I had waited until 10 to text JJ my number, remembering her comment about her professor, Rossi. Mr. or Mrs. Rossi? I wondered, when clearly, it made no difference. Before my imagination could run wild, my phone buzzed, and I was sure my heart was beating faster than just a few seconds ago when I picked it up with an unsteady hand.

"Class just finished, will arrive in 25 minutes. Will you be there?"

I looked at JJ's text and then at her profile picture, which showed JJ with an older brunette. A pang of jealousy jolted through my body, but it dissipated quickly when I saw the woman's eyes. Those were JJ's eyes. I relaxed into the couch, and started typing my answer.

"Going to my place to shower and change, pick you up at 12.30?"

"Sounds good. Can't wait :-)" was her reply.

After I answered with the wink face emoji (I wanted very much to come off as breezy, but really I was starting to feel a bit anxious), I got up, gathered my belongings and quietly exited JJ's and Penelope's apartment.

Out on the streets, the chilly January wind hit me like a wall of ice bricks, and my heart sank into my shoes. I shuddered and buried myself deeply into my coat. Oh God, what had I done? The twinges of jealousy and nervousness I had experienced earlier were a bad sign. It was too late to back off now, or was it?

"Relax, it's just food and talking, nothing to be afraid of, and nothing that could be detrimental to your health... Except if you order shellfish, you're allergic to those."

"Why are you suddenly on my side?"

"I'm not, but you already agreed and the only thing worse than the date itself would be a last-minute cancellation."

I was so deep in my thoughts I had overlooked the puddles of melting snow, and I uttered a loud curse when icy water filled my high heels. An old lady with a walker hissed something along the lines of youth being depraved these days, and how it was the fault of an all too lenient generation of parents that hadn't taught their rotten offspring any manners. Next thing, she will probably say a good old spanking never hurt anyone, I thought. I resisted the urge to talk back to the elderly woman and let her be bitter, but her words kind of stung. The only parent I had didn't talk to me any more, and to say Elizabeth Prentiss had been lenient with me was only true if you were trying to be ironic.

I banned the ambassador from my mind and crossed another street. A loud honking noise made me flinch, and I send an angry glare towards the driver, who had stopped his car at mere inches from my numbed feet. I bit back a snarky remark about his driving inabilities, the words of the old woman still echoing in my ears.

Once I was standing before my apartment building, the scent of freshly baked pastries filled my nostrils, and I decided to spoil myself and to buy something to share with JJ later as a dessert. I was a regular costumer at the small bakery, but not many people knew I had a sweet tooth. Most thought I was a caffeine junkie and a vegetarian, which was only partly true. I left the bakery in a far better mood than before, even humming a little as I took the last few steps towards my flat.

Back at my apartment, I was greeted with a loud and reproachful 'meow'.

"Sergio!" How could I have forgotten about him? I had bought an automatic feeder, a water fountain, two litter boxes and dozens of toys for him, but he missed his cuddles and head-bumps whenever I was gone. Or at least I told myself that he did. He started his purr machine and rubbed himself against my legs in his usual cat-fashioned way, but recoiled when I gave him a gentle nudge on his little black nose.

"I missed you too, my tiny house panther", I assured him and watched him sniff my clothes.

"That's JJ", I introduced him to the unfamiliar scent. "I'm going on a date today with her, will you survive on your own for a little longer? I'll buy your favourite treats and you're allowed on my bed tonight as a compensation."

Sergio meowed in agreement, and I petted him between his ears, which prompted him to blissfully close his eyes and to purr even louder.

I placed my soaked shoes and socks in front of the radiator and crawled under the blanket on my couch. Sergio joined me soon after, his purring being the only sound as tiredness overwhelmed me and my limbs started to feel heavy.

'Meow!'

I groaned. "You're right, buddy, I can't sleep now. There's somewhere I need to be in..." I looked at my watch. "Oh, shoot. I have 45 minutes to get ready, Sergio. How will I accomplish that?"

'Meow?'

