-Past-
"Hello?" Delphine answers the phone automatically.
"Oh…uh, hi. Is Will around?" A rather high-pitched voice answers her. Delphine glances at the phone – William's. She needs to get a different phone, or at least change her case.
"May I ask who's calling?" Delphine has a feeling she knows what it's about.
"Natalie…from last Friday?" What an odd surname.
"William went out for a few moments. Can I take a message?"
"Um…yeah, I guess," the woman pauses with a sigh. "Could you tell him that – well, first of all he left his tie here – but also, like, it might just be a scare, you know…I just missed, well…I guess…could you just tell him to call me back? That's probably easier".
"Of course, Natalie from last Friday," Delphine assures with a sneer.
The woman laughs – if it could be called a laugh. It could've been a shriek. "Okay, thanks".
"Mm," she barely responds before hanging up. Delphine isn't dense, she knew what all those beginnings of sentences meant. Only three years into their marriage and he's already knocking up other women?
"Babe, I'm back. Just forgot my phone…oh hey," the man jumps when he notices Delphine standing in the middle of their bedroom, still holding the device.
"You got a call. I answered, I thought it was my phone," she turns and hands it to him gently, avoiding eye contact.
"Oh, uh, who from?" The nerves in his voice are evident.
"A girl named Natalie. She gave me a message…" she continues her ambiguous strut, letting the man simmer in the anxiety of what-do-you-know.
"What…was it?"
"Hm, I couldn't really understand her. She was speaking too quickly. I think a tie scared her for some reason. I only really got words here and there. She asked for you to call her back". Delphine takes her still-steaming tea from a small decorative table and sits on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs properly.
"Oh, okay. Well…I'll…" he stutters, trying to find a reasonable excuse to make the call privately.
"You can call her back, I don't mind. She sounded upset. Who is she?" Delphine sips the hot tea, waiting for the typically confident man to explain himself.
"Oh, she's…she's a new artist. Yeah, she got signed recently and, uh, freaks out a lot…you know," he does a very poor job at lying, she notices. She nods and hums indifferently.
Present
"Hey stranger," Delphine hears Cosima claim the chair to her left. She watched her performance carefully tonight. Cosima seemed distracted…different. Something she can't put her finger on.
"Bonsoir, Cosima," she graces the brunette with a short side-glance.
"Haven't seen you in a while," there's a nervousness in her voice, but it's tinted with frustration.
"Only a few weeks. I've been busy," the blonde takes a drink of her usual beverage.
"Of course, your job must keep you really busy, unlike how consistently free you've been for the last, like, five months," Cosima probes passive aggressively. "It must be all the kids – oh, nope. No kids to take care of at home. Huh…Well, of course it has to be the rigorous duties of a wife – no, no, you hire people to–"
"Have I done something to offend you, Cosima?" Delphine interrupts, squinting at the little ball of fury beside her, though not really bothered by it.
"Uh…no. No," Cosima realizes she's out of line. Or is she? They have a very inconsistent relationship where lines pop up in some places but are nonexistent in others. "Sorry, I'm a dick sometimes".
Delphine turns in her seat, only slightly, to face Cosima. "What's wrong?"
"What? Nothing," she defends half-heartedly.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Delphine shrugs. "But if I can help, or if you just need to talk, let me know".
"Thanks, but, uh…seriously, nothing's wrong," Cosima tries to smile through the feelings she can't yet pinpoint. Guilt for snapping at Delphine? Relief of her return mixed with the thought of her leaving again?
"I know when you're lying to me, Cosima," the blonde smirks and turns back toward the bar. "I may not know what it is, but I know something is wrong".
"Yeah, it's withdrawal," a shrill voice startles them both. Delphine glances behind Cosima. A short woman with jet-black hair tied up in a sloppy bun and glasses thicker than Cosima's stands with her hands on her hips and a bag over her shoulder.
"Thanks, Madi," Cosima sneers, not bothering to turn around.
"Mhm," the small woman hums back chipperly. "So, you must be Delphine," she holds out her hand, reaching around Cosima's back. Delphine takes it politely. "We've heard so much about you".
