The Looking Glass

This is my entry for the 2019 Halloween contest. It's just a little thing that popped into my head, which I felt I could do justice to with the short time I had available to me. I hope you enjoy it.

"But Andrew..."

"I'm not talking about this anymore. We've argued for a week and I've told you, I'm not into it."

"Listen, I just..."

"I have to go to class, Alice. I'll see you tonight." Andrew Cunningham got up from the table and walked out the door of the coffee shop.

"Andrew!" But he was gone and Alice Marchant, his girlfriend, was left sitting alone. "Asshole," she muttered.

Alice was in her second year at Tulane University. She and Andrew had been dating for about a month. She didn't think it was going to last much longer.

"Trouble in paradise, chere?" Alice looked up to find Josette standing next to her table, coffee pot in hand.

Josette Chacere was the proprietor of the Voodoo Bean, the little coffee shop right off campus near Alice's dorm. Alice had often wondered, since meeting Josette her freshman year, how someone so young could own her own business. She couldn't have been much older than herself.

Josette was a slim, willowy woman, with skin the color of the café au laits her shop was famous for, and a mop of curly, caramel-colored hair. She would tell anyone who cared to listen that she was a descendant of Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen of New Orleans.

"Hey, Josette. No... I mean, yes. I mean, this thing I've got with Andrew isn't

anyone's idea of paradise. I just wanted to enter the couples costume contest in Jackson Square on Thursday. The winner gets the honeymoon suite at the Crowne Plaza for the night and I thought it'd be fun to try. But I guess I couldn't talk him into my idea for our costumes."

"Mm hmm. Halloween, mah favorite holiday." She warmed up Alice's coffee for her. Alice had always enjoyed Josette's Cajun accent. "So what was your idea for the contest, chere?"

"Nothing, it was stupid anyway."

"Don't let that boy drag you down with his negativity, sugar. What was your idea?"

"Well, the contest is fairy tale themed this year. I wanted to go as Alice in Wonderland, and have Andrew be the Mad Hatter."

Josette laughed. "Why, that'd be perfect for you, chere! Not sure about your boy though."

Alice knew why Josette said that. Her looks couldn't have been more perfect for the Lewis Carroll character. She was slim, with blue eyes and straight, pale blonde hair down past her shoulders.

"I know, right? Andrew wants to go as a zombie though. I still might enter the singles contest. The prize is only a two hundred dollar gift card for that. I was telling Andrew how nice it would have been to have a romantic night in a huge suite instead of always having to try to find some privacy in the dorms."

"Well, good luck to you sugar. If I see you, I'll cheer you on."

"Thanks, Josette, that's really kind of you. You're planning on being down on Bourbon Street on Halloween too?"

Josette smiled at her. "Chere, I never miss a Halloween down there. Most people prefer Mardi Gras, but I like the witching night better."

Her smile was definitely the most remarkable thing about her, Alice thought, as Josette went back behind her counter to take the orders of some students who had just walked in. Her smile was so broad and full of sunshine that it almost appeared she had way too many teeth when she flashed it at you.

Alice got up and bussed her table, leaving a couple of dollars in the tip jar on her way out. Josette nodded her thanks and called out to her, "Hope we run up against each other on Halloween, chere!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Andrew gave a low whistle when Alice opened the door to her dorm room. "Whoa babe, you look hot!" She rolled her eyes. Things hadn't gotten much better between them since their argument at the Voodoo Bean earlier in the week. The only reason she hadn't broken up with him already was that she didn't want to go to Bourbon Street alone, and her roommate was going to some sorority party. She was pretty sure this would be their last date.

"Thanks. You look... Like a zombie, I guess." Andrew had clearly not tried very hard. His zombie makeup looked like he'd gotten one of those cheap makeup kits from Wal-Mart and slapped the scabs and fake blood on his face about two minutes before he walked out the door. He was wearing a dirty white t-shirt covered in fake blood. He tried to kiss her, but she shied away.

"Hey! Don't get near me with all that blood, at least not until after the contest! I don't want to get messed up."

