Chapter 8

A couple of days later, Mika called her from the house. They talked about Janeway, who clearly wasn’t happy being left alone, but who was tolerating Lauren’s presence, how chilly the weather was in both places, and how Mika was finding her trip. After a pause in the conversation, Mika said, “There’s something I need to ask you, Lauren.”

Instantly nervous, Lauren asked, “What’s that?”

“Mum asked me if you’re my girlfriend. I didn’t know how to answer her. Are you?”

Lauren smiled. “I’d like to be,” she said. “I didn’t know if you’d be comfortable putting a label on our relationship, so I haven’t tried for one.”

Mika’s lips made a popping sound as she exhaled. “I want us to be girlfriends,” she said. “But now I’m not sure if I should tell her because she’ll want me to put her on the call. Would you mind?”

“Of course not, honey,” Lauren said.

“I’ll set it up for the weekend. I’ll give you plenty of warning.”

“Okay, Mika,” Lauren said. “Tell her I’ll look forward to it.”

The call happened on Saturday – well, on Sunday in the early morning in Mika’s timezone, which was Saturday afternoon for Lauren. Mika’s mother looked very much like her, though she sounded very different, with a much stronger accent. Between her “Nice to meet you, pet,” and “I like you, I think Mimi found a sharp one, pet,” there was a quite thorough interrogation.

Lauren recalled that one time Mika had called her “pet.” It had seemed strange at the time, but she must have been influenced by her mother and her upbringing in the same area.

Mika’s mother had worked as an accountant before her marriage, until her husband’s work had recalled him to Japan, when she’d quit to be able to travel between the UK during Mika’s vacations and Japan when Mika was away at school. So she was able to understand much about Lauren’s job.

Mika’s father showed his face on the call for a few minutes, demanding that she visit with Mika on her next trip, whenever that was. He seemed more reserved, though both parents were very polite.

When she and Mika were alone on the call, she breathed a sigh of relief. “You’ll need to give me lessons in etiquette before I speak to them again,” she said.

“They liked you,” Mika asserted. “Dad reconciled with my being gay before my wedding. They loved Nicole so much that I was afraid they’d have trouble accepting you, but they seem to have determined that you’re a suitable girlfriend. I don’t need their permission, but I do respect them and value their opinion.”

“I’m glad. I like them. What is your mother’s accent?”

“Newcastle,” Mika said. “I used to sound like that before boarding school. I got bullied for it. I worked hard to change it. It seemed necessary at the time, but I’m not sure the way I speak now is an improvement. Being Japanese and gay I was never going to fit in.”

“I like the way you sound,” Lauren said. “I’m really missing you.”

“I know, me too,” said Mika. “I could totally kiss your face off right now. We’re going to have to snog for three days straight when I get back to make up for lost time.”

“Only three?” asked Lauren.

“Alright, four, but then we’ll need to take a pizza break.”

Mika conceded that Lauren could open her Christmas gift on Christmas Eve, largely because if she waited until Christmas Day, it would be the day after Christmas for Mika. So she called in the late afternoon, a little before eleven at night Lauren’s time.

Lauren had her tablet set up on the small dining table in her house, so that she could sit close enough to the display to see all of the details of her beautiful girlfriend’s face. “Are your parents around today?” she asked.

“No, it’s a work day. Christmas isn’t really a holiday. New Year will be. There are illuminations, and there will be fireworks. It will be, umm, seven a.m. your time when New Year’s Eve ends, but I’ll get some video for you.”

“I’d like that,” said Lauren. “The difference in times feels strange. It’s been dark for hours here, and you’re sitting there with sunlight streaming into your room. It makes the day feel warm. When you’re ringing in the new year, it will be early morning. Oh, Mandy and I will be finishing up getting her moved in on New Year’s Eve.”

“You’re going to be spending New Year with your ex! In her home! There’d better not be any bloody New Year’s Eve snogging!”

“I’m totally not,” Lauren objected. “I’m going downtown with my friends from work. There’s a rock band ushering in the new year. There will be dancing. There may even be New Year’s kisses, but there will be no snogging, as you define the difference. I’m saving that for you. Now, are you going to let me open my gift? Or are you just trying to build anticipation?”

