Chapter 5
It was the following Sunday, approximately 158 hours had passed since the brunette last heard what had become her favourite voice, not that she was counting. The Monday after her late night, Sian had been the first person Sophie had thought of. She'd gone about her normal routine that day, but she'd been thrown off by the amount of times the blonde had entered her head; she'd be getting her morning coffee and had wondered how Sian took hers, she'd seen someone wearing a dress and thought about how much better it would look on the blonde, she'd thought about the case Sian would be working on that day, or whether she'd be in court, or what she had for lunch, whether Sophie herself had entered the other girls mind at all. No matter what she did these thoughts protruded her brain. She'd be in the middle of a class and would lose her train of thought because a memory of the night before had distracted her. She'd be in a conversation with someone and her attention would be lost to thoughts of those blue eyes. She'd be driving in her car and miss her turn because she was too busy thinking about whether to text Sian or not. Nothing had kept her from thinking of this crush she was clearly developing and how much she urged to act on it. Even going to bed Sian was the last thought she had before falling asleep. And the rest of the week hadn't been any different; every day her mind was too occupied with blonde hair, blue eyes and sexy legs to think of anything else.
She hadn't text her though. Oh she'd gone to send a message many times but always stopped herself before she'd finish typing her sentence. She knew that if she was this ga-ga over Sian now, after one meeting, it could only get worse if she saw her again, and a straight-girl crush was the last thing Sophie wanted to entertain.
"Red or white?"
It was her and Katy's weekly meet-up day and she was currently sat at her friends dining table in a world of her own, of course the same thing distracting her like it had all week.
"Sophie?" Katy questioned.
"Mm?" The brunette snapped out of her daze.
"Chesney's talking to you."
Her head watched the girl next to her talking before turning it to look at the red-haired man stood in the doorway holding a bottle of wine in each hand.
"Oh urr, white please."
Chesney nodded, going back into the kitchen as his fiancée spoke, "what is with you?"
"Ugh," Sophie sighed running a hand through the front of her hair. "I'm sorry, it's just been a long week." Feels like forever.
"You've been acting off since Monday.. You sure you're alright?" She asked lowering her head to meet Sophie's eyes as she reached across the table.
Chesney appeared back in the room with a now open bottle of white wine. He placed it on the table and sat opposite Sophie, "right, thirty minutes and the bird'll be juicy as," he said shuffling his chair under the table. "So, what's the tea?"
Sophie and Katy both raised their eyebrows at him.
"What? I'm rarely invited to the girls Sundays and when I am I expect to be updated on the tea," he insisted. "It'll be nice hearing it first hand rather than this one who can never remember the juicy details," he joked pinching his other half's side.
Katy giggled slapping his hand away and Sophie watched the exchange. They'd always been like this, since they were kids, totally besotted with one another. She couldn't help but feel jealous, she was happy for her friends but she craved a piece of that, having someone who was your best friend but you couldn't keep your hands off of. Smiling when someone mentioned their name, or swooning over a text they'd sent. Coming home to them at night and just getting to be. She smiled softly as she watched them, Chesney pulling Katy closer to kiss her cheek and her rubbing his back as he did so.
"She hasn't actually poured any tea yet," Katy corrected as she sat up straight in her chair. "But I'm waiting," she said expectantly widening her eyes at her friend.
Sophie sighed. She knew her friend would go on and on until she spilled what exactly was filling her head. She'd managed to avoid their mid-week phone call and had been vague in her text replies but she knew she wouldn't be leaving without telling Katy everything she could about Sian. "So, I met someone -"
Before she could continue Katy pointed at her, "I knew it! You went home with that barmaid didn't you?"
"Barmaid?" Chesney questioned.
Katy rolled her eyes and turned to look in his direction, "yes, I told you about the barmaid. Eye fucking Sophie the whole time she was pouring our drinks."
"Ahh," Chesney nodded.
"It's not the barmaid," the Webster girl clarified, causing both her mates to look across the table at her.
"It wasn't the barmaid?"
"Not the barmaid?" Chesney echoed.
"But -"
Sophie stopped Katy from continuing, "I got her number, but I didn't leave with her."
"Sophie Webster, you devil woman you" Katy said sitting back in her chair. "So you took someone else home?"
"Blimey Soph, I dunno how you do it."
"Okay," Sophie said holding her hand mid-air as she sat up straight ready to defend herself, "can we not go on like I'm some sort of gigolo please?"
Katy stifled the laugh that wanted to escape, "sorry Soph."
