I was hanging on Aislin's every word, entranced as much by her voice as her story.  "What happened?"

"Holly - her name was Holly - had been sitting behind me, periodically jabbing me with her pencil when the teacher's back was turned.  Suddenly I couldn't take any more.  I was about to whirl around and hit her, when her desk suddenly fell apart and she dropped to the floor."

"It fell apart?"

"Not just 'fell', Leni.  That desk flew apart at the seams, like all the screws had been yanked out.  Holly wasn't hurt badly, more embarrassed than anything else, but it sure shook her up.  Still, it didn't take long before she was back to her old tricks, but this time every time she'd open her mouth to bully me, she'd get hurt.  Never badly, but she'd do things like run into her own locker or fall over a chair she hadn't seen in her path, or drop her book bag on her toes."

I'm pretty sure I was gaping at her, because she gave me this sheepish look. 

"I know it sounds weird, Leni, believe me I do.  Finally Holly made the connection and decided that I was doing these things to her."

"Were you?"

"Not consciously, but there was a connection.  The thing is that everyone else started to put things together, too, and if I'd thought it was lonely before, it was virtually solitary confinement after that.  Nobody, not even the teachers, would come within ten feet of me, let alone talk to me unless they absolutely had to."

I instantly forgot the strangeness of what I was hearing and responded to the sadness in her voice.  "Damn, Aislin, I'm so sorry.  That's a helluva way to go through school."

Aislin shrugged, but it wasn't hard to read the pain in her eyes.  "I guess it was better than bullying."  She didn't sound convinced or convincing.  "At least I was able to concentrate on my schoolwork again and get my grades back up.  I was out of there for good in eighteen months."

"What did you do after graduation?  Did you go on to university?"  I could feel my insecurities raising their ugly heads, and I half - hoped the answer would be no.  What if she was too intelligent to be interested in me?  I mean, there was little question that she was smarter than me, but if she were highly educated too, it was going to be tough to keep her interest.

Much to my relief, she shook her head.  "No.  My parents knew what a tough time I'd had through high school because of my age, so they wouldn't let me go on to post - secondary right away."

"So you stayed with your family for a few more years?"

Aislin's head dropped, and her shoulders slumped.  I was puzzled by the despondence in her body language.  What had I said?

"I'm sorry, Aislin.  Did I put my foot in my mouth again?  Unfortunately I do that on a regular basis."

There was no answer and I began to worry.  What the hell had I said?  I just asked about her family.

"Hey, are you alright?"  I inched closer.  "Aislin?"  It occurred to me what the trouble might be.  "Um, did your family reject you?"

"Reject me?"

"Yeah..."  I hesitated, then in my usual delicate fashion, jumped into the deep end without a life jacket.  "You know, if you were gay like me, maybe they couldn't handle it or something."

At that, she raised her head and gave me a pained smile.  "No, they didn't reject me for being gay."

Intent on confirmation, I blundered on.  "But you are gay, then?  Like me?"

"I am, not that it matters much one way or another."

I'd have shouted for sheer joy if she hadn't looked so sad.  "Okay, so if it wasn't that, what happened?"

Aislin leaned wearily back into the cushions propped behind her back.  "The same thing that happened in school.  When my younger brother made me angry, he'd have accidents.  Nothing major, but he became so scared of me, he hid in his room whenever we were both home.  My parents finally had to send him to live with our aunt and uncle.  And they were so careful around me that it just about drove me crazy.  I left."  Her gaze moved to the framed photographs.  "I love them and I stay in touch by phone and e - mail, but I rarely go home.  It's too hard on them."  Her voice dropped away to a whisper.  "I miss them."

"Jesus!"  I couldn't even imagine not being around my family - laughing, teasing, rough - housing.  Love and injured feelings went hand in hand in the raucous clan that lived in my home.  It had always been that way, and none of us would've changed a thing.  "Aislin - "

"I'm tired, Leni.  I know you still have questions, and I will answer them if I can, but not this morning, okay?"

Aislin did look exhausted and I immediately felt guilty.  The night shift was hard on the sleep cycle, and I know I was usually in bed within half an hour of getting home each morning.  I jumped to my feet and grabbed my coat from where I'd dropped it next to the front door.  Thrusting my feet into my shoes, I knelt to tie them.  She had followed me, and was standing so close that my hand accidentally brushed the leg of her jean.

I could detect her fragrance mixed with the scent of cinnamon and sugar, and it sent shivers down my spine.  Fumbling as much for words as with my laces, I tried to cover up.  "I really like your home, Aislin.  You were lucky to find such a nice place to rent."

"Thanks, but it's not a rental, Leni.  I bought the place from Joseph and Eileen Decker when I moved here."

I'd risen to my feet, but I think my eyebrows rose even higher at that.  "You can afford to own?"

She gave me a wry smile.  "It's not like I have a lot of other things to spend my money on."

I glanced around the room.  "'Cept books."

"Except books, you're right.  They are my vice."

