Pretender

For mile after mile of beautiful, New York state roads, two co-workers, Beatrix and Emily traveled together in complete and utter silence.

One of the two, she with charcoal-colored hair, anxiously tightening her fingers and palms around the steering wheel of the car in which they rode. The other, the one with long, straight golden locks, sat in an equal state of bother. Her state of disquiet made clear as she sat in the passenger seat, crossing and then re-crossing her legs. The two women at unrest separated by a an overly thin, teasingly tight center console. One that matched the tight confines of their economy-tier rental. A rental that kept them close -- agonizingly so.

Agonizing though it was, the two had always been close to one another, literally, though not figuratively. For they had for years at that point, sat back-to-back in the same cubicle; sharing the same friends, favorite restaurants/bars, and even in-office men for dates, when they so chose. And yet, during all that time spent either circling each other socially, or with their hair dangling and tangling behind the back of their chairs, they had only engaged in the most precursory of conversations with one another.

In the first few weeks of their hiring and placement together in the sea of modern business necessity, the two did as women do. Each spending their free moments and the energies of their unbusy minds comparing themselves to each other. Not overtly, but silently to themselves. Whose legs were longer; clothes were tighter; hair was better-styled; breasts were bigger, better, and more effectively put on display; but most keenly, whose voice was the most seductive.

Maybe, if they had found their comparisons easy, and the winner of each perceived competition clear, the two could have each moved on from it in a day. Cruelly, however, to their great irritation, they found themselves not only similar but maddeningly so.

Their bosoms being of equal size and shape. Their legs of equal length and tone. Their round, gym-tight asses comparing no different than that of they and their own reflection. And worst of all, their voices each velvet-soft, silk-smooth, and lingering in the most sensual of ways.

Such recognition of similarity did not come quickly, in a day, a week, or even a month. But after a year -- a painful, jealousy-breeding year of side-eyed comparisons and long, tortuously obvious moments of extended presence, and convenient positioning. Moments in which the two women stood side-by-side at the water cooler or in hallways of the large corporate floor, each pretending not to notice the other's matching poses or examining eyes.

Rather than accepting that equality, and perhaps letting it be a point of bonding or the foundation for a friendship, the two women began to obsess.

Every moment of their workday spent, with whatever attention they could spare, spent studying each other. Every move, every sound, and even every decision their competition, as they saw it, might make. They, lost in their need to compare, searching for any small difference they could cling to, desperate for something -- ANYTHING that would set them apart.

And yet still, despite their intense focus on each other, our black-and-blonde-haired cubicle-mates exchanged only those words they had to, and not a syllable more. Neither pushing for a dialogue, or even allowing themselves to stumble into a situation where such might be required.

One leaving work early, whereas the other might leave late. Efforts spent to make sure that they did not need to walk from hall to exit together, or god forbid, find themselves locked in the same elevator.

That refusal to engage one another directly caused a dizzying and palpable atmosphere of tension to grow between them with every passing minute.

A cauldron of rivalry and frustration, it was.

A sauna of requited jealousy, and projected self-loathing.

Despite the intensity of their own feelings, however, both Beatrix and Emily imagined that it was only they who felt such things, assuming that the other was oblivious to their silent struggle. But eventually, when they had truly settled into the daily grind of their competing qualities, that belief was shattered.

A shattering that occurred, when one day, Beatrix laid her head back on her chair and began to imagine. She slipping into a dream she had been blessed with the night before, and the night before that.

In it, she and Emily were both nude and glaring at each other. They stood not a foot apart, and yet on the verge of bringing their frustratingly similar bodies together, though to what end, she did not at first know.

As it had on every occurrence of the dream, that image caused her panties to wet, and her hand to drift down between her legs, which spread just far enough to allow herself access. Then, after shifting her panties to one side, she began to rub at her aching clit, sending bolts of electricity through her body, and a blanket of distraction over her mind.

A distraction that grew worse as in that mind, and as she pictured Emily reaching out and shoving her, only for she to return that push a moment later. Back and forth they laid hands on each other with increasing force, until finally together they dove, their lips sealing, and tongues clashing in an epic explosion of long-denied passion and desire.

