Chapter 14
Things were relatively quiet for the next several weeks. Summer arrived and people willingly and play-fully embraced it in a variety of ways.
Stephanie and Blanche kept on seeing each other of course. Independent of the other each one had thought about how long their affair was going to last and they both came to the same conclusion.
It would last until it was mutually agreed upon that it should end. They were both reasonable people and as such made reasonable demands on each other.
They never inquired if the other one saw other people and it was mutually assumed that if either one of them was fooling around it would be done with discretion and a certain amount of taste.
They were also basically easy going people, slow to anger but deadly when they felt that they had been betrayed by someone who was a friend or a lover.
Blanche of course had more options, sexually speaking than Stephanie did although she didn't do anything to exercise them in a practical way.
She was nevertheless always more or less on the lookout and if the right man had suddenly come into her life there was no doubt in her mind that, if faced with having to make a choice, she would have dropped Stephanie like a hot potato.
Stephanie was not unaware of this and accepted it. First of all, she wouldn't have blamed Blanche in the slightest degree (probably would have wished her well and meant it, too) and she also realized that, on a realistic level she had no choice.
Well, she did have a choice but it was a small one. She could always find another lover but Stephanie was the type of woman that was somewhat lazy.
Once she got into a sexual relationship with a woman she liked to stay in it. She was not one of those individuals who was constantly looking to improve themselves.
Stephanie got settled in and she stayed there until circumstances forced her to move and then she moved very quickly and always knew in that direction she was heading, having thought it out beforehand.
She was looking too but not in the covertly active way that Blanche was and one of the reasons why a small orgy appealed to her was that it would obviously present her (hopefully) with a few more options.
Blanche had her weaknesses as everybody does and Stephanie was realistic and honest enough with herself to acknowledge that if she either was provoked or felt the personal need she would take advantage of those weaknesses and she assumed that Blanche felt the same way.
That was one of the reasons that they had been together for so long. They respected each other for the individuals that they were and they also liked each other as lovers and there was that little degree of mutual mistrust that both kept them on their toes and, at the same time, kept things interesting.
There were those periods however, like the one that followed the escapade at the lake (Blanche never did tell Stephanie about the hand job she gave to the canoeist) during which there was a lull.
Stephanie began to worry about her figure and went on a mini-diet because she was worried about a little bit of flab that had accumulated around her waist.
Blanche seriously considered trading her American made car which was costing her a fortune in repairs and didn't get very good gas mileage for something imported and finally decided that just because Willard, of whom she rarely thought of was once associated with Japanese cars that either she should get one because she liked them or she should go see a psychiatrist.
She began to shop around in her free time and it gave her something to talk about and it also enabled her to meet some men because most of the sales people in the showrooms were men and it wasn't her fault if all of them were jerks and subconsciously reminded her of Willard.
The mill stayed pretty busy during the summer even though it was the time when most of the employees who happened to be men took their vacations and as a result most of the departments were running short handed.
Stephanie was pretty slow at work and her boss decided to go on a four day work week for the summer. It made a lot of sense.
Most of the clients that the firm service also went on four day weeks and there simply wasn't enough business to justify having Stephanie basically hang around.
Of course he could always have her update the files but that wouldn't have taken any time at all because they were all on the new computer that they bought a year ago and her boss was a nice guy so he said the hell with it and twice a week she had to stay an extra hour just to clean up any little odds and ends but Stephanie didn't mind that. He was paying her full salary anyway and he was so nice that she gladly would have done it.
And there was also the issue of their vacations which was complicated somewhat by the fact that Blanche, being a relatively newcomer in terms of years worked at the mill got the least desirable time.
It was only fair and Blanche had no quarrel with it. She had a certain amount of sick time coming to her (she thought it was about five days) and that she could take any time she wanted and nobody, including Harold Schlumberg could say jack shit to her about.
It would have been nice to go somewhere with Stephanie but they both recognized and realized that it had its inherent risks.
There was only one travel agent in town and if they were to make plane and hotel reservations together it would surely arouse just the kind of suspicion that they desperately wanted to avoid.
They could have gone to different travel agents which would not have presented them with any particular difficulties had they decided to opt for that route.
