Chapter eight: Meeting the friends
Lara couldn't help but feel nervous as they sat at a table in The Planet's patio, waiting for Dana's friends to arrive. Those women seemed to be some kind of a family to Dana and meeting them, being introduced to them, meant pretty much the same as being introduced to her parents. Lara kept looking around while nervously drumming on the table. Dana had been right, The Planet really was totally different in the morning. Everything seemed so calm and relaxed, nothing compared to the dancing crowd just a few hours ago.
"Lara, don't worry, they'll absolutely love you.", Dana tried to calm her, reaching for her hand and holding it still.
The redhead turned her head, smiling a nervous smile. Compared to her, the tennis player appeared totally relaxed. She was dressed in a white top and a pair of jeans she had borrowed from Lara, whereas Lara wore her favourite pair of green slacks and a navy blue sleeveless shirt.
"It feels like I'm about to meet your parents.", Lara said. "Like we're an item now."
The brunette raised her brows at that. "Are we not?"
"I don't know. Do you want us to be?", the chef asked.
Dana smiled brightly at her, nodding her head. "Yes, I want us to be.", she answered, pulling the chef's head to her's, so that their foreheads were touching.
Lara couldn't believe what she had heard. It felt like a dream come true and her whole being was suddenly flooded by pure happiness.
"Mind if we join you, lovebirds?" A voice Lara didn't know interrupted their moment. She pulled away from Dana to see who it belonged to. She immediately recognised the two women standing in front of their table as the ones sharing the kiss, blowing their cover.
"No, not at all." She heard Dana say and the two women took their places across from them.
"So, who is our guest?", the dark haired woman asked, looking first at Lara then Dana.
"Yeah, Dana, we'd like to know." Another unknown voice spoke up, belonging to the blonde who had been taking down notes.
The newcomer sat down next to the couple, her eyes focused on Lara. With three pairs of eyes watching her, Lara began to feel like an exotic animal in the zoo. Dana kept silent, holding the chef's hand.
"She's probably waiting for Shane.", the sous chef thought, noticing that the black haired woman was still missing.
It didn't take long until a very grumpy looking Shane came walking to the table. She slouched down on the chair next to the redhead, giving her a appreciative smile.
"Come on, Dana, tell us already.", the curious blonde demanded.
Dana stood up, giving Lara a smile. "Alright, guys.", she said, holding up their intertwined hands at which Lara rose as well. "This is Lara Perkins, my...uh...my girlfriend."
The other women gasped at the use of "girlfriend", seemingly surprised at it. The redhead herself was a little taken aback by being introduced as girlfriend already.
"Lara, these are my friends.", the tennis player started, pointing to the dark haired woman in the business clothes. "Bette Porter, the director of the California Arts Center. Tina Kennard, Bette's girlfriend...", she said, pointing to the not so quirky blonde. "Alice Pieszecki, journalist at the LA magazine..." This was the quirky blonde, who now grinned up at Lara. "And Shane McCutcheon, hairstylist and I guess you two already talked...", she ended, sitting down again.
"Yeah, we did.", Shane answered as Lara sat down as well.
"Whoa, Dana, what did my eyes just see?", Alice spoke up. "These are not your clothes, are they?" Alice's grin was getting wider with the second. "Did you two sleep with each other? Did you? Did you?"
The redhead and the brunette both blushed. They had been close to having sex, but had ended up cuddling.
"No, Al, we didn't.", Dana said, sounding embarrassed.
"Oh, no, I don't believe you. You sit here with your cute, redheaded chef, early in the morning, wearing her clothes and you're trying to tell me that you didn't have sex? Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Believe me or not, we didn't have sex.", the tennis player said again at which Alice just rolled her eyes.
"We really didn't.", Lara said, joining the conversation. "But we did sleep in one bed together."
Just as the journalist was about to protest again, Tina interrupted her. "Alice, let it go. If they say they didn't do it, they didn't. And even if they did, it's none of our business."
"Thanks, Tina.", Dana said, smiling warmly at the blonde.
Lara smiled. She could really feel how much these women cared for each other and she had to admit that she liked them a lot, even though she had just met them. They had just something about them that gave her the feeling of being welcomed into the group.
--
"So, do you like my friends?", Dana asked as the door to Lara's apartment fell into its lock once again, this time without two kissing women pressed against it.
"Like them?", Lara asked back, a huge smile crossing her lips. "I absolutely love them.", she added, at which the brunette released a relieved sigh. "You know, they were so willing to get to know me, taking me into your group like this." Lara snapped her fingers for better visualization of how easy the getting to know them had been. "I mean, your friends are amazing, totally amazing."
"Yeah, they are and you know, I think they love you, too.", the tennis player said, smiling at the taller woman. "But then again, how could they not love you?"
Lara grinned. Although Dana and her had only been dating for three days now, it somehow felt as if she had known the shy tennis player all her life. Meeting Dana's friends, who had so easily accepted her as one of them, had been a great experience. The sous chef closed the distance between herself and the other woman in one swift move, pulling her into her arms.
