Heat Wave: Sunapee

Heat Wave: Sunapee By Nanisi Barrett D’Arnuk It was a hot Friday in the middle of August. Actually, not just hot…it was sweltering. New Englanders aren’t prepared for this much heat, but like most Yankees, we trudge on. What good would complaining do? No one could change it. The heat in Hartford was beyond belief for the Northeast. It would set records this weekend. In addition to that, I’d had a truly bad day: Katie had told me she was leaving me. She was moving out. She’d made plans with her friend Anne to stay there until she found a place of her own. So, I did what any red-blooded American lesbian would do: I ran away. I’d stopped by my grandmother’s house. Well, not “stopped by”; more like crashed. I’d always gone to my grandmother’s if I needed to get away from something. I knew she wouldn’t ask too many questions. Oh, she’d asked some but she knew I’d talk if I wanted; if not, I wouldn’t. I suspected that I was her favorite grandchild because I visited her more than my brother or two cousins. All four of us had stayed with her and Gramps during the summers when we were young. We played with the local kids, swam in the lake that bordered their property, and went hiking around Lake Sunapee. We’d had a wonderful time. As the oldest, I was always in charge. Of course, I loved being in charge. When I was a teenager, I had this crush on a local boy, Bud Johnson. I couldn’t wait to go to Gran’s so I could see him. He had a crush on me, too, so we spent a lot of time together, and we sent notes and post cards to each other during the winters. I fantasized about marrying him. Of course, that was before I realized I was gay. I never told him that, though. I never told anyone. I ended up going to the college my grandfather had gone to, The University of Hartford. My cousins went to bigger schools. My brother got married instead. He had to. He’d gotten Jenny pregnant. I wish I’d had his skill…well, luck…in seducing women. When I graduated from college, I’d gotten a job with a local head hunter and excelled in it. I had skills I never knew about: I could match people up and sell them to each other. I loved my job. I got paid well and I enjoyed going to parties with the corporate big-wigs. They liked me, too, of course, because they didn’t know I was gay. I was very good at ‘playing the game.’ I’m not a slouch when it comes to looks so a lot of the men asked me out. I always refused. I told them that I didn’t want a work-related relationship. I didn’t tell them the real reason. When I met Katie at a conference, I fell in love. I’d commute every weekend to New Haven to stay with her or she’d come to Hartford. We talked about finding a place halfway between so neither of us would have to drive that far, but we never did. Finally, after the distance seemed crazy, the weather became too unpredictable and the gas too expensive, I took my vacation time, went to New Haven, helped Katie pack, and brought her back to Hartford. Oh, what times we had together! The first few days she was there, we rearranged the entire apartment to accommodate all our stuff. It was another very hot stretch, not as bad as today, but pretty close. Maybe that’s what made today seem so bad. We’d work a few hours, go down to the apartment complex pool, and then start working again. Even the air conditioning was having a hard time keeping up. We could have waited until it cooled down. But did we? I don’t know what was wrong with us, maybe we were both OCD, but neither of us could stand the mess of half-emptied boxes and stacks of possessions scattered around. It was Sunday night before we got most of the things into place. The heat outside was kicking everyone’s butts. We stood there looking at each other, both of us sweaty and tired. We took deep breaths at the same time and sank down on the floor so our sweat wouldn’t ruin the furniture. “That’s it,” she told me as she pushed a handful of her dark hair back behind her ear. “I can’t do any more today.” “Neither can I,” I agreed. “We should put it back in the boxes and take it to storage.” She looked at me to see if I was serious. I grinned. “We’ll get it done…just not today.” She smiled. “I’m happy I’m here, Sweetie,” she told me. “That’s good, because I will not move you back. If you want to leave me, you’ll have to do it yourself.” “Damn!” She smiled and leaned in to give me a kiss. Of course, one kiss naturally leads to two, which leads to… She finally pushed herself back. “I’m so sweaty,” she moaned. “I don’t feel clean.” “What I want to do to you will make you even sweatier.” I leered at her. “At least let me start out clean.” I got to my feet. “I’ll run you a bath.” I went into the bathroom and started the water running, not too hot but not too cold. She entered the bathroom. “Step right in, Sweetie. Let me wash you.” I grinned up at her. “Ohhhh, that sounds nice.” She shed her clothes and stepped into the tub. “I wish we were at my grandmother’s house. She has one of those big old claw-foot tubs. It would fit both of us much better.” I kneeled down beside the tub and reached for the cup I’d placed there and started to pour water all over her. “My God, you’re beautiful,” I mumbled as I pulled my tank top over my head so I wouldn’t get it sopping wet. I poured shampoo onto her just-wet hair, hurrying to stop it from running into her face. I started massaging her scalp with the tips of my fingers, being careful to not scratch her with my nails. When I got to the nape of her neck, I could feel the tension