Part 2
Three weeks into her recovery, Elsie was close to going stir crazy. Maeve's house was awesome, though the things she really wanted to use, namely the pool and hot tub, she still couldn't because of her cast.
Maeve continued to go out of her way to be generous, going so far as to help set up an office where Elsie could work on her thesis and even bought her an Xbox and a gift card to buy whatever game she wanted. Her bosses at Delos had been more than understanding about her time off than she'd expected, stating her position would be waiting for her when she returned and agreeing to let her work on non-classified projects that needed to be completed.
After the first week, Elsie had insisted that Maeve return to work as she knew there were people who needed a surgeon far more than she needed a babysitter. Maeve had reluctantly agreed, and Teddy and Dolores as well as Carolyn had promised they would take be there if Elsie needed anything, and they had been.
Carolyn had been wonderful, cooking Elsie anything she wanted which almost always turned out to be a grilled cheese sandwich. Elsie had tried to fix her own meals, but Carolyn had refused, however she did let Elsie keep her company as they talked about all kinds of things.
Teddy and Dolores had turned out to be a lot of fun. Teddy had another job and wasn't around much except weekends, but Dolores was Maeve's personal assistant and spent most of her work day at the house, either in Maeve's own private office or hanging out with Elsie playing video games. Elsie was surprised to discover that Dolores was the daughter of one of the prostitutes Maeve used to work with and still kept in contact with. When the woman had said that her daughter had been going down a horrible path and had been arrested hooking on the strip, Maeve offered to have Dolores come out and work for her.
Dolores didn't know the entire story, but she was grateful for the older woman. She paid well and gave her jobs that nobody would have ever trusted an uneducated, former hooker with. She even sent Dolores to school to learn about computers and technology in the event that she wanted to pursue other work, but Dolores was happy for now. Maeve could be a bit challenging, when people crossed her, but she was far more generous than she wanted people to believe.
Elsie wasn't surprised by that. Maeve Millay clearly tried to present a hard shell that Elsie suspected she developed back at the brothel and had to maintain as a surgeon, in order to protect herself, but the doctor clearly didn't know how badly she failed at it.
Still, despite Maeve's kindness, Elsie vowed not to take advantage of it. She was still in the wheelchair for at least three more weeks, so there wasn't a lot she could do, but she was eventually able to convince Carolyn to let her help with some of the cleaning.
Sometimes Maeve got home early enough they could have dinner and spend a few hours in front of the television or talking and then Maeve would turn her attentions to taking care of Elsie and helping her with her shower.
The first few times Maeve had helped remove her clothes, Elsie had been too focused on minimizing the resulting pain, but then her focus turned to more inappropriate things, like how gentle the doctor was as she slid Elsie's yoga pants off and how erotic the sight of the strong woman, the established surgeon, kneeling before plain old Elsie Hughes, really was, not to mention the feeling of long, warm fingers as they brushed her thighs.
Elsie had squashed those thoughts, hopefully before Maeve had noticed anything and simply started silently counting to a million as Maeve helped move her naked body from the chair to the shower bench. She'd had to insist on drying herself, knowing that would be far too much contact. This went on almost every night, unless Maeve was staying late at the hospital.
Eventually, Elsie began to dread the nights that Maeve was gone all night. It helped that Dolores stayed with Elsie, to help if she needed to get up during the night, but Elsie found herself missing the older woman, probably more than she should and she found herself sending the doctor little text messages, hoping they would make Maeve smile. Sometimes Maeve replied right away, but sometimes it took a few hours, if she was in surgery, but it always made Elsie feel better hearing back from her host.
Maeve did manage to take off two days a week to spend at home where she'd take Elsie out to the park for some fresh air and Elsie taught her the fine art of video warfare. All the while, the flirtatious banter they'd exchanged that first night, happened more and more often and sometimes Elsie caught Maeve watching her with an expression that sent shivers down her back, but neither made any attempt on following up on the banter and Elsie wasn't sure if she was relieved or frustrated.
At the end of her second month of recovery, Elsie had finally been put on crutches instead of a wheel chair. It still limited where she could go or what she could do, but Elsie had just finished typing the last word for her dissertation and she wanted to cry with relief. She'd thought she'd never get finished, but she was and with still six weeks to review and edit and then practice her arguments. She wondered if her extremely intelligent host would be willing to help her?
