Ellie Barton looked up over the top of the latest copy of Birds and Blooms as the child passed by her patio for what had to be the third time this morning, and Ellie chuckled when she saw the kid’s reaction to being caught looking in her direction.
Ellie had seen the child several times since she had moved in to the apartment complex, and at first she feared that the young person was casing the place in order to pull off a robbery or something, because she obviously didn’t live there since the rental community was restricted to people 55 and older.
Once afternoon Ellie happened to be outside when the girl passed though the courtyard, and since her next door neighbor. The rather gruff Mr. Forbes, happened to be outside as well smoking one of his vile cigars, she asked whether he had any idea who the boy was.
“That’s Mary Jackson’s grandchild – she’s in apartment 119 – and it ain’t a boy. He’s a she, though you’d never know it would you?”
The annoying Mr. Forbes had then proceeded to explain how kids today aren’t like they were back in his day, and Ellie nodded politely while trying to tune out the curmudgeon’s grumbling as she looked at the girl in the over-sized army pea coat and baseball cap who always seemed very sad.
Probably being sentenced to spend time with the grandmother was the cause for the glum expression on her face, Ellie reasoned that day, and ever since then had looked at the girl in a different way. When Ellie was young she was a lot like her, the quiet and non-conforming type, so she made a point of smiling whenever she saw her.
Since Ellie spent every moment possible outside on the patio, she saw the girl frequently and while the girl didn’t smile back at first, she did end up coming gradually closer to Ellie’s patio as she passed until this one morning she was almost within earshot.
“Good morning,” Ellie called out to the girl when she strolled through with a swinging loaf of bread almost hitting the grass as the girl held it by the twist-tie end.
“Oh – uh – hi,” the girl said, looking stunned that she was being talked to.
“Going to be another nice day,” Ellie opined as she looked at the tiny girl who was lost in the jacket that was built for somebody twice her size.
“Yeah, Um… my grandmother. She lives here,” the girl said. “That’s why I’m here.”
“That’s nice,” Ellie said. “She’s lucky that she has someone that cares about her so much. I didn’t think you lived here, if that what you were wondering about. I didn’t think you were old enough.”
“Neither do you,” the girl said as she moved closer to Ellie. “I mean – well – you know what I mean. You don’t look old enough. Everybody else here is like my grandmother. You know, fossils?”
“Oh. Thank you. I am approaching the fossil stage, but I appreciate the compliment,” Ellie said, smiling at the awkward bluntness of the child.
“Um… gotta get my grandmother her bread,” the girl said.
“Well, it was nice speaking to you,” Ellie said. “If you ever feel like stopping by for a cup of tea and chatting with an almost fossil, you’re always welcome. My name’s Ellie. You can tell your grandmother where you’re going so she doesn’t worry.”
“Oh. Um. Yeah. My name’s Kat.”
“Kat? Is that kat with a c or a k?” Ellie asked with a grin.
“K,” the girl said, scrunching up her face as she explained. “It’s really Katherine but I like Kat way better.”
“Kat it is then,” Ellie said. and when the girl actually smiled it was a nice smile that made her look less like someone headed to the Gulag for once.
“Um… like, I can come back after I dump the bread off. Is that okay?”
“Oh. Well – sure,” Ellie replied, a bit startled at the response. “As long as your grandmother doesn’t mind.”
“No. She doesn’t want me around anyway,” Kat said. “I’ll be right back.”
With that, the girl in the drab pea green army jacket went off to the grandmother’s, her pace decidedly quicker than before, and Ellie went back inside to fill her tea pot for her company.
“She probably doesn’t want tea, but I don’t have any soda, except tonic water,” Ellie said to herself as she prepared it. “And who are you talking to, Ellie Barton?”
When Ellie came back out to the patio, nudging the door open as she carried a tray with the teapot, cups and a plate of cookies, Kat was standing on the other side of the patio, barely visible over the planters that sat on the rail, looking like a puppy waiting for permission.
“Come around Kat. Make yourself at home,” Ellie said as she set the tray down to the table and patted the second chair that hadn’t been used since she moved in. “I know you don’t probably care for tea, but I don’t have anything else except orange juice. Would you rather?”
“No. Tea’s awesome,” Kat asked as she plopped into the chair and watched Ellie pour her a cup before splashing cream and about 5 teaspoons of sugar into it. “Thanks.”
“Hope your grandmother doesn’t mind me stealing you away from her,” Ellie said as she looked over at her companion.”
“No, she doesn’t want me hanging around anyway,” Kat said. “After a few minutes I can tell she can’t wait for me to leave. I go because my old man sends me over. He doesn’t want me hanging around home. I’m real popular.”
“I’m sure you’re exaggerating,” Ellie said. “I’ll bet your grandmother loves to see you.
“Do your grandchildren visit you much?” Kat asked.
“I – I don’t have any,” Ellie said.
“Oh. You just moved in here, didn’t you?”
“Yes, just last month.”
“I could tell because this patio was barren before, and then all of a sudden the furniture and all the flowers appeared. Awesome petunias.”
“Thank you, Kat,” Ellie said. “Would you like a cookie?”
“Sure,” Kat said as she scooped up a couple of the sugar cookies and ate them eagerly. “Awesome cookies. Did you make them?”
“No, I’m afraid they’re store bought,” Ellie said. “I can cook but I’m not much over a baker.”
“Neither is my grandmother,” Kat opined as she grabbed another cookie. “Only problem is that she doesn’t know it. She always makes these molasses cookies that she insists I eat, and man are they shitty!”
“Oh. Sorry,” Kat said when she saw Ellie flinch a bit at her language.
“Well, don’t be sorry,” Ellie said, recovering quickly. “After all, who wants to eat shitty cookies?”
Ellie laughed as Kat almost choked at hearing her response, and after they stopped giggling Kat wiped the corners of her mouth with her napkin.
“You’re awesome Ellie.”
