Title: Turning Tables

Summary: A stolen moment in their small, confined office, turns the tables for Red and Gloria when it comes to their friendship. Femslash warning.

Disclaimer: I do not own OITNB or any of its characters. They belong to Jenji Kohen, I do however own my writing, please don't steal- Johanna002©

Read, Review, Subscribe, Add to Favs

-01-

Red didn't need to look from the paper in her hands, to know that Gloria was leaning against the doorframe. "What's the matter?" she asked her quietly, squinting at the paperwork Caputo had given her that afternoon.

"How did you know it was me?" Gloria asked curiously as she walked further into the space. She leaned against the desk that was pushed up against the wall and crossed her feet at the ankle.

"You're many things, Mendoza, but quiet is not one of them." She smiled as Gloria scoffed, and lowering the papers in her hand so that she could pull off her glasses, she watched her curiously.

"My aunt used to tell me that all the time," Gloria laughed.

"Did you aunt also tell you that you're a pain in the ass?" Red asked thickly.

Gloria smiled. "Mm-hmm, said I take after my mother." She pushed herself on the desk so that her legs were dangling off the side. "I'm really missing home tonight," she confessed. "You ever feel that way?"

"Homesick?" Red sighed. Nodding her head gently, she reclined back in her chair and clasped her hands together. She did miss home, or at least the idea of it, but now, she had no clue what awaited her on the other side of the wall. She longed for her freedom, but she wasn't sure what was left of the life that she used to live. "My family has moved on," she said mournfully. Her marriage was over her, her boys were grown; wives and families of their own. The only sense of new normal she could hope to cling to on the outside, would be continuing her relationship with Nicky. Without that girl in her life, Red hardly saw a point to existing.

"I feel like mine need me more than ever," Gloria told her. "I can't be there and it's eating me alive. I miss my sons, I miss my aunt. I miss the stray cat that used to hang around our building. I'm in here and I feel like an animal in a cage."

Without thinking about it, Red placed a gentle hand on her knee and squeezed. Since they'd started working together, she'd found herself beginning to like Gloria, and even respect her. She was no longer angry about losing the kitchen to her, but instead was grateful just to have another chance doing what she loved.

"It doesn't get any easier," Red agreed. "I know it's hard, but you don't have much longer do you?"

"Two years," Gloria answered, looking down at the red painted nails that were scratching mindlessly against her. She understood now why her subconscious had brought her here. Red's energy calmed her in a way she couldn't quite put into words, unlike Aledia, who constantly had one crisis or another that needed solving.

"What will you do when you get out of here?" Red asked her curiously, dropping her hands to her lap.

"I'm not sure exactly. I have connections, but my aunt will probably have something lined up for me when I get out. I have a feeling she's going to be watching me like a hawk."

"Sounds like me and Nicky," Red laughed. Squinting at Gloria curiously, she couldn't help but be intrigued by her. There was so much mystery to her, yet at the same time, Red felt an exploration would be easily achievable.

Gloria cocked her brow. "I'm much better behaved than Nicky is."

"Ha," Red scoffed. "You're in prison, remember."

"Well so are you," Gloria laughed.

"I never claimed to be innocent."

"I didn't say I was innocent, just better behaved than Nicky," Gloria corrected her.

"I wonder if your aunt would agree."

"Probably not."

"I hear the way you talk to your girl's, I bet you used to get in trouble for that mouth of yours."

"Mmm," Gloria purred. "You have no idea."

Red shook her head. "Makes me thankful that I raised sons. Not sure I would have been able to handle Nicky as a teenager."

"Your boys never acted up?" Gloria asked curiously. "They never got into any kind of trouble? You must have been super mom."

"They'd get in trouble for normal kid things," Red shrugged. "Not doing their chores, staying out past curfew, but nothing serious."

"You mean nothing like my son." Gloria sighed and ran her hand tiredly through her hair. "I don't know what I'm going to do about him. I mean what can I do?"

"Not much from in here," Red answered.

"What about?" Gloria asked. "What are you going to do when you get out of here? How are you going to make it right with your family?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead," Red said quietly, truthfully. "There's too much to apologize for, and not enough words to express it all. Sometimes I think they're better off without me, but just because I feel that way doesn't mean you that you get to give up on your kids, Gloria. They need a mother, and when you get out of here, you'll still have time to make it right with them."

"You think you've run out of time." It wasn't a question, but a statement. "I bet they'd surprise you, Red. Like you said, kids need a mother, right?"

Red smiled at her, but the emotion didn't quite reach her eyes. "It's getting late," she said unnecessarily, bringing the conversation to a halt.

"Yea," Gloria agreed, studying her carefully.

"I told Nicky I would come and find her when I was done with this paperwork," Red explained quietly, essentially dismissing her.

"I'll go with you," Gloria said.

