Unexplored Territory

Ellie waited until their host was out of earshot, then asked Audrey how long the she and Dorothy had been roommates.

"We were together almost four years," Audrey replied, her choice of words answering the question Ellie really wanted to ask, "but that was about ten years ago."

"It's nice that the two of you are still friends," Ellie said, her mind quickly doing the math as she realized that, back then, Audrey had just about been her age and Dorothy would've been close to the age Audrey was now. What she decided not to think about was that she herself had been only fifteen at the time.

"Being friends was never the problem," Audrey said, not elaborating on the reason they had broken up.

Ellie heard what Audrey said, but now found her mind more occupied by what Audrey had done during the brief exchange with Cassandra. As she had introducing Ellie, Audrey had placed her outstretched hand against her thinly covered back, in a way that could only be described as possessive. The touch of her palm against Ellie's flesh had been electric, and not something the younger woman would soon forget. She was also fairly certain that Audrey hadn't even been consciously aware that she was doing it at the time.

They spent a while longer at the exhibit, during which time Ellie made sure to get another, much longer look at the photograph that she now knew to be Audrey's. With the subject now identified, it was a lot easier to recognize the face that had already become so familiar.

Audrey insisted that they share a cab ride home as neither of them was dressed for mass transit. When they got to Ellie's building, Audrey asked if it would be okay if she walked her to the door. If not, she would understand.

Ellie didn't even take a moment to think about it before saying of course she could. Once they were in the foyer, Audrey again asked her if she'd had a good time.

"I had the best time," Ellie replied. "I really mean that."

"Then do you think you might like to go out again next week?" Audrey asked, her face close enough to Ellie's that she could see that familiar look in her eyes. "But before you answer, I want to answer your question from last week. This time, I don't want there to be any doubt that I'm asking you out on a date. So if you want to think about it a little I - "

Audrey didn't get the chance to finish because at that moment Ellie threw her arms around her and, pulling her body against hers, kissed her right on the mouth. It was not a kiss that could be mistaken as one that might be given to a sister or a close friend.

"I take it," Audrey said breathlessly once Ellie was done, "that would be a yes."

-=-=-=-=-

That had been seven days ago, and as Ellie glanced at her watch she saw that her work day would be over in just under an hour. Three hours after that, Audrey would be picking her up so they could go out to dinner.

"I can't remember the last time a week has been so long," Ellie thought to herself as she put away the samples that her last customer had tried. "Every day seems to have taken forever to go by."

Filled with excitement after the kiss she and Audrey had shared, Ellie had suggested that they go out the next day instead of the following Friday. After all, they still had the weekend before them. Unfortunately, Audrey said she had a family function to attend upstate, and while she would love for Ellie to come with her another time, it wasn't what she envisioned as a real "first date." Thinking about it a bit, Ellie had to agree and reluctantly said she would wait until Friday. The idea of blowing off school one night before that did occur to her, but died stillborn as she realized that would be the last thing a teacher would be happy with.

Also, in her exhilaration, Ellie had forgotten that she'd promised Carmen that she would have dinner with "la familia" on Saturday night. She could've backed out of it, of course, but not without a really good excuse. But then she would've felt guilty about having lied to Carmen.

When she'd showed up for dinner the next night, just a bit late because she misjudged how long it would take to stop at the liquor store to pick up a bottle of wine, Ellie discovered why Carmen had been so insistent that she come to dinner. When the older woman led her into the dining room, Ellie was surprised to find that, in addition to her husband, Juan, and her two sons, Juan Jr. and Martin, there was a rather handsome young man sitting next to the chair Ellie normally sat in when she visited.

As the oldest boy got up to make room for Ellie to pass, Carmen quickly introduced the young man as Wayne Richardson, their new neighbor, who was a recent transferee from his company's Boston office. As she took her seat, Ellie considered the odds of Carmen having invited both her and Wayne to dinner on the same night being only a coincidence to be roughly equal to those of the sun not coming up tomorrow morning.

