CHAPTER 2
That had changed during one chat. The teasing had grown intense and they had cyber sex. It wasn’t Vic’s first experience with online sex, but it had been one of the best. Nora was inventive and fun when it came to playing out a fantasy. Still, they were friends. She knew that Nora had a wide circle of pals, many of whom were known for playing online. Vic valued Nora much more as a friend than as an online playmate. To Nora she showed a side she didn’t often reveal, even to herself. A side that was softer, a side that loved romantic poetry. A side that she felt she could trust to the other woman.
When Vic began to date Marissa, Nora was really pleased. Her comment “Everyone should have someone to share their life with”, reinforced Vic’s conviction Nora was married, or at least in a long-term relationship. When Marisa moved in Nora was ecstatic. Vic had stopped coming online shortly after that. Marissa thought it was “stupid”.
Still, she had slipped on to have one final chat and had seen Nora. On a sudden impulse, she had given Nora her phone number.
“I know you said you never let your online and offline lives cross,” she had explained. “But I just want you to have it.”
“Okay, thanks.” Nora had replied.
Vic had really thought nothing more of that night. Things with Marissa were splendid. “Fool,” she scolded herself. She hadn’t seen it coming at all, just been blinded by her infatuation with the pretty femme. She had been burned before, but this time she had really given her heart away.
The same night she had found the note, still in shock, she had just sat down at the computer and logged in for the first time in three months. Several
regular chatters had greeted her. One was a friend and Vic had unburdened herself about Marissa. After that, she had not been back to the chat room. She hadn’t seen Nora online. And now she was on the phone.
“Nora? Why are you calling?” Almost before the words were out of her mouth Vic regretted them. Why else would Nora be calling after all?
“Davia told me about Marissa. I’m so sorry, Vic.”
“Did she tell you I’m a basket case or something?” Vic all but snapped.
“No, she didn’t,” Nora replied calmly. “She told me you had a stiff upper lip in place and acted like you were glad to be rid of Marissa. I knew better, of course.”
“Of course.” Vic paused and took a deep breath. Damn she was being bitchy. Nora didn’t deserve that.
Amazingly, Nora laughed. “Yes, of course, you goose. You might be Vic the hard-core butch to the world but I know about the soft center under that crust.” She sobered. “If you didn’t have that soft inside you wouldn’t be hurting. But I know you are, and I was worried.”
“Thank you.” Vic said, meaning the two words. “So,” she tried to change the subject, “So where are you calling from?”
“From a pay phone at a Flash Foods store at Main Street and, what the heck is that other street name? Napier, I think.”
“Main and Napier?” Vic was stunned. “You’re HERE? Here in town? How did you know?”
“Isn’t the Internet a great search tool?” came the reply. “I looked up your area code, and then the location of the prefix. I bet I’m not but a few miles away. Now, how do I get to you?” Nora’s voice really did have a Southern accent that intensified as she talked.
“Nora, are you sure? I mean, I appreciate it but,” Vic stumbled over the words. “You said you would never do this. I mean call, much less suddenly drop by.”
“Yeah, well, so I changed my mind. Now then, directions?”
Still rather stunned, Vic gave directions to her town house. After hanging up, she looked around. Frantically she grabbed the vacuum cleaner and a roll of paper towels and started cleaning up.
In the twenty minutes that it took Nora to get there, Vic hastily picked up the worst of the last week’s mess. She rushed upstairs and made the bed. In the midst of doing that, she stopped to wonder if Nora was going to spend the night, and if so, where? Just what was her up-till-now online only friend really doing?
She heard a car door slam and peeked out the window. It was Nora. And oh my, she was driving a pickup truck. Vic watched as the familiar face hopped down from the driver’s door. She was pretty much exactly as Vic had imagined her. Her hair was cut shorter than the shoulder length she had been wearing in the picture, but other than that she looked the same. She was wearing a light tan pants suit with a plain white blouse. A work outfit, Vic felt. Then the doorbell was ringing and Vic was opening the door.
“Hey you!” Nora greeted her brightly and swept past Vic, leaving her standing in the doorway with a baffled look on her face. She turned and followed her visitor. The other woman dropped a small overnight bag on the floor next to the couch, kicked off her shoes and sat down with her feet tucked under her.
Vic flopped down next to her never before seen friend. “Nora, I repeat. What the Hell are you doing here? You said you would…”
“Never call you or see you, that I would stay online only. Well, you’re my friend and this is an emergency.”
“Emergency?” Vic snorted, hoping she sounded convincing. She thought she did, even maybe a bit to herself. “There’s no emergency. If you’re talking about Marissa, shit, I’m better off without her.”
“Well that’s good to know,” replied Nora, looking Vic dead in the eyes. Vic had the uneasy feeling the smaller woman was not fooled a bit. She decided to change the subject.
“Not that I’m not glad to see you anyway, but what about your family? What did you tell them, especially your,” Vic hesitated. She wanted to say “husband” but damn, she just wasn’t sure. It could be “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” or even just “roommate” or “friend”.
Nora simply sidestepped the question, as she always did. “I’m free and clear until tomorrow night. But I’m not here to talk about me. I want to know about you.”
They talked late into the evening. Vic continued to insist she was just fine and changed the subject every time Nora tried to steer the discussion to Marissa. Finally, Nora yawned and asked where she could crash.
“Upstairs is the bedroom. Take it.” When Nora seemed to hesitate, Vic assured her, “I’ll be fine on the couch. It folds out. Guests first, after all.”
“Okay then,” Nora’s lips curved upwards. She stood, stretched and scooped up her bag. She bent over and kissed Vic on the cheek. Then she bounded upstairs.
Vic touched her cheek. Nora had disappeared so quickly that she hadn’t had time to even consider how else she might have handled the situation. A part of her wanted to follow Nora up the stairs, crush her in her arms and make mad love to her. The other part reminded her that this was a friend, one who had taken a tremendous leap of faith to be a friend and that deserved to be treated with respect.
She took the pillows off the couch and piled them on the floor. She pulled the couch open, sat on the mattress and began to unlace her boots. As she did, the night’s conversation kept running through her mind. Her anger at Marissa stirred again.
“Vicky?” came the soft Southern voice from the stairway. Vic looked over her shoulder and her mouth literally fell open.
Nora was standing on the stairway. She was wearing her black teddy and the matching high heels. She leaned against the wall, one foot a step higher than the other.
“Nora,” Vic heard her voice waver and swallowed, “Are you sure?”
Instead of answering, Nora turned and started up the stairs. Before she disappeared, she stopped and posed as she had for her picture. Then she wiggled her bottom, crooked her finger, and was gone. Vic heard her heels clicking in the upstairs hallway. A somehow remote part of her mind noted that Nora must have waited until she was on the carpeted stairs before donning her heels. Then the rest of her mind took over and she all but bolted up those same stairs.
Nora was standing near the bed. Her face was almost unreadable, with an expression of calm concealing whatever she might have been feeling. She lifted her arms over her head in a gesture of surrender. The blood pounded in Vic’s temples and she cast everything to the winds except her need, her lust and her anger.
She rushed on Nora, catching the smaller woman up in her arms and crushing her against the wall. She kissed her, savagely, taking command of Nora’s mouth and using her tongue to claim ownership.