Seducing Zoe Pt. 02

PARTING THE WATERS

In this next part I've brought in two characters from Delicate Touches, one of my other Literotica stories, Stella was one of the main characters but Charlie had a walk in walk off part. They now join Zoe and Lisa as the story takes another turn with Lisa's initial reluctance now beginning to melt along with Zoe's resolve.

The sun was shining brightly that Sunday morning and the heat haze was rising from the road as Zoe pulled into her drive and then came to an abrupt halt. A car was sitting in the drive and her landlord was standing chatting with a two women whilst a child rode up down the drive on her scooter. The landlord looked up and acknowledged her with a wave. She smiled and backed out into the street and momentarily confused, decided to reverse across the street and park in front of Lisa's house. She grabbed the cardigan she'd worn to church along with her handbag and exited the car just as Lisa came to a halt beside her.

Lisa looked over at her and then at the people in the drive and then pulled into her drive. Zoe took a step forward as if to cross the road and then changed direction and walked into Lisa's drive. The older woman got out a moment later and lowered her sunglasses as she squinted at her. Zoe smiled as she drew nearer. Lisa was wearing blue jeans and a matching denim jacket over an off-white blouse, she noticed the black ankle boots as well and then their eyes met. Lisa was still staring at her and she felt a slight elation, there was genuine warmth in her expression.

"Hey there, good looking," Zoe stopped in front of her and then she noticed the pendant dangling from her neck, a white and yellowish crystal attached to a gold chain.

"Nice blouse, where'd you buy it?"

"What? This old thing?" Zoe pulled her eyes from Lisa's necklace and looked down at the white blouse, it had two wide ruffles down each side of the bodice, the centre two met where the buttons would normally be, they were at the back of the blouse. It was one of the reasons Lisa had only worn it by special request whenever Rita was feeling like playing. However seeing it on someone else made her realise why her ex girlfriend loved it so much because it did look different. The material was a polyester satin blend, the collar was decorated with lace, the sleeves were puffed out at the shoulders but narrowed to slim cuffs. It was tucked into a black A-line skirt, a pair of white heels completed the outfit.

"Are they your new co-tenants?" Lisa unlocked the boot.

"It looks like it, I just came home now but the landlord is parked right outside."

"Typical landlord," she grinned, "fancy a bite to eat or are you going to fix your own?"

"Um," Zoe glanced over her shoulder, "yeah, but I'd better just duck over and introduce myself, just so as they don't think the bungalow is being rented by some crazy cat lady."

"No worries," Lisa pulled the bags out of the boot as Zoe turned and walked back across the street, a slight smile nudged her lips as she stared at her back. Two of the buttons had come undone and she almost called her back but then changed her mind, the aforementioned buttons were at the small of her back.

Best not embarrass her out here and besides, the women outnumber the landlord.

Nevertheless, she waited for her to return, more to observe the landlord but when she farewelled them and crossed the road again the landlord hadn't noticed a thing.

Well, no harm done.

"Well that was interesting," she came to a halt in front of her and stared at the front door, "the petite blonde woman is Jo and she introduced the other woman as her partner, Denise."

"Lesbians living across the road from me?" Lisa grinned crookedly as she straightened up, "the nerve of it all," she picked up her bags, "whatever will the neighbours say?"

Zoe chuckled at that as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Do you know them?"

"Nope," she shook her head, "there's a lot of us out there," she turned towards the house.

"So who's the mother?"

I didn't ask the question," they started walking towards the porch, Zoe was a few steps behind as she glanced back now and then. She suddenly picked up her pace and caught up with her at the front door.

"The blonde woman is the mother, the daughter went straight to her and took her down to the side fence."

"Okay," she glanced down at the bags, "here's how it works, if you do me a favour, I'll do you a favour, take my keys out of the bag and unlock the door, please."

Once they were inside Lisa nudged the door shut with her foot and put the bags down.

"So, what favour are you doing me, apart from lunch? Or is that it?"

"Stand still," she murmured.

Zoe froze and glanced over her shoulder.

"It's not a spider is it?"

