Bonnie took a deep breath as the door-bell rang. Showtime: The Dinner Party, Act One. Starring Bonnie Rockwaller as the Perfect Hostess.
"Evening!" She said brightly, as she opened the door. "Come on in, Joss."
"Thanks." The younger woman entered and glanced around. "You've got a nice place." She said, with the sincere but slightly stiff politeness of a first-time guest in someone else's home.
Bonnie leaned forward and spoke in a mock-conspiratorial whisper.
"It's okay to say it's small, you know. Lorraine called it a shoebox the first time she saw it."
"Well ... it is compact, but ..." Joss gestured at her own short frame and gave a grin. "I've always said good things come in small packages, myself."
They sure do. Bonnie had been trying not to notice the way that Joss's tight jeans clung to her thighs and rump. It was a losing battle. Eyes up, Rockwaller! Keep your mind on the role.
"I, uh, used to offer a nickel tour, but it was so short people asked for their money back."
"Cute." To Bonnie's delight, Joss gave a genuine belly laugh. Rehearsing that line really paid off. "Well, if the no-longer-a-nickel tour is still available, I'm game."
"Oh ... sure." Bonnie hadn't thought that far ahead. Dumb. Improvising, she gestured to her left, where two couches bracketed a coffee table and a second-hand entertainment center. "... well, this is the living room." A large sliding door on the far side of the couches opened onto a balcony, giving the small room a much needed sense of space. On the balcony was an outdoor table, set with cutlery, and a couple of canvas camp chairs.
"Oh! We're eating outside?"
"Yeah. If it's just me I usually just eat at the kitchen counter, but with two of us and the weather so nice, I figured ..." Bonnie trailed off. "Uh, is that okay with you?"
"Okay?" Joss grinned. "I think it's a great idea!"
"Cool. Kitchen's over here." Bonnie pointed toward the gleaming stovetop, sink and counters. "As you probably worked out ... you have eyes, after all."
"Looks like you have all the latest gadgets." Joss leaned against the counter to give the room a good inspection.
"Yeah. That was actually the main reason I wanted this place: they'd just refurbished the kitchen before I moved here."
"You like cooking, huh?" Joss pushed away from the counter and gave the taller woman a quirky grin. "You better watch out, or I might just move in and refuse to leave."
"Uh ..." The theater lecturer's train of thought suffered a serious derailment at the thoughts that comment engendered.
"Sorry." Joss misinterpreted her sudden silence. "Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"Oh, you didn't!" Inwardly, Bonnie winced at her over-enthusiastic denial. Ms Rockwaller's performance was somewhat uneven, which hurt the credibility of the role. "I mean ... I know you were just kidding. I just ..." She trailed off, realizing there was nowhere good she could go with the sentence.
"You just never hung out with a big ol' lesbo before?" Joss suggested, her easy grin suggesting she hadn't taken offense.
"Big?" Bonnie raised her eyebrows sharply. "Are all the other lesbians from Lilliput, or something?"
"Oh!" The younger woman mimed being struck in the heart, then gave another of her boisterous laughs. "I'm wounded!" Her expression turned serious. "Look, Bonnie ... I don't want ya to feel uncomfortable around me. But if you do, it's okay. I won't be offended. It's pretty tough making friends around here when yer gay, so I'm not about to get pissed off just because you need some time to get used to the idea."
"Oh. Thanks." Bonnie paused. "You know, there is a gay support group on campus ..."
"Yeah, but it's mostly for students, so I'd have to keep everyone at arm's length." Joss shrugged. "And heck, there's a lesbian bar or two in town if ya know where to look. But sometimes it's nice to hang out with someone who's become yer friend for a reason other than because you both happen to be gay."
Damn. Now I feel like a complete shit. Bonnie forcibly suppressed a sigh. After that, I definitely can't tell her I'm gay.
Uh huh. Like you were actually going to do that.
"And this is the bedroom." Bonnie pushed open the door to her room and gave a vague wave at the contents, then pointed to the far wall. "The bathroom's through that door over there. We'll skip that for the tour, but at least now you know where it is."
"Thanks." Joss gave a wry grin and ducked her head under Bonnie's arm to glance around the bedroom. "Woah. Please tell me ya cleaned up special before I came over?"
"Huh?" Bonnie glanced at her room. Everything seemed normal. Bed. Closet. Dresser.
