Chapter 5
SHE COULDN'T KEEP HER EYES FROM THE NUDE GIRL BEFORE HER....
It had been the most difficult discussion ever for both father and daughter, but after the first shock she felt when he told her about his imminent death, Calla was able to keep herself under control.
There were all the predictable questions about hope and miracle cures, but he refused to permit her to cling to any hope because there was none.
Every day, the lethal little cells mutiplied in his bloodstream and carried him closer to the final day. For Calla, a strange numbness replaced shock. It was as if a chilly mist had formed around her that she couldn't really touch or see anything on the other side of the mist.
"I've had a wonderful life, darling," he tried his best to sound convincing. "I've watched you grow all the way from the first day right into beautiful, intelligent, sensitive womanhood.
"You really crowned everything for me when you took the hotel course, did so well in it and came back here to work. Now I know the work of my lifetime will be carried on by you."
"Thanks for trying to make it easy, dad," her eyes sparkled with moisture despite her efforts to hide the unwanted tears, "but there is no easy way. I love you and I don't want you to die."
"It's a shame, darling," he agreed, "but death just refuses to wait in the wings until it's wanted.
The thought of it won't hurt me unless I try to fight it. Help me all you can, will you?"
"You mean by not talking about it and not crying when you can see me?"
"That would help. You might also try to smile even when you don't feel like it. That's selfish, I guess, but I can't help it."
"Okay dad, I'll do it. I may not be able to start right at this minute, but I will as soon as I can. How does that sound?"
"That sounds fine, now let's go have a drink."
Over the drink, Paul changed the subject from his pending death to the problems of the hotel. It was clear he wanted to see all the trouble cleared up before he died and left her alone to deal with it.
Nothing had changed. Everyone was a suspect, and yet they didn't have one clear suspect on which to concentrate. It seemed hopeless, but there had to be a way. Calla vowed that she would untangle the ball of yarn while her father was still alive so that he could go to his grave knowing that his daughter was getting a fresh, even start in running the hotel.
As a first move, Calla began a room use analysis. It would be a long, boring job, she knew, but it was something that had to be done since there was a vague hope that it could provide some clue.
Sensing that it would be impossible to do alone, Calla took Mia Parker out of the general office to help. Bruce West roared in disapproval, but being only assistant manager, he was outranked.
His outrage delighted Calla, but after he had fumed for a time, she told him to hire temporary help for the office if he needed it.
Calla realized it would be wiser for her to employ the temporary help and return the more experienced Mia to the office. That would give Bruce too much satisfaction though, so she decided against it. Practicality be damned, she thought with a little smile, I'm entitled to a little fun out of all this.
Beyond frustrating the assistant manager though, Calla wasn't anticipating anything at all in the way of fun. The room use analysis would be a long, tedious job and there was every possibility that when she finished it, she would wind up with nothing but a case of fatigue.
From the outset, Mia made it clear that she didn't dread the task at all. She seemed delighted to work with Calla on it.
At twenty, Mia was a veteran of almost two years at the hotel. She was a bright, beautiful young woman with a slim but lovely figure that Calla couldn't help noticing.
Standing just a trace over five feet, she had the figure of a Dresden China doll with more than her share of curves in all the right places and then some. Calla couldn't help wondering whether some young man was exploring the landscape and how much he enjoyed it.
Not since her early days in college when initiation rites led to forbidden girl games had Calla wondered how another woman would look naked, but she was jolted to see that Mia inspired such thoughts in a way she didn't want to feel.
Still, she consoled herself, once we get deep naughty thoughts about another woman. I'll be into the project of room use, I won't be thinking lucky, she thought, if I'm not thinking of the security of a nice padded cell.
At the end of the first day on the project, Mia amazed Calla by suggesting that she wouldn't at all mind working on into the evening.
"Are you kidding?" Calla. asked in amazement. "Surely there's some handsome man chewing chunks out of the plaster waiting for you to show up."
"If so," Mia grinned, "he's going to eat a hell of a lot of plaster. Men put me off."
There was no mistaking the vehemence with which she said it. The lovely young Mia was obviously a man hater. At that age, it struck Calla as being a frighteningly wrong attitude for one so beautiful.
"To tell the truth, Mia," she answered. "I'd love to get this dreadful job over with and out of my hair. I wouldn't have dared ask you to work overtime on it though."
"Think nothing of it, I'd love to."
"Okay then, it's a deal. First though, we take a break for the best dinner in the house and a couple of drinks. After that, back to the damn books."
As they walked into the dining room, it was as if they were old friends rather than employer and employee. They chatted easily through the meal, warmed by two martinis each and when they went back to the third floor room Calla was using as an emergency office for the project, they went back to the job with a will.
By nine, Calla insisted that they call it quits. She was just beginning to reach some fascinating developments in the figures and she wanted to wait until she was fresh in the morning before going ahead from there.
