Pleased To Meet You
Tegan tries to get over what happened and Stacy comes over
Tegan woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. She squinted over at Sara. She didn't know what to think about yesterday's events. Her mind was too clouded to come to a final thought on the matter. Unlike most mornings Tegan got up without taking the time to study her sleeping girlfriend. She walked as softly as possible to the door and turned the handle slowly, trying to make no noise.
She walked slowly down the short hall and peered into the living room. Sonia was asleep on the inflatable mattress and Amanda was sitting on the couch, a cup of coffee in hand.
"Good morning Tegan," Tegan grunted in response, "Can we talk?" Amanda looked sad as she asked.
Tegan looked at her, taking her time before deciding whether or not she'd give Amanda a chance to explain herself, "Sure. Let me get some coffee first."
Tegan went to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. She took her time, wanting to make sure she was composed before hearing Amanda's explanation. She took a gulp of the scalding liquid before turning and making her way to the couch.
"Go ahead." Tegan said with as little emotion as possible, focusing on the mug in her hands.
"First off," Amanda spoke slowly, treading softly, "I'm terribly sorry for my actions." Tegan gave her a quick look out of the corner of her eye before looking back at her mug, "Secondly, I didn't actually kiss her. It's just that," Amanda was struggling for the right words to say, "I've never had anyone ever care for me like this. My friends back home all abandon me after they graduated college. And the girl that I was crushing on in college…" Amanda fought back a sob, "Well, you know what happened."
"Yes," Tegan spoke while keeping her eyes on her coffee, "I know. And I'm sorry your friends abandoned you. But that's no excuse."
Amanda let out a short sob, "I know. I'm so sorry. It's just, she was being so nice, and in the moment I just got a little lost. I wasn't thinking about anything other than her generosity. And in that moment my brain told me that people are only that nice if they like you. Do you understand that?"
Tegan nodded, deliberately avoiding eye contact.
"I can be out of here as soon as you need me to be," Amanda paused to take a sip of her coffee, "I don't deserve your hospitality."
Tegan sat silent. She had to process this; had to make a decision.
"I'll just zip up my suitcase." Amanda slowly started to get up.
"Don't," Tegan was surprised at what she said, "I know you didn't mean anything by it. I've been in a bad place the last few days. I've been having these," Tegan paused, not knowing why she was explaining herself, "Dreams. Bad ones. And I just assumed the worst when I saw you guys on the couch."
"So I can stay?" Amanda had tears running down her cheeks.
"Yes," Tegan gave her a pained smile, "There's just one thing."
Amanda nodded.
"I'd rather you not be alone in a room with Sara. Or on this couch together like yesterday."
"Of course," Amanda nodded her head weakly, "That's completely understandable."
"Good," Tegan's smile had a brief glimpse of joy, "And I have a friend who I want you to meet."
"Oh?" Amanda smiled shyly, "Is this because of…"
"No," Tegan cut her off, "It's for her. Not for you."
"Right," Amanda grimaced slightly, "I wouldn't expect you to do something for me."
"Then we're settled." Tegan held her hand out, "Let's try and start again now. I'm Tegan."
"Amanda." She smiled and shook Tegan's hand slowly.
"Pleased to meet you." Tegan tried to smile but quickly released her grip and went back to her coffee.
Sonia stirred. After a few seconds she sat up slowly and yawned.
"Good morning Sonia." Tegan smiled warmly at her.
"Good morning Tegan." Sonia grumbled groggily.
Sonia got out of bed slowly and walked to the kitchen, "Who made coffee?"
"Me." Amanda spoke up.
"Well thank you Amanda." Sonia smiled over at her.
"No problem." Amanda smiled weakly at her.
"I'm going to go see if Sara's up." Tegan excused herself, wanting to get a minute without Amanda.
She walked back to the bedroom and opened the door quietly, not wanting to wake Sara up. She smiled and looked at Sara who was still fast asleep. Tegan trailed her eyes up to Sara's face, taking in as much as she could. Not wanting to forget anything about it ever. She studied the perfect cheekbones. Studied the way her lips pouted in her sleep. The way her eyes fluttered every few seconds in her dream state. Tegan walked to the bed and sat down softly beside her. She brushed the bangs out of Sara's face. A brief smile made its way onto Sara's face before fading back to the slight pout. Tegan sighed and stood up.
"Good morning bella." She heard Sara's small groggy voice.
"Hi angel," Tegan sat back down and planted a kiss on Sara's forehead, "I've cleared things with Amanda. So I hope we can put yesterday behind us. And I'm going to call Stacy to see if she can hang out."
