Threading the Needle Ch. 02

Whereas Liz did not respond to Lena's flirting, Indigo enjoyed flirting right back. She'd had little chance recently to flirt. Her relationship with Alex started flirtatious, but after a couple of years had lost that element. With Liz, she reluctantly admitted to herself that it was mostly that Liz simply let her know that she was interested. Whatever flirting was there at the start wasn't necessary anymore. "I'd go with her anytime she asked," Indigo thought. Indigo shied away from even thinking about what she would do if Liz ever asked when Alex was around.

In any case, Lena was completely different from either one of them. There was a playfulness that she found very appealing. "Maybe it's because she is younger than me," she thought. While sometimes she hooked up with younger women, most of the women she really dated were older. Certainly both Liz and Alex were.

"That's not the only way she's different," Indigo thought as she watched Lena practicing giving her safety lecture to the guys. She was definitely more feminine. Alex and Liz were both very buff with Alex being the more muscled. Lena was curvier. She was fit, but without the hard muscles that were obvious in her two lovers. Her green eyes were gorgeous and every once in a while as she flirted, they took on a smoky look that made Indigo's pulse quicken. Combined with the smile that was always on her lips, she was a constant distraction. Indigo fought not to get lost while looking at her.

It happened right then. Lena finished her safety lesson and Indigo continued to look at her without saying anything. After a moment, Indigo felt a presence at her shoulder. Looking up, she found that Liz was looking down at her with a frown. Her blue eyes showed her irritation, but she held back from saying anything to Indigo. Instead, she turned to Lena.

"Lena, you weren't the first one to go. In fact, you were last of the four of you. Yet you missed talking about how to stay safe in the water if someone falls out of the boat. Take a minute to look at the notes, and then do it again. This isn't a joke. Take it seriously and stop messing around," Liz said in a harsh voice. She gave Indigo a look that said it all.

Indigo swallowed hard. She got the message. The last thing that she wanted to do was let Liz down. This time when Lena gave her talk, Indigo watched the guys to make sure they understood what Lena said. When Lena stumbled a little, Indigo halted her. "Go back and start this section again," she told her. When Lena finished without any more mistakes, Indigo just nodded at her and moved on to the next person.

Even after Liz saw Indigo being more serious, she kept part of her attention on Indigo's group. She could feel her irritation lingering. Mulling it over in her mind, she tried to figure out why. It felt like jealousy but that didn't make any sense. "Lena is off limits for now," she thought to herself. She glanced over and took a quick look at the beautiful woman. "Some other time or place, I wouldn't hesitate, but I can't now."

Before she turned back to her group, she watched Indigo as she carefully showed Bohdi how to repack a throw bag. She was very focused and as she coiled the rope back inside the bag, she bit her lip. "She's damn cute," Liz thought. "Not the raw sexiness that Lena has, but she is adorable." Her long black hair curled along the sides of her face, obscuring her prominent high cheekbones. As she looked up from the bag, she noticed Liz's attention and smiled a little smile before turning to Bohdi to ask if he got it. Liz tried not to smile back. "I hate being a hard ass sometimes," she thought with a sigh.

Finally, the training class finished. Liz was pleased. It had mostly gone well. Standing in the front, she picked up her list of things to cover. As she looked out at the group, she noticed that even though Lena made space for her to sit down, Indigo chose to lean up against a wall instead. While everyone finished sitting down, she had a thought. "Was I actually a little jealous about Indigo," she wondered, then shook her head. That didn't make sense. Indigo wasn't her girlfriend, just an occasional fuck buddy. "It never bothers me when she's with Alex," she told herself. "More likely, I'm just irritated at my stupid rule."

Clearing her head, Liz spoke. "Okay, good job everyone. That's it for today. You have your list of gear you need for next weekend, with sources. Weston will have your life jackets for you on Saturday. We will meet at the put-in at 9 AM. The directions are there too. Whoever wants can meet at the cafe at 8 or so for breakfast. Thanks for all the hard work, and see you next week," she told them.

It got loud as the group broke up. Some of them were making plans to carpool to the river. Others were just excited. Bear was with Winnie and Marika. It was clear that he was still flirting. Marika gave a throaty laugh at something he said. Winnie laughed too, but Liz read her body language. The much older Bear intimidated her a bit, so she hung just slightly back behind and to the side of Marika. "Always protecting the strays," Liz thought as she walked over to them.

