June 18th – Morning
Bianca woke up in a slow, natural manner. She had nothing pressing to do this morning, so she had not even bothered to set her alarm. Her eyes blinked open and she looked towards the window, and the sunlight pouring in.
She stretched her arms and smiled broadly as she woke up more. "It's finally here." She mumbled. "Almost four years, and it's finally here." She swung her legs out of the bed and got out. She walked over to the window and threw the curtains open and looked out over the city. "Let's just hope it goes well."
Maggie smacked the alarm clock to turn it off. It really hadn't woken her up though. She had slept for a few hours, but then something in her brain clicked on and she was never able to shut it down again. While she had figured out all the fine details of their first date, at last, she was just now having plain old nervous jitters.
This was a huge step for anyone. They were friends of nearly four years…they had a working relationship….they lived together…and they were both women. This was Maggie's first date with a woman. The first time she was actively acknowledging the fact that she was in love with a female, and while that certainly played a factor in her nerves, she did find some solace in the fact it wasn't the only, nor the biggest one.
June 18th – Early evening
Bianca and Maggie had spent the day just doing normal, lazy summer afternoon chores. A bit of cleaning, some lounging and a bite of a light lunch, but not a word of a certain event that hung over both their heads like the proverbial sword.
There had been lots of pregnant pauses throughout the day;nervous giggles, awkward moments passing each other in the halls and numerous lingering looks. Both girls held to their promise of the night before though, and nothing was mentioned of the date that loomed ahead for both.
Maggie had disappeared for about an hour at one point during the day, returning without showing Bianca anything she had gotten while she was out. When questioned, she had said it was just a last minute accessory and not a big deal. The rest of the day was indistinguishable from any other weekend day they spent together.
As 5 PM rolled around, they both had a sandwich in the kitchen. As they placed their plates in the sink afterwards, they looked at each other and both began blushing.
"Well…I…um….have some things I need to do." Maggie said nervously, looking down into the sink."
"Yeah…me too."
"So…I guess I'll go do them….see you at 8?"
"I wouldn't miss it for anything." Bianca said with a smile. "May I ask one thing?"
"Of course." Maggie said nervously, unsure what the question would be.
"Do you know what time Patrick and Guilia will be here? I just want to make sure Miranda's ready."
"Oh…" relief passing over Maggie's face. "they said 7:30."
"Ok….see you at 8 then." Bianca said, smiling broadly.
"8 it is then." Maggie said, a lump forming in her throat.
June 18th – 7:30 PM
"Why is he so blasted prompt?" Bianca grumbled as she ran for the front door in her robe.
She opened the door and it was immediately flung wider. Guilia was in the lead, Patrick following behind, loaded down with grocery bags and looking very un-Patrick like and distressed. Guilia quickly kissed both of Bianca's cheeks and asked, in French, where Miranda was.
"She's in the den, in her crib." Bianca replied, also in French. Guilia quickly looked around, figured out where the den was, and headed straight for it. Bianca turned to Patrick. "What's with all the bags?"
"My darling wife was very upset when I told her you rarely eat at home and that you don't keep much food in the apartment." he said, setting the bags down on the hallway table.
Bianca rolled her eyes. "She didn't need to bring anything. I am capable of stocking my own kitchen…I just don't!" she punctuated with a giggle. "Thank you both so much for doing this by the way."
Patrick smiled at her. "Not a problem, it is all in the name of a very good cause." he said with a wink that caused Bianca to blush. He looked her up and down, "Now, don't you think you might want to go finish getting ready?"
Bianca looked down at her robe. "Who say's I'm not? This is all the rage in the fashion magazines!" she said with a chuckle. She turned to walk back towards the living room so she could go upstairs.
Guilia returned to the front hall with Miranda in her arms. "Don't just stand there like a lump!" she said in Italian. "There are four more bags of groceries down in the car!"
Patrick hung his head. "Yes dear."
