Marissa came back late that night. She tried to get into bed without disturbing Bianca, but her girlfriend wasn't really asleep.
"How was the meal?" Bianca asked, turning over so she could look at Marissa as she rested her head on her pillow. She knew something was wrong the instant she saw her lover's face.
"It was awful," Marissa said wretchedly, "Absolutely awful!"
Marissa looked so upset that Bianca instantly pulled her into her arms for a hug. Marissa sighed into the embrace and snuggled against Bianca's warm body.
"What happened?" Bianca asked.
…
The afternoon meeting was going well. Caleb was trying to woo a Sat-Nav production company into using Courtland Electronics' newly developed micro circuit board in their manufacturing process. By the end of the meeting discussions had already turned to the content of the contract. The contract was going to be Marissa's responsibility.
Caleb had then arranged to take the three representatives from CalNovatronics out for dinner. Marissa had hoped she would be able to bow out at this point and at least be able to get home to put the kids to bed, but Caleb insisted she stayed.
"You're my secret weapon." said Caleb. "We need this deal and we need to use every advantage we can. Never underestimate the benefits of a charming smile and a pretty face."
"I hope you are aware of how sexist that sounds." said Marissa, with a laugh. "Anyway you've got Liza for that."
"True!?" said Caleb. "But having the both of you with me should cancel out the fact that I have the social grace of a toad and a smile that could make a baby's cry."
She knew he was teasing her, but she also knew how desperate he was for the contract. He needed the moral support.
"Fine." said Marissa, "But I will only stay out until ten-thirty."
"Deal." said Caleb with a grateful smile.
…
Caleb took them out for the French Restaurant by the Art Gallery famous for it's onion soup. It was a little more refined surroundings than Krystal's. The three men from CalNovatronics were a mixed bag. There was Craig their lawyer, who had a good sense of humour, and who hit it off right away with Caleb when it was revealed he was a weekend hunter. Bill and Rob the company managers were a little harder to read. They seemed pleasant enough, but Bill in particular could be quite curt in his responses. Marissa was finding it hard to make conversation with them on subjects other than software development and circuit capacities, something she knew very little about.
It was by pure accident that the conversation turned to kids. Rob mentioned while talking with Liza about his hobby project to develop the perfect microphone; which led Liza to mention her daughter Colby's singing career.
"You don't look old enough to have grown up daughter." said Rob, charmingly. He then turned to Marissa. "And do you have a family?"
Marissa smiled; she didn't think that this business dinner would lead her to be able to talk on her favourite subject, her kids.
"I have quite an extending family." said Marissa. "I have a son, AJ, but my partner has children too... She has two daughters so it's quite a full house."
"Your partner has grandchildren?" said Rob incredulously. "Is this a town of May to December romances?"
"Sorry?" said Marissa, confused.
"You said she…" said Rob, equally confused.
"My partner is a woman." said Marissa. It felt strange to have to explain it. Almost everyone she knew were well aware of her and Bianca's relationship, it was accepted and no secret. But the looks of shock, embarrassment and judgement that appeared in the three men from CalNovatronics suddenly made her feel uncomfortable.
"I knew it!" exclaimed Bill, shaking a finger in her direction. "I knew I knew your face. You're the dyke that brought down the Inquirer!"
Marissa almost flinched at the word… no one had called her a 'dyke' before, apart from JR. She didn't like the sound of it; especially coming in such a brash tone.
"You are giving me a lot more credit than I deserve." said Marissa trying to ignore the now lecherous smile that was on Craig's lips when he looked at her. "It took all my friends around me to bring Rupert Henderson to justice."
"I remember the story." said Rob, nodding now. "You and 'Les-bianca' Kane! She's one of the richest bachelorette's in the country. Good for you!"
"She hardly a bachelorette if she's partner's with Marissa." said Liza coming to her defence.
Marissa didn't realise how tense she was until she almost jumped out of her skin when Caleb put a supportive hand on her own.
"Yeah but… no offence… it's not the same." said Craig. "I mean, it sound's hot and all but two women… it's not a real relationship."
"I'm sorry." said Caleb aggressively, his own hackled rising.
"You know the saying… a lesbian is only a lesbian until the right man comes along!"
…
"I should have replied that in my case I was only straight until the right woman came along!" said Marissa in frustration.
"So what did you actually say?" Bianca asked, giving her a comforting kiss on the forehead.
"I never got a chance to say anything." said Marissa. "Caleb was on his feet, and told the men that the deal was off if they couldn't have more respect! I honestly thought he was going to punch that Craig guy! And then they brought me home…"
"Oh baby." said Bianca sympathetically. "There will always be homophobic bigots in the world. All we can do is be happy despite them. Show them how wrong they are by our words and our actions and our love."
"I know. I always knew that there were people like that on the world. It was one of the things that scared me most when I trying to hide how much I was falling in love with you. I just think I was in shock because it was so unexpected."
Bianca's hand that was resting on Marissa's hip tickled just inside the waistband of her pyjama pants.
"I'm sorry you had such a bad night. Do you need a distraction?" Bianca asked quietly.
Marissa smiled and sighed.
"I think right now I am happy just to snuggle." she said, burying further into Bianca's arms. "Just hold me."
Bianca tightened her embrace.
"I'll hold you," she said, softly kissing Marissa's brow again, "Forevermore."
…