California Girl

He smelled the coffee, following the aroma like a zombie, and then spotted the plate of muffins on the kitchen table.

"What's up Kelly?" he said suspiciously, his survival instincts kicking in. He knew he was being buttered up for some reason. Kelly was showered and dressed, and carefully applied make-up and Visine covered up most of her previous night's sins.

"I think you need to move out."

"I thought we agreed ..."

"You can see this arrangement isn't working for me."

"It seemed to last night ..."

"Fuck off Brian. See? That's what I mean. I think we're bringing out the worst in each other. We thought we'd stay together for Tasha's sake, but if we're always at each other's throats, that's really not accomplishing anything, is it?"

Brian picked up his mug of coffee and took his first sip, followed by a healthy bite out of a hot muffin.

"I guess not," he conceded.

Kelly decided to lay her cards on the table. "Look, I know that you and Angie ..."

"Annette."

" ... Annette, are going to get together after we're divorced. Why don't you have her move into your rented house? I'll stay here with Tasha. You can take the rent out of my share of the divorce settlement."

Brian wanted to leave in the worst way. But he couldn't resist twisting the knife.

"And the cable bill too?"

Kelly bit her tongue. Everything was a negotiation with Brian. Ordinarily, this would have been the jumping off point for a heated argument. "Yes ... yes ... the cable bill too. I want this to be friendly. I want us to maybe someday be friends. That's never going to happen if you keep living here."

Brian thought about it a moment. He was now fully awake. "That makes sense Kelly." He extended his hand and they shook.

* * *

Kelly's first stop was to see Jimmy. She found out he was staying in a sublet apartment for three months before he returned to college. It was a garden apartment in a busy neighborhood in Hollywood, just off Sunset Boulevard. She arranged to meet with him before lunch, and trudged up the open, outside concrete staircase to his third floor walk-up. She found his unit and knocked on the brightly painted door.

"Hey Mrs. B," Jimmy said, opening the door and leaning against the frame holding an open can of cheap beer. He was wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt commemorating some concert tour he attended and faded jeans. The cuffs of his pants were rolled up to show his ankles and his bare feet. The distinct smell of weed wafted out the door. The music of some grunge band was playing in the background.

He eyed her, wearing something dressy for that early in the morning. She looked good to him, even better than the previous evening. Kelly noticed the glint in his eye.

"This isn't a social visit Jimmy."

Jimmy could tell by the tone of her voice that there wasn't going to be any sex that day. He still couldn't believe she let him cum in her mouth and then made him eat her pussy. But for the bit of puffiness under her eyes, he couldn't tell that she was massively hung over.

Jimmy showed her to the kitchen table, clearing away the empty beer cans that were sitting on it.

"Look Jimmy. I want to tell you that I've been having problems with my marriage and I got drunk. It's something I rarely do. I'm sorry if I took advantage of you."

Jimmy leaned forward and put his hand on top of hers.

"Mrs. B, you didn't take advantage of me. That was the best sex of my life."

"Well Jimmy ... I was drunk. You're not much older than my daughter."

"I don't regret it Mrs. B."

"It won't happen again."

He was a bit crestfallen, but recovered. "I'm happy it happened once. It's something we have between us now." He squeezed her hand.

Kelly realized his sentiments were genuine She wanted to hug him, but thought that wouldn't be a good idea. She got up and said goodbye. They had an awkward handshake. Jimmy shut the door and after she left he laughed to himself. Just a few short hours ago he had hot sex with the sexiest woman he had ever met. It was a chapter in his life he would never forget.

* * *

Kelly's apology tour next went to Pinky's house. It was mid-afternoon, and Bradley had just gotten back from a round of golf. The couple was sitting poolside with cocktails in hand when Kelly made her entrance via the sliding glass door at the back of the house.

"Hey," the blonde said as she closed the door behind her. "Figured you'd be out back."

Pinky looked cute in a short summer dress and sandals. Bradley was still wearing his golf attire. They both noticed right away that Kelly was wearing an expensive outfit.

"Hey party girl," said Pinky. She raised a glass that had a Bloody Mary in it. "Want a drink?"

It was Kelly's early morning drink of choice, but this time she waved her hands back and forth. "I think I've had enough for the next month."

Her girlfriend laughed. "I'll say. You were pretty looped last night. I even heard a rumor that you went into the storeroom with Jimmy."

