Chapter 12

Nora

“Alright, what about this one?” Nora walked over to her kitchenette where she had her phone propped up on the countertop. She spun around, letting Charlotte see every angle of the form-fitting dress she had on. 

It was a deep red silky slip dress that hit just below her knees with a slit up to her thigh. The thin straps at her shoulders showed off the dainty gold necklace laying delicately across her collarbone. She let her hair fall down her back in its natural wave pattern, a single gold pin holding the hair behind her ear on the left side of her part. 

“Oh, definitely that one!” Charlotte shouted through the phone. 

“Yeah, I think I like this one too,” Nora said with an excited smile. “What do you think, Tony?” she said as she spun around to face her cat, laying in the middle of her bed, his belly to the ceiling and thick tufts of gray hair sticking out in all directions. 

Tony let out a soft meow and purred loudly in response. 

She had purchased three new dresses to try out for tonight, trying each one for Charlie until she got to the final, red slip dress. The others were beautiful too, and she would hang on to them for future dates (fingers crossed!), but this one was her favorite. 

This was the one that, as soon as she slipped it over skin in the fitting room at the store, she immediately imagined Olivia’s eyes scanning her body. She fantasized about Olivia’s hands sliding over the thin red fabric that clung to Nora’s curves, leaving little to the imagination. This was the dress that she wanted Olivia to take off of her tonight.

Only a week ago at this time, she was getting ready for another date with a different woman. A woman that had stood her up. But thank God for that, because Nora may not have ended up in Olivia’s bed that night if she hadn’t. 

“Okay, I have like, fifteen minutes until the car comes,” Nora said, picking her phone up off the counter and bringing Charlotte with her to the bathroom where she finished applying her makeup.

“She’s sending a car to pick you up?” Charlotte gushed. “That’s so exciting! I still can’t believe you fucked your hot, rich boss! And now she’s taking you on a hot, rich date! Your life is like a romcom! I can’t handle it!” Charlotte’s voice raised an entire octave by the time she let out that last statement.

Nora smiled as she applied concealer to a few spots on her chin and forehead. “I know! I still can’t believe it myself.” Nora thought for a moment. “I really like her, Charlie. I want this to go well.”

“I’m sure it will, sweetie! She clearly likes you too or she wouldn’t be taking you out to a fancy restaurant and picking you up in a fancy car. That’s not something you do for someone you just want to sleep with.” 

“Yeah,” Nora said. She blushed hard, unable to keep thoughts of a real future with Olivia at bay. She knew it was crazy to be entertaining these kinds of ideas so early on. I mean, this is technically our first date! But she couldn’t help it. Even in their short time together, Nora was developing very real feelings for Olivia. And it seemed like Olivia was developing similar feelings for her. 

Nora’s phone chimed as a new text came through. “Ah! I gotta go, the car’s here! Wish me luck, Char!”

“Good luck, hon!” Charlotte offered supportively. “I want full details in the morning!”

“You got it!” Nora laughed as she ended the call. She checked her hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror one last time before slipping on a pair of matching red heels.

“Bye buddy!” Nora  gave Tony a belly rub and a quick kiss to his furry head before grabbing her small black clutch bag and heading out the door.

As she walked out of her apartment building, the driver of the large black SUV was waiting on the sidewalk. “Good evening Ms. Bennet,” he said as he opened the back door for her. 

Nora thanked the man as she slid into the back seat, basking in the cool air that hit her bare arms. She settled into the luxurious leather seat, excitement and nerves taking over in her belly. As the driver pulled onto the Brooklyn Bridge to cross over into Manhattan, Nora pulled her phone out to text Olivia. 

We just pulled onto the bridge. Are you going to tell me where I’m going yet?

Olivia had told Nora to dress for a nice dinner. That was it. Nora had no idea where she was headed or what they were doing other than that. The anticipation was killing her!

Not a chance! See you soon. ;)

Nora leaned her head back on the seat with a small groan that eventually turned into a laugh. She stared out the window at the lights of the passing city, letting her mind wander to all of the possible scenarios that could be waiting for her. 

𝁇

Olivia

Olivia smoothed out her cream-colored Dolce and Gabbana suit jacket as her eyes darted around the busy restaurant. It was one of her favorites, just on the outskirts of Hell’s Kitchen. Her heart raced with a mix of nerves and anticipation as she waited for Nora’s arrival. She should be here any minute.

Olivia grabbed her phone off the table, deciding to check a few work emails while she waited. As she navigated to her inbox, she carefully ignored the imposing red dot that alerted her to an awaiting text message. The one that had been sitting in her phone, unread, for almost two days now. The one from Sophie. 

It had come in sometime during her flight home after her trip to Atlanta. She took her phone off airplane mode as soon as they landed at JFK and the notification was one of many piling up after a few hours in the sky. 

It was just one text. But that was all it took to make her stomach sink and for anxiety to tie a knot around her chest. She couldn’t bring herself to read it. But at the same time, she couldn’t bring herself to delete it either.

So she left it sitting there. Left it to taunt her every time she unlocked her phone, so that even now, when she was waiting for another woman, her mind still drifted to Sophie. 

Fucking Sophie! She hadn’t seen or spoken to the woman in years. Not since she reeled her in with fabricated promises of a future she knew Olivia had always wanted. She had sworn that she would make up for her past mistakes. That Olivia was her soulmate. That they would build a home and a family together. 

Olivia had always wanted a big family. A wife, children, pets, a big house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Like a lesbian version of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Strange, considering how fucked up her relationship with her biological mother was. How traumatic her life had been for those first five years. Thankfully, she had been young enough that she didn’t remember much, but somehow the pain was still there. The emotional wounds that never fully healed. 

Perhaps that was why she wanted children of her own. So that she could love and support them unconditionally. Shower them with the kind of affection that José and Gloria Rojas - her real parents, as far as she was concerned - showed her from the moment she fell into their warm and comforting laps. 

That was the life she had always dreamed of. The life she had dreamed of having with Sophie. That was until she pulled the theoretical rug out from under Olivia’s feet without so much as a single word of warning. 

Olivia ran a tense hand through her short hair as she looked up from her phone. Thankfully too. Just in time for her eyes to fall on the most beautiful woman in a room full of beautiful women. 

She dropped her phone, sending it clattering clumsily to the tabletop as the tension in her body was replaced with something else. A physically similar feeling, but its roots were entirely different. The warm sensation started deep in her belly, blooming brightly up through her chest, all the way to the very tips of her fingers as she watched Nora weave through the tables.

Surely, every single eye in the building must be glued to the woman sauntering toward her, her smooth golden thigh peeking out to say hello with every graceful step. It was almost criminal the way the slinky dress clung to her figure in all the best ways. The deep red satin catching the light, highlighting every mouthwatering curve of Nora’s body.

Olivia stood as Nora neared the table. She reached out a hand, taking Nora gently by her hip to pull her in for a soft kiss to her even softer lips. 

“Hello Nora.”

Nora smiled. The kind of big, bright smile that Olivia felt all over. “Hi.”

And just like that, as if Nora’s very presence flipped a switch inside Olivia, all thoughts of Sophie were gone.