2 comments/ 7109 views/ 13 favorites A Date with Fate (Jessie's Girl) By: Smokey125 SS26: "A Date With Fate (Jessie's Girl)" *** This is SS #26, entitled "A Date With Fate (Jessie's Girl)." This is part one of a two-part sequel to my story "Step-Mommie Dearest." This is the non-erotic portion, setting up the forthcoming actual erotic portion (which will be SS #27, called "And The Truth Shall Set You Free"), and so I'm tempted right now to quip, "Don't even read this, just go ahead and start one-bombing it." But, I shan't. *** August 19th, 2:12 p.m. Jessie was studying her reflection in the mirror from a number of angles as her future step-mother strolled by. "Hey, Gretch?" Gretchen Peterson paused and cautiously turned in her direction. "...Yes, Jessica?" Jessie took a couple tufts of her moderate-toned brunette hair in her hands. "Can I ask your opinion about something?" Gretchen was nervous, but she acquiesced. "Okay." "I'm gonna get my hair done. How do you think I'd look with blonde-lights?" "Oh, uh...well, hon, I...I think you're beautiful no matter how you look, or what you do with your hair," Gretchen evasively sidestepped. "You should do whatever makes you happy." Jessie had to think about that piece of advice for a moment. Whatever makes me happy...who even knows what happiness is? she wondered. She nodded back to Gretchen knowingly. "Point taken." The affable yet somewhat impish smirk on Jessie's face still gave Gretchen a bit of a chill. Ever since their incident a week ago, Gretchen certainly respected Jessie, but at the same time she wasn't terribly anxious to spend a great deal of time with her. Obviously, marrying William Townsend meant also marrying his daughter, in a way, and while she didn't have a deal-breaking problem with Jessie's homosexuality, she still couldn't personally understand it. And what she couldn't understand had always frightened her a little. Unfortunately, she didn't see herself being able to approve, either, but fortunately, it was a small enough situation that she didn't think the whole marriage had to be averted. At 52, Gretchen Peterson was a bit old-fashioned and set in her Christian ways, but she adored William, and wanted so much to like Jessie too—uneasy though it was after last week—and she was willing to do whatever it took to get the marriage to work. She nodded politely to Jessie and said, "Well, um...I'll...see you at dinner then." "See ya at dinner," she heard Jessie call as she headed off. Jessie kept trifling with her hair, which over the past year and a half had worked its way down her back, almost to her waist. As she bounced around Europe on her school tour, enjoying all the exotic culture and scenery, she didn't have a lot of time to locate a good hairdresser and visit him or her, but highlights or no highlights, it was definitely time to get a trim. Before leaving home on her scholastic journey, she'd been seeing a brilliant stylist named Marlene who could wrestle her thick hair into submission to do whatever Jessie wanted with. The woman was a hair genius. She hopped online to check if her office had moved. Googling her, she noticed the office location was the same, but there was a new phone number. She grabbed her phone to dial for an appointment. The phone had a touch-screen—no numbered buttons—which could be bothersome at times, but the device normally behaved itself well enough. Jessie pushed the buttons on the phone display, focusing more on her computer screen than what her phone was doing. Ring...ri— "Yello!" said a female voice she didn't recognize. Well, that may have been a girl on the other end, but this wasn't the greeting Jessie expected at Marlene's salon. She hesitated. The mystery voice came again, the 'y' changing into an 'h'. "Hello?" Jessie stammered out a response. "H—...uh, hello?" "Hello?" the recipient of the call echoed. "Uh, is this Marlene's?" asked Jessie. "Mm, no, I'm ever so sorry, but it's not," said the confused but friendly female voice. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry," Jessie replied, insisting the apology was hers to make. "Is this..." She double-checked. "...555-2610?" "Oh, no, no, no, my dear friend, this is 555-2640." Jessie removed the phone from her ear and looked at the display. 2640, there it was. Oh, for cr—...you dumb phone, she thought, realizing what must have happened. The '4' was directly below the '1'. She'd meant to press the '1', and despite her certainty, the phone must have thought she wanted the '4' instead. She put the phone back to her ear. "Oh, shoot. Well, that's a little embarrassing," she stated. "I was trying to reach a Marlene." "Well, I'm sorry I'm unable to help you there," the other voice chuckled back. "Zero Marlenes here, so you're kinda C.O.L. But if you happen to be in need of an Annabella, I'm your girl!" "Annabella?" said Jessie. "Huh. That's an unusual name...oh—very pretty name, though," she quickly added. Annabella giggled through the phone. "No, no, you're right, it is unique. You don't run into too many chicks named Annabella. And even fewer dudes." They shared a chuckle. "Well, splendid to meet you; my name's Jessie," she intro'd herself. "Actually, now that you mention it, I think I did know an Annabella once," she said, trying to think back. "Yeah, yeah, I think I went to elementary school with her. I seem to recall she had some kind of...funny multisyllabic last name too." The other end was silent for a moment. "Just before I tell you...quick query," said Annabella. "Ridgeway Elementary?" "Yes!" said Jessie. "And I'm pretty sure she and I were in the same grade." "Uh-huh," said Annabella. "Righty-o, big question then: was her name...Annabella Fiorello?" Jessie gasped. "Oh my God, yes!" she exclaimed. "That's it! It's all coming back to me now! Holy smoke, that was you??" "That was me!" laughed the voice. "Still is, actually! Kooky, huh?" "Wow, yeah, that's amazing!" said Jessie. "Yeah, now I remember thinking, what a goofy name! But, y'know, I was just a kid, so..." "Hey, I still think it's goofy myself," laughed Annabella. "Oh, I caught some holy ribbing for that, I did. An Italian name can get you teased like nobody's beeswax. But like you just said, we were kids." "Aw," said Jessie. "Well, I honestly don't remember, but I'm really sorry if I ever teased you about it." Annabella chuckled again. "It's okay, Jessie. It could've been worse; they could've known my middle name's Serafina." Jessie took a second to digest that. "...Wow." "Yep: Annabella Serafina Fiorello. Three names, twelve syllables. How many cats can lay claim to that?" They ended up gabbing a good while longer, like a couple of old friends. Annabella was Jessie's age, 23, and worked as a human resources coordinator for Team, Inc., her forte being interviewing potential colleagues. A friend helped her land her position right out of high school, Team, Inc. being a company which actually encouraged nepotism and the like, and such a vocation was so important to her, she hadn't much time for a college education. She wasn't the most scholastically gifted student anyway, so she worked full-time, and spent her leisure hours in pursuit of numerous different activities. She sported a fascinatingly diverse array of non-vocations and personal projects, Jessie noted. She did bips and bops of volunteer work here and there, she belonged to a biweekly-meeting craft club, she shot league billiards on the weekends, she liked to sing and play the piano, and she was learning her ancestral homeland's native language—Italian—oh, she said, and then there was her most recently up-taken hobby, of which she was proudest yet: designing perfume. "...Good grief," said Jessie when she finished. "When do you sleep?" "'Sleep'? What's that?" joked Annabella. They giggled again. Jessie very much liked the sound of her laugh. Her voice was very pleasing, even when not laughing. Her pitch was slightly lower than average, but her timbre was high and feminine, and she used a lot of words Jessie hadn't heard in years, like "groovy," and "boss," both in the context of meaning "terrific". Now that she was back home from being abroad at school, Jessie was looking forward to tossing herself back into the dating arena, or at least the flirting circle, and trying to meet a nice sweet girl. She was aware of course she and this girl had never met face to face—well, as adults—but she didn't see what she had to