River of Implications

Venita's heart skipped a beat and she froze, coffee mug in midair, when she heard Jan's last statement about finding her "dirt." Jan laughed at her reaction. Then said, "Assault? Who in the world could you possibly assault, being such a little shrimp?" Venita felt herself blush. "Damn! I thought you were supposed to be computer illiterate." "I didn't say that. I just don't want to put so much time into running things myself. Especially the behind-the-scenes kinda shit. So what happened?" Venita looked out the window by the table at the still-dead dock below. Even the stores weren't open yet. "I'd tell you, but you won't believe me." "Try me. You a karate expert or something?" "No, not at all. I'm actually a first-class wimp. Unless they're pushing sixty, quite like my wonderful boss…" Jan smiled slyly. "…I'm a true wimp at heart when it comes to kicking ass, though I am fit and in pretty good shape for my age." "I could flatten you, honey, but that's ok. Go on." "Back down in Arizona, I rented this house for a while. One day, I got new neighbors who were a nightmare from the get-go. A bunch of freeloaders on welfare. They started trashing my property and vandalizing things as soon as they moved in. They also blasted loud music night and day. So one day I got fed up and filed a city complaint." "And?" "Well, little did I know that one of their friends was a cop." "Uh-oh." "Yeah, uh-oh is right. Even the judge was trying to figure out how a five-foot, one hundred and ten-pound person could take on a woman who was about as tall as you. Only this one was huge. Had to be around two hundred pounds and definitely not the one-thirty or so you look to be." Jan burst out laughing. "You need to quit trying to figure me out. You haven't assumed anything correctly yet." Venita frowned with confusion. "What are you then?" "Try one sixty." "One sixty! My God, you don't look it. How tall are you?" "Five eight. So what happened?" "Didn't it say online?" "No. All it listed were your charges and that you pled not guilty and then were convicted." "What happened was thanks to this corrupt little rogue cop and his vindictive friends, I did a few months in jail, plus I lost a ton of money over it as well. That is, until I was vindicated. Cop's been booted from the force ever since. I wasn't the only one he used and abused his authority against." "But how did you find out this cop was friends with the neighbors?" "I'd seen him around before. We even exchanged a few hellos when he'd visit the neighbors, and he asked how I liked living there one time. I said, Great if the neighbors would be a little cleaner and a little quieter. At the time, he just laughed and seemed to take it good-naturedly. Never seemed to take it personally or anything." "So how was jail?" "Boring, cold and uncomfortable. They did let me out to work during the daytime, but like I said, I still ended up losing a lot of money. It's amazing I didn't lose my place altogether and end up being released to no home to go to and my stuff who knew where. I could just about make the rent and bills, but let's say I didn't eat much or do much of anything else for a while there. It took me months to get back on my feet. Especially since I knew I had to get the hell out of there first chance I got, and I did. Moved clear across town so I wouldn't feel like such a sitting duck." "What a terrible experience it must've been." "It was. You hear about corruption within law enforcement and people abusing their authority, but you never expect it to happen to you." Jan nodded empathetically. "Man, I hate cops now. It may be as wrong as hating all Mexicans simply because one may rob you, but I think I'd rather trust my own fists than call the cops if someone tried to attack me." "Did other inmates at the jail hit on you?" "Yup. But I could handle it. I'm bisexual, so I wasn't freaked out by them or anything like that. You just tell them no, and they back off." "Ok, tough stuff," said Jan, finishing the last of her coffee. "This is what I think we should do today. That is, if you agree." "What's that?" "I think I should drop you back off at your place now, since I would assume you'd like to shower and do whatever you usually do at this time." "Yes, a shower would be nice." "And then I'll pick you up between two and three and have you work until you either run out of things to do or you get sick of it." "Ok. Though I don't get sick of computer work too easily, and I could use all the work I can get if I'm going to make next month's rent in time and pay bills and have food in my stomach." "It's already the 24th. How much do you need?" "Just a hundred or so." "That should be no problem," said Jan. "Thank God for that much or else I'd have to suggest you take Scarlett's advice and consider a live-in cook, housekeeper, and store manager." Again with the sly, almost suggestive smile. "Yeah?" Venita showered after Jan dropped her off and changed into fresh jeans