Unusual Circumstances

“The perfume stinks, so enjoy it yourself or give it to Bella.” “Ok, I’ll do that,” Nana said. Once outside, Mayani’s neighbor called to her. “Hi, Rinatta,” Mayani greeted cheerfully. “You two want to stop in for a few minutes for a soda or something?” Mayani looked at Kaylin, who appeared hesitant. “Technically, I’m entitled to three half-hour visits a week. Come on.” Kaylin followed Mayani, not at all attempting to hide the look on her face that said she thought Mayani was a real smart ass who was wearing thin on her nerves. They entered the untidy home next door, which was bigger but not in very good condition. “You’ll just have to excuse the mess,” Mayani’s neighbor explained. “Can’t keep a place neat and organized with a little kid around, you know?” Kaylin nodded politely as she and Mayani followed the woman toward the back of the house and into the kitchen. “Just where is Mikey anyway?” asked Mayani. “He’s with his deadbeat dad right now. I had to practically get down on my knees and beg him to take the poor kid for the day, if only for his sake. I don’t want Mikey growing up thinking his father doesn’t give a damn, you know?” Mayani nodded. “It’s not like he’s ever been violent to him, and, well, it gives me a break to have him off my hands every now and then. Hear how quiet it is now in here? So who’s this fine woman you got here, girl?” Rinatta asked Mayani. “This here is Kaylin.” “Hi, Katelyn. Nice to meet you.” “There’s no T in Kaylin,” Mayani explained. “Huh?” asked Rinatta, lighting up a cigarette. “Her name is Kaylin.” “Oh, that’s a way cool name. If I’m ever unfortunate enough to have a daughter, I’ll name her that. You guys want anything to drink?” “No thanks,” Mayani and Kaylin said in unison. Rinatta then turned and pulled open a drawer by the sink. “You know, Mayani, it’s too bad you don’t smoke weed.” Mayani tensed. “Uh, I wouldn’t be talking about that right now.” Rinatta didn’t seem to hear her. “I got a great deal last night from my cousin, even though it’s only enough to roll barely half a dozen joints with and…” “Now’s not the time,” Mayani said more persistently. Rinatta’s head turned toward her. She then closed the drawer and stood up straight, eyeing Mayani and Kaylin curiously. “Kaylin’s a cop,” Mayani informed her. “Oh. Is she really?” Mayani nodded. “Yes, she is.” Kaylin reached into her back pocket and withdrew her badge, holding it up for Rinatta to inspect. Then she flashed a quick smile, as if to say, “Yes, I really am a cop, and you ought to think before you act,” before resuming her usual neutral expression. “Oh… oh, my God!” Rinatta stuttered. “So your Nana wasn’t kidding? I thought she was… well, no offense, but she sometimes slips away in her mind. When she told me you got in trouble and were living with this cop, I thought she was just having one of her spells, you know?” “Yes, I know.” “Furthermore,” Rinatta continued, “she looks so much like someone you’d go for.” “Maybe after my so-called sentence is up, I’ll go for her,” Mayani said, drawing a look of warning from Kaylin. “Hey, yeah,” Rinatta said with a smile, nodding enthusiastically. “That’s what you should do. Wouldn’t that be just great, Kaylin with no T?” “I wouldn’t count on it,” Kaylin said. “She’s my client, and I’m not in the habit of mixing business with pleasure.” “Oh, we won’t mix anything,” Mayani said matter-of-factly. “We’ll wait till I’m no longer your client.” Kaylin gave her a scornful look as Mayani and her neighbor chuckled heartily. “There you go, girl,” Rinatta said between laughter. “Chase her down and capture her the minute you’re home free.” With her annoyance starting to grow, Kaylin pushed herself upright from the kitchen doorway she’d been leaning against and said, “Ok, ladies. I hate to cut the visit short, but we really need to be going now.” “Ok,” Rinatta said, checking her laughter. “You just make sure you treat this girl right, Officer Whatever-Your-Name-Is. She’s a damn good person. Of that, I can guarantee you.” “I’m sure she’s just great. Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Kaylin said, motioning Mayani ahead of her. Mayani called back to Rinatta as she followed them toward the front door. “Take care of yourself and give Mikey a hug for me.” “I sure will.” As soon as they were on the road, Kaylin spoke. “Let’s get you set straight on something right now, Mayani.” “What’s that?” “There’s never going to be a you and me. Got it?” Mayani felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach, though she tried to hide it. “I can still hope, can’t I?” she dared to reply, even if she was basically muttering under her breath. “If you want to get your hopes up for nothing, then yeah, go ahead and hope, Mayani.” “What makes you think I’d want to get serious anyway? Maybe I just want you for a playmate.” “I’m sure you don’t. I don’t have to have known you for long to see that you’re a little more old-fashioned than that. I think you’d want to get married.” “Don’t forget the artificial insemination, too,” Mayani added, glancing at Kaylin’s attractive profile. “You know, I think you’d make a really good dad. I really do. Then again, to call a woman ‘dad’ seems kind of strange, and for a child to have to call two people ‘mom’ may be a bit confusing, so I guess if I carried it I could be ‘mom’ and you could just be Kaylin.” Kaylin glanced over at Mayani and shook her head. “I wonder about you at times, girl. You sure are an original one.” “Yes, I know. And you’ll miss me when I’m gone, trust me. For now, you could use an eccentric individual around to balance out your seriousness and lack of humor. So what happened anyway? I mean, something’s got to have made you so distant like this.” “It’s none of your business, Mayani, and if I’m distant with you, it’s because I’m supposed to be.” Kaylin’s cool expression returned, and Mayani slumped in her seat, certain that she really would never win Kaylin over. A pain of defeat stung her chest. Why was she always rejected by those she wanted and approached by those she didn’t want? And just why did she want Kaylin in the first place? There was nothing nice about her at all. Yet she knew that what she was feeling stretched beyond mere attraction. She didn’t understand it, but she knew there was something stirring within her that wasn’t love, but not just sexual either. The remainder of the day passed uneventfully. From her bedroom, she heard Kaylin on the phone a couple of times—once in the living room and once in her office. From what little she could make out, one of the people she spoke to was her mother, whom she gathered wasn’t in the area. Kaylin spent most of the day sprawled out on the couch in front of the TV. Mayani made it a point of giving her space, as much as she longed to go join her, even if she bore no interest in whatever it was she was watching. Instead, Mayani worked, trying to focus on entering sweepstakes and adding to her current novel. The dog occasionally came in to see her, though she was hesitant to pay him much mind. It wasn’t until the sun was starting to set that Kaylin appeared in her doorway. She leaned casually in its frame. “How are you doing?” “I’m ok,” Mayani answered. “I’m going to be going for a swim soon, so if you would like to join me, you may, though I suggest you get changed up fast.” Mayani delightedly sprang from her chair, nearly knocking it over. “Not that fast,” Kaylin told her, almost smiling. Mayani put on her bikini, not only glad to escape the house and enjoy a swim but glad to be around Kaylin as well. As much as she made for lousy company, Mayani simply couldn’t help but desire to spend time with her. She was determined to make the most of every minute she could until Kaylin became a closed chapter in her life. “All set?” asked Kaylin when Mayani stepped out of her room a moment later. Mayani nodded, amazed by the sight of Kaylin’s body. She tried not to stare and to hide her appreciation, but that was easier said than done. Kaylin was long, lean, and sexy as hell. She wore a violet two-piece: the bottoms were board shorts, and the top was almost like a sports bra. It wasn’t a typical two-piece, such as the string bikini Mayani wore, though it suited Kaylin well. Despite the fact that Kaylin was boyish and rugged in appearance, she was so beautiful in Mayani’s eyes that she’d find her attractive no matter what she wore. Mayani followed Kaylin out back, watching her taut muscles as she moved about. It occurred to Mayani that she would feel safe with Kaylin just about anywhere. It also occurred to her that, between her height, strength, and occupation, most men probably