Chapter 6

Nora

What a wild night this was turning out to be! First Nora had been stood up by her date. That alone would have been enough to shake her confidence for a good while had the night not taken an incredibly unexpected turn. 

The last thing in the world she would have expected was to run into Olivia Andersen out in the wild. And at a cheap bar like this, no less. And now, nearly three hours and as many drinks later, Nora still couldn’t believe she was sitting at the same table, deep in conversation with Olivia. Her boss. The woman who made her stomach do cartwheels every time they were in the same room together. 

“... I still don’t know if it was, like, a sex thing, or if I was an unwilling drug mule for some kingpin or what! Either way, I was out a really nice suitcase and ended up having to buy all new underwear!” Olivia said with a burst of laughter as she finished retelling the tale of her losing her luggage on an international flight and having the same suitcase show up on her doorstep a week later, filled to the brim with nothing but pineapples. 

“Oh my God! Did you at least try the pineapple? Was it good?”

“Hell no! I haven’t even been able to look at a pineapple the same way since!” 

The two women fell into fits of laughter, slightly tipsy from their Manhattans and leaning into the comfort of easy conversation. 

Nora watched as Olivia’s attention faded slightly as she honed in on the song playing from the electric jukebox in the corner of the bar. ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ by The Beatles flowed through the congested room, muffled by the low rumble of voices filling the air around them. Olivia closed her eyes and swayed slightly in her seat as she listened. 

“Mmm… This is my favorite song,” Olivia purred, a wistful tone to her voice.

“You’ve got good taste,” Nora offered.

Olivia opened her eyes, a wide smile stretching across her cheeks, showing off the small gap in between her two front teeth that Nora had never noticed before tonight. Nora couldn’t help but smile back at her. 

“This was my parents’ wedding song. They played it in the house all the time,” Olivia explained. “My dad would put the record on - always records! Never CDs. That was very important to him,” she said, tilting her head down a bit and pointing her index finger in Nora’s direction. “He’d walk over and reach out his hand to mom and ask her to dance. It was the same routine every time. And I would sit there and watch them sway back and forth in the middle of the kitchen.”

The smile on Nora’s face widened as her cheeks flushed crimson. “Hmm… That’s really sweet. Are your parents still around?”

“Yeah. They’re both retired as of a couple years ago. Still living down in Phoenix.”

“You’re from Phoenix?” Nora inquired.

“Originally from Flagstaff actually. Gloria and José are my adoptive parents. I moved to Phoenix when they started fostering me around five years old. I grew up there until I came out here for college.”

Nora wanted so badly to ask about Olivia’s family. What happened to your biological parents? Why were you in the foster care system? Do you have any siblings? But her questions would have to wait for another time. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Nora was interrupted when a man approached them, pulling an empty chair over from another table and settling himself in, right next to Nora. Both women watched, momentarily dumbfounded. 

“Hello ladies,” he said, not even bothering to look at Olivia. “I’m Ethan. How are you two doing tonight?” Ethan was tall, a bit on the gangly side, but conventionally attractive, with shaggy dark hair and gray eyes. Nora had met many men like this before. She could tell within an instant, due to his abrupt intrusion alone, that this was a man who was used to women fawning all over him. You’re barking up the wrong tree, asshole!

“Hi Ethan. Can we help you?” Olivia asked, irritation evident in her voice. 

Ethan shot Olivia a cocky smirk. “Just thought I’d come chat up a couple of beautiful girls. Your friend here really caught my attention. What’s your name, lovely?” He directed his question at Nora as he threw an arm around her shoulders. His fingers curled into her skin, gripping tight as he pulled her close to him and placed his other hand on top of her thigh.

Nora could only stare at Ethan, unable to move or speak, momentarily stunned at his blatant sense of entitlement. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Olivia leaned across the table, opening her mouth to say something. However, after her very brief bout of catatonia, without thinking, Nora grabbed her half-full glass, lifting it from the table and throwing the contents into Ethan’s face. 