Right on cue, her phone rang. She smiled to see Maeve's name on the caller id, Maeve had been gone since the day before and Elsie had missed her.
"Hey Doc," she greeted warmly.
"Hi Elsie. How are things going?"
Elsie frowned, thinking Maeve sounded more drained than she ever had.
"What's wrong?"
Maeve sighed in her ear. "Just a rough day, dear. I'm afraid I had a patient die during surgery."
"Oh Maeve, I'm so sorry."
"Thank you, Elsie. The poor fellow was stabbed during a mugging. I knew his chances were slim anyway, but I had to try."
"I have no doubt you did all you could," Elsie assured her.
"Thank you," Maeve repeated. "I need to speak to the police officers investigating the stabbing and then I'll be home. It will probably be close to 7."
"Okay. See you then." After Maeve hung up, Elsie sat there with her heart hurting for her friend. Suddenly an idea formed. After everything the woman had done for her, Elsie could do nothing else but try and help Maeve through her difficult day. She would have asked Dolores, but the assistant was out of town until the next day, so she grabbed her crutches and headed into the kitchen.
Carolyn was already in the kitchen, writing down her meal plans for the week when Elsie entered.
"Hey Carolyn."
"Hi Elsie. Get your paper done?"
"Yes, finally, thank God," she smiled. "So, I just heard from Maeve. She'll be home in a couple of hours but she had a tough day. She lost a patient."
"Oh no," the older woman said sadly.
"Yeah, so I thought maybe we could do something special for her for dinner and I could run her a hot bath upstairs?"
Carolyn studied the young woman. Elsie Hughes had proven to be a very bright and courteous young woman and it hadn't taken her long to see that Elsie had developed a bit of a crush on Maeve and it wasn't hard to see the doctor wasn't unaffected by her intriguing young woman either, but her employer was far too proud and independent to go after a shot at happiness.
"I think that's a lovely idea," Carolyn agreed. I have just the thing for dinner I think."
"And I can go run her bath, maybe put out some candles and classical music. People relax to that, don't they?'
Carolyn laughed at the rather innocent question. "Well many people do," she answered, wondering how this young woman relaxed, outside of violent video games.
"Cool." She looked around, suddenly realizing something. "Do we have any candles?"
"I'm fairly sure there are some around here somewhere."
"Great. So, tell me your idea for dinner and how to make it."
Carolyn shrugged and the two women went about planning the menu. Elsie insisted on doing everything possible by herself.
It was clear to Carolyn that Elsie was not a woman that spent a great deal of time in the kitchen, but she found her enthusiasm quite endearing.
Soon, everything was prepared, and they were just waiting until Maeve returned to put the salmon in the oven and prepare the salads.
Elsie looked at the clock and her eyes shot wide. "Crap. Maeve will be home in twenty minutes," she swore. "Carolyn, can you help me find the candles?"
"Why don't I go get them, while you start the bath?"
Elsie nodded. She looked at the stairs, wondering how she was going to get up them until she remembered she was staying in Maeve's master bedroom with the master bath which came equipped with a separate and very large tub.
She turned on the water, making it extra hot so it wouldn't cool before Maeve got in it. Carolyn returned with several candles of various sizes and a lighter. Then, at Elsie's request, she left the younger woman alone to set up everything.
It took some searching, but Elsie knew that of every woman she'd ever met, Maeve Millay would have some type of bath bubbles or beads in her cabinets and she was right. As the tub was filling, she set up the candles and lit them, then, unable to find a stereo nearby, she took her phone, found an app that played soothing classical music and set it up on the vanity. Everything looked pretty relaxing, Elsie thought. She just hoped that when Maeve said two hours, she meant it.
Maeve sighed as she walked in the front door, willing the heaviness of the day to leave her. She'd lost patients before, it was the one part of the job she hated, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided. Still she never got used to the sick feeling in her gut or the sense of failure.
She found it odd that there were none of the sounds she was used to hearing when she came in. Carolyn was usually in the kitchen finishing dinner and Elsie could be heard swearing from her makeshift office as she edited her dissertation and Dolores was there to greet her with any appointments she'd made throughout the day. She knew Dolores had gone out of town, but that there was no sign of Carolyn or Elsie was puzzling.
