Jessica laughed at this, covering her mouth shyly.
“The thing I love about you, Joshua, is that you seem restless in your dedication to show what a hollow and facile stereotype it is that Jews are naturally funny,” Alex replied
“Speaking of, Josh, should you even be out tonight?” Joanna interrupted, smiling slightly at the banter she was now long since used to.
“What do you mean?”
“Well isn’t it one of the nights of Chanukah?”
“It might be” Josh said surprised, “Am I not allowed to drink during the festival of lights?”
“I don’t know,” Joanna shrugged, “I thought you would.”
“If it is Chanukah, I think it’s alright,” Josh said, picking up his burger and taking a bite, “and it means I’ll be getting a sweet fifty dollar check from my Bubby any day now.”
“I always wanted to know, what is Chanukah anyway?” Jessica asked honestly, Joanna and Alex also turned towards him for the response. Josh put down his burger and thought for a second before responding in hushed, revered tones.
“You want to know the story of Chanukah?” Josh asked the three.
“Sure,” Alex nodded before both women nodded as well. Josh looked from side to side, almost as if checking for eavesdroppers, and then leaned in towards them.
“Well, a long time ago in ancient Jerusalem, there were these two brothers that had to move away from their neighbourhood because the evil Romans wanted to build a park where they lived. Needing money to stop the construction, one of the brothers found the map to the treasure of the famous pirate, One-Eyed Willy. Assembling his truest friends, the two brothers set out to find the lost gold to save their house. But the evil Mama Fratelli and her three sons, including the ferocious, disfigured Sloth stood in their way and…
“Yeah, Josh, I’m going to go ahead and stop you” Joanna said shaking her head, “Because that’s the plot to The Goonies.”
Jessica laughed at the news while Alex rolled his eyes, regretting being taken in even for a moment.
“What do you want from me?” Josh said with a shrug, “I don’t know, something about oil and not enough of it but god intervened and then there was enough oil. Do things need big stories anyway? Can’t it be about fun and Latkes and presents?”
“You’re not really that devout, are you?” Alex asked as he scratched his head.
“The bacon cheeseburger I’m eating you didn’t tip you off?” Josh said, taking another bite of a decidedly non-kosher meal. As he did the waitress returned, setting down the drinks that Alex and Joanna had ordered.
“But you take the holidays off,” Joanna said, sipping her drink
“I’m not seeing the contradiction,” Josh laughed “You don’t show up on Christmas despite not being especially high on Jesus. My Jewish identity is just something I’ve seized upon to distinguish myself from you white devils.”
The conversation continued like that, back and forth, for most of the night. Old stories were told and Jessica added some of her own stories to the group. She was in her very last semester at college, not needing any credits to graduate and was relieved to be finished with it even if she was not entirely certain as to what she’d be doing with her life afterwards. She gave as good as she got when the jokes started flying and it struck Joanna that the gorgeous Blonde seemed as though she’d been one of their crowd for years, rather than hours. Joanna and Jessica both found themselves drinking lightly while Josh and Alex seemed to be enjoying themselves to slightly greater capacity. As the night wore down, both of the men seemed well in their cups.
“Josh, you’ve slept with our waitress, haven’t you?” Alex asked, pouring himself a glass of the very expensive whisky he’d been drinking. He’d long since simply asked for the bottle.
“I have,” Josh nodded, motioning for Alex to pour an equal measure for himself. Despite his giving Alex a hard time about it he’d had to admit it was a very nice drink, “Her name is Marie, she’s got a place over on Miller Road and she’s putting herself through nursing school.”
“Admirable.” Alex nodded, “It is admirable indeed to put oneself through the rigours of higher educations with the hard earned money from a physically and emotionally taxing job. And then to devote herself to the care of others? A fine woman who would make a goodly wife.”
“Agreed.” Josh said appreciatively, “And lest you think she’s all dull virtue and godliness, you will note that on the most recent cocktail napkin served to me, she’s entreated upon me to return with her to her humble abode on Miller Road and please her sexually in a way that only I, and several men in the pornographic film industry, can.”
Josh held up a cocktail napkin to Alex that did appear to have something written on it. Alex took it from him and examined it closely.