"No," she tugged at the blouse, "you've come undone," she fastened a button, "it's an old fashioned blouse," she fastened the second button, "the trick to putting this on is to fasten four or five buttons first and then pull it over your head to do the rest. It's possible the other way of course but at least then you can go out shopping without exposing half your back to the men in town."

"Thanks," she winced, "they probably saw me."

"I did, I was going to call you back but I didn't want to embarrass you out there, and besides," she picked up the bags, "it's not like they could see what colour bra you were wearing. The landlord didn't even look at you."

"What about Jo and Denise?"

"They were too busy talking to the landlord," she picked the bags up.

"Okay, I'll put this shit away and you put the billy on, I ran out of coffee this morning, hence the Sunday shop, I grabbed a coffee in the food court but I don't think they cleaned their filter because it tasted like shit."

"Okay," Zoe replied.

"How was church this morning?"

"It was okay," she turned the tap to fill the kettle, "I went to the Uniting one in Heathmont this morning."

"Uh huh," Lisa started taking food out of the bags, "so, how was it?"

"Huh?" Zoe glanced over at her, "what do you mean?"

"Did you learn something, meet new people? The usual stuff."

"Oh, the sermon was a bit dry, Christ is the groom and the church is the bride," she turned the tap off and carried the kettle back to the bench, "I met some older women and one young guy who was single," she smiled.

"Oh, well there's a golden opportunity."

"Perhaps not," she frowned, "he just came out and said it in the first thirty seconds and I thought maybe not such a good catch."

"Now he might have seen you were partially unbuttoned," Lisa remarked.

"He did approach me from behind," Zoe winced, "that might explain why he was so eager," she flicked the switch on the kettle.

"There were some girls my age but they were all very obviously attached to their boyfriends and so I was stuck with the old biddies."

"Probably frightened this hot blonde was going to steal their men away."

"Shut up," she slapped her arm playfully, "that's terrible."

"Women are the same all over," she grinned, "always scoping out the opposition, even the gay women are doing it. We can make mountains out of molehills and turn them right back again when it suits us."

"So why are you still with women?"

"I feel secure with them, granted there's more involved but you feel like you're a part of each other's lives and not just a warm body when the urge takes him. Men think of food, drink and sex, and not always in that order."

"I know Grant does, even though he says he doesn't."

"That's because he's a man, it's hard wired into his brain and no amount of indoctrination can really take it away, it might be subdued and they may be able to control their urges but it's all still there just waiting to be aroused."

Zoe didn't say anything as she waited for Lisa to put the shopping away. Her earlier disappointment had lifted now that she was here and she rested her buttocks against the sink as she recalled the service and its aftermath.

"What are your plans for today?"

"Um, a bit of housework perhaps."

"The house is clean enough."

"Why, what do you have in mind?"

"A drive somewhere, like," she looked past her, "up the hills maybe."

"A drive," Lisa frowned as she took the bread out of the fridge.

"Okay, I'll drive and you can buy the coffee."

"Deal," she pushed away from the sink, "do you want a hand?"

"Yeah, you make the coffee if you want and I'll do the sandwiches."

"So, did you ever wear this blouse?" Zoe reached up and opened a cupboard door.

"A few times, for special occasions."

"Like weddings?"

"Cosplay," she deposited a pack of sliced ham and another of sliced cheese onto the bench.

"What's that?" Zoe asked as she lifted two mugs down from the standing rack to her left.

"Costume play," she returned to the fridge and took out the bread and margarine, "it's where you dress up in outfits from a certain era. Most of the time people are just having a laugh but in the bedroom cosplay takes on a more serious tone," she opened the bread bag and took out some bread, "my ex, Rita was obsessed with it. She bought that blouse for me but she also bought other outfits as well, like schoolgirl and nurse outfits."

"Sounds, weird," she glanced at her as she put coffee into a cup, "in a harmless kind of way. So why did she like this blouse? I wore this to church today."

"She liked the idea of being in control. It was easier for her than me to undo it, she used to get me to wear a black dress that zipped up the back just to enhance the arousal. I used to just stand there and let her undress me," she pulled a drawer out to get a butter knife.

"She wasn't into whips and chains, was she?" Zoe put the spoon into the sugar bowl.

