I loved you from the first time I saw you.

ONE

THE DeValoi family was notorious for their fun and simultaneously distinguished gatherings. Their gatherings were the most talked about amongst New York City's most distinguished families; most remembered for their sense of enjoyment. The family consisted of Richard, Francine, Frances, Ross, and Louie, an adopted family member. Frances was the eldest of the couple's two biological children. No one knew her, since she had remained in France with Louie when her parents had moved to New York nine years before.

Young Frances' pictures were strewn all over the immense Victorian house, for her parents lavished upon their daughter love and care; they missed her greatly and when the news came that she would be coming to New York to live with them, their happiness was immense. Her pictures were seen by those many young men and women who were the sons and daughters of friends of the family, who were always cordially invited to the gatherings. Most of the time, these young people accepted to go along with their parents or the invitations made by young Ross just to see those deep gray eyes. The golden blond hair, gorgeous face and that beautiful cherub smile of Frances' that had that single dimple on the left side of her mouth. And when these youth heard of the arrival of the longed for and admired elder daughter of the DeValoi couple, they rejoiced.

Every time they would see Ross, it was to talk about his sister, like always. When news of the welcoming party was spread, the youth rejoiced even more. Ross wasn't too happy with his sister's arrival, or with the party, for that matter. Upon his parents' request, he grudgingly invited his friends from school, including Katie Rosenberg, whom he happened to be in love with. Katie, unfortunately for him, didn't feel the same way. She didn't even know how he felt for her; though she might have had an idea. Ever since her initial high school years, she knew she was a lesbian. And though she didn't find it necessary for people to know, everyone knew. Everyone except poor Ross.

THE day came when Frances would arrive from France and her welcoming party would be thrown. There was tension amongst the young guests. They were awaiting the arrival of Frances DeValoi; they wanted so much to see how she would look in person. She was coming directly from the airport and was going to be surprised by what awaited her.

When she arrived, everyone stared at the stunning woman with the penetrating gray eyes, the newly close-cropped blonde hair, the gorgeous dimpled smile, and the softly cleft on her chin. She wore an off white three-piece suit; off white colors were her obviously favorite, she always wore them in her pictures. Her parents greeted her with long hugs and kisses. Everyone greeted the intense young woman with nervous shakes of hands and greetings. They were swooning with the sight of the beauty this woman possessed even more in person.

Frances walked through the crowd, politely accepting introductions. On the other side of the extremely large living room, she spotted her brother, who was speaking with Katie Rosenberg. Frances couldn't see her though, for Ross had turned away from her to look at Frances, covering Katie with his tall frame.

Frances walked up to him and smiled warmly. "My brother." She said, extending her hand for him to take.

He did take it, but his smile was not so warm; it had coldness in it that made Frances shiver. "My dear soeur." He said the French word for sister with such hypocrisy. After a few minutes of squeezing her hand too hard, he let go and excused himself, walking towards his parents, who were speaking to some of the guests.

Frances stared confusedly after him, and then she turned to his friend. She stared at the beautiful green-eyed woman with long black hair that was Katie. Frances never believed in love at first sight. At that moment, she believed in anything. Katie was oblivious to Frances' appraising eyes upon her. She was speaking with such attractive vitality with one of her fellow students, Lucy. Frances approached them slowly, oblivious to the appraising eyes of the other guests. For the first time, she was shy about approaching another woman.

Katie was made aware of the approaching Frances and when she looked up, their eyes met. It seemed time stood still for them that first time they looked into each other's eyes. Frances spoke first, her deep French accent-making Katie shiver. "I am Frances." She said loudly, the music was already blaring.

Katie smiled and introduced herself also. She couldn't stop looking into Frances' beautiful gray eyes. She wasn't much of a believer of love at first sight either, but at that moment she didn't know what to believe in. Katie's friend looked at both of them wonderingly then smiled to herself knowingly. Suddenly, someone walked up to Frances and pulled her away. Frances felt suddenly empty and kept looking back at Katie, who stared, after her, feeling the same way.

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HOURS later, when the party was in full force, Frances managed to pull Katie out into the garden. Once they reached a place where the noise from the house was barely audible, Frances took Katie in her arms. It must have been the alcohol she had drunk that gave her the boldness to just take this stranger into her arms. She felt a surge of eroticism grip her and her breathing quickened.

Katie struggled to free herself from the tight embrace, but Frances was surprisingly strong. "What… are you… doing?" She gasped, trying to control herself, trying not to surrender to the strong arms. Her body ached with surprising want.