Mika laughed. “It would be a huge let down if I were,” she said. “Go on, then. Merry Christmas.”

Lauren had set the wrapped package on the table beside her tablet. She picked it up. It was limp. She was fairly sure it contained an article of clothing. Surely Mika hadn’t bought her lingerie? She didn’t think they’d been at that stage of their relationship when she’d left.

“Alright, I’m opening it now,” she said, holding the package up to the tablet’s camera before ripping the paper.

Inside the paper was another layer of tissue paper. Within that was a dark green tee shirt. The design on the front was a set of large birds. They had the look of water birds, all with large feet and long bills. One’s feet were bright red, another’s sky blue. At the top was the word “boobies,” in lowercase, large enough to read from a distance.

“Oh, my God,” said Lauren, then burst out laughing.

“I would have liked it to say ‘large American boobies’ as a companion to mine, but most of them aren’t American. They are large though. The birds, I mean.” Mika’s grin was wicked.

“It’s perfect,” said Lauren, unzipping the front of the hoodie she was wearing.

“Uh, what are you doing?” came Mika’s voice from the tablet, as she pulled the hoodie over her arms, to stand before the tablet in her lacy rose bra and jeans.

“Trying it on, of course,” said Lauren, grinning at the color that had risen to her girlfriend’s cheeks. She worked her arms into the tee shirt, taking her time before pulling it down over her bra, then tugging it into place. “It’s a perfect fit.”

Mika’s cheeks were still pink. “Uh, yeah, it looks good on you,” she said.

Lauren did a twirl before the camera. “I won’t wear it until you return,” she said. “My boobies deserve their small British tits.” She lifted the hem to remove the tee shirt, chuckling when she heard a strangled sound from the speaker. She folded the tee shirt before turning back to the tablet, grinning as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of her hoodie.

On the tablet display, Mika took a deep breath. “I wish you were here,” she said.

“Oh, you do? For snogging?” asked Lauren.

“I want to touch you,” Mika breathed. “I really, really want to touch you.”

Mandy’s furniture wasn’t due to arrive until the 28th. She had boxes of essentials with her, and she was living out of two suitcases. On Christmas day, Lauren took her to look around the apartment, giving her the key. She was excited. Lauren left her moving boxes from her car while she walked across the yard to feed Janeway. The cat wasn’t exactly thrilled to see her, but she’d realized that Lauren was the current food source, and wound herself around her legs until said food was in her bowl, then ignored her.

Lauren found it strange that the cat clearly missed Mika, but wasn’t pining in the way that Mika had said she did after losing Nicole. She wondered if maybe the cat had been responding to her own sadness as much as missing her person.

She texted Mika to let her know that the cat was fed, that Mandy had the key, and that she was cooking for her, since she was stranded in a hotel. She invited Mika to call to verify that there was no hanky panky going on, and sent her a selfie of herself and Mandy outside the apartment.

On the following day, she was back at work. Though the office staffing was light, and most of her colleagues were dressed down, she was not. She had a scheduled chat with Mika in the evening, and wanted to surprise her.

“Oh, wow, you were working today?” Mika said when she answered the call. “You’re still all dressed up.”

“I wanted to save my PTO,” Lauren replied. “Are you alone? Your parents aren’t behind you?”

Mika’s image shook its head. “Why? Should I get them? New Year vacation started today, so they’re here.”

“No, it’s just that I haven’t had chance to change yet. I didn’t want to shock them.”

Saying that, she unzipped her pencil skirt.

“Oh,” exclaimed Mika. Her eyes were wide. “But you don’t mind shocking me?”

“Are you shocked?” Lauren asked, taking her time unfastening the skirt, before lowering it slowly and stepping out of it, revealing her thigh-high stockings and garter belt. She was fairly sure she heard Mika gulp. She unfastened the lowest buttons of her blouse, so that her girlfriend had a clear view of her actions.

“Now I’m shocked,” said Mika. “Is that what you usually wear to work?”

“Not often,” Lauren admitted. “Pantyhose are easier, but I like the feel…” She ran her hands down her thighs. Mika blinked, a muffled groan escaping.

Lauren unclipped her stockings, sliding them down her thighs unhurriedly, one at a time. Then she unfastened the garter belt, letting it drop to the floor.