"Yeah, well don't believe everything you hear," Kelly replied sheepishly, trying not to reveal anything with her face. She was terrified that word had already gotten out. She prayed that Jimmy would keep his mouth shut.

"Well, he was trying to sell you pretty hard. You looked like you were ready to buy."

Kelly thought it best to deflect the discussion. Pinky was getting too close to the truth.

"Well, you know, Brian, he's kind of driving me nuts now. You know the marriage is now an endless series of arguments. He's agreed to move out."

That was a bombshell of a different sort. Pinky forgot all about Jimmy.

"You're fucking kidding me. You finally couldn't take it anymore?" Pinky suspected Kelly and Brian were going to split up. Kelly's news confirmed her suspicion.

"I did it for my own protection, because there were times that I wanted to kill him, and I don't think I could stand the prison food."

Pinky laughed. "I'm so glad you finally made that decision. It was a long time in coming."

"I'll say," the blonde replied. "And Bradley?"

Bradley took his eyes off his phone that he was pretending to be looking at, but really intently listening to the conversation, not missing Kelly's split with Brian. He had always had a secret crush on her, and was trying to look disinterested.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I was so rude to you last night. I really wasn't myself."

"Apology accepted," Bradley replied quickly. "I was just getting to know our newest neighbor, that's all. She's here now if you're interested."

"She's here?" Kelly clearly didn't expect that.

Bradley pointed. "Over there, in the nook."

Kelly spotted a darkened figure in an alcove. She was so intent on apologizing to Pinky and Bradley that she failed to notice the woman sitting on the opposite side of the room. She was sitting in the cushioned nook that was used for breakfast. She was reading one of the "Spenser for Hire" novels that Lauren was so fond of. She put it down and moved her head slowly until she was looking at Kelly. There was a spark felt across the room.

Kelly was taken aback by the beauty of the woman sitting casually in a baggy UCLA power blue sweatshirt and ripped jeans. Her memories of the previous evening were hazy, but seeing Marnie instantly brought back the memories of Ashley long suppressed. She hesitated before she opened her mouth.

"You're ... you're Marnie ... I'm so sorry. I'm Kelly," she said, sounding and acting flustered. Pinky noticed how out of character it was for the usually self-confident woman.

"I know who you are," Marnie replied in her customary brogue. She was hanging out at Pinky's while Emily's house was being cleaned. Emily went to a day spa. She eyed the bleach blonde in the cold light of day. She was a big woman, tall and well built. Marnie realized her attraction to Kelly the previous evening wasn't a fluke.

Kelly tried to still the tremble in her voice. "I was rude to you yesterday. I'm glad you're here. I wanted to apologize to you as well."

"You were in your cups last night," Marnie answered matter of factly, not expecting an apology.

"I was," Kelly acknowledged, now starting to feel better about herself "and that isn't like me. I'm sure you didn't want to see someone in my condition."

"It's no bother, ma'am. My family's owned a pub for over a hundred years." Marnie was impressed with the sincerity of the apology. She forced herself to rethink her first impression.

"That's kind of you. I don't deserve it. You have a gorgeous accent. Did I hear right that you're from Ireland?"

"I am ma'am ..."

"It's Kelly, honey, ma'am is for my mother," the blonde interjected. She didn't want to be viewed as someone's mother. Even though Marnie was only a few years older than her own daughter.

"... Kelly," Marnie continued. "I'm from Dalkey. It's a coast side town south of Dublin."

"That's on the Irish Sea, right?"

"The Irish Sea, that's right ma ... Kelly. I've looked at it almost every day of my life."

"Sounds romantic."

Marnie's eyes drifted away. Suddenly an image of Lauren appeared in her mind. "It is."

Kelly couldn't keep her eyes off her new friend. Marnie's brilliant red hair and fair complexion stood out from the sea of California tanned bleach blondes like Kelly. Kelly couldn't help herself when feelings of lustful intent crept into her thoughts.

"I've been to Ireland a few times. My maiden name is Kelly O'Shaughnessy. That's about as Irish as you can get, isn't it?

"You're from Ireland?" Marnie asked, surprised at Kelly's revelation.

"Well I'm not, but my grandfather is ... from Doolin."

"Ahhh." Marnie's eyes rolled up. "We have relatives in Doolin. Long drive from Dalkey."

"We went to Dalkey once. Came down from Dublin on a day trip."

"Did you like it?"

"I can't rightly remember. I was only five at the time."