"Did you have fun?" Liz asked them both.

Marika's eyes sparkled as she looked at her friend. "Well, the teacher was a bit of a bitch, but other than that, yeah," she said with a little giggle.

"Oh, haven't you met Hardass Liz?" Bear asked with a big grin and a belly laugh of his own.

"Hell yes," Marika said before pausing. "Well, I've seen it. Maybe I've never been the target of it. You were rough on Lena." Liz recognized the look Marika got when she adopted another stray.

"She brought that on herself. It's okay to have fun, but this is serious stuff. If she wants to guide, she needs to get that," Liz said with a little bit of heat.

Bear leaned in close and whispered in Liz's ear. "No need to convince Lena that you are the biggest bitch on the first day; pace yourself." Liz snorted and then smacked Bear in the arm with her fist. This time she managed to get enough force into it to get a little wince from Bear. He chuckled a little ruefully and rubbed his arm. "I think I need to keep my distance when I tease you from now on!"

Liz laughed. "Hey Rikki, I'll talk to you later. Nice to meet you, Winnie," she said. "I'll see you later, Bear."

"Need any help carrying things to the car?" Bear asked.

"I don't think so," Liz said over her shoulder. "If I do, I'll get Indigo to help me." She ignored Bear's knowing look.

As Liz walked up, Indigo looked up at her. She had a slightly nervous look on her face, as if awaiting judgment. It didn't matter that they slept together at times. Liz was known for how seriously she took rafting. Weston trusted her with running guide training for that reason. Besides, Indigo cared about Liz's opinion more than she wanted to admit.

"You got better," Liz bluntly said. The last of the class was filing out and Liz's voice was low so that their conversation stayed between the two of them. "I know you want to be their friend, and you can be, but when you are teaching, you need to focus on teaching. We have four weeks now to get them ready. You can't get distracted by a pretty face. I'm counting on you to do your job on the river."

"Thanks for not chewing me out in front of them. I will focus, Liz. I promise," Indigo said.

"Hey, I'm not chewing you out now. First day, you are learning just like they are. But on Saturday, we will be on a class V river with them," Liz said, crossing her arms. Her expression became a little more serious. "Okay, you'll guide the Drop, but they are going to be guiding everything else. It's going to be up to you to watch every move and help catch the really bad mistakes before they put you in danger."

Reaching out, Liz patted Indigo's arm. "I believe you can do it. I wouldn't have asked you to be part of training if I didn't," she said. Indigo tried not to be distracted by the touch. She was mostly successful.

"I get it. I'll do my job, Liz," Indigo told her.

"I know." Liz looked around. They were now alone. "Could you help me with taking this stuff out to my car?"

"Of course. No problem," Indigo said. She went over to table at the front and started putting everything there back into a box while Liz gathered up the paddles and life jackets. It didn't take them long before they were ready to go.

Indigo went out of the room first. Liz followed, watching Indigo's ass gently sway as she walked out to Liz's SUV. When she got there, she turned around to wait for Liz to unlock the door and caught her staring. Unlike most people, Liz didn't act embarrassed in the slightest. She looked up at Indigo and gave her a wolf-like smile as she sauntered up alongside her. Indigo felt a little shiver. Up until that moment, she wasn't sure if Liz was interested in getting together. Now she knew. Despite wanting to be cool, she couldn't help the little bit of excitement that came over her. She blushed as she felt her pussy start to moisten.

Raising up the back gate of her SUV, Liz first put in the paddles and then the life jackets before taking the box from Indigo and placing it into the back. As she closed it, she glanced at Indigo. As always, she liked what she saw. While she didn't have the curves of Lena, Indigo had a different kind of sexy, just as attractive in her own way. It was also not difficult to read her. "She wants to hook up tonight," Liz thought to herself. "Alex isn't around, and she is horny."

Sex was always fun with Indigo. She was enthusiastic and wanted to make Liz cum as many times as possible. Usually it was Liz who said no more. At the same time, it made Liz a little nervous. There were few women that she got together with as often as with Indigo. If it wasn't for her being with Alex, Liz would have run away. It was too close to what might pass for a relationship in different circumstances. As long as Indigo was with Alex, Liz could keep viewing it as just play, even when they did something more than just make love.

