The Empath Cycle: 2001 It Takes One - Book 2

"I'm sorry if I offended you. I just think you are a nice person and that it would be... That I could... I'm sorry, I'm not usually so forward, and I don't want to make you mad or anything, I only... You see..."

"Don't cry, Miss. Take a deep breath and let's start over. Hello, I my name is Claude. Would you like to sit down for a moment and talk or do you really want to run away screaming?"

With a sigh, the woman dropped on the chair.

"Was it so obvious? I don't know why, but I was terrified to speak to you as you must have noticed in class last week."

"That sort of came through, yes. I just thought you had a terminal case of shyness and I expected you to get over it eventually. But not as quickly and so spectacularly. Who was that woman behind the bar Friday evening? Do you have a doppelgänger?"

The woman's tinkling laugh sent chills down Claude's spine.

"No such thing. That was me. Only not me. Sorry, I'm not explaining very well, am I? When I'm behind a bar, it's like a game and the better I am at it, the more money I make in tips."

"Let me tell you that you're very good at it. You have incredible entregens and exceptional moves. You must be rolling in dough."

"Not really, but I saved my money since I started a little over a year ago and I work almost full-time to be able to afford my tuition and a room in the student dorm. Aside from that, I don't have many expenses. After buying all your reading suggestions, I mean. Which reminds me."

The woman dug in her knapsack and came out with a book she showed Claude.

"Here. Do you recognize this book?"

"Of course, it one of... Hey! It's mine. Or it used to be. I can't believe it's still making the rounds."

"Thought so. When I deciphered the stylized C and X on either side of the stem of the purple four leaf clover, I figured it might be yours."

"Yes, it's my mark. That book sure brings back fond memories. I hope it will help you as much as it did me."

"I'm sure it will and all the annotations too. You sure have a wicked sense of humor, Claude."

"Which reminds me, you haven't told me your name. I can't very call you 'Miss' or 'hey you' if we're going to be friends."

"I... Hum... You..."

"Not again. What did I say? Relax. Take a deep breath."

"Thanks. My name is Lucia Morgan and I would like very much to be your friend. I don't know why, but the first time I saw you, I got this feeling that I had to get to know you. Only as friends, you understand since you... well, you're... you know."

Claude laughed. "You can say it. Come on. It's just a word after all. Lessss..."

"Oh you, don't laugh at me. Lesbian. There. I can say it."

"Yes you can. You're a big girl now. Words can't hurt you."

"Yes they can, but I get your meaning. You know, I think I'll call you Genghis Khan or Khan for short. It's a fitting name for such a meanie, don't you think?" Lucia teased.

"See. You can give as good as you get, girlfriend. Never forget that, especially when you're around me, and you'll be fine. Think of it as playing the game like when you're working."

"That's a good idea. I'll try it. But I should let you work. You looked so busy." Lucia said gesturing at all the books on the large table."

"Oh, don't rush away on my account. I'm going nowhere with all that. I need to get my mind off the same old tracks anyway. Stay. Talk to me for a while. Did you finish your assignment? Why did you choose psychology in the first place?"

"That's easy. Basically, like many people, I suspect, I was looking for answers about my personal life and I fell in love with the subject. Then some psychologists came to the town where I lived to help people with the trauma after the mine collapsed and I saw how much they helped so I started reading about it and..."

She saw that she was talking to herself. Claude's eyes were glazed as her mind raced. Suddenly she stood up, rummaged through the books spread in front of her, flipped through one and made a notation on a pad. Then she raced to the huge cabinet containing the library catalogue, frantically opening one drawer after the other. Finding the one she was looking for, she flipped through the cards until she came to the right one and made another notation on her notepad before taking off at a run in the aisles.

Bemused, Lucia watched her go, chuckling at her expression of single-minded concentration, then elation. She was wondering whether she should stay or go when she heard a shout of triumph from the last row where Claude had disappeared.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a gentle hand rested on her shoulder, an enormous hand she saw. Looking up, and up, and up, she saw a gentle face looking down at her. She gulped, unsure what to do or say.

