Chance Meeting

Authors note: it's been a while since I wrote for this category. I hope you enjoy the story. Please feel free to rate it and comment. It's your ratings and comments that keep me writing.

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I first saw her in the airport. We were waiting for the same flight. I admit, I was checking her out. She was cute. She was probably college aged, 5'4" maybe 120 lbs, brown hair down between her shoulder blades. She was wearing a pair of loose gym shorts, a t shirt, and flip flops. Obviously ready for comfort travel.

I laughed to myself. I often wondered what young women would think if they realized they were being checked out by a lesbian. I mean, we grow up being told by every media outlet we are going to be checked out by the opposite sex, but no thought is really given to same sex, and when it is, it's usually some kind of joke.

But here I was checking her out. We were flying from Chicago to Austin. I was bored, between reads, (saving my book for the plane), she was talking to the young man obviously traveling with her.

He was a good looking guy. What? I'm gay, not blind, I can tell a good looking guy, sheesh...

Anyways. He was a good looking guy and they were leaning close to each other talking.

Finally it was time to board. I was in group A so I got to board first. I had the aisle seat. I boarded, stowed my carry on, and took my seat. As I sat there I watched people board the plane. There were two empty seats next to me, I wondered who I'd get. My luck it was going to be a very large person who didn't quite fit in their seat. I hated that. I saw a large person get on and silently hoped they wouldn't sit next to me.

As people boarded I noticed the little brunette board also. I watched her come down the aisle, trying to make sure I didn't stare. She wasn't drop dead gorgeous, she was the cute girl next door.

As she got closer to me I turned away so she wouldn't think I was staring.

"I think we're in here," she said.

"Oh, hold on," I said as I stood up and exited the row so they could get in. I silently hoped she'd choose the middle seat.

I got lucky. Not only did the cute girl sit in my row, but the guy got in first and took the window seat. That meant the girl took the middle next to me. At least I'd travel in comfort. I thought. She wouldn't be in my space. I guess you should know, I wouldn't be in hers either. I also thought, too bad she's straight, but I'm used to thinking that.

A little about me. My name is Karen. I'm 25, 5'7", and 135 lbs. I have black hair down to my shoulders. I was a marketing manager for a high tech company.

Manager, I always laugh. Everyone is a manager. I didn't manage anyone. It was my first job out of college, but it was a good job and great experience to use as a springboard for future positions. I'd already been promoted once.

And, just for the record, I'm gay, in case you haven't figured that out yet.

We settled into our seats and, as per custom, minded our own business. Well, kinda, she was talking to her boyfriend, his name was Mike, I was kind of eavesdropping but trying not to.

They weren't talking about anything exciting. They were in Chicago visiting his parents. She was complaining about having to get back to her classes. She was obviously a college student. He was agreeing school was a pain.

I pulled out my book and started reading. The girl next to me pulled out her book as she settled in. I was surprised when I saw it. It was a graphic novel by a woman named Alison Bechdel called Fun Home. I was surprised as this was a pretty famous book about coming of age, coming out as a lesbian, and growing up. The book actually came out about the same time I was realizing my sexuality. Not your standard fare flight reading.

Curiosity peaked, I had to ask her about it.

"Interesting choice of reading," I said casually.

She looked at me and smiled. "Oh, have you read it?" She asked.

"Years ago," I replied.

"Well it's for school," she told me.

"School?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "I'm taking a course on human sexuality. I'm a soc major. My term paper is on understanding the issues of coming out as a lesbian.

"Unusual choice," I responded.

"Well yes," she replied, "but I have a few gay friends and thought it might be interesting as a straight person to try and understand their experience."

"Sounds pretty ambitious for a term paper," I mused.

"Yeah, it is," she answered, "but interesting."

Then she asked what I was reading. I was a little embarrassed. It was called The Gravity Between Us, basically a gay romance novel. Kind of pulp airplane reading. I'm not sure why I was embarrassed. I'd been out as a gay woman for years. I wanted to tell her what it was but I kind of figured that it would be like screaming "I'm a lesbian" to someone I'd just met on a plane.

