Lovely Lisa

"Oh! Excuse me!" She knelt to pick up the packages knocked from my arms by the force of our collision. "I'm so sorry! I'm in such a hurry, I forget to look where I'm going sometimes!" As I stooped beside her, I was overcome by the soft curve of her white neck as it disappeared into the cashmere sweater. The silky swoop of her hair as it fell to her shoulders. The scent of her body lotion. My heart raced.

Very beautiful women inspire these reactions in all men. But I'm not a man, and I'd never had feelings for a woman before.

"Oh, it's perfectly all right!" I said cheerfully, gathering the packages in my arms, smiling. She returned the smile. The deadening blue of the department store lighting didn't come close to killing the roses that bloomed in her cheeks. She looked so vivacious that everyone around her looked dead. With perfect grace, she rose and offered me her hand. I took it, and as I stood I was shocked that anyone's skin could be so smooth. "It's the holiday thing, you know. Run around like a crazy person, then spend all Christmas recovering!"

She laughed. "No kidding! Holidays are for fun for kids, but work for adults. I can take you right here."

My heart missed a beat, then I realized she meant she could check out my purchases. As she scanned the tags on the nightgown and spice rack (both gifts for my impossible aunt), she tilted her head, smiling inscrutably.

"You know, you have amazing hair," she smiled.

I touched my bangs self-consciously. "Thank you, but it's murder to try to fix in the morning. I blow it dry and pull it up and it still does whatever it feels like doing!"

"I'd kill to have hair like that!" she declared. "Wild hair - sexy hair... Mine's so fine that it's limp! It just lays on my head!"

"Oh no! Yours is absolutely lovely! In fact, I noticed it first thing!" Feeling I had said a little too much, I reached into my purse and pretended to fiddle with my wallet.

" Really? That's sweet. Total is $75.67. Will that be on your charge?"

"No, no. Cash," I replied, fishing out four twenties. Our hands touched as we exchanged the money. Something flickered across her face, and I wondered if she felt it, too. The click-clack of the register as it printed my receipt filled the silence as I tried to think of something to say, anything to keep me from walking away without ever seeing her again.

"And here's your receipt!" she smiled. I took it from her, thanked her, and walked away. Three steps away from the entrance to the rest of the mall, just as I gave up on the whole incident and tried to remember where I had parked my car, I heard a voice behind me. "Miss! Miss! Angela! Wait!" I turned to see her running crazily down the walkway, waving my credit card in one hand.

"Oh, thanks! You saved my life!!" I said as I took the plastic from her. "With everywhere I've been today, I never would've known where I lost that!" Thinking quickly, I added, "And for that, I owe you a lunch!"

She laughed. "Oh, please! It's nothing, really! You don't have to do that!"

"Oh no! I insist..."

"Well, if you're gonna force food on me, you should make it a dinner," she said, checking her watch. "I'm off in fifteen minutes, and I'm starving!"

"Dinner... that's perfect!" I exclaimed. "But you'll have to pick the place. I'm new in town, and I can barely find the freeway!"

She laughed. "Yeah, this city's a pain to get around, but it's great once you get to know it. Wonderful shops, and lots of good restaurants! You like Thai?"

"Yes, I love it!" I'd never tried Thai food, but I'd eat dog food if it allowed me to spend a few more minutes with this porcelain creation. "I'll meet you back here at, say 6?"

"It's a deal! My name's Lisa, by the way. Like you couldn't guess from the name tag!" she added hastily, realizing the silliness of introducing herself when her name was spelled out on her chest. "And you're Angela!"

"Yep, that's me!" I responded, annoyed with myself for not noticing her name tag, and for a moment confused about how she knew who I was. Then, I remembered that she had seen my credit card. "Nice to meet you!" I offered my hand.

"Same here," she replied with a smile, taking my hand. "See you in fifteen minutes!" She ran off down the walkway through Women's Fashions, the hem of her skirt lifted by her motion to show her toned, dainty legs. She was lovely - no other word fit her. Lovely Lisa.

For fifteen minutes, I wandered around the mall. What the hell was I doing? With her sweet face out of view, my thoughts grew clearer, more rational. A devout heterosexual, I had boyfriend after boyfriend since high school, never looking a another woman in this way, even in the showers after P.E. I had nothing against gays - I just never considered that lifestyle. Now, here I was, hitting on another woman. Was I bisexual? Was it just a strong reaction to an extremely beautiful woman? Was I acting out of loneliness? Two weeks had passed in my new apartment, yet it still didn't feel like home. Usually quick to adapt to new environments, I wondered if I would ever grow comfortable in this town.

Should I meet her? I asked myself. Would she even be there, or was her dinner suggestion made out of politeness, a date she had no intention of keeping? Relax, I finally told myself. Let's ride this out, see where it goes. My cat Nubby and cold leftover chicken waited for me at home. Both, I decided, could wait.