lose. She thought she would throw out something of an escalator. She offered, "Y'know what, it's funny, I've always wanted to wear perfume"—which was true—"but I never have"—which was also true, technically, although she did occasionally dab herself with a drop of her Dad's cologne, should a pretty girl with a keen sense of smell cross her path. When she was a teenager, she was excited because the bottle informed her that it was "guaranteed to attract women." But she was quick to learn that was merely a sales pitch. Annabella took her "bait." Kind of. "Oh, you should swing on down to the mall then!" she told Jessie. "You can find me there at the Aromaworks sometimes. I've got a deal with the managers where I bring them my scents, and if they like them, they offer them as samples to customers, and if they become popular enough, they market them!" "Oh gosh, that's so cool!" said Jessie. "So how many have you gotten marketed?" "Just one so far." Her voice deepened as she proudly purred out its name. "It's called 'Torrid.'" Jessie was suddenly very intrigued. Annabella's voice returned to normal. "But even if that's the only one, hey, that's still crazy awesome for me. That was already beyond my wildest expectations when it happened. This is just a really fun kick for me. Now I mean, if it had the potential to become a career someday, that might be a different story. But right now it's just a hobby." Sounds like fun to me, thought Jessie. She took a chance and asked, "Cool! So, eh...what does your husband do then?" "Oh, I am married not, my good lady," Annabella accentuated with a chuckle. "Boyfriend?" "Nope; I am free as a bird." Ah. So now came the challenge. "Well, that's cool; so am I," Jessie said, keeping her advance paced and matter-of-fact. "I'm also gay though, so...y'know." "Oh, nice," replied Annabella. "I'm a bi-er." For a second Jessie was about to ask, "Buyer? I thought you said you were a human resources coordinator." But then she quickly realized what Annabella meant. And it interested her yet further. "Well, then," said Jessie, now becoming eager to find out more about this girl, who clearly had a comely voice, an active personality and a good sense of humor. "I might just have to make my way on down to the mall then!" The level of their conversation ascended slightly from casual chatting to subtle flirting. Now that she knew Annabella was both unattached and could theoretically like her, Jessie was excited. She started to really enjoy her inflections and elocutions. Annabella accentuated her words just so that her voice seemed to hug the corners of the consonants and pour just the right amount of nuance into the vowels. She's brilliant, Jessie thought as she listened to her. I think she could read me the phone book and I'd be all ears. After a few more moments of friendly conversation, Jessie was trying to think of a way of maybe taking this chance encounter to the next level, but before she had the chance, Annabella broke the news to her that she had to head off. "Aw," said Jessie, hoping Annabella would pick up the coy disappointment in her voice. "Well, hey, uh...are you on Facebook?" "Um, duh! Who isn't??" Annabella chortled. "Oh, cool, I'll look you up!" said Jessie. "What'd you say your name was, Annabella...?" "...Serafina Fiorello," she finished for her. Jessie wasn't terribly good with names. Especially long ones. "Yeah...y'know what, maybe you could look me up instead?..." *** August 29th, 5:38 p.m. Jessie successfully dialed Marlene and made an appointment. She had more thought to put into her hair and overall appearance now that she actually could have something that might or might not be a date. When Annabella had found Jessie on Facebook and they exchanged adds to learn more about each other, their conversation resumed in Instant Message form. And it lasted until 2:00 in the following morning as they unearthed the numerous random things they had in common, only ending because neither could keep her eyes open another minute. After a couple more evenings spent in one another's cyber-company, they planned an initial in-person rendezvous. Jessie would meet Annabella at the mall on Tuesday, the 29th, late afternoon, for an evening they both had free. "Approx 5:30, 5:45 sound good?" Annabella asked her. Jessie threw on the outfit she informed Annabella she would be wearing—her Beatles T-shirt with the lyrics to "Love Me Do" speckled on the back, jeans, black socks and hush puppies—tossed her Dad and Gretchen a quick "see ya later" and bounded out the door, more excited than she could remember being in a while. Annabella didn't tell Jessie what she would be wearing, as she preferred to surprise her. It was one of the ways in which she was delightfully quirky. She simply told her, "You'll see me. Just go in Aromaworks and cast an eyeball around for the babe with the chestnut brown hair." This didn't seem like a lot of help to Jessie, but she figured between the two of them they had enough to go on. When she parked, she checked the rear-view mirror for a reassuring look at the highlights Marlene'd given her. She purposely had several strands of hair out of place to match her normally laid-back nature. She finger-brushed the hair forming her widow's peak down into her forehead, giving herself some makeshift bangs, decided she looked cute as could be, grabbed her purse and got out. Cast an eyeball around for the babe with the chestnut brown hair, Jessie repeated to herself as she circumnavigated the mall until she reached Aromaworks. Not much of a clue...then again, I'm not a detective. Probably not a huge crowd in there, after all, and maybe she's dolled-up. Maybe she just dresses nicer than I do. Her heart did speed up a bit when she located the store. As she wandered in, a happy salesperson greeted her. "Good afternoon, ma'am!" she said far too cheerily. "Would you like to try our new papaya and pomegranate splash fragrance??" Y—...your new WH—...? "Uh, no, no thank you," Jessie politely declined. "I'm just looking for someone." "Oh, fun!" replied the little girl, just as bubbly. "Well, there's Tilly, Candy, Dolly, Trixie, Muffy, Buffy, Fluffy and me!" She referred Jessie to her nametag which read, Hello! My name is Colette! ...Did I hear that last one right?? Colette was almost starting to frighten Jessie just a little. She looked around the store. She'd never been inside before. It was larger than it looked from the outside. "Do, erm...do you know if there's an Annabella here, by chance?" Jessie cautiously queried. Colette batted her eyes a few times. "Huh?" she asked, baffled but still with a chirpy smile on her face. "Uh...never mind, I'll find her myself," Jessie said, patting Colette on the arm. "You just keep it up; you're doing a beautiful job." She poked around the store, making sure her Beatles shirt was in plain view. She headed to the back of the store, towards the registers, reasoning that if Annabella did her biz with the management, she'd likely be in that general vicinity. She tried one or two of the scents which looked interesting, and subsequently hoped no one in the store saw her reaction after sampling them. She hesitated to simply call out the girl's name. Given the choice, she'd opt to do this without drawing attention. However, someone else had other ideas. After another few minutes of browsing, she heard a familiar voice singing loudly behind her— "Love, love me do!/You know I love you!/I'll always be true!