Metamorphosis

Dr. Carin Prince looked at her watch as she entered the Entomology Lab. Of all the promises she’s made to her college chum, this one had been the most onerous. She and Robert Lambert had graduated from biology at Texas A&M University together and their paths stayed close as they started work at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.

It was their friendship to let Robert trust Carin to keep an eye on the lab for him. As a director over a department, he was stuck in Atlanta but had primary responsibility over the lab in Colorado. Carin’s work for the CDC frequently took her to Colorado, allowing her to keep tabs on the then-new lab chief, Dr. Sylvie Unger.

She stopped in a few times for Robert. Dr. Unger seemed to run the lab efficiently. But it was not Dr. Unger that kept her returning to the lab, long after Robert stopped inquiring.

The drawback was Dr. Unger fantasized that Carin had an interest in her, which was wrong. Hell wrong. Dr. Unger wasn’t just arrogant, which was bad enough. She was an ambitious professional and a voracious consumer. Basically, Dr. Prince just didn’t like her.

The reason Carin continued to drop by the lab was because of Ellie Cinders. She was nice. She was easy to work with and her genuine manner was very refreshing and endearing. That was a quality Carin especially admired after joining the Center for Disease Control ten years ago. Brown-nosing and backstabbing politics were endemic to the place. That was the nature of government affairs.

Dr. Prince hoped that Ellie was available. She smiled when Ellie waved through the glass window from the reception area. As Ellie threaded her way through the lab equipment, tables and desks to greet Dr. Prince, she knocked over a basket with an elbow and hit her toe on a table leg. Ellie was still half the length of the lab away, she was holding out her hand for a shake. In her focus on the good doctor, she’d invariably stumbled at least once.

Ellie was greeted at the door by a pair of soft brown eyes, a set of white, even teeth framed in smiling..luscious, kissable…lips.

“Hi Ellie,” Dr. Prince said softly. “I have something special for you.” She tapped a gold-foiled wrapped box with a finger.

“Hi, Dr. Prince,” she said, trying really hard not to let her gaze meander down the woman’s form in such an obvious assessment of her beautiful body. What if she didn’t want me to admire her? “What is it?”

“A present for you,” she whispered. Dr. Prince was trying to keep her voice low so Dr. Unger wouldn’t prance over, but Carin also found she liked it. It forced Ellie in a little closer. Carin had never been this close to Ellie and was struck by her light blue eyes. Pure and crisp, like a mountain sky.

“Hmm. It doesn’t look like gummi critter confection,” she said in a light, singsong manner. Dr. Prince’s gifts for Ellie were notorious and revolved around the insect theme because well, Ellie was an entomologist.

Dr. Prince’s eyes sparkled and she let out a small laugh. Oh, Ellie was so sincere and playful. It was always a delight to exchange nonsense with her. Carin’s job was very demanding and she had no room for the small things in life. Ellie could make something simple into a pure and enjoyable pleasure like opening presents on Christmas morning. Or marshmallows in hot chocolate. Dimples on baby hands. The smell of the forest after a thunderstorm. Or soft lips on my neck…Whoa, Carin! This is just a friendly gesture. Ellie isn’t your type and she isn’t even interested in you.

“Please open it, Ellie.” She glanced around. “Before you-know-who descends like locust upon us.”

Ellie ignored the jibe at her unfortunate boss and she edged the wrapping open with a finger.

Ellie was always appreciative and she sincerely meant her thanks. Anything Dr. Prince wanted to lavish was fine by her. The “Fear No Weevil” coffee mug Dr. Prince had given her was her very favorite.

Today’s gift was clearly special. The gold foil wrap was a give away. “Chocolate-covered ants?” Ellie was surprised at the gesture. “Dr. Prince, you are very…thoughtful.”

Dr. Prince cocked her head to one side. “Do you really like it, Ellie?”

“Well,” Ellie said kindly and sincerely. “I’ve never eaten insects before. But if I were going to, I can’t think of a more appetizing way to go. Drizzled with chocolate. What more could a girl want?” How about a doctor dipped in chocolate and licked senseless? Ellie’s eyes went wide at her lascivious thought and she shook her own head fiercely, as if stirring the pleasant but intrusive thought from her mind.

The gesture was odd for Dr. Prince to witness. She wondered briefly if Ellie were having an epileptic seizure. When Ellie finally smiled and flipped the box over to read the text on the package, she dismissed the affectation as an accident.

