Forces of Nature

"So, did you see anyone you might be interested in?" Judy asked, knowing the place was empty. Well, it was almost always empty. Not for the lack of her trying to get more people out to the community centers of her home town.

"Well, I'm not even sure...." Lynn blushed. "This is so awkward. I'm not even sure of my orientation. I'm still looking I guess." Lynn shrugged and fidgeted with some papers on her counter.

"Sweetie, I'm not hitting on you. I'm seriously taken." She smiled. "I'm just being nosey. Stella said I should have been one of them reporters since I have to know everything. Come on, there is no one here to give away secrets. Though I have to know everything, doesn't mean I tell everything." She gave her biggest and friendliest smile.

"Well there was this one blonde there. I wondered if she was a model or something, but she never came over to talk to me. A first I thought the tall brunette and her were together, but oh, I don't know." Lynn stammered and blushed. She didn't know why she was telling this stranger these things.

"Blonde... five-five, crystal blue eyes, nice rack, in a tight sexy dress? She looks like a dream come true?" Judy got a pinched look on her face.

"Yeah, that's the one. Unless there are more than one of those running around." Lynn found her first real smile of the day.

"Well, unless you're into one nighters... I'd stay away from that one. Talk about some major commitment issues." Judy couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Oh, she knew things worked out for the best. Stella was the love of her life, but the rejection after such a night of great sex, was still a bitter pill to swallow.

"Darn! Oh well... at least she's pretty to look at." Lynn sighed. "Well, I have to get back to work. If you need anything else, just let me know. I have some resources back in California for some of the more, um, risqué material in that genre." She slipped 'The Art of Sappho' into a library bag and handed it to Judy.

"Okay... it might scandalize the town. But willingly, or kicking and screaming, I will drag this place into the next century and out of the last." Judy waved and walked away with her full hips swishing in her silk lined skirt.

She sighed and went back to work on the new 'Kiddies Corner', she was designing to try and get some of the daycare centers and kindergartens involved with the new book lending program she'd suggested. She knew that her job, like so many others in her field, depended on having more community involvement or the local library would soon find its place only in the annals of history.

*****

Cheryl was ducking her boss again. "She needs to get laid and off my ass." She bitched while she pretended to be smoking. It was a shame that she had to put up with the smell, just to get five minute every hour of peace from her boss's relentless bitching. She hated smoking, she hated the smell. But she hated her boss riding her ass even more.

"Hey Cheryl, you hiding from Ida again?" Pat came up and pulled the cigarette out of her fingers and took a long drag. "You need to start buying better smokes... I usually buy the gold packs, since we're sharing and all."

"I'll remember that officer Tate." Cheryl smiled and then winced when she heard her boss's voice.

"Smoke breaks are for five minutes, not six or more!" The bitter faced old woman said with ice in her voice.

"What the fuck is her problem?" Cheryl bitched again.

"Um, you didn't hear it from me, but Walter was busted with a teeny-bopper pro on one of our routine sweeps Charlie has started since he took over." Pat looked around to make sure no one overheard.

"No way... he's got to be like a hundred and fifty years old." Cheryl was shocked.

"Yeah well, you know.... We found a bottle of those little blue pills, some weed and a big bottle of lube. Doc Johnson laughed his ass off while trying to extricate the butt plug so we could book the old geezer. Ida had to bail him out. So, I'd cut her some slack." Pat pulled on the cigarette.

"Un-fucking believable. God, people are such fucking losers." Cheryl shook her head.

"Yeah well from what I hear from the old timers, Walter had a reputation of spreading it around back in the day. Ida's like Lutheran or some other version of Catholic-light, so divorce is out of the question."

"See, that's what I mean. Relationships never work. That's why I'm permanently single. At least I'm honest about it." Cheryl handed Pat another smoke out of the pack. "I've got to go back in. See you next time around."

"See ya at the Rose later." Pat walked back to her cruiser and went back on patrol. Cheryl walked back in her office and saw her boss on the phone again. She could tell by the extra sour look on Ida's face, who was on the other end.

"No... I can't. No, we tried that before. I won't air my dirty laundry in public again." Ida was saying while pointing at Cheryl's desk.

Cheryl felt sorry for the old lady. Ida should be out sipping spiked tea and rocking on her porch, not having to work past retirement age to keep her house and cheating husband afloat. Getting mad for Ida, Cheryl grabbed the phone from the startled Ida.