“Well thank you Kat,” Ellie said. “I’ve had a lot of children call me many things over the years, but I don’t think awesome was one of them.”
“Why, are you a teacher?”
“Was,” Ellie said. “I retired at the end of the school year.”
“I could tell,” Kat said. “You seem like the teacher type.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“Depends on the teacher,” Kat responded. “I think in your case it would be good.”
“Speaking of school, I suspect you’ll be heading back in a few weeks,” Ellie said as she refilled their cups. “What grade are you going into?”
“Grade?” Kat asked, crunching her nose up a bit before continuing. “Junior. I’m in college.”
“Oh! I’m sorry!” Ellie said, her mouth open in shock. “Please forgive me.”
“It’s okay. I’m used to it.”
“No. Truly I am sorry. You do look young, but I think it’s because when you get old, everybody looks so young. Years go by fast like months used to for me. You’ll discover what I mean someday.”
“It’s okay. I did skip first grade, so I won’t turn 20 until the second semester,” Kat said.
“A child prodigy,” Ellie said. “Are you happy you skipped a grade?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so,” Ellie said. “I skipped second, and I always felt like it would have been better with me sticking with kids my own age.”
“You can say that again,” Kat chimed in. “If you’re a little squirt it’s even worse because you not only feel out of place, you look it too! Plus everybody has these big expectations for you, and when you can’t or won’t do what they expect people think you’re a fucking loser.”
“Sorry,” Kat said after she saw the teacher taken aback a bit by her tirade. “Got a little carried away there.”
“I understand. Sometimes you just have to let it out. Good for the soul,” Ellie said with a smile that said she understood. “I should do more of that myself.”
“So how come you moved here?” Kat asked.
“Lots of reasons, but the main one is that the house just was too much,” Ellie admitted. “It wasn’t a big house, but when it just became just me alone it got cavernous. Too much room and too many memories.”
“You – you’re a widow?”
“I guess you could say that, but we weren’t married. Twenty seven years is a long time though,” Ellie said as she picked up the tray and started carrying things inside.
“Living in sin, huh?”
“I guess you could say that too,” Ellie said with a tight-lipped smile as Kat opened the door for her and then followed her inside.
“When did…”
“Almost two years,” Ellie said. “Seems like two weeks.
As she spoke they passed a picture on the bookcase that caught Kat’s eye, and when Ellie turned and saw her looking at it she took a deep breath.
“Is – was this your – oh – partner?” Kat asked, and when Ellie pursed her lips and nodded, the girl nodded back and gave a little smile. “Pretty. She seems like a nice woman.”
“Bethany. She was,” Ellie said, fighting back her emotions as she turned to fiddle with the dishes in the sink, and when she turned back Kat was next to her.
“Didn’t mean to upset you,” Kat said softly. “I have a way of doing that to people.”
“No, you were fine,” Ellie said. “Just still not used to talking about it I guess.”
“Can I hug you?
Kat reached up and put her arms around the taller woman and Ellie returned the embrace, breaking down as they hugged. It took a minute for Ellie to get herself together, but she recovered and went back out to the patio with her new friend.
“Your hat,” Ellie said as she gestured to the psychedelic baseball cap Kat was wearing. “I like that. Makes me think of the 60’s.”
“This?” Kat said, pulling it off and looking at it. “I thought you were looking at my hair all this time. People think I’m getting chemo or something.”
“No, as a matter of fact I think your hair is very becoming,” Ellie said as she looked at what seemed to be not much more than peach fuzz on the head. “Must be so cool when it’s hot out.”
“Another one of my ways of staying unpopular,” Kat said. “Girls with crew cuts get looks.”
“On you in looks nice, but your hat – what does that mean? Dilligaf? Is that a team or something?”
“Sort of,” Kat said with a giggle that was infectious. “Not sure if you really want to know what it means.”
“Well Kat, you have my curiosity piqued now,”
Ellie said.
“It stands for Do I Look Like I Give A Fuck,”
Kat explained as she cringed in anticipating Ellie’s reaction.
“Oh, an acronym,” Ellie said as she blushed.
“Well, you did ask,” Kat said.
“I did indeed, and I still like the hat.”
“I gotta take off,” Kat said. “Don’t want to go, but I’ve got a summer job.”
“Well I really am glad we finally got to meet,” Ellie said. “And please feel free to stop by anytime.”
“Better not say that unless you mean it,” Kat warned. “You might end up regretting saying that when I show up tomorrow.”
“Fine by me Kat,” Ellie said. “I’m always here.”
Ellie watched the little woman in the over-sized jacket head across the courtyard and smiled, happy that she had company for once, and went back to her Birds and Blooms magazine.
***
Kat Matthews stopped when she saw Ellie on the patio, and as the woman watered her plants, Kat stood still and watched her. Ellie couldn’t see her because of the plants, but Kat could see fine.
She’s so pretty, Kat thought as she looked at the sun light up her curly shoulder length reddish brown hair, with the sparkling touches of grey making it even more dazzling in her eyes.
“Your name is Eleanor Barton and up until last June you taught fourth grade at Wood Elementary,” Kat said softly to herself as she looked at the woman on the patio who was blissfully unaware of her presence.
“You’re 58 years old but you don’t look it,” Kat whispered almost inaudibly as she recalled everything she had learned about the former teacher after a couple of hours on the Internet. Five foot eight, red hair and green eyes according to DMV, but Kat thought they had a hint of blue in them too.
Graduated from SUNY Cortland in 1974 and taught for 35 years. A finalist for NYS Teacher of the year in 2001 as well. Never married, and while the Internet didn’t mention it, was in a relationship for 27 years with a woman who died two years ago, a concept that must have been even less in favor then than it was now
All that from getting Ellie’s last name off the mailbox, Kat thought as she mentally patted herself on the back and watched her new friend. Ellie was wearing a pretty sleeveless blouse with a floral pattern, and unlike the rather shapeless top she had on yesterday, this was way more flattering.