"I have to shower, pick out some nice clothes, put on some make-up..." I complained to him, but the feline remained unfazed by my mild panic attack, and started to groom himself.

"It couldn't hurt to shave my legs either, don't you think?" Sergio froze in the midst of licking his paw. His pupils dilated, while his ears twitched in alertness, and he made those cute chirping noises cats make when a potential prey catches their attention. He took a big leap over my head over to the window. I followed him with my gaze. A pigeon had landed on my balcony table, and Sergio was fascinated by it.

"Traitor", I mumbled, not sure what I was accusing him of. How could he know how agonising life could be when you were trying to balance a new job in another country, having no friends, and meeting a beautiful girl who you were going on a date with, but who most surely couldn't have?

Half an hour later, I was showered and clothed. I went for a cream colored silk blouse and a pair of tight black jeans, and applied some subtle, natural looking make-up. My heels were still wet, so I combined the outfit with my black ankle boots.

"What do you think, Sergio, hair up or down?" I asked my furry flatmate, while I pinned my hair up and admired the result in the mirror.

'Meow!'

"You're right, it looks good this way", I agreed with him. A nervous chuckle left my lips.

"All right, time to go..."

I was a nervous wreck, and Pen wasn't exactly helping my case.

"Okay, sugarplum, let's talk Dating a Lesbian/Bisexual Chick 101", she said with far more enthusiasm I was feeling.

"Pen, it's just a casual encounter, and she knows I've never been on a date with a girl", I groaned.

"Nonsense", Penelope disagreed. "My sweet and innocent JJ, I cannot let you waltz into the lion's den unprepared!", she exclaimed with feigned indignation. "Plus, I happen to be an expert, and I only share my wisdom with people I love."

"Penny..." I pleaded. "I don't want to overthink this, what I need now is to calm down, I need your magic hands."

"Your wish is my command", Pen said and stood behind my chair. Some muffled moans escaped my mouth once she started to massage my neck and upper shoulder.

"Easy there, princess, save those delightful sounds for later", she joked, but I didn't find it the slightest bit amusing.

"Penelope Garcia!"

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. From now on, I'm going to support you one hundred percent. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

I tilted my head backwards to look at Pen. "Actually, there is", I said with a quiver. "When did you know you were attracted to girls as well as boys?"

"Oh, that question's as old as time. I'm afraid I won't be of much help there, sweet cheeks. I never had doubts about this, I simply knew that my love and affection wasn't limited to either gender, and I was about 12 when I first kissed a boy... and a girl, later that same day."

"It's just, I've never thought of women that way, until..."

"Until you met this Emily gal."

"Yeah. I mean, I don't know if it is what I think it is, but when she was here yesterday, I had the impression she wanted to kiss me, and I had this tingling sensation in my stomach, and when she didn't kiss me, I was disappointed."

"Sounds promising, honey. Hey JJ, can I ask you something?" I nodded. "Why did you want her to take you out on a date? I mean... do you see yourself dating her if you two get a little friendly today, or do you just want to... Well how do I phrase this carefully? Uhm..."

"You mean, am I just using her to see if I might be gay, or bi?" Penelope squeaked and gave me a tight hug from behind. "I'm sorry, sugarplum, but I have to be sure you're doing this for the right reasons! It sounds like this Emily person has a crush on you, seeing as she obviously thought you were inviting her into our apartment to, you know, cuddle."

"You really think so?" I barely whispered, and I was glad I was still sitting down, because suddenly, my legs felt like pudding. "I'm so not ready for this", I whined. Pen patted my back and said "I know, my lovely, I know. But it will be fine, you'll see. And the minute she tries to pull something , you text me, okay? I'll come rushing to your rescue!"

Penelope's last sentence made me smile. "I'm glad you picked me as your room-mate", I told her with warmth in my voice, and then I reached for her hands and squeezed them firmly. She smiled as well and planted two soft kisses on my knuckles. "The honour is all mine, sugarplum."

Question: Do you want to read about their date from Emily's or JJ's point of view? I was thinking JJ's POV might be more interesting, since this is all very new to her, but let me know what you think.