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“Mija, calm yourself. It’s going to be just fine.” Cathrine said to her goddaughter. While Cathy stared a hole in the kitchen wall, the Spanish royal added the last bits to her Paella before shoving it in the oven. After messing a bit with the buttons, she turned to the younger woman.
“I promise. The table is made, dinner’s almost ready and you look gorgeous. if you’ll just be you, nothing can go wrong.” Cathy didn't pick up on any of those words, her mind already too far in her day-nightmare.
“What if I mess up?” She asked, and continued rambling, “What if I say something wrong? What If I do something wrong, cross her boundaries, maybe rush stuff. I don’t know?”
“Catherine, you're rambling and not making sense.” Aragon managed to squeeze in.
“Exactly! What if I start rambling, if I stop making sense to her? What if I go off on something and make her feel dump or overwhelm her?” Parr said, quite worried. She lifted herself on top of the kitchen counter. Then she turned to herself, “Oh great, now I think I’m too smart for her. Like sure Parr, no one is smarter than you! Stop being so full of yourself, this is why you never were able to invite a girl home! You know what, she might even be strai-”
“Parr!”
Cathy’s mouth shut close, all of a sudden she found the floor incredibly interesting. The loud noise woke up Sherlock, Caty’s border Collie. The older Cathrine walked towards the younger, resting her arms on the latter's knees.
“You will be fine Cathy. Remember that we are talking about the girl you met in a bar. A lesbian one to be more specific. I’m quit sure she’s gay, or at least bi or pan.”
“Just because I met her in one, doesn’t she is one.” Cathy said, as a pout appeared on her face and a hand went to pet Sherlock’s head. “Cathy, love, blind love. She was the one that came to you. She wouldn’t have asked about your love life, the way she did, if she isn’t into you.” Aragon whispered, aiming to calm her goddaughter's nerves. It worked. Memories of their first meeting flooded into her mind, just as a smile appeared on her face. Cathy’s daydreaming was broken up by the Spanish queen.
“On the subject of you being nerdy, didn’t you tell me that your second ‘date’ was in a reading coffee shop?”
“Yeah, that was nice. And honestly, I might be nerdy, but she is a major bookworm.”
“See, it’s going to be alright. Now I need to get Mary from daycare, cause Jane is waiting with supper at home. And if I can give you a golden piece of advice, never upset a pregnant woman.” Cathrine joked. A few giggles escaped both. “But I’ll leave you with some instructions.” Cathy nodded in response. “The paella is ready, the oven is on the right settings. Simply turn it on 15 minutes before you serve. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Then I’ll let you be.”
Catherine gathered her belongings and walked through the long, slightly decorated hallway, Cathy and Sherlock right behind her.
“Good luck Mija.”
“Thank you. Give Jane my greetings and Mary a hug for me?”
“Will do.” With that the Spanish royal left. Cathy leant against the door and took a deep breath.
“Relax. It’s fine. You’re fine.”
Cathy stood in front of her worryingly big candle collection she held underneath her bulging bookcase. Of course she had to be the most indecisive person in the region, especially when her date was already on her way. ‘What would she like? I mean it’s October, so pumkin?’ She thought to herself, as her eyes went to the warmer toned candles. Orange? Green? Light brown? Or rather red, yellow and grey? Fuck it.
Cathy took out her favorites. A bunch of blue, green and flower scented wax decorated the dining table further. Along with some fake, yet beautiful looking, rose paddles of the same colours. Silver details finished the table off. A car stopped in the parking lot, and the nervous woman recognised it all too well. Cathy rushed to a box of matches. She had half of the candles lit before the bell sounded. She answered the intercom in a record time, unbearingly desperate for that sweet voice on the other side of the line. A few barks came from Sherlock.
“Quiet dear, I know it’s exciting but we have neighbours.”
Then she ran back to the table, lighting the other candles aflame.
And her finger.
Cathy pressed her lips together, trying to suppress a scream as a polse made itself noticeable in her finger. “No, not now. No time. Get over the pain, Parr. Don’t mess this date up.” She said to herself. She made her way to the front door, and took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.”
