Hey there, I'm back with more. Thanks for the reviews.
Enjoy,
So ;)
ps: Immi thank you for the help, you rock as always :)
Act 16: Catherine
My heart skips a beat at the chime of the doorbell. I take a deep breath to steady myself, a smile splits my lips when I open the door. "Hey," I greet Sara.
She mirrors my expression "Hey," she echoes softly. "I thought about you when I saw these," she offers me a bouquet. "I know flowers have a meaning but to be honest I don't speak flower language, all I know is that they're carnations and camellias and I really hope they don't mean 'I hate your guts' or something equally unpleasant," she says nervously.
"They're gorgeous, that's all I need to know," I reassure her taking the tasteful assortment of blue, red and purple flowers, she blushes slightly as she smiles. I take her vest and tell her to make herself at home while I go find a vase for her flowers.
I invited her for dinner over at my place; I wanted something cosy instead of going out somewhere fancy so we're both dressed casually for the evening.
Tonight may also be our first date, providing that we get through it. Someone, somewhere in the universe seems to have a great deal of fun making our journey an obstacle course. We have hung around together a lot, but whenever we were on our own all it took was six minutes for something to come up cutting our time short.
I figured that I'd put the chances on our side by doing something simple, not even labelling it as a date. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"I wouldn't mind a beer."
I dry my hands, take a last look at the oven before joining her in the living room with two beers. "I don't know what you're cooking but it sure smells wonderful. Thanks," she states taking the beer from me.
"Hopefully it'll taste just as good."
We both sit down on the couch, clink our bottle together before taking a gulp. "I never got around thanking you properly for the other week-end," I start.
Two weeks ago I was really sick, and when I was coherent again I was surprised to find Sara by my side. Most of the week-end is blurry, I remember the Sunday most but Lindsey and Nancy told me that I was pampered by Sara. Not only that, she took care of Lindsey as well. She didn't have to either, and I know she had other plans, yet she was with me. "I'm really grateful that you took care of Lindsey, and of course me."
"It was nothing," she shrugs it off.
"Sure it was, even more so since you miss your weekend with the boys; I know you guys had been planning your thing for months."
"Don't worry about that, there will definitely be a next time. Besides, I had more import things to do," she winks at me. "And I had a great time, you don't know how long I had waited for that Harry Potter marathon."
"Figures Lindsey wasn't the one who suggested it," I laugh softly. "Well, no matter what you say, thank you. I'm seldom sick but when it happens I'm a handful… according to Nancy anyway."
"Be as it may, you make up good conversations when feverish."
"Do I want to know?" I wince with humour.
"Well, you talked a lot about Greg and bunnies, then Greg was a bunny; speaking of that obsession of yours, it's wavering between outright kinky and extremely adorable," she chuckles.
I hang my head and bury it in my hand. "Oh my…" I grunt.
She looks upward pensively. "Then you were concerned about your lost penguin, your pig bus, a murderous carrot leaving mud prints everywhere and I'm pretty sure you mentioned a unicorn at some point," she marks a pause. "Yeah, I think that was it."
"That's not embarrassing… at all," I blush furiously.
"It was fun," she reassures me.
"Oh I bet," I snicker. I take a sip out of my beer briefly whishing that I could crawl into a hole.
"Hey, would you look at that?" she shows me her watch. "We made it past the ten minutes mark and the world is still being good."
"We did!" I beam, but then quickly knock three times on the wood of my coffee table, that makes Sara laugh. "Better be safe," I shrug.
We keep chatting, until the timer of the over calls me back into the kitchen. "It's ready."
I refuse her offer to help and install her at the table which I have dressed especially for the occasion. I put a small plate with the first course in front of her. "Bon appétit," I wish her.
We start eating, easing back into conversation. "Wow, this exquisite, feels like it was melting in my mouth," she says after her first bite.
"Thanks," I take her compliment with pride; I had to make an extra effort to find something suitable for tonight with her being vegetarian and all. "Oh before I forget Lindsey asks me to thank you, because your biology tricks worked wonders, whatever that means."
"Great," she beams.