“My respect for our amber haired server only grows with each passing minute,” Alex said, slurring his words slightly, “A heart as pure and an aim as true as she has combined with a lust for passionate coupling and a mouth on her filthy enough to make even a hardened New Englander such as myself blush a deep crimson? Why the man who wins her affections is a lucky one. My hat is off to you sir.”
“While, I make no claims to desiring her hand in marriage just yet I can’t argue with your assessment of her,” Josh nodded, “And in appreciation of her fine spirit, I will spend the night endeavouring to deliver unto her the most phenomenal examples of that too rare treasure that is the female orgasm.”
Across the table, Jessica looked at the two strangely while Joanna simply sipped at the last remaining bits of her drink, ignoring them.
“Are they always like this?” Jessica asked, amused by the silliness.
“More or less.” Joanna conceded, embarrassed that she’d actually slept with one of them. If either man heard them, they gave no indication of it. The waitress they spoke of did return with the bill for the tab they’d run for the evening and handed it face down to them.
“You guys have fun?” she asked with a smile
“We did, Marie.” Alex smiled as he looked up at her from his seat, “It was an evening of the purest seasonal cheer marked by good food, fine company and exquisite service. What is the biggest tip you’ve gotten this week?”
“Are they both this drunk?” Marie ignored his question and asked one of her own to Joanna and Jessica, “Because Josh is only of any use to me if he’s not totally soaked.”
“You’re on your own,” Joanna shrugged, pulling out her purse, before being waved away by Alex and his credit card.
“You two barely made a dent in this bill,” he said, putting his card down on the small tray, “Now Marie, I want you to think of the biggest tip you’ve gotten this month, no, this year. Then double it. Then double it again. Then add it to the total as your gratuity.”
“Is he serious?” Marie kept talking to the girls, “I don’t want to take advantage of him if he’s drunk.”
“But you’ll take advantage of me while I’m drunk?” Josh asked indignantly
“His name is Alex Morrison. As in Morrison St. and The Morrison Building downtown and the Alexander E. Morrison Opera House and ninety percent of the rest of this city,” Joanna informed her, “So if you don’t take his old family money it’s just going to get older.”
“Alright,” Marie laughed uneasily, “I just don’t want him calling and complaining in the morning that he tipped me six hundred dollars on a two hundred dollar tab,”
“Marie, my dear, I will only ever call on you for another evening of such merriment or, when your studying is done, to tend to me in my sickness.” Alex said warmly, “Call this your Christmas bonus.”
“Ok, thanks I guess,” Marie said, taking Josh by the hand and leading him up to his feet, “Now lets get a cup of coffee in you, Big Fella and get you in some semblance of working order.”
“Bye guys.” Josh waved to them as he unsteadily followed Marie to the bar.
Marie returned a little while later with the receipt for Alex to sign. He did so, wishing he’d thought to tip her even more, before getting to his own feet somewhat unsteadily. He promised the girls he’d call a cab rather than drive himself home and then it was just Jessica and Joanna left at their table. Joanna looked over to Jessica with a nervous smile and got one back in return. They both sipped on what remained of their drinks. Joanna ran through her mind for any measure of questions to ask, really only particularly interested in finding out if Jessica was straight or gay or somewhere in the middle. Nothing had come up in the earlier conversation and she couldn’t think of how to ask that without sounding terrible. She did, however, have something stick out to her. Something she’d often wondered about. Something Jessica may know the answer to.
“Do you know why your Dad hates Alex?” was the question Joanna had thought to ask,
“Kinda,” Jessica nodded, “My dad just hates people who have things given to them. Who come from money and never really have to work to get anywhere.”
“But Alex works really, really hard even though he doesn’t have to. And he’s obviously very generous.” Joanna argued for him
“I didn’t say it made sense,” Jessica shook her head, “Or that it wasn’t annoying. God, I mean, I only took this job because my graduation present was a pat on the back and I really want to take a trip next year.”
“Where to?” Joanna asked the younger girl.
Jessica explained that she’d majored in Art History and that she desperately wanted to see Rome or Greece or something along those lines. Joanna eagerly nodded along, she’d taken an art history course or two and it was something she’d always been fascinated by. Joanna asked her questions about her particular areas of interest and both agreed on several places that were absolute necessities. They talked about clothes and their shared love for several designers, Joanna lamenting how much of her meagre paycheck went on over-priced fashions and Jessica wishing she even had that opportunity. Throughout the entire conversation, Joanna pulled nearly everything from her seductive bag of tricks. She asked questions about Jessica’s past, made innocent excuses to gently touch Jessica’s hands or shoulders and even brought out the big guns, pulling the chopsticks from her bun and letting the dark, luxurious, silky down her back with a shake of her head.