Still, it wasn't his fault, and Ellie was sure to be as nice as she could be to him, even as she was just a bit embarrassed by the way Carmen was praising her charms. When it came time to clear the table and bring in coffee and dessert, their hostess was quick to suggest that Ellie help her in the kitchen.

In keeping with the manners that had been drummed into them since they could walk, the boys both offered to clear the table instead, only to be quickly told by their father to sit down and let the women take care of it. From past experience, Ellie knew that a statement like that would've normally gotten Juan a quick slap across the back of his head from his wife.

"So, what do you think of him?" Carmen said as she hit the on switch on the coffee machine, which was all that needed to be done, since the cakes were already laid out on the serving tray.

"He's nice," was all Ellie said.

"He's nice," Carmen said, "as in he's just nice, or he's nice, as in you'd like to find out just how nice."

"He's nice; there's not much more that I can say," Ellie replied.

"It's that prick David, isn't it?" Carmen said after a momentary pause, just a touch of anger in her tone. "I saw him skirting around your counter during the week. I told you he's yesterday's garbage."

"It's not David," Ellie answered, as she recalled that she was as surprised as anyone else when her ex-lover had unexpectedly shown up on the sales floor twice in the last few days.

"Then what's the problem?" Carmen asked. "Wayne is a good guy, and I'm not saying you have to start looking for china patterns, but it wouldn't hurt for you to have a little fun again. Sweetheart, no one should be alone when they don't have to be."

"Maybe I'm not as alone as you think I am," Ellie said with hesitation and a low voice that was almost hard for Carmen to hear.

"Are you seeing someone that I don't know about?" Carmen asked, her voice reflecting a mix of curiosity and slight resentment that her friend hadn't cared to confide in her.

"It's complicated," Ellie said, "quite complicated."

Carmen stared at her for a minute, and then told her to wait there in the kitchen and she would be right back. Ellie used the time it took for Carmen to bring the coffee and cake into the dining room to try and compose what she wanted to say. She was no closer to an answer when the older woman returned.

"I put the ball game on in the living room," Carmen announced. "The four of them will be occupied for at least the last few innings."

"Carmen, I don't know how to tell you this," Ellie said, the hesitancy in her voice still there, "and I think the reason is, because once I tell you I'm afraid that you might not be my friend anymore."

"Honey, that's never going to happen," Carmen insisted as the two of them both sat down at the kitchen table. "Now you just take a deep breath and tell me whatever you need to tell me."

"I'm seeing a woman," she said, so fast that the words almost ran all together. If she didn't force them out as quick as she could, she was sure she couldn't finish the sentence.

Carmen sat there in silence for what seemed like a very long time, but, if either of them was watching the second hand on the wall clock, they would've seen that only about twenty seconds had passed.

"Not exactly what I was expecting to hear," Carmen finally said, "but not the worst thing I might have imagined either."

Ellie let out an audible sigh of relief.

"So, do you want to tell me about her?" Carmen asked.

Tell her she did, starting with how they met at the coffee shop and every little detail after that. The places they'd gone to, the hours they'd spent texting and talking both in person and on the phone. All the while, Carmen just listened and didn't even nod her head.

"So you and her haven't..." she said when Ellie was done, her tone as neutral as she could make it.

"No, not yet," Ellie admitted. "In fact, our first real date is next week."

"What do you mean, your first real date?" Carmen asked. "Unless I've forgotten how to count, that would be your third at the least, fourth if you want to count the coffee shop."

"But those weren't really dates," Ellie offered.

"Really, then what where they?" Carmen inquired.

"They were...I mean, I wasn't sure if they were dates," Ellie explained.

"And what made them not dates?" Carmen further asked. "What made them different than when you went out with a guy?"

Ellie opened her mouth to answer, but then hesitated. The only answer that came to mind was that, if she'd been out with a man three or four times, it was pretty much a certainty that she'd at least have sucked his cock already, if not gone to bed with him. And yet all she and Audrey had shared so far was a single kiss. One that was mind blowing enough to have made her toes tingle, but still just a kiss.

"Honey, you don't have to answer," Carmen finally said, when it was obvious to her that her younger friend really couldn't articulate what it was that was different. "The bottom line is that, if this is what you really want, then I'm happy for you. That being said, can I offer one small bit of advice?"