Frances let go of her, lest she scare this fair skinned beauty away. "I am in love with you." She whispered, and took Katie's small hands into her own larger ones.

Katie looked at her incredulously, though she didn’t pull her hands away. "Is that what you say to all your conquests?" She asked sarcastically, then pulling her hands away. She suspected Frances was not the kind of person who would commit herself to one woman.

Frances shook her head. "No," She answered simply, ignoring or not hearing the sarcasm in Katie's voice. She decided to go for honesty; which was one of Frances' greatest virtues, though Katie did not know it yet. "I always tell my conquests the truth about what our situation would be." She said, then she paused for a few long seconds, staring into Katie's eyes. "I am not lying to you. I am in love with you." She then whispered.

Katie didn't know what to say, for she felt something akin to what Frances spoke of, although she couldn't admit it. "But you've just met me!" She exclaimed. She felt her heart would burst any second if she didn't get away from this woman.

Frances smiled a lovely smile, her dimples deepening. "I have never felt this way for anyone." She whispered simply, her husky voice was a caress. Her heart beat fast as she struggled to control her urge to take Katie into her arms again and kiss her. She moved closer to her, though she didn't reach out to touch her.

Ohmigod, she's got a dimple too! Katie thought, aroused, and she was sure that her knees would give out on her at any moment. "Okay," Katie said, crossing her arms over her chest, more to cover her shivering than to portray self-control. "Fine! What if I'm straight?" She questioned, thinking that maybe Frances had had too much to drink.

Frances smiled. "But you are not," She said. She could read into this woman's eyes like she could never read into anyone.

Katie was aghast, blushing furiously. "Please get your feelings straight!" She snapped, before walking past Frances towards the French doors that were the entrance to the living room from the garden, making her way through the throngs of people. Frances was left thinking only of Katie Rosenberg; nothing else could get the thought of that beautiful woman away from her mind. A deep, love-struck smile played across her beautiful features.

When she went back inside, Katie was already gone.

TWO

THE weeks passed and Frances was getting used to her new life in New York. Her parents purchased a new car, a red Ford Mustang Convertible, for her. They also opened a large bank account in her name. She went with her father to Columbia University, to an interview with its director, who was a very good friend of Richard's. The transfer from the law school in France was made immediately and Frances would begin school in a month's time.

Still, all this busyness was not working on getting Katie out of her mind. She continuously asked her parents about this young woman and they admitted that they knew her only slightly, that she was a good friend of Ross'. Frances decided not to try to ask her brother about it, for she knew his attitude about her sexuality. "Mais ne savez-vous rien au sujet d'elle?" But do you not know anything about her? She'd asked them insistently, a look in her eyes that they’d never seen.

Richard had laughed and teased his daughter. "Francine, I think our daughter has fallen in love," He'd said, then he looked at his slightly blushing daughter and said, "Mon Cher, all I know is that she works in the JC Penney's in Queens Center Mall. Your mother's seen her there."

Frances smiled and thanked her father. "I will be seeing you later." She said as she hurried out of her father's home office, missing the knowing look that transpired between her parents. Only when she was driving, did she realize that she didn't really know how to get to the JC Penney at Queens Center Mall. Well, she would have to figure it out if she wanted to see Katie again, didn't she?

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AFTER a couple of hours of asking questions and figuring out how to get to JC Penney, Frances finally found it. She walked in, thinking for the first time that day that maybe Katie would not be working there at that moment. She sighed; it wouldn't hurt to try to see. She walked in and looked around. She finally found the registers, and looked down the rows, trying to catch sight of Katie.

She silently cheered herself when she saw Katie, who was checking if accounts were valid in order to cash checks made out to the store. She stood behind a closed cash register, dialing into the phone the numbers of accounts. Frances walked up to her row and stood in front of her, smiling stupidly, not knowing what to say.

Katie lifted her head up when she saw the shadow fall over her hands, and felt the eyes upon her. She gasped when she looked into Frances' eyes. "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking around to see if any of her supervisors were around. "Please go." She'd grown nervous at the sight of Frances.

Frances shook her head. "I could not stop thinking about you all these weeks." She said softly; her soft, husky voice made Katie shiver. "I need to speak with you." She slid her hands into her coat pockets to hide their shaking.

