Beautiful (a story) revised

Butch. That’s what they called her. Only at work was she known by her real name. But even then, they addressed her only by her last name. She was Jr. Executive of Site Production Management at the company’s headquarters. Large name for what she did. She traveled and set up shop, so to speak. New call centers in different states, countries and languages. That was her specialty. Butch was also a lady-killer. She was fit, lean, cut. She wreaked of confidence, style and charm. She could have any woman and she knew it. Problem was, there was only one woman she wanted, the one that got away. Melinda.
Melinda McCarthy. Irish-Italian. Wavy, black hair, emerald green eyes and a killer smile. She had style, poise, beauty and horrible luck with women. She always seemed to attract the controlling, verbally & mentally (sometimes physically) abusive women. And for the past five years she had a secret crush on her roommate’s best friend, Butch. But she could never let herself fall for such a woman. She was a player, as her sister would have said. She had a different woman every week. But when she looked at Melinda, her heart skipped a beat, her legs felt weak and she felt like it was just the two of them in the room.
Melinda stood in the kitchen preparing yet another dinner for her and Sarah, her roommate of 5 years. Sarah never cooked, but she loved to clean house, which Melinda hated to do. So it worked well for them. Sarah was also a lesbian. Towering her by an easy 4 inches, she stood at 5’6”, hazel blue eyes and satin blonde steaming down to her mid-back. Hot was an understatement. But the two never took it to the next level. Sarah liked the soft-butch. Melinda liked more of the redneck, trucker look. Melinda was contemplating all this when she heard the door. She called for Sarah to grab the door before realizing she was still in the shower. She sighed and made her way to see who it could be. And there she stood. Butch. Melinda had to catch herself, as she stood there staring. Black boots, relaxed fitted black jeans, black men’s shirt that accentuated her curves and showed off her cut, muscular arms, stood the embodiment of lust and carnal passion all in one. “Are you going to keep staring or do you plan on letting me in? It’s a bit chilly out here”. Blushing, Melinda stood aside. Butch walked in, flashing her a smile. “Where’s Sarah?”, she asked, stepping into the kitchen to inspect the aroma that filtered the apartment. “Shower.” “Great, gives me just enough time to entice you into bed,” not once looking up from the pot she was peering into. As Melinda’s mouth opened just slightly, unknowing how to respond, she was caught off guard when Butch suddenly glanced up and winked at her. So, this is how she wants to play, huh? Two can play at this game, Melinda thought. “Never thought of you as a minute-man,” she responded coyly. The shock and laughter that followed was worth it. And that’s how their relationship took off.
A month later, at the company holiday dinner where Sarah and Melinda worked, Sarah showed up with Butch as her date. As an ex-employee, Butch knew many of the other employees there as well, so it wasn’t like people didn’t know who she was. Melinda had a date herself, a dyke with an ‘80’s mullet ‘do. She looked bored out of her mind and anxious to get laid. If she knew Melinda, she would understand it wasn’t going to happen until a few months into the relationship. She wasn’t easy. Her mother taught her that much. Throughout dinner, Butch kept glancing over at Melinda as Melinda consciously tried to not look at her, which made everyone realize the tension between the two. They had everyone believing they couldn’t stand each other, when in fact, the sexual tension was barely palpable for either one. Finally, Butch gave up. She bid goodnight to Sarah, as they had driven there separately, and told the others she had an early meeting the following day. Five minutes later, Melinda got up and told her date and the others she had to use the restroom. However in the hallway the two ran into each other. Words unspoken they followed each other into a coat closet.
