Work Text:
Cosima glances up at the huge board hanging in the middle of the airport, her eyes scanning desperately to find her flight number. She could feel her heart pound in her ears as she went over the same lines over and over again, still she could not find it. A voice boomed over the tannoy system. “Flight A320 to San Francisco has now departed”
"Fuck!" She yelled out loud, "Fuck, Shit, Fuck. No!" She started to run towards her gate, the wheels on her suitcase occasionally lifting off of the ground with her speed and flipping over. This only added to her rising stress levels. Every time she had to stop and put the suitcase back in position she could herself becoming more and more stressed and upset. It was an inside joke with her and her ‘sisters’, her punctuality. "Always kind of late, so always kind of sorry." She’d never really been bothered to correct her time-keeping, due to her almost innate ability to catch up with anything she’d missed and outshine anyone who had arrived before her. But now, running helplessly through an airport terminal, shouting apologies and raising palms to angry passengers and families for her unruly bag and never-ending stream of expletives, she hated her pre-disposition for lateness more than anything.
Why was she even bothering? It’s not as if she can run fast enough to catch the plane before it starts to take off, but she still does. 'Maybe if I run fast enough I can spin the earth backwards' she thinks to herself, knowing full well it’s not possible, but a small, child-like sense of hope wonders if she could. As she turns the corner for her gate, she hits a seemingly immovable object. Her face hits a strong yet soft surface, and if it weren’t for the almost perfect placement of her suitcase behind her, she would be flat on her ass. Luckily, she manages to save face by landing on top of her bag in an awkward, yet not mind-numbingly embarrassing, sitting position. Cosima looks up to see what she’d ran into. Oh, she thinks, not what…who.
Staring down at her, mouth slightly agape, fear filling her eyes and eyebrows raised in a full, sincere apology, was a tall slender woman with full, dark blonde hair and a pale yet flawless complexion. It’s almost as if she is trying to find the words, to apologize, to help perhaps, but they wont leave her mouth. A few seconds of awkwardness passes over them, the blonde woman’s face still a smorgasbord of contrasting emotions, but hazel eyes fixed on Cosima. Finally, she settles for “I am sorry.” and reaches a gentle hand down to Cosima to help her up. “No, it was me. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
That was true. There could have been anything there and Cosima would have hit it, even if it had been a brick wall or a potted plant. Luckily for her, it was this beautiful, French goddess. Perhaps that was why, instead of the stress of missing her flight home and then falling over in front of a busy terminal she was smiling, and trying not to blush at the way the woman’s fingers lingered on her palm as she pulled her hand away, or at the extended period of time that their eyes locked together. That could not be said, however, for the other woman, who’s cheeks flushed unashamedly, adding a delightful pink tone to her pale skin. “I suppose it would be a silly question if I were to ask if you were in a rush no?”
Cosima grinned widely. “Uh, yeah probably. But…” She looked behind the woman to see her plane taking off from the runway. “Now I’m not. I’m Cosima by the way.” She stuck her hand out, almost desperate to feel the slight jolts of electricity that shot through her body at the woman’s touch, who quickly returned the favour. Cosima could almost feel the blonde woman shiver at their contact, but she regained herself quickly. “Delphine.” She emphasised the end of her name with a final firm handshake, but again Cosima sensed she was reluctant to pull away.
She’d never believed in love at first sight, and maybe she still didn’t, but there was definitely a connection here. She could not deny it, and if her scientific mind loved anything, it loved absolutes. Fate was something that every rational part of her mind told her to ignore, but yet she couldnt help but wonder ‘what if I’d caught my flight?’ What if, just this one time, Cosima had managed to pull herself together and be on time. She would never have met this radiant beauty, and although she would have gone on not knowing what she had missed, she couldn’t help but feel it was supposed to happen this way.
"I was wondering," Delphine continued, "If you have nowhere to go, perhaps I could buy you a drink? To apologize for knocking you over."
Cosima went to correct Delphine, assure her that it was her own fault for ending up on the floor, but then it hit her that perhaps she was using it as a cover to spend more time together…at least she hoped it was. So she kept her mouth firmly shut. “Yeah, sure.”
_
They chatted for hours about everything and nothing. Starting with the things they had in common, their love for biology and for learning. Cosima told Delphine about how she was finishing off her PHD in Evolutionary Developmental Biology and Delphine told Cosima how she had not long since finished her own PHD in Immunology. “So beauty and brains.” Cosima joked, but there was a slight seriousness in Delphine’s voice when she replied “But it appears i’m not the only one.”
Cosima took a sip from her wine glass to try and occupy her own mouth before she said something stupid, or too forward, and scared her away. Delphine watched intently and as she did so took her own bottom lip between her teeth, occupying her mouth before she leaned across the table and did something stupid.
A phone ringing broke the intensity of the moment. It was Cosima’s. “Hey mom…I missed my flight…I know, I know, always late…I booked another flight…soon…Okay….see you later…love you too.” She sighed heavily as she put her phone back into her coat pocket. “I was supposed to catch a flight to San Francisco and my mom got suspicious when I didnt text her telling her I’d caught the plane…she had a point.”
"Again I am so sorry."
"Hey, I’ve told you, my fault. 100%"
"Still…" Delphine pondered for a moment. "Wait, did you say San Francisco?"
"Yeah."
She smiled widely, as if she had discovered the answer to her life’s work. “I am going to San Francisco, I am taking my companies private jet…I would be allowed to bring someone with me?” She phrased it like a question, offering it up to Cosima without actually having to ask her. Would she want to ride home in a private jet with a beautiful French woman who, it appeared, was as into her as she was? As Beth always says, 'You're damn right'.
"Wow, really? That’s…amazing. I would love that."
"That’s settled then."
_
As they boarded the plane, a finely dressed man approached them, carrying two glasses of champagne on a tray. “Dr Cormier, Miss Niehaus, compliments of Dr Leekie.”
"Thank you, Martin." Delphine took her own glass and after waiting for Cosima to grab the other, made her way to the table at the side of the jet. She sat down on the huge leather seat and Cosima took the chair opposite.
"So…" Cosima mused. "What brings a woman like you to San Francisco?" She smiled cheekily, flirting unashamedly now. "Business or pleasure?" She was in control, leading the situation. Throw in a cheeky remark or two, keep it flirty.
“Why not both?” Delphine replied, her voice low, her eyes breaking down all of Cosima’s remaining defences and doubts with a single, intense look, before taking a large gulp from her champagne glass and setting it down on the table. Her eyes were back on Cosima’s, her lip back between her teeth. The subtle, yet sexy movements had Cosima’s mind running for a way to regain control of the situation. In the end, she settles for Fuck it and after setting her glass down, leaned across, her right palm planted on the table for support, her left snaking slowly around the back of Delphine’s neck. The blonde woman leaned forward to meet her, and tilted her head slightly to get better access to Cosima’s mouth. After a few moments of this gentle, teasing, bliss, Delphine, probably encouraged by the multiple drinks she had had, traced the bottom of Cosima’s lips with her tongue. The brunette woman obliged, and parted her lips. Delphine teased at first, driving Cosima insane, but when she dragged the tip of her tongue along the roof of her mouth, she knew she was done for. She pulled away, panting, desperate to finish what they had started.
As if Delphine could read her mind, she whispered into Cosima’s ear, close enough to brush her lips against her earlobe. “You know, there is a bed on this plane.”
"Is that so?"
"Oui. Would you like to see it?"
"Oh god yes."