Risky Investment Part 12

"Chris is there," Lynn replied, not lilting her eyes.

"Yeah, so Chris is there. She seems like a really nice person. Cute, funny So what's the problem?" Sam asked as she put her arm around Lynn's shoulder.

"That's the problem. That's exactly the problem," Lynn answered as she finally raised her eyes to Sam's.

Sam looked into Lynn's eyes and understood. "Oh Lynn, all the women that you've been with, and you fall for a straight woman?" Shaking her head, Sam squeezed Lynn's shoulder. "Honey, I feel for you, I really do, but you know the odds."

"Yeah, life's a b.i.t.c.h, isn't it?" Lynn smiled halfheartedly.

Sam hugged her. "I would say that you could come home with me, but*"

Lynn released Sam from the hug. "That's okay, I need to go home and face my demons." With that, she slid down off the edge, her feet landing on the floor, and walked arm in arm with Sam right beside her, to the door. The two embraced again. "I'd say, find some one-night stand to go home with, but as you can see, everyone's gone." She smiled softly and grabbed Lynn's chin with her fingers. "Plus you know how I feel about meaningless s.e.x."

Lynn nodded. Her friend did not believe in one-night stands. She was a one-woman lady, and that one woman was Beth, and had been for years. As Lynn climbed in her truck she thought about what Sam was going home to. Sam had beaten the odds in more ways than one. She was going home to someone who loved her and was faithful to her, unlike Susan. She needed to think about something else, so she reached for the radio dial. Flipping it on, she heard, "Why don't you play another somebody done somebody wrong song*" Great, she thought to herself. Flipping off the noise, she began wiping away the tears that were rolling down her face.

Lynn unlocked the door to the house. The room was dark, except for the light of the television. As she adjusted her eyes to the dimness, she saw eyes peek over the edge of the couch.

"Hey," whispered Chris, who was stretched out comfortably on the cus.h.i.+ons.

"Hey," Lynn answered. "You know that you're supposed to sleep in my room, don't you?"

"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep. Then I got hooked on this movie. Ever seen it before?"

"What is it?" Lynn strained to see the picture before her, thankful that Chris couldn't see her puffy, red eyes.

"Some Kind of Wonderful" Chris replied.

"The story of a guy who didn't know what he really wanted until the girl showed how much she cared for him," Lynn remembered.

"Yeah, I guess I never thought of it that way," Chris replied. "Are you sleepy? Do you need to go to bed?"

"No," Lynn answered. "I need to wind down a little. Want some popcorn?"

"That sounds good." Chris followed Lynn into the kitchen.

Lynn flipped on the light, grabbed the popcorn, and threw it in the microwave. Turning to Chris, she asked, "And to drink, madam?"

Chris looked at Lynn. Reaching out, she touched Lynn's face. "G.o.d, your eyes are so red! Don't they hurt?"

Lynn turned away. "No. Must have been the smoke in the bar. Urn, I'm going to grab a quick shower. Watch the popcorn, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Chris mumbled as Lynn left the room. Chris was confused. The Rainbow Room was a nonsmoking bar. The popcorn stopped popping, and as Chris had previously found out, you get it out when it stops, whether the timer has rung or not. Emptying the bag into a big bowl, she grabbed a couple of sodas and napkins, and plopped back down on the couch. She was munching away when Lynn re-entered the room.

"Feel better?" Chris asked.

"Feel better. Probably smell better too." Lynn smiled as she ran her hand through her short wet hair and plopped down next to Chris. Grabbing a handful of popcorn she asked, "So where are we at?"

"They're at the museum," Chris answered.

The movie continued and the bowl of popcorn was soon empty.

Lynn dozed off, and woke to the sound of gunshots. Confused, she found the noise coming from the television. She tried to reach for the remote, but her body felt heavy. Looking down, she found that Chris had fallen asleep and her head had ended up in Lynn's lap. Lynn sat there in the dim light watching Chris sleep. She slowly stroked Chris's hair, wanting so badly to brush her lips against hers. Wanting it so badly, it hurt. She looked up at the television, trying to regain her composure. When she glanced back down', Chris's eyes were slightly open. Neither woman moved for several minutes, Lynn lightly stroking Chris's hair, Chris lost in Lynn's eyes.

Finally, Chris took Lynn's hand and held it against her cheek. "I think I better go in to bed," she said softly. Releasing Lynn's hand, Chris slowly raised her body to a sitting position. She turned to Lynn, looked into her eyes, paused as if she wanted to say something, then lightly squeezed Lynn's hand.

"I had a really good day today," Chris whispered, not releasing her hold on Lynn's hand.

Lynn raised her other hand, placing her palm on Chris's cheek, then lightly smoothed her thumb across Chris's soft lips and qui-edy replied, "Me, too."

