When she walked through the front door, the first thing she noticed was the silence.
Sam frowned. When she had left a half hour earlier, the TV and stereo had both been blaring. She had been half-convinced that she'd return home to find a police car in her driveway or, at the very least, a few of her neighbors standing in her lawn ranting about the noise level. Now, it was as if she was the only one in the house . . . and, if that was the case, she didn't even want to think about where Vala might have disappeared to while she was gone.
"Vala?" Sam called out, laying the two bottles of wine she was carrying on the nearest table. "Where are you?"
Vala didn't reply, but Sam heard an audible thump come from upstairs. Her eyes narrowing slightly, she started toward the stairs. It had been Vala who had turned up her nose at the wine she already had in the house and suggested getting something different, and Sam was starting to wonder if she should have been a little more skeptical about the other woman's motives.
"Vala?" Sam repeated as she reached the top of the stairs, not even trying to hide the suspicious tone in her voice. "I know you're up here."
Her bedroom door opened just enough for Vala to poke her head out. "Where did you get this absolutely gorgeous leather jacket?"
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Vala smiled sweetly at her. "No reason," she replied, ducking back in the room.
Sam sighed. "I'll bet," she muttered under breath.
"Ooh, is this real lace?"
Sam quickly started toward the door. "Vala, keep out of my closet!"
Inside the room, Vala laughed. "What makes you think I'm in your closet?" she called out teasingly.
Rolling her eyes, Sam grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. "Maybe because you're naming off my entire wardrobe even though you. . . ."
She slowly trailed off as her brain caught up with her eyes.
Vala was laying on her bed, wearing the aforementioned leather jacket and little else. In fact, now that Sam was really looking, it was fairly obvious that she was wearing absolutely nothing else.
Sam stared.
Vala smiled innocently at her. "You're the one who suggested a girls' night in," she pointed out. "I'm just making it a bit more enjoyable."