RETRO: THE FOREST

We have been very invested in Alessandra and Eliza–but first there was Alessandra and Oscar…

 

THE FOREST

“So you are totally still in love with Eliza,” Alessandra smiled as she pulled off her blouse, and looked at Oscar. She picked up her phone, and took a picture of herself. She studied him as she played with the effects on Snapchat for her image. She was careful with her social media. Topless nudes and other ephemera for Snapchat. Pouty painted lips, art hers and other artists and playful commentary for her Instagram.

He looked at her, and as soon as he opened his mouth to speak she covered his lips with her fingers. She did not want to hear what he had to say, her question was rhetorical. What she wanted was his lips against hers. As she squeezed his lips, she drew closer to him and pressed her lips to his. His lips were warm and moved between her fingers. She moved her fingers away, and he kissed so she almost forgot her rhetorical question.

But not completely. 

But his kiss made her forget a lot, made her forget to ask more questions, made her forget the things that she wanted to forget why she was with him in the first place. They pulled apart for a moment to look at each other, and were drawn back into each other in the next moment like breath.

But even in his kiss, even in his arms, Alessandra was lost. His tongue in her mouth, her tongue in his was running through the forest without any idea where she was going but knowing she needed to run.

Panting and breathless like she was indeed running, she held onto him like the trunk of a redwood to steady herself.

More Wicked Wednesday here:

 

Back in My Day…RETRO

I pulled up an oldie from the Eliza posts—from back in her day!!! I have been writing this story for almost 8 years! I love Eliza and all of the other characters who have bloomed from this tale. So thankful to Marie for hosting this and alllowing me to give these characters life.❤️

 

When Eliza was younger, she used to spend holidays with her parents in their holiday home. House No. 9 was sold as a luxury accommodation, but ended up being the simple quarters for the help. Her parents did not mind though, and they made it homey if not luxurious in their own way. Floors to ceiling covered with books to begin with, and in every nook and cranny of the house.
It was easy for Fiona to stay there, lost in novels. But when she met Rafe whose parents owned a house further away, she would often sneak out barefoot to meet him. She was in college then, and her parents were very liberal about sex, but she still did not want them to know that she was out all night.
Tomorrow was her flight back to New York which, Fiona had not been at all upset about when she told her. Eliza was sad because she knew she was part of the reason why Fiona did not want to come back to New York.
However at this moment, she was not concerned as much as she would be when she was back in New York. She crept out like she did from house No. 9, but this time she was seeking Oscar.
Lust kept her awake. She had not eaten and barely slept since the reception, unable to focus on anything but having Oscar skin to skin, mouth to mouth…inside her…She was in the lobby of the building before she even remembered to put on her shoes. All she had thrown on was a trench coat and nothing else.
Shanghai was gorgeous at night, she thought in the taxi her body heavy with erotic anticipation against the backseat. Whenever she thought of the city, she would think of Oscar. The same as with Paris. She would always connect them with him. Right then she especially thought of him, as she felt the silkiness of her thighs brush her engorged labia. She did not want to put her hands there, because nothing would feel like Oscar there. Her body though rebelled against her resistance.
Oscar waited for her in the lobby of his hotel, which made her smile. It was some ungodly hour of the morning, when he took her hand she felt contractions between her legs. She had never had this kind of desire for a man before, and it was something that she could barely handle.
In the elevator, his hands were in her hair and her lips were pressed to his chest. He was barely touching her, and she was half ready to come.
When they walked into his apartment, she took off her coat immediately, but did not make a move toward him. She did not want to rush into anything, but she wanted him to know that she was ready for anything, at any time. That she was at his disposal even though her desire was at the brim.
Oscar put his arm around her, and she buried her face in the crispness of his shirt. He stroked his fingers over the side of her face, and she leaned into him even more. Their silence was heavy. All she thought about was she was returning to New York and leaving him an insane amount of miles away.
“Your flight is tomorrow,” he stated softly and she nodded into his chest.
She did not want to ask any questions because they would all lead to answers she knew already.
They stood like that for awhile before her fingers slipped into the opening between the buttons of his shirt. His lips touched her temple with tenderness. The throbbing between her legs murmured deeper and deeper desire, but she had no intention of rushing.
Every gesture that followed was like a ballet. Kisses like a soft moment when the music slows between partners. Her delicate movement around him almost as a secret, his hands and mouth supporting every gesture. Finally, he lifted her and she threw her head back, their game of seduction over.
The end of their performance found them curled on his sheets, bare, pensive.
It killed her not to know when they would be together like this again, but she did not react now. More quiet declarations of love were made when they faced each other, but she could not bear the words spoken now. Spoken now to be left hanging in New York.
When she was on the airplane, her heart raced on its taxi as they lifted, before she fell back in her seat.
Fiona beside her.
“You know it was really awful of me to want you to tell everyone I was not coming back. It is even more awful of me to want to not see your wedding. You are Rafe’s and my sister.” Fiona squeezed Eliza’s hand, and Eliza bit her trembling lip. Fortunately, no tears came to her eyes. She understood very well now why Fiona had been so blasé, as she pressed her head to the cool window of the airplane and resigned to her fate.