“God, you are just gorgeous.” Jessica said appreciatively. Joanna still couldn’t tell if there was any attraction behind it or if it was just girl talk.
“Stop, I’m a straight from work mess,” Joanna said with a little forced modesty. She did look good and knew it.
“Are you kidding? You look like you should be modelling in a, or at least editing a fashion mag,” Jessica said appreciatively,
Joanna smiled at the compliment.
“Last call!” came the loud call of the barman, coming over the now relatively quiet chatter of the last few remaining drinkers. Joanna tipped back the last bit of her drink, letting the sweetness rest on her tongue before letting her last drink of the night slide down her throat.
“Hey, can I ask something?” Jessica said, as she gathered her things
“You can,” Joanna smiled as she began doing up her coat.
“I don’t want to go all the way back to my folks’ place tonight, you said your place is nearby, right?”
“Yeah,”
“Maybe I can crash there tonight?” Jessica asked hopefully, “Have another drink?”
Joanna looked at the beautiful girl for a second, looked into those blue eyes and knew two things instantly. The first was that, if she wanted to, she absolutely could have taken Jessica back to her apartment and have gotten her into bed. She didn’t think Jessica was coming on to her exactly but she could see the spark of the possibility that she’d seen dozens of times before. The second thing she knew was that the guilt she’d been feeling earlier in the day was reaching a boiling point and, because of the circumstances of why she’d been trying to make her move, she knew that she needed to turn her down.
“Wish I could, Jess,” Joanna lied while thinking of a plausible reason to turn her down, “But my place is being fumigated so I’m crashing with a friend myself,”
“Oh,” Jessica replied while doing her best to hide some disappointment. Joanna gave her a thin smile even as she felt her heart race. Even as she said it, she wished she could take it back. Every brief, fleeting glimpse at the beautiful blonde girl weakened Joanna’s resolve to do the decent thing. It took Joanna every last bit of moral fortitude to complete the walk out of the Union Hall, past a necking Josh and Marie at the bar, and into the cold December night.
Chapter Four
The following Monday was a cold, wet one and Joanna was not eager to get out of bed. She hit the snooze alarm two or three times more often than she should before waking one final time and, upon seeing the time, frantically rushing through her morning routine. Her car still hadn’t been ready and she knew she must have been the world’s most annoying taxicab passenger as she grumbled and groaned at every red light and momentary delay. She couldn’t help it though. The ticking clock was a drain on her already taxed bank account. The trip to Gigake’s campus was completed after an interminable to Joanna but fairly standard twenty five minutes and, after paying the cabbie with the exact amount of her fare, she raced into the beautifully designed glass front building as quickly as she could. She dashed up the stairwell rather than waiting for the elevator and tore through the lobby, shooting a quick smile and glance over at Jessica which was more than enough time to take in the breathtaking sight of Jessica in a scoop-neck blouse, and using her ID card to open the door to her work place. A quick sprint to the four-person work space took every last drop of energy she had. She arrived at the open, four-person work space completely out of breath, all three of her teammates were already there, working away.
“What does the clock on your computer read, Mr. Letowski?” Alex said, not turning to acknowledge Joanna’s presence and continuing to type away.
“It reads nine-twenty seven, Mr. Morrison,” Josh answered, also not turning around.
Joanna grimaced as she rested her hands on her knees.
“That would be a contribution of fifty-four dollars to the Christmas Bonus, wouldn’t it?” Alex continued
“A little sensitivity for your fellow employee, Mr. Morrison” Josh replied. Joanna thought for a brief second he was referring to not holding fast to the rules of the game with her car in the shop but that was quickly dash, “It’s a fifty-four dollar contribution to the Winter Holiday Bonus.”
“A thousand apologies, friend.”
“Hey Jo,” Phil did turn around to her, “Crawford hasn’t been by yet so you’re more or less safe.”
