Joanne wondered how the girl sitting across from her could not hear her heart. It was pounding so loud that Joanne could hardly think.
"I'm Maureen." The other girl smiled and said. "I'm sorry if I ruined your plans." She put out her hand and Joanne took it in her own, the handshake lingering longer than customary. Maureen's hand left their entanglement first as she leaned forward resting her elbows on the table and her head on her hands. "So what's you name?"
"Joanne." She replied.
"Joanne," Maureen repeated noticing how the letters played off her tongue and teeth. She imagined how the name would sound being moaned and smiled. "So Joanne, are you always this quiet?"
"Well, no." Joanne admitted. She wondered what had made Maureen smile a moment ago and if it had anything to do with her name. A name she really hadn't cared for until she heard Maureen say it. Aimee had always called her Joey, only saving Joanne for when she was upset. Aimee….
"There you go again." Maureen commented at Joanne's lapse into silence. "A club isn't really a great place to have deep thoughts."
"I'm sorry, Maureen, really. I usually am much better than this. I usually speak whole sentences, even compound sentences sometimes. I can even be funny. It's just….I haven't done this in a while." Joanne mirrored Maureen's actions resting her head on her hands.
"What? Sat and talked to a beautiful girl?" Maureen asked fishing for a well deserved compliment. She decided then and there that her project for the night would be to make this girl smile.
Frankly, Maureen had been ready to leave the club when she spotted Joanne. The whole scene had gotten boring. Any girl in this club she might have wanted she could have gotten easily (and had probably many times before), except for that one girl that had sat at her table all alone oblivious to everything around her, until her eyes had connected with Maureen's. The glance sent tingles down her spine and gave her a reason to stay.
"The dating thing," Joanne replied. "Looks like I'm not the only one having deep thoughts." She commented. Joanne desperately wished she could know what was going through Maureen's mind.
"This isn't dating Joanne, so don't worry. This is conversation, which usually is followed by drinks and dancing. Dating follows if you're lucky." Maureen replied then winked. A sudden wave of uncomfortableness swept through Maureen. This wouldn't be a one night stand. The idea of any sort of long term thing mad her antsy, always had, being tied down to one person just never had been her style. She felt uncomfortable again as she looked across the table and thought 'Maybe I wouldn't mind being tied down'.
"Okay Maureen, It's my turn to ask you a question. Do you work?"
"Well, kind of. I protest."
"A professional protester. What exactly do you protest?" Joanne asked intrigued. Of course, Maureen would have an exciting profession. Everything about Maureen seemed exciting compared to how boring and blasé Joanne felt.
"Well… the president, AIDS, anything that really pisses me off." Maureen listed as she counted the topics off on her fingers. "What do you do?"
"I generally make people's lives a living hell." Joanne quipped. Maureen responded with a slightly confused look. "I'm a lawyer." She explained.
"Mommy and Daddy must be proud, having a smart and beautiful girl like you." Joanne felt herself blush.
"Mostly," she admitted. "They always wished I would have gone to their alma mater though."
"Where did you go?" Maureen asked. Joanne noticed that Maureen's hands were now resting on the table, only inches from her own.
"Yale, but they had both gone to Harvard." She hated saying that. Saying she went to Yale always made her feel pretentious.
"Your family never does anything small, do they?" Maureen teased.
"I'm not rich." The words escaped Joanne's mouth before she had a chance to process them. She just didn't want Maureen to be scared away.
"Huh?" Maureen asked thoroughly confused.
"It's just, the whole Yale thing. I'm not rich. My parents have money, but I got a scholarship there. I have a fund set up in case I really need it, but I live in an apartment not far from here. I just didn't want you to think I was stuck up." Joanne sighed and gave a self effacing smile. "I'm sorry. I have issues."
"It's okay." Maureen answered. "You don't seem stuck up, and I'm not after your money."
"Good," Joanne replied. "'Cause I don't have much." Her ramble had gotten a load off of her chest.
Maureen looked at this girl sitting across from her. Deep brown eyes, an amazing body, hair that honestly she just wanted to pull in a way that would lead to more intimate things, smart as hell, yet Maureen could tell that Joanne was intimidated by her. Little things like the way she bit her lip or looked down if she was afraid she had said the wrong thing gave her away. 'I honestly couldn't care less if she had money' Maureen thought to herself.
"Do your parents know about you?" Maureen asked her hand grazed Joanne's as she reached for Joanne's drink.
"What about me? That I'm gay?" Joanne replied. Maureen nodded in reply sipping the drink. "Well, my first sexual encounter with a girl my parents happened to walk in on….so the answer is very much yes. You?"
"They aren't around enough to care. In high school though, they knew about my boyfriends and girlfriends."
"So…you aren't gay?" Joanne asked cautiously.
"I like people. What there hardware consists of really doesn't matter a whole lot to me." Maureen replied. She moved to rest her arm on Joanne's. "And believe me, you're 'people'." Maureen watched as Joanne did that irresistible little glance down thing she always did. Maureen nodded in the direction of the bar. "It looks like your friend is having a good night too." Joanne followed her gaze to where Tara was talking with the bartender. "I'm gonna go grab a drink. You want?" Maureen offered.
"I think I'm good." Joanne replied eyeing her drink. "Another one and I won't be responsible for my actions." She smiled at Maureen. Joanne felt good, more like her old self. This was the first time she had openly flirted since Aimee had left.
"That sounds like reason enough for another round." Maureen replied. She grabbed Joanne's now empty glass. Joanne felt Maureen's breath tickle her ear as she heard her whisper. "I'll be right back."
Tingles….No, Joanne decided. A tingle was not strong enough of a word to express what was surging through her body at that moment. Every single movement Joanne made left Joanne's body humming, sending the right messages to the right parts of her body.
'Wait.' Joanne's mind tried to rationalize. 'You just met her. You just got out of a serious relationship. You just had your heart broken. This is bad; this will lead to more pain and heartbreak. You must not do anything you will regret.' Another part within Joanne that she was fairly certain was not her brain responded with 'Forget Regret. Have you seen her in this mini-skirt?' Joanne knew she had been in love with Aimee. She never questioned that. However, she knew that Aimee had never left her body humming after just a conversation. Was this maybe her body's way of saying it missed the touch of another human?
"I leave for a minute, and you start thinking again." Maureen said grinning, setting a drink in front of Joanne and a matching glass in front of herself. "I talked to Tara. She said she loves you, and that she would call you tomorrow. I promised her I would get you home safe." Maureen contemplated sitting back down in the chair before finally holding her hand out to Joanne.
"Let's dance."