Making New Memories: Women Loving Women

By Susie Ray

 

Stories of women loving women

 

Making New Memories is more than a friends to lovers, story; Patti wants to do something special for Mare, not least of all, to show her gratitude for all that Mare has done for her, and for being there when she needed her most. She organises a holiday in Cyprus, where Mare has happy memories of family holidays.

Their plan is to make new memories, and bond even further, but will it work out as intended, or is the past a ghost, too hard to overcome?

 

Love Comes Calling is a gentle, but explicit love story, with its share of tragedy, but love cushions the blows.

Fay was having dinner with a friend of her cousin and apparently, one of her friends too. It was meant to be purely a distraction after Fay put had her all into her new posting in Cheltenham, but she reckoned without the spark she felt immediately for Julia.

Their connection took them both by surprise – neither of them were looking for anything more than a pleasant night out. Julia was still miffed with her ex and Fay, well, she just wanted to learn more about her new town… Why did the words of her ex-boss suddenly spring to mind? "Don't make my mistake – you are young enough to make a good life for yourself, if you just make time!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: S-Ray Press
• Release date: Jun 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201914172

Susie Ray

Susie Ray Author bio I love to read and lose myself in stories conjured up by the written word – I am a mature individual, but I can still recall love’s first sweet kiss and the sting of rejection; the elation of being brought alive, by another’s caress, or tender words. I write sapphic stories for my own pleasure as well as hopefully that of the reader, and my head is full of ideas and storylines that are desperate to be shared. Admittedly, it was a freebie, but the first sapphic tale I read, left me feeling wanting and empty. I thought ‘I could do better than that’, and I did! My stories draw on a lifetime of experiences and places I have visited, so there is always a piece of ‘me’ in them. My preference is for short stories; tales, in bite-size portions, although some topics, simply require a novella to do them justice. I feel my writing skill has improved and grown with me over time and I am pleased to offer some of my work for your pleasure. Come lose yourself for a while, like I do when I’m writing…

Book preview

New Memories

One

Have you ever been introduced to someone and immediately had a feeling that you could get on really well together, given the right circumstances? That’s how it was when Carol’s friend introduced Mary to me, although meeting a new friend was the last thing on my mind when I agreed to attend this hen party. And to be fair, I have had such notions before on meeting someone new, and they never amounted to anything. Carol, the bride-to-be, is a colleague from work, and I merely accepted to attend her hen party, to be polite – we’re not really that pally socially, so, I didn’t get an invitation to the wedding, or the reception.

Mary is in the same boat and we were drawn together because we hardly know anyone else, but I am glad to have met her – she seems very nice, and we are hitting it off reasonably well. Then she asked me to tell her about myself.

Have you got a couple of hours to spare? I ask her, and she laughs politely.

She reacts, I suppose Carol’s hen night is hardly the place, but I really would like to know.

Her interest appears sincere. Perhaps I can tell you another time? I replied.

Okay, I’ll hold you to that. She smiled, but it couldn’t disguise her interest.

We are about two and a half hours in and have barely started our latest drinks when yet another round arrived to cheers from the bride-to-be and her immediate crew. Both Mary and I reacted with raise eyebrows – the intent of the hens appears to be to get Carol drunk as quickly as possible, and it makes me feel my age. Maybe it is my age telling, but I really don’t want to get blind-drunk, even if it is a Friday night. Judging by Mary’s similar reaction, she feels the same way, but how to avoid getting dragged along by the near hysteria building?

Fortunately, we weren’t alone in our thinking, and another guest left shortly afterwards. Seizing the opportunity, I managed to attract Carol’s attention before she was back in full party mode,

I have an early start tomorrow, Carol, so I wish you all a great time this evening, but I will have to be off too, when I’ve finished my drink. To Mary I asked, Do you want to share a cab?

Carol was fine with the news and I somehow doubt she will even remember come the morning. I don’t think the rest of the party will miss us in the least. Meanwhile, Mary’s relief was obvious.

I hope you didn’t mind me including you? I ask.

No, I’m so glad you did, Pat – it is getting a bit raucous, isn’t it? She whispered loudly, to be heard above the clamour.

A little later, a wave to Carol was all that was necessary, before we made our exit – I mouthed, ‘Good luck, tomorrow!’, and we were quickly out of the bar.

Mary offered, It’s only 10pm, fancy a coffee or something? My treat for getting me out of there.

Sure, why not? Whatever happened to having a good time without getting smashed? The words simply exited my mouth, without much thought. And then I added, God, just listen to me – I sound like an old spinster.

A grin flashed across Mary’s pretty face, Hardly, but I don’t know what gets into youngsters these days. At least they’re all happy – that’s the main thing.