Kat’s eyes drifted downward, and she smiled when she saw that along with the freckles that she had enjoyed seeing around Ellie’s nose she saw that the outsides of Ellie’s arms had a lot of freckles on them too right up to the shoulders, and because Ellie’s skin was so creamy white they stood out all the more. Nice arms too, Kat noted, slender and nicely shaped.
As Ellie watered the petunias Kat’s eyes went to Ellie’s breasts, which were especially large and full for a slender woman. Kat knew that already from the hug they shared yesterday, but seeing them straining against the snug cotton shell top sent a little shiver down Kat’s spine.
Not wanting to have Ellie peek around the plants to catch her spying on her, Kat took a peek inside the bag she was carrying, not sure whether she was doing the right thing or not because it seemed like she made a habit of doing or saying the wrong thing most of the time, and closed it back up and strolled up to the patio railing whistling so as not to startle Ellie.
“Warned you I’d be back,” Kat said when Ellie saw her, and she was happy when Ellie seemed genuinely glad to see her.
“So you did!” Ellie said. “I’m so pleased that you did.”
“That’s an awesome blouse, Ellie,” Kat said. “You look really hot in it.”
“Oh, this old thing,” Ellie said as she lifted the watering can to spritz the petunias. “Like the owner it has seen better days I’m afraid.”
Kat’s eyes went to Ellie’s nicely shaped bicep muscle caused by the lifting of the can – no flappy bingo upper arms on her – and then Kat’s gaze drifted over to Ellie’s underarm where almost invisible because of the faint pigmentation, Kat was surprised to see a tiny wisp of red hair sprouting from the center of the creamy hollow.
Could you be any hotter, Kat thought to herself. What would you do if I reached over and slid my fingers over those hairs that fluttered a bit in the breeze? Or my tongue, she added, and then the young woman saw Ellie was aware of Kat’s staring at her.
“Sorry,” Kat mumbled. “I was checking out your freckles. They’re awesome. I love freckles.”
“Well if you can figure out a way to take them off me and put them on you, you’re welcome to them,” Ellie quipped, exposing those flawless teeth as she smiled wide.
Maybe if we rubbed our bodies together, Kat wanted to suggest as she tried to keep herself in check for once.
“Got something for your Grandma?” Ellie said as she nodded toward the bag Kat was holding.
“This? No,” Kat said, fumbling with the bag before handing it across the railing to Ellie. “It’s for you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. A present,” Kat said.
“What’s the occasion?” Ellie said. “And don’t stand out there like a stranger. Come around and join me.”
“Wanted to just get you something for making me tea and for inviting me back,” Kat mumbled as she walked around the rail onto the little patio. “I should have wrapped it.”
“What you should have done is not spend money on me,” Ellie chided playfully before peeking in the bag and breaking out in laughter.
“Oh Kat!” Ellie cackled as she took the hat out of the bag. “I love it!”
“It adjusts in the back,” Kat said, and when Ellie put the cap on they both laughed. “You said you liked it.”
“I did. Now we’re like sisters!”
Lovers would be better, Kat thought, but when Ellie gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek, the young woman almost swooned.
“Thank you so much,” Ellie said as she tipped the hat a bit askew. “If anybody asks, I’ll tell them what Dilligaf stands for as well, although I might say Fudge instead of the other word.”
“That’s cool.”
“Now for being so thoughtful, you have to have a cup of tea,” Ellie said. “Have a seat and take a load off while I get the pot.”
***
“You did it again Kat, you stupid bitch,” Kat Matthews said to the wind as she hurried across the courtyard away from Ellie’s place while the first drops of rain started to fall.
Everything had been going so well, Kat recalled. Ellie was wearing the hat and they were talking like they were old friends instead of recent acquaintances. It had been muggy and when Ellie suggested that that she might feel more comfortable without the army jacket, Kat had done just that.
Kat remembered thinking that maybe – just maybe Ellie wanted to check out her body so Kat got off the chair and peeled off her outer layer while waiting for Ellie’s reaction to what was underneath the jacket.
Kat wondered which it was that caused Ellie to get all nervous and jerky, averting her eyes so as not to look at her. Maybe it was the loose fitting tank-top, or perhaps it was the fact Kat hadn’t been wearing anything underneath it.
The shirt didn’t leave much to the imagination and from the side Kat knew that you didn’t even need an imagination at all because the sides of her low-hanging breasts were clearly visible as was the jet black hair that sprouted profusely from under her skinny arms.
That couldn’t be it, Kat mused, because the other day she had noticed that Ellie didn’t shave either, although the little wisp under Ellie’s arms looked soft and feminine on her while Kat’s pits looked like a man’s, and her droopy little tits were no turn-on either.
After seeing Ellie’s reaction to seeing her as she really was, Kat had made up an excuse and left as soon as she dared, cursing herself for screwing up yet again. Now as the rain fell Kat walked home and no one who went past her could know which of the drops on her face were rain and which were tears.
***
Ellie stood on the patio and looked at the little shape hurrying across the courtyard, as far away from Ellie’s place as she could get. The older woman was poised to wave if Kat looked in the direction of her patio, but the girl kept her head down and moved quickly towards her grandmother’s.
“Dummy,” Ellie muttered to no one as she scolded herself for the way she had reacted to Kat’s very skimpy attire last week.
The girl didn’t understand, Ellie knew. She didn’t understand herself, and while she couldn’t force things to go back the way they were, Ellie felt obligated to at least apologize, so after putting on a windbreaker and the cap Kat had given her, Ellie headed over to the social area to try and catch her little friend after she would leave her grandmother’s place later.
***
“Hi Kat,” Ellie said in a soft voice when she headed the girl off out in the courtyard, and her young friend had been a bit startled since she had been walking with her head down.
“Oh – hi Ellie,” Kat deadpanned, although a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth when she saw the cap on the former teacher.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Ellie said.
“Yeah. Work and stuff.”
“How’s your grandmother?” Ellie asked.