Even before they could start light banter, the lab director Dr. Unger sauntered over. She was a tall blonde with cropped hair and a fit body she draped in the tightest professional clothes. Around the Lab and the Center at large, her nickname was “Insatiable Unger” for the string of girlfriends and fuck buddies she kept. It was her mission in life to make Dr. Prince one of the former if she could or one of the latter if she must.

Then a deep contralto that sent horrid shivers down Dr. Prince’s back was heard. “Doctor, what a pleasant surprise!” Dr. Unger sidled up to the other woman and used a strong arm to pull her in for a hug.

To free herself of the unwanted fondling, Dr. Prince stepped away to put her briefcase on a table to open it. She removed an invitation. Dr. Prince knew she had to work fast before Dr. Unger dismissed the woman.

Dr. Prince offered Ellie a cream-colored envelope. “For you,” she said.

Before Ellie could reach for it, Dr. Unger snatched it from her hand, recognizing it for what it was. “Oh, Ellie really doesn’t like to attend functions like these, doctor,” she said, as she opened it. “She has a hard time finding a date.” Dr. Unger laughed as if the insult were a friendly joke.

Ellie could feel the heat of embarrassment wash over her face. Dr. Prince even blushed from the singularly rude comment.

“Oh, my,” Dr. Unger purred, unmindful of the stir her statement caused. “The annual CDC banquet. Will Dubya preside?”

Dr. Prince felt a low growl rattle in her chest at the mention of her “boss,” George W. Bush. But she tamped it down. “Of course.” She offered her best political grin.

“Then I accept,” Dr. Unger pronounced. After her boss realized that Ellie was still standing among them, Dr. Unger regarded her in irritation. “Thank you, Ellie. That will be all.”

Ellie offered Dr. Prince a weak smile and was about to turn and leave, when Carin caught her arm.

“Wait, Ellie,” she said, reaching into her briefcase for another one. “This is for you.”

“Oh, Dr. Prince. Thank you,” Dr. Unger interrupted. “But she won’t—”

As she tried to grab that invitation too, Dr. Prince snapped it back.

“This is for Ellie, Dr. Unger,” she said, nearly through gritted teeth.

Dr. Prince smiled at Ellie, handing her the invitation. “I hope to see you there, Ellie.”

Ellie gave a weaker smile than before. “I’ll try, doctor.”

“Thank you, Miss Cinders,” Dr. Unger said dismissively. “Oh, and I’ll need the lab results on the encephalitis transmission rates on my desk by this afternoon.” Even before she thanked her subordinate, Dr. Unger had brushed her aside superciliously. Dr. Prince caught Ellie’s gaze and offered her a small “I’m sorry” smile.

Ellie nodded her head and whispered, “Right away, Dr. Unger.”

--

Gary Godmoth was watching the scene unfold before him. He dreaded the times when Dr. Prince would come to the lab because the required ritual dance he performed with his best friend Ellie was becoming increasingly painful for both of them.

He was spinning a pen in one hand and tapping his fingers on the lab bench with the other. He was supposed to be mapping tick species to correlate Lyme disease risk factors with geography.

But Gary was taking a break (and combining several breaks into one), so that he could perform his part in the monthly ritual. He looked out at the woman who was the object of Ellie’s affection. Dr. Carin Prince. With how much Ellie talked about her, it was a wonder to Gary that he didn’t dream about her, too. She was certainly a beautiful woman, with dark hair, big brown eyes and a fit, lanky body. She was sporting a form-fitting black pantsuit with a red blouse. Gary always admired how stylish Dr. Prince was.

Gary let his eyes wonder over his best friend. Ellie’s blonde mane was usually unkempt and obscured her face. Large, thick glasses distorted her eyes into bug-like monstrosities. She slouched and she always seemed to hide underneath layers of clothes, even in summer. Ellie was also eccentric. She laughed too loud and spoke too soft. She had a hard time maintaining eye contact. And if clumsy were money, Ellie would be filthy rich.

What Ellie lacked in drive up appeal, she made up for in heart. When Gary had broken up with his first boyfriend, she watched Spaghetti Westerns with him all weekend, even thought she had finals the following week in the “Insects and Societal Change” class. (She aced it, of course.)

