—She had a feeling. That by doing this, something would finally change.
Built on that house of cards called a premonition, Neon left her home on the evening of March 9th and tracing familiar steps, adventured to the heart of the city. Looking up at the night sky, blinded her; the moon in perigee trapped the Christmas-theme city in a silver moonbeam.
8:54 PM. The streets were crowded. Complicit in the shoulder-to-shoulder, shoe-stepping human contact, Neon blended in with the hustle and bustle. Spring was a few weeks away, the trees were still fast asleep. Lights adorned their branches dazzling the eye. Christmas jingles poured into the streets from loudspeakers on lamp posts. Enough hubbub and merriment to drown in—Neon stumbled through it all.
“Christmas City,” a fitting name, if ironic. Christianity itself had faded out of fashion ages ago, but someone in the City Arcology Plan adored the aesthetics of Christmas and decided to make an entire District with it. Atmospherically louder than a bomb whistling through the air, it was an otherwise quiet District.
Night was more active than the day. The young and the old milled about with no concern for appearances.
9:20 PM.
I’m earlier than I thought. Is she the sort to be there ten minutes early? Suppose I’m about to find out.
Neon took out her phone and searched her text messages. At the top of her inbox was a message with the subject “Re: Christmas and Chill?” The text itself had been delivered on behalf a web client; more a notification of a reply than a direct message. That was why there was no number or name in the sender box. The only explanation was to maintain a level of privacy for its users. The name of that app which held such a duplicitous intent was displayed as the Sender instead: Friend Ƶone. She opened the text to reconfirm the place and time of the meet-up.
[ Let’s meet in front of the Christmas Tree in Central Plaza tonight at 9:30. I’ll be wearing a silver coat, a striped wool hat, black skirt and leggings. Can’t miss me. ]
The de***********ion was fairly simplistic, but detailed enough. Neon swept her golden eye across the May-December couples and single men. A silver coat, and a striped hat. There was only one figure wearing that outfit and it didn’t belong to the slovenly, bald, fat man she’d been expecting.
—
Earlier that night…
Yeah, it’s better if I don’t.
With that thought, Sea got off the train seven stops early. It just so happened to be the stop at Central Plaza. She lit a cigarette and imagined she could feel the nicotine spread a pleasantness through her body. It was more than those annoying Christmas songs she heard day-in, night-out.
I’m probably going to hear it from her again. She could already hear that nagging voice going on and on about how it’s not healthy and it stinks.
The conversations she’d been having with her wife had gotten robotic as of late. Was it because they’d known each other for so long? No, they’d just been having the same conversations on repeat for the last year and a half. An exchange of the bare minimum.
She’d gotten tired of those conversations. Tired of the silence in between. Walking out was a lot harder than coming home late, she’d learned. At first, a co-worker who was retiring was having a celebration. Then, someone had screwed up so she had to fix their mistake. The trains were delayed. Eventually, the excuses came more consistently than the trains and her wife gave up asking why she didn’t hail a cab.
The question for Sea, increasingly difficult to answer, then became, “Well, how should I kill the time?”
It became her routine, killing time after hours until she was sure the love of her life had fallen asleep.
What did we even talk about today? … I don’t even know. Did we?
A relationship on the rocks. A sham of a marriage. What kept Sea from admitting that outright was the explicit acknowledgment that her parents had been right: it was a mistake to have gotten married so young.
“Phooooo~” Exhaling a trail of smoke, Sea sat down on a random bench. The brightly lit city somehow seemed proportional to the darkness expanding in her heart. Brighter still were the seemingly endless couples out this late. In this town, that wasn’t especially strange.
The time was 8:45 PM. A cold blast of wind shaved away the number of couples. She heaved another smoke-laced sigh. A strange thought popped into her mind.
Her friend Mia had mentioned it in passing, a joke. An app that young people were using to hook-up these days. The mere thought of having an affair made her stomach twist into knots. She stared at the screen of her phone until it went dark. Then she stared at her pitiful reflection.
… There’s nothing wrong with checking it out, right?
Friend Ƶone. She searched that title and instantly found the app in question. She didn’t even bother looking at the reviews. With the press of a button, it was downloading. Five minutes later, it was successfully installed.
