-Past-
Will: I'll be home after 10 probably, but before 12
Del: Ok.
Will: You should go out with Alex again. That club she took you to with the live music. A whiskey name? Recruit me some talent ;)
Del: Martell. It's not a whiskey
Del: I may go though. Don't wait up if I'm not home.
Will: Okay babe. Love you.
"Your Martini, miss," the young bartender takes Delphine's attention away from her phone. She disregards her husband's last message. He doesn't mean it, why should she respond? She wouldn't mean it either if she were to reciprocate.
"Excuse me, sir. Who is that?" she nods her head toward the stage where a four-person group is setting up. They're all drinking something, all different.
"That is one of our local groups, miss. They play here regularly," he answers mechanically.
"No, that one. There on the side with the computer," she points more directly to a small woman sitting behind a soundboard and laptop, facing her bandmates and away from the bar. The same small woman Delphine noticed the first night Alex brought her to the bar.
"She is a tech staff but also a member of the band. I'm sorry, I don't know her name".
Delphine nods and the man leaves her to her thoughts. Alex took her to the bar two weeks ago, a Friday. But Delphine showed up the next day, and then twice in the following week. It's not until tonight that she finally sees her again. Her cropped top reveals a waist tinted by the various lights coming from her machines. The bar is fairly close to the stage, but still far enough away for details to be obscured.
The girl at the computer reaches behind her into a black bag and pulls out several thin cords. She catches Delphine staring, but Delphine doesn't bother to hide it. It's not until the girl pauses to wave awkwardly that she tears her gaze away at a glacial pace. The next time Delphine dares to glance over, the girl is turned back around with headphones over her ears.
Present
"Madi, you see that?" Cosima whisper-yells to the drummer.
"Uh, some dude is hitting on your crush. So what? She's hot," Madi disregards the scene.
"No, wait," Cosima elbows her and they both crouch down to move their largest amp off the stage. This job is usually reserved for one of the boys, but they're both helping setup for amateur night. "Look at what happens. This is, like, the third or fourth guy to come up to her tonight".
"Yeah, last Friday of the month. It's always busier. I don't see your point".
"Madi, you shit head, just watch," Cosima holds onto Madi's wrist to keep her in place while they observe, kneeling on either side of the amp offstage.
The man smiles sweetly and nods toward the shelf of liquor behind the bar, presumably offering to buy her a drink. Neither Madi nor Cosima can hear the conversation, but they both recognize the signs of rejection. And if it wasn't already clear, she holds her hand up to show him the ring representing her unavailability. His head hangs for a moment with a defeated smile, but he soon shrugs it off and leaves to find someone else to pick up.
"See?" Cosima lets go of her friend's wrist. "Same exact thing happened with the other guys".
"And?" Madi shoves the remaining loose cords off the side of the stage into a pile on the floor.
"She's never done that with me. She only mentioned her husband because we were talking about money and he's loaded or something. And she's fine with the idea of me buying her a drink as far as I can tell". Cosima sits on the back side of the stage while Madi searches for a lighter.
"Cosima, you're just asking for trouble. You can't have her and that's the only reason you want her. She's married to a man. She's straight, so when you hit on her, it doesn't really mean as much. Just leave her alone," Madi sighs and rolls her eyes when she finds the lighter in her pocket. Cosima doesn't argue, but she also doesn't move when Madi heads to the back door.
The drummer shrugs at the door, but Cosima shrugs at the perplexing woman at the bar, "I'm gonna…"
"Are you serious? You do know the reason I'm going outside, right?"
Cosima hops off the stage and starts backing toward the bar. "All yours tonight, Madeline".
"Cosima. Married. Straight," she scowls
"Can't I be friendly? Two people having a platonic conversation over a drink?" Cosima suggests innocently.
"Not when you want in her pants, Cos," Madi shrugs and opens the back door.
"Shouldn't be a problem, then. She's wearing a dress," Cosima shouts and Madi rolls her eyes dramatically before slipping outside. When Cosima turns around to make her way to the bar, she finds the woman looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Shit," she mumbles under her breath.
"I was starting to think you wouldn't come sit with me tonight," the blonde greets when Cosima takes her usual seat on the left. "What took you so long?"
"Oh, uh, my friends initiated a new rule. I can't come over here until I've at least finished clearing my shit off the stage".
"I thought you were paying that other gentleman to do it for you," Delphine complains without even a slight turn of her head or glimpse at Cosima.
"Yeah, well, I can spare a couple hundred bucks for one night, but I don't make enough to keep that up weekly". The blonde nods for a moment, and then reaches into her bra to pull out a wad of cash. She hands the whole thing to Cosima, what looks like over a thousand dollars. "Uh, no thanks," Cosima chuckles awkwardly, buzzed just by the warmth of the bills. "Are you really that eager for my company?"
"Hm," the woman ignores Cosima's attempts to hand the money back. "It does look that way, doesn't it?"
"And uh," she tries very carefully to tuck the cash back into its original pocket without touching the woman. "How does your husband feel about this?"
"Your boyfriend taking bribes to clean up after you? I doubt he'd care much".
"No, handing out wads of cash so that a stranger can spend more time with you," Cosima corrects. "And Jack isn't my boyfriend".
"Oh, good," she responds nonchalantly.
"Good he's not my boyfriend?"
Delphine hums lightly and nods her head, "Maybe I'm interested," she states boldly. "In Jack, that is".
"Ah," Cosima chuckles, dumbstruck again. "Then would you let him buy you a drink, unlike all the other guys you shot down tonight?"
