Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Let The Joyous News Be Spread The Wicked Old Witch At Last Is Dead!!!!

   (With apologies to Frank L!  lol)

   All that is herein contained is not for the consumption of those under
the legal age to be in possession of Adult Material or Materiel in any
wise, guise, and shape or form in any region, municipality, county, state
or nation.  If you is not of proper age or legal station, then you should
oughta not be a readin' this here!!!

   This Work Copyright (C) Khanundrum 2003



   Glasage et Noir

   Chapter 4



   Carrie led me to a couch set against a tapestry-hung wall.  It looked
old, but in very good shape.

   Chris had gone to a chair by a television.  The TV was showing some news
program, with the sound so low it was impossible to hear what was being
said.

   I sat down on the couch, and Carrie sat next to me.  She pulled one leg
under her as she sat, showing a lovely and excellently toned calf.

   She noticed me ogling her leg, but only smiled and sipped her beer.

   "The place looks great, Cuz" said Chris.  "Did you bring any stuff with
you from Jersey?"

   Carrie pointed at the television.  "That was it.  Well, my clothes, of
course!  All the other stuff in here was bought for less than two hundred
bucks.  People sure want to get rid of things when they are moving away. 
Timing is everything, I guess, and late March-early April is a great time
for moving in South Florida" she said.

   I leaned back and relaxed on the couch.  I took a sip of my water and
placed it on the carpet next to the couch, as there were no tables present.

   "I wish I had found some end tables, Arthur.  I am thinking I may just
tape up some boxes and use them as resting places around the living room",
Carrie said.

   "Well, our place is like a warehouse, Carrie.  We have about the same
set up as you do, and somehow we get along without much furniture" I said.

   Chris laughed.  "We never seem to use our living room, Roomie!  Our
place is for sleeping..  well, mostly!" He laughed again.  "Cuz, we just
don't seem to be the entertaining sort; we cook, we work out, we hang out
at young ladies' apartments!" he said with a smirk.

   Carrie smiled brilliantly.  "Arthur, is that true?" she asked me with a
twinkle in her eye.

   Is it possible to get redder than red?

   I was grinning at her.

   "Well....  there are plenty of places where I can hang out.  I guess
Chris knows best, so I'll follow his example!" I answered her.

   Carrie got up and reached out to Chris.  "Want another beer, Cuz?" she
asked.  Chris handed her his empty and put up his hand, palm forward.  "No
thanks, Cuz.  In fact, I have another appointment, if you can believe it!"
he said.

   I snapped to attention.  "Umm...  another appointment?" I responded
wittily.

   Carrie sat back down on the couch, balanced on the edge of the cushion.
She was looking intently at Chris, and Chris was looking happily at me.

   "Yeah, Roomie.  Remember Crystal?" he asked.

   "Uh huh." I answered.

   "Well, I saw her at the store last week, and she told me to give her a
call if I wanted to go out.  She is expecting me at Souther's in about 30
minutes" he said.

   Crystal had worked with us at Yesterday's some years before.  She was a
Sommelier when she worked with us, dispensing wine from the extensive
cellar kept by the restaurant's owner.  He had such a collection that he
kept three Sommeliers employed.  I would see Crystal every now and then
around town, just doing normal type stuff.  I could understand how Chris
would so easily come to be meeting her for a drink.

   The fact that Crystal is a stone cold fox made it that much easier to
understand Chris making a date.

   I seemed to recall having thought of Crystal in the shower a time or
two, just as I had earlier that day thought of Carrie!

   "Well, what is a girl to do?" asked Carrie.  She was smiling a mile wide
when she said this.  She fluttered her eyelids theatrically at Chris, and
put her hands to either side of her face.  "I guess she's prettier than
me?" she asked with a chuckle.

   "Ahhh, Cuz, you know how it is.  I get a shot at a date with a hottie
like Crystal, I will gladly blow off my family to make it!" he said.  He
was also smiling a mile wide.

   I replied to Carrie, "No way is she prettier than you." As soon as the
words left my mouth, her smile turned into a grin, and I knew I must have
been turning purple.  "But, she is a beauty!"

