Annabel

Michael Jackson's latest single was playing on the radio in the kitchen, the door open to the small back yard where everyone was chatting with each other, ignoring Hanna completely.

"_You remember me somehow, though you don't need me now, I will stay in your heart._"

Hanna sipped her iced tea, wondering why she'd agreed to go to this party. She didn't really know anyone here, the friend she'd come with vanishing without a trace half an hour in. She'd be worried, but then this was par for the course for Josie. Why were they friends again? Briefly she wished she would've stayed in Josie's heart long enough for her to think twice before leaving poor introverted Hanna alone at a party just to go hook up with some rando.

It was almost 11pm, the night supposedly still young, the sky still silver blue after sunset. The ice tea wasn't great, but most of the other options were alcoholic, and she hadn't touched the stuff in years.

"Hey, Hanna right?"

Hanna looked up, recognizing the host, but blanking on his name. Fuck, why was she so bad with names? Josie had introduced him. He'd been kind, welcoming...

"Hi, yup!"

"This is Annabel. She needs to go to the train station and the last tram was twenty minutes ago. Can you drive her? If she doesn't make the last train..."

Annabel, until now mostly hidden behind the nameless host, leaned out and waved. Hanna was instantly transfixed. Every curve of Annabel's face was perfection incarnate, the slight tilt to the nose, the sprinkle of freckles on lightly tanned skin, her sleek blonde hair down past her shoulders, the curve of her lip. Even the imperfections just emphasized her beauty.

Hanna's mouth went dry, her heart skipping two beats before pounding hard to catch up. She felt her skin flush, hoped she'd been out in the sun enough to at least obscure the blush in the failing light.

"Yeah, no problem!" Hanna downed the remainder of her drink and leaped up. "Central station?"

"Mm-hmm, if it's not too much trouble," Annabel replied.

A choir of angels had nothing on Annabel's voice. Her inflection was so casual, with a regional accent Hanna couldn't place, and a warmth that made the balmy August evening in Amsterdam feel like the heart of winter.

"No trouble at all!" Hanna said, grabbing her purse and digging for her car keys on the way to the front door. "When's your train?"

"Twenty minutes."

"That's going to be tight, but I think we can make it."

Hanna pushed the roof of her convertible down out of habit, hearing it click into place behind her as Annabel slid into the seat next to her. Her backpack, bulky and stuffed to the brim, barely fit in the joke of a backseat.

"So where are you headed?" Hanna asked as she pulled out of her parking spot.

"Berlin. I'm house sitting for a friend."

"Oh, how nice!"

"They've got a lovely place in the center of town."

Only when she floored the accelerator as she pulled onto the A10-West did Hanna realize she hadn't said goodbye to anyone. Her little convertible protested at the rough treatment as they hit its top speed just shy of 160km/h, barreling down the road.

Annabel laughed, sticking her arms up into the air streaming over the top. The noise was like ambrosia to Hanna. This woman she barely knew, had exchanged maybe a dozen sentences with since meeting her not half an hour ago, was messing with her state of mind more than she thought possible. Only the need to keep her aging car on the road made it possible for Hanna to keep her eyes off the gorgeous woman next to her.

Hanna slammed on the brakes to pull into the closest parking spot next to the stairs and put on the hazards. The car ticked angrily as it cooled, and she could smell hot metal. Hanna helped Annabel carry her bag up the stairs. Just as they got to the top of the stairs, they spotted the last carriage on her train rounding the bend off in the distance.

"Fuck!" Annabel swore.

The profanity in her perfect voice sounded extra vulgar, an angel blaspheming. Hanna's heart sank along with Annabel's slumped shoulders.

"Things really aren't going your way," Hanna said. She absolutely couldn't have gotten here any sooner, but maybe if she'd pushed a little harder...

"I should've left in time. It's not your fault. You did everything you could and more. I'll see if I can sleep in the waiting area and--"

"You can crash at my place. The couch isn't comfortable, but it's safer than..." she nodded at the grimy waiting area. "It's just across the square."

