As soon as the two women came onto the beach, the full force of the warmth of the sun shone down on them, tempered by a nice gentle breeze from off the sea. The sunlight was a golden blinding presence, necessitating them to slip on their shades. All at once, it toned down the harshness and the golden reflections on the sea were more bearable. Both women felt up high with the thought of living in paradise and they slipped a free hand inside the other
"Shall we lie down here,"Simone asked politely at a spot on the inclined beach not too far from where the surf broke gently on the beach.
"Anywhere you say is fine," commented Annabelle cheerfully. Simone guessed that unearthing a very intimate confession as to how she'd been wrenched away from a happy moment in her life had paradoxically made her feel all the more strongly that she'd come home again. Annabelle had once told her that the Buddhist prayer beads she wore at St Theresa's and been given to her by her first love who'd been taken with her family to Europe but she's never pressed the younger woman further on the matter.
In her businesslike fashion, she laid the beach towels flat down for them both and smoothed them down with remarkable ease. Simone's amazement at her lover's domestic skills was way more visible on her face than she supposed
"Go on, Simone. I know you're thinking how is this teenage rebel such a natural hausfrau," the younger girls said in her teasing way, tossing her head back to emphasise her point. Simone simply dissolved into an attack of the giggles in a way that made Annabelle regret they were in public view. However, Simone restored the balance by fishing out the suntan lotion out of the holdall which they applied generously. They knew that this was the first time they'd both been in the sun for any length of time that year, however relatively late on in the season it was.
Soon they were lying flat on the beach, looking at the cloudless blue sky through sunshades and soothed by the utter peace and tranquillity except for the soothing rhythmic sounds of the waves breaking on the beach. The sun was a vast yellow orb hanging overhead, pulsing heat, light and energy on them both. Either side of them, the beach spread an infinity of distance and this was their kingdom. The soporific heat of the day slowed the chattering mind, intent on planning schedules, dividing the day up into segments and each was alone with her thoughts but feeling the presence of the other alongside. From time to time, they talked in desultory sentences and turned to look at each other. In Annabelle's eyes, her lover was almost impossibly long legged, her stomach flat, her bikini, a glorious expression of colour and form and her face peaceful and tranquil and blond hair nicely dishevelled. In Simone's eyes, the woman besides her looked incredibly relaxed, at peace with the world and with herself, strands of her dark hair fluttering slightly in the wind, a blissful smile on her face and her black bikini emphasised her natural curviness.
"It's so peaceful out here," murmured Annabelle."We're on a wide flat plain stretching into the distance and the ocean at our feet. I could fall asleep in paradise like this..."
"I can almost feel the sea spray on my feet. I can hear the waves breaking on the beach. It feels so close," Simone joined in, her soft mellow voice dreamy and hypnotic. All the sounds of the sea sounded so clear and distinct to both women while the sun warmed their skin
"Simone, I can feel my feet getting wet," suddenly yelled Annabelle in a sharp distinct voice as the fading rush of the wave on the beach caused the water to seep up the beach that bit further and wet her ankles. She looked down and saw that the tide had crawled up the beach right up to their feet and within inches of the holdall. The taller woman jumped to her feet with surprising speed and grabbing her beach towel made a dramatic lunge for the holdall. As the younger woman made to follow suit, she put her hands on her hips and suddenly burst out laughing at the very rare sight of the very cool, calm and collected Simone losing her dignity. The fair haired woman looked down at her footprints in the sand and, seeing how she'd must have flailed about in an ungainly fashion, joined in with her.
"Since we're relocating up the beach, let's have our picnic, I'm hungry,"Annabelle insisted a little while later.
"You're always hungry," jested Simone, giving her partner a friendly prod and a dazzling smile."You'll eat me out of house and home."
"Lots of sun, sea and sex. That's what's doing it for me," the younger woman replied carelessly and jauntily before letting a note of tenderness into her voice."Good living, home cooking and feeling loved really helps me. The last thing I'll ever be is an anorexic."