“The same. I lasted an hour this time until I got the hint it was time to go,” Kat explained, adding, “I do catch on eventually when I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
“Look honey, I want to apologize for last time…”
“You didn’t do anything Ellie. I was the idiot. You know, when straights find out somebody’s gay they act like they all automatically love other gays regardless,” Kat replied. “I know better than that.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Ellie said. “As for what you took my reaction for, you’re totally wrong there.
“Made a fool of myself. Practically throwing myself at you,” Kat snapped. “Believe it or not, that was me trying to be sexy that day. What a joke. At least you didn’t throw me out.”
“Kat, you don’t understand,” Ellie said. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”
“Can’t blame you there.”
“No, you see, we had been having such wonderful chats but I guess I was looking at you like you were a student instead of a woman,” Ellie said. “When I suggested you take off your jacket and learned that you’re very much a woman – that was my fault for what was probably an awful reaction – but if you took it as being appalled you couldn’t be more wrong. I thought you were gorgeous.”
“Gorgeous?” Kat said, crinkly her nose and looking at Ellie like she thought a punch line was coming. “Been called a lot of things in my life…”
“Look, would you like to come over for some tea?” Ellie suggested.
“Can’t,” Kat said. “I have to go to work.”
“Oh.”
“Really, I do,” Kat said. “2 o’clock. I swear.”
“Another time then?”
“Sure. When?”
“Anytime!” Ellie said excitedly, so much so that Kat’s real smile returned. “I’m always here so whenever it’s good for you – dinner sometime maybe?”
“Dinner?”
“Sure Kat. I’d love to have you over for dinner,” Ellie said. “You get tired of eating alone.”
“Tell me about it.”
“When would you like to come?”
“I work until 8 or 9 every night,” Kat said as she scrunched up her nose.
“That’s okay. I haven’t reached the age where I fall asleep after happy hour.”
“Tonight?” Kat asked. “I can be here at 8:09. Takes me 9 minutes to get here from there. I’ve timed it.”
“I can pick you up if…”
“Faster for me to walk,” kat explained. “I cut through the park.”
“Okay then. Tonight it is.”
“Great!” Kat said. Gotta run.”
“Okay.”
Kat turned to leave but stopped and went back up to Ellie, straightening the cap until it was just so before nodding.
“Perfect!” Kat chirped before turning and heading off to work, and the young girl wasn’t the only one who had a bounce in her step as they went on their respective ways.
***
“8:07!” Ellie said with a laugh when she opened the door and saw Kat there, a little bit out of breath.
“Ran part of the way,” Kat said as she walked in. “Would have run all the way but I didn’t want to show up funky. Wow! Something smells awesome!”
“Chicken Parm,” Ellie said. “I don’t know what you like so I took a guess with something basic and hoped you weren’t a vegetarian.”
“No, I’m a carnivore,” Kat announced as she took off her army jacket.
“Oh my!” Ellie exclaimed as she took the jacket from her guess. “What a pretty blouse!”
“Oh, thanks,” Kat said of the short sleeved pink blouse with little blue flowers. “Actually, when I got it I was thinking it was a little like that blouse of yours. The one you’re wearing again.”
“Yours is much nicer,” Ellie said. “I remembered you said you liked this so I dug it out again. Don’t want you to think I only have a couple of blouses though.”
“Awesome,” Kat grinned.
Ellie led Kat in to the kitchen and then paused and reached over to remove a sticker from the side of Kat’s blouse. “They stick these things all over the place.”
“Way to go Kat,” the girl frowned. “Keep it classy.”
“I’ve done that myself. Did a bunch of parent teacher conferences one day before I saw a mother staring at my side strangely. I asked her if something was wrong at she said that she liked my dress and said that for $49.99 it was a great deal and asked me what Marshall’s I got it at.”
“IT wasn’t funny then Kat, I guarantee you,” Ellie said as they both laughed loud, the tension melting a bit.
“Bought it on break this afternoon,” Kat confessed sheepishly. “Didn’t want to come here in my goofy store shirt with the “Katherine” badge on it.”
“That would have been just fine,” Ellie assured Kat. “But I do love that blouse.”
“Had to go over better than that tank-top,” Kat said, shrugging her shoulders and snorting a little.
“Well, you said that. I surely didn’t because now that’s I’m prepared I’ll react much better next time that skimpy little thing makes an appearance,” Ellie said with a wink as she reached for a bottle of wine. “Do you like Cabernet Franc?”
“I guess,” Kat said. “I don’t know wine.”
“Omigod!” Ellie said as she started to remove the foil. “I forgot. You’re not old enough to drink, are you? It’s not 18 any more and you’re only 20 – almost.”
“No, but if you’re worrying about corrupting me, you’re too late,” Kat said. “I’ve been drinking since I was 15. As a matter-of-fact me and a friend split a bottle of Southern Comfort last week for her birthday.”
“Oh, do you like that?”
“It was better going down than it was… well, let’s just say that I won’t be doing that again,” Kat said. “I’ll be good with the wine though.”
“Okay. This will be our little secret then,” Ellie said. “It’s like what that commercial says about Las Vegas. What happens at Ellie’s stays at Ellie’s.”
“Works for me,” Kat said as she watched Ellie turn the corkscrew, the sight of the little muscles straining in those gorgeous arms of hers making Kat tingle, along with the freckles and the little wisps of hair in those ultra-pale armpits that were still there, much to her delight.
“Checking out your muscles,” Kat said when Ellie noticed her staring at her. “They’re awesome.”
“Think I need to work out more then,” Ellie said as she finally got the cork free after a struggle, and after pouring a couple of glasses handed one to her guest. “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” Kat repeated, and after she took a sip declared, “Well, it’s better than Southern Comfort.”
“You develop a taste for things like wine,” Ellie said as she peeked into the stove. “Almost time.”
“It smells so awesome,” Kat said. “You need help with anything?”
