The Long Weekend - Day 02

DAY TWO: FINDING SANCTUARY

Yesterday (Saturday) Lindsay met Melina, a German model currently killing time over the Anzac Day long weekend in Melbourne. She agrees to take her on a guided tour of Melbourne and is attracted to the beautiful woman who loves other women. They are drawn closer together that night and Lindsay has her first lesbian experience. The following morning she awakes in Melina's hotel room and after breakfast offers to take her to Healesville Sanctuary and then back to her house so as she can spend the night in a real Australian house. Melina readily agrees but as the day progresses, Lindsay finds herself becoming increasingly attracted to Melina.

Lindsay woke that morning to a muffled voice in German followed by the clink of a metal spoon against a cup. The events of the previous day and night came back to her and she opened her eyes and then shut them again as the light hit her. Melina was talking on the phone to someone but the conversation was in German.

We slept together, she touched her inner thigh lightly.

And it felt good, she smiled and opened her eyes again and propped on her elbows. She was naked under the sheets but Melina was sitting on top of the sheet wearing a burgundy, satin dressing gown with some kind of Chinese motif in the form of a yellow dragon stitched into it. Her hair was still wet and Lindsay caught the aroma of body-wash. She had the phone beside her on the bed and a bluetooth earpiece in her ear, a laptop was balanced on her legs and seeing she was awake, Melina tapped her shoulder and pointed to a tray on wheels beside the bed. Lindsay's stomach growled as she looked at the selection of toast, jams and spreads, butter, a choice of cereals, freshly diced fruit, orange juice and coffee in a cafetiere.

As Lindsay eased over Melina's legs the German model pulled her knees up in front of her but kept talking as Lindsay perched on the edge of the bed and inspected the selection of food. The toast was not the same kind of bread she had at home, it had seeds in it. She spread strawberry jam on a slice of toast and picked up a piece of kiwi fruit and popped it in her mouth.

Melina was still talking on the phone but the conversation ended with, "danke, auf wiedersehen."

"Sorry," she rubbed her shoulder, "I had to make a call."

"That's cool," she replied, "I actually know those last three words, but it's your native language, so speak it whenever you want. I should learn another language, I've always admired people who can speak more than one language. Maybe I'll learn German?"

"I can teach you German if you like," she put the laptop beside her and crossed her legs, "I didn't know what you wanted for breakfast so I ordered a few extra things."

"It's more than I manage for breakfast in the morning."

"You do not eat big breakfasts?" Melina picked up a small box of cereal.

"I do like a big breakfast but it's a matter of conserving my finances. When Jenny was sharing the house I did eat bigger breakfasts but now she's moved out it's back to toast and butter."

"Then help yourself, if you want me to order a full breakfast I can do it."

"No that's fine, really. This is plenty but thanks."

Some twenty five minutes later, Lindsay finally collapsed back onto the bed and threw her arms out behind her.

"Fuck that was good," she stretched and spread her legs. Melina tickled her pubic hair and Lindsay looked at her and smirked, "what, fancy a bit of morning glory now?"

"I am fine, just seeing if you were awake, so, how was your first time with a woman?"

"Fucking delicious," she put a hand on her breast, "I've never had a man yet who could give me an orgasm but my first time with a woman and I felt like I was coming apart at the seams."

"So, you are thinking of changing sides?" Melina smiled at her.

"Definite possibility, although I do like the hardness of a man."

"A dildo is hard."

"Stop it," she propped on her elbows and looked down at the dark patch of hair between her legs, "unless you're going to use one on me."

She squinted at the skyscrapers and buildings outside.

"Shit they can probably see me like this, there could be some pervert out there with a zoom lens and I'll be on porn hub by lunchtime."

"The windows are darkened on the outside for privacy," Melina replied.

"So," Lindsay sat up and hugged her knees, "what're your plans for the day?"

"I wanted to go out walking, maybe I will go into Carlton for a coffee. What are you planning on doing? You are welcome to come along."

"I was going to head on home but coffee sounds nice even though the cup I had was pretty good and this hotel room is so fucking luxurious. I could just sit here all day."

"I hate hotel rooms," she replied, "it is different when you are in them all the time. I love just getting out and exploring. In some cities I have friends I stay with just to get out of the hotel."

Lindsay contemplated her options as she rocked back and forth.

