\n Cinnamon sat at her desk, chewing on her lips slightly as she transferred the hand written notes from her boss into a properly typed and easily readable format.  As she worked, her ears gave a twitch as she felt someone who was now inside her part of the office.  She turned some and looked up curiously.

\n Maria stood in the doorway, her blue eyes twinkling brightly and her mouth open in a mischievous grin.  The maned wolf's tail moved back and forth excitedly behind her, the soft fur making an almost inaudible noise each time it brushed against the door frame.

\n The cougar woman looked at her friend curiously as she asked "Can I help you with something Maria?"  Her own feline tail gave a flick of its own, moving  against the opening in the back of her chair.  Her golden eyes studied the canine a moment, having the feeling the younger female was up to something.

\n "No," the maned wolf replied sweetly, "I was just coming to get you for lunch is all."  She gave a look at her watch to emphasize her point some.  "It is near that time after all and you seem to have been quite...busy...lately."  Maria emphasized the word "busy" as though trying to imply something.  She shifted some, grinning as though what she said was some sort of secret joke.

\n Cinnamon shifted some in her seat.  Whatever was going on here, something about it was making her feel uncomfortable.

\n "Actually," she finally responded, "I'm just going to have to grab something on the go.  I have to go to the bank and... take care of some....things..." the words trailed off some as she spoke.  The cougar woman did not want to say flat out "I'm going to make a large withdrawal to finance my adult entertainment website," but she could not actually think of something plausible that was not an outright lie.

\n "That's fine," Maria stated seemingly unphased, "I have my lunch with me.  I can eat it in the car while you drive to the bank."  She moved a little closer, the red and white tail wagging excitedly behind her. "Then, I can drive you us back while you eat.  You get your errands done, we get to hang out, and there's less risk of an accident."

\n The problem with knowing someone for nearly their entire life is that sometimes they get to know you pretty well.  Cinnamon chewed on her lip as she thought about this fact.  She had seen Maria growing up most of the young canine woman's life.  The pair had a nearly adopted family quality to them at times.  Maria had been there when Cinnamon had been explaining to Connie  how important it was to drive safely.  So of course the sly maned wolf woman would use that as an argument.

\n The red furred canine had gotten the golden brown feline with a good point that was hard to argue.  Cinnamon did not really want Maria to go with her, but it was hard to argue.  The feline could not simply say no, but she could not come up with a valid excuse not to let the maned wolf come along either.

\n Once they were in the car and moving, Maria sat in the passenger seat and ate at her food happily.  She seemed to be keeping an eye on her friend who was driving.  The younger female seemed to be really enjoying her food, almost savoring it.  Or maybe she was savoring something else.

\n "So how are things with your boyfriend?" Cinnamon asked to break the ice.  She caught sight of her friend stopping in mid chew and looking as though she was asked something unexpected and would rather not answer.  The black tipped muzzle pointed down before turning away, the blue eyes looking out through the passenger window.

\n "I'm not sure what's going on with him," Maria finally confessed in a sad tone, "When we first moved in together, he was really sweet and loving, treating me wonderfully.  He's barely ever around, even when he should be off from work, and not telling me where he goes or what he's doing.  When he is around, he seems to either completely ignore me no matter what I do or being angry and irritated, snapping over every little thing I do."

\n "If you need a place to stay for a while, I have some extra rooms," Cinnamon offered gently.  Some part of her was kicking herself.  That did not sound like the right thing to say.  It almost sounded like she was encouraging them to break up, which was not the intent at all.

\n "No," Maria said with a shake of her head, "We've been together since high school.  A lot has happened between us and I can't just end things.  We have too much together."  Maria leaned back and looked out the window, turning quiet for the rest of the drive to the bank.

\n As the female feline came out after finishing up inside, she found that her young canine friend had already moved over to the driver's side and was waiting.  Maria seemed to be in a slightly better mood than she was earlier, with a small smile on her face.  Cinnamon could not help but start to return the smile as she got in.

\n The two went quickly through a drive thru to get some food for the cougar woman so that she would have something to eat before returning to work.  The feline gave a purr as she opened the bag, enjoying the smell of spicy chicken and rice all wrapped together.

\n "So I was messing around on the computer last night," Maria stated casually as her friend started to eat, "and I found something totally unexpected."  The canine's eyes looked over at the feline to make sure she was paying attention.  As soon as Cinnamon took a large bite, Maria went on with "It was this porno scene about a cougar woman having sex with two guys in the park."