"Fine by me," Mia smiled warmly. "I guess I am kind of pooped."
"You poor dear, it was a long day. Tell you what. Come down to my suite and have a drink just to get the kinks out."
"Gee, that's nice of you, Calla," They had reached the first name basis during dinner and Calla was sure the young woman would be intelligent enough to revert to formality when she returned to the office.
"It must be wonderful to live in a place like this with all the wonderful service and everything."
"It's the only kind of home I know. I've lived in this hotel since I was five days old. Tell me about your place."
"What's to tell. It's a rooming house with a lot of people and not enough bathrooms and showers."
They were sitting in the spacious, well appointed room enjoying the promised drink. Through an open doorway, Mia could see the immaculately clean bathroom.
"What a luxury it must be to have a bathroom like that all to yourself. I think if I ever got into a shower like that, I'd never come out."
"Well for Pete's sake," Calla sounded amazed, "if a little thing like that would make you happy, be my guest. There are a million towels in there, soap, and two million gallons of hot water. Go ahead."
"Do you mean it?" Mia's eyes lit up. "I do if you do."
With a dazzled expression of a kid locked in a candy store, Mia put her drink down and began undressing right there. When the dress and half slip had been removed, Calla saw that the young woman had an even more spectacular figure than she had imagined.
The little bra was filled to overflowing and the bare skin above and between the cups was curved white satin. When she removed the bra a moment later, seemingly unaware of Calla's interest, the white satin rose in magnificent little pointed globes with startling pink tips. Calla was slightly scared by the shiver that ran through her at the sight, but she didn't take her eyes away.
Mia wore pink nylon panties which clung to her riot of plump curves like another layer of skin. As Calla watched, Mia bent a little from the waist and pushed the pink nylon skin down and stopped out of it.
The white skin she revealed then was as beautiful as anything Calla had ever seen. She had kidded Jack about being a voyeur, but in a moment of excitement, she was unable to stop herself from thinking how exciting it would be to watch big, strong Jack take the delicious little nude into bed and make passionate love to her.
Mia didn't try to hide a thing as she sat on the arm of the chair and raised one leg to unfasten the garters from a nylon. She rolled it down a lovely leg and then raised the other.
Sitting directly across from her, Calla didn't miss a thing. There was no part of the young woman that she hadn't seen and everything was beautiful in a way that made her breath catch in her throat.
It's impossible, Calla told herself. I haven't gotten a kick out of the girl game in years. I've chucked it once and for all. I'm also, she was forced to tell herself, the biggest liar in the world.
With a nicely rounded little tummy sticking out, Mia unwrapped the flimsy lace garter belt and tossed it onto the pile of clothes. Instead of running for the shower, she picked up her glass and sipped the drink. Her eyes, Calla saw, were shining with delight and excitement. It didn't seem possible that the thought of a shower could be so exciting.
"Hey," Mia suddenly broke the temporary silence, "I think this shower is going to be great after all that work. Why don't you have one too?"
"Oh, I will before I go to bed."
"I'm sorry, Calla, I didn't mean to be pushy. I guess you're shy about undressing in front of another girl."
Calla felt herself beginning to blush and got angry at herself for letting this younger woman catch her off guard.
"Shy? Don't be silly. After years of living in a sorority house, that isn't very likely. As a matter-of-fact, your idea does sound pretty good at that."
Putting her glass down, Calla. reached for the hook at the back of her dress and slipped it open. Sliding the zipper down, she allowed the dress to fall off and stepped out of it.
"Wow," Mia exclaimed, her eyes wide with admiration. That has to be the most magnificent figure I've ever seen."
"Thanks dear, but I was saying the same thing to myself about you just a minute ago."
"Forget it. I'm a compact model. You're the Rolls Royce and Cadillac all rolled up into one delicious unit. It looks real too."
Because there was no justification for stalling, Calla unhooked her bra and took it off. She heard the long, low whistle of approval and felt herself trembling.
Somehow, she had lost control of the situation and saw no hope of getting it back while the lovely young nude looked at her that way.
Calla bent and slipped her panties down and off. Trying to find a measure of composure, or at least the appearance of it, she removed her nylons and garter belt. She was as naked as Mia and realized that both had splendid bodies, one big, the other, as Mia had called it, compact.
Fighting for relaxation, Calla picked up her glass and drank the last sip.
"If you're not in a, rush," Mia said, "let's pour another one so we don't freeze in the shower."
Calla poured the drinks and wished the clawing fingers of abnormal desire would stop digging between her thighs and in her belly.
"What was it like living in a sorority house?" Mia asked with a look of wide eyed innocence. "I've heard some wild stories about initiation with spanking and all that. Is it true?"
