The Look of Love (22 page)

That seemed to
appeal to Dayna, and she climbed off the sofa, straightened her
clothes, raised her head in a haughty manner, said, “Huh!” to
Louise, and went back into the kitchen.

Sam saw
Louise’s worried expression and quickly said, “Oh, don’t worry
about her, Lu! She’s just having you on. Being called a rabbit on
Viagra is a compliment to her.”

“I heard that!”
Dayna called out from the kitchen.

“Shut up!” Sam
called back, making herself more comfortable on the sofa. She
beckoned to Louise and Victoria. “Come here and sit next to
me.”

They did as she
asked, Louise ending up sitting between Sam and Victoria.

“Well, that’s
the ice broken!” Victoria remarked with a smile.

Sam looked
across at her and said, “I was going to ask you how you got those
bruises, but now I think I can guess. You enjoy causing a
commotion, don’t you?”

“I’ll say!
You’ve got to laugh, though, haven’t you?”

Louise seized
her chance for revenge. “You weren’t laughing when those girls were
beating you up in the toilets on Friday night.”

As soon as the
words were out, Louise regretted saying them. Sam looked shocked.
And Dayna quickly reappeared in the kitchen doorway and demanded
angrily, “Who beat you up? Why?”

Victoria was
the only one who seemed not to mind. She shrugged her shoulders.
“Oh, it wasn’t what you think, and it doesn’t matter really. I was
drunk as usual, and doing silly things. It was my own fault. But if
Louise hadn’t come to the rescue it could have been much worse.”
She put her arm around Louise’s shoulders and pulled her closer.
“Go on, Louise; tell them how you fought off all those girls.”

Louise looked
at Victoria in surprise, before suddenly becoming conscious of Sam
and Dayna both staring at her expectantly. There was nothing for
it. She told them what happened.

Dayna loved it,
and Sam shook her head, wagging her finger at Victoria. “You are a
bad influence,” she told her.

Victoria
grinned. “I know, but I’m cute, too!”

Dinner was a
perfect blend of food and conversation. Louise continued to be
surprised by Victoria’s easy going nature. Sam and Dayna asked her
almost straight away about her relationship with Louise. Victoria
told them the truth, and the debate began.

“But how can’t
you know?” Dayna asked her.

“How did you
know?” Victoria fired back.

“I always
knew.”

“Even in
nappies?”

“No, of course
not!”

“When,
then?”

Dayna put her
knife and fork down and became thoughtful. “At school. I was
fourteen, and all the other girls were talking about Take That, and
Gary Barlow, and how sexy they were. I didn’t think they were sexy
at all. I thought Tina Jones was sexy. She was a year above me. I
could watch her playing rounder’s in that little skirt all
day.”

Sam smiled.
“Ah, first love! How sweet!”

“Shut up!”
Dayna replied, picking up her knife and fork again. “I told you, I
knew as soon as I began to think about sex. Boys never interested
me. Never.”

Victoria tilted
her head to one side. “And what about you, Sam?”

“The same,” Sam
said as she continued eating. “I have to admit that I was a bit
more confused. But that was because I knew I was supposed to like
boys, and I tried. But it didn’t feel right. It made me feel like a
freak, like there was something wrong with me. It wasn’t until I
realised that other women felt the same way as I did that I knew I
was normal. Then everything fell into place.”

“And it was
that simple?”

Sam nodded. “It
took me awhile to work it out. But then I began to realise that
each person’s sexuality isn’t about what other people think they
should be, or what society thinks is normal. It’s about what that
person feels is comfortable and right for them. I felt strange when
I was with a man, but I felt right and comfortable with a
woman.”

Louise was
surprised by the implication of Sam’s words. “Have you slept with a
man?” she asked her.

Sam smiled.
“Not really. I was so unsure of my feelings, but willing to try
just to fit in, that I choose a boy who was even more unsure of
himself than I was. It was a joke, really. A lot of fumbling about
over nothing. I really didn’t like it at all. The first time I did
it with a woman was completely different. I felt wonderful.”

There was a
slight pause during which Victoria looked very thoughtful. Then she
put her knife and fork down with a clatter and announced, “I must
have slept with more boys than there are peas on Dayna’s plate, and
I have to say that Louise knocked them all for six.”