“Nope!” Ellie said. “I actually have this pretty well organized, all things considered. In a few minutes though, I will have to ask you to step out on the patio for a minute, okay?”
“Going to lock the door behind me?” Kat said with a grin.
“Not a chance,” Ellie assured her.
****
Ellie gave the table one last look before dimming the light down the lowest setting and opening the door to the patio.
“That was quick,” Kat said when Ellie appeared outside and beckoned her to come in, and when the young woman stepped inside she stopped dead in her tracks.
“Don’t laugh,” Ellie said. “I know it’s goofy.”
“It’s beautiful,” Kat said as she looked at the table, with the steaming hot food on the plates, a vase of flowers on the table and candles lit.
“It was just – what’s the matter?” Ellie asked.
“It’s beautiful,” Kat sniffed, wiping a tear from her eye when she saw the table. “It’s almost ro…”
“It’s okay honey,” Ellie said as she hugged Kat, kissing her on the top of the head. “I tried to make it look special and I guess romantic might describe it as well.”
“I would have never come back here,” Kat sniffed. “Stubborn ass I am. If you hadn’t tracked me down…”
“But I did, and I’m glad you came back. Hungry?”
“You bet,” Kat declared.
***
“I was afraid I’d screw it up,” Ellie said after Kat declared the Chicken Parmesan awesome. “Haven’t cooked for anybody else in a while.”
“Best I ever had,” Kat assured Ellie, and as the older woman looked at her dinner guest across the table, the similarities between her former lover and Kat were certainly there.
Kate was certainly a more petite and less polished version of Bethany with her peach fuzz hair cut even shorter than her partner’s had been, but then again when they had met Bethany was a spitfire too, a bitch with an attitude as she was fond of calling herself.
They both had the big brown eyes and the almost child-like sense of wonder about the strangest things, and as Ellie looked at the little dynamo tearing into her dinner and raving about it like it was a feast fit for royalty she took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
“Oh wow, I can’t believe how awesome that was,” Kat exclaimed when she pushed away from the table after eating a remarkable amount for such a tiny thing, Ellie noted. “Let me do the dishes.”
“They just go into the machine,” Ellie informed her guest.
“Oh yeah. Not used to living in the real world,” Kat said, her eyes twinkling in the candlelight.
“I would much rather we relax in the living room anyway,” Ellie said, and after they loaded the machine she brought her guest into the living room and sat on the love seat with Kat.
“Is there something you watch on TV?” Ellie asked.
“No.”
“Well, we could play scrabble or something,” Ellie said. “Have to entertain you somehow. Don’t want you falling asleep.”
“I won’t. We could talk.”
“Okay.”
“I love talking with you,” Kat said, and turned on the love seat to face Ellie, who was already facing a bit that way.
“Okay. What should we talk about?”
“We could talk about how beautiful you are,” Kat suggested, biting her lower lip and blushing a little.
“That would be a short conversation,” Ellie mused.
“Don’t say that,” Kay said, and looked at Ellie with such as expression that Ellie heard herself mumble an apology.
“I love your arms – I know I told you that already but anyway,” Kat sat as they sat facing each other with their elbows up on the back of the love seat, the only light coming from the still-flickering candles out in the dining area.
Kat put her hand on Ellie’s forearm, her fingers sliding lightly on the soft skin, the almost invisible down like a cloud under her touch.
“Your freckles too,” Kat said.
“There’s enough of them,” Ellie said with a chuckle as shivers went up and down the older woman’s spine, the sensation of being touched by another woman again after what seemed like an eternity making it seem in many ways like the first time for the former teacher.
“I know,” Kat said as her fingers moved up Ellie’s toned arm right up to the shoulders where the blouse was. “And you’ve got them on your shoulders too, right?”
“I do,” Ellie replied as the way the young woman was touching her and looking at her made it clear that the way Ellie thought Kat felt about her had been correct.
“On your back?”
“Right again, at least the upper part,” Ellie said as her young friend’s hand slid down to her elbow.
“Your thighs?” Kat asked before giggling. “Just curious.”
“Yes, there’s some on my thighs.”
“How about your breasts?”
“Um, they sort of stop just below my collarbone,” Ellie explained.
“Oh,” Kat said, and then leaned a little closer to Ellie, the backs of her fingers moving to the other side of the older woman’s elbow, and as Kat moved her hands up the pale inside of Ellie’s arm she mused, “Funny how there’s no freckles on the insides of your biceps…”
“And I already knew you didn’t have freckles under your arms,” Kat said as her fingers brushed against the tiny wisp of burnt orange hairs that looked lost in the creamy expanse of Ellie’s underarm, and when Ellie jumped she asked, “Ticklish?”
“Sensitive,” Ellie corrected, her voice shivering as she looked at what the girl was doing. “Not very fastidious these days, I’m afraid.”
“I guess I could say that about myself too,” Kat said.
“After I retired I sort of put the razor out to pasture too,” Ellie said. “Funny how I shaved every morning in the shower for decades – and if you remember what a wiseacre you were when you were in fourth grade can you imagine what they would have said if I didn’t?”
“Some adults are no better.”
“I know. Maybe forty years of mowing the field discouraged the crops,” Ellie mused as she looked at the sparse wisp that Kat was toying with. “It wasn’t that long ago that I was as furry as you.”
“Really?” Kat chirped.
“No, not really,” Ellie answered with a smile that was returned.
“You’re so far beyond sexy it isn’t funny,” Kat said as she let out an exhale and watched the hairs flutter. “If I get too freaky for you just let me know, okay?”
Ellie nodded, and then Kat slid over and nestled into the taller woman’s side.
“Kat…” Ellie gasped as Kat first kissed the moist skin before letting her tongue glide up through the older woman’s armpit, pasting the red hairs to the pale skin.
“Was that “Kat stop” or just “Kat”,” the young girl asked as she savored the sweet taste of Ellie before repeating the action.
“Kat…” Ellie gasped, her upper body shaking even before Kat’s finger went down and traced around her nipple, which had popped out and was clearly visible even through Ellie’s blouse and bra.