"It's been a wonderful morning, Dana, from the moment I woke up until now.", she whispered into the smaller woman's ear, noticing the shiver it sent down her spine. "But don't you have to be somewhere?"
"No, what are you talking about?", Dana wondered, seemingly clueless. Then realization hit her and she slapped her forehead. "Fuck, I have to go train.", she said, pulling herself out of the embrace.
The redhead watched amused as Dana ran into the bedroom to get her clothes from the other night. The brunette seemed in a hurry all of a sudden, running past Lara towards the door, where she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Fuck, I don't have my car.", she muttered under her breath, turning towards the other woman, looking at her with pleading eyes. "Could you give me a ride to my house, Lara?"
The chef literally melted at the sight in front of her. Looking in the athlete's pleading puppy dog eyes, she knew she would never be able to deny her anything, not if she looked at her like that.
"Better not tell her that or she'll use it against me?", Lara thought, chuckling. She walked over to the tennis player and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I could, indeed.", she said, her voice teasing. "But there's one condition..."
Dana's eyes widened and she seemed a little shocked. "What is it?"
"Well, we'll have to have another date, Dana.", the sous chef said, causing the smaller woman to sigh in relief.
"I would love to."
--
A little while later Lara sat on her couch, thinking about her eventful morning. Waking up next to Dana had been wonderful, meeting Dana's friends had been fantastic and being able to look forward to seeing Dana again that night was just exiting. The redhead couldn't believe how little time it had taken to make her fall in love with the shy athlete. This woman had put a spell on her, something she had never experienced before.
"You know, Lara, I think you're a wonderful person. I can see you make Dana happy and I have to admit that I really, really like you and I think that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, since I'm expecting you to hang out with us more often from now on." Lara remembered Alice's words. The blonde had pulled her aside when Dana had gone to the restroom, telling her this with such honesty that Lara just had to hug her.
The chef felt totally and utterly ecstatic, especially when thinking about Dana's use of "girlfriend". When the tennis player had actually used that particular term to introduce her, Lara had been taken by surprise, but now that she had time to think about it, the prospect of being Dana's girlfriend made her feel completely happy.
--
On her way from the locker room to the restaurant, Lara walked past the tennis courts. Knowing Dana was there, she decided to take a look at the object of her affection before going to work. Dana was in the middle of a practice match against her coach as far as Lara could tell and had her back towards the fence, giving the redhead the chance to admire her backside.
"Nice ass.", she thought to herself, wondering what it would feel like to dig her fingernails into it while Dana made love to her.
Lara's eyes lingered on Dana for a few more moments, watching the other woman's movements as she ran back and forth. She could have stayed there for hours, simply watching the athlete, but suddenly she remembered why she actually was here. Tearing her gaze away reluctantly, she made her way to the restaurant.
--
The sous chef had known something would go entirely wrong, the day had started too perfect for it to continue to be like that. Dinner had been completely busy, the restaurant had literally been flooded with people once again. Now it was quarter to one and Lara sat in her car, tired and exhausted, about to drive home. Originally, she had planned to have the third date in a row with Dana, but she hadn't been able to get away, not even to inform Dana about the inevitable, involuntary change of plans. Sitting in her car, she kept staring at her cell phone, pondering whether to call the tennis player or not. Eventually, her heart won and she dialed Dana's number.
"Yes?", a very sleepy Dana answered the phone.
"Hi, uh, it's me, Lara.", Lara began. "Sorry to wake you up..."
"No, don't worry.", the tennis player said, before yawning. "What is it?"
"I wanted to apologize...", the chef said, dropping her voice a little.
"Apologize? For what?" Dana sounded alarmed.
"Well, for not showing up tonight. You know, I just came back from work...", Lara started, but Dana interrupted her.
"That's okay, Lara, really. When you didn't come to the locker room tonight, I went to look for you. I saw all those people around the dining area and I figured you couldn't get away. I mean, it's your job, isn't it?", the athlete explained.
Lara nodded her head. "Yeah, it is. It's just, I really wanted to see you tonight and..." Once again the redhead got interrupted.
"I wanted to see you, too, but, you know, we can see each other some other time, can't we?" Dana paused for a moment, the line falling silent. "Hey, how about we meet at The Planet in the morning?"
The sous chef's mood lightened at the suggestion. "Yeah, let's do that, Dana.", she said, grinning.
"Okay, see you then. Good night, Lara."
"Good night.", Lara said, hanging up the phone and starting the engine to get home to sleep.
--
Dressed in her pajamas, Lara was about to settle into bed to get the well needed rest after an exhausting day, when she heard the knocking at her door. Yawning loudly, she walked to the door, wondering who could be wanting to visit her at almost two in the morning.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
at auggy1984: Thanks. Before I started writing that chapter I was torn between letting them have some or not...in the end I choose to write it the way I did, showing the special bond between those two without some sex. And as for Lara not getting anything, well, she did get to be close to Dana, didn't she:)
at WolfgalX: As you might guess I love Dana and Lara, too, especially the way they are around each other. Watching them alwaysw makes me smile and I wanted to capture their dorkyness in this chapter. Thanks for telling me I succeeded.
at SuperGirl06: There'll be some dessert for them soon, I promise.