"I Will Never Forgive You" chapter 8 (Patreon)

You can also read this story for free on my Ao3 account: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65440144/chapters/219203381

Beverly sang as she cooked.

More than a hum but less than words. Beautiful, pointless vocalisations she accented every action with. She danced through Stella's small kitchen, wrangling a meal out of nothing. Naked, save for the apron, and looking divine even with her hair and makeup a mess.

Stella sat at her kitchen table unable to look away. She could track and understand every single choice she made over the last two months that put Beverly in her kitchen, and yet it made no sense to her.

Earlier today, Beverly, even more beautiful than usual, walking up to her like last week did not happen. Screaming her feelings for Stella with every word and gesture she made. When did Stella learn to read this woman so well? Then, Beverly in her home, utterly helpless. Just there, warm and pliable.

That moment when she spanked her, the way she looked into Stella's eyes utterly and surrendered to her; looking at her like she was perfect, like she'd never been that fat girl scared to leave her room.

For a time all the anger and exhaustion she'd felt receded, leaving her feeling utterly relaxed. Why? Stella had spent the whole week obsessing over Beverly's true nature... Now she wondered about her own.

"Would it be considered an offence to your Italian heritage if I added some of this..." Beverly squinted at the Gochujang paste box. "Gi- Guchi- the paste? It's spicy."

"It's fine. Italy will persevere."

Beverly hummed and began working on the sauce, dancing around her kitchen like a demented homophobic disney princess. All she needed was a little bird on her shoulder. Stella laughed and rested her head in her hands. The singing stopped for a moment, before continuing, more quietly.

"So! Do you like cooking?!" Stella asked, because the alternative was silently going insane.

"I love it." Beverly sang, accenting every word with a tap of a spoon on a metal bowl. Stella suspected that would be the sound she heard when they opened the gates of hell for her. "I think my marriage lasted as long as it did because I liked cooking for Adam."

"A relationship goal to aspire to."

"We made it work!" Beverly sang in a low voice.

"He cheated on you while you pretended that you're not gay?"

Beverly suddenly became very interested in kneading the pasta dough. Stella could not help but smile at the way her ass jiggled with every move.

"Never thought about going pro with cooking? Or is making money somehow beneath Beverly Carpenter?" Stella asked.

Beverly laughed so hard she almost fell over. "Oh I tried! I wanted to go to culinary school at some point... Can you believe it?"

"Why didn't you-"

"My parents were not happy with that! No! No! No!" Beverly said, kneading harder and harder. "No they were not! It was a whole production!"

There was something in the way she said it that made Stella want to dig deeper. "What did they do?"

More kneading. There was no more humming or singing.

"Beverly?"

"If I tell you that I don't want to talk about it you will just make me talk..." Beverly said. "Why do you keep asking me these- these questions?"

"Because... I really don't know who you are." Stella said feeling really tired again.

"Oh? You-" Beverly turned to her, her hands still working the dough. "You want to know me?"

More like she wanted to understand the specifics of her dysfunction... For her own protection. "Yes."

The kneading stopped. Beverly turned away from her and leaned on the counter. When she spoke her voice was painfully neutral. "There was discipline. I was reminded of... What it meant to carry my family name."

"Discipline?" Stella's stomach turned.

"Yes," Beverly said. Her hands digging into the dough, tearing it apart. "Discipline."

The word felt heavy. The moment earlier tonight, when Beverly freaked out when she felt the handle of the paddle weighed even heavier on Stella. What did she think it was?

Discipline...

All at once, Stella did not want to know anymore. If she did, that heavy feeling in her chest would become even worse.

"It's fine! I said it's fine. Discipline is important. It was good for me." Beverly said, resuming her work.

Stella felt the weight increase threefold. "Yeah? Did you ever discipline Victoria?"

Beverly stopped kneading. She stood utterly still for a couple of heartbeats before she spoke. "No. Never."

Stella did not ask any more questions. Beverly did not sing anymore.

The pasta was, predictably, delicious.

Beverly was not eating. She just sat in front of a full plate, resting her head on her hands looking at Stella with a wide smile. Stella could barely stand to look back- It was like staring at a floodlight pointed right at you.

"Do you like it? Not too spicy?" She asked.

"It's good." Stella said between bites. "You should eat too."

Beverly hummed and dug in. She ate in tiny little quick bites like a mouse. Every four bites she would wipe her mouth clean with a napkin she laid on her lap. She was squirming too, Stella noticed. Why did every little thing this woman did turned out so weird?

She really was like a little rodent. Not a snake, spider or wasp. A little rat.

"Why are you squirming so much?" Stella asked.

Beverly grimaced. "My regions are a bit tender."

"Regions?" Stella could not help but laugh. "How about your territories?"

"Those are fine, thank the Lord..."

Stella was about to pile on, before she remembered who she was speaking to. Beverly finished eating before her and sat there primly, looking at her. "I've been wondering... What else am I missing out on? Sex wise? Besides aftercare?"

"How about restraint? Decency?"

Beverly let out an airy fake laugh. "You know what I mean. If I was any other woman... Is there anything else we would do differently?"

For one, she would not be in Stella's apartment right now. Stella never invited women over... But she was not going to tell Beverly that. The resulting smile would probably just straight up kill her.

"A safe-word," she said instead. When Beverly just looked at her puzzled, she continued. "It's a word you agree on with your partner to use if you want to... Put brakes on the rough stuff."

Beverly looked at her utterly disgusted. "What's the fun in that?"

"To stop from hurting each other by accident..."

She got a slow nod and silence for a response. Beverly played with her napkin for a bit, tearing little pieces off of it and stacking them on the table in a neat pile. When she spoke, she did not look at Stella. "And... We don't use that because you want me to be hurt."

"Yeah," was all Stella could say. Because it was the truth. "That's why you're here..."

"That's why I'm here..." Beverly repeated.

Silence reigned again. Stella finished her pasta and sat back in the chair, not quite knowing what to do now. She should have just answered Beverly's questions earlier instead of dealing with this nonsense.

No, I will never stop hating you Beverly.

She should have just said that! Instead she allowed herself to get worked up again. The entire week, the revelation of Beverly's feelings for her were never far from Stella's mind. Beverly Carpenter wanted her. Not just for sex, or as some sort of fucked up penance for what she did before.

Beverly Carpenter... Wanted her, specifically. Stella Sorrentino. There were no tricks, or plans. Beverly kept coming back because...

She had feelings for her.

The woman cried in her arms. She had made Beverly cry before but that was... Sexy crying? Not the raw terrifying outpouring of emotion that happened earlier. It scared Stella more than anything the woman ever did to her...

"Beverly..." Stella spoke despite herself. "Why are you here?"