"Hello?"
"Oh Dr. Millay, you're home," Carolyn greeted, looking behind her.
"Carolyn, I keep telling you to call me Maeve."
"I know," Carolyn smiled. "You're home a bit sooner than we thought," she added.
Maeve's eyes narrowed, feeling suspicious. "What's going on?"
She walked past Carolyn and stopped when she saw the table set more elegantly than normal for just two people.
"Well, when Elsie heard about your day, she wanted to do something for you. She's done most of the work preparing dinner and while that's cooking, she drew you a hot bath."
Maeve was shocked. "What? Why would she go to all that trouble?"
Carolyn shrugged. "Because she likes you and wanted to make you feel better."
Maeve struggled to understand that. "She did?"
"It's not so hard to believe," Carolyn smiled, understanding her employer more than Maeve probably even knew.
"Well, thank you," Maeve said warmly, her heart filled with something she couldn't really explain.
"Don't thank me," Carolyn said happily. "Thank Elsie. I helped a bit with the cooking, but she did the majority of it. And now, I'm going to head home. My husband is taking me to dinner tonight."
"Oh. Okay, well whether you think I should or not, thank you Carolyn. For everything." She kissed the woman on the cheek, smiling to see the always composed woman, blushing.
"Well, your welcome. Now, tell Elsie everything is cooking and should be done in thirty minutes and the salads are in the refrigerator."
"Where is she?" Maeve asked, looking around.
"Still in the master bath, I presume."
"Okay, well have a lovely dinner Carolyn."
"You too."
When Carolyn was gone, Maeve headed into her room, which was currently Elsie's. She stood in the doorway for a moment, watching. The young woman lighting the last of what appeared to be dozens of candles. Clearly unaware she was being watched, Elsie was tapping on her phone and then Maeve heard the sounds of classical music. Mozart, if she wasn't mistaken. Then Elsie placed her phone on the vanity and turned to leave the bathroom, letting out a very undignified squeal as she saw Maeve standing there.
"Holy hell Maeve," Elsie gasped, clutching at her chest. "Why don't you give me a heart attack or something."
"Sorry, love," Maeve grinned, clearly lying. "So, what's all this about then?"
Elsie shrugged, even as she felt her face turn painfully red. "I thought you needed a bit of pampering after today."
And Maeve's heart flipped over happily. She had accepted her attraction to this peculiar young woman weeks ago, but had refused to act on it, not wanting Elsie to fear she was being pressured out of obligation, but she was extremely tempted to kiss the young woman right then and there.
"Well, who am I to refuse such a lovely offer?" Maeve smiled kindly. Deciding to test Elsie's own feelings on the matter, Maeve's fingers quickly unbuttoned her blouse and slid it off her shoulders.
"Good lord," Elsie breathed as Maeve Millay started to strip right in front of her and Elsie had never seen anything as beautiful in her life. For a long horrible moment, she couldn't move or even form a thought.
Maeve saw a very familiar look on Elsie's face, and while she'd desire on the faces of her clients back in the old days, what she saw in Elsie's eyes went beyond simple lust and it gave her the answer she'd been looking for, but there was time.
"You alright, darling?" Maeve asked with amusement.
"Hm?" Elsie muttered, pulling her eyes from the splendid expanse of skin in front of her and meeting Maeve's knowing smile.
"Oh crap," she blurted. "I…uh…I'm fine. I need to go. Check on dinner I mean."
Maeve just barely kept from teasing the girl further. "Carolyn said it would be twenty minutes or so."
"Well, then I'll let you have your bath. Is the music okay?"
"It's lovely," Maeve said kindly.
"Good. Uh...can I get you some wine?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you." Maeve felt she should say something else, but she could see the young woman was feeling anxious so, she let her go. She finished removing her clothes and then finally submerged herself into the still steaming hot bath. She leaned her head back against the edge and sighed heavily. She closed her eyes and almost instantly she visualized Elsie Hughes and her pretty dark eyes. It didn't take long before the sadness and sense of failure she'd felt since leaving the hospital, faded away.
The smell of chicken wafted into the bathroom, stirring Maeve from her relaxed daze. Between that and the cooling water, she realized that she'd been soaking longer than she'd thought.
