A/N: As most of you have already guessed, I am only posting a new chapter of Ink in hopes that SomeAreLakes will also update her amazing story, The Bengal Tiger. Last month, we posted new chapters on the same day. Sometimes we are within days of each other. Keep your fingers crossed...maybe it will happen again!
Chapter 38
Emily used the last bite of her garlic bread to scoop up the remaining marinara sauce from the paper plate in front of her. They had walked over to the pizza place near Naomi's building and sat down at one of the small tables just out front of the shop. Naomi looked down at her half eaten slice of veggie supreme as Emily finished off her beer, wiped her mouth, and threw her crumpled paper napkin where her meal used to be. "Fuck me, that was good!"
"Someone was hungry." Naomi took a sip of her own beer, which was also only half consumed.
"You do remember what we were up to for the last several hours, right?" Emily leaned in over the table towards Naomi. "You made me work up an appetite." Emily practically purred the last bit; her voice was hoarse from all the moaning, and quite a bit of screaming, that had accompanied what they had been up to for the last several hours. Emily gave Naomi a wink that was able to make her look even sexier than normal.
The corner of Naomi's mouth turned up into a half-grin. Her girlfriend was sexy, undeniably, irrefutably sexy and that was normal. She looked gorgeous from the moment she woke up in the morning until she fell asleep at night, her head resting on the blonde's shoulder, her body snuggled in as close as possible. Naomi felt so fucking lucky, but luck was never something the logical and rational Naomi Campbell would ever count on.
"You want another beer?" Emily halfway stood up, but paused to get Naomi's response.
The pessimist in Naomi always had her doubts. Perhaps a good buzz would help facilitate their chat. "Yes please."
The little redhead rounded the table on her way back inside and let her fingers drag along the length of Naomi's arm. "I'll be right back."
Naomi smiled up at Emily as she passed by and then exhaled a stifled sigh. Bottoms up.The blonde tipped her head back and drank down the second half of her pint in one go.
Emily's playful smirk slid off her face as she got in line behind a couple of university kids. She had been on edge through their entire meal, including the walk from Naomi's building. Why did they have to talk? Why couldn't Naomi just forget about their bad night? What good was talking going to do? Talking had never helped her out in the past.
The past. Her past. Their past. She had been so stupid to get into yet another argument over Effy, especially in front of Naomi. Why couldn't Emily just stop trying to convince her mother that that Stonem girl was an acceptable friend for her to spend time with? It was over, done with, never going to happen. It had been years with no success and yet she couldn't let it go long enough to defend her actual girlfriend's tattoo. Why? Emily refused to let herself believe that a small letter on a wrist just couldn't measure up when compared to Effy's full-sleeves.
Back at the little two-top out front, Naomi lit a cigarette, inhaling a long drag and setting her pack and lighter on the worn wooden surface. So, I've been thinking... No. Emily, I've really enjoyed our time together... No. Naomi took another drag and ran her fingers through her hair, her bottom lip pinned down by her teeth. The semester is almost over and we both need time... No!
When faced with a topic on social injustices or popular political agendas, Naomi could blather on for eons with eloquence and style; yet a simple conversation about what she wanted out of her relationship with Emily left her feeling tongue-tied and idiotic. She wished that she had jotted down some crib notes during the hours she had spent obsessing over what she wanted to say to Emily.
"Sorry that took so long." Emily rounded the table again, placing a pint in front of Naomi before she sat down with hers. "There was a group of stoners trying to count out the correct change. Nightmare." Emily smiled over the top of her glass as she brought it to her lips.
Naomi, who hadn't registered anything other than Emily's return, crushed out her cigarette in the ashtray on the table and squared up on her seat to address her girlfriend head-on. "Firstly, I wanted to apologize for telling you to fuck off last night. I'm very sorry, Emily. I shouldn't have said that. I was angry and I didn't truly mean it." Naomi immediately felt a weight lift off her shoulders that had been there since the night before.
