Chapter Two: Take Me Home
After a while of watching Jodi work on her art, Bette had become slightly tired. Her job proved to be rather stressful, it in and of itself causing fatigue. Sitting in one place and not moving only added onto the tiredness. Laying herself down on the uncomfortable piece of art she and Jodi had been sitting on before, using her suit jacket as a pillow whilst she continued to watch her lover work her magic upon the metal piece. Bette found that watching her do this seemed to soothe her, calming her down from her day of dealing with disobedient students and a very high-strung and eccentric boss. She smiled softly when she noticed Jodi turn to look at her, allowing all of her thoughts to drift from her mind as their eyes locked.
It was much too early in the creative process to tell, however, Jodi knew exactly what it was she was sculpting. She did not care if it seemed odd, or creepy. Hell, she once had a student sculpt a life size statue of her naked, so this seemed mild in comparison. She thought it would be a beautiful semblance of the truthfulness of her own words from earlier. Jodi turned on her heels to look to her muse, biting her bottom lip.
"You are so gorgeous! I cannot stand it! I love you!" She signed in an outgoing and emphatic manner, clearly happy and full of love.
She went over to Bette and crouched down before kissing her lips deeply, with much passion.
"Someone is tired." She observed with her hands before placing a sheepish kiss on Bette's nose.
Bette signed back her response, closing her eyes afterwards before feeling a presence near her. Opening her eyes to see Jodi crouched down, she smiled brightly. "Mm-hmm, a little."
Reaching out towards the deaf artist, Bette pulled Jodi in for a quick kiss on the lips before using her hands to speak once more. In truth, she absolutely loved knowing sign language. It made her so happy to be able to speak with Jodi so flawlessly. And Jodi loved it too.
"I just need a little coffee, that's all. It is too late for me to sleep now. I have a meeting at four in the morning." She explained to the stubborn blonde, her voice resonating throughout the studio.
Jodi pouted a bit and tilted her head in thought. She wished for Bette to get some rest. She deserved to rest, this is what Jodi honestly believed.
"Hmm, let me think here…" She signed, scratching her chin playfully in thought. "How about you sleep and I will wake you up at about three thirty?"
A majority of her being wished immensely for Bette to agree to this idea. She needed to sleep, did she not?
"You aren't going to take no for an answer, are you?" Bette asked, chuckling softly, not wishing to sleep within this moment.
In truth, she wanted to stay awake and watch Jodi work. She desired to skip her meeting entirely and go home with her lover after she was finished for the night, though that want did not seem plausible. Giving in wasn't an option for one Jodi Lerner, and Bette knew as much. Watching as she did not sign anything, she did something she was most certainly not accustomed to, something that Jodi got her to do constantly. She caved.
"Three-thirty. No later…" The brunette signed adamantly, leaning up and kissing Jodi before allowing herself to drift off into a deep slumber.
Jodi watched Bette as she did exactly what she had wanted to. A brimming smile plastered across her face.
"I win again!" She signed to herself triumphantly.
She was working until about 3:27 when she decided to call it in for a while. Unzipping her green coverall jumpsuit a bit, she walked over to Bette and crouched down to her a second time. Soothingly, she began to run her fingers through her hair, becoming lost in the rhythm of her chest, shoulder, and back moving with each breath she took. That symbiosis was almost mesmerizing in its nature. Jodi would never be able to explain it, nor fully understand it.
"Bette," Jodi whispered after a few more moments, her voice melodious as it vibrated out throughout the room and Bette's ear. "Bette, my muse, wake up."
Bette opened her eyes quickly, jumping slightly upon being woken up. Having not received enough rest within the past few days. Her life had been made increasingly hectic due to Tina and her drama over Angelica. She, quite frankly, was getting tired of the shared custody of her and was trying to get things settled without them being blown up in her face, but Tina was making it impossible. She smiled upon seeing Jodi looking at her.
"Mmm, good morning." Bette signed sleepily before sitting up. "Will you still be here after my meeting?"
She had only asked for she was unsure of what her lover's plans were for the day. Desperately she wished to spend the rest of the day with Jodi. Somehow Jodi seemed to make life so much better, easier for her. She smiled once more before using her hands to speak again.
"I had hoped we would be able to spend the day together." Bette confessed to her colleague, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.
Jodi smiled brightly and nodded happily. She felt this feeling within her heart she could not quite describe. It was like happiness amplified.
"Of course!" She signed enthusiastically, flashing her bright teeth as she smiled.
Three hours had passed after her strenuous and draining meeting over which students got what funding, and Bette was able to tear herself away from work. Sometimes, she truly did hate it, but she loved it as well. Not only did she get to see all of these young artists evolve and explore their full potential, without this job she never would have met Jodi Lerner. For that, she felt indebted to the University of California, and of course Phyllis Kroll. Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked into Jodi's studio, smiling when she came face to face with her lover.