"What's a gigolo?"
As his fiancée began to explain, Sophie closed her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose, "well it's a.." Katy stopped when she glanced over at her friend, "I'll tell ya later Ches."
"I didn't go home with anyone.." Sophie said dropping her hand to her lap. "But I did meet someone.."
Her friends watched her as she began to speak. Katy tapped Chesney's arm, "pour the drinks babe."
As Chesney moved the glasses closer to him pouring out the wine, Sophie continued, "..and I can't get her out of my head."
In the centre of the city Sian sat at her desk pushing her pen to the flat surface with her index finger and thumb, letting it fall and then repeating the action. She'd been staring into space for a few minutes now, her eyes fixed to the clock on the wall.
It wasn't unusual for her to work on a Sunday, much like the last. She was working seven days a week at the minute and it felt like all the love she once had for life had been sucked out of her and her job was all that mattered. She lived to work, she loved it once and although her job was never boring and the days went quickly she used it as more of an escape these days.
The most fun she'd had in a long time was that drive with Sophie the week before. It felt so good to be in someone's company that just came with ease, the only pressure being from the thoughts in her own head.
This wasn't the first time she'd thought of the brunette since they'd met, maybe the thousandth time but not the first. She wondered what she'd be doing at certain points of the day, how was her work, what was she teaching, who she was with? Would she be laughing that enchanting giggle? Sian put her feelings down to not having made a new friend in a while and ignored anything telling her otherwise, but every now and then she'd think of the younger woman's lips and the ideas she'd been ignoring would come to the forefront of her mind. Whenever she did allow herself to fantasise she'd just about get to imagining Sophie kissing her and then she'd freak out. Tell herself to stop. Distract herself with anything. But her thoughts would eventually return back to those fantasies.
She'd kissed girls before, in truth or dare at college and uni, even on nights out if she'd been drunk and her friends had wanted to, usually to deter or tempt lads eyes. She'd even enjoyed some of them, but it wasn't like this. She'd known it had just been fun, meaningless and they would laugh about it the next day. This was different. She had wanted to kiss Sophie that night, she had wanted to feel the brunette against her and she spanned out their time together as much as she could because she enjoyed being with her.
She'd never thought of herself as bisexual or gay. She'd never questioned her sexuality. She'd always been with men and just thought that was the norm. She could recognise when a girl was hot, she'd even had girl crushes on celebrities but nothing so extreme as to make her think it meant anything. But now, without realising, Sophie was making her question everything.
As confused as she was, she had done nothing but hope to see the brunette again, speak to her, laugh with her. There was this connection between them that night, something that felt so natural and comfortable but made her bones feel like they were on fire. It felt like she was meant to meet this person, they were destined to be a part of her life; she'd never felt an instinct like her one to be around Sophie. If nothing else she knew for definite she wanted to be her friend, and she wanted to know more about her. She had cursed herself for never taking her number and leaving it up to the other girl to call. She should've known she probably wouldn't after Sian had rejected her advances, but she'd hoped Sophie would settle for a friendship at least as they had got on so well.
As she watched the clocks hand move to the next minute she let out a defeated sigh, pressing her hands to the edge of her desk and pushing against it so the wheels of her chair reversed. She turned in her seat and leant down picking up one of her shoes from the floor and adjusted her leg to put the item on her foot. She could be at the bar.. As Sian pushed her foot into one shoe her eyes wondered out in front of her. You could go for one..
She shook her head putting on her other shoe. "Yeah, rock up and look like a complete psycho. Explain that one why don't ya?" She said aloud questioning her own thoughts. The blonde took to her feet and began gathering up her belongings scattered on her desk that she needed for home, but as she pulled her bag up from the floor she looked over at the clock again. Just one drink..
"I dunno what to do," Sophie sighed as she lifted her glass for a sip of her drink.
Katy sat back in her seat watching her friend, "well I hate to say it Soph, but I don't think there's much you can do. I mean you went in for a kiss and she knocked you back so she's clearly not interested."
"So I shouldn't text her?" Sophie clarified, putting her glass back to the table.
"Yes!"
"No!"
The couple opposite had spoke in unison and now the brunettes eyes were darting between them.
"Chesney!"
"What?" The fair-haired man exclaimed.
"The girl's obviously not into it," Katy argued.
"You don't know that! Maybe she's shy?"
His fiancée turned in her chair so her body was facing him, "she said very politely that she doesn't swing that way."