wouldn’t find her as appealing as most gay women would, who were on the more feminine and shorter side. They were now outside, entering the pool. Not even the barely-cool water could ease the warm tingle that had formed between Mayani’s legs as she watched Kaylin swim a few laps up and down the pool. She swam swiftly and athletically. Mayani couldn’t have kept up even if she tried. A few minutes later, Kaylin stopped close by her and brushed the dark hair from her face. “You’re in good shape,” Mayani told her. “Love those calf and shoulder muscles. Nice abs, too.” Kaylin glanced down at her abs for a second. “Yeah, I try to keep as fit as I can.” She patted the rippled knots in her stomach. “It’s important for the job.” Mayani glanced toward the opposite end of the pool. “Why isn’t there a diving board?” “Because this is a play pool, not a diving pool.” Mayani looked quizzically at Kaylin as the dog emerged from the doggie door and came to sit by the pool. “The end of the pool is shallow like this end. It only gets as deep as five feet, and only in the middle. It’s basically designed for playing volleyball. I have a volleyball net I can pull across sometime, but not today. I’m just going to sit on the lounge and get some color.” “I see you tan really well,” Mayani told her as she headed for the stairs. “Lucky you. I just get red, then I peel.” “A side effect of being fair-skinned,” Kaylin said casually, pulling her long, sleek body from the pool onto a brightly flowered chaise lounge. Mayani did some laps of her own, even if at a much slower pace, all the while aware of Kaylin’s eyes on her as she moved. She’d have been flattered to know she was being watched because Kaylin liked what she saw, but she knew Kaylin was simply doing her job of keeping an eye on her. Yet unbeknownst to Mayani, Kaylin did indeed like what she saw. To her, Mayani was as cute and girlie as she was sexy and womanly. She watched her tiny body glide gracefully through the water until she came to a stop at the end of the pool near where Kaylin sat. Not bad for such a little thing, she thought, aware of the girl’s regular exercise routine, which consisted of multiple floor exercises to tone major muscle groups. Kaylin, on the other hand, preferred to lift weights in the department’s gym. She studied Mayani as she rubbed her eyes, probably a bit irritated by the chlorine. A pang of regret began to resonate within her. Perhaps she shouldn’t have allowed the girl to take her bikini and use the pool. Better yet, maybe she never should have taken her in the first place. She now believed without a doubt that Mayani was the one she had been looking for all along, before she had given up hope, deciding relationships weren’t for her. She tried to tell herself that Mayani would only cheat on her or do something else to screw her over, yet she seemed like such a genuine little sweetheart. She simply couldn’t imagine Mayani doing anything to hurt her. She had cleaned the house beautifully and seemed to truly accept her as she was. It was easy to picture the blonde beauty as her wife and the mother of their children. There was absolutely nothing to suggest she’d do a bad job at either role. Oh, little Mayani, Kaylin thought, you’d be such a good wife and such a wonderful mother. But I can never have you. I’ve simply been burned too much in the past to take any chances. She tried to tell herself she should hope for Mayani to meet some other woman who would appreciate her, love her, and take good care of her. Yet when she tried to do this, she felt a pang of jealousy and sorrow at the idea of someone else sweeping the girl, who swam like a little mermaid, off her feet. A string of bad relationships to her name or not, did she really want to be alone forever? She observed Mayani as she studied the line of oleanders and bougainvilleas along the block wall, adding a vibrant riot of color to the area. Mayani turned her somber eyes toward Kaylin. The big, round eyes tugged at Kaylin’s heart. She wanted more than anything to hug the girl, among many other things of a much more intimate nature, but she remained firm in her standoffish position. When Mayani’s eyes caught Kaylin’s, she saw a subtle longing in them. She wondered what the officer was thinking and even considered asking, but then thought better of it.