"Besides the obvious?" Beverly asked with one eyebrow raised suggestively. Stella nodded.

To her surprise Beverly gave the question actual thought. "I don't know anymore..." She kept ripping at her napkin until there was nothing left but tatters. "I know you won't ever... Forgive me... But... Oh, it's difficult to put into words."

"Try... Please."

Beverly's eyes narrowed. "I feel like... Going through motions my whole life. Just... Doing what I needed to do..." She crossed her arms on the table and looked into Stella's eyes. "I've done a lot of bad things... To you and to other people. I just didn't think about what I was doing. Now... I feel like I am waking up." She hesitated. "With you every time I try something you just smack me down!"

"Like... What? What do you mean?" Stella asked.

Beverly laid her head on the table and murmured into it. "Last two weeks... I knew you'd be mad about the food but I just... Thought you would like me more if you liked my food..." She said pitifully. "I'm sorry..."

Stella laughed. How could she not? There was a plan! She was not wrong about that! It was the goal she was wrong about! Beverly was trying to- what? Romance Stella? What was this, the sixties?! Get to a woman's heart through her stomach?!? She laughed so hard she could not breathe.

"You know what!" Beverly huffed. "I cook for you, you yell at me! I apologise and you laugh! You are impossible! I was trying to- I was trying to open up! God!"

Her scrunched up outraged face just made Stella laugh harder. God, this bitch! This crazy fucking woman! Stella managed to get a hold of herself and tried to look at Beverly again. Really look at her. At her messed up hair, the silly apron she refused to take off, at the stiff way she sat for God knows what reason. Something happened that never happened before. A part of her, a very small and deeply set part, turned over and shifted. She realized despite herself that Beverly Carpenter was a human being, just like her.

Stella tried to deny it, of course. Because it could not possibly be true. And yet, mother and father were mentioned, with implied a birth, which is how human babies got here.

"How are my turtles?" She asked, for want of anything else to think about.

"My turtles are doing well, thank you very much." Beverly responded, clearly not amused by the shift in conversation. "Really Stella, you only ever visited them. I gave them a home."

"Yeah, well, spiritually they were mine and you stole them."

"Then call the police," Beverly said with a smirk. "If you want them back so badly."

"I think I might just do that..."

Beverly sat back in the chair and inspected her nails. " Good luck with that. My father is friends with the police commissioner..."

"How's your good old dad? Still hate immigrants?"

"Some things never change..." Beverly sighed. "And father is fine. He is going to run for senator next year."

Stella shivered. "Well I know who I am not going to be voting for, then."

Beverly shrugged, never taking her eyes off her nails. Stella looked at the clock on the wall and found that it was already eleven pm. Something clenched in her heart. She needed to go to sleep soon if she was going to get to the insurance office early enough. Beverly needed to go home.

"How is your daughter?" Stella asked. "How's her girlfriend?"

"Don't." Beverly closed her eyes and said flatly. "Don't- don't go there."

Here we go! Stella leaned in. "Is it really such a tragedy if she likes the ladies? Really?"

"I want my daughter to be happy..."

"What does that have to do with being gay? She can be-"

"Are you happy with it?!" Beverly cut her off.

"Yeah." Stella said. "I wouldn't change it for anything else. I love women."

Beverly looked at her like she'd grown a second head. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. In all the years she'd known Beverly she had never seen her this taken aback.

"Beverly... You can be gay and happy." Stella said, not quite knowing why she bothered. "It doesn't make you miserable or bad or anything like that... Some people will treat you differently but-" Beverly laughed bitterly, but said nothing. Stella continued. "Some people would treat you differently, but... Fuck them."

"Fuck them," Beverly repeated mockingly. "What a... Pleasant world you live in Stella..."

"Well... There was a time in my life... Where I had a choice between becoming stronger or... Dying. I chose what I chose and I don't regret it." Stella said and stood and left the room.

Stella needed a moment to clear her head. She just gave Beverly a little supportive LGBT pep talk. She really needed to get this bitch out of her house, before more concerning things happened.

Since the day the woman in the kitchen walked back into her life, all she could do was to think about her. Hate her, fuck her, avoid her. Beverly, Beverly, Beverly, every fucking day, Beverly. Then, every Sunday an explosion of indulgence, then the wait! Over and over again. She did not want to wait another week!

Wait, two weeks! Beverly had the party coming up. Stella would not see the woman for fourteen days. Stella's stomach twisted at the thought.

Stella wandered into the bathroom and leaned her head against the cool white wall tiles. Why was this so hard? Call the bitch a taxi! She should not even be here to begin with!

She closed her eyes, but all she could see was Beverly's eyes, surrendering to her. That moment on the couch- God it was amazing. She would remember it forever. She wanted it again. Now.

She wanted it, Beverly wanted it, what was the problem? The woman in the kitchen was her's. Her possession. There were no rules here, besides the one that mattered: Stella did whatever the fuck she wanted.

Tension she did not even realise was there in her shoulders and back disappeared. She did not need to give Beverly up, just yet. She could play some more if she wanted.

She found Beverly cleaning the kitchen, turned away from her. Before she could think herself out of it she took a few steps and pressed herself against Beverly, her right hand twisting into her long hair and pulling her head back to force her to look back at Stella. The woman gasped but said nothing.

"Beverly... You are staying the night." She said as she pressed her hips against the woman's ass, pinning her to the counter.

"Yes!" Beverly answered quickly. "But... Why?"

"Because I said so..."

Beverly's eyes widened at the firmness of Stella's voice. Then they darted towards Stella's lips. "Of course... But I don't think I can do much more... Rough stuff tonight." She said and tried to crane her neck to reach Stella's lips, in vain. "My territories are a bit sensitive..."

"I can work with that..." Stella whispered. "I have some ideas..."

"Where would I sleep?"

"I have a doggie bed around somewhere..."

Beverly froze for a second before speaking, her voice suddenly thick with lust. "Yes... Yess I want to-"

"I was kidding about the dog bed you freak!" Stella laughed. "I have a spare bedroom!"

"Oh! Yes. Of course," Beverly coughed.

And just like that, it was decided that Beverly would not be going home tonight. After they've cleaned the kitchen together, in something that felt almost like a comfortable silence, Beverly excused herself to call her daughter and let her know.

Stella stayed behind and let herself feel the giddiness that threatened to force a wide smile onto her face. It would not do for Beverly to see her like this. Her face under control she joined Beverly in the living room.

"I love you too... Yes- no. Stop it! I will do no such thing. Good night!" Beverly said and hung up the phone. She turned to Stella and smiled at her shyly. "There... The child has been informed."

"What was that about?" Stella asked. "You will not do... What??"