that had been building all week. Very gently I massaged her neck and shoulders. As those muscles started to relax, she let her head fall back, revealing her throat. I wiped away the soap suds as I leaned in to kiss her there. “And you are sweet,” she murmured. I poured water over her head to wash the shampoo away, and then with a big natural sponge, I washed up and down her arms, her back, and in her pits. Her body looked so silky and it felt so smooth, I couldn’t keep my hands off her. I was determined to touch every square centimeter of her. I started with her face, wiping her brow, her cheeks, her nose and chin. I rinsed them off with the washcloth. “This will have to do for your mouth,” I told her. I started licking her lips, back and forth until her mouth started to open. When it did, my lips took her lips as my tongue delved in to lick the inside and search around. She finally leaned back to look up at me. She said with a devilish grin on her face. “I’ve never had my teeth cleaned by someone’s tongue.” “It’s an experience very few have had,” I whispered. I moved further down the tub and washed one leg slowly, down the outside, up the front, and on the inside. Then I moved to the other side. Oh, so slowly, I washed the other leg, lifting both legs to wash the backs. “That feels so good,” I heard her say. Her feet were beautiful. She kept good care of them; the nails weren’t polished but she’d buffed her feet to remove calluses and dried skin. I massaged them. My hands washed up around her hips and then around and down her back and ass. My hands slipped all over her body. My fingers explored the valleys under her breasts and between her thighs, belly, and buttocks. She slid down a bit to give me better access to her other parts. “Have I told you how much I love you?” I whispered. “Not in a couple hours,” she moaned. “I love you this much,” I said and my lips covered hers. I felt her body start to react as one of my hands found her crotch. God, how I love making her feel this way. I can sense what she’s feeling through my fingertips, which made them want to move faster, yet more gently. My other hand slid across her breasts. Such beautiful breasts! And hard n*****s. I surrounded one of them with my lips and ran my tongue across it. “Nickie!” she moaned as I felt her twitch. “More?” I asked softly. “Oh, yes.” She gasped as her body started to push harder. I slowly rubbed my hand up her leg until my thumb found that one round orb that would send her into tomorrow. As her back arched in response, I slid my arm under her to keep her head above water. I looked down at her as my other hand explored her. This wasn’t the best idea, I thought, I want to hold her tighter and kiss up and down her entire body. I want to feel her body to body. “Nickie…” she whispered. “Sshh,” I crooned to her as my hand worked faster and faster. Her body stiffened as her moans became louder. She pushed back as she twitched and shuddered. I held her tighter, my arm around her as she shook. Then, the release. Oh, my God. What a release! Water splashed all over the floor. When she finally relaxed, I pulled her back and turned her so I could kiss her. “Hmmm,” she sighed as she leaned into me. “Are you going to do this every day?” she asked. “If you want.” “Of course I want.” She took my face between her hands and planted a deep passionate kiss on me. Before I knew it, I was in the tub with her. “You’re going to have to take your shorts and panties off,” she said, frowning. “They’re soaking up too much water.” I hurried to comply. * * * * We were happy as clams for almost a year. I don’t know how happy clams are but I’ve never seen one scowl and they always made me happy. We did everything together. We went jogging and to football and basketball games. We went shopping together. The only time we were apart was when I had something to do that was related to my job. Then it got iffy. It was hard keeping my job separate from my home life but I did it. That was the kink in our relationship. That’s why she moved out. * * * * I usually sleep late when I’m at Gran’s. But this day I didn’t. Maybe the fact that Katie’s departure kept playing over and over again in my mind had something to do with it. Maybe the fact that I never told anyone I was gay was a factor, too. Our friends knew, of course, but I always kept it secret at work, and from the family. I’d heard too many faggot jokes from my manly coworkers. If a guy came in looking for a job and he looked too soft or flamboyant, they never worked very hard for him. When the Lezzie jokes started, I became even more fearful to come out. I knew they wouldn’t understand. Then Connecticut approved gay marriage. That started another discussion in the office. One of the first comments was “Pretty soon, they’d be like the Hispanics. They’ll start procreating and their minority status will become a majority!” I wanted to say “It’s the straight people who are giving birth to gays.” When I heard “This is going to ruin marriage,” I wanted to say “If you’re afraid your wife will want another woman, you’d better look at how you’re treating her.” And when I heard “What if they started taking over the country?” I wanted to say, “It would be under better management.” But I didn’t. I didn’t say anything. I just listened and cringed. All my friends told me I’d feel better if I came out to everyone, but it still scared me. I feared I’d lose my job. Of course it never crossed my mind that I’d be happier if I worked in a more inclusive environment.