-Past-

"Are you busy, Anne?" Delphine leans on the woman's office doorframe.

"No, what do you need, Delphine?" Anne replies sweetly.

"I have an inappropriate question that I don't want to look up online. I was hoping you could provide as much wisdom as you feel comfortable with".

"Uh," she tilts her head and scrunches her face up. "Sure?"

"Thank you," Delphine moves to the chair in front of Anne's desk, who's still confused.

"So…"

"How does one have sex with another woman?" Delphine asks bluntly, crossing her arms.

The confusion on her coworker's face is replaced with astonishment. "Hold on," she manages to stutter before getting up and closing her office door then returning to her seat. "Okay. What?"

"If you're uncomfortable answering, I completely understand," Delphine assures sincerely.

"No, no, it's not that. Just…why?" she leans forward in her chair. "Are you planning on having sex with a woman?"

"I'm married, Anne," Delphine dodges. She has no problem telling Anne the truth. She just feels like she should at least try to be discreet about it. Not that requesting instructions for sex would be considered discreet.

"Yeah, but William is a complete dickhead to you. I wouldn't judge you for experimenting or whatever," Anne reasons, the word 'experiment' not sitting right with the blonde. Delphine chose to ask Anne this question, not only because she would know the answer, but also because her filter doesn't necessarily cover a broad spectrum of comments – thus allowing her an uncensored picture.

"I didn't realize it was so apparent," Delphine glances down for a moment. Will rarely comes to her office, not that she's complaining. She knows most of his coworkers personally, and he probably wouldn't even recognize one of hers. "Anyways, yes. I would like to have sex with a woman competently without having to watch pornography," she says like she would a business proposal.

Anne's eyes turn from wide to squinted. "I feel like you're fucking with me, but I don't get it".

"I promise I'm not. I met someone. The tension between us is becoming harder to handle and I've been avoiding the inevitable because I've only slept with men," Delphine sighs.

"Okay, okay. It's just weird, is all," Anne defends, hearing the frustration in her superior's voice. "So, I guess you're…bisexual?"

"I'm not. It's just this one girl," Delphine thinks about the situation. Cosima calls her bizarre, too.

"That's sweet," Anne smiles. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Well, right now I know nothing, so whatever you're willing to fill in would be appreciated," Delphine cracks a smile when she sees Anne trying to hold back a giggle.

"Alright. If that's what you want," the woman takes a large gulp of coffee, not expecting this to be her first conversation on a Monday morning.

Present

"Why didn't you tell me you were dropping by, darling. I would've come sit by you," Delphine takes the seat next to her husband, Alex nowhere to be seen.

"I wanted to surprise you. I didn't know you'd be missing for the whole show. Isn't that why you come here every week?" he kisses her on the cheek, seeming more concerned than frustrated.

"No, I come here to visit one of the staff. She showed me a back hallway that joins the lounge to a restaurant this evening. And we accidentally walked in on one of her friends having sex with some girl, so that was nice," Delphine explains, feeling like she rambled. She hasn't lied so far, but if William asks what they were doing, she might have to. If she keeps telling him the truth with a tone implying that she's kidding, he may see through it and realize she's not actually being sarcastic.

"That's unfortunate. These guys weren't bad, though. You know the band?" he looks at the stage, seeing only one of the brothers left.

"Alex," Delphine calls, grateful for her timing. Alex sits on the other side of William.

"Where've you been all night," she greets, a suspicious attitude evident.

"My friend, the one you met when we came here," Delphine pauses, nervous now, "She gives me illegal tours sometimes".

"How nice of her," Alex replies in the same voice. "I don't see her around. Is she working tonight? She told me they have amateur night here," she mentions to her brother.

"I don't think it's amateur night tonight, though. And I'm not really sure, but it seems like she just makes her own schedule," Delphine feels like she's being interrogated, like the questions will keep coming until she cracks or contradicts herself.