Chesney scoffed, "I've seen this woman," he gestured to Sophie, "take more girls off grown men than they've served hotpots in the Rovers!"
Katy rolled her eyes and turned back to her friend, "don't text her."
Sophie's mouth bobbed open to speak but she was interrupted by the man now leaving his chair to stand.
"Text her" he insisted as he picked up the empty plates and took them into the kitchen.
Katy gritted her teeth, internally cursing her beloved. "Don't listen to him, he don't know what he's talking about."
"I heard that!" A voice came from the kitchen.
"Yeah, well I said it loud!" his partner quipped. She looked over at her friend who now had her phone in her hand. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"Why?" Sophie sighed, already knowing that Katy was always the person in her life that got it right.
"Because she wants a friend."
"Yeah.. Well.. New friends are always good to make.." The brunette tried to reason as she placed her phone back on the table.
Katy smiled weakly, tilting her head still watching Sophie. She could tell she liked this one. She'd never mulled over sending messages or making a move before. She'd always been confident about whether someone was into her, she'd never been one to hesitate or worry about whether she was gonna get the girl or not. But it seemed this one had turned the normally 'barely break a sweat Webster' to absolute mush. "Do you wanna be her friend?"
Sophie bit her bottom lip, her eyes moving to her phone that was sat face-up next to her glass. Making friends is always good. Not so much sexy blonde friends that you can't get out of your head.. She let a stroppy groan escape her mouth as she flung her back dramatically and stomped her feet under the table. "She's just soooo fit," she whined.
Katy giggled as she watched her friend's head flop back into it's previous place but her bottom lip now protruding in protest. "You only like her this much cause she turned you down," the older girl reasoned.
Sophie's head shot to attention and her brow furrowed, "urrr no!"
"You want what you can't have. Classic."
"Katy! I am not that shallow!"
"Come on Soph," the other girl started. "Why d'you think you always get bored after a few dates?"
The Webster girl rolled her eyes putting her elbows on the table and resting her cheeks in her hands. "Not this again," she groaned.
"I'm just saying.." Katy defended putting a hand mid-air.
"Do you really think I'm that transparent?! I've been turned down by girls before ya know."
"So what's different about this one?"
Sophie looked over at her friend who now had her arms crossed over her chest. She then looked back at her phone in front of her taking a deep breath and huffing it out. "I just.. I can't.. I can't stop thinking about her."
Sian pushed on the entrance door stepping inside the bar she had visited the previous weekend, the warmth hitting her face and instantly making her forget the cold this November night was offering. She immediately relaxed at the familiarity she felt and as she began stepping towards the bar, she unbuttoned her long grey woolen coat.
"What can I get ya love?"
"Dry White Wine please," she requested smiling politely at the barman opposite.
As he shuffled off to fetch her drink she hooked her handbag under the bar and as she draped her coat over the back of one of the bar stools she took the opportunity to scan the room for those long brunette locks and that adorable laugh that hadn't left her head all week.
"Looking for ya mate?"
Sian's head turned back to the bar and was surprised to now see the barmaid that Sophie had been flirting with putting her glass of wine on the bar in front of her, "She hasn't text me ya know?"
The blondes eyes darted to the side and then back again, "..who?"
"The fit brunette you left here with last visit."
Who the barmaid was referring to finally fell into place. "Oh.." She started as she placed herself on the stool, "well I.."
The blonde was interrupted, "£5.40."
Oop she's not happy with you. Sian smiled faintly feeling the awkwardness wash over as she removed her phone from her coat pocked and hovered it over the card machine. "I'm sure she's just been busy.." She tried.
As the machine beeped the barmaid put it back down behind the counter, "or maybe you gave her such a good show she forgot all about little ol' me."
Sian shook her head slightly managing a weak smile, "oh no, we're just.."
Abbie raised her eyebrows awaiting the blonde to finish her sentence as she put her phone down on the bar.
"..we're just friends. Barely know her really."
The red-heads body relaxed, "yeah well, watch that one, she's got 'player' written all over her."
"She doesn't need encouraging" Katy stated firmly to her fiancé as they both stood in the kitchen.
Chesney rolled his eyes facing the kitchen window as he scrubbed the plate he was washing. "Okaaaayy" he sang.
"Chesney, I'm serious."
"Look the only reason you're getting so het-up is because she obviously likes her" he reasoned handing her the plate to dry.
"So?!" She asked almost snatching the plate from his grip.