"Not likely," she takes a sip of her drink to hide the growing smile. She doesn't know what makes her feel so flirty around Cosima. She's typically reserved and purposefully snobbish.
"No? You'd let me buy you drinks, though?"
"You haven't bought me one yet," Delphine glimpses fleetingly at her company.
"It's not my fault you keep paying before I get the chance," Cosima defends, her own smile peeking through. Delphine shrugs lightly. "But you'd still allow me to buy you a drink, right?"
"When and if you ever get around to it, yes," she confirms.
"But it's not likely you'd let Jack buy you a drink, and obviously none of the men who offered during the show…" Cosima prompts, but the woman doesn't say anything. "I thought you liked free drinks?"
"If they're from you, I do," Delphine takes another sip of her martini.
"I must say," Cosima squints and turns toward the woman. "You're not building a strong case for your interest in Jack. Are you sure it's not yours truly that you're interested in?" she asks shamelessly in an attempt to throw the blonde off.
"Why? Are you interested in me?" she deflects right away, knowing she can't answer the question.
"Of course not," Cosima lies, imitating Delphine's typical position and turning toward the bar to face the shelves of glass bottles. "Just being friendly".
Delphine chuckles and shakes her head, just as she did the last two times Cosima tried to fool her. "You know, I think I like when you lie to me".
"I don't know why you think I'm–"
"So, what were you and your friend talking about when you told her I was wearing a dress?" Delphine interrupts.
"Oh, that. Um, you don't want to know," Cosima squirms in her seat. "It sounded worse than it was, but if I explain it, it'll still sound bad".
"You're not going to tell me?" She hears the slightest bit of genuine disbelief in her voice.
"Nope," Cosima smiles happily when she sees the tables turned for a change – barely. "How do you even know I was talking about you? There are plenty of pretty women here in dresses".
Delphine bites her lip and smiles at her drink. She shakes her head and then nods to the bartender. "Old Fashioned, please," she requests softly. The older woman nods and looks between Delphine and Cosima a moment before starting her task.
"I have a question," Cosima asks once the drink is handed to Delphine and Delphine slides it towards her. "Why did you choose this drink for me?"
"You always order an Old Fashioned".
"And how would you know that?" Cosima takes a sip and glares at the blonde.
"I just pay attention," Delphine shrugs.
"Okay. What does Jack drink?" she challenges.
"No idea," Delphine shakes her head, finishing the last of her martini.
"So, you only pay attention to me. Why?"
"Hmm, I like paying attention to you," she answers honestly. Cosima chuckles at her audacity.
"It doesn't really feel that way".
"How?" Delphine glances at her while she answers but doesn't fully turn her head.
"You almost never look at me when we're talking. You just smile ominously at whatever is in front of you".
Delphine smiles ominously at the bar in front of her, shakes her head, and puts another twenty dollars next to her empty glass. "I guess you'll have to start making sure you are what's in front of me".
Cosima scoffs in disbelief as the blonde slips out of her seat. "Oh, wait," she touches Delphine's arm before she gets too far. "I can't let you leave here a third time without getting your name".
Delphine's teeth appear again to hold down the eager smile. She looks back at Cosima a moment, then to the fingertips still touching her arm. "Well, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that to stop me from leaving," she says, slowly starting to walk away.
Cosima chuckles to herself and reaches further to grab onto the woman's forearm. "Hey," she practically shouts, pulling the blonde back toward her, who willingly allows her to. She doesn't stop approaching until she's directly in front of Cosima. "Tell me your name. Please".
"Delphine," she answers in almost a whisper.
"Delphine," Cosima repeats and then offers her hand to shake. "Well, it's nice to meet you Delphine. Will I see you next week?"
"If I don't have to wait an eternity for you to finish your chores," she accepts Cosima's hand gently.
"I get the feeling you'd wait all night for me".
"I wouldn't be so sure," Delphine lets their hands fall and then turns to leave. Cosima watches her the whole way, drinking her beverage.
"Did you, uh, get a name from that very platonic conversation?" Madi asks, sitting next to Cosima at the bar.
"Delphine".
"Delphine," William calls in a slur when he hears her enter the house. "Delphine, c'mere".
Delphine looks up the staircase, identifying the voice as coming from the bedroom. She sighs and makes her way up. When she turns the corner to their door, she sees him sitting on the side of the bed, shirtless and drunk. "What is it?"
"You've been gone for so long," he stumbles to his feet and steadies himself by grasping onto Delphine's waist. He's a very affectionate drunk, which Delphine has always been surprised by.
"It's barely past eleven. How did you get this drunk and still make it home?" Delphine guides him to the bed and pushes his shoulders. He flops limply on his back and closes his eyes.
"I was just buzzed when I drove…drank a little more when we got here," the man barely finishes his answer before falling asleep. Delphine caught the mistake in his explanation, though. When we got here.
She stares at her husband for a second longer before scoffing and moving to her closet. She kicks her shoes somewhere on the floor and changes into pajama shorts and a tank top. Glancing at the drunkard one last time, she passes the bed and exits toward the living room downstairs.
From the stairs, a mild mess around the couch is visible. Betrayal and anger have ceased to exist while clearing half-empty glasses from the coffee table, picking up ties and white-collar shirts, and even having to put on a coat to bring some woman's clothing item to their dumpster. Tonight, it's a black thong.
Delphine leaves a note on the coffee table after tidying minimally asking the housekeeper to sanitize the couch.