“W-Wow…” When the app finally loaded, Sea’s eyes bulged. The sheer number of posts was mind-boggling. And the next more so than the last was explicit in asking for sexual relationships. When she narrowed those results to just Christmas City, and was blown away by reality.
Just how many of these damn couples are formed on here? Most came with buzzwords like ‘generous’ and ‘support.’ She narrowed those results even further to just women looking for other women and finally those buzzwords and the sheer volume of noise became silent. The most recent post was about 18 hours old.
“Heh, I feel like such a minority.”
The contents aren’t so extreme here, though. Unlike on the general postings, the messages, once filtered to her tastes, were far more casual and didn’t use as many buzzwords. Before she knew it, Sea was browsing through the messages with the intent of maybe answering one. There was no longer a difference between her and the desperate people looking for comfort. She was desperate and she needed some comfort.
I just want someone to talk to… that’s all.
With that thought, Sea joined their ranks. Location, phone number, message, she filled in the required fields one by one.
“Subject… Christmas and Chill.”
Purposefully, she picked an eye-catching title like that that didn’t mesh at all with the content of the message she’d written.
I might find someone in the same position and ask for some advice… though judging from the activity, I doubt anyone will answer tonight.
“There.” She confirmed that her message had been posted and immediately closed the app. Her pulse hammered. Now all she had do was wait.
Two minutes passed, but to Sea, it felt like only a few seconds. Her phone dinged. A new message had come in from Friend Ƶone.
[ I saw your message on Friend Ƶone. If you’re still interested, can we get in touch? If you’d like to meet, what do you look like? And where can we meet? ]
Shit, is this really happening? Sea stared at the brief message, just 31 words that could change her life. Short of breath, she typed a reply.
[ Let’s meet in front of the Christmas Tree in Central Plaza tonight at 9:30. I’ll be wearing a silver coat, a striped wool hat, black skirt and leggings. Can’t miss me. ]
She hit send. No turning back now.
[ All right. I’ll see you there. ]
Sea took one final drag from her cigarette, then smothered it out on the bench and proceeded to the meeting place.
The Christmas-tree in Central Plaza. It was the first place that came to mind. There would be a lot of people there until around midnight. It was when she arrived that she’d forgotten to ask her respondent what they looked like or their name. The probability of some greasy fat man in drag showing up was the likely result.
9:21 PM.
“Hey.”
A beautiful voice and—a drop-dead girl. Dressed in a blue coat with a red scarf wrapped around her neck. Her hands bound in red gloves. Long pink hair spilled down her waist and a shining, gold, left eye.
There’s no way anyone as hot as this is on a random app is there?? Was this even reality?
“It’s me,” said the girl. “We spoke on Friend Ƶone… right?”
“Ah, Y-yeah! I’m Sea, nice to meet you!” Before she could stop herself, Sea held out her hand. Handshakes were how she normally greeted new people at work. It was not the usual approach she went with when meeting someone casually. How embarrassing!
“Neon. And likewise.” The pink-haired girl shook her hand.
“…”
“…”
“Um…”
“So…”
“You first,” said Neon.
“Sorry, if you don’t mind me asking, but how old are you Neon? You seem really young.”
“I’m eighteen.”
“Okay… do you have any identification to prove that?”
Neon hesitated. Sea expected to hear some excuse like ‘I left it at home,’ but to her pleasant surprise, the girl produced a student ID card.
Sea looked over the ID and breathed a sigh of relief. Neon was not a high school student, but a Junior College student. What’s more, that school was a famous private elite girl’s academy. Impressed, Sea handed the ID back.
“What about you?”
Sea’s left ring finger burned under Neon’s gaze. “Yeah,” she said, “married.”
Sea showed her ID next. “I’m not in school anymore. I’m a twenty-eight year old working member of society.”
“… And married?”
“Hmmm…” The young girl tilted her head thoughtfully. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
“Huh? Oh, right…” She recalled, I did mention that I wanted to talk. “Mm, yeah, I guess. I bet you don’t want to hear someone bitch about their marriage though.”
“Hmmm, well, I don’t mind if you want to talk about it, but…” Another icy wind blew across the plaza. “Maybe we should talk somewhere warmer?”
—
In a private room that smelled of vanilla, the sound of the door closing is the final leather strap that secures her to the execution gurney.
