I was smiling, jealous of their fun, imagining what it would feel like to dance with them. My hips swayed across the chair to the beat of the music while my butt cheeks clenched to the beat of the mock spankings.

Upon the start of the next tune, my lips formed a line and my eyes found the white of the tablecloth before me. When I looked back up, the largest part of me wanted to rush onto the floor, find the brunette, and ask if I might change my mind and get to know her after all. But a smaller part of me, a part I loathed, kept my ass pinned to the chair.

There I sat for the balance of the evening, my attention roaming the room. Eventually, I figured out why my eyes wandered- because Kayla did. When I wasn't casting a longing glance toward the dance floor, my eyes were seeking her. I found myself pouting that she didn't even notice, much less respond to my stare. An hour later. just when I'd given up hope that anyone might notice me sitting there by myself, the bride did.

"Are you ok?" Melissa asked.

"Sure," I said, forcing a smile. "Just a little tired."

"Kayla wearing you out?"

"Excuse me?"

"I forgot how she can be."

I cocked my head to one side. "And how's that?"

"She can be, well, kind of overbearing."

My eyes found the subject of our conversation. "Really?"

"You haven't noticed?"

My head was shaking as I brought my eyes back to Melissa. "No."

The bride shrugged. "Ok then. I was just worried maybe the two of you might not get along since she's so different from you."

"Maybe we complement one another." My eyes widened as the wish behind my words registered within my psyche.

Melissa grinned. "You know what they say about opposites."

My eyebrows bounced upward over a pair of wide eyes. "They attract?"

Melissa's head fell to one side. Her brows dropped. "You know Kayla is gay, right?"

My eyes bulged. "No."

The bride grimaced. "I hope that's not a problem."

I looked back to Kayla, who had already moved to another table like the perfect social butterfly. "No," I muttered. "That's not a problem."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." I forced my attention back to Melissa. "No problem at all."

"Good," she said, turning to leave. "Oh!" She flipped her head over her right shoulder. "The bouquet toss is on the dance floor at the stroke of midnight. Who knows, could be your night."

"Yeah," I said with a nod and another fake smile. "Prince Charming's probably right around the corner on his white horse, ready to take me away, just like I always dreamed."

"That's the spirit!" Melissa said before turning to continue her rounds.

I had always detested the bouquet toss. Coming near the end of the reception as it does, the event served as a reminder of my solitary status. I usually just stood near the back, where I hoped to be out of sight and out of mind. For the first time, I really wanted to catch the flowers as if doing so might really change my luck.

Walking to the front of the throng of eligible ladies, I could not help but smile when Melissa met, and returned, my gaze. I didn't know if the bride understood my wishes, but she turned her back and hurled the bundle directly at me. I watched the flying buds sail through their arc right toward my outstretched fingers. Only, they never made it. At the last instant, a dark brown hand appeared above mine.

For a moment, I could only look upward to the flowers stopped just beyond my reach. Turning, I managed to turn my pout into a grin, though hardly an honest one. "Congratulations."

Kayla smiled back. "I think for once, there may be something to this old bouquet thing."

My mouth fell open, but the question I intended to ask never emerged.

"Kayla!"

My eyes shifted to the bride rushing to hug her bridesmaid. I swallowed as the two embraced, sure in my mind Melissa hadn't thrown the flowers my way after all.

I was in something of a sour mood on the way back to the motel- not only had the evening been a series of reminders that I was sans partner, tomorrow promised a return trip to a world where I not only had no boyfriend, but no job as well. Kayla didn't say much either. I assumed she was tired, though I didn't bother to ask.

We arrived at our room, where I waited for her to unlock the door. When she turned the handle, I leaned as if to proceed, but instead of holding the door for me in the manner she had done all weekend, Kayla followed the door, pushing through in front before me. I stood in the corridor, blinking as I searched my feelings, wondering why I might suffer a tinge of hurt that she had not allowed me to go first.

Writing my distress off to my tender mood, I entered the room just in time to see Kayla disappear into the washroom. With a sigh, I threw off my dress and then threw myself onto the bed. Grabbing the remote, I pointed it at the tube and pressed the 'on' button.

My tummy was still to the mattress a handful of minutes later when I heard the sounds of the shower cease, followed by the crack of the washroom door. At once, my gaze sought to wander that direction. Not wanting to appear as if I was attempting to sneak a peek, I kept my nomadic eyes glued to the cartoons. Only when Kayla marched to stand before me did I realize I would get far more than a glimpse of her form.

Wearing not a stitch of fabric, she stood right in front of the television, ostensibly drying her hair. My attention leapt to her face, but I couldn't see it for the towel wrapped about her head. With a swallow, my eyes fell from her hidden face to the classic hourglass shape of her chocolate colored form. She was so sleek, the hue and texture of her skin so uniform, her muscles so thick, so powerful, that she seemed more like an animal than a human.

No, I corrected myself. Not an animal- a goddess. Only a goddess could be so perfect..

