The Best Worst Thanksgiving Ever

Before Toni knew it, Allison started undressing her. "Your clothes are completely soaked," Allison admonished. "I don't know what the hell you were thinking. You could have gotten pneumonia out there." Toni was too stunned and embarrassed to say anything and Allison was not waiting for permission. Allison quickly removed the thin coat she found so offensive and tossed it on the floor with a flourish. Next, she went for Toni's blouse. Toni tried to assist, and keep herself covered at the same time, but her hands kept being pushed away. Suddenly her shirt was completely off and Allison was pulling her skirt down. Shit, Toni thought to herself. The situation was bad enough without her standing in her under clothes in front of Allison. She hadn't even put on any nice lacey ones. Umm...not that that should matter she told herself. "Allison, I can just go the bathroo-"

"Step out," Allison commanded with Toni's skirt around her ankles. Like a child, Toni stepped out. "Oh wow," Toni heard Allison exclaim. Afraid Allison was in shock over her Granny panties, Toni looked down to see Allison staring at her leg. There was a deep nasty gash running from the middle of her knee down to the top of her leg. Allison grabbed one of the towels and dabbed at it. "It doesn't need stitches, but it's pretty deep. Need to get it cleaned up." Toni didn't realize until it was too late that her panties were being pulled down. Her hands quickly covered her pussy area. Allison seemed not to notice. She stood up and expertly unclasped Toni's bra with one hand and released Toni's firm B-cups. There is no way that was her first time doing that Toni thought as she worked to cover her vaginal area with one bruised hand and breasts with the other. It was comical and sad at the same time. Toni tensed up as Allison stood directly in front of her hand and reached for chest. What the hell? Allison gently lifted Toni's hand from her breasts. "What happened to your hands?" she asked. Allison looked genuinely worried. It threw Toni for a loop and she momentarily forgot that her breasts were exposed. "Oh, I um... fell on them. Um...several times," Toni lied as she covered her breasts again. Allison just shook her head and then gave Toni a towel and the robe.

Toni put them on while Allison gathered her soiled clothing. "Follow me," she commanded. Toni followed like a little child. Toni thought she would be going to one of the guest bathrooms and was surprised when Allison led her upstairs and down the hall to Allison's bedroom that they were in earlier. Inside the expansive dark room, Allison cut the bathroom light on and started the shower. Toni came inside. "There is plenty of shampoo and body wash you can use and extra towels in the cabinet. I will try and wash whatever is salvageable from your clothing, but I am telling you now that this wannabe coat is going in the garbage. I will go find something for you to wear." Allison gave her one last look before leaving and closing the door behind her. Toni hung her head as she took off her robe. This would definitely go down as one of the worst nights of her life. She felt so humiliated. Just when she thought Allison could not think any less of her.

Toni looked at herself in the mirror. She was bruised and scraped, her hair was all over her head, and her forehead was swollen with a small cut. What a day. And that was just the physical part. She saw the huge shower stall behind her in the mirror beckoning for her. It was one of those fancy ones with several strong jets spraying out all at once. Toni hopped in and turned them on. As the warm water spread over her body, Toni could not remember anything feeling so good. She poured out some body wash. It looked expensive, one of those custom made kind tailored for the holidays. Toni took a whiff. It smelled divine, like a light pumpkin and vanilla mix. She spread it all over and then used the matching shampoo on her hair. Toni did not know how long she was in the shower when she emerged, but she felt much better.

Wiping the steam off the window she started at a face that always mesmerized her after getting out of the shower. Despite a horrible evening, she still had that fresh scrubbed look. She looked ten years younger than she was. Always had. She inspected the cut on her forehead. Her natural hair spread out in curly spirals all over her head. Those B-cup breasts with thick gumdrop nipples stood high and firm. Toni looked at the rest of her body. She had lost weight everywhere but her ass which stood round and high. Gathering a towel around her, Toni slowly opened the door and peered into the bedroom. She was still afraid of facing Allison's impending wrath, but the bedroom was empty. Toni looked around for the clothes Allison was going to leave out. Not seeing anything at all she sat on the bed. She didn't want to go ask and certainly wasn't going through her drawers. The hot water from the shower reminded her of her exhaustion. I'm not going to sleep Toni told herself. The last thing she wanted was for Allison to see her sprawled out naked in a towel and snoring with her mouth open. I will just sit here and wait for the clothes Toni thought.

