Heather took Alice’s hand and squeezed it. “No. It just means you march to a different drummer than a lot of other people. I know what you’re going to ask, but I can’t tell you what you should do.”
“Oh, what good are you?” mumbled Alice. “But you’re right. This is my decision.”
“What’s your decision?” asked a returning Laurie. Alice looked at Heather but didn’t say anything. This caused Laurie to flinch. For a moment, she felt like an outsider, and Alice could read the discomfort on her face.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . Heather just has more background knowledge on this whole . . . lifestyle, I guess.”
Laurie looked petulant, but then a smile danced across her face. She kissed Alice on the cheek and then Heather on the lips. “That’s alright. I never did understand the whole leather teddy, spank me, tie-me-up-and-cover-me-with-jello thing.”
The other two girls just stared at Laurie for a moment. Heather turned to look at Alice. “Isn’t she just so fuckin’ cute?” she asked, then turned to give her slightly embarrassed girlfriend a kiss on the lips.
“No,” disagreed Alice, “the TWO of you are so . . . well, cute. I wish I was as confident as you were,” she said to Laurie.
“Confident?”
“Yeah. That things would turn out like between you and Heather.”
Laurie looked totally perplexed, more so than usual. “I could barely talk to her for a year without tripping over myself. I didn’t have a roadmap to follow. Well, I did, but I accidentally threw it out the window.” That got a laugh out of the whole crew. “Sometimes fate just takes a hand in things. Do you realize that I had to get lost in the middle of nowhere, light her car on fire and break down crying in an old-west saloon before I finally realized I might actually have a shot with Heather?” This earned her another kiss. “And if Freddie hadn’t pushed her through the door that one night when I was talking with Jane . . . you know, when I was completely naked, then I might still be just watching from the sidelines.” Laurie had her ‘thinking face’ on. The other two girls let her gather her thoughts. She was usually somewhat flighty, but when she tried really hard, she could come up with some genuinely insightful ideas. She glanced at Heather. “Wasn’t it Freddie who basically told you that following normal logic, an academic, a former rodeo-clown and an angry student don’t move out to the middle of nowhere to build a bed and breakfast?” Heather nodded. “So what about this group is ordinary? You’ve seen what our ‘mentors’ are like, and our bass player has slept with more people than Madonna. Our drummer is dating a bartender who likes her to dress up in a nurse’s uniform and take his temperature!”
Alice and Heather both stared at Laurie, eyes wide and jaws open. Laurie suddenly had her ‘oops’ look.
“Wait. I don’t think I was supposed to say that last part out loud. Dammit!”
The other two girls were laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
“Don’t tell Jenny I told you that. Please? Pretty please?” She sighed. “I really need to learn to stop while I’m ahead. Oh well.” She waited for Alice at least to stop chortling. It was going to take a while for Heather, who had actually been laughing so hard that she fell out of her chair. “Alice, I guess what I’m saying is stop worrying about what you think you’re SUPPOSED to do, and just do what you WANT to do.”
Alice reached over the table and gave Laurie the same kind of hug the blonde girl had given out earlier. “You know, you absolutely amaze me sometimes.” That caused Laurie to beam with pride. “Now if you could just get your girlfriend off the floor . . .”
——– —————————-
The following Thursday . . .
——– —————————-
Laurie had spent a lot of money for Heather’s birthday, and Heather realized she had no chance in hell of matching that. So she went for what she knew worked with Laurie, such as sending her flowers and chocolates at work. These led to rather public displays of affection from the blonde girl towards Heather, but the dark-haired girl had learned that sometimes you just have to go with the flow. She had also begged and pleaded with the owner of an ice-rink to stay open an extra hour and had finally managed to get him to agree. So all the band members and their significant others, along with some other friends and a large number of sorority girls all had a grand time skating or learning to skate. Laurie actually had skated before, so Heather let the blonde girl teach her. Of course, it was just another excuse to get her girlfriend’s arms wrapped around her, but Laurie didn’t seem to want to object. All in all, everyone had a grand time, and Heather was looking forward to getting the birthday girl into her bed. But she wasn’t the only one waiting to take a girl home.
Liz had shown up and was having a lot of fun watching people fall on their butts. She didn’t skate herself, but she managed to have a pretty good time. Mostly, she watched Alice. The brown-haired wallflower was quieter, shyer and a bit younger than she was used to, but she had managed to captivate the tall woman nonetheless.
Alice felt Liz’s eyes following her, but she had decided to have fun with her friends. Let the other girl wait for a bit.
But the time finally came for everyone to leave. Liz was looking through the throng of people for her target when she felt a pair of small, soft hands encircling her waist from behind.
“I think I’m ready to go home,” Alice said softly. “With you,” she finished.
Liz’s heart started pounding like a drum in her chest. “Are you sure?” She heard Alice sigh.
“I’ve come to one conclusion over the last few days, and that is that I’m not sure of anything. But I want to do it.”
Liz pulled the young woman around and kissed her. “Good enough for me.”
————— ———————
Back at Liz’s apartment . . .
————— ———————
Alice was standing with her back to the door, waiting for Liz to return from her bedroom. Despite her desire to go forward with this and her increasing level of arousal, she was still nervous. Liz had asked her to strip and fold her clothes, leaving them neatly piled next to the door. She was wringing her hands as she tried to anticipate what was in store for her.
Liz came out of the bedroom wearing a long robe that concealed most of her body, though Alice could tell the woman was wearing gloves made of some shiny black substance. Liz was carrying a number of items, which she instructed Alice to put on. There were a pair of leggings made of some soft, purple, velvet-like material that was very stretchy. When she pulled them on, they covered her legs from her toes to just above the knees, and the knees themselves seemed to be padded on the inside. There was a matching pair of long gloves that went up to the middle of her biceps, and the gloves had a spongy padding in the palms. The last item was a wide collar made of black leather that was lined with velvet on the inside and decorated with silver studs on the outside. It had shiny silver tag hanging from the front with writing on both sides. The front side simply said “Alice,” while the backside had the inscription, “Property of Mistress Elizabeth.”
Liz was just staring at the girl as she examined the collar. “As soon as you put that on,” Liz whispered in a voice filled with desire, “then you become mine. Are you ready for that?”
Alice straightened her back, gave Liz a heated kiss, and then wrapped the collar around her neck and secured the buckle. It felt . . . comfortable.
Liz was still smiling, but it was almost the smile of a wild animal. And Alice was a soft little rabbit that just entered Liz’s jungle. “On your knees,” Liz commanded, making it quite obvious there was no room for debate. Alice descended slowly, finally realizing what the padding in the leggings and gloves was meant for. Liz commanded her to stay as she walked to the center of the room, leaving Alice next to the door. Liz then tossed her robe away.