"Well, I guess I did. So what."
"Then tell me who it was. I've got to know."
"That's a switch," said Morton cattily.
"It might be a switch, but it's real. Something's happened…"
"Oh, I know what's happened. You've been shaken out of your tree, honey child. And mother's not there to lick your wounds."
"Oh, shit, Morton, just tell me who it was. This is no time for sermons. I've got to get to her."
"But whatever for?" Morton had replied. And, in fact, she did not know why. Except perhaps there was that vague feeling inside her that if she managed to seduce the girl, whoever she was, that it would break the spell she held over Dex. And then, too, she had to admit she was curious, even sexually interested in seeing what this girl looked like.
Finally Morton had given her a name, an address and a phone number. And there she was. The girl was very attractive in a spiritedly, childish way. Her curly blonde hair and firm figure was an eye-catcher, Ryan had to admit. But she just didn't seem the type that Dex would normally fall for. So why had she?
"My name is Ryan."
"Oh, I know. Morton already called me. She… warned me you were coming. Are you planning to scratch my eyes out?"
The boldness of Gena's confrontation startled her. She hadn't prepared herself for this.
"Why, no, why should I?"
"Because I'm a threat. I guess I am a threat or why else would you bother to be here."
The two of them stood facing each other. Two sensual females, full-breasted, hot animals, held at bay by the circumstances.
"You're really beautiful. I don't see why…" continued Gena.
"Because you're fresh and new. I'm a known quantity."
"But she was so afraid of having us meet. I don't know why you're concerned." Ryan's eyebrows arched in surprise.
"What do you mean?" asked Ryan. She felt stupid asking this kid questions of such momentum.
"Just that I don't think you have anything to worry about on that score. Dex is obviously in love with you."
"But she's fascinated by you," Ryan blurted out. She bit her tongue afterward. She was no good at these kinds of games. She had just thrown all her cards down on the table before even playing a hand.
Gena perked up. She sashayed her ass slightly as she moved across the room. She had not even dreamed she had had that effect on Dex. How had it happened? she wondered. When Dex had put her in that cab, she'd figured it was all over. Now Ryan was confronting her with a brand-new situation she had never dreamed would have existed.
Ryan noticed the pert rump move across the room. She bit her lower lip for the second time in five minutes. This kid had gotten every ounce of meaning out of her last stupid sentence. She now understood everything. She knew her power. That was what the flick of the ass was telling her.
"Oh, I can't believe that," drawled Gena. She turned herself around to face Ryan, almost making a pirouette. Ryan noticed her breasts for the first time. She was naked under her tight jersey. The nipples poked through the thin cloth as if ready to jump out and be loved.
"Well… it's true to some extent," replied Ryan, gathering her wits about her. She had to be careful with Gena. She had to calm down and take control of herself. "How old are you, Gena?" she asked suddenly trying to get a grip on the situation.
"Oh, shit, really…" replied the girl. A smirk crossed her face. "You aren't really serious, asking me that. Are you going to tell me I'm too young to be a home-wrecker?"
"No, I wasn't," replied Ryan, getting her usual poise together. "What I was going to say was that Dex and I have been through a lot together. That years mean something. And that you haven't even begun. Otherwise you wouldn't be so callous." Ryan marked the end of her statement with a smirk of success. Gena only smiled.
"Some people know a lot when they're young. Some are stupid when they're old. What's the difference?"
"The difference is time, Gena," she said, pausing at the fact that she had finally addressed the girl by name. "Dex and I are linked by time."
"Time can be a bore. Let's talk about something else. Let's talk about you. You're so beautiful. Are you an actress?" Ryan was taken aback by the switch.
She hesitated, then blurted out, "Yes I am. So what does…"
"You look like one. Anyone would know. Men must follow you in the streets all the time, come up to you at bus stops, never stop giving you the eye." Ryan blushed. She thought of Robard. All that attention, all that sex from him had been just like that.
"Sometimes," she admitted.
"Do you like men? I mean, do you like them at all? Have you ever made it with one?" Gena kept on prodding. Ryan sucked her breath in sharply between her teeth.
"I'm not a virgin, if that's what you mean. How about you?"
"Never. I wouldn't let a man put a hand near me. They disgust me." The violence of her reply stopped the conversation short. Ryan looked at the girl in amazement.
"Well, they are the other half of the population. Don't you think you're being a bit extreme?"
"Nope," replied Gena, sitting down on the living room couch. "Why don't you sit down, Ryan?" Ryan didn't know whether to do what she said or not. She didn't want to seem to be obeying the kid, but it would be stupid to simply remain standing while she sat and looked her over. Ryan came over and sat down on the couch as well.
"That's cozy," smirked Gena. "Don't you agree that it's much nicer, women being together like this, just like we are now? I don't know, it's just much more comfortable."
"Don't you ever do anything that's not comfortable?" asked Ryan slowly, feeling like a school marm.
"Never. Not if I can help it," she replied brightly. "You know what?"
"What?" replied Ryan, once again taken off guard immediately.
"I'd like to make love to you." Ryan's mouth almost dropped open. She couldn't believe the directness, the utter boldness of this kid.
"You must be crazy. Are you for real?" she blurted out in response.
"Why, don't you like the way I look? Most women think I'm pretty sexy. Dex certainly did." Involuntarily, Ryan found herself looking Gena over, admiring her firm, pointed breasts and her tight hips and full mouth.
"Of course you're attractive. You know that well enough. That doesn't mean that I'm going to jump into bed with you."
"Oh," replied Gena, assuming a pout. "I thought from what Morton said that you did a lot of that."
"A lot… a lot of what?" Ryan stammered.
"Oh, sleeping around, sleeping with girls you think are attractive. You haven't answered whether you think I'm attractive."
"Goddamn it, yes, you're attractive. You know that well enough." Her voice rose in anger. Why the hell had she come here? What did she think she would ever accomplish?
"What I know or don't know doesn't matter shit. It's what you think that matters."
"Oh, come off it, girl. I can't believe that." Ryan's face drew itself into a mask of scorn. It was all getting too silly.
"But it's true. It does matter. I wish you didn't hate me so much," she said, turning her eyes away.
"I don't hate you, Gena." Again she had said the girl's name. It could only spell disaster. This kid could twist her around her little finger and it would feel good. Saying her name again like that could only make matters worse. Was she really reacting, really starting to feel something for this bratty kid?
"Oh, I think you do. You certainly hated me when you arrived. I think you came here to do something like hit me, kick me. After all, I'm a threat."
Ryan paused and started laughing. She could not believe the turn of the conversation. Already the girl had managed to put herself up as the martyr and Ryan as the sadist, out to harm poor innocence.
"There's not a violent bone in my body. I just wanted to see what you looked like, that's all." And this was the best truth Ryan could give.