As I lay in my bed, my arm around her, my hand on her breast, I could feel her heart beating as a light snore escaped her mouth. My mind went to a few hours earlier where we had made passionate and sweet love in this very bed. It had begun while we were cooking dinner together in the tiny kitchen, resulting in a fair amount of contact.

It was the culmination of a long-felt desire for her. From the first time I set eyes on her, something in me stirred, but I am quite shy and had never been with a woman, or a man for that matter. I had dated a bit in high school, went to prom with my best, nerdy friend. Well, I guess I was a bit of a nerd, too.

But finally after months of building a friendship, here we were in my bed, together, in a naked embrace. My hand slid to the warm, still wet area between her legs and…

Buzzz, Buzzz, Buzzz.

The alarm went off, rudely waking me from sleep and my fantasy of being with the woman that made me tingle every time I saw her. As I stirred, I felt that familiar ache in my pussy and knew if I didn’t do something, it would be useless trying to work today. I pulled the bottoms of my jammies off and quickly inserted two fingers into my pussy. With my other hand, I massaged my clit and already being aroused from the dream, climaxed within minutes.

After jumping in the shower and drying off, I threw on an old pair of cut-off jeans and a comfy tee, then went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and an English Muffin with butter and jam. One upside of the lockdown was that my job allowed me to work from home, and unless a video conference was scheduled, I did not need to wear business attire. I had a better polo type top next to my desk for a quick change, just in case I got an emergency call.

Working at the small workstation, I handled a couple of minor crises, had a conference call with several members of my team (thankfully no video) to work through a problem they were assigned and actually managed to get some of my own work done. I grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch, washing it down with my third cup of coffee. Toward the end of the workday, I started thinking about bowling that night… and of Kelly.

It was finally time to stop for the day and for a change, I was not on call tonight. I got up and stretched, then headed to the kitchen where I popped a frozen meal into the microwave, then sat down at the small table for two that I had rescued from the bowling alley when they had done some remodeling. After finishing my dinner, I washed off the silverware and glass and put them in the small rack to dry, then settled in to watch a movie. The next few days were pretty busy, so after finishing work, I decided to go out for dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had met her at the pre-season game the bowling alley always has prior to the start of the winter league season, where old teams get together and new members looking to join a team or form one gather. One of the members of our team had moved, and had suggested Rick, a friend of his, to replace him.

It had been several months since many people had bowled and there was a bit of “rust”, so we agreed to a practice session on Sunday morning for anyone who wanted to show up for a couple of games. Besides me, the team consisted of Mike, the two Al’s and now Rick.

When Rick showed up, he brought along his younger sister. As he introduced Kelly to everyone, I felt an instant connection the minute our eyes met.  She sat down to watch while everyone played a couple of games, deciding on the order we would play during the season. Over the next several months we were brought together on several occasions for various bowling events.

It turned out Kelly was a pretty damned good bowler and we used her as a sub when one or another regular team member could not make it. While our team wasn’t what people would consider pro-level bowlers, we were all in the upper percentile of amateur bowlers in the area.

We also bowled in a number of tournaments during the season, with competition formats that included our five-person team, as well as a Singles and Doubles category. Kelly started to come along as the sixth person for the Doubles Teams. Most times she paired with Rick while I usually paired up with Mike or one of the Al’s, but on a few occasions, we had found it advantageous for us two women to pair up. I always looked forward to when she bowled with us, but especially when we paired up. It gave me more chances to get close.

After the season was over, everyone went off in different directions. I had gotten Kelly’s number during the season, and since she lived only a few blocks from me, I had picked her up a few times for bowling. But once the season ended, there was no reason to see her.

Then I recalled that she also loved to golf once the Pacific Northwest weather turned a bit warmer and a bit less rainy. I had already started to play some and now was thinking about whether or not Kelly might like to join me once in a while. I made a mental note to ask her.