The reality was that they weren't sure they wanted to take a vacation together and what made it exciting and what was tacitly understood by both of them was the fact that they were both waiting for what could best be described as a better offer.
Blanche had the excuse that she had no say in the matter (which was true) but Stephanie did not have that option and another interesting dynamic of their relationship was that it was never openly talked about.
One night they were having drinks at a local bar where they were accepted as two women who were unattached. They gave the bartender and most of the men who tried to pick them up a line of bullshit about both of them going through emotionally draining divorces which the guys bought and as they presented the other women who frequented the place with no challenge, they were both left alone and accepted.
The guys sort of felt sorry for them and the women did not perceive them as threats and since they were not obviously affectionate towards each other, everything was cool.
It was the one place in town that they could go to and not feel paranoid and it was on a Thursday night (usually very quiet because it was the night before the weekend, any bartender will tell you that) that they talked about vacations.
It was a nice place, the jukebox was good and the bartenders never served anyone who was obviously drunk and you could get hamburgers and french fries if you were hungry and there was a pool table and about ten tables.
They were sitting at the bar, at the far end drinking Bloody Marys and besides themselves there were about three other people in the place.
"Aruba," said Blanche.
"Why?"
"It's cheap, there's gambling."
"But the beaches are shitty and it's small," countered Stephanie.
"So what would you suggest?"
"How about the British Virgin Islands?"
"Don't know a thing about them. What are they like?" asked Blanche, honestly interested.
"I guess like everything else down there." said Stephanie as she popped some peanuts into her mouth. "That tells me a lot."
"Listen, I only know from what I read and hear about. Pristine beaches where there's no one else around for miles, dancing under the stars, balmy weather, great food, great accommodations, cheap air fare."
"Well, I wouldn't exactly believe all of that if I were you," said Blanche.
"I don't but it can't be all bullshit."
"I understand that but you've got to realize that people do get screwed on their hotel rooms, wind up in something you wouldn't put your dog in... "
"Yeah, yeah, "interrupted Stephanie as she killed her drink and signaled the bartender for another round.
"You do get the shits from the water and the food. It's not all a tropical paradise. I'm not saying that it happens but it does. You hear horror stories just like I do," said Blanche.
"But how do you pick one place? I mean there must be a hundred places down there that are basically the same?" asked Stephanie.
"Good questions. I guess you just go with your instincts. You use common sense. I mean a beach is a beach, right? If you want to snorkel you do it," said Blanche as she found herself looking at Stephanie's thigh which was exposed as she crossed her leg, automatically hiking up her skirt.
"Well, I'm in no condition to make any kind of a decision about that right now."
Blanche would have given anything if she could have taken off Stephanie's blouse and sucked on one of her nipples, right at the bar. It really would have been a turn on.
It also would have been curtains for them so she secretly enjoyed her fantasy and took a sip of the fresh drink that had been put in front of her.
It was not all that late, maybe ten thirty at night but it was getting close to the hour when most people drank their last rounds and headed home.
There was also another consideration and that was the fact that there were strict rules about driving while one was either impaired or under the influence of alcohol and the local cops had no qualms about stopping any vehicle that they saw fit, too and if you failed the breathalyzer you would up in a lot of shit.
It simply wasn't worth it and most people drank accordingly. Besides, you could always booze it up once you got home which is what a lot of people did.
Their conversation did not have anything to do with vacations, it was just a way of Stephanie and Blanche feeling each other out and getting out for the night. They both knew that they wouldn't, in all likelihood, take a vacation together. But it was fun to talk about it and when Blanche looked at her watch Stephanie knew that she would have to finish her drink a little faster than she would have liked to.
Blanche leaned close to Stephanie and whispered into her ear, "I'd like to grab your pussy right now."
Stephanie was taken by surprise and almost started to choke on her drink. "Oh, that's nice."
"And when we get back to your place I will."
Stephanie always knew when Blanche was a little tipsy because she got very direct and Stephanie liked it, it turned her on.
"Well, then it seems to me that we ought to be on our way, doesn't it?"
"I agree."
They said good night to the bartender and Blanche let Stephanie drive her car over to Stephanie's place because Stephanie was the soberer of the two and when they got there they spent most of the night sucking and coming and that was how Blanche brought a lot of grief on herself the next morning.