Maggie stood in her room, fastening a belt she had bought earlier that day around her waist. She turned and looked at herself in the mirror. She heaved a sigh and mumbled, "No time to change my mind, it'll just have to do." She looked over at the clock. She still had ten minutes to kill. She walked over to the door that led from her room to the kitchen and pressed her ear to it to see if she could hear anything. She heard Patrick and Guilia conversing in Italian, but no sign of Bianca.
She cracked the door open enough to see in to the room and Patrick immediately turned to look. "Well hello there." he said with a grin.
"Hi….where is she?"
"Upstairs, still getting ready."
Guilia leaned around so she could see and said something in Italian to Patrick, which he translated for Maggie. "She say's hello and wants to know if we can see what you have on, if you're ready."
"Tell her hello back and you can all see when Bianca sees me." Maggie sniffed the air. "What do I smell?"
"Your dinner for the rest of the week."
"Okay…odd….but I will take your word for it. See you in a little while." and she closed the door. She walked back over to the mirror, ran her hand down her clothes to smooth them out, took a deep breath and smacked her hands against her sides. She looked up to the sky, smiled and said, "Alright Frankie….here we go." Grabbing her purse, she exited the front of her apartment out into the hallway.
June 18th – 8:00 PM
"Deep breaths….deep breaths." Bianca said repeatedly, while taking one last look in the mirror. Her outfit looked something like it came straight out of a 1950's musical. The skirt was a black poodle skirt, minus the poodle, with a shiny black leather belt at the waist. The top had black-and-white horizontal stripes and was very tight. The sleeves were three quarters and the tops barely came up on to her shoulders, making it almost shoulder-less. Her hair was done up in light bouncy curls and her shoes were 1 inch, backless kitten heel sandals.
"Ok…so…yeah…", she grabbed her handbag, flipped off the lights and headed downstairs to…well, she wasn't really sure what to expect since Maggie had insisted on 'picking her up'.
Just as she got to the entry hall, there was a knock on the front door. She looked at her watch and saw it was 8:00 exactly. She smiled. "Well, she's a prompt date at least." As she passed the entry to the dining room, she tried to ignore the very obvious spectacle of Patrick and Guilia, who had Miranda in her arms, racing to the hallway so they could watch. She did catch Patrick smiling at her and Guilia saying 'gorgeous' in French. She blushed.
Bianca reached for the door, placed her hand on the handle, took a deep breath, and opened it. Maggie stood in front of her in a fawn colored peasant skirt with a spaghetti-strap white top. Her lime green belt matched the handbag and her flip flop sandals had yellow daisy appliqués over the toes. Her hair was pulled up in the back and affixed with chopsticks.
Bianca paused, making Maggie shuffle nervously. "Hi…I'm…um….here to pick you up for our date."
Bianca chuckled. "You could have just come through the kitchen you know."
"This seemed to make it more official. You look…wow…you look fantastic." She looked down at her own outfit and fussed with the skirt.
Bianca smiled a small, warm smile realizing she was uneasy about her clothes choice. "And so do you. Is that belt new?"
Maggie smiled. "Yeah, it is, that's what I went to buy today….and the handbag." she said, holding it up.
"Nice!" Bianca said enthusiastically. Which was followed by an awkward silence as both girls stared at each other, unsure what to do.
"Well, you two girls have fun! Guilia and I will handle Miranda for you." Patrick said, stepping into the hallway.
Both girls let out a small sigh of relief at Patrick's sudden, and obvious, intervention. "You have my cell number right?" Bianca asked Patrick.
"Yes, yes, don't worry! Guilia and I did raise two of our own you know." he said with a smile. "Now you two go have a lovely evening, and don't you dare rush back."
"Yes sir." she said with a little mock salute.
Maggie stepped in to the entryway and gave Patrick a one armed hug, and peck on the cheek while standing on the tips of her toes. She whispered in his ear, "Thank you Patrick…thank you for everything."
