CHAPTER 2

Bea sat in the usual cafe with Maxine, taking a big sip of her coffee to avoid answering any further questions. The delicious bitter liquid warmed her insides, and she sighed gently. She knew she couldn't avoid Maxine's questioning eye forever, but she honestly didn't know what to say. She didn't even think she was gone that long- how did Maxine notice everything? And even if she was gone for a while, she didn't get up to anything unusual. I mean that girl, Allie, she was certainly nice and everything. Cleaned Bea up despite their incident being completely Bea's fault, and she made her laugh quite a lot, but Bea wasn't into girls, not like that, and that's certainly what Maxine seemed to be insinuating.

"C'mon Bea, you can't even look at me. Something must have happened" Maxine questioned, her expression cheeky.

Bea was growing increasingly embarrassed and just as equally frustrated. "I was just at the toilet Maxi… drop it would you".

"You were in the bathroom together?", Maxine chuckled, "sorry hun, but that doesn't exactly help your case".

Bea's confusion was evident in her expression. "What?".

Maxine smiled, "Her name's Allie, yeah?"

Bea's eyes grew wide in shock. "Uhh… I… I um…", she stammered.

"Kaz and I saw you two in the hallway just before you supposedly 'came back from the toilet'", Maxine continued, "and let me tell you, Kaz wasn't happy. You might want to watch out, I reckon she has a thing for her or something. Then again I saw the way Allie looked at you, so I don't think you have a problem", Maxine said matter-of-factly.

Bea bit her lip, completely dumbfounded. She cringed as she felt the heat rising to her cheeks at the mention of Allie's name, and Maxine's grin just grew wider.

"It couldn't hurt Bea, I mean I can't help but notice that things with Harry don't seem to be getting much better, so if you couldn't find someone who-" Maxine started, but was cut off abruptly by Bea.

"I'm not gay", she insisted. And it was true. She'd never been with woman. She'd had a few boyfriends, then Harry came, and that was it. And it was going to stay that way.

Maxine just shook her head.

"The place wasn't big enough anyway, so we won't be looking there again, and I won't be seeing that Allie girl again," Bea defended.

Her voice cracked a little as she mentioned Allie, Maxine picking up on it, smirking and then plastering on a fake sad face. "Aw, poor Bea," she said sarcastically.

Bea couldn't help but feel angry at her friend. "I'm going now anyway", she huffed, "let me know if you find any other premises. I'll see you tomorrow". She hurriedly grabbed her things and began leaving the coffee shop.

"C'mon Bea, I was only joking!" Maxine tried, but Bea kept walking and didn't turn back.

Bea's mind was all over the place when she finally arrived home. The day's events had been nothing short of odd, and she couldn't think straight. She was instantly relieved by the note on the bench, left by Harry, letting her know he was out for the night with his mates. Debbie was at a friend's house, so she could finally get some alone time to relax and reflect.

She walked into the bathroom, deciding to unwind with a warm bubble bath. As she approached the mirror, she examined the scar on her face- it was now tinged with purple bruising, but had decreased in size thanks to the Vitamin E Allie had applied to it earlier. Bea sighed. What was with that girl? Why had she taken such an interest to Bea's wellbeing? And what was she hiding behind those big sparkling eyes…

Bea shook herself from her thoughts. Like she had said to Maxine, she would never see Allie again. Good. Now that she thought about it, the girl was just weird. Yeah, she was weird.

Bea smiled to herself as she ran the bath and began to strip off her clothes, happy with the conclusion that she had come too. She just ran into a weird stranger- that's not that odd, right? Right. She even laughed a little as she pulled off the T-shirt Allie had given her to wear- that was, until, a small piece of paper fluttered out of the chest pocket and landed at her feet. Confused, Bea bent over and picked it up quickly. As she unfolded it, her heart began to beat faster. Scribbled in a neat cursive font, the note read, "0418 306 337- Call me. Allie X".

What was this girl playing at? Was she really interested in Bea like that? As Bea hovered the note over the toilet, ready to flush, she couldn't help but pull back. She wasn't used to that type of attention, Harry sure as hell didn't give it to her. I guess it was kind of nice for a change. But was she crazy? This girl was weird, and they'd barely even spoken. Then again, it couldn't hurt to just call and ask her what her problem was. It's possible she may even just want to mention something about the property- Bea did tell her she was there for business after all. As she slipped into the warmth of the bath and felt her body relax, her fingertips lingered on the her phone…

Allie lay on her bed, scratching at the wall beside her. Kaz had sent her straight to her room- she wasn't happy about her so-called 'inappropriate' relations with a business client. With Bea. A grin formed on Allie's face. That woman was so guarded and defensive, yet Allie could see something so beautiful behind that. She did question her sexuality though- the scar on her face could have been from a simple accident, but Allie recognised the signs all too well and had a feeling Bea may have been beaten by a male, most likely her husband. Sure, Allie may not have made the best choices in her life, but she was smart, and she was observant.

Bea consumed Allie's thoughts for a solid fifteen minutes, but she eventually snapped back to reality when she realised their little incident and Bea and her friend's unimpressed faces when Kaz told her the rent price probably meant Bea wasn't coming back. She'd sneakily dropped her number in Bea's top, but she doubted Bea would ever- her thoughts were cut off by a ringing in her pocket. Allie dug around a little until she finally retrieved her phone, and was surprised to see an unknown number flashing up on the screen.

"Hello?" Allie answered.

"Allie?" A strong voice husked on the other end. Allie's breathing quickened at the sound. Could it be?

"Uhh.. yeah, this is Allie.." she stammered, "who's calling?"

"Hey….It's Bea" the voice whispered. Bea whispered. Allie felt fuzzy inside and took a moment to gather herself.

"Wow, Bea," she replied, "I thought you'd never call."