It took me some time (again). This chapter is a bit longer, so that's something, right? Also, the next chapter is already in the making, so I hope it won't be too long to update again. Anyway, I hope you like this one and you let me know what you all think :D
Chapter 16
And what a night.
Bo dreamt like there's no tomorrow. Pretty vividly and with a pretty vigorous effect on her body. So, when Sally screamed at her from the bedside table the next morning, the brunette was covered in a thin layer of sweat and wore a confused look on her face.
"My freaking… what in the name of She-Ra was that?"
Still breathing heavily, as if she had just run up all those one-hundred-thirty-eight stairs to her apartment, Bo shook her head and sat up. That was a whole new level of dreaming. She could still feel every imaginary touch on her skin like electric jolts and smell the sweet mixture of body scents in the air around her.
"Well, thanks Mister Sandman. How am I supposed to even breathe next to…"
The brunette sighed. She was used to dreaming about Miss Lewis, but this? This was like a stage dive into Lewis-paradise. She literally still felt the blonde's hands all over her.
Bo had already been struggling with her body's reactions way before the blonde's lips touched hers for the second time. Like her mind drifting off all the time, but now? Now she had to deal with so much more than just the pure and simple want of skin on skin. Now there were those… feelings, too.
"Argh!"
The small hair all over the brunette's body stood up from the sheer memories of her last dream. She wasn't just turned on, which was her state of being for most part during waking hours, she also had this weird pressure in her chest that hadn't been there before.
Either heart attack or just a reflux.
But who did she try to fool. Bo knew that this felt more like something totally different. She knew, because she felt this tingle every time, she nothing short than thought of the blonde.
Also, Bo had experienced something like that before. Once. There had been this one person, Bo had gotten really close to. Who she opened up to. One person, who had just played her in the end. Although, those feelings back then and those emotions that shook her body now stood in no comparison. Not in the slightest.
And that worried Bo. Worried in the sense of freaked the-actual-snake-of-Medusa's-hair out of her. Also, what did those ancient greeks smoke to come up with stuff like that? Snake hair? A gaze that froze people into stone? Seriously, guys!
Shaking her head for the second time, the brunette got up and took a shower.
Keep it together, woman!
Bo left the bedroom in a brand-new outfit that she would have to thank Petra for. A black, short pencil skirt with a small slit from the knee up to mid-thigh. The dark red, silk blouse was all buttoned up and a black vest that accentuated her two wonder women in the best ways rounded it all up.
Bo felt, she would say hot, but since it's working-clothes she would go with extremely professional. On a second thought, one could misunderstand that choice of words. Let's just say she felt really, really good in her own skin today.
Miss Lewis was either in her room or already up and working somewhere else. Or she was just avoiding Bo, because when the brunette stepped into the main area there was an all empty and overly clean space. However, the brunette made herself coffee and ate the breakfast she had 'roomserviced '.
Bo knew the hotel inside out by now. She knew where the staff hid to have a smoke and she knew the shortcuts to the places she had to go to. It was like a little city of its own. The brunette had never seen anything like that before. Nothing as huge and pompous. And she had seen the Statue of Unity in India. Well, pictures of it.
The conference-room door was open when the brunette had reached her little open-office. Bo saw her Boss sitting at the far end of the table, cup in hand, leaning over papers spread out in front of her.
My God, she's beautiful.
Bo shook her head to stop her thoughts from ranting and her eyes from roaming and stepped forward.
"Someone went to work early today."
The blonde jumped by the sound of Bo's voice, who was leaning against the frame with her arms crossed over her chest. Miss Lewis looked up at Bo and when their eyes met a shade of pink ghosted on her cheeks.
"Miss Dennis. Yes, uhm, there is a lot to prepare, since everything is a little tight today."
"Mhm."
Bo pushed herself off of the wood and walked over to pick up one of the papers with numbers and graphs on it. She didn't have any clue what the heck she was even looking at. Statistics simple wasn't her strong suit.
"What is it exactly that you're doing?"
Turning the paper upside-down and downside-up, Bo squeezed her eyes into slits, as if that changed anything.
The blonde placed her cup on one of those cork coasters next to a pile of documents and took the paper out of Bo's hand carefully.
"What do you mean?"
The brunette laid her hand flat on the table before she sat down on one of the chairs next to Miss Lewis.
"Well, I mean work-wise."
"I see, you didn't look up the Lewis family then."
