LYB

Author's Note: This story has been posted to Literotica. Com with the full knowledge of the original author, JimBob44. No part or whole of this story may be reprinted in any other format or on any other web site without the express written consent of the original author.

Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

This story has been edited by myself, utilizing Microsoft Spell-Check. You have been forewarned; expect to find mistakes.

**..**

Celeste Clay climbed out of the pool, breathing hard from her vigorous paddling. She briskly rubbed her body with a towel then draped the towel over the railing of the stained redwood deck. She then lay on the padded chaise lounge, allowing the Arkansas sun to beat down on her wet flesh.

The sun was slowly drying her skin and blonde hair. Celeste could feel her exposed areolae crinkling tight as she lay, young breasts thrust toward the pale blue sky. She did not open her eyes when she heard Ashley take the chaise lounge right next to her.

"I swear, Celeste, you are so lucky," Ashley enthused.

"Mm?" Celeste asked, opening one eye.

She watched as the extremely pale Ashley Clinton made sure she was fully covered by the chaise lounge's umbrella. And, even though shielded from the harmful UV rays, Ashley sprayed some more sunscreen onto her exposed flesh.

Celeste knew she should feel fortunate to have her own home. At eighteen years of age, most of her peers were either still living at home with their parents or were struggling to afford an overpriced apartment or crammed into a single wide trailer with five or six other people.

Celeste had been an only child of two parents that had been only children themselves. Brian Clay, Celeste's father was not only an only child; he was an orphan and Celeste had grown up in the home Brian had inherited when his parents were killed in a terrorist attack while on vacation in France.

Celeste was also an orphan; Brian had a love of alcohol. Her mother was a teetotaler and Celeste could remember several arguments over Brian's drunken antics. In a twist of irony, it had been Allison Clay behind the wheel when a drunk ran a red light and killed Allison and Brian.

From age thirteen, Celeste had lived with her only relative, her widowed grandmother, Clara East. The large in-ground swimming pool had been a gift to Celeste; Celeste had not thought it much of a gift since the upkeep of the pool fell to her. Before she could enjoy a dip in her pool, Celeste had to check the salinity level of the salt water pool, grab the long handled net and scoop out any debris. Then after the use of the pool, Celeste had to make sure there were no items left about; towels, her cover-up, bottle of sunscreen. Owning a pool was a lot of work for just a few minutes of splashing about.

She had also not thought living under her grandmother's hard-nosed, no-nonsense religious rule to be much reason to be grateful. She had a swimming pool and her own bedroom, was fed three square meals a day and was encouraged to pursue her own interests. BUT... She had to wear modest swimsuits. There was no sugar with those meals. Her interests were approved only if they met the dictates of the religious leaders of Clara's church. And there was no door on her bedroom. As a woman, Clara knew all too well the illicit thoughts of a teenaged girl. There would be no privacy for Celeste to give into temptation to touch herself.

Clara had been thirty eight years old when she'd given birth to Allison Faye East. And, being a somewhat homely girl with flat chest, thick middle and wide hips, it took an extremely inebriated twenty year old Brian Clay to impregnate the thirty year old Allison East.

Celeste had never met Theodore East; he'd passed away ten years before Celeste was born. He'd had a study, a 'man-cave' of sorts that Clara never went into. Celeste was also forbidden to enter the sanctuary to Clara's memory of her beloved Theo. So, on the evening of burying Clara Alice East, Celeste pushed the bi-fold louvered doors apart and entered the dusty room.

There was a very comfortable recliner. The living room of Clara's home had uncomfortable couch and two matching whingback chairs, all covered in plastic. Celeste had learned long ago to avoid sitting on the living room furniture should she be wearing shorts.

There was a large console television wedged into a corner of the room; Celeste had not seen a television since moving into Clara's home; Clara believed that television programming was sinful and deviant so forbade television in her good Christian home.

There was also a very comfortable, overstuffed couch with a feather pillow on one end and a fleece blanket draped over the arm on the other end. Celeste deduced that Grandpa spent more than one night in this room. The pillow still held the faint aroma of Old Spice after shave.

"Grandpa!" Celeste gasped; truly shocked when she read the titles of the videocassettes that sat on the top shelf of the bookcase nest to the large console television.

There was a beautiful wood bar to the right of the television. Stepping behind the bar, Celeste saw that Grandpa kept a very well stocked bar. She wondered how many pleasant afternoons Grandpa may have spent in his domain, away from the sharp eye and sharp tongue of his wife and his daughter.

For a long moment, Celeste stared at the bottles, wondering what she should try. With the help of her cell phone, a luxury she'd had to beg and beg for, Celeste looked up the recipe for a whiskey sour. In a book she'd discovered in her bedroom, which had been her mother's bedroom until Allison married Brian, Celeste had read 'Of Rather Peculiar Tastes' by Rod Coxsway. The male protagonist in the quite salacious tale drank whiskey sours.

Thankfully, Theo had all the ingredients in his bar. Celeste had no way of knowing that Theo was quite fond of whiskey sours. This was why there was a pillow and a blanket on the couch. Clara sternly rebuked her husband for his drunkenness.

Clara certainly had no patience for his peculiar desires; sex was for procreation only. The things Theo suggested certainly were not for procreation. Thus, the numerous videocassettes of young, fresh faced teenaged girls being sodomized, sucking cock, and receiving facials of copious amounts of semen.

Settling into the very comfortable recliner, Celeste took her first sip of alcohol. Just like her father and her paternal and maternal grandfathers, the moment the alcohol burned its way past her esophagus and coursed into her belly, Celeste felt a sense of ease and comfort and well-being that had eluded her for her entire life. For a long moment, she eased back in the chair, shuddered with pleasure, then let out a soft, satisfied sigh of contentment.

Unlike her father and two grandfathers, Celeste stopped after the second drink. She did want a third drink. She wanted to double to whiskey; she'd read in another of her mother's lascivious books about a well-hung cock's man that drank doubles. Instead, she called it quits and made herself a supper of fried chicken and stovetop macaroni & cheese.

The moment the sun set on the long, uncomfortable day, Celeste went to her bedroom, removed her shorts and tee shirt, serviceable bra and full briefs. She resolved that she would purchase some much more flattering clothes for herself now that her grandmother was not there to monitor her clothing choices. For a long moment, no longer mindful that her grandmother might catch her in the sinful act of conceit, Celeste admired her nude form in the full-length mirror.

"Maybe even get some clothes from Vokine's," Celeste giggled, naming the exclusive department store Clara had always denounced because of their exorbitant prices.

Celeste had 32C teardrop shaped breasts dotted with half-dollar coin sized light brown areolae and thick nipples. Both areolae were crinkled tightly and her nipples stuck out simply from the rebellious act of standing nude. Her waist was 26 inches; Clara often playfully fussed at Celeste for having such a perfect waistline.

"Oh, but just you wait," Clara would prophesize. "Minute you have a baby? Oh well!"

Her hips flared out to thirty inches then tapered into her muscular thighs. Celeste had enjoyed running track and that had been heartily approved of by Clara. So, her legs were sleek and muscled.