"Sooo" he began, glancing at his future wife who was now rubbing the crockery quite harshly with the tea towel. "I've never seen her like this over a bird before, so you probably haven't seen her like this over a bird before."
Katy sighed becoming more impatient, "so?!"
"So, do you think that maybe this one's worth pursuing?"
"Not if Sophie's gonna get hurt, no."
"Okay okay, forget I said anything then."
"I can forget it, but Soph might actually listen to your stupid suggestion."
"Oh stupid was it?"
"Well it wasn't smart!" Katy exclaimed slamming the plate to the side. "Of course it was bloody stupid. The girl's straight for Christ sake!"
The fair-haired man sighed leaning both of his hands on the side of the sink, "come on, is anyone really totally straight these days?"
The short girls eyebrows lifted as her stare widened at her partner, "eh? Are you trying to tell me something here Ches."
He did a double-take before standing up straight and laughing as he spoke again, "not me babe."
Katy watched him as his body began to display maybe a little panic.
"Obviously," he tried, starting to feel hotter under his partners stare. After a moment he realised how ridiculous the conversation had become. "Oh shut up looking at me like that!"
The small woman released the small smile she had been holding back, amused by Chesney's panic.
"I just mean.." He started taking the tea-towel from her hands and drying his own. "You hear about it all the time these days don't ya? Girls kissing girls and everyone experimenting."
Katy looked questionably up at her fiancé, not really understanding why he was suddenly talking absolute waffle.
He rolled his eyes moving over to the freezer and taking a tub of ice cream from it, "okay, lesson learnt, I'll keep it zipped in future." He finished his sentence, closing the freezer door as he did so.
She turned to the drawer behind her huffing, taking two spoons from from it and slamming it shut behind her. "And this.." She began as she moved towards him snatching the ice cream tub from his hands, "..is why you're never invited to Sundays!"
He stared blankly ahead, the fact that his girlfriend had only grabbed two spoons from the drawer not going unnoticed. You're in the doghouse. His posture relaxed as he slinked back over to the sink thinking it would give him some respite in the argument later if he finished all the washing up himself.
As Katy moved swiftly into the next room she let out another exhausted sigh, moving to the table her friend was still sat at. "Don't listen to him Soph, he ain't got a clue," she reasoned sitting next to the other brunette and placing the items from the kitchen on the table.
"Yeah.." Sophie began as she sat up straight. "He bagged his dream woman at sixteen," she said pulling the tub of ice cream over to her and removing the lid, "why would I listen to a no-hoper like that?"
She watched her friend take a spoon and start scraping the ice cream from its holder, Katy pulled the bowls that had already been laid closer to them both. But as Sophie struggled to get the frozen food onto the cutlery she sat back, "I don't get this."
"I know, they need to invent some sort of heated spoon thing to make it easier."
Katy eyed her friend disbelievingly as she continued her struggle. "Not that!" She spoke insistently, taking the spoon from her friends hand. "You. This girl. You being obsessed with someone you barely know."
Sophie slumped back in her seat, looking into space contemplating. She didn't get it either. She didn't understand how someone she had spent a mere amount of hours with, someone who clearly wasn't interested in her advances, could have such an effect on her.
The smaller brunette could tell her friend was in deep thought about the mysterious blonde still, "oh snap out of it for gods sake!"
The Webster girl clenched her eyes shut for a second tutting at the other girls dismissiveness. "I don't know okay? I don't know why I feel like this.." She tried to articulate how she was feeling but her own confusion on the matter wasn't helping. "I just, I just.."
"What?"
She shrugged, "I like her."
Katy languished at Sophie's simple statement.
"I liked spending time with her. It just felt.." She tried again, "it felt.. weirdly normal." The brunette knew she wasn't making sense and she could see all over her friends face that she was just as confused. "It felt like," she glimpsed up at the ceiling trying to think of a way to explain how being with Sian had made her feel that night. "Like, 'where have you been all my life?' 'Why haven't we been doing this every night?' It felt like an instinct to wanna be around her."
"Love at first sight?" Katy's question came with a tone of 'you sound ridiculous' as she cocked her eyebrow.
"No," Sophie said dismissing the concept. "I just.." She gave up shrugging, "..I like her."
"Oh for Christ sake, you've said that already!" Her friend squawked grabbing the ice cream tub. "You'll be quoting bloody Shakespeare next!"
"Katy!" Sophie countered.
"It's just lust, alright?! Lust," she insisted now trying herself to scrape the ice cream onto a spoon.