She stepped out of the tub and drained it. She quickly pulled on some yoga pants and a tank top and headed toward the kitchen.
Maeve frowned when she heard a lot of clattering and banging coming from the kitchen, but then the loud "Ow! Dammit!" brought a smile to her face until she realized Elsie may have hurt her leg.
"Elsie? What happened, are you alright?" she asked, entering the kitchen. Her worry vanished when she saw a clearly disgruntled Elsie sucking on her index finger.
"I burnt myself," Elsie muttered irritably.
Maeve couldn't help but be charmed by how adorable the young woman looked, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, baggy pajama's cut off on one leg and a very snug t-shit, mixed with the cutest pout while she sucked on her injured digit. It was an extremely alluring sight and this time, she decided she wasn't going to ignore it.
She walked toward Elsie, a very determined expression on her face.
"Oh, poor thing," she said warmly. Careful not to throw off Elsie's balance, she gently pulled Elsie's finger from her mouth and began to rub the injured digit.
It took several seconds before Elsie's brain started to work again. The moment she'd seen Maeve standing in the kitchen in her yoga pants and a tank top that had Elsie's mouth watering. The arms on that woman sent her blood pressure through the roof. And then, before she knew it, Maeve was standing far too close for Elsie's comfort, rubbing her finger.
"Shall I fetch some ointment?" Maeve smiled, seeing the dazed look in those wide brown eyes.
"Some what?" Elsie managed.
"Ointment," Maeve repeated with an amused patient. "Or should I just kiss it better?"
Elsie nearly swallowed her tongue. "Is that your usual treatment?" she asked, pleased that she was able to manage that.
"Well I don't usually tend to baking injuries," Maeve quipped, "however I'm willing to make an exception for you."
Elsie would have loved to say something equally playful and witty, but she couldn't think of anything but feeling Maeve's lips on her skin.
"Uh…well, that would be nice of you."
Maeve chuckled, but Elsie thought it sounded more predatory than amused.
"I do try," Maeve said, then, not taking her eyes from Elsie's, she lifted the injured finger to her lips. Deciding to test the waters a bit more, she flicked her tongue out against the burnt skin. The instant darkening of Elsie's eyes was enough for Maeve to decide that she wouldn't be going to bed without kissing Elsie Hughes. However, the sound of a timer going off, interrupted her thoughts.
"Damnit," Elsie swore at the interruption, ignoring the soft laughter coming from the taller woman. "Uh, why don't you go sit down while I finish here?" she suggested, needing some time to regather her faculties.
"Don't be silly," Maeve chided. "You're on crutches. You need to sit and I'll finish everything."
"Yeah, but I wanted to…"
"Darling, you've done a great deal for me already and I do feel much better. And as a doctor, I can't in good conscious, let you continue standing any longer, so run a long and have a seat. I'll finish in here."
"Have I mentioned that you're bossy?" Elsie muttered.
"Quite a few times," Maeve replied cheerfully. "Now, scoot."
Elsie stuck her tongue out but hobbled into the dining room. She sat at the table and poured two glasses of wine as she tried to forget the feeling of Maeve's tongue against her fingertip.
It wasn't long before the other woman appeared, carrying their dinner.
"Thank you," Elsie smiled up at Maeve as she placed a plate in front of her.
"Nonsense. I'm the one who should be thanking you. This looks positively delicious," Maeve said sincerely, sitting down across from Elsie.
"Well, if it's edible, you should thank Carolyn," Else deflected.
"Not true. Carolyn told me you basically did everything and she just guided when needed."
"She didn't want to be blamed if you got food poisoning," Elsie grinned.
"Of course," Maeve chuckled, sipping from her wine.
"Not that I'm not grateful for this lovely dinner, but why did you do all this?"
Elsie smiled kindly. "I wanted to. You had a really, really bad day and I just wanted you to be able to come home and, if not forget about it, at least let go of some of it."
Maybe it was the emotions from losing her patient, maybe it was the long hours she'd been working or the lack of sleep, or maybe it was the knowledge that nobody had ever looked after her before, but Maeve felt tears spring to her eyes and she was mortified to hear a sob leave her throat.
Elsie heart clenched when she saw the tears sliding down Maeve's face.
"Oh damn, I screwed up," Elsie said anxiously, having no idea how to make it better.