/So plee-ee-ease...love me do!..." Halfway through the performance, Jessie turned around, even though she already knew this was clearly Annabella. They may have only spoken on the phone the one time, but aside from more evidence of that glittering persona, that voice would be hard for Jessie to forget. She turned around, and her eyebrows jumped at what she saw. In the initial moment they met face-to-face, Jessie could've sworn she'd stepped into a time machine and dropped off somewhere in the middle of 1958. Annabella was wearing—Jessie had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her—a knee-length red and white polka dot dress, white gloves, and saddle shoes. And that was chestnut brown hair, all right, elegantly swooping down around her face and shoulders and curling up at the ends. It also just happened to be adorned with a headband, a flower, and her Audrey Hepburn cat eye sunglasses. No wonder that was all Annabella had told her on the phone. If she had told Jessie she'd look like this, Jessie probably wouldn't have believed her. Even though she was about 99.9% sure, Jessie asked, "Signorina Fiorello, I presume?" "Ever so astute!" Annabella replied with a small bow. When she'd finished singing the lyrics on Jessie's shirt, Annabella'd given her a big, giggly smile. Already visually charmed, Jessie extended her hand. During their electronic conversations, she'd gotten the sense that Annabella was kind of idiosyncratic and free-spirited, but she saw now she'd even still underestimated. Annabella, ladylike, accepted her hand and curtsied. Jessie was starting to feel a little ordinary standing next to this extraordinary-looking damsel. She felt slightly underdressed, though she reminded herself that first of all, she did get her hair streaked and she made sure her reflection approved of her and vice versa, and secondly, she couldn't see herself in an outfit like this. It looked great on Annabella, but on Jessie, not quite so much. "Gosh," she said, giving Annabella another look up and down. "You look...uh..." She searched for the appropriate word to match the era of Annabella's remarkable fashion choices, and finally located it. "...fabulous!" Annabella looked away shyly with a wave of her gloved hand. "Oh, go on," she teased. "I bet you say that to all the dollies." Not really, no! Jessie thought in amusement. Just the ones that're dressed like the cast of Grease. She was quite the flirt, Jessie could see already. However, Jessie had a few courting tricks up her sleeve as well. She'd do her one better. She took Annabella gently by the arms and planted a large, audible kiss on each of her cheeks. When she stepped back, it was Annabella's turn to be charmed. She blushed just a touch and fanned herself. "Oh my!" she commented. "Oh, excuse me," Jessie said innocently. "I just came back from my three semesters abroad in Europe. I hope you'll forgive me if a little of the culture rubbed off." She was feigning bashfulness and actually toying with her. The truth was, Jessie knew exactly what she was doing. She was being affectionate and then acting as if she were unsure of herself, when in reality she was completely sure. She could read the signs in Annabella's face to tell her she was interested. The kisses seemed to catch her a little off-guard, but she said, "You're forgiven." "Grazie, amica mia." Annabella was impressed. "Parli italiano?" A Date with Fate (Jessie's Girl) "Er, no, actually," chuckled Jessie. "But I picked up a decent amount of Spanish when I was in Madrid, which is...kinda similar, as I'm sure you know, and I love learning new stuff." "Well!" said Annabella. "If I can pique your interest in my culture, might you be interested in joining me for dinner, for the finest Italian cuisine you will ever have in your life, I personally guarantee you?" Oh, what a voice. She could just swim in it. Jessie slipped her arm around Annabella's. "How can I possibly turn that down?" *** August 29th, 6:17 p.m. Annabella normally rode her bike almost wherever she went—work, mall, pool hall, just about anywhere—and secured though it might be, she didn't want to leave it chained to the bike rack outside the mall, which Jessie could understand. And so they slid it into Jessie's backseat, where it luckily just fit. So when the evening was over, Jessie would simply drop Annabella and her bike home. Annabella directed Jessie to Venizzi's, a secluded but popular restaurant outside of downtown, where the streets and buildings just started to turn to pastures and farmland. The establishment proudly stood alone, a solitary dot on the horizon. They entered. Once they'd been shown to their booth and settled in, the hostess gave them menus and said their server would be right with them. "Gosh, y'know, this is amazing," said Jessie. "I never knew this place was here. How'd you find it?" "Having a keen Roman nose helps," Annabella remarked with a wink and a smirk. The waitress dropped by and took their drink orders. They opened the menus. Jessie waited until the waitress headed back to the kitchen, then smiled and turned to Annabella. "She's a cute thing, huh?" Annabella nodded, studying the contents and specials. "She's got some good stuff going on, yeah, but the question is: does she have the complete package, inside and out?" She tapped her heart and forehead. "Just as valid a point." Jessie wanted to be chivalrous, so she said, "By the way, it's my treat." "Oh, that's really not necessary," said Annabella. "I just saved a bundle on my bicycle insurance by switching to Bike-o." Jessie laughed. This girl charmed the pants off her. "No, seriously, though, I insist," Jessie insisted insistently. "My Dad's a doctor." Annabella's tune was changed for her. "Then again, if you'd like to be a gentlewoman, who am I to stand in your way?" The waitress returned with their bevvies and took their orders for dinner. Jessie ordered the veal tortellini and Annabella went with the "pasghetti and beatmalls," inanely altering its name. After they handed the menus back and the waitress withdrew, Jessie looked at Annabella with an amused expression. "I didn't know anybody still said that," she chuckled. "Oh, I'll always be a big kid at heart," Annabella assured her. "Here's my 'child baggage,' as it were. Believe it or not, I still watch 'toons, I still love video games, I still play with my dolls, I still fantasize about living in a magical, mystical kingdom with either my Prince Charming or my Cinderella, I still sleep with my teddy bear and my blankie, and I still believe in Santa Claus." "You...believe in Santa Claus?" "Yeah, well, not in a form that physically manifests itself, of course, but...every Christmas Eve at midnight...I hear sleigh bells." Jessie smiled warmly. "Just 'cause we grow up, why should we have to stop being kids?" Annabella went on. "I don't think it's fair sometimes, y'know? You grow up, but still do kid-like things, and folks find it strange. Just 'cause you're an adult, why shouldn't you still be allowed to go up to someone and go—" She lightly slapped Jessie's arm. "Tag! You're it! And then book it?" she asked. Jessie wasn't exactly sure what to say. She normally prided herself on being a mature, responsible person, and yet she had to admit Annabella had a good, if somewhat whimsical point. She was starting to like Annabella in a way she couldn't remember liking hardly anyone before. Along with her free, childlike personality, she had a lovely, innocent face and such soft gentle brown eyes. And even if she hadn't known she was Italian, she could tell by her expressive hand movements accentuating everything she said. "Hope you brought your appetite, buddy girl," Annabella said sweetly. "Only the happiest tummies leave here." They chatted and flirted a while longer, until the food arrived. The waitress set their plates down and asked if they cared for parmesan cheese, to which Annabella said, "Oh, but of course, my good woman! Please apply liberally!" When she finally gave the waitress permission to cease, she told them to enjoy and headed to her next table. "So!" said Annabella, stirring the cheese in with the spaghetti and meatballs, turning it all into a swirl, "Tell me something I don't know about the lovely Jessie Townsend." "Hmmm," Jessie mused, digging into the veal. "'S see...well, you already do know that she was abroad for three semesters in Europe..." she said, sticking with Annabella's third-person reference to her, "...and you know she likes reading, tennis and rock music...and that her favorite movie's L.A. Story, 'cause she's a sucker for sweet, intelligent romantic comedies...what else do you wanna know?" "Does she live alone?" "Oh, well, no, actually, she lives with her Dad." "Just her Dad?" "Well, he is getting remarried, so the woman who's gonna be her step-mother is over a lot of the time too, but...she can't really see anyone being a real mother figure for her other than her actual mother." "Oh...may I ask...what happened with her actual mother?" Jessie paused to chew and swallow, abandoning the third-person. "She left us." Annabella's face fell. