The Trainer Pt. 02

Amy gestured for Megan and Jordan to follow, as they made their way through the crowd to the side of the square. There, lounging on a few concrete benches and tables was a group of girls, some looking extremely feminine while others could be mistaken for guys.

"Chicas, this is Amy, Jordan and Megan," Charlie announced. "Girls, this is the gang: Maria and Pris, Lou, Jade, Susi, Chantale, Camila and Dani." Amy tried to remember all the names and figure out from where Charlie paused who formed a couple with whom. More importantly, was there anyone Charlie paid particular attention to? Was one of these girls her girlfriend? If that was the case, Charlie did not make it known.

A butch looking girl with a buzz cut got up and opened a cooler box to hand each of them a beer. "Welcome ladies," she said. "English?"

They confirmed and Charlie said: "Amy lives here. She's in my dog training. Jordan and Megan are visiting."

One of the girls closest to Charlie made a sound of realisation and turned to whisper something to the girl next to her, who also whispered in understanding. Charlie shot them a glance and one of them said something to her that included the word 'guapa'. Amy knew enough Spanish to understand that and wondered who they were talking about.

"So, how are you enjoying our Pride?" The girl who Amy remembered was called Susi asked. She, Charlie and three others - Jade, Camila and Dani - made space for them to sit down, while the others carried on chatting amongst themselves.

"Oh it's great," Megan responded. "It's good to see so many people out and about. It feels like every gay person on the island must be here."

"Oh yeah, it's the one day of the year in which everyone comes out of hiding," Jade said. "Strength in numbers and all that."

"So why do people have such an issue with it?" Amy asked, keen to get a better understanding.

Jade huffed and took a sip of her beer. "They think it's against God's ways... That's the main reason: religion. Most people here are very religious and their church tells them a man should be with a woman and that's the end of that. There's a local organisation that's been lobbying for equal rights and marriage equality for years, but they are treated like the worst kind of sinners for even suggesting it. That's why it's so important that we come out today and show how many of us there are, and that we're normal people, just like everyone else."

Charlie chipped in: "And that's the other thing. Many local people believe being gay is something from outside our local culture. Foreigners brought it here and are trying to corrupt locals, but people from here are not gay." She gestured at her friends. "Clearly that's not true. Apart from Maria and Camila all of us were born and raised here and we're all gay as fuck."

Camila laughed and said: "It's us dirty foreigners that are making you all gay." She had a strong Latin American accent, although Amy couldn't place it exactly. Possibly Brazilian?

Dani kissed her cheek and said: "I'm happy for you to make me as gay as you want, cariña."

"It's true though," Jade added. "Having a big crowd at Pride is one thing, but if it's all white people and tourists, the locals are still going to think it's 'them not us'. That's why we need locals and people of ethnic diversity to show their faces."

Dani laughed and turned to Jordan. "So basically, you count double." She gestured at Amy and Megan. "I mean, these two white chicks showing up is nice and all, but they are clearly imported gays."

Everyone laughed and then Jade asked more seriously: "How is it for you though, back in England, being an interracial lesbian couple?"

"Well, we do get stared at quite a bit. I'm not sure if that's because we're two girls or because she's black and I'm white," Megan said.

"It's because I'm black, babe," Jordan said. "I've even had people ask me why I'm with a white person. It's like the gay thing doesn't even bother them but the colour of my girlfriend's skin is incomprehensible."

"Really?" Amy asked in shock. She never knew that about her friends.

"That's true. It's not a hugely diverse place where we live," Megan explained to the others. "People do stop and stare but you get quite used to it. We've had some nasty comments but nothing we couldn't just ignore and get past. And of course you get the occasional drunk asshole who wants to get in on a threesome. It's still annoying though. Some days you just get fed up and want to just live your life without the stares."

"I wonder if that's the next hurdle we'll need to cross then, once we can actually show we're a couple in public," Jade said bitterly. She grabbed Susi's hand; they too were an interracial couple as well.

"I don't know, love," Susi said. "There are a lot of interracial couples here, which doesn't seem to be such a big issue. People seem quite used to seeing that. Interracial straight couples, I mean."

"That's true," Dani said. "So maybe once the shock of seeing two girls together wears off, people may just be able to look past the fact that they don't match nicely in colour."

