Audrey - Moving Forward Pt. 01

"It's a little tight in some areas, loose in others. Can you make adjustments?" Audrey nodded as she retrieved measuring tape, pad and pen from a nearby counter.

"No problem." Audrey efficiently measured the areas that Fatima pointed to, cursing herself for occasionally lingering as she felt Fatima's lithe body. Fatima made a sharp release of breath, but didn't comment. Once they finished Fatima accepted a card from Audrey.

"How long?" Audrey spoke quickly without thinking.

"One week." Fatima smiled as she walked back into the dressing room. She waited until she was dressed before speaking. She wrote her number on the pad.

"I look forward to it. I can hardly wait. See you, Audrey." Audrey struggled to mutter "bye" as she watched Fatima leave.

"We can probably get that done in less than a week ma'am." Audrey turned to Gwen, who took the dress. "When she comes back, why don't you ask her to go for coffee?" Audrey glared, but Gwen ignored her. Sighing Audrey headed to her office calling over shoulder.

"Let me know if anything comes up."

"Of course ma'am."

Four days later Audrey walked into the shop, where she was greeted by Gwen.

"The dress is finished, ma'am." Audrey smiled as she headed to the office. She immediately called Fatima, who picked up on the second ring.

"Is it finished already?" Audrey found that she was getting excited as she responded.

"Yes my staff are most efficient. So you can come in anytime to pick it up." Fatima made a sound that to Audrey resembled a purr.

"Will you be there?" Audrey laughed softly to cover her nervousness.

"I'm usually here and if you want to come today, I'll be here till closing." The pause was not long before Fatima spoke.

"Sadly I'm busy all this morning, but I should be able to get away and be there by one."

"Good, I'll be here." Audrey couldn't be sure but she could have sworn Fatima's voice took on a husky tone as she responded.

"Mmm, I look forward to it." Throughout the morning Audrey found herself checking the time and being disappointed at the agonizing slowness that it passed by. She barely noticed when it passed noon, until Gwen came in with lunch.

"Hey boss, you should eat, don't want to pass out when she arrives." Audrey focused on the lunch and tried to come off as uninterested, muttering "hmm" as Gwen spoke.

"Ma'am, you don't hide your interest in anything, all that well." Audrey sat back as she turned her attention to Gwen.

"I can't hide anything from you can I?" Gwen shook her head.

"I don't want to embarrass you, but you should be a little more careful about notes you take on clients." Audrey eyes shot open and she struggled to keep a stammer out of her voice.

"You mean you know...?" Gwen nodded.

"I was well aware we were struggling and then everything was fine, even though we didn't start seeing many customers until after your divorce. Audrey I have no interest in interfering, but I imagine this caused the divorce." Audrey nodded. "Sorry, I don't know why I even brought this up. Well I hope you give things with Fatima a chance." Gwen seemed to want to say more, but merely stood to leave. Audrey sat, suddenly no longer feeling as enthusiastic about the afternoon. She was now thinking about Susan and being torn between her own guilt and her anger at how Susan treated her, before and after. This occupied her thoughts until she heard a knock on the door and saw by the clock it was just before one.

"Yes?" Gwen opened the door and entered with a smile.

"She's here, ma'am, please remember what I said about giving this a chance." Audrey stood and walked to the door.

"I'll try, but we should be prepared for the possibility that she's just friendly." Gwen shrugged and Audrey followed her out into the shop. Fatima was looking at a display as she waited. As Audrey approached Fatima turned and smiled when she saw who was approaching.

"Audrey so nice to see you." Audrey nodded and Gwen handed her the neatly folded dress.

"Same to you. Follow me."

"Gladly." Audrey led the way to the dressing room and Fatima took the dress inside. She soon emerged and she turned to show off the fit to Audrey. Audrey grinned as she looked over Fatima, enjoying how it clung to her. She suddenly realized that Fatima had caught her looking.

"See anything you like?" Fatima was grinning and Audrey blushed as she looked away. Fatima laughed softly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you with such a corny line." Not waiting for a response she returned to the dressing room to change back to her other clothes. When she returned from the dressing room Audrey had collected herself sufficiently to speak.

"If you want the dress, follow me to the register." Fatima nodded.

"Of course it fits perfectly." After paying Fatima spoke. "Do you want to join me for a drink?" When Audrey didn't speak for several beats, Gwen tried to be subtle as she tapped Audrey. Audrey gasped out her response.

"Yes!" Fatima grinned, but didn't laugh this time.

"Shall we say The Pink Daffodil at five?" Audrey nodded, not trusting her voice. "See you then." After Fatima left Gwen spoke.

"You want to leave early to prepare." Audrey checked the time.

"Uh, it's not even two and the bar is only about ten minutes from my apartment." Gwen grinned and returned to work while Audrey went back to the office. Audrey tried to get some work done, even though she had very little to do, in order to avoid brooding on Susan or the possibility of a relationship with Fatima. However four arrived and she decided to go home to prepare to meet Fatima. After the shower she stared into the mirror for several moments.

