Work Text:
“Thank you for hanging out with me tonight,” Emery said as she followed Samira up the stairs to her building.
They’d both been roped into attending a PTMC charity gala and Samira had gone into the evening expecting to be bored out of her mind by small talk, but ended up spending almost the whole night talking with Emery.
Samira had always found Emery attractive, but she’d never considered that the feelings might be mutual until she’d noticed the way Emery’s eyes had wandered along her exposed shoulders tonight, how she’d subtly eyed the neckline of her dress, which was perfectly appropriate to wear around her colleagues but still more revealing than her usual scrubs.
And then when Samira had mentioned that she lived close enough to walk home, Emery had offered to walk with her. It was chivalrous, sweet in a way that made Samira feel flushed and giddy like a teenager with a crush.
“I hope I didn’t bore you too much,” Emery continued with a wry little smile. She was dressed in a satiny wine-red button-down shirt, unbuttoned just enough that Samira kept catching herself staring at Emery’s exposed sternum, sleeves rolled up to show her defined forearms, with a pair of expertly tailored black trousers.
“Not at all,” Samira said. “I had a wonderful time. And I really do want you to send me that article you were telling me about.”
“Of course,” Emery said with a nod, rocking back slightly on her heels. The warmth in Samira’s chest ballooned as Emery lingered like she still wasn’t ready for the night to be over.
“Thanks again for walking me home.” Samira took a small step closer, feeling like Emery was emitting some kind of gravitational force, pulling her in.
“Anytime,” Emery said, voice low and laced with sincerity.
Her eyes were dark and she was backlit by the single light fixture above the door of Samira’s building, creating a golden halo effect and Samira’s carefully held control shattered. She took another step closer, her chest almost brushing Emery’s, and leaned in.
“What are you doing?” Emery said and for a fleeting second Samira wondered if she’d misread everything. But then she saw the way Emery’s gaze darted to her lips before meeting her eyes again.
“Just hold still,” Samira said, stepping closer again. This time, Emery remained in place as Samira cupped her chin, pulling her into a kiss.
The slight heel of Samira’s shoes added another inch to their height difference and for a brief moment Samira was distracted by the realization that she’d never kissed anyone shorter than her before. But any rational thought was quickly chased out of her head as Emery’s mouth opened beneath hers, deepening the kiss.
She sighed as Emery’s arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. Her free hand draped across Emery’s shoulder while the hand that had been cupping Emery’s face moved to thread through the loose curls at the base of her skull.
The kiss was a slow slide of lips, gentle and exploratory. Samira wanted to bottle this moment, to live in it indefinitely. She wanted to melt into Emery’s embrace and never move. The swell of feeling inside of her was so unlike anything she’d ever experienced before and she didn’t know what to do with it.
Emery’s tongue traced her bottom lip and Samira couldn’t stifle a moan and she could have sworn that she felt Emery smile as her fingers tightened around Samira’s sides.
As Samira’s tongue brushed against Emery’s, feeling like she was testing the waters as she escalated things, the noise of someone clearing their throat made her freeze.
“Excuse me ladies.” Horror flooded through Samira as she turned to find her neighbor, a man who was somewhere in his early-seventies, standing at the bottom of the steps as they’d been fully blocking the building’s entrance.
“Mr. Ramirez, I’m so sorry.” Samira’s face felt like it was on fire as she backed away from Emery. “We got a little carried away.”
One of Emery's hands stayed steadily on her hip as they moved aside. Why couldn’t it have been one of the neighbors Samira had never spoken to instead of the man who lived directly next door to her?
At least he looked amused rather than upset as he climbed the stairs to pass them. There was a distinct twinkle in his eye as he said, “You know, I always wondered why such a beautiful young lady never seemed to have any gentleman callers. I suppose this explains it.”
This was the most mortifying moment of Samira’s life. And she’d passed out in front of an entire room of other students during her first dissection lab.
“Have a good night, Mr. Ramirez,” she said quickly, wincing at the shrillness in her tone.
“You too,” he said. And then Samira’s mouth dropped open as he winked at them.
As soon as the door shut behind him, Emery doubled over with laughter.
“It’s not funny,” Samira whined, covering her face with her hands. “Oh my god. I water his plants whenever he’s visiting his grandkids and now I’m never going to be able to look him in the eyes again.”
“Samira,” Emery said as she wrapped her hands around Samira’s wrists, gently tugging them away to uncover Samira’s face. A smile was still dancing on her lips when Samira looked at her and fuck Samira wanted to kiss her again.
“Yeah?” Samira let Emery lace their fingers together, squeezing gently.
“Could I take you out on a date?” Emery’s cheeks were so pink it was visible even in the low light and Samira felt hopelessly charmed.
“I’d really like that. I’m off next Friday?” Samira bit her lip to keep herself from grinning like a maniac as Emery nodded and dropped one of her hands to dig through her pocket.
“Here.” She unlocked her phone and held it out to Samira, who immediately took it to enter her contact information. “I’ll text you to figure out the details.”
As Samira handed the phone back, Emery pulled her into another kiss, sweet and full of promise and Samira didn’t want it to end.
“I don’t have any plans for the rest of the night,” she said, closely watching Emery’s face for any signs she was moving too fast. “You may have heard about my distinct lack of gentlemen callers…”
A slow grin spread across Emery’s face. “Well, I wouldn’t want to leave such a beautiful young lady hanging.”
Samira returned the grin and turned to open the door, glancing over her shoulder just to make sure that she hadn’t dreamt the entire thing. But Emery was still there, staring at Samira with a slightly awed look that made Samira think that maybe she felt the same as they stepped inside.