Trading Places

The following days were a blur of lunchtimes, early evenings, one whole night when Bridget was away at a conference, a blur of sex and of snuggling and of effortless conversations. And Franky lied and lied and lied, as she had never done before in her life, to Bridget and to friends and to people at work. She was forced to fabricate a series of alternative fictional worlds of appointments and meetings and visits behind which she could live her secret life with Erica. The effort of making sure that the lies were consistent, of remembering what she had said to which person, was enormous. And the longer it went on the more Franky craved that her time with Erica was not her secret life but her actual life.

One Saturday afternoon at her apartment, Erica had pulled on some clothes to buy something for she and Franky to eat. When she had left, Franky wrapped the duvet around her, went to the window and watched her head across the road toward the market. After she had vanished from view, Franky looked at other people walking along the street, in a hurry to get somewhere, or dawdling, looking in windows. How could they get through their lives without the passion that she was feeling? How could they think it was important to get on at work or to plan their holiday or buy something when what mattered in life was this, the way she was feeling?

Everything in her life outside that Prahran apartment seemed a matter of indifference. At work she was impersonating a busy, ambitious law clerk. She still cared about her friends, she just didn’t want to see them. Her home felt like an office or a supermarket, somewhere she had to pass through occasionally in order to fulfil an obligation. And Bridget. That was the bad bit. She felt like somebody on a runaway train. Somewhere ahead, there was an end point that could be disaster or could be rapture, but for the moment all she could feel was delirious speed. Erica reappeared around the corner. She looked up at the window and saw Franky. She smiled and quickened her pace. Franky was her magnet; she Franky’s.

When they had finished eating take away burgers and fries, Franky licked some ketchup off Erica’s fingers.

“You know what I like about you?” Erica asked.

“What?”

”One of the things. You’re not pretentious about food. You’re the best cook I know but you don’t give me hard time for bringing you greasy take away burgers.”

Franky laughed and gave Erica’s finger one last lick. “Hey I’ll eat anything if there’s a chance I can eat it off of you.”

Erica playfully punched Franky in the arm for teasing her. “When I was outside just now, collecting the food, I was thinking about how great it is when you’re here.”

“Yeah it is,” said Franky.

“Yes, but I suppose I was also secretly thinking that one day I’d like us to go out there, into the world. I mean both of us, together, in some way. Meet people, do things, you know.” Erica looked nervous, Franky thought she might have even detected the blonde’s hands shaking. “It depends what you want, of course.”

Franky frowned. “I want to be with you. Do those things,” she said, then sighed. “But it’s complicated.’

“Yes,” Erica said, not really knowing what “yes” meant. They were silent for a while before she continued talking. “We’ve spoken about a lot of things these past few weeks - jobs, friends, politics, television, travel. I love being with you, whether we’re talking or making love or eating dinner or whatever. But I feel like we can’t keep avoiding asking each other the big questions.”

Franky looked at Erica. She looked so adorable when she was nervous. Little creases would form between her eyebrows and she would look at Franky with the most innocent-looking eyes. She looked more like a skittish little girl than the intelligent, self-assured lawyer that the rest of the world saw her as.

Franky knew at that moment that she was in love with Erica. It wasn’t just an ordinary kind of love that millions of people experienced every day. It was a mystical, absolute love that she previously thought didn’t exist. She had always thought that love was biological, Darwinian, pragmatic, circumstantial, effortful, fragile. Now, besotted and reckless, she could no longer remember what she believed and it was as if she had returned to her childish sense of love as something that rescued you from the real world. She no longer wanted to betray that love by keeping things from Erica.

Franky stroked Erica’s blonde hair. “Ok. Ask me anything,” she said.

Erica took a deep breath. “Tell me about your girlfriend.”

Franky sensed this could be a watershed moment in their relationship. She wasn’t sure if Erica was truly ready to hear about her relationship with Bridget. She wanted to give her one last chance to change her mind. “You sure you want to know?” she asked. Erica nodded.

So Franky told her about Bridget. She told her about how they had met and fallen for each other when Bridget was her psychologist at Wentworth. How Bridget had been waiting for her on the day of her release. How their relationship had continued to blossom from there. How they had fallen in love and had shared a home for four years. How she had been welcomed by Bridget’s family. How they shared many friends. And she emphasised the trust that they shared - a trust that she had never felt with someone before or since.

As Franky spoke, Erica was stoic. She just looked at Franky calmly, listened intently, took in every word. Franky thought that Erica would find some details particularly painful - such as the fact that she and Bridget met while Bridget was working at Wentworth, or the comment she made about trust - but if Erica was upset, she didn’t show it. She simply gave Franky her full attention without interrupting or passing judgement. However, when Franky had finished speaking she had no words to offer in response. Instead she looked down into her lap, her expression unreadable.

Franky knew Erica. This was her trying to mask her feelings, pretend that she was unaffected. It was an act that Franky saw through. She’d seen through it since she first met Erica years earlier. She reached out her hand and pushed up Erica’s chin so she could look her in the eye.

“That stuff was hard to hear, yeah?

Erica gave a short nod.

“Listen Erica, you know the connection that we have. It’s more intense than anything I’ve ever experienced. You’ve gotta believe in that connection. I do.”

A hint of a smile appeared on Erica’s face.

“We’re gonna be together,” Franky continued in a serious tone. “I’ll make sure of it.”

After Franky said those words there was a moment’s pause. The two women looked at each other for a while, letting the promise that Franky had made sink in. It was a verbal acknowledgement that this was more than just an affair or a fling. It was for real. There was a small part of Franky that expected Erica to flee. That subconsciously Erica was glad Franky had a girlfriend because it meant she didn’t have to make a commitment herself. That she would go back to her old habit of running away from her true feelings and what she really wanted.