Two hours later, Toni awoke in a panic. She was coming out of the throes of a nightmare. She was back on the highway. Her car careening widely on the icy road, but this time there was no snow bank to break her speed. The car tumbled over the side of the road and kept rolling and rolling. Toni tried to shake off the dream. Her heart beat rapidly and she was sweating. She looked around the dark, unfamiliar room and for a moment, did not know where she was. She blinked a few times and it all came back to her. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 9:10pm. Still Thanksgiving Day. Damn she thought. Then something occurred to her. She reached up and felt a small bandage on her forhead. Toni looked down. She had been snugly tucked into the bed covers. Pulling them back, she saw a big white t-shirt on her with a Yale logo on it. Further down, she saw her right leg had been expertly adorned with a large gauze bandage. The familiar humiliation sank in. Now Allison had seen all her goods on display with her completely unconscious. I wonder what she thought of my body Toni asked herself before admonishing herself for the thought.

She took a deep sniff and inhaled the lingering smell from the Thanksgiving dinner. Her mouth started watering. She was torn between going back to sleep and avoiding Allison or going to get something to eat. Hunger won out and moments later, Toni was limping down the stairs with a robe on. As she entered the foyer, she could see Allison in the living room. She was standing behind the couch looking at a football game on her huge flat screen. She was speaking into an earpiece and holding a football in her hand. She had changed clothes again. This time she was standing barefoot in short denim shorts that accentuated her nice ass. Toni admired the way the full firm globes settled nicely into the shorts. Damn that is a nice ass, Toni thought. Wait, why I am I thinking this she said to herself. Allison had on a white tank top covering parts of a large back tattoo peeking out of the sides. The tattoo was surprising, but really hot. Damn she looks sexy Toni thought. Always does whether in a power suit, silk dress, or shorts and a tank top. Allison was goading whoever she was talking to on the phone. "Brown is the best receiver in the league right now and he hands it off to that other guy?! What the hell are they doing? Yeah, well I'm going to be pissed if my team loses on Thanksgiving and it costs me $500.00. Yeah, whatever."

Allison seemed to sense she was being watched and turned around to see Toni standing there watching her like she had just escaped from lock-up. Toni realized how weird she looked and started looking at pictures on the walls, which made her look even weirder. "Call you back, Tate." Allison took the ear piece out and started toward the kitchen without looking at Toni. "I will fix you a plate," she said. Toni followed her into the kitchen. All the leftover food was out and Allison busily made a plate and heated it up. Toni got up to help, but Allison waved her off. She brought the plate and a cool glass of the homemade punch she made from earlier. Toni dove in. She couldn't remember when food tasted so good. She was so embarrassed by the way she acted earlier. She looked over at Allison who seemed to be preparing more punch. "Oh, you don't have to," Toni said. Allison ignored her and went about making the punch. Toni ate and ate. Because of her behavior earlier and a lack of not eating much over the last few weeks, she was starving. She was halfway through her second plate before she started slowing down.

During all of this, Allison would come in and out from watching her football game. She never said anything to Toni, but made sure her plate and drink were constantly refilled. While in the living room, Toni heard Allison make a huge yelp and then came back smiling with the ear piece on. "See, that's how it goes Tate. Never call it until it's over. You owe me $500.00. Yeah, whatever, just pay up." Allison took out the ear piece and then went to the fridge to take out what little was left of the cherry pie. She placed it on a plate and came and sat at the table with Toni. Toni took a deep breath. She had been avoiding this, but knew it had to be said. She tried breaking the ice. "Glad your team won." Allison just glanced at her, took a bite of her pie, and said nothing. Toni took another deep breath. "Look, Allison I want to thank you for putting me up like this. I hope I'm not disturbing your evening. And I want to apologize for the way I acted earlier. I shouldn't have said those things. Not sure what came over me. I will pay you back for it all. The tow truck and the..um..mailbox." Toni tried to gauge her reaction, but she was a mask like always.