"Would you like to get something to eat?" Liz asked. Indigo gave her that cute, slightly crooked smile of hers. She knew what Liz had in mind. Dinner was just the start.

"That would be great," Indigo said. Part of her wanted to reach out and touch Liz's hand, but experience taught her to avoid those types of affectionate gestures. Unlike with Alex, doing that caused Liz to pull away. One night with Liz was completely ruined when Indigo unthinkingly put her arm around Liz's waist in public. As if to emphasize her independence, Liz went from being with Indigo to picking up a complete stranger. Doing it right in front of Indigo was the exclamation point on her statement. Even with not being a couple, the hurt from it lasted some time. Despite being determined to resist Liz the next time she showed interest, Indigo wasn't able to. That hurt too.

Lately, Indigo just accepted the way things were with Liz. It was an occasional fun time where the sex was great, but she did not expect anything more. "Anyhow," she told herself, "I have Alex. She's my girlfriend." Remembering that helped, somewhat. Neither she nor Alex used the L word, and the truth was that she couldn't always rely on Alex. "If she is around, always," Indigo thought, "but she isn't always."

Liz interrupted her melancholy thoughts, but Indigo missed what she was saying. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"I said, why don't we meet at that pub by your apartment," Liz repeated herself. She had that casual air of indifference that made most of the women she saw want to work harder to erase. "I need to drop off the gear, so how about we meet there in 45 minutes?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you there," Indigo said. It was only a twenty-minute drive home and a five-minute walk to the pub. As she got into her car, she thought to herself, "That gives me enough time to look a little nicer." Even though Liz asked her to dinner, Indigo didn't want her to have second thoughts. "I'll make sure she only has eyes for me," Indigo said aloud as she pulled out of the parking lot.

-----

By then, Marika was already home. She made quick goodbyes and hurried home. She had long-standing dinner plans. While talking with one of her good friends, Marika lamented how rare it was that she went out with her husband, Samuel. It used to be a big thing for the two of them, but lately it rarely happened.

Yamile hated to see her friend down, but it seemed to happen more and more. Looking at her friend with her warm brown eyes, she thought about it. "Maybe Claudio and I could help with that," she said. Her voice had just a trace of an accent. Born in New York shortly after her mother arrived from Puerto Rico, she grew up bilingual. Even though she moved to Seattle for college right after high school, her rich voice still had a bit of that combination of Brooklyn and Spanish. While in school, she met the love of her life and married him. Despite having two children before she was twenty-two, she managed to finish college and now was a senior buyer for the biggest local department store. Even though she and Claudio were married almost twenty years ago, the romance between them was as strong as ever.

"Why don't the four of us go out together? Claudio will enjoy it and you can just present it to Samuel as a done deal," Yamile suggested with a smile.

Although she normally didn't make plans without consulting with Samuel, it sounded so good that Marika agreed on the spot. When she told her husband about it, he fussed a little but eventually agreed. The truth was that Claudio made Samuel feel a little inadequate as a husband. He tried to get along with him for Marika's sake, but watching Claudio and Yamile together reminded him of how his own marriage had lost its spark. It was clear that Claudio worked as hard as Yamile to keep that spark alive. His own efforts paled in comparison. It was easier to ignore just how little he did when he wasn't around the affectionate couple.

The fact that Claudio was tall, dark and handsome didn't help matters. The man Yamile fell in love with was born and raised in Washington on one of the tribal reservations. Like Yamile, his mother was Hispanic but third generation from Mexico. Although she spoke Spanish, it was not the language of Claudio's home. Although he grew up with little, Claudio took advantage of every opportunity that came his way. With a scholarship, he was the first member of his family to get a college degree and then setting the bar high, he got an MBA.

To Samuel, Claudio seemed to be everything he was not. While Samuel was a sales guy for a local distributor of snack food, Claudio was a senior account manager with one of the big local tech firms. He envied Claudio's MBA. Although he had a four-year degree, not having an MBA was limiting how far Samuel could advance, but he lacked the drive to go back and get one.