"I don't know what you said to her, but you sure shifted her brain in high gear. Don't worry, it's a good thing. She was stuck in a rut and she needed a boost. Here, let me look at you." He took her chin between thumb and index and tilted her head up. "Yep! Beautiful blue eyes. That's you. So, Miss, if you want to stay, I suggest you move to the end of the table to work on your own stuff so you're not in her way. She won't even know you're there until whatever inspiration she got takes firm root and she comes up for air."

"I can leave if you think it's better." Lucia said.

"There's no need and she'll want to thank you I'm sure. I would only ask one thing of you. I don't know what your intentions are toward her, but please be nice. She's in a vulnerable place right now and she doesn't need to be hurt again."

"But I... I'm not... I'm... I mean, I'm not a lesbian trying to hit on her. All I want is to be her friend."

"Good, she can use another friend. Here she comes. See? She's in her bubble. Wait her out and be there for her when she's ready. You'll see. She's worth it. I promise."

On those, words, he left a bewildered Lucia who watched her new friend stagger under an armful of reference books. Moving to the end of the table as had been suggested, she watched Claude stack the books she had previously consulted on the corner of the table and spread the new ones in front of her. She watched her skip from one to the other, searching through the table of content and flipping through it, making copious notes on a yellow legal pad, filling page after page.

Once in a while Claude would look up, scan around herself until she came to Lucia and smile at her before diving back into the book in front of her.

This went on for about an hour before Claude heaved a huge sigh and fell back in her chair with a satisfied smile.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Lucia asked softly.

"What? Oh! You're still there. Yes I did and thank you for your help. I couldn't have done it without you. Well, I could have, but you gave me a much needed jump start. I mean.... Aw, listen to me ramble. I need a coffee and some food. What about you?"

Lucia laughed. "Are you always like that when you work?"

"Yes... No... I mean... Like what?"

"You really don't know? Come on. Pack your stuff. I'll explain over dinner. If you like Thai. I found a good restaurant on St-Denis Street. I'm buying."

"If you mean La Belle Thaiïandaise on the Plateau, I'm game. They serve good Vietnamese food too."

"All right, then. Let's go."

Chapter 11

Over the next months, the two women became fast friends. Almost inseparable.

Lucia integrated easily in Claude's tight-knit group of friends and found that there were definite advantages for a first year student to have so many doctorate candidates ready to answer her questions or to guide her in her search for an answer when they felt the journey was worth more than the destination.

Thanks to their easy manner and common twisted sense of humor, she lost all trace of shyness, blossoming into a warm, wonderful, assertive woman.

This did not go unnoticed by the male population of the university and by mid-term, she was in popular demand. At first, she was flattered by this and what little time was available after her classes, school work and bartending, she devoted to dating. She quickly discovered though that the men who came calling were only interested in having sex with her, even more so when they discovered she was a virgin.

One evening, at a popular bar frequented mostly by students, she felt disoriented after only one drink and would have fallen if a nice man hadn't helped her. She giggled and acquiesced readily when he suggested they go to his place. He had almost successfully managed to get her to the door when he found an average size man in front of him, blocking his way.

"Get out of the way, four-eyes." He growled menacingly.

"You may go, but my friend stays here with us." The man calmly answered.

"She's my friend tonight and she wants to go with me, don't you, darling."

"Oh yes. I'm his friend." Lucia giggled.

"See? Now move over or I'll move you and you won't like it."

"I said she stays, but you'd better go. Whether you do so on two feet or in an ambulance is your choice."

"Why you..." That was all he had time to shout as he rushed Gaétan.

Still gigging, Lucia looked down to find Cherryl supporting her. "Hiya Squirt. You're my friend too. Did you meet my friend?" She asked as she searched for the nice man.