Bo shrugged.
"Why would I look you up?"
"Because you work for us?"
Bo nodded absentmindedly, then shook her head.
"Did you look me up?"
"Yes."
"You did?"
"Of course. You drive me around town. I don't put my life in other people's hands that I don't even know anything about."
Bo should have expected that. Although she didn't even know there was anything to look up about her in the first place.
"What did you find out?"
She was a bit nervous. Not that she had any skeletons in her closet or something like that. Well, there once was an actual skeleton, but it was just Plastic-Harvey from her biology class and he only stayed over for one night. It was a joke, okay? No need to get all fuzzy-wuzzy about it. Also, she did get this job, didn't she?
There was this mischief in her Boss' cognac brown eyes and a smirk on those rose-colored lips and Bo had already forgotten what they were even talking about.
"I guess we'll never know."
"Know what?"
The brunette was shaking her head for what must have been the thousandth time today. She was sure her face had worn this look again. Those ogling eyes with this covetous gaze. She knew, she held that expression, because the smirk on her Boss' lips grew into that shy smile again and her eyes had wandered from Bo down onto the table where the blonde's forefinger of her right hand was playing with the rim of her coffee cup.
"Anyway, uhm, I buy companies."
Bo tried to think of a way how that would make anyone as rich as the Lewis family.
"You buy them?"
"Yes."
"And then what?"
The blonde shifted uneasily on her chair.
"Well, uhm, it depends."
Bo grew more and more curious.
"Depends on what?"
Miss Lewis took a sip of her coffee.
"It depends on how broke they are when I buy them. Some I, uhm, some companies I buy to sell parts of further on and some are just to carry their good name."
By the end of the explanation, her Boss was sorting through the papers, obviously unsettled.
"So, let me get that straight."
The brunette squeezed her eyes shut to gather her thoughts before she looked back at Miss Lewis.
"You basically tear them apart and suck their last juice out before you throw the leftovers away."
The blonde wouldn't meet Bo's gaze. She seemed smaller than Bo had ever seen her, which made the brunette regret her choice of words. Again, she had a serious brain-word-mouth issue, that she might need to get checked by a professional. And by professional she meant a neurosurgeon. Something had to be wrong with a synapse or two.
"That's a bit harsh, but, uhm, something like that."
Bo didn't really know what to say. She didn't even know, that this was a thing. That people made money like that. But then again, there's a lot the brunette didn't know.
For example why goats' pupils were rectangular shaped? It looked creepy as fuck. Like an alien or something and yet again the brunette was wondering why her brain chose to come up with stuff like that in situations like this. Bo blinked and focused back on the woman in front of her.
"Is this what you always wanted to do? Did little Lauren one day wake up and thought 'I wanna become a bulldozer'?"
"It's… complicated."
Bo sighed.
"Aren't most things in life?"
The blonde stopped fidgeting with whatever she had in her hands and looked up into Bo's dark brown eyes.
"You have no idea."
Her Boss' voice held a heavier note than the brunette was used to and there was that sadness in the blonde's eyes again. Bo just wanted to reach over to her Boss' hand or arm or to just hold onto anything she could. Miss Lewis wasn't sitting in that chair right now. This was Lauren and Bo didn't want to let her go again.
"I'm here to listen."
The brunette's fingertips moved carefully over the back of Lauren's hand to her wrist to linger on her forearm. With slow brushes over the blonde's warm skin, Bo could see that curtain, that always used to hang over her Boss' features, disappear.
A soft smile tucked on Lauren's lips. Bo took a breath as to speak when a knock on the door let both women jump up from their chairs. The door opened and a dark-haired head of one of the service staff members peaked in.
"Miss Lewis? Your eight o'clock arrived."
Bo's hands were busy sorting papers, which organization she didn't know while the blonde was holding a sheet up, pretending to be deep in thoughts.
"Oh, yes. I'll be ready in a second. That would be all, Miss Dennis. Thank you."
Looking up from her work at hand, Bo nodded and with a last look into those light brown eyes she left the room.
Damn people and their damn timing!
The rest of the day went rather uneventful. Bo was stuck behind that desk of hers caused by a monster-wave of emails and phone calls.
Every now and then she would look up, while talking to yet again another client that needed to know why Miss Lewis wouldn't meet up with them in person, to find a pair of gleaming brown eyes staring back at her.
Bo's brain stopped working for a second, every time her Boss' gaze met her own. It left her lungs searching for air and her heart trying to find its rhythm again.