Two knocks came from the other side of the wood. The pulse in her finger moved to her throat. The keys jingled as they turned and the door opened.
“Hi.”
The heartbeat in her throat overshadowed her vocal cords. The way Anne looked with that smirk planted on her face didn’t help either.
“He-hey, Anne. Come in.”
Anne giggled and walked past Cathy, into the hallway. The latter’s brain shut off completely. So she went with the first thing that popped up in her head. Cathy held her partly burned hand out, having forgotten the pain once she saw Anne. Anne, equally excited, expressed it a little differently. The dark brunette slapped away the other’s hand and pulled her in an embrace. Cathy was glad that Anne was more extroverted than herself and she felt like she was floating in the warm hug. However, her hand wasn't so happy. The sharp sting came back and brought a pulse with it. She let out a small groan. Anne, confused, pulled back with a questioning look on her face.
“Are you alright?”
“Uhh…”
Before Cathy could continue babeling, Anne figured out what made her uncomfortable. Worry spread across the latter's face.
“Shit! You okay? What happend to your finger?”
Cathy looked at the floor and mumbled;
“I just burned it while lighting the candles.”
Anne fought against her giggles. She guided her date to the kitchen and turned on the tap.
“Hold it under the water for 15 minutes. Where is your first aid kit?”
“In that cupboard.” Cathy said, pointing with the index finger from her not grilled hand. With a gentle smile, the dark brunette grabbed it and laid the necessaries out on the not decorated end of the dining table. She looked around quickly. There was a clear colour scheme going on. Everything was either blue, mint, grey, black or white. Besides the table there was a dresser and next to that a bookcase. Anne also noticed the absurd amount of candles, and it made her giggle at the current situation once more. At the other side of the room, there was the door to the kitchen and hallway. There were a few big windows, a TV and a big and soft looking sofa. The organised piles of pillows and fluffy blankets helped accomplish that look. Another thing that stood out to Anne were the pictures. Photo’s, framed quotes and paintings decorated most walls. One more thing were plants. That, however, didn't surprise Anne as it was standard for gays to turn their homes into jungles. “The table does look great, as does the rest of the appartement. And you, might I say.” Anne complimented, as she organised the medical tools. “Thanks, and so do you.” Cathy said, while gazing at the other woman.
“I think that the 15 minutes are over dear.” She giggled. A blush crept onto Parr’s cheeks, walking over to the table.
“Let me see that up close.” Anne said, taking the barbecued finger in her hand. Cathy pulled back slightly and hesitantly.
“Trust me, I followed a first aid class a couple of years ago.”
The bookworm nodded, took a deep breath and relaxed. With a compress soaked disinfectant, she cleaned the burn out. Cathy bit on her teeth, keeping noises of pain in.
Anne noticed; “Am I hurting you?”
“No, no it’s okay. It’s a burn, it’s going to hurt anyway. Better have it hurt and heal, than hurt and infect, right?”
“Right, you’re staying though. I had a friend who burned herself with an iron machine while drunk. The moment I tried to help her she started to yodel.”
That got Cathy to laugh, which got a smile to appear on Anne’s face. Sherlock picked up on the strong smell of the disinfectant and decided to see what was going on.
“Well hello handsome.” the dark brunette said, greeting the dog.
“What’s their name?”
“Sherlock” Cathy responded, smiling at her dorky roommate. Sherlock sat proud when he heard his name.
“As in Holmes?”
“You know another Sherlock?”
“Not really,” Anne said, a little embarrassed. Cathy noticed and fought against the awkwardness to keep the conversation going.
“I got him as a teenager. At the time I was obsessed with the books and I couldn’t think of a different name once Sherlock got stuck in my head. So I went with it.”
“It’s a cute name, perfect for him,” Anne said while applying some cream.
“Do you have any pets?” Cathy was lost in Anne’s voice and would ask anything to be able to hear it.
“Yes, a red and white Havanese. She’s called ‘pourquoi’”
“A dog with that name can’t be anything else than cute and sassy”
“True, she’s adorable and has her diva moments,” The french woman rolled a bandage around the burned finger and secured it.
