A/n: Yes, I know, I waited three whole days to update! Crazy, huh? My excuse is that I got a new guinea pig yesterday to bond to my other one (his former life partner passed away last month), Honeybear. My new pig is aptly named Pookie. No joke. :D

Oh, and I saw WICKED YESTERDAY! YEAHHHHHH you're jealous. I cried, twice. Anyways...

Chapter 6

She could feel both Maureen's and her father's eyes on her, and finally she looked up. "Joanne," her father greeted her coolly.

Harold Jefferson had known about his daughter's "alternative lifestyle" (as he liked to call it) since she was seventeen years old. Still, even six years later, he hoped that his little girl would find a nice man someday, get married, and have lots of babies.

He had never accepted Joanne's girlfriends, regardless of how serious she said they were. As Joanne stood there, watching the collected, yet inwardly fuming expression on his face, she knew she'd be in for a long lecture from her mother about "so-and-so's son, from church."

"I see you've been getting to know your client," he said, looking Maureen up and down. He looked like he'd just sucked on a lemon.

Maureen waved, smirking, and Mr. Jefferson cleared his throat again. "Well, Joanne. I suppose I've made a mistake; assigning you to a young, attractive female. Maybe I should give you a little old man next time?" Joanne snuck a look at Maureen, whose eyes twinkled with mischief.

She couldn't help but bite her lip, holding in a laugh at her father's words. "Thanks, dad, but that won't be necessary."

Her father nodded. "Right." His eyes traveled downward, and Joanne followed his gaze to her ass, which a certain hand was still groping.

Joanne, in an uncharacteristic act of defiance, slung an arm around Maureen's shoulders possessively.

He muttered something that Joanne couldn't make out, turned around and stepped back into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

When the door was shut, Maureen and Joanne dissolved into laughter. Joanne felt like she was in high school again, and she loved it. Finally, they regained their composure, Joanne sitting on top of the desk with her legs dangling off the end.

In her head, she ran through everything that had just happened in the last ten minutes, looking up at Maureen almost shyly. "Hi," she said quietly, and with a smile, Maureen sat down next to her on the desk, taking her hand. "Hi."

~x~

"We had a pretty hot first kiss," Maureen commented, smiling at the memory. She unconsciously licked her lips at the thought.

She smiled at Joanne, her hand practically throbbing with the desire to touch Joanne's. So she did; Maureen had a feeling that Joanne wouldn't be upset by a little hand-holding.

The diva slid her hand toward Joanne's, which rested on the tabletop, and coffee fingers intertwined with cream ones, creating a stunning contrast.

Joanne looked at their hands nervously, biting her lip. "Phil?" She called offhandedly, still staring at the hands.

Phil came rushing up to their table, scratching his pimply face while he waited for Joanne to speak.

"Could you, uh...Get us a couple of Long Island Iced Teas?" Maureen raised an eyebrow at her, surprised, but Joanne ignored her, instead focusing on the dorky, adolescent waiter in front of her.

Phil's eyes lit up like Joanne had instead said, "Could you, uh...come back to our apartment to have a threesome?" instead. He nodded, rushing off to get the drinks, which would inevitably get both of the women drunk as hell.

"You okay?" Maureen questioned, lightly rubbing her thumb over Joanne's palm. The lawyer swallowed, nodding. "Yeah."

Maureen looked at her, eyes twinkling. "Long Island Iced Tea?" She asked curiously. "When have you ever had one of those? Never with me, that's for sure."

"I can do things without you, you know," Joanne huffed, cringing as it came out of her mouth, instantly feeling bad for the obvious blow.

Maureen cleared her throat; it seemed like this night was made of tension. They couldn't even talk about drinks without one of them getting bitter about their breakup.

Phil returned, setting their drinks down on the table carefully. Joanne looked curiously at hers.

"I know you can, Jo," Maureen said quietly, taking a sip of her drink. "I remember how impressed with you I was on our first date. You ordered that expensive wine, remember? Nobody had ever done that for me; it was usually beer...or tequila, if I really hit the jackpot."

Joanne smiled. "Well, you were worth it," she remarked with a definitive nod, picking up her drink and taking a sip gingerly. She cringed as it went down, but tried to put on a brave face, if only to preserve her dignity.

"And it was right here, at the Life Cafe. It's symbolic, really..." Maureen didn't add the "since this is our last night together," but the unspoken words hung in the air still.

~x~

Maureen waited outside, in front of the Life Cafe; smoking a cigarette, rubbing her hands together to ward off the cold. Oddly, it was she who was early this time; though Joanne was known for being punctual, and she for always being late.