Beverly waved her hand dismissively, but Stella did not feel very merciful at the moment. Instead of insisting she simply walked over to Beverly and stood close to her, looking her in the eyes. The woman looked away nonchalantly, but Stella kept staring without a word.

Finally, Beverly broke with a huff. "She said to 'kiss whoever I'm with goodnight'."

Wasn't that an interesting idea... Stella placed her hands on the sides of Beverly's neck and trailed them up, slowly. Beverly's eyes fluttered, her lips parted, head tilted back to just the right angle. Stella smirked and pushed her onto the couch. Beverly fell without making a sound. She splayed like a marionette with its strings cut and sighed dramatically.

She looked up at Stella and waited in silence. Once again, something stirred within Stella seeing Beverly like this. She could do anything she wanted... There were so many ways to fuck with Beverly that did not involve her ass and pussy, Stella's dark heart suggested. Slap her around, spit on her, choke her- but that's not what Stella wanted.

There was a moment earlier today that burrowed itself in her heart. Beverly, kneeling before Stella with her hands bound, looking up at her waiting for instructions. She looked so helpless... Stella rooted around in her toy box and found what she wanted. Two sets of matching cuffs with a short chain between each set.

The gag needed to be washed. She would have to do without the blindfold as it was wet and dirty, and she did not have another one. When all was ready she approached Beverly, who sat on the couch stiffly.

"Beverly... For the rest of tonight, you're not a dog... Or a toy..." Stella said. The next words felt like heat rushing out of her. "You're my property."

The eagerness on Beverly's face made Stella's insides clench. She leaned in and grabbed Beverly's head with both hands, smushing her cheeks with her thumbs. "You. Are. Mine." She punctuated every word with a squeeze.

Beverly tried to nod, but Stella held her in place. She let herself examine Beverly's face, enjoying it like a painting. A pretty little thing she owned... She let go of her and held out the cuffs.

"Hands out." Stella said. In a few short moments Beverly's hands and legs were bound.

"Stand up and follow me," Stella said and took a few steps away from the couch. Beverly stood up unsteadily and took a small step, before the chain binding her ankles almost made her fall flat on her face.

"Oh-oh this is tough-"

"No talking," Stella said.

Beverly's mouth came to a thin line, but she did not complain. She squared her shoulders and tried again, taking a smaller step, her face scrunched in concentration. Step by tiny step, she made it to Stella and stood by her, waiting for instructions.

"Turn around," Stella said. When Beverly obeyed, she grabbed at the ribbon tying the apron together and untied it with two sharp tugs. Then, carefully she took the thing off of Beverly, leaving her completely naked once again.

Stella pressed herself against the woman's naked back and grabbed both her breasts roughly. She squeezed and tugged at them for a good while, enjoying the way the nipples hardened under her palms. Beverly stood there silently, as Stella played with her body.

"Good. I like you better naked," Stella said and stepped away from Beverly. She walked over to the couch and threw herself down, laying in the corner. She spread her legs a little and pointed to the space between them. "Now come and lay down here, your back to me."

Beverly looked at her annoyed. Oh, did she not like being led around like that? Something to remember. Stella did it to see if Beverly could walk around in the ankle chains without hurting herself. The frustration on her face was just a bonus.

The woman did a fair job trying to maintain her usual dignity while shuffling around naked, trying not to fall flat on her face. The illusion broke when she reached the couch and tried to awkwardly shuffle herself on top of Stella. Stella waited until she was almost done, before she grabbed Beverly's hair and pulled her down on top of herself. Beverly yelped but managed not to say anything.

Now the woman was laying on top of her, her head resting on Stella's breasts. She wiggled her butt a bit, trying to find a comfortable spot, before settling down with a sigh. Her body felt warm and soft; It fit into Stella's in a way that she chose not to examine too closely.

"Shit..." Stella said, hiding her grin. "I forgot the remote. It's on the table, bring it to me."

Another, rather knowing, sigh came from Beverly. Of course it would not be this easy! With some effort the woman wiggled herself out of the comfortable position and hobbled to the table. She gave Stella another episode of the 'jiggly ass' show as she came back to the couch, tv remote in hand. Stella took it without saying anything, ignoring Beverly's scowl.

Stella waited until Beverly was halfway through settling down again before she spoke. "Oh, one more thing."

She had Beverly do three more trips back and forth around the room in order to get her what she needed. A wireless keyboard and mouse and finally the gag.

"Get back between my legs," Stella said and enjoyed the resulting eye squint. When the woman was in place Stella put the gag in front of her mouth and spoke: "Open your mouth."

Beverly did just that and in a few seconds she was fully gagged again. She swayed her head from side to side while making low happy noises.

Guided by an instinct she could not quite place, Stella turned on the tv. She had a nice set up- a pc connected to the tv which worked as a monitor. The desktop was littered with nonsense she downloaded over the years, so she just turned on the web browser to hide it all. So, what was she going to do? Netflix? Youtube? She felt like watching something before going to sleep. She navigated through the browser when she felt Beverly jump a little.

One of her browser home-screen, in the most frequently used websites there was a pornhub link. Stella felt her heart beat faster.

"Oh? See something you like?" She asked as she moused over the thumbnail. Beverly went very still. In a flash a thought emerged whole and complete inside Stella's mind, as if it had always been there.

Beverly had never seen porn before.

Stella opened the website and navigated to the amateur lesbian section (because that's where it was at, really) and clicked on some random video. The title was a literary masterpiece, as expected: 'STRAIGHT GIRL LEARNS TO EAT PUSSY FROM A BLACK MILF'. She skipped ahead a bit to get to the good stuff.

A young lady with short green hair was on her knees eating the absolute hell out of an older black woman's pussy. Stella suspected that the title may have been a clever ruse to get her to click on it. Nobody in that shot was straight.

She let the video play while she set out to mess with her little pet. Beverly jumped when Stella grabbed her breasts. God, they were perfect; heavy with nice large nipples. Stella watched the action on the screen (the supposed straight lady sucked on the MILF's clit like her life depended on it), as she kneaded and caressed them. Beverly's nipples were rock hard in seconds, her breathing quickened and what little Stella could see of her face flushed, yet the woman remained dead still.

Stella pinched her nipples hard and pulled them up, forcing Beverly to arch her back. The woman groaned into the gag and thrashed a bit, before Stella eased off, allowing her to lay back down. She kept teasing Beverly's breasts for a while, alternating between softer and more painful touches. With each passing minute Beverly relaxed into her touch, growing more and more visibly aroused. She dared not use her hands to touch herself, which made Stella feel oddly proud for not having to tell her... But her gaze never strayed from the smut on the screen in front of them.