Celeste's sex was barely covered by sparse tendrils of straw covered hair. In the mirror, Celeste could see the groove that bisected her crotch. Turning and glancing over her shoulder, Celeste admired her firm buttocks. Running track had kept them quite firm and defined. With a naughty giggle, Celeste gave a little shimmy of her buttocks.

Then, she marched out of her bedroom, across the hallway to her bathroom. Even leaving her bedroom unclothed felt exhilarating. Clara would have fussed at her; a lady never leaves her bedroom without being properly attired.

She certainly would not travel down the stairs, towel draped over her bare shoulder, wearing nothing but a smile and flip flops. Celeste giggled at her brazenness, her daring as she approached the rear sliding glass doors of her grandmother's home.

"My home now, I guess," she said, wondering why she did not feel more somber, more devastated over the loss of her last living relative.

"Because she was a bitch," Celeste decided, hand automatically reaching for the switch for the pool light.

"She wasn't a bitch; she just didn't know how to express love," Celeste chided herself, hurriedly turning the light off.

Stepping outside, Celeste did glance about worriedly. Seeing and hearing nothing, she continued on her path toward the pool. The half-moon cast enough light for her to see the chaise lounge. The moon reflected off of the still waters of the pool and Celeste dropped the towel onto the chaise lounge before jumping into the pool.

"Oh! Oh my God, yes!" Celeste giggled, elated with the feeling of the cool water caressing her bare skin.

She lost track of time as she swam the pool. When she tired of swimming, she sat on the steps, half-submerged in the rippling waters.

"This is the ONLY way to swim," Celeste giggled, finally dragging her water-logged flesh from the pool.

Even drying her nude body in the cool night air was a tittilating experience. Looking around, Celeste determined that no one could spy into her back yard, unless they were on a ladder and peering over her fence. Clara had put the fence up twenty nine years earlier when a black family had moved into their previously lily-white neighborhood. Throughout the years, the fence had been well-maintained, affording them privacy.

"So, if I wanted to..." Celeste said to herself as she let herself into the home. "No reason to wait until dark."

Celeste returned to school the day after burying her grandmother. The vice-principal had assured her, she could take as long as she needed; after all, Clara East had been Celeste's last known relative. But Celeste saw no reason to miss any more days than absolutely necessary. Not when she was this close to graduation.

Arriving home from school, driving the small, inexpensive seventeen year old car her grandmother had allowed her to buy, Celeste found the Reverend C. Thomas Little and Jamie Tismann waiting for her. She was not fully out of the car and the Reverend was demanding the keys to the home and to the two vehicles. Celeste wisely locked herself in her vehicle and called 911.

The police arrived; one of the officers was a member of the non-denominational church the Reverend headed. Celeste smirked as the police officer's disapproval was blatantly apparent on the man's face.

"I had the traffic detail for Mrs. East's funeral," the officer said, voice hard as he faced minister and attorney.

"Oh, oh well, thank you," Reverend Little said.

"You just buried her momma yesterday?" the officer spat. "And here you are today? Telling her she needs to get out of her house?"

"I, she, we have a legally binding document," the man blustered. "She, she bequeathed her estate to the church and..."

"And rather than doing the Christian thing? Letting her stay in her home, least 'til she graduate's on out of high school? You over here, ready to throw her out? On the street?" the officer snarled.

Magnanimously, the Reverend agreed that Celeste could stay until high school graduation which would be in three weeks. But he demanded to be let into the home, to photograph the contents. He did not trust Celeste to leave all contents with the home.

"Darius, this the church you been telling me I needed come to?" the other officer finally spoke up.

"Yeah," the first man agreed.

"Yes, yes, we have worship at..." Reverend Little began, smiling smugly.

"Uh, yeah, no. Don't think I need hear the word of God from nobody like that," the second officer said, shaking his head. "God ain't no bank account, know what I'm saying?"

"Ah! And all banking records, please," the Reverend brightened. "I demand that I be given access to Mrs. East's banking records."

"Wow," the second officer shook his head in disgust at the reverend's antics.

"Yeah man, don't worry 'bout coming to church with me this Sunday," Darius said. "I won't be there. And once they find out about this shit? Bet a whole lot of people won't be there."

"Grandma did that digital banking," Celeste thought quickly.

"Okay," Reverend Little agreed.

"Well, she didn't give me her password so I have no way of accessing her bank account," Celeste continued. "Guess you going have go down to the bank and see what they say."

"Fine, fine," the man turned to Jamie, who had stood by, looking very uncomfortable from the moment their intended showed herself to have a backbone. "What bank did Clara East use?"

"According to this, the First Union Bank of Myndee," Jamie said.

Celeste fought against the smirk; Grandma had closed her accounts at First Union when the computer inadvertently charged Clara for an overdraft she had not committed. Despite the bank issuing a full refund and apology, Clara moved everything from First Union to National Commerce Savings & Loan on Halliwell Drive.

"Ma'am? Just for my own understanding," Celeste said as the minister tried to hustle the attorney to his luxury sedan. "Could you tell me when my grandmother filled out that will?"

"Um, hmm, yes, yes, that, that was March of two thousand and nine," Jamie verified, looking at the sheaf of paperwork in her pudgy fist.

"Hmm," Celeste said, then thanked the two officers for their assistance.

She unlocked the door of her home and hurried into the home. Rapidly, she locked the door before Reverend C. Thomas Little could barge in, camera at the ready. She then scampered to the kitchen and almost pulled the junk drawer out of the cabinet.

There, underneath the deck of playing cards that only had forty nine cards, the neatly arranged statements from National Commerce Savings & Loan, packet of rubber bands, the assorted ink pens that had dried up and store receipts dating back to before COVID, Celeste found the packet from Graham Ubelhauser, Attorney At Law. Using the letter opener that had somehow wiggled down to the bottom of the drawer, Celeste opened the envelope.

"Yes!" Celeste breathed a sigh of relief.

In March of 2009, Grandmother had believed that Brian and Allison Clay would care for and raise Celeste. Seeing that the Clay family were financially established, Clara gladly left her estate to the church.

But when she assumed the care of her only granddaughter, Clara had prepared a new will. When she called the Law Office of Werner, Franklin & Associates, the paralegal answering the phone had been rude so Clara decided to go with the office of Graham Ubelhauser. After all, Carl Ubelhauser managed Clara's investments accounts and did so very masterfully. Besides that, Carl Ubelhauser and the staff of Ubelhauser Investments treated Clara with the deference she believed that she deserved.

"To my beloved granddaughter, Celeste..." Celeste read the new, revised will that was dated December of 2017, the year she'd come to live with her grandmother.

"... The Bible does say we are to tithe one tenth of our possessions to the church..." Clara had stated to Graham Ubelhauser, bequeathing ten percent of her investments to the Reverend Little's church.

"Ubelhauser and associates," a pleasant sounding woman answered the telephone.

Graham extended his condolences. Celeste did thank him for the beautiful floral arrangement the firm had sent, then got to the reason for her call. Graham assured Celeste he would take care of everything.