She'd worked hard on her costume. Her mother had spent years teaching both her and her sister to sew, like good Southern girls, and Alice had her own portable sewing machine she'd brought with her to college. She'd made the powder blue crinoline dress herself. It ended just below her knees, with puffy, gathered sleeves ending halfway to her elbows, and had a white linen smock that covered the front. Under the multiple petticoats she wore to give the dress the proper volume, she'd added white stockings and patent leather shoes. She'd considered going with white tights, but had decided to wear actual stockings and a garter belt. It made her feel sexier. She was pretty sure that she wasn't going to let Andrew to enjoy her efforts in that area tonight, and she was amused by the thought that he wouldn't get to see what was under her dress.

"I'm being really petty tonight," she thought to herself as they left the dorms to head out to the streetcar that would take them down to the French Quarter.

The French Quarter was in full swing when they arrived in Jackson Square right at sundown. Hundreds of people in costumes were wandering around, most carrying alcohol from the nearby bars and walk-up daiquiri shops.

Andrew was soon carrying a huge Hurricane himself, courtesy of his fake ID. She'd declined his offer to get her one. Public drunkenness as a twenty year old is not something she wanted on her record.

He ditched her to go looking for some friends while she stood in the long line to register for the costume contest. She was halfway to the front and thinking about giving up on the idea. She turned to walk away from the line and ran full force into someone and almost fell. Josette caught her by the arms and kept her from going down.

"Chere, when I said I hope we run up against each other, I didn't mean it literally," she laughed.

Alice barely recognized her. She was dressed as a cat, wearing a deep purple body suit with black tiger stripes and a three-foot long furry tail attached just above her butt. The pattern on the body suit made it look like fur at first glance, but a closer look revealed it was skin tight Lycra. She looked like she'd been dipped in paint. Her natural hair was teased out into a full Afro, and it surrounded her face like a lion's mane, with a pair of fuzzy black cat ears sticking up out of her hair. Apparently, she'd invested in a really expensive pair of special effects contacts, because her irises were twice their normal size, and a brilliant green instead of her normal brown. Her eyes had feline pupils to go with the whiskers she'd painted on her cheeks. When Josette had laughed, she had exposed her canine teeth, which looked much longer and sharper to Alice than normal. She must have glued fake fangs to her teeth.

"Wow, Josette. Sorry to almost run over you like that. You look amazing! You could be in the Broadway cast of Cats!"

"Why, thank you sugar! You look adorable yourself. You might have a shot up there tonight."

Alice frowned. "I was just getting ready to give up on the line and try and find Andrew. I don't think I want to do the solo contest anymore."

"No? How about the couples contest then?"

"Andrew doesn't want to. Besides he wouldn't wear the Mad Hatter costume I was making."

"I wasn't talking 'bout ya boy, chere. The Hatter ain't the only one Alice ran into through the looking glass you know." Josette grinned as wide as she could, and Alice suddenly realized that Josette would be a perfect Cheshire Cat.

"Wow, okay, I guess if you want to, that would be cool! Wait, did you wear that hoping you'd run into me?"

"Chere, I've had this look together for a while now. It's just a fortuitous circumstance. Watch out now, the line's moving without us."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She and Josette had made it through the first few rounds of voting and were one of the final three pairs.

Couple number one had dressed as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story. Not technically a fairy tale, but close enough to get them in the finals, apparently. Couple two was a little cleverer; a gender bent Rapunzel, with the Princess played by a man in drag and the Prince played by a butched up woman. Alice felt somewhat optimistic. They all went up on stage together and the emcee called for applause from the crowd for each couple.

The first two couples did fairly well, making Alice nervous, but Josette whispered to her "Just play along with me, chere."

When the emcee pointed to the two of them, Josette dropped to all fours and began to prowl menacingly around Alice's legs. She looked almost inhuman, the way she moved, lithe and graceful. She crawled around Alice grinning ear to ear, exposing her fangs, and making clawing motions at her dress. Alice acted the part of a scared girl, making her mouth into a big "O" and covering it with her hand, and lifting one foot up away from the scary Cheshire cat. The crowd ate it up and the emcee pronounced them the winner, handing Alice an envelope. The girls hugged to celebrate, and then Alice opened the envelope to find a hotel key to the suite at the Crowne Plaza and a two hundred dollar gift card.

"We're totally splitting this Josette! That was so much fun!"

Andrew walked up to the pair, ignoring Josette. "Babe! That was awesome! Great job, should we go check out our suite? Maybe we could invite a bunch of guys from the dorms to party."