Louise spat out
what she was eating and nearly choked. Victoria had to pat her on
the back.

Sam and Dayna
stared in surprise, and Dayna said, “You never told us you slept
together!”

Louise was
bright red again. She took a gulp from her wine glass and began to
calm down. “I wish you wouldn’t do that…,” she gasped as she
muttered to Victoria.

“Baiting you is
half the fun! Anyway, it’s the truth! And if we hadn’t done it we
wouldn’t be here, would we?”

“But it’s
private,” Louise replied hoarsely.

“Sam and Dayna
are talking about their feelings, so I figured it was my turn. What
are you worried about?”

Sam said, “She
thinks I’ll put it on the Internet.”

Victoria
laughed. “That’s a good idea! Sexy Supervixen Seeks Sex for Sensual
Satisfaction! I could go for that!”

“Me too,” Dayna
remarked.

Sam saw the
look of horror on Louise’s face and quickly said, “Stop it, you
two, or you’ll give poor Lu a heart attack!”

And Louise said
to Victoria, “Yeah, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

Victoria and
Dayna both laughed at her obvious distress. Louise smiled wryly.
“Rotters!”

Sam didn’t want
the distraction of Victoria’s outburst to take them away from their
discussion for long. “Come on, Victoria!” she said. “You can’t stop
now! If you and Lu have slept together, and you haven’t run away
screaming, then you must have some idea of how you feel. So why
don’t you tell us?”

The laughter
and smiles faded and Victoria sighed.

“Oh, bollocks!
I hate being serious,” she said. She stuck half a roast potato in
her mouth and leaned on her elbow as she went on with her mouth
full, “What I was trying to say, in my own distinctive manner, is
that things have never been as clear to me as it has been for you.”
She finished chewing and swallowed.

“Like I said,
I’ve slept with lots of boys, but mainly when I was younger. Not
that I have changed that much. I am a bit of a slut, really. Hate
me if you must, but there it is. I have to say that I didn’t enjoy
it that much, but I never felt that it was actually wrong for me. I
just didn’t like it. I never even thought about sex with a woman
until Louise came along. But I did enjoy that. So now I want to
give it a try. I’m not the first girl to give it a go just to see
what it’s like, but I don’t really know if I like sex with Louise
because
she’s a woman, or merely because it was nicer. Do
you know what I mean?”

“Maybe you
should try it with someone else,” Dayna suggested.

Louise caught
her meaning. “You wish!” she said. Dayna smiled.

Then Sam said,
“Are you in love with Lu?”

And Dayna said
quickly, “Ooh! That’s a heavy question!” But Victoria didn’t
hesitate.

“Louise is
always pestering me with that question, so I can only tell you what
I keep telling her. I know how she feels about me, and I like her,
too. I like her lots, and we do get on really well together,
especially when you realise how little time we have actually known
one another. But that’s also part of the problem. After only a
couple of days, it’s far too early to say whether it’s love. But I
have promised to Louise that once I know, one way or the other,
I’ll tell her. Does that sound fair?”

“Well parried!”
Dayna said.

“Shut up!” Sam
told her. Then she turned to Louise. “What do you think, Lu? Are
you happy with this arrangement?”

Louise nodded.
“Very happy,” she said. And she meant it.

“Well, if
you’re happy, then there’s no more to be said.”

The rest of the
meal and the afternoon was filled with more casual conversation.
But Victoria still asked Sam and Dayna lots of questions about
their life together, and Dayna made three more passes at Victoria,
including a suggestion that they play strip Trivial Pursuit, for
which Sam condemned her to the washing up.

By the time
Dayna was finished, it was to find Louise and Sam both laughing as
they sat on the floor on cushions in the lounge platting Victoria’s
hair in a race to finish a pigtail each.

“I’m going to
beat you!” Sam was saying. “I’ve nearly finished!”

“This isn’t
fair! Mine’s longer than yours!” Louise complained.

And Victoria
said, “Don’t pull so tight, you two! I feel like my head’s being
pulled off!”

“What’s this?”
Dayna exclaimed. “Have I passed through a worm-hole and ended up in
Scandinavia?”

“Finished!” Sam
announced.

“Oh, knickers!”
Louise said in dismay.

