Bianca's eyes fluttered open. She had been awoken by the sounds of Maggie getting off the other couch and walking towards the bathroom. She heard her footsteps stop at about where Miranda's crib was, so she felt it safe to assume Maggie had checked on the little girl.
The bathroom door opened and closed and there was a slight pause before she heard the click of the lock. From the torso up, Bianca turned onto her back. She pulled her arms out from under the covers and stretched them straight out over her head and brought them down in a straight-armed sweeping motion so they ended up resting at her sides again.
She pondered using the bathroom after her friend, but she decided she didn't really need to get up. As she laid there for a moment she thought maybe it was a better choice to not let Maggie know she was awake. If she knew, she would probably want to talk, and she knew Maggie needed her sleep. She turned back on to her side and pulled the covers back up.
The bathroom door opening alerted her that Maggie was about to make her return to the couch. There was a bed in the back of the plane, but the girls had opted for the opposing couches so they could be closer to the crib. She heard the approaching footsteps of her friend and again, another pause at the crib. A small smile crept across Bianca's face because she knew there was no question how Maggie felt about at least one of them.
"There you go again" Bianca thought to herself. "There is no doubt Maggie loves you, the only question is in what sense. Platonic? Romantic?" She had promised Maggie she would not pressure her in anyway, but she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she was dying to know as soon as possible either way. Whether it be ever-lasting happiness, or that she was destined to only watch her friend as just that, a friend.
As she heard the other girl plop down on the couch, she didn't hear enough movement for her to have returned to a sleeping pose. She figured Maggie was going to sit up for awhile and she would be better off having some alone time with her thoughts.
Since she had nothing else she could really do, Bianca stared at the back of the couch and started to let her mind wander over the past few days. The custody case she had testified in. The packing of the last of her belongings for the move. The surprising gift of a picture from Babe in happier days. The party her Mother had thrown her in that true Erica Kane style. And of course, the last minute arrival, and declaration of love by her best friend, Maggie Stone.
At first Bianca had taken it merely as the type of love you express to a friend. As Maggie continued to ramble on though, Bianca saw that it was a statement of confusion, of not knowing how it should be said or how it should even be received. All she could do was to promise her that she would not pressure her as she tried to sort out her feelings.
In truth, the second she had looked up and had seen her friend leaning so casually against the bulkhead and asking "Is there still room for one more?", all she had wanted to do was grab her and kiss her deeply and passionately. Regrettably, as any good girl would though, she had controlled her urges.
When they were given the word that they were cleared for departure, Maggie had secured Miranda and then joined Bianca on the couch she was already sitting on. They had exchanged smiles as they fastened themselves in, and it was then that Bianca realized she had no clue how to act. This gorgeous girl, who might very well be the love of her life, was now sitting next to her, giving up everything to move with her to another country. Yet with all of that, what was Bianca to do? She had promised Maggie no pressure, and she wanted to do nothing that the petite girl could misunderstand.
She sat there staring down at her folded hands in her lap. She was shocked at herself "You're a 21 year old woman, and you can't think of anything better to do with your hands?". Could something as natural as laying your hand on the couch be misread? If she moved it to close to Maggie, would it scare her? Would it make her think she was trying to rush something? There were so many new thoughts, so many new ways to think about how she would act around her friend.
It was then she saw a hand she knew wasn't one of hers suddenly came into her tunnel vision she had down to her lap. This mystery hand clasped her left hand and pulled it out of her lap and squeezed it. The squeeze was the final nudge she needed to "wake up" from her little world of confusion.
She turned her head to the left and was greeted by a sly smile and a wink. "Just because you aren't going to "pressure me" B, doesn't mean you aren't allowed to touch me."
Bianca smiled back in a shy, embarrassed style. "Thanks" was all she was able to croak out of her suddenly dry throat. In her head though her grin was a mile wide at the thought of how well her friend could read her.