If I live a thousand years, I will never know where I got the courage to do what I did next, but maybe it was from her eyes - her sad, warm, gentle eyes.

She was so near that I barely had to move.  Without plan, without intent, without guile, I kissed her.  Then, as I realized what I was doing, I jerked away and started to apologize.

Aislin laid her fingers over my lips and shook her head with a smile.  "No need, Leni."  Her lips took the place of her fingers and I shook like a trembling aspen in a stiff autumn wind.

I don't remember leaving Aislin's house, or the drive home, or pretty much anything else about that morning.  All I could remember was her kiss.  And when I woke up hours later, before I even opened my eyes, I touched my lips and smiled.

"I know you're awake, Leni.  We have to talk."

My eyes flew open to see Yvonne sitting at the end of my bed, watching me.

"Jesus, Von!  You trying to give me a heart attack?" 

"We have to talk."

The sternness in her voice and expression sank into my sleep - befuddled brain.  "Von?  What's up?"

"You can't do this, Leni.  I mean it.  You really can't."

"Can't do what?   What the hell are you talking about?"  I was beginning to get annoyed.  First Von vaporized the sensual memory I'd woken up basking in, and now she was chewing me out for God knows what.

"Get involved with Yak.  You can't get involved with Yak!"

I sat up and glared at Yvonne.  "First of all, her name is Aislin, not Yak.  And second of all, it's none of your business.  And third of all, how the hell do you know whatever it is you think you know?"

"Darla Mae came into the shop late this afternoon to get her hair done.  She told me that you and Yak left together after work this morning.  I called here and your mom said you didn't get home until almost noon.  Two plus two equals you and Yak together."

"For crying out loud, Von, we just had breakfast and talked!"

"Where did you go for breakfast?"

I resented the interrogation, but old friends do have a time honoured right to pry.  "She made me breakfast at her house; we ate in her kitchen.  Happy?"

"Happy?  That my best friend has gotten involved with a witch?  No, I wouldn't exactly say I'm thrilled."

Now I was angry.  She wasn't even giving Aislin a chance.  "Goddamnit, Von!  Aislin is not a witch!  She's a beautiful, intelligent, warm and wonderful woman."

Yvonne blanched.  "Oh dear God - you've fallen for her!  This is even worse than I thought!"  She pounced on me and shook my shoulders hard.  "Leni, you can't do this!  You have to quit your job; you have to get away from her.  Today!"

I grabbed her hands.  "Stop it, Von.  Calm down or I'm going to hurl all over you."  That at least quieted her.  "Okay, I'm going to go to the bathroom, and when I come back, we'll talk like civilized human beings."

When I finished up in the washroom, I dashed cold water on my face, sensing I was going to need my wits sharper than they had ever been if I was going to convince Von that her fears were groundless.

Loping back to my room, I discovered Von huddled on the bed, her arms wrapped around one of my pillows.  The expression on her face just about broke my heart.  She looked like she had just lost her best friend.

I deliberately sat down facing her, our knees touching.  This was our traditional position for the exchange of confidences.  This was the way we sat when she told me she'd lost her virginity, and when I whispered to her that I thought I was gay.  We didn't bullshit each other when we were face - to - face like this.

"Voni, talk to me.  What's going on in there?"  I lightly tapped her forehead, our ritual signal to begin.

"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Of losing you."

"Okay, I guess I can understand, but Von, you're not going to lose me.  Even if Aislin and I get involved, you and I will still be best friends.  I didn't lose you when you and TJ fell in love, right?"

Yvonne shook her head.  "No, Leni, I don't mean lose that way.  I'm terrified of what will happen to you if you're around her, if you make her mad."

It was a good thing Aislin had filled me in a little this morning, or that would've been incomprehensible to me.  "I won't - "

She shook her head even more vigorously.  "Yes, Leni, you will.  TJ and I are crazy about each other - you know that - but still sometimes he makes me so mad that I could just kill him.  You're no saint.  What happens the first time you make Yak feel that way about you, so angry that she could kill you?  Because she could, without even lifting a finger, and no court in the land would have grounds to even charge her with anything!"

Yvonne started to cry and I took her hands in mine.  "Voni, you're making yourself crazy over nothing, not to mention wildly jumping the gun.  All we've done is share a few meals and exchange a kiss or two."

"So you're saying you are not falling for her?  You don't love her?" 

I saw the hope on Von's face, so I considered carefully, but I couldn't give her the answer she so obviously wanted.  "I...I am falling for her, Von.  Maybe it's too soon to call it love, but this morning, if she'd asked me to stay, I think I might never have left."

"Because she'd have buried you in her backyard!" 

I'd tried to be patient because I could see Von's fear, but this was getting ridiculous.  "Jesus, Von, you don't even know her and you're condemning her. Based on what?"

"Based on what she did to Susie Eckstrom!"  There was no triumph in Von's voice, only desperation.  "Not to mention anyone else who's crossed her!"