A leisure hotel. The kind of sketch place perfect for discretion. For example, married couples who couldn’t find any private time at home. For example, prostitution. A windowless building with only the sign outside, lit with neon lighting, advertising vacancy. A vague silhouette behind frosted glass accepted Sea’s payment and provided her with a key.
Blue light flooded the room. The wallpaper was decorated with an undersea theme. Tiny fish swam above head, darting through corals while bubbles floated to the ceiling. It was a relatively small room. Neon sat on the edge of the bed. So lightly, so careful, that its crease-less white sheet remained smooth. Blue pillows lined the head of the bed.
We haven’t talked. When I pointed this place, she followed me like a puppy. And again when I asked if there was a room she liked, she went ahead and picked this one on her own. Even now she’s glancing around the room nervously.
“You don’t have to be so nervous, Neon. Take off your coat at least,” said Sea putting on a relaxed front. She took off her silver coat and laid it on the back of a chair. Neon followed her lead and soon her mitts, coat and scarf covered the seat.
“What, is it your first time in a place like this?” Sea asked, teasingly.
“It is, yes,” Neon replied. “Do you… come here often?”
Sea chuckled. “No, I don’t come here often. Not anymore.”
It had been a few years since she’d been in a leisure hotel, Sea realized. Not since college. There hadn’t been a need to.
“Hmm… I see.”
Neon looked away as if disinterested. It took as much for Sea to realize that they’d actually been talking.
Wow. That happened so naturally I didn’t even notice it. Sea looks around the room for something—anything to talk about.
“Hey, they have a TV here. Is there anything you’d like to watch or listen to?”
That seems to catch Neon’s attention. “Is there a classical music channel?” she asks.
Classical music channel? “… I have no idea.” Doubtful, Sea turns on the TV. It had cable service, at least. She searched for a classical music channel…and found one. Pachelbel’s Canon eased into the background.
At once, Neon relaxed. Looking at her expression, and the romantic music made something in Sea flare up. Alone with a beautiful girl in a hotel room, evoked some feeling she’d forgotten existed.
While she wondered what that feeling could possibly be, Neon spoke.
“Are you going to stand there all night?” Since taking off her coat, actually since she stepped into the room Sea hadn’t sat down once. Neon casually pointed that out. “You don’t have to be so nervous.”
“Smartass. I was just making sure you were comfortable, but if that’s how it is…” Sea threw herself down right next to the young girl so close their knees touched. A space reserved for close friends—lovers, even.
What a grave mistake that was, she realized too late. Closer than she’d ever been, a few inches separated their faces. Her heart throbbed painfully. Its beating mixed with the gentle violin strings. Heat surged throughout her body.
Sea’s gaze fell to the young girl’s lips. All it would take was to lean forward. How she managed to pull herself back from that cliff was a mystery. She took a deep breath, her first in almost a minute.
“So, um, Neon—”
She started, but a hand on her cheek turned her head back and a moment later, something touched her lips. Sea’s vision was filled with pink, green, and gold, so she couldn’t say what that was. When she returned to her senses, Neon’s face dominates her worldview.
And just like that, the heat building within Sea went from piano to fortissimo. Searching for an escape, it settled on that place between her legs. There was only one way to cool that heat.
Sea pushed Neon down on the bed.
“Are we done talking then?”
The woman looked at the girl’s golden eye. What she saw: hesitation, embarrassment, expectation. In contrast to her mocking bravado.
She understood everything from just that reaction.
“You’ve never done this before before, have you?”
Neon deflected, “I believe we’ve covered that already.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
They kissed again. The boldness Neon showed disappeared like the noble gas.
Sea giggled. “What a pampered young lady. And here I thought all youngsters bloomed early these days. Someone as beautiful as you should have four or five fuck buddies.”
“I thought we were done talking…?”
Sea could resist tearing Neon’s clothes off; she couldn’t resist a third kiss.
The heat became intolerable. To vent it, she pressed her lips to the nape of Neon’s neck. The teen shivered. It was intense. “Just leave everything to me,” Sea whispered.
Under that carnivorous gaze, Neon was pinned to the bed. Chest to chest, they were practically glued together. Soon those beautifully manicured nails were pressing into her chest. When she finished lapping Neon’s neck, she sharply bit her ear drawing a small cry of protest.