Allison just looked at her then her plate. "Are you finished?" "Yes," Toni said confused. "You want some of your plum pudding?" "Oh, yes. It was so good, but I can get it." Toni limped her empty plate to the sink and then opened the fridge for the pudding. She saw the one from earlier with a small portion missing and then another one in a container untouched. Toni grabbed the first bowl. "You made two plum puddings?" she asked. They are so hard to make. Why you go through the trouble of making two if I am the only one who likes them? After spooning a huge helping, Toni made her way back to the table. Allison just shrugged and ignored the question. "How is your leg feeling?" "Oh, much better. Thank you," Toni said as her face reddened at the thought of Allison seeing her naked while asleep. "I guess I was pretty knocked out," Toni said embarrassed. "Yes, you were."

Toni took a bite of pudding. Damn it was good. "Was that your mother and niece in the photo on the mantle?" Toni asked. "Yes," came the curt reply. "My mom, Terri, and my niece, Jasmine. They were supposed to come for Thanksgiving, but Jasmine wasn't feeling too well."

"Your mom takes care of her?" Toni asked.

"Yes, she gave up her job to care for her full time. I take care of their medical expenses and rent them a home in Willow. They were supposed to move in here when I first bought the house. That's why I bought one so big. I wanted there to be plenty of room for Jasmine's therapy and medical equipment. And I wanted my mom to be comfortable." Allison finished the last of her pie. "But they decided to stay in Willow to be close to Jasmine's doctors."

"And her mother?" Toni asked. She knew was prying, but wanted to know.

Allison took a deep breath. She obviously didn't want to talk about it. "When my older sister was pregnant, she was attacked by a group of teenagers walking to her apartment one night. They planned on just robbing her, but she fought back because that's who she was. It got them angry. They beat her with metal bats right there on the street. She was on life support for three days before she died. Jasmine was lucky to survive at all. She was born three months early with severe brain damage."

"How horrible. I am so sorry," Toni said. Her eyes tearing up.

"Well it made us a stronger family. We really had to come together. Because they were juveniles they only got sentenced to juvenile detention and released when they were 18. It didn't really feel like justice. That's what drove me so hard. To go to college, finish law school, work hard. Make something of myself in Robin's name."

Toni had never seen Allison this vulnerable. "Wow," Toni said. "Explains a lot. Why you give me such a hard time about working with the kids." Allison raised an eyebrow at her. She grabbed both of their plates and took them to the sink. "I never put you down for working with children or anything about what you do at your job. I admire what you do and your passion for it. You're the type that is the beating heart of the world. Reminds us of our humanity." Allison came and sat back down. "But you can't let them walk all over you because you have a giving heart. You have to take care of yourself as well." Toni sat there stunned. She had never heard Allison speak this kindly to her or be this soft. As if she was aware of it, Allison quickly stood up and went into bossy mode again. "Come into the living room. There is probably a movie on."

Toni followed her into the living room and they sat and watched a holiday movie. Toni kept stealing glances at Allison. So poised, calm, and cool. Toni could not figure this woman out for the life of her. She was this enigma of different personalities. Hard, but soft. Cool, but very caring underneath. Totally focused on you one minute, but you didn't exist in the next. Or at least that was how she portrayed it.

Stuffed full of food, coupled with still feeling exhausted, and the warmth of the house, Toni began nodding off. "You should go back to bed," Allison said. Toni didn't think she was even paying attention to her.

"I'm ok."

You're tired and still need some rest. Go back to bed."

The boss is back Toni thought. Toni reluctantly got up and limped back up the stairs to the bedroom. She knew the two reasons why she was reluctant. First, she didn't want to leave Allison. Just like always, even though they were always conflicting, Toni was somehow always drawn to her. Even more so after their conversation and seeing Allison's vulnerable side. The other reason she didn't want to go back to sleep was the fear of having another nightmare. It was awful, and Toni did not want to experience it again.

Once she made her way back into the big room she felt isolated and the familiar loneliness settled in again. For some reason, her mind went back to Allison like it always did. Toni didn't know what was happening.