Must be a heart-attack after all!
A small smile tucked on the blonde's lips more than once and the brunette had a hard time concentrating on the voice on the other end of the line. She couldn't help but smile right back at the woman inside the conference-room.
"Yes, yes. No, sorry, I'm still here. What were you saying."
When the last meeting was done the brunette got up and nodded her goodbyes to the clients like she always did. Bo's level of nervousness, that seemed to peek up with every glance through the window to her Boss was reaching the point of a full grown anxiety attack, when Miss Lewis came walking towards her desk not breaking eye contact.
That was one of the hottest moments in Bo's entire life. Blonde hair was jumping up and down with every step and the black suit her Boss was wearing just highlighted that sports car of a body in every way possible - not that Bo was much into cars but for the lack of a different comparison sports car worked out just fine.
The first few buttons of her white blouse were now open and revealed a collarbone that just screamed to be explored with hands and lips and tongue and all of a sudden last nights dream-athon just waved a friendly hello to that cinema of her brain. Skin like porcelain let Bo's blood boil inside her veins.
When her Boss stopped only a few steps in front of the brunette, Bo felt as if hot air puffed out of her ears and her tongue felt so heavy, she couldn't even gulp down the sea of saliva she had almost running out of her open mouth.
"Hey. Are you ready?"
Bo swallowed hard.
"H-hey. Uhm, ready? Yes. What for?"
"The gala. We have to change."
Bo managed to tear her eyes away from the woman in front of her and saw on the clock on Sally's screen that it was already past five.
"Wow, time flies, when one has fun."
The brunette mumbled under her breath and looked back up.
"Yes, I'm ready."
Bo gathered her things – and herself - and together they walked back to the loft.
The brunette didn't think getting ready for a gala would be that… intense. The whole hustle and bustle took around two hours.
It all started when the two women entered the main area and were greeted with Petra's tight hugs and infectious excitement.
"Ouh, this is going to be a blast!"
Bo was shoved into her room with a wink and basically ran into a dark brown haired woman in her end twenties. She introduced herself as Pascal and with her piercing green eyes, tattoos all over her body and at least ten little steel rings in her ears and face, Bo just had to ask, to not get this scenario all wrong.
"Uhm. Sorry, why are you in my bedroom?"
It's happened before and stuff like that might seem funny from a distance but when one is on the receiving end of awkward-island, it just wasn't!
With a big smile that showed of that Pascal-woman's white teeth and another pair of piercings, the brunette was led to a chair in front of a mirror placed next to a table full of make-up.
"I'm here to underline those cheekbones and put a spotlight on your eyes. Oh-my-God, you will look incredible. Not that you don't look incredible to begin with. All I'm saying is, you will draw all the attention on yourself. Not that I don't think that…"
The woman kept on ranting about the level of amaz-balls-ness Bo would reach after she – what the brunette now knew was her make-up artist - was done with her. Pascal pushed the assistant onto the chair and started working. Or how the artist called it, paint the next-generation-Mona-Lisa.
Throwing around words that just weren't in Bo's dictionary – or make-up-tonary – the brunette was taken aback when the bedroom door opened and a guy came rushing in. He spoke with a thick French accent and said that his name was Henri but written like Henry – the way he said it, it really didn't make a difference in Bo's world, sound wise – and he would take care of her hair, whatever that meant. The grand finale was a singing Petra, who helped the brunette in her dress.
When the two women looked at Bo through the mirror, the designer let out a sigh and Bo? She didn't know that she could look like the way it felt to finally find the right vibrator – believe it, it's an art! - simply breathtaking.
After the two women had shared those few speechless seconds, the brunette found herself waiting in the main area. She was still in the process of where to sit down and how, to not ruin her looks before she could see the reaction on the blonde's face. By now she was done pretending that she didn't want her Boss' eyes on her.
When the brunette's attempt to move sideways onto the barstool was cut short by someone clearing their throat, Bo looked up to find her Boss and Petra standing next to the table staring back at her.
"Oh boy."
A boysenberry colored dress with thin straps sat tight around the blonde's upper body and fell loose from her hips all the way down to her feet. Just high enough to not touch the ground. For those who aren't into fruits and their palate of colors, it's a shade of purple that just underlined Miss Lewis' flawless, silklike skin and hair and eyes and… but let's get back on track here.
