"Leena! Le-e-e-ena!"
Claudia stepped through into the bed and breakfast, slamming the door behind her. It was seven in the morning, and she was just returning from a long night at the Warehouse. She and H.G. had, despite Artie's protests, begun work on an extensive reworking of the Warehouse's computer systems. They'd worked nonstop for nearly the entire day, their only breaks consisting of quick caffeine refreshes thanks to Pete's willingness to be their coffee boy all day, and yet they still had many long days of work ahead of them. It was exhausting and maddening and exciting all at once.
The first time Myka had entered the room, late in the afternoon, Claudia had leapt to her feet and all but pushed the agent from the room. They didn't have any time to spare on distractions. However, when Myka had reappeared at the break of dawn, H.G. had spotted her before Claudia could shoo her away again. Then it had been Claudia who was shooed out of the room.
Claudia was perhaps a bit unstable after the all-nighter: More daring. Less conscious of consequences. Unfiltered. She could admit that she was perhaps being foolish. And yet, when she'd seen the way H.G. had tugged Myka into her arms and the way the weariness of work had dropped from her face, the way Myka had tucked against her and murmured something too soft for Claudia's ears, she had suddenly been overcome by a longing that she couldn't explain. Her wistfulness combined with her giddy sleeplessness, and so she burst into the bed and breakfast with one goal in mind.
Each step she took through the home only strengthened her resolve. She could look into the kitchen and remember all the nights she had spent there with Leena trying vainly to teach her how to cook. Only three nights before, they'd given cookies another valiant try.
"How can you do anything you want with a computer and you can't figure out how to mix ingredients?" Leena had demanded, grinning despite herself.
"I hate following instructions," Claudia had grumbled, scowling down at the bowl. "I can't follow these stupid recipes."
Leena had chuckled, tapping Claudia on the nose with a wooden spoon. "Don't listen to the recipe, then, just listen to me." She'd paused, then reached out and tenderly wiped away the speck of batter left by the spoon. "Besides, if you help make the cookies, you get first dibs before Pete gets to them."
Finally, Claudia had smiled. "I'll give it a shot, but they won't be as good as yours."
"Of course not," Leena had said, "but that doesn't matter, does it?"
They had both smiled widely enough to put the sun to shame, and the baking efforts had continued.
Leena wasn't in the kitchen now, though, and Claudia pressed on, searching for her friend. She paused again in the dining room, leaning against the doorframe as she took it in. It felt like she'd spent a million meals at that table, surrounded by the people she loved. Joking with Pete or Steve, or chatting with Myka, or teasing Artie—each dinner was full of laughter and joy. Her favorite meals, though, were the ones where Leena sat beside her. Soft whispers would be exchanged through the whole meal as conversations went on all around them.
On H.G.'s first night back, Leena and Claudia had sat closer than usual, chairs pushed together by the addition of the new spot at the table. They'd both been excited to welcome H.G. back, and so Claudia had been respectful, fully tuned into the conversation of the entire table. It hadn't lasted long, though, if only because H.G. and Myka dropped from the group conversation into their own private whisperings, and soon she had been nudging Leena.
"Myka and H.G., sitting in a tree," she'd murmured into Leena's ear, grinning. "K-I-S-S-I—"
"Shush," Leena had reprimanded her, smiling nonetheless, "this isn't the time for that."
Claudia had obeyed, ended that rhyme, but she couldn't resist needling the other woman. "Would anyone else be okay? Artie and Trailer, sitting in a—"
Struggling to silence her laughter, Leena had shoved Claudia's shoulder. "Be polite." She'd hesitated before whispering again. "They are staring at each other very fondly, aren't they? I would be happy for them both if they followed through."
"Artie and Trailer? Leena, that's gross."
They'd both dissolved into giggles then, silencing the entire table, everyone staring at the two of them with raised brows. Pete had mumbled something that had sounded suspiciously like the sitting-in-a-tree rhyme, and Steve had snorted with amusement.
The dining room was empty too, though, and Claudia resumed her search. She peeked through the back door, but there was no sign of Leena there. Long nights had been spent at the small table out there, arguing over an equally-matched game of chess (and always making up before too long had passed) or sipping on tea and unwinding from their long days. Claudia took a deep breath of fresh air, heavy with floral scents from the flowers she had helped Leena plant, and she smiled.
Artie had banned Claudia from the Warehouse for a weekend after an unfortunate mishap that had nearly resulted in what he had described as "the end of humanity," though Claudia still maintained that he'd exaggerated the severity. Claudia had sulked for all of Saturday, but by Sunday, Leena had finally distracted her from her misery.
"My thumb isn't very green," Claudia had complained, staring down at the fresh, damp soil. She had been doubtful of the ability of anything to grow well in South Dakota, but Leena had cajoled, and so here she was.
Leena had handed Claudia a pair of green gardening gloves with a smile. "Now it is."
"You win this round," she had sighed, tugging on the gloves. "Okay, let's go. Which flower is your favorite? Let's plant all your favorites."
"I like sunflowers. They're strong, practical, complicated, and lovely." She had smiled again. "They're a lot like you, in fact. But we don't have any sunflower seeds."
"I'll get you some," Claudia had vowed.
And she had. The flowers had taken to the soil, and now sunflowers towered high over the rest of their garden.