Emily had a look of surprise on her face, eyebrow raised and eyes wide. She hadn't been expecting an apology from Naomi. It was she who needed to apologize.
The silence from the other side of the table felt like it went on for ages as Naomi's mind raced to find her next talking point. "Secondly, Katie was right. I should have worn that cuff bracelet she suggested. I should have been more careful in front of your parents to conceal my tattoo. Christ! I mean, you've been able to hide from them for years and I completely muck things up in an evening."
Emily wanted to interject, but before she had time to, the blonde was already on to the next.
"And my trip to Cyprus, yes, it is all arranged and scheduled and has been for quite some time now and I don't really have an excuse as to why I hadn't yet discussed it with you...I suppose part of me didn't want to put a damper on our relationship so near the beginning of it. I mean, I feel like it would have been a bit presumptuous to brief you on my summer plans when we were first just starting out. You'd have thought me a right nutter if I was planning our future together months in advance. Then again, I come to find out that I had already told you about Cyprus on the night we met, so I suppose I found it worth mentioning then for some reason."
Naomi's brain was just about caught up with her mouth and she was beginning to hear how insane she sounded. Nervous rambling had always been her downfall. It had only taken a how was the party from Gina for a fifteen year-old Naomi to confess to drinking three ciders and smoking her first cigarette with Cook in a flurry of apologies and declarations that she would never do it again. She now felt the impending dread of Emily's reaction creeping up on her and could no longer look the redhead in the eye as she fumbled to pull another cigarette from her pack.
She felt Emily's hands cover hers and hold them steady. "I fucked up, Naomi, not you. I'm supposed to be apologizing right now." Emily dipped her head so she could catch the eye of the nervous girl sat across from her. Naomi kept her head bowed, but raised her eyes enough to see Emily smiling back as she intertwined their fingers.
"I handled the whole thing badly. I got drunk and stoned instead of just admitting that I fucked up. I should have never asked you to hide your tattoo. That was wrong of me. I should know better by now." Emily looked out into the quiet street as a car passed by and a group of people their age walked along the row of shops that were opposite them, their laughter and conversation just a subtle hum ringing through the night air. "I've been doing it for so long now that when I'm around my parents, I actually forget that I have them." Emily absentmindedly stroked her right arm where her half-sleeve covered her skin. "And the stuff with my mum," Emily shook her head and turned to look at Naomi, "trust me. It wasn't even about you. It's just the same fight we've been having for years over Effy."
Naomi, whose nerves had finally calmed a little, suddenly felt ill at ease once again upon hearing this. She knew that Emily was trying to make her feel better, but for some reason, any mention of Effy being part of Emily's past just didn't sit well with her. Naomi refused to recognize it as jealousy. Yes, Emily had slept with Effy, once, years ago, but Emily had told her that it was a one-time thing and that they were just friends since. So, there was no reason for Naomi to feel any jealousy towards the mysterious and stoic brunette whose eyes lit up every time Emily entered a room.
"Why does your mum hate Effy so much?" Naomi hoped that Emily didn't hear the desperate curiosity in her voice.
Emily bristled a bit at Naomi's question, but tried to play it off. "She doesn't hate Effy. I mean, she doesn't like her; she didn't want me to have her as a friend, is all. I came home late after our first day of college and my mum has always blamed Effy for it. It's stupid." Emily picked up her pint and took a few large gulps.
Naomi could tell that Emily didn't want to talk about Effy anymore, but she pressed on. "Was it her fault?"
Emily held onto her beer and drew lines through the condensation with her fingertip. "No...I don't know...not really. I knew when I was supposed to be home. Effy didn't force me to stay out with her and her friends. I wanted to. My mum just needed someone to blame for my bad behaviour."
"But she's been your best friend since college. You work with her. Your mum must have changed her opinion of Effy at some point." Naomi took a sip of her beer, but kept her eyes pinned on Emily who seemed to be shrinking into her chair.