Maeve gave a watery chuckle. "Please don't panic, love. You didn't screw up. In fact, it's quite the opposite."
"Really?" Elsie replied dubiously, wishing she could easily get up and walk around the table to comfort the other woman.
Maeve read Elsie's thoughts as clearly as if she'd spoken them aloud. She wiped at her cheeks and stood up, walking around the table and kneeling beside the startled Elsie.
"What are you doing?" Elsie whispered, her heart suddenly pounding in her ears.
"Elsie, I'm not crying because you upset me. I was just…overwhelmed. Nobody has ever done anything so kind for me before."
"Nobody?" Elsie asked, completely surprised. Surely, she'd had someone, if not family, then a lover at least, who looked after her.
"Nobody," Maeve answered and then finally, she acted on an impulse she'd repressed for weeks. She lifted her hands and cupped the sweet face. For a moment, she lost herself in the innocent brown eyes, and she used a few fingers to push back a lock of dark hair that had escaped it's usual ponytail.
"You are a beautiful mystery," Maeve said quietly, smiling at the blush that colored Elsie's face.
"Hardly," Elsie scoffed, her head spinning and her mouth dry with Maeve being so close and touching her. "I'm an open book."
"I would say you aren't, except your eyes tend to give you away," Maeve smiled, her thumb stroking against her cheek.
A want like she'd never felt, filled Elsie. "What are they saying now?" she asked intently.
Maeve blinked at the sudden flash of desire in Elsie's eyes. My, my, she thought before deciding there had been enough banter.
"They're saying many things," Maeve whispered and then slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips against Elsie's. Instantly something clicked inside of Maeve, as if something that had been missing was finally snapped into place.
Feeling no resistance from Elsie, Maeve began to kiss her in earnest, tilting her head in order to better explore the beautiful, sassy mouth beneath hers.
Elsie let out a whimper as Maeve kissed her like nobody else ever had. The surgeon was extremely thorough and even more passionate than Elsie had ever dared let herself imagine. And she tasted so very good. She shifted so she could more wrap her arms around the body that had tempted her for months and parted her lips for the silky tongue flicking teasingly against them.
For several moments, Maeve lost herself in the sensation of kissing the young woman. Elsie was a beautifully enthusiastic kisser, yet with her past experience, it was clear to Maeve that Elsie was far more innocent than she looked and Maeve found that extremely exciting. She let Elsie control the pace of the kiss and welcomed the tentative exploration of her tongue. Her hands longed to roam the petite body in front of her, but she held back and let Elsie kiss her with the intensity that her intelligence and curious nature demanded.
Finally, Maeve's knees reminded her she wasn't a twenty-year-old anymore and began to protest their extended position on the floor. She reluctantly broke the kiss and pulled back, resting her forehead against Elsie's as they both caught their breath.
"Well damn," Elsie finally managed, her lips burning and her head spinning.
Maeve chuckled and got to her feet. "I'll take that to mean you liked it?"
At first, Elsie saw Maeve's smile and her insecurities made her fear she was being made fun of, but then she felt the warm press of Maeve's palm against her cheek.
"I did and I kind of hope we get to do it again," Elsie replied, taking Maeve's hand and kissing her palm.
"Just kind of?"
Elsie grinned up at the beautiful woman, still expecting to wake up and discover this had all been a dream.
"Well, more than kinda, but I don't want to freak you out or anything."
Maeve laughed. "There's little chance of that darling," she said. "However, perhaps next time, it should be when we're both comfortable."
So many inappropriate responses sprung to Elsie's mind, but she bit her tongue, having no desire for Maeve to see her as an immature frat boy.
"Are you sure you want there to be a next time?" She asked seriously. "I mean, you're…you, and I'm me and I'm not really…I'm not you."
Maeve blinked as she tried to understand the young woman's rambling. "I'm afraid you lost me."
"Maeve, you're so classy. You have an incredibly important job, a huge house and probably more money than I'll ever see. I'm nobody. I've got no friends or family and am just a lowly intern and college student."
Maeve frowned and pulled her chair around the table until she was seated next to Elsie and then took her hand.