The room was dark and small. But Melinda could smell and feel her partner in crime. This wasn’t like her. She never had spontaneous sex. She never snuck off to make out with anyone, not even in high school. She was a good girl. But here she was. Hiding. And it was thrilling, scary and her mind was dizzy with lust. She felt for her partner. She wrapped her fingers around the fine fabric covering the six pack stomach. Damn, what a turn-on! A hand cupped the back of her neck and the fingers weaved amongst her hair. Warm, soft lips brushed hers and their lips parted. Moist, warm, she fell into the kiss. Her hands slipped around the waist, clutching the back. Partly to keep herself from falling as her knees were weak from the passion that was enveloping her. The hand that was on the back of her neck was now down her leg, hiking it up, cupping her ass. The other hand had managed to make its way into her shirt, sending waves of ecstasy coursing through her body. How does she do this, thought Melinda. She didn’t care really. Their lips parted. Finally, she gasped for air, as if she’d been under water for hours. The other pair of lips found their way down her neck and found that sweet spot which assaulted her senses and created a wetness, which penetrated her silken underwear. Please, please, don’t stop there! Her pleading thoughts found words in her own fingers as they dug into the back she was holding on to dear life. And her partner obliged. Those soft lips moved down her neck, kissed her belly and traced a line to her panties. Those skillful hands found their way there as well as they executed their plan of attack. And another set of lips parted and welcomed those which moments ago had kissed her mouth. So this is what sex is all about? Never in her 36 years had she experienced anything quite like this. Wave after wave took over her senses. All time and matter vanished. She saw nothing, she heard nothing. But she felt strong arms embracing her, holding her, consoling her. This was bliss.
Moments later, outside the cold wind blew in every direction. Butch walked Melinda to her car, one hand on the small of her back as they remained in silence. Neither one willing to speak, so as not to lose the moment of what had just happened. Neither one looking at the other, not knowing how the other felt about what had just occurred. As they got to the car, Melinda stopped and turned to face her lover. Before she could utter a word, Butch just smiled and leaned in, “Hey beautiful, don’t forget your date upstairs”. And with that, she turned to her own car and drove away.
“But that’s not like you,” Sarah sat across the kitchen table in amazement, her cereal getting soggy as she listened to the recap of the previous night. “You’re the one with morals. You would never ditch anyone to go have sex with someone else. In fact, you’re the type who probably has never had sex anywhere but a bed.” How true, Melinda thought. Until last night, she was the good girl. But she didn’t want to play by the rules. She wanted Butch. But she couldn’t help who she was. Relationship material. Butch was a one-night stand. And Melinda wanted seconds.
Across town, in the luxury homes built for execs, sat a woman contemplating what had happened the night before. Sure, she’s had random sex with random women before. She’s had sex in all sorts of places. Bathrooms, cars, closets, locker rooms, you name it, she’s probably done it there. All one night stands. She didn’t believe in repeats. But last night was different. Last night she had sex with Melinda. Her best friend’s roommate. And Butch wanted seconds.
Days later, Melinda came home after an exhausting day at the office. The managers were on everybody’s asses and nothing anybody did made them happy. All she wanted was to come home, soak in a hot tub and go to bed early. Forget the day. As she walked in the apartment, she hit the answering machine as she flipped through the mail. Her mother called about her twin brothers’ football game at the local college, Sarah’s ex-girlfriend begging for forgiveness for the umpteenth time that week, a telemarketer, Butch asking her for a date, the dentist calling to confirm an appointment… Melinda dropped the mail. Did she hear that right? She backed the messages to Butch’s voice. There it was. She was asking Melinda out that night. She left her cell phone number, time and what to wear. She left out where. Melinda erased all the other messages and saved that one. She called and found herself shaking as she punched in the numbers. “Hey beautiful”, a smile crept up on Melinda’s face. They talked for the next thirty minutes. A quick shower, shave and 30 minutes later she was ready. She left a note for Sarah, told her she was out on a date and her cell phone would be turned off.