Maureen hadn't seen Joanne since the day they'd kissed for the first time, even though it had been almost two weeks since then. As soon as Joanne's father found out that his daughter was "engaging in unprofessional activities" with Maureen, she had been transferred to another lawyer, never to see that gorgeous mocha woman again.

Or so she'd thought.

On the way out of the law practice, Joanne had caught up with Maureen; she'd taken both of the diva's hands in hers, and asked her out on a proper date.

One that didn't involve desks or disapproving fathers. And especially all of that damned professionalism, she'd said with a laugh.

Just as Maureen was about to go inside and wait where it wasn't completely freezing, Joanne came into view, wrapped in a form-fitting black trench coat. As she got closer, a smile found its way onto her face, which Maureen couldn't help but mimic.

"So, I'm looking for my date," Joanne said conversationally, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "She's beautiful, with long, chestnut hair, and she's got eyes like you would not believe." Maureen blushed and smiled, not used to being treated like she was the only one there.

Contrary to popular belief, in her dating history, Maureen usually got stuck with the "bad boys" (or girls) who treated her like shit. When she started dating Mark a year ago, everyone had laughed at the two of them. They'd all said that the couple wouldn't last a week, because they were so different, but Maureen had stayed with him, perhaps just to prove everyone wrong.

She liked to do that.

Mark was sweet, most of the time, though he didn't pay enough attention to her. The important thing was that Mark provided her with food and a place to stay. Though she hardly loved him anymore; or at least not as more than a friend, she depended on him for some basic needs.

"Maureen?" She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Joanne's voice, smiling. She liked the sound of her name when Joanne was saying it.

"Want to go inside?" She nodded, following Joanne into the cute, yet romantic, little cafe. Maureen had been the one to suggest it; she had been to the Life Cafe a myriad of times before with Mark, Roger, Collins and April.

"You look really nice," Maureen said to Joanne, not really knowing what else to say. Joanne smirked. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Once they were seated, their waiter came to take their drink orders. Maureen opened her mouth to speak, but Joanne looked up from her menu and beat her to it. "Could we get a bottle of Cabernet?"

The waiter nodded, hurrying off to get their wine, and Maureen looked from the menu to Joanne, impressed. "But...that's the most expensive drink on the menu!" Joanne nodded, giving her hand a small squeeze. "You're worth it."

The waiter returned with their wine and glasses, and Joanne poured some for both of them, holding hers out in a toast. Maureen met it, smiling over the brim of the glass. "To first dates," she said easily, and Joanne laughed, clinking her glass with Maureen's.

They both sipped at their wine for a minute, until Maureen leaned forward expectantly. "So," she began, "Ms. Jefferson. What do you do when you aren't saving poor peoples' asses?"

Joanne laughed at that, a breathy, sort of gravelly sound. Maureen decided that she liked it very much. "Well, let's see. I'm not too exciting. I like to read; and no, not always boring law books. I love going to poetry readings, musicals- I love them. And of course, I enjoy long walks in the park." Her dark eyes twinkled at this, and Maureen felt that she could get lost in them.

"And you?"

The drama queen tilted her head slightly, trying to think of something interesting to say.

"Well, I protest. Against lots of things, really. As you know, I've done animal rights protests. I've also done a couple for gay rights. One of the protests, actually, came from my friend Collins. We've been best friends since high school, and one time...We were both in the school play, they put on 'A Chorus Line' that year. So, I played Val, and Collins played Paul, the gay guy who gets injured at the end. Anyhow, he was reciting this beautiful monologue, and...halfway through, someone in the theatre shouted, "Fag!" and Collins turned beet red and ran off the stage. That was my very first protest...It was for him."

Joanne looked horrified. "Oh my god...That must have been terrible..."

Maureen shrugged. "We grew up in Scarsdale. It's rich, it's white, and it's the suburbs. People there aren't used to diversity. Not like here." She gestured to the cafe. "I love it here."

Joanne nodded. "So do I. I've lived here all my life, but I'll never get tired of it. I actually grew up right here, in Manhattan. The Upper East Side, actually."

Maureen raised her eyebrows. "I know," Joanne continued, with a smirk. "That's why I got out of there, and moved to SoHo. I like being around artsy people, even if I don't have an art, myself."

Maureen shook her head, smiling. "I'll bet you do."

The rest of the night went wonderfully, almost like a dream first date should be, Maureen thought. They'd ordered food, both glad that the other was a vegetarian. After all, it wasn't really a turn-on, to Maureen, to watch her date eat a dead animal.