I told her it was a romance novel and we moved on to other small talk. Her name was Lisa. Turned out she lived with friends in an apartment about three blocks from me. She was twenty, a student, and worked at a coffee shop near my apartment. It was interesting because I'd actually never been to her shop. I usually walked the other way and there was a coffee shop out that way as well.

Small talk fizzled out and we returned to our reading.

The flight was uneventful and we soon landed. As we were getting ready to leave I wished her good luck with her paper. She said it was a pleasure meeting me and maybe she'd see me around. We disembarked and went our own ways.

I thought nothing of it until a few weeks later. A friend wanted to meet for coffee. We started to make plans and she chose a coffee shop nearby. I'd never been to it. It took me a minute to remember the girl on the plane worked there and a minute longer to remember her name was Lisa. I wondered if she'd be there. A little bit of eye candy.

I got ready to meet my friend. As I got dressed I thought of Lisa. I wondered if she'd be there. I decided to upgrade my outfit a bit. Nothing too fancy, a better pair of jeans, boots, a white cream blouse that showed a bit of cleavage, a bit of jewelry. I checked myself out in the mirror. I looked nice. Not too fancy for coffee, but fancier than most going out for coffee people.

I arrived at the shop a bit early. My friend hadn't arrived yet. I expectantly looked around for Lisa. I didn't see her either. I pulled out my phone and started checking emails. I got a text from my friend saying she was running ten minutes

late. I told her I could amuse myself.

Then from behind me I heard, "Hi, Karen, right?" It was Lisa.

"Oh, hi," I said. Then, as if to cover up I said, "I forgot you worked here. I'm meeting a friend."

We chatted a bit before she said she had to get back to work.

My friend arrived. First thing out of her mouth, "Who are you dressed up for?"

I blew it off. "What? A girl can't look nice?" I countered.

"Well," she laughed. "I know it's not for me."

She and I were just friends and although she was gay too, we did have a different dressing style. I tended to dress more feminine than she did. She let the subject drop and we chatted a while. At some point she noticed Lisa.

"Check out the little girl behind the counter," she said.

"I was here ten minutes before you," I laughed. "What do you think I did with all that time."

We both laughed and went on with our conversation.

It was time to go. We got up to leave. As we did Lisa waved at me. "By Karen," It was nice to see you again."

"You too," I replied.

My friend kind of stared at me with one of those 'What secret are you keeping" smiles.

"What?" I exclaimed. "We sat next to each other on a flight recently," I explained.

"And you didn't mention it this whole time?" she asked.

"It wasn't big deal," I replied.

She gave me a sort of sideways glance but it seemed that that was enough to satisfy her and we headed off in our own directions.

A few weeks later the same friend, Carol, invited me out on a Saturday to hear a local band. When we entered the club Carol stopped and pointed out, "Hey. There's your little airplane friend."

Sure enough there was Lisa. Lisa saw me and waved. Carol and I headed over to her.

"Hi," she said. "Funny bumping into you again."

"It's ok," I quipped. "You seem harmless enough."

Lisa laughed. She looked at Carol and I introduced them. Lisa said she was there with friends and made all the introductions.

After they were done I asked Lisa how her term paper was coming along. She told me she had turned it in for an A. I congratulated her.

"Yeah," she said. "I've got a few friends who are gay and I think it gave me a deeper understanding of some of the issues they had to deal with."

"Yes, coming out is hard," I replied, giving her the first inclination that I was gay.

"I bet," she replied.

We talked a while longer.

"Where's Mike," I asked.

"Oh, he had to work tonight," she replied.

"Ah," and asked what he did.

Lisa and I started to talk. She was really nice. We talked about growing up, her school, what she wanted to be, how long she'd been dating Mike(a year), my job, and other topics.

Then she stunned me.

"What was coming out like for you," she asked.

It was kind of a personal question for someone I'd really just met, but given our interactions and how we met, not too strange.

I told her it wasn't too bad for me. I spent gut wrenching months planning what to say and how I would manage their reactions. I had made a big deal and made sure my whole family was at the table. Mom, Dad, brother, sister. I was 19.

"I have something to tell you all," I said.

Everyone stopped to listen

"I'm gay," I just kind of dropped it there.

Everyone was silent for a moment. I wasn't sure how they were taking it. My mother spoke first.