William, oblivious to the growing hostility between the women, throws back the rest of his beverage and sighs. "Well, we've been here for too long. Alex, can you grab our coats? I'll pay the tab".

"I'm going straight home, Will, get your own coat. I'm going to have a cigarette out front. You two come say bye before you leave".

The sister nods once and walks away. "Have you had a lot to drink?" Delphine looks him over more carefully – a bit more disheveled than usual.

"Yeah, we got here over an hour ago," he says as though it's an excuse for being drunk. He never knows when to stop.

With Alex taking her car home, it leaves Delphine with the responsibility of driving her husband home, which ruins her excuse to return tomorrow for her car. "Me too. Call a driver," Delphine grabs his phone out of his pocket and hands it to him.

...

...

...

"Hey guys, how'd the show go?" Cosima greets her busy bandmates, watching them clean up.

"Great actually," Madi grins oddly, "In the middle of our set, a dude came up and said he liked our sound. He gave us his card, and guess what…"

Cosima looks between her friends' facial expressions, confused by the vibe. "What?"

"We were offered opportunity," Jack finishes snappily. "Funny how it happened when you weren't there. You ditch and we get recognized by a recruiter. Weird," he says sarcastically. He's probably still mad about her walking in on him screwing his girlfriend.

"That's awesome. Was he from a label?" She decides to ignore the bad attitude. She's in too good of a mood to let it bring her down.

"Yep," Madi takes over the conversation again. "ProClone Records. He said to call anytime next week to set up a day to come in and play".

"That's so fucking awesome," Cosima puts as much energy into her response as possible, but Delphine took most of it from her earlier. There's also the fact that Cosima has never really been that interested in the music industry. She's more into general electronics and technical support. She has enough of an ear for sound to know when to add some electronic melody or beats when they've been pre-recorded, but that's pretty much the extent of it for her. She enjoys the staging more than the music – lights, sound systems.

"I'll text you the details when I call," she nods to everyone. Cosima nods back and glances at the bar. Delphine is turned away from her, watching her sister-in-law leave the counter.

"I'll be right back, guys," Cosima mumbles before making her way to the blonde.

"We can't get one moment?" Jack scoffs to Madi. "Just one fucking second of attention. The girl doesn't give a shit, Mads," he shakes his head at her.

Cosima approaches the bar. Delphine notices and almost immediately turns her way to smile. The man sitting beside her grabs her attention again, though. "Honey, where are we again?" he asks without lifting his head from his palm. He looks like he's in awful shape.

"Martell Lounge. Tell them to park in the side parking lot," she answers.

Cosima looks at the man's profile, though it's hard to make out in the dark environment. She nods toward him questioningly and holds her ring finger up to Delphine. The blonde nods back, wiggling her ring finger, confirming the assumption that the man is her infamous husband.

"Why aren't you driving him home?" Cosima asks as quietly as she can, speaking into the woman's ear.

"I'm far too intoxicated, Cosima," she winks, whispering back into her ear.

"Did you even have anything to drink other than half a glass of wine?"

"I didn't say what I was drunk on," Delphine smiles seductively, as usual, and turns her head just slightly. Their lips meet with more force than intended, but it only lasts a second. William isn't paying any attention to the activities on the stool right beside him. "Au revoir".

"Bye," Cosima replies lazily, watching the blonde walk away with the lean man's arm over her shoulders.

Delphine tries her best to not look back, to leave Cosima behind and focus on keeping her worlds divided. The stumbling man using her body as a support assists in that task, every step becoming less steady and independent. They make it to the door, grab his coat, and see Alexandra standing just outside, lighting her cigarette.

"Will," she turns to look over her drunken brother, flicking ash onto the sidewalk. "Take your coat to the car, I want to talk with her," she looks only at Delphine.

"No fighting," he orders tiredly, grabbing his jacket from Delphine's arms and stumbling his way to the parking lot on the other side of the building. Her car is locked, and she has the keys. She's hoping he doesn't end up breaking a door handle off.