 

More Wicked Wednesday here:

Photo Album

Bibi loved to look at pictures from her photo album with Eliza. She was older now and would just ask Eliza to look at the book together. There were recent pictures of her, Rafe, and Oscar with Bibi.

But unexpectedly, a picture slipped from its laminated slip. It was her, Alessa and Bibi.

“Auntie Alessa,”  Bibi loved Alessa as much as she loved her actual Aunt Jeanne. From the first time they went to her house abroad, Alessa had always treated Bibi special.

Eliza stared at the picture of Alessa a little longer than she should have. She had always known Alessa was beautiful, but now that they had made love, she knew how much deeper it was.

The first time was with Leon, and Oscar had caught them in their apartment. But Eliza went to Alessa’s studio when Leon was not there and they had made love immediately.

Alessa looked at her with soft-focus eyes, while Eliza stroked her beautiful body. She had resisted for so long what she felt about her friend because she was anxious what it would say about her. She had never felt that way about a woman before, but Rafe was right. Her friendship with Alessa had always been something different.

“Mommy?”

“Yes baby,” she said, playing with her daughter’s hair.

“I love our family.”

She held her little girl so close.

“We all love you,” she said, closing the photo album.

Bibi placed her head on her lap, and Eliza settled her daughter’s head there.

She saw Alessa’s name on her phone, and her heart raced like it had never done before. Seeing her friend turned lover’s name made her heart race.

Eliza wondered if she was falling in love with her, or if she had been in love with her all of this time? She opened up the photo album again, and her heart raced all the more when she saw a photo of Alessa.

Her Alessa.

 

More Wicked Wednesday here:

Date Night

Rafe pulled out the chair for Eliza, he had made reservations at the fanciest restaurant that they liked to go to together. He wanted to apologize for the night before, and talk to her about what had happened since last night.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, he did not look, because it might be Kelly and he did not want to start anything before they even got drinks.

There was a limited edition champagne in a bottle so chic, that imbibers got to take it home after. He looked at his wife, who positively glowed and wondered if her time with Alessandra and Leon had been better than her time with him and Oscar.

Eliza had never been with a woman before but he was not surprised her first was Alessandra. He had thought their falling out was because of something more than friendship but Eliza had told him for months it was not. He wondered how she felt now that it was so obvious that it had been more.

“So I wanted to take you out to see how you were feeling,” he said and Eliza looked at him with curious eyes. “I know you left with Alessa and Leon.”

Eliza nodded, Rafe studied her.

“It was a good night, how are you feeling?”

Honestly, he felt like if Eliza knew that she would have an I told you so minute, it would be more exciting for her.