"Are you sure? You've already done so much and..."

"Yeah, it's no problem." Hanna hoisted Annabel's backpack back onto her shoulder.

"Alright, I'll go with you."

---

Hanna pulled the door shut behind them, unlacing her boots and putting them in the corner of the tiny foyer. Annabel was just wearing flats, which she kicked off. Even the sound her bare feet made on the linoleum of the hallway was perfection.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

"Just some water. I've got an early morning if I want to catch the first train. You're sure it's okay?"

Hanna ignored the repeated question and squeezed past Annabel. When the other woman turned around, their hands brushed briefly, sending electric shocks up Hanna's arms.

"Excuse me." Hanna slid into the tiny kitchen, set off to one side of the only room.

Her bed, unmade of course, a couch, and a small coffee table made up most of the furniture, the small TV crammed in the corner so the tube took up as little space as possible.

She handed Annabel her glass of water, their hands touching again. Annabel smiled, and every neuron in Hanna's brain seemed to fire at the same time.

She looked away and tried to slip past Annabel again before she lost her cool. "I've got some extra blankets somewhere, and you can change in the--"

Annabel's free hand took Hanna's, stopping her mid-stride. She looked up at the other woman, and without even realizing what she was doing, started tilting her head and parting her lips.

When Annabel leaned down and brushed her perfect lips across her own, Hanna felt she'd found God. No random process could create something so flawless, so transcendent as Annabel. Her breath smelled of mint and fruit juice, her touch was feather light but overwhelming in its intensity. Hanna thought she'd collapse, or just cease to exist, the universe deciding that further existence would be pointless. Poor Annabel, everyone she kissed immediately poofing out of existence for having known bliss and perfection.

Much to her surprise, the kiss continued, their lips making full contact. Annabel's tongue played along Hanna's upper lip, her breath short.

When they broke apart to breath, Hanna stammered, "This isn't why I invited you back here."

"I know," Annabel said, the smile clear in her voice even if she was too close to see.

"I--"

Annabel kissed her again, more forcefully this time. Hanna parted her lips, still in shock that this perfect creature would even--

Thought disappeared as their tongues met. The taste of her -- mint and apple juice and human contact and angelic perfection -- drove Hanna's consciousness away. This moment was all that existed.

Before Hanna knew what was happening, Annabel's deft fingers were undoing the buttons on her shirt. It landed in a pile on the kitchen floor as Annabel's hand slid up and under her bra, the band digging into her back. One deft motion with her other hand, and it fell to the floor at their feet.

Some much more confident creature took control of Hanna's body, returning Annabel's kiss with a fervor she didn't recognize in herself. She found her fingers undoing the buttons on the front of Annabel's sundress, all the while refusing to break their kiss. The garment fell away, leaving her angel standing in front of her in just her panties. Her breasts were small, perfectly proportioned for her slender frame. Hanna, finally finding a moment to breathe and break away, was paralyzed by choice. Her mouth ached to envelop a nipple, her hands burned to squeeze and explore.

Annabel again took the initiative, laughing brightly as she pulled Hanna towards the bed. Hanna followed eagerly, letting Annabel pull her on top of her.

They kissed again, their tongues finding each other. Hanna's lust grew to an unmanageable degree, her need for the total stranger in her bed growing. With each kiss, Hanna's breath grew shorter. She needed to breathe, but breaking away was unthinkable, and, oh god, Annabel felt perfect here under her. The softness of her skin, the firmness of her, her spray of blonde hair fanned out behind her like a halo on Hanna's unworthy pillow.

Hanna hadn't ever been this overwhelmed with lust before. Rational thought was impossible, unnecessary even. All she needed was Annabel, now, forever, only her. The most gentle pressure on her shoulders, almost imagined, sent her kissing her way down Annabel's chest, right along the sternum, across her belly button, down to the hem of her underwear. Annabel lifted her butt up off the mattress, letting Hanna slip off the last garment that separated her from Nirvana.