Joanna smiled weakly at that. Between car-repairs and the holidays she was so concerned about the fifty-four dollars that any actual repercussions in the work-place had completely slipped her mind. She sat down and called up her online banking profile. She cringed when she saw her account’s balance but completed the familiar process of transferring money into the interest bearing account that held the year’s take.
“Ugh, I think I’m going to be having a Big Mac for Christmas Dinner.” Joanna sighed as she opened her own e-mail account to start working on the requests she’d gotten.
“You’re welcome to come by,” Phil offered warmly, “After enough badgering Carrie finally convinced both of our folks see us rather than making us flip a coin. All the trimmings.” “I may just have to take you up on that,” Joanna said. She’d been wondering what she would actually be doing for Christmas ever since Joanna’s mother had informed her that coming home would not be an option as she’d be on a cruise with her new boyfriend.
“Josh? Alex? More the merrier.” Phil continued
“I usually do Chinese food and a movie,” Josh offered as he turned towards them, “But yeah, sounds nice. Provided you won’t make me swear allegiance to Jesus or anything.”
“Alex?”
“I would give my left arm to be there Phil,” Alex did not turn around as he answered. He continued to still be so swamped under that he couldn’t stop working for a second. “But the live re-enactment of Brideshead Revisited every year around the Morrison family Christmas table is not to be missed by any serious fan of overwrought emotional turmoil.”
Joanna had really only gotten settled in for a few minutes of work before Mr. Crawford had come by for the morning briefing.
“How’re things progressing people?” he asked
“Everything’s right on schedule, sir.” Phil answered quickly
“Good, good.” Crawford said with the smallest hint of a smile, “Listen up, I need one of you to do something for me.”
“Oh?”
“Nothing major. But the Banquet place lost track of which of the divisions had which rooms so we’re going to need to call them and confirm things for the Holiday party.” Crawford said before adding what all four knew would be coming, “You can handle that, can’t you Morrison?”
Alex, who still hadn’t stopped working, didn’t miss a beat.
“Absolutely, sir. You leave it to me.”
“What I thought.” Crawford nodded before smiling at the rest of them, “I hope you’re looking forward to it. Because there just may be a few surprises this year.”
This earned nods and polite smiles from the team before their boss excused himself to continue his rounds.
“Does dressing up as Santa for the third year in a row still count as a surprise?” Josh wondered, breaking the silence.
“I can handle that Alex, if you like.” Phil offered helpfully
“No, no, I’m fine.” Alex assured him, his fingers still flying furiously at his keyboard, “You are going to close the deal on Jessica, right Jo?”
“Alex…” Joanna didn’t entirely know how to break it to him that she had no real intention of doing so.
“It’s fine if you don’t,” Alex shrugged, “Because if you don’t and I win then I will win the Christmas Pool. And I will buy a brand new set of Williams Polesitter Irons with the graphite shafts that I’ve had my eye on.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised but I didn’t even know you golfed, Alex.” Josh said
“I’ve never played a round in my life. But I saw them the other day and they struck me as a particularly exquisite choice for a murder weapon.”
This brought a bit of a laugh from the other three who turned around and got back to the day’s requests.
Chapter Five
The Gigake Media Relations Division Winter Holiday party was, as far as these things go, actually a fairly nice event. The banquet hall was an old, turn of the century church that had been renovated and converted into one of the pricier corporate gathering places in the city.. There had clearly been an effort made to make the room warm and comfortable, even if none of the decorations gave even the slightest hint of any particular religious faith’s holiday. There was an open bar, several food stations and even a large table full of elegantly wrapped presents. Josh, Alex, Phil, Phil’s wife Carrie and Joanna were all seated around a table near the front of the room. A prime seat that they’d won by again being named the most productive team in the division. The party was in full swing around them, with appropriate seasonal music being piped in and the sound of restrained merriment coming from all of the packed tables.
“I still can’t believe that none of you brought dates.” Carrie said, looking at the three single members of the team. All three of them had, indeed, come to the party alone. Even by their usual standards, Alex and Joanna had dressed well, with Joanna in the little Versace dress that had been another of her unexpected financial mis-steps and Alex in french cuffs and his typical suited extravagance.
“They’re not really the dating sort, hon.” Phil said as he kissed his pretty Blonde wife. Phil had dressed down for the event. A Christmas sweater vest and khakis.
