Reunion

This is a longer story in which I wanted to spend time building my characters. This is my first submission, so constructive criticism is welcome. -Free

"Oh by the Gods it is hot." I thought to myself. Why in the world had I agreed to go camping at Juniper Springs in the middle of the Ocala National Forest in September? Because of her, that's why. Because of the woman that was sitting in front of the canoe that was lost in the sights and sounds around her. It had been almost twenty years since I had last seen her in person, and I lusted after her no less then as I do today. "Chloe, you have got to let it go woman" I told myself this for the tenth time today. I just didn't foresee this happening any time soon.

Emily was what one would call androgynous. To me she was my fey woman. I teasingly called her Tink. Maybe it was the cute dark blonde pixie cut, or the lovely angular lines of her face. It could have been those stunning Azul eyes, the long lean muscular lines that she worked so hard to upkeep, or that beautiful smile that makes my heart skip a beat every time I see it. I do not believe it was just one of those things. In my mind's eye, it was a combination of all of those that made her beautiful.

We were polar opposites when it came to physical appearance. I was taller by a couple of inches at 5 foot 6 inches, and that is the end of any remote similarity. While my Dad had wonderfully dark skin from his First Nations blood, my Mom was a white as white could be. That included the green eyes and blonde hair. I was not lucky enough to get my Dad's great colouring but I did get a nice olive skin tone that sunburned! Yup, the half Native had to hide under clothes and a hat. However, my Dad was kind enough to pass on his light brown eyes and brown hair that hung half way down my back. By the way, at thirty nine it still hadn't shown a hint of turning gray any time soon. I was also built not so much pixie-ish, but more like a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Except for the boobs that always got in the way. While Em was all lean rope muscle, I was given softer curves. I digress.

Emily and I had met while I was going to college in Pittsburgh. She grew up there, while I hailed from the east coast. It was fate that brought us together one night. I remember walking in to the college dive, the cigarette smoke almost unbearable, but I had heard the drinks were cheap, and no one checked ID. Perfect. I did not have to drive anywhere, and after midterms I really needed a drink.

While looking for an empty seat, yeah right (Friday, no ID required, and after midterms), I saw this lone girl taking up an entire booth by herself. Well, now is as good a time as any to make a few new friends. I strolled up to her table, and politely asked her if I could share the booth with her. She looked up at me, smiled, and that was it. I was a goner. I fell into her beautiful blue eyes, and stayed there. If felt as if a 747 had flown into my gut. I just wanted to grab her hand, pull her up against me, and make those beautiful bow-shaped lips mine. To show her with my tongue what it was I wanted to do to the more intimate parts of her. I felt both my breath and heart rate rise rapidly. And my nipples harden just from the thought alone. Wait, what? I wasn't gay. I had always found women a little attractive, but not to the point where they became my most intimate fantasy. Then again, maybe that's what I needed to tell myself. Shaking those feelings off, explaining them off as stress and lack of a sex life, I eased myself across from her and struck up a conversation.

We each stole little touches while we talked. I justified it as emphasizing our stories by touching an arm, bumping or accidentally rubbing our legs into each other, and anything else we could get away with while we talked. Still, that niggling feeling was just there under the surface. We sat and talked until the bartender had enough of us. Apparently, our budding friendship did not trump her need to get home. So, we decided that we would exchange phone numbers, and get together again in the future.

The next two years saw us hanging out between classes, studying in the same space for different degrees, going to hockey games, spending warm spring and summer days exploring the city, and just kicking back when we needed to. When school was over, I was asked to return home to help with the family business. I never thought I could miss one person so much. Nor did I imagine at the time that I would have fallen so hard for her. I mean, we both dated men, neither one of us was gay (well, that we would admit to ourselves), and neither one of us made a move on the other. Of course we threw innuendoes around, but so did all of the other college girls at the time. Only difference was is that I meant every word I said to her. I always wanted to ask if she had felt the same way, but never had the courage to do so. Some people would say I didn't love her enough. Not true. Being attracted to the same sex, even in a larger city, at the time was daunting at best. It was 1994, and still not something that one was overly open about. Let's also not forget that there are few cities larger than Pittsburgh in which Catholicism reigns supreme in the US. Perhaps if one of us had, I would not have regrets about never telling her how I felt, and our futures would have turned out differently. However, one must move forward or become stagnated in the past.