She walked into Harry’s an hour later. The only nice restaurant in town, with linen tablecloths and everyone dressed for a night out, it was a place of marriage proposals, impressing the bosses, or first dates for the upscale clientele. She scanned the room. She was a sight. From her Manolo Blahnik’s shoes to her Versace dress she bought without ever having had a place to wear it before, she stood out like a model in a redneck bar. Across the room she found the one for whom she dressed to impress. Butch was taken back by the beauty walking her way. Never had she seen someone with such class, poise and sex appeal make her way to her before. She stood and welcomed her date. The next hour was the best date either of them had ever been on. They talked the way old lovers and good friends would. They appealed to each other in ways no one else had managed to accomplish. After the dishes had been cleared, the wine glasses emptied, the two went on a walk around the block, not wanting the date to end but unwilling to be the first to make the move to further the relationship. Butch never took women back to her place. Melinda wasn’t ready to bring anyone back to her place, mainly due to wanting to keep Butch all to herself and if they went home and Sarah was there, they would have to reveal their budding relationship. But after another round of the block, Sarah vanished from her mind and she asked her date to her place. Like a pair of adolescent teenagers, the two were making out at her door moments later, not quite making it inside. In the dark, fumbling for keys, while never parting their lips, they stumbled in the door and chased each other down the hall to Melinda’s room. Butch walked in first, with her back to her date. Gazing out the window she contemplated where their relationship was going. She had never made it this far with any other woman. She was treading on foreign ground, she knew she was going to have to watch her step from here on out. Her thoughts were interrupted as a pair of hands made their way from her shoulder blades down her back and around her side to settle on her belt buckle. Butch glanced down, smiled to herself and all thoughts of watching her step vanished. Live for the moment. That was her philosophy. Besides, Melinda knows how I am, she thought. Why change?! She turned around, took her date’s face in her hands and kissed her long and hard.
Holy shit, Melinda thought. There they go again. Those hands drifted from her face and neck and moved to her back. Somehow the dress fell to her feet and she stood in just her thongs and heels as she had chosen not to wear a bra with her dress tonight. The two lovers started walking while still entwined in one another’s embrace toward the bed. Butch lifted her up off the ground, and with one knee on the bed, laid her lover up toward the top half as they parted their lips from one another, she leaned over her. What a beautiful woman, she thought to herself. She leaned in and kissed Melinda’s stomach, butterfly kissed up her torso, a few on each breast, all the while removing the high heels off Melinda with her hands before progressing further. Hearing the clunk on the floor, Melinda brought her own feet up and rested them on either side of Butch’s knees. Poised in missionary position, arms on both sides of Melinda, Butch gazed longingly into her lover’s eyes. “Are you sure?” Nod. “Let me know if at anytime you want to stop, I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.” Nod. Then out of nowhere, Melinda was handing her something. Glancing over, she couldn’t help but smile. There it was. A leather harness. And on the nightstand she saw something else. The latex counterpart. How had she missed this? “I bought them on my way to see you.” Sneaky, this quiet beauty knew we were having sex. As Butch smiled back at her, Melinda revealed she had never used one before, always had vanilla sex up till this moment. Butch agreed to be easy and take it slow. She disappeared into the bathroom across the hall and came back without her dinner jacket on. There, at the end of the bed, stood the soft butch, in her white tank top, black satin boxers she had on under her pants, and a hint of a bulge. Melinda grinned at the sight. Seconds later, they were back in missionary position. Slowly, passionately, they kissed. So as not to put her weight on Melinda, Butch held herself up above her, which made her biceps bulge a little. This turned on Melinda in ways she hadn’t expected. She had never been with anyone so fit, perfectly cut on all her muscles. Not overly muscular, just well defined. She traced her fingers over the curves on her lover‘s arms. Between this and the kisses, she was getting wetter by the second. Soon her fingers lingered to her lover’s waist and grabbed the tank top. Taking the cue, Butch moved her own body and her lover’s legs and slowly penetrated. Melinda gasped. She had never wanted a man before. Never understood why anyone would want intercourse. But at this precise moment, feeling this woman’s muscles moving as they made love, the tenderness in her kisses, the gentleness in the motions below, she understood how someone could want this with someone they wanted, someone they trusted. They made love for hours. Different positions, fast, slow, tender and loving. Melinda couldn’t get enough of her lover. She smelled of cologne and tasted of red wine. As for Butch, she had never wanted anyone so much. Melinda smelled of lavender and lilacs. She was dizzy with the ecstasy of making love to this beautiful woman. Both women were falling and neither of them realizing what it was they were feeling as neither had ever experienced it before.