"You are not a nobody, Elsie Hughes," Maeve said firmly. "You are a brilliant young woman who's working her way through a PhD in an area that very few people have the ability to understand, myself included. You have managed to land an internship at an extremely well known research company that doesn't hire anyone all while finishing your doctorate. This tells me how driven you really are. Just as driven as me and I respect ambition and intelligence far more than anything else. It does makes me sad that you've been alone for so long, but you aren't anymore. Do you understand?"
"Not really. I mean, you don't really even know me that well. You hit me with your car and then let me stay here and…oh, I don't know if ever thanked you for that, but thank you."
"You're welcome," Maeve replied, not letting her amusement show as Elsie's rambling, apparently wasn't quite finished.
"I just…I've been attracted to you for a while now," Elsie admitted, "and it's not really hard to see why and I just wonder why you don't think I'm only interested in your looks or all this," she gestured around the large, fancy house.
"Are you?"
"What? No, of course not," Elsie protested quickly.
"I didn't think so. Look Elsie, I had to learn how to read people a long time ago and you can probably guess why. I knew, from the second I looked down at you, in so much pain, but so brave and sarcastic, that you were an unusual woman. I knew right away that you were a woman who had no need to pretend to be anything other than who you were. If I had sensed you were the type to use people to your advantage, I never would have offered you a place to stay."
"Okay. I'm not though. Using you, or just drawn to your looks, though I guess it's easy for me to say when you're all hot and everything," Elsie laughed awkwardly, her heart melting as always at Maeve's soft, throaty laugh.
"You do have a silver tongue, don't you, love?"
Elsie blushed. "You know what I meant."
"I do. Thank you but I suspect that you have no idea how beautiful you are."
"I'm not," Elsie argued, unable to meet those knowing dark eyes. "In fact, my nickname growing up was 'Mouse'.
Maeve felt an unexpected anger on little Elsie's behalf, knowing that anyone had dared make fun of such a gentle heart, but she would make it right.
"Well, I've always found mice to be adorable, not to mention incredibly strong, independent and resilient. Why do you think they were used for research?"
Elsie couldn't help but laugh. "Considering the things those poor creatures have had to endure over the centuries, I'm not sure if I should appreciate that comparison."
"Fair enough," Maeve laughed. "Still it's true. And if I were to call you mouse, it would be for those reasons. It would be to remind you that you're strong and able to endure anything, and are incredibly cute."
"And I work in a lab," Elsie added, with a laugh meant to ease the emotion that threatened to choke her.
"There is that too," Maeve replied. "But since we're discussing insecurities, you won't mind my asking why a young woman, just starting her life, would be attracted to a woman nearly fifteen years older?"
Elsie's eyes widened in surprised, having no idea that Maeve would ever feel insecure about anything.
"Well what does age have to do with anything?" Elsie asked
So, then, we're all sorted?"
"Sure," Elsie smiled, "except for one thing."
"And that would be?"
"How soon before you kiss me again?"
"Oh, my dear," Maeve purred, leaning closer to the other woman and thrilling at the instant flush on Elsie's face. "I will be very happy to kiss you any time…except for right now," she added, pulling back and getting to her feet.
"Wait…what?" Elsie protested, disappointment flooding her.
"Well the dishes aren't going to clean themselves, and Carolyn is not happy when she comes to work and sees dirty dishes in the sink," Maeve said pleasantly, even though her body was shouting at her to return to her enchanting houseguest and finish what she started.
"Maeve, this night was supposed to be for you. You don't need to clean anything. I'll do it."
"Why don't we do it together then, hm?"
"You have to stop saying things like that," Elsie teased, standing as gracefully as she could with her crutches. "You make it very difficult to act like a mature adult."
Maeve furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what Elsie meant, and then the double meaning of her suggestion finally sunk in, drawing a laugh.
"Why Elsie Hughes, you are a cheeky little thing aren't you?"
"Not on purpose."
"That's what makes it so charming," Maeve smiled.
Maeve cleared the table, while Elsie hobbled into the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes. They worked together remarkably well. Maeve learned the sad story about how Elsie had lost her parents when she was a young girl and grew up with foster parents, who had been nice enough. She hadn't had a horrible childhood, but once she aged out of the system, her foster parents had already moved onto another child. Fortunately, she'd received a full scholarship to college, including her room and had managed to find work tutoring and working at the dorm store at night, while still maintaining a 4.0 G.P.A, which allowed her to continue into her graduate studies.