“You can make that a little louder, can’t you?” Sea teased. She continued on, poking her tongue at the back of Neon’s ear. It was not anything like the frenzied licking of a dog. It was almost as unpleasant as a wet-willy. Another spasm contorted Neon’s body.
Her ears aren’t as sensitive as her neck, Sea quickly realized and changed tactics. She smooched the girls nape again. Her tongue slid from the crevice of her lips and crawled along Neon’s neck. Neon giggled. It was the closest thing to a smile the girl had shown all night.
“That’s a cute laugh. Let me hear some more.” Sea persisted in small circles, poking with the tip of her tongue until those giggles quieted to a heated breath. She took her time, her slow wiggling tongue delivered a sensation somewhere between ticklish and pleasure. It went on forever.
No, maybe it’s just long for me, Neon thought. Barely any time had passed in reality.
“You’re more sensitive than I thought.” Sea said this in a mischievous tone while her fingers felt around the bumps on Neon’s chest. Above the cloth, she found their exact position and started playing with them. No unsteady voice protested, not a gasp, nor a moan. She must be a reserved girl, Sea figured, but at least her body was pretty chatty. It was proof she was starting to relax a little. Perhaps she liked being teased?
“…I can tell how hard your nipples from above your shirt,” said Sea. “They’re practically begging me to play with them. Or,” she considered, “maybe they preferred to be bullied instead?”
“Who knows?” answered Neon.
Sea laughed and resumed her ministrations. As she wound those two little nobs up, an indescribable pleasure overcame Neon. She’d never payed much attention to them herself, discovering they were so sensitive came as a start.
“Look, you see how much they’re poking out through your shirt.”
Neon followed Sea’s gaze down. Just as the woman said, her nipples were showing themselves, pressing up through the fabric of her clothes.
“Let’s get this shirt off you—” thus saying, the older woman expertly helped Neon’s shirt off. “Hehe, let’s get rid of this too,” she added snapping free Neon’s bra as well.
Sea’s eyes bulged, she drooled, dripping saliva on the pair of breasts. Neon’s ample breasts. Larger than they had any reason to be, they held the power to drive men wild. The small, pink nubs in the center completely spellbound Sea.
“Well? Are you just going to stare at me?” they said. No, that was Neon. Her face blushed deep red, her voice quivered.
Delicious fruit, ripe for picking. Before she realized it, Sea was greedily sucking on those pink tips. She closed her lips on Neon’s left nipple, sealing it tight inside her mouth. Her tongue went to work, poking with the point of her tongue, tasting it with a flat lick and occasionally testing its firmness with a nibble.
Meanwhile, Neon’s normally cool, calm exterior begins to melt as Sea’s magic begins to take effect. Unbeknownst to Sea, her eye is gleaming strangely. With every minute that passes, her thoughts become more and more wild. I can feel Sea’s feelings passing into me, she thinks. To Neon, it’s as though she can feel Sea’s soul pouring into her. A sweet throbbing is the result, causing her legs to rub together.
Sea notices this. She’s almost ready, thinks the older woman. The hand teasing Neon’s right breast moves to the younger girl’s crotch. Beneath the skirt, leggings impede her way. But like with her shirt, Sea begins tracing her delicate fingers up and down Neon’s slit. Her hand easily slips inside and finds the small pearl at the top of Neon’s slit.
Neon’s hips lift, her body bends. The reaction, stronger than expected, throws Sea for a loop. She pauses.
“Hold on,” she says, “have you never touched yourself there before?”
“… I know what it is,” said the indignant Neon.
“Hehehe, good! ‘Cause even I’d be embarrassed to explain where all this wetness is coming from.” She withdrew her hands and though it was hard to see in the blue light, there was clearly a bit of moisture shining off her fingers.
“You don’t have to show me!”
“You’re so beautiful, you know that?” Sea whispers into Neon’s ear as she resumes stroking her secret spot.
Squish. Neon’s love juices soon overflow from her tunnel. Soaking her panties, it fills the room with a wet sound.
“What a naughty girl. Ufufu, your panties are sticking to my finger. Ahh, I can’t take it anymore! Here, let’s get undressed!”