“You don’t bring deer to the woods, after all.” Josh explained as his eyes scanned the room. “You just bring the gun.”
Alex smiled in agreement and Joanna shrugged. There was a harsh screeching sound over the speakers as the music came to a screeching halt, eliciting groans of displeasure from the room.
“Come on, music!” Someone called as people grumbled at the interruption to their fun. There was some light chatter as someone fiddled with the CD player near the front of the room.
“Hey, what about the piano! Can anyone play?” came another voice. There was, indeed, a small grand piano on the small stage at the front of the room.
“Morrison, you play a little, don’t you?” Harry Thomas, the leader of one of the other teams and someone that the team knew had been friends with Alex in high school. Alex laughed at the request.
“A tiny bit of jazz. Trust me, work on the CD player. I couldn’t be more out of practice.” Alex said, taking a sip from his drink.
“Come on!” came another request. That entreaty was soon joined by more and more people from throughout the room, all asking for Alex to again fill the room with music. It even grew into a bit of a chant of his name. It soon grew to the entire room, with only the people at his own table not joining in. He finally threw up his hands in mock surrender, stood up and took off his coat as he walked to the front of the room.
“Harry, I will get back at you for embarrassing me like this,” Alex said, drawing a laugh as he took a seat at the piano bench. He let his fingers run over the keys a bit before beginning to play. The piano was clearly in good use as the familiar strains of “Let it Snow” began filling the hall.
“Well the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful,” Alex began singing, his voice a rich and pitch-perfect baritone. A crowd began assembling near the stage.
“God, he’s so good.” Carrie said with a laugh as she sipped on her champagne. Like most of the women in the hall, she was looking on with quite a bit of admiration at Alex’s performance.
“Didn’t Alex book the room?” Phil said, looking vaguely annoyed as he saw the look on his wife’s face.
“Uh huh.” Josh said, clearly annoyed.
“So he’d have had to specially request the piano be here, right?” Phil continued, even though Carrie caught the jealous look on his face and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Mmmhmm” Josh sipped on his beer.
“So why…”
“This is your first time meeting Alex, is it?” Joanna said wryly as she saw a good number of the female employees in attendance congregate around the piano. One or two bold ones even slipped what Joanna assumed to be phone numbers into the large tip glass on top.
“C’mon honey, let’s dance.” Carrie said, standing up and yanking Phil to his feet. He smiled and walked after his wife. Josh also stood up.
“Excuse me,” Josh said, finishing his beer, “I need to go write something in the woman’s bathroom.”
Josh walked off, giving Joanna no real impression as to whether or not he was serious, leaving Joanna sitting alone at the table. She sat there and sipped gingerly at her drink, lost in her own thoughts. She sighed with frustration. She still had Jessica on her mind. The entire week she’d had to avoid her as best she could, feeling ashamed every time she saw her. She was such a cute, smart girl and Joanna wanted her very, very badly but even the few times Jessica had tried striking up a conversation since their night at the bar, Joanna had just felt worse and worse that she’d agreed to try and seduce her just for the sake of the game. Joanna wished she could have been a better person, have not agreed to Alex’s challenge and been able to pursue Jessica honestly. Then, as she thought of her already booked vacation days, she wished she was a worse person so she could have gone after Jessica, gotten her, and won the Bonus. She was lost in that confusing mix when Josh returned to the table.
“You won’t believe it Jo,” he exclaimed happily, “You see those two over there.”
Josh pointed to a nearby table where two pretty brunettes were sipping on Cosmos and occasionally looking Josh’s way with a giggle.
“What about them?” Joanna said, not really caring.
“Well, they both recognized my name and they both, I repeat both, seem to want to find out that the legends are, indeed, true.” Josh said as he hastily assembled his things, clearly looking to make a hasty retreat from the party.
“Congratulations.” Joanna sighed
“That’s not even the best part, they’re both Alpha Omega Pi’s!” Josh said
Joanna just looked at him with a shrug.
“Sisters! Sorority sisters!” Josh explained, “We always had the 200 point bonus for sisters but we never clarified that it had to be blood or even family relations.”
Joanna gave him a forced smile.