A shock of blonde bush, wild and free like her angel was, greeted Hanna. She liked to tease and draw things out, have her partners squirm and writhe and beg before she finally gave them release, but that was unthinkable today.

Annabel arched her back as Hanna's tongue parted her lips. The world ceased to exist for Hanna, this moment becoming all-encompassing. Ambrosia had nothing on Annabel. Hanna's tongue agreed with her other senses that it had found true perfection. She focused her all on her task, tasting and licking and probing and circling to bring Annabel to a peak that would be Hanna's masterwork of the Sapphic arts, yet still pale in the face of her subject's beauty.

Every moan and gasp and giggle, every tiny touch, every twitch and tightening of muscles, it all fed into how Hanna moved, playing Annabel like a living instrument. Hanna could feel the waves of Annabel's pleasure reflect back into her, knew exactly what to do to bring her even more.

When Annabel came, her cries of ecstasy washed over Hanna, lifting her along. Annabel's legs clamped shut, but Hanna fought to keep going and won until she felt the balance tip away from perfect and down towards too much. She slowed, keeping Annabel right on that knife's edge until finally, she had to stop.

Hanna could feel the ache start in the pit of her stomach, the longing for this perfect moment to come again, knowing life was finite. Before it settled in, Annabel pulled her up and kissed her again, still trembling with aftershocks.

Annabel grabbed her ass and pulled Hanna upward. Hanna moved along, doing anything other than obeying even the slightest suggestion was impossible, but could Annabel really want to... A moment of clarity showed Hanna the view down her body, Annabel's face half obscured, those perfect sea-green eyes locked on her own. An impossibility, surely.

Before she could protest, before she could even really think about what was happening, Hanna was straddling Annabel's face and being pulled down. She hadn't even dared dream... The very thought that Annabel would want to bring her pleasure seemed too farfetched to be true. Annabel's hair made silk feel like jute on her thighs, and those eyes...

Hanna drowned in those eyes even as her angelic tongue found its way to Hanna's unworthy flesh. The combination threatened her very existence, only a hand on the sturdy bedframe saving her from collapsing into a heap.

Annabel's skill was only matched her beauty. Hanna could hardly believe this was happening at all, but all that did was drive her pleasure higher and faster. She came so hard, Annabel had to steady her, but of course her hands were there when they needed to be.

And so the night passed, Hanna drawing on every ounce of her skill when she gave, being amazed by the fluid grace of Annabel when Hanna received. They took breaks, lying wordlessly in each other's arms or lightly dozing until the fire inside burned bright again, and they couldn't resist each other anymore.

Eventually, the fire inside them burned down, something Hanna had thought impossible with Annabel in her bed. After, they clung together under a single thin sheet in the hot Amsterdam night.

Hanna couldn't sleep though, acutely aware of the pre-dawn light already flooding in through the windows. An inexorable dawn that would come and take Annabel away from her, likely forever. She simply lay there, enjoying the closeness, studying every line of Annabel's sleeping face to commit it to memory.

When Annabel finally woke, she smiled and kissed Hanna. "Good morning."

Hanna smiled back. "Good morning. Want me to make some breakfast?"

Annabel glanced around, finding the clock on the wall. "No time for breakfast, I have to go."

A whirlwind of activity followed, reversing what they'd done at the start of the previous night. Annabel insisted she could find her own way, insisted Hanna stay in bed and get some more sleep. One more brief kiss, more a peck than anything else, one hasty "adieu" over her shoulder, and Annabel was gone from Hanna's life, probably for good.

She tried to get at least some sleep. She had no obligations today, not beyond finding a job after completing her degree, but that could wait.

Two hours later, Hanna was still wide awake, studying every little crack and cobweb on the high, unfinished ceiling of her shitty student apartment. The night replayed itself in her mind, but more so the bed just felt _empty_. It had never felt empty before. She'd brought plenty of other girls home from parties and dates, and she was always a little relieved when they left early the next morning.

