Make This Last Forever Pt. 03

"I'm sorry, Professor," said Dani apologetically. "I'm afraid I must decline. I'm here only under professional circumstances. I think my work stands for itself and will not require favoritism in order to be recognized."

"Excuse me?" Duana said as she pulled her dress back down and leaned forward in an enraged sort of disappointment.

"I am here only to ask for a recommendation," Dani reiterated. "I am confident my previous work in your course is exemplary enough to earn that."

"You will receive no such a recommendation from me," Duana fumed. "I always knew you were little more than a sad, pathetic slut who only slept with me to curry my favor. Any recommendation I would write would have to be brutally honest about my feelings for you."

Dani glared back at her former teacher and replied, "Well, then I must say that your behavior is highly unprofessional and unbecoming for a member of a higher institution of learning. Be glad I don't bring up your transgressions to the rest of the faculty and administration at this school."

Dani quickly gathered her portfolio together while Duana simpered and pouted. Dani stood up and said defiantly, "When I'm leaving you'd better take a good long look at these 'sweet buns' you love so much. Because you're never going to see them or me again."

Dani turned heel and left the office, wiggling her bottom teasingly for her audience before loudly slamming the door behind her. She smiled to herself when she overheard Duana screaming in fury and throwing objects around her office. A year ago Dani wouldn't have hesitated at all before licking Dumont's heels and her cunt but now she had found a better way. Dani might have sacrificed her only chance of getting into the graduate program but she had stayed true and refused to compromise herself. In a defeat she had found the greater victory.

26

For her third recommendation, Dani decided to ask the counselor she worked the most closely with at the rehab clinic to write a letter for her. Dani would never know this but the counselor shared quite frankly about Dani's struggles with addiction and how she overcame them. He wrote in great detail about Dani putting her life back together after losing everything and his words must have resonated with the board that reviewed the applications.

Dani had grown so used to bad things happening that she had come to expect the very worst in her life. So it came as quite a shock when she opened a letter from Withelby and discovered she had been accepted into the master's program.

Transitioning into becoming a full-time student again wasn't as difficult as Dani feared it would be. It mostly meant she had to cut back on her hours at the diner to focus more on her studies. Eventually Dani took a job in the university library and quit working at the restaurant altogether. Dani would remain eternally grateful for the compassion she received from the waitresses when she needed it the most. Dani made it a point to lunch at the diner at least once a week so she could catch up with her girls.

Dani devoted herself to school and earned straight A's every semester. Her professors were uniformly impressed with Dani's dedication to her studies and research and the strong writing displayed in her essays. One of Dani's teachers encouraged Dani to publish her work which got her thinking about someday writing a book.

Around this same time Dani's father reinitiated contact with his only daughter and begged her forgiveness for how she had been mistreated by her parents after Dani came out as gay. Dani visited Los Angeles to visit her father and hit it off immediately with Tom's fiancee Betsy. Dani still wasn't speaking to her mother except for phone calls on Pamela's birthday and on Mother's Day. Dani felt comforted that at least her relationship with her father had been restored.

For the first time in years, everything in Dani's life was going great. She had successfully recovered from alcohol and drug addiction without relapsing, she was kicking ass at school, she had plenty of money, she had made some new friends, and she had rebuilt her relationship with her father. But Dani had no one to share her life with. She was used to being on her own but had been that way so long now that existence felt terribly lonely. Dani got a rescue kitty for a pet which helped curb some of the loneliness. But Dani needed human interaction and a woman's touch to feel complete.

Dani hadn't had sex or even dated for almost two years by this point. Dani was no shrew, she still felt amorous desire pretty much all the time if she was being honest. It didn't help her cause seeing hot young college girls walking around campus in their skimpy clothes every day. Sure, she still got hit on and asked out on dates by women. But they only seemed interested in one thing and Dani realized what a slippery slope it was for her to seek out sex purely for pleasure's sake. That would surely lead her down the path to self-destruction again. Instead, for possibly the first time in her life Dani wanted a girlfriend.

