Awakenings - SF1 (43 page)

"Uh...Yeah," she said simply.

They arrived at the little store just after 3 o'clock. Jamie was impressed with the set up. It looked just like a regular bookstore. Neat shelves were arranged along the outside walls. Books, videos and paraphernalia were neatly displayed in an open manner. There was nothing clandestine or lurid about the place. There were big windows that were whitewashed to keep out casual observers and the windows combined with the open shelving to make the store look clean and spacious and inviting. "Hi, Ryan," said a young woman shelving books. Ryan greeted her in a friendly manner as they continued to look around the store.

"Oh, hi
,
Ryan," said the woman at the counter as they passed.

Jamie leaned in close and whispered, "Did you say you've been here or that you lived here?"

Ryan blushed all the way up to her hat. "Maybe I just have a memorable name?" she meekly replied.

A prominently displayed video caught Jamie's eye. The title was 'Bend Over Boyfriend,' and it was advertised as an instructional video for straight women who want to penetrate their male partners. Jamie stood in front of the display with her mouth hanging open and Ryan couldn't help but lean over and ask, "Getting ideas?"

She turned her head and made eye contact with her but she could not reply. She shook her head numbly as Ryan led her away. "I...
I...
I would never have guessed that women wanted to do that!" she gasped out. After a second she started to chuckle just a little bit under her breath and soon she was laughing out loud at her private joke.

"What's so funny?" Ryan finally asked.

"Even though I didn't know that people actually did that I had a very pleasant fantasy the other night about impaling Jack on something. I just didn't know that it was an approved form of sexual expressions!"

"Hey, sexual expression is pretty fluid. People seem a little less role oriented now."

"Jack would have me committed if I brought that home!" she muttered.

"Hi, Ryan. How have you been?" cooed a customer as she eyed Ryan with unconcealed interest.

"She's been busy!" said Jamie curtly as she grabbed Ryan's hand and dragged her away.

Ryan nearly doubled over with laughter. "What was that about?" she finally choked out.

"I'm supposed to be with you," she replied logically. "She was hitting on you right in front of me. I can't tolerate someone dissing me like that."

"You are a piece of work, Jamie. A real piece of work," she said admiringly. "So you want to play for real, huh?" she said with a glimmer of danger in her blue eyes.

"Yeah," Jamie said with more confidence than she felt.

"Come with me," Ryan purred, as she took her hand. They walked over to the counter where yet another woman greeted Ryan by name. "Hi, J.C." Ryan said with a friendly smile. "Got anything new in the try on rooms?"

"Yeah, we got some new things in this week. But remember, Ryan, you break it--you buy it," she said seriously. "And don't forget to put a condom on!" she said rather loudly as Jamie felt herself being led to a small dressing room in the back of the store.

Her eyes were wide with alarm as Ryan opened the door to the small room. As she closed the door she turned a little sign that read 'occupied' around to face outward. On a little table lay the most unique and mysterious sex toys that Jamie had ever seen. Actually, Jamie had never seen a sex toy, but there was little doubt that was what they were. "Yipes!" was all she could get out as she tried to avert her eyes.

Ryan laughed gently at her discomfort as she sat down in one of the two chairs in the small room. "Do you want to continue the game, or are you uncomfortable?" she asked solicitously.

"W
…
w
…
what do I have to do?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Ryan reassured her. "I was just going to show you some of the toys if you want me to."

"Um.
.. Okay," she replied gamely. "What did that woman at the counter mean?" she finally asked.

Ryan blushed again as she answered, "I brought someone here last year and she got a little enthusiastic and broke one of these," she laughed as she held up what Jamie guessed was a vibrator. "I thought she should pay for it, since she broke it, but she didn't have any money, so I got stuck paying $40 for a vibrator I didn't use. It seemed quite unfair to me," she said reasonably.

"What was that about a condom? That confused the heck out of me."

"They're very careful about safer sex here. They clean everything with bleach between customers, but they still want you to put a condom on before you insert anything." Now Jamie blushed as Ryan continued. "The same woman who broke the vibrator wanted to play with some of these," here she held up a lavender latex object shaped like a dolphin, "and she refused to put a condom on. So when we left I ratted her out," she said proudly. "So now they think they have to remind me to use a condom when it was me who told on her." She shook her head, "I don't get it. I'm entirely innocent."

"Of all the adjectives in the world, innocent would be the last one I would use for you," Jamie said as she patted Ryan's pink cheek. After a moment she regained her poise and asked, "Do you bring dates here a lot?"

"Well, you've gotta remember that I live at home..." she trailed off.

"And sometimes the cars are too small, right?" Jamie offered helpfully.

"Yeeeah, that's about it," she agreed.

Jamie was really rather fascinated by the assortment of devices that the little room held. There was one vibrator that interested her in particular. It was a rather normal looking red plastic from the cord until about 4 inches up. But a clear, flexible rubber piece above that was filled with multicolor beads. When the vibrator was turned on that rubber piece began to twist, extend and retract in a rhythmic fashion. It looked much more like a child's toy than a sex object.

There was an assortment of dildos in pretty pastel colors. Some were shaped like women; some like animals and some were just plain cylinders. Jamie noted that none were made to resemble an actual penis.

A large bowl of various styles of condoms was centered on the table along with a box of baby wipes. 3 or 4 bottles of lubricant were also available for use. Jamie shuddered a bit to think of Ryan using these toys, especially with another woman, right here in public. She was very curious to find out if Ryan used things like this on a regular basis, but she realized that was too invasive a question, so she refrained.

"Do you think most lesbians use things like this?" she heard herself asking just a moment later as her curiosity got the best of her.