"Of course," Ellie quickly answered.

"I think you were probably right to keep this to yourself up to now," Carmen said. "Well, maybe not the part about keeping it from me, but I can appreciate why you did. Not everyone is going to be as accepting."

Ellie was overjoyed that Carmen understood. Keeping it from her had been the hardest part of these last few weeks. The only other person whose opinion that mattered to her was her little sister. But Alice was a few thousand miles away on the west coast and not someone she had to deal with on an almost daily basis.

"Carmen, can I ask you something?" Ellie asked.

"Always and anything," came her reply.

"Have you ever..." Ellie said softly, "I mean, have you ever even thought about it?"

"No, not even once," Carmen replied. "I just love cock too much."

"Oh," Ellie said, having thought that might have been the reason Carmen had been so understanding.

"But my little sister, Maria," she laughed, "when we were young, all she ever wanted to do was play spin the bottle with the other girls." Carmen laughed again. "Now she does a lot more than play kissing games with them."

The image of Carmen's younger sister, who she'd only met once, popped into Ellie's head. With the image came the memory that, before they'd been introduced; she'd thought the twenty-nine old Hispanic woman was a teenage boy.

"Now let's get back inside, before the boys start wondering where we've gone off to," Carmen said as she started to get up. "Oh, and don't worry about Wayne; you were just at the top of my list. I still have a couple more nice young ladies that I can introduce him to."

-=-=-=-=-

"Wow, this mystery date of yours must be someone really special," Carol Murphy said as she watched Ellie check her appearance in the mirror that hung on the door of their shared bedroom.

"What makes you say that?" Ellie asked as she turned first one way, then the other, trying to make a decision about the dress.

"Because that's the fifth outfit that you've tried on in the last forty minutes," Carol laughed. "I've never seen you try on more than two in the last three years."

"Yeah, I guess special is the word," Ellie smiled, turning around all the way and asking Carol what she thought of this dress.

"I liked all five of them," she replied, "enough so that I'm already planning to borrow at least two of them, "but this one, this one is the best."

"Really?"

"Nah, I'm just saying that to get you out of here, because it's my turn to have the apartment to myself for the night," Carol laughed.

Ellie spun her head back over her shoulder, giving her roommate a mocking glance.

"Truthfully?" Carol said in a more, but not much more, serious tone. "As good as you look in that dress, I'm almost tempted to call Tony and tell him he can stay home tonight."

Ellie laughed, but the comment did make her wonder. Had Carol or either of the other girls ever been in her situation? As interesting as some of the secrets that came out during their occasional, alcohol-fueled truth or dare sessions were, that was a subject that had so far never been touched on. But that was a question for another night. Turning back to the mirror, she agreed with Carol - this was the one.

-=-=-=-=-

Audrey's instructions had been to wear something casual and not too restricting. That had certainly left out the outfit Ellie had worn to the photo exhibit. Nice as it had been, there had been times when she'd thought she'd burst out of it if she took too deep a breath.

The dress she'd finally decided on was one of the store's best sellers, and actually one she could've afforded even without the discount. Royal blue with short sleeves, it had a neckline low enough to give just a hint of her charms and a hemline that came to an end just above her knees. It was just tight enough to give a firm definition of the body beneath, yet flexible enough for her to have once actually gone bowling wearing it. That had been a now long forgotten boyfriend's idea of a special night. Around her neck she wore her grandmother's cameo, and a pair of her most comfortable black shoes and a matching bag completed the ensemble

She'd only been waiting outside a few minutes when a taxi cab pulled up along the curb. Before Ellie could lean down to see if this was her ride, the door swung open and Audrey climbed out.

"You look perfect," was the first thing she said as she moved closer and gave Ellie a perfectly respectable kiss on the cheek.

Ellie was relieved to see that her outfit complemented the one Audrey was wearing. A pleasant green shade, the material just about matched her eyes. The older woman was a bit more endowed, but the design accentuated more than displayed those attributes.

"Ready?" Audrey said as she motioned to the waiting open door.