Chris moved Lynn's palm over to her lips and kissed it softly. "Good night," she said as she stood, then disappeared down the hall. Lynn, savoring the moment, turned off the television, reached for the blanket balled up at the end of the couch, curled up, smiled with contentment, and drifted off to sleep.

What just happened in there? Chris sleepily asked herself.

Chapter Nine.

Chris woke Sunday to the sound of the alarm. She rolled over and shut off the noise, thankful that she had set it before she had originally crawled into bed last night. It was nine o'clock, why was she so tired? Then the memories came flooding over her. Lynn's fingers through her hair, on her cheek, on her lips. The feeling rus.h.i.+ng through her body was overwhelming. But overwhelming in a pleasant way, intoxicating and warm, like the way the first sip of a liqueur feels on a cold day, slowly penetrating every inch of your body. She stretched out under the sheets, enjoying the sensation. Then suddenly, she sat up and rubbed her hands over her face. Was she actually thinking about another woman this way? What was wrong with her! She could not let herself feel this way! She shook off the sheets, jumped out of bed, and hurried into the bathroom.

Chris climbed into the shower. As she leaned against the wall, the warm water enveloped her. She closed her eyes, water running over her face, trying to clear her mind. But instead, her thoughts drifted back to the day before, the joking, the teasing, the hidden glances, and the times that Lynn had caught the glances and returned them, making her feel hopelessly lost in her eyes. d.a.m.n, she said to herself. Never had her heart and her mind been in such conflict.

Chris turned off the shower and grabbed the towel that she had placed on the rung just outside the tub. Drying off, she thought to herself, What am I so worried about? Its not like we had s.e.x or anything. But she then realized what had taken place last night made her feel more intimate with Lynn that she had ever felt with a man. She had never felt that closeness, that connection with anyone before. The truth was, the feeling scared her to death.

The aroma of coffee filtered through the bedroom door and drew Chris into the kitchen. Grabbing a mug of the fresh brew, she stopped, leaning against the wall connecting the kitchen with the living room. She watched as the body curled up on the couch slept.

Chris sat down on the edge of the couch. "Hey," she whispered, softly caressing the bare arm that had held her last night.

Lynn slowly raised her eyelids. She could smell the scent of the vanilla shampoo on Chris's wet hair. It made her smile.

Smoothing Lynn's hair out of her face, Chris suggested, "Come and get in your bed and get some decent sleep."

"Okay," Lynn replied. Chris stood and walked back to the bedroom. Lynn lay there for several minutes, then finally forced herself to get up. She wandered sleepily down the hall and was greeted with the intoxicating smell of Chris's perfume. The fragrance led her into the bathroom, where Chris was putting on her makeup.

Leaning against the doorway, Lynn commented, "You smell really good!"

Chris felt a s.h.i.+ver run through her body at Lynn's seductive smile reflected in the mirror. Chris softly smiled. "You're not making it very easy for me to get ready."

"Hey Chris! Are you almost ready or what?" Matt's voice boomed as he walked down the hall toward the bedroom.

"Yes, I just need to throw my clothes on," Chris answered.

When Matt didn't move, she asked, "May I have a little bit of privacy, please?"

Matt's face turned red as he backed out of the room and closed the door.

Lynn left the doorway and crawled in between the sheets. She lay on her side, positioning her head on the pillow so that she could watch Chris in the mirror. Chris put the finis.h.i.+ng touches on her makeup and reached down to release the belt of the robe. Suddenly looking up, she caught Lynn's eyes in the mirror and immediately caught the robe as it was falling from her shoulders. Chris smiled and shook her head as she returned Lynn's stare. Turning, she closed the door behind her. Lynn sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe her dreams would turn out better.

Chris stood outside the gallery next to Matt as they waited for his parents to arrive. Matt ran his hand through his hair as he became more and more impatient.

"Where are they? They left the club at the same time as us!"

Chris shrugged. All four had gone to the club for brunch and were to attend the gallery showing of one of Matt's friends. She had thought it a bad idea, knowing that many of Matt's friends didn't know about their little charade. But Matt had insisted, and so they waited.

"I don't know how you guys get used to this." Charles's voice boomed from down the sidewalk. "We had to park a half mile away!"

Chris took Matt's hand and squeezed it. Patience, Matt, patience, it was meant to imply. Matt squeezed back, signifying that he had received her message.

"I didn't mind the walk, Matt," Marie soothed. Her eyes sparkled. "I'm so glad that we're here! Your father never lets me go to art galleries or museums."

"I knew you'd like it, Mom. Let's go inside." Matt motioned toward the door.

