Coming of Age

"The pool's the other direction. Didn't you see the sign when you entered?"

"No . . ." Katie stumbled. "Uh, I didn't see it."

It was going from bad to horrifying for Kaylee.

"What does your service sheet say?" Lena asked.

Kaylee raised up the sheet of paper she was holding. It had the service address at the top and the middle recited the type of services requested. Kaylee realized she hadn't gone down to the "Special Notes" section. It was in her dad's handwriting.

Gate code #5253. Pool is to the right.

Kaylee's heart sank when she read the notation. She had royally fucked this up.

"Let me see that," said Lena. She always liked to be right. Kaylee handed over the paper.

Lena immediately zeroed in on the "Special Notes" section.

"See?" she said in a not very nice tone of voice, handing the paper back. "It gives you my gate code and directions to the pool. You didn't read this did you?"

Kaylee's shoulders slumped. "No."

"You woke me up. I've only had two hours sleep. This deal I'm working on . . . "

Kaylee was a pretty put together young woman, but she wasn't used to getting this flustered, and by a woman with a commanding presence. The stressful situation made her start to cry. She really didn't want to, but tears started streaming down her face. Lena immediately realized that she had been a royal asshole. She put her hands on Kaylee's shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she said. Lena wasn't one to utter that phrase very often, but she couldn't have been more sincere. Kaylee looked so innocent, and Lena had brought out her Wall Street hardened soul when she cross-examined a defenseless woman.

Kaylee stopped her sniffling. She realized she was inside some glass palace owned by a gazillionaire and was making a fool of herself.

"I'm sorry," said Kaylee. "I should go."

She turned around to leave.

This time Lena grabbed Kaylee by the shoulders.

"Wait. I want you to stay," Lena said on the spur of the moment, and not knowing why.

Kaylee whirled around and was only inches from Lena. She felt an attraction that took her by surprise. She stared at the older woman, her robe open, revealing her sheer negligee, and noticed the contours of her body through the sheer material, prominent of which were her breasts, still firm at age forty. She felt an urge to kiss the older woman, an urge she suppressed.

Lena noticed the young blonde was staring at her, and quickly pulled her robe together, suddenly feeling naked.

"I'm sorry," Kaylee blurted. "I don't know what got into me."

Lena didn't either. She was confused by her reaction. She'd never felt this way with a woman probably half her age.

Kaylee recovered first. "I should be going now. I'll service your pool and then you can decide if you want to keep us." Kaylee felt uncomfortable and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. She had just gone through a whole new set of feelings and needed time to herself to understand them. Lena was relieved that Kaylee was about to leave. She too was confused by their interaction and why she begged Kaylee to stay after her morning was so rudely interrupted.

"Just wait a moment," Lena said, in a pang of conscience. She checked her text messages. Shakira had left a message at 4 a.m. Lena had silenced her phone and never saw it.

Sorry. Forgot to tell you I've hired a new pool service. Will be there tomorrow morning. Ted's Pool Service.

Lena felt terrible. It wasn't Kaylee's fault (except for not reading the instructions).

"I want to keep you," Lena said to Kaylee's relief. "Just do what you need to do and I'll see you, or maybe not, next week, OK?"

That feeling happened again for Lena. Instead of suppressing it she let it wash over her. It was bright and warm.

Kaylee got her bearings after meeting this beautiful but strange woman and begged her leave.

"Thank you . . . Mrs. . . . "

"It's Lena."

"Thank you Lena."

* * *

Lena's pool was a large rectangle surrounded by an expanse of grass and flanked by a pool deck the size of a basketball court. Kaylee felt like she was in a five star resort. After the unexpected encounter, Kaylee wandered around the pool in a daze before realizing she was there to work. She concentrated on servicing the pool (it looked to Kaylee like the previous company did a fine job, but who was she to question Lena's decision?) instead of dwelling on her inexcusable behavior. She still didn't want to believe she was attracted to a woman who berated her for being a moron. What was she thinking?

The rest of the day was a blur. Two more service calls. A long afternoon taking inventory at the garage and placing orders for supplies. Ted was talkative and was surprised his daughter had little to say. Kaylee was in her own world, thinking back to Lena and trying to understand her unexpected attraction to the older woman.