and a bright red shirt. She found herself pacing her tiny room throughout most of the day in anticipation of returning to Jan's houseboat with her. The crush had definitely been reignited, Venita realized to herself. She knew nothing would come of it, of course, and hoped it would still be more fun than frustrating working so closely with someone she was attracted to as much as she was attracted to the tall, dark and lovely Janice Lynn Haley. At noon, she went to the store for some snacks to take to Jan's place with her. At 2:20, the knock on the door nearly sent her flying right out of her chair. She rose and opened the door. There stood Jan, who was now dressed in black from head to toe, though it didn't look depressing. It actually looked good on her, even sexy. "Hey, you," she said. "Hey," said Venita. "You got tall." Venita looked down at her platform shoes. "Yeah, by five inches. Like it?" Jan shrugged and said, "Eh, I actually like short people if they're cute enough." Venita grinned. "Welcome to my microscopic slice of the universe." She studied the back of Jan as she stepped into the center of the room. Black sweater, black slacks, black boots with about a two-inch heel. The only color was within the blue and purple scarf around her neck. "Not bad," said Jan. "Definitely small, but not bad. You got a little refrigerator and microwave, I see." "Yeah, it's not the worst place to live. I picked up some snacks for us today." "Oh, did you?" Jan said, turning to face her. Venita nodded. "You might also want to take a toothbrush and a nightie if we end up pulling an all-nighter again. That is, unless you prefer those little pink panties." "I do prefer the panties, though this time they're black. Is that ok?" "Sure, and I hope I'm not being offensive in any way." "Nope. Not at all." Venita laughed, not sure if Jan was putting the moves on her or what. "Who's the makeup for?" Jan suddenly asked, eyeing Venita's more heavily made-up face. Venita shrugged. "I don't know. Who should it be for?" Ignoring the question, Jan said, "You ready?" "That I am," Venita said, picking up a laptop bag and a large shoulder bag. "Mmm, it smells good in here," Venita said as she climbed up to the living quarters of the boat ahead of Jan. "Yeah, I threw in a roast so we'd have it later. I gotta do some work on my own computer, hun, so you can go ahead and get started at the little table. There's a plug right next to it," Jan said, pointing to it. "Ok." Venita set up her laptop on the table and booted it up. "I need the store address again," she said, turning to Jan, who sat facing her at the bigger table. Jan recited it to her, and Venita was off to work. This time, she not only had to resist her urge to gaze out the window but also back at Jan as well. She almost felt self-conscious at the thought of Jan's eyes burning into the back of her head, so she told herself that Jan was busy paying attention to her own monitor. Not her. After about an hour of sifting through emails and updating inventory according to a slip of paper Jan had given her, Jan got up and informed Venita that she would be down in the shopping center for a while. "Well, first I'll be down underneath packaging the day's orders, then I'll be off to mail them and run a few more errands. Think you'll be ok alone for a while?" "Sure." Jan was gone, and at last Venita could take in at least most of her surroundings from where she sat. She'd already seen enough of the dock and the shopping center in front of the boat. To the right side of the boat and straight in front of where she sat, the river rushed towards her, forming mini whitecaps along the way. The nearest boat was perhaps 150' away, though Venita couldn't see the other side in order to say what was back there. It seemed that the docks were spaced the same distance apart from each other, from what Venita could see glancing in the back of the boat. The river was perhaps 100' wide, and so she was able to see more boats on the other side. Most of the docks were occupied, but some were vacant, including the one directly across from them. More privacy for Jan, Venita thought. Jan. She really liked the woman. Her mind reeled back to their conversation in her room. Unless she preferred those little pink panties? She giggled to herself. Had she been hitting on her or something? Nah. Despite her body language and some of the things she had said, Jan was probably the last person who would be interested in her. Just over an hour later, Venita heard the downstairs door open and Jan's footsteps on the narrow circular staircase. Then the door opened up and she stepped inside. "How goes it?" "It's going. How are you doing?" Jan smiled, almost as if she were amused by the question, and threw what appeared to be a stack of mail down on the table by her computer. "Ok," she said, shrugging out of her coat and hanging it on a hook by the door. Venita's heartbeat sped up. It always seemed to do that when Jan was around.