"When I was living at home, I wasn't allowed to see her. Of course, while we were at school, there was nothing mum could do about it and there's nothing she can do about it now." Emily shrugged to make it seem like it was nothing, but she couldn't help but think back to all those afternoons, once classes were over, but before her parents got home from work, in which she would sneak Effy into her room and lock the door. Some days, they'd go back to Effy's, but her mother was always there, drunk and shouting. "It wasn't even that big of an issue, really." Emily looked up from her glass and gave Naomi a forced smile. "Let's get out of here, yeah, free up the table for someone else."
Naomi nodded and decided to let it go. Once again, she was just being silly. She and Emily had many things to talk about now that the conversation was flowing and there was no need to waste any more time worrying about ancient history.
"So you fly out the following Monday after finals week?" Naomi exhaled a stream of smoke up into the air, away from Emily as they walked through campus with no set destination.
Emily nodded as she put a tiny spoonful of ice cream between her lips. Naomi had known that Emily would be in the mood for dessert and had stopped at a street vendor before Emily had even mentioned her craving. "My internship is six weeks exactly. No more, no less. You won't even have time to miss me."
"Well, no...not with the loads of girls I'll be shagging in Cyprus." Naomi held a straight face as the redhead turned on her and punched her, playfully, in the shoulder.
"You better watch yourself, Campbell. Shagging loads of girls may have been on your original holiday agenda, but that was before you got Fitched." Emily punctuated her statement with another bite of ice cream.
"Well, I suppose I could amendment my reservation. I'll contact my travel agent in the morning and cancel the endless supply of call girls that were to be sent to my room each night. Of course, with such a late cancellation, I'm bound lose my deposit." Naomi placed her cigarette between her smiling lips as Emily gripped onto her arm and brought them face to face.
Emily took a step into Naomi's personal space, just close enough for her to feel the warmth of Emily's body, but not close enough to feel anything else. "If you're worried about not having any fun once the sun goes down, just remember that I'm going to call you every night, while you're lying in bed, under the sheets, and I'll be in my room, lying in bed, under the sheets, naked, and missing you."
Emily wrapped her arms around Naomi's neck, her ice cream tossed away and forgotten, and pulled their bodies together at last. Naomi flicked the cigarette she had been holding onto the grass and placed both hands on Emily's hips.
The redhead leaned in closer, her voice getting even deeper than usual. "And we'll tell each other about our days and swap funny stories and talk about how we can't wait to see each other, until you hear me start to breathe a bit heavier and you'll ask me what I'm doing and I'll say that I'm touching myself and pretending that it's your fingers sliding over my clit...and I'll make you forget all about those pretty girls in bikinis you were watching on the beach."
Naomi had Emily pressed up against a tree alongside one of the many old buildings that made up the university campus. It was by no means private, but it was far enough away from the main path and the trunk of the tree concealed them well enough. Besides, Naomi wasn't too concerned with propriety at the moment; she needed Emily, she needed to claim her, to have her right then and there.
It was rushed and clumsy and she had to cover Emily's mouth with her hand to stop her from screaming out, but as her girlfriend came on her fingers, Naomi felt a complete and utter sense of relief from the ever present dread she had been containing within her chest for far too long.
She kissed Emily and held her face between her strong hands, pulling away to look into her eyes. "I am so in love with you, Emily." She kissed her again.
She felt Emily's lips press firmly against hers over and over and her arms wrap tighter around the blonde's neck. When oxygen was needed, Emily pulled away only slightly, keeping her lips as close to Naomi's as possible as she whispered, "I know."
Yay! They talked it out. Good for them. No more secrets, no more guessing games. Everything has been brought into the light. Finally!
Wait. I'd like to go back.
Yay! They talked it out. Good for them. Lots more secrets, tons more guessing games. Everyone is still in the dark on most things. Cool. So glad we've gotten through 38 chapters and nothing has been revealed. What an asshole I am. But seriously, is it time to just put a bullet in this one and call it a day? I guess only a Bengal Tiger can determine that one. Quid pro quo, SomeAreLakes, quid pro quo.