The following morning, wrapped in each others arms, they found themselves filled with lust for one another and again made love. Melinda was so blissfully happy a tear escaped. Butch noticed and asked if she was in pain. No, just overwhelmed. Butch understood. After making love, she got up, got dressed and went to the living room where she ran into her best friend. Sarah looked up and grinned. “Welcome to the family.” Butch leaned over and gave her a kiss, as she always had when they saw one another. She stayed long enough to tell both ladies goodbye as she had to get home to work on the following day’s proposal. Melinda sat in silence next to her roommate on the couch, blissfully remembering the previous night.
The next six months the two ladies went out weekly, usually two or three times within that week. Both falling in love, neither able to admit it to themselves, much less the other party. Then one day Butch came over to give keys to Sarah as she always did when she was leaving town on business, when she propositioned Melinda to go with her this time. This stunned both Sarah and Melinda, as Butch never invited anyone on her trips. As she was about to go on vacation in a couple days, Melinda agreed, saying she’ll just meet her there. Butch agreed, told her where she was heading and told her to just show up at the airport, she’d have a ticket waiting there for her. When Melinda began to protest, as she didn’t like to feel she was taking advantage of her, Butch stopped her by saying she was going to put this down as a business expense. This seemed okay with Melinda. Well, as long as her job’s paying. In reality, Butch paid for everything. She made six figures. She just didn’t tell Melinda, who was very proud and independent.
Before going to Italy, Melinda stopped by her mother’s to tell her the good news. Melinda’s mother was a spitting image of Melinda. She was Italian descent and still kept in contact with the family back in Tuscany. When she heard her daughter was going to go to their home country, she couldn’t resist but write a list of names for her daughter to look up. She also contacted her family in Italy to tell them of her daughter’s arrival. Melinda wished her mother hadn’t done that. What if they didn’t make it out that way. She hadn’t even told Butch about her family. In the six months they dated, she had only told Butch of the family here in America. Her father, who left her mother and their four children when Melinda was sixteen. Her twin brothers, 5 years her junior, Philippe and Adrian. And her only sister, Jamie, 3 years her junior. All adored Butch. And that scared her.
Carry-on in one hand, her mother’s make-shift mini scrapbook about her Italian family in the other, which she had been reading on the plane, in the other hand, Butch thought Melinda was the hottest thing she’d ever seen. When their eyes met, everyone else in the airport seemed to disappear. They made their way to each other, kissed and walked toward the car that awaited them outside. They talked non-stop until they got back to the hotel. Having never flown overseas, Melinda was exhausted. She slept the rest of the day and throughout that night, which was fine as Butch had a couple meetings that day to wrap up the business in Italy. The rest of the week she booked for the sheer joy of spending with Melinda. The following morning, Melinda told about the Italian family she had in Tuscany. As they were in Rome, the drive wasn’t that far. Butch, who spoke fluent Italian, called the family herself and let them know they would be there in a few hours and she found them a room to stay in that night. They checked out of the hotel and set out for Tuscany.
