Hey hey hey! This little one-shot came to me while jamming out to some Bill Withers (hence the title). Now it's late and my eyes started crossing while trying to proofread everything so if you see any errors, please forgive me. I hope you enjoy! As always please favorite, review, subscribe - however you want to show me some love, I'll take it! Thanks!
Grace was sitting at the kitchen island, typing away at her laptop when Frankie entered the room.
"Who is Carol?" Frankie asked. She came to stand beside Grace, her hands held behind her back.
"Huh?" Grace ceased typing as she turned to look at her better half for the last 3 years.
"Who is Carol?" Frankie repeated, the words frosty and unamused.
"Carol...?" Confusion colored Grace's tone, she looked up at the ceiling then back at Frankie, tilting her head.
Frankie's eyes narrowed as she stated, "Don't play coy. Carol Clayton."
"Oh. Carol. She's just somebody I met. A new friend." Graced replied, her fingers resuming their assault on the keyboard.
"A friend, huh?" Frankie continued to stare at Grace as if she was trying to look through her.
"Yes, just a friend." Grace nodded and smiled up at the brunette.
"Hm. Where'd you meet this friend?" Frankie continued to push the issue.
"Oh, just by chance. Randomly. Out and about, you know." Grace quickly looked away from Frankie's piercing eyes. She felt uncomfortable with the blue laser beams boring a hole into her. She shifted uncomfortably under the intensity.
"And she's just a new friend, you say?" There was no curiosity in Frankie's question. It was all cynical and accusatory.
"Yes. I do have friends, you know. You've met them." Grace responded, with just a little sass in her voice.
"Oh, yes. Who could forget Pussface and the Lemon Suckers?" Frankie quipped, puckering her lips and crossing her eyes in mockery. "You don't even like them." She added.
"Yes, which is why I'm making new friends. And one of them happens to be Carol." Grace stated, truly hoping Frankie would drop the subject.
"Which brings me to exhibit 'A'. If she's your friend, then explain this!" Frankie brought her hands from behind her back and slammed a sheet of paper down on the space next to Grace's laptop.
"What is this?" Grace studied the paper. Upon first glance, one could tell that it was a picture of some sort. Looking at it more closely, Grace could see that it was a copy of a phone screen. Time stamped in the top right corner at 9:47pm and 52% battery life. The main attraction on the screen, however, was a text message. A text message from the aforementioned Carol.
You were wonderful tonight. I still have chills. Can't wait to see you again next week! :)
"While you were in the shower last night, I was bored and couldn't find my phone. So I was using yours to play a little Candy Crush until you were done. In the middle of playing a round, this message popped up. I wanted to send it to myself just in case you tried to delete the evidence but I couldn't figure out how to take a screenshot, so I ran downstairs and made a photocopy on the scanner." Frankie explained.
Grace thought a moment then said, "That's why you appeared to be asleep by the time I was done. You were upset and I had no clue. Frankie, look -" before she could finish, she was cut off by the other woman.
"I wasn't ready to bring it up just yet but I can't sit on it any longer. The mysterious disappearances on Thursday evenings. hen we went to the grocery store, that beautiful white haired witch that you just happened to run in to after you had sent me off to get almonds. The warm embrace in which her hands lingered just a little too long at your back." Grace's eyebrows shot up and her eyes got big. "Oh, yeah I saw it. And now this. This proves everything I suspected. It all comes full circle."
"Frankie, I found your phone in the pantry this morning. You were in there sneaking cookies, no doubt. I put it on charge upstairs. And this isn't what you think. Far from it."
"Oh, yeah? Do you honestly take me for some sort of idiot, Grace? Don't insult my intelligence and try to placate me with lies. How long has this been going on? How could you do this to me? To us?" Frankie began to tremble with rage and she felt a lump forming in her throat.
Grace remained silent, torn between exposing the truth and in turn, her own activities or keeping Frankie in the dark about what she had been up to.
"Answer me, you harlot. I refuse to be made a fool. I played that role for 20 years and I won't take it on again. If you've got a sidepiece, you let me know right now. I deserve that much. You, of all people, should understand how this feels. I thought you loved me. What was I? Just a place holder to pass the time until something better came along? Well, I won't wait around for you to ask me to leave, I'll just go right now." She turned away, not wanting to Grace to see the tears that she had tried to keep at bay.
Frankie was seriously upset. Seeing how broken up she really was at the idea of Grace stepping out on her, the blonde decided to sacrifice her own pride for the woman she loved.
"No, no, no. Come here." Standing up, Grace quickly caught her around the middle, pulling her back by the waist and holding her tightly before she could get to the door.
"Don't touch me, adulterer!" Frankie tried to push away, tears streaming down her cheeks, but Grace held on. The brunette wanted so badly to get away from the woman she had trusted with her heart. After everything, Grace had put Frankie back together only to shatter her once more. She was sure that she wouldn't survive this heartbreak. Not the second time.
"Baby, listen-" Grace tried to soothe her.
"No, fuck you. I'm not your 'baby' anymore. Go peddle that shit to your other bitch! Let me go!" Frankie was still struggling to break free, pushing at Grace, trying to find any way to worm her way out of the embrace.
"For fuck's sake, Frankie, let me explain!" Grace exploded, practically shaking Frankie to get her attention.