"She did ask me once and I just flat out refused. I don't mind a bit of cosplay but not all the fucking time. Rita's problem with sex was always looking for the next high, you couldn't just have normal sex, you had to have smoking hot sex."

"I couldn't tell the difference between bland sex and smoking hot sex," she pushed the cups to one side, "I hope this doesn't bring back bad memories?"

"No, surprisingly it doesn't but I guess that's because someone else is wearing it. I'd have bad memories if I wore it again though."

"Well it's good you gave it to me then, be a shame to waste it. I actually got a compliment from two older women today."

"Okay, what were they like?" Lisa started buttering the bread.

"One was nice and polite," she paused, "but the other was one of those annoying women who reminds of those old fashioned women you see in a period drama," she gesticulated as she changed her accent slightly.

"It's so lovely to see the young ones taking an interest in spiritual matters."

Lisa chuckled.

"Nasty," she replied.

Zoe grinned as she turned back to the fridge.

"I'm thirsty, can I have some cordial?"

"Sure, go right ahead."

"Do you want one?"

"I'm fine thanks."

Whilst Zoe made herself some cordial Lisa went to work on the sandwiches. Zoe had her back to the sink as she watched her work. She felt the emotion rising to her throat. She'd felt really out of sorts at this church. The Uniting Church in Australia was a combination of the Anglican and a slew of minor Protestant denominations and whilst there were purists who decried the dilution of their particular brand of religious belief, it had saved the Anglican church from extinction. However it was always a bland form of worship, sometimes it came across as worldly although compared to Grant's church and her own background they were a refreshing change.

Her eyes dropped to Lisa's boots, noticing that they were suede with studded straps. She took another sip and gathered her strength, willing herself out into the unknown.

"You look nice today though."

She bit her lip and felt the inner cringe because it sounded almost forced and hollow.

"I do?" Lisa turned around to open the cupboard door and take down two plates.

"Yeah," she set the glass down, "very smart."

Lisa smirked as she took the plates down. Zoe took a step towards her and Lisa turned towards her with the plates still in her hand. A moment later Zoe reached out and picked up the gemstone for a closer look. The milky white top turned into a dark yellow that was almost orange.

"What kind of stone is it?"

"Citrine quartz, I bought it when I was in a craft shop, it's supposed to represent success. Stella was with me when I bought it," she went on as Zoe released the stone and then fingered the collar of her blouse.

"Success," their eyes met and then Zoe smiled as she tugged gently at her jacket, "I like it, where's the craft shop?"

"It's actually in Sassafras," she turned to put the plates down, "we'll drop in if you like, they've often got a sale on, my favourite is the bargain tray," she glanced over her shoulder as Zoe let her hand slide down her back.

"Sounds cool," Zoe took a step back and picked up her glass again.

Lisa didn't reply to that as she processed these new gestures. The younger woman was definitely drawing closer on a physical level but how far would she go?

***

One of the first things Stella had told Lisa early on was to make friends with time, a seemingly impossible task in early recovery when she was trying desperately to make up for lost time and wanted nothing more than to wake up one morning and discover she had five years of sobriety instead of a mere five months. Indeed it had taken her the better part of three and half years to understand that things happened in their own time and place. You had no control over people, places and things, all you could control was your reaction to them.

This vital lesson was now coming into its own with Zoe. After their weekend, there had been no contact with her until Wednesday after work when she'd turned up with a laptop and asked for her email address.

"I want to send what I've written to you so far."

"Okay," she nodded at the table, "I'll connect you to my wi-fi first."

After Zoe emailed her a PDF file she stayed for dinner but left pretty soon after, citing a need to do some more work on her book.

Lisa chanced a glance at the people standing around talking over coffee during the 'second half' of the meeting. She'd been asked to chair the Thursday meeting, which basically meant she opened the meeting, read the Preamble and called speakers at random. It was something that used to terrify her early on but she'd become quite used to the role, partly because she wasn't expected to share her story. In light of the situation she'd found herself in with Zoe this week it was perhaps a message from her Higher Power to listen up big.