He smiled and broke the hug. "Now, you two get out of here! You have a dinner reservation for 8:30!"
They said their goodbyes, kissed a giggling Miranda on the head, and made their way to the elevator. As Patrick closed the door, and turned towards his wife and made a sniffling sound. Guilia looked at him and smirked. "Softy." she said in Italian, and made her way towards the kitchen.
"What? I had something in my eye!" he replied, as he followed her.
June 18th – 8:30 PM
The girls had walked to the restaurant Patrick had made their reservation at. On their way over they had discussed how cute a couple Patrick and Guilia make and how she has Patrick wrapped around her little finger, but in a cute, endearing way.
They walked into the restaurant, and Bianca spoke to the maitre'd in French, telling him that their reservation had been made by Patrick. He clapped his hands together and acted very jovial at the mention of his name. He led the girls off to the side and up two flights of stairs. The first flight made sense as there were more diners up there, but the second flight took them through a storage room.
Maggie tugged on Bianca's skirt, as she was in front of her, and higher up on the stairs. When Bianca looked at her, Maggie gave her a look like, 'What in the world…?' and Bianca responded with a shrug of uncertainty.
After passing through the storage room, they went up a much smaller staircase and through a door that led to the roof. Now Maggie could appreciate why Patrick making the reservation was a good idea. He said he knew the people who ran this restaurant, and it paid off.
In the middle of the open area of the roof there sat a table with a white linen tablecloth and all the necessary accessories for a fine meal. A single red rose lay upon each of the two diner's plates, and a candle stood next to each plate to illuminate where the diner's face would likely be. In the center of the table, but off to the side a bit so as not to obstruct anyone's view, was a larger bouquet of roses in a glass vase. A bucket stood next to the table with a large bottle of champagne chilling in it. Around the edges of the roof there were little tables placed at intervals, and on each one stood lit candles of varying heights.
Bianca and Maggie looked at each other, their jaws sagging a bit at the elaborate set-up. The maitre'd pulled out the first chair, and gestured for Bianca to take it, she sat herself, and then he followed suit for Maggie. Once seated he handed them menus, popped the champagne, poured each of them a glass and excused himself, saying their waiter would be up in a moment to take their orders.
Once gone, Maggie looked at Bianca and asked, "Is it just me, or do you get the feeling we don't even know a tenth of what there is to know about Patrick?"
"I know what you mean. I had him checked out as much as I could before I chose him, but a background check doesn't tell you much about who he knows in his personal life." Bianca glanced down at the menu, and seeing as it was all in French, she asked Maggie if she would like her to order for her.
Maggie blushed. "If you wouldn't mind."
"Of course not, don't be silly!"
The waiter appeared promptly and Bianca gave him their order. Maggie hated to admit it, but she loved listening to Bianca speak French. Sure, it made her feel a little like Gomez Addams attacking Morticia every time she did it, but she had to say she felt she understood the motivation a lot better after listening to her speak it for four months.
After the waiter disappeared Maggie started chuckling, which made Bianca curious. "What's so funny?"
"The waiter's going to need a good tip after bringing our food all the way up here!"
Bianca sat there for a moment, but eventually started chuckling also. "Yeah, it may be romantic up here, but not exactly practical for the poor staff."
After the chuckling subsided, both girls sat in an awkward silence. They looked around at their surroundings, but neither looked at the other. Finally, Maggie reached for her champagne, which caused Bianca to speak up. "We should make a toast!"
Maggie stopped halfway to her mouth and pondered for a moment. "Ok…to what?"
"Well, I would suppose to this evening." she said, as she raised her glass.
Maggie leaned forward to clink her glass with Bianca's. "And to Patrick, for stepping up and making all this possible."
"Yes, to Patrick….and to us." she said as her voice drifted off.
"To us." Maggie said meekly, and took a large gulp of her drink.