Ellie was there for Gary when his mother passed away. When his brothers began to criticize his lifestyle openly at the wake, Gary was frozen in shock and shame. But Ellie, mustering all of the dignity she had, gathered Gary up and ushered him out without so much as backward glance. She later told him she didn’t want anything she said to close the door for him with his family.

But that’s why the past two years had been a constant heartbreak for both them; for Ellie because she was madly in love with Dr. Prince; and for Gary because he had to witness their boss Dr. Unger shit on Ellie and prey on her love interest.

Just this morning, as Ellie watched Dr. Prince enter the lab, she sighed. “Isn’t Dr. Prince charming?” she mumbled dreamily to Gary. Ellie was perched on a stool, elbow on table and chin in hand.

“Sure, if you like vaginas,” he said absent-mindedly.

That sort of vulgar comment usually broke the spell for Ellie. She would crinkle her nose and elbow the young man in his pudgy midsection.

“Behave.”

He rolled his eyes. “Actually Ellie, sweetie,” he said in his smoothest tones. “If I liked women, I’d be all over her like tongues on lollies.” To Ellie’s indignant glare, he added, “No, really.”

So this was the heart of the little dance of Dr. Prince admiration. Gary liked to taunt her, but he also knew that her infatuation was really more than that. It was love, veneration, and friendship. It was everything good in Ellie’s little world. And her world was very little. She had work, her friendship with Gary (and Alfredo, his boyfriend, by extension) and a handful of friends.

Ellie was a scientist. She thrived on categorizing insects and people. As an entomologist, she classified insects into phylum and genus. Observations, empirical data and hypotheses were her daily routine in the lab. She even tried to impose the scientific process on to her love life. But, well, one cannot quantify emptiness.

“So Ellie,” Gary prodded as gently as possible. “Why don’t you ask Dr. Prince out?”

“Pfft,” she said, allowing her shoulders to shake in a pretense of a laugh. But the tendrils of loneliness strangling her heart thwarted the curling of a smile. “Look at me, Gary!”

Gary stepped back in an overwrought gesture and gave her a once over. He puckered his lips as if watching something delectable and he said, “Ain’t nuthin’ wrong with you, girl.” And it was the truth. Gary never lied to her but he certainly suspected that Ellie intentionally made herself unattractive.

As a required part of the ritual, Ellie would trumpet her lips in disgust and ask if Gary was seeing her or daydreaming about Alfredo.

He shook his head and held up a single finger. “Give me one day, shug, and I will buff your shine.”

She smirked good-naturedly but she never considered a compliment from a man as having any particular face value for her. As Dr. Prince entered the lab, Ellie stood to walk over to her.

X

Dr. Prince had always been too busy with her public health career to really have a significant other. She had certainly put her career first. But becoming a doctor of veterinary medicine was considered – by her parents, both radiologists – a step-down in the food chain. Then for her to choose to work in government, of all possible choices, was an insufferable embarrassment for her private-practice parents. On the upside, telling them she was gay was trivial by comparison.

She found public health care work to be fascinating, necessary, rewarding but incredibly demanding. Only on rare occasions when she crossed the path of a genuine soul such as Ellie Cinders did Dr. Prince wonder at the wisdom of a solitary life.

But clearly, Ellie was not interested in her. Who would be? Gummi bugs and chocolate covered ants as gifts for a woman were the antithesis of romance. Dr. Prince didn’t need anyone to tell her she’d fallen for Ellie. What she needed was a love coach. She didn’t have the vaguest idea about how to express her interest with a feather instead of a hammer. And heavy, blunt instruments tended to scare the hell out of the nice gals. If only life were really a fairy tale. Oh stop gritching and grow up, for Pete’s sake! You’re a big girl. Deal with reality. Reality sucked because she felt mute in the real world.

Dr. Unger had been talking to her about the latest achievements of the lab, as if they were hers personally. Typical bureaucratic blowhard blah, blah, blah.

Dr. Prince wondered how she could extricate herself from the talons of Dr. Unger. She certainly did not want to burn any bridges. (That thought was clearly her political persona speaking. Her warm side merely turned slightly to watch Ellie speak with her colleague as Dr. Unger droned on.)

X

Ellie schlepped back to her desk near Gary’s and fell into her squeaky metal chair. Gary rode his wheeled chair over to hers.

“Ellie, honey, you need some cajones.”