Mika’s eyes were large, but her smile showed how much she appreciated the view.

Working from the bottom to the top, Lauren began to unbutton her blouse. When she reached her chest, she paused to unfasten her ribbon tie, draping it over her neck as she finished opening the blouse. Siding it down her arms, she folded it before setting it beside the tablet. Then she drew the ribbon tie off and set it on the shirt, leaving her in black panties and her black balconette bra.

She bent down toward the tablet, ensuring that the camera got a good view of the cleavage. “Are you okay, Mika? You seem to have turned red. Do your parents keep the house too hot?”

“Right now, yes,” her girlfriend said, with a chuckle. “Ten minutes ago, I’d have said not.”

“Maybe you should ask them to turn the heat down while I finish getting changed,” Lauren suggested, picking up her cream silk pajamas.

“I… don’t think so,” Mika said as she fastened the pajama top, then stepped into the silk pajama shorts. She reached behind her to unclasp her bra, then detached the straps so that she could draw it out of her top.

“All done,” Lauren announced.

“You are so mean,” Mika said, her voice sounding a little gruff.

“Too mean to give me a goodnight kiss?” teased Lauren.

“I wish I could,” Mika admitted. “I’m going to be daydreaming about this little game of yours.”

Lauren smiled. “When you come back, we’ll play it in person. I promise.”

“That doesn’t make my afternoon any easier, you know…”

It rained pretty constantly on the day that the furniture was delivered. The distance from the moving van to the door was short, fortunately, and Lauren grabbed all the newspaper she could find at home and took her welcome mat, doormat and a couple of rugs to protect the floors. The furniture had been well handled and had arrived in good condition.

After the delivery men had left, she helped Mandy make up the beds, so that her hotel stay could finally end, and on the thirty-first, she helped her unpack the rest of the boxes, stacking dishware and books. Temperatures didn’t vary much above or below freezing for the whole day.

In the evening Lauren met her friends at the New Year’s Eve party at the hotel. The ballroom where the party was held was huge, and crowded. Rachel, one of the executive assistants, tried to share a pill with her. Lauren had always suspected that Rachel, who was a lithe blonde who hadn’t yet passed twenty-five, had a crush on her.

Whatever the drug was – E, probably – seemed to amplify Rachel’s crush. Either that, or she just wanted attention from the only other lesbian in the office. Lauren didn’t encourage her, but she also didn’t reject her. Outside of their friend group it might be dangerous to be on E, so she danced with her, and when Rachel leaned back against her when they were yelling for the band, she just pushed her back into an upright stance and backed away.

The band was better than Lauren had expected, in spite of screaming vocals. The soaring guitar almost carried the songs by itself. Rachel was clearly getting into the sound.

Lauren tried to avoid Rachel when the countdown to midnight ended. She exchanged chaste kisses with her friends, but Rachel managed to catch her, and attempted to respond to the touch of her lips by shoving her tongue between them. Lauren backed away and shook her head.

“Aww, c’mon, let’s start the New Year right,” said Rachel, running her fingers down Lauren’s arm.

“I am starting it off right,” Lauren retorted. “That’s the point.”

Rachel eased herself a little closer, a breast pressing against Lauren’s arm. She lowered her voice in an attempt to sound seductive. “You don’t know how horny I am right now,” she murmured.

“Oh, I think I do, Rachel,” Lauren said, “and I think it would be a good idea if I found someone to help me get you home.

She recruited Dierdra, one of her closest work friends, to help chaperone Rachel into an Uber and ensure she made it to her door. After dropping Dierdra, she arrived home around one thirty, falling asleep almost before her head touched the pillow.

Mika: “How was your new year?”

The message had arrived overnight, and was several hours old when Lauren saw it.

Lauren: “Good. Band was amazing, probably not your cup of tea though and my virtue is intact.”

Of course by the time Lauren replied, it would be well after midnight for Mika, so the next message didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon.

Mika: “Should I be worried that you felt the need to mention this?”
Lauren: “No but I have a co-worker story to share next call. Missed you.”
Mika: “Would your virtue be intact if I’d been there?”
Lauren: “I hope not.”