Bianca could tell Maggie wasn't comfortable, and she was unsure what to do. She rose from her chair and wandered over to the edge of the roof to see what all could be seen. Across the street was the bank of the river. On the other side of the waterway she could make out the Grand Palais, and next to that, the Petit Palis. Barges passed each other under the Pont Alexander III bridge.
It was a gorgeous night, and a fantastic view, made only better by Maggie walking up beside her. As Maggie took in their surroundings, Bianca took in the sight of her best friend-turned-date.
"Quite the view isn't it?" Maggie asked.
"Yes, it is." Bianca replied as her eyes traced up Maggie's exposed neck.
Maggie could see out of the corner of her eye that Bianca was looking more at her than at the surroundings. She bit her lower lip before asking, "What? Do I have something on my neck?" She raised her right hand and rubbed at the invisible spot.
Bianca blushed, realizing she had been caught. "No, nothing there."
The girls' awkward moment was broken by the waiter returning with their salads. They smiled at each other, and returned to the table and took their seats again. Both of them tried to stifle giggles as they could tell the waiter was a little bit out of breath from coming up all those stairs.
After he departed the girls sat in silence, staring down at their plates, neither speaking as they ate. The only sounds that could be heard were utensils on plates, and those wafting up from the street below. After about five minutes of this, it was Bianca who dropped her fork to her plate and sat back in frustration. "This is ridiculous!" she said.
Maggie looked shocked. "Wh…what's wrong?"
"Us…this!" she said gesturing back and forth between the two of them.
Maggie's expression saddened. "You…you don't want to be here?"
"No! I do want to be here, but what is with this silence between us? This awkwardness? We're best friends first-and-foremost, so why are we sitting here so quietly?"
"Oh! Well…I don't know…I can't seem to think of anything to say. Everything I think of, you already know. None of my 'first date banter'", she said with air quotes, "is really going to work with you because we know everything there is to know about each other by now."
"Well, yes and no….I mean, I only recently learned the story of the tattoo for instance, so certainly there are other things I don't know."
Maggie sat back and thought. "I really can't think of anything….what about you? Isn't there…oh! I know! Remember that night we went swimming…the night before you went to work at Enchantment?"
"Yeah." Bianca said with some apprehension.
"You told me that one of the ways you knew you were gay was that you wanted to marry the Spice Girls."
Bianca started laughing. "Yes, this is true."
"Well…" Maggie leaned forward again, and picked at her food while getting her crooked smirk across her face, "certainly you had one you preferred over the others."
Bianca blushed. "Our first date, and you want to know which Spice Girl I preferred?"
Maggie lifted the fork to her mouth, her smirk broadening. "Come on, let it out….who was it? Sporty? Scary? Baby?" she took the bite of the salad."
Bianca leaned forward, picked up her own fork, but refused to make eye contact with Maggie now. After a few seconds she finally mumbled something and quickly took a bite.
"What? You mumbled."
"Ginger! I liked Ginger ok? Jeez!" Bianca shouted while laughing.
Maggie choked on her salad and had to take a drink of water. "Ok! Chill out!" She picked up another forkful of salad. "Although, I have to say, I thought it was going to be Sporty."
A napkin flew across the table and hit her in the face.
June 18th – 10:00 PM
The conversation remained light and playful throughout the remainder of the meal. The awkwardness of the situation finally dissolved, and the girls could enjoy themselves again. While it didn't always feel like a date, it was certainly the most 'girly' they had been in a long time.
Full from a fabulous meal, the girls pushed back from the table and held their stomachs. "I know this isn't the most romantic thing ever to say, but…I think I might very well explode." said Maggie.
Bianca's head was resting on the back of the chair while she stared skyward. "That's ok, I probably will too. We have to remember to come here more often."
"Do you have a death wish I am unaware of? Food this good, on a regular basis, and we will balloon to the size of houses!"
"Well, I can think of worse ways to die then exploding from overeating."
"Really? Name one."
"Being run over by a Zamboni."
Maggie lifted her head and stared at Bianca. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Opened it again, paused, and spoke. "Your mind is a truly frightening place sometimes, did you know that?"