She tore her gaze from Dr. Prince to regard her friend.

“What is that, Gary? A software program?”

“Don’t be silly. It’s ‘balls’ in Spanish.”

“Number one,” she held up on finger with nails bitten to the nub. “I didn’t know you spoke Spanish. Number two,” she raised up another finger with chewed nails, “What possible use would I have for testicles?”

Gary grimaced upon seeing the state of her fingernail beds and gently lowered her hand. “Alfredo is teaching me his native tongue.” Gary waggled his eyes suggestively.

“Gross,” she deadpanned. “That was a visual I did not need.”

As if he hadn’t heard, he continued. “And secondly, you don’t have to let Dr. Unger get all the pretty girls, you know.”

“Let?! Let?!”

“Shush, Ellie,” Gary said, glancing around to make sure the studious pair in the front of the lab was not heeding their conversation.

Ellie became instantly flushed. She felt like she was always doing the wrong thing. If she should go right, she mistakenly went left. If she should whisper, she shouted. She was such a burden to herself. She wondered just then if she had been an affliction for her parents as well. She had told them she was gay in college. She just couldn’t live a lie and she really believed they would love her anyway. There were no big arguments, no confrontations. Her parents just let her slip away from them. Indifference was so insidious…

“Ellie, honey,” Gary said, snapping a finger in front of her.

“Oh? I’m sorry. I got caught up with—”

“Never mind.” He pointed discreetly to Dr. Prince. “Go ask the woman out.”

She ducked her chin and raised a shoulder. But remained silent. Instead, Ellie jumped up to perch on Gary’s desk. As she handed the invitation to her friend, he pointed to the spot under her ass. “Um, Ellie, that was a sticky spot from…”

She jumped down, straining to either look at her own ass or twist the fabric around. Failing to see it, she patted her butt loudly and energetically to locate the sticky spot on her best polyester skirt.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

Gary shook his head. “I should say that to you, honey.” Instead he mumbled the words of the invitation to himself. “Well, fancy grand ball it ain’t,” he said, fanning his face with the invitation. “But it will certainly do.”

Resigned to having a tacky butt for the rest of the day, Ellie leaned against the desk. “I’m not going, Gary.”

“Hullo?!” He rolled his eyes at her in disbelief. “Dr. Prince all but begged you to go, Ellie. Were you having an out-of-body experience ten minutes ago?”

She looked away and when she turned back, her baby blues were misty. “Gary, Dr. Unger is right. I—”

“Bullshit!” he nearly yelled, lightly spanking the top of the desk. “She’s wrong. She’s not the right person to supervise us and she most certainly is not the person that will make Dr. Prince happy. You are, Ellie.” To Ellie’s shaking head, he nodded. “Yes, honey. You.”

“I will make a fool of myself. I’ll be wearing a hideous frock from the Dress Barn and everyone else will be wearing shimmering gowns from Saks.”

He jumped up and put his hands on his hips. “Who am I, young lady?”

She knitted her bushy brows together. “You’re Gary Godmoth—”

He pointed a beautifully pampered finger at her. “Wrong!” he grabbed her chin tenderly. “I’m the best damn-tastic thing next to a fairy godmother. I am,” he flourished his arms grandly, “a fashionista extraordinaire. And my magic is irresistible.”

She shook her head again. “I don’t have a thing to wear, Gary—”

“Stop!” he said, covering his ears. “Poof, be gone you foul thoughts!”

She stared at him stunned at his sudden authority.

He put a finger to his lips. “I’ve seen your bank statement, sweetie—” He wagged a finger at her attempt to object. “Tut, tut, Cleopatra. Let me think.” After a moment, he added, “You know, my hobby really is fashion design and, more importantly, I have a sewing machine.”

“So. Do you sew?”

“Do I sew?! I so sew!” He snapped his fingers and then he shuffled his feet. “And I do-si-do.”

She stared down at his handsomely booted feet. “Would you do-si-sew for me?” She asked in a near whisper.

“Does this mean you’re going?”

She nodded, reluctantly.

He put a finger to his chin in an exaggerated gesture of intrigue and he arched a finely plucked eyebrow. “Then we have work to do, my dear.”

X

“Have you gotten the plane tickets and reserved the hotel rooms in Atlanta?” Gary asked, after he ordered Ellie to undress and shower. He was in her small closet looking at her clothes.