"Tis... You said Tismann? Jamie Tismann?" Graham laughed mirthlessly. "Yes, don't worry; I'll take care of this."

Everything finally resolved, Celeste gave in to the temptation and made herself a whiskey sour. The first sip had the same effect as the previous evening; that curious warmth, that sense of ease and comfort.

A note affixed to the door the following afternoon told Celeste she had a certified letter. She drove to the post office and signed for the letter from her attorney. She smiled when she read that the execution of her grandmother's will would be on Tuesday at four thirty in the afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon, Celeste entered the lobby of Ubelhauser & Associates and quietly informed the very attractive receptionist whom she was and whom she was there to see. The woman gave Celeste a beaming smile and directed her to take a seat.

"Would you care for coffee? Perhaps a soda?" the woman asked.

Celeste did think it somewhat odd, how the woman swiveled her head.

"Um, no, no thank you," Celeste said, selecting a seat away from the Reverend and his attorney.

"Oh, you're welcome," the woman smiled, now facing Celeste.

"How much longer?" Reverend Little brayed, attempting to sound aggrieved.

"Now that Ms. Clay is here, it should not be too much longer, the woman said, smiling as she punched a number on her computer keyboard. "Yes, Mr. Ubelhauser. Ms. Clay is here."

Celeste studied the woman's very pale features. With her black hair and black eyebrows, the whitish looking skin was a sharp contrast. With slim face, slim nose and pouting pale pink lips, Celeste thought the woman was strikingly beautiful.

"Well, we did miss you in church this Sunday," Reverend Little accused as Celeste sat and waited.

"Seriously? The day after my grandmother's funeral? You try to have me thrown out of my own home," Celeste exploded. "And you think I would come to your church? You are a lunatic."

"Uh, yes, yes sir," the receptionist said into her headset.

"The word of God..." Reverend Little intoned.

"Is being proclaimed at St. Anthony's," Celeste taunted, knowing the reverend's animus regarding the Catholic Church.

"Ms. Clay? Mr. Little?" the receptionist said, soft, musical voice rising to be heard over their verbal exchange.

"That is Reverend Little," Reverend Little announced.

"Mr. Ubelhauser will see you now," she said, not bothering to correct herself. Conference room A; first door on the left."

"Thank you," Celeste said as she turned to the hallway.

"You are welcome," the woman smiled.

Had Jamie Tismann not held onto Reverend Little's sleeve, he would have knocked Celeste aside in his rush to get to Conference Room A. Looking over once more, Celeste did think it somewhat odd, how the receptionist sat, blankly staring at nothing.

"Again, Ms. Clay, I truly am sorry for your loss," Graham Ubelhauser said, rising and shaking the young woman's hand.

When he discovered that he had no claim to the home or to the contents, or to Clara East's newer luxury sedan, Reverend C. Thomas Little was very unhappy. Graham sat, blandly regarding the man's histrionics. Jamie Tismann looked very uncomfortable; Celeste believed that this was a normal look for the woman.

"We will sue," Reverend Little declared.

"Oh, I look forward to the hours I will bill to you," Graham smiled widely.

Celeste signed documents, received packets, received verbal instructions; her head was swimming by the time she stood to leave Conference Room A. At the last moment, she did ask about retaining Graham Ubelhauser as her personal attorney. The man smiled and had her sit once more.

"Don't worry; it's just a few more forms," he assured the young client. "I know, I know, you're getting writer's cramp from all the signing and initialing, but..."

Stepping into the lobby, Celeste saw that the young receptionist was no longer at her post. She shrugged; it was nearly six o'clock in the evening; the young woman was probably off. Stepping outside, she saw the receptionist standing, an aggravated look on her beautiful face.

And Celeste saw the long, thin white cane in the woman's hand. She also saw the dark glasses on the woman's face.

"Hi," she said, approaching the woman.

"Uh. Hi," the woman agreed, sounding very guarded and physically shrinking away from Celeste.

"I, it's me, uh, Celeste. Celeste Clay," Celeste said, assessing the woman's hesitant nature. "I was just in..."

"Hmm? Oh, oh, the client that was just... Everything go okay?" the woman relaxed.

"Yeah, yeah, better than I had hoped for," Celeste admitted.

"Oh, oh good," the woman said, then swiveled her head as they heard a car pull into the parking lot.

The car kept driving past them and the woman huffed in impatience. Celeste watched as another woman exited the building and strode to the car.

"Uh, you, who you waiting on?" Celeste asked as the car sped away.

"Bruce. My brother," the woman said. "And, golly gosh, no surprise but the butt head is late. Again. I swear to God, he, he would be late to his own funeral."

"Well, where do you live?" Celeste asked.

"Trenton. Seven twelve Trenton, right by..." the woman said, even pointing to the left toward the lower middle class neighborhood.

"Which is right around the corner from my house," Celeste said, then giggled, realizing that it truly was her house.

Ashley sent her butt-head brother a text message. Celeste gawked as the cell phone spat out some rapid-fire squawks and Ashley shook her head.

"He forgot," Ashley informed Celeste as she gripped Celeste's arm. "Believe that? He's got one job. ONE JOB and he forgot."

On the car ride from law office to 712 Trenton Street, Celeste found out that Ashley was totally blind; congenital glaucoma. Her pale features were from a lack of pigmentation but she was not a true albino.

"But burn? Oh, I burn so easy," Ashley admitted.

"Let me guess; you just love the beach," Celeste joked and Ashley giggled.

"Hate it," she agreed. "Once? When I was what? 'Bout eleven? We went to um, Fort Walton Beach in Florida. They'd just had a hurricane so the water was so nasty, all that seaweed and sand? Oh my God! Sand got everywhere; thought I was never going get all that sand out of my hair or off my skin."

"Yeah; I don't even like going to the Heart's Bend," Celeste agreed, naming a local beach area that was nestled in a natural sandy bend in the Kelliken River.

"I know? But every year? That's where my butt head brother wants to celebrate his birthday; Bruce's birthday's on the Fourth of July," Ashley said.

"The fireworks? Yeah, much as I hate Heart's Bend, it is the best place to watch," Celeste said, then groaned as she realized she'd just used the word 'watch' in front of a blind person.

"Oh God, don't. All right? Just don't." Ashley said, pretty face even prettier as she smiled an easy smile. "I use words like 'see' and 'look' and 'watch' all the time. But you're right. The Heart's Bend is the best place to watch the fireworks."

Pulling up to the house, Celeste blurted out her address, even giving Ashley directions to the house. Inadvertently, she forgot and mentioned that it was the house with the gaily painted wooden wheelbarrow in the front.

"I mean..." Celeste trailed off, feeling very foolish.

"Bive me your phone number?" Ashley asked, fishing her cell phone out of her purse.

They exchanged phone numbers. Ashley thanked Celeste for the ride and got out of the car. Celeste wanted to call out for Ashley to watch out for the car parked in the driveway but restrained her tongue.