He and Kelly had not spent the night. Eliza was right about her. Something about Kelly made him decide that he wanted to leave. Especially when she insisted she did not want to use condoms and she was on the pill. He felt uncomfortable and left. Kelly begged him to stay, but he left and she had been texting him nonstop. He had not returned home because he did not want to let Eliza know it had been such a failure. It was that conversation that got them here in the first place.

“Good,” Rafe said finally after so many racing thoughts. “I am especially happy to be here with you.”

 

More Wicked Wednesday here:

 

Alarm

Oscar’s phone alarm was not as loud as the one Rafe and Eliza had at their place to wake them up so they could take care of Bibi.

Rafe had not returned to the apartment that night. Oscar had been asked to take Bibi to school, so he slept over the night before as he was told that Eliza would not be coming home.

Now he watched her squirming naked with his ex, who she had told him she did not like many moons ago before they became best friends followed by a savage fallout. 

Eliza looked surprised to see him, but she eased into the dress that she had worn the night before. The dress that he had actually picked for her because Rafe had not wanted to be bothered with that.

“Oscar,” she said softly.

Alessandra touched his arm concurrently.

“It is not my business what you two do,” Oscar said, buttoning up his shirt. “I am just surprised because Eliza, you did not even like Alessandra at first.”


Oscar called her Alessandra pointedly, which Alessa did not recoil from. But he had never really used the shortened name the way Eliza had for her.

“You knew we were friends,” Eliza said with soft eyes.

“More now from what I can see. Like I said, it is not my business.”

“Oscar, we are each other’s business. We have been together for such a long time…”


“I am not your husband. That is who you owe all of that to.”

“Oscar.”

“You can tell him when he comes home. He was not home last night.”

Eliza gasped. Alessa, still naked held her arm then.

“You knew that,” Alessa said. 

Eliza nodded, she did know that and Rafe knew where she was as well,


“I did not want to blindside you, you know I would never do that to you. I was going to tell you later.”

Oscar knew that was true. He and Eliza were sleeping together, but obviously, their relationship was open. Though he had only been sleeping with her and oddly peripheral touching Rafe but they didn’t want to escalate that since they started having threesomes, it was something that happened though.

It was Alessandra with whom his relationship was a little more precarious because they had not really talked a lot since their breakup. He did not hate her, but it was odd to see her with Eliza.

He went to Eliza and wrapped his arms around her, kissed her temple, and looked at Alessa.

“I know,” he said and he did. He believed in Eliza’s honesty and goodness, or else he would never have taken this ride with her.

More Wicked Wednesday here:

Intoxication

Eliza woke up moving more into Alessa, whose arms were wrapped about her in her huge bed. She took Alessa’s hand from her breast, kissed it, and Alessa rolled on top of her. They kissed deeply, caressing each other’s bodies with the excitement and lustfulness of new lovers. Eliza threw her head back as Alessa kissed her neck, realizing it was just the two of them in bed. She smelled coffee and realized Leon must have gotten up to make some for them.

Elza had never imagined she would be with a woman, but the feelings she had for Alessa were feelings she had never imagined having. Being intimate with her like this felt natural and beautiful.

Leon came into the room, and they all drank coffee and fooled around. Alessa preferred hers black. Eliza wanted cream, which was the prelude to continuing from where they all had left off. Eliza sat on Leon’s lap as he drilled her as he had done the night before, making her tremble with pleasure.

The three of them spread out on the bed. Eliza could see their reflections in the mirror in the studio. If they were mean girls, it had been fire the night before.

Eliza dressed slowly later, Alessa came over and kissed her.

“Thank you for last night,” she said and kissed her again. 

Eliza put her arms around her and took in her scent. She knew Alessa’s scent from the previous closeness of their friendship. But now that she knew her as a lover, her scent was intoxicating. Leon left them to go to work. Eliza and Alessa took a car to Eliza’s apartment. The apartment was empty. Rafe had gone to work and would have taken Bibi to school.

They were all alone, intoxicated with each other.