She clutched her clothes as if she were already naked. “Did you know a room at the Four Seasons is 460? A night?”

Gary stepped back to regard her. “Honey, I’ve already told you. I’ve seen your savings account balance. You’ve got more commas in that string of numbers than I had in my entire freshmen English lit term paper. So…shut the hell up…” To soften his comment, he hastily added, “Sweetie, and make the damn reservations.”

“I did.”

“Okay then,” he said running his hands over her clothes in the closet. “Then get in the shower.”

“Why don’t you just, um…” she was gesturing with her thumb to the door.

“Hell no, Ellie!” he groused, whirling on her. “I need to see what I have to work with.” He nodded emphatically to her earnest shakes of the head. “My interest in your body is purely clinical, honey,” he said smoothly. “Now strip!”

When she had removed the three shirts, sports bra, white cotton panties and baggie pants, she stood before him. Her head was bowed, one arm covering her breasts and a hand over the triangle of hair below.

He sucked in a breath. “My God, Ellie!”

Her skin was alabaster, completely flawless. Her shoulders were smooth and rippled with a tantalizing hint of feminine muscles. Her breasts though covered, were perky. Ellie’s fit body tapered to a trim waist and flared out again for the rounded hips. She was beautiful.

She blushed, a pink tinge that eventually enveloped the length of lean body. “I told you I was hopeless—”

“Ellie Cinders!” He gave her an admonishing look. “You have a gorgeous body.”

Her eyes darted around the room, unable to meet his studied gaze. “Your opinion doesn’t count,” she whispered.

“Because I’m gay?”

“No, because you’re a man and well, my body is clearly flawed—”

“Oh, shush already, Ellie,” he said, grabbing one of her hands out of the way for a better look. “Your inner critic is a bitch and you should evict her ass.”

Ellie clenched her jaw. She knew Gary was right. Sometimes the alien voice inside her head telling her hurtful things seemed right too. When the voice’s taunts echoed in her head, she would get lost in there and eventually believe the hateful accusations.

“Now get in the shower so I can assemble my tools,” Gary said.

Today was a dry run for next weekend’s shindig. Gary needed time to sculpt, shape and tease out the beauty that Ellie was so utterly frightened of. He could do that because he saw it there and he loved her heart. He wanted everyone to see her beauty.

He put fingertips to his temples and closed his eyes. “I am Boticelli with pigments and brushes. Ellie is Aphrodite rising from the sea and everyone will behold her as a masterpiece.”

With that affirmation complete, he went to work.

--

Alfredo, Gary’s lover, drove the sleek, black stretch Chrysler 300 limo with Ellie and Gary inside.

“Okay, Ellie,” Gary said, putting the finishing touches to her lips. “These lips are smudge proof.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Gary,” she whispered looking away.

“You got it all in the right places. The only thing you need to remember is this: You,” he poked her arm for emphasis, “are the prettiest girl in this whole damn place.”

She rolled her eyes.

He cupped her chin and brought it to meet his eyes. “If we were straight – God forbid, of course – I’d be all over you like…” He stopped, seeing in her blue eyes (that had been fitted with contacts) a fear and vulnerability that made his comment turn to dust in his mouth.

Gary started again, trying to match her sincerity. “Ellie, you are so beautiful. It makes my heart ache that no one sees what I see here –” he touched her chest “and here—” he touched her temple “and here.” His hand waved over her body, a la Vanna White. “Believe me, sweetheart, you are dazzling.”

Her eyes welled up and she nodded, reluctantly. He kissed her cheek, grabbed his chauffeur’s hat that went with his uniform and stepped out of the car. The hotel entrance was buzzing with people dressed for the gala. He stood at the car door and offered his hand to his princess. When she stood, he sucked in another breath and smiled smugly. He was certain she was going to get laid because she had the whole damn package. And she wasn’t hiding behind that wall of fear she’d built.

Before she stepped away, he whispered, “Remember, honey. Two door keys to your room.” She nodded, smiling to the gawkers lining the entrance of the posh hotel.

--

Ellie stepped into the ballroom, after giving herself a spirited pep talk and breathing so deeply she almost hyperventilated. She forced herself to smile as she swept her gaze about the large and crowded ballroom. “Okay, Ellie,” she mumbled to herself. “Don’t fall.” She thought about Gary’s lecture last weekend about the power of words. “I mean, you will walk like a feline – sexy and sure. You own this whole damn place. You are Cinderella and Dr. Prince will love you.”