Kelly paused for a moment, and a compliment slipped out before she could stop herself. "You have beautiful hair, Marnie." Suddenly an image of Ashley flashed in front of her. Marnie's long, curly red hair and her fair Irish complexion reminded her of her former lover.

Marnie could sense Kelly's sudden change in mood from breezy casual to serious. The comment was an inner light on Kelly's true thoughts. Marnie's skin felt hot. "Why ... thank you." Marnie had been complimented on her hair many, many times, but somehow Kelly's compliment meant something more.

There was an awkward silence that Kelly decided to break. "So, how do you like Los Angeles?"

Marnie's face lit up at the question. She felt relief from the sudden tension. She brushed off the intense feeling.

"I love it," she told her sincerely. "I think you have an expression here -- drinking out of a fire hose? I feel like that here. It's so different, and so many nationalities. I saw a lot of tourists come through our pub, but in Los Angeles you're likely to run into people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, all living in the same neighborhood. Everyone has such beautiful homes and expensive cars. Sometimes I think that the United States and Ireland are on two different planets."

Kelly smiled at the astute observation. She had lived in LA all her life, and felt like it was life as usual. But to an outsider, she lived in a very fancy bubble. Wealth was a given in her neighborhood.

Pinky had been watching the interchange with interest. It appeared that the two of them had overcome their rocky start and were finding common ground. "It's all here," she chimed in. "I think LA is the real melting pot."

Marnie noted that her new friend was powerfully built. "So what do you do for fun, Kelly?"

"Mostly swim. We have a pool in our backyard and I swim every day either there or at a club. Do you swim?"

"Of a sorts. It's too cold in the ocean and there aren't too many swimming pools in Dalkey."

"Well, you should come over some time for a swim."

"I'd like that Kelly." The invitation was attractive, but she didn't want to appear overeager.

"Well ... see you around Marnie. It was nice talking with you ... and again ... my sincere apologies for last night."

"It's already forgotten."

Kelly went back to conversing with Pinky, and Marnie resumed reading her book. Marnie wasn't seeing the words. She sensed an attraction to Emily's best friend and wondered if the feeling was shared. Kelly tried to refocus and repeated her apologies to Pinky, hearing second hand the reactions of her neighbors. There was plenty of speculation as to what transpired behind the storage room door between Jimmy and Kelly. Pinky certainly viewed Kelly in a new light.

Marnie rested her book against her knees, pretending to read it. She glanced over at Kelly, who was looking embarrassed as she listened to the local gossip. Kelly was animated, talking with her hands as she laughed along with Pinky. Kelly's breezy good looks stirred something inside the young woman, and the budding moisture she felt between her legs confirmed it.

* * *

Kelly's last stop was at Emily's. Emily was well-connected in the neighborhood and may have heard what actually happened in the storeroom. Kelly was dreading Emily's scolding for being a drunken fool at the party. She checked her make-up in her car's rearview mirror and straightened her clothes. She rang the bell and waited instead of barging in. The housekeeper's car was gone, so Kelly was fairly confident that Emily had arrived home.

A few moments later the door opened. Emily opened the door and put her hands on her hips.

"You were a naughty girl last night."

Kelly hung her head down in an exaggerated fashion.

"Guilty as charged."

"I know what happened," Emily announced, so there would be no tip toeing around the subject.

"I hope not." Kelly stood there fidgeting.

"Let's go on the kitchen. This isn't the proper place to discuss what we're going to discuss."

As they were walking to kitchen, Kelly wanted to know if they were alone. "Is Tasha here? Or Marnie?"

"No and no. Tasha's at a sleepover at a friend's house and Marnie is still at Pinky's. I understand she was there when you visited."

"You don't miss anything, do you?"

"Not when it comes to you, girlfriend. After last night, you've proved that you need to be looked after."

Kelly started by trying to find out what exactly Emily knew.

"I don't know what you've heard, but I'm sure it's not as bad as you heard."

"I heard that Jimmy had his face in your lady parts in the back storeroom."

Kelly realized Brian must have talked to Emily.

"Brian."

"Yes," Emily acknowledged. "Brian ran into me on his way out from the party. I could tell he was upset so I stopped him and asked."

"Oh shit."

"Oh shit is right. He told me he walked in on you. Jimmy was on his knees, cock hanging out, eating your pussy. Could I be any clearer than that?"

"No."