“Don’t fucking touch me!” she barked through gritted teeth as she shot out of her chair. 

She looked over at Olivia, her heart racing in her chest. Shit! She’s gonna think I’m nuts!

Olivia looked at her, eyes wide with shock, but a look of amusement, and perhaps a hint of pride danced behind them. She stood from her chair, reaching out to grab Nora’s hand. “Let’s go,” Olivia said calmly. 

Nora grabbed her bag from the back of the chair she had just been sitting in and let Olivia lead her through the crowd and out of the bar. Behind her, Ethan threw a fit, wringing out the collar of  his wet button-down, yelling to the back of Nora’s head, “You fucking bitch!” 

✴✴✴

Olivia

Olivia pushed through the bar, Nora close behind as they made their way out into the street. The low thrum of voices from inside now gave way to the sounds of sirens, car horns, and street vendors beckoning to potential customers. 

It wasn’t until they had walked to the end of the city block, a safe distance away from the bar they were just in, that Olivia stopped and turned to Nora. “Are you okay?” she asked, recognizing an almost unreadable look of fear in her companion’s eyes. 

“Oh…yeah. I’m fine,” Nora responded, unable to maintain eye contact with Olivia. “I’m so sorry,” she added, embarrassment written all over her face. “I don’t know what happened… I just kind of… freaked out, I guess, when that guy touched me.”

“Don’t apologize. I would have reacted the same way. Honestly, I’m a little pissed you beat me to it actually,” Olivia responded with a soft chuckle. “I was about ready to break that guy’s hand.”

Olivia watched as the tension fell from Nora’s shoulders. Nora finally looked up into Olivia’s eyes as she began to laugh, Olivia joining right alongside her. It wasn’t until this moment that Olivia looked down and realized that she was still holding Nora’s hand, gently rubbing the pad of her thumb across the soft peaks and valleys of her knuckles. Olivia’s laughter turned to an awkward titter as she dropped Nora’s hand, lifting her own to run her fingers through her short blond hair. Her palm now felt cold and clammy without Nora’s cradled against it. 

“It’s getting kind of late…” Nora said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “I should probably get home.”

“Yeah, of course.” Olivia hoped the reluctance behind her words didn’t show. Up until those last few minutes, Olivia had been having a wonderful evening with Nora. She wasn’t ready to let her go so soon. But she also didn’t want to come on too strong. Especially after the encounter back at the bar had clearly left Nora a bit shaken. 

But Olivia wanted more, and she was almost positive Nora felt the same. 

“Where do you live? I can give you a ride,” Olivia offered.

“N-no, I couldn’t. I’m in Brooklyn. I’m sure it’s way out of your way. Plus, I think I left my apartment keys back at the office, so I’ll have to go back to grab them…”

“Do you want some company on your way back to the office at least?” 

Nora bit the inside of her cheek, seemingly in an attempt to keep herself from smiling too wide. “Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”

“It’s the least I could do after you threw your drink all over our new friend, Ethan,” Olivia teased. 

Nora covered her face with her hand as they began to walk toward the Lexand office. “Oh my God! Please don’t remind me of that, ever!” she said with a wince and another laugh. 

The two women walked side by side. They chatted about nothing in particular, each trying to keep the mood light and breezy. However, there was now a tension pulling tight between them. I can’t be the only one feeling that, right?

Once they arrived at their office building, things only became more tense. They rode up in the elevator in silence. It wasn’t lost on Olivia that this was the very same elevator they had shared only a few days ago. That encounter being the spark that started this fire now raging inside Olivia’s body. Every limb, every nerve ending, cried out to touch Nora. To taste her lips and her velvety soft skin. To hear the sweet sounds she makes as she’s pushed over the edge. It was almost too much for Olivia to take. 

Olivia reached out her hand, holding the elevator doors open for Nora as they exited, making their way down the hall to the secluded corner of the office where Nora’s desk sat. Most of the overhead lights had been turned off for the night, so the only illumination they had came from the few motion-sensored lights throughout the hallways.

