Chapter fourteen: Insomnia
There were barely any sounds coming from the streets outside as Lara lay in bed, but then again it was still early in the morning on that saturday and she wasn't in her usual neighborhood. She had woken up half an hour ago, her arms wrapped tightly around Dana's waist, her head buried in Dana's shoulder, and hadn't found the will to get up. Dana had still been fast asleep when the sous chef had leaned over to see if she was awake and the sight of her girlfriend, who had had a small smile on her lips, had made Lara feel all warm and fuzzy, her heartbeat quickening. She had snuggled back into the sheets, pulling Dana closer to herself, enjoying the moment of closeness. Since she had moved to LA almost three years ago, the redhead hadn't been in any relationship. She had had a few dates, but that was it, no falling asleep together, no waking up together. Dana was different. The tennis player had been the first woman in a long time that had caught her interest for real, making her fall in love. Lara smiled, feeling totally at peace. She brushed Dana's hair aside and placed a soft kiss on the athlete's neck. To her surprise the other woman began to giggle, turning in her arms.
"I was already wondering when you'd make yourself noticed.", the brunette said, smiling an amorous smile.
Lara raised her brows, playing offended. "So, you were awake all this time and didn't bother telling me, huh?"
"Hmm, I woke up a while ago...", Dana said, sounding contented. "...but, you know, I was enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in your arms too much to let you know I was awake, Lara. I thought you might want to take advantage of me then."
"You thought so, huh?", the redhead asked, grinning. "What do you think I am, Dana? A sex addict?" Lara could see the blush crawling up the smaller woman's face, making her look all the more irresistible to her.
"No, but I know just how much you like sex.", Dana stated somewhat matter-of-factly, although her eyes were shining brightly.
The chef chuckled, feeling playfulness well up inside her. "Oh, so you don't like sex?"
The question caused the tennis player to blush even more. "Well, no, uh, umm, that's not what I wanted to say.", she stammered.
Lara raised her brows again. She loved teasing Dana. "Of course not.", she said, her voice filled with sarcasm.
All of a sudden the athlete got all serious, the smile vanished from her face and she stared at the taller woman. "I can proof it to you if you want.", she said with a seriousness in her voice that caused Lara's heart to race.
"As much as I would love to, Dana...", the sous chef began, noticing the disappointment on her girlfriend's face as soon as she started. "...I have to go to the dry cleaners. I haven't been there in a while and I'm kinda running out of clean uniforms, so..."
Dana nodded, letting go of Lara. The redhead smiled and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "I will see you later at the country club, okay?"
"You bet you will."
With that Lara tossed the sheets off of herself and got out of bed. She picked up her clothes from the other night, as well as the chef's uniform she had brought and walked towards the door.
"Lara...", Dana called out to her just as she was about to leave the bedroom, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around. "Do you really wanna leave in these clothes?"
The chef looked down herself and realized she was in a pair of Dana's shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. "Why? Do I look so terrible in this?", she asked.
The brunette shook her head. "No, you look great."
"Then it should be okay, right?", the redhead said, turning around again, about to leave. As she was walking out of the bedroom, she could hear the rustling of sheets, followed by the sound of bare feet on carpet. She couldn't help but smile, slowing down just a little bit, and suddenly she found herself in Dana's embrace. The tennis player had her arms tightly wrapped around Lara's waist as if she was afraid the taller woman would disappear once released from the hold.
"You don't think you can leave just like this.", the sous chef heard her girlfriend say, feeling the other woman's lips press into the back of her neck.
Lara grinned. "Watch me.", she said, half-heartedly trying to get out of the hold, but the athlete wouldn't let her go.
"Watch you do what?", Dana asked playfully, placing just another kiss on the back of Lara's neck.
The redhead melted at the soft touch, feeling her heartbeat quickening. She smiled, placed her hands on top of her girlfriend's and sunk into the embrace, once again engulfed in the love coming from Dana. The brunette really had put a spell on her and Lara wanted to be under this spell for the rest of her life.