Miraculously, Lisa was at the entrance to the store as I walked up, wearing a jacket and carrying her purse. We decided that I would follow her to the restaurant in my car, rather than carpooling and having to backtrack to the mall. She led me deep into town, to a tiny eatery in a near-abandoned strip mall. I questioned the cleanliness of the place, with its dirty concrete exterior, but the inside was tidy, warm, and pleasant.

Following her lead, I tried an milky coconut soup, a salad with poppy seeds and ginger, and phad thai noodles - spicy, and complemented by cool bean sprouts. For dessert, we nibbled at cool bowls of a not-too-sweet red bean ice cream. The food nearly intoxicated me as much as the two Sapporos I allowed myself, but nothing thrilled me as much as the presence of Lisa herself. Sweet, spunky, and smart, she made an excellent conversational partner. Buzzed on the beer, I couldn't help but imagine where else she might make an excellent partner.

She grabbed my upper arm as we left the restaurant. "You can't drive. My place is just a couple blocks away - stay on my couch tonight, and you can get your car in the morning."

I looked around dubiously at the graffiti and ruin. "You sure it's safe?"

Lisa laughed. "Of course! This isn't a bad neighborhood - it's just a little old. You can bring your packages if it'd make you feel better."

We loaded my shopping bags into her trunk, and she took me to her small, but spacious apartment. She made a fire (well, she lit a Duraflame log, but we both decided that in California, where a winter cold of fifty degrees felt unbearable, a Duraflame fire was appropriate), and brought out a bottle of white wine. We slipped of our shoes and sat on the rug in front of the fireplace. My second glass of wine prompted my honesty, as wine tends to do.

"You know, you're really beautiful," I said, propping myself up on a throw pillow and looking her in the face. "I mean it. You really are."

She laughed a pretty laugh, and flipped her hair flirtatiously. "No, my dear, it's YOU who's the beautiful one. When I saw you in Housewares, I knew I had to meet you." She sipped her second glass of chardonnay. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, I ran into you on purpose."

This stunned me. "No! Really?"

She nodded her head slowly, obviously buzzed as well. "I swear," she replied. "I was so glad you got all silly and left your credit card. Otherwise I would've had to make some other lame excuse to come running after you."

"Wow! I had no idea!" I started to say something else, something about how I had also tried to think of a way to see her again, about how I too felt the attraction, but her lips on mine stopped any words. She leaned forward quickly, taking my chin in one hand and pressing her mouth to mine in the softest kiss I had ever received. I returned the favor, and her mouth opened to allow our tongues to gently sweep against one another. After a moment, we paused. I took another sip of wine. "You know, I've never kissed a girl before. That was the softest kiss I've ever felt."

She cupped my cheek, and laughed. "Well how about this one?" Her lips were once again on mine. Blood pulled to my face by the force of our contact, and I could see her face, also flushed, in the light of the fire. She pushed me onto my back, and pulled up my stretchy top to expose my bra. Kissing my neck, she undid the clasp and slid her satiny hands over my breasts and nipples. I gasped, overcome by the sensation as she kiss-sucked one nipple, then the other. My hands found her blouse, and quickly unfastened its front. I had never felt another woman's breasts before. As my fingers slid beneath her bra, my mind reeled at how unbelievably sexy her breasts looked as I squeezed them together. My chest muffled her moans as I fondled the soft, smooth fullness of her tits, the sharpness of her erect nipples.

She pulled my stretch pants down over my hips. My panties went with the pants; she passed them both over my ankles expertly. Her hands parted my legs. She dove swanlike between them. Her mouth kiss-licked the inside of my thigh, moving agonizingly slowly towards my crotch. Her lips found my clitoris. She pulled gently, tonguing it, as I writhed. Her tongue slid downwards, parting my pussy lips and slipping inside. She moved it in and out of me, manipulating my lips and clit with her lips as she moved. Never had it been so good; I came in record time, with an uncontrollable force that nearly hurt.

Incredibly turned on, I wanted more than anything to taste her. I grasped her ankle, and guided her till she hovered atop me, a knee on either side of my head. Her pussy looked lovely, of course - pink, with a perfectly proportioned clit. Wetness glistened deep within its folds. I spread it with my fingers, slipping one inside, savoring her slick warmth. She moaned into my crotch. I pulled her closer to my face. I took her clit in my mouth, rubbing it back and forth with my tongue, as I pushed another finger inside her. She moaned, her body whipping slightly up and down, as I fingered her. Wetting a finger from my other hand with her juices, I spread her ass cheeks and pushed it into her tiny anus. This was too much for her - she moaned loudly, her back arched, and her pussy dripped with her orgasm.

We cuddled in front of the fireplace for a bit without speaking, then she led me to her bed. I slept soundly, though we both awoke with mild hangovers. Never before - and never since - have a met a more gorgeous, exciting woman than my Lisa. With her guidance, I have acted out all my fantasies. We've done it all - sex in public, used various devices, even brought a man or two into the fun. Those stories, I promise, I will tell you another time.