Susie.  That must be the one Sharon wouldn't talk about.  My voice flat and wary, I asked the question I wasn't sure I wanted an answer to.  "What did she supposedly do to Susie Eckstrom?"

"Made her miscarry, right there in the Jester!"

"Tell me."

Von drew herself erect, her voice urgent as if her life - or mine - depended on her convincing me.  "The way Marlon told me, it happened about two years ago.  Susie and Yak had never gotten along from day one.  At the time, Susie was married to the former owner of the Jester's Court, and though she worked alongside the waitresses, she let everyone know that she considered herself better than them.  She was always ordering the other staff around, and because her husband owned the place, everyone took it - except Yak.  They butted heads so much that the owner finally moved Yak to the night shift."

I already didn't like Susie, but I didn't say anything as Von continued the story.
"That solved things for a while, but then one night Susie and a couple of her girlfriends came in after midnight.  They'd been out drinking and they were being pretty obnoxious about ordering stuff that wasn't on the menu.  I guess they figured the staff should be kowtowing to them, except Yak wouldn't cooperate."

Nope, I definitely didn't like Susie. If anyone was a witch, it was her!

"When Darla Mae broke down in tears because Susie and her friends were giving her such a hard time, Yak came out of the kitchen.  Elliot told Marlon that she just stood in the doorway, folded her arms, and stared at Susie.  Then things began to happen."

I felt Von shudder and laid a comforting hand on her knee where it pressed against mine.

"Lights began to flash on and off, eerie noises echoed loudly from the basement, and things began to tip over and fly off tables.  Elliot told Marlon it was like being in the middle of Poltergeist!  Customers ran out, including Susie's friends, but Susie must've had just enough booze in her to make her stupid.  She picked up a napkin holder and threw it at Yak . . . only it never got that far.  It spun in mid - air and flew back at Susie, who tried to duck.  But she slipped on some spilled coffee and fell so hard that she split her head open against the edge of a table.  Later they found out she'd been five or six weeks pregnant and miscarried."

Von was almost breathless with the telling, but I wasn't buying it.  "So basically, no one saw Aislin do a damned thing but look at Susie, who, by the way, was being such a bitch that she deserved to have things thrown at her."

"No!  Leni, you're not getting it.  Maybe Susie did deserve all that shit, but what about Jules?"

"What about Jules?"  I couldn't help the quiver in the pit of my stomach as I recalled how leery the former cook had been of his colleague.  In my mind, I could justify Aislin retaliating against Susie, if indeed she had, but Jules was a good guy.  What could he have done to Aislin?

"One night Jules came into work in a really bad mood.  Word was he was having problems with his wife, but whatever the reason, he was crabby as hell with Yak and kept snapping at her.  He'd just yelled at her for the tenth time for getting in his way, when all of a sudden a knife hung quivering in mid - air, right over his hand.  Jules swore it was about to plunge through his hand when Yak yelled, 'No!' and the knife flipped away."

I heaved a sigh of relief.  "So basically, nothing happened to Jules?"

"Nothing?  Have you been listening at all, Leni?"  Von stared at me incredulously.  "Don't you get it?  She can hurt people, people who make her angry.  What happens if some day you're lying in bed together, you say something to piss her off, and she tosses you out the window without raising a finger?  You could bleed to death, or be at least be scarred for life!"

I clamped down on the pleasure that rippled through me at the thought of lying in bed with Aislin.  "Oh, for crying out loud, Von!  You're being bloody ridiculous.  Aislin would never hurt me."

"Like she never hurt Susie?  Like she never almost cut off Jules' hand?"

I was about to rebut her accusations, when my big brother appeared in my doorway in his greasy coveralls, wiping his hands on a rag. 

"I finally got it going, Leni."

"Yes!  Thanks, Herman!"

"But no driving it anywhere except to work and back until you get new tires.  And you're buying winters, no screwing around with those fuckin' all - seasons, got it?"

I answered my brother's glare with an agreeable nod.  I knew he was intractable on the subject, and he was perfectly capable of disabling my engine if I didn't go along with his order.  "No problem, Herman.  I'll get them on my next day off."

He grunted and tossed me the keys before disappearing down the hallway.  I juggled the keys happily, already thinking of the places Aislin and I could go now that I didn't need to depend on my mother's kindness or the bus schedule.

"Leni."

Von's strained voice reluctantly recalled me to our conversation.  "Yeah, yeah.  Look, Von, I don't know what to tell you.  I've never seen anything weird happen around Aislin."  I heard it, I didn't see it, so I wasn't lying.  "And I feel perfectly safe with her."  Also deliriously happy and incredibly turned on.  "I'm not going to condemn her because of hearsay - "

"Hearsay?"  Yvonne got stiffly off the bed, an expression of indignation on her face.  "Hearsay??  Ask Elliot.  Ask Ella or Darla Mae how many unexplained things happen when Yak is around.  Ask them about how eggs can fly and plates can shatter when no one is within ten feet of them!"

