MY SISTER’S KEEPER

By Mavis Applewater

March 2002

Disclaimers: There is a hurt discomfort one for this section so brace yourself. Nothing overly traumatic, depending on your point of view, but still it warrants alerting you to it. Other than that it’s the same old ‘they belong to me’ so you can’t reproduce, copy, post, sell, or do anything else with this story without my permission. There is a loving sexual relationship between two consenting adult women, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, don’t read this. If for any reason it is illegal for you to view such material, again don’t read this. Also there is a potty mouth warning with this story. I know - sex and bad language in one of my stories - fancy that!

Thanks to my beta reader Joanne.

As Always this is for Heather.

CHAPTER ONE

Jenny Jacobs sat at the bar staring at the Amaretto Sour sitting in front of her. She ran her fingers through her long black hair as she contemplated just how she found herself in this situation once again. Was there some defect in her personality that led her lovers to betray her? From the first to the last, each one had brought her nothing but misery. "Officer," a cool Southern drawl greeted her. Her blue eyes blinked as she looked up at her friend Claire. Right now she didn’t know if she needed to talk to Claire, her friend, or Claire, the bartender.

"Life is funny." Jenny sighed as she began to play with the cherry in her cocktail.

"It’s a freakin’ riot," Claire scoffed. "You going to tell me what you’re doing here in the middle of the day?"

"What’s your honest opinion of Wendy?" Jenny inquired absently as she continued to chase the elusive maraschino with her drinking straw.

"Oh no," Claire groaned as she brushed her long curly auburn locks out of her gray eyes. "Jenny, you’re a friend but right now I’m going to give you some friendly advice from your bartender. Don’t ask your friends what they really think about your girlfriend unless you’re truly prepared for the answer."

"I guess that answers that," Jenny groaned as she pushed her drink aside. "I don’t want that."

"What do you want?" Claire inquired seriously.

"Such an easy question." Jenny pondered it for a moment. "I want to be in love."

"Aren’t you?" Claire prodded as she removed the cocktail and wiped down the bar.

"No," Jenny confessed. It was not only the first time she admitted it to another person it was also the first time she’d admitted it to herself. "Why is it so hard to find the right person?"

Claire rolled her eyes in desperation as she placed a new cocktail down in front of Jenny. "Are you going to tell me what happened with Wendy?" the bartender persisted.

"What’s this?" Jenny asked quizzically as she held the red concoction up.

"Something I think you need," Claire responded with a smirk. Jenny arched a single eyebrow before taking a sip.

"It’s good," she responded, her body and heart still feeling the numbness from what had happened earlier. "What do I owe you?" she inquired.

"It’s on me," Claire responded with a shrug.

"Isn’t that illegal?" Jenny taunted her.

"Call a cop," Claire snorted in delight.

For the first time in hours the dark-haired policewoman found herself smiling. "So what is this? Another Claire original?" Jenny inquired in a vain attempt to avoid talking about why she was really there.

"Like I said, it’s something that you need," Claire responded archly as she leaned seductively over the bar. "It’s a Red-Headed Slut."

Jenny spit out the sip she’d just taken and started to choke. The tears rolled down her face as she laughed heartily. "Thanks. I needed that," Jenny sputtered as she wiped the tears from her crystal blue eyes.

"See?" Claire exclaimed in an innocent tone.

"How does your girlfriend put up with you?" Jenny chuckled.

"She puts up with me just fine," Claire teased. "It’s my southern charm."

"Uh huh," Jenny scoffed as Claire cleaned up the mess she’d made.

"So?" Claire said with a determined look as she slapped the rag onto the bar.

Jenny sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to get off the hook very easily. She just gave in rather than fighting against it. After all, she knew deep down one of the reasons she’d wandered into the Comet that afternoon was to tell someone how her life had just collapsed around her. "I was working a detail this morning. You know, directing traffic around some roadwork."

"That must have sucked in this weather," Claire said in concern.

Jenny’s body still ached from standing out in the heavy rain all morning. "Yeah, it did. But the money for those jobs is so good. And Wendy’s always pointing out that I don’t make enough money," Jenny explained.

"I’ve noticed," Claire spat out bitterly. "I’ve also noticed that she never picks up the check."

"No, she doesn’t," Jenny replied thoughtfully. "Well, the construction crew finally gave up on the weather breaking, and I thought ‘great’. Instead of directing traffic around a big hole in the ground I could spend my day off snuggling with my girlfriend. I even stopped and bought her flowers. I noticed the white Lexus out in front of building but didn’t really think anything about it."