"Have you?" She inquires with her brow raised at Cosima. "Do tell".
Cosima whines, "Madi, please–"
"We finally doing introductions?" Everyone turns to see the two brothers on the other side of Cosima. They're both tall, dark hair somewhere between red and brown, and covered in freckles. The one who Delphine knows as Jack is slightly shorter, but much more muscular.
"No, we're–"
"Yes, of course," Madi interrupts her bandmate. "Jack, J, meet Delphine," she moves her hands, directing everyone to one another. "Delphine, meet Jack and J. Well, Jeremy, but J for short".
"Enchantée," Delphine nods to the brothers.
"Hey".
"'Sup".
"Guys," Madi scolds them as though she were a mother scolding her ill-mannered children. "Oh, and I'm Madi…Madeline…Mads…whatever you like," she smiles warmly.
"So," Jeremy shoves his hands in his pockets. "I guess this means we're gonna have to find somewhere else to play?"
"You guys can still use my apartment," Cosima shrugs, finally turning to look the group behind her. "I don't really trust you, but I'm sure one of you has the spare key".
"Oh, come on, Cos," Jack starts before Jeremy can accept the offer. His tone is playful but there's an obvious bite to it. "Why don't you invite your friend? Are you embarrassed of us? Don't want us inserting ourselves into your love life?" His last remark comes across more abrasive than necessary. Jeremy rolls his eyes and Madi appears to be half-frozen.
Cosima looks at the floor briefly with an oddly angry smile and shakes her head. "Yes. Very. Extremely embarrassed of you guys," she nods dramatically with each word. "And that isn't news to you, either".
"Shut up, Cosima," Madeline scoffs and then looks in Delphine's direction. "Delphine, we're going to Cosima's to play some cards and probably drink. You want to join?"
Cosima turns to her, attempting to hide the nervous smile and a balled fist. "You are more than welcome to decline the–"
"I'd love to. Merci, Madeline," she smirks at the anxious Cosima, still looking at her with a please-say-you're-kidding expression.
...
...
...
Delphine finds herself quite grateful for deciding to wear jeans tonight instead of a dress. She watches the brothers make themselves comfortable on an array of pillows on the floor. Cosima is finding alcohol and Madeline is shuffling the deck of cards that was still in the center of the pillow circle. Delphine sits crisscross on a thin pillow opposite the boys, leaving room for Cosima and Madi on either side of her.
"Beer, wine, and J's poison," Cosima sets each item in the center where the cards had been, and hands Jeremy an almost empty bottle of Everclear.
"So, Delphine," Madi takes the two pillows to her right. "Know how to play…hm…Blackjack?"
"Of course," she smiles and leans back on her palms.
"What…We can't…uh," Jeremy looks at Cosima, shrugging as though it could finish his sentence and making a quick gesture with his hand. "Is there, like, an issue with…"
"No, no," Cosima interrupts. "Or…I don't really know…never really came up, uh…"
Delphine chuckles and everyone immediately turns to her. "I don't care what you smoke. This is your apartment," she says to Cosima.
The brunette smiles apologetically and gets up to fetch a small tin, handing it to Madi, trading it for the cards. She shuffles once more and then deals to the group.
...
...
...
"You know, Delphine," Jeremy slurs, his bottle of alcohol completely empty now, "I'm glad Cosima found a wine buddy. She was so lonely before. Wine…fucking…is gross, we can all agree," he nods to his brother and Madeline and they mumble their consensus.
"Yes, well, it does take a little more sophistication to enjoy properly. I'm happy to aid in Cosima's imposed segregation," the blonde answers, taking another sip of wine to enhance the statement.
"Huh?" Jeremy squints, staring at the floor.
"It was an insult, J. And if you weren't so plastered, you would've caught it," Jack explains. "Maybe you shouldn't'a dropped out of college, huh?"
Cosima giggles, "Is Jeremy an embarrassment to the whole sober Holbrook family?"
"Looks that way," Jack replies, glancing at his brother. "The honor of our legacy rests in me".
"Oh, shut up Jack," the younger brother punches his arm.
"Don't blame me," Jack defends, slapping his fist away, "I'm not the one who brought up your embarrassing failure".
