Message-ID: <46870asstr$1077664207@assm.asstr-mirror.org> Return-Path: X-Original-Path: not-for-mail From: by_jane@literotica.org (jane) X-Original-Message-ID: <80045de.0402240652.682b1b1d@posting.google.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 14:52:50 +0000 (UTC) X-Spamscanner: mailbox2.ucsd.edu (v1.4 Dec 3 2003 15:07:19, 0.0/5.0 2.63) X-MailScanner: PASSED (v1.2.8 33680 i1OErpBo035145 mailbox2.ucsd.edu) X-ASSTR-Original-Date: 24 Feb 2004 06:52:50 -0800 Subject: {ASSM} Glimpses 17/94 by jane Lines: 254 Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 18:10:07 -0500 Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail Approved: Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d X-Archived-At: X-Moderator-Contact: ASSTR ASSM moderation X-Story-Submission: X-Moderator-ID: dennyw, newsman Author: jane Title: Glimpses 17/94 Summary: Anna's passion for forbidden fruit drives her to contact Fran. Keywords: none Length: 1516 words Copyright: c. 2004 *Chapter Three January 1997 8 January 1997, Wednesday* _it wasnt cataclysmic ... more like yeast expanding dough ... dramatic, yes, but slow, too slow to put in prose ... through fall and early winter tina learned to trust emotions ... a pot of tea that steeped between them ... two voices that infused in one ... tenderness ballooned in carnal vapour ... a pinch of sugar, a gentle stir, the clink of china cups on saucers ... and, gradually, through weeks and months, it didnt seem like cheating, mai and tina having an affair ... it seemed the way things were, the way they ought to be ... the way they always would ... nothing huge for marsha either ... nothing very different ... their secret kept intact ... tests and essays, drawings took her time ... basketball ... and friends ... rebecca took the rest ... like ivy in the crannies of a life ... finding footholds for its roots ... a warm green blanket for a wall ... anna ... merry christmas ... a time for family ... she dreaded that ... and loneliness ... and other things as well ... manitoba ..._ *§* _Tempus fugit_, Anna sighed, _footnote to Mother_, as she dried her tears and fit her chin into the tripod formed by arms and torso. _Where'd it go, the time? Five o'clock, now. Andrew's supper! I have to leave; the janitor will find me, makeup streaked, still sitting at my desk._ Time flickered, blinked, and not just hours but all of fall and half of winter passed, shrivelled up like leaves beneath the snow. _Magic. If I blink again will it be spring? The break? Time to fly to Mexico?_ She closed her eyes and counted out a minute, then opened them in January, still. She meant to pack her things and trudge across the snowbound parking lot toward impending doom. Instead, she stole along the silent hall to use the staff room phone. "Andrew? I know. Yes. I know; I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. A meeting. Yes, unexpected. It's going to run another hour. At least. Just scrounge some supper for yourself and Pen. She must be starving. I know. I know. I'm sorry, Andrew. There wasn't any warning. No. Yes, order pizza. Don't worry; I'll get something. Yes, as soon as this is over. I have to go. They're starting up again. Tell Penny that I love her." Breath. _Sixty minutes more of freedom. Mend your face, then figure out your life. Think now, what had and hadn't happened? Keep it simple. Start with facts. Nothing bad, not yet. Andrew hadn't said, "Your tin-horn principal just called," or "Henry from the fucking Board phoned earlier. Be sure to call him back." He didn't scream, "The fucking cops are here, for Christ's sake!" Fact. No colleague stopped by after class to sit there waiting for my side of things. Fact. It should've started, really, if there'd been an accusation. True. Just a dream. It's not a crime to fantasize. People daydream murders. They can holler, "Fire!" in crowded buildings. No one panics, not as long as it's imagined. Touching Celia's blouse, in front ... My god, she wasn't wearing a brassiere. She flaunts them. Looking down from my perspective, she was on display right to her nipples. She wanted me to see. She looked me in the eye and smiled. Of course, I smiled back. So why not slip a hand down through the open collar. Lovingly. Just touch her lightly. Feel it tingle. But that was just a dream. You don't lose your job or go to jail for fantasy._ Fact. Standing next to Celia's desk that morning, she had missed a bit of time. She'd had a kind of seizure; without a warning, Anna's thoughts had gone astray. When she'd recovered, she found her fingers lightly on the head of her best student, as if she might've straightened out a curl, perhaps. Her hand pulled back so suddenly, it scared them both. "Er. Celia. Those are all correct. Watch out for number