Maeve had talked about her family moving from England when she was a teenager. She had fallen in with a group of friends who tended to call themselves anarchists and activists, but spent more time vandalizing and destroying innocent people's property instead of trying to make a difference. After being arrested for a third time, her parents had had enough. Her father was still a US citizen and was able to convince his bosses to transfer him back to the states. Maeve herself had been glad for the change. She'd grown tired of all the anger and violence she seemed to be constantly swept up in but had been unable to get out from under it on her own.
She'd done well in school and after her mother died during a botched surgery that should have been routine, Maeve had discovered her calling and she poured all her efforts into achieving that dream. She'd been happy for the next few years until her father remarried a much younger woman with a child and before Maeve knew it, she'd been effectively shut out of the family and left to fend for herself. She wasn't a naïve girl and it didn't take long for her to have a plan that would lead her to financing her dreams in the quickest amount of time possible and the day she turned eighteen, she headed to Nevada and the rest was history.
"So, do you ever hear from your father?"
Maeve snorted. "Not really. Occasionally I'll get a letter from him or his wife and daughter, subtly hinting that I owed it to them to have them come stay at my house or help pay their Sharon's education."
"You're kidding," Elsie replied, angry on Maeve's behalf.
"Not at all."
"You didn't, did you?"
"No. I told them I owed them nothing. I did say that perhaps a visit would be something we could arrange, but I wouldn't be paying for Sharon's education, now or ever. I haven't heard back from them."
"Wow, that is pretty shitty."
"Yes, well now you I understand when I say I'm very aware of when people are using me and that I know you're not one of them."
"Does ogling your body count against me?" Elsie grinned, wanting to lighten the mood once again. To her relief, Maeve laughed delightedly.
"No, my dear. Feel free to ogle as much as you'd like, provided you allow me the same courtesy."
For a moment, Elsie let herself imagine having Maeve ogling her and she nearly fainted, but then she remembered the cast on her leg.
"Yeah, I'm pretty irresistible," she laughed.
Maeve ran her eyes over Elsie in a very slow perusal, very much enjoying what she saw. She placed the plate she'd been drying on the counter and approached the other woman until she was backed up against the counter.
"Yeah, you are," she said quietly, gently moving Elsie's crutches and placing her hands on either side of Elsie's hips, effectively boxing her in, while holding her up.
"You think?" Elsie whispered, her heart speeding up at Maeve's closeness.
"Without a doubt," Maeve answered, just before kissing her once more. She kept the kiss gentle, knowing Elsie's balance was precarious at best. It was a true test of her restraint when Elsie's arms slid around her, but Maeve was nothing if not the master of control.
After a few delicious minutes of tasting Elsie's lips, Maeve moved her mouth to Elsie's jaw, kissing along the soft skin and then trailing down her throat, thrilling at the breathless little pants and whimpers.
"Maeve," Elsie moaned, hands clenching at Maeve's shirt.
Reluctantly, Maeve pulled away, after placing a gentle kiss on Elsie's chin. "Oh, Elsie, I would love nothing more than to finish this, but we need to wait until your cast is off."
"We don't have to," Elsie hated the whine in her voice, but it couldn't be helped.
"I know," Maeve told her, handing Elsie back her crutches. "However, when I make love with you the first time, I want it to be enjoyable for both of us, and I know that your cast is anything but."
"I... you're right," Elsie conceded. She knew that any pleasure she would have found with Maeve would have been overshadowed by the cumbersome cast and she didn't want that. "Just knowing you want me…I can wait," she said earnestly.
"And I do," Maeve promised, kissing Elsie on the cheek before stepping away. "Now, I'll finish up here. Do you want to go find a movie or something to watch?"
"Okay," Elsie agreed and started to walk away, but Maeve's warm fingers around her wrist stopped her.
"Elsie, I…thank you so much for tonight. I can't even begin to tell you how much it meant to me."
Elsie smiled. "I'm glad. I know it can't really erase what happened today, but if it helped make you feel a bit better…"
"It did make me feel better," Maeve said seriously. "You made me feel better."
"I'm glad," Elsie replied and then left the kitchen before she did something stupid like beg Maeve to kiss her again.