Spanish Rose Part 1

By Rogtom

It was spring. Fragrance and sunshine wrapped me in a warm cloak while birds chorused in newly greened trees. Wednesday is my favourite day of the week; it is when I get together with the girls at Antonio's Coffee Palace and my smile brought several stares as I walked towards the mall.

Antonio's has a nice view of the harbour and already I could see several yachts leaning away from the brisk breeze, their hulls skipping the choppy water. Everything was blue and new out there, the water, the sky…even the smell of the sea was blue today and my body tingled with delight at the sheer thrill of life.

I love alfresco dining and so I was pleased to see that the girls had commandeered a table on the piazza with one of those quaint Cinzano umbrellas shading us from the sun. Marlene waved and smiled her bare arms white after a winter of long sleeves and overcoats. Today she was wearing a summer frock of greens and yellows that swirled in a dance of colour broken only by the bright red belt around her middle. She had changed her hair; decided to be strawberry blonde this summer. Carol sat next to her nursing her first café latte and smiling through shocking red lipstick. She batted her green eyes as I approached and sipped at her brew. Next to her sat a new girl. She was frowning slightly though still wearing a smile. I noticed she wore a plunging mauve blouse that showed the curves of her bosoms to great advantage. Her hair was dark, cut almost pageboy style with a bob at the collar, and her eyes were dark and mysterious. Those eyes made me think of Spain.

I took a chair next to the new girl. As I seated myself, Carol put her hand on the new girl's shoulder.

"Say hello to Kalina Del Rosa. Kalina, this is Sue Mallory."

"Pleased to meet you." Kalina pronounced it 'djoo' and her accent was definitely Latino.

"Buenos dias, Kalina. Encantada de conocerle" I replied, smiling and reaching for her hand. Her eyes opened wide as saucers and her smile beamed like sunlight.

"Hola. Habla Espanol?" She asked.

"That was about the limit of it." I confessed and took her hand in mine, giving it a brief squeeze. She felt so warm and I could smell her perfume. It was based on roses, but such a subtle bouquet as to be almost a whisper.

Lunch was lovely. We decided on a seafood plate for four that was positively Mediterranean complimented with a crisp Riesling from the Australian Hunter Valley region. As we chatted I kept sneaking appreciative glances at Kalina. She spoke fast and used her hands, carving invisible sculptures in the air to demonstrate her point. Carol was smoking again and I frowned my disappointment at her when she lit an Alpine lite without so much as a 'beg your pardon' to the rest of the table. I saw that Kalina was not a smoker when she batted at the resulting blue drift that assailed her pert little nose.

Marlene Powell nodded at the Spanish girl's chatter but I saw she was rather distracted, her look distant and troubled. I noticed that there was a dark shadow under the make-up of her right eye and my heart went out to her. My husband can be a boorish pig at times, but he has never ever hit me in our nine years of marriage. Her Gary must have gotten drunk again. Last time he had gotten drunk he visited her in hospital and knelt by her bed, crying like a schoolboy and promising her he would never, ever drink again. Well, I guess never is a much shorter time for a man, because that had been less than six months ago.

My attention drifted back to Kalina who was on about Roberto. I tuned in and caught the gist of her story. Roberto was her husband, a property developer with a lot of money and a roving eye. She had found out about his latest mistress just yesterday and was retelling the scenario with hot tears in her fiery Latin eyes.

"I catch him…" She hissed. "I catch him, I take off his salchicha with a very dull knife! Him and his puto!"

She spat on the ground … the sound almost rhyming with that Spanish word for 'slut'.

"What I do?" She asked, her eyes roaming our faces in turn. "How do I teach him a big lesson?"

I had finished my latte and so I pushed my cup aside. She was beautiful in her anger and I caught myself glancing down at her slim legs protruding cheekily from a lilac skirt. My mind must have drifted momentarily as I suddenly started and looked up to see Kalina looking at me expectantly. By the expression on the other girl's faces, it was obvious Kalina had asked me a question. I felt myself go red as I know they had all seen where my eyes had been.

