Language: Um, I’m a bit of a potty mouth and so are some of my characters. I would apologize if that offends anyone’s sensibilities but I’m not sorry.

Alternative Love/Sex: Well there is a love relationship between two women so if the very thought of this sends you into fits of apoplexy just e-mail me and I’ll give you the number of a good therapist. There probably will be sex in this story if by some miracle you guys decide that you want me to actually continue this story.

Author’ Notes: It was brought to my attention that I seriously misled people with the summary to my last story and ended up bumming people out. Again, I would apologize but I’m not sorry. However, this story is a lot lighter than the last one. I’ll probably deal with some heavy issues but it won’t be the main focus of the story. This is as close to fluff as I’ll ever get so savor it while it lasts.

Read on . . .

By Verity

"Do you wanna have sex with me?"

Aaliyah looked up from her newspaper sharply at the brash question. She looked straight into the woman’s calm violet eyes. "What?"

The stranger sighed before taking a seat next to Aaliyah on the park bench. She made a show of straitening the crease in her slacks before turning her head to repeat her inquiry. "Do you want to have sex with me?"

Aaliyah stared incredulously at the odd woman next to her. What the hell was this woman on? "I’m not a prostitute."

The woman grinned rakishly, her violet eyes glittering with some unknown secret. "You are exquisite." She held out her hand invitingly. "Walk with me."

Aaliyah just stared at the appendage like it was going to fall off and start humming the theme song to the Golden Girls. She absently noted that the woman had nice hands; maybe she’s a tortured pianist, like Mozart. He went insane didn’t he? Or maybe that was Tchaikovsky . . . She quickly brought herself out of her thoughts as she realized the woman still had her hand extended. "You do realize that I don’t know you right?"

A small frown creased the other woman beautiful features momentarily. "Oh yes, I forget your people like small talk before copulation."

"Um, I normally would attempt to be more eloquent than this, but for you I’ll make an exception. Huh?"

"Noele."

Aaliyah just blinked stupidly at the woman. Maybe the woman was mentally challenged. All I wanted was to read my paper in peace. She mentally snorted. I’m in the middle of Central Park and I’m looking for peace?! Maybe I’m the one who’s crazy. She took a deep breath as she tried to piece together what, if anything, the woman was trying to say. It wasn’t working. She could feel the frustration building within in her but oddly there was no anger. "What the fuck is a ‘noel’? And who the hell are you?"

The woman didn’t even bat an eyelash at her harsh tone. "Noele."

Was she talking to herself? "What?"

"Me."

Yup, she had gone insane. Certifiable? Definitely. Which was obviously why she was still holding this inane conversation with the odd woman with the freaky eyes. "Who?"

"My name."

Oh well, the men with in the white coats should be here soon. Why not prolong the lunacy. "Your name . . . ?"

A short nod. "Yes."

How did that answer the question! She was thoroughly confused and could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. "Your name is what?"

"No, my name in Noele."

Against her will, Aaliyah gave a small laugh. It was either that of throttle the woman. And this is a bad idea? Although she had to admit, the woman was sort of cute . . . in an infuriating kind of way. For a moment she debated whether or not she should just get up and walk away from this unusual creature as she examined the hand that had yet to move from its welcoming position. She shrugged easily; it couldn’t possibly get any worse than this. So, bravely, she placed her hand in the larger woman’s. "Hello Noele. I’m Aaliyah."

Noele smiled brightly before she leaned down to brush her lips across the backs of Aaliyah’ s knuckles. "A pleasure," she murmured into the soft skin. She raised her head to look into the gold eyes that had first captivated her, a small grin pulling at her lips. "So, will you walk with me?"

Aaliyah was torn. First the woman seemed like the prime description of a mental ward escapee and now, well, now she was downright charming. Multiple personality disorder perhaps? So do I stay or do I go? Her brow scrunched. Wasn’t that the line of a song? Focus! Right, whoops. She looked into innocent violet eyes that were filled with an alluring blend of confidence and hope and her decision was made. "Okay." And I stick by my insanity plea.

Noele nodded happily as she stood up, letting go of the warm hard to once again straighten the crease in her trousers and smooth out any wrinkles in her silk shirt. Pleased with her appearance she once again extended her hand to the sitting woman, who had been looking on in amused curiosity. "Shall we?"

Aaliyah let herself be gently lifted by a surprisingly strong hand. While Noele fixed her clothing she had taken the opportunity to take a closer look at the dark-haired woman. Unruly hair framed a strikingly exotic face, which led to an equally captivating body. Even under the neatly pressed clothes Aaliyah could see the hint of muscles that rippled with each movement of the woman’s body. The combination of her masculine attire with her mussed hair and utterly feminine looks gave her a decidedly messily chic appearance that was at once modest and sexy as hell. Shit, even the way she dresses is confusing. Her pale amethyst inspired eyes set against the backdrop of her reddish brown skin only furthered the appeal.

There was only one small problem, her feet; or more specifically, the neon green platform flip-flops that adorned her feet.

And considering the fact that Noele was wearing all black they stood out even more.

Aaliyah was completely unaware that her attention had once again been focused on the horrible footwear until a hand gently tapped her shoulder. She looked up into questioning eyes and found herself wondering once more at their remarkable color.

"Are you ready?"

The voice shattered her perusal of the unusual irises. "Um, uh . . . yes of course." She realized that her hand was still attached to Noele’s but found that she liked it there and gave it a small squeeze. "So where exactly are we walking to?"

Noele who was still smiling from the brief grasp of her hand answered, "To see a miracle."

"What?"

"Trust me."

"I don’t."

Noele looked steadily into the eyes that were focused on her, nodding to herself after a moment. "You will."

To be continued . . . well at least it will be if you guys want me to.