She usually stayed for this informal second half because it gave her a chance to catch up with other members and talk about a range of things, not just alcoholism. It was also where you made friends and exchanged phone numbers. Tonight however she felt a little claustrophobic because she was still mulling over her relationship with Zoe. There were definitely moments where she knew it was possible to make a move, to either touch her hair or clothes with the possibility that might trigger Zoe into reciprocating as well. To counter that though, there was the obvious fact that Zoe was by her own admission a virgin and in a relationship, albeit dysfunctional, with a man. She might very well fall into her arms for one or two nights but was that fair to Zoe or herself?

Lisa wasn't afraid of falling off the wagon so much, she was more concerned about the emotional fallout for Zoe if she did step across the line and then fall under the crushing guilt that was part and parcel of religious denominations the world over. The combination of religious faith and sexual desire could literally destroy a person and whilst she felt Zoe would survive, what kind of person would emerge from the other side?

She smiled once more as a man shared a funny thing that had happened to him that week and then she caught the sight of Stella heading towards the door, she'd stopped to talk to a newer member, Charlie who had been around for six months or thereabouts. Lisa had called her to speak because she was rarely called to speak and she'd delivered a fairly decent account that sounded fairly coherent. Lisa's passing comment when Charlie afterwards had made her smile.

"That's the best I've ever heard you, Charlie. It's just more proof that if all you do is stay away from drink and come to meetings you'll get better in spite of yourself."

Lisa nodded at the people she'd been speaking to.

"I've gotta hit the road, see you around," she farewelled them and then strode across the hall to catch Stella before she was out the door.

"Good meeting tonight," Stella greeted her.

"Good chairperson," Lisa smiled crookedly, "and you really sounded good tonight," she nodded at Charlie, "just keep doing what you're doing and don't get a big head."

"I'm trying not to, fucking hard when you're as good looking as me."

"Yeah, it's a trying problem for all of us," she winked, "good luck tomorrow at the agency."

"It's up to the Higher Power," she smiled nervously.

"Just put your best foot forward and if it goes badly use the phone, we're all here for you."

"Thanks," she nodded at her and then Stella, "I've gotta go, catch you around."

She exited the the hall and Stella stared after her.

"She's really coming along nicely," she murmured, "she actually made sense tonight."

"One day at a time," she nodded, "um, I might need to pick your brains later on."

"No worries," she glanced around the room, "your place or mine? I'm at Evie's joint tonight, but I can easily detour to your joint."

"I don't want to cause trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," she inclined her head, "I'll just have to give her a quick call," she took the phone out of her pocket, "I'll meet you out in the carpark."

She exited the room, nodding at people on the way and after farewelling a few people and shaking hands with the secretary she too headed for the door. Stella was standing in the carpark waiting for her and Lisa collected her thoughts as she made her way over to her.

"What's on your mind? I've called Evie and she's sweet about it, so we can detour to your joint for a quick cuppa."

"Okay, it's not alcohol related."

"Is it ever?" Stella smirked, "lead the way MacDuff," she inclined her head.

***

Zoe stared at the document on her laptop. She'd been working on this particular scene for a few hours in between wolfing down some chicken and chips. The character in this scene had always felt attracted to women but what would it take to get her over the line? Was it chemistry? Did she need to rationalise something? And then there was the scene that would come after this one. What would happen at this 'pub' if she saw women kissing each other?

She looked up at her phone and touched the home button. The time was 21:55 hours, Lisa should have come back from her Thursday night AA meeting by now. Maybe she could just duck over and ask her a couple of quick questions? She frowned as she closed her eyes, it was getting late, she had a more responsible job. She would be getting ready for bed.

Maybe not, she opened her eyes and stared at the screen. The words burned into her brain and she looked at the door. It was so quiet out there. The landlord and his wife were still interviewing potential tenants for the house and there was some evidence to suggest that his wife was starting to become frustrated by his dithering. And whilst the solitude was good for her as a writer, Zoe did miss the everyday sounds of running taps and voices.

"Just do it," she rose and pulled the plug out of the laptop.

A few minutes later she strode up the driveway and stopped briefly at the street, there was a little more noise now, music coming from a house two doors down. A moment later she crossed the street and headed up the drive, she was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice the unfamiliar car out the front. Lisa's car was in the drive and she paused to glance at the living room windows, the light shining through a crack in the curtains was reassuring and so she stepped up onto the front porch and touched the doorbell.