Eventually mom and Kelsey came home, with dad an hour later, and the evening passed.
Tuesday morning dawned, and I stayed in bed as long as I could. My dreams had been all over the place. I’d been hiding, and being chased, and trying to find Taylor, who I knew was looking for me. In the end she’d found me, and held me close, my white dress flowing around me in the wind. I’d awoken clutching my pillow like a lover.
I made myself go for a bike ride, and then I went out to a climbing facility nearby. I’d choked down a bowl of cheerios when I got up, but my stomach was in knots by lunchtime, so I didn’t eat. Probably not the wisest move, but hey.
I got home around two, with the house completely empty. I went up to my bathroom where my dress was hanging and laid it out on my bed, along with a lacy black bra and a pair of three inch pumps with straps across the ankle. I was just getting ready to shower when Kelsey burst into my room without knocking.
“Hey, sis.”
I felt a spike of fear, but gathered myself and tried to sound normal. “Hey, how was your first day?”
“Pretty good, no teachers I know I don’t like.”
“That’s good..” I saw her eyes go wide as they tracked to my dress.
“You have a date! Who with? Where’d you meet?”
“At the beach.” I decided not to answer the first, hoping she’d draw her own conclusions.
“It’s that guy, isn’t it? The one who bought you lemonade!”
“Maybe.” Or maybe not, but that was as good a fake guy as any.
“So I almost drown, and you get a date. That is not fair.”
“Yup, I gotta shower. You wanna help me with my hair when I’m out?”
Kelsey nodded vigorously and I made my way into the bathroom. I took extra time to clean up my bikini area. Maybe it was presumptuous, but if things went that way I didn’t want to gross her out. A vision of Taylor slowly going down on me swam before my eyes, and my legs almost gave out. Was I really ready for that? Could I do it? Maybe, and if so I might as well be prepared. Redoubling my efforts, I left only a small, trimmed triangle above my cunny.
I wrapped my robe around me and set to hair and make up, with Kelsey’s help. I opted to clip my hair back, exposing the length of my neck, and letting it fall in my natural waves, assisted a little from a two-inch roller.
It was after six, and my heart was starting to beat a little faster. I had to shoo Kelsey away so I could get dressed, and I heard her race downstairs to tell mom and dad, who were home now, about my date. Twenty minutes later and my dress was on, and a simple diamond necklace with stud earrings completed the outfit. My reflection looked good, if a little scared. I realized I’d never been this nervous before a date, ever.
I loaded my little clutch with essentials and headed downstairs. It was ten till seven.
My dad looked up from his laptop. “Sweetheart, you look lovely.”
“Thanks, daddy.”
Mom stepped out from the kitchen. “So Kelsey says you met this one at the beach?”
I grinned at her. She really did try to not interfere, but she was my mom. “Yeah. As far as I know, one, gainfully employed, two, under thirty, and three, very nice. We’ve already had lunch once. I’ve got my pepper spray, and I promise I’ll be careful. Bye.” I walked out the front door and checked my phone. There was a text from Taylor saying she’d be there in ten minutes. It’d been sent five minutes ago. I went to the end of the driveway, hopefully far away from prying eyes, and focused on my breathing.
A dull rumble rolled down the street, and around the corner came a motorcycle. Not one of those hot rod styles, but an old fashioned cruiser. Its rider was wearing tight black jeans and a jacket, along with a deep red helmet and visor. My mouth dropped open as the rider approached, slowed and stopped. She reached up, by the curve of her hip I could tell it was a she, and pulled off her helmet.
“Taylor?”
“Hi, you ready?” She was wearing that little smirk.
I shook my head. “You ride a motorcycle?”
“Yup. I promise I’m a good rider. You’ll be fine.”
That wasn’t the issue. The idea of riding was cool, and the idea of holding on to Taylor as I did was just yummy. There was a problem though. “Taylor, I’m wearing a skirt.”
“So you are. You look beautiful, by the way.” I blushed as she put down the kickstand and stepped off the bike.
“Thanks, but I can’t ride that in this.”