Home again, home, in her home, her very own home, Celeste made herself a quick meal. Then she had her first whiskey sour in her own home. Sitting on the recliner, Celeste felt her cell phone buzz and read a text message from Ashley. With a squeal and giggle, Celeste responded.

Through the text messages, Celeste found out that Ashley was nineteen years old. She'd spent every summer at the Louisiana Center for the Blind at a summer camp for blind children. That was where her seemingly incredible independent skills came from.

"All the teachers are blind," Ashley disclosed. "So, anything they tell you to do? They've already done it and know how to do it."

"So cool," Celeste agreed.

A little before ten that evening, Celeste remembered she still had a ton of homework so reluctantly called an end to their text marathon.

'LYB' Ashley replied.

'LYB?' Celeste asked even as she dug her Trignometry textbook out.

'Love you, bye' Ashley responded.

'Love you, bye' Celeste agreed.

On Saturday, Celeste did her housework in the nude. She felt so naughty, running the vacuum cleaner over the living room rug as her breasts bobbled and swayed back and forth. And, entering her Grandmother's room, Celeste suddenly felt ashamed and guilty of her nudity.

"Bullshit," Celeste snapped, beautiful face a mask of ugliness. "Bull. Shit. You are not here and you do not tell me how to feel, do you hear me?"

After cleaning the house, Celeste decided to go for a swim. In broad daylight, the eighteen year old girl stepped out onto the wooden deck, towel casually draped over her left shoulder. The towel dangled over her left breast and her left buttock. But when she draped the towel over the railing, her naked body was fully exposed to the late spring sunshine.

After a brisk swim, Celeste then lay, fully nude on the padded chaise lounge. Rousing from her slumber, Celeste went inside and made her first drink of the day.

Coming to nearly three hours later, Celeste drunkenly decided another swim would revive her.

"And know what? Know what? Why? Why you still in that small room?" Celeste asked herself as she wobbled toward the sliding glass door. "This, this is MY house."

She was unable to fall asleep in her grandmother's room, though. The bed was lumpy and uncomfortable; the miserly woman still had the same mattress that had been on that bed when Theo had been alive.

The woman's smells were trapped in the room. It was the scent of some bargain brand lotion and the sugar free pepperments Clara was always sucking on.

The furniture had been picked out by Theo; it was heavy, dark and not very warm and welcoming. Celeste made herself another drink and decided to start the task of clearing everything out.

"Huh?" Celeste asked, finding a few dozen heavy gold coins in the top drawer of the tall chest.

She also located several dozen silver coins and her grandmother's jewelry. Celeste was amazed to find the jewelry; she'd never seen Clara East wearing any jewelry other than her plain wedding band. But here were several thousands of dollars' worth of rings, necklaces, bracelets and pendants and brooches.

The nightstand on her grandmother's side revealed that Clara had genuinely loved Celeste. Celeste found a photographic history of herself from birth onward. Her Kindergarten graduation picture was in a heavy silver frame. So too was her Eight Grade Science Fair photograph.

Three drinks in, Celeste tottered back to her own bedroom and passed out. The next morning, her hangover was horrendous and Celeste vowed to never drink again.

By noon, Celeste had convinced herself that it was the whiskey sours that were to blame. So she used her phone to look up a good rum recipe.

Carl Ubelhauser helped Celeste sell ten of the gold coins, depositing that money into her account. He secured her a credit card and a debit card through Commerce and playfully admonished the girl to refrain from going wild in Vokine's.

"Oops! Let me guess; that was your first destination," Carl guessed when he saw his young client's face.

"I uh, well, I mean..." Celeste stammered.

"Young lady. I told you, don't go wild. I did not tell you that you couldn't go shopping there," Carl assured Celeste.

Even with cold hard cash in her hand, Celeste could not bring herself to spend the money; Vokine's was far too proud of their merchandise. Especially when she knew her home needed new carpet, new linoleum...

"No, no, tile. Tired of that cheap ass linoleum," Celeste said, leaving the store.

"You need to come over," Celeste invited Ashley after the home had been remodeled. "I'll make us some lunch and then we can go swimming."

"Okay," Ashley enthusiastically agreed.

"So, hmm, give me about twenty minutes," Celeste said, finding a pair of shorts.

"Give you twenty minutes to do what?" Ashley asked.

"Twenty minutes to come get you," Celeste said, deciding a halter top would look cute with her shorts.

"Celeste, its right around the corner. I'll just walk," Ashley said.

It had been a few weeks since that evening when Celeste had driven the young receptionist home. And, even though the young lady lived just a few streets away, Celeste worried and fretted as she watched through the living room window for the guest.

Once again, Celeste was struck by Ashley's beauty and was impressed with Ashley's abilities as the young woman arrived, tapping the ground ahead of each step. Swinging her cane in a slight arc, Ashley located the walkway from sidewalk to front door and confidently approached the small porch in front of the house.

"My God, them is some mighty white legs," Celeste teased as she opened the door after Ashley's knock.

"Oh. Shut up," Ashley giggled, sending her mother a quick text letting her mother know she'd arrived at her friend's house.

"L. Y. H," Celeste said, pulling Ashley into the house.

"LYH?" Ashley asked.

"Love you, hi," Celeste giggled happily, impulsively hugging her new friend.

"Love you hi," Ashley agreed, giggling. "You smell like garlic."

"Uh? Been cooking?" Celeste defended. "There was this I don't know what you'd call it; a concession stand at Heart's Bend? Had the best, I mean the absolute best sausage rolls with this kind of like garlic parmesan spread and that's what we're having."

"Yum!" Ashley enthused.

Before dropping the two smoked pork sausage into the cast iron skillet, Celeste gave her friend the fifty cent tour of the home. Ashley could tell that the carpet and the paint was new; the odor still clung to everything. Celeste admitted that she could not smell it anymore.

"I mean, it's not bad, but yeah, you can tell it's new," Ashley assured Celeste.

"And the bed? My old bed is still good," Celeste said, showing Ashley her new tempurpedic mattress on what had been her grandmother's bed.

"Oh! I, I want one!" Ashley whined, sitting onto the soft, plush mattress.

After cooking their sausages, complete with green pepper and grilled onions and garlic parmesan spread, Celeste made Ashley a Tom Collins. She made herself a Cuba Libre; her new favorite drink. Ashley made the comment that it was nice to have peace and quiet; Bruce was constantly blaring his heavy metal music, her dad, who had a hearing loss but would not admit to having a hearing loss blared Fox News at an intolerable volume and her mother was constantly yelling at her dad and her brother to 'turn that noise down.'

"My Dad listened to Country music all the time; God! So depressing! And my Mom listened to nothing but Christian Talk Radio," Celeste agreed. "Then after they died and I came to live here, my grandmother forbade televeision in her good Christian home and was always listening to that Gospel music. So, yeah, I enjoy peace and quiet."

"I like this; what is this again?" Ashley asked, taking another sip of her drink.

"Tom Collins; made with gin," Celeste said.