"So you can't even show you're a couple in public?" Amy asked, still trying to process what all these challenges meant in everyday life.

Jade replied, "You could, but it's not worth the aggravation. You think getting stared at is annoying? Imagine getting insults thrown at you every time you touch your girlfriend for too long or smile too nicely at her. Susi and I got spat on once; by an old lady, of all people. And Lou," she indicated the girl with the buzz cut, "she doesn't even need to be with a girl to be a target. She got assaulted by some guys who thought they could 'fix' her gayness. Luckily she's got a mean kick on her and she's a fast runner."

Charlie added: "It's not just strangers. Maria and Pris have been together for nine years. They live together but they have a two bedroom house so that when their family visits they can pretend they're just roommates. Their families just wouldn't accept the truth."

"That's insane," Megan exclaimed. "Surely their families just want them to be happy!"

"Happily married to a man, yes," Dani said. "Some people will never accept that there are other ways. And that's why we come out today and enjoy being together in public, while the haters stay far away from us. Most of them anyway."

At that she got up and grabbed Camila's hand. "Let's go dance, cariña!" They disappeared into the crowd.

"Hear, hear," Jade laughed and went back to the cooler box for more beer. She distributed some to the other sub-group of girls and was promptly roped into their conversation. Susi joined them soon after, leaving only Charlie with Amy and her friends.

Jordan and Megan exchanged a look and then Megan cleared her throat. "I think I need to find a bathroom. All that beer..." Jordan was a bit too quick to jump on that to appear spontaneous. "Yeah, I'll join you. There must be one in one of the bars." And then the couple was gone.

Amy smiled awkwardly at Charlie. She hadn't planned at being alone with the girl. Yet, this always seemed to end up happening.

"Another beer?" Charlie asked. Distracted by the other conversation, Jade hadn't gotten around to handing them one. Amy nodded. She was already feeling a bit light-headed but it was a nice buzz and she was feeling relaxed and happy.

As Charlie got up to get the beers, Amy took a moment to study her. It probably was the beer talking, but the girl really was beautiful. Her long brown legs were strong and shapely and the slightly baggy shorts hugged her backside in all the right places, as if they were carefully designed that way. Yet, her overall look appeared casual and carefree, as if she didn't even need to try to look as good as she did. She probably didn't.

"Are you going to take this from me?" Charlie asked and Amy realised she was holding out a beer to her. For how long, Amy didn't know. She had been staring shamelessly and had probably not been remotely subtle about it. Embarrassed, she took the bottle and took a big sip. The beer went the wrong way and she coughed uncontrollably.

Charlie laughed. "Easy tiger. No rush, hey."

"Sorry...," Amy sputtered. Was there no end to all the ways in which she could embarrass herself when Charlie was around?

"So, have you experienced any of this stuff the girls were talking about? Being harassed for being gay, I mean?" She asked when she could breathe again.

Charlie nodded. "I have." In true Charlie-style, she didn't elaborate.

"With strangers? Or with your family?" Amy prompted, not remotely convinced she'd get an answer.

"Both. My family is... challenging. They know I'm gay but they don't exactly accept it. My sister does. She's even met my girlfriend. But my mum... Anyway, it's a long story."

Amy was certain it was a long story and she wanted to hear it, but it was clear Charlie wasn't keen to talk about it. And then there was that other casual comment that jumped out at Amy.

"Your girlfriend?" She asked before she could stop herself, hearing a tone of disappointment creeping into her voice. Damn beer. Way to keep it cool, Ames.

"Yeah, I mean in the past she has met my girlfriend."

"Oh...," Amy said weakly. 'In the past'; did that mean there was no girlfriend anymore? Or that the meeting had happened in the past? Or that she'd met a previous girlfriend but not the current one? Amy was clearly overthinking this but she had to know. Why, she asked herself. Why was this so important to her? And how could she find out without letting Charlie know it was important to her?

"So you're not... erm... having to deal with these issues at the moment?"

Charlie looked at her with that amused smirk Amy had come to recognise as indicating Charlie had one up on her. "You mean, do I have a girlfriend right now?"