I saw the arrow again, the one etched upon her flesh by her ribs. My eyes followed the arrow upward to find, and then worship, her divine breasts, the ones that had too often been the focus of my attention during the past two days. I no longer needed to hope for a quick look- her bosom lay completely exposed but a few feet away, undulating as she continued to massage her scalp. Majestic, rotund, full, even proud, her breasts were everything I always wanted mine to be. I licked my lips as my eyes lingered on the large circles of her near-black areolas and the erect nubs at their center.

When I pried my eyes free and back to her face, I found her equally dark irises planted squarely upon my eyes. I felt coolness invade my cheeks as the blood drained from my face. My mouth fell open as I tried to conjure up an excuse for my ogling, but no words came to my idle tongue.

"It's ok," she whispered. "I noticed you looking today. And yesterday. I thought you might like a better view." She took a single step my way. "You do, don't you- want a better view?"

My chest expanded at the accusation. I tongued my lips, but still couldn't think of a thing to say- she was right, of course, I had been looking. "I'm sorry?" I offered.

"Don't worry," Kayla said, taking a step my direction. "I was looking at you too."

A cool tingling started near my neck, then made its way down my body. "You were?"

She smiled and sat on the edge of the bed beside me. "Three things make a relationship work for me."

"What?"

"Raw," she said, scooting closer to me. "Physical," she continued, leaning. "Attraction," she concluded, her breath warming my ear.

I swallowed. "Raw physical attraction?"

"Yeah," she hissed. "I guess I'm shallow."

My body tensed. Part of me felt I should roll away, tell her to stop, but that was the same very small part of me, and this time I wasn't going to listen. Instead, only my mouth moved. "What are you saying?"

"It's not obvious?" she whispered. A finger began tracing the path of my spine. "I find you attractive- in a very raw and physical way."

A shiver spread from the spot where her fingertips met my flesh. "Ok," I began, "maybe I looked, but I don't..."

"Don't what?" she interrupted. "Swing my way?"

Lips pressed together, I issued a trio of crisp nods. "Yeah. That."

"That's only because you haven't tried, but I know you'll like the flavor of my kool aid."

My throat pulsed with a single swallow. "How would you know that?"

"Because you looked. You looked at me. You looked at Delia too. And her friends. You even checked out the waitress at the Chimes. I bet you've been checking out other women for years. And you're still looking."

My eyes widened as the brain behind them realized the truth in her words. I snapped my attention from her bosom to her face. "That doesn't mean I'm a lesbian."

"No? What does it mean?"

"Just..." I started with no idea how I would finish. "That you're pretty. That's all."

"Oh," Kayla said, jumping off the bed to stand before me. "So you find me attractive?" Her hips swayed. She stretched her arms skyward. Every muscle in her body leapt to attention beneath her skin.

My eyes slid over her form, confirming what I already knew to be true. "A little."

"A little?" she whispered. "I find you more than a little attractive."

My eyebrows shot upward. "Me?"

"Oui." She took a step to her right. "Vous." Her hand again found my shoulder- her fingers traced a path down my side as she walked along the side of the bed to stand near my waist. "Roll over."

Without a sound, I did so, my hands coming to rest adjacent to my shoulders.

Kayla crawled onto the bed, dragging her body across mine until her hands found my wrists, pinning them to the mattress. "Why don't you scream?" she whispered. "Tell me to stop? Go ahead. Just tell me. One word." She paused, her smiling face hovered over mine. "Stop," she continued. "Go ahead, say it. That'll be the end of it, if that's what you really want."

I looked up into that smile- wide with just her upper teeth showing. Her eyes were just as wide, her brows arching over them. My lips parted to speak, but again no words came. I knew she knew. My throat flexed, though my mouth was devoid of moisture.

"I didn't think so," she whispered. With that, she descended. First I felt the softness of her bosom pressing against mine, then the weight of her abdomen on my stomach. The heat of her body rushed through the fabric of my undergarments, to my flesh, and beyond.

Her mouth dropped to just above my face. There her tongue emerged, giving the tip of my nose a single lick that was almost a slap. She pulled back to where my eyes could just focus again. "Tell me you want me."

My mouth fell open even as my head vibrated my reluctance.

"Bullshit," Kayla declared. Her face descended again, twisting as she did so. My neck arched just a shade, my mouth pushing upward. She extended her tongue again, lashing my lips in the same way she had my nose, except she did it again. And again.

"Tell me you want me," she insisted between each lick.

On the forth lick, I heard my mouth whimper my want.

"Louder!" she demanded.

I swallowed, knowing there was no longer any point in pretending. "I want you!"

Kayla's mouth rushed to mine, covering my lips. Her tongue and teeth followed, biting, nibbling, suckling. Her hands found my body, cupping against my sides as if pinning me in place. I moved my palms to her bare shoulders and massaged her muscled flesh. We kissed, and caressed, for maybe a minute, not even pausing to breathe, let alone speak.