"I am finally done for the day! If they need me, James can handle it." Bette signed emphatically before pulling Jodi into a heated kiss.
The sight of her lover within barely zipped coveralls and a tank top seemingly drove Bette crazy, a sense of madness more than welcomed. Sealing the kiss, Bette smiled to the blonde, unable to help herself as she stroked her cheeks before releasing her.
"How is the piece coming?"
Breathing heavily after the kiss, an exuberant smile plastered across Jodi's face.
"Oh, beautifully, Bette! Thanks to you!" Jodi exclaimed as she signed vehemently with her hands.
She then wrapped herself around her muse in quite possibly the biggest hug she had ever given her. Bette chuckled at the sudden display of affection, not quite sure as to why her lover was so grateful. She herself had done nothing but watched her work, so what had made her role so significant as to deserve such an emphatic hug. Pulling away from the embrace reluctantly, Bette could not help but to smile as she looked into Jodi's gorgeous blue eyes. They were like a semblance of the sea, a beautiful, crisp, and almost completely blue. They were the most mesmerizing orbs she had ever seen.
"Still working?" Bette asked, reaching out and caressing Jodi's cheek after signing.
"Oh, yes, it may take a while…because of all the detail… I need to cut a lot of this metal down." She explains vocally and with her hands, showing her how small she needed some of the pieces before gesturing towards the chunks of metal.
She let out a long sigh, rolling her eyes a bit as she did so. Smiling, she took hold of Bette's hands.
"But, it is worth it. It truly is." She spoke before taking her over to the piece, what she had finished of it anyway.
Jodi could not help but to be curious as to if Bette could decipher what it was yet. She then saw quite a bit of irony in that.
"It's beautiful, though I am not quite sure as to what it is just yet." Bette said as she signed, smiling as she did so.
Allowing herself to be leant up against the scaffold as she watched Jodi move around her art, loving the way she seemed to be so blissfully happy within this moment.
"You are just so very talented…" Bette observed, in complete awe of what her lover could do with what seemed like scrap metal and her imagination.
Jodi set down her metal pieces of which she was grasping onto mindlessly before turning to Bette, a naughty smirk on her face. She took a moment to eye her lover with her own orbs of the most radiant sky blue.
"Oh, sweetie, if you think the art is good, you should wait around for the after show, if you know what I mean." Jodi jokingly signed with a wink, feeling rather cheeky in that moment.
She walked towards Bette a bit and looked up at her with a devilish grin and her hands on her hips, briefly.
"We all know just how talented I can be in the department, now don't we?" She added, narrowing her eyes at Bette as she tried to resist laughing.
"You are teasing…" Bette warned as she signed in reply, biting her bottom lip afterwards in an attempt to not chuckle at her lover's words.
Bette then took it upon herself to pull Jodi into her, pressing their lips together for a moment. Moaning into the kiss before sealing it, she then backed away before taking a seat. Ready to watch her lover work her magic with the metal piece.
"Don't mind me…" Bette signed, now laughing uncontrollably as she looked at her lover's facial expression.
Jodi, meanwhile, could not help but to cock her head to the side as if to say "come on, now" and chuckled lightheartedly.
"Bette, I will mind you all I want to. I love you! I cannot get enough of you!" She signed somewhat quickly before repeating the signs for I love you.
She sauntered back over to her project and looked over at Bette's eyes, smiling softly before turning back to the sculpture. She began cutting a thin and long piece of metal into one inch pieces, making sure to place them aside securely so as to not make a mess of them or lose any of them. Bette watched her lover work, picking at her nail polish every few moments before returning her gaze to the work of art before her. Finding it utterly amazing how her lover could create such elaborate art pieces with such ease. Something about it just mystified her on many different levels of complexity.
After about half an hour later, the artist was smeared in oil and various other materials, somewhat frustrated by herself and the saw she had been using to splice the metallic pieces. Letting out a groan, she rubbed her nose and forehead, unknowingly getting a little bit of that same grease on her face. Jodi looked over to Bette and sighed almost defeatedly.
"This is not working." Jodi said with a bit of a pout, signing it too. "I need a break."
She hated working on pieces for too long at a time sometimes. It often induced frustration, which she did not enjoy, especially around Bette. She never wanted Bette to see her angry like that, and at times it got bad. Jodi shuttered as she remembered the fight she got into with Amy, in front of Bette. She felt like crying afterwards, she had been so angry. No one ever said that about her and the dean before and it angered her to such a degree that it worried herself. Bette could not help but to purse her lips a bit. She too hated it when Jodi got upset with her work.
"Mm-hmm, come here…" Bette signed, standing to her feet.
She watched as Jodi made her way over to her and she too closed the gap between them. The University of California Dean of the Arts the wrapped her arms around Jodi before placing a kiss upon her lips tenderly. Pulling away slowly, Bette smiled.
