Jesse ©

She sat on the edge of her desk drumming the fingers of right hand with her left hand raised to her chin in the “thinking man” position contemplating 4 dresses she had hanging across the back of her cubicle. Standing up quickly, she whisked the dresses off the wall and in a manner more boyish then young woman, she strode off to the women’s restroom. Trace had to practically sprint to catch up to her.
“Jesse wait”, he called after her.

“What do you need Trace, I’m in a hurry”, she said leaning against the open restroom door showing her disdain for being kept from her mission.
“I need to talk to you”.

“Can’t it wait until I am done trying on these dresses?” she asked, impatience clearly in her voice as she stepped into the women’s restroom.

The door closed with an unceremonious dull thud. Trace blinked, staring at the now closed door, wondering what to do next.

“No” he said quietly.

“What did you say?” she asked. Loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that it would be considered shouting.

“I said NO” a little louder.

“Fine. Come in here and talk to me while I am trying these dresses on.”

You need to understand their relationship. He had never actually been her boss, but he had always been her superior. Jesse had never held great stock in the hierarchical way businesses ran. She treated everyone the same, whether they mopped the floors or were the CEO. Most people appreciated that and Trace was one. You could tell her anything in confidence and she would keep it that way. She despised game playing. Not that she was totally black and white, but there was definitely right and wrong in her world. They had been friends since shortly after they met four years ago. He tried to be stuffy and stiff and authoritative towards her and she was having none of that. She broke him down slowly until they had a friendship that suited them both.

In the beginning she had had what she referred to as “a little girl” crush on him. She had gotten over that and settled for the relationship they now had, totally platonic.

Trace hesitated slightly before walking into the women’s restroom. Closing his eyes as he slowly pushed the door open, he asked, “is anyone in here with you?”

“No. Don’t be silly. I wouldn’t have told you to come in here if there were other women in here”.

Opening his eyes he saw her standing there long and lean wearing a sleeveless gray form fitting dress. She walked up to him, turned her back to him exposing her bare back and reveling the fact that she had on a black lace bra.

“Zip please”, she said, more as a statement than actually asking him.

“Why are you trying these dresses on?” he asked a little puzzled by what was happening.

“I have a date tonight” was the matter of fact answer.

“Oh.” A little bit of jealousy rising up in him as he zipped up the dress.

She stood in front of the mirror turning from side to side, then stood facing the mirror, then turned to see her backside.
“No” she pronounced to no one in particular and walked back towards him again turning her back to him. “Unzip please”.

Trace obliged still trying to figure out why he was standing in the women’s bathroom zipping and unzipping dresses for her. She stepped into the handicap stall and slipped off the gray dress.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked as she stepped into view wearing only her black bra and satin boyshort panties.

Trace immediately averted his eyes to the ground trying hard to resist the temptation of looking at her. Jesse picked up on that immediately.

“Wow, didn’t know you were such a gentleman” she said teasingly. “It’s not like you’ve never seen a woman in her bra and panties before”.

“Umm, I’ve never seen you in them.” He wanted to kick himself for saying something so lame.

He was usually so smooth, sophisticated and debonair, but she had a way of leaving him not knowing what he had agreed to or even which end was up.

She stood smiling at him. Looking so sweet and innocent, standing there in nothing but her bra and panties. She whipped around, strode back into the stall and grabbed the next dress. Slipping it on she stepped out of the stall and again turned her back towards him. “Zip please”.

She repeated the process of standing in front of the mirror turning from side to side, staring at her own reflection from the front, then from the back.

“No.” she pronounced. Walking back to Trace she turned her back to him, “unzip please”. As she again walked back to the stall she said, “You never did tell me why you needed to talk to me.”

“Who are you going out with?”

“That is NOT what you came here to talk to me about. Stop changing the subject”, she said emphasizing the not.

“Perhaps not, but I’m still waiting for the answer”.

“No one you know” she said sarcastically.

“Jesse, I’m serious” he said firmly, using his “boss tone”.

Jesse hated it when he pulled rank on her. He rarely used it, but when he did she knew he was very serious. But Jesse being Jesse, slipped out of the dress, carefully hung it up and stepped back into his view. Ok, so there was one type of game playing she wasn’t opposed to, but could you really call this game playing, maybe it was just making things even.