They brought out all the food and laid everything reverently on a spare towel as if it were the finest, polished mahogany table. The food tasted good as they ate it outside and cartons of fruit juice washed everything down nicely. Their space on the beach was their private space. Fairly soon, they demolished the food and packed everything away.
"Can you put some sun tan lotion on my back Simone?" Annabelle said with an innocent look on my face."I want to get brown all over."
"So long as you do the same for me. Only fair when you think about it," retorted Simone in her best insouciant manner. Strange muted feelings ran through them as they took it in turns to rub in sun tan lotion into each other's backs and shoulders. They felt a little constrained in not being able to touch each other in the way they liked to do in private. They felt that there was an invisible watcher somewhere in the cosmos but accepted that there were limits in public displays of affection that they had to live with. Soon they settled down on their stomachs, propping themselves up on their elbows and lay there, taking in the sight of all the beach houses lining the coast. They chatted awhile and felt the soothing heat settle them down into a comfortable, mellow feeling. The day seemed timeless, without any cares.
"Hey, do you two chicks want to have some some fun?"
"What the fuck?" Annabelle swore, being rudely shaken out of her reverie by these two guys. Her temper wasn't helped by feeling at a disadvantage as she turned around, feeling drained languid by the heat and blinded by the sudden sunlight from above while these two interlopers stood over them. The two sun-tanned guys with perfect looks, glossy teeth and winning ways had been strolling along the beach and had spotted these two good looking chicks sunbathing on their own from a long distance off. Everyone knew that that was the chick way of hanging around waiting to hook up with two lucky guys.
"Hey, don't take on like this. We are your new best friends. We've heard of a great party downtown and all it needs are two good looking girls like you to help make the scene. There's great food, great booze and fantastic friendly people to meet. We wouldn't invite just anyone but just the two of you you look so cute."
"Are you hitting on us? If you are, we don't want to know" challenged Annabelle fiercely.
"Hey, no big deal, we're only trying to be friendly. You need to be where the action is, man, don't you,"cajoled the other man.
"What do you mean, action?" interjected the blond haired woman in crisp precise tones unlike the cute giggle they had expected. The nearest Adonis couldn't help hopping from one foot to another. Beneath Annabelle's rage, a little part of her suspected that her darling lover was going to play English teacher. She recalled how Simone could brush off aggressive teenage bullies without so much as ruffling her blond locks and the dark-haired woman suspected that history would repeat itself.
"What action? I mean action, action,"the guy said, insisting for all his worth.
"First, you need to define your terms,"Simone said, feeling slightly muzzy from the heat but clicking automatically into gear."In what way is sunbathing not action?. There's the sun, the sea, the beauties of nature which we're tuning into even if you can't appreciate it. In what way is your incoherent description action? It's meaningless. If you ever came up with an essay written like this, I'd give it an F minus and tell you to rewrite it."
The man gaped down at this all-American blonde who was leaning her arm, giving him a good view of her boobs while she was reeling out this schoolmam stuff He felt as if he was right back there in elementary school and he hated it. He couldn't work out why these two chicks more interested in each other than them.
"So you're not interested?"
"We're lesbians, right,"Simone interjected, jumping right into the deep end."Why should we have the slightest interest in you two?"
"Two's company, four's a crowd. Beat it, jerks and go party by yourselves," added Annabelle at a punchier more basic street level.
The two men realised they were on a loser and slunk off, discomforted and moved on along the beach. As they went, Annabelle collapsed full length in loud, hysterical laughter. This was the funniest sight she'd ever seen in her life. A little while later, Simone was carried away by the younger woman's infectious mood. In a lightning flash, she considered all the upheavals in her life over the last few weeks, and then what does she do but pulls out a classic English stylistic dissertation out of her subconscious while all the time she was lying on the beach dressed in a skimpy bikini, next to her girlfriend while some unwanted hormonally inflated guy is staring at her breasts. It struck her as so magnificently absurd and something that said everything about her that had changed for the better.
"Oh wow,"Annabelle said, tears of laughter streaming down her face as soon as she had sucked in enough of a spasm of oxygen to make a response,"You are so amazing. I never thought when I've had some horny guy get the wrong idea to read him the riot act on his English composition. I was looking at the expression on the guy's face. It cracked me up as much as anything. It sure the hell worked."