As she fought back moans, Beatrix continued to rub herself, leaning back further and further in her chair, until suddenly she felt it. A gentle thud, and then a shifting contact, one she knew immediately was the back of Emily's head against her own.

Her first and most fear-laden instinct was to jerk herself forward, sit up, pull her sundress bottom back down, and quickly end her self-stimulation. But as thought turned to action, she found herself shocked.

Emily had not pulled away, commented on the contact, or made even the slightest sound of objection. And so the black-haired beauty remained not only leaning back, but with her fingers on her clit.

In such a precarious state, she simply listened and felt -- not wanting to make a move before she who sat behind. Through such senses, she felt Emily softly turning her chair, one way and then back, not in any discernible sequence, but randomly. An action which caused the back of their pressing heads to rub together, and their lavishly kept hair to brush not just once, but then again and again.

Leery though Beatrix was, as the slow, soft, rubbing of locks continued, she let her eyes close and her attention to focus on the sensation of it. The rubbing. The shifting. So unexpected it was, and yet, it felt... It felt... The black-haired Beatrix could not then describe it, or do so even now, if you asked her. For it was not nerve-endings being triggered that created the sensation, nor the touch itself that caused her heart to pound and pulse to race.

Instead, it was something else -- something ethereal. More forged of Beatrix' excitement about she and her rival touching, when so little between them had been spoken.

That feeling of taboo swelled in her as she and Emily, for the first time, shared something other than proximity.

A sensation of titillation that led Beatrix to once again stroke her throbbing clit, not because she meant to, but because she had to.

Not because she was daring, but because she was desperate. The excitement of just that single touch driving her wild with want, a hunger that grew worse with every second that it continued. For as every such second passed, it became more and more likely that Emily's press was not accidental -- not unnoticed, but instead intentional and desired.

A revelation of consent and craving that Emily too reveled in. The blonde's own fingers pressing through her already moistened inner labia, once and then again. Her digit working as she, in her imagination, spun that moment, and she and her rival's press into a scene of sexual majesty and potency that puts this writing and all others meant to excite to shame.

In that mutual state of arousal, the back-to-back girls continued to rub with their met and leaning heads, until within the glory of the moment, and the silence that each fought to maintain, Beatrix could not help but moan.

It was so quiet.

So soft.

Imperceivable to all, save one: Emily.

She must have heard it. Oh god... The black-haired worker thought as her eyes shot open in panic, she fearing what might be said or thought by her cubicle-mate. But as terror began to grip her, that same sound was returned by Emily, not once, but twice.

Half of Beatrix wanted to turn and face Emily, to grab her and drag her into a kiss. But instead, she simply continued. Her eyes closing once again, as her fingers drifted down from her clit to the folds of her sex. Once there, they entered, causing her to shiver with pleasure.

Emily, following a mirrored path of risque desire, found her fingers taking the same journey. Down and in. Down and in. Again and again, as each leaned into the other in excitement and newly unrepentant and unhidden lust.

In that way, and as the cruel hands of the depressingly utilitarian clock on the wall next to their cubicle ticked by, they together worked themselves to orgasm. One which they reached in unison, as long, soft, muted moans escaped their lips in a harmony of shared ecstasy and a chorus of finally revealed truths.

And though they each came, one and together, driven to release by the mere thought of the tension that existed between them. As the resulting haze of that glorious and much-needed orgasm passed, their inhibitions returned. Their own, somehow-suppressed fears of being caught not only by their office-mates but each other, seized them.

A seizure which made their hearts suddenly feel as if they had been surrounded in ice and buried in snow. Their eyes, which had been closed with pleasure and desire, blinking open as a mutual terror gripped them.

What had they done? They each asked themselves, as every muscle in their bodies tightened and as wave after wave of anxiety-triggering chemicals began to flood. The panic that followed pushing them to quickly lean back forward and away from each other, as they adjusted their panties and clothes. Only to then fix their hair, or at least the back of it, which each had undone on the other.