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she empathized. "How heartbreaking! I don't know what to say!" Her genuine emotion surprised Jessie a little. For a second she was going to say, "Well, it's okay, it's not really that big a deal," but that wouldn't have been a very thoughtful thing to say. Actually, it remained quite a big deal, but the significance simply diminished in Jessie's and her Dad's minds as they grew accustomed to being on their own. She looked back at Annabella to see her resting her hand with her fork on the table, looking down at her pasta with visible dejection in her eyes. She looked like she was about to cry. Jessie certainly didn't want that to happen. She clasped Annabella's hand, maneuvering her fingers around the fork. "Oh, whoa, whoa, hey, Annabella, it's okay!" she assured her. "W—I mean, thank you, of course, for your compassion, but it really is okay, honest. I mean, it...it just happened. It was just one of those things that happen sometimes. Y'know, I mean...that's life. Good stuff happens and bad stuff happens. That's all." Annabella still didn't look up. Jessie was becoming concerned. This was a completely new color on Annabella, as far as she could see. Up until now, the Annabella she knew had been upbeat, cheerful and carefree. Clearly, something had gone very awry here. "Whoa, Annabella, ar—...are you all right?...Is there something else going on here?" Annabella blinked several times, trying to hide what she didn't want Jessie to see. "I lost my mother too." Ouch. "Ohhh...God," said Jessie, slowly retracting her hand. "My turn to be sorry then." Annabella looked back up into her eyes, her voice cracking a bit. "She, um...she was an alcoholic. We kept trying to get her to stop, or-or get help, but, it just wouldn't take, and then one night, my Daddy woke me up in a panic. I got scared, because I'd never seen him crying before. He-he couldn't find her...and...and then we realized the car was gone." "OH, dear," Jessie moaned. "And next thing I knew, I didn't have a Mom anymore. The, uh...the car wasn't in great shape either, but we couldn't care less about that. And my reaction was to grieve and mourn for a couple weeks, but it really broke my heart what it did to Daddy. He'd always been so...happy, and so full of life. Everybody said I got it from him. But after that, he just...kinda became a recluse. Suddenly he didn't wanna leave the house, he didn't wanna play with me...he didn't wanna do anything anymore. I told him he always had me, and that I'd look after him forever, but...he had just...checked out, by that point." She wistfully pushed the meatballs around the plate. "He really loved my Mom." Jessie nodded. "Sounds like you did too." "I did. She was such a groovy, amazing lady. Minus that blinkity-blankin' alcohol problem she would've been practically perfect." "Where's your Dad now?" "Still at home. I call him a couple times a week to check up on him and see how he's doing and all, and, well..." She shrugged. "I guess he's had the time he's needed to cope, but...he's still not the same man I grew up with. I just...good golly, I just miss his smile so much, Jessie. I haven't seen it in years. He's just so lonely. I wish he could find someone to love him like Mom did. You're so lucky your Dad has." Jessie's eyes dropped to her own plate, feeling guilt cast its shadow over her. In the first place, if she were to be completely honest with herself, if Jessie lived on her own, she probably wouldn't keep in touch with her Dad that well. But more importantly, Annabella made Jessie realize that ever since she met her future step-mother, she really had only been thinking about how Gretchen's introduction into their lives would affect her. She didn't mean to ignore her Dad's feelings (or Gretchen's); she had just only gotten back from school and needed a little time to adjust to life at home again, and meeting Gretchen right off the bat the first night threw her for a bit of a loop. She didn't put up a fight against her presence because she guessed she presumed Gretchen made her Dad happy, but that was as far as she'd thought it out. She supposed she owed the matter a little more consideration than this. "I guess I never looked at it from that angle," Jessie uttered to her veal. "What could be better than a loving new addition to your family unit?" Annabella pondered out loud. Jessie gazed at Annabella to find optimism and idealism in her eyes. The guilt spread. Gretchen may have had some evident flaws, but there was no mistaking her love for William—though she honestly didn't know if Gretchen genuinely liked her too, especially after what she'd done to her last week. She found herself abruptly feeling awful. She really only meant to teach her a lesson, and it had certainly worked, but at the same time, she'd clearly way overdone it. She probably traumatized the woman for the rest of her natural life. Gretchen was just trying to be nice to her—albeit in her obstinate, misguided Christian way—and what did she get for it? Raped. She'd raped this poor lady. Oh, why did I do that... she thought. I feel like a terrible person. At the time, of course, she hadn't thought of it this way; she'd thought of it then as a necessary if drastic measure to take, to get Gretchen off her back about whom she dated (i.e., other women). She just hadn't wanted to take the hint that Jessie was gay and didn't want or need her help finding a mate, and she did need to be set straight—as it were—but she didn't deserve this. She looked up at Annabella's tender smiling eyes again. My gosh, Annabella...you're so sweet, and pure, and innocent, and good, and golden-hearted...you could never even think about doing anything like that. For Heaven's sake, if you knew what I did to her...you'd probably never speak to me again. She must have been punishing herself quite a while, because eventually Annabella asked her, "Jessie? Everything cool, honey?" Jessie forced a bittersweet swallow. I don't deserve to have you call me "honey," Annabella...I like you so much, but...as much as I hate to say it, you're too good for me. But I'm also too selfish and chicken to let you know that. "I'm fine." They had almost cleaned their plates. Not an unimpressive feat, given the size of the portions the restaurant served them. "Psst." Jessie looked up. "Got a little room left?" Glad to be able to change the subject, Jessie patted her belly. "Yeah, I guess so." Annabella smiled and slid her plate to the middle of the table, trying to conceal her eagerness, having been waiting for this moment since they sat down. Channeling her inner canine, she removed her sunglasses from her head, leaned down and pushed her one remaining meatball across the plate, towards Jessie, with her nose. Jessie's heart melted. It was very possibly the silliest, but as well the most adorable thing she had ever seen in her life. Her eyes rose back up to Annabella, chin on hands, spaghetti sauce residue on her nose. Jessie told her the only thing that came to her mind. "You are so cute." Annabella arched her eyebrows flirtatiously. "This is the night, cara mia. It's a bella notte." Jessie smiled back at her. "Annabella notte." "So I was thinking..." Annabella purred in a voice dripping with playful romanticism, batting her eyes, chin still propped on her fists. "...mayhaps after this if you want...we could go walk it off...in the park behind the church...lie in the grass...look at the stars...I know lots of Italian love songs...maybe I could sing to you?" She really had already charmed Jessie's metaphorical socks off. Jessie had never met anyone quite like Annabella, which she supposed only made sense, as there was no one quite like Annabella. Oh, what does falling in love feel like... she wondered to herself. She couldn't match Annabella's flirting finesse, but she matched the tone of her voice. "That sounds like a lot of fun..." whispered Jessie, also leaning her chin down on her hands, a goofy smile on her face, "...although you could be totally making it up and I wouldn't know the difference." Annabella only shook her head with a smirk. "I am only and nothing but the real deal, baby doll." Jessie returned the canine-like gesture, leaning down to the plate and taking the meatball in her mouth—no hands—getting a little sauce on her own face in the process. She chewed it up, gobbled it down and looked back to Annabella, making a silly smile with small bits of leftover meatball sticking to her teeth. "Now Eskimo kiss me," said Annabella. Jessie all but dropped her face right into her plate laughing. *** August 29th, 9:37 p.m. Jessie was walking on air. She didn't want this night to end. She felt as