"OUR suite? What did you do to help me win this?"

"Well, I mean... I know I didn't, but you've got this suite now. Don't you want to go, you know, enjoy it?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Alice suddenly realized she was done with him. "No, thanks Andrew. Josette and I are going to enjoy a girl's night out, since you know, WE did all the work. But I'll let you know how it was next time I see you."

"What?" He yelped. Alice hooked her arm through Josette's and began pulling her towards Bourbon Street.

"You're just going to ditch me? You BITCH!" He stood there watching them melt into the crowd.

"Chere, you might want to find yo'self a new man there," Josette drawled. "I think that one's past his expiration date."

"Don't worry, way ahead of you on that."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After spending a few hours on Bourbon Street enjoying the costumes and dancing to the music pouring out of the bars onto the street, they checked into the Crowne Plaza and were ushered upstairs by a bell hop to the honeymoon suite.

"The suite is yours until noon tomorrow," he told them as he showed them the amenities. "Room service and the mini bar are included in your stay. Please call the concierge's desk if there's anything we can do to make your stay more pleasant." Josette tipped him as he left.

"Mini bar included! We hit the jackpot, chere!" Josette exclaimed, pulling a bottle of champagne out of the refrigerator.

"Uh, you know I'm not twenty one, right?" Alice looked a little nervous. "I haven't really had much alcohol."

"Well, I am over twenty one, we're not planning on going anywhere tonight, we won't see anyone else, so it seems pretty safe to me. I mean if you don't want any I won't hold it against you, chere."

"No. No, I'll have some. I'm just a little... Yes, please, I'd like some."

Josette grinned, as she popped the cork with both thumbs and sent it flying across the suite. "You got it, sugar!" She poured two glasses and the pair settled in on the sumptuously appointed couch in front of the fireplace. There was a floor to ceiling window next to them, looking down onto Bourbon Street, twenty floors below.

Alice took a sip and looked at the glass appreciatively. "That's good!"

"And it's free, so it's even better, no?" Josette had drained half her glass in the first sip.

"How did someone so young end up owning the only coffee shop next to a big university? You're always busy, you must be doing well for yourself."

"Oh chere, I'm not as young as you might think."

"What do you mean? You can't be more than a couple of years older than me."

"Appearances can be deceiving." Her eyes twinkled.

They were well into their second bottle of champagne when Josette asked her, "How long you been dating that delightful boy, sugar?"

"Oh, him. Like a month. And I'm pretty sure we're done after tonight. I probably shouldn't have even come with him in the first place."

"He doesn't seem like your type anyway."

"No. I mean, he's cute and all. I guess he was a perfect one-month college boyfriend. But not the kind I want for a long-term relationship. I think I want someone more... interesting. Complex. Andrew sure wasn't that."

"Mmmm," Josette just hummed, watching her.

"What about you? What's your type? I don't know that much about your personal life, do you have a boyfriend?"

Josette laughed a delighted laugh, tossing her head back. "Her fangs look so real," Alice thought.

"No, chere. I don't have a boyfriend. As for my type, well..." she leaned towards Alice.

By the time she realized she was about to be kissed, it was too late for Alice to do anything about it except squeak "Wait, I'm not...!" Then Josette's mouth made contact with hers. Alice's mouth was still open to protest and Josette's tongue reached out and caressed hers.

Alice felt a spark, almost like a literal flash of electricity. Heat surged through her body and she stopped protesting and just froze, taking in the sensations. Josette leaned back away from her, her slitted cat's eyes watching her, unblinking. Alice opened her eyes and looked back.

"That was... I've never... How did you do that?"

"Do what, chere? I just kissed you."

"That felt like more than a kiss. I felt that through my whole body." She'd never even considered being attracted to a woman in her entire life. In the small town where she was raised, such a thing would have been unthinkable. But the last minute of her life had her questioning everything.

"You flatter me, chere, but I'm glad you liked it." She smiled, a rather feline looking smile, and sipped at her champagne again then set her glass on the table. She looked at Alice and waited.

Alice set her own glass down, then slowly, hesitantly, leaned forward towards Josette. Josette didn't make her do all the work. She met her halfway, and they kissed again.

This time, the spark wasn't as sudden, as dramatic. But it was definitely there and the heat that radiated through her again told her that if she didn't stop now, she wouldn't be able to stop at all.