After thirty minutes, Ashley agreed that swimming sounded like a good idea. Reaching into her huge floppy canvas bag, she produced a can of spray-on sunblock. Standing in what had been Theo's den, Ashley stripped off her tee shirt and loose cargo shorts, exposing a modest bikini underneath. The top stretched over her very pale breasts and the bottom was very snug over her hips.

With a smirk, Celeste dropped halter top and shorts to her recliner. She agreed to spray Ashley's back for her as Ashley thoroughly coated her front with the chemical spray.

Grabbing two towels from the linen closet in the hall bathroom, Celeste allowed Ashley to grab her arm as she guided the girl to the sliding door. Both girls gasped as the hot air assaulted them when the door was opened.

"And watch," Celeste assured Ashley. "We get back in? We'll be freezing in a matter of seconds.

Dropping the towels onto a chaise lounge, Celeste gave a general description of the layout of the back deck. Ashley smiled when Celeste guided her to the one chaise lounge that had an umbrella protecting it.

"Yeah, my Grandmother was constantly worried about Melanoma," Celeste said as they then went to the pool.

Being outside, nude in broad daylight was naughty. Being outside, nude in broad daylight with another person was exhilarating, naughty, exciting. Celeste wondered if she dared masturbate with Ashley only a few inches away from her.

"Ooh, this, this is just lovely," Ashley sighed as they walked into the pool.

Celeste watched as Ashley did a clumsy crawling manner of swimming. She realized, the girl was 'measuring' the pool, defining the parameters for herself. Watching as the girl swam back to the steps, Celeste was once again struck by Ashley's beauty.

"God, I really, I really think I am gay," Celeste admitted to herself.

For years, she'd had her suspicions. While she was friendly with several boys from school, from church, she just never felt any real attraction to any of these young men.

However, there were several young women she'd felt a strong attraction toward. There were some girls, some young women and even an older woman in the church Celeste had felt drawn to. Of course, knowing what the Reverend C. Thomas Little, and her Grandmother thought of homosexuality, Celeste never acted on any of these feelings.

"LYH," Celeste giggled when Ashely's hand came in contact with Celeste's bare shoulder.

"LYH," Ashley giggled happily.

They swam back and forth. In between bouts of swimming, they either bobbed in the water or sat on the steps. Celeste wanted to wrap her arms around the beautiful brunette, press her pouting lips to Ashely's plump lips. She wanted to ease Ashley's bikini top down, expose Ashely's sweet breasts. She contented herself with holding Ashley's hand as they bobbed in the deep waters.

"I'm getting water-logged," she finally admitted.

"Yeah, me too," Ashley agreed.

Now, underneath the umbrella, Ashley finished applying a goodly amount of sunscreen. Celeste enjoyed the sun's harmful rays on her naked flesh. The warmth between her legs was not so much from the sun as it was from her friend's close proximity and her nudity.

"Want some of this?" Ashley asked, holding the can of spray up.

"Hmm? No, no, I've got sunning lotion; trying to get an all-over tan," Celeste admitted as she slathered the lotion into her flesh.

"An all-over?" Ashley gave an embarrassed giggle.

"Mm hmm. There's a fence goes all the way around," Celeste said, suddenly feeling a real rush of excitement at revealing her au naturel state to her friend.

"You, are, are you serious?" Ashley asked, beautiful mouth open in shock.

"Mm hmm," Celeste said. "Fence goes all the way around; no one can see back here."

"Celeste!" Ashley gasped, giggling at Celeste's naughtiness.

"Ashley!" Celeste retorted, mocking Ashley's scandalized tone.

"I, can I have another, what, what was that again?" Ashely asked a moment later.

"A Tom Collins? Absolutley," Celeste agreed, getting to her feet. "Be right back."

Searching around, Celeste found two of the twenty four ounce insulated drink cups that the local Pit Stop Convenience Store sold. Even though the mugs had 'Free Refills' printed on the cups, the local Pit Stop no longer honored that claim. Grandmother had loved the mugs because of their big handles; much easier to hold onto. Sometimes her arthritis made holding objects very difficult.

So, the drinks Celeste carried outside were double volume drinks. Ashley giggled happily when she took her cup in hand and realized what a monstrous beverage she'd been given.

"I get too drunk to walk, you better carry me home," she demanded, taking a big gulp of her drink.

"What makes you think I'll be sober enough to carry you?" Celeste giggled.

"Oh! Didn't even think of that," Ashley giggled again.

"I, I could..." Celeste said out loud then thought, "... listen to that giggle every day."

"You could what?" Ashley asked, taking another sip of her beverage.

"Get Bruce over here," Celeste thought quickly, spreading her legs wide to allow the sun to beat onto her inner thighs.

"Him?" Ashley sniffed. "He is such a butt head."

"Yeah, but he can drive," Celeste said.

"Yeah, yeah, mostly only when he wants to," Ashely corrected. "And even though I walked here? I bet he'd get lost halfway here."

They continued chattering; nothing urgent or earth-shattering in their conversation. Ashely talked about work, about her schooling, about her time at the Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston, Louisiana.

Celeste talked about her parents, about their death, and about her schooling. She admitted to always feeling more like an observer than a participant; her grandmother's Draconian rule making it difficult to spread her wings.

Hey, get my back?" Celeste asked, feeling far too warm as the sun beat down on her flesh.

"Sure, okay," Ashley agreed, putting her drink cup down.

Ashley hesitated for a moment, biting on her bottom lip. Then she raised her head, facing Celeste.

"Are, are you really um, naked?" Ashley whispered.

"Yeah. What? Why, why would I fibble fabble about that?" Celeste asked, grabbing the tube lotion as she rolled onto her belly.

"Fibble fabble?" Ashley asked, cautiously approaching Celeste.

Celeste watched Ashley's hesitant steps and realized the girl was feeling her way, using her feet as hands on the quite warm wood of the deck. She shook her head; her new friend's skills were simply amazing to her.

"Fibble fabble. It's a really big, really silly lie," Celeste explained the definition of her Grandmother's concocted word.

"Okay," Ashley announced when her shin found the chaise lounge.

"Okay, hold out your hands," Celeste ordered.

She squeezed some of the thick lotion into the palm of Ashely's left hand. Ashley rubbed her two hands together, then bent over and located Celeste's bare back, close to Celeste's shoulder blades. Celeste could not fight back the groan as she felt Ashely's hands on her back.

"OMG, you, you ARE! You, you really are naked!" Ashley hissed as she ran her palms along Celeste's back where her bra strap should have been.

"Ashley, what? I'm going lie to you?" Celeste giggled.

"I, you, oh!" Ashley gulped, hands now running along Celeste's lower back.

"Your linguistic skills are just incredible," Celeste teased as Ashley continued to knead her sweaty flesh.

"Oh, oh, shut up!" Ashley giggled, shifting slightly and beginning to cautiously approach Celeste's buttocks.

"Mm, Ashley, I'm, I'm going give you thirty minutes to stop that," Celeste murmured as Ashley smoothed lotion onto Celeste's buttocks.

"Thirty minutes, huh?" Ashley giggled, delivering a playful little pinch to Celeste's right buttock.

