"You're late."
As she hangs up her coat, Virginia turns her head back to glance at a slightly irritated Dr. DePaul, sitting at her desk tapping her pencil impatiently.
"Oh. I'm sorry, the kids' father came by this morning to pick them up for the weekend, and I guess I just lost track of the time."
Virginia half smiles, hoping to ease the conversation away from her tardiness.
"We can't afford to have you come in almost an hour late when our study is nearly finished. We need to use all the time we have together wisely, so we can start compiling all of our data and research for our presentation to the board next week. We need every single minute, Virginia."
"You're absolutely correct, Lillian. I'm sorry I came in late, and I assure you that it will not happen again in the future."
Lillian looked at Virginia for a while longer, not entirely satisfied with the apology, and stands up with her clipboard.
"Let's start then. We have things to do. Come, let's go to the exam room and start making the packages for the PAP smear kit that we will be distributing."
Virginia watches Dr. DePaul as she makes her way out of their office and down the hallway. She grabs her clipboard and a pencil, and quickly follows behind. By the time she reaches the room, Virginia can see all of the items that Dr. DePaul has laid out, ready to be packaged into kits. She's already there, assembling them.
"Well stop staring, Virginia. Get to work."
Virginia places her clipboard on the table, and starts to assemble the kits next to Dr. DePaul.
After half of them have been fully assembled and ready to go, Virginia can't take the uncomfortable silence anymore.
"When is the last time you were intimate with someone?"
Lillian stops momentarily, stunned by the question, but it doesn't phase her as she quickly continues again.
"We are in a work environment, and even though you do conduct a sex study with Dr. Masters, it does not give you any right to ask me about my personal life. Especially my intimate relationships. We are partners in our study together at this hospital and our study is all we will talk about. It is inappropriate for someone like you, who does not know me at all, to ask me things like that. So please, in the future, refrain from asking me about - "
Lillian's defensive rambling was cut off as Virginia kissed her. After they broke apart, Virginia stayed close and whispered, "Sometimes, you need to know when to stop talking."
Lillian was flushed, her eyes closed and her hands shaking.
"Why did you do that?" she whispered under her breath.
Virginia realized what she had done and embarrassingly stuttered out a response.
"I- I don't know, I guess something came over me when you went on and on answering my question. I didn't really think it through and I'm sorry.."
"Do it again."
"What?"
Lillian took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and repeated herself.
"I want you to kiss me again."
Virginia, taken aback at first by her statement, slowly did as she was told.
She took a step forward, and kissed Lillian, this time with more a little more force. Virginia's hands dropped the medical supplies she was holding, and found her way to Lillian's sides. She walked them over to the counter, and pressed Lillian up against it. By the time they had parted, Lillian was breathing hard.
"Whenever I'm with you, Virginia, I feel like I can do anything," she breathed. She laughed at her own openness and looked at the ground, her cheeks red with arousal.
Virginia smiled at Lillian, and kissed her again. Halfway through, Virginia replied mid kiss in a sultry tone, "I've never done it on a counter before, doctor."
She started to unbutton the lab coat on Lillian, as her mouth left soft kisses down the side of her neck. She slid it off, and slowly began to unbutton her plain, blue blouse. As she took off the layers of clothing, Virginia noticed that Lillian was trembling with her eyes closed and lips red with anticipation.
"Are you ok?" she asked softly.
"Yes ... I'm fine - it's just, I never had someone touch me so gently ever before. And I can't even remember the last time I was so close to a human being."
Virginia's heart ached for the woman. She had never been intimate with anyone, and when she had been, no one had treated her very well. Who knows the last time she had been with someone, someone who cared for her, who kissed every freckle and touched every part of her skin.
Virginia kissed her again, this time softly, with all the love she had. She moved down on her body, slowly kissing each freckle, each crease, to make sure she knew she was loved. She slowly removed her long skirt, and let it fall to the ground beside her. Lillian was shivering, partly due to the cold air and partly because this was the first time in many years that she had been touched.
When Virginia opened her legs, Dr. DePaul drew in a sharp breath. She was unaccustomed to this, unfamiliar with the ways of sexual arousal and how to respond.
"Hey. Hey, it's going to be alright. Just relax, and I'll take care of the rest." Virginia's hands wandered over her body, as Lillian let her head fall back and rest on the wooden cabinets.
Virginia started kissing her, from between her breasts down until she reached her clitoris. She slowly ran her tongue over Lillian's vulva, tasting a woman who hadn't been touched in a long time. Lillian was loosening up as well, her hands found their way to Virginia's head, and she was slowly encouraging the woman as short gasps of air left her mouth. Virginia took two fingers and slowly slid them into her gently increasing her speed, with her mouth still circulating on Lillian's clit. Virginia was consistent in her ways of pleasuring, and soon Lillian's breaths became shorter and more erratic, until finally, she became undone. All those years of waiting, all the tension from work and years of staying cold and unapproachable finally unraveled around her, as her vision became overcome with stars and her sensations overwhelmed her. Before she opened her eyes again, she felt Virginia's lips on her mouth, slowly kissing her, and allowing her to taste herself. She held Virginia's head in her hands, reciprocating the kiss until she needed to breathe again.
Upon parting, she closed her eyes, and allowed her forehead to rest on Virginia's.
"Thank you. I- I really needed that. After all those years, I never wanted to feel this again, but now with you, it feels like I'm a different person."
She started to laugh lightly, and as her wondrous laughter filled the quiet room; tears filled her eyes.
Virginia looked into her eyes with love and adoration.
"Everyone needs to feel loved, Lillian. Even the ones who hardly let anyone in."