* * *

"What a fucked up day," Lena thought. "I got woken up after two hours of sleep by some ditzy blonde who I think wanted to hit on me. Then the Carter deal fell through, for the third time."

She hoisted a glass of a high end cabernet to her lips and reflected on the day, sitting in her chaise lounge that overlooked her sparkling clear pool. She knew the Carter deal was meant to fail, so good riddance she thought as she swirled her wine, watching the inky purple liquid sheet off the inside of the hand blown goblet. Her glass of wine, her second, was giving a pleasant glow to her reflection. She was glad to be rid of the snakebit deal, which she discouraged to deaf ears. Her firm would still be paid the usual fee of $10 million for services rendered, but the additional $50 million bonus was gone to the wind.

But the aborted deal took a back seat in her mind to the crazy encounter that morning with someone who looked like she just graduated from high school. Lena's sham marriage to Michael lasted only two years, and after that a series of short failed relationships with three different women. Lena's parents basically forced Michael on her. Michael was the son of her mother's best friend, and Michael and Lena had been friends their whole life. They coordinated their careers to converge at a New York City based investment banking firm. They got married in the Hamptons and set up their household in a Midtown apartment overlooking Central Park.

Lena had great affection for Michael but contempt for her own mother. Lena knew her mother suspected her of being gay, and pushed hard for the match as a way of denying her daughter's sexual proclivities. Lena was a pleaser, and reluctantly bent to the will of her mother. After their marriage, she soon learned (ironically) that she was fronting the relationship, as Michael's real interest was in men. Lena put up with the awkwardness of the sexless marriage for two years. Michael was gratified at Lena's understanding, and readily agreed to an even split in the marital estate. Lena was worth $20 million before the divorce and $50 million after. Michael had been the office's managing partner for ten years, and was cut into some sweet equity deals. Lena had no idea her half share would amount to a cool $30 million.

It was fortuitous timing that her firm offered her an opportunity to manage the Cincinnati office at the time of her divorce. Lena had always worked on the deal side, and management wasn't her forte, but her transfer came with a promise that if she turned the office around, she'd be on the short list for promotion to Managing Director. Lena jumped at the opportunity.

Of course, being in Cincinnati didn't mean a more laid-back work environment. For her client base, moving to Cincinnati merely meant programming a Cincinnati area code mobile number instead of her New York one. The Carter deal was ruining her life. The unrealistic demands of the Carter family put her in a no-win situation, a position she rarely encountered. She was elated the deal was finally dead and she'd have her life back, at least temporarily. Another partner took over the chores of running the office while Lena took a week of well-deserved rest, starting the next morning.

It was late, past midnight, as it took Lena a good part of the day (and night) to wrap up the loose ends of the dead deal. It was still warm and muggy outside, and it felt good to be drinking her last glass of wine and looking forward to extensive pool time during her week away. She took another sip and thought about Kaylee (that was her name wasn't it?). She discarded the notion that she was attracted to the young blonde.

Her mind wandered to issues that still needed to be addressed by the accountants because of her deal's collapse. With her glass of wine in hand she unzipped her shorts with her free hand and let them fall to the ground. She slouched forward in her chair and slid her hand under the waistband of her panties. The Carter deal had taken the better part of three months, and she was too busy to get laid. The haze of the wine and the light touch of her fingers on her pussy made her heart beat harder in her chest. Kaylee. So young and innocent. Kaylee's face appeared in her mind in sync with the slow roll of her drunken orgasm.

Chapter Three

Sarah

Kaylee's best friend Sarah was also home from college. Sarah went back east to Brown. Sarah was also at the top of the class, graduating as its valedictorian (Kaylee was salutatorian and would never forgive her best friend for getting an "A" in physical education to Kaylee's "B" and acing her out). Sarah didn't have Kaylee's voluptuous figure, instead she was tall and lean and was recruited to Brown's cross country team. Kaylee didn't know that Brown was even more liberal than Berkeley, and that her best friend had discovered a few things about herself as well.

Kaylee called Sarah right after dinner, eager to get together. Sarah was over within fifteen minutes.

"Kaylee!" Sarah exclaimed, throwing her long arms around her best mate. Sandy was standing nearby, pleased to see Sarah and even more pleased to see her daughter excited for the first time that summer.

"Hey Mrs. M." Sarah said, her arm still around Kaylee.

"It's Sandy. You're so grown up now Sarah." Sandy couldn't believe those two little girls who played in the mud were now two young women.