"Ow!" Celeste giggled.

"Oh, that didn't hurt," Ashley accused.

"Hurt a lot. I'm probably crippled for life here," Celeste said as Ashley finally ceased rubbing the lotion into her flesh.

"You, uh, you have a uh, a beautiful body," Ashley whispered a moment later.

"You, uh, you do too," Celeste said as Ashley once more lay upon the covered chaise lounge.

They lapsed into an uneasy silence. Celeste was not sure what her friend was thinking but her beautiful, expressive face was scrunched in thought.

"I, God, I would just love to see that body," Celeste thought, looking over at the modest bikini the blind girl wore.

"God, I would love to hold that beautiful body, kiss that beautiful face, tell her I love her," Celeste continued thinking as Ashley took another sip of her alcoholic beverage.

"I, you serious? There's a fence whole way around? No one can see back here?" Ashley asked, putting the insulated cup onto the wooden deck.

"Ashely, I'm not crazy," Celeste said. "Think I'd be out here naked if anyone could see me?"

"I, no, no, I I guess not," Ashley mumbled.

"Listen?" Celeste said, getting to her feet.

She walked from the deck to the wooden fence. Looking over her shoulder, she made sure she had Ashley's attention. She then gave a hard knock onto the fence.

"And..." Celeste called out, hurrying to the rear portion of the fence and giving another hard knock onto the wooden boar.

"And..." she said one more time as she approached the third fence.

"I, okay, okay, I believe you," Ashley said just before Celeste gave a hard rap on the wooden fence.

Celeste's heart caught in her throat as the pale beauty reached back and unhooked her bikini top. She watched as Ashley bravely bared her 32D breasts and pale pink areolae. Her nipples stuck out at least a half an inch from the pale half-dollar coin sized areole, stiff in Ashley's excited nervousness.

"And..." Ashley murmured, thumbs in her waistband.

"Oh, let, let me," Celeste begged.

She froze; she'd not intended to speak out loud. Celeste had not intended to give voice to her feelings.

"Huh?" Ashley asked, shock etched on her face.

"Not... nothing," Celeste stammered.

"I, nothing, nothing," Celeste murmured, again lying onto the chaise lounge.

"You, no, no, you said..." Ashley stammered, thumbs still hooked in the waistband of her bikini bottom.

"Just, just drop it," Celeste begged.

"Well, I was trying to do that," Ashley quipped. "But then you had to say something."

"I, I said, I want, I want to um, damn it, Ashley, I, I'm gay," Celeste managed to choke out.

"You, you're what?" Ashley asked, now sitting up, bikini bottom still firmly around her waist.

"I, I'm gay. And, and I'm, I am so in love with you," Celeste confessed.

"I, you. You are?" Ashley whispered, eyes large.

"Yeah," Celeste said, rolling onto her back to stare up at the sky.

Maybe if she focused on those three wispy clouds that lazily wafted along on an air current, far, far above the earth she would not have to look at the disgusted look on her friend's face. Maybe her former friend's face. She watched as the clouds slowly floated, carefree.

"I, so, what? What's that like?" Ashley asked, voice a whisper.

"What's what like?" Celeste asked, wishing she could be a cloud.

"Be, being gay," Ashley asked.

"I, hell, Ashley, I don't know," Celeste huffed, finally twisting to look at Ashley. "I mean, I, I've never not been gay."

"Just like I've never not been blind," Ashley mused, biting on her bottom lip in an adorable manner.

"Yeah! Yes, exactly," Celeste agreed.

"So, kissing a girl, kissing another girl, is it like kissing a guy? There was this one boy at the summer camps, God! He was disgusting; never took a shower and was always grabbing our boobs and our butts and one time he kissed me," Ashley said, getting somewhat animated. "Stuck his tongue in my mouth and... ew! I punched him right in the face; Miss Pam said I broke his nose. But all us girls said he had it coming."

"I, I would hope that kissing a girl would be a lot better than that," Celeste giggled at Ashley's animated description of the incident.

"God! I would hope so too," Ashley giggled.

"If you want," Celeste said, the blood roaring in her ears. "I uh, we, we could try it and see."

"Okay!" Ashley agreed very readily.

Celeste nearly leapt from her chaise lounge. She stumbled slightly in her step as Ashley worked her bikini bottom down and off. Her neat triangle of brown curls capped her very plump pubic mound.

"Oh what a pretty pussy," Celeste breathed.

"Yeah?" Ashley asked.

"Mm hmm," Celeste agreed, sitting on the left edge of the simple lawn furniture.

Leaning forward, Celeste softly brought her lips to Ashley's lips. Gently, she brushed Ashley's lips with hers. The soft gasp from Ashley made Celeste smile. She again brushed Ashley's lips with hers, then softly licked Ashley's pursed lips with the tip of her tongue.

"Oh!" Ashley breathed.

"Mm hmm," Celeste breathed then slowly, lovingly worked her tongue into Ashely's mouth.

Her hands went to Ashely's face. Then, her left hand went to Ashely's shoulder while her right hand softly caressed Ashely's face. Her left hand trailed from Ashley's shoulder to Ashely's right breast. The entire time her hand made its steady progression, Celeste continued gently sucking on Ashely's soft tongue.

"Oh, oh my," Ashely gasped out when Celeste's inquisitive fingers found her rock hard nipple.

Pulling her lips from Ashley's lips, Celeste nuzzled Ashley's throat. Ashley gasped, then let out a low groan. Celeste once more kissed Ashley's lips.

With a sudden burst, Ashley began forcefully sucking on Celeste's tongue. Her arms flung around Celeste's torso, pulling the blonde against her pale flesh.

"Oh! Oh my, oh my God," Ashley grunted shivering as their sweaty flesh lay together on the chaise lounge.

Continuing with soft kisses and occasional swipes of her tongue, celeste used both hands to toy with Ashley's heavy breasts and hard nipples. Bending her head, she sucked on Ashley's left nipple, then made a face at the taste of the chemicals on Ashely's skin.

"Oh!" a sudden thought came to Celeste and she fished an ice cube from her drink.

"Ah!" Ashely gasped out as the cold ice cube came into contact with her nipple.

Again Celeste pressed her lips to Ashley's lips as she traced Ashely's pale areole and nipple with the melting ice cube. She then brought the ice cube to Ashely's right nipple while her hot mouth sucked on Ashely's left nipple.

"Ah! I, oh! Oh God," Ashley keened, shuddering.

"I, you, did you, did you just um, cum?" Celeste asked, looking at Ashley's tightly scrunched face.

"I, I yes," Ashley gasped out, then burst into giggles.

Celeste burst into giggles as well. Once more, the two girls lay side by side on the chaise lounge, a gentle breeze caressing their naked flesh.

Celeste threw the remnant of the ice cube over her shoulder and sucked on Ashely's cold nipple. Again, Ashley gasped and groaned with the sharp sensations in her flesh; ice then hot mouth. Celeste's hand traveled over Ashely's concave belly, finding the patch of tight curls.