Sara sat up and stretched as she listened to Tegan, "Okay," She mumbled out before yawning, "I think we should hang out with Stacy, it will help yesterday go away."
"Hopefully." Tegan gritted her teeth as her headache hit her in full force, "There's coffee brewed."
"What time is it?" Sara asked as she walked toward the door.
Tegan looked at the alarm clock, "It's almost nine thirty."
"You should call Stacy soon." Sara smiled sleepily before walking out of the bedroom.
Tegan stood up and followed slowly, not wanting Sara out of her sight. She definitely didn't trust Amanda yet, even though she had gone through the motions of starting over.
Tegan didn't participate in any conversation that was being had in the living room and kitchen; she just kept her eyes on Sara. Not because she didn't trust her, but because she didn't want to look at Amanda. She studied every little thing Sara did; the way she pursed her lips when she listened to Sonia or Amanda talking. The subtle fidgeting her thumbs did while she held her coffee mug. And the sidelong glances at Tegan followed by small smiles.
After a while all conversation died down and Tegan pulled out her phone.
Her call was answered after several rings, "Hello?"
"Hey Stacy!" Tegan smiled as she spoke, her mind already jumping ahead to her matchmaking plans.
"What's up Tegan?" Stacy sounded tired, as if Tegan's call had woken her up.
"Not much," Tegan paused, "Did I wake you?"
"Yeah," Stacy yawned, "But that's okay."
"Okay," Tegan smiled in relief, "Do you want to come over and meet our friend?"
"Sure," Stacy yawned again, "Just give me some time to wake up."
"Okay, just text me when you're on your way."
"Mhm." Stacy mumbled into her phone before hanging up.
An hour later there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Tegan jumped off the couch and hurried to the door.
She took a deep breath and opened it, "Hey Sta-," She froze mid name, "Ted?"
"Hey Sa-Tegan," Ted smiled and winked at her, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure." Tegan shrugged and walked out into the hallway.
"Stacy called me this morning," Tegan's eyes widened, "Asked if I had met your friend yet."
"Oh," Tegan tried to remain calm, "She was supposed to meet Amanda yesterday."
"Yeah," Ted grinned, "You're trying to set them up together, right?"
"What?" Tegan tried to play it off innocently.
"I'm here to help." Ted smiled widely.
"Help?" Tegan cocked an eyebrow, "How can you help?"
"Do you plan on leaving them alone together?"
"Yeah," Tegan rolled her eyes, "Of course. Just for a few minutes."
"Have you talked to Sonia about it?" Tegan was confused by his line of questions.
"No," Tegan couldn't think of a reason to tell Sonia, "Why would she need to know?"
Ted chuckled, "So you'll leave the three of them alone?"
"Huh-oh!" Realization dawned on Tegan, "I don't know how I'll get her out of the apartment."
"Leave it to me." Ted winked and opened the door, "Hey Sonia."
"Hi Ted." Sonia waved from the kitchen.
"You ready to go?"
"Go where?" Sonia was completely lost as to what he was referring to.
"Tegan didn't tell you?" Ted mocked frustration and sighed, "I was going to take you shopping today."
"Shopping for what?" Sonia's eye sparkled but she remained just a little reserved.
"There's a big gala for my company in a few days, and I we figured you'd enjoy going and seeing all the fancy art and drinking champagne and talking to famous musicians," Ted smiled in relied as Sonia perked up, "But there's no way you have a nice enough dress with you. No offense."
"None taken," Her smile dropped slightly, "I don't really have the money for a dress."
"You're my guest at the gala," Ted smiled, "I'll buy you whatever dress and jewelry you want."
"When do we leave?" Sonia set her empty coffee cup in the sink.
"Whenever you're ready." Ted gave her a charming smile.
"I'll go grab my coat off the couch." Sonia walked quickly to the couch.
"Thanks Ted," Tegan gave him a hug, "Do you really have a gala?"
"Yeah," Ted gave her a small smile, "It's for some artist who's in town. She invited me and a lot of my clients."
"Jesus Ted," Tegan rolled her eyes, "Can you be more of an upper-class snob?"
"Yes." Ted chuckled as Sonia walked through the door.
"Ready?" Sonia asked as she pulled her jacket on.
"Right this way ma'am." Ted held out his arm and Sonia slid her arm around his.
"Lead the way."
Tegan chuckled to herself as she walked back into the apartment.
"What was all that about?" Sara questioned, eyeing Tegan intently.
"Ted has a gala," Tegan shrugged, "Did I not mention it before?"
"No." Sara was just as confused as Sonia had been.
"Must have slipped my mind," Tegan shrugged, "I had a lot of alcohol yesterday."