Life had become very strange and often difficult, since the pandemic had hit a few months ago. We had actually had to end the bowling season a bit early and most businesses had been completely shut down in an attempt to social distance and control the spread of the virus. Recently certain businesses had been allowed to reopen, within a strict set of guidelines and frequent checks on compliance and the bowling alley and restaurant had been one of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I changed into a clean pair of navy-colored shorts and a short sleeve, gray, collared Polo top that was just snug enough to show my rather small breasts. I checked myself in the mirror quickly, running a quick comb through my hair and banding it up into a high ponytail, though I'm never one to care about my appearance that much. My hair is what it is, sort of long, wild and carefree. I slipped my tennies on without socks as usual, climbed into my Jeep and took off. As I was about to turn in the direction of the bowling lanes, I decided to drop in at Kelly’s and see if she might like to join me. I turned around and parked in front of her house.

Putting on my mandated mask, I knocked on the door and Nora, Kelly's mom, answered. She invited me in and we said our hellos. I wasn't being snoopy, but looking in the living room, I could see some full suitcases and a handful of cardboard boxes, sealed and stacked off to one side. I told her I just wanted to ask Kelly something, and Nora pointed me to the nearby stairs.

Smiling, she said, "She’s up in her room so just go on up. She's helping get her cousin situated."

At the top of the stairs were four doors I assumed led to the bedrooms and probably a bathroom. One door was closed, but I heard voices coming from one of the other doors that I recognized as Kelly’s, along with another one I assumed must be her cousin. I announced my presence by calling out her name.

"Shelle? We’re in here, come on in. This is my cousin, Sarah. Sarah, this is Shelle."

"You're the one who is a better bowler than Kelly!" Sarah bubbled and Kelly blushed slightly.

"I was just showing Sarah where to put her stuff," Kelly said. "Her mom lost her job and the lease on their apartment was about to expire, so until things settle down and some kind of normal returns, they are going to stay here. Rick is going to move into the basement and I am taking his room, which is smaller than mine. Since I work from home right now, I need to have a quiet space and his room still gives me enough space. As soon as her mom gets all their stuff put into storage, she‘ll come back and will stay here too and share my room with Sarah."

She turned and waved me in. Her room was so cool! It's like an attic room, with sloped ceilings two short walls, but a nice amount of floor space. On one side, with accordion-type doors, was a closet space and on the other, some storage compartments and a desk area built-in. The colors were pale blue and a pale yellow and made me think they must be her favorite colors, remembering how she often wore similar colored clothing.

In one corner, her bowling bag was on the floor and standing up next to it, a set of golf clubs. The storage compartment nearby was open and Kelly told me they had just cleared space for some of Sarah's stuff. Her bowling bag and golf clubs were headed for the front closet. As soon as Rick moved, Kelly would move all her stuff into his room.

"What are you up to?" Kelly asked as she finished moving the contents of one drawer into another one.

She looked at Sarah and pointed to the empty drawer.

"You can bring your things up now and start sorting it out." Sarah smiled and hummed softly as she skittered off and down the stairs. Kelly had turned and was folding some tops and shorts to put into the drawers of the small dresser on one side of her bed. That, along with her bed would go to Rick’s room.

As she was arranging these things, I stepped up behind her - quite closely, actually more closely than I had planned. I was almost touching her as I stood behind her and my breath touched her ear as I spoke softly, "I wanted to see if you'd like to go get something for dinner."

She softly closed the drawer and I could see her let her breath out, as she almost leaned back and just sort of melted into me. My heart immediately began to race. We'd never been so close before. I was afraid she would feel my heartbeat against her back.

"I would actually love that!"

At that moment we heard Sarah clomp up the last couple of steps and we both turned and helped her with her big suitcase. Sarah’s mom was carrying a couple of boxes up and we took them from her. She looked in at the comfy space and thanked Kelly, apparently again, for giving up her room for her and Sarah. Kelly gave her a big hug, and I could see tears well in the corners of her aunt's eyes.

"We all need to help each other out in this weirdest time ever,” Kelly said. "You'd do the same or more for us, if we needed it."

"I’ve emptied the two middle drawers. As soon as Rick finishes moving to the basement, I’ll move the rest of my clothes and stuff out, then you and Sarah can figure out who gets what drawers. There should be enough space in the closet for Sarah right now. There should be plenty of hangers, too I hope."