"I, oh, oh dear God!" Ashley shrieked when Celeste gave her fat clitoris a quick rub.

"So?" Celeste asked, holding Ashley in an embrace.

"So?" Ashley panted.

"Is," Celeste asked, softly kissing Ashley's lips. "Kissing."

She again kissed Ashley's lips. Her fingers once more sought out Ashley's clitoris.

"A girl," Celeste continued, kissing Ashley's lips, then sucking on Ashley's tongue. "Better than kissing a boy?"

"Oh God yes," Ashley groaned, then screamed into Celeste's forceful kiss as Celeste's fingers brought her to orgasm once more.

Celeste broth her fingers to her mouth and tasted Ashley's essences. She moaned her approval of Ashley's musky, earthy aroma and flavor.

"You taste perfect," Celeste whispered, once more bringing lips to lips and fingers to wet folds.

"I, augh, I do?" Ashley gasped out.

"Mm hmm," Celeste said, bringing her fingers to Ashley's mouth. "Here."

"Mm," Ashley sucked her essences from Celeste's fingers.

Now that the chemicals had been removed from Ashley's areolae, Celeste sucked on Ashley's nipples. As she suckled on Ashely's breasts, she continued to finger Ashley's pussy. She wanted to lay between Ashley's legs, pleasure the beautiful girl, but she did not want to do that on the chaise lounge.

"No, no more, Celeste, please," Ashley gasped out as Celeste's fingers again brought her to climax.

"Okay," Celeste giggled, kissing Ashley once more. "Ready to swim again?"

"Give, give me a minute," Ashley panted, drinking deeply of her Tom Collins.

"One, two, three..." Celeste began counting.

"Oh, oh quit that!" Ashley giggled. "God, my dad does that all the time. You say 'give me a minute' and he actually starts timing you."

"Yeah, my dad used do that all the time too," Celeste agreed, losing some of the smile as she thought about her father.

Before leaving the shade of the umbrella, Ashley again applied a generous coating of the sunscreen. Then, hand in hand, the two girls stepped from the deck and down into the waters of the pool. Ashley's eyes opened wide at the sensation of the water lapping at her nude flesh.

"I, oh! Oh, now this is heaven!" Ashley enthused, kissing Celeste happily.

In the cool water of the pool, Ashley found Celeste's crotch and diddled Celeste to a grunting orgasm. Happily, she kissed Celeste, hugging the girl's nude body against her own.

"Oh, I love you so much!" she giggled, kissing Celeste again.

Waterlogged once more, the two girls got out of the pool and toweled off. Celeste helped Ashley find the two pieces of her bathing suit and carried their drink cups and towels and Ashley's bag into the house.

"See? See? What'd I tell you," Celeste giggled as they both squealed at the chill in the house.

She put their glasses into the dishwasher and hung Ashley's huge bag onto the back of a kitchen chair. She pulled the shivering Ashley up the stairs.

"Quit!" she giggled as Ashley whined about how cold she was.

The warm shower soon had Ashley warmed once more. Celeste used a fluffy wash rag to slowly lather Ashley's body, washing all of the chemicals from Ashley's skin. She was grateful for the large capacity water tank as the shower was punctuated by several kisses.

Ashley then insisted on returning the favor. Celeste stood still and allowed the blind girl to feel, to scrub every inch of her flesh. This process was interrupted several times by soft kisses.

"Toweling off, Celeste led Ashley to the bedroom. Again, sinking into the mattress, Ashley expressed her desire to have a Tempurpedic mattress of her own.

Celeste positioned the girl in the center of the bed and lay on top of her. She kissed Ashley's willing mouth, then Ashley's throat. She found Ashley's nipple and sucked hungrily on the sensitive nub until Ashley was whimpering.

The taste of Ashley's wet, rubbery lips was intoxicating. The texture, the sensation of dragging her tongue up and down the length of Ashley's lips was heavenly to the lonely Celeste.

That realization struck Celeste hard and she paused for a moment, fingers inside of Ashley's depths.

"I, I never, I didn't even know I was, I'm lonely," Celeste thought, then slowed her approach to Ashely's sex.

"Mm, you, you're driving me crazy," Ashley whined as Celeste alternated between slow, deliberate licks and a frenzied finger-fucking.

"The whole idea," Celeste giggled. "Drive you crazy, make you fall in love with me."

"Already, ung! Already am in love with AUGH!" Ashley declared as Celeste captured her clitoris in her mouth.

After her second climax, Ashley weakly pushed Celeste's head away from her drooling pussy. For several long moments, the two girls lay with their limbs entwined.

"Oh shoot! What, what time is it?" Ashley suddenly asked as they faintly heard a cell phone's musical chime.

"Five, mm five fifteen," Celeste said, looking at the digital alarm clock.

"I, I need to call home," Ashley said, scrambling to get out of the bed.

"Stop. Calm down. I'll get your phone; you're going to hurt yourself," Celeste chided, climbing out of the bed.

"My mom wants to know if you want to come over; we're having her world's best ham steaks and scalloped potatoes," Ashley asked.

"Well, if they're the worlds best, I'd be stupid to say 'No,' wouldn't I?" Celeste smiled.

They walked the two and a half blocks to Ashely's home. David was indeed hard of hearing; the volume of his voice made Celeste wince. Bruce was indeed a butt head. And Marie was a copy of Ashley, with a few extra pounds and a healthy pink glow to her skin.

The ham steaks were thick, the potatoes were perfect and the snap peas had a sweet and tangy sauce with it. More satisfying than the meal, though, was the warmth of the family as they ate the meal together. Celeste felt something she'd not felt, even when her parents were still alive. There was an ease, a comfort as she sat at their table.

After the meal, Marie cautiously agreed that Ashley could spend the night at Celeste's home. She reminded her daughter that they went to 9:15 Mass at St. Anthony's.

"Celeste, Sweetie, do you go to church?" Marie asked as Ashley left the kitchen to pack for the sleepover.

"No ma'am. My grandmother and I did go to church but when she died, I guess I just kind of got out of the habit," Celeste admitted.

"Well, we'd love it if you'd come with us," Marie invited.

"I, yes. Yes ma'am. I, I think I would really like that," Celeste agreed.

David barely acknowledged his daughter's parting kiss and hug. He was startled by Celeste's hug though. Marie smiled at the girl's hug.

"So, church, how long is it?" Celeste asked, remembering how long, how tedious the services of the Reverend C. Thomas Little's services had been.

"Mm, 'bout an hour, maybe a little less. The nine fifteen Mass is the Children's Mass so it's a little longer; Father Dusey likes to have the kids all come up and he talks to them," Ashley mused.

"So, so we'd be out by ten fifteen, ten thirty?" Celeste mused.

Home again, Celeste wasted no time in stripping out of her clothes. After a few kisses and giggles and tickles, Ashley allowed herself to be stripped of her clothes. Hand in hand, the two girls walked up the stairs into Celeste's bedroom.

They lay together on the bed, kissing softly, touching softly. After a few moments, Celeste twisted around, her feet now at the head of the bed. Ashley let out a soft moan when Celeste urged her to raise her right leg up.