   Chris was laughing hard, now.  "Hey, Roomie!  You wanna come with me?"
he barely got out around his guffaws.  "I'm sure Crystal would love to see
you, but she isn't expecting you!"

   I supposed I was permanently carmine, now.

   Carrie said "Arthur, you're not going to ditch me too, are you?" She
just barely got that out because of her own sniggering.  "I don't think I
could stand losing both of you in one night!"

   Now they were laughing together.

   My face felt like it would burn up.

   I reached out and grasped Carrie's hand.  She grasped me right back.

   "I can't think of where else I would want to be tonight," I said.

   Carrie immediately stopped giggling and put her other hand on mine. 
"Oh, Arthur!  That is so sweet!  Don't worry about Chris and me; we've done
this before.  I remember his first girlfriend!" she said, shooting Chris a
conspiratorial glance.  "Gee, I even seem to recall lying for him on one or
another occasion." With this, she looked harder at Chris.  "Speaking of
which, I seem to recall that you still owe me your life, Cousin!"

   Chris gave her a sheepish look.

   "Cuz, I will owe you till the end of time for that night, and you need
only ask: it is yours!" he said.

   Carrie gave Chris a very soft and loving look.  "Never fear, Cousin,
your secrets are still safe with me" she said.  "And, I would do it again
if you needed me to."

   Chris's eyes actually got sparkly!

   "Thanks, Cuz, I've always known I could count on you" he said.  "Have I
mentioned lately that I love you?"

   Now Carrie was getting all sparkly eyed!

   "You go have a good time, Chris," she said.

   She looked at me.

   "I am quite sure I will be just fine!" she said to Chris.

   Only then did I realize that she still held my hand in both of hers.  I
could feel a bolt of energy travel up my arm and into my chest.  The
feeling was just like touching one of those Sci-Fi electrical balls that
you always see in grade school science classrooms.

   I could imagine shooting tendrils of energy splaying out from my head
and shoulders as I felt Carrie squeezing my hand in hers.

   No question.

   My face was burning right off!

   Chris chuckled and stood up.

   "Roomie, I think you're in very good hands," he said.  He could not
suppress his mirth as he said this, looking pointedly at Carries hands
clasping mine.

   For answer, I reached over with my other hand and put it around Carrie's
hands.

   I looked straight into her eyes and said to Chris, "Roomie, I feel
completely safe here!"

   This time Aphrodite blushed!!

   Chris could not control his laughter.  He was getting to the snorting
and coughing stage, something I knew happened when he was thoroughly
tickled.

   "Cuz," he said, "I think there may be more land sharks around here than
there were before!"

   He continued laughing as he picked up his and Carrie's empties and
headed into the kitchen.  I heard him drop the cans in a receptacle, and he
walked back into the living room.  Coming over to stand next to Carrie, he
leaned over and gave her a kiss on top of her head.

   "Luv ya, Cuz, but I am outta here.  You know how I am when I gotsa hot
date!"

   Carrie gave him a knowing look, and let go my hands to stand up and give
Chris a very close hug.

   Man.

   She really loves this guy, I thought to myself.

   Cool!

   I kinda liked him myself.

   Chris and I had become great friends, but we rarely expressed it in any
meaningful way; our comfort level was to endure the occasional back slap or
handshake.

   We had to make sure to avoid even the appearance of being more
affectionate than that.

   Boys will talk, ya know.

   Girls, too.

   "Have a great time, sweetheart" she said.

   "Will do, Cuz.  See ya soon?" he asked.

   "Come over whenever you like" she answered.  "If I don't want to answer
the door, I won't!" She laughed as she said this, sitting back down a
little closer to me and putting her hand on my shoulder.

   My shoulder was very warm!

   He laughed with her.

   "Nothin' changes, does it, Cuz!" he said.

   "Just location, setting, and ambience, Cousin!" she replied.

   "More artiste talk!!" he chuckled.

   Carrie looked at me, then at him.

   "Go on, get going or you will make someone very unhappy" she said.  "And
it might be me!" She moved the hand on my shoulder to grasp my hand as she
said this.

   Knowing that my face was melting all over the floor, I looked at Chris
and said, "Sounds like marching orders to me, Roomie!"

   Carrie took my hand back into both of hers and said "Hup, two, three,
four!"