Dr. Prince was nursing a glass of wine and wishing that she didn’t have to be here. It was definitely not her favorite thing to schmooze with the self-righteous egotists she needed to stroke (figuratively speaking, of course) to get her job done. Politics was a part of her job that she loathed. She would rather change nasty bedpans in a convalescence home than stand here with a pasted smile listening to Dr. Unger paint double entrendres for her. She thinks I don’t get her passes. She refuses to believe I have no interest in her. Such arrogance! Dr. Prince tried hard not to roll her eyes, stick a finger in her mouth in a gag reflex or gesture to her temple with a finger-and-thumb gun.

As she was hearing Dr. Unger tell her for the hundredth time about her cabin in the Catskills, Dr. Prince peered around. When she saw Ellie standing near the entrance, she breath hitched.

Ellie’s blonde hair was piled beautifully on her head with curly whispers kissing her neck. Her eyes! Dr. Prince had never realized how gorgeously expressive her blue eyes were. Or how warm and inviting. Ellie’s lips were curled in a small smile.

Ellie’s dress, designed and crafted by Gary, was black chiffon with thin straps that revealed her creamy shoulders.

When their eyes locked, Ellie’s smile shown brighter than the sun and Dr. Prince swears she heard a chorus of heavenly voices singing Ellie’s name in four-part harmony.

“Dr. Unger,” she said, handing the woman her empty wineglass. “If you’ll excuse me. I see someone very important that I must speak with.”

Ellie tracked Dr. Prince through the crowd and when they were face to face, they stood speechless. Finally, Dr. Prince raised her arms. “Miss Cinders…” Ellie smiled because she didn’t realize Dr. Prince knew her surname. “Miss Cinders, you are…” She shook her head and almost hummed her approval and her attraction. “You are breathtaking and I am most honored to be here with you.”

Ellie closed her eyes and gave an ever so subtle dip of her head. “Thank you, Dr. Prince. You look wonderful, too.”

“Please, call me Carin,” she whispered offering her arm.

“Okay, Carin,” she said, slipping her hand. She almost collapsed when her palm touched Carin’s skin. Ellie never realized that Carin would be so soft.

X

Ellie refused several invitations from interested men to dance.

Carin had to know. “You don’t like to dance, Ellie?”

Ellie had been feeling wonderfully confident from all of the attention and the wine had worked to loosen her tongue. “Carin, I love dancing. What I don’t like are men. Never have…well, not in that special way.” She actually winked at Carin and flashed the biggest smile that nearly reduced Carin to a puddle at her feet.

Carin managed to recover and offered a hand. “Will you dance with me, Ellie?”

Ellie studied Carin’s face, placed her hand there. “It would be the highlight of the evening for me, Carin.” She wanted to say the highlight of her life, but she squelched it. She still couldn’t believe that Carin would be interested in someone like her.

As Carin took Ellie in her arms to lead, she closed her eyes, sighed and blessed her mother for making her take dance lessons.

They’re conversation was awkward at first. “So. How was your day?” Ellie asked.

Carin laughed. “I saved the world today from another round of Mad Cow Disease.”

“My hero,” Ellie whispered. Carin shrugged. “But tomorrow is another day. Monkeypox is rearing its ugly butt in the first world again. I’ve got to track down this outbreak’s patient zero. What about you?”

“Oh, just my usual antics?”

“Is that a pun?”

She thought about what she said and giggled. “Time’s fun when you’re having flies!”

Carin groaned playfully and she tugged at a wisp of a curl near Ellie’s temple. “Your puns are too much. Your punishment will fit the crime,” she whispered. Then Carin quickly leaned in to place a tender kiss on Ellie’s lips, winning her a surprised look and a small smile from the younger woman.

“My,” Ellie said, tilting her head hoping for more. “That’s hardly a deterrent, Carin.” Ellie raised her eyes, thinking of another pun. But before she could even say a word, Carin gave her another kiss that lingered hotly. Ellie slipped a hand in her hair and nearly moaned.

When Carin pulled away, Ellie was breathless and flummoxed. “Punitive strike,” Carin whispered.

“I…I…I,” she stammered. “I can’t remember what we were talking about.”