“I’ve had dreams about your breasts,” Kat admitted had her finger kept circling around the thick peg. “Imagining taking off your blouse and bra and burying my face between them. So big and full.”
“Weren’t always like this. Don’t know why but they just keep growing,” Ellie explained as Kat’s hand started to cup the globe. “Trust me they don’t look all that good out of clothes.”
“I don’t believe you,” Kat claimed as she kneaded the soft mound. “Want to see for myself. I’m not very subtle either so if you get the urge to slap me…”
“No Kat,” Ellie said as the girl started to pull her blouse up while pressing her thin lips against Ellie’s full ones, and when Ellie grabbed Kat’s hand the young woman looked hurt.
“Not here honey,” Ellie said, but then when she whispered her wishes to her Kat’s face lit up, and sprang up to her feet in a flash.
“Lead the way,” Kat said while holding Ellie’s freckled hand tight and letting her lead the way.
***
I feel like I’m cheating, Ellie thought as she brought Kat into the bedroom where no other woman had even been. The bed had been shared by two for a long time but in another house, but soon there would be another on those silk sheets Ellie had hauled out of storage. A little woman who reminded her in many ways of the youthful Bethany, but also very different.
Forgive me Bethany, Ellie said as she lit a candle that had sat cold and unused there for years. I know what you said about not being alone after you went but I swore that there would never be another woman… but I’m weak. Weak and lonely, and Kat is so… alive.
She’s standing there watching me, the little waif with the big brown eyes that look like they’re filling up like mine are. She’s excited to be here with me and wants me, for whatever reason I don’t know. I’m old and battered and never felt more so while she’s young and vibrant, and she has got a vision of me that even in my younger days I could never match.
I can feel the electricity in the air as I turn around and face her, Ellie thought. So tiny – I feel like a giant next to her, almost a head taller that the diminutive woman.
Woman. Not a girl but a woman, as she made abundantly clear that day on the patio, and while Kat’s approach may have been crude and unexpected, Ellie’s reaction wasn’t of repulsion but of shock because she liked what she saw. Adored is more like it, and while Kat seemed embarrassed to admit she had been fantasizing about Ellie, the same could have been said about the former teacher.
***
“I’m not real good at this,” Kat confessed after the two women stood by the bed in front of each other.
“Neither am I honey,” Ellie replied as Kat’s hands went to the bottom of the blouse and lifted it up, and after the older women helped get it up and over her head Kat smiled.
“More freckles,” she noted as Kat gently touched the pale skin around Ellie’s shoulders and chest not covered by the brassiere, but it was the chasm formed by the bulky harness that got the young girl’s attention.
“REALLY not good at this part,” Kat said with a nervous giggle as she made a couple of false starts with her hand before putting her arms around Ellie to unhook the bra. “Don’t wear them much.”
“Front hooks honey,” Ellie whispered. “I’m not limber enough to contort back there any more.”
“Oh. Good,” Kat replied as she saw the row of little hooks and eyes between the full cups and brought her trembling hands up to try to undo them.
“I’m shaking too Kat,” Ellie admitted when she saw the young woman’s fingers fumbling at the line of hooks. “And that’s a lot of work there too.”
“A lot of woman,” Kat whispered as she began to make progress with the clasps. “But this isn’t work.”
Down to the final hook and eye, the bra was already straining to open with the flesh that over-packed the cups easing out, and when Kat undid the last one Ellie’s bosom lurched downward as age and gravity had the bell shaped breasts ease down to her waist.
“Warned you about what I looked like unwrapped,” Ellie reminded the young waif as she let her pull the straps off her shoulders before casting it aside.
“You’re kidding right?” Kat said as her hands approached the globes as if she was afraid to touch them at first before finally cupping them as best she could. “They’re incredible.”
Ellie shivered as hands other than her own gently kneaded her breasts for the first time in what seemed like forever. The trembling hands on the spacious pink areolas made her nipples swell right away, the fat pegs burning Kat’s palms.
“Never touched tits like these before,” Kat mumbled and then apologized.
“It’s okay to say what you feel,” Ellie told the girl. “Tits! I guess that’s what they are. Just because my language is stilted and stiff doesn’t mean yours has to be, and trust me I have heard most of the words before.”
“Sounds funny when you say it though.”
“Dilligaf!” Ellie chirped, and that got them both laughing and succeeded in cutting the tension that was so thick in the room it was suffocating and Kat responded by hugging the older woman.
“Thank you,” Kat said. “This is the most exciting night of my life.”
“You aren’t leaving yet are you?” Ellie asked with a twinkle in her eyes, the nervousness dissipating along with the fear of having exposed her breasts to Kat, and she blushed while adding, “After all, I want to see your tits too.”
“Not nearly as awesome as yours,” Kat told her as she dutifully lifted her arms to make it easy for Ellie, and after she pulled the smart top off the waif and put it on the bed she looked down at Kat since there was no brassiere to deal with.
“Oh no, they aren’t that bad are they?” Kat said as she looked at Ellie who was biting her lower lip as her eyes filled, and the older woman shook her head.
“God no – you’re so beautiful,” Ellie gasped as she stared at the precious teardrop shaped breasts and the large puffy mocha nipples that dominated the orbs.
Ellie reached out and cupped Kat’s left breast, which fit perfectly in her palm and was just as plaint as her own, and as she kneaded the soft flesh Kat’s chest heaved mightly.
“Hyperventilating a little,” Kat explained. “Please don’t stop.”
Ellie nodded and brought her other hand up so she could caress Kat’s bosom while the girl undid the older woman’s slacks, reluctantly letting go so she could bend down and take them off.
“Granny panties I’m afraid,” Ellie apologized as the girl was eye level to the modest blue undies.
“I like what they’re hiding better,” Kat said as she touched the front of the panties before going over to the leg opening where a few reddish curls peeked out from the elastic.
