Show Me

"If I have to spend one more minute with that...that...shrew, my nerves will be completely shot," Bianca says as she walks into the kitchen where Maggie has her French lesson books strewn across the table. Bianca drops her briefcase on the floor, shakes her blazer off her shoulders and continues, "For the past few weeks that we've been meeting, she consistently proves herself to be impossibly annoying, unbelievably arrogant and just a regular pain in the...you know where. The only positive thing about her is that she doesn't actually spit fire when she opens her mouth."

"Hard day?" Maggie asks.

"Like you wouldn't believe. And to make it worse we may have to work together - or should I say, be at each other's throats - for the next six months."

"You know what I'm in the mood for right now?" Maggie says excitedly attempting to put a lighter spin on the conversation. "Moroccan. CeCe took me by this great restaurant where she works sometimes. We should go. They have great food and amazing live music with traditional Moroccan instruments and dancers. And, we get to stretch out on these big, comfy floor cushions instead of chairs. I think it'll cheer you up."

"I don't know. I'm so burnt out. I don't think I'm up for it."

"Would you be if I called it a date?"

Bianca raises her eyebrows.

"Where did you say we were going?" Bianca asks with an unabashed big smile.


A few hours later, after indulging in food, wine, and other festive cultural delights, they come into the apartment bursting with boisterous glee.

"Stop Maggie, you're making my sides hurt," Bianca says through the brief gasps of air that she manages to breath through her laughter.

"Maybe it's because you tried to belly dance right after you finished your third helping of food."

"How else was I supposed to work off all those calories?"

"You should have seen the look on that dancer's face when you stepped on his foot."

"Don't remind me."

"I thought you permanently put him out of a job."

Bianca laughs.

"Despite the attempted foot amputation," Maggie says endearingly. "You're a pretty good dancer."

"After the shock of my adolescent growth spurt, I figured that these legs should be good for something," Bianca says. "Thank you."

"You did all the dancing, I should be thanking you."

"No, I mean, thank you for tonight. For making me laugh and forget about my miserable day, for dinner, for... your invitation, for...your company, for your..."

The litany of reasons draw Maggie and Bianca closer together until their bodies touch and they embrace in a long tender hug. Maggie is the first to break the embrace.

"The night's not over. Come," Maggie says leading Bianca by the hand down the hall to the chaise longue in the salon.

Silently, she indicates that Bianca should sit down. She then disappears behind Bianca who asks, "What are you doing?" She is giddy with excitement.

Maggie positions herself on the other side of the chaise, with Bianca's back to her, and begins to massage the remaining tension out of Bianca's shoulders. Surprised and delighted, Bianca lets out a pleasure-filled moan as she luxuriates in the sensations that soothe and electrify her entire body.

"Wow, that's amazing," Bianca says in a dreamy, far away voice. She closes her eyes. "I should be doing this to you for taking me out."

"I'm not the one who had the hard day," Maggie says.

"But-"

"But, shhh," Maggie whispers.

Maggie concentrates on every pressure point she that applies to Bianca's shoulders, back and upper arms. At first Maggie's fingers appear to rebound off every tight muscle it encounters. But with a few minutes of gentle prodding, Bianca's muscles soften and relax. Bianca can barely maintain her stature as her shoulders begin to slump under Maggie's hypnotic touch.

"Bianca?" Maggie asks.

"Mmm?"

"Show me."

Bianca's eyes fly open and nervously search about the room.

"Wh-What are saying?" she asks Maggie.

"Show me. I want to learn."

Bianca slowly turns her head around until her eyes meet Maggie's. She is jarred by how intensely Maggie holds the gaze.

"I want to learn," Maggie repeats.

Bianca straddles the chaise, she takes Maggie's hand and invites her to do the same. Seated and facing each other, Bianca looks deep into Maggie's gentle brown eyes searching for doubt, fear, insecurity; any small hint that Maggie will change her mind. She strokes Maggie's hair off her shoulders away from her face. Maggie takes Bianca's hand and places it in the center of her chest. And when Bianca feels the rapid, irregular beat of Maggie's heart in the palm of her hand, Bianca knows that Maggie means it. As her own heart starts to race, Bianca says, "You...are so...beautiful."

Maggie lifts Bianca's hand to her lips, first kissing Bianca's palm, then the tips of each and every one of her fingers. Bianca is paralyzed in awe. Maggie gently pulls at Bianca's hand coaxing her forward and when she is close enough, Maggie places her lips on Bianca's. They dwell in the bliss of tender, soft lips, delicate tongues, and mouths flavored with sweet and tangy Moroccan spices and wine. Their kiss is slow, careful, thoughtful, curious and deep. Maggie savors every sensation of this moment while Bianca contains her long-suppressed need to have more.