Yes, but the wedding is tomorrow, right? I remind her.

We must have forgotten what it’s like to be in our early twenties and how fast they might recover, but honestly, I wouldn’t go back to that age again. How about you? She asks.

No, but come off it, it can’t have been that long ago for you? Five years, maybe? I’m being kind, although she barely looks over thirty.

Her appreciation of my kindness shows on her face as she responds, Try ten years, and you’re a fine one to talk, Pat. How old are you – thirty-five?

I wish – I’m thirty-eight, next birthday, I admit.

So, you are only thirty-seven, now?

Well, we’ve established our ages and that we’re not up to revelling all night – how’s about that coffee? Right now, a coffee is very appealing to me.

Mary must know the nearest coffee bar, as she gestures for us to go left, and a thought must occur to her,

At least we don’t have to go home and put all our clothes on to wash to get rid of the ingrained smoke smell, these days. Do you remember the old days?

"God, don’t remind me! But you realise now, we are showing our ages." I wish we could get off the age thing.

Here we are! Mary leads the way into the coffee bar. What can I get you? Mary asks.

Latté, please!

Having placed the order, Mary takes a seat opposite me, and opens with, I take it you work with Carol? Have you known her long?

A few months, since I started my new job – we’re the only two women in the office and usually she is much more sedate than tonight, but I guess getting married is a good enough reason to let yourself go. I’m assuming that Mary will have judged my single status from what I said earlier. How about you – has any man snapped you up yet?

Mary responds, Hardly, and then it would have to be a woman, not a man! The emphatic way she put it, indicates that she is openly gay, and relaxed about it.

I wish I could be as open as you about the gay thing. Again, the words slipped out before being vetted by my brain.

In a difficult situation? She suggests jumping to the wrong conclusion.

I try to explain, No, I’m out and I don’t hide it, but... I guess I am just shy and mainly I keep such intelligence to myself – probably my family didn’t help, but that was a good while ago.

Anyone on the scene now? Mary asks and immediately she must feel awkward, being so forward. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so nosey!

I respond with a smile so she knows that I am okay with her question, I am enjoying being single at the moment. I thought that maybe that might affect the possibility of our being friends, so I qualified it. But I am always open to new things... I hope I don’t sound too desperate.

Yeah, I’m between girlfriends too. Mary quantifies. Anyway, I believe you were going to tell me about yourself...?

I manage to deflect that question for now. Another time, I think – how about you?

We chatted for a while and words came easy, not like my usual first encounters with other women, and we did agree to meet tomorrow, exchanging phone numbers so we could make final arrangements, then. Also, we did indeed share a cab as we happen to live in the same direction – I did hope that she wasn’t expecting to come in for more coffee, as whilst I am not ashamed of my reduced circumstances and my little flat, I thought that it would hardly make the right impression. Why am I concerned about what Mary’s impression might be?

Two

I didn’t like to tell her that my early start was pure invention to escape the hen-night, but I could tell that she remembered, and didn’t suggest coming in, when the cab dropped me off.

Night Mary – I’ll call you tomorrow! My parting shot.

Mary showed her keenness, I hope you will! And then the cab zoomed off into the night.

At the time, I certainly meant it, but back inside my place, the recollection of her asking to know more about me, began to hit home – where to start? Or should I just give an abridged version?

Maybe, if my parents had been more understanding of my sexuality, I might have lived at home for longer? They were okay with me being gay, well after a while to get used to the idea, after the penny dropped, why I never brought a boy home to meet them. But we never talked openly about my preferences and I felt too inhibited to bring a girl back, so I think the writing was on the wall early on.

My first ‘serious’ relationship was probably doomed from the beginning, Jenny and I had great sex, but that’s pretty much all it was, and moving in together was merely a means to an end. When the honeymoon period of sharing a bed was quickly over, we struggled to get along, in each-others pockets, but we gave it a good try. We drove each other crazy, but neither of us wanted to admit defeat and go back home to live. That was a big mistake and our lack of true feelings for each other drove a wedge between us, and even though neither of us could afford the flat on our own, we split rather acrimoniously.

I had a reasonable job that I enjoyed, back then as a typist, but had to move to get a better wage to try and afford the flat. I depleted most of my savings trying to make a go of my independence. My cousin moved in for a while, but she was too unreliable with her rent and when I picked her up about it, tactfully, I thought, she went off the deep end and left in a huff, owing me a month’s rent. The new job was okay at first, secretary to an insurance broker, but it soon became boring. That’s when I realised that I would have to give up the flat at the end of the lease, and move into something more economical. That was my first experience of a bed-sit, and my landlady had rules about bringing people home, especially overnight, which did little for my love life.