Though Dani still masturbated once she could no longer ignore her desires she didn't pleasure herself with as great a frequency as she used to. Dani would read erotica while using her fingers or her vibrator to make herself come once or twice a week rather than the daily (sometimes hourly) masturbation habit she used to indulge. Brandi used to make fun of her for how many times she caught Dani stroking herself on Brandi's living room couch. Brandi encouraged the practice, telling Dani that she wanted her pet kept hot and wet for her owner at all times.

Dani shook her head to try and dispel the painful memories of her darkest days. She could never allow herself to travel down that path again. What Dani needed was an actual committed relationship instead of a one night stand. But where could she find that? Bars, nightclubs, and all the typical hookup spots were a no go on account of Dani's alcoholism. Her small circle of friends merely included the members of her support group, the waitresses at the diner she used to work at, and the few classmates and coworkers she interacted with outside of school.

Hooking up with one of the other recovering addicts in Dani's group seemed like a tremendously stupid idea. All the waitresses at the diner were straight as far as Dani knew. There was a time when claims of heterosexuality wouldn't have deterred her but Dani's days of seducing and turning innocent straight girls were probably over with. There might have been something possible with Gena but Dani's opportunity had already passed unfortunately. Dani's classmates were either too young, too old, too straight, or too spoken for. She really didn't want to date a coworker at the library in case the relationship went south. So where could Dani possibly find a long lasting relationship?

Dani finally bit the bullet and created a profile on a dating website. She couldn't help feeling amused remembering how easily she used to pick up girls. Now she had to resort to online dating like a scrub.

Whatever is gonna work, I guess, Dani thought. I've been alone long enough now that I'll try anything.

Dani chose a website that catered specifically to lesbian singles and sure enough she received several private messages on the first day after she signed up. Dani was still a beautiful young woman with a smile as bright as sunlight. It shouldn't have been this difficult to find a date.

Most of the propositions Dani received were merely thinly veiled requests for sex. Dani suspected some of the messages were even from men who had created fake profiles. A few of the messages seemed genuine but how to know for sure? Dani was feeling disillusioned with the entire process until she discovered Sandy's profile.

Sandy was six years older than Dani and lived in the same city. Sandy's profile picture showed a woman with a very short, dark curly haircut and a nose ring that stuck out prominently on her boyishly handsome face. Not exactly Dani's usual type but nevertheless she found herself drawn to Sandy's pretty green eyes and the kindness Dani perceived within them.

Dani had never been particularly discriminating when choosing sexual partners but she had only slept with a few butches. It wasn't that Dani was unattracted to masculine women, she just happened to prefer femmes like herself. But Dani found Sandy intriguing so she sent a direct message asking Sandy if she would like to meet for a date. Dani felt empowered acting as the initiator for once after so long without a date and she was delighted when Sandy sent her a message back saying she'd love to get coffee with Dani sometime soon.

Dani felt nervous as hell the whole day leading up to her date with Sandy. She worried she might throw up or suffer one of her regular panic attacks. Dani hadn't been on a date for years and years. A real date, not one where Dani was getting to paid to be an old lady's entertainment for the evening. She despaired over which outfits would be underdressed and which would be overdressed until she threw her original choice of clothing against her bed in frustration. Dani decided to dress simply and put on a pair of jeans, some flats, and a knit woolen sweater instead. She didn't need to impress anybody, anyway. Dani was looking for someone who would love her for who she really was, not because she looked sexy.

Dani walked to a coffee shop located only six blocks from her apartment and searched around for a woman resembling the one in Sandy's profile picture. After a minute, Dani noticed a darkhaired woman waving to her from a table in the back of the store. With those luminous green eyes, it was definitely the same woman though her appearance no longer matched her online photo. Sandy had grown her hair out long so that it reached down to her shoulders and she no longer had the nose ring. She was still a large, buff woman who worked out frequently by the looks of it. Sandy wore black jeans and a navy blue short-sleeve t-shirt that showed off her muscly biceps. Dani's eyes grew wide when she saw how large Sandy's arms were. She had been with larger women before but never one as strong-looking as Sandy was. Sandy also appeared to be quite busty though her t-shirt didn't emphasize that part of her physique very well. Dani went from thinking Sandy was a handsome woman based on her profile picture to thinking she was a real hottie in person.

Dani extended her hand to Sandy after she approached the sitting woman and gave her cutest smile as she introduced herself.