"Hey Walter, go shove a butt plug up your ass and a dildo in your mouth and leave us alone. We've got work to do, you sick bastard." She hung up the phone. Without pausing, she told her boss. "I'm sorry, I have the results of the Fisher Lane property search and there's a problem. You need to call the listing agent and get it cleared up before they can close on the house." She told the shocked and pale looking Ida before going back to her desk like nothing had happened.

Cheryl didn't hear a word from her boss for over two hours and she started her next property search. She knew one day, since no one else wanted her damn job. She would be the head cheese of Brownville Title Company LLC.

"Cheryl, I'm going to lunch and then to a meeting with Bart Miller. Please have the Turner Road search on my desk before you leave for the day." Ida was looking at Cheryl with a blank look and confusion in her eyes.

"Yes Miss Ida. I'm working on it now. Since it's a flipper, we just have to update the records and get the clerks signature. The only issue is B&D will ask for a tax exemption." Cheryl said and waved before looking back to her work.

"Yes, thank you. Make sure the doors are locked no later than four thirty and lights out by four thirty five. No sense for paying the power board more than we have too." She walked out still with a look of confusion on her face.

******

"How was your week?" Stella asked Cheryl as she set up the shot and the beer that was always her original order.

"Another week in paradise." Cheryl slammed the shot and swallowed hard.

"A birdie told me that you told off old man Williams." Stella liked knowing just as much as her mate, but she was not as good at it, even with being the bartender.

"Yep, backed his wrinkled ass right off... the fucking prick. No wonder Ida is such a bitch. I'd be the same way if I was stuck with a freak like him." She blew her bangs back and tilted her bottle of beer.

"Oh, Ida might have surprised you in her younger days. She was known to be a bit on the wild side too."

"Yeah, but did she get caught fucking a whore with a butt plug up her ass? Did she go running around on Walter? Or was she one of those go out, cut loose, and flit until she got home to bang her husband until he couldn't walk types?"

"Well, there were a few rumors about her and Deloris Campos.... But no one ever caught them parting the forest." Stella gave a meaningful look, shocking Cheryl.

"No fucking way. Ida's in the closet?" She shuddered. It was like learning that your grandparents still had sex. They both turned and watched Lynn come in. "Damn she is so sexy."

"She's nice too." Stella waved. "Judy invited her to dinner next week. Something about her getting a very rare book for our collection."

"You mean Judy's lesbian smut book collection? I thought she was still riding the fence?" Cheryl took another good look and just had to get to know her better. It might be better than sitting over here and wishing.

"I think she's looking for more than a romp in the bed with either sex." Stella waved to some others. "Well, I have to get to work." She set the second beer up and went to take some orders.

"Damn it...!" Cheryl swore and just went for it. She walked over and put her butt one stool down from the pretty woman.

"Hi, I'm um, Cheryl." She said, not knowing what to say for the first time in a long time.

"Hi, I know. Just like you know I'm Lynn." Lynn smiled. "My last name is Oleander, like the flower."

"Parks...." She looked over and was instantly entranced by her eyes. They weren't as brown as she thought they would be with her hair color. They were hazel tinting to lavender.

"I don't mean to be rude, but um, I'm not here to be picked up." Lynn said as she felt Cheryl staring at her. "I'm not into one night stands. I'm trying to figure out who I need to spend my life with. So...."

"Oh, I see my reputation precedes me. Well hell... I never thought that it would be a bad thing." Cheryl smiled. "So, what are the chances of having some small talk and maybe becoming friends?"

"I don't know... I'm up for making friends, as long as you know only my eventual partner will ever get any benefits." Lynn like looking at the cute blonde, but wasn't going to put herself out there to get hurt. She refused to be anyone's notch on the bedpost.

"Wow, you're not shy about setting ground rules are you?" Cheryl was impressed. Most curious types had no clue what they were looking for.

"Nope, it's more about morals. I don't believe in sex without commitment. I'm bending the rules as it is." Lynn saw the flinch. "I don't judge either. I believe in the power of change." She shrugged. She'd made her peace with her beliefs.

"Well, I feel sorry for you. I hate to think about the pain you'll end up going through." She shrugged. "Because, I know relationships are nothing but bullshit. So, I avoid them at all costs." Cheryl finished and went back to her beer.