After their departure they had laid down the sleeping Miranda in her crib and changed into some clothes Bianca had handy. She had planned to change out of her party dress, and luckily she had another spare set at hand that Maggie could wear. Since they had taken off later than expected, Bianca had decided they had both better lay down and get some sleep.
Now all that was left to think of was what the future held. She had made very few plans with Maggie in mind. Even though she had invited her to come, she hadn't suspected she would. She had it arranged through the Cambias office in Paris for an apartment with enough bedrooms either way, but beyond that she had not done much. She had made a quick phone call while Maggie was changing and requested that someone from the office run over to the apartment to make sure the second bedroom had been made ready.
Since Maggie had no time to pack anything, her items would have to be sent for later. She made a mental note to call home as soon as possible and see if someone could go over to Maggie's apartment and pack everything up. Maybe Reggie could do it? She would worry about that later.
She would take Maggie shopping for whatever she needed right away though. An assistant could go for the little things like toiletries. The girls though, of course, would have to handle the clothes shopping themselves.
Even with all these details running through her head, she still randomly heard the words spoken mere hours before over and over again. "I..Love..You…..I..Love..You" If any words could truly make your heart grow wings and fly out of your chest, it was those. And if spoken by Mary Margaret Stone? She was positive that her heart must now be orbiting somewhere far above.
Bianca slowly, and quietly, dropped her right arm off her hip and brought it to a rest in front of her. She was thinking of the corsage she still wore that Maggie had given her that evening at the going away party. Even though she could feel its weight on her wrist, she wanted to trace its outline with her fingertips to make sure it was real. She would have much rather been tracing her fingertips over the back of Maggie's hand, but at least this was some form of a connection to the other girl.
Over and over again she played the words "I love you" in her head, and like clockwork it was followed by the promise of no pressure. All of this was slowly replaced with "Maggie Stone is worth the wait…worth the effort…worth everything in the world…and no matter what her final decision was…she had always been worth the wait." Bianca prayed silently to anyone who would listen that Maggie's final decision would be "Bianca, I want to be with you"
She realized though that she was going down a thought path that would just lead her into one of those never ending circles she and Maggie seemed famous for. She tried to remind herself of the positive aspects of this journey. No matter what happened, she was going to get to experience one of the most beautiful cities in the world with her best friend and her daughter by her side. What more could anyone ask for?
Maggie made a very quite grunt under her breath and Bianca heard what sounded like the blanket being thrown off. She then heard the distinctive sound of hands rubbing up and down a face with some vigor. Maggie was frustrated about something, but Bianca didn't want to hazard a guess as to what it was at this point.
As she laid there pondering this, she thought she heard a new sound that concerned her more. It sounded like Maggie was taking deep, prolonged breaths. Was it sobbing? Deep breaths she could put up with, sobbing she could not. Though she didn't want to disturb her friend, her own curiosity finally won out.
She turned over as quietly as possible on to her right side and looked at the other couch. She was greeted by the sight of Maggie cuddled up in the joint of the couch where the arm meets the back. Her lower half was covered with a blanket, and she could tell she was sitting with her legs crossed Indian style. Her eyes were closed, and she looked as if she was mentally elsewhere.
What surprised her though was the source of the deep breathing sounds. In the dim light of the darkened cabin it took her a second to realize just what it was she was seeing. She finally determined that Maggie had pulled the shirt Bianca had loaned her up over her nose and was…. Bianca couldn't help herself, this brought a wide smile to her face. All sorts of thoughts flashed through her mind even though she didn't want to read too much into it.
Was this an innocent move she was misreading? Was this very special girl actually sniffing her clothes to smell….her? It could be taken so many ways, mean so many things.
It was about this time she saw Maggie's eyes slowly open up. The two girls locked eyes and after a few seconds Bianca let out a "Hi there."
With the shirt still over her nose, Bianca heard something that resembled a high, squeaky "Hello"
End chapter 2