"I do what I can."
The waiter returned with their bill and asked who he should give it to in French. Bianca spoke up and took it from him as she sat upright in her chair. She reached for her purse to get out a credit card.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Paying for dinner….why?"
Maggie stared at her blankly. "Who asked who out?"
It finally dawned on Bianca what was being said, and she paused. "I…I'm sorry, I just wasn't thinking." She set down her purse and handed the bill over to Maggie.
Maggie took it with smile, opened it and…..gulped. She picked up her purse, flipped through a couple credit cards, decided on one, and handed it to the waiter, who smiled as he left. She then folded her arms and leaned forward, resting on the table and looking apprehensive.
Bianca leaned forward and slipped a hand across the table to rest on Maggie's arm. "Is everything ok?"
"Well….I think that card has enough room. I'm not sure."
Bianca smiled a warm, comforting smile. "If not, I can take care of it."
Maggie shot her a glance. "That's not the point Bianca. I asked you out, I pay."
"I understand, but this place is pretty hefty…"
"It'll be fine, just close is all."
"Well, if it's close, why don't you let me handle the tip ok?"
Maggie pondered that for a moment, and finally agreed. The waiter returned with a slip for her to sign, which meant all was well. She signed it, and Bianca got some cash out of her purse and palmed it to the waiter. Maggie wasn't sure how much it was, but knowing Bianca, it was generous.
The waiter led them back down to the ground floor, they thanked the staff and exited out on to the street. Bianca looked at Maggie and asked, "So….where to now?"
Maggie gestured with her head across the street, and told Bianca to follow her. They went to the corner and crossed the street so they were standing on top of the banks of the Seine River. They turned to the right so they were walking towards the Pont Alexandre III bridge. Once there, there was a staircase that led down to the paved walkway along the river. They went down and began to backtrack the way they came.
"How did you know the stairs were here?" Bianca asked the suddenly quiet Maggie.
"There's a set next to each bridge, so I used my enormous IQ to figure out there was one here also." she said with a chuckle.
Bianca knew this, of course, but she was trying to get Maggie's mood to lighten some. She had noticed she had started to go quiet again since the bill, and she wasn't going to let that happen. "So when are you finally going to tell me where this secret destination is?"
Maggie giggled. "You'll see…come on." She moved her handbag from her right hand , to her left and stuck out her, now empty, right hand in mid-air.
Bianca stared at the hand, startled by the gesture, but she took it. They both smiled at each other and continued down the river bank, walking hand-in-hand.
Halfway between Pont de Invalides and Pont de L'alma, they could hear music coming from somewhere. As they got closer to de L'alma, the music got louder and they could hear it coming from the pilot cabin on one of the passing boats. The music stopped, and the DJ spoke in French as the girls continued to walk hand-in-hand down the river bank.
Maggie stopped walking for a moment, and freed her hand from Bianca's. "Give me just a second, these chopsticks are driving me nuts!" She reached up with her right hand and took them out, letting her hair fall loose. She shook her head once, and then ran her fingers through the mass of hair to untangle it. She opened her purse and dropped the hair accessories in. "Much better."
While all this had gone on, Bianca had watched with great interest. Once it was over, she silently decided that it ranked as one of the three sexiest things she had ever witnessed…though she had no clue what the other two were right then.
The DJ on the radio finally stopped talking as the boat drew closer to the girls, and the first chords of Eric Clapton's song 'Wonderful Tonight' could be heard drifting across the water. Bianca smiled and closed her eyes swaying slightly. "Man, I love this song."
Maggie grunted agreement as she fiddled with her hair some more. Once done, she closed her handbag and turned to tell Bianca they should keep moving, but seeing Bianca standing there smiling, eye's closed, swaying to the beat, she couldn't bring herself to snap her out of whatever happy place it was she had gone to. As the first words started to reach them…' It's late in the evening; she's wondering what clothes to wear….' she couldn't help, but to break the silence.