Sara grimaced at the mention of the day before.
"It's okay Sara," Tegan rushed to sit next to her, "It's nobody's fault but my own. I overreacted."
"I still feel guilty." Sara tucked her head into Tegan's shoulder.
They sat like that for a few minutes until the bathroom door opened and Amanda came out of the shower.
"You look really good," Tegan smiled at Amanda, "I didn't know your hair was so wavy."
"Th-thanks," Amanda stuttered out, not expecting a compliment from Tegan, "Is your friend still not here?"
"Nope," Tegan shook her head, "And Ted picked Sonia up. So it's just us until Stacy gets here."
"Where did Ted and Sonia go?" Amanda was just another to join the ranks of confusion.
"Dress shopping," Tegan answered nonchalantly, "They're going to a gala in a few days."
"Oh," Amanda's eyebrows rose in shock but her face remained casual, "That's cool."
"Yep." Tegan grinned at her.
The three sat and made small talk as best as possible until there was another knock on the door. Tegan jumped up and walked over to the door, opening it with a smile.
"Hi Stacy," Stacy walked in and the two of them hugged, "This is Amanda." Tegan gestured to the girl on the couch.
"Hey Amanda," Stacy gave her a smile and small wave, "I'm Stacy."
"Pleased to meet you." Amanda met her smile.
"Come on in," Tegan stepped out of her way to allow entrance, "Do you want some coffee?"
"Sure," Stacy nodded, "I'd love some."
"One coffee coming right up." Tegan moved into the kitchen.
Stacy and Sara exchanged hellos and hugs.
"Sara can you come help me with this?" Tegan called from the kitchen area.
"It's just a cup of coffee," Sara responded exasperated, "Pour the coffee into a mug."
"Very funny." Tegan rolled her eyes.
"Okay," Sara got up from her spot on the couch, "I'll come help you."
She rolled her eyes as she walked into the small kitchen.
"What do you need help with?"
"In about fifteen minutes we will need an excuse to leave." Tegan spoke in an urgent whisper.
"Why?" Sara whispered back, "Can't you match make from the apartment?"
Tegan just looked at her, "They need to be alone Sara," She rolled her eyes, "Any emergency you can think of that can come up in fifteen minutes?"
"No," Sara laughed as Tegan tried to pour an empty pot of coffee into a mug, "But we can always pretend we're completely out of coffee and leave now."
"Good idea." Tegan grinned.
They exchanged a look before walking back into the living room where their guest were sitting next to each other talking about some band.
"We're out of coffee." Tegan gave Stacy a sad look.
"We're going to buy more though, don't worry." Sara smiled warmly.
"It's okay," Stacy smiled back at her, "Don't go to any trouble for me."
"It's no trouble." Sara continued to smile.
"Yeah," Tegan smiled briefly, "We'll be gone for maybe twenty minutes."
"You're both going?" Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"Um…" Tegan mumbled something unintelligent.
"Yeah," Sara stayed calm, "My car is at the shop and I don't feel comfortable driving Tegan's."
"And I don't ever buy the right stuff," Tegan picked up on the lie, "So Sara needs to be there to find the right coffee."
"Yup." Sara grinned at Tegan.
"Okay," Stacy nodded, processing the lie she was told, "We'll see you guys soon then."
"Okay," Tegan pulled Sara toward the door, "See you guys."
They hastily left the apartment and got into Tegan's car.
"Where are we actually gonna go?" Sara asked, knowing that they had almost a full pound bag of coffee in the cupboard.
"We're going to the store and buying coffee," Tegan grinned at her, "We'd look pretty stupid if we said we'd buy coffee and then came home empty handed and made a pot of coffee with the grounds in the cupboard."
"Oh." Sara blushed, "Right."
Tegan drove them to a grocery store a few minutes from their apartment.
"Let's go buy some coffee." Sara smiled and stepped out of the car.
"I don't know where it is," Tegan shrugged as she walked toward the main doors, "You'll have to find it."
They walked inside the store and Sara immediately walked off to her right and appeared moments later with a bad of coffee beans.
"Did you grind it?" Tegan wanted to take as much time as possible.
"They don't do that here," Sara shook her head, "I have a little grinder at home."
"Oh." Tegan looked at her feet.
"What else do we need?" Sara asked after quickly checking the time on her phone.
"I don't know," Tegan smiled, "But we should walk around the whole store and see what we might need."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Sara grinned and grabbed Tegan's hand, intertwining their fingers together.
They walked around the store for several minutes before making their way back to the front.
"Oh my god!" Tegan exclaimed while pointing at several shelves of candy.