Joanne, on the other hand, was turning her on, just by sitting there. There was something about her, something about them, that was magnetic. Maureen was strongly attracted to Joanne, for some reason; it was almost a primal sort of lust. Though she felt that they also connected on an emotional level as well, she'd never felt this way- the nagging urge to just tear this woman's clothes off was ever-present.

About halfway through the meal, a slow, salsa-esque song came on in the restaurant, earning Maureen's attention. She looked at Joanne, who was sipping at her wine.

By now, Maureen had a slight alcohol buzz; she felt warm and a bit exhilarated. Looking at her date right then, Maureen knew that she wanted nothing more than to dance with Joanne.

Extending her hand casually, she eyed Joanne. "May I have this dance?" She giggled, slightly light-headed.

The corners of Joanne's mouth ever-so-slightly curled upward, and she took the hand, her eyes sparkling. Standing up, they both made their way toward the open area, by the bar, where two other couples were already dancing.

Joanne pulled Maureen close to her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "By the way, I can't dance anything but the tango."

Maureen laughed. "Yes, you can." She rested her hands on Joanne's slender hips, gently swaying from side to side. Joanne took the hint, rotating her hips every now and then. Her arms snaked lazily around Maureen's neck, bringing them closer than ever.

They swayed in time to the music, Joanne occasionally spinning Maureen around, making her laugh giddily.

Joanne's entire body almost molded into hers, and she could feel parts of it pressed flush against parts of her body, making her head spin and her heart pick up its speed.

"See," she managed to whisper into Joanne's ear thickly, "you can dance." She felt Joanne chuckle, and let the tip of her tongue dart out and touch Joanne's earlobe, in turn making her gasp.

As the music ended, she pulled Joanne into a sort of hug, pulling away after a moment. She was surprised when Joanne grabbed her and pressed a firm kiss to her lips, one that lasted for slightly longer than was permissible as a casual peck.

Maureen finally pulled away, amazed to feel that her lips still tingled. The effect this woman had on her was surprising, to say the least.

They returned to their table, picking up where they had left off, but after that, one of Joanne's hands stayed intertwined with Maureen's on top of the table, filling Maureen's chest with an unfamiliar, yet welcoming feeling.

When the check came, Joanne insisted on paying, though Maureen had offered to split it. Maureen just thanked her, and winked, saying that she could pay for their next date. And there was going to be a next date, Maureen could tell.

At the end of the date, Maureen and Joanne walked hand-in-hand through Tompkins Square Park together, both enjoying the other's presence. When they got to a bench, they sat, and Joanne blurted out something she'd been thinking about all night.

"What about your boyfriend?" She asked worriedly, and Maureen grabbed her hand, afraid that Joanne was going to change her mind about dating her.

She sighed. "What about him?" She asked smoothly, and Joanne rolled her eyes.

"Let's start with: Are we a thing?" She asked, holding onto Maureen's hand with slightly more pressure than before.

"Darling, we're everything." Maureen grinned, and Joanne couldn't help but smile back. "Listen, Jo, I really like you. A lot. But you have to understand...I live with Mark. I can't...I can't do that to him, not yet. But...I- I will. I'll end it...eventually. When the time is right."

Joanne nodded, partially satisfied with Maureen's answer, but she wondered if the diva was telling the truth. However, she didn't push it. After all, it was only their first date!

They were silent for a moment, staring into one another's eyes. Then, finally, Joanne leaned in, closing her eyes, and Maureen felt her heart contract.

It was coming. She knew what was coming, and she didn't even have time to think about it before-

A kiss.

Maureen couldn't help but smile into it, running her fingers through those crazy curls on the lawyer's head. They moved closer and closer to one another until they were completely pressed up against one another. The kiss was perfect- a perfect ending to a perfect night, but somehow it was different.

It was more than what Maureen had been hoping for.

The kiss wasn't rushed and heated like the first time, though Maureen could still almost feel the lust coming from Joanne; just as she probably gave off similar vibes. This kiss, though, was soft and sweet and- dare she say it- caring. No one had ever just cared for Maureen before, and she welcomed it.

They finally broke away from the kiss with identical smiles on their faces; standing up, as it was time to end the date. Joanne hugged her close, and Maureen could smell her lavender perfume. "Goodnight," Joanne whispered in her ear, and she whispered it back breathlessly.

Joanne was so...romantic, too, which Maureen hadn't been expecting.

They pulled apart then, Joanne leaning in to peck her on the cheek. "Call me."

.x.

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