I rent an apartment in the French Quarter the next day. The phone rings several times before I can check out of the hotel but I don't answer it. I don't want to talk to him.
The apartment is on Dauphine Street, a block from Bourbon. It is quiet there, just what I want. My rooms are on the third floor. I stand on the balcony in the warm sun and look down at the people moving slowly along the sidewalk. A pigeon lands on the rail of a balcony a few doors down from mine. I try to coax it over to my balcony but it ignores me, then flies away. I think about putting out some food for it.
I go back inside. The furniture is old and worn but it looks good to me because it is in my apartment. I think of a few pieces I will add here and there. I rub my foot across a threadbare spot in the carpet. I will replace that. I enjoy the feeling of being in my own place and making plans to change it.
I take a short nap in the bedroom, then go out to shop. It feels nice to have money to buy things. I spend the rest of the day shopping. I pick out a chair and a table and a new mattress. I order it all to be delivered. I see other things that I will buy later. I buy a dark blue jersey dress that hugs my breasts. It feels good to be starting everything all over. I stop in a liquor store and buy a quart of bourbon and some fancy mixes. At the grocery store I pick out the most expensive steak. When I get back to my apartment I have to make two trips up from the car to carry it all in.
I drink whiskey sours until I get a little high, then cook the steak. I make a salad. I put on my new blue dress and eat supper sitting out on the balcony. It is all very pleasant. After my meal I smoke a cigarette and drink coffee and watch the sun sink down behind the buildings across the street. The evening breeze whips up. Lights start to come on in some of the buildings. I feel the night close in. I go back inside. The apartment seems different now in the darkness. Bleak. A little depressing. I turn on all the lights. I make myself another drink. I decide to buy a canary or goldfish or something to keep me company.
I spend the next few days mostly shopping, and by the end of the week, the apartment has a bright nevi look. I buy some paintings and a rich looking gold carpet. And some lovely furniture that blends in nicely with what I had. For the balcony I pick out a rattan set with big tub chairs. I get a canary, too. Evenings, I sit out on the balcony with a Tom Collins or some other fancy drink and watch the crowds pass by. Every night I see a man in the window directly across the street pacing back and forth. I try to guess what is bothering him. I wonder vaguely whether I will ever fuck him.
I listen to the cars and watch the crowds. I wish I were among them. I look as far as I can down the street to where the buildings become a blur, then bring my gaze back and stare down at the sidewalk immediately below. I see a man smiling at something the woman with him has just said. I hear her laugh. I feel a thousand miles from them. I look back into the window across the street but the pacing man is gone. There is a dim light on in his room. He is probably resting on his bed.
I imagine myself phoning him. Hello, my name is Carrie. I live just across the street. If you look out your window, you can see me. That's right, sitting here on the balcony. Why don't you come over and have a drink? We could fuck then afterwards. We could fuck even before we have the drink if you want to. You could tell me about why you pace back and forth all the time tell me what it is that bothers you. I haven't been fucked in more than a week, you know. I've had sort of a holiday from it, been fixing up my place so it looks nice and new. Why don't you come over and I'll show it to you? We'll fuck and I'll eat you if you'd like me to. All right. I'll see you in a few minutes then. You can let yourself in. I'll just sit here on the balcony and wait.
I am suddenly chilly in the evening air and go inside to get a sweater. I see a short pink skirt hanging in my closet and instead of getting the sweater, put on the skirt and a lacy white blouse. I brush my hair and put on lipstick that matches the skirl. I don't put on stockings. I step into the pair of silver high heels that I've brought from home. I stand in front of the mirror, turning this way and that adjusting my clothes. I drape the sweater over my arm, take a last sip of my drink and go out into the night.
It excites me to be back again with the noisy crowds walking along Bourbon Street under the flashing glowing neon lights. Every block or so, some man tries to pick me up but none of them interest me and I walk on rapidly. I come to the shrimp restaurant and go inside. The good-looking black waiter takes my order for a mug of beer. He smiles at me warmly and the feeling goes right to the pit of my stomach. I cross my legs beneath the table and squeeze my. thighs tight together. I wonder why he should stir me so.
I drink my beer and try to catch his eye again as he moves about waiting on other customers. He goes into the kitchen. I sit there for a long time waiting for him to come back out. But he doesn't. Finally I see that another waiter is taking care of his tables. The new waiter asks if I wish to order another beer. I shake my head no and in a few minutes get up and leave.
