Love is a Place Ch. 01: The Puzzle - Sex Stories

Love is a Place Ch. 01: The Puzzle

... with anyone."

"How old are you Samantha?" Dr Summers asked.

"I'm twenty years and four months old."

"And have you ever kissed anyone on the lips?"

"No, I have not."

Priya and Dr Summers exchanged looks with each other that Samantha didn't understand.

"But do you think you might want to kiss somebody?"

Samantha thought for a moment. "I am not sure. If I wanted to kiss anyone it would be Sarah."

"Tell us about Sarah," Priya asked.

Samantha didn't know what information would be required, so she gave a variety of details hoping some of them would be what was wanted. "Sarah is twenty years and three months old. She is two inches smaller than me and smells of tea tree and vanilla, but her normal speaking voice smells of cinnamon and honey. She has 6 brothers and sisters and she is the middle child. She has dark, curly hair that comes to her shoulders and her eyes are hazel in colour. She studies Sociology and works at the Lounge."

"Hang on," said Dr Summers, "is she Sarah Robinson?"

"Yes, she is."

"Wow, yeah, I know her. I've worked with her. She's nice. Small world."

Samantha didn't say anything.

"Okay," said Priya, "but tell us what Sarah is to you. What does Sarah mean to you?"

The question was too big. Samantha couldn't even see the edges of the answer. She didn't know where to begin. Should she talk about the meaning of Sarah's name? Or describe her value to Samantha? Or explore the "what" in the question? She couldn't begin to ...

... break it down, the idea was overwhelming. Should she talk about how Sarah had been assigned as her buddy in Year 7 and had done her best to help her find her way around the large, scary secondary school? Should she explain how Sarah had tried to shield her from the taunts and bullying, sometimes helped by her older siblings or Stuart, stuck by her in break and lunch times, hiding out in the library or the haven, at the expense of forming other friendships? Should she say how tutoring Sarah in Maths and Science had given Samantha a sense of self-confidence and satisfaction, an opportunity to turn the one-way dependency into a two-way flow of friendship? (This was a metaphor Dr Alison had had to demonstrate with models before Samantha understood it.) Should she explain how Sarah's persistence and patience had finally allowed Samantha to learn that touch didn't have to be scary and sickening but could be friendly and comforting? Should she talk about how it had never been a question of whether she would go to the same University as Sarah or share a room with her, but where? There was too much to say, too much to fit into a proper answer.

So Samantha gave a simple answer.

"Everything. She means everything to me."

Dr Summers and Priya shared a look. Samantha noticed that Priya was biting her bottom lip and squeezing Dr Summers' hand.

"So... it sounds like you feel very strongly about Sarah. Do you know if she feels the same way about you?"

"I know Sarah feels very ...