"That girl, the one I met," Alex starts, stomping out her cigarette. "What's going on between you two?"

"You may have to be more specific," Delphine senses this conversation won't be casual or lighthearted.

"I didn't notice it that night, but looking back, I see that you look at her differently. And tonight, she was right next to you, whispering in your ear, and you were both smiling like schoolgirls," she crosses her arms, a posture that screams 'I'm not to be toyed with right now'.

Delphine thinks about how that may have looked. Unless Alex stopped watching before she said goodbye to Cosima, she must have seen what happened. "You've never had a friend like that? A close friend?"

"None that I kiss, no," Alex states bluntly. Delphine can feel her cheeks warming slightly.

"Well…the French have different customs," she stretches reality a bit. She's certainly never had any friends with whom she shares lip kisses. Of course, the typical cheek to cheek, but nothing more.

"Look, I know William isn't the most perceptive man in the world, but that doesn't mean you can go around experimenting," hearing the word experiment pulls at Delphine's heart again. She knows that Cosima may very well be an experiment, but the connotation pisses her off. "I may be closer with you than I am with William, and that's why I'm coming to you first, I know marriage can't be easy all the time…but if you don't end this, I'll be forced to tell him. He's my family," Alex warns, sounding oddly sympathetic.

"Alex, she's just a friend," Delphine snaps against her will. The experiment accusation nagging at her. "And you have no proof of her being anything else".

"Don't make this dramatic, Delphine," the woman doesn't seem to care. "Just do the right thing". Alex gives her a threatening glare and walks away.

Delphine huffs in her direction but doesn't follow. When she feels the chill of the evening, she's reminded of William. She stomps toward the parking lot and sees Will leaning against his own car, half asleep. Delphine had assumed Alex drove them both there, but she's not complaining. She scoffs and finishes the journey to her drunk husband. When she steps in front of him, Delphine digs in his pocket for his phone and dials the last number.

"What are you doing?" the man slurs without opening his eyes.

"Cancelling your driver. I'll drive you home," she grabs his arm and drags him to the passenger side of his car, shoving him in and buckling him up while she cancels his ride. He doesn't ask how she's sober all of a sudden. She tries to be grateful for the fact that she still gets to return tomorrow for her car, but Alex's threat is burning in her mind.

…

…

…

Delphine pulls the covers up to her snoring husband's shoulders and kicks his shoes toward the closet. She's exhausted from hauling the man up the flight of stairs and undressing him enough for bed, but somehow, she's still not tired. She looks at the bed, finding no appeal.

Delphine sighs, thinking about what Alex had said – again. She shakes her head with a stupid idea and takes her phone out anyways.

Delphine: Are you awake?

A melodic ding chirps from her phone not a minute later.

Cosima: It's barely past 11 and I'm a twenty-something amateur musician. Of course, I'm awake.

Delphine: Are you still at martell?

Cosima: yep. Just cleaning up. why?

Delphine: I need to retrieve my car from the lot. Would you like a ride home?

Cosima: if it's from you, definitely

Delphine: okay, I'll see you in twenty minutes

She calls for a driver and then jogs upstairs to check on Will. He's sleeping still, snoring loudly. She wouldn't have been able to fall asleep like this anyways. She leaves a note on her side of the bed saying she's gone out for her car in case he wakes up.

The whole drive back to the bar, Delphine can tell the driver is trying to decide whether she's a call girl of some sort. She's still dressed in her work clothes, the most revealing of her professional attire, and she's a bit tousled from dragging William to bed. She tries to ignore it, preoccupied with an odd anxiety she can't identify the source of. Out of all the evenings she's spent with Cosima, this feels the most sinful. Sneaking out late at night, making excuses to see the girl, feeling freedom and thrill mixed with deceit and guilt. Still, some kind of force is able to turn its cheek to the uneasiness she's suffering through, ensuring she doesn't change her mind and ask the driver to turn around.