She didn't notice him on the ground, moaning in pain. Neither did she hear Gaétan tell the bouncer who had rushed over at the sight of the short one-sided fight that the asshole had drugged his friend and was trying to take her away to rape her and to throw the bum out before he got really angry. Since they were all well-known and well-liked regular customers, the would-be rapist had many more bruises and contusions by the time he flew out the door to land face first on the concrete sidewalk.

Gaétan and Cherryl brought the still giggling Lucia to their table. For the most part, she was incoherent and had little idea of where she was. She kept greeting them as she was just meeting them for the first time that night.

"This is bad. We need to do something. I'll take care of her while you go call Bear. He's probably sleeping, but he'll come over when you explain what happened and that we need a ride. Then and only then call Claude to tell her we're bringing the kid over. If you can avoid it, I strongly suggest you don't go into details over the phone. We'll fill her in when we get there."

"I know. It'll be bad enough. Aw shit! And her a barmaid. Didn't she know to watch her drink?"

"Come on, babe. You know how fast it can happen. It's not her fault. Now go make those calls."

In her rare moments of coherence, Lucia was feeling amorous. In fact, she was feeling downright horny and she did her level best to seduce Gaétan. When that didn't work, she turned to any man who came into her reduced field of vision, but Gaétan's dark look was enough to discourage them.

When Cherryl returned, Lucia had taken off her sweater and bra, to Gaétan's dismay as he tried without great success to wrap his coat over her.

Cherryl managed to calm their friend somewhat and to allow herself to be covered by hugging her and cooing softly.

Finally they heard shouting at the door. Looking over, Gaétan saw a highly agitated Claude trying to push through the two bouncers, shouting imprecations and vowing dire repercussions on anyone who had touched her friend. He looked at his girlfriend.

"Oops. My bad. Don't glare at me, buster. You know how she is. She forced it out of me."

"Ah, well, what's done is done. I'd better rush over before someone gets hurt. And I don't mean Claude." He sighed.

When she got to the table, she was weeping openly. She took Lucia in her arms and hugged her tight.

"My poor baby, who did this to you? I'll kill him."

"Hi Claude. I thought you were studying tonight, but you came anyway. You're such a good friend. I love you, you know. I never told you, but I do." Lucia giggled, then firmly wrapped her arms around Claude's neck and kissed her fervently, her tongue aggressively invading her friend's mouth, her naked breasts rubbing forcefully against hers. When the stunned woman pushed her gently away, she started crying. "You don't love me. I knew it. I'm not beautiful enough for you."

Claude desperately looked at her friends for help, but they were as lost as she was. Cherryl was holding her boyfriend's coat over the woman's exposed torso while he could only tell her that Andrew was on the way to give them a ride.

At that moment, said Andrew appeared in the doorway of the club. All he said was "Where is she?" One look at his face and the doormen, both men of impressive proportions themselves, pointed to his friends' table and got out of his way.

He took in the situation with one look and gently cradled Lucia in his arms, taking good care to keep her covered, and walked down the aisle that had opened, as if by magic, to the door.

Lucia rested her head on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Aw, Bear, it's so nice of you to join us. You're such a nice man. Do you want to make love to me? I'm a virgin, you know, and Andrew is such a meanie he won't even kiss me. And Claude doesn't love me. But I love her." She wailed. "Please make love to me, Andrew. I need someone to love me."

When they reached his car, illegally parked right in front of the bar, he gently wrapped her in a blanket and delicately deposited her in the back seat. He waited until Claude and Cherryl were seated on both sides of her before turning back toward the club. It took all of Gaétan's persuasion to hold him back, telling him that the would-be rapist was on his way to the hospital and that the bar would pay special attention to that kind of thing in the future. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the bouncers nodding vigorously.

Once Andrew was in the driver's seat, he turned to the two men and told them firmly that should they ever hear of another such incident happening in their establishment, he would return with his friend, his three big brothers and the full complement of his dojo to level the place.

Considering the ease with which he had inflicted so much damage on the man they had thrown out, they took him at his word.

"I can't take her to my place." Claude pleaded. "You saw what she did. She's going to rape me and you know how I feel about her."