She'd never say yes.

"Wanna stay at my joint tonight?"

"In," Melina's eyes lowered, "Ringwood?"

"East Ringwood actually but Ringwood is close enough. I mean Jenny's gone, there's fuck all to do there but," she frowned, "if we left now and hopped on the train we could take my car and go to Healesville."

"What is that?"

"It's a place, a country town on the outskirts of Melbourne. There's not much there except for the Sanctuary, it's a zoo for Australian animals, you can even walk into some of the enclosures."

"I want to see it," Melina's head hit the wall, "I said to a friend just before I left London that I wanted to see a kangaroo and a koala, but all I have seen are stuffed toy animals."

"So it's a goer," Lindsay smiled, "I mean you'd want to go."

"Ja," she looked at her, "I could call the car to take us there, to your house."

"And what about staying over?"

"That I would love, a night in a real Australian house, I will arrange the transport to your house and you can drive me to the Sanctuary."

"Okay," Lindsay turned her head and kissed her tenderly, "deal. Can I grab a shower?"

"That would be a good idea, I left a towel for you."

The shower refreshed her and some fifteen minutes later she got dressed and stepped out to find Melina sitting on the bed beside an overnight bag. She ran her eyes over the elegant white shirt tucked into black, skinny trousers that had intricate grey chains woven into them. The long black jacket matched her high heeled boots. She was on the phone to someone.

"Thank you, that is perfect," she ended the call and looked up.

"You look fantastic, I love those boots. Did you model them as well?"

"No, I bought these from Kurt Geiger."

She tugged at the jacket, "it is not going to be too hot?"

"Not really, it's warm but this doesn't feel too thick," Lindsay felt the soft weave, "I'll probably put on my jacket as well when we get home."

"Your phone beeped," Melina glanced over her shoulder, "the car will be ready in half an hour, the driver had to take another guest somewhere."

Lindsay read the message and chuckled.

"Is it from Jason?"

"No, my sister, Emma. Our car is on the blink. Can you pick Tony and I up for the barbie on Monday?"

"A barbie?"

"Barbecue," she started texting, "we have an Anzac day barbecue every year, it's a Cunningham tradition, Tony is her boyfriend."

"That's the image we have of Australia in Britain, a shrimp on the barbecue."

Lindsay burst out laughing. "I've been at hundreds of barbecues and I've never seen a shrimp on one yet. Paul Hogan has a lot to answer for."

She sent the text and waited for the reply, it came back some twenty seconds later.

"Great! Thanks babe! Is it just you or is Jason coming?"

She looked at Melina and smiled.

"Fancy a barbie on Monday?"

"A barbie," she said the word slowly, "okay, I should pack my bikini?"

"We haven't got a pool at mum's but feel free, it's too cold for bikinis though."

She tapped out another message.

Lindsay: No, he won't be coming, I'm bringing my new friend.

Emma: That's great! What's his name? And is he hot?"

Lindsay: Hotter than hell. Keep you in suspense, love you heaps.

Her phone beeped again and she frowned as she read the next message from an old friend, Lisa.

Lisa: Hiya, babe! Just rocked up to your house but you weren't home. I'm only in Melbourne until Tuesday then it's back to Sydney. Any chance of catching up?

Lindsay: Busy today but will text you maybe Monday arvo.

Lisa: No worries. Looking forward to it. Been so long.

She managed a half smile as she pictured Lisa and then the next message came through. It was a picture of Lisa with her arm around another woman and a message.

Don't we make a lovely couple? Her name is Roxy. By the way, I've come out, just to let you know in advance.

"Fuck me," she exhaled.

"What?" Melina looked up from her phone.

"My friend, Lisa has just come out, she held the phone out, "that's her with her girlfriend. She's down from Sydney and wants to catch up."

"Pretty woman," she squinted at the phone, "do you want to invite her as well?"

She laid back and stared at the ceiling. "no, we're friends but not best friends forever, I'll catch up with her Monday night, she flies back Tuesday. Jeezo, Lisa is the last person I'd expect to see turn gay."

"Why is that?"

"Lisa was a root rat."

"A what?"

"Root is a less offensive way of saying fuck. I'm not innocent, don't get me wrong, but Lisa had several on the go at once. She had them spread all over Melbourne. It was like she had a permanent circuit wired into her snatch."

