The Damaged Steps

*** Chapter 5. Zoo-ology.

They finally headed off, in slight trepidation, not really looking forward to motoring on a motorway in the lashing rain. Natalie bit her lip as she wondered if her soft-top car roof would last through all of the storm conditions they would endure for the four hours or so the trip would take. She was glad that she had given her Daisy some new tyres, and had also added better brakes.

Coming into the outskirts of Bristol, Kerry soon noticed her discomfort, and gently placed her hand on Natalie’s thigh in a gesture, meant to sooth her nerves. Natalie somehow kept her concentration as they located the minor road that would take them to their final destination. She placed her hand over Kerry’s. They held hands as they drew into the parking lot.
“Nat, how many suitcases have you actually packed?”
“Only four and that included all of our music kit!”

“ And I managed to fit all my kit into two! Anyway, we just have to lug all of this kit down this staircase, so that I can show you where I have picked for us”
They struggled down an old wet timber staircase, which led to a spacious cottage, with an interior straight out of a 1950 House and Home magazine. The house itself was on a down slope with easy access to a small secluded beach. Natalie squealed with delight and danced around the reception hall with glee. She hugged Kerry as she thanked her for getting such a beautiful place.

She moved to the kitchen where Kerry’s delivery team had thoughtfully loaded up the large American style double fridge with a great selection of all her favourite food, beers, and Kerry’s tipples.

Natalie quickly selected the bedroom with all of the flowery wallpaper, chintzy curtains and period correct wardrobes. She was delighted to see that there was no Gassunder (Hull chamber pot) in sight, and instead there was a totally modern en-suite. She happily put all of her things away making sure her door was closed as she unpacked all of her finery and placed them tenderly into sets of drawers.

They had decided to spend their first night relaxing, and listening to some music while looking over their scrapbook of old photographs since their days in school in Hull. Natalie had stocked up their favourite snacks, biscuits and popcorn, which was a long held tradition between them when together at home.

They got into their PJs and in Natalie’s case her fluffy slippers, cranked up the IPod and listened to the music from their teenage years. They got comfy on the couch and tore into all of the characters from school. One english teacher, Rufus Meagrams, who had a constant head cold, was nicknamed Mufus Mensbrains, or more disparagingly Professor Snot!

One posh girl who was really nasty to anyone she perceived to be gay came in for considerable slagging. Kerry referred to her as “all fur coat and no knickers” while Natalie reckoned that she should be blessed with at least six lesbian daughters and a few gay sons as well. They both agreed that just like the John Dory fish, she certainly had been bitten by the ugly bug!

The day’s driving finally caught up on them and as they felt their eyes drooping they decided to head off to their rooms. Natalie slept like a log, while Kerry pondered on how to make a move on her friend, before finally succumbing to the comfort of the luxurious bed.
The following morning, given a very good weather report, they decided to go to Bristol Zoo. Daisy was behaving impeccably, and the girls enjoyed the stroll through all of the enclosures as they held hands and agreed to have a digital photo taken on their compact camera to add to their collection. Natalie adored the Meer cat enclosure and tittered over the Silverback Gorilla called Jock. He was not dissimilar to a character from Hull, a giant of a man who spent all of his time digging up roads with a powerful jackhammer and struggling to keep his hairy back and even hairier backside covered. With typical Hull humour he was called Jack d’Crack!

As they headed to the city centre it certainly looked to any observer that these two girls were very close. When they weren’t holding hands they were linking each other or casually walking arm in arm. As they strolled through a shopping area called the Triangle, Kelly’s eyes were drawn to a Jewellers shop where, just like in her dream, she could see just the ring she would buy, if things went her way. They headed to the market as they had heard great things about the food there. The Market itself was just what Natalie loved, a miasma of shops of all sizes and types, including the quirky household goods one. After their stroll they settled in a small restaurant and had a wonderful salmon salad each. As Natalie was driving, she abstained from a beer, but looked longingly at the beer menu. As a gesture of solidarity, Kerry refused to drink until they got back to the cottage, where they collected a large beach blanket, book, some suntan lotion and a few cold beers.

They took the back steps from the cottage down to the beach with Natalie muttering to herself over the poor state of the them. They relaxed in the late afternoon sun, as Natalie lay back with her head in Kerry’s lap. Kerry read her excerpts from Sybilia’s latest hilarious lesbian fan-fiction book which had her guffawing with splutters of laughter. Kerry put suntan lotion on Natalie and noticed goose bumps wherever she touched, Natalie looked dreamily at Kerry and said “I could settle for this”. For her it meant having Kerry this close to her all the time, and a sip of her favourite beer. She decided there and then to project all of her love to Kerry and hope something positive happened.

“So could I, love” was the very satisfactory reply from a relaxed Kerry, who was caressing her hair, still looking to find a way to pluck up the courage to kiss those inviting lips. In the meantime she kissed Natalie’s forehead.
They debated the evening’s ballroom extravaganza, and decided that it was time to head back to get dolled up for it. Kerry arched her eyebrows as she said in her most stubborn accent “I’ll be driving tonight”.

Natalie paused for a second to take in the comment, and assumed that there was some mysterious reason, so just nodded in response. As they got indoors she was stunned to find that Kerry had got her a 1950’s pink organza prom dress specially made by Lucy for the occasion, with matching neck scarf, and beautiful gloves. Natalie screamed her satisfaction with a loud whoop, before heading to her room to figure out which of her underwear selections and shoes would suit this creation.
They both got ready in their own rooms.

Natalie smoothed her dress over her girdled and gartered figure, satisfied with her appearance. As she left her room she looked in awe at her friend. Kerry was dressed in a black tuxedo, high white collar and frilly necked shirt, and black patent shoes. Her highly glossed lips and cleverly made up eyebrows brought a “Wow” of approval.
Kerry beamed in satisfaction, like a cat that has got the cream.

“I promise I will drive carefully, Nat. I have studied the route map and can get us to our dance gala in about thirty minutes”.
She lowered her voice to a baritone and said mischievously “If milady will follow me, I will show you to your carriage”

Kerry put on some swing music as they made their way to the ballroom that was to be their dance venue for the evening. She carefully parked Daisy and linked Natalie as they moved to their table. She then headed off to the bar for a drink for them both. She settled for a fruit punch for herself and a dressed Grand Marnier cocktail for Natalie.

They were both impressed with the set up of the big band and singers who were doing an intro set of American big band classics.
As the band struck up a modern version of a waltz, Kerry resplendent in her tuxedo held out her hand and Natalie gleefully left her seat. In all of her finery she felt so good, and projected this through her eyes straight to Kerry, whose heart gave a sudden lurch of recognition to the emotion she could plainly see.

They could see that their combined outfits were the talk of the night, and assumed that there were murmurs of disapproval from the ballroom fraternity who were not used to a two girl couple on one of their evenings. They didn’t care, as they had felt far worse animosity in times past.

As they danced they repeatedly found a united rhythm, both graceful and feminine. Natalie took every opportunity to get close to her amour. Kerry in turn could feel Natalie’s closeness and revelled in it. Throughout the evening Natalie found herself daydreaming about this feeling which felt like pure heaven. Kerry smiled as she could see how much Natalie was enjoying the evening.

A happy and tired duo finally left the ballroom as the dance extravaganza was drawing to a close. On the way back in Daisy, Natalie snoozed in her seat. Kerry took her time and finally got them back at about 1 a.m.
Natalie hugged Kerry as happy tears threatened. She hastily headed to her room, to get out of her dress, and slip into bed in just her panties. Her dream that night had a Cinderella theme.
O, Yes, she did get to go to the ball!