"Von..."  I watched unhappily as she marched across the room.  She stopped at the doorway and spun around to face me.

"Just remember what I said, Leni.  She's dangerous, and if you end up hurt or dead, you've only got yourself to blame!"

The door slammed behind her.

I sat for a long time after Yvonne left, idly turning my keys over in my hands as I considered what she had said.  Finally I did what I'd always done when I couldn't figure something out - I went to consult Aunt Helene. 

Padding down the hallway in my bare feet, I poked my head around my great - aunt's door.  She was reading in her rocker - recliner, as she usually did in the evening hours when she wasn't beating her grand - nephews and nieces at card and board games.

"Auntie, can I bother you for a few moments?"

She looked up with a smile and lowered her reading glasses on her nose.  "Leni, you are never a bother.  Come on in." 

I came in and sat down on her bed.  She clucked at my bare feet and tossed me the afghan she had tucked around herself.

"Cover up before you get chilblains, child.  Honestly, you'd think it was mid - July the way you wander around half - naked."

I grinned and tucked the cover around my bare legs and feet.  Aunt Helene had been looking out for me ever since she first moved in with us when I was five.  I'd never tell my stern, rigid grandmother, but I loved her younger sister best.  Next to Yvonne, she was my best confidante, and she'd never once failed to make me feel better, no matter how serious the problem I brought to her.

"What's on your mind, Leni?"

I knew I didn't have to beat around the bush.  "There's a woman at work.  I really like her, and I think she likes me too."

"So far, so good."

"Yeah, but Von warned me in no uncertain terms that I should stay away from her, from Aislin.  And now I'm torn.  I know that Von loves me and is only looking out for me, but Auntie, I really, really like Aislin and I want to keep seeing her."

"Why did Von warn you away?  Did she give you a reason?"

I nodded and plucked aimlessly at the afghan.  "Because strange things have happened around Aislin, and Von thinks she might accidentally hurt me."

"Strange...  Leni, are you talking about a woman nicknamed Yak?"

I looked up to see Aunt Helene regarding me intently.  "That's what everyone calls her, but she doesn't like that name.  Do you know her?"

Aunt Helene's rocking picked up speed.  "It would be impossible to play bridge with your grandmother and her coterie, and not have heard of the rumours surrounding your Aislin."

My Aislin.  I loved the sound of that, but before I could get all dreamy - eyed, Aunt Helene started posing some hard questions.

"Leni, exactly how involved are you with this woman?"

"Well...I mean we've only had one date - if you could call it that.  We've been hanging out together at work for a few weeks, and we've kissed a couple of times."

"So it's early; you could walk away from this without too much heartbreak."

I froze in shock.  This was not what I'd expected to hear.

My aunt sighed and took her glasses off as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.  "Oh, Leni, I'm sorry.  I'm being just as judgemental as those old biddies, aren't I?"  She replaced her glasses and peered over them with a determined look.  "I will endeavour not to do that again, sweetie.  Now why don't you tell me all about Aislin?"

Still shaken, but with the cold knot in my stomach easing, I told her everything that had transpired since I first started working at the Jester's Court, and everything that Aislin had told me only that morning.

"And when she kissed me back...  Auntie, I've just never felt anything like it."

"Like skyrockets exploding inside your body and mind, like you were utterly formless with longing, yet at the same time, so powerful you could move mountains for her if she asked?"

"Exactly!"  I beamed at my aunt.  "I knew you'd get it!"

"Hard as it is to believe, my dear child, I was young once."  She gave me a wry smile.  "Leni, is it possible...I'm just playing devil's advocate here, so don't get upset...but is it possible that what you're feeling is simply lust?  That the possibility of sleeping with her is overwhelming your good sense?"

Because it was Aunt Helene, I didn't storm out of the room.  I paid her the respect she'd earned through all our years together and seriously considered her question.  Was it just lust?  Had I been longing for a real flesh and blood lover for so long that I'd jump through hoops for any woman who would give me the time of day?

Aunt Helene sat rocking quietly while I pondered her question.  Finally I knew the answer.

"No, that's not it, Auntie."  I leaned forward, urgently wanting her to understand even if no one else did.  "Would I like to sleep with Aislin?  Absolutely.  Is that my primary motivation?  No, it's really not.  I think she's getting a raw deal, and while I can't explain the odd things that go on around her, I want to protect her from those who automatically abuse her because they're scared.  I want to drive away the loneliness and pain I see in her eyes.  I want to hold her and feel her hold me.  I want...I want to love her, and let her love me.  And I want what's between us to last - to be powerful enough to endure Elliot's rebukes, Ed's jibes, Von's warnings, and Grandma's gossip.  I want us to stand together, so that she never again has to stand alone."

A slow smile grew on my aunt's face.  "That sounds like a remarkably good description of love, Leni."

"Then I have your blessing?"

"That you do, Leni, always.  You bring your lady around one of these days soon so I can meet her, alright?"