"We know," she said.

Ummm, 'we know,' I thought, sitting there with a blank look on my face.

"We've all known for a while. Thank you for trusting us with this part of your life."

Of all the reactions I'd played in my mind, this was not one of them

"We all love you and want you to be happy," said my dad.

My brother and sister agreed. Dinner then moved on as normal. I didn't say much, I was still processing. From then on it was a non issue. My friends were still my friends.

The biggest confusion was trying to figure out how to date, where to hang out, how to live that part of my life. I didn't know what being gay meant.

I knew I was gay, I'd been with one woman at the time. She was a bit older and more experienced than me. She definitely, umm seduced? No that wasn't the right word, but she took the lead. I had no idea what to do. I don't think either of us expected a relationship, neither of us got one.

Lisa and I continued to talk and it was obvious we were becoming friends. At the end of the night we had each other's numbers in our phones. On the way home Carol teased me about Lisa.

"Oh stop," I said. "She has a boyfriend."

"Oh, like you've never had a boyfriend?" she teased.

She had a point. I had one in high school and one in my freshman year at college. I lost my virginity to him. I also realized I never wanted to do that again.

We laughed a bit and Carol dropped me off at home. When I got home I looked at Lisa's number. I knew I'd never call her, but I didn't erase it.

The next time I saw Lisa was at the doctors office. We were in the main lobby visiting different doctors. It made me wonder how many times I'd seen her before but never noticed her. We didn't have much time to catch up, but she told me when she was working again and told me to stop by.

The day came when she was working, I wasn't sure if I should go. This girl was pursuing a friendship, I wasn't sure what I was doing. At the last minute I decided to go. I arrived ten minutes before her shift.

This became my usual routine. Instead of my usual coffee shop I just headed around the block the other way and headed for hers. If I could, I'd plan it around her shift. Either when she was starting or getting off. We'd always sit and talk and were becoming good friends.

After about two months Lisa mentioned a concert she wanted to go to. Her boyfriend hated the performer and she asked me if I wanted to go. I was thinking of going anyways so I accepted. We had a date. Well, not a date, I wasn't sure what I was doing.

The day of the concert arrived. It was a nice spring day and the venue was outside. I decided to wear a short dress with leggings and a light jacket.

We were going to uber and decided to meet at the coffee shop. She was already there when I got there. She was talking to some guy. I felt a small pang of jealousy. Then immediately felt foolish for feeling it.

She saw me and got up to say hello. She gave me a hug and introduced her friend, who turned out to be a coworker she also had a class with.

Lisa looked great in a pair of jeans and a tight T shirt. She had brought a jacket too. She looked great. We talked about school. Then for the first time she brought up Mike. Well, I did.

"So, how's Mike?" I asked.

"He's ok," she replied. She didn't sound enthusiastic.

"Just ok?" I asked.

"Well, we've been bickering a lot lately. Just over stupid stuff," she told me.

"I'm sorry," I said. I didn't really know what else to say.

"Yeah, it's weird. I'm just seeing a different side of him, or maybe it's me. He says I've changed, and that I'm not as into him as I was. He says I keep finding things to do to avoid him, or to do without him."

"Is that true?" I asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "Right now with school and everything, maybe I'm not making as much time for him."

"Well, I'm certainly no expert on men," I said, "but I hear that I'd you feed them and have sex with them, their happy," I joked.

"Yeah," she said. "That's not going that well either. I seem to have lost interest. I mean I was never a sex bunny, and I never found it great but... oh, I don't know. I shouldn't be bothering you with this. I probably shouldn't even be telling you this."

"Yeah, this is hard to talk about," I replied. "I don't have a lot of experience with men, and what I have wasn't great, so not sure I can help you, and, even if it wasn't boys, my love life's nothing to brag about."

That was the truth. By this time I'd been with a total of two women.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," she laughed. Then in a lighter voice. "Well the hell with this, let's go enjoy some music.

With that we called an Uber and headed to the concert. Conversation took a lighter turn as we discussed music and other topics.

The concert was great we stood, laughed, and danced through most of it. Some of the time she would hold my hand as we danced.

After one song she turned to me and kissed me. Not on the lips but somewhere close.