if she and Annabella were the two title characters in that old romantic puppy-love masterpiece. It was remarkable how well their magical evening encapsulated its post-dinner love scene. Annabella had indeed taken her on a hand-held moonlit stroll through the park, where the only sounds they heard were birds and crickets chirping. The air was a fair, less than humid 75°, and the refreshing breeze fanned their hair over their faces. They didn't play out all the details Annabella was describing in the restaurant, as lying on the ground was less romantic and fun than it sounded, so they cuddled on one of the benches and took in the lovely night painting of the stars and constellations in each other's arms. And Annabella did also stick to her word about serenading her. She held Jessie in her embrace and treated her to a beautiful, sedate rendition of what to Jessie was a vaguely familiar melody, an operatic aria which Annabella told her was called "Nessun dorma." She wisely opted to forego the historical significance of the song, which was less pleasant than the song itself, but she translated some of the lines afterwards. Jessie officially loved Annabella's voice. She just couldn't get enough of hearing it. She'd liked it since the first time she heard it completely by accident on the phone. She couldn't believe how fortunate she was, to have fate present her with such a wonder-filled experience. She didn't know if she was slowly falling in love with her, but she did know enough to leave that feeling alone for now. It wasn't appropriate to scrutinize their time together, thereby cheating herself out of its enjoyment. Whether she was or would one day be in love with Annabella, she could on the other hand focus on all the fascinating aspects Annabella's personality glimmered with. She certainly wasn't kidding about essentially being a big child—when she wished to be—but she could be a grown-up when she chose as well. It was something Jessie very much admired about her. She wished she had the ability to switch on and off between such altered states. She also loved how peculiar, and spontaneous, and consequently fun Annabella was. She was such a breath of fresh air. It seemed most everyone else she encountered was wedged in adult mode, and stuck to a more or less predictable routine balanced between work, sleep and sedentary at best social skills. She might almost go so far as to say she was mind-blown by Annabella's bursts of energy and emotion, which struck her as passionate, boundless and not forced at all. And yet for all her upbeat drive and sparkle, Jessie noted there was another side to Annabella as well, a more vulnerable, fragile side which when touched upon the wrong way could bring about a sadness in her that broke Jessie's heart and made her want to hug her tight and tell her everything would be okay. Once again, she was compelled to think to herself, she had never (and likely would never again have) met anyone like her. Where, she simply had to wonder, had such a marvelous creature been all her life? Annabella noticed the pensive expression on her face. "What's on your mind, my dear?" she whispered. Jessie opened her eyes and looked up at her. "What's on my mind?" she repeated. "Yeah. Talk to me. What's the tale, nightingale?" Her face was upside-down from below, where Jessie's head was resting in her lap. She sat up a bit, all the while gazing into the portrait of this enchanting princess who had given her this amazing evening of joy and delight, and decided to show her gratitude. She let her fingertips tenderly caress Annabella's soft face, not exactly sure if she should be doing this, but overcome and intoxicated by the idea that right now she could, and threw the caution to the wind before she could talk herself out of it. The kiss was slow, lasting and magnificent. Their eyes closed as their hands took their time finding their way around one another's bodies and their mutual aura of magnetism permeated the atmosphere around them. Their bodies pressed into each other, making both of them shiver with excitement. Jessie could have sworn a heart-shaped cloud of steam had risen off them. She swelled with happiness and excitement. She zealously hoped and felt she could say with a certain measure of safety that Annabella was feeling the same way. She didn't think anyone could kiss like this and not mean it, but then again—and certainly not that she thought Annabella was capable of passionate deception, but—she just never knew how the girl would surprise her next. Her perception wasn't offbase. While Jessie couldn't have believed it had she heard it herself, Annabella was feeling every bit as entranced and enchanted by Jessie as vice versa. She too couldn't believe how lucky she felt, and didn't think she had met anyone like Jessie before as well. Her heart was also fainting time after time and time again, regaining steadiness only to once more surrender to this powerful impulse. Jessie was inclined to believe that such an evening of simple yet astonishingly profound pleasure was for Annabella more or less par for the course, her mindset thus far being that this was just pretty much who Annabella was. But Annabella would have been adamantly quick to inform her otherwise, that while in Jessie's eyes she wasn't unlike an extraordinary fairy-tale being whose dreamy allure was almost even akin to a mythical creature such as a pixie or forest sprite, she was simply a very friendly, and outgoing, if perhaps exceptionally charismatic, 23-year-old lass. A Date with Fate (Jessie's Girl) The first kiss ran its glorious course and concluded to give both the girls some time to catch their breath. Jessie rested her head on Annabella once more, this time on her shoulder. She hugged her tight, tilted her head up and back to face her and answered her question a second time, this time with words. "I was just thinking how delicious you look, and how much I just want to eat you," Jessie teased her playfully. Annabella, whose mind sometimes went astray into suggestive territory when provoked, blushed. "Oh my goodness!" she rejoined, fanning herself. She put on a southern accent and teased her back, "Why, Miss Jesseh, I do declare, you naughty thing you!" Jessie realized what she was thinking. She laughed in embarrassment. Oops, she thought. "Oh, no, no, gosh, no!" she giggled, turning a little red herself. "Oh my God, Annabella, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that. I just meant you're so cute I could just gobble you up. Your eyes look like chocolate. Your lips look like licorice. And your skin looks like ice cream." Annabella tossed her head back and laughed heartily. It sounded like heaven to Jessie. "I see," chuckled Annabella, returning to her normal voice. "Well, I must admit, I've never been told that before. You fracture me." Jessie wasn't exactly familiar with that one. "I...hope that's a good thing," she chuckled. Annabella giggled again. "It is. It means you make me laugh." Jessie snuggled up to her and rubbed her head against her like a cat. "I was just trying to find a way of saying how much I really really like you, sweetheart," she explained, subsequently realizing she'd placed that particular term of endearment at the end of her statement and wondering if it was too intimate for a first-date situation. Then again, after that dynamite kiss they'd just dazed each other and themselves with, it would take a bit more than that to cross the line of intimacy. Annabella didn't seem to mind, so she continued. "You're just so adorable, and unique, and sweet, and fun—and funny—and kind, and good, and your skin feels so soft, and you kiss like an angel, and...and..." Eventually, she couldn't think of any more to add, so she just sighed and let her head drop back down on Annabella's shoulder. She (thought she) felt Annabella stroke and kiss her hair. "I like you too, Jessie," she whispered. Jessie smiled, closing her eyes. She never wanted to leave here. But unfortunately, she knew they'd have to sooner or later. It had to be approaching midnight, and she was starting to fade. All she could think of to say to bring the evening to an end was, "I can't wait to see you again." Annabella at last directed her back to her home. Jessie dropped her off, helped her get her bike out of the backseat, gave and took a final hug and kiss on the cheek, got back in the car, waited for Annabella to get