"That explains it," Melina replied, "she probably got bored, it happens."

Lindsay: Congratulations!

Lisa: Thanks!

The next text was from Jason.

Jason: Morning, babe, wanna catch up today?

She didn't reply to that one.

Lindsay lived in a quiet shady street in East Ringwood a mere two or three minutes walk from the train station. The house had a small front yard and a bigger back yard and the interior was clean and well kept although the walls were bare of pictures.

"The landlord didn't want us putting holes in the walls," Lindsay led her through to the bedroom, "Jenny's room was there, she left the bed here thank God, I'd have a hell of a battle trying to find a tenant with a bed."

"Have you had any offers?"

"Just two guys and I'm just not into sharing with guys, unless it's a gay guy," she led her into the bedroom, "the last guy I had in here seemed to think he and I would just fall in love and use the same bedroom."

She opened her wardrobe, "I'll just get changed into something else, can you do us a favour and close the curtains? I don't want to put on a show for the old pervert across the road."

While Lindsay rifled through her clothes, Melina closed the curtains and sat down on the bed. A computer was sitting on a desk and she noticed printouts stuck to the wall, they looked like pages from a fashion catalogue and she rose and moved closer to inspect them.

"Oh, they're copies from my portfolio. I did a desktop publishing course a few years ago," Lindsay took down a blue denim shirt and a belt.

"You never mentioned that," Melina stroked her throat, "they're very good."

"It never went anywhere," Lindsay tossed the shirt onto the bed and moved to the drawers.

"You didn't like doing it?"

"On the contrary, I loved it. I was unemployed at the time and if I didn't want to lose benefits I had to do a course, I was lucky to get into it," she opened a drawer and took out a tee shirt.

"Is this all you did?"

"Oh there's heaps more on the computer. After the course I started doing it for myself, just practising layouts," she started unbuttoning her shirt, "I'll show you later if you want."

"I'd like to see it," she turned around and looked at the clothes on the bed, a moment later she walked to the wardrobe as Lindsay parted the shirt.

"Bet it's smaller than your wardrobe."

"That's because I'm a model," she flicked through her clothes, "fashion is my livelihood."

She lifted out a pink tunic emblazoned with a vee neck front and handed it to her, she then stepped over to the drawers and pulled out a pair of white jeans and laid them beside the tunic and cocked an eyebrow.

"Just a suggestion, and the belt would look good," her eyes moved to the wardrobe, "with those black sandals."

"Okay," Lindsay nodded, "I can see it."

"So I am sleeping here or the other room?"

"I was kinda hoping here," she smiled.

"Okay, where is your toilet?"

"Down the hall, second door."

While Melina was in the toilet Lindsay lifted the top of an ornamental turtle and took out a hundred dollars from the tiny amount left. It would cover the cost of entry and petrol. By the time Melina came back with her bag she was dressed and she did a little pose.

"Not exactly model material, I know."

"I disagree," she examined her, "do something with your hair and I could see it."

Healesville Sanctuary is located on the outer eastern fringes of Melbourne just outside the township itself and Melina was treated to something of a tour once they cleared Lilydale and headed into Coldstream.

"My ex boyfriend used to live there," she pointed to a side street, "we used to jump on the bike and head up the sticks for weekends. We went all over, Lake Eildon was our favourite because his mate had a boat and we'd go water skiing, but other times we'd go up to Licola or Benalla, we were away just about every weekend. One time we went all the way to Wyung," she looked across at her puzzled look.

"I'll show you on the map once we get there."

"What is up the sticks?"

"The countryside, or as we call it the bush. When Mark came over, I said let's go up the bush and he thought it meant this bush," she tapped her crotch. "I nearly pissed myself laughing."

"So what happened to your biker friend?"

"He and I broke up, stupid fight over his ex girlfriend when she moved back from Queensland. I was twenty one and thought I knew it all but they had a kid together and she wanted him to spend more time with the kid, which meant less time with me and more with her."

"Have you ever tried to get back with him?"

"No, I regretted Trevor, he's living with some woman out in Narbethong and the ex moved into his old house."

The conversation petered out a little as they entered Healesville and Lindsay glanced over.

"Not boring you with my chatter am I?"

"No, not at all, I am just enjoying the view. Are we nearly there?"

"Nearly, another ten minutes."