Sex. Neon understood what was implied to come after that. Sex. There is an uncomfortable weight in that word. Facing a strong headwind, she stops in her tracks even as Sea strips right in front of her.
I don’t think I could ever be that bold, thinks Neon. She took off her lingerie, revealing her beautiful, bare skin. Her matured body’s ample curves had a bewitching quality. The difference between being a ‘woman’ and a ‘young lady’ was probably somewhere in the bravery it took to show your everything to another person. The confidence to put yourself out there to be either rejected or accepted… I can do it too.
In an art room, surrounded by a half-dozen strangers with paintbrushes…may have been too much. But in the privacy of one room, with only one person, for Neon that was much more manageable. With a deep breath, she raises her hips and slides out of her remaining clothes. Her naturally athletic figure featured a nicely sculpted waist and long legs.
Sea gracefully laid down on the bed and wormed up to Neon. “All right, just relax… lift your hips a little.”
“Like this?”
“Mmhm, just like that… our pussies are touching. Can you feel it?”
There is something unmistakably hot crushing her between her legs. Looking down from above, Sea holds Neon’s legs for support while she rocks her waist back and forth. For all her best efforts thus far, Neon can’t help but to raise her voice. She moans, urging Sea to continue.
It is unbelievably hot watching Neon become strangled with lust, but Sea also couldn’t ignore the girl’s breasts. She stops grinding her hips and sliders her fingers up towards Neon’s breasts.
“Hahaha… you really do loving having your breasts fondled don’t you?” There’s a strange lilt in her voice that wasn’t there a minute ago. “Looks like just having them played with isn’t enough for you anymore, is it?”
“I’m…not sure what you want me to say…”
Neon’s flustered expression is a bigger turn on than any response she could ever get. Sea begins to grind her crotch against Neon’s with greater strength. Neon starts to grind her pelvis as well, wanting to be more than just on the receiving end.
“That’s it Neon… ahh, you’re really good at this. How does it feel? Huh?”
“… It feels good.”
“Haha it feels good… because you’re dripping wet.
Squish! Squish! Squish! Neon feels something drip down her but. Is that me? she thinks. Or is it Sea? Neon’s and Sea’s love juices mix together, soaking them both. A musky smell saturates the air as wet, squishy sounds echo through the room.
Sea can feel her climax rapidly approaching and wonders what the hell is going on? Already? It’s never felt this good before!
Neon as well, her head was already starting to feel funny, like her consciousness was about to be blasted away.
“Sea…! Hold on… something’s….happening!”
Hearing her name made Sea only grind her hips harder. She’d crossed the point of no return.
“Go ahead and come! Just go ahead! I…I’m going to come too! Neon!”
A familiar wave of pleasure washed over Sea. Except this time it was a tidal wave and it crashed into her, tossing her into convulsions. Beneath her, Neon trembled, her eyes shut. Sparks flew in her vision, then all she saw was a time was white.
Gasping for breath, Sea rolled off and laid down besides Neon. “I’ve never come that quick before,” she says then looks over at Neon who just managed to open her eyes. “How about you? How are you feeling?”
“I…don’t know,” she answers.
“For a first timer, you were pretty cute,” Sea says, but her refreshing smile doesn’t bring any comfort to Neon. As the intense pleasure fades and clarity returns to her mind, it is replaced by an equally powerful feeling of shame and guilt.
Well. I did it. I had sex with a stranger. An older woman who’s married at that. Someone I’ve only known for an hour. She raises her arm and stares at the back of her hand.
“…I don’t feel all that different,” she remarks.
Different from what? There’s a mysterious expression on Neon. “Do you regret it?” asks Sea.
“I’m past regrets,” is Neon’s answer.
“All right then.” Her tone turns Neon’s head. “I didn’t think you’d be into it.”
“Why?”
“You were kind of quiet all night. I was sure your nerves were going to get the best of you and you’d bail at the last second. Or… maybe I was hoping you would.”
“That’s…kind of surprising.”
“Why is that surprising?”
“I don’t know I just… kind of had this idea that you…”
“That I what?” Sea guesses what Neon is hinting at, so there’s exasperation in her voice.
Catching on to that much, Neon completes her thought. “… That you do this sort of thing a lot.”
Even though I told you before I don’t do this kind of thing a lot. No, I said I didn’t come to hotels a lot.