“You were going accept to my invitation to spend the day with me tomorrow in Atlanta,” Carin said, letting a hand rub up and down Ellie’s back.

“Was I?”

Carin nodded, smiling slightly, revealing the prominent dimple that Ellie found completely irresistible. Ellie reached up and ran her thumb along the prominent dimple in Carin’s left cheek. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?”

“Do what? Touch our lips together? Or fondle my dimple?” Carin was getting into her groove, completely charmed at Ellie’s responses.

Ellie blushed. “Both.”

“Both lips?”

Ellie dipped her head and a small laugh fluttered from her mouth. “Carin, are you toying with me? I’m quite…fragile, you know.”

Carin’s eyes softened and her palm cupped Ellie’s smooth, soft cheek. “Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered. “You are delicate and delightful. And I’m so very glad you are here.”

Ellie was surprised at the admission from Carin, because she never imagined that Carin would feel the same way for her. “I’m glad to be here…with you.”

Carin clasped Ellie’s elegant fingers and brought them to her lips. “I am the envy of every person here,” she said, glancing about the banquet hall.

Ellie’s eyes flicked about, unable to do what she wanted, which was to stare into Carin’s brown eyes until nothing else mattered. “I didn’t realize that veterinarian’s were so doggone romantic,” she whispered, finally letting her eyes settle on her eyes that watched her with intensity.

“That again!” Carin said playfully, giving her a crooked smile. “I don’t think you’ve learned your lesson.” She lifted Ellie’s chin and bequeathed another light kiss on the lips.

“I’m a…slow learner, doctor,” Ellie whispered, her eyes closed. “I think I need more correction.” She lifted her chin slightly, offering herself.

Carin tilted her head and leaned in, this time pressing harder. Ellie moaned when Carin’s tongue grazed her lips, causing her to open wider. Their tongue tips met briefly and darted back in, leaving them both breathless with the promise of more. “I think you needed a good tongue lashing.”

With that, Ellie threw her head back, laughing so delightfully rakish. “Oh, Carin, you really are good at this game!”

“Only if you are having a good time, honey,” she whispered, fondly gazing into the deep blue eyes.

“So much I don’t want it to end,” Ellie finally responded, after a moment of silence.

Carin was so touched by the simple honesty.

The spell was broken when Dr. Unger tapped Carin’s shoulder. Unger had always shown the younger woman very little professional or personal regard so it seemed to Carin that she would show an interest in her on the dance floor. Unger arched her brow. “Well?”

When Ellie agreed, Carin reluctantly relinquished her and walked off the dance floor, lingering close. Ellie was too stunned to consider why her boss would prefer her company to Dr. Prince’s. Gary had talked her through countless contingencies for Dr. Unger. But they never covered this one.

As Dr. Unger held Ellie at arms length, she waltzed her to the doors. As they approached the exit, Dr. Unger found her voice and it was angry. “You know, you look ridiculous, don’t you?”

A feeling of pin needles bloomed in her chest and radiated out in concentric circles. It was the beginning of an anxiety attack. As she listened to Unger berate her for unprofessionalism, threaten her job and attack her personally, her inner critic began to echo the cutting clamor.

I was stupid to think that one night would make Carin consider something more than just a casual friend. We’ve never even gone out, for Pete’s sake. Dr. Unger is right. I am delusional. I am a liability. To the Lab. To my family. That’s why I’m always alone. She’s right.

Tears pooled in her eyes. The damn waterproofed mascara stung like hell.

“I care about you, Ellie,” Dr. Unger said, stopping and gesturing to the exit. “So much so I am going to protect you, even from yourself, hmm?”

Ellie followed the direction of Dr. Unger’s hand and stepped toward it, without looking back.

--

Dr. Prince watched the pair carefully. She long knew that Dr. Unger was a predator, that she was self-serving but as a senseless, destructive force of nature she was oblivious. Until Dr. Prince saw Ellie flee from the ballroom. Her eyes went wide. Damn!

“What did you say to her, Sylvie?” Dr. Prince demanded.

Sylvie tugged at the sleeves of her suit, offering Carin a rapacious smile. “What I always say, my dear, lovely Carin,” she said. “The truth.” Carin studied the taut muscles of Sylvie’s face. If she would have bared her canines and growled, it would have completed the sense of menace that radiated from her. “Shall we dance, Carin? I believe you’ve neglected me all evening. I need some TLC.”

