Several hours later, delightfully blurry sensations set in which warped the sequence of events as to just how many rounds of drinks had been downed, and why the night sky was moving around in a gentle, sweeping orbit so the dim London streets were tilting in a strange fashion. Nikki just about caught hold of Helen as she staggered out of the taxi but the two women were brought up short against the low wall outside their house. Somehow, the flight of steps wasn't where she'd expected. She couldn't work out how the taxi was paid for. Snapping back to action as best she could, she fumbled for the house keys while Helen propped herself upright but knew she'd never be able to let them in.
"Hey Simone, can you let us in? I'm too pissed, I mean loaded?" she said in slurred tones.
The fair-haired woman walked towards their friends with an exaggerated feeling of fragile self- control, picked up the keys that wavered before her eyes, negotiated the extraordinarily difficult operation of opening the front door so she leant against the internal wall inside. Annabelle steadied her and they both seized the momentum to find themselves hanging onto their bedroom door handle.
"You out there, you guys. Are you OK," Simone called out in the general direction of her right.
"We're inside. Where there's a will, there's a way to get to bed," Nikki exclaimed breezily with a sense that her legs were less certain than her words. How to deal with a giggling pissed Helen was another question altogether. With a supreme effort, the four women achieved their final destination.
In another bedroom, utter quiet reigned as did the silent and empty dance floor beneath them. Trisha kept the sidelights dim and the intimate glow helped as she ran her fingers down the cheek of this woman who had popped out of nowhere. Their clothes were scattered loosely on the bedroom floor. This was the moment of decision for Lita as her fears might rush out from the unknown darkness and cause her to freak out. Trisha saw the other woman's body stiffen and read her mind.
"Don't worry babes. I'll look after you. Leave everything to me if you want to," she said with infinite tenderness. Lita exhaled her fears slowly. This was what she'd fantasized about and this blond haired woman looked terrific and was tender and loving. She lay down on the bed whose quilt was folded sideways and stretched out her arms. Smiling, Trisha lay down besides her and as they started kissing, she ran her fingers through her lover's hair and along her shoulders. Trisha could feel Lita relax and start to move against her in response and she knew that this very striking woman would be all right. It crossed her mind that after her dreadful experiences with that man whom she didn't want to name, this was a terrific compliment. A tear or two trickled down her face and Lita softly kissed her eyes one after the other. It was then that Trisha's hand travelled down the dark-haired woman's body and kissed her neck and shoulders and she felt a soft hand press against her own and guide her to where Trisha was increasingly wanted and desired. The two woman started murmuring sweet sounds to each other as everything was definitely going to be all right with Tina's first experience with another woman. What made Trisha feel especially good about them both was the way Lita was rapidly casting aside her initial nervousness.
Saturday morning's arrival was a mixed blessing for two connected households.
In the bedroom above the club, Trisha's eyelids blinked open and, lying on her back she stretched herself elegantly with a sense of well-being amongst the crumpled quilt, turning her head sideways to catch sight of her gorgeous lover lying on her side, a slight smile on her lips and her naked body half exposed. A moment later, her eyes flickered open and her smile broadened.
"Hello darling," she murmured,"I'm so glad I woke up but tell me last night wasn't a delicious fantasy. I couldn't cope it if was."
"Delicious yes but fantasy, definitely not babes," Trisha answered softly, softly kissing the other woman."We made love half the night 're the real thing, you'd better believe it."
"Why don't you convince me one more time darling? You know, just to make sure," came this delicious come on line with two outstretched welcoming arms. Trisha's breath was caught in her mouth.
"Anything for my girlfriend,"Trisha murmured, a wide foolish smile spreading across her face. Previous partners of the night weren't always so relaxed first thing in the morning so playing it cool was the last thing on Trisha's mind.
At another house, the double bed was strewn with a crumpled green dress, a white pair of trousers half inside out and dishevelled jacket thrown anyhow and two pairs of shoes in opposite ends of the room. A glimpse of a spare arm or leg protruded from the quilt. There was no signs of life and nothing moved for a couple of hours except the faint movement of the curtains and breathing from two crashed out bodies under the quilt.
Two and a half hours later, two very satisfied women emerged glowing from the shower, slipped on sleek white silk dressing gowns of doubtful modesty and set forth in search of toast and coffee to celebrate the wonders of the previous night and this splendid morning. Lita couldn't help noticing a certain restlessness in her lover's manner as she passed over her mug.
"There's something on your mind sweetie. I can tell it," she observed to Trisha who, after her initial moment of fluster, decided to tell all.
"We've had such a wonderful time together that I can't bear to keep it a secret so ….."
"You want to phone Nikki. Go on, I know you need to. I don't mind being boasted about. I can live with it," Lita retorted with a teasing grin and a gentle touch on the other woman's sleeve. Trisha smiled warmly at this woman's understanding and her humour which was such a turn on. She reached for her mobile, dialled the number and waited excitedly for the response. Surely Nikki must be up by now?
Simone was half clad in her red bra, pale blue jeans and bare feet and was on an errand for two large cold glasses of water when her attention was caught by a buzzing sound. It was a stray mobile left stranded on the table. She took pity on both it and the caller.
"Simone Bradley here," answered the cool, spacious tone down the line to Trisha's initial feelings of disappointment. She quickly figured out that she'd made Simone and Annabelle's acquaintance pretty fast and she was happy to share her feelings with either of them.