The video finished with the certainly not straight girl getting fingered by the older woman to a screaming orgasm. The next one started playing automatically, a variation on the theme: a woman seducing her 'straight' boss into fucking her on top of a desk. Unlike the previous video, this one was full of dialogue so cheesy that Stella could barely stop herself from shutting the whole thing off. Beverly did not seem to mind. She was riveted. Which gave Stella an idea.

She reached behind the couch, into a little nook and got her noise cancelling headphones. Thank Christ they were fully charged and connected to the pc. Nothing ruined the dom vibe quicker than tech troubleshooting. Stella put the headphones on Beverly's head- the woman wiggled a bit in surprise but gave in when she realized what they were.

Stella turned them on and fiddled with the volume a bit, before she could just about barely hear what Beverly was experiencing. On the screen the ample breasted 'boss' was currently fucking the 'employee' with a large black strapon. Sounds of moans and clapping cheeks soiling Beverly's innocent ears.

All the while she kept up the assault on Beverly's breasts. It did not take long before the woman was rubbing her thighs together while quiet desperate moans escaped her throat. Stella herself was soaking wet from the spectacle, as well as the feeling of Beverly's body writhing on top of her, but she could wait. Something inside of her was being fed by this situation and it was growing only hungrier as every second.

After the video ended Stella reached for the wireless keyboard and for a lack of a better spot, put it on Beverly's breasts. The woman yelped adorably but did not protest much. Stella quickly found what she was looking for.

LESBIAN SCREAMING ORGASM / BDSM COMPILATION

Isn't the internet just a wonderful place? She hit play and watched for a couple of minutes to make sure she got the right one. An endless torrent of clips of women of all colors, creeds and body types sizes getting dominated in all sorts of positions and apparently loving every second of it. What little of the audio Stella could hear was perfect; women screaming in ecstasy delivered right into Beverly's tender ears.

Her hands, her feet, her eyes, her mouth and now ears belonged to Stella. Beverly Carpenter was hers and there was nothing she could do but submit. Stella laughed, jostling Beverly. The woman turned around to look at her, giving Stella the first look at her face since she started this little experiment.

Beverly was ravenous. Stella had seen her aroused before, but not like this; feral with lust and unable to do anything about it. Stella denied her orgasms before, but she always had her doing something else instead, usually eating her out. She'd never simply left her with the stimuli and no way to let the energy out.

Stella put her hand on Beverly's cheek and smiled at her. Then she forced her back towards the screen. No escape! Get back to the porn chamber! When the woman settled in again, Stella escalated her teasing. She raked her nails over Beverly's belly and thighs, sometimes brushing her thumb lightly over her pussy lips or clit. A heavy, desperate groan answered her every time. Then, she would switch it up and be gentle, massaging her breasts and neck tenderly, sliding her hands into her hair and raking her nails over Beverly's scalp.

Beverly endured it all, but not without outbursts of defiance. Once, in the middle of a long nipple squeezing session, she began thrashing around in frustration, for which she was rewarded with a nice long bite to the neck which calmed her down enough. Another time she was trying to sneak her hands towards her pussy and almost succeeded, Stella catching her at the last second. The punishment fit the crime: Stella teased her inner thighs and pubic mound, rubbing them all over but never quite touching anything sensitive.

The video compilation ended to Stella's surprise. Has it been half an hour already? How quickly time flies when you're having fun! She loaded up the next one (AMATEUR LESBIAN ASS EATING) and hit play. Beverly whined loudly but did not fight this time.

However much she enjoyed torturing Beverly, Stella did not want to spend a whole evening watching porn. That shit was bad for you. She turned up the volume on Beverly's headphones and reached for her phone. After a moment of consideration she grabbed the cuffs that bound Beverly's hands and dragged them behind her own head, hooking them in place. There! Now she would not be able to touch herself.

Stella tried to ignore Beverly as best as she could as she checked her e-mail (no news from the insurance! Fuck!) and texted Haylee, sharing Beverly's predicament. Haylee suggested showing trans porn for Beverly, which would be very funny but carried a risk of ruining the mood.

The anal compilation ended all too quickly (only 20 minutes after all) so Stella chose another video. Feeling daring, she decided to throw caution to the wind and found a short amateur video of a goth trans lady trying very hard to put her tiny tattooed girlfriend through the mattress. Beverly stiffened a bit at the sight of a lady with a cock, but it did not last long. She was squirming with unfulfilled arousal once again, her eyes glued to the screen.

Stella did not want to push her luck with the little bigot so the next video was, once again, penis free. Some sort of an ancient Greek lesbian orgy. Stella was not really paying attention, her thoughts drifting all over, thinking of all the possibilities.

Beverly with her hands bound behind her back serving her coffee as Stella worked on the laptop. Beverly in the naked apron, gagged, but hands free, cooking for her, maybe cleaning the apartment? She would love it too, the little Stepford wife to be. She would wait for Stella at home with food ready, eager to please, eager to- at home? Stella examined the thought... Beverly as her live-in servant? Yes, something like that. Not just an hour or two every Sunday, no.

Beverly could be in her life every day...

She could set her up in the spare bedroom and keep her there, ready and willing to serve every day. Stella would visit her bedroom whenever she wanted to have some fun... Or maybe- maybe Beverly would be allowed into Stella's bed? Yes, she would be- how else could she wake Stella up every morning with her tongue on her pussy?

Every morning would start like that, with an orgasm or two, then breakfast, which Beverly prepared happily. Then, they would have to part at the door, but Stella would leave Beverly with a task like fucking herself every hour thinking of her, or- or- send a video of her feet, or- train her ass to take larger plugs. Stella would come home after work and praise, or punish her depending on how the task went.

Every day- she could have this every day. And why not? Beverly was hers to do whatever she wanted. The little freak would love it too. They would both be happy like that...

Happy...

Of course it was just a stupid sex fantasy. Nothing more. She looked at her phone, what time was it? Jesus Christ it was already one am. She really needed to go to bed.

Correction, they both needed to go to bed.

Without preamble she took the headphones of Beverly's head, making the woman jump. The sounds of many ladies overlapping moans filled the quiet room. Beverly tried to roll to her side to look at Stella, but she did not let her. She pushed the woman to a sitting position and got off the couch. Beverly did not follow her, but laid back down and spread her legs, looking at Stella with eyes drowning in need.

There was a big part of Stella that wanted to get on her knees and make this woman scream for her. The smell of Beverly's arousal was thick in the air and- God she wanted to taste it...

"It's getting late." Stella said instead. "Up you go!"

She grabbed for the chain holding Beverly's wrists together and pulled up, the woman followed with a dreamy look in her eyes. She stood unsteadily, leaning into Stella, her warmth seeping into her.

"Let's get you ready for bed," Stella said and walked Beverly, step by little step, towards the bathroom.

