Chapter 3

Joanne woke that morning, feeling something warm against her. She opened her eyes just a slit and realized that somehow in the night, she and Maureen had cuddled up against each other and were now tangled in each others' arms. Her heart began to hammer at the beautiful sight in front of her. It's been so long since she had woken up to someone, and even longer that she's woken up to Maureen. She took in the scent of Maureen's hair—"still the same old apple scented shampoo". Joanne looked at the clock, seeing that it was just 5:00 in the morning, drifting back to sleep, pulling Maureen even closer.

The morning light seeped through the blinds in the windows of Joanne's apartment. Jo opened her eyes slowly, realizing that it was almost time to get up. She felt a small weight on her stomach and looked down, realizing that it was the arm that belonged to the beautiful creature sleeping closely beside her. Joanne watched Maureen sleep, mesmerized by the rise and fall of her chest, and the slow steady breath releasing from her lips. Joanne fought an urge to kiss those lips.

"What's going to happen now? Your feelings for her are coming back, but you can't do this to her. Michael is with her now and they love each other. He's going to propose to her soon, you know it! Don't set yourself up for hurt in the end.

Going against any thoughts that tried to persuade her not to, she slowly leaned in and gently pressed her lips to Maureen's, hoping that she wouldn't wake up. Her lips tasted just as good as Joanne remembered. She pulled away slowly, continuing to stare intently at the soft lips of the woman sleeping next to her. She felt something move across her stomach, pulling her closer to those lips and that body. She felt Maureen's lips moving against her own as they pulled each other closer.

Maureen didn't know what she was doing, but she knew what she wanted. She kissed Joanne deeply, sweeping her tongue across Joanne's bottom lip, asking for entrance. Their tongues danced feverishly in each other's mouths. They finally broke apart for air as Joanne's lips moved down Maureen's neck, sucking gently.

"Joanne, stop." Maureen whispered, finally coming to her senses. "Stop, this is wrong. I am with Michael."

Jo pulled away, not wanting to look at Maureen's face. "Sorry", she mumbled, not really sorry at all. She suddenly found a crack on the corner of the nightstand very interesting. "I understand, I'm sorry it happened", Joanne sighed. "I...uh, I've got to get ready for work".

"Yea… yea, okay". Maureen quickly changed out of Jo's pajamas and just about ran to the door of the apartment. Joanne followed, opening the door for her. Both stared at the ground in silence until Maureen spoke.

"Look, just forget about it okay? All we did was kiss, nothing happened, it didn't mean anything", said Maureen, trying to convince herself of what she was saying.

Joanne looked at Maureen, nodding a silent yes.

"I'll call you", Maureen said as she turned to leave. "Bye Jo. Have a good day at work".

"Bye".

\o/\o/\o/\o/

At work, Joanne couldn't keep her concentration on her task. She was driving herself crazy thinking about the kiss she shared with Maureen. The kiss she was supposed to forget. Her heart wrenched at the thought of what Maureen said. Since the day started, Joanne tried to do as much of her work as possible to keep her mind off what happened that morning.

A knock came from the door, she looked up to see her secretary poking her head in. "Joanne, Mr. Wilks called in earlier. I scheduled a meeting for you tomorrow morning. Your mother also called in, she was wondering when you would come to visit her and Mr. Jefferson. She wants you to call her back soon. Oh, and you also have dry cleaning to pick up."

"Thanks Kate. I think I'm done for the day. You can take off too." It was close to 6:00pm, Joanne couldn't stand being enclosed in her office for longer. She needed to get out.

She leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms and back. She closed her eyes and breathed out. She couldn't forget about it even if she tried.

\o/\o/\o/\o/

"Where were you last night? I called your place, all I got was your answering machine." Michael asked, worried. He watched as Maureen took off her jacket and placed it on the couch, coming over to him.

"I was with Collins and the gang. Joanne was there too. She got too drunk so I took her home and stayed at her place." She placed a kiss on Michael's lips. She noticed they weren't as soft as Joanne's, nor did they taste as good. "And hello to you too."

"Sorry, I was just worried. You left really early from rehearsal yesterday and you didn't call."

"Well I am here now. I wanna take a nap before we head off to rehearsal. Wake me up when we need to go." She walked off toward Michael's bedroom.

"We should be going right now Maureen. Opening night is just a few days away. These are the days you need to be getting everything down and perfectly."

"I already got everything down. And you know I'm perfect. So we're set." Maureen called from the room. "Just wake me up in twenty minutes!"



Maureen flopped down on the bed, frustrated with how the day had started. Her mind was only on Joanne. She felt the twist of her heart in her chest as she thought about the kiss and how good it felt.

She heard the bedroom door open, knowing Michael was there to wake her. She faked sleeping, feeling a shift in the weight of the bed. She felt his hands slide up her arm and back. Michael bent over, pressing small kisses on her shoulder and up her neck. Maureen felt him move to her lips, but she turned her head away.

His kisses weren't like Joanne's. They didn't leave her skin feeling like it was on fire. They didn't make her lips tingle for more, they didn't make her heart wrench for something that had been missing for so long.

"Baby, we need to go. Come on, get up." Michael said, shaking her awake.

Maureen got up quickly, not saying anything. She walked to the door, Michael following immediately behind.

"Maureen what is wrong with you? You haven't said more than a sentence to me since you came back, and now you're acting weird. What is wrong?" Michael asked.

Sighing, Maureen turned and answered, "There is nothing wrong, okay? I'm sorry babe. I'm just… not having a great day." She gave Michael a small smile and leaned in for a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. They kissed for a few minutes, before Maureen finally stopped them, a somewhat uneasy feeling in her gut.

"Come on, we should go." Maureen said.

"Yea okay. Let's go."

" They're probably all waiting for you and saying what a diva you are for delaying them" Michael laughed, before entering the through the stage door.

Maureen slapped his arm playfully, "It's true, I am a diva, so what? I can't help it!"

With that, they proceeded towards the dressing rooms.