And when the touching begins, they never relinquish their kiss. Bianca cups Maggie's face in the palms of her hand; her fingertips create fine thin strokes along Maggie's jaw. She continues the same motion down the sides of Maggie's neck, stopping for a moment to run her fingers through the fine hairs at the base of Maggie's neck. She loves the way Maggie's shoulders soften at her touch yet the tone in Maggie's upper arms attests to a strength that Bianca anticipates experiencing...one day. Bianca reaches around to Maggie's back where she applies a gentle massage. When she slides her hands to Maggie's waist, Bianca is fascinated by how slight it is. She feels like the tips of her fingers will almost touch at Maggie's back and her thumbs on Maggie's stomach. With a quickening breath, Bianca slowly glides her hands up Maggie's stomach heeding to the temptation of another part of Maggie's body that beacons Bianca's attention.

Maggie welcomes Bianca exploring her body. Her pores awaken to the touch of a woman, to the touch of this woman, Bianca. It is delicate yet persistent, soft but demanding, curious yet knowing. It sends shivers down her back, delivers tingles to her shoulders and upper arms, and releases butterflies in her stomach. But when she feels a gentle pressure on her breasts and the response of her nipples to the delicate strokes across them, Maggie gasps for air as her head lightens, she breaks into a sweat, and she loses herself in a way that she's only known with a man.

Bianca stops touching Maggie and whispers, "Are you okay?"

Bianca is so overcome with her own sensual feelings that her eyes are watery. Their foreheads touch as they try to catch their breaths.

"Ya, um, ya," Maggie manages to eek out. She mouths the word 'wow' and Bianca agrees by doing the same. They quietly laugh. Bianca bites her bottom lip and goes in for another kiss. Maggie places her finger to Bianca lips to stop her. Bianca takes Maggie's finger in her mouth.

"I, uh, I think I've learned enough for now," Maggie whispers. She reluctantly takes her finger back stroking Bianca's lip one last time before she does. "I'm going to, uh, bed."

Bianca does not need to ask Maggie which room she will sleep in. She already knows. Bianca watches Maggie leave the room and stretches out on the chaise longue. She closes her eyes and submerges into the memory and sensations of what just happened.

On this night, Jonathon doesn't appear. In fact, the little sleep that Maggie does get in the guest room is dreamless.


The next morning, when Bianca lifts her head off her pillow, she is surprised yet pleased to see her friend sitting at the cushioned window seat in her bedroom looking out onto the court yard. With every breath that Maggie takes, Bianca records the way that she sits, the bend of her legs, the curve in her waist, the angle of her back, the subtly changing color of her hair as the sunlight hits it, the color of her tank top and how it brings out her eyes. Her eyes. She wants to see them again. Especially the way they looked last night; like they wanted her, needed her.

"Hey," Bianca says softly, tenderly.

Maggie's head turns so quickly as she stands up at the same time like she was expecting - waiting - to be summoned at any moment. Slightly embarrassed by her overzealous response, Maggie sits back down, crossing one leg under her.

"What are doing in here?" Bianca asks.

"Waiting."

"Come here," Bianca says.

Instead of going to her side of the bed, Maggie sits in the small space between its edge and Bianca.

"Are you okay?" Bianca asks.

"Ya."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Maggie says with emphasis. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"How long?"

"I don't know...an hour...two," Maggie says with a yawn.

"You could have come back here," Bianca says referring to her bedroom. "You know, after."

Maggie looks away from Bianca.

"I'm sorry," Bianca says. "Give me an inch and I ask for a mile, right?"

"I couldn't sleep."

Bianca waits for Maggie to continue.

"I just lay there all night," Maggie says as she rubs her eyes trying to stay awake. "I couldn't stop thinking about what happened, about what we did, about how I felt about doing what we did."

"Great. So, this is when you tell me that it freaked you out, right?"

"Bianca - "

"No, even better. You're completely grossed out and you need time to get over it."

"Bianca?"

"And now you want to move into the Cambias suite at the hotel after all."

"Bianca! Stop it!"

"What?"

"I couldn't sleep because...I missed you."

Bianca's eyes open wide.

"I felt things that I've never felt before. I felt things...better than I've felt before. I feel different this morning. Like I just shed off a layer of skin and revealed a whole new me."

Maggie yawns and nonchalantly lies on the bed resting her head on the pillow that Bianca had slept on. Bianca shifts slightly toward the center to create a little more room and tenderly looks at her.

"What am I?" Maggie asks looking up at Bianca.

"You are a beautiful woman who I'm hopelessly in love with."

"I'm a woman who's," Maggie says as she yawns and closes her eyes. "Hopelessly tired."

For that moment, as Bianca lovingly gazes at Maggie who drifts off to sleep, nothing else exists. She covers Maggie with a sheet, lightly kisses her and leaves the bed. Bianca floats on air as she walks from her room to check on Miranda, confident that everything is going to be all right.