I hate waking up in the morning. My dreams are usually much better than my reality. But this morning I was up with the sun. Maybe it had something to do with the beautiful lawyer in my arms.
In the night Joanne had shifted closer, one of her thighs pressed between my legs, and her hand resting just under my shirt on my stomach. Her mouth was open slightly, her breath warm on the side of my face.
My hand was in the middle of her back, underneath her shirt. Her skin was warm.
I started thinking about everything that had happened in the past twelve hours.
Roger and I had been in a fight. I closed my eyes at the memory. Mark and I broke up. I came to Joanne's apartment, cried my heart out, snuggled, told Joanne that I was attracted to her, we kissed, and then fell asleep.
It was all too unbelievable. I ran a hand through her hair to make sure she was really there next to me. She sighed softly and cuddled closer.
The hand under her shirt started to draw random patterns on her back.
I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the Mark situation. What was I going to tell him?
'Sorry, but you just weren't paying enough attention to me.'
Right, because he didn't feel like shit already. And how was he going to react when he found out that I was with Joanne?
Life can be so difficult.
Before I let myself get worked up over the problems I would eventually have to face, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could smell Joanne all around me. It made my heart race.
"That feels really good." Joanne's voice was raw with sleep. I opened my eyes slowly and was greeted with a Joanne smile.
"Happy to be of service." I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
She started to draw on my stomach with her fingers. I squirmed and giggled, begging her to stop.
"So, Maureen's ticklish." Joanne said with a triumphant grin, her hand becoming still again.
"Yes, I am ticklish. It's one of my only weaknesses." I said, smiling at her.
"One of?" She asked, sitting up slightly. I had to laugh.
"Well, I'm extremely ticklish, I love cats, and I have a soft spot for sexy lawyers." She blushed. I love when Joanne blushes. It's the most subtle thing I've ever seen.
"Ug, what time is it?" Joanne asked, trying to change the subject. It was obvious that I made her nervous. I glanced at the clock over her head.
"Eight thirty seven. Do you have to work today?" I didn't want to move. I was to comfortable lying there with her.
"Nope. I just finished a big case so I have the rest of the week off. How about you?" She looked down at me.
"No, I don't." She smiled. "Good." She put her head back on my shoulder.
"We should get up soon." She said after a few minutes. I groaned.
"I don't want to." I closed my eyes, feigning sleep.
"Wake up sleeping beauty." Joanne said, sitting up completely now.
"I can't, sleeping beauty only wakes up after a kiss." It slipped from my mouth before I had the chance to stop it. I opened my eyes, mentally kicking myself in the head.
"Joanne..." The hand on my stomach slid to my waste. I bit my lip.
"Don't do that." Joanne whispered, leaning closer to me.
"Do what?" I slid my hand up her back.
She was moving closer.
"Bite your lip like that. It's too sexy." She looked from my eyes to my lips and then back to my eyes in a fraction of a second.
She was moving to slow. I needed to kiss her. I reached up and threaded my fingers through her hair, pulling her down into a searing kiss. Her body flattened out on top of mine, pressing me into the mattress.
"Morning breath." Joanne whispered when we finally pulled apart.
"Sorry." I blushed.
"Don't worry about it. You need a shower too. You smell like the café." Joanne gave me another small kiss before slipping out of bed.
"Oh thanks." I pouted. She rolled her eyes.
"You know you're adorable. I'm gonna go make breakfast." I sat up and laughed.
"You cook too? The perfect woman." Joanne glanced at me over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.
I got up and made my way to Joanne's bathroom. It was so different from the bathroom in the loft. There were no memories of dead friends, just clean white walls with light green trim that matched the bath matts. Joanne was like a fresh start for me. Everything was new, everything was exciting, everything was unexpected.
I wasn't used to going slow when it came to relationships. I was used to rushing into things head first, damn all the consequences. With Joanne it was different.
When I got out of the shower I pulled my jeans on and slipped back into Joanne's 'Harvard' t-shirt. I made my way into the kitchen, where Joanne was waiting for me.
"You look better." She said as I sat opposite her at the table.
"I feel better." I smiled at her and reached our across the table for her hand.
"Maureen..." She pulled away.
"I'm sorry." I looked down. I was nervous. My stomach was full of butterflies.
"What about Mark?" She was once again the serious , no nonsense lawyer that I fell in love with.
"We're done. We've been done for a long time. He and I are completely over." Our eyes met slowly. She smiled again.
"Good. I don't want to be the other woman." She said with a laugh.
"Don't worry, you're not. You're the only woman." I said with a giggle.
"I made french toast." Joanne said finally, standing and grabbing two plates of french toast.
After we ate, Joanne took a quick shower while I paced her living room trying to decide what I was going to do. I couldn't stay at the loft anymore, that much was obvious. I couldn't stay there with Roger, and I knew Mark wouldn't want to see me. I couldn't stay with Joanne, our relationship was too new.
With a sigh I sat on the couch and grabbed the phone. I dialed the one number that I hated calling.
"Benny, hi. It's Maureen." I rolled my eyes when Benny answered.
"Yes, I left Mark. Which is why I'm calling. I need a place to stay." I started twirling my hair absentmindedly.
"No, I don't expect another apartment rent free. I'll be able to pay. Don't worry about Mark and Roger. You know there's no way they can pay rent."
After a few crude comments about how I could pay the rent, Benny agreed to rent an apartment to me. As I hung up the phone Joanne walked out of the bathroom. She was wearing a pair of dress pants low on her hips and a light purple t-shirt. She looked amazing.
"What's the plan for today?" She asked, sitting next to me on the couch.
"Moving me out of the loft and into my new apartment." I said, turning to look at her. She nodded.
"I can help. Where are you going to stay?" Joanne asked, running her fingers through her hair.
"I called Benny. There's an apartment open in the building. It's the best I could come up with on such short notice." I said with a shrug. She reached across the couch and took my hand.
"You could stay here." Joanne said with a small smile. I tugged on her hand, pulling her closer to me.
"We're taking this slow. I don't want to rush into moving in, because I know if I stay here for a little while, I won't want to leave. So I'll take the apartment." I started rubbing her back.
"Yeah. You have a point." She sounded somewhat disappointed.
"Oh, don't sound so disappointed. You know I'm right." I smirked and she rolled her eyes.
"I should go soon." I said fifteen minutes later. Joanne sighed and sat up.
"I'll go with you. We'll get more done that way." She said, grabbing her purse. I smiled.
"What are you so happy about?" Joanne asked as she slid her jacked on.
"You. Just you." I said, wrapping my arms around her waste. She laughed.
We left the apartment walked to the loft, making small talk.
Joanne amazed me. The second we left the apartment she became Joanne Jefferson, lawyer. She became the logical woman that I had dumped a cup of coffee on months ago.
I suddenly felt so privaleged. Joanne didn't let just anyone see her gentle, vulnerable side. Most of the people that knew Joanne knew her as the responsible lawyer that didn't give a damn about what people thought of her. I knew otherwise. I jumped when I felt her hand slip into mine.
"You okay?" She asked, looking me in the eye.
"Just nervous." I said with a weak smile.
"You don't have to move out." She said softly. The look in her eyes told me otherwise.
"Yeah, I do. I don't think I can ever share a room with Roger again." She nodded her understanding.
"You ready?" We were standing in front of my building. I took a deep breath and nodded, forcing a smile.
"As I'll ever be." She squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.
I don't know why I thought I was always ready for everything. You'd think after everything that had happened over the past few months I would have known that I wasn't ready for anything.