“Harry Connick Jr. up there can sing until he drops dead and he won’t have enough time to make up this ground on me.” Josh said, waving in the direction of Alex. Alex was still surrounded by a group of swooning women, having switched from “Let it Snow” to “Blue Christmas”
“Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree,” Alex sang as he returned Josh’s wave with a nod of his head, clearly misunderstand the purpose of the greeting, “Won’t mean a thing dear, if you’re not here with me. I’ll be so blue…”
“You have a cigarette, right Josh?” Joanna said. She knew he would. Josh didn’t smoke but he kept a pack on hand in case a pretty young thing with a nicotine addiction asked him for one as a conversation starter. He nodded and reached into his pocket and handed her the pack.
“Here you go, a consolation prize.” Josh said before looking back to the two girls he’d apparently be sharing the evening with and gleefully exclaiming, “It’s a Chanukah miracle!”
Joanna nodded as she watched Josh practically skip off in the direction of the two girls who were also making their preparations to leave. Joanna shook her head. She didn’t know if Josh was more excited to be winning the contest or about to engage in an orgy with two girls that Joanna concluded were very pretty. She didn’t pay the matter much thought though as she made her own way out of the banquet hall. She was nearly at the front of the building when the door flung open. Jessica was walking in the door and the two practically collided.
“Oops, sorry.” Jessica said. Joanna just stood there, spell bound. Jessica was wearing a red velvet shirt, red velvet skirt and red velvet hat, all with the traditional white fur trim. The skirt was relatively short and the top was low cut to show a deep valley of cleavage. She looked like what any red blooded heterosexual man, bisexual or Lesbian would most like to ask Santa for.
“Wow, Jess, I mean, you look…”
“Ridiculous, I know.” Jessica said with a laugh, “But my dad is dressing up as Santa again and he insisted I come as his ‘Helper’ for when the gift giving starts so I thought, fuck it. Give him a heart attack in return for the humiliation.”
Ridiculous had not been the word Joanna was thinking of.
“You look unbelievable.” Joanna said, smiling.
“You leaving?” Jessica asked
“No, just going out for a smoke.” Joanna said, showing the pack in her hand.
“You smoke?”
“No. Not for years. But need one now.” Joanna said as she took a step past the gorgeous, seasonally dressed girl. She was only a step past her when Jessica’s voice stopped her.
“Can I ask you something?” Jessica sounded frustrated. Joanna turned around. At a bit of a distance, with the red stockings and heels of her outfit visible, Joanna thought Jessica looked even better. She could feel herself heating up.
“Sure.”
“I mean, you like me right?” Jessica asked, “And not like, friend like me. You want to sleep with me, right?”
“God yes.” Joanna exclaimed, her voice seemingly releasing days of tension.
“OK, right. So you’re hitting on me all night at the bar and you’re as bad as any guy in terms of checking me out so why didn’t you take the shot when I asked to see your place?” Jessica said, looking more way more puzzled than hurt. Joanna sighed.
“It’s complicated.” Joanna said, “Can we talk somewhere?”
Jessica nodded and the two of them found a small, unlocked room in the corner of the hall. It appeared to be an administration office as there was a large wooden desk at the back of the room and a xerox machine in one of the corners. Jessica hopped up to sit on the desk as Joanna closed the door behind them.
“So what’s up?” Jessica asked
Joanna launched into the full thing. About the game and how stupid it was. About the vacation time she’d booked and her desperation to go somewhere nice. About Alex and his stupid offer and her shame at accepting the challenge and how, when it came down to it, she couldn’t go through with it. About her regret that she hadn’t just approached Jessica honestly and made a legitimate advance. To Joanna’s surprise, Jessica seemed to take it all in stride, even chuckling at certain bits.
“So, let me get this straight,” Jessica said when Joanna was done, “You three are in a year long competition to sleep with the most girls.”
“Well, when you say it that way it sounds skeezy and gross.” Joanna said, acknowledging that it was kind of true.
“And I was some sort of big year end prize?” she continued
“At first but…”
“And if you give my panties to Alex, you get five thousand dollars.” Jessica said, getting to the shameful end. Joanna could barely stand to look at her.
“That’s about it.”
“I mean, sure weird and a little juvenile and everything,” Jessica said, “But, I mean, alright.”
“Excuse me?” Joanna said, looking up to see Jessica’s smiling face.