Maggie set down her purse on the ground and moved closer to Bianca. "Ms. Montgomery?"
Bianca's eyes snapped open. "What? Oh…I'm sorry…we probably should…" she saw an even bigger grin creeping across Maggie's face. "What? What is it?"
"I was wondering if you would care to dance?"
Bianca blushed a deep crimson. She set down her handbag also and turned back to Maggie. "Why Ms. Stone, I would be delighted….but as with the last time we danced, I must insist on leading."
"But of course!"
As they got closer to begin dancing, Bianca's right hand went up to take the lead, but something didn't feel right to either of them. Maggie's arms gravitated to Bianca's neck, and Bianca's to Maggie's waist. They looked into each other's eyes, searching for discomfort or awkwardness. Neither found any.
Maggie turned her head to her right and rested it on Bianca's arm. Bianca turned her head to the left and rested it on top of Maggie's. They swayed, more than they did any real form of dance.
At that time, with their eyes closed, their hearing tuned only to the sounds of that passing radio, leaving them in their own little world. There was no Cambias Industries, no Jonathon Lavery, no Lena and no medical school. There were two people who had gone through four years of false starts and mis-steps that finally led to this perfect jewel of a moment. It was like something out of a 1950's musical, but instead of some imaginary orchestra playing inside their heads, it was a cheap radio hanging from the ceiling of a boat, suspended by some scrap pieces of twine.
They didn't get to hear the full song as the boat drifted further down the river, but they could just make out that last line of the song 'Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight'. As the last word drifted away, they stopped their swaying, lifted their heads and stared deeply at each other.
"We…uh…should probably…get going…" Maggie said hesitantly.
"Yeah…let me just…get my purse…"
"Me too…"
They very slowly, reluctantly, pulled away from each other and picked up their respective purses and turned to once again face each other. "Ready?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah." came a dry, cracking reply from Bianca. As Maggie turned to face the direction of their destination, Bianca held out her hand again to take Maggie's. Maggie smiled and gladly accepted it. "Thank you Maggie."
"For what?"
"Just…thank you."
Maggie gave her a perplexed look and finally said, "You're welcome?"
"Come on…I thought we had some place we had to be." Bianca said as she started walking again.
"This night just gets weirder and weirder." Maggie mumbled as she followed along.
Maggie had taken back over the lead as they walked along the banks of the Seine. As they reached Pont D'Iena, they finally climbed the stairs to go back up to street level. Standing in front of them, in all it's lit up, iron glory, was the Eiffel Tower.
Maggie dragged Bianca across Quai Branly street and to the tower itself. Once there, she left Bianca for a moment while she disappeared some where. When she returned, she had tickets for them to ride the elevator to the top floor. "Here." she said as she handed one ticket to Bianca. She stood there for a moment, seeming to ponder the ticket. Maggie finally asked her, "What? What's wrong?"
"It just dawned on me, how in the world have we lived within blocks of the Eiffel Tower for four months, and not been here yet?"
Maggie grinned and nearly shouted, "I know!" She looked around to make sure no one thought she was completely crazy and lowered her voice again. "That's why when I was coming up with ideas for what we could do tonight, it struck me as hilarious that it was so obvious that I was overlooking it." She glanced down at her watch. "We have to hurry though, this is the last elevator to the top for tonight."
They dashed over, gave their tickets, and loaded into the elevator for the ascent, first to the second floor, and then on to the top of one of the world's most famous, and romantic, landmarks.
Bianca and Maggie walked around the top floor, looking at all the different views of Paris. Though it was only nine hundred feet up, it felt like they could see forever. They stepped outside of the booth to the external balcony to enjoy the night air.
"Do you think living in Paris will ever feel 'normal'?" Maggie asked.
"I sure hope it doesn't." responded Bianca. "In a city like this, with so much to explore and do, I would be highly disappointed if we ever got bored."