"Alright," J's attention turns to the brunette. "Well, Cos, why don't I just tell Delphine here all about how–"
"Jeremy," Madi interrupts, surprisingly. "You two are both too drunk. You'll say something mean and then be on cleanup duty for a month…again".
"Hey, I'm not that drunk," Jack protests.
"Dude, you've had, like, eight beers," Cosima notes. "I thought you were the DD? Now Mads is going to have to drive you home".
"Whatever," Jeremy finishes the small bit of beer left in Jack's last can. "I've lost too much money tonight anyways. Let's go".
"We didn't bet anything, you idiot," Jack helps his brother up and they both find their shoes and jackets.
"Alright, I guess the van is going to be parked at my place again," Madeline gathers her belongings and throws away an armful of beer cans before waving goodbye to Cosima and Delphine and pushing the drunken brothers out the door. Cosima locks the chain behind them before returning to her spot next to Delphine.
The women are quiet for a while – Delphine continuing to sip her plastic cup of wine, Cosima fiddling with the deck of cards.
"Sorry you had to deal with those guys," Cosima finally breaks the silence. "The guys' aren't allowed to drink in the house, and Madi's place isn't even in the city. So, mine's the most convenient".
"I enjoyed it. Your friends are very interesting," Delphine looks at the pillows they once occupied, now all in different locations than they were at the beginning of the night.
"That's a polite way of describing them…" Cosima chuckles.
"Really, my only friend is my husband's sister, and she's…rigid, I think is what you'd call it," Delphine explains thoughtfully. "I've never played cards with people younger than forty. Never on the floor. And I've certainly never had wine in a plastic cup".
"You don't play cards with your husband?" Cosima cocks her head.
"I do. It's only ever at smaller parties he brings me along to that I play with anyone".
"He's not younger than forty?" she cocks her head even more.
"Forty-four. Alexandra is forty. All of their friends are around their age or much older," Delphine shrugs.
"And you are…"
"Thirty-three".
"He's eleven years older than you?" Cosima scoffs. Delphine only nods and stares at the spinning wine in her red party cup. "Why did you marry him? Do you actually love him?"
"He was nicer when I first met him, and my parents have always adored him. Probably because of his and his parent's status," Delphine shrugs again. "I never really believed in marriage the same way they did, so when he asked, I just said yes. I knew he just wanted me as…hm…trophy wife, is it? A twenty-something French girl".
"Yeah, yeah," Cosima nods. "Do you love him now, though?"
Delphine thinks for a moment, unsure of how to answer. "I guess I just don't really think about it. It doesn't have anything to do with our relationship".
"That's so weird," Cosima sighs. "Is that why you don't seem to have a problem cheating on him?" Delphine's peculiar smile appears, her eyes sparkling in the dim yellow lighting. "And you still refuse to look at me when we talk. Do you have, like, a neck issue?"
"It's possible in my old age," she kids. "You always refuse to take the suggestion I gave you about fixing that, though," she gives Cosima a cursory glance, and then points her eyes to the wide-open space in front of her, at least five square feet of empty floor, aside from scattered pillows.
"Fine," Cosima sighs and sets her own cup down. After a quick glare at the blonde, she turns to swing one leg over Delphine's, settling comfortably on her lap and resting her hands on the woman's shoulders. "Why is it that you don't seem to have a problem with cheating on your husband?" She repeats.
"Cheating?" Delphine inquires innocently, a slight decrease of volume in her voice.
"Yeah, Delphine," Cosima nods slowly. "Do you think it doesn't count as cheating because I'm a girl or because we haven't actually done anything?"
Delphine only smirks in return, not giving away the answer one way or another. Cosima sighs heavily, frustrated, and then pushes back on Delphine's shoulders. The blonde lays back willingly, allowing Cosima to adjust herself on top of her. "Well it does, Delphine. It counts. You have…intentions, desires that you're willing to act on. And at the very least you don't have appropriate boundaries".
"What was the younger brother going to tell me before the girl interrupted him?" Delphine ignores her with a smirk, finding a long, dark lock of hair to feel between her fingers.