“I mean, I got them on sale for three for thirty dollars.” Jessica said, still shaking her head with some disbelief, “I’m working a reception job to pay for a trip of my own. So if you want to cut me in on this for, oh, let’s say fifty percent of the pool then you are more than welcome to them and I will come out pretty significantly ahead.”
“Really?” Joanna said, relieved that the news was being taken so well and Jessica was, shockingly, a willing conspirator.
“Yeah,” Jessica said, hopping off the desk, “I mean, why not?”
Joanna breathed a big sigh of relief.
“That’s very, very cool of you.” Joanna said, “The game works on an honour system so we can just tell the guys that…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I said I’d help you win” Jessica said as she stepped closer to Joanna, backing her up against the door, “I didn’t say anything about helping you cheat.”
The shorter blonde girl pushed into Joanna and kissed her, her plump, soft lips pressing against Joanna’s thinner, darker ones hungrily. Joanna was caught off guard at first. She was still caught off-guard by Jessica’s reaction to the news, this was something entirely unexpected. Her confusion only lasted a second though, the warmth and the power of the kiss knocked her right back into gear and soon, Joanna was as much the aggressor in the kiss as Jessica was, the soft, warm lips that Joanna had admired so now being bitten and pulled on gently as they kissed. Their tongues pressed together softly and sweetly at first, feeling each other out. To Joanna’s continued surprise, Jessica seemed every bit as experienced and interested as she herself was. There was no let up in the kiss, each woman willing to let the other one take charge for a while before reasserting herself. Joanna thought that Jessica must have put on some sort of mint flavoured chap-stick or lip balm and was savouring every cool, sweet bit.
“God,” Joanna moaned as she finally broke the kiss, beginning to kiss and bite at Jessica’s neck, getting soft moans from the girl in response, “I’m so glad you caught me before I had that cigarette. I’d have tasted gross.”
“Mmmm” Jessica moaned as she undid the buttons on Joanna’s coat, “It’s not talking time.”
Joanna nodded and, with two hands firmly on Jessica’s firm, beautifully shaped ass, she lifted the younger woman away from the door and back up onto the desk. She tossed her coat to the side and went back to kissing Jessica, her hands cupping her face and pulling her into it. Jessica’s own hands finally were able to undo Joanna’s coat and, after some ministrations, tossed it onto the small couch in the corner. Joanna began undoing Jessica’s shirt, her hands expertly finding the zipper at the back of her outfit’s top and pulling it down to the small of Jessica’s back. The red and white garment was the next to be casually tossed to the corner, letting Jessica’s substantial, bra-clad breasts free as the tight top was stripped from her. The bra was the next garment to go, with Joanna first yanking the straps down with her teeth before Jessica reached behind herself and undid the hooks of the lacy garment. Joanna couldn’t help it. She had to marvel for a second as Jessica’s breasts came into view. Their significant size was something Joanna had expected but their flawless, teardrop shape, how high and firm they sat on her chest and the tan colour that matched the rest of Jessica’s flawless skin was something she hadn’t predicted.
Joanna didn’t waste any time. She dove in, slowly kissing down from the top of Jessica’s neck to the tops of her breasts, then down along them, letting her soft tongue trace around the small areola, causing the light pink buds of Jessica’s nipples to stiffen to hardness beneath Joanna’s ministrations. Joanna switched between the two orbs, wanting to pay each an appropriate amount of attention. Jessica wrapped her hand in Joanna’s brown locks, gripping the warm, hungry mouth to her. Jessica moaned her encouragement. Her breasts had always been especially sensitive and Joanna seemed an expert at knowing just what to do to set her off. One of Joanna’s hands would see to the one her mouth was not actively either licking, sucking or gently biting at, her hands filling with the soft flesh and gently kneading the flesh, her fingers occasionally rolling the nipples around softly. Jessica could hardly decide if she liked the attentions of Joanna’s hand or mouth better. She was glad she didn’t have to decide.
“You…oh, oh my god…you do sleep with a lot of girls don’t you?” Jessica said appreciatively. Joanna didn’t reply. She was busy kissing down lower, her hands sliding the skirt up Jessica’s thighs before finding the delicate material of her lover’s panties. Joanna slipped her fingers into the waistband of the soft material and began sliding them down Jessica’s athletic, toned thighs. True to her word, after Joanna had slipped them down Jessica’s thighs, knees and calves, she leaned forward and took the garment in her mouth, yanking them down the rest of the way while gripped tightly in her teeth. Joanna giggled at the sight of it but was soon back to moaning as Joanna’s mouth was quickly back on her, kissing its way up her thighs.