Adjusted and fixed though they were, Beatrix and Emily did not then speak. Not to each other or anyone in the office, at least for that day. The two regret-filled women hoping that if they just acted as if nothing had happened, the other would just forget.

Neither ready for the consequences that they each feared would follow the revelation that their feud was not only real and mutual but something that excited them both.

That state of unready persisted as they left work that day and traveled home. But with every passing second, it faded. Crumbled. Dissolved as their thoughts lingered and dwelled on what had happened.

It was wrong, they believed. It was weird, they felt. It was something entirely unlike anything they had ever experienced in their lives, they were sure.

And yet it called to them, like the song of a siren.

Lapped at they and their racing hearts, like waves upon a beach.

Waylayed them, like a thief in the night. Leaving each bereft of any thoughts expect of each other. Any desires, except for the same.

Until their boyfriends arrived home. Boyfriends they met at the door, undressed with ferocity, and then tossed to their beds. Beds on which they fucked those unassuming and unaware others. Each picturing not the men beneath and between their legs, but each other.

On top of such unwitting replacements, they each came, again and again. Quicker. Harder. And louder than ever before, with that man or another. Not because of the talents of those they rode, but because of how desperate and turned on their rivalry had made them. A rivalry, to that point, which had never been put into words. A feud having never been spoken of, or admitted in the same.

Each returning, the next day, to their work and their shared cubicle. Neither making eye contact or speaking, though all they could think of was each other, and their moment of bliss from the day before.

An obsession of image and recollection that wrecked them as they tried to do once they once did. Leaving each barely able to breathe, let alone focus on their assigned work. And yet still, despite their desperate and gut-wrenching desire to engage once more. In some way. In any way, they resisted. Out of fear, more than pride.

Neither of the two back-to-back beauties knowing how to take the next step or why they wanted to so badly. Resist though they did, for one hour and then another, when Beatrix' boyfriend called, their dams broke.

Just the sound of it, the black-haired goddess' velvet-soft, and endlessly sensual voice drove the blonde worker wild. Yes, that voice was without exception glorious in its hushed tones, but at that moment, it was more so. It was emphasized. Intentionally cooing and mercilessly husky. Bent to be searingly sexy and delivered to be excruciatingly hot.

It was a challenge. A dare. One that pushed Emily to grab, to lift, to dial, and then to place a call to her own man. Not because he would have something interesting to say, or because she missed him, but because she wanted Beatrix to hear her too. The blonde being keen to share with her rival the sound of her own voice. Not wanting her to think for a second, that in any way, she was better or even equal. She was a pretender, at best, of that Emily was sure.

Mundane though their conversations each began, after only a few moments of both women being on the phone, they twisted and delved, diving past friends and family, and into the causes of last night's extraordinarily passionate affairs.

And though modesty would normally have been called for in such a conversation -- a modesty that brought a lowered voice and sly innuendos. Beatrix and Emily spoke freely, honestly, and as overtly as they possibly could. All with voices meant to drive the other insane with jealousy and desire.

"I thought it was just me, but she was touching herself too..." One spoke as her fingers lowered, once again.

"Then we touched. Then she moaned..." The other spoke, as her fingers followed the same path.

"We could have stopped, but we didn't." They told as their fingers moved past fabric and in.

"We just ... hhhnnnn ... kept going. Her head pressssssed against miiiine, until we ... ughh ... came together..." Their story progressed, as they once again, fingered themselves, this time not to the feeling of the other's touch, but the sound of each other's voice.

The same story, though they told, with the same lustful tone, their honesty did not stop even at that tale. For when asked, each explained.

"No ... she can ... uuuunnnngggghhhh ... hear me..." Beatrix explained without pause or shame, as she neared another wonderous orgasm

"She's list--listening to meeeee ... oh god ... tell you ... hhhhHHHhhhhhhh ... right now..." Said Emily, as she neared the same peak.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, NoOoOooOO, we haven't spoke..."Beatrix responded in irritation, even as the waves of pleasure began to course through her.