"You mean J and Madi?" Cosima props her elbow on the ground next to the blonde's shoulder. All she does is nod and focus on Cosima's thick locks, playing with them gently and forcing goosebumps on the younger woman's skin. "Uh…dunno…he was drunk…" she stutters awkwardly.
"Hm…Maybe I'll text him and find out," Delphine slides her hand in Cosima's back pocket and takes out her cellphone. Cosima doesn't seem scared, though. "Tell me your passcode," she orders with a glint in her eye.
"Do you just get whatever you want at home? You seem very used to it…" Cosima asks rather than unlocking the phone.
"I sometimes get what I ask for. I rarely get what I want," she answers nonchalantly.
"Why don't you leave?" Cosima shakes her head, looking down at the perplexing woman beneath her. "Are you happy?"
"Complacency, I suppose. And no, not usually," Delphine goes back to playing with the hair dangling above her. She thinks about the last few weeks with her husband, a glimmer of hope it may all come crashing down someday soon.
"You are so weird. Like, it's fucked up how odd you are," the blonde just shrugs. "I mean, it would be less weird if all that was happening with your life and, you know…this…wasn't," she waves her finger back and forth between them. "An unhappy trophy wife with a rich husband…not too unusual…but an unhappy trophy wife with a rich husband who is, what, bi-curious? And has targeted some random woman at a bar…"
"I'm Cosima-curious," she smiles and runs her thumb across Cosima's bottom lip. "You'd rather be with someone who you can have a relationship with?" She asks seriously.
"Well, no, I'm used to casual sex, but that's not what this feels like, and I don't know why. Aside from the fact that we haven't really had sex, of course," Cosima shrugs and watches the blonde focus on her lips.
"You are odd, too, Cosima. You think too much," the woman sighs and closes her eyes, blindly finding the lock of hair she's claimed.
"What do you want?" Cosima asks, staring at her relaxed features. Delphine only shrugs, an honest enough response. The brunette is silent for another moment before speaking, "You're using me".
Delphine opens her eyes at this – first a look of concern, but then one of thoughtfulness. "I suppose I am," she avoids eye-contact. She usually avoids eye-contact, but Cosima can tell it's different this time. "What do you want, Cosima? Would you like me to go?"
"No, no…I don't know what I want either," she sighs and rolls off the blonde, laying by her side on her back. "I want you to get drunk so I can ask you more questions and you can answer more honestly".
"Why don't you just ask me to answer more honestly?" She smiles, glancing over at Cosima.
"Because it's not a thing you do. You prefer mysterious and vague and non-informative answers," she reasons. Delphine stares at her, a familiar invisible smile on her face. Cosima rolls her eyes and tries to hide her blush. Before finally speaking again, she closes her eyes and sighs, "Jeremy would've told you that I've been in a bad mood for the last few weeks. That I drank more than I usually do, and I went to the bar every single night just in case you were there. That I was starting to get anxious, and that I even said I missed you and I was scared you'd never come back".
Cosima keeps her eyes closed, allowing Delphine to look her over without the confident mask she always displays. Still, a pang of guilt pulls at her and she almost feels sad. "I…" she starts but stops hearing the own insecurity in her voice. She missed Cosima, too. She was very unhappy to stay home for the last few weeks, and it wasn't a feeling she was used to. She's used to glaring indifference toward everyone she knows, including her husband. Every relationship she has is functional, not emotional. Her husband's function is simply to satiate her parents. All of her 'friends' are only contacts and resources through work or her husband. She never misses anyone, she never wishes someone was there, she never wishes she was somewhere else with someone else. Not until now. And it isn't a good feeling.
She sighs and sits up, reaching across the pillow circle. "What are you doing?" Cosima props herself up on her elbows. "Oh, dude, seriously – what are you doing? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable". Cosima watches as Delphine takes large gulps straight out of one of the wine bottles that isn't empty yet.
"I thought this is what you wanted?" Delphine answers after catching her breath.
"Huh?" Cosima watches as the blonde takes another drink.
"I'm getting drunk so you can ask me questions," she stares at the half-empty glass bottle, feeling her face warming up. "Why you're so curious about me, I'll never know".
