"Woah, woah, woah!" Andy made a 'T' with his hands, a habit he'd picked up from watching 'that silly game with all the muscle-y boys in tight pants'. "You know her?"

"... it's the woman I met on the plane."

"I thought you said she was married."

"No. I said she was wearing a wedding ring."

Andy stared at her for a few moments, then whistled. "You sneaky devil." He actually sounded admiring. "So: was this planned? Did you know she'd be here?"

"Of course I didn't know she'd be here." Bonnie protested. "I thought she was straight!"

"Well, don't look now, but I think she's noticed us." Andy nodded in the Indian woman's direction. Bonnie sneaked a glance, and groaned. Chahna was certainly looking over at them, and she had the same slightly stunned expression that the brunette suspected had recently adorned her own face.

Eric spoke up. "I think you should go and talk to her."

Bonnie blinked, blindsided by the German's suggestion. "What?"

"Listen to my wise strudel." Andy instructed.

"Clearly she has noticed you. And just as clearly - thanks to Andrew - we have noticed her. I think it would be rude to just ignore her, yes?"

"Oh god." Bonnie ran a hand through her hair. "What on earth would I say?"

Any smirked. "How about 'I know this sounds like a line, but you look familiar. Have we met?'"

"Andy!"

"Andrew!"

"Just a suggestion, my loves."

"Um. Hi." Oh good grief, even Andy's idea was better than that.

"Hello, Bonnie." Chahna's response seemed as tentative as Bonnie herself was feeling. Counter-intuitively, that actually made the former cheerleader feel a little more confident. I guess it's nice to know I'm not the only one who's feeling a bit off-balance.

"So ... " Bonnie floundered for a moment. Oh, for god's sake: get a grip. Just imagine it's a scene for a play. And: action! "I guess maybe we both left something out when we were talking about ourselves on the plane."

To her relief, the comment brought a shy smile to the older woman's face. "It seems we did. Perhaps we should sit down and fill in the blanks?" Chahna gestured to one of the small booths that lined the club's walls.

"Sure. After you." Bonnie gestured for the Indian woman to lead, and then slid into the booth next to her, though she carefully left a space between them. "Sorry ... it's a bit too noisy in here to talk across the table."

"I understand." Chahna put down her drink. Orange juice again, though maybe there was something mixed into it.

"Just so we're on the same page ..." Bonnie took a deep breath. "... you're gay, right? You're not just here because it's a place you won't get men hitting on you?"

"Yes. I am gay." Chahna nodded as she spoke. Bonnie couldn't help but notice how the gesture made the older woman's body move under her close-fitting dress.

"So ... your husband ... ?"

"He never knew. Neither did I, to be honest. Not until after he was gone."

"Never?" Bonnie blinked, surprised at the idea.

"Never." Chahna repeated. She shrugged, an even more distracting movement than her nod. "I mean, I knew that I did not really find sex with my husband exciting ... he was always patient and gentle, and I tried to please him, but there was never any spark for me. But I was young and very naive when I married him, and I thought that was normal."

"Obviously you worked things out?"

"About a year after my husband died, I was on a business trip, and a woman made a pass at me. I was surprised and confused by it. I had never imagined such a thing would happen to me." Chahna smiled at the memory.

"So you didn't exactly leap at the opportunity?"

"Not at all, no." Chahna shook her head. "But afterward, when I was back in my hotel room, I got to thinking about what would have happened if I said yes ..." she trailed off, her dusky skin going darker still. "Well, let us just say that I worked out what had been wrong with my sex life." She paused, then continued. "You ... you are gay too, right?"

"... yeah, I'm a lesbian." It was amazing how liberating those few small words could feel. Like Andy said, you're four thousand miles from home. You can be who you are.

"I guess you worked it out a bit earlier than me?"

"Yeah. I knew ... pretty much from the time that the other girls started getting interested in boys, really." Bonnie stopped, casting her mind back to her high school years. "Hitting the showers after cheerleading practice used to be torture, let me tell you."

"You were a cheerleader?" Chahna leaned back and ran her gaze up and down Bonnie's body. The brunette felt her skin prickle with heat at the appraising stare. "You certainly have the body for it."

"My, my, Ms Chahna." The younger woman spoke with more confidence and bravado than she genuinely felt, but her pleasure at the compliment was entirely unfeigned. "Are you always this forward?"

"I'm sorry. Was that -"

"I was teasing." Bonnie lightly draped her fingers over the other woman's hand, and stroked the tips over the smooth skin. "It's very flattering to have a beautiful woman look at me like that." Where the hell did that come from? Oh right, that Piper Perabo movie. Recycling movie scripts or not, it felt wonderful to finally express what she felt to a woman; to openly be herself. It was even more wonderful that Chahna did not withdraw her hand.

"You are certainly very flattering, yourself." Chahna admitted. She moistened her lips with her tongue, a gesture that Bonnie immediately wished she would repeat. Okay, you're riding high on adrenaline. But you've only just met. You need to get your hormones in check. Maybe a brief break in the conversation would help settle her.

"I'm going to get a drink. Would you like anything?"

"Um ... just a diet coke, please."

"Be right back."

Somehow, Andy contrived to be at the bar when Bonnie arrived.

"Oh, buying her a drink. How butch of you, my love."

"Andy ..."

"I'll stop teasing, I promise." Andy crossed his heart. "Is it going well? Is she nice? Do you want to bring her over to meet us?"

"I don't know. Yes. God, no." Bonnie ticked the answers off on her fingers. "I think she's as nervous as I am. I couldn't subject her to you right now. She'd probably not stop running until she was back in India."