inside, exchanged a final goodbye wave with her, watched as she shut the door, sighed happily, took her phone out of her pocket, kissed it and whispered, "Thank you." *** September 28th, 7:27 p.m. A week and a half passed before Annabella granted Jessie a second date. Well, "granted" was not entirely accurate, but while Annabella worked full-time and had her hefty palette of additional personal engagements to work around, Jessie conversely did not have a nine-to-five, and was also taking this semester off from school to rest. It was the ideal situation for her to just kick back and take it easy for six months. William still loved having her around, and of course took home much more than enough income to take excellent care of himself, Jessie, Gretchen, and one or two additional hypothetical family members. The truth was, being at home was so cushy and accommodating, Jessie didn't have much desire to get a place of her own. Jessie certainly understood how much Annabella had on her plate, so she didn't pressure her to get together again immediately. She was grateful in the meantime Annabella could not read her mind, which was wondering, How about now? Or maybe now? Today? Tomorrow? The next day? Now? What about now? Or now? Or perhaps now? Needless to say, when their second date did finally come about, she was intensely enthusiastic and squeezed as much enjoyment out of it as she could locate. September did afford them a couple more encounters, the last taking place nearly a month after their initial date, on the 28th. Jessie was feeling brave, and so she told Annabella, "I want you to come over and meet my parents. Well, my parent and my step-parent. Let's just say my family." Annabella eagerly agreed, a little nervous but not overwhelmingly so. Once Jessie got off the phone with her, she bounded downstairs and announced to William and Gretchen, "Set another place for dinner! I have a date coming over!" She promptly ran right back upstairs to get ready. Gretchen turned to William. "So that means...?" she asked. "Yes," William confirmed for her. "Her date is going to be a girl." This made Gretchen too a little nervous, but she told herself to keep an open mind. William had been educating her on the concept of homosexuality (and bisexuality) to help her understand that his daughter was a lesbian. William had not perceived at first that the general idea, to put it frankly, freaked her out. And as much as she liked Jessie and wanted to adopt her and vice versa, anything indigenous to the human race for hundreds of years that had slipped by her comprehension for half a century, either by accident or religion, made her a bit leery. She and William decided to take care of dinner together, both feeling it was a nice idea to play hosts for the kids, take care of them and let them enjoy their date. Jessie had requested Annabella to arrive at 7:30-ish, so she hoped her parents would have dinner ready a short time after. Annabella popped up at their door at 7:27. When they heard the doorbell ring, William said, "Gretch, you wanna get that, hon?" Gretchen wiped off her hands and opened the door, thinking to herself, So this then will be a young lady. She still didn't personally understand why Jessie dated girls, but she was really starting to hope she could. Maybe meeting this girl would help. On the other side of the door was a young woman in a solid blue dress, matching blue dress flats, hands this time in pink gloves, one holding her purse, the other holding onto her bike. The cool 63° breeze tossed her hair, which wore no bands or flowers this evening. Her sunglasses were just perched a little lower on the bridge of her nose. When she looked up to see Gretchen, her face lit up. "Hi!" she waved. "I'm Annabella! You, I presume, are the lovely Miss Peterson, soon to be Mrs. Townsend, about whom I've heard quite a little bit!" Gretchen was caught off-guard by her friendliness, but positively so. She chuckled out, "Why, yes, I am! Please, come in!" Annabella sat the bike outside the door and pranced inside. William, also in the kitchen, saw her enter and gave his own hands a quick rinse and dry as well. "Welcome!" he greeted her, hurrying to the door, excited to meet his daughter's lady caller. "William Townsend. You must be our guest, Miss Fiorello." Annabella took his extended hand, kissed it and curtsied. "Okay, then I will be!" she giggled. "Oh, Mr. Townsend, sir, if I may say so, you have a beautiful fiancée, and you are a truly striking gentleman. Now I can see where your daughter gets her gorgeous eyes." Her seemingly effortless charm easily had the desired effect on Gretchen and William, and more. They were both instantaneously enormously flattered. "Well, thank you, Annabella! What a sweet young lady our little girl's found herself!" commented William, prompting Annabella to glance away and redden a bit, her turn to be flattered. "Well, uh, Jessie's upstairs getting ready, so why don't you go ahead and get comfy, and make yourself at home. TV's on, you can go ahead and have a seat in the living room or the dining room, if you want. There're some bags of chips and stuff there in the pantry. Whatever you want, help yourself." "Oh, I'll wait for everybody else to eat, thank you so much," said Annabella. She wandered out past the dining room, into the living room, admiring the décor and interior architecture, eventually fluffing out her dress and taking a seat on the couch. While she waited, she gazed around at the furniture and wallpaper. It all looked very cozy and homey. She settled back into the comfy sofa with her purse, removed her compact, gave herself a once-over and lightly touched up her lipstick. Satisfied, she smiled, blew the compact a kiss and returned it. A few minutes later, Jessie drifted down the stairs in a long-sleeved suit shirt, slacks and the same black socks, which she secretly thought of as lucky. She had her hair scrunchied back and a tie loosely knotted around her neck. When she saw Annabella sitting on the couch, she swung around the end of the bannister, hopped on the floor and said, "Hey, cutie!" Annabella popped up excitedly. "Hey yourself, dolly!" She threw open her arms and Jessie all but leapt into them. They kissed, both their mouths curled up into enthusiastic smiles, as it had been another several days since their most recent date. They both immensely enjoyed the kiss, but immediately communicated with one mutual lock of the eyes that they had to keep it PG tonight while they were in front of the parents. Best behavior. William came out of the kitchen, Gretchen right behind him. "Dinner is served!" he announced. Gretchen saw the two of them together. "Oh my goodness, Jessica...you're...dressed just like your father!" "I get my fashion sense from him," she agreed with a smirk. "It's in my blood." She turned back to Annabella and murmured, "I'm wearing his cologne too. Take a whiff." Annabella subtly sniffed her, and highly enjoyed the signal her senses sent to her brain. "Go ahead and grab your seats," William gestured to the table, starting back into the kitchen. "Hope you girls are hungry!" Dinner was underway. They launched a dialogue together to get to know Annabella. It was casual, easy-hitting and moderately paced, though they could have been interrogatingly grilling Annabella and she wouldn't have been fazed. She just continued pouring on the charm. They mostly stuck to their polite conversation, though the kids did manage to sneak a couple flirty whispers in. "You look so hot dressed like a gent," Annabella whispered. "Thank you," Jessie whispered back. "You look hot dressed like a lady." The girls were not the only ones at the table exchanging romantic sweet nothings. "Guess what we're going to do tonight?" said William. "I don't have to guess, honey, I know," uttered Gretchen. "Each other." William grinned. "You bad girl," he declared. Annabella thought she heard what they were whispering. She was amused. "You guys are a tickle!" she giggled. "So Mr. Townsend, you're a pediatrician?" "That's right," he replied. "Aw...that's so awesome. Y'know, I think doctors are just saints. Especially kid doctors. God bless you, sir," smiled Annabella. "I bet when Jessie was little you could fix whatever she might've been sick with, just like that," she added with a snap of the fingers. "And I work for a matchmaking service," Gretchen chimed in. "Oh, that's right!" Annabella