“Jesse, you do not play fair” he said looking her squarely in the eyes.

‘Hmm’ thought Jesse, ‘he’s really serious. Maybe a little too concerned?’

“His name is David Jones” she said. “Do not mock the name” she added sternly.

“Come on Jess, how am I supposed to let that one go” he said half laughing.

“Really? You are really going to go there. You do realize that you are acting like you're a jealous lover”

‘Perhaps I am’ he thought.

Lileas ©

She sat in the dark contemplating her next move. Things didn’t seem to be going well, but she knew if she persevered it would eventually work itself out. She felt alone and trapped in her current situation. She had always felt alone around people. They were unpredictable and often cruel. She didn’t understand the cruel part, it had never made sense to her. Weren’t you supposed to treat others as you would like to be treated? That is how she had always lived. She couldn’t remember when someone had told her that or even if they ever had. There were a lot of things that she ‘just knew’, no one had ever taught her about them. She knew she was different. She lived in her head most of the time, it was safer that way. Less interaction with people, less confusion as to why they reacted the way they did.

She rose, trying to adjust her vision in the darkness. The woods were eerily quiet. She crept silently down the path, ever aware of the noises around her. The air was cool and the smell of the woods sweet. Off in the distance she heard the whinny of a horse. The moon tried it’s best to punch though the dense trees, making small streams of soft white light and dancing shadows. Off in the distance she heard a howl. Too far for her to discern whether it was a wolf or a dog. She gathered up her skirts so that they wouldn’t catch on fallen branches or other debris. Squinting in the dark she could see the end of the woods and the pasture beyond. She quickened her step. Hopefully no one at the manor house had missed her. It was bad enough they had taken her in, these distant relatives, but they were trying to make a lady of her and she was having none of that. They imposed silly rules on her like no breeches. She had to bath daily, ok that wasn’t so bad, the warm soapy water, the scented oils, a maid to wash her unruly curls, but the dresses with all of their layers and under garments and corsets were just too much.

Her mother had died when she was five giving birth to a stillborn brother. Her father had doted on her, allowing her to run wild and do as she pleased. Her father was a wealthy land owner in his own right, but realized the error of his ways when she had reached sixteen. Now he sent her to some distant relative who could take her under her wing and make a “lady” out of her. They were trying to undo sixteen years of running wild and make her ready for the Season in the spring. She didn’t understand the obsession, the clothes, the hair, the boys. She had always played with boys. She could out ride, out fight and out last any of the boys on her fathers estate. There was no need to ‘introduce’ to society so that she could meet a boy.

She broke through the woods and into the open pasture bathed with light from a full moon. She could see the manor house in the distance, faint light coming from the parlor and one bedroom upstairs. She heard a noise behind her. Startled she spun around to face a large imposing man, but what was equally odd was the animal beside him, a large wolf. The wolf sniffed the air and gave a guttural growl. ‘Sèitheach’ the man said sternly, the wolf sat next to his master. “It’s dangerous out here this time of night, especially for a girl-child”, he stated coldly. She was a little afraid, but more angry at his treatment of her. Defiantly she stood her ground, glaring at him she said, “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself” at which time he reached down, flung her over his shoulder and strode towards the manor house, Sèitheach obediently trotting behind.

The Goodbye ©

She stood on the top of a small hill in the middle of a vast field of prairie grass.  The crisp fall wind blew from behind her whipping her long chestnut hair and peasant skirt as she stood clinging to what was left of him.  She hugged the urn close to her chest, tears gently sliding down her cheeks.  Her horse stood a short distance away grazing, looking up occasionally.  She sang his favorite song softly, trying not to allow her emotions to take control.  As if on cue, when she was finished the mare walked up behind her and gently nudged her.  It was time to let him go.  She opened up the urn and as she sang her love song to him, she let his ashes be carried away on the wind.  When the last of his ashes drifted across the field she fell to her knees and sobbed.  The mare gently nudged her shoulder.  It was time.  She said her goodbyes and sent a prayer to the heavens then grabbing the mares’ mane she mounted her horse and galloped back across the field.