Beverly blinked hard at the light inside. She looked tired and dazed, unsure what to do. The simplest thing to do would be to uncuff her and let her do her business but... Stella did not want to do that. She made Beverly lean back against the wall mounted towel rack and began taking off her clothes, trying to ignore the look in the woman's eyes.

Shortly, she stood naked in front of Beverly. "Shower fist," She said before grabbing a scrunchie from a nearby shelf and tying her hair up in a bun. Then she did Beverly's. She did not feel like dealing with wet hair right now. When they were ready she put her hand on the woman's lower back and led her inside the cabin.

A thought hit Stella like a flying brick. She had never showered with another woman... In all her aborted relationships she'd never wanted to do it. None of these little intimate things any of her girlfriends insisted on ever really appealed to her.

She held Beverly's lower back to stop her from slipping while she tested the heat of the water on herself and found it perfect. Because at the end of the day, she was who she was, she upped the heat a notch or two and pointed the nozzle at Beverly's chest. She jumped when the hot water hit her, her skin reddening in seconds under the hot spray.

Beverly bit into the gag hard and squealed as she got hosed down, but did not try to get away. The squeals turned into deep groans when Stella pointed the stream of water on Beverly's pussy. The woman pressed into Stella's side and thrust out her hips, trying to catch more of the water onto her clit. Stella obliged her and aimed right at the spot.

Groans turned into muffled moans, raising in intensity each second. Beverly buried her head in Stella's neck, her wet body sliding all over Stella's. And then when it seemed like she could not take any more, when she was at the exact precipice of her long awaited orgasm Stella did what Beverly should have known she would do.

She pointed the nozzle at herself and started washing up. Boy, the water was hot! She turned the heat down a bit. It took Beverly a moment to realise what happened. She screamed into the gag and smashed her head into Stella's shoulder like a drunk hammerhead shark almost toppling both of them in the process.

"Hey now!" Stella said as she pressed the flailing woman to her chest. "You're gonna hurt yourself buddy!"

Beverly let out what may or may not have been a string of curses into her chest, before giving up. Stella took this opportunity to hose her behind down. Then, she got the washcloth and body wash and began lathing the woman up. Beverly, by now resigned to her fate, let herself be scrubbed clean without much protesting. She tried to grind into Stella's hand a bit when she was washing her privates, but it was half hearted.

"Good girl..." Stella whispered into her ear.

They got out of the shower pink and clean, albeit a little bit defeated in Beverly's case. Stella was feeling great! Her own arousal was a bother, yes, but torturing Beverly was more than enough for her right now.

Stella reached for Beverly's face and said: "I will take off your gag, but you are still not allowed to talk... Get it?"

Beverly nodded and let Stella do it. She caught a glimpse of Beverly's eyes before looking away. There was too much in them. After her mouth was free of the bit she worked her jaw a bit, working out the stiffness but said nothing. Her body was clean, but her chin was a drool-covered mess...

Stella did a simplified version of her face routine, before washing Beverly's. Then, in a fit of whimsy she brushed the woman's hair out. You've got to take care of your toys after all. In the mirror, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Beverly's mouth curling into a smile, an odd one. One Stella had never seen before.

A wild thought of brushing Beverly's teeth for her almost knocked Stella over. That would be a bit much... Would it? Yes it would! She stuck her spare toothbrush in Beverly's hands and got to her own dental routine. They stood side by side at the sink, taking turns spitting and rinsing. In the mirror, she saw an odd smile on her own face, she also chose not to examine.

"Ready for bed?" She asked Beverly when they were done.

Beverly nodded dreamily and let herself be led to Stella's bedroom. Inside, Stella sat her on the large queen sized bed she owned. Beverly bounced a couple of times on the hard mattress to test it, and seemed to find it acceptable enough. She touched the sheets and managed to hide her disgust at the thread count almost perfectly.

Stella knelt in front of her Beverly, careful not to look into her face. "I am going to take your cuffs off Beverly... But your hands and feet still belong to me. Do you understand?" She whispered as she undid the cuffs.

She felt, rather than seen Beverly nodding, gently. Dreamily. Happily. Obediently. Lovingly. It made her sick, something in her heart wriggling like worms burrowing through a rotten apple.

This was her house. Why did she have to look away?

She wrenched her eyes toward Beverly's and looked. Beverly's face was open, like she'd never seen it before. Waiting and trusting. Begging for something... Sex? Yes, but that was not only it, right?

They were so blue... Deep with wanting. She'd dreamt of those eyes for so many years, of seeing them full of tears and regret. Now she'd had them in her life and it was everything she ever wanted. There had always been a Beverly shaped hole carved into her mind and heart, ever since high school... She'd been searching to fill it with something and- and now the original was here, in her bed.

Beverly Carpenter was here, and she was hers. Slowly, she reached out and put her hand on Beverly's sternum before pressing down. Beverly yielded without resistance, let herself be laid down, let Stella crawl on top of her, to straddle her hips. Her face still open, wanting and willing.

Stella's hand made it to Beverly's throat seemingly without input from her mind. One moment it was simply there. She squeezed gently, then firmly. Beverly gasped, her eyes widened but she still said nothing.

"What would you do if I never stopped?" Stella asked as she squeezed tighter, cutting of Beverly's air supply.

Beverly did nothing. Her hands fluttered uselessly by her legs, before she lowered them deliberately. Stella's hand kept its vice grip. Beverly's throat worked, trying to get air, but she could not.

Something dark, darker than ever before bubbled up from the sump at the bottom of Stella's soul and she yanked her hand away. Her heart hammered in her chest, her stomach rolled with fear and disgust.

"Why- why did you let me do this?!" She asked Beverly before she stopped herself. "Speak!"

"Because..." Beverly said, very very quietly. "You said that I am yours."

That's right. Stella forgot that Beverly was not quite right in the head... And neither was Stella. They really fit well together, didn't they? Two crazy women who did not know how to have normal relationships.

In another life they would have made a perfect couple.

"Let's..." Stella managed to say, "Let's go to sleep."

She rolled off of Beverly and turned the lights off with the remote she had on the night stand. The darkness swallowed them both. Stella burrowed herself under the covers on her side of the bed. Her side? It was her bed! Both sides were hers!

Go to sleep!

Sleep!

No matter how hard she tried, Beverly's blue eyes haunted her... Her aching pussy did not help either. How did she spend the last five hours with Beverly and never once got herself off? How did that happen?!

She was just about ready to chew through her pillow before she heard Beverly's quiet voice next to her. "Stella? Are you asleep?"

"Yes."

"I don't think I can sleep like this..." Beverly whispered. "I need to..."

She sounded so needy and pitiful that Stella's already aching need blossomed even further. She felt herself bloom.

"Come here," she said, surprised at the hoarse sound of her own voice. "But... Don't talk."