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Emily and I kept in touch via letters and phone calls in the beginning, but as we both got busier, our contact decreased to just periodically over the decades. There was no texting, unlimited long distance, email, etc. However, in come the computer age, and over the last year we began to reignite that bond. That bond began resembled more of a lovers bond than that of friends. It started out with shy playfulness, and coy innuendoes from both of us. I caught myself hoping that every notification my phone advised me of was her texting me or leaving me a message. I knew that I was starting to fall in love with her. No matter that our paths hadn't crossed in nearly twenty years. No matter that she was not here in person. That we had completely separate lives, that I had been dating someone for three years, etc. I am not even sure why I was still dating him. Comfort and security I suppose. We had more of a friend bond than a lover bond at this point. That bring us to how we came to this torturous journey into mosquitoville, population 6 million blood suckers and the two of us! It was her power of persuasion that had me acquiesce to her request. Or, maybe it was just my hope that she had harbored the same feelings as I had.

Since we both worked for different large corporations, her in business and I in medical, we agreed that a week away from our everyday lives would not only give us a much needed break, but allow us to have a girl's week in the woods. This suggestion came from the girl who had NEVER been camping. I was both looking forward to it, and dreading it at the same time. I was also trying to figure out how we agreed that camping in Florida in September was better than camping around Pittsburgh in September. However, I gave in as she had never seen the crystal clear springs of central Florida, and it would give us some time alone to get reacquainted. All completely innocent on my part.

We arrived at Juniper Springs state park early afternoon after picking up Emily from the small Punta Gorda airport. When we arrived, we asked the ranger if he would be willing to give us some place off the beaten path so that we could truly have a vacation. The ranger was quite willing to give us the most out of the way spot as it had quieted down since summer had passed. Since our spot was a short walk to the spring entrance, we decided to canoe the Run. While paddling along, Emily remarked how beautiful the water was. So as a tidbit of Florida information I informed her that this part of Florida was dotted with crystal clear springs. They maintained a temperature that stayed a cool seventy-two degrees. Whereas Emily thought this a great stroke of luck, I told her wasn't fond of "cold water".

"Cold? Really? Maybe you should be happy we did not camp up in western Pennsylvania! You would probably not even see seventy degree water!" Emily literally snorted from her laughter.

After a leisurely paddle along the Canoe Run we decided to head back to our spot and set up our temporary home. "Hey Chloe, do you want to grab the gear from your truck, and I will set up tent? Then when we're done we'll drag the canoe up to the site?" I looked up to see Emily standing on the bank of a quiet part of the spring we had requested.

"Sure, if you really want to deal with the tent, who am I to argue?" I asked. We both chuckled, and it took us a few moments longer than necessary to get stop looking at each other. Maybe she did feel something. However, I had no time to ponder as we needed to get set up before night began to fall. The mosquitoes were bad enough during the day. Dusk was just miserable. Even with bug spray. Fantasies of what I wanted to do to her body at that moment would just have to wait.

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"How in the hell am I going to spend a week alone in the woods with her? It's been damn near twenty years, and my feelings have not changed. Oh well, you are just going to have to." I looked up at a small noise to see Chloe watching me then quickly look elsewhere. "Maybe it isn't just my imagination." Emily had this internal argument with herself as she began laying out the pieces of the four person tent.