As Ellie stepped past her, her curiosity got the better of her and she asked where they were going.

Not to give away too much too soon, Audrey just replied, "Not far," and then, as she climbed in after her asked, "You do like Italian, don't you?"

As Audrey closed the door behind her, Ellie replied in the affirmative, and, as if that was a signal, the taxi driver turned the cab out into traffic and they moved quickly down the street.

It turned out to be a short trip, no more than ten minutes, until they came to a stop on a street down on the lower west side. Glancing out the window, Ellie didn't recognize where they were, but then again this wasn't really a part of the city she regularly passed through.

On the way there, Ellie also hadn't paid much attention to the streets as they passed by, her attention more on the way Audrey was holding her hand and the not so respectable kiss the older woman had given her as soon as the taxi had pulled out into traffic. The kiss, and the fact that the driver didn't react to it in the least, both took Ellie by surprise. It had to have been visible in the rear view mirror. It wasn't until they were exiting the cab that she realize that the cabbie was in fact a middle aged woman, who gave them both a warm smile as she wished them a most enjoyable evening.

-=-=-=-=-

At first glance, Ellie thought the driver had dropped them off in the middle of nowhere. All the buildings around them looked deserted. It was only when the sound of a door opening and voices to her left drew her attention that she realized that the basement stairs must lead to the restaurant they were headed for. The set-up was sort of like that bar in a television show she had watched growing up, the one set in Boston. As Audrey led her to the stairs, from which another couple was emerging, Ellie now noticed a sign that read "D'Antonios, established 1918."

Holding her hand, Audrey walked Ellie down the stairs and into the vestibule, pausing for a moments to let their eyes adjust to the dimmer light. Once they did, the twenty-five year old felt like she'd been transported back to the year on the outside sign. The decor around her was a near perfect recreation of what the restaurant must have looked like the day it opened. There where a few practical changes, of course, electric lights instead of gaslight, but even those fixtures had been designed to look like the originals. In fact, the only modern aspect easily identified was the emergency lights over the door that the law required.

As they waited to be seated, Ellie looked beyond the front counter and saw that each of the opposing walls was lined with small booths, each with a semi-private partitions. Scattered between those rows were a number of small tables for two, each covered with a white tablecloth and illuminated by a glass enclosed candle. Only a few of the tables were occupied, but from her perspective it was impossible to tell if any of the booths were.

" Buona sera e benvenuto a D'Antonio," a middle aged woman, who looked as if she'd just stepped off a jar of spaghetti sauce, said as she stepped out from behind the counter.

Much to Ellie's surprise, Audrey answered the woman in Italian, at a pace that far outstripped what little she remembered from her own high school days. The conversation only lasted a few seconds, after which the hostess led them to one of the rear booths, one that afforded the most privacy.

As soon as they'd been seated, the older woman excused herself to greet another couple who had come in right after them. Ellie's limited language skills were just good enough for her to understand that before leaving she had said that their antipasto would be right out.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'd called ahead and pre-ordered for the both of us," Audrey said.

"No, not at all," Ellie said, although she normally hated it when someone did that. Tonight, however, more than one aspect of what she normally did had been tossed aside.

They made small talk for a few minutes, discussing how their respective weeks had gone, until they were interrupted by the appearance of their waitress. The girl was about Ellie's age, wearing a black skirt and a white peasant blouse. Even in the candlelight it was quite apparent that the well endowed brunette wasn't wearing anything under her top.

Placing a small dish of assortments in front of them, the waitress then poured a small measure of olive oil into a dish and set that next to a basket of still warm bread. Finally she poured two glasses of white wine before excusing herself.

"This is all so romantic," Ellie said, marveling how the candlelight reflected in Audrey's eyes.

"I was hoping you'd like it," Audrey replied.

"Like it?" Ellie gushed. "I love it."

They took a few minutes to sample the delicacies that had been set in front of them, with Ellie proclaiming each treat more delightful than the one before it.

"None of them are more delightful than you," Audrey said as she reached over and took Ellie's hand in hers, prompting the widest of smiles from the younger woman.