The four wandered into the crowded gallery. Marie stopped at every piece, admiring the color or texture. Charles looked bored. Chris listened to Marie and responded with comments of her own. Each piece made her feel different things*calm, peaceful, sad, even angry. Then she came upon a painting that truly disturbed her. A mixture of shades of blue from pale to almost black. The lines swirled as if to show confusion, desperation, then curved as if all emotions calmed. She tried to think of what this piece reminded her of. Closing her eyes, she felt the emotions it had provoked. It came to her in a wave, enveloping her entire body. It was the feelings that she was having toward her relations.h.i.+p with Lynn. Opening her eyes, she felt an overwhelming need for s.p.a.ce. She pretended to be interested in a piece across the room and wandered away.

Matt watched as Chris left; his side. His eyes scanned the room and found his friend Jeff trying desperately to get his attention. Matt motioned for his friend to join him and so Jeff approached the group of three.

"Mom, Dad, you remember my friend Jeff. You met him yesterday."

Charles and Marie smiled politely, then went back to discussing the artwork before them.

"So come here for a second, I need to talk to you," Jeff said, pulling at Mart's arm.

Matt followed Jeff into the next room.

"I thought you said that your aefiancee' is straight?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah. Because she is," Matt replied as if annoyed.

"Are you sure?"

Matt sighed. "Jeff, what are you getting at?"

"Well, I was just watching her yesterday. For a woman who's straight, she sure spent a lot of time with her eyes on Lynn."

Matt looked bored. "She and Lynn have become*"

"Close?" Jeff finished Matt's sentence.

"Yes, close, but not how you're inferring," Matt said, disgusted with his friend. Maybe Lynn was right about Jeff.

"I don't know about that. There sure were some heated looks between the two."

"Oh, first you said that Chris was looking at Lynn. Now you say that they were returned by Lynn?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And did you notice how often they casually touched each other?"

"Oh come on Jeff."

"When you and your parents left the table yesterday, they ended up feeding their desserts to each other."

"G.o.d, how close were you watching them?" Matt said with exasperation.

"Well, I didn't actually see that. Someone else told me," Jeff explained.

Matt ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't know what to believe. "Lynn promised not to play around with Chris."

"Hey, from what I heard and saw, it wasn't all on Lynn's part, if you know what I mean."

Matt nodded in understanding.

Jeff put his hand on Matt's shoulder. "Look, I'm just telling you so that your little charade doesn't get f.u.c.ked up."

"I know. Thanks, buddy," Matt said, as he gave Jeff a hug.

Matt pulled the car away from the gallery and onto the frontage road. The conversation with Jeff still fresh in his mind, he thought back to the times that he, Chris, and Lynn had been together at the same time. Had he noticed a special connection between the two of them? Had Lynn made Chris her latest victim? As he turned the car onto the highway, he concentrated on the conversations that they had all had together. Was there flirting? He and Lynn had always been so comfortable together. He hadn't really paid attention to any s.e.xual innuendos, any hidden glances. Had they been there?

The traffic slowed. Another California traffic jam. Matt sighed. Chris turned and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Matt looked at her. "Can I ask you a really personal question?"

"Nothing's too personal, we're engaged, remember?" Chris grinned.

Matt shook his head. "No, this is really personal, oh, forget it, it's none of my business."

"Matt, just spit it out."

Matt looked ahead at the traffic, then turned toward her, "It's just that Jeff asked me* well, if anyone could do it, Lynn could. I mean she's good looking and s.e.xy. I guess*"

"English, Matt. Complete sentences, please!" Chris was getting confused.

Matt looked out the side window, glanced down, then began again. "Jeff asked me if you and Lynn* if you* He thinks that there may be some flirting going on and some staring. I told him you were straight, but*"

Chris interrupted, her face beginning to turn red. "What exactly are you getting at, Matt?"

Matt blurted, "Is something going on between you and Lynn?" He glanced toward Chris, then began pulling at some imaginary string on the steering wheel cover. "I mean, I have noticed the closeness that has developed. And you seem to have a lot in common. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, she's really a great person, it's just that*"

Chris interrupted again, looking at him, her face now hot. "Is that what you think?" She suddenly turned toward her side window, knowing that if he looked into her eyes, he might see the truth, that she was so confused about her feelings at this point, that she couldn't be sure what was happening between her and Lynn.

The traffic at a standstill, he s.h.i.+fted the car into park and turned toward her. "Look, I don't know what I think. I just want you to be happy. I really love Lynn. It's just that she's not real great with relations.h.i.+ps and all, and I wouldn't want either one of you to get hurt."

Chris could not look back at him. She knew he was being sincere. She knew exactly what his face would look like, the look in his eyes. She just stared out the window and was relieved to see the car beside her begin to move forward.

"The traffic is moving," was all that she could say.

Matt took the car out of park and slowly pressed the gas pedal. "Chris, I didn't mean to upset you," he said with sincerity, glancing first at Chris and then back at the road ahead.