"Oh no," Claire groaned. Jenny simply nodded.

"She didn’t even seem bothered when I walked in on the two of them," Jenny spat out through clenched teeth. She took a calming breath and another sip of her drink. Then another breath and another sip before she felt the effects of the alcohol. She was fighting against the image of her small blonde lover wrapped up in another woman’s arms. ‘In our bed!’ her mind hissed. "Do you know the girl she’s been seeing?" Jenny finally worked up her courage to ask.

"I’ve heard rumors," Claire admitted reluctantly.

"And you didn’t tell me?" Jenny squeaked out in surprise.

"Jenny, I’m your friend," Claire said firmly. "If you really want to know what your friends think about Wendy, I’ll tell you." Jenny nodded mutely as she braced herself for what she was about to hear. "We don’t like her. She’s loud, obnoxious, and always trying to pry information out of people. Basically, for the past three years we all thought that the bleached blonde was just using you for your paycheck."

"Don’t hold back," Jenny choked.

"I won’t," Claire stated firmly. "Now I’d heard rumors about her and some rich lawyer. But for all I knew, that’s what they were - rumors."

"So she’s moving up the food chain," Jenny groaned.

"Jenny girl, she was going to leave you whether or not you caught her in the act," Claire explained calmly. "She probably just would have lied about there being someone else." Jenny sat there allowing the truth in her friend’s words to sink into her mind. "Which brings us back to what I asked you earlier," Claire continued. "What do you want?"

Jenny pondered the thought for a moment. Her answer was still the same. "I want to be in love," she responded honestly. "But there’s a catch. I want to be deeply in love with someone who is just as deeply in love with me."

"Sounds easy, doesn’t it?" Claire said thoughtfully as she patted Jenny’s hand.

"It isn’t," Jenny grumbled as she stared at her empty glass, wondering when she’d drunk the contents. "For now I’ll just have to settle for another Red-Headed Slut."

Jenny continued to drink, knowing that it wouldn’t solve anything. The alcohol would only succeed in temporarily numbing her pain. She talked the Claire’s ear off about how she’d had to check into a motel and buy some clothing so she could go out. It was illegal for a cop to wear their uniform in an establishment that sold alcohol if she wasn’t there on business. So with only her uniform stored back at the fleabag motel, the clothing on her back, and her almost-maxed-out credit cards, she found herself wallowing in misery with only her friend and several Red-Headed Sluts to keep her company.

As evening approached Claire made a call to Jenny’s partner, Nuru. The tall ebony beauty joined her sometime later in the evening to commiserate. "You didn’t like her either, did you?" Jenny inquired at one point in a drunken slur.

"Wendy?" Nuru inquired. "Nope, I thought she was an obnoxious wench."

"Why didn’t anyone tell me?" Jenny whined.

"Because you kept ranting about how in love you were," Nuru pointed out. "Not that any of us believed you."

Jenny blinked her crystal blue eyes as she tried to focus on her partner and friend. She was always telling the woman that she was a dead ringer for Lisa Leslie, the star player for the LA Sparks. "I really did love Lizzie," Jenny muttered in defense.

"Who?" Claire and Nuru inquired in confusion.

"She’s a mess," a strong voice said from behind her. Jenny spun around to see Kate standing there. Kate was also on the force and one of the girls, but not just any girl. Jenny was always a little uncomfortable talking about her love life around Kate. Not because Kate was straight, but because she had known the tall Sergeant since she was a kid. Jenny weaved slightly on her barstool, trying to recall what she’d just said.

"Who’s Lizzie?" Claire demanded curiously as Kate took a seat at the bar.

"My kid sister," Kate responded in confusion. "She and Jacobs were best friends growing up."

"Oh!" Nuru and Claire choked out in unison.

"I need another drink," Jenny hiccupped. Her mind was reeling. ‘Tell me I didn’t say anything about Lizzie. Please not now. And not with Kate sitting right here. Why does it always come back to her? It’s the damn rain. She always comes back to me when it’s raining.’ Jenny’s mind was spinning as her body began to protest against the unfamiliar invasion of alcohol.

"So where’s your sister now?" Claire pried as Jenny flashed her a pleading look. "Married?"

"Kind of." Kate laughed.

‘Please don’t,’ Jenny silently pleaded as Nuru and Claire stared at Kate. "What do you mean ‘kind of’?" Nuru pushed as Jenny’s inner voice begged for this moment to end.