 In the relative darkness, the two women searched for Nora’s keys, rummaging through drawers and underneath a host of papers, printed with logo and ad designs, scattered across the desk. After a minute or two of searching, Olivia noticed a set of keys, complete with a keychain in the shape of a little cat, lying on the floor next to Nora’s desk. She reached down and picked them up. 

“So you’re a cat person, huh?” Olivia asked as she dangled the keys in front of her face, inspecting the small gray cat on the key ring, its cartoon face winking back at her. 

“Ah! You found them!” Nora squealed, relief flooding her face as she stepped closer to Olivia, reaching out to take the keys from her. “Thank you!”

As Olivia handed them over, Nora’s fingertips grazed her palm, sending electric shocks coursing through Olivia’s limbs. “You’re welcome,” she said softly, looking into Nora’s eyes. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, fireworks going off in Olivia’s belly, nerves raging within her.

Suddenly, as if confirming all of Olivia’s suspicions that Nora was indeed feeling something between them after all, Nora rose up on her toes, crashing her lips into Olivia’s in a sweet, but desperate kiss. Olivia returned the kiss, deepening it as she grabbed Nora by the waist, pulling her in closer.

But as soon as their bodies came together, Nora pulled away, breaking their kiss. Nora took a step back, turning away from Olivia as she lifted her arms, covering her face with her hands. 

“I’m so sorry!” Nora shouted, the words muffled by her palms pressing into her lips. “Oh my God, I don’t know what I was thinking!”

“What?” Olivia asked in confusion, her lips still tingling after their brief but intense kiss. She took a step forward, putting her hand on Nora’s shoulder, spinning her around to face her. Olivia wrapped her fingers around each of Nora’s delicate wrists, gently pulling them away from her face. She took Nora’s chin between her thumb and index finger, lifting Nora’s gaze to meet hers. 

Now that Pandora’s Box had been opened, Olivia was no longer able to hide the hunger that now consumed her body. Every single part of her craved Nora, in every way that someone could crave another person. 

Olivia looked down at Nora through hooded, lust-filled eyes. “Nora, do you really not know how badly I want you? All I’ve wanted to do all night is kiss you… touch you… taste you,” she whispered.

Nora’s mouth fell open slightly as she listened to Olivia’s declaration. But before she could say anything, Olivia let her hands fall to Nora’s waist, pushing her a few steps back into the wall behind them. Olivia’s mouth lowered to Nora’s, pressing her lips against the other woman’s, softly at first, as if testing the waters before going all the way in.

 As soon as their lips met this time, Nora gave in, opening her mouth slightly, sighing into Olivia’s lips as her fingers grabbed onto the front of Olivia’s shirt, pulling her in even closer. This was all the confirmation that Olivia needed to know that they were both finally on the same page. 

Olivia deepened the kiss, pushing her tongue through Nora’s pillow-soft lips. Nora drew her arms up, wrapping them around Olivia’s neck, causing her tank top to lift up from the waistband of her skirt. Olivia’s fingers slipped under the hem of Nora’s top, caressing the smooth, soft skin of her stomach, inching up toward the woman’s now-heaving breasts. 

Nora’s hands wandered down Olivia’s neck, to her chest, where she tried, however clumsily, to undo the buttons on Olivia’s shirt. She fumbled with the small buttons until she had released enough of them to expose Olivia’s breasts, clad in a sheer lace bra. Olivia gasped into Nora’s mouth, her nipples hardening as Nora’s warm fingertips grazed over them lightly.

Olivia reluctantly pulled away from Nora’s lips. There was nothing she wanted less than for this moment to end. Fuck, I want her so much, I can barely think straight! But she didn’t want to do this here. She wanted to take her time with Nora. Explore her body without having to worry about security cameras and night time guards that were likely to make their rounds any minute now. 

Panting heavily, with Nora still tight in her arms, Olivia moved her mouth to Nora’s ear and whispered, “Come home with me.”

Without hesitation, Nora immediately answered with a simple “Okay.”