Beverly pressed into her side before Stella could blink. Her small body practically shaking with need, her own responding in kind. The woman felt so small and fragile in Stella's arms, for a moment she was afraid to touch her. But that moment passed. She pressed Beverly's shoulder down and rolled on top of her, delighting in the feel of her soft thighs rubbing against hers.

A gasp of soft relief and pure want escaped Beverly. Stella had games, fresh tortures and teases in mind, but they all dissolved into nothing when she heard that sound. She wanted- she needed to taste the woman below her. She lunged down and bit into Beverly's neck.

Beverly groaned desperately and craned her neck to allow Stella access, her hands roaming all over Stella's naked back. Stella sucked on her neck hard, then bit again. She alternated, going up towards Beverly's ear, leaving a trail of pain and pleasure. Her hands twisted into Beverly's hair and dug into her scalp as her tongue dragged over her earlobe.

As this happened, Stella let her hands explore Beverly. She felt different in the dark, softer, more real. Her breasts, her sides, her stomach, then lower. Her incredibly soft pubic hair, trimmed neatly, her wet silky pussy. Stella bit into Beverly's ear while she slid her fingers through the woman's wet folds.

Stella felt hot, her whole body was sensitive and raw. Her heart- her heart felt light and airy, floating somewhere inside of her, buoyed by all the heat. She whispered into Beverly's ear, the heat in her voice unbearable: "Do you want my fingers?"

Beverly mewled and pressed her head into her's. She dug her fingers into Beverly, meeting almost no resistance. She pumped them in and out of the woman, angling them to put pressure on her entrance, in the spot she knew drove Beverly wild.

A soft wet sensation on her neck surprised Stella but she instinctively angled herself to allow it. Beverly was whimpering unintelligibly as she kissed her neck. It should have angered her but- but- but in the dark it did not matter. They were just two women who could never get enough of each other. With her free hand Stella grabbed for Beverly's hair and pressed her against her neck, harder. The woman cooed and sucked on it in the spot Stella led her to.

Beverly bit into Stella's neck as she came. She clenched over Stella's fingers so hard she could hardly work them in and out. The pain of her teeth radiated all through Stella's neck, tearing straight into her core, firing it up even further. Before long Beverly gasped and fell back onto the pillow gasping for air, her hands numbly caressing Stella's back.

Stella had always looked down on cheaters. She did not quite care for relationships herself, but she respected the promises people made to each other and themselves. She especially hated the weak people who let 'one thing lead to another'. A weak, pathetic excuse, a lie one told themselves when they chose not to see the road they put themselves on.

Every single choice she made tonight led to this. How? When did it happen? Stella rubbed the sore spot on her neck, trying to calm herself, trying to stop this before it went too far. But the fire was too strong. She leaned down and seeked out Beverly's mouth in the darkness. Beverly returned her kiss after a stunned heartbeat matching her fire with her own.

Maybe it was fine in the dark? Their first kiss was in the dark.

The kiss went on, their tongues melting into each other, but Stella could not get enough. She was like a woman who was starving for decades let into a fully stocked kitchen for the first time. When Beverly's mouth could not satisfy her hunger, she traveled down, leaving a trail of kisses and bite marks all over the woman's neck and breasts.

Beverly's hands twined in her hair, at first confused, then resolved, pushing her down further. Stella stopped for a heartbeat as she kissed Beverly's belly button, knowing that she would regret this in the morning but- but she wanted it. She wanted to hear Beverly scream.

She inhaled deeply, her nose buried in Beverly's pubic hair. The scent was amazing, deep and rich. Better than any woman she'd ever smelled. Lower down, the scent of her arousal was overwhelming too. She thought, idly, of teasing but she could not wait. Ravenous, Stella settled between Beverly's spread legs and dug in.

"God!" Beverly screamed when Stella's tongue made contact with her opening. "S-Stella!"

Stella locked her arms over Beverly's belly and held her in place. She raked her tongue over Beverly's opening, and pressed it into the sensitive spot below her clit, dragging it up, up towards it. Beverly thrashed, but Stella held her down and continued her journey. She licked and sucked along the folds, tasting and enjoying each one, playing with the silky skin.

"Oh God- oh god! oh God!" Beverly kept babbling, responding so eagerly to everything Stella was doing to her. "Please! Please!"

Stella took her time exploring. There was no hurry. She found that Beverly responded the most to the underside of her clit being teased, the clit itself being too much for her at the moment. So, she set to licking and pressing into that exact spot, quickly honing in on the right rhythm and pressure.

Beverly thrashed all over, her hands fluttering between Stella's shoulders and head, never settling on one spot. "Stella! Stella! I'm- I'm- God!"

The thing was, the thing that Beverly never knew is that Stella loved eating women out. Tease them, punish them, humiliate them and make them beg, yes, but then- this was the best part. The reward for good girls, and for Stella too. She loved feeling them tremble with ecstasy, their legs locking over her head as they lost control of themselves because of her.

Beverly gave her everything she wanted. She arched her back so violently Stella had to scramble to follow her up. She screamed not quite words, then fell silent, gasping and straining for breath as she came hard. Stella held onto her tightly, not letting go or stopping no matter how hard Beverly tried to buck her. She was in heaven alongside Beverly.

By the time Beverly fell back down to the mattress, sweaty and tired she was in for a surprise. Stella was not done. She kept going, slower and lighter, but her tongue never ceased. Soon enough Beverly was coming again, but softer now, exactly how Stella liked it.

Stella felt drunk, her mouth and tongue were growing sore, but she did not want to stop. She denied herself for months, she was not going to stop now.

"O-oh? Really? Stella?! I can't- I- Oh Gosh..." Beverly whimpered before surrendering to Stella's tongue again.

Her last orgasm took some time to get to, but Stella was up to the task. She teased it out of Beverly slowly, until she was gasping and moaning again. When she was done, Stella gave her clit a deep wet kiss and crawled up, and settled on top of Beverly again. She found her face and held it with both hands.

"What do you say?" She whispered.

"T-thank you- God, thank you Stella..." Beverly whispered back. "I- I never- Oh God..."

Stella leaned in and whispered into her ear: "Good girl..."

"S-stella-" Beverly groaned. "Can I- Can I do you? I want to make you feel good..."

Her words punched straight through Stella's heart. "Yes. Do it."

Beverly did not make her wait long. She crawled down, and settled between Stella's legs in a flash, her mouth finding her clit with practiced ease. Stella settled in, enjoying Beverly's mouth. She had taught her exactly the way she liked being eaten out, and now it was time to reap all that hard work.

Forever she would have this eager pussy eater all for herself... Every day- every day she would come home to this- to her woman, ready and willing to serve her. Again, she saw it in her mind, the darkness helped to make the pictures real. Beverly welcoming her home, in nothing but her apron, dropping to her knees to show Stella exactly how much she missed her.