Dr. Unger actually puckered her lower lip in a pout. Carin raked a hand through her hair. “Have you never once considered that I don’t dance with you or go out with you because I don’t like you?”

“Don’t be silly,” she said, holding her arms for Carin to fall into an embrace. “That’s hardly relevant to what I have in mind.”

Carin’s eyes narrowed on the woman. Sylvie Unger personified everything she loathed about working for the CDC. She dripped with a lust for power; the goals of public service were subservient to her own quest for titles and positions; and she did not care which people she crushed in the process.

“I would rather contract Ebola and crawl on my belly naked without sun block through the Gobi Desert than even think about letting you touch me. Is that relevant, hmm?”

Sylvie became aware of chuckles around them. She was unaccustomed to being rebuffed in such stark or public terms. But Sylvie was not done. “What if I say that Ellie will lose her job if you don’t…”

Carin lifted a perfectly manicured finger to Sylvie’s wide eyes. “Blackmail is so ugly, Dr. Unger,” she said, letting a corner of her mouth curl up to suggest a smile. Carin swept her gaze down the woman. “It’s an accessory that matches your entire ensemble – body and soul.” As Carin Prince pivoted to leave, she turned back. “I will be watching out for Ellie. That means hands off, Sylvie.”

X

Dr. Prince couldn’t be sure where Ellie may have run. She couldn’t imagine that she’d gotten a room. She knew Ellie was working on her Ph.D. and 500 was a lot of money for a student.

At the front desk, Dr. Prince inquired of the clerk, who would not disclose that type of information.

Before the front desk clerk finished speaking, a tall man in a chauffeur’s uniform walked up to Dr. Prince. She thought the man looked vaguely familiar.

“Dr. Prince,” the man rumbled.

She looked at him again. Gary could see the distress on her face. “Are you looking for Ellie?”

Her face lit up. “Yes, do you know where she went?”

He handed her the key card. “This key fits room 435.” As Dr. Prince tried to pull it away, Gary tugged it back. “Ellie loves you, doctor. Please don’t break her heart.”

Carin tried to conceal the look of surprise. She would never have…click, the pieces fell together. Their mutual shyness had been a wall for them both. “I want nothing but good things for her.”

Gary nodded and relinquished the key. As he saw Carin enter the elevators he headed toward the door, pulled out his cell phone and called Alfredo. “Baby, take me dancing,” he said. “I have conjured enough magic today.”

X

Carin took a deep breath, adjusting her collar and knocked on the door. There was no immediate answer. She looked again at the room number.

Ellie was standing in the bathroom, watching herself cry. It was her worst form of punishment, giving voice to the tyrant inside while watching her own reflection. When she heard the knock, she felt the familiar pinpricks. She worried it was Unger coming to batter her with more words. Ellie gasped to see the delicate features of the face she loved staring back at her through the peephole.

“Go away, doctor,” she muttered, defeated.

Carin stared into the peephole and shook her head. “I don’t think so, Ellie. Not today.”

Ellie ignored her and returned to the bathroom to cry.

Carin knocked again, reluctant to use the key. When it was apparent Ellie was shutting her out, she slipped the card in. It fit and turned the knob lock green. She gently pushed the door open.

Ellie looked up from her perch on the toilet seat to see Carin looking down at her. “Dr. Prince,” she sobbed. “Please. Don’t look at me. I’m sitting on the pot in a gown for heaven’s sake. Just—”

Carin swept into the room, took Ellie’s soft tender hands and she pulled the smaller woman close. Carin used her thumbs to wipe her tears, while she gazed lovingly into Ellie’s soulful eyes. “Shh, no more tears, Ellie. You never did answer my question about spending the day with me.”

“How did you—?”

“An angel gave me the key to your door.”

“An angel?”

Carin nodded. “How do you think I found you?”

Ellie smiled despite how embarrassed she felt. Gary really was a magic sprite. “I’m sorry I’m so—” She was going to say pathetic but a pair of soft lips stopped her.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, honey.”

Ellie really didn’t know what Carin said. Her mind was focused on the feel of Carin’s lips and her warm embrace. She wanted them and so much more. That is what Carin offered her that night and Ellie opened herself up like a flower to the ocean of love. Every drop ever after.

Fin

17