"SHIT! Unnnnnhhhh, why would I--I talk toOooO herrrrr..." An irritation mirrored in Emily, who asked rather than answered, even as the same release began.

But as they again came, back-to-back, driven to orgasm just by the sound of the other's voice and the competition it represented, they heard a voice call to them. Not from the phones into which they moaned and spoke, but to their side. From the outside of their cubicle.

"Uh, Ladies?" It was foreign, in that it wasn't welcome, but the voice was still familiar. It was Andy. Their coworker. One who had tried and failed to date them both, over the past few months. Before they found the prophylactic of a boyfriend.

"Andy!?" Beatrix blurted out, half in welcome and half in shock, all as she slammed the phone down, hanging up on her boyfriend.

"Oh, hey!" Came the same from Emily, as each of the women tried to appear as if they hadn't just fingered themselves to orgasm in the middle of the office.

"Heeeeyyyy, so..." The pudgy-cute redheaded manchild began, not really sure what he had stumbled upon in his favorite cubicle on the floor.

Confused, and excited though he was, as his mind began to run wild creating one fantasy after another, still he gave the instructions he was instructed to. "Can you two, ummm, check your emails? Jennifer said she needs a reply from both of you on something she sent."

"Ah! Yes, I will." Emily answered first, she moving her eyes as quickly as she could from the well-fed's messenger's face, not able to stand the excited, doe-eyed smirk she saw upon it.

"Me too. Sorry." Beatrix followed, as she too set herself to just pretend they hadn't been caught speaking each other to release.

"What were you two...?" Asked Andy, too shy to even put words to what he imagined.

"Nothing." Answered Beatrix, as her counterpart found herself distracted by a sudden, seizing irritation at Emily's brazen "me too". The blonde needled by the decision of her co-worker to link their sentences together. The anger was childish, and petty in the extreme, and yet to her, somehow, it made sense.

Sense enough for her to then respond, "yes, nothing; like Beatrix said. Thanks for letting us know about the email though, Andy." It was intentional. Purposeful. Meant as a counter-attack, one even worse than the "attack" she stewed over. Her words not only linking their comments together, but then even worse -- mentioning the name of the woman with whom she did not speak.

A mentioning that made Beatrix' eyes close as she tried to process a rage so hot, she could feel it burning its way through her veins. Bitch! The onyx thought to herself, as her eyes opened and Andy began to step away. He leaving with nothing more than a pair of flushed cheeks and a quick "You're welcome!"

Check they would.

Check they wanted to.

But first, each just sat. Wanting to turn to each other. Wanting to glare. Wanting to hiss. But still, they found themselves unable. Their chairs remaining turned toward the exit of their shared cubicle, as they gathered themselves from all that had just occurred.

Until finally, when they were able, they turned back to their monitors, clicked open their Outlook program, and read -- to their own horror. A trip? Tonight? Together in a car? NEVER! They each fumed, as they set themselves to rebelling against the assignment. A rebellion that fizzled quickly, as Jennifer's response came in.

"Austin and Bennett need you both there, first thing in the morning. No ifs... No ands... No butts..."

And so they drove, after each went home for their things. Together in silence, in a car rented for them by the company. Each hyper-focused on every movement and sound the other made. Ready to... To... They weren't even sure, but still, the tension between them built.

Moment after moment.

Mile after mile.

As one drove and the other sat passenger, Beatrix in a red, button-up blouse, and Emily in one of a blue hue. Their heels and skirts a matching black, in equal length.

In such attire, they created one scenario after another in their minds. First a word spoken, then a conversation, then more... Each such imagining leading to their lips sealing together, and their hands moving across each other's bodies.

Not softly or lovingly, but hard. Each tearing at the other's clothes, until together nude, they would press -- they would push themselves together. As such thoughts engulfed them, their hands would drift down. First to their one of their thighs, then between them.

Though somehow, each found the strength and focus to stop themselves from doing what they had done twice before. What they had done when their backs were turned to one another.