Her and Beverly laying on the couch, kissing, the woman pleading to be touched, begging for Stella to make her come. Stella obliging, tasting Beverly, making her writhe with nothing but her mouth and then- then later, in the bedroom, chains and whips. Beverly eager to be trained- to be possessed- to be- Stella's fingers dug into Beverly's scalp as she came, the images exploding under her eyelids, filling her brain and her heart.

Her and Beverly, together.

She gasped for air, trying to shake off the numb buzzing in her limbs from the orgasm. Beverly kept going, licking and teasing her, but she could not take it right now. She dragged the woman up, then she almost pushed her away but- but she did not.

Another kiss, but a different one; slow and tender. A kind of a kiss they've never shared before. A voice inside Stella screamed for it to stop, but she could not. Her hands in Beverly's hair, their warm bodies fitting perfectly into each other, the taste of herself on Beverly's lips, it was all too good.

"Stella..." Beverly spoke, her voice so quiet it almost felt like a dream. "Thank you..."

She did not know what she was being thanked for, but it did not matter. Stella kissed Beverly on the forehead and let the woman settle into her.

God, she was so tired...

Stella knew that she needed to do something- she needed to get away for some reason, but she was too tired to remember what it was.

The last thing she thought of before she drifted off was the warmth of the woman cuddling up to her.

It felt so good.

She awoke slowly, regaining more and more of herself as she ascended through layers of dreams. The kind one could not quite recall after waking, on the razor's edge between nightmare and fantasy. She was alone in bed, and it hurt for some reason. Because there was supposed to be somebody there with her... No, that wasn't right. She never had women over- she- she never-

"Good morning..." Said a beautiful voice. A woman, the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen, sat by the bed dressed in neat beige slacks and white blouse, looking down on her with deep warmth in her eyes. Stella smiled back at her, feeling that warmth spreading to her.

Then she remembered who it was.

"Beverly..." She groaned. Last night coming back to her, settling heavy in her stomach. "What- what time?"

"A little past nine... I did not want to wake you, but I have to go..." Beverly said softly with a smile that seemed terribly out of place on her face. A real one. "I did not want to leave without saying anything."

"Oh." Stella said, mustering all of her faculties. "Ok."

Beverly sat there for a moment, gazing at Stella, idly rubbing her neck which was covered in a smattering of hickeys. She sighed deeply, but not with sadness and stood. She turned to Stella and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

Stella felt equally at a loss of anything to say.

"I... I will see you in two weeks." Beverly said slowly. "It's... A long time but..."

She never finished her thought, just stood there waiting for Stella to say anything. When she did not, Beverly nodded and left the room. Stella let out a breath she was holding. She waited for the sound of her front door closing before she tore out of bed and latched the doors behind Beverly. She stood in her foyer, naked and shivering, trying to understand what happened.

She let- she let Beverly- she let Beverly stay over. They- they- she did not want to think about it. She went to the bathroom instead, feeling the need to wash herself when she saw the mirror.

A hickey on her neck. Big and red, exactly where Beverly- Stella bent over her sink and tried not to retch. Her stomach felt empty and raw, heart wriggling with something alive.

She managed to straighten herself and look back into the mirror. A woman who did not know herself looked back at her.

---

The doors to the Bare Naked Ladies bar felt heavier than usual.

"Hey! We're closed-" Haylee yelled, before she recognised her. "She's alive!"

"Yeah..." Stella groaned. "Supposedly. I've had a-" She stopped when she saw another woman in the empty bar. One she knew, at least in passing.

"Good evening Stella..." Gloria said, smiling nervously.

Her and Haylee were sitting at the bar, across from each other, two glasses of wine between them, looking rather chummy. Stella squinted at Haylee who just grinned and shrugged. Small fucking world.

"I thought you would not be coming over tonight..." Haylee said as she poured herself more wine. "I am a bit busy as you can see."

Gloria looked away, a flush spreading on her cheeks. She fiddled with something on her finger- a wedding ring. When she noticed Stella noticing it, she hid her hand in her pocket. Stella sighed. "Sorry. I had a... Day. It was a day."

"I texted you. More than once," Haylee said over the rim of her glass.

"My phone is off," Stella admitted, feeling like a shit.

Haylee grew more serious. "Are you ok?"

"Yes. No. I don't know? Is this a private party? I... Uh..." Stella floundered, not quite willing to admit how much she did not want to be alone right now. She spent the whole day at her apartment, foregoing doing anything productive. She simply sat on her ass and thought about last night. Then when she could not do it anymore, she went out for a drive and ended up here.

Haylee glanced at Gloria who nodded and patted the seat next to hers. Stella said a little prayer to whoever the God of fifth wheel's might be and took it. "Sooo..." She turned to Gloria. "Nice to meet you properly? I'm Stella."

"Gloria..." The woman said, looking her up and down. "And I know. Beverly told me a lot about you."

"Really? Did she?"

Gloria shrugged. "Well, no not really. I know that you exist and that you two are involved... But even that is a lot for her."

"Yeah." Stella said and reached for a full wine glass Haylee offered her. "I can believe that! She's..." Stella searched for the right word but realised there were none that would describe the woman.

"She's an interesting woman to know." Gloria supplied.

Stella raised her glass to that and all three of them took a sip.

"So! Stella! I deduced that you two had a nice evening together." Gloria said after a moment of somewhat awkward silence. Stella's stomach sank hearing her words.

"Oh, really..." Haylee drawled and leaned in. "Do tell Gloria... This one tells me nothing!" She said pointing at Stella.

"I know even less! As I said, I've 'deduced' it!" Gloria laughed nervously at Haylee's closeness. "I met with Beverly earlier today, we've been working on the thanksgiving party you see... I've never seen her so... Giddy?"

Giddy.

"You know how locked down she can be, but today she was radiant," Gloria continued, blushing slightly.

Radiant.

"So! I surmised that something... Nice must have happened last night," Gloria said, not quite looking at Stella. "Something very nice indeed..."

Haylee laughed her terrible laugh which, for some reason, made Gloria's eyes get all dreamy. God, these two deserved each other. Stella drank some more. Good thing she was at a bar, because she would need a lot more than this to forget what happened last night.

She let Beverly stay over. She ate her out. She kissed her and they slept in each other's arms.

And it was amazing. And it would not happen again for two weeks. And then what? Back to the fucking at the office? Was that what she wanted? No- No- no, what she wanted was- she wanted- She downed her glass, ignoring the looks the other women gave her, then she reached out for the wine bottle and topped herself off again.

"You alright there, buddy?" Haylee asked her, slowly.