Emily continued to think about Chloe and her perfect olive skin, those slightly almond shaped eyes, and her beautiful curvy figure. Chloe had always carried a little extra padding, but for Emily it was in all the right places. She had broad shoulders, a whole lot more than a handful in the breast department, a tapered waist with, hips that flared back out, and quite the toned legs from the hours of hockey she played when not working. I know she was self-conscious about her stomach, but I could have cared less. She had lost a lot of weight when she was younger, and was just never able to tone that "pooch" back up. Again, I didn't even notice, her personality outshone whatever flaw she perceived. I also told her more than once that it was just us, and she could stop trying to hide her stomach. That it was just too hot for all of that. She used the sun as an excuse to keep herself covered from the waist up. She also had the most incredible curly brown hair with natural blonde and red highlights depending on how the sun hit it. Yes, she was definitely more Marilyn Monroe vs. Kate Moss, but that was fine by me. While I loved keeping my own body leaner and more muscular, I preferred my women to be soft and curvy. If there was one thing Chloe excelled at it was beautiful soft curves. We had never specifically spoken about each other's love interests, and while I screamed "stereo typical lesbian", I had never actually come out to Chloe. I had only come out of my own closet a decade or so ago. However, Chloe was not gay. She dated men exclusively, and that may be a problem. One I would just have to learn to deal with.

"We are just here to have a woman's week alone, to truly get way from all of the hustle and bustle of the corporate world." Emily admonished. "Oh yeah, you just keep telling yourself that you did not suggest this so you could spend time with alone with Chloe." She looked down and realized that her inner dialogue had distracted her so much that she had finished the tent. "Well, I could use that distraction more often."

Emily stood up and just soaked in her surroundings. There were large pine trees, palmetto bushes (according to Chloe the snakes preferred these ground coverings), and cabbage palms all around our shady campsite. That's not including the sand and pine needles all over everything. The crystal clear spring was like nothing she had ever seen. You could see all the way to the bottom, and she was not sure how deep that was. She was afraid of the alligators, but Chloe had assured her that they did not like the springs. Emily chuckled to her. She thought Chloe was lying, but she wasn't going to get her into that water any other way. She would just stay closer to the shore and be vigilant. She could see them coming in this crystal clear water, and people swam here all the time. If they could live with them every day here, then so could she for a week.

"Man it is hot here in central Florida. No, not hot, a verifiable steam room. No wonder Chloe had asked to camp up in Pittsburgh instead." Emily pulled her tank top away from her body to try to catch some of the breeze against her sweat soaked skin. She was not as blessed as Chloe in the boob department, so she decided that stripping to her bikini top would just be a more realistic option when it came to cooling off. Once she stood there in her cutoffs and bikini top she closed her eyes dreamt about that cold water.

Feeling as if daylight was wasting Emily decided to go and find Chloe. "If she's almost done, then maybe we can do for a dip in that spring."

"Ok, some kindling for getting those fires lit, wood to keep them lit, cooking equipment, the all-important coffee pot, and the cooler. Need to let Emily know that the cooler has to stay in the truck when we are not around. Or she may get to meet some bears. City girl would probably have a heart attack." Chloe's lips moved as talked to herself.

"Chloe, are you almost done?" She heard Emily ask from behind her.

"Yes ma'am I am. What do you want to do now?" She turned to get Emily's answer. Thankfully, she didn't have any other questions as she watched Emily coming at her.

"Why in the hell does her skin have to be covered in a fine sheet of sweat? Oh yes, because we are camping in FLORIDA. How could I possibly forget? Did she have to strip off her tank top?" Chloe felt some butterflies bumping into each other in her stomach. When Emily stopped she was probably a little closer than she would have expected. She looked so incredibly hot, on top of her amazing body Emily had an extensive amount of ink in different places. Even some she could not see under those shorts. "Oh man if only...." And Chloe's mind began to imagine what it would be like to kiss every one of those tattoos her friend was sporting. Including, both the inked necklace with a dragon's eye that stopped just above the cleavage she had with the bikini top she picked, and the Asian art that took up almost her entire right ribcage. They were amazing.

"Lord, help me keep my hands to myself." Emily thought to herself. She knew Chloe was staring at her ink. It's one of the little confessions Chloe shared with her over when they started video chatting. And Emily happily showed her ever tat she had that was in an "appropriate" area.