\n Cinnamon's eyes went wide as her body tensed, ears pointing straight up to listen forward instead of turning toward her friend.  The feline gasped slightly in surprise at the statement, unfortunately doing so just as she had a complete mouth full of food, causing it to go the wrong way and make her cough.

\n As the mountain lion woman tried to clear her throat, she mentally kicked herself.  She should have thought about this when she agreed.  There video of her would be on line where millions could see it.  Of course there would be a chance that someone she knew would end up seeing it.  Why had that never crossed her mind?  Why did she not think about that happening?

\n "Imagine my surprise when the cougar in it looked familiar," continued Maria with a grin, "I thought to myself, 'no.  I t couldn't be her.  It's just someone who looks similar.' But then you mentioned your name, then talked about being divorced and mentioned Susan, Connie and Ginger, I just could not deny it anymore."  She turned to look at her friend a little more while still keeping track of the road and traffic.  "It was you.  You had sex in the park with two guys that you had just met."

\n "It wasn't like I planned it," Cinnamon responded defensively, "I mean I just went on my regular jog and happened to run into Terry and Tim.  It had been so long and..."

\n "And what?" her friend asked curiously, one of the canine ears giving a small flicker.

\n "I don't know," the feline responded with a heavy sigh, "There are times when I have thought and wondered about it.  I just can't figure out what it was that made me decided to go along with it."

\n "Are you kidding?" Maria stated amusedly, "Two strong, good looking, muscular, healthy, young... attractive... lean...dominant... strong... well hung... great stamina..." she turned quiet, her eyes still on the road in a way, but slightly glassed over as though she were lost in thought.

\n "Maria?"  Cinnamon said with a note of curiosity.  Her friend blinked, then gave her head a shake

\n "Anyway," the maned wolf said before continuing, "They were two healthy and attractive guys who were direct without being overly aggressive, and told you exactly what they wanted.  Considering how long it's been and how you say you don't like games, it's no surprise you went for it."

\n The feline rubbed at her chin as she thought about that for a moment, which did sound about right to her.  They were not acting like what she considered jerks, but they were not being shy about what they wanted either.  The two of them had pretty much come straight out with what it was they were there for.  Something she had not enjoyed in over a decade and had forgotten how much she enjoyed it.

\n "Yeah," she finally said softly, not bothering to elaborate or anything.  She sat there, sitting quietly until they pulled into the parking lot of their office building.

\n "So," Maria asked tentatively, "are you going to do something like that again?"  She shut off the car, handing the keys back over to the proper owner.

\n "I don't know," Cinnamon replied slowly, "I mean on one hand it's not the same as a relationship, but more like casual sex which I never really did.  I don't want to be a one night stand or considered a slut.  They are not the kind of guys I could have a relationship with."  She paused a moment, chewing her lip.

\n "On the other hand," she continued, "I do want to start having sex again, and I should have sex if I want to have my own website to be successful. So I'm-"

\n "What do you mean your own website?" the young canine interrupted, turning to look at the older feline for a moment curiously.

\n "Oh no," Cinnamon said firmly, pointing at the clock, "look at the time.  We better hurry and get back to work before we end up being late."  She turned and started to walk fast, almost running as she went for the elevator.  The feline managed to get in one just before the doors closed, letting out a sigh of relief as she managed to escape without answering Maria.  As she took a deep breath, she mentally kicked herself for accidentally letting the fact slip out like that.

\n Maria did not seem to bother Cinnamon for the rest of the work day.  The feline felt a little guilty over it though.  She had let something slip but she was so embarrassed she sort of ditched her friend in the lobby all of a sudden.  She called her friend's house phone and left a message apologizing and that they would talk about it some other time.

\n As the cougar woman drove home, she slowed as she saw Mycroft Bobbins standing on the sidewalk, next to her driveway.  The feminine feline continued to pull in, feeling a minor smile on her lips and looking at the young male in the mirror some.

\n The lynx shifted nervously as he watched her step out of the car, moving to walk up and meet the mountain lioness.  His weight shifted some as he approached, his mouth moving slightly as he tried to do something about the dry feeling.  One paw slipped into his pocket, feeling the soft fabric of the panties.

\n "Hello Mycroft," Cinnamon said as she stepped out and walked down to meet him. "How are you this afternoon?"

\n "I'm alright," he responded before taking a deep breath and asking "Can we go inside and talk for a moment?"