Suddenly, a distant memory came into her mind. One she had buried far away a long time ago. She was in her senior year and had become close friends with Sierra Winston after they started teaching the children's Sunday school together. They started hanging out all the time, babysat, shopped, did homework together, teased boys. One day in Sierra's room, Toni innocently shared never really liking kissing boys. Sierra said maybe she would like kissing girls better and landed a soft, delicate peck right on Toni's lips. Toni was in absolute shock, but something happened in that moment. Very briefly, it all came clear. What happiness could look like, what real desire was, what actually felt normal. From then on, her and Sierra would steal kisses from each other from time to time when they were alone together and no one could see. It never went beyond that, but the kisses were so soft and sweet and awoke something in Toni she did not know existed.

One day she tried to broach the subject with her Aunt Mattie. It was quickly stopped by a lecture on just being confused and resisting the temptation of sin. Not wanting to disappoint the only person in her life who took real care of her, Toni never brought it up again. It was the only thing she could never talk about with her Aunt. Word got back to Sierra's mother and they were restricted from seeing each other alone. The friendship eventually just fell apart with Sierra graduating and moving out of the city. Last Toni heard she was married to her husband of 10 years and had four kids. Toni had pushed the memories from those events far back into her mind and they had not come out again. Until she met Allison. Even though most of their time together was spent arguing, her time with Allison awakened the same desire, need, and search for happiness all those years ago.

That is it, Toni told herself as tears began to flow down her face. That is why you fight with her all the time. Why you claim to dislike her so much. You want her and can't have her. There is no way she would ever want you and you're too much of a coward about who you really are even if she did want you. The tears flowed even harder. Like before, it became less about Allison and more about how she was screwing up her life not being who she really was. Toni was deep in sobs and a runny nose when Allison suddenly came into the room. Toni quickly tried to hide her face and ran into the bathroom for tissues. She closed the door. Shit, shit, shit, she said to herself. The last thing she ever wanted was for Allison Conway to see her crying. Probably saw it as a sign of weakness, Toni thought. Allison knocked on the door. "Are you alright, Toni?" she asked.

"Just fine. Be out in a minute." Toni wiped her tears and stood looking in the mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy. Allison probably thought she was a complete idiot. Toni knew she couldn't stay in the bathroom the entire night. Maybe she left she thought to herself. Who wants be around some grown woman sniveling like a baby? Toni put her ear to the door. While encouraged she didn't hear anything, she knew how pathetic it looked. She opened the door and slowly walked back into the bedroom. Allison was sitting right on the bed looking at her. "Are you sure you're alright, Toni?" Allison maintained that cool, calm, posture but sounded concerned.

"I'm fine," Toni said as she went and sat on the bed.

"Why do I have the feeling that even if you were not fine, you would never say it to anyone? Just keep it all inside." Toni looked at her in shock. Always amazed at her ability to instantly cut right to the quick of her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Allison demanded.

Toni decided to tell half of the truth. "I was just remembering a nightmare I had a when I was sleeping before. It was about the car accident. Kind of afraid of going back to sleep. I know it sounds stupid, but this whole day has been stupid. I am an idiot with the way I left your house earlier, and then I could have died out there. And it was so cold. And I was so terrified. And I didn't want to show up my first time at your house looking like this." Toni knew she was blabbing, but couldn't stop. She was becoming short of breath and tears flowed non-stop. She finally stopped talking and just sat there sniveling. She wanted to crawl under the bed. Or better yet, jump out the window.

Allison just looked at her a good while. She didn't say anything. She finally got up and walked to her dresser. "Did you use the holiday shampoo for your shower?"

What the hell? Toni was thrown by the off the wall question. "Um...yes, it was nice."

"What about the oil?" Allison held up an expensive looking bottle of oil." If you heat it up and put it on your body, it feels amazing. Very calming." Allison brought it over and put it under Toni's nose.

"Mmmm" Toni said. It had a spicy pumpkin and vanilla smell. It was heavenly. "I will have to try it sometime."

"Why not now?" Allison went to her dresser and poured some of the oil in a little burner. Quickly getting it heated. She poured some in a small jar and walked over to Toni.