They were greeted with open arms and hearts. Melinda saw family she hadn’t seen since her childhood, including her mother’s parents and siblings. The family accepted them, explaining in their village which is near Tuscany, they treat the more dominate one in a gay relationship as the man and the other as the woman. And while there, Butch hung out with the men in the piazza and bars as Melinda hung out with the women in the kitchen during the days, while nights they spent walking side by side along the paths of the vineyards, making love nightly by the glow of the moon in their room. A few times, Butch contemplated proposing to Melinda, making what they shared that week last the rest of their lives. A few times, Melinda knew what Butch was thinking, as she too felt it. But silently relieved the question never came up, as she wasn’t ready to give that much of a commitment. Perhaps it was the past relationships. Perhaps it was due to being in Italy felt like a dream. That the feelings wouldn’t last after they got back to America. So, both continued on, aware of the question which lingered over them, neither acknowledging its presence. And so their week in Italy was beautiful, romantic and filled them both up with unanswered questions.
It was the night before they were going back home. Melinda had packed most of their things already. She stood looking out their room’s only window. Butch came out from the shower and saw her standing in just a bra and matching underwear. She looked so beautiful in the moonlight. Walking up behind she wrapped her arms around Melinda. Feeling her lover behind her, Melinda sunk into those arms and just sighed, eyes closing. “I love you.” So quiet was it said, Melinda thought she imagined it. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked over and their eyes met. Neither had ever said it before. And Butch had never told another person those words, not since she was young and would tell her own mother. But this was new to both. Not knowing what to say, Melinda kissed her softly at first, then soon it turned more deeply, passionately. That night they made love like they would never see each other again. That night, Melinda cried.
The next day, having flown for hours, they stepped into Melinda’s apartment and were greeted by Sarah. They told her of their travels, the family they met and the museums and art galleries they saw throughout Rome, Florence and Tuscany.
That night, Butch passed out on the couch. Or so the ladies thought. Sarah looked at Melinda, knowing something was bothering her roommate. They looked over at the couch and Butch appeared to be sleeping. So, Melinda told her about the night before. How Butch said those three words. How they made love and it was different. And how she felt. She admitted to being scared, but that she said their relationship was going to fast, too serious. She wasn’t ready. She told her friend how she felt she was going to have to put the breaks on. She needed some space, time to think. She’s not denying her feelings. She also had to admit, she too, loved Butch. She just had never voiced it allowed.
The next day, Butch called Sarah. She sounded monotone. Sarah asked her what was going on. Butch told her about the conversation she just had with Melinda. And that is when she told Sarah she heard everything while on the couch. “You know when you’re partly asleep, like, you hear everything around you but you’re also almost asleep so not quite able to converse.” And that’s when she told Sarah they broke up. Melinda wanted space, felt the relationship was moving to fast.
The following month Butch went back to her old ways. Sleeping with various hot women at the nightclubs in town. Melinda found herself a new girlfriend, though both would occasionally eye one another in the clubs with sadness and longing, mixed with hurt and jealousy, as neither ever showed up alone.
One night, Butch saw Melinda with her girlfriend at the club. Feeling hurt and jealous, Butch went off with a blonde bombshell and had sex in the backroom of the bar. Sarah had taken off with some random girl she planned on having sex with that night. Melinda and her girlfriend got in a fight and her girlfriend stormed off and left her. Left behind, Melinda was stranded and Butch knew this. She offered her a ride and Melinda reluctantly accepted. The silence in the car ride back to the apartment was thick as molasses. Melinda invited her in, hoping they could talk, hoping to turn their awkward relationship into a possible friendship. Butch agreed. As they entered the apartment, Butch stood in the living room as she waited for Melinda, who went back to her room to change. From the living room, Butch heard voices in the back. She walked back, knowing Sarah wasn’t there. In the bedroom stood Melinda’s girlfriend and Melinda holding her face. As she glanced from one to the other, she assessed what had just occurred. She was about to say something when Melinda put up her arm, signaling her not to proceed further. The girlfriend started mouthing off, accusing Melinda of cheating and calling her all sorts of names. Smack! Another backhand across the face, same place. This time Melinda fell to the ground. This time she didn’t stop Butch. She didn’t look up, but heard the moans of her girlfriend as Butch proceeded to beat her up. When she finally did look up, Butch stood over her, offering a hand to stand up.