twenty. It's backwards from the others." Celia looked annoyed. _Nothing. Just a touch. Hardly that. Perhaps, a pat for doing well. The kind of thing one used to do to all the kids without a second thought. Celia was so good at Math. A pat was apropos. The others hadn't noticed._ She hoped they hadn't seen. She worried that they had. Celia might have made complaints. The part about the breast was just imagination. It was. A supposition, Anna argued, all that afternoon. Anna watched the scene again while eating salad in a fast food parking lot. _I dodged a bullet. This time._ "A wake up call," she said aloud. _I need to talk to someone. Stay away from kids._ She parked her Neon in the slushy drive. _Fran. Not tell her everything, just talk. Just have a glass of wine, relax a bit. I need to laugh._ She had the number. Then, stamping snow off of her shoes onto the porch, she knew it was a plan. _Just friendship. Yes, I'll call her._ *§* "Hey, Mom. You want a Hertz doughnut?" "A what?" "Just try it." "I'm not that hungry, love. A half?" Anna eyed the phone with apprehension. Penny giggled. "Sure." She doubled up her fist and forced her middle knuckle out to form an arrow just the way a friend had showed her, then she punched her mother in her biceps. "Ow! What's that for?" "Hurts, don't it?" Then Penny's laughter overflowed and bent her double. "Get it? Hertz doughnut?" The magic of the pun convulsed her. "I got it." Anna couldn't help but smile. "Now get the homework done. It's late." "You were like so shocked." "I'll have a bruise. Now go." "You're goalable, Mom." "That's gullible." _What a nice big word for almost ten!_ "Now get to work." A cautious arm around her daughter's pixie shoulders led Penny from the room. *§* Much later, all alone, beside the telephone, with Andrew lazyboyed upstairs with Jordan and the Bulls, she waited. _I'll do it. Just a call to say hello. How's it going? I bet you're busy with exams, first year and all. It's always hectic. How's Colin? Stuff like that, like friends that might have coffee. Yes, I'm fine. Yes, Penny, too. Just wondered, Fran, if you'd have time for lunch some Saturday? Great. That bar was nice, the one you took me to. No, anywhere will do. A friendship. Just. That hand as soft as mine. That touch against my thigh. Just call. Don't think so much. I'll take a shower first. Relax. No, do it now. A glass of something? No, just make the call this instant._ Anna willed her arm toward the yellow plastic handset. She lifted it against her ear and pressed each number cautiously. _A bird in hand. She who hesitates is lost. I will. I must._ She pushed the seventh number. Its ring relieved her. _Everything's just fine. I should've done this months ago._ Three rings. _Relax._ "Hello." "Hi, Fran! How are you?" "Hello?" A pause. "Who's calling please?" "Fran?" "Hang on; I'll get her." _Oh, God. A woman's voice. It wasn't her._ Anna's mind went dizzy. _Some other woman. Hang up. Hang up before she gets here. This is wrong. I can't ..._ "Anna?" _No._ "Hi." _Think. What was the plan?_ "How are you, hun?" "Just fine. I was ..." "Is everything okay?" "Oh, yes. I didn't get a chance to talk to you today." "I left as quickly as I could. The storm. A friend is visiting this week. Trying to keep me warm in all this snow. It's wild out there." "I know. Getting worse." _There must be something I could say._ "A ... How're your exams coming along?" "Almost finished. We have a week to get them, right? Any chance if this keeps blowing that they'll close the school tomorrow?" "How's Colin?" "He's fine. CBC says its supposed to last all night." The pause again. _Oh, God._ "I'm sorry, Fran. Penny's calling. I have to go." "Okay? Was there something that you wanted?" "Oh, no. Just wondered how the tests were coming. How you were making out." _God, what a thing to say._ "I'm glad you did. We'll talk tomorrow" _Was that a giggle?_ "Sure. I have to run." She fumbled badly through good-bye. _How silly not to guess that that would happen._ The handset settled on its base like asterisks to end a chapter. _The best laid plans of mice, my mother always told me._ Anna poured Merlot into a goblet, the row with Andrew still to come. She wandered to the basement, to her office, opened up the laptop, touched "Escape" and let a summer background light the room. _God, I need to talk to someone. No, I need some love._ She'd lurked before. She'd found the site by accident, a site where chat was dirty, where people claimed to do outrageous things, where dreams were almost real. _Try it. Maybe with a woman. Sex online? Who'd ever know?_ She sipped the wine. _Gang aft agley, Mom said._ This story cannot be reposted or published without the author's permission. 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