Cosima gently takes the bottle away after a moment, nearly dry, "How were you not drunk already? Between the two of us, we had that whole bottle of wine," she nods in the direction of the trash, an empty bottle set on the floor next to it. "And you had the majority of it".
She closes her eyes as Cosima talks, feeling the familiar fatigue of intoxication. She never really fit into an interesting stereotype – not an angry drunk, happy drunk, affectionate drunk, sad drunk. Her eyes would become heavier as the night went on, and she would eventually just fall asleep. She doesn't get drunk anymore, though. It has probably been years.
"Alright. Let the questioning begin," Delphine lays back once more, immediately closing her eyes and exhaling dramatically.
Instead of joining her, Cosima sits up, crossing her legs, and faces the blonde. She squints, scrutinizing every facial detail she can see, but Delphine is too relaxed to reveal much. "Fine. Uh…when did you move to America?"
Delphine opens her eyes at this and raises an eyebrow. "You thought I would be mysterious and non-informative about this?"
"I'm building up to better questions and also letting the alcohol get to you a bit more," she smirks. Delphine sighs.
"I moved here when I was eighteen. A friend of mine had to leave France and attend high school in the states, so my parents would let me fly over and visit her sometimes," she explains with a shrug. "I liked it here, so I convinced my parents to let me get a business degree in America before coming back. Certain opportunities presented themselves, I took them and started my job, I met Will, my parents liked that he was well-off, we got married, and my parents got to stop shoveling thousands of dollars into my future. Next question".
"Are they well-off, too?"
Delphine scoffs, "Yes. They make more than Will and I combined. Next question".
"Oh, wow. Uh, do you miss your home? Your parents?"
"All I miss is the food and the coffee. Next," she sighs, seemingly bored.
"Have you ever thought about leaving Mr. Delphine?" Cosima tries for something a little more personal.
"Mr. Delphine?" she giggles and glances at her interviewer.
"I don't know your last name," she shrugs.
"My last name is Cormier. And yes, of course," Delphine closes her eyes again.
"Why don't you then? You don't care much for him. You could be a lot happier," Cosima reasons, staring at the sleepy woman. Her loose top riding up in the front, exposing the skin between her pants and her navel. Cosima has to restrain her own slightly intoxicated urges. "Is he a good husband?"
"You'll have to define that," she spins the diamond ring around her finger.
"I don't know. Is he nice? Faithful? Attentive? I've never had husband experience…"
"Sometimes, no, and not really," Delphine opens her eyes again to see Cosima's thoughtful expression.
"No, he's not faithful?" Cosima questions. Delphine just shakes her head in confirmation. "But thus far, you've been faithful?" Delphine nods. "See that just makes things more confusing".
"How so?" Delphine turns on her side as Cosima lays back down with a sigh.
"First, that you're sticking with this guy. Second, that I was the person you chose after almost a decade of being faithful to him. Like…that doesn't make sense. Haven't you met other, more attractive, wealthier, more penis-having people than me in your life?"
"Two of those, yes of course," she grins subtly, but brightly in Cosima's direction. "Are all your questions going to be about my marriage?"
"Do you like me?" Cosima ignores the blonde's attempts at lightening the conversation, the wine filtering out some of her manners.
"Would I be here if I disliked you?"
"See – vague answer. You're not drunk enough yet," Cosima complains. She is, though. She's not much more talkative, but she's still drunk.
Delphine takes Cosima's earlier position and hovers above her, arms on either side of her shoulders. "If I told you whether I liked you or not, it would ruin the mystery," she smiles in that charming way she always does when they meet at the bar.
"Ugh, you're frustrating. Okay, another question – try to answer as informatively and non-mysteriously as you can," Delphine shrugs, prompting her to continue. "Am I, like, an experiment? Or a fling to spite your shitty husband?"
"I wouldn't spite him with anything like this," Delphine answers right away. "But experiment…I don't know," she looks around the apartment, thinking about it. "How can I tell? If you are an experiment, how would I know?"
"Uh, I don't know," Cosima takes a turn to glance around. "Why did you keep coming back to the bar? What was your inner dialogue? Like 'I wonder what it would feel like to be a lesbian for a night' or 'I'm going to take that hot piece of ass home' or 'I'd like to murder that adorable little computer geek'?"