said, turning her way. "Jessie told me that too. Yeah, I meant to chat with you about that, Miss Peterson. Maybe you could help my Dad? He's a widower, and he's just about turned into a hermit. I feel so bad for him, and I think he could really use a nice new lady in his life." "Well, certainly!" said Gretchen. "I'll give you the info, just bring him down to our office any day of the week." Jessie was of course exceedingly pleased things were going so well, and her parents seemed so fond of her new galpal. She really had absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact, the tiny paranoid part of her briefly started thinking they might even like Annabella more than her, but immediately told herself that was ridiculous. Wasn't it? Dinner was concluded. Having sufficiently crammed themselves full, the parents asked the kids if they'd like any dessert and told them there was candy in the pantry and ice cream in the freezer. "Maybe a little later," said Jessie. "I think we're both a little too packed right now. Would it be okay if I took Annabella on a little walk, y'know, showed her the neighborhood?" "Oh, that sounds like a blast!" said Annabella. "Of course!" said William. "It's your evening, you guys do anything you want. Well, within reason, of course," he added with a smile. "Have a good time!" Once they got outside, Jessie let out a contented sigh. She let Annabella believe she was happy to be stepping out and getting some fresh air, but the truth was that she was just relieved to get out of the house. Obviously, she hoped Annabella would like her Dad and Gretchen and vice versa, which worked out beautifully, but she was now also craving some quality romantic alone time with her girl. So she took Annabella by the hand and gave her a guided tour of her neighborhood. "This is such a pretty area," Annabella gushed, her brown eyes glowing like caramels in the slowly setting sun. "It's even prettier with you in it," Jessie cooed to her. Jessie felt as if a rainbow was arching above her and Annabella. She couldn't remember ever being this happy in her life. This girl by her side really was her fairy-tale princess sent down to her from Heaven. She looked radiant in her blue dress. Her eyes weren't all that were glowing; so was Jessie's heart. She felt purely blessed. "Oh my gosh, I love this so much," said Annabella. "So beautiful." She closed her eyes and mouth and deeply inhaled the air. Jessie gazed at her adoringly, wishing just one word in her statement was different. She wanted so much to profess to Annabella how she felt. She knew it was too soon to say this, but she just had to. Even if silently. As Annabella closed her eyes and breathed in the mild autumn evening, Jessie turned to her with a dreamy expression on her face. "I think I love you," she soundlessly mouthed. Annabella was still enjoying the scent of the early night air when she felt Jessie kiss her lips. She gasped in surprise, but then settled in to relish and return the affection. The seconds ticked by and by as Jessie Townsend and Annabella Fiorello shared their sweet lip-lock, breathing generous doses of love into one another. Leaves fell and cars passed. Streetlights began to turn on. Everything progressed exactly as normal, but in their moment, time was standing still for the girls. They felt as if fireworks were exploding above them to illuminate their devotion. Although neither of them knew or dared to suspect it just yet, they were slowly, very slowly, falling in love with each other. When they finally detached lips, both sets of dewy eyes fluttered open to see themselves mirrored in the others. They took a well-needed breath. "This evening will live forever in my heart as a memento of our time together," Annabella told her. "I hope we can make dozens more," Jessie purred back to her. She fondled Annabella's cheek and said, "Well, then, my dear...shall we now, A: continue around the rest of the neighborhood, or—" Annabella jumped in. "2: go back to your pad and have a pillow fight!" Jessie laughed uncontrollably. *** September 28th, 9:14 p.m. The sun was down. The parents were in bed. The contestants were prepped and stripped to the undies. The mattress was made and ready for mayhem. The pillows were fluffed. The game was afoot. William and Gretchen were indeed in his bedroom together, although the house was big enough that Jessie told Annabella not to worry about making a ton of noise. She figured they probably weren't sleeping anyway, but she'd rather not think about that. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" Jessie intoned, doing her best impression of a ring announcer, even though the two of them were alone in her bedroom. "Tonight's main event: indefinite rounds of intense pillow wars! Aaaaaand now...in this corner, weighing in at 128 pounds, a college student, from...right here..." She held up an imaginary microphone. "Jessica! Rae! Townsend!!" Annabella imitated the sound of a crowd cheering. Jessie handed her the imaginary mike. "And in THIS corrrrrr-nerrrrr..." Annabella overdramatized, "Weighing in at the rough equivalent of 56.25 kilograms...an HRC, from...also right here, but a little further away..." Jessie gave her a drumroll. "...Annabella...Serafina...FioRELLO!!" she bellowed, Jessie hitting a bunch of imaginary cymbals following the drumroll and then gesturing for the microphone back. "One rule and one rule only in tonight's festivities, folks, and that is, that there ARE no rules!" Jessie proclaimed. Annabella "cheered" again. Jessie tossed the imaginary mike behind her and they shook hands, armed with their goose-down weapons. "Okay," she instructed. "We go after three..." Annabella was not one for whom patience was a ubiquitous virtue. She didn't wait for two or three. "One!—" "GO!" she shouted, taking the advantage and whacking Jessie early. "Hey—!" Jessie started to shout back before being slapped with a mouthful of pillow. She was about to laugh and say, "No fair!" but simply thought, Should've known. Little devil. And the battle was on. They jumped on the bed on their knees, swatting at each other with all the might and accuracy they could manage. Before they knew it they were screaming, squealing and giggling like a couple of eight-year-olds. It didn't take long for Annabella to start whapping the daylights out of Jessie. Annabella had more—particularly recent—pillow-fighting experience, and it paid off. Jessie exercised a technique more thought-out and intentionally strategic than Annabella's, but far less effective. She tried to alternate between blocking for defense and going on the offensive when she found a good opening. But Annabella didn't give her many. Annabella's method of pillow-fighting entailed hardly any defense at all, because she didn't need any. She held nothing back. She reared back to either side and winged her opponent with a wallop and quite a follow-through. Her experience was not the only handy ingredient in her pillow-fighting skills. It might not seem it to just look at her arms, but she actually had a pretty good set of biceps on her. It wouldn't take an exceptional amount of time to determine the winner. Jessie was losing the pillow fight by a mile, but couldn't have cared less. She just couldn't believe how much fun she was having. The activity was a barrel of laughs, and also ended up turning into a surprise of sorts for Jessie. She thought she had completely outgrown such games and kiddish escapades several years ago. Having a pillow fight was something that would never have even occurred to her on a normal basis at this point in her life. Her outlook had always been that now that she was an adult, she should act like one. Back in the restaurant the previous month, when Annabella had laid out for her all the ways in which she was essentially a big kid, Jessie had thought she was silly. But being with Annabella was really opening her eyes to the realization that she didn't have to solely adhere to the typical conventions and norms of adulthood to in fact be or act like an adult. A Date with Fate (Jessie's Girl) It was amazing to her. She hadn't enjoyed herself like this since she couldn't even remember how long. Both she and her playmate were laughing so hard they were crying. It felt similar to making love in a way, but somehow, even just a little bit better. Good, clean, wholesome, innocent fun had been unnoticeably missing from