"Mom, we're going to go to my room," said Kaylee. She didn't want her mom prying into the things she was dying to share with Sarah. Sandy nodded her head, though sad that she was always outside looking in when it came to Kaylee's personal life. She wished she was Sarah, young and pretty and sharing the confidences of her only daughter.

* * *

Kaylee slammed the door behind Sarah. "You're back!" She kissed her best friend on the lips, having picked up the habit from college. Sarah was surprised, but pleased, to be kissed. She wondered if it was a friendly kiss or something more. Sarah didn't do what she wanted to do, which was to prolong the kiss and tell Kaylee that she was attracted to her.

Sarah had quite a freshman year as well, loving the academic environment at Brown and living free of the hovering eyes of her mother. Sarah loved her mother and owed a great deal of success to her, but socially, her mother's involvement was a hinderance instead of a help. Sarah always suspected she was a lesbian, but living in a conservative suburb quashed any thoughts of speaking of or acting out on her sexual desires. In college, Sarah become promiscuous, sleeping mostly with women. She discovered that she loved sex. Her parents knew nothing of her personal life at Brown, and would have died if she had confessed that she had twenty partners her freshman year, and that fifteen were women.

Though Sarah enjoyed the physical side of sex, her emotional side was still with Kaylee. Sarah spent a solid ten years hanging out at Kaylee's house and really got to know her. Sarah never met a man or a woman at Brown who matched up to Kaylee.

Kaylee grabbed her favorite bear and sat on the window seat. "Tell me about Brown. Did you meet anybody?"

Sarah had a decision to make. Should she tell her best friend the absolute truth? She'd never told anybody. Kaylee looked the same, but Sarah knew she was different. But Sarah realized that a secret like this was something that couldn't be taken back, and entrusting Kaylee with the truth would be trusting her with her life. She decided to give a sanitized version of the truth instead.

"I dated a few guys," she said, trying to keep her face as impassive as possible.

Kaylee took the bait, not knowing or suspecting her best friend was gay. "What were they like?"

Sarah struggled to remember. The dates weren't memorable and had already been erased from her mind. She decided to wing it.

"I met a guy named Theo (a name that just popped into her mind). Interesting guy. English major. And Darnell. Was on the rugby team (she had no idea if Brown had a rugby team)."

"I mean, you know . . ." said Kaylee, waiting for the juicy details.

"God Kaylee, I bet you think I'm a sex maniac."

"Well, did you?"

"Yeah, a few times," Sarah falsely confessed. "It was . . . uh . . . good."

"Just good?"

"OK . . . it was great."

"You dog."

"How about you Kaylee? How was your year?"

"School was great. Challenging. I've already got some ideas to help my Dad's business."

But that wasn't what Kaylee wanted to talk about. She wanted to get advice on how to deal with Lena, but she too was reticent to reveal her attraction to women. So she just flipped the script and embellished on the facts.

"I wanted to get your advice. It's something that happened earlier today. I was servicing a new account and I met a man in a magnificent house. I kind of fucked up the service call so he got on me, and I started crying. When he went to comfort me I almost kissed him."

"You just met him?"

"Uh huh."

"Was he married?"

"He wasn't wearing a wedding ring."

"How old was he?"

"Maybe late 30's."

"That's not like you."

"I know. I'm scheduled to go back there next week."

"Are you attracted to him?"

"I think so."

Sarah didn't want to reveal her attraction to her best friend. She had always had a crush on her but being gay in Cincinnati was a sure-fire ticket to exclusion and scorn. In any event, she was certain that Kaylee wasn't gay, so there wasn't any hope they'd be together. It hurt her to discuss Kaylee's love life, but as her best friend she couldn't deny Kaylee whatever words of wisdom she could impart, even if it meant being pushed aside by this mysterious man.

"Kaylee, you're really jumping into the deep end on this one. Are you sure the guy's not married?"

"No, I just met . . . him."

"You can't trust men," Sarah said, speaking from the heart, "he wouldn't be the first one to lie about not being married."

"Maybe there's a way to find out," said Kaylee.

Sarah rightfully put the brakes on the discussion. "Wait a minute, you're not even sure you're interested. There's no use investigating anyone until you make that decision."

