Rising from the Ashes

"Do tell."

Toni gushed, "Adrienne is bisexual. About a month ago one of my friends spotted her in a lesbian bar in, shall we say, a loving embrace with another woman. And later that evening she was seen leaving arm in arm with that same woman. I also have a contact at Sebastian's law firm. She said that Adrienne is a good kid and doesn't understand why she would take up with a married man. She also told me that he never moved in with Adrienne, but instead has been living in long-term corporate housing."

"Prisha told me the same thing about Adrienne, but I didn't know that Sebastian never moved in with her. Serves him right for assuming she would just take him in."

"My friend also told me that Adrienne's dad is the managing partner of her law firm. Apparently she and her father have a somewhat strained relationship. He doesn't approve of her dating women."

"Well I've got news of my own." Jolene pulled her phone out of her purse and pulled up the exchange of text messages. She handed the phone to her neighbor.

Toni scrolled through the messages, laughing uncontrollably. She started running towards the nearby guest bathroom, yelling "Jolene, if I don't get to the bathroom in the next five seconds I'm going to wet my panties." She shut the door, leaving her friend holding her glass of wine with a bemused look on her face. She returned a few minutes later.

"Oh Jolene, this is rich. Sebastian leaves you thinking he's going to move in with Adrienne and she wants none of that. Now he's trying to crawl back to you. Your last response was priceless."

"Prisha wrote it."

"Figures. She's funnier than you and she's got a potty mouth to boot."

"Well, she captured my sentiments exactly. I do want Sebastian to fuck off. I'm not sure I could stand to even see him again."

"And it also seems that Adrienne is a smart cookie. She may have found him to be an amusing plaything but also didn't see a long term future with him. Serves him right."

During the carb loaded dinner the two women polished off two bottles of wine, rehashed the text message exchange and engaged in endless speculation about why Sebastian didn't move in with Adrienne and why he asked to come back. They also wondered whether Sebastian had misread his associate, mistaking her interest in him for something substantially more. Whatever the reasons, the wheels had clearly come off of Sebastian's extracurricular romance.

When the meal was finished, Jolene helped with the dishes and decided to call it a day as she had to return to work the next morning. When leaving, the two friends hugged, with Jolene getting a small charge when Toni pushed her ample breasts against hers. Again, Jolene was puzzled about whether there was something more, or whether her lesbian fantasies were intruding on her everyday life.

Chapter Four

Prisha

The next day Jolene settled in for a long workday, confident that there would be no further surprises given her shutdown of Sebastian the prior day. She couldn't have been more wrong. Again she was cranking away on a report to accompany the spreadsheets she had completed. She was putting the finishing touches on the presentation package when her phone chimed.

"Crap," she thought. "Is that weasel Sebastian texting me again?" Disgusted, she picked up her phone, expecting to see his name. Instead, it was Adrienne.

(203-555-xxxx): This is Adrienne. I got your cell number off Sebastian's phone. Can you meet me at Clancy's at 8?

Jolene was even more shocked than yesterday. She half expected Sebastian to try to crawl back, but Adrienne? She was absolutely befuddled by this message and had no idea whether she should accept. She walked calmly into Prisha's office, this time closing the door quietly.

Prisha was an interesting story. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Mumbai thirty years ago, with both of them working as research engineers for a multinational drug company. They of course expected, no demanded, that Prisha marry a "good Indian boy" and made it their life's mission to find their only child a suitable mate.

Prisha was certainly marriage worthy. She was Princeton educated and had Bollywood good looks. She had long black wavy hair to the middle of her back, dark smoky brown eyes, full breasts and a narrow waist. Every red blooded single male Indian doctor would be pleased to have Prisha on their arm. But unfortunately for her parents at a tender age Prisha realized she was a lesbian. She had to sneak around in college with her girlfriends and had to have a boyfriend for "show" when her parents visited her or when she went home. Her boyfriend, Ranbir, was gay and was in the same situation as Prisha with his parents. His parents dreamed of him marrying a woman like Prisha, an attractive well-educated woman of Indian descent who had upstanding professional parents.