Amy felt herself blush and didn't answer. Clearly that was enough of an answer for Charlie. "You could have just asked me," she said, infuriatingly repeating the same pattern from their conversation about her sexuality. Amy was about to counter snarkily when Charlie said: "No, I don't have a girlfriend, Amy."

Fireworks exploded in Amy's body. Unreasonable waves of excitement coursed through her. What the hell is wrong with me? She thought. What is it to me that Charlie doesn't have a girlfriend? It's not like I'm applying for the role. Charlie probably didn't even want a girlfriend. And Amy certainly didn't want to be Charlie's girlfriend. That wasn't the point. Strangely, the waves of relief and excitement seemed to swell rather than calm down when Amy's mind formed the thought of herself as Charlie's girlfriend.

Amy vaguely recognised the feeling but it was a distant memory; a friend from the past, with whom she'd lost touch but, when reunited, could pick up where they'd left off. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. That jittery nervousness in her belly; the magnetic attraction of the corners of her mouth towards her ears which caused that tell-tale indelible smile; the wish to be at her most interesting and most attractive towards this other person, but obviously and inherently failing miserably and getting awkward and clumsy every time she saw Charlie instead. Were her friends right? Did she have a crush on Charlie?

"I don't have a girlfriend either," she blurted out. Somehow it felt important that Charlie knew that, even though the girl hadn't asked.

"I know," Charlie simply said.

"What? How do you know?"

"I just do."

How could I have a crush on someone who is so infuriatingly vague? "Is it that unlikely I would have a girlfriend?" She huffed.

Charlie laughed, completely ignoring Amy's grumpiness. "You have no idea, Amy... Come on, this is a good song."

And then she was walking off into the dancing crowd, leaving Amy to stare at her well-formed backside, doing that not-quite hip rolling movement when she walked, which Amy had forgotten all about until now. Damn, that was hot. Hot enough to distract her from the other vague comment Charlie had just made.

Amy joined her, the beer making her looser. The dance music was uplifting, the evening was still warm and the crowd moving around her was happy and excited. And then there was that beautiful face in the crowd, right in front of her. The face that smiled broadly every time their eyes met. Gay life may not be a walk in the park on every other day, but this right here felt pretty perfect to Amy.

The music changed to a Latin tune and Amy tried to match the new vibe. Despite the fact that this kind of music could be heard anywhere and anytime on the island, it reminded her of the night she met Charlie.

As if reading her mind, Charlie stepped closer to her and held out her hand, extending an invitation. Amy took it and Charlie smoothly spun her into a dancing position. She moved easily to the music and Amy tried to match her rhythm, swaying her hips. Charlie smiled encouragingly.

"Good. Now, let's add some feet. This is a salsa. Do you remember what I taught you?"

Amy nodded and tried to follow Charlie, who started slow and easy for Amy's sake. It was in this moment, when they were basically repeating their first encounter, that something clicked in Amy's mind.

"Wait, what?" She shouted in Charlie's ear, struggling to make herself heard over the music. "So you do remember?"

Charlie smiled and spun her around in her arms. Impatient to look into her eyes and read her mind, Amy rushed the spin.

"Of course I remember, Amy."

Amy's mouth might actually have fallen open. She remembered vividly how upset she had felt that Charlie hadn't even recognised her, or that they'd danced together. And now she was saying that wasn't even true?

"Then why did you say you didn't?"

Another mysterious smile but one that was paired with seriousness in Charlie's pale grey eyes, a hint of sadness perhaps. She pulled Amy closer and brought her lips close to Amy's ear.

"Self-preservation, I guess...," she said quietly, after a long pause.

Infuriatingly vague. "What does that mean?" Amy had to get to the bottom of this. These riddle answers were driving her insane.

"Nothing. You still have room for improvement with those hips. Let's focus on that." Charlie's hands let go of Amy's and moved to her hips. She pulled Amy against her and swayed her along with her body. Amy realised the music had changed again and they were matching it perfectly. She didn't want to be distracted from her line of questioning but somehow she was.

"Do you remember bachata too?" Charlie was asking, as she took Amy's arms and put them around her neck. Amy had only ever danced like this at school dances many years ago, when she was always very careful to leave enough space between herself and whatever boy she was dancing with that they could barely reach each other. Not with Charlie. Their bodies were pressed against each other, their legs intertwined, and Charlie's hands were on her lower back, slipping a bit lower towards where no boy at a school dance had ever dared to go.