"You still haven't answered me.", Dana suddenly said.
Lara kept silent, thinking of something silly to say, something that would make Dana laugh, since she loved hearing Dana laugh.
"Tongue-tied, huh?" The athlete chuckled, bringing her lips to the taller woman's shoulder, placing small kisses everywhere, making Lara forget whatever she had wanted to say. The sous chef moved her head to the side, letting out a soft sigh. She could feel Dana smile against her skin and closed her eyes, having absolutely no intention to leave already.
--
The dry cleaners was almost empty when Lara arrived later that morning which suited the young woman just fine. She didn't think she'd have the patience to stand in a queue at that very moment, feeling totally energetic after spending the morning in bed, wrapped in her girlfriend's arms. What more could she ask for? As far as she was concerned her life was going just perfect. Walking up to the counter, she gave the elderly woman behind it a warm smile.
"Need your uniforms clean again, eh?", the other woman asked in a friendly tone, returning the chef's smile.
Lara nodded. "Yeah, I'm kinda running out of clean ones...", she said with a chuckle, sitting the backpack she was carrying onto the counter.
Although the apartment building she lived at did have a couple of washing machines, the redhead prefered coming to the dry cleaners when her chef's uniforms needed to be cleaned. She knew from experience that the people working at the dry cleaners were able to make even the most dirties chef's jacket look like a brand new one-something the washing machines did have trouble with.
"Oh my God, what happened to this one?", the elderly woman, Ronda, suddenly asked, ripping Lara out of her thoughts.
Looking up to see what Ronda was talking about, the sous chef couldn't help but grin widely, seeing the stenched chef's jacket Dana had worn just a couple of hours ago. The tennis player had looked absolutely gorgeous in it, causing Lara to wonder if maybe she herself was the one developping a fetish for uniforms instead of Dana. "Tomato sauce.", she answered, thinking back at the incident. "My girlfriend tried to cook dinner for us.", she added when she noticed the funny look on the other woman's face, not really noticing the use of girlfriend.
"And it didn't go as planned." The other woman smiled at the chef, seemingly not minding the implications of the sous chef's sexual orientation.
Lara shook her head, chuckling. "No, not quite, but I did appreciate the gesture.", she said, recalling how Dana had been whining about being a lousy cook. The redhead had no idea what could have caused the sauce to explode the way Dana had told her and she had to admit that just imaging the strange explosion and the surely shocked expression on her girlfriend's face made her laugh.
"Well, you can come by and pick these up on tuesday.", Ronda said after examining the rest of the uniforms in the backpack.
--
Lara lay in bed, eyes wide open, earbuds in her ears, staring at the ceiling. She had been trying to fall asleep for more than two hours now, to no avail, her body just wouldn't relax. Turning to the left and taking a look at her alarm clock, she found it was already past two in the morning.
"Just great.", she groaned, closing her eyes in frustration. "And I have to work early in the morning."
She switched off her MP3-Player, tossed the sheets off of her body and got out of bed. Running a hand through her long red hair, she sighed and made her way into the living room, where she sat down on the couch in her usual cross-legged position. The chef had no idea why she was being that restless all of a sudden. She had never had problems falling asleep, especially since being with Dana. The two of them had spent most of their nights together in the last two weeks and Lara quickly pondered calling her girlfriend.
"Hell, no, what would that seem like?", she reasoned with herself in her thoughts. "Hey, Dana, I can't sleep without you next to me?", the sous chef laughed at the thought, wondering if she had already gotten used to being with the brunette so much that not being with her made her whole body restless.
Lara continued contemplating the idea of calling Dana for a little while longer until her frustration won over. Giving a small groan, the redhead walked over to the phone and dialed Dana's number-a number she knew by heart. She let the phone ring a couple of times, but no answer. Just as she was about to hang up, she heard the sound of the phone being picked up.