Prisha's parents became suspicious of her sexual orientation when she pursed jobs on construction crews during her summer vacations. Prisha loved the outdoors and her interactions with politically incorrect males. She got a charge out of their testosterone fueled catcalls elicited by her too tight jeans and shirts. She learned how to swear properly, her biggest takeaway being the thirty-seven different ways to use the word "fuck." She had to concentrate on not letting her salty language invade her conversations with her parents, but for everyone else it was fair game to lace her discussions with profanity.

Prisha was surprised to see Jolene in her office, shutting the door behind her. Like Jolene, she thought the drama of Sebastian's plea for help was over and that Jolene's life would resume some semblance of normalcy, at least for a day.

"What's up?" She remained sitting at her desk, though looking expectantly at her older friend.

"You won't believe this," Jolene replied, as she slid her phone across Prisha's expansive desk.

Prisha picked up the phone, also half expecting a text from Sebastian. She managed a low pitched whistle.

"I didn't see this coming."

"Nor I," Jolene replied. "I don't know what to make of it."

"Obviously she's got something to say to you, and it's probably something you want to hear. Given that she's kicked the shithead out she's not reaching out to you to gloat. More likely to clear the air."

Jolene paused. "I think you're right. Why would she want to meet if she's going to piss me off?"

"Right."

"So maybe I don't have anything to lose by agreeing to see her."

"I'd agree with that. She probably wants to make amends."

Jolene decided to share the other piece of news regarding Adrienne. "Toni told me that Adrienne was seen leaving a bar with a woman. That pretty much ties in with you seeing her at Alice's."

"Doesn't surprise me a bit. By the way, I'd love to go to bed with her. She's hot," Prisha replied with longing in her voice.

Jolene left her friend's office, now having decided to accept the invitation. She texted Adrienne back, saying "Yes."

The remaining hours of the day crawled by for Jolene, the anticipation making her virtually unable to work. She killed some of the time talking to Toni, continuing the speculation on Adrienne's motives. Toni had no more insight than Prisha, but was also surprised at the turn of events.

Having already completed her management report, she decided to go home early and try to relax. She was surprised how nervous she was and even more surprised that she couldn't find anything in her closet that she found acceptable for the occasion. What do you wear when you're meeting your husband's former lover?

After several wardrobe changes she ultimately she settled on business attire. She found a freshly pressed blouse, a neutral colored pencil skirt and a pair of modest heels. She decided to wear her hair up, with fresh make-up. She resisted the urge to change her clothes once again.

Chapter Five

Adrienne

Clancy's was a neighborhood bar, casual, noisy and usually filled. The festive atmosphere inside seemed curiously inappropriate for this type of discussion, but perhaps Adrienne had picked it because it was familiar and non-threatening. Jolene arrived early and found a relatively secluded booth in the back. She left her coat on the bench to mark the table as hers and returned to the front of the bar to await her unlikely visitor. She watched the door anxiously as it swung open, but the person entering was a man. Several more people arrived, but no Adrienne. Jolene turned to check her make-up in her pocket mirror when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around in relatively tight quarters she found herself inches from Adrienne.

"Jolene." They were too close to shake hands and it was too awkward to hug. The two of them looked at each other. Jolene saw the face of a beautiful young woman, her remarkably straight blonde hair framing a heart shaped face with a flawless complexion. Her knees suddenly became weak as her throat tightened.

"Adrienne," she managed to force out. "I've saved a table in the back."

Jolene led the young woman to the back, finally able to see all of her as they both prepared to slide into opposite sides of the booth. Adrienne too had selected business-type attire, or perhaps she was coming straight from work. She was wearing a short designer jacket with a fine tweed pattern covering a cream colored silk blouse, a black skirt and four inch black heels. Her height was accentuated by her long legs and slender body. Even though she was so much younger, Adrienne projected an aura of self-confidence, almost cockiness. Jolene couldn't understand why her heart was pounding in her chest as the two of them assumed their places at the table.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I reached out to you," the tall blonde started.

"I was."

"I wanted to apologize."

"Really." Jolene couldn't help that a bit of sarcasm crept into her reply.