Calla knew she was getting into deep water, but she couldn't keep herself from telling about some of the initiation rites she had been involved in.
She told of the bare bottom spanking, the forfeits, the girls who refused to go along and those who were more than cooperative.
"Gee, that would be thrilling," Mia said in a rapt tone. "Maybe it's because I'm so little or something, but I've always wanted to be spanked right on the bare behind."
"Didn't you get spanked as a kid?"
"Oh no. My parents didn't believe in it. Once, when I was about thirteen, my girl friend took her panties down and showed me how red her fanny was after a spanking. She thought I was crazy for envying her. Did you spank any of the girls in initiation?"
"Sure, lots of them."
"Did you enjoy doing it as much as you enjoyed getting spanked."
"To tell the truth, Mia, I guess I enjoyed it more."
"Calla, please don't be angry with me for saying this, but I've never had a, friend like you and I don't want to stop talking. Please let's shower together so we don't have to stop."
Calla wanted to chop off her tongue, but she heard herself agree and saw herself walking into the bathroom with Mia. She knew it was a mistake, but she knew it was one she was going to make and nothing could stop it from happening now.
Calla turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature so that it would be comfortably warm. As she turned, she saw Mia's eyes eating her up from behind. It annoyed her that she was being deduced by one so much younger than herself, but she was powerless and she knew it.
Together, they stepped under the wide, warm spray and Calla wasn't at all surprised when Mia began lathering her body for her.
The small, sweet hands felt delicious on her skin and the heavy breathing she heard was background music written a million years ago on the Isle of Lesbos. She had sworn she would never sing the song again, but her entire being told her to sing. She sang.
The gentle hands had moved from her throat and shoulders and were spreading the creamy lather over the tingling mounds, lingering on the sensitive, firm buds which had become flagrantly erect. Calla knew it couldn't be stopped now and that if it were, she would die from wanting.
The tingling globes had been rinsed and gleamed white and wet. The butterfly hands had moved down to coat the swell of her tummy with the rich lather. They rinsed and moved behind to smear lather over the flaring buttocks and into the valley between where silken fingers insinuated and probed until Calla couldn't possibly stop squirming.
And then she had been rinsed and the lather was reaching the very core of her. The fingers were even more gentle now, the palm of the small hand even more exciting as it rubbed. The rinsing, when it eventually happened, became even wilder.
Unable to stifle the cry of passion that broke from her throat, Calla ran from the shower. In the living room of the suite, a stack of records lay on the turntable of the hi-fi.
Clicking them into playing position, she hit the start switch and turned the volume up. Jazz sounds filled the room. She ran back to the bathroom to find a. nervous looking Mia still standing in the roomy shower.
Without a word, she pulled the young woman out of the spray and, bracing her left foot on the edge of the shower stall, bent Mia across her thigh. Her right hand stroked the satiny buttocks and thrilled at their firmness as she brushed the droplets of water from the perfect globes.
The sound was loud as her open palm slapped one cheek in the first spank. Solid flesh joggled under her hand as she held it there for a moment before raising it to spank the other cheek.
Twenty spanks later, Mia was sobbing and writhing in abandon as Calla stopped spanking and stared at the bright crimson buttocks which had been so well spanked. The girl still sobbed as Calla led her out of the stall and used a big, thick towel to dry off the surplus water. She didn't want to waste time drying her completely.
Using the same towel, Calla made a few quick passes over her own body before throwing the towel aside and leading the girl into the bedroom. With a. jerk, she threw the covers off the bed and a moment later, they lay in passionate embrace as their mouths locked together in a kiss which promised to go on forever.
Forever lasted for a long time and then they were each exploring the body of the other while they breathed words of endearment and promise of what was yet to come.
When words would no longer suffice, they turned on the wide bed and Calla. was parting eager young thighs as her mouth sought the forbidden flavor bud that had to be tasted.
She found it and began to steal from it just as she felt the eager face probing between her own thighs and pressing hotly against her throbbing warmth in the same act.
It was honey. It was wine. It was Heaven. It was a sweet blotting out of everything that had ever happened to her in all her life as it became the only moment that ever mattered and gave a silent promise that the next moment was going to be even better. It was.
Their cries muffled by thighs and bellies and the warmth of femininity, both reached the end of the world where civilization stops and ecstasy begins.
Frantic fingers dug into firm buttocks, faces pressed desperately into warm softness and they rocked together through an eternity of forbidden bliss while hearts pounded, pulses raced, and their sweaty wet bodies rubbed in a frantic effort to drain the last ounce of pleasure.
They wrung the moment dry and held each other for a long time through the aftermath.
For Mia, it had been sheer ecstasy as her small, greedy body loved the bigger, equally greedy one. There had been ecstasy for Calla too, but with it came the mixed feeling of guilt at having opened a door that she thought had been closed for all time.