She chose not to stop. Josette was the first to reach her hands out, sliding her fingers up Alice's neck and caressing her hair. Alice copied her, tangling her hand into Josette's unruly curls. Alice stiffened slightly when she felt Josette's other hand start to caress her breast, and then relaxed into it. She wasn't sure what to do with her other hand, so she rested it on Josette's knee. The silky material of the body suit, over Josette's toned leg muscles felt wonderful.

When they broke apart, Alice was panting and had flushed red. She had trouble meeting Josette's eyes.

"Josette, I... I... I've never done this before. I don't know what to do."

"Oh, chere, don' you worry none. Josette's gon' take GOOD care of you now." Her Cajun accent had grown thicker. She leaned forward and pushed Alice onto her back on the couch, sliding to kneel on the floor between her legs. She kissed Alice's neck, then nibbled at her earlobe, causing Alice to gasp sharply. Her Wonderland dress fastened in the back, so Josette didn't bother trying to take it off. She slid down and pushed up the dress then gathered the multiple petticoats in her hands, and slid them up to expose Alice's stockings and the creamy white thighs above them. She licked one bare patch of skin on Alice's left leg, then shifted to the right and softly bit the flesh there.

Alice jumped "Oh!"

"Too much, chere?"

"No, no not too much. Your fake fangs are really sharp though."

"I'll be careful, sugar." She lowered her head and pressed her lips to the moist heat of Alice's pussy through her silk panties. Alice jumped again, but only moaned this time. Josette gently blew her warm breath onto Alice, then reached up and pulled the panties to one side. Alice was smooth, with just a landing strip of hair no wider than her thumb. Josette growled her appreciation and then bent to run her tongue down to part Alice's lips. She was moist, and Josette eagerly lapped at her wetness, drawing loud gasps from the object of her attention.

As Alice started to writhe and wound her hands into Josette's hair, Josette slipped her middle finger up into Alice, who immediately clenched her muscles around it, and cried out. It took very little time for Josette to have Alice cresting a wave of pleasure, then crashing down as her orgasm came over her like she'd never felt, crying out wordless syllables of amazement at the feelings her newfound lover had given her. As she started to catch her breath, she leaned up on an elbow and stared at Josette, panting.

"I can't believe... I don't.... Josette, I've never felt like that before. What did you do to me?"

Josette smiled, while still gently caressing Alice's thighs with her tongue. She lifted her head. "Oh chere, I think your little boy Andrew just don' know how to treat a woman right."

"Oh my god, no, he's never made me feel anything like that. That was the best sex I've ever had!"

Josette stood and pulled Alice to her feet. "Best sex you had? You don't think we're done, do you?"

"What? What do you...AH!" She gasped as Josette roughly spun her around to face away from her. She pulled down the zipper on her dress, and helped her shrug it off her shoulders. It puddled on the floor around her feet. Josette unhooked her bra, then started pushing down the petticoats she was wearing, leaving Alice to pull off the bra herself.

Alice now stood naked, save for the stockings and garter belt and her patent leather shoes. Josette turned her back so they faced each other then stepped close, so her silky body suit made contact with Alice's skin all up and down her body. Josette's hands were running up and down her back, as she kissed her again. Soon Alice's knees were trembling and she was holding onto Josette's shoulders to maintain her balance.

Josette roughly spun her again, this time towards the window. Alice loudly exclaimed "Oh my god!" as Josette pushed her up aginst the window, grabbing her wrists and placing her hands on the glass above her head. Alice looked down at Bourbon Street hundreds of feet below. While it was unlikely any of the drunken tourists down below or in the buildings across the street would notice them, Alice had never felt more naked or exposed in her life. She didn't think it had been possible, but she felt herself getting even wetter than she had been.

Josette pressed up against her from behind, using one foot to kick one of Alice's legs out wider, exposing her even more. Josette stretched her left hand under Alice's arm and around in front to caress her breasts. Then pinched one nipple hard, eliciting a loud yelp from Alice, then grasped her throat, not quite choking her, but using her grip to hold her firmly in place against the glass. Her other hand reached down and she stoked the pale globes of Alice's behind, then reached lower and slid two fingers into her from behind. She gave her a few strokes to let her get used to the added width, then added a third finger, causing Alice to cry out, her cheek pressed against the window.