But now the chairs outside were empty, and Claudia stepped back inside, letting the door swing shut behind her. No sign of Leena yet.
She tried shouting again, a loud "Leena!" as she walked into the living room, but there was still no response. Claudia didn't think she had ever been so sleepy. She slumped down on the couch, resting her eyes for just a minute before she continued the quest for her friend.
The living room was the heart of the bed and breakfast, and sometimes Claudia thought that she spent more time there than she did in her room. After all, the living room was where everyone gathered. It was where she was always most likely to find Leena, and where they often whiled away the evenings together.
"Leena, listen to this," Claudia had announced one night. She and Leena had sat at opposite ends of the couch, their feet bumping against each other in the middle. Leena had been flipping through a book of poetry, while Claudia had been losing herself in the strange recesses of the web on her laptop.
"I'm listening," Leena had said. She had set her book down, drawing her knees up and focusing on Claudia. Claudia had never met a more attentive listener.
"Okay, so get this: There was this guy, high as a kite, and he stole this horse costume and this houseboat, and he and Nancy Grace and Donald Trump were trying to sneak into Canada—"
Leena had raised a hand at that. "Wait, wait. Claudia. Where did you find this? Is this remotely true?"
Claudia had frowned at her. "What doesn't sound realistic about that?"
"You've been on the internet too long." Leena had reached up, gently shutting Claudia's laptop. She had smiled and squeezed her friend's hand. "Let me read you this instead."
Leena had taken a breath and begun reading her selected poem, and Claudia had closed her eyes to listen.
Slowly, Claudia pushed herself up from the couch. Sitting here was only a half-conscious effort of self-sabotage, she knew, and she wouldn't let that defeat her. She had to act now before the fire died, or at least before she slipped into sleep.
So Claudia headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Leena!" she shouted again, arriving at the second floor. There was not even a whisper of a response. "Leena, I need to talk to you!" Nothing. Claudia sighed, arms akimbo as she surveyed the landing. Where else should she look? Obviously she wouldn't find Leena in Pete's room, or Myka and H.G.'s room, or in her own—
The cracked door to her left caught her eye. She knew that she had shut her door tightly before heading off to the Warehouse; she always made sure her door was closed whenever she left her room. It shouldn't be open.
"Hello?" Claudia tried, hesitantly stepping towards her door. "Who's in there?" With a deep breath, steeling herself for anything, with the inevitable, inherent paranoia of a Warehouse agent making her more nervous than she knew she should be, she pushed the door open.
"Oh!"
"Claudia! Hello!"
Claudia stared at Leena, sitting cross-legged in the middle of Claudia's room, a book open on her lap.
"I've, uh. I've been calling your name. I needed to tell you—" Claudia pushed the door shut, stepping over a dirty pair of jeans and a tangle of cords to go sit beside Leena. "Why didn't you answer? What're you doing in here?"
Leena smiled, closing her book and setting it beside her. "I'm sorry, Claudia. I couldn't hear you. I was lost in this book. It's a book of yours. That's why I was in your room. I meant to take it downstairs but somehow I didn't make it there."
Claudia looked at the book and back at Leena with a cocked brow. "A Look at Computer Science in the Twenty-First Century…and Beyond. I didn't realize that was your thing."
"It's a bit hard for me to understand," Leena admitted. "But, when you were so hard at work on that computer system yesterday, it exasperated me that I couldn't be of any help to you and H.G., and I thought maybe if I read up on things, I could be of some use." She shrugged, sheepish.
A slow grin filled Claudia's face. "You've spent all morning reading this stuffy book on computers?"
"All afternoon yesterday, too." She smiled. "So what did you need to tell me?"
"Leena, I—" Again, Claudia looked down at the book. She'd never read more than a chapter of it. It was perhaps the most boring, least helpful book she'd ever cracked open in her life. She didn't think she'd ever seen anything more startling and charming than Leena gazing down at the page with a furrowed brow.
She turned her eyes back to Leena. The other woman was still smiling faintly at her, chin propped on her hands, staring at Claudia with the intensity only Leena had.
The rest of the sentence didn't make it out of her mouth.
Claudia leaned forward, catching Leena's face in her hands and crushing her lips against the other woman's, flooded with passion too-long ignored. Leena reacted without any hesitation, her hand instantly tangling in Claudia's hair as she returned the kiss just as forcefully.
When they finally broke away, both were staring at each other wide-eyed.
"I'm in love with you," Claudia finished, faintly. She coughed.
"Oh," Leena said. Looking uncharacteristically dazed, she nodded. "Oh."
"Like, head over heels. The real deal."
Carefully, now recovered from the shock, Leena reached out to press a hand to Claudia's cheek. "I know how you feel," she murmured.
"You do? Because I—"
This time it was Leena who put an abrupt end to Claudia's sentence, their lips meeting again as they angled their bodies ever closer together. The kiss was followed by another, and then that one turned into a third. It lasted a thousand years; it did not last long enough.
There were many places in the bed and breakfast that reminded Claudia of Leena. Each room held a different memory of moments spent falling in love with the other woman. Yet, now, with Claudia lying on her back next to Leena on the floor of her room—both still breathing shakily, fingers still tangled together—she looked over at her.
And Claudia decided that she had a new favorite place to associate with Leena.