“There you go.”
Cathy's burned index finger was wrapped in a blanket of bandages. The pulse in it went mute and a cool creme helped the burning feel.
“Thanks”
The two gazed into each other's eyes. Heat rushed to both faces. The little moment of intimacy they just shared made them lean closer to one another. Their gazes now shift from their eyes to their lips. To both hearths it felt right. However this was the moment Cathy’s mind decided to work again. She panicked and pulled away. Receiving, instead of a soft fragile kiss, a hard clumsy head bump. Both women groaned in pain.
“I am so sorry,”
“No it’s my fault,”
They started to ramble, apologize and mostly ignore each other's words. That goes on for a moment until they understand, with great delay, the other’s speech. A silence falls over the situation. THeir mouths form goofy smiles, their eyes wander around the living room and their cheeks blush with embarrassment. Cathy was the first to break the awkwardness.
“So, ummh, I made paella. Well my godmother made it, but I helped. If you’re still hungry…”
“I’m starving,”
“Alright”
With that Cathy disappeared in the kitchen. Anne stood up, and started to clear the table of medical stuff.
“What are you doing?” Cathy asked, which made Anne flinsh.
“Don’t scare me like that.” The dark brunette slapped the other woman's upper arm. Parr laughed at that. “No, but really, you already helped enough. You’re my guest. Sit back. Dinner is in the oven, so can I get you a drink?” She offered.
“A glass of wine would be nice,” Anne answered. Once again the nerd disappeared in the kitchen, coming back with two glasses of a good rosé and Sherlock. They sat down and catched up on the two week period that they didn’t see each other. It’s fair to say that the two weeks felt like two centuries for them. After a few minutes, which felt like a few seconds, a timer disturbed their talk.
“Looks like dinners ready”
Cathy stood up and Anne went to follow.
“What did I just tell you? You sit down and relax.”
Anne smirked, sat back down and started to pet Sherlock. “Alright,” She watched her date walk to the kitchen, especially her backside.
“Has no one ever told it isn’t polite to stare?”
That took Anne out of her gazing. Cathy laughed, looking at an embarrassed Anne through the open door as she took the plate out of the oven.
“Here it is.” Parr presented the bowl of paella.
“It smells amazing, and so thinks Sherlock”
“I know he thinks tha- No!”
Sherlock wanted a taste and jumped up against Cathy. Anne giggled as the other battled with her dog.
“Sher- Sherlock! No! Sit! Sherlock no!”
Cathy won the battle, but made the mistake of celebrating too soon and lost the war. The pan flew through the air and landed on the ground. Paella was everywhere. Both women were in shock. Cathy’s eyes grew wide when she noticed the sauce on Anne’s green dress and the pasta in her hair. She started to panic and used the towel to try and clean up Anne’s dress, not even minding her own assembly that would most likely be ruined. And she apologized, a lot. Anne however just laughs softly. Cathy backed off, visibly confused by her companion’s reaction.
“Don’t worry too much about it?”
“Are you joking, I ruined your dress,”
“It’ll be fine if I’ll wash it.”
“It’s tomato sauce, it won’t come off.” Cathy said, panicking as she started scrubbing the dress again.
“May I wash the worst off here, quickly?” Anne asked, putting on her best puppy eyes.
Parr was a bit baffled by the question. Boleyn noticed.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I’ll go home and change and if it’s okay for you, I can come back?”
“Yeah, I mean, no. You want to go home?” Cathy stambled. She didn’t want Anne to leave at all, but her mind wasn’t working that greatly. She would have facepalmed herself if Anne wouldn’t have been in the room.
“I mean no you don’t have to leave because you can wash it here. If you still want to, of course,”
“That would be nice.”
“I’ll show you the bathroom,”
“Oh, and Anne, do you like lasagna?”
“I love lasagna,” Anne said, giggling after.