"I am so sorry. You must have been really hurt bad to believe that line of crap." Lynn put her hand on Cheryl's in a comforting way. They both looked as they felt the surge of energy pass between them.

"Naw, I've survived. But I mean really... It isn't so bad. You should try it. It's quite liberating." She smiled seductively.

"No, no thank you. I just can't see going all the way with someone who I'm not totally in love with and willing to commit my everything to. It wouldn't be fair to either of us." She smiled. "But, at least it will give us something to talk about." She had to let go to pick up her drink.

They chatted the night away, with Cheryl wondering why she was getting so aroused by just talking. She knew she needed to stop off and buy a supply of batteries, or she'd rub her clit down to a small nub.

*****

A few weeks later, Ida needed to come in late because she had to go to court with her husband. Cheryl felt sorry for her boss, but didn't know how to make it better. She had stopped taking so many smoke breaks and actually started talking to the older woman. She flinched as the door slammed open.

"God damnit...! What did I ever do to deserve this shit?" Ida cursed as she slammed down her purse, almost in tears. "I've looked the other way so many times. I just can't do it anymore." She rubbed her forehead and sagged into her chair.

"Why don't you go talk to Deloris?" Cheryl asked Ida. "I hear she helped you through a lot in the past." Cheryl came up behind Ida and started rubbing the older woman's shoulders.

"Because, two wrongs don't make it right." Ida sighed and wiped her eyes. "I'm not promiscuous, my sons would be scandalized and I'd be excommunicated. You don't know how easy you have it." If Ida hadn't been so upset, she might have never said these things, but over the last month, her and her young co-worker had become closer than she ever thought when she hired Cheryl.

"Oh... I didn't know." Cheryl was stunned.

"I refuse to be like him!" Ida went on uninterrupted. "It about killed me when we were almost caught...." She sighed and looked up. "I trust you not to say anything... but Deloris is my weak spot." She sighed and wanted to cry.

"Oh, wow... I didn't know. I mean I've heard some things. But I didn't think...." Cheryl stammered. "How bad...?"

"Very bad..." Ida relaxed into the hands kneading the tension out. "I didn't have the choices you have, not that you're doing anything meaningful with them." She looked over her shoulder. "Don't think I haven't heard of your reputation either. You might want to tone it down. We are a public business and I've heard rumors of one of the bankers starting up and new title company."

"What I do in the privacy of my own..." Cheryl started to say.

"Not in a town like this one. Maybe if you lived in a city. But here, everyone thinks they have the right to know everything, even if what they're doing is worse." She sighed again. "The things I could say if I was a gossip." She reached up and patted Cheryl's hands. "Thank you dear... I needed that. But, I can't afford to pay his fines if we don't get any work done."

"I have the next three searches either done, or in the hopper, going the rounds. Unless we have any new listings coming in today, we're golden." Cheryl smiled at her boss and was surprised at the returned smile. It changed Ida's face and made her look much younger. "Why don't you take the day?"

"Because, I'd have to look at him." She bit her lip. "No... no, now that we are getting along better, I rather be here. At least here, I feel useful." Ida straightened her shoulders and opened the files on her desk. "Go share a cigarette with Officer Pat. I'll be fine by the time you get back in." She waved her employee out.

Cheryl went outside and handed Pat a cigarette without getting one for herself.

"So, how is she taking it?" Pat asked as she exhaled the smoke and sighed. "I seriously need to quit these things." She added as an aside.

"I think she's ready to go stark raving mad." Cheryl said and looked at her boss through the window. It tore at her heart to see the old woman dabbing her eyes. She guessed Ida didn't want to cry in front of her.

"I wouldn't blame her. He told the court it was all her fault... he is still a man with needs... etc, etc, etc." Pat looked at the sky. "God, I'm glad I don't have to put up with that kind of shit."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Although she did say I needed to tone it down a little bit." Cheryl sighed. "I guess she is feeling the heat from my lifestyle, something about one of the banks starting some competition."

"Yeah, I was going to say something about that. Something about the lack of morals and Preacher Don is all up in arms about the failing of the community to right the blatant wrongs. Same shit different day. I've heard it all before." Pat shrugged and snuffed out the cigarette.

"Great... and we say we're an advanced society. Well I've got to get back to work. See you at the Rose." Cheryl hugged Pat and went back to work.