Cosima is standing outside the lounge, leaning against the wall next to the entrance, scrolling through her phone. She looks up when she hears the car door shut and the driver speed off. "Fifteen minutes. You must've been in a hurry to see me," Cosima greets, smiling with her typical charm.

"Possibly," Delphine returns. "Are you done here?"

"Mhm. Ready when you are," she nods. Delphine leads them to the side lot where her car is now one of only a few.

The first couple minutes of the drive is silent and awkward, Delphine still consumed with her building anxiety. Cosima notices but doesn't know what to say, so she says nothing.

Another few minutes go by before Delphine speaks, "Do you have a job, Cosima?"

The woman is taken a bit off guard but answers just the same, "Yeah. I work at Martell…you knew that already. It's an arrangement with the owner. I'm, like, half tech-support, half entertainment".

"There are enough technical issues to require a technical support employee?"

"Uh, no. Just…the guy is old and needs help with anything on his computer, which is a lot. He's got a few grandkids, but they don't feel like doing anything for him and his son runs more of the PR kind of business and isn't around much. I think he kind of sees me more as family at this point. But I've also coordinated entertainment and performances while it was still needed". Delphine nods, disappointed that the small talk hasn't done anything for her nerves. "Why do you ask?"

"I've only ever seen you at the lounge or at your home," she shrugs.

"Same for you. I've only ever seen you there or at your house," Cosima smiles, hoping she hasn't done anything to upset her somehow.

"I've told you about my job, though," Delphine grins back.

"I've told you about my job and you show up to my work weekly. But yeah, so how's work?" she asks in a drawn-out voice. "Any big events or fancy artsy things coming up?"

"Hm," Delphine seems to relax. She enjoys work and she doesn't ever talk to anyone about it. William doesn't care enough to pretend to listen. "I want to find a new location for a showing within the next two months. I have a board meeting this week that I need to prepare for".

"So, your job is to find places to show art? I can't remember," Cosima asks, relieved the conversation is softening the blonde's expression.

"No. It's not really part of my job technically. It's just a part of the whole process that I really enjoy. I get to meet new people. Scouting sites around the city is nice".

"It's not your job, but you just do it anyway? Whose job is it?" Cosima turns in her seat as much as she can, giving her driver a skeptical look.

"I never hired anyone for it," Delphine makes the last turn to Cosima's apartment, unconsciously slowing her speed.

"Oh, you're in charge of hiring? You must be pretty important," her voice drops audibly when her place comes into view.

"Every employee is important," Delphine parks and sighs weakly.

Neither of them move or even glance at the building in front of them, as if somehow by not acknowledging it removes it from reality. Cosima wants to ask her to come up, but she knows she shouldn't. Delphine keeps thinking about the note she left on the bed next to William. If he sleeps through the night and finds the note in the morning when he wakes up, he will probably assume that she had just gotten up early to go fetch her car. She could stay out all night theoretically. Stay with Cosima, maybe.

"Do you want…" Cosima starts but stops, feeling too insecure.

"I should probably go home," Delphine bites her lip nervously, hoping Cosima will see through it and ask her to stay anyways. Hoping that she can join Cosima upstairs after having been relentlessly pressured to rather than joining her after one half-request. At least then she could say she tried to restrain herself.

"I guess," Cosima squints and looks up at her seemingly barren apartment complex. "I mean, you could do both. You could come and have some…water or something so your drive home is…safe? Better?"

"That's true," Delphine also gives the building a fleeting glance.

"I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, and just like I said before, I'm not expecting anything from you. But, what do you want to do?" Cosima blurts out in a single breath.

"I want to…not go home right now," she dodges speaking her direct wishes, as she so often does.

"I'd like that, too…" Cosima mumbles.

Delphine is silent for a moment, weighing the options. It doesn't take long for her to decide, against her better judgement. She exhales, shakes her head, turns the car off, and opens her door.