About the only place Samuel wasn't outclassed was in looks, but even there they were equal if also polar opposites. Claudio was just over six feet, but with a slender build. He worked out to build strength, not to keep the weight off. That seemed easy for him, although his energy level was high enough that it wasn't hard to understand. With his bronze skin, high cheekbones and dark eyes, he would have been handsome no matter what. It was the big smile that was usually on his face that made him striking. A few years older than Yamile, he didn't show any signs of it unless you wanted to count his smile lines.

Samuel was maybe an inch shorter than Claudio, but his frame has heavier. He had to work out constantly to avoid gaining weight, but he did it. He was more muscled, and it was easy to see the former high school football player in him. He had sandy blonde hair with blue eyes that wandered more than Marika appreciated. In yet another difference with Claudio, Samuel habitually flirted. He enjoyed getting the attention of other women. While Marika thought he was faithful, his behavior gave her cause for doubt. It was just one more reason for the stress Marika felt.

Yamile and Claudio picked up Samuel and Marika, bringing along their youngest daughter to babysit Marika's son. It wasn't the first time Rosa babysat for Kieran. He adored Rosa, which made it easy to slip away without any struggles.

As they walked out to the car, Yamile complemented Marika on how she looked. "I love that dress. It looks so good on you," Yamile said. Marika smiled. It was nice to hear. Samuel didn't make any comment when she came out, other than to ask if she was ready. It was a tight blue dress with a plunging neckline that showed off her cleavage. Actually, it was tight enough that it showed off her whole body. Thinking about how her girlfriend commented on it but her husband didn't brought that sad feeling Marika knew lately too well.

"Well, you look great too," Marika said in reply, as she tried to shake off the melancholy mood. "Yellow is a great color on you. You look very beautiful and sexy,"

"Yes, she does," Claudio said, smiling at his wife. He looked over at Samuel. "We are a couple of lucky guys, aren't we?" Claudio tried not to let his smile slip as he saw how Samuel was looking at Yamile.

"Oh, yeah. You bet," Samuel said as he looked back at Claudio with a slick smile in place. Despite having been looking at Yamile's ass a moment before, he didn't seem a bit embarrassed.

Claudio hid his sigh as he opened the back door for Yamile. The women wanted to ride together and chat. "I'm doing this for her," he told himself. "I'm doing it because it makes her happy." Although Claudio liked Marika a lot, the same could not be said for Samuel. If he could have, he would have said no to going out. Yamile and Marika were such good friends that he would inevitably spend much of the night talking with Samuel. For Yamile's sake, he would do his best to hide how he felt about Samuel.

Looking over at Marika as she got into the other side of the car, Claudio shook his head. "She is too nice of a person to be married to a guy like Samuel," he thought. She was gorgeous too, but Claudio only noticed it academically. Since meeting Yamile, no other woman caught his attention. She looked up at him through the car window and smiled. Even now, more than twenty years later, her smile still lit him up. It was why he married her when they were both young. "Sometimes you just know," he thought. Thinking about her put a smile back on his face and he got into the car.

Even Claudio had to admit dinner was mostly fun. Sensing Claudio's feeling about Samuel, Yamile made a big effort not to fall into girl talk with Marika. She made sure to include the two men in their conversations. Talking about the kids was always guaranteed to be a place of common ground. The night went by quickly and was full of laughter as both parents told stories of the trouble their children found.

It was almost time to go when Marika started to get up. "I need to go to the ladies room. I've got to powder my nose," she said with a smile.

"Oh, me too! I'll go with you," Yamile said as she got up from her chair as well. The two women walked away, happy finally to get a little time to talk amongst themselves.

"They'll be a little while," Claudio commented. He was feeling a little more relaxed. For once, Samuel didn't bother him too much. He stayed part of the conversation and he did have some charm.

"Probably," Samuel replied. His attention was on something over Claudio's shoulder. Turning to look, Claudio saw that it must be their waitress. She was a skinny blonde woman with breasts that seemed a bit too large and perfect to be real. The low-cut blouse that all the waitresses at the restaurant wore showed them off. Claudio looked back at Samuel who smirked at him.

"Nice, eh? That chick is really built," Samuel said, his smirk getting bigger.

"Hmmm, I guess," Claudio unenthusiastically replied.