"Can't argue with that." Maggie looked around and spotted one of the telescopes you could pay to look through to take in the city. She nudged Bianca and pointed to it. "Shall we?"
"We would be silly not to."
They walked over, fished out some coins from their purses, and dropped them in. The viewer clicked open and Bianca took the first turn looking at the city. "You know what…it kinda loses the magic looking through this." she said as she stepped back. I think I prefer just looking out myself, and not so close up."
"Oh well…still has time though, so I should take a look anyway." Maggie stepped up and started looking around while Bianca stood behind her enjoying the night air. "Oh! I wonder if you can see our apartment from up here." Maggie said.
"Don't know why you couldn't. Look down to the left."
Maggie swung the telescope in that direction and started looking. "Let's see….there's the street….the café…oh there's our building!" She panned up a bit. "Oh yeah! You can see everything! Wow…those big windows really don't provide a whole lot of privacy do they? We should think….."
Bianca turned to look at Maggie. "Think what?"
Maggie took a step back from the telescope. Her jaw slackened, her eyes wide, she almost appeared to be in shock. "Do you have a nail file with you?"
Bianca lifted her purse and opened it to look around. "I think so, why do you need it?"
"I need to scrape my eyes out."
Bianca stopped looking through the purse and went back to looking at her friend. "Excuse me?"
"I….just saw something I really didn't want to see."
"What?"
"Oh no…I am going to try to forget this thank you very much."
Bianca couldn't resist the urge. She walked over and looked through the telescope herself. She found the apartment again, looked in the living room and there, on the couch, she could tell there were two people sitting there…..making out like teenagers. "That…oh wow…Patrick and Guilia….well…it's sweet they still feel that way towards each other!"
"No it's not! It's disturbing is what it is! That's Patrick for crying out loud…making out with Guilia….it's like figuring out your parents are still into each other!"
Bianca laughed as she pulled her head away from the telescope. "Or in my case, it's like finding out your mom and uncle are having an affair. All I ask is you don't burn down the apartment like I did my mother's house."
"Can I just burn that couch? Because I can tell you right now, I am never sitting on it again!"
Bianca rolled her eyes. "Oh please…I am sure Miranda is in bed, they were bored…I think it's kind of sweet that they still have enough feelings for each other to want to make out."
"No….no I'm sure of it….this ranks more in the realm of 'disturbing' than 'sweet'."
Bianca nudged her with her elbow while grinning a big, toothy grin. "Oh come on, don't tell me I'm the only romantic here!"
"This has nothing to do with romance! It's like seeing your parents make out! It's not sweet, it's not romantic, it's just plain icky!"
"Well I think it's sweet…but, neither of us can say anything or else they will think we were checking up on them."
"Oh believe me, I have no desire to ever discuss this again!"
Bianca laughed. "Come on…let's enjoy our last few minutes up here before we have to go back down." As they started walking around the balcony again, she could see Maggie scrunching up her face again at the thought of Patrick making out with his wife. Bianca turned her head and smiled to herself. "Oh how I love her." she thought.
Back down on the ground, the girls walked slower than normal through Champ De Mars park. Neither of them seemed overly eager for the night to be over, but with the hour being past midnight, they felt they should get home so Patrick and Guilia could head home themselves. Bianca grinned every time she said Patrick's name now because it would make Maggie shudder. As they approached, and crossed the Avenus Elisee Reclus, both girls started to get quiet again, knowing their date was quickly coming to an end.
Maggie clasped her hands behind her back and began to twist a little as she walked so her purse swung side-to-side behind her. "So….." she said before pausing for a long while.
"Yes?" Bianca replied, clasping her hands in front of her in a more subdued fashion.
"I hope I…I wasn't….I….I hope the date lived up to what you expected."
Bianca stopped as they prepared to cross their street, Avenue de la Bourdonnais. "Maggie! I wasn't 'expecting' anything. We could have gone to a class on Peruvian Underwater Basket Weaving and I would have been happy!"