Victoria pulled
the pigtail Sam had completed over her shoulder. As soon as she
began to examine it, it began to unravel.

“Shit!” Sam
muttered.

Louise’s
attempt wasn’t much better.

Dayna sighed
and shook her head. “You two are hopeless!” she said. “Out of my
way. I’ll show you how to do it.”

Sam and Louise
moved out of the way as Dayna came to sit behind Victoria and
started to undo the untidy pigtails. “I’ll plat your hair in one
pigtail so that you don’t end up looking like a goat-herder who’s
escaped from the set of The Sound of Music.”

Everyone
laughed, but then Sam and Louise stared in silence as Dayna started
to produce a perfect pigtail.

“You know, I
bet you’d look really good with short hair,” Dayna told Victoria as
she worked away.

“I’ve never
thought about it,” Victoria replied. “I’ve always had long hair.
Even when I was little.”

When she was
nearly finished, Dayna turned to Sam and said, “Sam, get me that
ribbon from out of the top drawer on my side of the bed, will
you?”

Sam did as she
asked, returning with a white embroidered ribbon which she handed
to Dayna. Dayna tied it into the end of the pigtail in a big bow
and announced, “Done!”

Victoria pulled
the pigtail around and looked at it. “That’s really good,” she
said. She turned to Louise. “What do you think?”

Louise nodded.
“I like it.”

Dayna saw Sam
looking at her with that familiar look in her eye and said, “Not
bad for a rabbit on Viagra, hey?”

Sam and Dayna
got very soft after that, and whenever they hugged or kissed,
Victoria was fascinated. The conversation turned more and more
towards topics of love, and past loves. Each had a story to tell of
love spurned or lost, and before they knew it, the hours had passed
quickly and it was late evening. By then, it was obvious that Sam
and Dayna had other things on their minds. So Louise and Victoria
took the hint, said their goodbyes, and left.

Victoria was
very subdued on the way home. Louise had to make all the
conversation and Victoria hardly spoke at all. Louise began to get
worried, wondering why she was so quiet after being so lively with
Sam and Dayna. When they were safely back home, Louise could stand
it no longer.

“Are you
alright?” she asked as they hung their coats up. “Dayna didn’t
upset you, did she? I know she kept propositioning you, but she
didn’t mean it.”

“Oh, she did!”
Victoria replied with a wry smile. “But it wasn’t that.”

“What was it
then?”

Victoria
sighed. “They made me jealous, Louise,” she admitted in a very
subdued tone. She kicked off her shoes and slumped down on the
sofa. “They’re so much in love, aren’t they? I know Dayna fools
about a bit, but you could see it in their eyes when they looked at
one another. I think if we hadn’t left when we did, they’d have
thrown us out. And all the way home I kept thinking about what they
would be doing after we left. It made me feel jealous. Silly, isn’t
it?”

Louise came and
sat down next to Victoria. “It’s not silly,” she said. “I’ve always
envied my friends because of the relationships they have. It’s the
only thing I’ve always wanted. It’s what I want with you.” She
reached out to stroke Victoria’s long blonde pigtail, tugging on it
gently. “We could do it, too, you know.”

Victoria looked
up at her but didn’t reply. Louise moved closer, reaching out with
her other hand to caress Victoria’s cheek and jaw. Still Victoria
didn’t respond or shy away. Louise moved even closer, staring into
Victoria’s green eyes, shining so brightly. Almost at the last
moment, when their lips touched, Louise felt Victoria’s hands
around her waist, and the embrace was suddenly passionate. They
fell over on the sofa, wrapped in each others arms and oblivious of
the world around them.

Woodville House
was on the road to Blackburn just north of Bolton. It wasn’t a very
large house, but it was impressive. It was set back from the road
in a large walled garden. Chrissy stared at the iron gates as they
drove between them. They looked old and were overgrown by the hedge
that lined each side of the gravel driveway to the house itself.
There was a crest on each gate, but they were faded and illegible.
The house was Georgian. Or at least that’s what Chrissy thought it
was. It was square, with many large windows and an impressive front
entrance.

They arrived
just before noon. Charles drew the car up opposite the front door.
Adam came out of the house to greet them almost before Charles had
managed to get out, and it was him that opened the door for
Chrissy.