“That’ll happen to you someday,” Ellie said of her pubic hair whose area seemed to increase with age even as it thinned somewhat.
“It already did,” Kat informed Ellie. “Wait till you see me.”
“Can’t wait,” Ellie said as the waif eased the panties down her slender legs.
Ellie heard Kat suck in a breath through her teeth as her face came close to the bush while getting the panties off her ankles and after tossing them aside leaned forward and buried her face in the reddish brown curls, caressing her cheeks with the fur while inhaling the aroma of Ellie’s sex.
“My turn,” Ellie announced as she helped Kat to her feet, and after undoing her slacks moved her down to the bed and onto her back so she could remove her socks.
“Cute little tootsies,” Ellie announced as she rubbed them before leaning forward to grab the top of Kat’s pants and pulled them down her petite legs which the older woman noticed were shaved.
“See?” Kat said as she got up on her elbows and nodded downward. “Pretty bad huh?”
“No, pretty good is more like it,” Ellie said as she looked at Kat’s white panties that didn’t come close to containing the jungle of black hair that spread onto her inner thighs and almost to her belly button.
“They used to call me ape girl at school in the locker room,” Kat confessed as Ellie leaned down at nudged the panties down, the waif’s eyes fixed on Ellie’s pendulous breasts swaying below her.
“Some of us women like hairy girls though,” Ellie told her, the sight of Kat’s wild untrimmed delta eerily similar to her late lover’s. “And others like me – LOVE them!”
Kat was reaching up for her but Ellie – as much as she wanted to pounce all over the nubile young woman and ravish her – forced herself to take some time.
“The night is young love,” Ellie declared as she climbed onto the bed, and while she wasn’t as agile as she once was, managed to get her leg over Kat’s hips so she was straddling her, both of them shivering when their pubic hair connected.
“Omigod!” Kat cried out as Ellie moved her hips ever so slighly, causing their pussies to rub together. “That feels so freaking awesome.”
“As long as we don’t get a forest fire down there,” Ellie mused as she steadied herself by reaching down and holding onto Kat’s breasts, massaging them as she rocked.
“Ellie – when you bend down like that your tits look so awesome,” Kat said as she reached up and cupped them, although lifting the heavy globes was a challenge.
“You’ll get your turn,” Ellie chided as she gently took the little paws from her bosom. “You can do this to me in a minute. For now just lay back and relax.”
“Like this?”
“Sure. In fact, why don’t you put your arms up – clasp your hands behind your neck for me?”
“How’s this?” Kat giggled as she assumed the position and saw where the older woman’s eyes went. “That day out on the patio? I though I scared you off when you saw how hairy my pits are.”
“Scared was far from what I felt,” Ellie admitted as her hand slid off of Kat’s breasts and over to her armpits, and as the older woman lightly raked her fingers through the dense tufts of hair Kat writhed and arched her body upwards, pushing her pussy up into Ellie’s hard.
“Fuck!” Kat yelled.
“You see, I don’t know whether it’s just the way things go or not, but while I haven’t have many lovers in my life, not one of them have ever shaved their underarms,” Ellie explained as she kept stroking the furry hollows with an agonizing slowness. “I much prefer the beauty of a natural woman like you and if my job didn’t get in the way I would have been too.”
“Gonna cum Ellie,” Kat cried out, her eyes bulging as she frantically tried to grind her sex into the older woman.
“You are?” Ellie cooed knowingly, and while it wasn’t her intention she didn’t stop what she was doing.
“Pits – really sensitive,” Kat choked out as Ellie playfully grabbed fistfuls of the moist tufts and gave them a gentle tug before going back to the sensuous stroking. “Please…”
“You’re so sexy like this,” Ellie told her as she ground her pussy down harder as Kat got more and more animated until she screamed and tried to levitate off the bed, writhing and squirming and throwing herself back on the mattress uncontrollably before her orgasm almost mercifully ended.
“Freaking unreal,” Kat mumbled as she looked up at Ellie through glazed eyes, shivering as an aftershock swept through her body.
“Did you cum honey?” Ellie asked with a giggle.
“Like I never did before,” Kat exclaimed.
“I know. Our pussies are as soggy as rain forests,” Ellie said.
“Did I do that?” Kat asked of the extreme wetness down below.
“I might have helped,” Ellie admitted.
“I want to get on top now,” Kat said.
“Good, because my back and hips just sent me a message that I’m 58 in case I forgot.”
“Wait just a second though,” Kat asked. “Just stay like that for me. Look down on me. Perfect.”
“What? I know I look frazzled.”
“No, you look beautiful. It’s just that – this is dumb but I had dreams about you. Daydreaming too, and you would be looking down on me just like that,” Kat explained. “And I tried to imagine what you would look like naked. Tried to envision you in a way that no woman could ever be, knowing that even if I did get to see you like this you could never actually be this awesome looking for real, but you are.”
“Don’t know what to say,” Ellie replied.
“You’re perfect and it’s spooky how well I had mentally undressed you,” Kat concluded. “Didn’t think your breasts would be quite as big as they are but other than that…”
“The rate they’re growing I’m going to walk around like a hunchback,” Ellie mused as she hefted her breasts. “Growing up I was practically flat-chested and prayed for these but now?”
“I love you,” Kat blurted out. “I know it’s stupid but I had to say it. I can’t believe this night is happening because I have had a way – all my life things either suck from the start or when they don’t I manage to screw them up somehow. It’s so awesome when things actually…”
“Don’t you start crying Kat because I’m on the brink myself,” Ellie said a second because they both lost it, and as they hugged and rolled around in the bed they cried and laughed manically until they finally got it out of their systems.
“I’m tempted to say I love you too but I’m going to save it because I’ve only said it to two people before and I want to be sure,” Ellie explained. “I want to be sure that I’m not just delirious because there’s actually another wonderful woman in this bed again after so long. I never thought that would happen.”