Katie shook her head. "You do not know how you feel," She said slowly, trying to show that she was loosing her patience, which was not true. She actually loved to know that a woman this stunning was actually feeling for her that way, if it was true. The blood rushed through her body. "Please go!"

Frances lowered her head and looked at the floor. When her gorgeous gray eyes lifted back up into Katie's, they were sad and full of love. She nodded slowly and turned to go. "Okay, I will go."

Katie felt suddenly sorry. Maybe Frances was telling her the truth. Maybe she did feel love for her. Maybe. In the past few weeks, Katie hadn't been able to stop thinking about Frances. She would sometimes find herself in a state of arousal, just thinking of the sound of the sexy and husky voice. She would fight with herself because she felt so much, so quickly. Often, in school or at work, she would stand there and be oblivious to everything and everyone around her, her mind far away and on Frances.

She wanted to talk to her, wanted to see that beautiful dimpled smile. "Wait!" She said. Frances turned back to look at her, hope in her eyes. "Wait for me," She looked at her watch, it was two twenty five. "I get off in about a half hour."

Frances smiled happily and told her she would wait for her outside in her car.

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WHEN Katie exited JC Penney, through the exit on Queens Boulevard and Ninetieth Street, Frances climbed out of her car and ran to the passenger side, opening the door for her. Katie smiled softly, climbing into the car. Frances jogged over to the driver's side and climbed in. She looked at Katie and asked: "Would you like to have lunch with me?"

Katie looked down, considering. She couldn’t resist. "Okay, let's go." She replied.

THREE

THEY had eaten lunch at a fine French restaurant talking and laughing. They found they had a lot of things in common. Little things like colors, types of music, expectations about love, etc. At one point, Frances had placed her hand over Katie’s when they’d agreed on a point of interest. Katie’s eyes had widened and she’d looked frantically from their hands to Frances’ eyes. Frances had, with an embarrassed apology, pulled her hand away quickly, and they continued talking. She was trying hard to forget the electricity her body had felt and the look in Katie’s eyes, with just that slight connection of flesh. When it was time to go home, Frances asked her where she lived. Katie had declined to tell her at first, but after some convincing, she agreed.

Euclid Avenue, Katie's street, in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, had once been one of the most beautiful looking in the area, but things had changed. Katie's block now wasn't the nicest looking, where there once were clean front yards, there now was garbage and old rubble that needed to be put out. Katie lived in one of these brownstones, but this didn't bring any comments or complaints from Frances. The old brownstone house in which Katie lived was dilapidated and dirty. Katie was very embarrassed; she jumped out of the car, with a quick and curt goodbye and thank you, and ran towards the house.

Frances realized that Katie was embarrassed, but she didn't find any reason for her to feel this way. She jumped out of the car also and followed Katie up the steps. Katie, who was one step ahead of her, felt her close behind her, turned and looked at Frances with surprise. "It's not necessary." She whispered. They were now face to face with each other.

Frances smiled softly. "I can not even give you a kiss?" She whispered back.

Katie felt shaky and liquid all over, she blushed. She rolled her eyes, attempting to show exasperation. "Frances!" But inside, she was really feeling warmth and she was ready to melt. Tightening her arm that held her schoolbooks, she glanced at Frances' lips, pink and smooth, and felt weak.

Frances quickly corrected herself, blushing too. "On the cheek!" She said, it sounded like she said 'Un ze sheek.' "I meant on the cheek." She looked down at the floor, and muttered, embarrassed: "Merde."

Katie sighed with relief. If Frances would kiss her on the lips, she knew she would melt like butter into her arms. She closed her eyes as Frances leaned forward and planted a soft-lipped kiss on her cheek. As Frances moved back to her own space, their eyes met. Katie felt suddenly full of love and want for this woman. She leaned forward and kissed Frances softly and lingeringly on the lips. Her breath caught in her throat. The lips that greeted her were so velvety and smooth; they conveyed the rising love in Frances’ heart. They parted and welcomed Katie gently. Their mouths opened slowly and their tongues met softly.

Frances shivered and with a low moan, stepped into the embrace that she'd known from the beginning would be so wonderful. She wrapped her arms around Katie's waist, pulling her possessively close. They breathed hard against one another, intoxicated. Katie wrapped her free arm around Frances' neck and caressed the back of her head, moving her fingers through the silky hair. She broke the kiss, leaving them breathing hard and extremely aroused. "Come inside with me!" She gasped. So what if Frances may be lying to her, so what? That closeness they shared in that first earth-shattering kiss propelled her to want more. She was willing to take a chance.