"Am I sure about this?" There was no answer forthcoming and she considered what to wear. Finally she decided on a violet calf length dress held up by straps. She checked the time and made sure to leave in time to get to the bar just before five. She saw that Fatima was waiting for her at the bar. Still feeling a bit nervous she walked up to Fatima, who turned smiling to her.

"Hi Audrey, I'm glad you came." Audrey hesitated a moment before smiling.

"Me too." Audrey ordered a drink and she turned to Fatima.

"There's an open booth, shall we sit?" Audrey's drink arrived and she followed Fatima to the booth. Once in the booth Audrey sipped her drink as she thought about what to say, however Fatima didn't wait.

"So Audrey, what do you do when you aren't in your shop?" Audrey shrugged as she continued sipping to consider the question. She realized that she couldn't delay for long.

"Not much to say really, huge Pat Benatar fan, can't stand Twilight, I tend to spend my time at home, reading and sometimes watching movies. However I do have to mention I am divorced before we go any further." Fatima nodded no longer smiling.

"He was no longer compatible with your sexual tastes." Audrey suddenly let out a relieved laugh that lasted several moments before she held up a hand.

"No, she and I parted ways. It was complicated, but suffice it to say she believed I had cheated on her, however she was right enough that I didn't challenge any part of the divorce." Fatima nodded and sipped her own drink before continuing.

"My apologies for assuming that your marriage was hetero. Some might choose to walk away with an admission of infidelity, but I like you and admire your honesty. So Audrey, would you like to join me for dinner?" Audrey looked up from her drink, uncertain of what she had heard. However she soon nodded.

"Yes Fatima that would be lovely." They finished their drinks and once more Audrey allowed herself to be led, this time to Fatima's sleek black vehicle that she didn't know the make of. Once she sat in the passenger seat it was clear that it was a luxury vehicle, the seat conformed to her body and while the day was not uncomfortably warm, the temperature in the car was perfect. The drive lasted only a few minutes and soon Audrey saw that they had pulled into a Japanese restaurant, which was one of the three nicest restaurants in the area. Audrey got out of the car, torn between embarrassment at being taken to dinner at a restaurant that she could maybe afford to eat at once in a while and her desire to be led around, at the whim of a dominant, attractive woman. Fatima came around the car and took Audrey's hand, smiling.

"Come beautiful. I want to wine and dine you." Audrey struggled to maintain a straight face as Fatima led her to the door. They were soon seated and looking at menus. Fatima ordered a sushi platter and Audrey ordered teriyaki chicken with mixed vegetables. Audrey turned to Fatima.

"So, I feel like I've made a major confession. How about you talk about yourself, like what do you do?" Fatima smiled as she sat down her water glass.

"You didn't order sushi?" Fatima held up a hand before Audrey could speak. "Nothing too exciting, I basically invest in businesses, some I help to expand, others I actually buy part ownership in it. However I usually keep management in place as they are usually the reason the place catches my eye. Truthfully I was checking out your shop as I think it would be a good investment. But the dress really caught my eye." She spread her arms to show off said dress from her sitting position. Audrey grinned as she felt a sense of relief.

"So any decisions on my shop?" Fatima shrugged as their drinks arrived.

"Let's not talk business my lovely one." Audrey nodded and on a whim she pulled out her phone to show Fatima a picture.

"Now that I'm less hands on, I have decided to try my hand at dress designing, as a hobby for now. However if I come up with something good obviously it'll be in the shop." Fatima stared intently at the picture nodding, before returning the phone.

"It's good, maybe not where you want it, but I'll be curious to see what you come up with." The conversation turned to discussions of music, with Fatima bringing up her love of Euro ElectroPop. Audrey couldn't get it herself, but shrugged.

"Not to my taste, but I'm sure we can find music we can agree on." Fatima nodded and their dinners arrived. The conversation turned to movies and Fatima admitted her interest in comic book movies despite most of her friends being obsessed with more arthouse films where the discussion was on camera angles and the placement of an object on a table, whose position held deep symbolic meaning. Over the course of the evening Audrey found herself relaxing. She suspected she was going to regret the amount she was drinking, but she was really enjoying herself. However all too soon the evening came to an end. Fatima sighed as she paid the bill.

"Well, I hate to see this come to an end, but I have to get up early tomorrow and I think it is best we don't rush this. Much as I want to take you home and do obscene things to that body." She grinned and Audrey laughed softly. Fatima stood and extended a hand to Audrey, who readily accepted and they strolled to the car. Audrey drove home and after changing and washing off her makeup she sat to consider the evening. She wasn't sure if she was ready for a relationship, but she decided she would give it a chance.

To Be Continued in Chapter 2