"Adorable little computer geek?" Delphine giggles and rests her body over top of Cosima's instead of hovering. "None of those. It was more of a compulsion than anything else. Something I felt was necessary for my own peace of mind. And even though there wasn't really any good reason to continue, there was no real reason to stop, either," she explains in more detail than she would've liked. Maybe the alcohol will make her more talkative.
"Did you ever intend on talking to me? Initiating anything?"
"I didn't think about it," she sighs and rests her head next to Cosima's on the floor. "I just wanted to see you," she hears herself say without her conscious permission. She never meant to be so mysterious and evasive with Cosima in the first place, it just turned out that way and she never changed it. But even if it wasn't that way, she never would have been this open if she were sober.
"Hm, I think you're getting to a drunk enough point," Cosima gives in to a small amount of her body's wishes and rests her hand on the small of Delphine's back under her shirt. Her skin is hot. "So, you would be happy with just going back to watching me on stage for an hour and leaving without a word?"
Delphine chuckles tiredly, "I think I should stop talking now".
"Oh, no," Cosima uses the last bit of energy she has to roll them over and assume the top position again. "Now is when you start talking more".
"Cosima?" Delphine exhales and watches her hand sift through Cosima's hair. "What if you are an experiment? What would happen then?"
"I don't know. It wouldn't be the first time and I've never really minded before. You can experiment on me if you like," she sticks her tongue out. "But, uh, what if I'm not?"
They both jump at the sound and sensation of a phone vibrating between them. Delphine reaches down to her front pocket, her hand gliding against both their fronts. Their eyes stay locked for the entire motion.
"Hello?" Delphine answers weakly.
"Del, my boss's flight won't get here until three AM, so I'm just going to stay at the office until then. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Will's voice replies.
"Alright," she goes to hang up her phone, but he continues.
"What are you doing tonight? Are you at Martell with that friend of yours?"
"No, we went back to her apartment and have been rolling around on the floor," she observes Cosima's smirk grow.
"No funny business going on there, right?" William asks jokingly but can't keep the genuine concern from his tone. Delphine watches as Cosima carefully takes her glasses off and folds them somewhere on the floor.
She looks down at the anticipation in Delphine's eyes and winks charmingly before leaning down to briefly touch her lips to Delphine's cheek. Delphine's eyes flutter open when she pulls away.
"Delphine?" Will's impatience starts to show itself.
"We're both fully clothed, if that's what you mean," she's somehow able to bring her attention back to the conversation.
"And there'll be no guys over?" Again, jokingly, but seriously.
"No, William. No penises that I know of," Cosima has to hold in a giggle, Delphine's typical sophistication dissipating and her accent thickening. "Although, I could check, if you'd like?" Cosima wiggles her eyebrows and tries to ignore the rising heat between them as much as she can for now.
"Alright, alright. Enough with the attitude," his temper is fully apparent now.
"Yeah, Delphine," Cosima whispers as quietly as she can in the ear not occupied by the cellphone. "Behave," she says in the same tone before bringing her lips to Delphine's neck.
Her eyes close immediately and her free hand grips Cosima's shoulder. She suddenly feels every movement of the body settled comfortably atop hers. "Okay. Have a good night," Delphine ends the call in a breathy voice, dropping her phone somewhere on the floor with Cosima's glasses.
Cosima's labored breathing blows against Delphine's skin, creating goosebumps wherever it touches. Her hand grasps tighter on Cosima's shoulder, and the recently liberated hand explores everything in range. Cosima's skin is much smoother than she imagined, her frame so much less dominating than she's used to, even after spending weeks of envisioning those very characteristics.
Neither of them stop when there's a light knock at the door. It's barely noticed. But once they hear keys jingling and a familiar mumbling voice, they are aware enough to reluctantly pause their activities. Cosima groans with frustration as she gets to her feet to let Madi in. Delphine sits up and tries to catch her breath.
Cosima is just getting to the door when it opens forcefully. opening only a couple inches before the chain catches and halts it. "Hold on, hold on".