"We can take pictures there though? At the Sanctuary?"

"Yeah."

At the Sanctuary, Melina took a purse out of her handbag but Lindsay took out her purse instead and smiled.

"It's all right, my shout."

"Okay, "Melina put her purse back, "your shout."

"You're almost sounding like an Aussie," she grinned.

Australian animals hold a special fascination for foreigners and Melina was no different as they looked at kangaroos, emus, dingoes, wallabies and the platypus, which held her gaze for the better part of ten minutes.

"Beautiful."

Lindsay turned to the sound of the woman's voice as Melina put a hand on her shoulder. Two women stood nearby, one was quite tall and broad, the other more shapely and smaller, they were both holding hands and then Lindsay straightened up and felt Melina's light touch on her shoulder. The taller woman noticed them at that point and smiled but then turned back to the glass as her partner squeezed her hand.

"Look, one's come up for a look."

One platypus had broken the surface of the water and Melina looked over as Lindsay put her hand on top of Melina's to hold it there. They moved away a few moments later leaving the two women at the tank. Melina let her hand fall but then Lindsay took her hand and glanced over at her and was rewarded with a smile and a tightening of her hand in a small intimate gesture. She was aware the two women had seen them because she chanced a glance over their shoulders and one of them said something to the other.

It wasn't the first time she'd held hands in public with a girlfriend, but it was the first time she'd held hands in public with a lesbian and at first she felt slightly self conscious, but Melina didn't seem to care about the occasional second glance and soon they settled into an easy gait that continued until they left the Sanctuary and headed for the car.

"I have to get petrol on the way out and stop off at Chirnside on the way back home to get some food for next week."

"Okay," Melina released her hand as she opened the door, "I had a great time, thank you for bringing me up here. My friends will all be jealous now."

Lindsay made as if to step away and then on impulse, she stepped forward and putting her hand around Melina's neck, leaned forward and kissed her tenderly on the lips. They parted a moment later and the other woman smiled.

"And thank you for the kiss."

"No worries."

Lindsay felt a closeness to the woman as they left the Sanctuary and headed back. Melina's hand rested lightly on her leg all the way back to the sprawling retail complex of Chirnside Park but it was in the fruit and vegetable section that Melina made her move in an unexpected way.

As it happened, Lindsay's trolley was nearly empty and she'd put several items back when she saw the price and finally sighed and guided the trolley towards the bakery section.

"The price of food is getting worse."

Melina had one hand on the trolley and as they reached the edge of the fruit and vegetable section she brought the trolley to a halt.

"Be honest with me. You spent sixty five dollars on two tickets to the Sanctuary, plus thirty dollars on petrol today. Was that money supposed to go on food? Because the food you put back didn't even amount to half that money."

Lindsay blushed and looked away.

"No," she turned back to her, "it was money my mum gave me for Christmas. It was more but I had to dip into it for food and stuff, I've got money for food on my bankcard but I thought I could buy some fresh veggies to make you a decent meal."

Melina's eyes shifted as she looked past her. Lindsay tried to push the trolley but Melina pushed back and a strange smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Then turn this thing around and start pushing. I will buy the vegetables, and I would like some fruit as well," she fixed her with a steady gaze.

"Well?"

"Fine," Lindsay stepped back and turned the trolley around. Melina kept pace with her and before she could stop her, she was loading the trolley with fruit and vegetables. Not content with that she guided her trolley to the meat department and the bakery, and then they went up and down aisles and it was Melina who made the decisions. By the time they got to the checkout the trolley was full to the top and she swallowed as Melina handed over her credit card. She half expected it to be declined because her card would certainly have been rejected but the sale went through and the figure stuck in her head.

"Five hundred dollars, Jesus," she swore as she loaded the bags into the boot, "why did you do that? Not that I'm not grateful, I just thought you wanted fruit and veggies."

"Do you know what I did for the first six weeks I was in London?" Melina deposited a bag in the boot.

"I was so broke and living in a single room in someone's flat. I was trying to break into modelling but the competition is fierce, I had so little money for food and rent that when some guy offered to take nude pictures of me for a website I said yes," she picked up two more bags.

"I did it for six weeks, three times a week under a false name. I could have gone back home, my parents would have given me the money but I was determined to stick it out. I got lucky with an audition after six weeks and the money started rolling in," she handed her the last bag.