“I know.” She opened the side compartment and pulled out a large piece of fabric. When she held it up it looked like a large apron. “Here, tie this around in back.” As I complied Taylor walked behind me and pulled a section of the material through my legs. I felt her shake it out, and then press herself against me, her arms encircling my waist as my heart rate jumped. Her breath was hot on my ear as she tied the second half around my middle, her hands lingering on my belly when she was finished. “How’s that?” I shuddered, feeling her closeness throughout my body.
“It’s fine.” I managed to choke out the words, but I couldn’t stop myself from leaning back against her. She tightened her arms around me, making me gasp and put mine over hers. Oh, that felt so nice, resting against her. I felt safe, warm, and happy.
It only lasted a moment before she let me go and handed me a helmet. “Ready to go?” I nodded and she helped me get it on. Below my waist I was now basically wearing very baggy pants, which took care of the skirt problem.
Taylor climbed on and kicked the starter. I took a seat, wrapping myself tight around my date. That felt nice. We started to move, and I gave an excited squeal, which made Taylor chuckle. I wanted to play it cool, but I’d never been on a motorcycle before, and I loved it.
About twenty minutes later we were in a neighboring town, pulling into a restaurant whose elegant white sign read ‘Caratini’s Fine Italian Dining’. We stored the helmets and I took off my riding pants, which also stored in the side compartment.
Her messy blonde hair looked adorable in the fading light. I patted my own, wondering how badly the helmet had mussed it.
“Don’t worry. You still look great, Aly.”
I smiled and fell in beside her as she turned toward the entrance. After two steps our hands brushed against each other, and I hooked hers with my little finger. She glanced down. “Really? You sure?” Her voice was almost shy.
“Yeah, I mean, if you want, yeah.” Her only response was that little smirk and her palm sliding firmly against mine. I could feel the warmth of her radiating up my arm.
Even on a Tuesday there were a number of people waiting, both inside and out. That boded well for the quality of food, but not great for us getting a table. Nevertheless, Taylor made her way confidently to the greeter, who smiled up at her. “Hi, welcome to Caratini’s.”
“Thanks, um, Taylor Knox, reservations for two?”
I stood on my tiptoes to look over the counter, where I saw Taylor’s name next to a bright red star.
“One moment, Miss Knox.” She turned, just as a short, burly man with a big, bushy mustache walked towards the front, a huge smile on his face.
“Signorina Taylor! Buona sera!”
He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, which she returned.
“Ah, this is your lady friend, lei e molto bella.”
“Mr. Caratini, this is Alyssa. Aly, Georgio Caratini.”
His large hands enveloped mine. “Welcome to my ristorante. You are my personal guests. Come.” He led us through the restaurant and out the back door onto a patio with about a dozen tables, all full except for one near a fountain where a marble cherub poured an endless stream of water from his jug. On the table a taper burned romantically over a white tablecloth with water goblets, the whole thing very elegant. Overhead were purple and white flowers hanging from an enormous pergola, which covered the patio. It was beautiful. “Here, here, sit, one of my best tables on a lovely night.” He handed us menus as a server stepped next to him. “Jerome here will take care of you.” He turned towards his employee. “See they are treated well.” Jerome nodded, as Mr. Caratini winked at me before bustling off.
I ordered a glass of the house white while Taylor opted just for a Dr. Pepper, as she was driving. As soon as Jerome left I laughed. “That was something.”
Taylor laughed, taking a sip from her water. “It’s my boss’s fault. She and her wife are regulars here. This is where Jen proposed. I’ve been here a bunch of times with them.”
“You go to dinner with your boss?”
“Yeah. She’s also my landlord, and my friend, kinda like a second mom. I live in a mother-in-law over their garage.”
“Must be hard, having your family live so far away.”
A dark shadow passed across Taylor’s face. “Yeah, doesn’t really matter.”
I leaned across the table and took her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to….”
“It’s okay. I don’t see my family anymore. Their choice, not mine.”
I sat up and smiled my best smile. “Alright, change the subject. What’d you study at Pepperdine?”
“Art.”
“Really? Do you paint?”
“I draw some, but mostly I do metal sculpture.”
“Really?”
She smirked at me. “Yeah, I know, cliched, right?”
“No, it’s, um, okay maybe a little.” I laughed, and so did she. It was high and pure, very not what I expected. It was lovely. Jerome dropped off our drinks, and I took a sip from my wine. “Wow, that’s really good.”
“Everything here’s good.”
“What’re you gonna get?”