Delphine can see Madi crossing her arms impatiently when the door is finally fully open. "I can't find my phone. I think I left it here," she rolls her eyes and lets herself in. "I'm surprised you two are still clothed," Madi comments, looking through the kitchen.
"Delphine is a married woman, Mads. Why wouldn't we be?"
"Cosima, you can convince anyone to sleep with you. Me, every female who works at Martell, sometimes guys, sometimes your friend's first serious girlfriend," her bandmate replies absent-mindedly. She moves to the bathroom. "I'm sure if you had enough time, you could get the pope into bed".
"She's kidding. Kinda," Cosima defends awkwardly. Delphine only smiles tiredly. She knows that her own motives are questionable, but she didn't think about the fact that Cosima could just be trying to get her in bed. It doesn't seem like it, but Delphine doesn't have a lot of experience in this area.
"Where the fuck is it?" Madi exits the bathroom shaking her head. "Cos, call my phone".
Cosima sighs and does as she's told. "Hear anything? Is it on silent?" Cosima asks, glancing around.
"Might be on vibrate. Could you look for me, I want to talk to Delphine really quick," Madeline looks at Cosima seriously and Cosima returns with a concerned expression. Delphine can't tell what it's about, but she knows they're having some kind of silent conversation.
"Fine".
Madi sneers and takes a seat next to Delphine on the floor while Cosima calls again and wanders the apartment. "Should I be nervous?" Delphine asks.
"Nah. Just, like, Cosima seriously is the biggest slut I know, but she gets tested regularly, so your all good in case you were worried about catching anything. I mean, she hasn't gone in for a number of months, but I'm sure she's fine". Madi pats her on the arm. "And don't worry about quality. She's obviously had enough practice".
"I, euh…" Delphine stutters. She knew there was a chance something could happen between herself and Cosima, but she didn't think about it so seriously. It isn't until now that she's faced with the imminent reality. Kissing is much different from sex. Sex with a woman. She didn't think she was opposed to it, but now she's feeling panicky.
"Aha," Madi gets up and shoves her arm under a blanket on the floor across from them where a blue-ish light is shining through. "Cos, got it," she shouts. Cosima rolls her eyes and returns to earshot. "And I'm done scaring your date".
"She's not–"
"Whatever," Madi pushes past Cosima, still holding her cellphone up to her ear. "See ya," one last shout before the front door closes behind the small feisty woman.
"Okay…" Cosima mumbles to herself. "I'm, uh…I'm sorry, she's kind of moody sometimes," she turns back to Delphine, still panicking on the floor.
"That's alright," Delphine stutters manically, "I think I should probably go home now". The blonde attempts to get to her feet, but the remaining alcohol she decided to chug is already making her spin.
"No, you shouldn't," Cosima catches her and sits her back down. "Stay here, you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the floor fortress". Delphine looks at the bed. It's enormous.
"I don't know…" she slurs.
"What did Madi say to you? Because you seem kind of freaked out," Cosima sits on her knees in front of Delphine.
"Ehm, I'm not sure if she was encouraging me to sleep with you or if she was trying to convince me not to".
"Yeah, look, I'm not expecting anything from you. Like, I didn't even really expect us to come back to my apartment and play cards with my friends. And I would never force anything on anyone. Like Mads said, I convince people to…you know, I don't force," Cosima chuckles, embarrassed.
"Oui, I know, I know," Delphine mumbles, successfully getting to her feet. "I'm just…I'll get a cab".
"Okay, that's fine. If you're really uncomfortable staying here, I won't make you," Cosima stands awkwardly in the center of her apartment as Delphine gathers her jacket and phone. "Wait a sec".
The younger woman plucks Delphine's cellphone from her pocket. "What are you doing?" Delphine can't help but smile and she doesn't know why.
"I'm giving you my number so that you can text me when you've come back for your car keys," Cosima snatches the keys from Delphine jacket pocket and tosses them on her excuse for a bedside table. "You might drive off rebelliously and we wouldn't want anything happening to that beautiful car".
She wants to protest, but she's grateful for an excuse to come back. As much as Delphine is scared of furthering this unorthodox relationship, she can't possibly end it.