"Oh hi, Simone. Great to hear from you. You and Annabelle looked as if you both enjoyed yourselves. I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you as much as I wanted."
"We had a wonderful time, Trisha. We felt at home straightaway,"Simone said. Trisha glowed inside at this frank compliment but her errand demanded to be verbalised and she veered back into wanting Nik to be the first to be told..
"You don't mind me asking, is Nik around?"
"She left the phone in the living room. You saw how loaded she and Helen were as they left the club. Their bedroom's really quiet."
"Like in 'don't disturb, we've crashed out,' " chirped in Annabelle's cheery voice who, with true pioneer spirit, was up and dressed and ready for a new day. She slipped her arms round her lover's naked waist and kissed her back.
"It's of no matter but...," Trisha started to say hesitantly to begin with but all at once, a rush of words escaped from her mouth."I'm simply dying to tell someone and I like you guys. Lita and I are lovers."
"Hey, that's great news, Trisha. I'm so pleased for you," Simone exclaimed in her warm soothing voice while Annabelle, interrupting her kissing, cheered loudly. It made Trisha open up still more.
"Lita's so witty. She's intelligent and makes me feel good inside. Above all, she's mature and she's really beautiful."
Lita was thrilled by the fulsome way her lover spoke of her. Last night was the most incredible night of her existence and Trisha had inspired her to give of her best in ways she had never known existed within her. It was lovely to hear this amazing woman of hers say so and made her feel very physically demonstrative.
"Right now, Lita's touching the inside of my thighs. It comes of us only having dressing gowns on."
"Hey wow,"Simone exclaimed, her fertile imagination picturing the scene. Annabelle's own caresses were also working their own magic.
"We made love all night long or most of it. I still can't believe this is her first time with a woman. Tell you what, let the sleeping beauties lie in and ask Nikki to phone me back if she wants the lurid details. I really want to let them know myself."
"I will," promised Simone as her free hand took hold of her lover's expert fingers and eased it down the zip of her own jeans. The soft kisses planted on her neck and shoulders were beginning to drive her mad."I think Annabelle wants me for something. Gotta go," she added in an increasingly strained voice.
"I won't keep you," grinned Trisha, having a shrewd idea of what her very forward friend was up to behind the scenes and after she put the phone down, she spun round and kissed Lita furiously with pent up passion.
A nervous hand stretched out of a duvet and clutched a mobile phone as its owner screwed up her half-open eyes to check the time by the bedside clock. It registered half-past seven, an ungodly hour for her and her partner who was peacefully asleep besides her. She was doing mental arithmetic calculations as quickly as her fogged up mind allowed converting present time to what it would be halfway across the world. She had information to impart that had to be done but the question was timing and her own lack of energy. As she mulled the matter over, a sheet of paper lay in the corner, a product of alcohol and inspiration the night before. At the time, it's scrawled out words and melody made sense. She hoped that this still applied in the cold light of day. .
"You swine," Helen accused loudly with a suspicion of a grin on her face as she finally emerged barefoot from her bedroom at two in the afternoon, hair dishevelled, no makeup, wearing jeans and a coffee stained T-shirt. "You mean you let Nikki and I sleep in while Trisha regaled you and Simone with her lurid sexual exploits and let us sleep on."
"We haven't gotten life insurance. We knew you'd had a skinful and figured you'd be as scary as shit if we'd disturbed you," Annabelle retorted cheekily in a way which registered with an equally untidy Nikki who had silently crawled in.
"In any case, now you know, why don't you phone Trisha up right now. You know you both want to," teased Simone.
Sticking her tongue out rudely and briefly, Nikki grabbed the phone from the side and a broad smile soon spread over her face. She'd obviously got through to Trisha who was talking in detail while, in the background, her Lita lapped up the compliments.
It was now mid-afternoon and the four women were drinking coffee and eating toast and Marmite, a strange tangy spread that the two guests had got to like after finding it fierce to begin with. They were chatting comfortably over Trisha's good fortune while a wintry sunshine smiled at them through the living room window. Suddenly, Simone's mobile started bleeping and she answered without thinking. The three other women saw the expression on Simone's face change drastically.
"Of course Erin," Simone said softly as hers and Annabelle's responsibilities from over the waters caught up with her."Thanks ever so much for looking out for us."
"Hey, no problems," said the voice down the line with a kind of drawl in her voice she hadn't been used to recently."We're on our holidays and Diane and I have been getting into some home living, hanging out and having sex and so on."
"We'll watch out for the paparazzi when they descend on us," Simone said slowly, her heart skipping a beat at the thought of being attacked by sharks in human form, hungry for a piece of her and her lover."We've written a song and we've got a little present for you."
"That's really kind. We've got a new song as well," Erin volunteered cheerily to bolster up their friends' spirits. In her down to earth way, Annabelle was Annabelle and had fuck all to do with some fancy senator and was the natural partner of Simone and the fact that her fair haired friend was once a teacher only gave her a more interesting background. She knew only too well that there were narrow-minded jerks around who couldn't see beyond their own front door.
When Simone came off the phone, she felt weirdly disconnected. Annabelle felt it in her while Nikki and Helen knew with a pang of sorrow that their very dear friends had to leave soon.