Jessie's life for an immeasurable span of time, and she'd had no idea. In her 20s, Jessie would never have fathomed such a healthy source of wild giddy F-U-N existed in her own bedroom every minute of every day, resting beneath her head for an entire third of her life. Finally, Annabella delivered the winning blow which drained the rest of Jessie's immediate energy and left her supine in the mattress, momentarily dazed. "Yay!" celebrated Annabella. "I won!" She flopped down on the bed beside Jessie to catch her own breath. "Now you owe me a kiss," Jessie heard her say. "Oh, I do, do I now?" Jessie asked amusedly, blinking with her eyes shut to soothe them. "Yup! My idea, my rules!" Annabella explained. "Winner gets a smooch!" That made Jessie wonder, But...doesn't that mean the loser also g—...never mind. She shook her head with a chuckle. That's just so Annabella. They turned on their sides and puckered up. The mattress had become just a bit damp and warm with their perspiration, but that fact lost more significance by the second as Jessie and Annabella danced their way through this luminous kiss. To the surprise of both girls, the kiss lasted much longer than anticipated and led in turn to an exquisite interlocking of limbs as their arms traveled around one another's bodies, fingers linking, legs intertwining as well. Soft moans ensued. Their enthusiastic bodies clung to each other desperately. Only a sparse amount of energy had replenished from the pillow fight, and it was used right up by this grand display. For just a second Jessie wondered if they were about to make love, but she wasn't quite ready for that, physically or emotionally, and she sensed Annabella wasn't either. She was right. After bringing the kiss to a momentous end, they left their arms and legs where they lay and let their heads drop for energy refill number two. But Annabella, for whom it took a lot to run completely out of steam, soon bolted upright again. "Omigosh!" she exclaimed. "I totally forgot!" She bumbled to her knees on the mattress to let herself down on the floor and snatch up her purse. Purse in hand, she leapt back on the bed beside Jessie, who had almost begun to fall asleep. "Wha—..." Jessie's eyes rapidly blinked open, the mattress' catapulting propulsion waking her up as Annabella plopped down in it. She shook her head. "What happened?" "I just remembered what I wanted to show you!" she heard the irresistibly eager voice beside her say. Jessie looked around and rubbed her eyes. When she saw Annabella, her bearings came back and she smiled pleasantly. "Oh, hi, darling," she muttered drowsily. Annabella paused what she was doing and turned momentarily to her to grin and return her endearment-tinted greeting. "Hi, honey bear!" she chirped. She returned to her purse and continued digging through it to find what she wanted. "Oh, I must've fallen asleep," Jessie sat up with a yawn. She pawed at her eyes again. "God, I think I'm getting old." Annabella laughed. "No you're not, silly, 'cause that would mean I am too!" she assured her. "Ya goof!" At last, she found what she was looking for: a small perfume bottle. "Here it is, my new scent!" she showed her, waving the bottle. "I wanted you to be the first to try it, Jessie. I really really really really really hope you like it." She gave her neck a spritz with it. Jessie felt a fair deal of pressure descend on her. She was the most honest person in the world. It was a character trait on which she stood fast and prided herself. In her eyes there was no excuse or justification to ever lie to loved ones—although she felt it was a little more okay to lie to strangers, but still didn't do so. It wasn't in her nature, and even if she tried to lie, it would be with zero conviction whatsoever. Anyone could see through it. So she really really really really really hoped she liked it too. "Oh, is that, um..." She snapped her fingers, trying to remember its name. "...'Torrid?'" "Oh, no, no, that one's already on the market," Annabella explained. "This one's brand-new!" She tilted her head back so Jessie could get a good whiff. Jessie leaned into her neck, closed her eyes and smelled. "I don't have a name for it yet, but I'm really jazzed with how it came out," came Annabella's voice from above her. Her olfactory sense registered the scent, sent the signal to her brain, and Jessie's heart grew wings. "Oh my God," she truthfully gushed, "I cannot believe how good that smells!" She thought she heard Annabella gasp and let out a resounding "YAY!" but she couldn't tell. She felt intoxicated by this brilliant amalgamated aroma, almost even drunk with sensuality. She couldn't identify all the ingredients at once, but she thought she detected hints of passion fruit, rose, jasmine, blossoms, lavender...and one or two other sublime addends. It was blended divinely. Annabella had a true gift, she could tell. Suddenly, her nose was her favorite part of her body. My goodness...what does "Torrid" smell like?? "Oh, I'm so cloud nine you like it!" said Annabella, not yet realizing how much of an understatement that was. Jessie latched onto her body, buried her face in Annabella's neck and inhaled her skin. Annabella giggled. "Ah—he-e-ey! That tickles!" When Jessie had finally gotten what could pass for her fill of the perfume, she pried herself off of Annabella and let herself collapse back on the mattress again, drowning in the glory of this hauntingly elegant potion. Annabella grinned down at her. "What do you think I should call it, sugar plum?" she wanted to know. Jessie opened her eyes to turn to her. "Huh?" "What should I name it?" she repeated. "Any ideas?" Jessie thought a moment. "Well, uh...this is just my humble opinion, but...if you're asking me, I'd go with 'Annabella.'" "Really?" "Yeah, I mean, I don't really know the business like you, and I don't do anything like this for a living," Jessie started, "But when I smelled it, I got the same kind of sensation I get when I talk to you, honey. Or kiss you. Or hold your hand. To me it smells pure as nature, and you're as pure as falling snow. It's one of my favorite things about you. You make me want to be more like you. And your perfume reflects that too; it smells kind of like the atmosphere of a fairy-tale land I wanted to live in when I was a little girl. I know I haven't really known you that long, but from as much as I know so far, that perfume just screams 'essence of Annabella' to me." Jessie hadn't planned for her explanation to be that easy. Once she started, the rest just came flowing from her like a river. It was all of course complete honesty, and it brought tears to Annabella's eyes. She emitted a heartfelt whispered, "Oh..." and snuggled up next to Jessie on the bed, crying happy tears on her. "I love you," Jessie thought she barely heard Annabella whisper to her. Jessie's eyes popped open. Did...she actually just say that?? she wondered in awe. She suddenly didn't anticipate being able to get a lot of sleep that night. She was dizzied by those three little magical words. Her heart was far beyond the stages of simply glowing and growing wings. It was racing. She couldn't think quite as straight as normal in this moment. She had never been so excited in her 23 years as this instant of this evening. Her eyes were dancing radiantly. She wanted to start crying right along with Annabella. Suddenly...she knew what happiness was. And she knew what made her happy. And yet...she was speechless. She was stunned into silence. Until— "Oh, nuts!" Annabella said, sitting up again. "I...just remembered...tomorrow's Friday, and...I kinda...gotta split." "Ah," agreed Jessie, sitting up with her. "Yes, well, when you work five weekdays, Friday is usually one of those days." She was quite disappointed Annabella had to depart, but she'd live. "Would you please give me a ride home, Jessie?" she asked. "I don't wanna ride my bike home in the dark." "Oh, of course, babe! I wouldn't let you leave if that was your only means of transportation home." So once more, they slid Annabella's bike into the backseat and Jessie ferried her home. They hugged and kissed a bit more, and finally Annabella scooted back inside. They missed each other already. As they waved goodbye for now and Jessie got back into her car, she wished more than anything in the world that Annabella could hear Jessie tell her she loved her too. Because she did. To be concluded.