I had to restrain myself from punching the air in triumph.  "Absolutely alright, Auntie!"

"Good.  Now I believe your mother saved you a plate.  Go get dressed and get some dinner.  If you're going to work night shifts and pitch some woo, you're going to need your strength."

I laughed and stood up, folding the afghan neatly around Aunt Helene's legs.  "Pitch some woo?  Should I find me a zoot suit and a fedora, too, Auntie?"

"You could do worse, my dear.  Heaven knows they always worked on me!"

I departed in a good humour, whistling as I returned to my own room.  I didn't doubt that Auntie had an eye for the gents when she was my age.  After all, she'd been married five times.  I once asked her why she got married so often, and she told me that the men fell in love with her for her bohemian ways, then once the vows were said, wanted her to abandon those ways to become their idea of a conventional wife.  She wasn't about to have any part of that, so she always moved on, living her life on exactly her own terms.

I threw on some clothes and went down to the kitchen, where Mom had saved me a plate from dinner.  After I ate, I went out to the big, three - car garage to clean my Corolla.  Herman's greasy handprints were all over the hood, so it took me a while, but within a couple of hours, I had it shining inside and out - or as shiny as the old girl could get.

Glancing at the garage clock, I saw I just had time for a shower.  I wanted to make a stop at a drugstore on the way to work, too, so I had to hurry.

I got to the Jester ninety minutes later, and Aislin was already there.  When I walked into the kitchen, she looked up and gave me a shy smile.  That smile sent quivers ricocheting through me, and my goofy grin actually made her laugh out loud.  It was such an unusual sound in the kitchen that Elliot, who had just walked through the door, stopped in astonishment and stared at Aislin.

We both studiously ignored him and got to work, but all through the first half of our shift, we kept stealing glances at each other.  When our lunch break came, we grabbed our coats, scarves and gloves, and gravitated to the sheltered nook just outside the kitchen door where I normally took my smoke break.

For the longest moment, we just stood staring at each other.   Aislin's eyes were shining, and all I wanted was to pull her into my arms.

"They'll be talking about us, you know."

I nodded.  I did know that, but it didn't bother me.  "Do you care?"

She took a step closer.  "No...not at all."

I opened my arms to her and she stepped into me.  Aislin wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head on my shoulder with a contented sigh.  I was in heaven as I felt the warmth of her head against my cheek and her breath against my neck.  Even all the layers of protective clothing couldn't diminish the pleasure of holding her so close.

I had no intention of doing anything more; I was blissfully content.  But when she began to nibble on my neck, I just about toppled over.  She murmured something to me, but the blood was pounding too hard in my ears for me to understand her.

"Mmm?"

"I said, do you need time for a smoke?"

"No...I quit today."

Aislin pulled back enough to look at me.  "Really?"

"Really.  I'm even wearing the patch."

The look of delight on her face reinforced the determination that had formed in me the previous morning.  She had tasted so good when we kissed, and when I was driving home, I remembered what Von had said about kissing a former boyfriend who smoked.  It was like licking a dirty ash tray. I didn't want Aislin to ever feel like that about kissing me, so I quit - right then and there, on the spot.  It had been awfully hard ignoring the urge when I was working on my car, but the patch - and Aislin's smile - were making it much easier at the moment.

Aislin tilted her head and I accepted her invitation, gently exploring her mouth as I pulled her even nearer.  Completely lost in each other, we never heard the kitchen door open until Ed's contemptuous voice intruded.

"Jesus Christ!  What a pair of sick freaks!"

I raised my head and glared at him as I tightened my arms around Aislin.  I didn't have to say a word.  He dropped his scornful gaze, and muttered, "Elliot says to get back in.  Break's over."  The door slammed behind him.

We looked at each other ruefully, and Aislin stepped away. 

"I guess we'd better get back to work."

I nodded reluctantly.  Work could go hang for all I cared.

Aislin turned, then looked back over her shoulder at me with a little grin.  "So Leni, where exactly did you put the patch?"

I responded to the playfulness in her voice.  "I'm not telling."

With a teasing drawl, she left me reeling.  "That's okay.  I'll find it for myself...later."

I wavered on unsteady legs as Aislin disappeared through the kitchen door.  Oh, my God!  Her intonation, boldly flirtatious yet absolutely certain, promised that we were going to take things much further...and soon.

I have no idea how I made it through the next four hours.  I kept my head down and tended strictly to my job, because I knew if I glanced over and caught her watching me with that look in her eyes, I wouldn't stand a chance of finishing my shift.  I'd march right over, take her hand, and lead her out of here - consequences be damned!

In an odd way it helped that Ed was throwing murderous glares at both of us, though he had the good sense not to say anything else. 
                                               
Aislin's shift replacement arrived earlier than mine, so I tossed her the keys and told her where to find my car.  By the time I got out to the parking lot, she had the windows scraped and the car warmed up.  Driving over to her house, there was little conversation, but that was fine with me.  The hand resting on my thigh told me all I needed to know.