Adrienne was nonplussed by the affront and forged ahead. "I'm not expecting that you'll believe me, but Sebastian lied to me."

Jolene wasn't surprised. "That makes two of us."

"He told me that you were having an affair and that you had asked him for a divorce."

The distraught spouse became the angry spouse. Jolene could feel her cheeks getting hot. "Is that true?"

"It is. Look, I wouldn't have dated him if I knew he was lying to me."

"I guess that's good to hear." At this point it was a small consolation, but at least she had made the effort to let Jolene know the truth. "How did you find out he was lying?"

"He left his phone on the kitchen table. It was open to his text exchange with you. It's when he told you that he was leaving you for me. I confronted him about his message, asking him why he needed to tell you he was leaving you when he told me that you had taken up with someone else and thrown him out." The indignation is her voice told Jolene that what she said was true.

"It seems lying has become second nature for him," the brunette said with a sigh.

"Well, I just thought you should know. I didn't want you to think that I was trying to break up your marriage." She sounded truly contrite.

"I do appreciate it. I guess sooner or later Sebastian was going to run. He's still a little kid at heart and women are candy to him. He's got an incurable sweet tooth. And I must say he has good taste in women." The last sentence was delivered as a compliment that was not lost on Adrienne. She eyed Jolene in a different light, not as an estranged spouse but as a beautiful woman in her own right.

The conversation meandered, touching on Jolene's "watering" of Sebastian's stuff, a topic that led to howls of laughter, and then Adrienne's love of exotic sports cars that was spurred by her father's vast collection. Both women came away from the meeting satisfied; Adrienne believing her sincere apology was accepted, and Jolene, now knowing that Adrienne was not at all a home wrecker, but just another woman complicit in Sebastian's adolescent sex fantasies. The evening ended when each woman gave the other a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Toni spotted Jolene's car pulling into her driveway. She dashed over, eager to hear what transpired at Clancy's. Breathlessly, she approached her good friend as she was exiting her car in the garage.

"So how was it?" She couldn't disguise her excitement, as she sounded as if she was in high school asking her friend about her first kiss.

Jolene shrugged her shoulders. "It was OK."

Toni stared at her friend until Jolene burst out laughing. "It was amazing. She apologized. She told me the little pig fucker told her that I had kicked him out of the house because I had taken up with someone else. She wanted me to know that she didn't want to break up our marriage. She thought our marriage was already over and that I had already asked Sebastian for a divorce."

The information seeped into Toni's head, her not quite believing the enormity of the lie. "Wow. Sebastian surprises me. I've known him all these years and even I didn't suspect he was capable of making up incredible lies and perhaps starting to believe them."

"Well, Adrienne's not a bad person. She's so gorgeous she could have anyone she wanted. Clearly, there was nothing in it for her to mess around with a married man. I totally believed her."

"I guess that's good that she wasn't the type of woman to prey on married men. But it also makes you wonder about us, how we could have been so easily duped by Sebastian's facile style."

"I think this calls for a drink." The two women went into Jolene's kitchen, breaking open a bottle of cabernet for a night cap. They toasted to the glory of women and the gullibility of men.

"Thank God I don't have a dick," Toni observed. "It gets you in too much trouble."

"I'll drink to that." Jolene hoisted her glass and then hugged her friend. Toni had already been drinking that evening, and the last glass of wine emboldened her. She unbuttoned her blouse and took Jolene's hand, guiding it inside her bra. Jolene instinctively cupped the soft breast and then rolled the nipple between the fingers.

"I know this can't go anywhere," Toni purred, "But I've seen the way you've been leering at my tits. I thought I'd satisfy your curiosity."

Jolene was stunned by the advance and even more so by her reaction. She did want more. She wanted to take Toni, fling her on the bed, and fuck her silly. But discretion prevailed.

"Thank you. I'll confess to you that I've been thinking about women in my dreams. You'll be in mine tonight."

The two women kissed on the lips, with Toni slipping her tongue into Jolene's mouth.

"Sweet dreams," Toni said as she buttoned her blouse and took her leave.

Jolene did go to bed that night, using her vibrator and calling Toni's name over and over as ripples of pleasure rolled through her. But somehow images of Adrienne crept into her mind as well.