Our conversation turns to travelling. I thought Sara was nervous because she kept scratching her neck and clearing her throat, but when she starts making a funny face after a bite of her food, I understand that nervousness has nothing to do with it.
"You know, you didn't have to say it's good just to be polite," I'm a little offended.
"It is excellent, I mean it," she clears her throat and makes a face again.
"You're saying something but your face is saying another."
"No, I mean it…" she closes her eyes tightly scratching her neck.
"Sure," I smile sadly, pushing my own plate away. "You really don't have to eat it if you don't like," I say with a hint of irritation.
"Is there eggplant in this by any chance?" she asks with a strangled voice before emitting a weird grunt.
"Yes, a bit," I frown.
She grunts again. "I'm allergic…" she breathes out.
"Oh…" I reply blankly, there's a beat before understanding truly hits me. "Oh dear…" I only notice now that her neck is turning red. "Do I need to take you to the ER, or something?" I ask my irritation instantly turning into concern.
"No… I…" she gags. "I got… an Epipen in my bag…" she puts a hand over her mouth. "In…" she doesn't finish her sentences and just rushes to the bathroom.
I find her backpack and rummage through it then dash to Sara again when I got the pen.
She's kneeling on the floor near the toilet trying to control her gag reflex. "Here."
She takes the pen, gets the cap off and plants it in her thigh and holds it there. The next ten minutes seem like an hour. I'm ready to take her to the ER but she insists on the fact that she's alright.
"I really think we should go," I try again.
"Cath, I'm fine."
I scrutinize her for several seconds, I don't want our night to end there, but I'm really concerned about her health.
"Alright, but if you think we need to go, tell me."
"Sure thing," she grins. "Give my stomach an hour to settle down then we can resume our dinner."
I close my eyes and curse silently when I remember something. "No we can't…" she frowns. "There's eggplant in the three main dishes," I elaborate.
"Yeah, that's going to be tricky," she jokes.
"I don't even have enough to make you an omelette," I berate myself.
"Hey, it's okay."
"No, it's not… It's one thing for works or other stuffs to steal the night away from us it's another for me to be the cause for it."
She grabs my hand, entwining our fingers. "Cath, I don't care if I have a cereal bowl for dinner, what I really care about is to spend time with you," she kisses the back of my hand and smile reassuringly. "If anything I'm sorry that you slaved around the kitchen for me and that I spoiled that."
I'm always surprised at how lay back she is about everything, it doesn't matter if things go awry she always see the good side of it. And she has a way to find the right words when it matters, I'm upset by what just happened but now she makes me feel like it wasn't that big of a deal.
"Besides, something had to happen… unexpected is kind of our trademark by now," she deadpans and I finally relax again with a chuckle.
"How does pizza sound?" I ask getting over my embarrassment, determined to save our night.
"Fantastic," she beams.
"And there's still desert, the famous Willows' mysterious lemon pie."
"Really?" she looks shocked.
"Yep."
"Now I feel super special," she smiles broadly.
"You are." I boldly lean in and give her one of our cheek-then-Eskimo kisses.
The night resumes happily, we slip back in conversation, order pizzas and finally have dinner once she feels a bit better. She makes me laugh to tears, sharing stories about her siblings and her; I return the favour confessing some of my most embarrassing moments. We decide to go back on the couch to wait a bit before dessert, sharing more of our lives.
I must admit that I like that intimacy we're building. I may be a people person but I don't let people completely in that easily and I can count on my hands the number of people with whom I share the degree of intimacy I'm reaching with Sara. The strangest thing in it all is that it all comes easily with Sara; I want to share things with her; and it's not just the good stuff, the other parts too. Another thing is that she makes me feel at ease, with the other people I always feel under pressure to maintain a certain standard, I have to be the perfect girl; it's like constantly playing some role game because that's what's expected of me and if I slip I'm reminded of it because I'm always judged.
With Sara, I can be tired, I can be grumpy, hell I can be so sick that I'd scare my own reflection, it doesn't matter she looks at me with the same kindness and warmth and she's welcoming the flaws; when I try to hide she sees it and does everything to put me at ease again.