“Be…oh goodness…” Jessica’s words were cut off by Joanna’s mouth coming to it’s apparent destination. Joanna licked along the length of Jessica’s lips, noting the considerable wetness her earlier efforts had induced and savouring the taste. Joanna loved how unique each woman she was with tasted and Jessica seemed the sweetest of them all. Whether it was something natural or just the end result of the considerable anticipation she’d had being satisfied, Joanna didn’t know. She didn’t much care either. She spread Jessica ever so slightly with her fingers, letting Jessica’s small, stiff clit catch her tongue. Jessica gave a satisfied moan and Joanna let her tongue swirl around the stiff little bud. Her attention to Jessica’s clit was skillful, relentless but playful. She alternated between rapidly licks and soft, playful rolls. Jessica groaned, squeezing her own breasts. Every new touch from Joanna’s tongue was a new one, keeping her off-guard. With everyone she hoped the next would be the exact same only to be delighted by the new technique Joanna applied.
“I’m going to..oh fuck yes…oh please” Jessica moaned, feeling the pressure build up inside her. Joanna took that as a sign to divert her attentions elsewhere. She again parted Jessica’s lips with her tongue, pressing her mouth deeply against Jessica’s sex and licking artfully inside her. She was as skillful with her tongue deep inside, Jessica thought, as she’d been with every other part of her body. Jessica could barely believe what Joanna was doing to her. She’d been with two girls in college but they were late night hook-ups. Weird things where neither one really knew what they were doing. As she bucked her hips and moaned with delight as Joanna’s deftly experienced tongue worked inside her, she wondered if she’d ever been with anyone, male of female, who’d actually known what they were doing. Jessica again moaned with disappointment when Joanna removed her tongue but groaned as her tongue was back at her clit and, replacing the tongue inside her, were two of Joanna’s fingers, sliding into her swiftly. Joanna crooked them ever so slightly and, upon finding the desired spot, began stroking it quickly towards her as her mouth clamped around Jessica’s clit, sucking it gently into her mouth and then going back to frenzied licking.
Jessica couldn’t take it. It was almost so good as to overload her senses. She almost thought about asking Joanna to stop, to let her brace herself. But she just kept bucking her hips, her moans now high pitched, breathless and ragged.
“I…I….Oh fuck…oh fuck…cuh-cumming!” Jessica screamed as she felt herself finally being pushed over the edge, her entire body shaking and squeezing as she felt herself gush her cum over Joanna’s face. Joanna didn’t let up for a second, kept fingering and licking at her, even though the walls encircling her fingers began squeezing so tight at her fingers that Joanna idly thought they might break. She just kept licking, kept fingering, savouring the feeling of the girl cumming due to her exertions. Jessica just shook, panting and moaning as Joanna kept at her, not relenting for a second. Every few seconds a fresh wave of her orgasm would tear around her, like aftershocks after a massive earthquake, causing her to shake again.
“Oh god, oh god, oh god” Jessica repeated as she felt herself finally descending. Joanna finally stopped slightly, kissing and biting at Jessica’s quivering thighs. Joanna smiled as she looked up at Jessica, the sight of the beautiful girl in the contented, satisfied after-effects of a powerful orgasm really was a sight to behold.
“How was that?” Joanna asked softly.
“Good, god.” Jessica moaned appreciatively before she shifted a bit, “Although I think my ass is a little numb from sitting on the desk.”
“Want to, mmm,” Joanna kissed gave Jessica another lick, getting an appreciative moan in response, “Get dressed and go back to my place for the night?”
“I do,” Jessica said, “But I did promise my dad I’d help do the gift thing at eleven.”
“What time is it?”
“Clock says 10:30.” Jessica said, motioning to a small wall clock hanging above the photocopier.
“Damnit.” Joanna said with a frown. She didn’t want to wait for more.
“I know,” Jessica said, running her fingers through Joanna’s hair, “It means we can only fuck for twenty, twenty five more minutes tops before it.”