Sue Politely Begs Off

"I—I really can't, I'm married, but thank you, that's very flattering," Sue Storm said. Each word was ****. Harder to say than it should have been. Anna seemed to understand, her blue-green eyes deep mystical pools.

The kiss was sudden, unexpected. Nothing intimate. Just a pressure of lips on her own, and then Anna stepped back, created distance.

"I understand. Thank you again," Anna said. "Maybe one day you'll change your mind—"

She left, and in her wake, Sue Storm felt a flutter in her chest, a warm queasiness in her stomach, and a growing confusion.

What am I doing? Sue Storm thought to herself as she turned back toward the Baxter Building. I kissed a woman! Another one! Again! Am I a lesbian? Bisexual? Why can't I just be happy in my marriage with Reed!?

The heroine couldn't reconcile what she was feeling. Doubt and desire gnawed at her. It was a dangerous state. Emotionally fragile. She thought about calling a friend. A mentor. Maybe a priest. Someone to talk to.

Instead, she called a professional. Dr. Karla Stone answered immediately. Agreed to a crash session at her apartment. Sue Storm's feet beat the pavement of Manhattan as she hoped for a resolution to her internal crisis.

The rain began halfway there. The Invisible Woman didn't even bother putting up an invisible umbrella. She let the cold water of the sudden shower drench her. It matched the turmoil she felt in her soul. When she arrived at Karla's door, she was soaked to the skin.

So was the psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist opened the door wearing only a white towel, her blonde hair drenched into long, sopping strands, skin fresh and still smelling of shampoo and body wash. Lilac and chamomile. Her smile was bright and she ushered Sue in, to stand awkwardly just inside the doorway as she fetched another towel.

"You're soaked!" Karla said. "Let's get you out of those wet clothes, and I'll make tea and you can tell me all about it."

Numbly, Sue Storm did as she was told. Though her blue eyes caught the slight curve of rounded bum that peeked out from underneath Karla's towel, and her aching heart beat suddenly faster.