Those golden locks, Bo had almost become addicted to fantasizing about, were braided on the sides and pinned up. The brunette had a hard time keeping her eyes from wandering up and down all over her Boss.
When the assistant finally managed to restrain herself and got a hold on that mind of hers - that already started a new episode of 'all-the-things-I-would-do-to-you' – she found those whiskey brown eyes busy flying all over the brunette's dress and hair.
Bo smirked when her Boss' gaze found its way back to the brunette's face and this shy smile popped up again when their eyes finally locked. Bo couldn't blame the blonde for staring. She knew, she looked like that cheesecake dessert in a glass tasted that she just had the other day.
De-li-cious!
"Girls, get a grip! You have a gala that waits for you."
Petra. That woman just knew how to cool the air down in a heated moment and turn it into something that made Bo feel like a teenager who got caught doing something naughty.
Pascal didn't lie. All eyes were on the brunette when they made their way to the car. But Bo wasn't sure if it was because of her mind-boggling exterior or that bartender's loose tongue. She was sure he had already spread some juicy tales of their little come-together from the other day.
No matter what, Bo would not let this ruin her night out with the blonde who just slid into the black limousine outside the hotel.
"No way!"
They didn't drive for long when their chauffeur stopped, flew out of the car and opened the door on Bo's side.
"Are you kidding me?"
The brunette stood, mouth agape, next to her Boss.
"I knew you would like it."
A shiver ran down Bo's spine when she felt the blonde's breath on that sensitive spot underneath her ear. Her legs almost forgot how to stand upright when the brunette turned her head to find Miss Lewis' smiling face looking straight ahead so close to hers, Bo's nose could touch the blonde's cheek if she leaned in just a little.
You smell so damn good.
The brunette's brain deleted the fact that they were just standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. All it focused on was to signal mini Bo that it was time to come out and play.
"I mean, I was thinking you would like it. At least it seemed as if you would. Since we were talking about it the other day and I guessed you would."
The brunette was too deep down the rabbit hole into Lewis-wonderland to notice the blonde's uncharacteristic nervous outburst of words. Her eyes scanned over the blonde's golden hairline at the neck up to her earlobe to the left cheekbone.
"Do you like it?"
"Oh, I do!"
The blonde turned around to look at Bo who was staring at those moving lips. A nervous chuckle shook the brunette out of her day dream.
"I meant the location."
"Hm? Yes, no, yeah, I mean."
The brunette cleared her throat and stopped mini Bo just before she could reach out and do things to the blonde that normal-sized Bo would have a hard time to find a good excuse for.
"You knew I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. So, yes! I like it a lot."
"Are you afraid of heights?"
Bo shook her head.
"Why?"
The blonde smiled widely.
"Good, because the gala is all the way up there."
Her Boss pointed her forefinger towards the steel monument.
"Are you serious?"
Instead of answering the question, the blonde started to walk to the big lift that would bring then up. Bo hurried after her Boss, happy that they didn't have to take the stairs – those heels weren't made for climbing. A concierge greeted them with a smile and pushed a button on the console next to him.
"Second floor."
When the women stepped out of the elevator a cool breeze swept over the brunette's bare skin, causing goosebumps all over her body. Lights were hanging all around them and a red carpet was laid out, leading their way. Side by side they slowly walked down towards a restaurant.
"This is 'Le Jules Verne'."
"The way you say it, it sounds as if I should know that place."
Miss Lewis nudged her bare elbow playfully against Bo's side.
"And here I thought you actually read that traveler's magazine you flipped through during dinner the other night."
The brunette looked over to her Boss with a smirk on her lips and a sparkle in her eyes.
"Why, Miss Lewis, were you spying on me?"
Bo saw the blonde's cheeks redden and nervous fingers fidgeting with a small pendant that was hanging on a silver necklace right above her cleavage.
The brunette stopped walking and placed a careful hand on top of Miss Lewis' forearm. The blonde looked at Bo with that shy smile that made Bo's inside boil and every rational thought melt away.
"I'm just a good observer."
Bo nodded.
"Well, you're right. I was flipping through that magazine, but it was in French, so I actually just focused on the amazing pictures."
Bo's hand was still laying on her Boss' forearm. Her thumb grew a mind of its own and started brushing over the soft, warm skin. Whiskey colored orbs were glued to Bo's dark brown ones and the brunette's breath got stuck in her throat by the intensity they held in them.
"Oh my God, Lauren. I haven't seen you in ages!"