When I think about now, it's hard to believe that we've spent so much time arguing with each other; I mean if years ago someone would have told me that I'd get that close to Sara, wanting to get even closer as time goes, I'd have laughed in their faces for days.
"I think I'm ready for that pie of yours," she declares with a glint in her eyes.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" I tease.
"Are you kidding? You've made it, what? Five times since I've known you and everyone keeps boasting about how amazing it is, apparently it is and I quote 'a gastronomic orgasm', and I never got a chance to taste it, not once!" she raises a finger to accentuate her words "And the last time it was a matter of minutes. Trust me, I'm ready to touch the Grail tonight."
I laugh at her eagerness.
"How come you don't do it more often, seeing how successful it is?"
"I want to keep it special," I wink at her. "Well, if you're ready," I stand up and hold my hand out in direction of the table.
She goes back to her chair while I go retrieve the pie from the kitchen. I put slices neatly on small plates then go back to her. She makes a short happy dance at the sight which is quite frankly adorable.
"Alright, so as you know, no one has yet been able to find the secret ingredient."
"Is that a challenge?" she cocks an eyebrow.
"Maybe," I smirk confidently.
"What do I get when I win?"
"When? Surely you meant 'if'," I chortle.
"No. When, is the right word," she replies nonchalantly "I'll eat the whole pie if I have to, but I'll find out," she winks at me. "So?"
I feign considering it.
If she does find out, I'll kiss her, a real kiss.
If she doesn't, I'll kiss her, a real kiss.
There's no room for losers tonight, I chuckle. "I have an idea."
"Let's hear it, then," she bites her bottom lip playfully.
"Nuh-huh, find out, then we'll see."
"You're on," she states with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
I look at her as she takes the first bite. She closes her eye and moans; a shiver runs down my spine giving my whole body an unexpected jolt of pleasure.
"Oh my… they were not kidding, this is amazing," she says in awe before taking some more.
I beam with pride and start my own slice. This pie is one of the few things I never miss. It wins everyone over, every single time.
"Kiwi," Sara's voice makes my head snap.
No way.
"Impossible," I whisper. "How did you… no one ever… it's too subtle to… how," I'm flabbergasted. Some people have tasted it a dozen of times and were still unable to guess. I mean it's a dash of kiwi, so subtle that it's hard to tell it's there. She barely had three bites.
"You're going to laugh…" she clears her throat. "Or not…" she adds with a guttural noise.
Oh, come on…
This has to be a joke, come on!
"Don't tell me you're allergic to kiwi too," I almost beg.
"Fine I won't," she's breathing heavily. "But eizer my tongue iz swellin or my mouss iz shrinkin," she speaks with a heavy lisp.
"Oh crap."
She keeps grunting and racking her throat. "Woo eed do hake me do zee ee are."
An unwilling laugh escapes me. "If ifn't funny."
"I know, I'm sorry," I say pursing my lips with guilt.
"Ow wight if iz," she concedes with a grin of her own. "Hut woo heed doo dake mee doo zee ee are wick gause foon I hont bee abbe woo beeze ad dif ate."
"I have no idea what you've just said but let's hurry to the ER," I wince as I'm quickly looking for my keys. She's about to say something more but I cut her immediately. "Please, stop talking," I beg feeling another inappropriate giggle bubbling at the back of my throat. I really don't mean to be insensitive, and I don't take the matter lightly, but her speech is testing my nerves.
We rush to get into my car, by the time I turn on the ignition she's heaving. I wait for her to be secured in her seat then drive.
I'm driving as fast as I can hoping that there are not too many people on the road.
This is a nightmare; I mean really, what were the odds of me triggering her allergies not once but twice? I should have asked her if she had any other allergy after her first crisis.
"Unt heel doo hood," her voice comes as a moan.
She's breathing like Darth Vador was having an asthma attack. I stop at a red light and turn to her. "Are you…" I do a double take. "Holy crap, your face!" I exclaim with a squeaky voice.
In the five last minutes her face has swollen to the size of a pumpkin; her head is lolling slowly and her breathing comes in strange gargle and her eyes are mere slits into her skin.
