Chapter 2

Sara blushed, laughing reflexively from her gut. “Oh my gosh! Melleny, how raunchy!”

She smiled, took Mel’s hands and kissed one. “Well, if you love actual meat—and ‘girl-meat’—then you and I are gonna get along just fine. I know lesbians often stay friends with our exes—or, we’re ‘supposed‘ to—but I had to make an exception in that case.”

Mel smiled back. “Well…yeah, I’m no vegan, and I’m not a virgin, either; I lost it to this woman named Gail, but now I kinda regret it. I could do without seeing her again too. I don’t wanna go into all the details, but…well, y’know, I have an emotional side just as much as the next lesbi, but this girl…oh, my, GOD. You look up ‘drama queen’ in the dictionary, there she is. After we, uh…y’know…she-she just flipped! It was like she turned into a completely different person! Suddenly she’s calling me every day, has to know where our relationship’s going, what it’s all working towards, and…eventually it just really started to freak me out. So, finally—and I felt so bad about it, but it was driving me crazy—finally, I just had to tell her it was over. And boy, did that get ugly.”

Sara chuckle-scoffed with a roll of the eyes. “Women.”

“I know, right?!” Mel laughed.

It went without saying Sara was very pleased at how well they were getting on so far. “Well, I’d love to tell you I’m not like that, but honestly, I really don’t know,” mused Sara. “‘S something I’ve never had the opportunity to find out about myself. I’d have to have an actual relationship, and see how it goes.

“I mean, I’m just so happy Velette came to town so we could meet,” Sara chuckled. “It’s hard for girls to meet each other. I know we have bars and clubs, but that’s not really my thing. And I don’t wanna get down on us or anything, but at least from what I’ve heard, a lot of those girls aren’t interested in too much other than…one thing.”

Mel nodded. Sara took a breath, and went on.

“I mean, mayb—…maybe I shouldn’t be saying this; I know it’s only our first date, but, from the way my dates’ve gone in the past, I’ve learned that I don’t wanna be anyone’s fling. Or bridge girl. I…believe I really want a long-term relationship. You know Jake, at the concert? My lesbro? I’ve known him 22 years, and if just suddenly one day, for whatever reason, he just wasn’t my friend anymore…I’d be heartbroken. So…just like with a romantic relationship—again, not that I’m trying to get ahead of things here,” she quickly added, “I’d be looking for long-term. I’m-I’m not saying anything about you or me, but in the little experience I have, some lesbians seem very afraid of commitment.”

She popped one of the chicken pieces. “But I didn’t mean to bog the conversation down saying all that stuff, just, eh…” She let it trail off.

“It’s okay,” Melleny told her gently. “It’s good to know what you want. I’m not trying to get ahead of ourselves either, but I think we should just let whatever happens happen, and if we decide to see each other again after this, just do the same thing.”

She paused, then became philosophical. “Y’know, I think if you overanalyze or try to ‘make’ things happen, it becomes less…’real,’ you know what I mean? It’s like then it’s less genuine, and things start to feel artificial. And sooner or later, someone’ll get hurt.”

“Omigosh, that’s just how I feel!” Sara exclaimed, gesturing to herself with surprised delight, and a mouthful of chicken. “You can’t pretend to be something you’re not. If you change yourself just to please someone else, neither person can be truly happy.”

“Exactly,” said Mel. Helping herself to another hors d’oeuvre, she shifted the subject.

“My gosh, ‘dyou make these?”

“Yup,” Sara said proudly.

“Well, I’m overjoyed you like ’em.”

“I very much fancy a gal who’s also a chef,” Mel commented. “And someone who can make me laugh.”

“Never underestimate the power of a good sense of humor,” Sara concurred. “And again,” she continued, “Hypothetically, even if things end up not working out—not that I’m superstitious—but if not, maybe we can get Velette to come back on your birthday!”

Mel nodded excitedly. “Hey, let’s do that anyway!”