A voice was shouting from behind them. Her Boss closed her eyes with a soundless sigh before she turned around with that fake smile she always wore whenever Bo had watched her interacted with other people.
"Vivienne."
A woman in her late forties rushed over and squeezed herself between Bo and Miss Lewis. The brunette watched the intruder as she leaned forward to place her cheek on the blondes' with a kissing sound.
"We really need to catch up my dear."
The blonde just continued to smile and kept her Miss-Lewis-mask up.
"Mhm."
"Anyway, I meet you inside."
As fast as she came, she was gone again.
"Who the heck does she think she is?"
The brunette was staring daggers in the back as she watched the woman walk away.
"Just another of those women my dad used to date. Should we go in?"
The gentle tone in the blonde's voice quenched the fire that was burning inside of Bo.
"Yes."
The brunette took a deep breath and shook off that feeling of protectiveness that heated up whenever Bo felt her Boss' uncomfortableness. But for tonight, she wanted to enjoy the evening and she would make sure the blonde would as well.
The air inside was warm. A waiter in black and white escorted them to their table and before Bo could take a hold on the chair, the man in that penguin-like tuxedo had already pulled it out and waited for her to sit down. Irritated, the brunette looked at the young waiter who just nodded with a small smile. Bo had a hard time adjusting to these rich people playground rules, but she sat down either way.
"Thank you."
The gala started with a speech of a woman Bo didn't know, in a language she didn't speak. The brunette didn't mind a horse's butt though, because the way her Boss was sitting in her chair all relaxed, smiling and laughing at jokes Bo didn't get was all she needed. She could sit and watch the blonde like that for ages and wouldn't get sick of it.
How can you be so beautiful?
The brunette learned that Hors d'oeuvre not only meant starters but also that there was a specific order of how to use the cutlery next to her plate. Miss Lewis showed her how to eat those snails Bo really only tried because of the blonde's begging eyes while saying 'pretty please' and they weren't that bad actually.
The atmosphere around them was light and the conversation easy and Bo just couldn't get enough of this funny side her Boss showed off.
"… and what can I say? He shouldn't have challenged me, if he was too scared to do it himself."
"So you did it?"
Bo laid her head onto her left hand, sucking in the blonde's every word.
"Of course!"
The brunette laughed and grimaced.
"Urgh. You really ate a silk worm?"
The blonde mimicked Bo's sitting position and nodded.
"Mhm."
"How did it taste like?"
"Like peanuts."
Bo laughed.
"No it didn't."
"Yes it did. Just with a bitter aftertaste."
The brunette stopped laughing and spoke with a low voice while leaning forward just enough to be heard over the noisy background chatter.
"So, you would do it again then?"
The blonde smiled and stared back into Bo's daring eyes.
"Are you challenging me, Miss Dennis."
Her Boss' voice dropped an octave and Bo swallowed hard when their playfulness turned upside down and changed into something else. Something that let those butterflies in Bo's stomach fly into her chest and dance around excitedly. The blonde's gaze burned with an intensity that the brunette forgot they were sitting at a table in a public place when a hairy hand found its way on her Boss' shoulder and broke the building tension down into a puddle of mush.
"Lauren, can I steal away you for a second."
"Devan, yes, of course. Will you excuse us?"
Bo nodded even though she really didn't want to. She could see in Miss Lewis' expression how incredibly sorry she was for the interruption.
"Sure."
Taking the last sip of her wine, which tasted like the grapes were plucked right from Dionysos' vines - Dionysos, the God of wine? No? Well, read a book! – Bo stood up and walked to the exit. Some fresh air would maybe help to cool down whatever it was that left Bo's palms sweaty and her ears to turn beet red.
Walking to the railing, Bo placed her warm hands on the cold steel. The city underneath was a sea of lights in the darkness.
"Unbelievable."
Bo took a deep breath.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
The brunette jumped and held her hand to her chest.
"You really need to stop sneaking up on people."
"Did I scare you?"
Bo looked sideways and into those cognac brown eyes she just couldn't get enough of. Amusement lit up the blonde's features and Bo wouldn't mind to be scared to death a million times if it meant she could see her Boss' face shine like that. Yeah, no! Bo knew one could only die once, this was just an exaggeration, don't take it literally. Holy cow!
"I almost got a heart-attack, Laur- hm, Miss Lewis."
