Aella

VIII

"Penelope", I hear a voice at my door, knocking at my bedroom door. "Penelope". The voice sounds so familiar, but sleep is so nice.

"Penelope Bria", the voice yells as they open my door.

I open one eye to see my sister standing in my doorway. I sit up quickly to greet her. "Mari!"

She climbs into my bed and tackles me into a hug. "Oh, I missed you so much", I say to her with the biggest smile on my face.

"I missed my baby sister", she says to me, letting me go. She looks me over up and down. "You look great".

We both lay back down on my bed and stare at the ceiling. "How is everything in Venice?"

I see her shrug out of the corner of my eye. "It's fine I guess. Angelo works all the time, and I just go shop with Ella and Caterina while all three boys are at work".

"I want to go over some time soon. I miss the girls", the girls meaning our cousins.

"But come on", she giggles. "What about you and Ace? Is he any closer to proposing?"

"I don't know, Mari. I don't know if I still have solid feelings to him. He hasn't done anything bad to change my mind about him, I just don't know if he is my person. And the sex isn't great".

"So, what do you wanna do?" She always supports me in everything, no matter what. If I think something isn't going to work, she's going to go with it.

"I have something else to tell you, Mari", I grit my teeth. She looks over at me.

"Are you pregnant?"

"No", I take a deep breath. "I think I'm... attracted to... um, women".

Her eyes go wide, and I start to feel the tears well up at the back of my eyes. When I start to tear up, she grabs me and takes me in a hug. "No no. Pen, that's awesome. I'm not mad. I'm sorry, that just shocked me".

"You're not mad?"

"No, what the fuck? Why would I be mad? I just want you to be happy. What, or who, made you come to this decision?"

I can't tell her about Aella. That would be absurd. "I don't know", I shrug. "I guess it's just looking at women, I could see me more with one than with Ace, or any other guy".

"I love this", Mari squeals. She rolls over and hugs me tight. "You know what this calls for? A shopping spree".

I laugh and get out of bed. "Okay", I sniff back my tears. "I'll take a shower".

20 minutes later, I'm out of the shower, standing in my closet, looking for an outfit. Knowing Aella needed to go with us, I picked out an outfit that she would find tantalizing. I pick out a short sundress that showed a bit of my cleavage, but the dress was nothing fancy. It's just casual.

"Okay", I walk out of my closet. "I'm ready to go".

I grab my purse and slip on some sandals, and we walk out of my room.

Aella stands at her post next to my door. "Good morning, Aella", I smile at her innocently.

She nods her head at me, but I can tell she does a double take at my outfit. "Good morning, Miss".

Mari and I head down the stairs, and Aella follows suit. We get into our town car out front of our house. The way the seats are positioned, there is one row that faces the other. Mary and I sit on one side, and Aella sits across from me. It's a good time to tease her secretly.

As we drive, and Mari and I talk about who knows what, as we do every time we're together. I slowly spread my legs open for Aella to see up my dress. I decided not to wear any underwear, knowing I would be showing her a little show while we were in the car. I feel her glare on me.

We get to our favorite store and hop out of the car, Aella follows behind us. She stays near the door as Mari and I shop for nw clothes. I sneak looks at her, and her eyes are constantly on me.

Mari and I pick out tons of new clothes, and we're so used to shopping at this store, we know exactly how each item fits, so we don't need to try anything on, we know they'll fit. I get a lot of clothes that might provoke something in Aella.

We head back to the house, and Mari and I go up to my room to put my new clothes into my closet.

There's a moment that Mari and I don't say anything, but then, Mari breaks the silence. "It's Aella, isn't it?

I look up at her. "No, no. What are you talking about?"

"You are a terrible liar", Mari rolls her eyes. "I see the way she looks at you. But, it's kind of like she wants to rip your throat out".

"She's pretty", I tell Mari. She gives me a "you've got to be kidding me" look.

"I bet she'd be good at... you know what".

I blush at her words. "I wouldn't know. We haven't done anything yet, plus what if she isn't actually.... gay".

"Oh my god, that woman is the epitome of a lesbian." Mari stops me. "What are you going to do about Ace, if you have a crush on your hottie bodyguard".

"I can't stay with Ace forever", I tell her. "But I know nothing about Aella. The only thing we have is sexual tension".

"Then get to know her".

"Mari, she's the most intimidating person I've ever met".