"Thank you for coming," she said. "I'm having so much fun."

"So am I," I replied feeling a little confused and a tad turned on.

The concert was over and we walked arm in arm to the sidewalk and called an Uber. We talked about the concert and other stuff. When we got to her place she invited me in.

"I don't want to bother your roommates," I said. I was looking for excuses not to go. The situation was making me nervous.

"They're not Home tonight," she replied. "One is out of town and the other is at her boyfriend's."

Without any more excuses we went up to her place. She offered coffee or tea. I chose decaf tea. She made the tea and we sat on the couch and talked. At one point she laughed and put her hand on my leg. We both stopped what we were doing. She leaned in and kissed me. Tentatively at first, then more fervently. I kissed back. My head started to spin. What was happening. Lisa was straight, what might happen here.

I broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go," I mumbled. "I had a really good time."

"Ok, see you at the shop," she said obviously confused as she walked me to the door.

At the door we stopped and kissed again. I wanted to go back in, but felt I shouldn't. We broke the kiss and I left.

That night I had trouble sleeping. Images of Lisa were in my head. Ok, I admit, I'd masturbated thinking about her before but this time it was different. This time I had a real kiss to go off of, I knew how soft her hands were. I had a situation I could imagine that started on the couch and I could end it where I wanted.

I lay down naked in my bed. I remembered my kiss as I caressed my breast, I pulled lightly on my nipples as I pictured her lips lightly sucking on them. My hand found my pussy and clit. It didn't take me long to cum. I fell asleep.

For the next few days I avoided the shop. Lisa texted me a few times asking if I was doing ok. I always responded with some cursory response and said that I was fine.

Finally, with no more excuses I agreed to meet her. We were going to meet for dinner. I struggled with what to wear. Normally to this place I'd wear a dress or skirt, but I didn't want Lisa to think I was dressing up for her.

I settled on nice jeans, a pullover, and cute heels. Casual, but not too casual.

When I got to the restaurant she was already there. She was waiting for me in the lobby. She looked great. She was in a cute, kinda short, skirt and a top. She had her hair down and had obviously tried to put some curl into it.

She looked great and I told her so.

"Thank you, you look nice too," she replied.

We sat down at our table and talked about the menu and the restaurant. The server came and took our order. Small talk was over.

"How's mike," I started.

She gave a little laugh, "We broke up."

"Oh?" was all I could think of to say.

"Yeah, I think we were just too different. We got along well enough, but something was missing." She told me.

We talked about it a bit and then she asked me, "any advice?"

I laughed. "I'm gay, I never had much luck with men, and, I'm still trying to figure women out. So far, I've been with two and they both took the lead. Neither lasted long. I have no clue how to pursue another woman, never mind be in a relationship."

She laughed. "Well, I guess being gay doesn't mean we don't have the same problems."

We both laughed. She wanted to know about my relationships. I told her. Dinner was nice. I didn't even process that she said 'we'

When dinner was over we walked to the lobby together. Then it got awkward.

"Well, it was nice seeing you," I said and stuck out my hand.

She looked at it like it shouldn't be there, and hugged me. I semi hugged back.

As she hugged me she pulled her face back a bit and looked at mine. I thought she might kiss me. The thought scared and delighted me. She didn't, she let go the hug.

"I'll see you soon," she said as her Uber arrived.

I stood there confused, waiting for mine.

Was she trying to kiss me? But she's straight? She hadn't said she's gay, or even bi? I knew younger people were supposedly more sexually fluid. Was she? Younger people, ha, we were four years apart. What would it be to be with a, ummm, sexually fluid woman. I'm sort of relationship built. Would she be looking for a relationship, or just some fun. Especially at her age.

All those confusing thoughts didn't stop me from masturbating to thoughts of Lisa once I got home.

I started going to the coffee shop again and Lisa and I kind of picked up our friendship again. Well, I still felt a little strain, I'm not sure if she did. I'd think about her a lot. She was the subject of all my romantic and sexual fantasies.

Truthfully I never masturbated all that much, but I'd picked up the pace since Lisa's kiss.

Then one day she told me her birthday was coming up. Twenty one. She was no longer dating anyone and didn't feel like partying with friends.