I look for him along the street, thinking he may have left the shrimp house out some back door. But I don't see him anywhere. I walk on with the crowds. My feet get very hot and tired and I think of just going back to my apartment. But I don't want to be there alone.
I get the idea suddenly of phoning Rae. I could have her over to sit out on the balcony with me and have a drink. I walk on a block or so thinking about it; then step into a telephone booth in a drug store and dig in my purse for the envelope with her number on it. I call her. My heart begins to race a little as I listen to her phone ring.
"Hello… yes… this is.Rae." Her voice is pleasant, husky. She seems happy to get my call. We make plans to meet at the Absinthe House, a famous old bar on Bourbon Street, then to go to my apartment from there.
We sit across from each other in my living room. Rae is lovely to look at in her light print dress. I feel the pressure build in me just from being in the same room with her. She crosses her legs and her skirt falls back on her thighs. They are very white and smooth. The muscles of her legs ripple. I'd almost forgotten how beautiful she is.
She lounges back on the sofa, rests her head. "Mmm… this is so soft," she says. "I like the way you just sort of sink down into it. Makes me feel that if I closed my eyes I'd be sleeping in a minute."
I smile. "You're sure it's not partly the drinks?"
"No… I don't think so. I don't feel at all high.., just very pleasant… dreamy… Why don't you come sit with me? Your chair looks so stiff compared to this."
"Should I make us another drink first?"
"Not for me… I'm fine."
"I think I've had enough too."
I sit down next to her on the sofa. Her soft beauty is a magnet. I can smell her perfume. It is apple blossom… no, stronger… honeysuckle maybe. She is a beautiful flower, delicate smooth and white. Her skin touches mine as we lean toward each other. She kisses me. I taste her lipstick. My nipples pinpoint. A curl of her fine hair tickles my jaw.
Her hand steals under my skirt. She lets it rest there for a moment, halfway up my thigh. It excites me that she is so slow about it. Her hand moves up along my legs. Higher… I hold my breath, waiting. Her fingers are wonderfully cool arid gentle on my bare skin. Her hand reaches my panties, slips under the hem. My bottom is wet from her touch. I feel the first light pressure of her hand on my pussy. My head swirls as her fingers spread the moist folds of my skin and dip deep into me.
"… touch me there too," she says.
"Yes… I'm sorry. I just got carried away."
I slide my hand under her skirt. When I reach her panties she raises her hips to slip them off. We take off my panties too and lie on the couch with our skirts drawn up, pressing our naked cunts together and caressing each other with our hands.
I feel her fingers at the lace of my blouse. I help her with the buttons. Her hand moves cool beneath my bra. My nipples itch terribly at first but as she strokes them the pleasant sensation fills my breasts, flows all through my body. I press myself even tighter against leer. The honey from her pussy mixes with my own. I kiss the smooth white skin of her neck with my mouth open. I hear her small groan. "Mmmm Carrie, I like it better with you than anyone. Touch my breasts, too. Like I'm touching you. I don't have on a bra. Like that, yes. Mmm let's eat each other now…"
We stand up and get out of our clothes quickly, let them drop on the carpet. She is beautiful standing naked in front of me. Her breasts are magnificent. Very white. Her nipples poke out pink. My eyes follow the smooth curves of her stomach, her hips, her thighs. The wetness of her pussy glistens beneath the auburn puff of hair.
"I like this part," she says. "Just looking at each other. It makes it even better when we don't rush things. I think I'll have a drink now first… just a short one. How about you?"
"I don't think so." I reach to pick up her glass.
"No, never mind," she says. "I'll get it. Everything is right out on the counter."
I watch the fluid movement of her buttocks as she walks across the room. Her hair flows down beautifully over her shoulders and back. She is a dream walker. Sensuous. Lovely. There is a grace about her… a poise. I am entranced by her every movement, gesture, the husky sound in her voice.
She comes back sipping a drink. She sinks back down on the sofa facing me and draws her knees up almost to her chest. Her vagina pouts pink and delicate in front of me. She smiles. "Let's start it again now. I want to be next to you… close to you…"
She kneels between my thighs, spreads them gently apart with her hands. I lie back. I feel her mouth on my stomach at first. Then her lips move over the thatch of hair on my mound to the hungry wetness of my pussy. She eats me. Her tongue dips into me. My cunt aches deep.