"Hi there!" Dani chirped. "I'm Dani Meadows!"

Sandy gulped loudly at the sight of Dani close-up and her hand trembled as she gripped Dani's hand in hers.

"Sandy Dennis," the brunette gruffly introduced.

Dani noticed Sandy didn't have a drink in front of her so she asked, "Can I grab you some coffee?"

"Of course not!" Sandy bellowed.

A stunned expression came over Dani's face. Okaaaay..., Dani thought warily.

"What I mean is, of course you don't need to get me anything," Sandy said quickly. "I'll get it for us. What do you want?"

"A cup of the dark roast would be just fine," Dani answered. "May I sit?"

"Of course, of course, of course," Sandy mumbled to herself in admonishment as she stood up and pulled out the chair on the opposite end of the table before gesturing for Dani to be seated.

Dani told Sandy 'thank you' and sat down while Sandy went to buy their drinks. When Sandy walked to the front counter to put in an order Dani turned in her seat and stared blatantly at Sandy's backside. The oblivious woman didn't even notice Dani looking. Sandy had a nice round bottom that her tight jeans could barely contain. Her shirt rode up above her waist just enough to reveal the lovely pale skin of Sandy's lower back. Though Sandy's bottom was quit large, her jeans outlined a muscled tautness to her buttocks that made Dani grit her teeth in a sudden flash of desire. This was exactly the kind of ass that Dani loved to press her cheeks to so she could rub her face all over the bulges of those lovely twin buttocks until her tongue found its way inside the crack where it could explore deeper and find the openings of her anus and pussy...

Stop that, Dani thought with annoyance. Not everything has to be about sex. It's time to have something more meaningful in your life.

Dani analyzed her initial impression of Sandy who seemed gruff and somewhat impolite. But Dani believed that impropriety might be due to nervousness since Sandy seemed like a very shy woman. Dani wondered when the last time was that Sandy had been on a date.

Dani's thoughts were interrupted when Sandy returned with their drinks. Sandy set a mug of steaming black coffee on the table in front of Dani and sat back down in her seat holding a hot cup of water that had a bag of tea leaves submerged in it. Dani put on her most pleasant smile and tried to make Sandy feel more comfortable.

"I almost didn't recognize you when I first came in," Dani remarked. "Your picture on the website looks so different."

"Yeah," Sandy said as her eyes darted about uncomfortably. "I haven't used that site or updated it for months. I was surprised when I got your message the other day. I had kinda given up on the whole thing, to be honest."

"Well I'm glad you didn't," Dani said. "I haven't dated in a long time and am desperately trying to get some romance back in my life. You are a lot prettier in person, by the way."

Sandy stared at Dani incredulously until her mouth slowly curved into a shy smile. She blushed and looked away from Dani shyly. It seemed to Dani that Sandy did not receive nearly enough compliments for her beauty and strength.

"So tell me about yourself," Dani requested.

Trying to draw answers to Dani's questions from Sandy was like pulling teeth. The replies Dani received were brief and to the point with no room for embellishment and no entry points for generating conversation.

"How old are you, Sandy?"

"Thirty-two."

"Where do you work?"

"Blackhead Oil Production."

"Interesting, what do you do there?"

"Drill for oil."

"What are your favorite hobbies?"

"Weightlifting."

"Have you been on many dates lately?"

"No."

"How's your tea?"

"Good."

Dani was trying, she really was. But Sandy was making this far too difficult. The woman behaved like she would rather be anywhere but here. Dani realized Sandy was a shy and awkward person but the irritation and frustration Dani felt finally got the best of her.

"Is there a problem, Sandy?" Dani asked sharply. "I really wanted to get to know you but you are acting like talking to me is the worst thing you've ever experienced. So what, is there something wrong with me? Because I can leave right now if that's what you want."

Sandy seemed agitated and she fidgeted in her seat with discomfort.

"Please don't go, Dani," Sandy finally pleaded in a voice that cracked with emotion. "It's just... I'm not good at this sort of thing. I can bark orders to my crew at work and banter with them when we play card at lunch just fine. But speaking to anyone outside of my job is a struggle. You're not making things easy for me, either."