"Was that your friend at the bar? Do you need to go back to sit with them?"

"It was, and no I don't." For once, Bonnie's light tone was entirely genuine. The short break - and Andy's obvious concern for her - had helped her settle her emotions, which had been racing. She was new to this flirting thing, after all. Well, with a woman, anyway. She didn't want to do anything stupid.

The brunette placed two diet cokes on the table and slid in beside Chahna once more. This time she didn't stop until she felt her knee lightly brush the other woman's leg. As she had hoped, the Indian woman didn't pull away from the contact. "Andy's the ex I mentioned on the plane."

"I can see why it didn't work out." Chahna's tone was dry. Probably because Andy was nibbling Eric's ear at that moment.

"He wasn't so ... flamboyant ... then." Bonnie admitted. "But yeah, it was pretty doomed, wasn't it?"

"Indeed." Chahna picked up her drink. She had very nice hands. Long, elegant fingers. "Is that the new beau you were asked to inspect?"

"It is." Bonnie confirmed.

"And your thoughts?"

"He has his hands full with Andy." The response brought a low chuckle from the Indian woman. "Eric seems like a really nice guy. Very grounded, not at all like Andy's last boyfriend. Andy and Pierre was all drama, all the time."

"So your friend has found himself someone special. That is good. I am single, myself." Chahna paused, nervously running her finger around the edge of the glass. "What about you? Is there anyone in your life?"

For a moment, the image of an auburn-haired Montanan flickered faintly in Bonnie's mind. But only faintly, and only for a moment. That ship has sailed.

"No. Not at the moment."

"So the two of you have been looking very cozy for the past hour." Somehow, Andy was at the bar again the moment Bonnie returned there. "Will you be coming home tonight, or sleeping elsewhere?"

"What?" The brunette blinked. "Andy, I only just met her today."

"I know. But you've spent the past fifteen minutes practically nuzzling her neck."

"... it's loud in here. You have to lean in close to hear each other."

"Uh huh." Andy looked far from convinced. Bonnie fought not to blush. It was loud. Of course, she probably didn't need to have her hand on Chahna's knee for the other woman to hear her. And there had been a few times she'd leaned so close her lips had not-so-accidentally brushed against the Indian woman's neck. But Andy didn't need any more ammunition to tease her.

She decided to move the conversation along before Andy got inquisitive. "Look, she's smart and she's beautiful and she seems really nice, but I barely know her. She could be an axe murderer."

"Ah." Andy held up one finger. "That's why you have your Uncle Andy around to help, my sweet. I've been talking to the lovely Seamus here -" he gestured at the muscled young man behind the bar. "- apparently your new friend turns up three or four times a year, visiting the club for a couple of nights in a row. The good news is, there's no evidence she's an axe murderer."

"And the bad news?"

Andy attempted to look innocent. "Who said there was bad news?"

"Saying 'the good news is ...' kind of implies there's bad news as well, Andy."

"Fine." The young Englishman sighed. "The bad news is that as far as Seamus knows, she's never gone home with someone she's just met."

"Oh." As bad news goes, that's pretty mild. Still, Bonnie was surprised to feel a pang of disappointment. It had been nice to at least have the fantasy of a holiday tryst. "Well, you know Andy, I've never been home with anyone ... female. So I expect I'll probably be coming home with you guys."

Andy gave a little frown, then shrugged. "Up to you, my love."

With a small frown of her own, Bonnie return to her table with Chahna. She was just in time to see the Indian woman politely deflecting an approach from a tall, leather-clad butch.

"Sorry I was gone so long." Bonnie slid back into the seat beside her companion. She deliberately left a gap again this time, and felt a small thrill when after a moment, Chahna shifted so their legs were touching once more. She dropped her hand back onto the Indian woman's knee, fingers gently caressing the smooth skin.

"I saw your friend intercept you at the bar." Chahna took a sip of her drink. Looking pensively into the glass, she asked. "Do you need to leave soon?"

"Um ... no. Andy's happy to stay longer." Bonnie looked into her own glass, wanting to ask the question her ex had put in her mind, but not sure she should. For god's sake girl, you have your hand on her knee. She obviously likes you, so the worst that'll happen is she will say 'no'. Grasping onto her courage with both hands, the brunette looked up and spoke again, trying to keep her tone casual. "Actually, he was asking me whether I was planning to go home with you, tonight."

"Oh." Chahna's dusky skin blushed even darker. She glanced through her lashes at the younger woman. "And ... what did you say?"

"... I said I liked you a lot, but we'd only just met."

Chahna nodded, and nibbled on her bottom lip. "I like you as well." She admitted. "But I must be nearly twenty years older than you -"

"Maybe ten. I'm twenty-four."

"I am thirty-nine."

"Really?" Bonnie's surprise was genuine. She lifted her hand from Chahna's knee and gently brushed the older woman's cheek with the back of her fingers. "I would not have guessed that." She paused, then continued softly. "So there's a big age difference, and we live on opposite sides of the planet."

"Yes."

"I'd still like to go home with you." It felt thrillingly brave to say those words, even though she was almost sure the offer would be declined.

"... I would like that."

Author's Note: So, looks like Bonnie's night just got interesting :) Amazing what being on the other side of the planet, with people you will probably never see again, will do for a person's confidence! Will the new, more assertive Bonnie disappear when she returns home? I guess we'll see.

And just in case there are any UK readers out there, who are annoyed that I've called someone from Edinburgh 'English'. Andy lives in Scotland, but he is an Englishman, with a pretty typical received pronunciation accent. Hence the reference to his terrible attempt at a Scottish accent, last chapter :)