They both laughed, after which letting the conversation fade for a minute. They looked down at the same time to see they were still holding hands: Sara’s left, Melleny’s right. When Sara’d taken her hands after the ‘vag-etarian’ portion of their meet-greet, she’d kissed Mel’s left and let it go. But the other two remained absentmindedly connected.

“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry,” Sara murmured, a bit embarrassed. She placed her hand on the table. To her surprise, Melleny put hers right back on top of Sara’s, curling her fingers.

“I’m not,” she remarked. “I enjoyed the way that felt.”

Sara wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t been on that many dates, and wasn’t sure how “well” she was doing so far on this one. And presented with such a situation, her immediate and only reaction was to coyly shut her eyes, smile, turn her face away and blush again. Her cheeks reddened visibly, even with her makeup on. They relinked hands, thumb-stroking one another’s palms. Sara felt a chill of happiness ride her body. She suddenly had a feeling she was going to really like this girl.

“But then again, of course,” Mel added, “Some people are creeped out by physical contact, just touching someone else’s skin. I can’t relate to that, though. Just the opposite; I actually prefer it. I guess that’s one of the reasons I became a masseuse.”

“You’re a masseuse?” Sara asked, this being new information to her.

Mel nodded. Sara’s first instinct hearing this, as would be many’s, was obviously to ask her for a massage. But whether kidding or serious, she refrained. For several reasons. They were only in stage one of their first date. So asking for something like this right off the bat seemed, well, a little forward to say the least. For another, she thought Mel must’ve heard that request all the time when telling someone what she did. And third, being a professional, she probably didn’t just give away her expert massages for free. And fourth, Melleny was now asking her another question.

“Oh, I’m…” Sara gave the revelation of her profession a dismissive toss of the hand. “I have a really super-boring job. I’m a data analyst.”

“Well, that doesn’t necessarily sound boring. What exactly does a data analyst do?”

Doesn’t necessarily sound boring? Wow, are you nice. “It’s really kind of a cliché,” Sara related, making it sound more like a confession. “I work for a big corporation, I get up five weekdays, I go in a big office in a big building with about fifty other people, I sit at a computer, I go through about a zillion documents a day, proofing stuff, translating, reconciling, adjusting, importing, validating…” She exhaled, chuckled and blinked a few times. “Oh, geez, just talking about it’s making me a little light-headed.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mel said. “Didn’t mean to make you…y’know…”

“Ah, forget about it,” Sara smiled. “Lucky for me, I’ve gotten really good at unwinding. If I really need to let loose, I just get in the car with my iPod, play my favorite stuff—Velette, to name but one—crank the volume and just belt with the music till my throat’s sore.”

“That’ll do it all right!” Mel looked about the room, around the corners to the parts of other rooms she could see. “Well, sure seems to pay the bills and put the grub on the table; you’ve got a lovely place.”

“Oh, thanks! You want a tour?”

So they stood together, maintaining hand contact, and Sara gave Melleny a modest but thorough show-around of her pad, hiding only the one item of a very personal nature in her bedroom. Mel thought she knew what it was, but tactfully didn’t ask. If it was what she thought it was, Sara needn’t be embarrassed by it; Melleny had one of her own.

“Oh, God, I love big beds,” Melleny commented.

“Makes two of us,” said Sara, bouncing on the edge. “It’s a king.” She patted the mattress beside, and Mel again sat with her.

“This is a king?? You lucky duckling! Now I’m really jealous. Mine’s a queen.”

Sara shrugged. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, it’s more of a necessity than a big luxury. I need a bed this size. I can’t lie still when I’m sleeping. I roll all over the place. Well, unless of course, that is, I’ve just had an org—”

She stopped, turned pink, and placed a hand over her unfiltered mouth. “Oop-sie…”

Melleny didn’t seem to mind. She just smoothed her palm over the warm, snug comforter. The bed was made beautifully. Under normal circumstances, Sara would’ve just kicked the covers off, left them be, and then pulled them back over herself sixteen hours later. But, this being the first time in she didn’t know how long she had a cute girl coming over, she patently wished to impress her.

