Holly leads Gail to the dart room, a sea of fans parting to make way for Holly Humpabitch and her 'girlfriend'. The room is the one furthest from the boisterous bar. On the up side, it is sparsely occupied. Down side, all the yummy alcohol is so far away.
"Holly," Gail whines, "I'm thirsty."
Holly gestures to a small high-topped two seater table in the corner. There is a pitcher of beer on it.
Gail clasps her hands together, blinking rapidly.
"My hero."
"Anything for you, my lady." Holly bows and adds a flourish with her hand.
When they reach the table, Holly takes a seat while Gail immediately picks up the pitcher and raises it to her lips.
"Let me guess, it was your reserved demeanor and exquisite manners that attracted me to you?"
"Nope. It was my fantastic tits. I can't believe you don't remember Holly. Besides, as if anyone would be attracted to my demeanor."
The last part of the statement seemed a little heavy, and while Holly wants to know why Gail would say something like that, she knew their time together pseudo-alone was limited.
Gail watches Holly's smile momentarily drop before it made a partial recovery.
"I just mean, I can be a little bitchy. It's just . . . I don't like people."
"Well, you are a good actress, Gail. For a second here, I thought you might actually like me." Holly arches an inquiring eyebrow, enticing Gail to keep talking.
"You aren't people Ms. Humpabitch. Clearly I can tell by the way the crowd parts as you approach, you are royalty. Possibly even a goddess."
"Actually it's Doctor Humpabitch."
"What?"
"I graduated from medical school. I'm a doctor."
This makes sense to Gail. In a weird way, it is completely perfect.
"I'm a cop."
"So I gathered. Freeto Lay said 'Officer McNally', and everything you have said or did indicated that you and your friends, well, aren't really the best of friends so I just assumed you worked together."
This is the smartest woman Gail has ever met. And, weirdly, the coolest. Holly definitely stoked her fire. Who knew super-athlete nerd person was her thing?
"We're more like reluctant family, Holly. I mean, you seem observant. I am sure you also concluded that I am way too cool to be friends with those losers."
"Right. Of course. Hence the conclusion that you, too, are a cop."
Holly's smile is the kind that tells Gail this is easy banter. But the smile isn't the full on version she had worn earlier. There was something more serious Holly has on her mind.
"Alright Doctor. What is it? What have you done with my girlfriend?"
Holly looks down into her lap shaking her head and releasing a single breathy laugh. It is the kind of laugh that suggests that the person who hears it should brace themself.
"I moved here a month ago from Vancouver. For a job."
A pause.
"I'm sorry Hol. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but sometimes grown-ups have to work. I know. I hate it too. It's just a cold, hard world that we live in."
"God, you are such an ass."
Once again, the beautiful look of disbelief. The look that suggests that Holly can't believe Gail is real. That beautiful smile . . .
Gail takes a step. She reaches down and puts her hands on the smooth stockings covering Holly's legs. Lingering for barely a half a breath, she gently parts Holly's legs and steps between them.
Holly looks up from the pale fingers on her legs. Big warm eyes, like both carmel and chocolate in color, communicate a sweetness those confections could only hope for. Moving slowly closer those eyes fill Gail up more and more until the brush of lips lulls them closed.
In the crazy, noisy bar, the kiss is a whisper. It is a secret told in its entirety, a secret Gail did not know until this kiss. This kiss tells the secret of what a kiss could and should be. In its softness, Gail feels the silky, suppleness of Holly's lips. They feel pillowy. They even feel pink. And as the kiss progresses, struggling to hold on to its softness, as their lips open and close, Gail inhales Holly's breath and temporarily loses herself in that intimacy.
"Holy shit Humpabitch! That was fucking hot!"
So much for intimacy. Herds of rollergirls and a few fans, Gail's friends included, flock into the room.
Holly's hands, having found Gail's during the course of the kiss, press down, holding Gail's firmly against the legs she still stands between. Holly's hands wait until Gail has taken in the rapidly changing scene. And as Gail acclimates, she feels those hands pull her back into their little space, a space where Gail's hips are a hair's breadth from Holly's. Looking down at their closeness, Gail feels the flare of fire in her veins.
"Gail."
Gail trails her eyes up, over the athletic lines and feminine curves, back to the lips she wants to kiss again, back to the eyes she wants to stare into while, at the same time, wanting to be the reason they close.
Holly leans forward until Gail can feel lips on the shell of her ear, until she feels Holly's breasts against her own.
The fire previously surging through her seems to have found something interesting to burn in the vicinity of her lady bits, lady bits previously only touched by herself and men. Slippery, throbbing lady bits that really seem to want to be touched by Holly, to touch Holly, to rub themselves all over every part of Holly they can reach.
Man, Gail really has some dirty, horny, and kind of gay lady bits.
"I still need to talk to you Gail."
Gail backs away and nods. It is all she can do. Her mind is reeling. She had kissed Holly. Voluntarily. Not to perpetuate a lie. It wasn't a drunken random kiss. Gail wasn't drunk enough to be on random. She just wanted to kiss Holly, so she did, and now she wanted to do it again, kissing, and apparently other stuff.
"Holls! Bout shouts! Now! Before we're too drunk and you're too horny."
When Holly looked at Gail her expression was laced with concern. Gail's perplexity must have managed to spill over from her thoughts to her face.
"I'm sorry. Promise you'll wait?"
Gail gives a single nod. Holly looks doubtful, a little sad even, but doesn't push it. She reluctantly steps away to join her team.
"How is my new ex lesbian lover?" Traci asks, handing her a shot of tequila, keeping one for herself.
"Suck it Nash. Why don't you go rescue your boyfriend from the herd of gays who are trying to sabotage your fake relationship"
"Nah, it's cute to watch him struggle."
"Hey Gail," Chloe's giddiness pierced through rumble of the room. "Connie Lingus said that they are going to give you an honorary derby name. You know what it is?"
"Fuck Off Chloe?"
"Nope. It's Ivanna B. Humped. Get it? Holly Humpabitch and Ivanna B. Humped."
Gail closes her eyes, drops her head back and sighs. Well, it was kind of a sigh and kind of a growl. When she opens her eyes again, Traci offers her the second shot of tequila. Gail takes it and downs it immediately. Good thing. It seems Chloe issn't quite done.
"You know if you guys ever want to have a threesome I would totally be down with that. After all that is my thing, right? And Holly is hot. Like, I'm not gay, but would be for her hot. Like fire in my britches hot."
"Chloe. Stop talking, the taste of vomit in my mouth is going to put a damper on the deliciousness of this tequila."
"Ooo. What kind of beer is this?" Dov asked as he started pouring himself one from the pitcher.
"Free. The beer is fucking free, Dov," Gail snapped.
Traci takes Gail's arm and maneuvers her away from the temporary perch of the other rookies.
"What's going on Gail? A few minutes ago you seemed almost . . . not angry. Now, I think you just made Dov shit himself."
"It's nothing Traci, I'm just tired. I'm ready to go."
"Fuck that Gail. I am not going to let you do this. Tonight has been the happiest I've seen you since Chloe got stuck in the dryer. Whatever it is that's got you questioning, let it go. This is not an existential crisis. Whether you decide to keep seeing Holly or not, the world will keep turning. Everyone deserves to be happy Gail. Even you."
Damn. How did Traci Nash always know the deal?
Chris pushes his way through Gail's inner dialogue holding 2 shots in front of her.
"Hey guys, what's a lemon squeeze?"