"I can't speak for most lesbians," Ryan replied with a smirk.

"What about the thousands of women you can speak for?" she asked sweetly.

"I think most women like to play around with toys once in a while. It spices things up a bit. But I don't think that most women need things like this to be satisfied." She reflected for a moment, "My philosophy is that sex should be fun. If playing with toys makes it more fun for both of you, why not?"

"That's a philosophy that I would like to be able to copy. Maybe someday," she said wistfully.

"Are you about ready to leave?"

"Yeah, I guess we made a statement of some sort by the amount of time we spent in here," she laughed.

As Ryan opened the door she wrapped her strong arm around Jamie's waist and whispered into her ear, "Look satisfied." Jamie was very glad that arm was where it was as her knees turned to rubber at the thought.

The next stop was back to the O'Flaherty house for their last change. They both got into workout clothes and covered their outfits with sweats. Jamie loaded all of her previously worn clothes into her garment bag and they took off for the gym.

They had decided to work out together since the day didn't allow for their normal bike ride. Jamie realized that in the nearly 2 months that she had worked with Ryan she had never actually seen her lift weights. They arrived at the gym at around 5 o'clock. There was almost no one else in attendance on this cool fall day. The 49ers were locked in a big game for the lead in their conference and the game was obviously keeping people at home or at a sports bar.

They went to the locker room and removed their sweats. Jamie was wearing a pair of navy blue leggings with a matching sports bra covered by a lemon yellow oversized tank top. Ryan had on a bright red Lycra unitard. The garment was sleeveless and styled like a tank top and the legs stopped just at the largest point of Ryan's muscular thighs.
I am so glad that she doesn't work out with me on a regular basis
, Jamie thought with a shudder.
It's just not fair for any one woman to look that good.

They moved out into the gym and each spent a few minutes on the stair climber to loosen up and raise their heart rates a bit. After 10 minutes Ryan hopped off and went to the first machine. They had agreed that Jamie would do a very light intensity workout of all 6 of the major muscle groups, partly because Ryan was afraid of overstressing her already taxed system.

Ryan had been varying her own routine just to keep things interesting. She had done a lot of rollerblading and a good bit of running to keep herself fresh. She hadn't worked out in the gym for over a week, but it was now time to get serious, so she decided she needed a fairly high intensity session.

Jamie sat down on the seat of the chest press machine as Ryan adjusted the weight. She went through her reps in the usual manner, but Ryan advised against doing two sets. After she rose, Ryan adjusted the seat and the weights for herself. Jamie noticed with a bit of envy that she lifted over three times the amount of weight that she could handle. Ryan had been relaxed and chatty as she usually was when Jamie worked out. But the minute she sat down on that seat her entire demeanor changed. Jamie watched in fascination as the dramatic change came over her friend.

Ryan was a study of total focus. She did not look at herself nor did she glance in the mirror. She kept her eyes unfocused, staring out into space. Her face was unlined, but there was a level of concentration that Jamie had rarely seen before. She began to move the weight with a smooth cadence, with each rep exactly matching the one before. The plates barely touched down lightly before they were pulled into motion again. Ryan did not appear to strain nor did she make any sound. It was truly as though Ryan had become the machine. She did not look like she was lifting something. She was just moving gracefully and the huge stack of weight moved right along with her.

After her first set she paused for less than a minute. She was still in a deep state of concentration, but it was clear that her breathing was slightly elevated as she began the next set. By the time she had finished her third set Jamie could see the perspiration begin to pop out at her hairline. Amazingly, she increased the weight 10 pounds and sat back down for another set. She was obviously having trouble with this one, but she kept at it. Jamie could see that she struggled to make the reps perfect and she smiled when she saw Ryan's right foot begin to tap rather impatiently on the floor as she pushed. The exertion was making her veins bulge and Jamie couldn't help but notice that Ryan's nipples popped out as she strained with the heavy weight. She sat for a moment at the end and got up smoothly. "Oooh, that felt good," she purred.

It was all Jamie could do not to swoon as she followed Ryan around from machine to machine. Her friend followed the same routine for each exercise, but Jamie found each to be a thing of beauty. Ryan was a study of power, grace and fluidity. She reverted to her normal demeanor when Jamie was lifting, then effortlessly shifted back into the intense concentration that she obviously needed to work.

When Ryan had adjusted the Leg Press machine Jamie watched in rapt amazement at the amount of weight that she could push. Every muscle in those tanned legs stood out in start relief, and Jamie could see the strands of muscle jump and flex from the strain. The massive weight moved smoothly through all three sets, and by the end of the 3rd set Jamie had to fight to make herself stop staring before Ryan looked up. She was only partially successful but just received a grin in response. "Would you like to have quads like these when you grow up, little girl?" she said with a flourish as she slapped her pumped thighs.

Jamie could only nod her head as she struggled to shut her gaping mouth. The rest of the workout went smoothly and they were finished in a little over an hour. Jamie was sweating freely when they finished, but Ryan had been dripping onto the floor for some time now. "Do you always sweat so much?" Jamie asked in amazement.

"Yeah, I do," she easily replied. "Your output of perspiration follows your fitness level. I only worry when I don't sweat," she said as she chugged a liter of water.

"How much water do you drink in a day?" Jamie inquired.

"A minimum of 5 liters, much more if I'm doing something strenuous," she replied.

"Um, this wasn't strenuous?" she regarded Ryan's dripping clothing.

"I mean aerobically strenuous, like running or riding my bike on hills. You won't believe how much I will drink on the ride," she smiled in remembrance. "You haven't lived until you've tried to find your tent in a dark campground in the middle of the night when you have to get up to pee 3 times," she laughed.