Chloe lifted her eyes to Emily's as she finally became cognizant of when she had stepped in front of her. She watched as Emily lifted her hand to her hair while stepping close enough to feel her warm breath on her own lips. Emily's fingers lightly brushed her temple causing Chloe's breath to hitch in her throat, and electrical pulses shoot right down to her nipples. This caused her to pull back just a bit from surprise while letting out a gasp. When Emily's hand came away she had a pine needle in her hair. Apparently, one must have gotten caught in her hair while she was hunting down kindling.

"I am sorry if I scared you Chloe." Emily quickly pulled her hand away so she could see the pine needle. She was having such a hard time not touching Chloe that she thought is a stroke of luck to see the pine needle entwined in Chloe's hair. Which was just as soft as she had imagined it would be.

"Not scared as much as just caught a little off guard. I thought...Well, never mind what I thought. What would you like to do before it starts to get dark?" Chloe hoped Emily would not ask her anything further about that moment.

While Emily caught what Chloe had said, she let it go for now. "Maybe I really did just scare her. Don't read into it Emily." "Feel up to a swim?" Man she hoped Chloe was, as she was soaked from their afternoon.

"Sounds great Em," Chloe blurted out a little too quickly. She was still trying to calm herself down from Emily being so close. "However, we cannot swim in this part of the campground. So, do you want to walk, canoe, or drive to the spring pool?"

"Well, since we do not have that much time left for today, why don't we drive? Tomorrow we can walk around the boardwalk path, and go from there. I have no desire to be on a schedule. This week is just about us hanging out." Was Emily assuring Chloe or herself?

"Sounds like a plan to me," and there was Chloe's smile. "Just let me go in the tent and change real quick."

"Sure love, I will wait here. I have bikini bottoms on under my shorts." Emily sent Chloe on her way while she thought of her smile. Emily had studied those lips during video chats. It was a little less obvious that way. Chloe's lips were a dark pink, her bottom lip a little bigger than her top, and one of her front teeth was just a little crooked. Emily didn't care, she found it adorable. She wanted nothing more than to taste those lips.

"Ok, I am good to go Emily. Do you mind driving? I am kind of tired" Chloe emerged out of the tent with a bikini top, tank top, and men's board short. Emily wrote herself a mental note to help Chloe come out of her shell a little bit. To convince her that it didn't matter what other people thought about her. That she needed to dress to be comfortable.

"Not a bit." Emily grabbed the door for Chloe while she got in, she then climbed into the driver's seat, and they were off.

"Woman, there is no way in hell I am getting into that ice cold water. If you even THINK about splashing me, you will pay when you finally get out. And you WILL have to get out." Chloe stood on the boardwalk next to the ladder entrance into the spring pool with a pout on her face. Emily just let out a belly laugh at her antics.

"Chloe, be real. It is seventy-two degrees in this water. This is NOT cold. You play ice hockey, on ICE for crying out loud. How much of a wimp did you turn in to living down here?" Emily goaded her on knowing that Chloe's temper would more than likely get the better of her.

"It's not going to work Emily, no matter how hard you try."

"Fine, sit there under that tree, and I will just swim all by my lonesome. It's just you and me. We have the ENTIRE spring pool to ourselves. You know, they may get some kind of mad rush in here tonight, and we won't have this opportunity again." Emily kept going on hoping Chloe would just give in. She wanted to see her enjoy herself. Plus, the view was definitely and added bonus for Emily.

"Oh for all that is holy woman, are you finished laying it on? If I get in will you knock off punishing me with the diatribe?" Chloe was standing on the dock that surround the spring at this point, and Emily didn't think she was above stomping her foot.

Emily responded with a, "well, maybe."

"What do you mean maybe?" Chloe looked not expecting that answer.

"Just get in Chloe. You're wasting daylight princess."

"Oh hell no, you did NOT just call me princess. That's it Emily your ass is mine" Chloe declared right before diving right toward the spot Emily had occupied seconds ago.

The women truly looked like children playing around in the spring. Between the splashing, chasing, dunking, and wrestling from a distance one would not have known any better. To anyone looking from a distance, it was just old friends having a good time.