After a few minutes the shower started. While Anne, who was the main victim of the paella attack, freshened up, Cathy, who only had some splashes on her suit, changed in her bedroom. The curly head put on a matching pair of blue and grey sweats and left a pair of oversized loungewear in front of the bathroom door with a knock and note. As soon as the dining area was clear of veggies and seafood, Cathy started wondering how she could save this night. She looked around trying to find some inspiration. There it was. The couch, well the cushions and blankets on the couch.
With the shower still going she figured she had at least ten minutes to set her plan up.
“Come on Sherlock. You’re the cause of all this, now you better help solve it.”
The dog got the message when Cathy opened the door to the rooftop balcony. With a fluffy pillow in his mouth and a soft blanket dragging behind him, Sherlock waddled into the chilly night air.
“Good boy.”
Cathy knew what she was doing, she did this almost every night in the summer, enjoying a book best in the company of Sherlock and clear skies. Together they moved every soft, stuffed and fluffy object, apart from the mattresses, onto the rooftop. After putting the finishing touches on the datescene, the crullyhead went to the kitchen. Rewarding Sherlock with a treat and getting two servings of lasagna out of the freezer and into the microwave, were the last things Cathy had to do. And she finished them right in time. As she heard the squeaky bathroom door open, she handed Sherlock a gorgeous red rose. He accepted it and happily strutted towards where Anne came out of the bathroom.
With the stem in his mouth he sat down right in front of her bare feet, tilting his head a little. Anne smiled and took the rose. “Thank you handsome,” THe brunette kissed Sherlock on the head. That made the dog jump up and return the favor messely on her cheek. Both walked towards Cathy, who had a smile beaming on her face.
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”
Anne received a slap on the arm for that.
“So Sherlock is getting kisses before I do?”
Cathy received one for that.
She rubbed the slightly sore spot with an, according to Anne, adorable pout on her face and leads them both to the balcony. Before noticing the rooftop, the brunette sniffed a couple of times when passing the kitchen.
“Something smells really good,”
“Plan B, it’s almost ready,” Cathy says as she opens the door leading into the night.
“Something looks really good as well” Anne said, amazed by what her date head managed to pull off in such a short period of time. The brunette had already noticed the balcony earlier, and the jungle of plants on it. But now, that it just was dimly lit with fairy lights and with a bunch of pillows and blankets, it felt way more cozy and less of a city make do garden. Her date, on the other hand, was still amazed by how good Anne looked in a simple lounge set. Well half of it. As Anne is a head shorter than her she opted to just wear the pull over, which was already knee length for her.
“Go sit”
Anne did as ordered and Cathy joined her, handing her a full glass of the wine from earlier. “Thanks,”
Cathy just smiled and felt heat rush to her cheeks when Anne mirrored her. They locked eyes until a beeper from inside disturped the peace. The Spanish woman flinched, then sighed, stood up, walked inside, came back out with a nervous smile.
“So this is not at all what I planned as you may have figured. But I hope you still like this.”
She handed one of the warm plates to Anne, who said nothing until Cathy sat down again. Then she scooted closer to Cath and kissed her on the cheek.
“I love this,” Anne said, bring a first bite to her mouth
~
The empty plates were long forgotten about. Anne was laying with her head on a pillow on Cathy’s lap. Between the lasagna and the bowls of ice cream the latter went to fetch her duvet and the duvet of the guest room. Those now protected them against the icy temperatures of the typical London nights. They were currently laughing about a story Anne told about her dog and a squirrel who came to visit.
“Pourquoi went absolutely nuts,”
“I can picture that,”
“You should come over some time and bring Sherlock,”
“I’d like that,”
“I like you”
“I like you too”
“Really?”
“Mhhmm,”
Anne blushed, smirked and bit her lip. Cathy locked her hazel eyes with Anne’s green one’s. Like magnets, a force pulled them closer together. A look of reasurane and trust never leaving either face. Just until they touched.
“You sure?”
“Like never before,”
The small distance that was left, was soon non-existent. They kissed, gentle, very soft, scared to hurt or lose the other. A bark from Sherlock made them break apart. Only then they started realizing what had just happened. The evening almost exclusively existed out of smiles but now they both had their brightest on. A second kiss followed soon enough. That one full of confidence, curiosity and just a crazy little thing called happiness.