"It's just so tidy." Joss shook her head in wonderment. "Ya should see my room. It's like the freakin' Bat Cave. I got my computer, a stack of DVDs on the floor, posters on all the walls, mementoes all over the place ... never did manage to find a giant penny, though." The shorter quirked her eyebrows, evidently making a joke that Bonnie missed, then lowered her voice. "And don't tell anyone, but I still keep a Hippopotamouse on the bed."
"Oh." Bonnie glanced at the room again, noticing the bare surface of the dresser; the emptiness of the walls. "Well, growing up with two sisters, it's best not to leave stuff out, or it gets borrowed." At least, they call it 'borrowing'. "I guess I just got in the habit of putting things away."
"My father may want to adopt you." Joss chuckled. "I used to drive him crazy, leaving my stuff all over the place."
Bonnie smiled weakly.
"Well ... there you go. That's the tour."
"You know, I think you could get away with charging a nickel for that." Joss grinned, then sniffed at the air. "The aroma in here is worth the price of admission alone. Whatever you're cooking smells divine."
"It's the jerk chicken." Bonnie retreated to the kitchen and made a quick check of the food. "It'll be ready in a few minutes. You want a drink? I have soda, or there are a couple of beers in the fridge."
"Soda is fine." Joss slid onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar and peered over the counter into the kitchen. "I have to ride home later, and while I could let Aimee do all the actual driving, I doubt a cop would let me get away with that if he pulled me over."
"Shit." I'm an idiot. Bonnie mentally slapped herself. "You're under twenty-one. I didn't even think about that."
"It causes a lot of hassle for work functions, too." Joss admitted, as she watched Bonnie walk over to the refrigerator to get the soda. "I finally took pity on the guys at NASA and told them I wouldn't come to any functions until I was legal to drink." She caught sight of the bottle Bonnie had in her hand. "Uh ... do you have anything else?"
"You don't like root beer?" Bonnie glanced at the bottle in surprise.
"Normal root beer is fine. Diet root beer ... diet anything ... is a crime against nature." Joss gave a theatrical shudder. "I'd be happy with water."
"I have orange juice, if you like. That got enough sugar for you?"
"OJ sounds great."
Bonnie poured herself a glass of the root beer, then returned to the refrigerator and removed four oranges. Joss raised her eyebrows.
"... I'm pretty sure that's not technically juice, you know."
Bonnie shrugged.
"It will be in two minutes." She pulled the electric juicer out of the cupboard and plugged it in. "So don't even start with the 'don't go to so much trouble' nonsense, okay?" She gave the younger woman a mock glare.
"Yes ma'am!" Joss gave an equally mock salute, along with a shake of her head and a grin.
Bonnie quickly juiced the oranges, then poured the fluid into a glass and placed it on the counter before Joss. With practiced motions, the brunette then disassembled the juicer, returning the base to the cupboard, then rinsing the working parts and slipping them into the dishwasher for cleaning. Turning, the brunette found Joss watching her, an amused look on the younger woman's face.
"What?" Oh man, did I spill something on myself? Bonnie glanced down at herself, twisting her hips so she could check her legs.
"Just wonderin' how I can talk you into cleanin' up my place."
"You can't. I don't clean up other people's mess." The words were sharper than she'd intended.
"... it was a joke." Joss put down the orange juice, her brow wrinkling slightly. "Sorry if I offended yer."
"No, I'm the one who's sorry." Bonnie sighed. "I didn't mean to sound so harsh. It's ... that's something of a sore spot."
Joss nodded.
"Okay. I'll keep away from pokin' it, then." The shorter woman shook her head and gave a smoky chuckle. "Gotta say, fer a second there I thought I saw the Bonnie that cousin Kim always talked about."
"Trust me, that was nothing."
"Really?" Joss's eyebrows rose. "Say ... what happened to her?"
"Her?" Bonnie pretended confusion. She knew what the younger woman was asking, but didn't want to answer. Maybe she'll let it go.
"The girl Kim knew." Joss clearly wasn't going to give up that easily. "She talks about ya like yer were the high school equivalent of Cruella De Ville, but you've been nothin' but nice t' me. So what happened to her? What happened to the 'old Bonnie'?"
Author's Note: I don't own Cruella De Ville, the Bat Cave, or the giant penny. Please don't sue me, Disney or Warner Brothers! Would superhero comics actually exist in a wacky world like the Possiverse? Who knows. I just thought it was a funny line :-)
"After that, I definitely can't tell her I'm gay." Ol' Bonbon is good at coming up with reasons to stay in the closet, isn't she?
Next chapter: So what did happen to the old Bonnie?