Maggie grinned. "I…I just know what you are used to, and I wasn't sure I could give that to you."
"What I'm used to? Hello….I haven't had a date in how long? I'm used to nothing!"
Maggie had to laugh at that. "Ok…good point….I…I just wanted this night…this night of all nights, to be perfect."
Bianca turned to face Maggie and grabbed her by the shoulders. She stared at her silently for a moment, and then pulled her closer and hugged her. "It has been Maggie…it was perfect the moment you showed up at the door and knocked. And in the future, just don't worry about where we are going or living up to what I 'expect', we will always figure something out. I promise…." Bianca's face contorted into horror as she realized what she had just said. "Well…that is…if there's another date I mean." she said as she finally pushed Maggie away from her and began to blush.
Maggie smiled and thought 'Yes! Finally it's not just me who feels awkward!'. Her smile broadened slightly and said, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it…for now…let's keep walking, we have to get back and let the….'teenagers' head home."
The girls entered the apartment and found Patrick and Guilia putting food away in the refrigerator. Patrick looked up first. "Well hello there! We were thinking it was about time for you two to get back."
"Yeah….so you would know when to get off the couch." Maggie mumbled.
Bianca elbowed her. "Was Miranda any problem?"
Patrick eyed the elbowing, but said nothing about it. "No, she was an absolute delight. She went to bed with no problem and was quiet as could be."
Bianca smiled. "Oh good! Thank you both so much for doing this!"
Patrick relayed the thank you to Guilia in Italian. She smiled and told Bianca to think nothing of it in French. "Well, we should get out of here, I am sure you are tired from a full night."
Maggie opened her mouth to say something, but Bianca shot her a look, cutting her off. She finally said, "Yes…and oh, thank you so much for your help with the restaurant! They did a lovely job."
Patrick smiled. "Not a problem! I am glad I could be of help."
Patrick and Guilia gathered up their things and the girls followed them to the door to see them out. The whole way, Guilia was talking to Bianca in French about how to warm up all the meals she had left for them. They all hugged and said their "thank you's" and "good-byes", even Maggie, who did hers with some hesitation, but she did finally hug both of them.
The door closed and the girls stood alone, and quiet, in the entrance hallway, the realization that this was the end of their date creeping into the corners of their minds. They turned to face each other, blushed, shuffled their feet and looked at the floor a lot. Neither of them sure of what to say or do.
"I….I had a really good time." said Bianca.
Maggie smiled a small, barely noticeable grin. "Me too. Thank you for….for agreeing to this."
Bianca blushed. "Of course."
"I….well….wow this is tough…."
"What? Just say it Maggie."
"I….was wondering if….you would like to go out again sometime? You don't have to of course, I mean, if you didn't enjoy yourself or if it wasn't what you were hoping for…"
Bianca cut her off by grabbing her hands into hers. "Maggie, I would love to go out with you again. You just tell me when you are ready and I'll happily be there."
"Ok." Maggie said with a touch of relief in her voice. "So….I guess this is goodnight then."
Both their bodies stiffened at the thought of what that meant. They looked into each other's eyes, yet again, trying to see some sign of what the other wanted to do. Finally, Bianca stepped closer, leaned forward, and placed a very light kiss on Maggie's forehead. She stepped back and looked for a sign of how that sat with Maggie. From what she could tell, she looked relieved. "Thank you for a lovely evening Maggie."
She turned to leave for the living room and Maggie said "And thank you for ending the date there because I had no clue whatsoever of what to do!"
Both girls laughed at Maggie's honest bluntness as they walked off in their separate directions.
This ends "Empowerment", but I will be back soon with "Perceptions". I view BAM getting to the date to have only been one hurdle. Now they must deal with how they perceive themselves and how others do the same. How do you handle living with someone you are romantic with while not really "living with them" and so on. Oh so many questions left to be answered. And time permitting, a little taste of what's happening back in Pine Valley.