Frances stared at her with wide, surprised eyes. "That is not all that I want." She replied. Her eyes were full of love, her voice was husky, and her arms around Katie were trembling.

Katie was still breathing hard. "I don't either!" She gasped, pulling Frances to her again and kissing her with a deep passion. When she pulled away, Frances was weak-kneed and gasping, she buried her head into Katie's shoulder. "I don't want just sex either, but right now, I want to feel you so close to me." She whispered into Frances' ear. "I’ve been waiting too long…" She ran her hand through Frances' silky hair, breathing in the delicious scent it contained.

Frances shivered at the feel of her warm breath against her neck. She nodded and pulled back. She walked back to her car, almost mechanically, and locked the doors, and then she pulled out her car keys from her pocket. She pressed the alarm button and a loud single beep signaled that the alarm was active. Katie waited for her, shivering with the hot desire that was running through her body. Her arms were crossed in front of her, holding up the schoolbooks she knew she’d drop if she held them in any other way. Frances followed Katie up the steps and waited patiently while Katie let them into the house and then into her small apartment.

For it being a small apartment, it was very well furnished and simply but stylishly decorated. Trying not to hurry things, Frances walked around the living room, studying pictures and plates. Hanging from a wall, were small gold plates, bearing images that seemed to Frances like they were from maybe a European country like Greece or maybe England. She often wondered, in the long month she’d been incessantly thinking of Katie, where the beautiful young woman was from. As she moved along the wall, she came across a picture, and smiled. "Who are they?" She asked politely, pointing at a picture with a couple. A beautiful couple they were, and she already knew who they were. The male had really dark hair and his eyes were green, his lips were soft and full, his smile very much like Katie's. The woman was much smaller than he was, her eyes were a deep hazel color, her hair was a light brown also and it cascaded over her shoulders. Katie could have been a carbon copy of her except for her eyes and hair.

Katie, whose luminous green eyes had been fixed onto Frances as she walked around, said: "They were my parents." Her voice was hoarse with desire. She wanted nothing but Frances, needed her deeply, scaring herself at this new feeling. She slowly stepped up to Frances and pulled her away from the picture. "Kiss me!" She whispered, wrapping her arms around Frances' neck, and pulling her tightly close.

Frances was instantly mesmerized with Katie's lips, the small beauty mark on her lower lip adding to their sensuous beauty. She closed her eyes slowly and covered Katie's lips with her own, taking a deep breath. Their kiss was sweet and passionate. Frances pulled back and breathed hard. "Where can we lay down?" She gasped hoarsely.

Katie looked down, embarrassed again. "Here." She whispered, and blushed a deep scarlet.

Frances strained to hear her. "Sofa bed, no?" She asked, smiling softly at Katie's embarrassment.

Katie nodded. Frances was instantly off to remove the cushions and pull out the bed from the sofa. Katie wantonly watched the grace and strength with which Frances did all these things. She quickly removed her clothes, and her eyes never left the woman in front of her; she was afraid this was a dream. When Frances turned, she was pleasantly surprised to find Katie already naked before her. Her hands began to shake; it was something that had never happened before. What was it about this woman that made Frances love her so much? Frances quickly pulled her own clothes off and each found herself studying the other's naked bodies.

Frances mouth watered at the sight of the soft and full breasts. Breasts that hung so perfectly and with such gentleness that made Frances want to thrive her mouth and hands in them and never move away. Her hands ached to dip into the fountain she was sure lay between her legs. The area between her legs was shaven and it looked so smooth... Her mouth watered even more.

At the same time, Katie took in Frances' own goddess-like beauty. She looked at the powerfully taut, yet soft looking thighs. The cuts on her thighs and calves revealed their strength. There was only a tiny bit of fine hair at the spot between her legs. Katie's eyes reluctantly moved up to the hard, heaving, stomach. She gasped at the sight of the full, round breasts; they rose and fell with each hard breath. Then their eyes met and they moved towards each other, like magnets.

They kissed fervently, their hands shakily caressing each other's bodies. When Frances' fingers first touched Katie's immense wetness, both women lost all sense of time, of place, of everything... They were lost to the world outside, and all there was, was the paradise that the other’s body provided was passionately expressing. All they knew was the oblivion of each other's senses. Their moment was complete bliss. They merged into one in mind-shattering ecstasies; cries and words of rapture and pleasure filled the otherwise quiet apartment.