“This is all new to me,” Kat explained. “You’ve experienced love even if it had to end. I never have until now, and that’s why I know it’s love because I thought I felt every emotion there was to feel about another person until now, so this must be love.”
“Either that or insanity,” Ellie suggested.
“That does it lady,” Kat said, first tickling the older woman and then squirming around until she was on top. “Now it’s my turn.”
“Oh my,” Ellie said in mock horror as Kat mounted her, and as the younger woman began grinding her sex into Ellie’s she bit her lower lip while smiling brightly. “You look so sexy up there.”
“I feel sexy,” Kat giggled as she massaged her banana boobs. “Never said that before. Am I doing this right?”
“Don’t think there’s a wrong way,” Ellie suggested.
“I can feel the lips of your pussy – that feels so good.”
“They’re big enough,” Ellie mentioned.
“Can’t wait to bury my face between them,” Kat said as she took her hands off her own breasts and dropped them down to Ellie’s bosom, and as she kneaded the fleshy globes she asked if she was too heavy for her.
“Hardly feel you honey,” Ellie said as their wet pussies kept rubbing until Kat climbed off and slid down between Ellie’s parting thighs.
Kat spread Ellie’s pale thighs wider and looked at the large labia that were visible through the burnt orange bush that surrounded them before diving down and pushing her nose and lips into the wet fold.
The young woman licked up and down the length of Ellie’s opening before tonguing upwards towards her clitoris, the pungent scent and taste of Ellie’s sex making her even crazier, and as she showcased her oral skills she could feel the former teacher responding.
Ellie’s freckled legs squirmed in the bedding, so much so that Kat brought her hands up from under her to hold down her hips. Looking up through the red curls she could see Ellie’s hands clawing at her own breasts and although her face was hidden by the mammary mountains she could hear Ellie’s moaning.
When Ellie came it was no secret – probably not to the neighbors and not even to Kat despite having the older woman’s thighs crush her ears to block the sound of her cry. Kat kept licking as Ellie grabbed at her head and bucked like a young filly until she finally arched her back and fell back into the mattress.
“Sorry – should have warned you,” Ellie said as she pulled her lover up towards her. “When I cum I… I don’t know what I do but I think it must be embarrassing.”
“I thought it was beautiful and because I helped it happen that made it better for me,” Kat cooed as she nestled into Ellie’s side.
“Did I scratch your head?” Ellie asked as she looked at Kat’s fuzzy skull. “I think I remember trying to grab your hair while I was cumming.”
“I’m fine. I think I’m going to let it grow a little longer so you’ll have something to hang onto in the future,” Kat promised as she snuggled under the older woman’s arm and wondered aloud, “How come you still smell so nice?”
“I don’t feel so fresh and nice,” Ellie said. “Maybe if I get any energy I can get up and and take a shower – maybe you could join me?”
“Omigod I would love that,” Kat said. “Not yet though. I want to stay like this for a while – forever maybe.”
***
Epilogue…
Ellie looked back at the patio one last time with her lover while behind them the last of Ellie’s belongings went into the moving truck.
“Well, that was a short stay,” Ellie said of her less than one year stay at the senior apartment complex.
“My fault,” said the little woman at her side.
“That’s right, shame on you,” Ellie laughed as she pulled down the cap over Kat’s face.
“I used to stalk you – watch you water your petunias,” Kat recalled. “The place was okay but with my grandmother gone I’m glad you’re moving.”
“We’re moving,” Ellie reminded her, since the two of them were relocating at a bigger place near Kat’s campus. “And it was nice you ended with your grandmother on a nice note.”
“Yeah – made me feel a little better about coming over and seeing her so much.”
Kat’s grandmother, who had recently passed, had a conversation with her granddaughter acouple days before she went. The old woman had said how much she liked Kat coming over and that it seemed not many others in the family cared about her.
Kat said to her that she thought a lot of times she thought she wasn’t wanted around her, but her grandmother told her that wasn’t true. It was just that the pain she was in made it so difficult to hide how much discomfort being up had become.
“I didn’t even know she was so sick,” Kat told Ellie as they prepared to leave for the final time. “She didn’t want to let anybody know. I think besides the doctor I was the only one.”
“Well not only did you find out how important you were to her, for the rest of your life you’ll be able to look back and have nothing but contentment about the time you spent with her,” Ellie told Kat. “That’s important.
“Leaving huh?”
The gruff voice of Ellie’s neighbor only preceded the stench of his cigar by a few seconds, and after Ellie nodded and looked at the sorry old fool she knew this was one part of the place she would not miss.
“I’m sure that upsets you greatly Mr. Forbes,” Ellie said curtly to the grouch.
“To be frank I’m glad to see you go,” he pontificated. “When you moved in here I thought at first you were a nice person, but then when you turned out to be one of THOSE? Disgusting.”
“Want to see how far a cigar can go up your ass?” the ever feisty Kat said while Ellie held onto her shoulder.
“Little foul-mouthed…” Mr. Forbes mumbled almost inaudibly.
“I’m sorry you feel that way Mr. Forbes,” Ellie, ever the diplomat said calmly.
“Well all I know is that you should read the Bible!” he huffed and puffed. “I would hear all those commotions going on in your bedroom, and to think mine is next to yours so I had to hear it all! God knows what you two degenerates were doing to each other and I just have to say that I strongly disapprove! In my opinion you’re both on the fast track to hell.”
“You know what I think about your opinion Mr. Forbes?” Ellie said as she went a little closer to the red-faced neighbor, and she grabbed the bill of her cap and said, “Read it! You know what that says?”
“DILLIGAF? What in tarnation does that mean?”
“It’s an acronym, and what it stands for is, Do I Look Like I Give A…” Ellie snapped, hesitating before giving Kat a wink and finishing, “Fuck.”
“Well I never!” the flustered curmudgeon said as Ellie spun around and put her arm around her lover while they headed for a happier place.
“Maybe you should,” Kat chirped as they headed for the car, and the two laughed and never looked back.
***
Thank you for reading.