When we pulled into her driveway, Aislin finally spoke, her voice hesitant but hopeful.  "You'll stay?"

"Yes."

I'd never heard my voice quite so soft, or certain, but then I'd never felt such a potent combination of confidence and exhilaration either.  Strangely, all sense of urgency and nervousness had vanished.  I knew what was going to happen - it was what I'd wanted for so long.  Yet it simply felt like I was walking a pre - ordained path and there was nothing I need concern myself with other than following Aislin.

I locked the car behind us and we walked into the house hand in hand.  Once inside, we dropped our outerwear where we stood and turned to each other.  November - cold hands and lips quickly warmed as we sought to express all we were feeling.

Finally I caught Aislin's hands in mine and raised them to my lips.  "I need to call home so they don't worry when I'm late."

"Tell them you'll be very, very late, Leni."

I adored the sparkle in her eyes as she smiled up at me.  "I will."  I caught a whiff of my grease - stained uniform and wrinkled my nose.  "I'd also like to take a shower, if that's okay."

Aislin leaned in for a quick kiss, then stepped away.  "Of course.  You make your phone call, and I'll go start the water."

I watched her walk away and I swear no cook's uniform ever draped over the human form quite so provocatively.  Wanting nothing more than to run after her, I almost abandoned the idea of calling home.  However, I reluctantly tore my gaze away and scanned the living room for the phone.  Locating it on the end table by the couch, I placed a quick call home.

Ronnie answered the phone.  "Hey, brat," I said.  "Will you tell Mom that I won't be home today?  I'm staying at a friend's place."

"Whose place - Von's?" 

I grinned as I heard Ronnie noisily crunching her cereal over the phone.  "No, another friend.  Just promise you'll pass on the message, alright?"

"Okay, but you should at least leave a phone number."

I had no idea what Aislin's phone number was, and a quick glance showed me that it wasn't on the handset I was holding.  "I don't know what the number is here, Ronnie.  Just tell Mom I'm fine, and I'll either be home later this evening or tomorrow."

"She's gonna want to know where you are, Leni, and I don't want her mad at me just because you're keeping it some stupid secret."

"Tell her...tell her Aunt Helene knows where I am."

That seemed to satisfy the pint - sized inquisitor and I hung up.  I walked quickly down the hall to where the bathroom door was ajar.  I could hear the water running so I stepped inside, then stopped and stared.

Aislin had not only started the water for me, I could see her behind the translucent shower doors, hands raised as she washed her hair.   Momentarily flustered, I wasn't sure if I should retreat or advance.  Then the sole remaining logical part of my mind noticed that she had laid out two towels on the counter.  Did that mean she wanted me to join her?  Luckily for my addled brain, she solved the question for me.

"Come on in, Leni.  There's lots of room."

I hastily shut the door behind me and stripped off my clothes, tossing them into a corner.  For all the steam that was billowing in the air, my mouth was incredibly dry.

Slipping into the shower, I found Aislin waiting for me.  She reached out to take my hands and pulled me close.

I wrapped my arms around her, rendered speechless by the erotic sensation of her wet body sliding against mine and the sensual sweep of her hands as they began to explore.  When her hand slipped down between us, I thought I was going to crumble.

Aislin chuckled, barely audible over the water, but she withdrew her tantalizing fingers.  Gently she steered me around to face the other way as she picked up the shampoo.  I closed my eyes, revelling in the hedonistic feel of her deft fingers, first in my hair, then lavishing soap and attention on the rest of my body.

By the time Aislin finished, I had a death grip on the safety bar with one hand and her supportive thigh with the other.  With both of us now clean, her hand had resumed teasing me mercilessly.  Lost in the building sensations, I cried out when she stopped, but she pressed hard against me as she reached behind and turned off the water.

"Not here, Leni.  Not our first time.  Let's go to bed."

Dazed, I didn't protest as Aislin slid the door open and reached for the towels.  The room was completely filled with steam, and for a split second I thought I saw something hovering in the mist - something that looked eerily like a face.  I wiped the towel over my eyes and looked again; it had vanished.

Taking Aislin's hand as she led me to her bedroom, I dismissed my flight of fancy.  I had much more important things to think about. 

From the first moments when she guided my untried fingers on her sensitive flesh, to the point where fatigue finally forced us to rest, I've never felt so sublimely, joyfully connected to another human being.  I told Aislin of my profound conclusion and she laughed softly, her hand idly tracing a line down my belly.

"I imagine every lover has felt like that at some point, Leni."

"Impossible."  God, I loved the feeling of her nude body relaxing against mine!  "If the women of Langston Heights knew what they were missing, they'd be lined up at your bedroom door 'round the clock." 

She chuckled, and rewarded my heartfelt flattery with a languorous exploration of my nearest nipple.  I wished that I had the energy to encourage her in her endeavours, but it wasn't really an offer.  She was as exhausted as I was.  So with a final kiss to my breast, Aislin slid over on top of me, and settled down, her sigh of contentment clearly audible in the quiet room.