"We're almost there," I say hastily as I start driving again, pushing past the speed limit. I curse when I have to stop at another street light.
I can immediately feel that something is off but it takes me a second to realize that it's because the only thing I hear now is the engine of the car.
"Sara?" I call her urgently. "Sara?" I turn to her fully and she's not moving. "Come on this isn't funny," I slap her several times "Hey, stay with me!" I order. I reach for her pulse but can't feel any.
Fuck me.
I don't wait for the light to change and literally put the pedal to the floor, the car roars into life and I steer expertly in between the traffic, all my senses are in alert; I'm swerving violently to avoid unfortunate collision, honking warnings at the cars in front of me. My heart is pumping hard in my chest and I'm praying with all my might that we reach the ER soon.
Red and blue flashes suddenly reflect on my rear view mirror, followed by a siren. I don't stop or slow down but keep my course, the squad car now unknowingly providing me an escort, the sound of the sirens and my honk making the other cars in front of me keeping out of the way.
The tires screech loudly when I come to an abrupt halt in the entrance of the ER and jump out of the car to go on the other side.
"Willows, are you fucking kidding me?! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" shouts a familiar voice. I don't turn around and just try to undo Sara's belt.
"Help me! I think she's not breathing anymore!" I scream back finally getting rid of the belt. Sara's body slides limply to the side; I pull her to me and pass one of her arms around my shoulder trying to hoist her up.
"What… holy molly, what happened?"
"Anaphylactic shock, help me!" I beg with a groan of frustration.
The cop, Fitzgerald – whom I'm familiar with from the job, acts immediately; he comes on the other side of Sara and gathers her in his arms as if she was light as a feather and starts running toward the building. I sprint right behind him.
Because he's a cop he gets immediate attention, he relays the information to the first medic that rushes at his side and seconds later Sara is put down, orders shouted, and they transport her behind double doors. I hold my head in my hands, before pushing the ball of my palms into my eyes.
Fuck!
How much time passes by is a mystery to me, all I know is that I can't hold still, breathing is painful and tears are hard to keep at bay.
I'm praying.
Ardently.
The only time I prayed that fervently, Lindsey was trapped into a sinking car.
"Catherine," I spin around fast enough to make myself dizzy.
The tall figure of Darren comes next to me. "Darren, I came here with Sara no one would tell me anything can you please go and check I need to know how she is," I say in a single breath.
"That's why I'm here."
My heart stop and I'm about to pass out. My hand goes to my mouth when I try to decipher his expression. "Tell me she's okay, please tell me she's okay," I beg with desperation. "Please."
"She's fine," he grins reassuringly.
I let out a cry of relief, breathing properly for the first time in hours. He passes a strong arm around my shoulder and gives me a hug. He doesn't say anything and just waits for me to compose myself again.
"Come on, I'm taking you to her."
He guides me through double doors and corridors until we reach a room. Sara's lying in a bed, her face still swollen but not as much as before.
"She's going to be alright. It's impressive but her face will be normal again soon."
"Are there any…" my voice break. "She stopped breathing…" I try but can't elaborate.
"No she didn't," I look at him in surprise. "Her body took over, she just passed out it relaxed her muscles as much as possible so she could breathe a bit. Another twenty minutes though…" he doesn't finish his sentence but I hear it loud and clear. "What happened?" he asks.
"There was kiwi in the dessert, I didn't know she was allergic."
"You tell her that she should carry an Epipen with her for cases like these."
"She had one… but she had to use it earlier… I didn't know she was allergic to eggplant either."
"Ah… that would explain why her second crisis was so aggressive, her immune system was a bit roughed up tonight," he nods. "Don't worry, those things happens. It was an accident, don't beat yourself up," he tries to appease me. "Lucky her, you were quick to react."
"Hey," Sara croaks before I can respond.
"See? She's alright," Darren smiles.
Darren leaves, and almost two hours later when they are sure that the crisis is over, Sara asked to be discharged – against their advice, her discomfort for the hospital being obvious I don't fight with her, and promise I'll watch over her.
Soon we are back at my place, sitting on the couch again. Sara's breathing deeply, still puffy-faced "You sure know how to show a girl a good time," Sara says with a grin after a long silence, her speech is still a bit impaired by her thick tongue.
