9.9
They woke late Sunday morning tangled together in Miranda's bed. They had stayed up most of the night discovering each other. From sating their desire when it flared to simply lying together in the dark and sharing stories from their past. Andrea spoke about her first boyfriend growing up in the suburbs of Ohio.
She had been infatuated with him. He was senior when she was a freshman in high school. He was captain of the hockey team and the cutest boy at school. She talked about the times that she snuck out of her parents house to see him. even stealing her mother's car once to drive to visit him in the middle of the night. But even more than she remembered his face she remembered the fear she felt when her parents were standing in the driveway when she came back home. She laughed at her younger self, remembering all of the stupid things she did for love.
Andrea had never slept with another woman before Miranda. During their conversations in the dark, Miranda revealed that she had had a brief relationship with an Art professor when she was studying in Athens. The woman was a professor in the history of architecture and recently divorced from the president of an Ivy League university. She was rich, beautiful and whip smart. They drank fine wine and traveled the country side, even snorkeling to visit sunken relics. When the woman took her to bed it changed her life. No one had ever made her feel so much is such a short amount of time. That is until last night.
After that summer in Greece she went on to intern with a publication in Paris that would launch her career in the industry. She said it was one of the happiest times of her life.
"I never heard from her again" Miranda said with a hint of nostalgia in her voice.
It was nearly the afternoon before they got out of bed. They moved a few feet into the large master bathroom, to bathe together. Miranda's tub certainly had room for more than one. The water was deliciously warm and it soothed every ache in their bodies. The bubbles wrapped around their chests sitting in the water together. Miranda lathered Andrea's shoulders with a fragrant soap, filling their sense with the smell of fresh roses. The sensation was a new heaven on earth.
After they had pruned in the water, they got out and had a quick lunch. Miranda suggested that they go for a cruise around the island in her yacht. Andrea was thrilled; she had yet to do any sight-seeing in the city since she moved here. She's been too busy. She once took her dad to the top of the Empire State building when he visited last year but other than that, she had only taken the ferry to one of the surrounding Burrows.
Roy at the wheel, the small vessel broke the glassy surface of the Marina. They made their way out into the open river. The couple huddled together at the back of the boat and looked up at the Brooklyn Bridge as it passed over their heads. A ferry full of tourists floated passed them, their passengers waving enthusiastically, shouting their love to Miranda as a few recognized her striking silver hair. Miranda blew them a kiss and waved back with a smile splayed across her face.
The reflection of the dark blue water could be seen in the glass buildings as they cruised by. The Twin Towers reached into the heavens. They were both one hundred and ten floors high, making them the tallest buildings in the entire country. The sun was blindingly bright on their steel beams at this time of day that they were almost hard to look at. They marveled at the majesty of the concrete jungle in which they lived.
The air was getting cooler the farther out they got from Manhattan. They approached Liberty Island and gazed up at the towering green woman that stood there, her torch held high.
"This is much better than the ferry" Andrea said to Miranda, pulling her in to hold her close.
"Indeed" The older woman smiled
"Shall we go up?" She asked pointing to the crown of the statue just before Roy pulled the boat up to the dock.
Miranda hopped up onto the deck and tied the boat to the dock and offered her hand to Andrea. The woman was in her early fifties but she still moved with such feline grace that you would swear she hadn't aged passed her thirties. And god was she beautiful; her short hair tousled in the wind and her eyes a piercing blue in the early evening light.
Miranda gave a nod to Roy to let him know that he was to stay with the boat. She held onto Andrea's hand and they walked leisurely up the dock onto the island. There weren't many people there; the ferry was off in the distance carrying away the last visitors.
They walked inside of the base of the statue, and up the spiral staircase to her crown. An older couple shared the small platform with them. They looked out at their home that had only moments ago seemed impossibly large. When at this distance it seemed impossibly small. Like she could reach out and pluck it from the water.
After the old couple made their slow descent down the stairs, they were alone. Miranda stood behind her young lover and wrapped her arms around her front.
"I've got tickets to take the girls to Broadway tomorrow night. They've been begging to go for weeks and I really want you to come." Miranda said, her chin resting on Andrea's shoulder.
"Of course" She replied with a radiant smile, turning around to face the older woman, resting her forehead against hers.
"I'm so crazy about you, Andrea" Miranda confessed in a low voice, her hands wrapped around the nape of the girls' neck.
"How crazy" she teased. Giving her that look that she knew might get them into trouble.
Miranda pulled the girls lips to hers, and they moved slowly against each other for a moment. They almost forgot who or where they were until they heard someone ascending the staircase beneath them. They pulled away in a hurry and looked back out of the windows to their city across the water.
Back at the townhouse Miranda and Andrea sat across from each other, wine in hand, waiting for the girls to come home from their fathers in Brooklyn. They opened a few windows to let the cool September air carry into the house, hoping the fresh air would relax the tension they felt just being alone with each other. They sat in her kitchen, the sounds of the city singing through the windows, and their eyes staring wistfully at one another. It took all the strength inside of Miranda not to take the young woman right then and there.
The girls burst through the front door throwing their back packs on the table when they entered the room. They were both wearing matching yellow dresses, looking as cute as ever.
"Hello babies!" Miranda cooed as she wrapped her arms around the bright young redheads.
"How was your fathers' house?" She asked when she released them from her arms.
"It was okay" Cassidy answered, her eyes lowered.
"Dad had a big case in Jersey so we spent a lot of time with Maria." Cassidy sighed.
"She took us to the zoo in the Bronx!" Caroline added with a wide smile that revealed a few missing teeth.
"Yeah! We saw the elephants and a baby giraffe!" Cassidy chimed in with a goofy smile that matched her sisters.
"A baby giraffe! That's great, I'm glad you two had a good time at the zoo" Miranda smiled, trying to hide the anger she felt for her ex-husband. He never spent enough time with their daughters. He only had them 3 days out of the week; the least he could do was take them to the damn zoo for a couple of hours.
Miranda pulled the tickets for Broadway out of her pocket.
"We go tomorrow night" she said as she showed them to her girls.
Their tired faces lit up and they squealed with excitement.
"Are you happy now?" She chided as they wrapped their tiny arms around their mothers waist.
"Yes!" they both proclaimed "Thanks Mom!"
"Is Andy coming too?" They asked looking up at their mother and then at the young brunette sitting at the counter.
"I am!" Andrea beamed at the bouncing young girls.
Their smiles widened and they ran to share their hugs with Andrea too.
"All right, time for bed!" Miranda sang as she pushed her girls toward the stairs.
"Awe, Mom! Do we have to?" They pleaded in unison.
"Yes, It's a school night, girls. Now, move it!" Miranda said as she pointed to the stairs.
"Tomorrow is going to be awesome!" Cassidy said to her sister before they grabbed their backpacks and headed to their rooms.
Miranda smiled as she watched them climb the stairs, their little bodies crawling up each step.
"It is going to be wonderful" Miranda joked as she sauntered over to her woman and slid her arm around her waist. Without hesitation she pressed her lips against the young girls, knowing that she would have to leave her to go home for the night.
"I wish I could convince you to stay" Miranda groaned, pressing her lower body against her Andrea's.
"We have to work in the morning" Andrea breathed. "We wouldn't sleep a wink."
"Oh, fine!" Miranda huffed as she mustered up the strength to pull away.
"Stay with me tomorrow evening. You can lie in my bed all morning and then we can take the girls to the park when I'm finished with my meeting downtown"
"I like the sound of that" Andrea smiled, pressing her lips against her lover once more.
"Wonderful" Miranda hummed.