Forcing herself to get out of bed, she ate something that tasted of ash and tried to get her day started, but just couldn't. Annabel was getting further and further away every moment. She'd have switched trains at Utrecht and was now halfway to the border with Germany. There'd be a passport check, some strange German border guard rooting through her things, and then hours and hours of BRD landscape before the scary transition through the iron curtain. Would the Stasi take an interest in her? Would she be okay?

Thousands of people traveled to and from West-Berlin every day, there was a regular train service, had been for years. Annabel would be fine. But Hanna would never see her again, regardless. Maybe she could ask Josie if she knew her...

It took her two whole days to force herself to go out again, and then she only managed because she ran out of ash to eat. The days turned into weeks, where she shuffled aimlessly through the crowded city center of Amsterdam, hoping beyond hope to just catch a glimpse of golden hair or perfect upturned nose, maybe make contact with those mysterious and joyful sea-green eyes across a crowded square...

---

Traffic was light, even for a random Tuesday afternoon in October, as Hanna drove through town. She'd crammed all her worldly possessions, meager as they were, into the tiny trunk and backseat of her convertible, her one houseplant sitting in the footwell behind her. As always, she hoped to catch another glimpse of Annabel, even though the hope had faded into more of a mantra to ward off the devastating emptiness her absence left behind.

The weather was nice enough to still have the top down, though Hanna had put on her favorite leather jacket to ward off the fall chill. Her thoughts wandered, jumbled.

Turning to check her mirrors on autopilot, a familiar backpack with a shock of blonde hair spilling over the side caught her eye. The owner of the backpack was just getting up to get into a waiting tram, glancing over her shoulder, and--

Hanna pulled the e-break hard, undoing her seatbelt and hitting the hazards in the same motion.

"ANNABEL!"

Hanna jumped out of her car, not even bothering opening the door. People honked at her and swerved around her abandoned vehicle, quickly forgotten in the left lane as she sprinted towards the tram.

"ANNABEL!"

She caught Annabel's arm just as she put her foot on the first step of the tram. Annabel turned around and gave Hanna that enigmatic smile that had haunted her dreams and her every waking moment since that night in August.

Hanna smiled back. "Hey, are you going somewhere?"

"Mm-hmm, central station."

"Hop in, I'll take you there."

Without even thinking, Hanna rested her hand on Annabel's knee, stroking it gently. One night. That was all they'd had. The world swirled around Hanna, everything falling apart around her for the last two months, culminating in an eviction from her apartment... and now this meeting with Annabel.

"Going back to Berlin?"

"Paris. One-way trip this time, not sure when I'll be back. Or even if I'll be back. I got a good deal on a studio apartment and..."

Hanna felt the tremble start, forced the tears down. She needed to see. She couldn't crash, she couldn't. Her throat seized up, the high of seeing Annabel again quickly replaced by the knowledge this would truly be the last time.

"How have you been?" Annabel asked.

Hanna opened her mouth, ready for some platitude to come out, ready to lie through her teeth just to keep the mood high, to not ruin her last moment with her angel.

"That bad, huh?" Annabel said, her hand squeezing Hanna's where it trembled on her knee.

Hanna risked a quick glance, tried to smile, tried to gather herself and not unburden herself to this person who really was just a stranger she'd met for one night and...

The soft, gentle smile Annabel had for her drove her despair down to a background murmur, but simultaneously put her so much at ease she could open up and just tell her what was wrong.

"My lease was up last month, and they found out I'm no longer a student, so they kicked me out."

"Things really aren't going your way," Annabel said. Hanna could still taste those same words she'd used herself back on the dark, empty train platform, months ago.

"I should've expected it, I knew I wasn't supposed to keep living there, but... I'll just couch surf for a bit."

"Come crash at my place. I'm going to be lonely, and honestly I haven't stopped thinking about you and--"

"Same and I--"

"--don't want to lose--"

"--touch again and maybe never--"

They laughed as they talked over each other, finishing the same thought. Hanna flicked her indicator on, turning towards what would eventually become on-ramp to the A4 and her path to a new life.

"Isn't the station that way?"

"Yeah, but Paris is this way."