*****

At the library, Lynn was bagging the latest selections for Judy as she was being questioned. "So, any closer to finding your true self?" Judy asked as she smiled.

"Until I find the one, I'll never know for sure. I know what I feel, but, well you know." Lynn said noncommittally.

"That's no fun. I'm surprised that you don't have a line at the door." Judy winked.

"Oh, I've had offers from both sides of the fence, but they've dwindled once it got out that that I'm looking for commitment, not a roll in the hay." Lynn shrugged and smoothed down her skirt. "I'm used to it."

"So, when you coming over for dinner again?" Judy asked as another patron walked up.

"I'll let you know... Can I help you?" Lynn asked the lady, who was holding a stack of books.

"Yes, I was wondering if you had anything new on the crumbling of the modern world. I'm doing a Sunday School class." The lady pursed her lips. "It's just scandalous... you might think about who you're seen with, and I thought you were raised better Miss Judy." She huffed.

Judy just smiled. "So Melody, have you ever figured out who on the football team got you pregnant? It was a gangbang after all... and from what I hear, you REALLY enjoyed it. I mean, Joe is such a good man for raising Jimmy as his own, but not knowing who the father is, must make him wonder from time to time. But, he loves you enough to forgive all that!" She blew the infuriated woman a kiss. "I'll see you later." She waved and bounced out of the library.

Lynn blushed and directed Melody to the proper section. "I um, have the new Charisma coming in... and doesn't the bible warn us not to make judgments?" Lynn smiled and walked away.

*****

That night at the Rose; Pat, Stella, and Cheryl were talking at the end of the bar when Lynn walked in. She really needed a drink after the conversation she had with her boss. She loved her job, but she refused to have her private life or the lack there of; be a stone around her neck.

"Hey Lynn, why don't you come join us?" Cheryl asked as her body responded to the sight of the pretty woman.

"What can I get you sweetheart?" Stella asked and patted a stool in between them.

"A shot of to-kill-ya, with a water back." Lynn sighed.

"Wow... sound like you had a shitty day." Pat smiled.

"Seems like a lot of that going around." Cheryl said and tilted her shot and sipped her beer.

"Yeah, what happed with you? We can all commiserate together." Stella set the shot glass in front of Lynn.

"Whoosh... I needed that." Lynn set the shot glass down and took a drink of the water. "Had a conversation with the boss." She shrugged.

"Did Melody get all uppity after her run-in with Judy?" Stella asked and set the shot glass in the well. "Sometimes she doesn't know when to leave well enough alone."

"God save me from the recently converted." Pat huffed. "She was the biggest slut in the state until she found religion."

"You'd think her and Ida's husband should have been great friends." Cheryl said irritated. "I can't wait until the election is over. Then maybe things can get back to normal."

"Well, that would depend on what normal is for you." Lynn sighed. "I didn't know we were going into an election year."

"Special election... the county comptroller was busted for fraud and the Sherriff was caught fucking an underage girl while on duty. It doesn't matter the girl was less than honest about her age, and was more than willing. The shit is getting rearticulated and no one is immune."

"Judy's dad is in a lather. No one knows what's going to happen... especially with Don bringing on the fire and brimstone." Stella shrugged. "I've been warned to tone down Sunday nights for awhile."

"Like Preacher Don doesn't take it up the ass every time he can. Fucking hypocrite...!" Pat said incensed. "Shit, it was his wife who taught me how to use a strap-on, while she was trying to keep him under control."

"I never knew I moved into Payton Place." Lynn smiled. "For me it was guilt by association. Moral turpitude and all that nonsense."

"I feel sorry for Ida..." Cheryl said, putting her empty on the bar. "She's buried in the closet and married to freak-o-matic. She can't go be with her friend, because of potential repercussions. So much for equal rights."

"I never understood how it is okay for a man to go out and whore around... but if a woman does it, she's wrong. Or if she chooses to find love with another woman, she needs to be outed and stoned." Pat said getting irritated. "Look at Don... he runs to the city to have ass sex with other men, while he condemns Willis for having sex with a girl. At least Willis is single. Like he's the only person to have sex during work hours. Cut him some slack... It's not like he has to run an R and I on every woman who comes on to him... And trust me, she made the moves. He was just giving her a ride home when she did her first lap inspection. She was caught riding him like a pogo-stick...."