"Let's say that I am," said Kaylee, making her mind up then and there. A summer fling wouldn't have any long-term consequences, would it? She was truly attracted to Leah, and in truth probably to the obvious signs of wealth. Kaylee's parents were of modest means, and would never dream of having a house like Leah's. Kaylee had no idea what Lena did, but she knew that Leah must be both rich and powerful.

"Let's look him up on the internet," said Sarah. "What's his full name?"

Kaylee was trapped. She couldn't come up with a man's name, and she would be revealing she was gay if she gave Sarah the real name, Lena Peters. She held her breath and told the truth.

"Sarah. I'm going to tell you something but you have to promise you're going to keep this secret."

Sarah was befuddled. She'd known Kaylee for over ten years. What could she possibly reveal that she didn't already know?

"I promise."

"You mean it?"

Sarah rolled her eyeballs. "Seriously, your best friend. You can't trust me? Just tell me."

Kaylee gave in. "It's Lena Peters."

"But Lena isn't man's name . . .". Her voice trailed off as she realized what Kaylee was saying. Her mind instantly raced to the fact that Kaylee was gay, but then Kaylee gave the name of another woman as her love interest. She obviously wasn't interested in an intimate relationship with her best friend. Kaylee's news made Sarah feel even worse. But she had to put on a good show and hide her disappointment.

"Kaylee . . . you're . . ."

"Gay?" Kaylee said, completing Sarah's thought.

Sarah always thought she'd come out first, if at all. She couldn't believe Kaylee was telling her that she was gay. She wanted to run out of the room, but instead sucked in a deep breath.

"Yeah, gay. I . . . never suspected," she said truthfully. Her gaydar let her down spectacularly. "But Kaylee, it doesn't affect our friendship (saying that word killed Sarah). You have to be who you are."

It was a nice speech but Kaylee wasn't prepared for it. She wasn't prepared for any of this discussion. She never dreamed that Sarah would extract the truth in ten minutes of conversation. Kaylee tried to backpedal.

"Actually, I'm not really sure what I am. I never kissed Leah," Kaylee said, correcting the record. But then she added a lie to hide her liaison at Berkeley. "I've never had a relationship with another woman. I just . . . I just . . . I felt something I hadn't felt before." The latter part was true.

Sarah was already busy tapping on her phone. She pulled up Lena's bio on her firm's website.

"No mention of a husband . . . or wife. Wow, she's gorgeous," Sarah said, staring at the picture the firm used for press releases. Lena was five years younger in the photo, and dressed in a well-tailored business suit. Sarah was trying not to be jealous. "And according to her bio, she graduated from college eighteen years ago, which makes her . . . about forty."

"Forty?" Kaylee said. She had thought late 30's at most. Forty seemed . . . old.

"Chasing older women, huh Kaylee?" Sarah teased.

Kaylee leaned over to look at the photo Sarah had pulled up. It was Lena for sure, and she was pretty. Maybe forty was the new thirty.

"Nothing's happened," Kaylee said to assure Sarah. "Just window shopping."

"It's an expensive store," said Sarah. She knew she could never compete with a glamorous and rich older woman.

* * *

Kaylee was sitting in her bed, unable to sleep.

It was all happening too fast. Now Sarah knew her deepest, darkest secret. Though she trusted her best friend, if her parents found out she was interested in a customer, who happened to be a woman, Kaylee was sure she'd have the worst summer of her life. She couldn't imagine her parents' reaction. Ted would be apoplectic that Kaylee would have a relationship with a customer, whether it was a woman or a man. Her mom would cry for days. The visual made Kaylee's head hurt.

Then she thought about Leah. How sophisticated and beautiful she was. Kaylee moved down in the bed, going under the covers. She was wearing a flimsy nightgown with panties that were stretched out. She easily slipped her hand inside the elastic band and felt that she was wet. Her fingers found that spot where rubbing her clit was the most pleasurable. The touch was electric. Kaylee was surprised that she gasped out loud. Her mind went to Lena, imagining her peeling off a clingy wet swimsuit and showing off her perfect, rounded breasts.

Her fingers worked busily as she thought about licking and sucking on Lena's hardened nipples. The fantasy felt real to her. Her body was tingling. The thought of being in Lena's opulent bedroom and fucking her made her head swim with lust. She came violently, thrusting her hips, and straining for the ceiling. It was the most intense climax of her life.