"You should thank me. I got Brian to swear he wouldn't tell anybody else."

"Thank you," Kelly said softly. Her eyes were trained on the table, unable to make eye contact with her best friend.

"Jesus Christ Kelly ... Jimmy?"

Kelly shrugged her shoulders. "I need a fucking cup of coffee," she announced. Emily got up and used her fancy Nespresso machine, churning out two cups of perfect coffee.

"This is good," Kelly said after taking a sip of the foam at the top. The rich smell of the coffee soothed her raw nerves.

"It was a mistake," Kelly continued. "I must have been out of my fucking mind. Brian's been pissing me off for like forever and last night he's practically drooling on Marnie. I got drunk ... and by the way Jimmy makes a wicked rum drink ... and you know what happens when I get drunk."

"You get aggressive." Emily knew that Kelly was already naturally aggressive. Alcohol simply released all of her aggressions at once.

"That's right," said Kelly. "And Jimmy happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Or according to Brian, he was in the right place at the right time. You know that most of the neighborhood males lust after you Kelly. She cupped her hands under her much smaller breasts to make the point about the size of Kelly's.

They had never had such a frank conversation, but this was an extraordinary situation. "I know," said Kelly, as she rolled her eyes to the side. "I guess it kind of comes with the territory." She knew it all too well, being a well built blonde her whole adult life.

Emily giggled. "Speaking of coming, I understand Jimmy is pretty well hung."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Kelly, Jimmy worked as a lifeguard at the club for two summers. You remember?"

Kelly did remember, but never noticed.

"I guess so."

"It was so obvious." Then there was a glint in her eye. "So how was it?"

"Emily!"

"Just between us girls. I did get a promise out of Brian."

She did have a point. Kelly decided to give her a tidbit. "From what I could remember it was fantastic."

"Really?"

"Yeah, when I came I thought my head was going to come off."

"Ohhh," hummed Emily. She loved her husband, but having the same partner for twenty years straight took the real sizzle out of sex. The thought of Jimmy taking his big dick and giving her a good fucking was more than appealing.

"And .. and his dick?" Emily couldn't resist asking. If she was going to live vicariously through Kelly, she was going to get every juicy detail.

"He was really hung. I think I went all the way down on him. It kind of still sore here." She touched her throat midway down her neck.

Emily had newfound respect for her best friend. "No shit."

"I shit you not." Kelly formed her lips in a perfect "O" for Emily's amusement. She moved her head forward like she was going down on a cock.

Emily let out a belly laugh. "OK. Now we're getting into the area of too much information."

Kelly waved her empty coffee cup. Emily got up to make more.

Kelly continued the conversation while Emily was fussing with the coffee machine. "So Brian kind of fucked me in a Brian sort of way. He gave me something I wanted but somehow got me to do something I didn't want to do. His mother's piano is being moved from her place to his rental house. He's somewhere back east on business, and I promised to drive to her place in the San Fernando Valley and supervise the move."

"I hope you got something good."

"I did. I got the Picasso drawing for a good price."

Emily sat up straight in her kitchen chair. Kelly knew art and she knew her friend lusted after Brian's inherited piece. "I knew you always liked it." She was still in touch with the prices in the art market, and knew the piece was worth over $100,000. She wondered how Kelly was going to swing that kind of cash.

"He knew it was my weakness, but I suspect he needs the money for a down payment on his rental house. I think he's going to buy it instead of rent."

"It's going to be a lot of money," Emily observed.

"I'm paying him $125K ... it was appraised at $250K."

Those were big numbers for Emily. She sat in her chair wide-eyed. Kelly had quite a day. She bought a Picasso and sucked off a hot young guy.

Kelly knew what Emily was wondering. "I'm taking the money out of my 401k)."

Satisfied, Emily fished for more details on Brian. "Shacking up with his new honey?"

"Uh huh. Her name is Annette or something like that. She's a perky twenty-three old who thinks Brian is hot shit. She was his administrative assistant.

"Asshole."

That about summed it up.

Kelly finally got to her ask. "Listen, do you know anybody who could help me out? It's next Thursday that I have to deal with the piano, and I won't be back until Friday morning. I don't want to leave Tasha alone at home."

Kelly thought Emily might offer her guest bedroom to Tasha but she came up with a better idea.

"How about I ask Marnie to stay at your place? That way Tasha can sleep in her own bed."

That was a good suggestion, Kelly thought.