I turn around on the couch and slide down so that we can eat each other at the same time. I taste and smell her sweet musk. I drink in her flowing wetness… thick… creamy… sweet. I chew her cunt lips, suck the swollen softness of her bud. I reach down between our naked bodies, caress her breasts. I rub my fingertips lightly over her nipples. She keeps eating me, feels my breasts, too. Our bodies melt into each other. It seems for a moment that we are one. Then her body begins to rock violently against mine. I press my tongue even deeper into her cunt. I hear her quiet moan as she cums. I cum, too. I love the smell of her, the taste of her, her silky smoothness. I move my mouth away from her pussy and press my lips against her thigh. I lie there next to her, thinking about how much I want her to cum and stay with me, to live with me.
Rae stays overnight. The next day we go in my car to get her things and she moves in. It is delightful having her live with me. I don't tell her where I've been the last few weeks and she doesn't ask. We shop together, go out to have lunch together and she helps me with fixing up the apartment. Evenings we sit out on the rattan chairs enjoying the breeze and looking down at the street. We sip fancy after dinner drinks and smoke Rae's long Turkish cigarettes. Her fingers move over my thigh across my skirt. I take her hand and press it down firm against my pussy. We kiss, sink our tongues into each other's mouths, fondle and stroke each other's breasts.
We get up and go quickly hand in hand into the bedroom. In seconds we are naked against the cool fresh sheets, our bodies intertwined, our open wet mouths eagerly drinking in each other's sex. When it is over, we lie on our backs, resting. Rae's body looks beautiful stretched out next to mine. The texture of her skin is perfect. The pink points of her breasts look like ripening berries, round and delicious. I sit up and suck one of them into my mouth, taste the sweetness. She slips her finger between the still sticky folds of my cunt. I rub her pussy, too. We strain our bodies against each other. I cum with a shudder. She sighs. She groans. We cry out our feeling for each other, call out each other's names. I sleep quietly through the night, a deep dreamless sleep. When I awaken in the morning, she is there next to me and I cuddle up close to her, pressing my breasts and stomach against her back, digging my knees into her thighs. It is cozy with her… warm.
A week after moving in with me, Rae goes out one night on some modeling job that Lorraine arranged for her. It is the first time she's been gone from the apartment during the evening and the time drags. Everything is quiet. I feel very much alone. I try to read. I watch T.V. I try to make the canary sing. Finally it gets the best of me and I go out.
I have no intention of picking up anyone at first I just plan to have a drink in some bar and walk about until it is time for Rae to return. But after a couple of martinis in one place and one in another I find myself walking toward the shrimp restaurant. When I get there I see that the handsome black waiter is taking care of the tables in the back of the restaurant. I sit down at one of them. He comes over to me, asks for my order. His ebony face looks strong. His teeth are pearls. White. Glistening.
"I'll have bourbon," I say.
"And for mix?"
"Nothing."
"I'll bring you a glass of water."
"Thank you."
I watch him cross the room to the bar. His stride is smooth. He glides. The muscles of his shoulders and back ripple out against his tight white shirt.
He brings my drink, pours the whiskey in over the ice, then when I nod as he picks up the glass of water, he pours that in too.
I smile up at him and sip the whiskey.
He remains next to the table. "I haven't seen you in here for awhile," he says.
"I stopped about a week ago. You just don't remember." I smile again.
"Of course I do. A week is a long time."
He laughs a little. A couple comes in and sits down at a nearby table. "Excuse me," he says.
"You'll come back?"
"Yes."
"I don't know your name," I say.
"It's Mark."
"Mine is Carrie."
"Carrie? That's pretty." He smiles and leaves to go to the other table.
I finish my drink and he brings me another. I invite him to sit down but he says he never sits with the customers. He starts to excuse himself again.
I feel bold. "Why don't you come to my place. with me then?"
He doesn't look surprised. "I have to work almost an hour yet. We don't close until midnight."
"But you'll come with me when you're finished?"
"Yes."
"I'll wait then…"
I watch him work. His every move is graceful. He glances at me occasionally. Already I am thinking about how it will be to have his black skin pressing against mine. I watch the clock, waiting for the hour to end.