The cute girl was impressed. “Wow, this makes me feel like I could have a nap right now…” a literally dreamy Melleny gushed.

“I know! Isn’t it super-comfy?” Sara clapped her hands and hopped back up. “All right, well, that’s about it!” she announced. “Back into the living room?”

Melleny now didn’t particularly want to get up from the bed, but she did. Sara escorted her back out. “So, that’s my humble abode! It may not be much, but I like to call it home,” she chuckled, amusing herself at the trite expression. “How’d you like it, Me—”

She heard a sound she didn’t expect. She turned to see Mel with a paw over her nose and mouth, taking a deep, deep yawwwwwn. Not exactly the reaction she was hoping for, Sara dropped the smile and her hand.

“I…certainly hope I’m not boring you.”

Melleny realized. “Oh, man…” she said. “Oh, gosh, Sara, I’m so sorry. No, no, of course you’re not boring me. It’s my fault; I didn’t get as much sleep as I should’ve last night.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” said Sara. “How much did you get?”

“Uh…about three and a half hours.”

“Three and a half hours??” Sara exclaimed. “Oh, Melleny, goodness’ sakes! Why didn’t you say so? I’d never have made you come over if I knew you underslept so much!”

Melleny concluded her yawn. “I know…I just didn’t wanna cancel the date. I was excited and nervous, and that kept me awake.”

Really? the never-girlfriended Sara thought. I made you nervous? I thought I was the only one who got nervous! This news made her feel good about herself. Perhaps Melleny wanted to impress her too.

“Besides, I’m fine now,” Mel finished. “Really, I am. I just needed that little yawn.”

“Well…okay,” said Sara. “But as someone who basically likes you so far, Melleny, I wouldn’t want you to go anywhere you don’t have to on so little sleep. If you got hurt, it would…well, it would make me really sad.”

Mel gave her a warm smile. “Aw…you care about me?”

“Well…sure. I mean, I’m a really caring person; I care about everybody, at least to a certain degree. Uh, not that I want you to feel like you’re not special, just…um…but not that I’m trying to be too forward, or say that…”

Mel gazed with tender eyes and a coy smirk, amused at watching Sara stumble and backpedal over her words. She gave Sara a stroke from the shoulder down her arm.

“You’re cute when you’re jittery,” she commented.

Just like the way they held hands earlier, Sara really enjoyed how Melleny caressed her arm. She found herself wanting to hug her again, to feel their bodies delightfully smushed against each other…especially with Mel wearing that fuzzy sweater. A good hug always felt really nice with someone in a soft fuzzy sweater…

Okay, Kelton, we’re getting a little carried away here, Sara told herself. Cool down, babe, it’s still only date one. And we dunno what’s going on in Melleny’s mind. But I really really really hope she likes us, at least a little…I think we like her.

But Sara kept her confidence up by reminding herself that it was Mel who’d approached and initiated things at the concert. She reclaimed Mel’s hands.

“Well, Melleny…I was gonna ask if you wanted to go out and do something—y’know, dinner or a movie or something, but, um…” She smiled, shyly glancing to the floor.

“It just occurred to me that wherever we go, it’s gonna be totally nuts with the Christmas shopping and all. Being in the middle of that mess wears me out pretty quick, and it’d be torture for you on only three hours’ sleep.”

“I gotta admit,” Mel confessed, “Since I brought it up, I am feeling a little low on energy.”

“Okay,” Sara agreed. “Well, tell ya what then…” She led Mel to her sofa and let her sit. “Why don’t we just take it easy, stay in, have the place to ourselves…I could order us a pizza for dinner…light up a nice candle here…” She picked up the Bic on the coffee table, did just that, then pranced back to the dining room table to retrieve the candy.

“…Maybe have a little chocolate?”

“Oh, but I bought that for you,” said Melleny.

“Oh, mon chérie, don’t be silly! I don’t wanna eat it all myself; I’ll get a tummyache.” She returned and plopped down with her datemate. “Besides, if we share, we can…”