Eliza thought.

Oscar walked out of the bedroom and paused as he watched them naked and squirming on the couch.

 

More Wicked Wednesday here:

Photo by Mia Harvey on Unsplash

Mic Drop

Alessandra was supposed to give a speech at her show, but she, Eliza and Leon walked out. Eliza had stood, watching Rafe dancing with Kelly until she made eye contact with him. She was not going to leave and not let him know though she was still a bit pissed at him.

They were going to Alessa’s studio where the three of them used to go after her openings. It felt familiar and comforting.

“These are the pictures I did not use,” Alessa said of the ode to Sid and Nancy heyday set.

They were very intimate photos of her and Leon. Her giving Leon a blow job, her riding him. It was sexy to see, Eliza felt herself getting very turned on. Honestly didn’t she know if she came here that this was where it was going to go?

“Eliza, do you want to play like we did before?” Leon asked, caressing the part of her neck at the top of her spine. 

She nodded—she wanted whatever this was. 

Knowing it had been her that had caused the rift between them, she unzipped the back of her dress, and Leon unzipped his pants at the same time. The sound was like a boom. Alessa bit her lip, and Eliza wrapped her arms around her and kissed her. She felt the resistance of her friend’s lips at first and then the soft give as she kissed her back for real. When they moved apart, Alessa pulled her slinky dress over her head, and kissed her again.

It felt like bliss when she kissed her this time, unlike the time that Alessa had kissed her in a limo. Eliza had not wanted that with her friend. But this time she wanted to make love to her as a friend. She wanted to show her how she felt about her with her body–that was all it had to be for now. She would be lying if she did not admit that she had wondered how it would be if she and Alessa had made love in the back of the limo. Alessa was beautiful and how could she not desire her?

“Eliza, are you sure?” Alessa questioned gently as Eliza nodded, and Leon was pressed to her back hard. She remembered the taste of him in her mouth with Alessa’s lips as they pleased him together once.

Tonight it was going to be more.

 

More Wicked Wednesday here:

Mean Girls

Eliza stood with Leon and Alessandra, and she couldn’t explain it. But with Leon, the three of them together felt like the cool kids at school. Rafe had just said that to her when they were fighting at the door, and she had denied it.

But it was kind of true.

“Who’s ass are we going to kick?!” Leon smiled, and Eliza smiled up at him wishing it was that easy.

Watching Rafe dancing with Kelly made her physically ill. But she wanted to support her husband and their marriage was open.

“I think I know which one,” Alessandra said, and the way her eyes fell on Kelly made Eliza look at her former close friend and laugh.

“I wish,” Eliza said as Alessa handed her a martini from the bar. “Instead I am going to look at all of the art that you have here Alessa. Bella Alessa, Bella.”

Eliza kissed Alessa and caught a corner of her mouth. She could taste the gin, vermouth and olive on Alessa’s lips.

“Thank you Eliza, it always means everything coming from you,” Alessandra said at close range while looking at Kelly. “She loves art and she loves influential men. Not necessarily rich–she tried to get closer to Leon at some point.
“She is not my type,” Leon said, moving in closer so all of their faces were together. 

The three of them were in a gaggle like teenagers, and Rafe had had to admit they were like a group of mean girls but she did not care. Hearing that Leon felt the same way about Kelly? All she could do was hope her husband would become less enchanted wirth her sooner than later. 

 

More Wicked Wednesday here.

 

Influencing

Eliza and Rafe held hands tightly, as they walked into the gallery. There were cameras everywhere, the gallery looked like paparazzi shots from the 80s—that was the theme of the opening. They had squeezed hands tight even though they had been bickering right before they got to the entrance.

“I don’t care if she is going to be here Rafe, she is your friend. All I am saying is that I do not have to spend time around her. She is your friend and you can do whatever you want.”

“I never treated Oscar like this,” Rafe said.

“Are you saying she is on level to you what Oscar has been to me? To us?