Amy got the impression that Charlie was bending the rules of the dance a little bit when her hands moved to Amy's butt and pulled her lower body firmly into her own, keeping a steady grip even as their dance moved on and it was clear Amy wasn't going anywhere.

"Is this still part of bachata?" Amy asked, breathlessly.

Charlie nodded innocently. "This is from the advanced syllabus. You're a quick learner so I'm fast-tracking you."

Amy smiled. Cheeky. She knew she should probably stop this and figure out what it all meant; what exactly these feelings were that were coursing through her body, but it felt too good to even think. All she wanted was to feel Charlie moving against her; to feel her even closer, if that was physically possible. Who cared what it meant or what would happen next? This was absolute perfection.

Keen to find out if Charlie was feeling the same, Amy looked up into her eyes. Their faces were so close together; their eyes locked. She could see little dots of darker grey in Charlie's pale grey irises, something she'd never been close enough to notice. And she could smell the sweet scent of the other girl. What made up this scent she didn't know, but it was distinctly her. She suddenly realised she had smelled it the first time they had danced, even though she hadn't registered it at the time.

Amy knew what was coming just a moment before their lips touched. She had leaned into the kiss at the same time as Charlie had; an unspoken agreement that this was going to happen. The softness of Charlie's full lips engulfed hers and she closed her eyes grudgingly, reluctant to lose sight of the mesmerising array of grey that was Charlie's eyes, but too enraptured by the moment to maintain eye contact.

Her lips opened slightly as Charlie's did the same. Gently and slowly at first, their tongues explored their newfound connection. They had a dance of their own; getting used to the physical contact, exploring the rhythm, trying out the motions, weaving in unison. They too were fast learners and moved passionately and eagerly together, as their owners did the same.

"This is something you do, isn't it? I mean, your shirt seems to suggest it...," Charlie teased when their lips parted at last, an innocent expression on her face. Amy nodded and moved in for more. With Charlie? Yes, this was definitely something she did.

The rest of the night passed in a sensual and feverish blur. They danced, they kissed, they let their hands roam over each other's bodies, and got completely lost in each other.

The fact that they said goodbye when the party ended, and both went home, didn't stop Amy from spending the night with Charlie. She'd always been a vivid dreamer, but today her subconscious experience was particularly intense, no doubt fuelled by the night's passion and the alcohol.

In her dream, Charlie pinned her down on the bed and kissed her roughly, clearly overcome with lust for her.

"You won't be kissing any other girls anytime soon," she growled as she pulled Amy's shirt over her head. Sitting on Amy's hips with her legs on either side of her, she undid her rainbow tie and fastened Amy's wrists to the bed above her head, tying the knots at a speed that suggested a stint as a scout or a sailor. Amy squirmed eagerly. She loved a bit of bondage. How did Charlie know?

Charlie now took off her trilby and set it on Amy's head, covering her eyes, before tilting Amy's head back and kissing her neck eagerly. Her hands roamed over Amy's body and pushed her bra down, playing with her nipples.

Not being able to see what Charlie was going to do next had Amy in a perpetual state of vigilant arousal. When the girl's hot lips found her nipple, she gasped in surprise. Charlie's hands and lips were everywhere, all at once, yet never quite long enough. When her hand slipped into Amy's shorts, Amy whispered, "Take them off..."

All she wanted was to feel Charlie's body against her; to continue what they had started earlier that night, but with considerably less clothing.

Charlie chuckled audibly. "You think you're ready for that part of the syllabus?"

"Definitely," Amy moaned in response. "Please..."

"Alright, if you're sure..." Amy's shorts came off without further delay and the fresh breeze on her exposed skin told her that Charlie had taken off her knickers along with them; clearly too impatient to tease and play any longer.

Charlie lay down on top of her and pried her legs apart with her knees. Amy swallowed hard when she felt Charlie's breasts sink onto hers and her hot, wet pussy press against her own.

"You're naked," Amy gasped. She wasn't sure when Charlie had found the time to take her clothes off; it had seemed like her hands had never left Amy's body long enough to do that.