But Erica’s reaction was the opposite to that. She looked at Franky with both happiness and relief in her eyes. When she finally responded, Franky could swear Erica almost choked up. “I’m so happy to hear you say that,” she said, then wrapped her arms around Franky’s neck and kissed her in earnest. Franky briefly kissed her back, but then reached back and pulled Erica’s hands from around her neck and held them in front of her. She broke the kiss.

“The only thing is, I can’t tell you exactly when that’s gonna happen,” she said. “I know it’s the biggest fucking cliche ever but I’ve just gotta wait for the right time. I love Bridget and she’s been really good to me. I just don’t want to hurt her any more than I have to.”

Erica looked down at her lap again.

“You gonna be patient with me?” Franky asked. “Please?”

Erica looked back up into her lover’s eyes. “Of course I will,” she said, her face the picture of sincerity.

Franky smiled broadly. “Come here,” she said.

Franky took hold of Erica’s hand and led her down the hall. As soon as they reached Erica’s bedroom, Franky turned to the blonde, pulled her close and began unbuttoning her shirt. Once it was fully unbuttoned she slid the shirt from Erica’s shoulders and let it fall to the floor. She dropped her head to one of Erica’s bare shoulders and kissed her neck softly. Erica’s blonde hair tickled Franky’s face so Franky swung the strands away from the soft white flesh of Erica's shoulder. She placed kiss after kiss on her, from arm to neck and back again. Erica shivered at the touches. Franky ran kisses up to her jaw line, over her cheeks to her full lips, savouring the taste of her and the illicit sensations she triggered.

Erica tipped her head back and Franky kissed down her chin, down her neck, then descended to her breasts, unhooking her delicate lace bra as she did so. She traced her fingers slowly up Erica’s side and tenderly cupped one of them in her hand. Erica bent forward a little and looked down at Franky approaching, willing her on with a lustful expression.

Keeping eye contact, Franky parted her lips and took the tip of Erica’s nipple between them. Erica closed her eyes and sighed appreciatively. Franky began to draw her tongue in circles, taking delight in the fluttering breaths she set off from Erica. The blonde moaned softly when Franky drew her nipple fully into her warm mouth, sucking gently.

Franky slowly ran her hands down Erica’s body, savouring the feel of her hips and stomach. When her hands reached the waistband of Erica’s jeans she broke the contact with her breast and kneeled down in front of her. With deliberate slow movements she unfastened the button and zip of the jeans, then gradually eased them down to the floor. Erica stepped out of the pooled material and Franky spun her finger in the air, indicating that she should turn around.

Erica faced the wall and placed her palms against it, feet slightly apart as if she was about to be frisked. Franky ran her hands all the way up her toned legs and caressed the flesh of behind before she hooked her fingers into the waistband of her panties and dragged them ever so slowly to the floor.

Franky drank in every soft curve of Erica’s body. She leant forward and placed kisses alternately on each thigh while she ran her hands up over the blonde’s hips. Franky fought hard to control herself, taking her time trailing her lips up the small of Erica’s back and placing soft kisses on her sensitive skin. She could see goose bumps forming as she moved upwards, kneeling up then standing behind Erica. Franky swiftly removed her own clothing until she stood only in her underwear, then pressed her body against Erica’s. She slid her hands around Erica’s midriff and cupped both breasts, massaging them gently. Erica purred with pleasure and Franky planted kisses in the nape of her neck and along her shoulders, each more insistent than the last. She kissed her way to one of Erica’s ears, nibbled the tip and whispered, “Let’s go to bed.”

Erica didn’t need to be told twice. She made her way to the bed and climbed on top of the sheets then lay back and rested her head on the pillows. Franky crawled onto the bed to join her, kneeling down at her feet. She ran her hands up the front of Erica’s legs and gently spread her thighs and manoeuvred between them. Franky’s primal instincts bubbled to the surface and there was nothing she wanted more at that moment than to go down on Erica. She pushed the blonde’s legs further apart and lowered her head toward her sex.

Starting at the base of Erica’s lips, Franky dove forward and ran her tongue lengthwise toward her clit. Franky moaned in pleasure along with Erica, then went back for more. At the top of each stroke she circled her tongue around Erica’s clit, causing her to gasp each time. Erica became more vocal when Franky switched attention solely to her sensitive clit. She licked directly over and around her hard centre, each time eliciting a moan that echoed around the bedroom.

Urging Franky on with both her cries and her hands gripping her dark brown locks, Erica quickly approached orgasm. Her gasps came more insistently and closer together and her legs squeezed against Franky’s ears. Franky alternated tongue-fucking her and teasing her clit, causing Erica to thrust up against her face, desperate for release. Seconds later Erica let out a loud cry and her legs gripped Franky’s head in place, covering her ears and forcing her to stay pressed against her centre.

Franky let Erica ride it out, enjoying the feel of her fluttering contractions against her face, aware of her panting in the distance. Eventually Erica’s legs released Franky’s head and she collapsed back against the bed, putting her forearm over her eyes. A smile spread across her face and she was still breathing heavily.

Slowly disentangling herself, Franky knelt up between Erica’s thighs and gazed down at her. It was an incredible high to see Erica in the aftermath of an intense orgasm. Franky was not only turned on by what had just happened; the emotional connection she felt with Erica at that moment was enough to make her skin tingle. She climbed from between Erica’s legs and lay on her side beside her. Erica leant over for a long, slow, smouldering kiss. Their lips explored, tongues gradually peeking out, wrapping round each other, dancing slowly inside their mouths. When they broke the kiss they lay there contentedly in each other’s arms.

“We’re going to be together, I promise,” Franky whispered.

“I can’t wait.”