A Widow in the Wild

Tulip had been suspicious after the dinner with Julia's fiancé-now-husband. That was not to say that Tulip wasn't jealous, so she had tried to let it go. Julia had just looked so very uncomfortable every time he touched her. Maybe it was wedding jitters, though.

Tulip didn't think so. She had been to very many weddings, but most of the couples had been deliriously happy and barely able to keep their hands off each other. The wedding had been multiple degrees of awkwardness. Between the adult children and the fact that Julia seemed barely able to tolerate her groom.

And then Julia had started seeing her on the sly. Something about her husband not liking their friendship. Then again, they hadn't exactly just been friends. If Julia had told her husband, Tulip could understand his discomfort. Tulip had noticed her looking more and more tired. She'd swear Julia was losing weight. Julia had already been perfect the way she was. A very familiar perfume wafted by her office. Julia's striking face appeared at her door.

"Knock, knock."

Tulip smiled at her. Julia looked somehow worse. It had only been three days. Tulip gestured for her to come in. Julia came in, closed the door, and sat in her lap. "How's it going?"

Julia pressed her face into Tulip's chest. Tulip glanced down. Tulip wrapped her arms around the other woman. Julia just inhaled and exhaled. Tulip gently stroked her hair. "This was a mistake."

Tulip bit back the temptation to say 'I told you so.' It was beside the point right now. Julia sucked in another breath. "He wants me to quit my job. And more children. You'd think he'd be bloody done at five adult ones."

Tulip gently patted her on the back. Julia let out a huff. She let out a sigh. It was quiet for a bit. "Seems a bit excessive."

Julia giggled slightly at that. Tulip gently poked her and then put on her most innocent face. "Have you asked him if he has a related kink?"

Julia burst out laughing. Tulip smiled softly. The woman eventually stopped laughing and swiped at her eyes. "I think he would probably stroke at the word 'kink,' Tulip."

Tulip smirked slightly. Pfft. It was always the old farts that were into some weird shit. They usually just went outside the marriage for it. "Uh, huh. You know what they say about rich people."

Julia rolled her eyes. Tulip was grinning. Julia was giving her a grumpy look. "All he wants is missionary."

Tulip rolled her eyes. That sounded boring. She was smirking slightly. "Not even blowjobs?"

Julia's eye twitched. Tulip felt like bursting into giggles. She was trying to be sympathetic here, but it was kind of hilarious. "He says he hates oral sex of all kinds. Apparently, it's degrading to the person giving it."

Tulip just looked at Julia. Julia was giving her despairing looks. Tulip realized she was still smirking. "So, if the sex is boring, what's keeping you up at night?"

Julia let out a sigh. Tulip was just going to wait. It wasn't like that sort of thing could take all night. "The arguments."

Tulip nodded. Julia turned towards the clock. "Oh, no! I'm late!"

Tulip helped her up and to the door. Julia started primping as she prepared to leave Tulip's office. Julia adjusted her sleeves. Tulip's eyes fell on her arms as she slid her sleeves back over mottled yellowish greenish skin. She blinked.

Well, that was the final straw. She was going to rescue Julia. Julia swept out of the office and ran towards the elevator. Tulip had some planning to do. There was no reason to get caught committing murder. Tulip sighed and pulled out her laptop. Now, where was some pesky code that would take all night to run? A was for Alibi. She was sure Alan wouldn't question it. It was going to be a long night and she was aiming to get sent home the next morning.

Tulip had found the husband's place of residence easy enough. Full name and married to a fellow government worker. Tulip felt the gun weigh against her hip. She stalked towards the building with authority. This was the sort of place that would have a doorman. That would work to her advantage.

Tulip knocked on the door. The doorman opened it. "Hi, I'm Mr. Fendley's alternate night secretary. There's a bit of a work emer-"

Tulip was waved through. She continued up the stairs and towards the man's bedroom. Tulip heard voices and walked towards them. She heard a yelp followed by a scream.

Her heart began to pound. She raced down the hallway, uncaring of any noise she might be causing.

Tulip paused at the door where the sound came from and drew her firearm.

Three.

Two.

One.

Tulip broke into a run and burst into some sort of gallery room holding her gun.

Julia jumped and dropped her husband off the balcony before turning towards Tulip.

Tulip gasped for breath. "I came to rescue you."

Julia gave her a thoroughly amused look. Tulip glared as she holstered the gun. Well, at least she didn't need to commit murder. That was something at least. "I'm afraid I don't need rescuing. Thank you for coming, though."

Tulip closed the door and locked it. Julia grinned. She walked over to Tulip. Tulip pulled her into a hug. They stood there hugging for a bit and slowly pulled apart.

Julia looked at Tulip. She ran a hand up her arm. "Sooooo, since I'm technically widowed now, do you want to head to your office and-"

Tulip giggled a little bit. "The corpse isn't even cold yet, Julia."

Julia rolled her eyes. "And do you care?"

There was a pause. "Well, no."

Julia grabbed Tulip's hand. "Then let's go have sex in your office."

Tulip blinked. Well, this had been wild from start to finish. Tulip kind of liked it that way. She looked at Julia. "Why wait?"

Julia pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips met. Tulip pulled Julia against her as the woman began to frantically undo her buttons.

Fin

Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 285th work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection. We have an index of all the prompts used in this event so far and going forwards - join the discord to get access to the online index (and to take part in our events, chat about everything and anything, and meet a load of awesome people!