I barely had the energy to lift my arms, but I settled them loosely on her back.  As she drifted off to sleep, I whispered into her hair.  "I love you."  Her mumbled response was unintelligible, but it didn't matter.  Aislin would never be much of a conversationalist, but her eyes, her hands, her body - they had all spoken her heart loud and clear.

You wouldn't think there would be anything on my mind but the naked woman slumbering in my arms, but now, as my mind drifted, the image in the mist returned to my tired, blissful brain.

It had only been an instant, yet the face had seemed so clear, so vivid.  I'd gotten no sense of threat, only...what?  Curiosity?  Assessment, perhaps.  Definitely intelligence.  I tried to dismiss it as a figment of my imagination, but even as Aislin wriggled in her sleep and I caressed her back, I found myself unable to dismiss that haunting image.

I finally found sleep by focusing on the contentment that suffused me.  My inexperience may have rendered me a bit clumsy, even amusing at times, as I learned what made Aislin squirm with pleasure.  But above all, our love making had excited and satisfied me beyond my most fervid expectation.  And the sweetest part was seeing Aislin's joy as I loved her.  Honestly, I could've burned up from the sheer radiance in her eyes.

On a day like today, nothing - not even imaginary phantoms - could detract from my elation.

It was dark when we finally woke up, and a quick glance at the bedside clock told us it was past eight.

"I'm going to have to run home, Aislin.  I need some clean clothes for work tonight."

"Mmmm, you don't really want to leave, do you?"  She looked at me hopefully.  "I've got spare uniforms and lots of clean clothes.  I'd be glad to share."

I was going to demur, truly I was, but she started nibbling on my breast again.  Under such torture, what choice did I have?  I'd have agreed to anything just to get her to continue.

So she did.

And we were almost late for work.  By the time we pulled into the parking lot behind the kitchen with three minutes to spare, icy cold rain was sluicing down and we got soaked in the brief dash to the door.

Elliot poked his head in the kitchen just as I was tying on my apron. 

"Leni, you need to double your usual numbers, especially on the pies.  People like comfort food on a night like tonight.  With a major storm coming, I expect there'll be a lot more travelers pulling in to get out of the weather."

"There's a storm moving in?"  I hadn't exactly been monitoring the weather forecasts all day.

"Boy, where have you been?  It's been all over the news for the last twelve hours.  They're expecting freezing rain and winds gusting to sixty klics tonight.  It's going to be hell out on the highway, that's for sure."

Elliot turned to go, then did a double take.  "For crying out loud, Leni, did you shrink your uniform or something?"

I glanced down at my legs.  The pant legs barely came to the top of my socks.  "Huh, must've left them in the dryer too long."

"Order some new ones then.  You look like a hobo."

I heard Ella call him from the dining room, and Elliot disappeared back out the door.  I glanced over to where Aislin was chopping vegetables and trying not to laugh.  She turned her head just long enough to give me a wink, her big knife never missing a beat.

I grinned, tugged my borrowed pants down as best I could, and got to work.  Elliot turned out to be an accurate prognosticator.  People poured into the Jester as fast as the rain poured from the sky and froze on the ground.  Truckers, travelers, cops and tow truck drivers all filled the booths, and lingered, reluctant to return to the dangerous roads.  My pies and cakes were devoured as fast as they came out of the oven. 

I could hear Ed cursing monotonously over the grill, the wait staff hollering orders, and the loud buzz of incessant conversation from the dining room, but I was so busy that I barely lifted my head from my station.  I was vaguely aware of overhearing Ella tell Sharon that Darla Mae was having a melt down in the ladies room, but I assumed she was just reacting to the stress of the atypical night rush.

There was no time for a staff lunch break.  About four in the morning, Aislin set a thick ham and cheese sandwich down beside me.  In return, I offered her a freshly made cruller, and she took it with a smile.  Ed had just gone back into the cooler, so I seized the opportunity to seal our transaction with a quick kiss. 

Aislin backed away, slowly running her tongue over her lips.  Laughing, I whispered after her, "Incorrigible!"

She winked at me and got back to work, munching on the cruller as she made her umpteenth pot of chili.  Always tasty, it was finding particular favour with the truckers on this cold, icy night.

By seven a.m., the entire staff was more than ready for their relief shift, but only the day manager arrived on time in his 4x4 truck.  Nerves were fraying as our replacements slowly trickled in; everyone was snapping at everyone else, except for Aislin and me.  I think we were still coasting on yesterday's high, and since we were at the end of our work - week rotation, we'd have two whole days to spend together.  I was pretty sure she was looking forward to it as much as me.

Our replacements finally arrived at the same time, both complaining bitterly about roads as slick as skating rinks and the inability of the highways department to keep up with sanding and salting.

Aislin had just come over to join me when we heard raised voices coming from the cooler.  It was Ed and Darla Mae, and it was impossible not to overhear them.

"Whaddaya mean you're pregnant?"  Panic was evident in Ed's voice.