"She’s a nun," Kate responded flatly.

"Kill me now," Jenny muttered softly as she watched Claire and Nuru’s jaws drop. She knew that they had put two and two together. ‘Yup, that’s right, girls. The great love of my life is a nun,’ her inner voice tormented her.

"You sure know how to pick them," Nuru muttered softly so only Jenny could hear her.

"Claire, another Red-Headed Slut," Jenny demanded as Claire flashed her a stern look.

"Maybe you need to switch to coffee," Claire suggested.

"I think she’s right," Kate said firmly. "Speaking of red-headed sluts, what happened with Wendy that’s driven you to drink Jagermeister?"

"Jagermeister?" Jenny choked out. "You’ve been giving me Jagermeister? I don’t drink Jagermeister."

"You don’t normally drink," Claire pointed out.

"Fine. Give me a designer water and you two can fill the Sarge in on my pathetic life," Jenny conceded.

Jenny settled back as her friends filled Kate in on what the gold digging whore (their words, not hers) had done. Jenny sipped her five-dollar bottle of water and stared out the window of the bar and watched the rain. ‘It’s always the rain. And it always comes back Lizzie, my first love. She was my first kiss; in fact, she’s been my first everything. Why does she still haunt me? She was my first, and at the time I had no doubt that she would be my last. But what does a teenager know? The beginning of our end, that’s the problem. Neither of us was the cause; it was the damn rain.’

The memories suddenly flooded Jenny as she stared out the window, allowing them to overcome her. Jenny could still recall every detail like it was yesterday. The way they’d rushed into the Carrington’s kitchen. How their clothing was dripping wet after being caught in the sudden downpour. Of course they hadn’t noticed the sudden change in weather at first. They’d been too busy making out in Jenny’s little Datsun. It was the sudden clap of thunder that had jolted them out of one another’s arms. They’d rushed through the rain and into the kitchen.

Jenny could still recall the taste of Lizzie’s lips as she kissed her gently. ‘Why didn’t we stop with just one kiss?’ she wondered. ‘Because we were seventeen and in love,’ her inner voice responded. One kiss was never enough for them. Their tongues and hands began to explore one another as Lizzie backed her up against the refrigerator.

Warmth suffused Jenny’s body as the sensations of that long ago evening filled her entire being. No longer aware of her surroundings, Jenny simply allowed the memory to replay as it had so many times before.

A clap of thunder stirred Jenny out of her painful memories. ‘I never should have left you, Lizzie,’ Jenny thought bitterly at the memory of the last time she’d spoken to her first love. She had had enough for one day. Between the harsh memories and Wendy’s betrayal she just wanted to go to bed and forget about everything. Jenny stumbled as she tried to stand. The rush of alcohol she’d consumed hit her hard.

"Hold on there," Nuru said as she reached out to steady her. "Where do you think you’re going?"

"Tired," Jenny muttered as the room began to spin.

That was Jenny’s last conscious thought before she woke up the next morning. If she could find the guy with the jackhammer that was pounding on her head, she was going to shoot the little bastard and then she would really hurt him. Her blue eyes opened slowly as the wave of nausea hit her. She couldn’t for the life of her understand where she was. The day before seeped slowly back to her. ‘This isn’t the hotel,’ she said silently. She looked around the strange living room as best she could without lifting her head. She did notice that she was lying on a futon. She peeked under the blankets that were covering her to discover that she was completely naked.

As she contemplated her surroundings she wondered why her mouth felt like a wad of cotton. "Damn Red-Headed Sluts," she grumbled as her head pounded.

"Most people say good morning," a hauntingly familiar voice offered lightly.

Jenny lifted her head and was greeted by a sharp pain. She sat up, allowing the blanket to fall just below her breasts. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Or rather, whom she saw. She was sitting in an oversized chair underneath a window. It was still raining outside. Somehow that made the image of her seem more like one of her dreams. She had her legs draped over an arm of the chair and a book in her lap. She was dressed in a faded pair of jeans and a sleeveless white shirt. She looked the same and yet different. Older and her hair was blonder. The long locks were gone, replaced by a short cut that fell neatly on her tanned neck.

But those blue green eyes that always reminded Jenny of the ocean were still the same. Jenny blushed as she pulled the blanket up to cover her half-naked body. "Lizzie?" she stammered in disbelief.

To Be Continued - Part 2

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