My next job as a typist, again, was better – I think I enjoyed the camaraderie of other girls in the typing pool, even though they were all straight, I think. However, I began to feel lonely, back in my digs, as Mrs Briggs, my landlady had a curfew of 10:30pm and I still felt young and in need of some fun outside work. I stuck it out for six months before I found more suitable accommodation, sharing a house with students at the local Tech that had been upgraded to university status, way back when...

I may have become carried away with their relaxed view on life, and they were not judgemental about sexuality. Around that time, I met Eliza and we courted for a while before taking the next step – there was no problem with her sleeping over, but truth be told – we didn’t get that much sleep. Unfortunately, Eliza wasn’t out and we had to keep our thing, secret from her family, which restricted the number of places we could go and be seen together, which began to put a strain on our relationship, eventually.

Two years, I shared the house, and stayed with Eliza, then it all seemed to happen at once... The student’s lease was up as they had finished their studies and the house’s owner to make a ruling that decided that next time, the house would be for students only – I discovered later that he had other properties and had bad experiences with the students sub-letting, and even though I always paid my rent on time, he wasn’t prepared to make any exceptions. He gave me a month to move out.

Eliza and I had probably run our course by then, too and my next flat above a shop was too far away for her to put herself out to travel – surprisingly I wasn’t that much bothered, and at least my new place was handy for work. I look back fondly at my time living over the shop, and began to adjust to the single life – after a while, I remember that I was so weary after a day at work, it was all I could do to prepare dinner and crawl early into bed. At the time I was so involved in trying to seem keen, to get on at work, I was too close to realise that it wasn’t much of a life, except for my pied-a-terre.

At least I made manager and I could add that to my CV – lucky really, because the firm I worked for went unexpectedly and totally out of the blue, belly-up – I try to look on the bright side, even though I had to stay with my parents for a while, but being older now, it didn’t seem a backward step, merely a little hiccup...

Mary’s smile popped into my head, well the image of it, and I suppose it wasn’t surprising, given that I was recounting my past and what I was okay with telling her, when I saw her next, but I wasn’t prepared to face my most recent failed relationship. It’s still too raw to even go there! Or is it that I feel foolish for expecting too much from it? I can feel my thoughts being dragged back there – I knew I should have left well alone...

Thankfully, my mobile rings and shuts that door on my memories or I know I might wallow in self-pity.

Hello? I didn’t recognise the number.

Hi Patti! I hope you don’t mind me ringing you – I just wanted to say hi... Mary’s voice is a welcome distraction and I like the sound of ‘Patti’ when she says it.

Hi Mary – I’m glad you rang. You made it home in one piece then? I didn’t know what else to say.

What are you up to, right now? She’s full of questions.

It feels right to tell her honestly, I was just going over my past and what I am happy to tell you, when I tell you about myself.

You really shouldn’t. When I asked you to tell me about yourself, I meant what you like to do – what sort of things you get up to now – the past is the past. We can’t change that, but we do have control over the future. What kind of music do you like? Mary couldn’t possibly have said anything better – she’s interested in me, not how I got here.

Music? Well, I used to have eclectic tastes, all sorts of music, from Billy Joel, to Reba McEntire, with Nat King Cole and others like Mantovani thrown in for good measure. I tried to paint a quick picture.

You said ‘used to have’ – don’t you listen to music now? How can this woman who has only known my a few hours, pin-point something missing in my life in moments?

I reacted instinctively, I guess, I ‘ve just got out of the habit, now you mention it. I hadn’t really thought about it until now.

Have you got a big collection of vinyl, or CD’s? Even though it’s another question, I don’t feel interrogated – she really wants to get to know me.

I’m afraid they got lost in the past that I was thinking about when you called! Funny how I never realised until now. I’m guessing music is important to you – are you a musician? I feel safe to ask her something back.

I can strum a guitar, but I’m hardly ready to join a band of seniors. She is so self-effacing that I am drawn to her.

I get that – I can hold a tune, but like you I would never consider myself a singer. I find myself revealing more and more to her.

That’s the thing, about music – one can enjoy it privately, no matter how bad one might be. She has an answer for everything.

Oh, you’ve heard me sing already? At least she laughed at my response.

Mary countered, I have a huge collection of music – I’m sure you would find something that you like. How about coming to mine for lunch tomorrow and then we can listen to music all afternoon? Unless you’re busy?

I appreciated that she had given me a get-out clause if I wanted one, but I found myself answering, Yes, I’d like that a lot, but I’ll bring lunch – what do you like to eat?

My food tases are wide and eclectic like your taste in music, so anything that you like will be fine. About 1pm? I’ll text you my address – it’s easy to find.

"I’ll see you then,