She led Sarah over to the far corner of the room where two sets of plastic storage bins, the kind with drawers, was topped with a piece of stained wood.

"Rick made this desk for you to do your school work and set up your computer. I wrote down the Wi-Fi password so you can get connected. The drawers will give you and your mom a bit more storage space, too."

Sarah looked up at her, her bottom lip quivering slightly. Kelly took her into her arms and hugged her.

"It's okay. If it's a month or a year or more, we will all make this work. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault, and all we have is each other during a very uncertain time. This is what families do for each other.

"Now," Kelly said. "Shelle has invited me to go out to dinner with her, and I have accepted. That will give you some time to get unpacked and set up without me underfoot. I didn’t even bother to ask where you are planning on going… Paradise?”

I nodded.

“Great! I had heard the restaurant was open now. God, this is all so weird, isn't it? I haven't been anywhere but the grocery store in ages. Just let me get changed.”

I knew that Kelly did not have a car, and Rick just had an old beater. Kelly could use his car or one of their parents' cars if she really needed to or was running errands for the household. I thought how additionally confining that must feel. I mean, I hadn't been out much, but with a few businesses opening, including the golf course, I'd played a couple of rounds of golf and had gone out for breakfast with my uncle and aunt a couple of times. I also had my own car to use whenever I wanted.

"Okay, Kelly. I'll work on getting my clothes put away and set up my laptop. I should be done by the time you get home, and get rid of the boxes and stuff."

I finally looked at her a bit, while Kelly grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom. Sarah truly WAS like a bit smaller version of Kelly. She had the same dirty blonde hair, slender physique and hazel eyes. She was wearing frayed cut-off jeans shorts that showed off slightly tan legs and she had almost tiny, bare feet.

She had opened her suitcase and was removing clothing items, shaking the wrinkles out, re-folding and placing some in drawers, while draping the things she would hang in the closet over the back of the chair. I could imagine Kelly being organized like that, too. In fact, that sensible nature was one of the things that I had come to believe that Kelly and I also shared.

Kelly popped back in, wearing yellow jogging shorts, a pale blue (no surprise there) tee and colorful, thick-soled flip-flops. She grabbed a sweatshirt that had been hanging over the back of her chair.

"Ready. Sarah, are you sure you will be okay? Don't be afraid to look around and get your bearings. I don’t have any secrets. Mom is right downstairs if you need anything."

She smiled and winked at Sarah and it worked wonderfully, because I could see that she relaxed a bit immediately. At fifteen, Sarah was a couple of inches shorter than Kelly, but in that teenage, skinnier way. Kelly tousled Sarah’s hair, but in a way that looked like she had done it many times before.

"This is going to be fun!"

We went downstairs, where Nora was helping Kelly's Aunt Sue move things from the living room.

"Mom, Shelle has asked me to go with her to the bowling alley for dinner."

"Oh. That's so nice of her! Will you both be safe and all? Do you need any money?"

"We have our masks," I replied.

We had all kept our masks covering our mouths and noses the entire time I'd been here. I guessed that everyone there would keep that up for a couple of weeks, until they knew that no one showed any symptoms.

"The website says they require masks, except when actually eating. They have hand sanitizer everywhere and all social distancing recommendations are required for all staff and customers, Nora. Plus we know the people. We'll be fine. And it's my treat, so Kelly doesn’t need any money."

When we got out to the car, Kelly thanked me again.

"This will be nice and fun to get out again. Thanks for asking me and you don’t have to treat me, though I really appreciate the offer.”

"But your mom asked if you need money?"

"She always does that! With everyone putting what they can into the pool, we're not that short, and with my aunt moving in, she will be able to help out too. Though I suspect my mom won’t take much more than just enough to cover food so she can save up enough to rent a new apartment when the time comes. With bowling closed down, and the fact that I am working from home, my expenses are minimal, though I do miss getting out a bit."

 She offered an elbow bump, and I returned it. The new hug. I was so happy Kelly had agreed to go out with me, at the same time, very nervous because of my feelings for her. I really did not know how she felt about me and in some ways was afraid to find out.

To be continued…