"Maybe you need a little…quality time with your muse? A break could not hurt, could it?" Bette added, smirking slightly before pulling a very frustrated Jodi into her.
Jodi rested her head on Bette and nodded against her, loving how kind and supportive she was during her creative frustration phases in which she would find herself in. She did not like herself when she was in these places, but Bette seemed to help make it so much better.
"No, it wouldn't hurt." She murmured, seeming to relax instantaneously as she felt Bette's hands go to her back. "Bette… I love you."
Jodi herself could not believe how much raw truth and emotion had been behind her words. Bette smiled, holding her lover closely before pulling back for a moment, lifting up Jodi's chin with her right hand.
"I love you, too, so much." Bette spoke softly, looking into her lover's eyes as she did so before bringing their lips together in a tender kiss. Jodi kissed her back, unable to keep herself from doing so. After a while, however, she reluctantly ceased the kiss and pulled back, getting herself forever lost in those intoxicating brown eyes yet again.
"I am glad…we are much farther, much better…than we used to be." She pointed out, much more than happy now that they were official and telling each other I love you more and more these days. "Shall we go to your place? Or, perhaps maybe mine?"
"I do love you…" Bette added before placing a kiss upon Jodi's cheek. "Mm, my place?"
Bette only questioned this for in truth she found Jodi's home to be inviting yet not entirely safe to walk around barefoot. With the art she tended to make at home as well as at the university, safety hazards surrounded Jodi. How she had not managed to hurt herself, Bette could not fathom. Bette smiled, looking into Jodi's eyes as she awaited an answer. Jodi let out a breath of a laugh as she shook her head, rolling her eyes. She knew why she had chosen her own home over hers. The young artist draped her arms around Bette's neck and chuckled.
"One day I am going to have to drag you over to my place." She said verbally, seeming rather adamant in her stating this. "I can carry you if I have to."
She poked her teasingly in the stomach before humming contently and nuzzling into her. Bette chuckled unable to help herself as she looked into Jodi's eyes.
"Would you…prefer you home over mine?" Bette asked, truly not wishing to seem as uptight as she had been when they first started their relationship.
She had not liked how rigid and cold she had been during that time, wanting so much to more open and fee with things such as this. She shuddered inwardly at the memory of the dinner party she had thrown for Jodi and the fight they had gotten into. Bette was trying so hard to break the terrible habit of being a control freak. Jodi had been right about her, then, too. And she never wanted to be that way again. She even let Jodi interpret for her when she went to meet the blonde artist's friends. Bette snapped out of her memories when she noticed Jodi gently shaking her head and smiled.
"Sweetheart, no, it is alright. Please, don't get this confused. I love your home, more than my own, in fact." Jodi said softly, signing it too.
She noticed the look of worry and guilt splashing across her face like graffiti on the walls of a New York inner city. Getting an abrupt idea, Jodi pushed herself up just a bit before rubbing her nose against Bette's. Pulling back, she smiled reassuringly.
"Did you just get grease all over me?" Bette asked in a playfully angry tone, chucking softly as she signed.
She found her lover's antics to not only be a source of comic relief, but quite soothing as well.
"Maybe…" She signed, snickering menacingly as she did so.
Bette shook her head and grabbed a clean towel from a stack a few feet away, attempting to rid herself of the smudge. Jodi rolled her eyes as she saw this. That woman really did not like being dirty.
"When would you like to leave?" She asked as she put the towel down, unsure if Jodi was finished for the day or just wished to have a short break.
Jodi giggled when she noticed she did not get all of the grease and pulled on her coverall sleeve before reaching up to gently wipe away the remaining smudge. A soft smile came to her face, unable to help it.
"Now, please…if we can." She added with her hands, shrugging her coveralls back onto her shoulders, zipping it up before leaning up and kissing Bette tenderly, cupping her by the back of her neck as she did so.
Bette returned Jodi's kiss, smiling after sealing it.
"Of course we can go now. Shall we?" Bette replied, caressing Jodi's cheek.
After gaining the answer that she oh so desired, Bette led Jodi out of her art studio and to her car.
A/N: I just had to throw this little Author's Note in here telling any of you who may be reading this, that I thank you so much for still having faith in my work, though I have not been able to write as much I as used to in the past. I am making it appoint to get back into that, and I do not care any longer. I cannot allow this sort of behavior to continue on. I must keep on writing, no matter what or who or why… So, do not worry I am setting aside time to write, no matter the goings on. Also, I have so many ideas for this story in its near and distant future. So many ideas! And it has me rather excited so, hang in there, please. Writing means so much to me, and the fact that I just stopped kills me. Rest assured, I will try to pump out a chapter every day if I can. I love you all, my devotees! Thank you! Hugs and Kisses.