Sandy turned and looked away again after finally speaking a sentence with more than four words in it. Dani reached across the table and laid her hand over Sandy's. She felt a thrilling sensation in her chest and invisible sparks started flying as she touched Sandy intimately for the first time. Based on the way Sandy's hand trembled, Dani suspected that her date experienced the same sensation. Dani gripped Sandy's fingers in hers and made purring sounds when she felt Sandy's finger stroking one of Dani's knuckles.

"Why am I making this hard for you?" Dani asked. "It's fine, you can be honest with me. I haven't dated in so long, I have no idea whether I'm doing something wrong."

Sandy gulped and said, "This is hard because you are the most beautiful girl I've ever been on a date with. By far. I just keep waiting to see how I'm going to blow this and ruin my shot, because that's what I do. Whenever I've found something good, I always fuck it up. From your tone, it sounds like it's too late and I already have."

Sandy turned red again and looked down at the table, embarrassed by her own admission. Dani's heart melted at how honest, sensitive, and caring Sandy was beneath her rough exterior. She squeezed Sandy's hand and worked her fingers between Sandy's so their hands were clasped together. Sandy looked up at Dani again, curious of Dani's intentions and hopeful that Dani would give her a second chance.

"That is such a sweet thing to say," Dani told Sandy earnestly. "You don't know how long it's been since I've heard something like that. Honestly, I think it's been years since someone actually called me beautiful."

Sandy's jaw dropped and she raised her voice when she spoke. "Are you kidding me? You are perfect! If I were with you I'd be telling you how amazing you look every hour of every day!"

Dani blushed at how emphatic Sandy's compliments were. Men and women usually only told Dani how sexy she looked or how badly they wanted to fuck her.

"You know, I think you're really pretty too, Sandy," said Dani.

"You really think so?" Sandy asked with surprise.

"I truly do," Dani answered. "I would never lie to you."

She really is quite stunning, Dani thought. This notion only grew in strength the longer Dani looked at Sandy. Sure, Sandy was rough around the edges and too hesitant to smile. But that made it so much more satisfying when Dani was able to coax a smirk from Sandy's very kissable lips. She had the loveliest green eyes that sparkled when the light shined on them just right and Dani wanted to twirl her fingers around and around in the rings of Sandy's dark, curly hair. It went without saying that Dani couldn't wait to glimpse Sandy's substantial posterior again.

Dani gave Sandy's hand another squeeze and told her, "You haven't fucked anything up, Sandy. Should we just start over fresh?"

Sandy revealed her secret smile to Dani and quietly replied, "I'd think I'd like that."

Dani shook Sandy's hand and jokingly reintroduced herself. "Dani Meadows, pleased to meet you."

Sandy laughed with delight and replied, "Charmed. My name is Sandy Dennis. My friends call me Sandy Dennis."

After Sandy and Dani recovered from their laughing fit they realized they had barely touched their drinks. They relaxed for the first time since Dani's arrival and spent the next couple hours sipping their coffee and tea while they conversed and got to know each other. Sandy told Dani about her job while Dani talked all about studying for her master's degree and working in the university library. Dani decided to leave out most of her history from the last few years. If she and Sandy grew close she would tell Sandy more about those times but she wasn't prepared to relive the pain from those dark days quite yet.

They kept talking until the coffee shop closed for the night and they were forced to leave. When they stepped outside, Sandy offered to walk Dani the few blocks back to her apartment and Dani accepted, grateful for the company and the chance to be with Sandy for longer. After they said their goodbyes outside Dani's apartment building, Sandy extended her palm to Dani for a departing handshake. Dani laughed and instead she pulled Sandy into a warm embrace that Sandy returned fiercely. Sandy gave Dani a squeeze and wrapped her arms even tighter around her. Dani felt so secure, so protected, so loved when enveloped in Sandy's long, muscled arms. She hadn't experienced physical contact like this in years and Dani hadn't fully realized until now how desperately she needed this kind of intimacy.

Dani nuzzled her head against Sandy's firm but very pleasant shoulder and before she knew it she was sobbing against it. Sandy glanced at her pretty blonde friend with surprise. This was the first time a girl had ever cried on Sandy's shoulder.