"I'm so sorry," I almost cry.
"You should be proud," she says with a slight frown, a smile still playing on her lips.
"For almost killing you?"
"For making this night epic," she beams.
"Did they give you drugs back there?" surely she's high.
"Come on, think about it, short of actually killing me, you'll be forever at the first place in the pantheon of my most unforgettable first dates."
I snort against my will, split between laughing and crying. "That's not funny," I laugh but soon tears fill my eyes.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'd cry too if I could see my face…" she jokes. "There goes my little beauty," she sighs dramatically and I smile through my tears, rolling my eyes.
"You're an idiot."
"Maybe but you're smiling," she says proudly.
"I was very scared," I confess weakly.
"Me too… I was scared I'd never get a chance to collect my winnings."
"Sara, I'm being serious."
"So am I."
"You almost died tonight, all because of me. How can you make light of the situation?" I get a bit frustrated.
"Well, we proved that your skills as a criminal sucked; though your efforts were inventive and commendable you better keep your day job. You can't get rid of me that easily Willows, I'm eggplant and kiwi proofed," she nods firmly. "Now, I'm alive, therefore I can laugh and enjoy things the way I want to," she speaks seriously.
She grabs my hand and mingles our fingers. "I'm fine, so quit the worry face. You couldn't know."
"Since we're on the subject, are there other allergies I should know about?"
"Nope, those are the only ones."
I snort bitterly. "Lucky me."
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," she smirks. "It's not working."
"What are you talking about?"
"I won that challenge. Don't think I'm going to forget about it."
I give in and grin. I don't know for the life of me how she does to laugh about it all. I was scared out of my wits, and I'm still shaken up. She just acts like she had had the best night of her life.
"You did win."
"Uh-huh," she nods with a lazy smile. "And rest assured that your secret is safe with me."
"I don't think I'll ever make that pie again," I wince.
"Oh no, not on my account. It deserves its reputation. And since I've guessed what the secret of it was…"
"My goodness, you are a one track mind," I chuckle.
"Always, when I win a challenge."
I put my free hand delicately on her puffed up face. Realisation hits me, tonight only served to reaffirm what I had started figuring out weeks ago, what I'm not ready to admit out loud; I care about Sara, deeply.
I lean in and give her an Eskimo kiss, there's a second or two of pause then I close the last few inches between us. Finally, our lips meet for the first time. My heart flutters then starts a frantic race pumping energy and something more powerful through my whole being, my head spins like a top and all my nerve endings are firing.
I had imagined this, dreamt about it. Reality is better than fiction. By far.
I've thought about it for such a long time, picturing the perfect moment; the one I imagined wasn't anywhere near the one we're having now but it's all for the best because this moment is much better.
I deepen the kiss, darting my tongue out to taste her lips. There's a tiny moan, from her or from me, not that it matters. I tease her tongue – which moves only a bit – with mine then pull back.
"Numb tongue…" she says sheepishly. "Sorry."
"I'm not," I shake my head, before pressing my lips against hers one more time
I almost lost her for good tonight, so there's no moment more perfect than right now to share this with her; discovering with all the due amazement the thrilling sensations brought to life by the simple touch of her lips.
I pull back and rest my forehead against her, grinning like an idiot and so is she.
"Wow…"
"Yeah," I agree.
We enjoy the proximity for a while, then I suggest going to bed because she needs rest. Once we are changed and lying down she's out almost the minute her head touches the pillow. I spoon her, holding her tightly to me, I don't think I'll get any sleep tonight. I'm too afraid to find out that this was just a dream or worse that I'm still at the ER waiting for news.
Tonight was a reminder that time isn't granted, it's a gift and rather than wait for perfect moments to present themselves at our door we should create them and appreciate what we have at its fullest.
My mind wanders off and I think about some of the things she said. She was right; something had to happen because it's our trademark now. However, the thought that is the strongest at the moment is the realisation that I don't want her to ever have another first date with anybody else. I want this one to be her last.
She is deep under my skin.
Damn it.
Thanks for reading