It was so easy these days to forget that they were boss and assistant. Miss Lewis seemed so at ease tonight that Bo had a hard time to keep that professional distance that was rapidly melting away like that ice cube in her warm orange juice this morning.
"I was hoping to find you out here when I didn't see you where I left you."
The blonde was looking into the night with one hand holding that pendant and the other one next to Bo's on the railing in front of them.
"Where else would I be?"
Her Boss just shrugged. The brunette turned around fully, facing Miss Lewis who seemed to avoid to look into Bo's eyes.
"Hey, I have a really good time tonight. I wouldn't go for all the tea in China."
The brunette tapped her bottom lip with her forefinger.
"Or was it something with wild horses couldn't drag me away? Anyway, I'm here and I love it."
The blonde finally met Bo's gaze. A hint of relieve shining through the uncertainty.
"You do?"
"Are you kidding me?"
A shy smile fought it's way on the blonde's lips.
Boy, you're killing me with that smile.
"I was afraid you would be bored. Those galas can be pretty dry."
Looking down, the blonde started fidgeting with her necklace again.
"Dry? Okay, listen. I'm wearing an outfit that probably costs more than I make in a year. I ate food that I would have never ever even considered eating, and I would have missed out on so much if I may add and I'm standing on the Eiffel Tower looking down on freaking Paris at night. It feels like I won the lottery."
While Bo was talking, her hands were playing with the handrail and she was looking from her Boss, down to the lights in front of them, to her feet and up into the dark sky. She took a deep breath and turned back around to the blonde with a bright smile on her face.
"You know what the best part is though?"
Her Boss listened intently, shaking her head no and waiting for Bo to continue.
"The best part is, that I'm in the company of this amazing woman who doesn't stop to surprise me."
The brunette watched as her Boss looked down to her feet with a light chuckle.
"Sounds like an interesting person."
"Yes, she is."
Bo leaned against the railing, crossing her arms over her chest. The wind played with a lock of golden hair and she just couldn't resist the urge to reach out. When Bo got a hold on the soft curl she let it run through her fingers shortly before she brushed it out of the way and put it back into it's place.
The brunette's hand stayed in mid air and maybe it was the wine or her adventurous soul tonight – eating mollusks and stuff – but this time she didn't fight the urge to run a single finger over the blonde's collarbone down ever so slightly to take the pendant between her forefinger and thumb.
"This is beautiful."
The brunette brushed over the front of the piece of jewelry, taking a step forward to have a closer look.
"Is it a tree?"
Her Boss' warm breath puffed against her cheek. When Bo's eyes wandered up over that elegant throat and chin to those lips, she had dreamed of more than she could count, her heart jumped uncontrollably against her ribs.
"Yes. It's a tree of life. My mother gave it to me."
The blonde took the pendant out of Bo's fingers and stepped back.
"How about dessert?"
Damn me!
Bo watched as her Boss turned to leave.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
The blonde stopped in tracks and looked back at her assistant who wrapped her arms around her chest. Bo felt disappointment crawl up her guts. What in all means was she thinking? Coming that close to Miss Lewis? Touching her like hat? But then again, did she misread the signs?
So incredibly stupid, Bo.
Looking at the ground, Bo didn't see her Boss walking up closer again until she felt a warm hand on her now cold skin of her upper arm.
"There's nothing to be sorry for. It's just not an easy topic for me to talk about. I'm the one who should apologize for ruining the mood."
"No, no. I shouldn't have, well, you know… did you say dessert?"
Bo rolled her eyes over her own lack of words and lack of skills when it came to Lauren Lewis. She was a master of seduction. A freaking conquistador of everything female, human-kindly speaking, but this very blonde disturbed her compass so very much, that the brunette didn't see the horizon anymore.
They went back inside and awkward didn't even begin to describe the air around them for the rest of the night. Bo tried her best to keep her extremities as close to her body as possible. The blonde didn't even touch her dessert which tasted like heaven with a hint of chocolate but Bo couldn't enjoy it at all.
People past them and Miss Lewis was Miss Lewis, charming and smiling and conversing with Sheila and Chuck or whatever their names were and Bo just wanted to leave.
When they finally arrived back at the hotel and in their loft the brunette thanked her Boss for the night and made a bee-line to her bedroom.
It wasn't her finest moment but still better than her last date after which she stumbled and fell up the stairs to her apartment building just to avoid the should-we-or-should-we-not-kiss moment. She almost screamed 'we should not' when her date's hand reached out to help her up from the ground.