"Hello?", came Dana voice. The other woman sounded terribly groggy and Lara immediately felt bad for having woken her up this late.
"Hi, Dana, it's me.", the chef greeted her girlfriend, her voice low and apologetic.
"Lara?", the other woman asked, sounding rather surprised and wide awake with a sudden. "Is something wrong?"
The sous chef shook her head, smiling at the athlete's sudden concern. "No, everything's fine...it's just...you know...", she trailed off.
"God, Lara, what is it?", Dana asked in a slightly high-pitched voice. "You're scaring me..."
Lara felt stupid with a sudden. Maybe calling the tennis player hadn't been her best idea. "I can't sleep, that's all.", she admitted, her head hung, although the other woman couldn't see that. "I feel so fucking restless, you know. I kept tossing and turning in bed, I listened to music...I don't know what's wrong with me, Dana."
Dana chuckled. "And now you call me for advice?"
"No, not for advice.", Lara said, shaking her head once again. "You know, I was wondering if you could come over and spend the night.", she admitted, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"I'll be right there. Don't go anywhere, Lara.", Dana said before hanging up.
-
It didn't take long until the somewhat annoying sound of the buzzer could be heard throughout the silence of Lara's apartment. Walking over to intercom, Lara couldn't help but smile in anticipation of seeing her girlfriend, wondering if she would be able to finally fall asleep with Dana sleeping next to her.
"Maybe she's some kind of teddy bear to me?", the redhead wondered, the thought causing her to chuckle. "The sexiest teddy bear ever.", she mumbled, picturing Dana in front of her inner eyes. Having reached the door, the chef pressed the talk button on the intercom. "Who is this?", she asked, although she knew perfectly well who was wanting to visit her.
"Just someone who wants to help you fall asleep.", came Dana's playful reply.
"Okay, I'll let you in.", Lara informed the other woman, pressing another button on the intercom.
No too long after having pressed the button to let Dana in, Lara heard the knocking at her door and smiled. Figuring that Dana must have run up the stairs, the sous chef smiled and opened the door, coming face to face with the tennis player who grinned at her. At the sight of her girlfriend, Lara's smile broadened. The other woman wore simple shorts and a white t-shirt, her hair was tousled, indicating that she had been sleeping already.
"Hi.", the athlete greeted the taller woman. "So, I heard there's a soup chef in here who just can't seem to fall asleep without me.", she added, her voice playful yet again.
Lara averted her eyes, feeling somewhat embarrassed about having woken the other woman up, and scratched her forehead. "Yeah.", she began, still not looking at the brunette. "God, I feel so stupid. I really shouldn't have made you come here, Dana. I'm being so selfish.", she apologized, but Dana silenced her by placing a soft kiss on her lips.
"Nonsense, Lara, you're not being selfish.", the tennis player said then. "I really don't mind being woken up by you, you know, and I especially don't mind spending the night at your place."
Letting out a soft sigh at Dana's words, the redhead moved aside to let the other woman in.
"So, where is the sleepless soup chef who needs me?", Dana asked, taking Lara's hands into her own.
Lara grinned at the use of soup chef. Dana really was the only one calling her that, but then again Dana had been the one creating that particular term. "She's right in front of you.", she finally said, pulling the athlete into a hug.
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at WolfgalX: Something that's cute and funny? Hmm, let me think...actually I do like cunny, even though it sounds a little dirty, or maybe because it sounds dirty. I mean, Dana and Lara are cute, funny and dirty...so I think cunny would work for them. About the chef thing, well, I gotta admit I'm a lousy chef, maybe I should take some lessons...too bad Lara is not real...
at kickboxing.gurl: I'm glad to hear that you're in love with this fic and you know what...so am I, kinda...
at auggy1984: Well, the chapter wasn't based on any real life person :), I promise...lol...or maybe it was...well, based on me. I don't even want to know what would happen if I tried to cook tomato sauce...