Whether Red needed to go because she truly needed to see Nicky, or because she needed to distance herself from the heaviness of their conversation, Gloria wasn't sure, but she didn't question her either. Sliding off the desk, so that her feet were touching the floor, she ran her hands over her uniform self-consciously.

She held her hands out for Red to take and helped pull her onto her feet. "I should probably check on my girls, too."

"You could stay here and do this inventory," Red jetted her head toward the paperwork on the desk. "It's due in Caputo's office by the end of breakfast tomorrow."

"Why do we need to do inventory when they're feeding us food out of a bag?" Gloria wrinkled her nose.

"Because he told me to have it done."

"Since when do you follow the rules," Gloria teased her.

Red smiled. "Since always. Perhaps I could even teach you a thing or two, if you weren't so hardheaded."

"Mm, I bet you could," Gloria asked thickly, her eyes darkening

It was in that moment that Red realized just how close the two of them were and she felt her breath hitch in her throat. There was just something about the way that Gloria was looking her that completely took her breath away, and ss badly as she wanted to walk out of her office, she found that she couldn't. The look in Gloria's eyes was as familiar as it was foreign. It wasn't the same, pleading, lost look, of someone who needed a mother figure, that she was used to, but something completely different—Longing. Curiosity. Lust. —Perhaps all the above.

Allowing her gaze to drift downward toward her lips, Red swallowed nervously. The little voice in her head screamed for her to leave, or at the very least, to say something that would break the rising tension. Suddenly the room felt smaller. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and she swore it would eventually beat right out of her chest. When she looked into Gloria's eyes once again, the expression on her counterpart's face was intense, almost threatening.

For a moment, Red thought maybe Gloria was angry, but before she could ponder it further, she felt herself being yanked forward, Gloria's hand clutching tightly to the front of her shirt. A small gasp escaped from deep within her and her eyes widened in surprise as Gloria's lips covered her own in a hungry kiss. Of its own volition, Red's body responded immediately. Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands reached out to steady herself, finding a comfortable, almost natural position on the curve of Gloria's hips.

Gloria's mouth was warm against her own, the caress of her lips softer than she could have ever imagined. Gloria tasted tentatively with her tongue, and Red opened her mouth with a low moan. She gripped tightly to Gloria's hips, while Gloria's hands moved up to tangle in her hair, guiding her in the kiss, as their tongues dueled and battled for control.

Suddenly, Gloria pushed away as if she'd been burned. The lustful gaze that had been in her eye's moments ago, was now nowhere to be seen. "I'm sorry, Red," she apologized breathlessly, taking a step backward. "I don't know what came over me," she nervously ran a shaky hand over her mouth, eyes darting around unfocused as she tried to regain her bearings. "That-" she stopped herself, unprepared, confused, on where to even begin.

Red didn't know why she wasn't panicking, why she wasn't freaking out over the fact that she had responded to the kiss. She took a step toward Gloria, regarding her carefully.

"I don't… I-" Gloria mumbled incoherently, shaking her head as she backed into the desk behind her. Anything else that she wanted to say, died on her lips as she felt herself being drawn into another kiss.

What had come over her, Red wasn't sure, but all she knew was that she wanted to feel Gloria's lips against hers. She wanted more of this. More of her. She kissed Gloria with as much passion as she had to give, and the younger woman returned it. Pushing Gloria down so that she was sitting on the desk, Red laughed in the back of her throat as felt Gloria clutch to her possessively.

Cupping Gloria's face in her hands, it was Red's turn now to lead the pace of their kiss. Dragging her tongue along Gloria's bottom lip, Red was instantly rewarded with Gloria's tongue as it massaged against her own. It felt incredible, and Red wondered if this was the movement she did when rolling her 'R' in Spanish.

Gloria dropped her hips forward, spreading her legs, and Red wasted no time moving in between them. Red didn't miss the growl of approval that vibrated throughout Gloria's chest, and she moved her arms to circle around her back, pulling her impossibly closer. She felt Gloria thrust against her pelvis, the intent crystal clear. Gloria repeated the action again, over and over, whimpering softly when Red didn't move her hand to touch her.

"Gloria…" she whispered against her mouth, gently breaking the kiss. It was one thing to make out with her in their office, but touching Gloria, in that, way was another. It wasn't something Red was comfortable doing. At least not yet.

"Okay…" Gloria breathed against her lips. "Just kiss me… kiss me."

Pleased that Gloria seemed satisfied with her silent plea to not cross those boundaries, Red willingly, and eagerly obliged her. As she gave herself over to their kiss, Red playfully sucked Gloria's bottom lip between her teeth, her hands still running up and down the sides of her figure teasingly. They were so lost in one another, so consumed by what they were doing, it was like everything else in the world had faded into the background. The tables of their relationship had surely turned, and they knew that they'd have to talk about this and what it mean for them, but in this moment, it didn't matter. Aside from one another, nothing mattered.