Somewhere along the way, Sea realizes, there had been some miscommunication.
“Listen, I don’t know what sort of impression I gave you, but I’m not some habitual cheater. This is the first time I’ve had sex with someone other than my wife. While I’m married.”
I do flirt a lot though. Flirting doesn’t count as cheating, does it?
Neon’s response is an incredulous “Huh. I thought everyone on that app was, like, a habitual user or something.”
“It’s mostly used for prostitution,” Sea says. “I’d never used it before, but it’s pretty obviously either that or scams. I’m shocked you didn’t know that.”
“I didn’t really think about it. I mean, I’d already thought about it a lot by that point. Once I decided I was going to do it, I just typed something and posted it.”
Yeah, that’s what I mean. Regardless of the content, most of the posts are pretty much like advertisements. Some clever line, a phone number, an emote or two…something that gives it ‘flair.’ Neon’s message was just a few lines of text.
“Why did you post that tonight? Like, why are you here and not home studying or hanging out with friends?”
Ah, dammit. Why did I ask that? I don’t care about her personal life.
But Neon, naive to the social etiquette of a hook-up, thought seriously on the question. Her golden eye stared at the ceiling. “That…” was not an easy thing to put into words. She’d spent several days mulling it over before making her decision, after all. “I don’t know if I had a reason in the end. My thinking was I wanted to change something about myself. My life is pretty boring. Wake up, go to school, come home and repeat. That monotonous ‘narrative’ of my life, I wanted to do something out of character. I heard some people in school talking about that app and for some reason it stuck with me.”
“So in other words,” Sea’s lips stretch into a wide grin. “You thought getting laid would make you feel better?”
“At least it sounds better in my head.” Neon shrugs. She turns her head, casting her golden gaze on Sea. “What about you? Why did you post that message?”
Sea sighs, “You don’t know really know why Friend Ƶone exists do you?”
“No, I get it,” says Neon. “I’m not supposed to ask, I know. Two strangers meet up, have sex, and go home. No strings attached. No messy feelings.” Without those ‘conditions’ she doubted she’d have taken the risk with the app in the first place. “If you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”
After sex, there are two types of people. There are those who fall asleep right away and those who become rather chatty. Neon is the latter type, Sea discovers. She’s not all too thrilled about it.
She’s not supposed to be, anyway. There is something about Neon. The sweet tones of her melodic voice is like audible chocolate. Her openness is caused by her innocence. In any woman or man she’d inspire a slimy, grotesque covetousness. Sea is no different. So as to escape those feelings, Sea starts talking.
“… Nah, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like it’s some secret. I didn’t want to go home. I usually hang out with my co-workers, but everyone was busy today. I needed time to kill until my wife fell asleep so I decided to look through that app. I’ve never cheated on her before, didn’t really plan to either. Most of the posts are men looking to sleep with women or prostitutes. It was enough to turn me off, but…well, I saw an empty little post begging for attention and clicked on it and here we are.”
“So, in other words… It’s my fault you’re having an affair now?”
An affair. Cheating. For some reason, the weight of those words were incredibly light on Sea’s conscience. If she found out… would she cry? I, we took vows saying we’d love each other forever. If I’m not still in love with her… do I at least have love for her?
Sea questioned her heart, but there was no answer.
“Disappointed?”
“Not exactly.” Neon rolls onto her side and closes her eyes. “I’ve never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend. If I did, I can’t say I’m open-minded enough to accept them sleeping with someone else.”
‘But’ she says as she moves closer. Close enough to drop her head on Sea’s shoulder. “I don’t hate this either,” she says while her eyes drift close. “So I guess I’m also disappointed in myself. Just a little.”
Just like that? She’s able to accept her hypocrisy just like that? And feel only ‘a little’ disappointment?
In contrast, Sea is disgusted.
She’s disgusted with how naturally, her arm moves to support the head on her shoulder.
She’s disgusted with how greedy she is to devour Neon’s lips.
And most of all, she’s disgusted with how happy it makes her. It’s so damn fulfilling, it’s not until they’re both out of breath and on the verge on suffocating that they part their lips.
“… D-Do you want to do it again?” asks Neon.
It’s a question that didn’t require an answer. In the end, they extended their stay overnight.