"What don't you understand?  I'm pregnant...ya know - with child?  The little stick doesn't lie.  You're going to be a daddy."

"The hell I am!  It ain't my problem if some guy knocked you up.  Don't be putting this on me!"

Aislin and I looked at each other in shock.

"My God, Eddie - you know it's you!  There is no one else."

"Yeah, right.  Like I believe that."

Darla Mae's voice rose, her indignation and incredulity clear.  "Edward Arthur Conroy!  You know good and well that I was a virgin when we met!"

"So you said, but you slept with me on the first date.  Who knows who you've been fuckin' around with since?" 

Between escalating sobs, Darla Mae choked out, "There's a little thing called DNA tests, you know.  I'll prove you're the father."

Ed snorted.  "Like I'm going to stick around that long.  If you're smart, you'll get rid of it, but I ain't going to be here one way or another.  I'm outta here!"

He stormed out of the cooler and past a stunned Elliot who was standing next to the door.  Tossing the night manager his apron, Ed announced, "I quit!  I'll send for my paycheque."

Darla Mae stumbled out of the cooler, tears flooding her face as she watched in stunned disbelief as her erstwhile lover deserted her.  Aislin instantly moved to her side, putting an arm around her for support as she murmured soothingly to her.

Ed's car roared to life outside, and we all looked out the window to see him spinning out across the parking lot, barely missing my car and the day manager's truck.

I glanced at Aislin and was taken aback by the utter fury on her face as she stared after the departing muscle car. 

When the sound of a horrendous collision rocked the restaurant, some part of me wasn't surprised, but I joined the rest of the staff in running outside.  Across Jester's big lot, Ed's car had piled into a semi that had been pulling in off the highway.  The red muscle car was consumed in flames and the driver of the semi had bailed out of his cab.  Apparently unhurt, he was standing a good distance away, staring helplessly at the conflagration.

Patrons poured out of the restaurant, and two of the highway patrolmen that had been inside having breakfast ran toward the wreck.  There was nothing they could do for Ed.  His car had exploded on impact, and the fireball was so intense that the officers couldn't get within twenty metres. 

Darla Mae began to scream - terrible, piercing, unending screams - as Elliot and Aislin tried to coax her away from the horrible scene.  They finally got her back into the kitchen, but the sound of her keening could be heard over the approaching wail of fire engines.

I just stood - staring at the chaos, too stunned to move as excited voices rose and fell around me.  My brain caught fragments of conversations.  No one expressed surprise about the accident.  Everyone agreed that the young man was terribly foolhardy to be driving so fast under such treacherous conditions. 

Me, I couldn't shake the memory of Aislin's anger.  I tilted my head to the sky, letting the falling rain cool my face.  And in the low - lying clouds, I imagined I saw that ghostly image again, but this time it slowly melded with my lover's features.

Half a dozen emergency vehicles had responded and the firefighters were working frantically to knock down the flames when a soft hand wrapped around my cold clenched fist.  Aislin gently tugged me away, taking my keys from my numb fingers as she guided me toward my car. 

She drove so slowly and so carefully, taking the exit on the far side of the lot, well away from the charred and smouldering hunk of metal that was wedged under the blackened side of the semi.  The only thought in my mind as she drove toward Seventh Avenue and the old Decker place was that Herman would've been impressed with how well she navigated on my old, tread - bare tires.  Though there were cars off the road in ditches everywhere, and fender benders all around us, Aislin brought us home without so much as a near miss.

Epilogue

They said it was the worst storm in thirty years: seven dead, a score injured, and more accidents than anyone could count.  The coroner's inquest ruled that Ed had been solely responsible for his own death.  Darla Mae is getting bigger by the day, and Elliot is already looking for a replacement for when she goes on maternity leave.  He's not very optimistic, though.  It took him longer than a month to replace Ed.  Prospective employees just seem to shy away from the Jester's Court.  Aislin was great about buckling down and doing the work of two until a new cook could be found, though, and I helped out, too.

Aislin and I have been living together for almost seven months now, and I couldn't be happier.  Most of my family loves her.  Even Grandma's welcomed her into the clan.  And Von's come around - pretty much.  At least she doesn't still call my partner Yak, but then not many people do anymore.  I suspect it's because I started insisting she be called by her given name or else I was going to knock some heads together.  Only Aunt Helene seems to have her reservations, but that's probably just because she misses having me around at the house.

I still can't believe that I wake up beside the woman I love every afternoon.  Sure, the sex is incredible, but it's the way her eyes adore me that makes me feel like I can walk on water.  I can't even imagine my life without her.  I'd do anything for her, and I know with all my heart, she feels exactly the same way.

Aislin's begun to take yoga classes recently.  She says they really help her stay calm and centred, but I know she's doing it mostly for my sake.  That's just the way she is - always thinking of little things to make my life even better.

As for me, I'll be getting these stitches out next week, and I don't think you'll even be able to see the scar this time...

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