"I'm sorry, Kalina. What was the question?"

She sighed and gave me a huge grin, showing her perfect pearly white teeth.

"I was wondering about your husband." She repeated. Was it my imagination, or did she cast her eyes over my waist and legs quickly before meeting my eyes again. Her smile stayed in place and her eyes were warm and inviting.

"Oh, he is a dental surgeon and has his own practice in the heart of the city." I replied.

"Does he have girlfriends like my Roberto?"

I looked at Marlene. She just smiled and cast her gaze over the bay, and when I looked at Carol she was busy digging for another menthol.

"I don't think so…" I wasn't sounding too sure. Paul was a very handsome man, very attractive to the girls and he did spend a lot of time away from home. I'd never really thought about it much, but in retrospect, sex was a little sporadic these days. I tried to remember the last time he had made love to me, and came to the realisation that the last time he had made love to me was over a month ago and that had been a 'quickie' before he dashed off to work. I also remembered that it had been in response to my complaint of not 'getting enough attention'

I must have looked a little glum because Kalina gave me a huge grin and placed both her hands on my forearm and dropped her head momentarily on my shoulder.

"Ayayai." She sighed. "I should not pry, no? Forgive me."

My smile was all the forgiveness Kalina needed and she gave my arm a little squeeze before she let go.

"Sometimes I wonder if it would not be better that us women take care of each other when it comes to love." She said, looking around the table. Marlene smiled and fiddled with her empty glass while carol threw her head back and laughed.

"My vibrator has never let me down as long as I don't forget to buy the Evereadys" She replied.

I blushed again and automatically looked at Kalina. My strict Catholic upbringing had precluded such 'devices' and I was a little shocked at how easily Carol spoke about her 'toy', even if we were all women and friends.

I peeked at Kalina and saw she was looking directly at me, her smile wide and suggestive. It was then that I noticed how full her lips were. Not heavily painted with lipstick. Just soft, and natural in their beauty. She had my attention and now she glanced quickly at each of the other two before turning back to me. Her hand reached over, hidden by the table, and squeezed my leg. She winked at me, and the tip of her tongue flicked across her lip in a fleeting gesture that set my body tingling.

My mind drifted away from the conversation although I saw Kalina was chatting amicably with my two friends. I just couldn't help glancing at her lovely tanned legs and the swell of her breasts. The tingle had faded but it was still there, as well as the feeling of naughtiness that I had not felt since my school days. I became aware that I was wet between my legs and a hot feeling of desire spread from there.

It was almost as if Kalina was aware of my feeling. Although she kept up her chatter, she looked often at me and her eyes twinkled with merry mischief. My responding smile must have given her some mute encouragement as I felt her hand upon my thigh, high up above the knee. Again that little squeeze, but this time she didn't take her hand away. I swallowed and looked quickly across at my two very good friends. They were both talking at once, giggling at jokes and totally oblivious of the development between Kalina and I under that small table.

Somewhere halfway through the second Café Latte I felt Kalina's hand on my thigh again. She had managed to manoeuvre her chair a little closer and much of her conversation was directed at me. I thrilled at the warmth of her touch but nearly gasped as her fourth and little fingers slid under my skirt, stroking the inside of my leg. She had turned to the girls and was giving them travelogue tours of Barcelona as she explored my thigh, her hand creeping slowly higher, inch by inch.

It was a little after 12-00pm before we decided to disband. Marlene looked at her watch and gave a nervous little start. "Oh dear, I have to meet Gary in twenty minutes. I mustn't be late." She explained.

Carol patted her hand and dug in her purse, producing a $50 note. "Treat's mine" She pre-empted Marlene who was also rummaging through her bag. "Want company?"

Marlene looked almost birdlike as Carol said it, and then gave a quick nod of her head. "That would be nice." She acknowledged.

"Let's go then." Carol turned to Kalina and I, giving each of us her best smile. "I will see you two girls later then, take care." The last two words were said with a broad wink in my direction.