"It's either that or we take her to the hospital where they'll ask her name and make all sorts of tests. There's going to be a record and she'll know what happened. This way, since she won't remember a thing anyway, we can convince her that she got drunk and that we brought her to your place so she wouldn't be sick alone without help if she needed it."

"I agree, but you and Cherryl have to stay with us at least until most of the drug is flushed out of her system. Please. I can't do it by myself."

"It's okay, Slim. We'll be there for the both of you. We wouldn't have it any other way." Cherryl assured her.

Lucia had been drowsing in the car, lulled by the rocking and the warmth of the blanket, but she woke up when Andrew lifted her with the intention of carrying her over.

"No, you big beast. Don't touch me. You don't love me. Only Claude loves me. I love you, Claude." She wailed as she reached for her friend.

She got so agitated that they feared the neighbors would call the police, so Claude relented and hugged her as she guided her toward the door.

"I knew it. You love me, Claude. I love you so much it hurts sometimes. Hey! This is your apartment. At last, you're going to make love to me. I'm a virgin, you know. It won't be the same, but you can pop my cherry anyway. Oh, I so want you to take me, Claude. I love you soooo much."

By the time they reached her door, Claude was crying openly. She couldn't do this. She had dreamed too often that her friend would say those words. She had masturbated too often fantasizing about making sweet love to her and now here she was offering her gorgeous body to her, telling her she loved her. But she was doing it under the influence of that awful drug and wouldn't remember a damned thing come morning.

They finally got her into the apartment. Claude sat her on the couch while they took off their coats and thanked Andrew for his help. When they saw his eyes open wide and his jaw drop, they turned to find Lucia standing in the middle of the living room, naked, one hand at her breasts, alternately pulling and pinching her hard nipples as if a gentle caress wasn't enough, the other furiously rubbing her clit.

"Make love to me, Claude! I can't take it anymore! I want you! I need you! Please! PLEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSE! OH! I'M COMING SO HARD, MY LOVE! TAKE ME! FUCK ME! AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Rushing over, Claude caught her before she fell as her knees buckled under the intensity of her orgasm. The heat flowing from the naked body in her arms set her senses on fire, the breasts pressed against hers through the thin fabric of her t-shirt, the hard nipples stroking hers without even a bra between them aroused her to no end as did the coveted vagina grinding on her thin sweat pants. But it was the smell on the fingers that were caressing her face tenderly, lovingly, and the look of desire only meant for her that did her in.

She buried her face in Lucia's neck and cried, her whole body wracked by spasms of agony as she held the love of her life tightly in her arms.

"Don't be sad, my love. I'll make love to you and the sadness will go away, then you'll make love to me and I won't be a virgin anymore, then we'll make love together and everything will be fine forever. I love you, Claude darling, my one and only love."

Cherryl took Gaétan's hand in hers and squeezed it. Reaching up she caressed his cheek, trying convey all her love in that simple gesture.

"Do you trust me, my love?"

"Need you ask? What do you have in mind?"

"I have an idea to get Claude out of her dilemma, but I need you to know that I love you with all my heart and for you to tell me that you love and trust me."

"I do, my love. I think I understand and I couldn't be prouder of you than I am at this moment, but before you do, I have a question for you too. Will you marry me?"

"Do you remember that night when I whispered in your ear that you were mine? We've been married since then. I was just waiting for you to realize it. Of course, I'll marry you. Now undress me and go sit in the park across the street with Claude. Take the afghan on the sofa so she won't freeze to death. Heck grab a bottle of wine in the kitchen and get her drunk."

"No, it'll only make matters worse. Open the window and whistle when you want us to come back up."

"I love you, you big lug. Take care of her. It's her only chance to come out of this still sane."

"I love you too, lady bug." He told her as he unbuttoned her blouse slowly. He continued exactly as he did when they made love, his eyes never leaving hers.

Cherryl molding her naked body behind Lucia distracted her enough to allow Gaétan to gently disengage Claude.