"What?" Sara whipped around and followed Tegan's finger to the candy, "Really? You want candy?"
"They have Swedish fish," Tegan whined at Sara, "And Twix. And Kit Kats."
"Fine," Sara rolled her eyes, "I haven't bought candy in years."
"Well today that changes." Tegan grinned as she grabbed several things off the shelves.
"Okay," Sara smiled at Tegan's childlike enthusiasm over the candy, "Let's go pay for this stuff."
They walked to the checkout stand and placed the items on the conveyer belt.
"Looks like a party." The man behind the register smiled at them.
"It looks that way doesn't it?" Sara laughed softly, "I just found out that I'm apparently dating a six year old."
Tegan grinned and blushed slightly.
"Good choices." The man smiled at Tegan, "That'll be twenty-two fifty seven."
Sara pulled out her wallet and grabbed some cash, "That should be twenty-three."
The man quickly thumbed through it, "You gave me twenty-four." He handed a one dollar bill back.
"Thanks," Sara smiled, "Keep the change."
"Alright," He closed the register, "Do you need a receipt?"
"Nah," Sara waved him off, "I'm good. Have a good day." She smiled and picked up the bag of purchases.
"You too," He waved and gave them a friendly smile, "Don't get to much of a sugar high young lady."
Tegan laughed, "I won't."
"I like that guy," Sara spoke as they got in the car, "I should start shopping here."
"I always shop here," Tegan grinned, "He's the manager."
"He knows you?" Sara laughed.
"Yup," Tegan laughed with her, "I always buy candy when I come here. Just usually not that much."
"How do you know everybody?" Sara shook her head and chuckled.
"When you have no friends you make everyone you see your friend." Tegan spoke in a much more sobered tone.
They drove back to the apartment in silence. Sara grabbed the grocery bag and lead Tegan by the hand to the apartment.
"We got coffee." Tegan announced as she walked in behind Sara.
They were greeted by Stacy and Amanda sitting very comfortably close to each other. Stacy was lightly tracing circles on Amanda's forearm as she told her about working at the café. Amanda sat and listen intently; studying the way Stacy talked. Both of them turned as Tegan spoke.
"Oh!" Stacy looked shock and moved a little bit away from Amanda, retracting her hand as she did so.
"Hey guys." Amanda greeted them sheepishly.
"Coffee." Sara held up the bag and grinned, "We'll go brew up a pot. As you were."
Tegan giggled after she had her back to the living room, "That worked better than expected."
"Yeah," Sara grinned in response, "I hope we get invited to their wedding."
"We better," Tegan smiled and winked, "We're the reason they're together."
"They aren't together yet." Sara laughed and shook her head.
"They're together." Tegan glanced over her shoulder, "They're making out!" Tegan whispered harshly in Sara's ear.
Sara whipped around in shock, only to find Stacy and Amanda sitting a foot apart from each other talking.
"You believed me?" Tegan started laughing.
"You asshole." Sara shook her head.
"You actually thought they'd make out forty minutes after meeting?" Tegan grinned and Sara punched her lightly in the shoulder.
"I thought you'd tell me the truth." Sara glared while failing to hold back a smile.
They watched as their friends continued to talk, lost in their own little world on the couch. When the coffee finished brewing Sara poured two cups and carried them to the people in the living room.
"Here's the coffee." Sara smiled warmly and held out the mugs.
"Thanks." They responded in unison, both reaching out and grabbing a mug out of Sara's hands.
They sat and talked together for almost two hours. Tegan and Sara made themselves scarce and spent a lot of time in the bedroom or kitchen.
Stacy finally got up off the couch and announced that she needed to go.
"Thanks for coming over." Tegan pulled her in for a hug.
"Thanks for inviting me," Stacy squeezed her hard and added in a whisper, "I like Amanda. She's really nice."
"I know." Tegan grinned as she reveled in the fact that her matchmaking worked.
"I'll see you guys around," Stacy waved at the other two girls, "I'll call you later Amanda."
"I'll be looking forward to it." Amanda grinned.
"It was a pleasure to meet you." Stacy gave them all one last smile and wave before walking out the door.
After a few seconds of silence Amanda spoke up with a smile, "She's incredible!"
"Yeah?" Tegan responded nonchalantly.
"Yeah," Amanda spoke almost dreamily, "She's the nicest person I've ever met."
Tegan and Sara sat together on the couch and listened to Amanda talk about Stacy for several minutes. The entire time Tegan was glad that Amanda would definitely not pursuing Sara. Plus, Stacy seemed interested, which meant that she would hopefully be happy. And making people happy always made Tegan happy.