   Her laughter was aural joy!

   Chris clapped me on the shoulder and moved toward the door.

   "Roomie, take care of yourself!  I do believe you be swimmin' in the
deep end!"

   He laughed as he opened the door, pausing to look back at us one last
time.

   "Sweat not the small stuff, Roomie" I said.  "I don't think I can get in
the weeds tonight!"

   He laughed some more and waved, stepping through the door and closing it
behind him.

   I looked back at Carrie.  She was looking at me and still holding my
hand.

   " 'Weeds'?  " she asked.

   "You don't know the term?" I replied.  I suppose I never thought about
the verbal short hand of kitchen workers anywhere in the states.  We have a
lexicon of our own, and we never think twice about how it must sound to
"outsiders".

   "Well, beyond being something that suburbanites everywhere react to with
disgust and horror" she was laughing, now, "no, what means 'weeds' that
way?" she answered.

   "It means being so piled up with work to do that you get so far behind
that there will be enough time for weeds to sprout and grow up before your
work will get done" I explained in a rush.

   She thought on this for a minute.  She still had my hand in both of
hers; as she thought, she looked down at my hand.  "Well, weeds aren't the
only things that spring up rapidly!" she said, looking up at me.

   I must have been on fire, because I could feel it on my face!

   Carrie was smiling a mile wide, again.

   She said, "Tell me more of this special language you chef's use!"

   I put my other hand on hers, and for answer, I leaned forward and moved
to kiss her.

   I wasn't certain that this was a good time to do this; I was just going
on instinct.

   Must have been a good instinct!

   Carrie leaned into the kiss, putting her lips to mine and gently
pressing against me with her mouth.

   It is a wonderful thing when a man finds out how Heaven will be when he
is yet here on earth and still in his flesh.

   I was instantly lost; had alarms and bells and whistles started going
off just then, I would not have responded to them other than to perhaps
shoot them dead with any firearm handy at the moment.

   I was thoroughly occupied!

   Carrie's hands let go of mine, and went around my neck.  They got busy
with gently caressing the back of my head and my shoulders; all the while
we were still exploring each other's lips.

   Her mouth opened!

   I very gently put my tongue to her upper lip, tasting her for the first
time.





   Too bad ya can't bottle that kind of flavor; it would be a best seller.



   When Carrie had let go my hands, I had placed my arms around her torso,
and very gently started massaging her back from shoulders to midway down.

   She seemed to like it, judging by the way that her tongue invaded my
mouth and started dueling with my tongue.

   No more face burning off, now!

   Instead, my whole body was burning!

   Carrie was starting to make a kind of humming sound, and her movements
were slowing down to a crawl.

   I matched her pace, and slowly disengaged from our kiss.

   "Now that is the right way to warm up a house!" she said.

   I laughed out loud, putting my hand up to gently stroke her cheek.  "It
is rather warm in here now!" I said.

   Carrie smiled and melted against me; she just molded her body to mine
where we sat.

   I held her gently, and wrapped her in my arms.  We sat like that for a
few minutes, neither of us saying a word.  I was struck by the closeness I
felt to this woman, whom I'd only met this day.

   This was not like me; I usually needed time and space in which to get to
feeling like I did at that moment; weeks and months, usually.

   Carrie gently moved back from me, standing up and grasping my hand.  She
pulled me softly to stand with her.  Her arms went around me and she pulled
me fiercely to her, burying her face in my chest and locking her arms
around me.

   I just held her, sensing that something more than a simple embrace was
going on here.  I had little to go on, but Carrie's manner indicated a deep
emotional movement was taking place inside of her.

   This was not what I had envisioned when I was buying the stool!

   After a few minutes of just holding each other, I gently leaned back and
put my hand to the back of her head, holding it carefully.  I waited until
she was looking me in the eye and asked her, "Do you always entertain house
warmers this way?"

   My grin told her that I was teasing.

   Her response told me that I was entering terra incognita!

   Her eyes started to water, and her voice was just a tad catchy as she
answered, "I don't know that I've ever felt more at home than I do right
now, Arthur."

   I knew that I was standing up, holding a goddess; all the same, I felt
like I was laid out flat on the floor...







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   khanundrum at yahoo dot come