"Lust?" Sophie questioned, her eyes darting from her friends face to the spoon.
"Yeah! You like a girl, you can't have her and now you want her more. And you know who else had lust Sophie?" Katy's eyes were now boring into her friends trying to communicate how ridiculous she thought the Webster girl was being. "Romeo and Juliet."
"What?" Sophie spat, her face falling into one of utter confusion.
Katy went back to scraping the frozen product as she spoke, "two horny teenagers just trying to get laid."
The taller brunettes eyebrows furrowed in more confusion. She tried to speak but was stopped when her friends spoon was thrust an inch from her nose, her eyes crossing to look at the object.
"You're not a horny teenager Sophie!" Katy said her eyebrows raised, her face a serious one. She watched the other girl for a second, her eyes then moving to the cutlery pointed at the face next to her. "You," she flicked the spoon, "are a grown-up."
Sophie's eyes went back to their normal place as her friend moved her hand and the spoon away from her face going back to the tub before them.
"She's not interested, she said no, end of."
"Bu-"
"Do you wanna end up like Juliet?! Hmm? Gun to your head?!"
"That was the film babe," a voice called from the kitchen.
"Those dishes won't do themselves Chesney Brown!" She shouted turning her head slightly over her shoulder. She turned back to her previous position once she had started to hear the sound of relentless scrubbing coming from the kitchen.
"Okaaaayyy.." Sophie said slowly moving her hands to the tub on the table and the spoon in the other brunettes hand, "someone may not need any sugar."
The smaller girl watched her friend remove the items from her hands and rest the spoon against the tubs side. She sighed.
Sophie regarded her friend and sat back, "Katy, why are we talking about Romeo and Juliet?" Before the other girl could go off on another tangent she continued, "and why are you so passionate about this?"
Katy looked over at her mate, ".. I have never, ever," she began stressing the last word, "heard you speak about a girl like this." They both locked eyes, "never. Okay, yeah, you had a few crushes in school, but.. you've never spoken about anyone like this before."
Sophie's eyes were now drawn to the table, letting her friends words sink in.
"You've been here two hours, and you've been speaking about Sarah since I poured your first drink."
"Sian."
"Sian," Katy corrected.
Sophie's cheeks had turned the colour of red and it was slowly sinking in that maybe she had sounded a bit ridiculous, possibly somewhat obsessed and dare she think it, maybe even a little pathetic. "Sorry," she muttered embarrassed.
"Soph.." The girl sat next to her began, bringing her hand to rest on the Webster girls arm, "I'm not having a go, I just worry," she soothed the skin beneath her thumb.
"I'm being stupid, I know."
A pang of guilt washed over Katy and she watched her friend, the embarrassment clear on her face. Her and Sophie had always been honest with each other, and when times needed it, brutal almost. They could always count on one another to tell the truth, they'd had fall-outs like all friends, but would always come back to each other knowing the other one had their best interests at heart. But Sophie had always been the more sensitive one out of the two, any emotion she felt she'd feel with her whole fibre. If she was angry she'd go full-pelt at the person it needed to be aimed at, if she felt happy her smile lit her whole face, and when she felt sad, which never seemed very often, her body would never be able to hide it; her shoulders would scrunch, her lips would turn melancholy and her eyes were the saddest of blue. Katy had always felt like she had kicked a puppy if she ever saw Sophie sad and all she'd want to do was make it better for her friend.
"No, you're not," she reassured giving her friends arm a squeeze. "You met a hottie and you fancy her, you're human. I'm sorry, just not used to you going all gooey over a girl," she chuckled.
"I still think you should text her," Chesney added as he stood in the doorway.
His fiancée gritted her teeth, "dishes."
"They're done," he beamed proudly.
Katy turned widening her eyes at her partner, "so dry them."
Chesney took the hint and with a swift nod of his head had done a disappearing act.
"I am sorry for going on."
The attention was brought back to the conversation and Katy felt determined to take her mates mind off this mystery woman. "Right," she said hitting the tops of her thighs with her hands, "let's go for a drink, yeah?"
"Nah, I think -"
"Soph, I wasn't asking."
Both girls eyes met and a sneaky smiled appeared on their faces.
Sophie rolled her head back and her eyes with it feigning tiredness before agreeing, "fiiiine."
The smile grew on Katy's face and she rose to her feet swiftly followed by Sophie.
"What about the ginger ninja?"
The smaller girl glanced towards the kitchen and then over the table, "he gets the ice cream."