" I can't get over being called a chick. That's a new experience for me," Simone said, grinning which set Annabelle off in fresh waves of laughter. The expression of offended dignity in her lover's voice was just too much.
"I tell you what. I feel fried by the sun and thirsty as hell. Let's get off the beach and get home. I think we're in danger of burning up."
Simone realised that her partner was right on all counts. They'd not slapped on any sun tan lotion for a bit and their skin was feeling a little tender. That was the sure warning of sunburn if they didn't act smartly and they could both do without any such obstacle to the free expression of their healthy desires.
Annabelle sprang to her feet and stretched out her arm for Simone to haul herself to her feet. She felt her hand being gripped and was pulled to her feet with surprising strength. Both felt a little wobbly after lying down in the heat for so long. Annabelle picked up their picnic basket with one hand and linked her arm with her lover's with her other. She was still grinning as she chattered away and they scrunched over the few high tide pebbles on the beach.
"I still can't get over the way you got rid of those guys. The only thing you didn't do is to point with your hand at those guys and say 'out' without breaking sweat. I so admired you when you used to do that."
"You did?" Simone said smiling affectionately at the jumble of memories that surfaced inside her. Amidst memories of emotional confusion and struggling with her identity, these sunny feelings rose up inside her."I was always conscious of you looking at me, as if you could see right through he."
"You always picked on the right one to punish," Annabelle smiled at her own memories."You were never on an authority trip like some teachers I remember," Annabelle said softly, nestling her head against the other woman's neck.
Both felt the familiar feel of walking on the decking and arriving at the front entry to the beach house. Annabelle felt a fierce sense of identity with where she was now living. In very short order, it had become the outward manifestation of her love for Simone. It was modest in size and every square inch mattered in terms of living space. Already, it wasn't easy to house the combined books, music and clothes but it was both artistic and homely. When she compared it with the grandiose luxury mansion she'd grown up in, there was no competition when she remembered the acres of immaculate carpets, cold pastel walls and furniture that she had to take great care of. It felt like growing up in a museum and it offended her natural spontaneity.
"Home once again," sang out Annabelle, with a nice serene end of the day feeling."Hey, Simone, I've never said that of anywhere else that I've lived."
"I've lived her on and off since I graduated,"came Simone's answer with a contented sigh as a stream of thought off the top of her head."While I was at St Theresa's it was like a paradise without any purpose. You've made it for me, darling."
She put down the holdall, took the younger woman gently in her arms and gave her a long and tender kiss. They made little satisfied noises as they gently pressed up against each other. This also gently erased the unpleasant memory of the two guys as easily as a blackboard wiper removing some obscene graffiti that some vandal had scrawled on their space. All there was left was a smooth blank surface for them to write their own dreams.
"I'll make us a cup of tea for a change," Simone volunteered impulsively."I'm in the mood for it."
The suggestion was greeted by a display of kindly, accepting tolerance that Simone saw as her lover's basic personality trait when she felt secure enough to feel so. A fleeting memory crossed her mind which lingered awhile until it was gone of the edginess of this troublesome schoolgirl whose bad reputation had preceded her. The Mother Immaculata had told her about Annabelle Tillman at some length from the information she'd had when they were in her study, the goldfish bowl containing tame fish content to nudge against the glass bowl peacefully enough. The Los Angeles Tribune front page had read 'Senator's daughter in trouble again' and featured her hand in the foreground trying to deflect the paparazzi's exploding flashbulb. The troublesome student's fair streaked hair would have framed an expression coldly antagonistic if it had been shot in focus. Her first impression of the new student had been those challenging, penetrating wary eyes, lined with eye-liner and ever watchful. Now she took in the beauty of this thoughtful, loving woman who was fresh faced, sun-tanned and whose undying loyalty would never fade away.
"I love you Annabelle," Simone said softly to the other woman who knew she was being lovingly studied in this glorious late afternoon.
"Living with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me darling," Annabelle said with infinite tenderness, gently draping her arms round her beloved and drawing her in.