"Hey I like it already," Lisa said looking at the elegant dark brown two tone exterior of the building with its window boxes glutted with colorful flowers.
"Wait 'til you see it inside."
Toni had four palatial rooms with high ceilings, all in wood and dappled with sunlight. "And two full bathrooms too," she added as Lisa looked the place over with an approving eye, "and that's what I call luxury."
"Beautiful, just beautiful. Where did you get that rug?" Lisa asked admiring a brilliant Persian in the middle of the living room.
"Oh I'll take you there before you go back. Wait til you see all the stuff they've got."
"I feel like a shot of something. Where do you keep the booze?"
"Right over there," Toni said pointing to a cabinet in the corner, "Help yourself. I'm just going to call the office to see what's been going on while I've been away."
They spent the afternoon browsing through the North Beach book stores, the antique shops in the Marina and by seven were back at the apartment; shoes off, drinks in hand, pleasantly foot sore gazing out at the city sprawled beneath them through the enormous plate glass window of what Toni caller her 'Observation Room'. Two business women at the tail end of the day with the night yet to come.
"I think," said Toni taking a long, cooling sip of her drink, "that we should have a bath and then go down to the wharf for dinner. I could do with some good old San Francisco sour dough bread and a nice big lobster. How about you?"
"Start running the bath water," Lisa said unbuttoning her blouse.
Toni opted for a quick shower instead. Walking into the guest bathroom with a towel laced around her and a second drink in hand she looked at Lisa in the tub, bubbles up to her neck, hair piled high and tight in a casual bun running a yellow washcloth up and down her long, smooth right leg.
"Admiring yourself darling?" she said sitting herself down on the edge of the tub.
"Always," Lisa said toying with a clot of bubbles.
"Whatcha" thinking?" Lisa asked trying to read her thoughts.
"Oh about flesh and things," she said dreamily.
"Flesh? You mean my boobs?"
"Yeah your boobs."
"Holding up pretty good aren't they?"
Toni reached down through the fleecy wall of bubbles and let Lisa's tits fill her hand. She squeezed on the left one lightly and appraisingly. Lisa stopped stroking her leg with the washcloth and settled back into the warm water.
"Like them?" she asked looking at Toni's half open mouth, at the even white lines of her teeth.
"Always have, you know that. What's not to like? Lisa… "
"What is it?"
"Do you think that… " she stopped, her hands manipulating the rising swell of the frosty nipple, her thoughts forming slowly, edging outwards. "Do you think that we could ever get back together again? I mean like the old days-live together, share some kind of a life? Do you think something like that would work out or is it too late?"
"No, I don't think it's too late, but is that what you want?"
"It's a thought. In fact it's more than a thought. It's something I've been thinking a lot about in the last few days. We're good together in a lot of ways. This bachelor life is OK, it has its advantages but it's not really where it's at-not by a long shot."
"Is this an official proposal I'm getting?"
"Just say tentative. Food for thought."
"It's appetizing but what about our work? We've pretty well established ourselves-you here-me there. It would take a lot of rearranging, major change and I don't know if either one of us is ready to do it. We're not as foot loose and fancy free as the old days. We just can't pick up and say see you later,' like we used to."
"I know."
"We actually have responsibilities. I hate that word, but there it is hanging over us."
"You're right, but what if all that could be worked out somehow. I mean if we really wanted to be together, be with one another all that would be secondary."
"We'd have to give it a lot more thought."
"Yeah, sure. Say why don't you finish dabbling with yourself and let's get a move on-I'm getting very hungry." She got up from the edge of the tub and gave Lisa a pout that resembled a smile and walked out of the bathroom.
Chapter 4
They ate like they hadn't seen food in a week. The bustling, dock side restaurant was distinguished for its absence of soundproofing as well as its fish soup and sour dough bread. The roar of voices, the deafening clatter of silverware and plates and glasses made conversation just about impossible or at the least a painful effort. They had to shout at the waiter and point to the menu before he was aware of what they wanted to eat. He nodded his head when it finally sunk in, wrote the order down on his pad, turned it around for them to see and when they returned his nod then backed off through the crowded room.
In a way it was a relief. Both women were able to eat with a fierce concentration without having to interrupt the flow of food with conversation. They were also left with their thoughts, left to retrace questions in search of answers. They made a lot of faces at each and laughed across the cramped, tiny square of linen at the ferocity with which they attacked the meal, cheeks stuffed and eyes a bit glazed from the warming food and liquor. They didn't bother with the coffee and dessert as Toni said she knew a much better place for that kind of thing.
The Espresso was excellent, Lisa agreed at the sidewalk cafe in North Beach. It was a warm-night and the streets were jammed. There were people lined waiting for tables, people bumping into people, people looking at people and watching it all Toni said that it reminded her of New Orleans at Mardi Gras time.
"Hey!" she said snapping two fingers, "I just thought of something!"
"Pray tell," Lisa said without taking her eyes from the passing parade.
"You remember Stella Ross, the little redhead that worked the Sands with us that time, the one that was going with that pit boss?"
"Yeah."
"Well she's dancing just around the corner from here! She's a big star in North Beach. Changed her name to Stella Artois after she got a silicone job done on her tits and now they're bigger than yours! I think the place she's at is called The Plumed Eagle or something like that."
"Tits bigger than mine! Why Toni she's the same height as you, and even shorter as I remember. Gee she must really look a bit freaky."
"Oh she does. I saw a picture of her in a magazine. Incredible! But never the less, she looks pretty good. It would be a lot of fun and a gas to see her after all this time. What do you say?"
"Let's go."
The guy at the door looked at them a bit funny-two good looking women like that coming into a topless bar unescorted, but they didn't look like hookers. Toni gave him the spiel about being old friends of Stella's and after listening to it and looking them over a few more times he mumbled something and told them to follow him.
"Come in!" they heard a voice shriek when he rapped his big knuckles against the dressing room door that had the name STELLA emblazoned on it in red and gold glitter above a huge star.
Toni poked her head in as the guy started to tell her that there were some friends of hers to see her and Stella broke out into a high giggle followed by more shrieking and jumped up and down clapping her hands together. They squeezed themselves into the small, cluttered room and for a good five minutes it was old home week again as the three girls hugged and clasped each other and mouthed their salutations.
"How do you like them?" Stella said finally, standing- back and throwing her gigantic silicone breasts out and sucking her little tummy in. Toni and Lisa gagged as they
focused up them. If Venice was the eighth wonder of the world, then Stella Artois's newly acquired dimensions were certainly the ninth.