Chapter Six

The Bar

The next day Prisha was waiting in Jolene's office when she arrived. Jolene closed the door behind her.

"Details, now," Prisha demanded.

Jolene sat in her chair and recounted the entire evening, leaving out only her groping of Toni's breast. Prisha sat in rapt attention as the sordid details of Sebastian's betrayal of both Adrienne and Jolene came to light.

"I was right," declared Prisha. "The little rat bastard was hoisted on his own petard. Serves him right. I'm glad Adrienne was only mildly culpable. She should have suspected Sebastian was lying, but I guess it would have been asking too much to have verified his story with you."

"That's right. She worked with Sebastian and probably at least at the beginning trusted him."

"How are you feeling about this?"

"A little better. At least I know that she wasn't gunning for my husband. But I still wake up in the morning by myself."

"Look, April and I are going tonight to our favorite bar, Alice's. Why don't you join us? It should be fun. All girls, no guys. I'm sure at this point you're not overly excited at meeting another man. Would you be interested?" Prisha could sense that Jolene had more than a casual interest in her and wanted to know if she was really interested in women.

Jolene readily agreed, and her quick assent reinforced Prisha's suspicions.

Prisha picked up Jolene at her house that night. Her girlfriend April was already sitting in the front passenger seat. It was a Friday night and parking was scarce. They ended up parking two blocks away from the bar. The three women were walking on the sidewalk, chatting away. Jolene was absentmindedly looking to her right through the plate glass windows of the shops they passed, admiring the colorful displays of women's clothes and shoes when a reflection in the window caught her eye. Although the image was slightly distorted, she saw a young, attractive woman leaning with her back against a late model sports car. She swiveled her head to her left to see that Adrienne was the attractive woman, with a shorter, full figured redhead with her arms around Adrienne, nuzzling her neck.

Adrienne craned her head when she sensed someone was looking at her, and with a flash of recognition at seeing Jolene, a wry smile curled up on her face. There was a spark that fired deep within Jolene's core that she had not felt before and it caused her to stop walking while Prisha and her girlfriend continued their banter and their progress down the street. The petite brunette was mesmerized by the sight of the stunning blonde, her fashionable black leather jacket with the collar upturned and unzipped to reveal a tight black top underneath, caressing the back of her shorter companion. The pause was only for a few moments, but Jolene wanted to process this new emotion. She was surprised that instead of resentment and hate, her glimpse of Adrienne, in a seductive pose with another woman, caused an overwhelming sense of want.

To titillate Jolene, the statuesque blonde drew the redhead closer, kissing her full on the lips but locking her eyes on Jolene. Suddenly embarrassed to be a voyeur, Jolene turned her head away, attempting to walk forward but stumbling in her heels. Adrienne grinned when she observed this awkward moment, wondering if somehow Jolene was a closeted lesbian, or just amused to see her with a woman instead of Sebastian or some other man.

After catching her balance, Jolene hurried ahead to catch her mates, with her mind racing at this chance encounter with her husband's former lover. She didn't understand why she was feeling aroused instead of angry.

Prisha finally noted her co-worker's momentary absence, breaking her conversation with her girlfriend.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"I just saw Adrienne with another woman."

"Really?"

"It was a bit of a shock to see it in person."

"Well, now you know the rumors were true."

"I wasn't mad."

"Why not?" Prisha already knew the answer.

"I'm not sure why."

"I am."

"Why?"

"You're attracted to her."

"I am not."

"OK, right."

They approached the bar, the line already extending out the door and onto the street. The door was propped open and the sound of the dance music was spilling out to the crowd outside, many of whom were dancing on the sidewalk. Prisha came prepared. She fished in her purse for three small airline size bottles of tequila.

"Drink up girls. It's probably going to be a thirty minute wait to get inside. We might as well start the party now." Prisha downed the contents of her bottle first. Jolene wasn't an experienced hard liquor drinker and gagged on the first swallow.

"How do you drink this shit. It's awful."

"Courage in a bottle my friend," commented April as she wiped her mouth with her forearm.