Not that this evening fell under the category 'date'. As much as Bo had wished for it to be. At least up to the point of no return.
"Why, why, why, why, Bo?! Argh."
Leaning against the flagged wall of her shower, she let the warm water pour down over her hair and back.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid."
She needed to get herself under control. It didn't matter if she thought her Boss was flirting with her or not. It didn't matter that she had blue balls or a depressed yoni for what felt like an eternity. She just needed to keep it together and act like an adult.
After her shower, Bo slid into her favorite boxer shorts, sleeping shirt and a pair of those colorful, warm socks she had found in a small boutique close to her apartment. Searching through the candy slash chocolate drawer, the brunette collected a handful of sweets, a lemonade and those wireless earplugs from her nightstand.
Carefully Bo opened her bedroom door and took a quick look around in the semi darkness before she was sure enough that her Boss was nowhere near. Walking over to the massive couch, she flopped down and placed the sugar-load next to her on the soft sitting pillow.
She had found out that the TV had this blue-tooth or bloom-tooth or whatever it was that connected her headphones with the big, fat flatscreen. Searching through the channels, she stopped at an old episode of a sitcom she adored as a teenager. With her head leaning against the comfy backrest, the brunette placed her feet on a pillow that was laying on the coffee table.
Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders and tickled her arm when she reached over to open the can she had brought with her. The cold sparkles of the sweet and sour liquid reminded her of those summer nights back in the days, when she was allowed to stay up longer than usual to watch old black and white movies with her mum. It wasn't all bad back then.
Half into the drink a shadow from the right got Bo's attention and when a certain blonde stepped over her outstretched legs to sit down next to her, the brunette almost choked on the lemonade.
"Virgin Mary! Do you make it a sport to kill people?"
Bo took her earpieces out, placed her drink on the table and tucked her legs underneath herself.
"You seem pretty alive to me."
"Well that's just because I have a very sanguine complexion."
Her Boss chuckled.
"I see. You don't actually believe that Mary was a virgin though, do you?"
"I'm not religious. Just like to use some of the phrases."
The blonde nodded.
"What are you watching?"
"Nothing. Just some old sitcom I used to like."
Bo stared on the screen, with her hands underneath her butt.
It's always better to sit on your hands, if you don't trust them.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I just couldn't sleep. I can turn it off and go back to my room if you…"
"Bo."
Bo?
"Yes?"
The brunette's curiosity won over her nervousness and she turned her head to look at the woman sitting next to her. Her Boss had taken a seat a healthy handful of meters on the other end of the couch. Even though the light of the TV wasn't bright enough to illuminate the room it was still enough to see the look on the blonde's face. One of hesitation and struggle.
"I just wanted to say that, uh…"
Bo watched her Boss who was obviously trying to find the right words. After a few seconds of silence the brunette got up.
"It's okay. There's no need to say anything."
When the brunette walked around the couch a hand shot up out of nowhere and took a hold on her wrist. Flabbergasted Bo watched as the blonde climbed over the backrest to stand directly in front of her. She was wearing a tight tank top that had rolled up a bit and showed off some of the skin of her Boss' stomach. A pair of pajamas pants hung loosely around the blonde's legs. With bare feet her Boss took another step closer. The blonde's hair was in a messy bun and she smelled like this fruity shower gel and shampoo.
"Yes there is. I…"
A frustrated sigh escaped Miss Lewis' mouth. The hand that was holding Bo's wrist let go and together with the blonde's other hand found its way to the brunette's cheeks. Wide eyed Bo stared at her Boss who came closer and closer. Unable to move a muscle the brunette stood like in shock when she felt soft lips upon her own.
She didn't react. She couldn't react. She was happy that she was still able to produce a heartbeat. She felt the blonde's mouth linger on hers for a second longer before the contact faded and the warmth she had felt before was exchanged with cold air.
Those soft hands left the brunette's skin and her Boss' gaze dropped to the ground before she turned and walked away.
"I'm sorry."
The blonde's quiet words hit the brunette's ears like needles. Mini Bo jumped and screamed and kicked and tried so hard to unfreeze the iceberg of a human being. Bo shook her head and blinked twice to get rid of the opossum inside of her. It wasn't the time to play dead.
Bo saw Miss Lewis enter her bedroom and heard the soft click of the door falling into the lock.
Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.
"Sweet baby Jesus. What just happened?"