"Oh! Oh Celeste," Ashley moaned as Celeste's lips teased her soft petals.

Celeste shivered when she felt Ashley's lips and fingers at the entrance of her sex. She grunted as Ashley's tongue flickered over her clitoris.

"Bewitching," Ashley declared after a moment.

"What?" Celeste asked, still slowly pleasuring Ashley's ex.

"I was trying to think of the best way to describe..." Ashley admitted.

"Intoxicating," Celeste supplied, then forcefully sucked on Ashley's clitoris.

"Yes!" Ashley keened.

"Yes. Intoxicating," Ashley panted after her climax subsided.

It took a while for Ashley to coax a climax from Celeste. Once she figured Celeste's rhythms, though, she managed to pleasure Celeste fairly quickly the second time around.

"I, you, you want a drink?" Celeste asked after they'd pleasured one another again.

"I, no, no, don't leave," Ashley begged. "Just, just hold me?"

Celeste teetered between her desire to please Ashley and her need for a drink. She stayed with Ashley, holding the girl, softly kissing and touching the girl; the entire time she wondered how long was long enough to placate Ashley's need for closeness.

Finally noticing that the shadows grew long in the bedroom, Celeste suggested a moonlight swim. With a happy giggle, Ashley agreed and they wiggled out of the bed.

"Damn, Ashley, you, that is the prettiest butt," Celeste said, admiring Ashley's sweetly rounded buttocks.

"It, it's not too big?" Ashley asked, pausing and thrusting her buttocks out.

"Ashley, any smaller and you wouldn't have no butt," Celeste said, quickly making two drinks. "Here, here's a Tom Collins."

"Oh, okay," Ashley said, reaching for the glass.

Celeste downed her drink and made a second one. She then grabbed two towels and urged Ashley through the sliding doors into the violet twilight.

"I, God, I just love this," Ashley giggled, shivering at the naughtiness of being outside, nude.

"Yeah, me too," Celeste agreed, setting her already empty glass onto the table.

It, oh I tell you, it is going to be so hard next time we go to Melanie's house," Ashley said as they stepped into the pool.

"Who, who's Melanie?" Celeste asked.

"My mom's cousin; she lives over on Hasting's Creek," Ashley said. "She's got this big old pool; I think that's the only reason we ever go over there. She is so stuck-up; like she's so much better than us because her husband had all kind of money. But now? I'm going to be like, why do I have to wear a stupid bathing suit?"

"Can always come over here," Celeste offered, kissing her.

"I know!" Ashley laughed happily.

After becoming waterlogged again, they entered the home, gasping at the chilled air inside. Ashley hopped up and down, arms wrapped tightly around herself as Celeste fixed herself another drink. Finally, Ashley decided she'd go to the shower herself and Celeste took that opportunity to drink her drink, then fix another drink to carry upstairs.

A severely hungover Celeste brought Ashley to St. Anthony's the next morning. After Mass, Ashley declined coming over to Celeste's home. With a chaste hug to Ashley, to Marie and David, but not to Bruce, Celeste joined the madhouse in the parking lot.

At home, Celeste debated with herself; did she want a drink or a nap? She decided on a drink, then a nap.

Waking up at three forty in the afternoon, Celeste saw that she'd missed two calls from Ashley. Ashley did not leave a voice mails though.

"Hey; what's up?" Celeste asked happily when Ashley answered the phone.

"I, I, you, Celeste, I love you, but really? I, God this is hard," Ashley stammered.

"Love you too," Celeste agreed.

"But you drink too much," Ashley managed to say.

"What?" Celeste laughed. "Are, are you serious? I don't..."

Celeste, you drink too much," Ashley said with conviction. "Yesterday? When I asked you to stay? It took, it took every ounce of willpower you had to just stay with me. But I could tell, the whole time, you were just waiting for the chance to get a drink."

"That, that's not true," Celeste lied, even though she knew Ashley was right.

The phone beeped, letting Celeste know that Ashley had ended the call. Hurling curse words at the absent girl, Celeste fixed herself a drink. Then she went and sat outside, drinking her drink. The sun was warm on her flesh, but she could not feel the sun. She could see the red haze of the sun through her closed eyelids as she lay, drinking and thinking.

"What if, what if I cut back," she asked Ashley when Ashley answered her phone.

The beep alerted Celeste that Ashley had again ended the call. Celeste forced herself to prepare dinner even though she wanted to have another two or three drinks, THEN she would prepare dinner. But she prepared dinner and ate dinner.

Ashley's scent was in the bedroom. Celeste lay on the bed, smelling Ashley's aroma on the pillow Ashley had lay her beautiful head on.

The next morning, Celeste decided there was no reason to wait and prepared herself a drink. She then sent Ashley a text message; LYH. There was no reply. A second and third LYH went unanswered. Celeste ran out of rum and returned to her old friend, the whiskey sour.

At five thirty the following morning, head pounding from a savage, unrelenting hangover, Celeste made coffee. Every fiber of her soul was screaming for a drink, a little of the hair of the dog, but Celeste forced herself to drink coffee.

When she was sure she could drive, she got into her car. Celeste grabbed a cardboard box from behind the Burns & Burns Grocers grocery store. Returning to her home, she carefully packed every bottle into the box. Each bottle that went into the box caused Celeste to pause, to ask herself why she was doing this, did she really want to do this.

Then she brought the box to the church she and her grandmother had attended and left the box in front of the doors of the church. She had a good laugh; the Reverend C. Thomas Little often screamed and cried, denouncing the demon alcohol. Let him deal with those bottles.

Home again, Celeste fixed herself another pot of coffee. Nude, she sat out on the back deck, large mug of too-sweet coffee in hand and punched the number into her cell phone.

"Ubelhauser and Associates," Ashley's beautiful voice caressed her ear.

"I, I threw all of it away," Celeste said. "All the alcohol in the house. I threw it all away."

"My mom's making chicken parmesan tonight," Ashley invited, giggling excitedly.

"LYB," Celeste giggled.

"LYB," Ashley giggled before ending the call.

The End

**..**

***Author's Note: I write these stories for my pleasure; I post them here for your enjoyment.

I thank you sincerely for reading my stories.

Likewise, I also thank those that take the time to leave comments, good and bad. I also thank those that take the time to rate my words, those that take the time to 'Favorite' my works.

This is an entry for the Literotica NUDE DAY 2025 contest.

Jamie Tismann, the attorney is introduced in 'Evidently...' in the Loving Wives category.

Graham Ubelhauser and his father, Carl Ubelhauser are primary characters in 'Lipstick Prints on the Window' in the Incest/Taboo category.

Will Celeste manage to stay away from alcohol? If she is a true alcoholic like her father and her paternal and maternal grandfathers than most likely Ashley's love will prove to be insufficient. Hopefully, she has not crossed that invisible line from hard drinker to full blown alcoholic yet. Perhaps the love of a sweet, bubbly, happy blind girl will help keep Celeste away from the temptation of the drink.

Have a swell day. And some of you, have a swollen day.