The brunette stopped moving, cheeks glistening with moisture and skeptical, red-rimmed eyes staring at Grace, unsure of what she was about to say.
"I wasn't ready to tell you but, I can't continue to let you think I would ever be unfaithful to you. So hear me out. I don't love women, I don't love men. I love you. You, Frankie. Only you. I would never do anything to jeopardize what I have with you. I am so enamored with you, there is no way I could feel for anyone else what I feel for you, okay? Do you understand that? Do you believe that? You have to. Because it's true and I mean it with every bit of me." Grace held Frankie's teary eyed gaze, making sure the brunette knew that she was being totally open and honest.
Standing there in the circle of Grace's surprisingly strong arms and being confronted by the raw truth in the blonde's blue eyes, Frankie was able to feel the love that Grace so vehemently swore was hers. The tension and the fight left her body, giving her a clear enough head to listen to what Grace had to say.
Frankie nodded as a tear slid down her cheek. "Well, what does that text mean? How do you know her? What are you doing with her?"
"Carol really is a new friend. A platonic friend. Nothing more. She's the teacher of a class I'm taking. A poetry class. I've been going for a few weeks now. It helps me get in touch with my feelings and bring to light things that I haven't been able to voice up until this point. It's challenging but very rewarding and wonderfully cathartic. Last week, we had to write about something special to us. It could have been anything, living or non - there were no limits. But I could only think of you and the words came easily. Feelings poured from me as effortlessly as the ink flowed from the pen. Afterwards, we had to recite it for everyone. What I wrote was pretty well received by the group. That's what she was referring to. That's what she meant when she said I was wonderful. That's all, I promise. I only have eyes for you." Grace nuzzled Frankie's cheek with her own, hoping her physical affection would continue to calm the woman.
Frankie still had the look of a sad, heartbroken puppy as she asked, "Then why the secrecy?"
"Because I'm still getting comfortable with this whole sharing feelings thing and it's easier to do it in a room full of strangers. It's a slow process but I'm really coming around. I want to be more open and in touch with my inner self for you and this is getting me there. I've spent most of my life not saying how I feel and I'm only recently realizing how toxic that can be. I don't want that for us. I want to do things differently. I want it to be better. This is my attempt at that, okay? Please bear with me."
Frankie nodded as she said, "I understand. And I'm glad that you're really trying. That means a lot to me. And you've been great, honestly you have."
"Thank you, ba-" Grace cut herself off. Then she hesitantly asked, "Will you be my 'baby' again?"
"Yes, of course. Always." They smiled at each other. After a moment, Frankie asked, "What exactly did you write?"
"I was wondering when that was coming." Grace chuckled. Then she signed nervously and added, "I'll recite it for you, just so you know that I am sincere, but don't laugh or judge, okay?"
"I would never."
With one hand still holding Frankie at the waist, Grace's other hand reached down and clasped her love's hand, bringing it up between them and kissing her knuckles sweetly. Taking a deep breath and gazing into Frankie's eyes, she began to speak.
"I've never known this feeling.
This overwhelming, all-consuming hunger that leaves me reeling.
My entire being responds to you so strongly.
It would be an injustice to our love if I were to just simply say "I'm fond of thee".
My eyes devour your image, a vision in beauty. Reserved just for me, forever and hereafter.
My ears covet the intonation of your rousing voice and ardent laughter.
My hands long to capture you in a vice-like grip and never release their hold.
Treating you like precious stones, or metal or gold.
My mouth waters. I wish to feast upon your flesh, coating my palate in your delectable ambrosia for my own selfish gratification.
Though no matter how much I consume, for this hunger there is no satiation.
Every part of you was made for me and I accept it wholeheartedly.
In turn, I am yours: emphatically, resolutely.
There's not one iota of me that rebels against or pulls away from you.
I am powerless in all of this, where you're concerned I have no choice in what I do.
From all of this I hope you gathered the crippling control you have over me.
Please understand that this is something I do not offer lightly.
I've given you all of me, mind, body and soul.
Thank you for completing me, for making me feel whole."
"That was beautiful, " Frankie blinked teary eyes at her; voice thick with emotion. "Is that really how I make you feel?"
"Indisputably." Grace responded.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I feel bad for forcing you to divulge something you would rather have kept to yourself. I should have known better than to think you would hurt me like that."
Grace captured Frankie's lips in a sweet kiss. Nothing too passionate, just affirmation of what she was feeling. After parting, she spoke.
"I shouldn't have been so secretive. I've no one to blame but myself. Honestly, I would have thought the same thing if I were you. I promise there will be no more mysterious disappearances. Maybe soon I'll feel comfortable enough to bring you with me. It wouldn't be so bad to have everyone bear witness to the woman that holds my heart."
"I'd really like that. But whenever you're comfortable. There's no deadline and no pressure." Frankie reassured her.
"Thank you, honey."
"Now, that we got that all sorted out, let's go upstairs. I want to return the love that you just showered me with. And I yearn to feel those deliciously long legs wrapped around me while I do it." Frankie's cadence was sultry and smile lit up her whole face.
That familiar twinkle that was in Frankie's eye was back and though Grace hated to be the one to take it away, she was equal parts glad that she had been able to put it back.