"Perfect. I had a lovely night with- with Beverly. Perfectly... Fucking lovely..." Stella said, before drinking her second glass. The wine burned her throat as it went down but she did not give a fuck. Time for that sweet oblivion, baby! One more! She tried to reach for the bottle again but Haylee snatched it out of her hand.

"You're cut off," She said. "Bartender rules."

"I want- I want to speak to the owner," Stella murmured.

"The owner agrees."

Stella opened her mouth to say something incredibly witty in response but a sound of the buzzer interrupted her. She looked at the clock and saw that it was just after nine o'clock.

"Wait, why are you closed right now?" She asked in between the buzzes.

"It's monday! Nobody drinks on Mondays!" Haylee said as she hopped out from behind the bar and went to the doors. The buzzer sounded again.

Haylee looked through the peephole and swore. She looked back at Gloria with a bit of a wild eye before cracking the doors open with effort. From where she sat Stella could not see who was outside, but Haylee spoke to them for a moment. Then she leaned back from the door and raised her voice. "Ahem, does anybody here know a Robert Dean?"

Either Gloria knew the guy, or it was just a huge coincidence that she paled like a ghost at the same exact moment.

"O-oh? Ro-Robert?" She choked out fiddling with her wedding ring. Oh, for fucks sake. Was that her husband?!

Stella wished dearly to become invisible and blend into the environment but sadly she could not. This was happening. Jesus fucking Christ she should have just stayed home!

"Gloria!" Mr Dean himself yelled from outside. "Are you in there?"

"Hey now, chill out man." Haylee said, feigning polite disinterest. "What's this about?"

Gloria did not move, or react in any way to her husband's voice. She looked like she was about to start hyperventilating. Stella kicked her in the shin and whispered. "Do something! Anything!"

"C-Come on in!" Gloria yelled shakily. Stella hid her face in her hands. Anything but that!

Haylee smiled placidly and stepped aside to let Robert inside. The man was very tall and rather handsome in a politician kind of way, with his manicured hair and somewhat well fitted suit. He looked around the dim bar at first with a mask of polite disinterest, then with growing concern when he saw all the obvious lesbianism on display.

Stella straightened in her seat and tried to sober up as fast as she could. As the resident self defense expert here, it would fall to her to try to control the situation if things went awry. Robert barely spared her a glance before he focused on his wife.

"Robert! Hi!" Gloria said, still pale. "What are you doing here? Sweetie?" She added desperately.

"What are you doing here?" Robert shot back. "You said you needed to go to your office... Again."

Gloria had nothing to say. Stella had never, in her entire life, seen a woman fold so quickly under any level of scrutiny. The silence in the air stretched, growing past any reasonable span of time a woman might need to answer a simple question, and rocketing towards 'I've been caught' territory.

"We were talking about the party. The bar?" Stella said the first thing that came to her mind. She'd been thinking about that damned party a lot.

"What?" Robert turned to her. "And who are you?"

"Stella. I... Work here." Stella responded with a smile as polite as she could muster.

"Yes!" Gloria choked out. Stella could almost see the gears in her mind spinning back into action. "I- uh... Beverly left me with the task of... Finding a bartending service for the young ones and- and that's why I am here!"

It was one of the least convincing things Stella had ever heard before. Haylee closed her eyes behind Robert, looking resigned to her fate. It would not be the first time she was caught with a married woman... At least it was not in her bed this time.

"And... Here? This place?" He waved vaguely at the posters around the bar. More than one of them featured women engaging in decidedly unchristian activities. Plus, neither Haylee nor Stella were paragons of heteronormativity themselves.

"Oh! You know!" Gloria half said half yelled. "How young people are these days! Gay is- uh- it's cool! And this place has great reviews!"

Robert looked at Gloria with such intense scrutiny that Stella felt the collateral heat on her own skin. Before any conclusions could be made, Gloria piped up again: "And what are you doing here? How did you know where I was?"

"I checked your phone's location."

"You- you tracked my phone?" Gloria said, her outrage suddenly real. "What the hell?"

"We are on the same plan! It's a feature!" Robert shot back. "You've been acting odd! Coming and going at all times of the night! Two phones! And now you say you go to the office but you're- you're here?"

"I'm helping my friend! I- I left for the office but I got a call that everything has been fixed without me so- I decided to check this place out!" Gloria said as she hopped off of her bar stool. The fake anger seemed to give her confidence to keep going. "And I- and I enjoyed myself so I stayed a bit longer! I don't have to check in with you every time my plans change? Do I? Robert?"

To everybody's surprise, including Robert's judging by his face, the man backed off. He held up his hands apologetically and spoke quickly. "Alright! No you don't! But, you have to admit, you've been acting-"

"I have a lot on my plate!" Gloria interrupted him. "What did you think I was doing?"

The man stopped in his tracks. He looked around, at the two women pretending not to listen to this disaster of a conversation and deflated visibly. "I... Nothing. I don't know." He said, then added with visible effort. "So... You've found the right... Bar?"

"Yes I have! I hired Haylee and Stella for the job!" Gloria shot back, with a mad gleam in her eye.

"And Beverly is... Fine with this?" Robert asked, incredulous.

"She will be!" Gloria said, before adding. "But don't tell her. It's a... Surprise."

Robert did not quite know what to do with all this information. He looked lost. Gloria pounced on the opportunity. "We can talk about it at home... Come on."

She stormed out of the bar, only stopping at the entrance. "I have your number, right Haylee? I will be in touch. Goodbye."

Haylee waved her off and Gloria was gone, leaving Robert alone with the two of them. The man seemed lost for a moment, staring off after his wife. Then, with visible effort, he seemed to put himself back together. He nodded at Stella, then Haylee and left as well.

In the silence that followed Haylee slowly marched behind the bar and poured herself- and after a brief pause- Stella more wine.

"So... Are we... Actually going to do it? Bartend at that party?" Stella asked, feeling like she was still dreaming. Yes, she was still in bed, Beverly's body pressed tightly against hers- She drank her wine to chase that vision away.

Haylee blew out a long breath. "I don't know... It seems like a really stupid idea."

"Incredibly stupid."

A slow smile spread on Haylee's face, one Stella knew well from years of seeing the woman do stupid shit for no reason. "It would be real fucking funny, wouldn't it? Wanna do it?"

Stella closed her eyes and felt the sump at the bottom of her soul bubble and roil, something blue, the exact color of Beverly's eyes barely visible through the inky oily waters.

"Yeah..."

I am sorry that it took so long to get this one finished. Finishing Alfie really hit me hard and made me not want to work on anything larger for a while. But now I am back! I'll try to get the next chapter out within a month, but I can't promise anything.

I hope you enjoy this one! The endgame is coming, and it's coming fast.

Next chapter- Party time!