“No–” 

“Then what are you saying Rafe? That you want to fight me about Kelly and she is not even that important to you?”

“What if she could be?”

“You cannot make me like her!”


“She is so intimidated by you Eliza, and you are not—were not such a mean girl before you met Alessa–”


“Don’t you dare mention Alessandra!”


“I tolerate all of your people—including her right now even, another show and you cannot even try with Kelly? 

“I was never with Alessa, we were always just friends. And if you did not want to come with me tonight to her show—“ Eliza saw her face in the reflection of the glass as they walked through the hallway leading to the show. She was more made up than usual with big hair, heavy makeup and a vintage 1980s dress as she thought was fashionable when she was a child. She saw herself as a caricature, and looked at her husband who was still holding her hand so tightly as if he would never let go no matter what.

“Rafe,” she said putting her head on his shoulder. “I am sorry my love.”

She felt his hand soften and envelope hers even more at the same time.

“I do not want you to be sorry. If you do not like her I understand, but did you try? I do not think you have.”


“I will try for you my love, I will try.”

It was right then that Kelly walked toward them in a vintage 80s dress of her own. Of course she would be there, she was an influencer. That was her job.

Her job to influence and it seemed she had influence with her husband.

The 80s music was so loud, the driving bass of a Culture Club song and Kelly looked at her before she lured Rafe into her arms to dance. He squeezed Eliza’s hand before he went off with Kelly, and Eliza wandered into the gallery toward Leon and Alessandra.

More Wicked Wednesday here:

Divulging Details of a Hot Night

“So, how did it go with Kelly at the party?” Jeanne asked, watching her sister intently.

Eliza smiled. 

Jeanne was nervous because she had interviewed Kelly, became friends with her, and introduced her to Rafe–her brother-in-law. She had never expected that Rafe would get so close with the influencer.

But he did. 

Divulging details of a hot night he had had with Eliza and Oscar, Kelly and Rafe had shared a kiss, and Rafe came home and told Eliza all about it.

“Nothing happened,” Eliza said, looking at her daughter Bibi play in the distance. Bibi was an only child so far–she was not sure if she wanted to have another child. And Bibi played so well by herself. “Kelly knew she was coming here to meet me because I never met her. Rafe told me what he told her, and I wanted to meet her. She’s pretty and new and charming. I can see why he would want something with her. He can if he wants to, but she is not going to be a part of a group dynamic for me.”

Jeanne took a sip of her coffee, nodding.

“Did she say anything to you?”

Jeanne kept nodding,

“She was intimidated by you–felt you were not into it. She said Rafe seemed very affectionate and friendly, but she did not want any of that in her life.

Eliza nodded. Kelly was not someone she wanted to get closer to.

“Alessa was here last night with Leon.”

Eliza nodded now. She looked into her sister’s eyes as she sipped her coffee.

“She was.”

“Eliza.”

“Jeanne?”

“Were you ever in love with Alessandra?”

Eliza put her glass down with a loud clank.

“Alessa was a friend—you know that! I would have told you if I was in love with her.”

“That is what I thought, but you looked so weird when I mentioned her.”

“It was intense. If I ever would have been with a woman, it would have been Alessa, but I never wanted to be with someone just to try something. Everyone I have slept with has been for love or something more. I don’t want anything more with Alessa. And now she is with Leon.”

Jeanne nodded.

Eliza felt happy though that Kelly was intimidated by her, and hopefully, she would not be part of her larger dynamic with her husband. She was not her type.

It would have made more sense for Leon and Alessa to have been a foursome with them.

Eliza paused.

Alessa had met her in the bathroom that night. They smiled at each other in the mirror. This was some time now after the falling out they had endured. Eliza felt happy to see her look happy with Leon. Leon had wanted their friend Sally at some point, but now Eliza wondered if he had just been trying to maintain some closeness to Alessa? He had always been by her side.

Eliza smiled at her sister like a Cheshire cat.

 

More Wicked Wednesday here: