Her sun-swept eyes bore into the image of the brunette standing outside. As she stood by her front door, she could see the brunette talking to someone on the phone. The blonde watched her and all the emotions started to overwhelm her system. The muted sounds of the earth seeped right into Cate’s very skin and on her spot, she wanted to crumble.
How could someone be so close yet so far?
She woke up to the smell of burnt bacons and coffee. When Cate welcomed the morning glory, half of her bed was already empty. She had assumed that Sandra already went home and that she was just dreaming about breakfast, but when she got down, her table was full with the food only Sandra knew she liked. The brunette was in no way inside the house and so, instead of sitting down on the table, Cate decided to look for her and there she was, standing outside, beside the cerulean pool, talking to someone on the phone. Cate couldn’t really tell who she was talking to, but from the brunette’s posture – a hand on the head – Cate knew the caller wasn’t giving her a good time.
“She could have gotten home.” The blonde mumbled to herself and was about to go back inside the house when Sandra turned around, eventually catching her.
“Hey…” The brunette started off as she gave her a smile, her hand coming to tuck her phone on her palm, “How are you feeling?” The brunette half-ran as to catch her on the door.
The words coming off from her lips seemed to have come out with no sounds. Cate stood there and just stared at her for like seconds; for a while, the blonde was suddenly drowning on a patched-sea of memories as she realized Sandra’s dress that she was wearing last night was long gone, instead, the brunette was wearing one of the blonde’s favorite oversized shirt.
Cate lifted a finger, but stopped midway as she hesitated to point it out, “You’re…” She bit her lower lip as she stared at her eyes so intensely, “You’re wearing my shirt.”
“Oh.” Sandra gave her a sheepish smile, “I hope you don’t mind. I got wet last night and wasn’t able to ask from you since you got so sick and was sleeping deeply. I didn’t wanna bother you.”
Cate shook her head, eventually handing her a shy smile, hoping that she didn’t offend her, “No, no. I don’t mind. Not at all.” She paused, “It’s just that I wore that three consecutive days and I haven’t really washed it yet.”
A giggle came out of Sandra’s lips, “Oh, really?” Cate nodded and Sandra then smelled the shirt, “This still smells nice.” She took a step and went on to stand beside Cate, “…smells like you.”
And suddenly, all the self-loath that had been etched into every space of Cate’s skin was replaced with a tingle of bliss. Sandra smiled at her and she did too. A really good morning.
—–
“You should go back to sleep later.” Sandra blurted as she wiped her lips with the napkin, her plate was already finished, but her coffee remained untouched.
“I have work.”
“You have a fever.”
Cate took a sip of her orange juice before she put down her utensils and looked at her, “You have work too.”
“I took an off from the hospital.”
“Why?”
“You have a fever.”
“And?”
Sandra raised her brow at her, “Isn’t it obvious? You have no one to take care of you, hence, I took an off.”
It sounded unbelieveable. Why would her ex-girlfriend take an off from work? The declaration sounded like a bullshit to Cate and so she scoffed. No, not happening.
She shook her head, “I can take care of myself. Tell you what, I have a taping at 1 PM. It’s still 8 AM, I just need two hours to prepare and I’ll still be left with a lot of time so let me just drop you off.”
“Who says you’re working?”
“Uhm..” Cate tilted her head and stared at her – unbelief printed all over her face, “Me? I just said I have work at 1 PM.”
“Doctor Bullock advises you to stay at home and rest.”
“Uh-huh. Not happening.” Cate stood up from the table and got her plate before getting Sandra’s and then proceeding to walk towards the sink, “I told you, I have a taping.”
“But you have a fev –” The brunette was cut off by Cate’s phone that rattled against the table; somebody was calling.
The two women stopped, and the sound of the phone rattling filled the tranquil environment of the home. Both Sandra and Cate froze at the table and beside the sink, respectively. The phone rang a little while longer before Cate and Sandra finally turned to face one another. Their unspoken plans began to coalesce as soon as their gazes locked. With lightning speed, Cate set down the plates on the sink and dashed to the table to retrieve her phone, only to have the brunette grab it before her.
“Put my phone down.” The dagger look Cate wa giving seemed to be futile.
Sandra, who was standing across the blonde, with the table between them, shook her head, “Oh…” She looked at the caller ID, “Your manager’s calling and I’m thinking I should tell her that you are under the weather and not fit to work.”
“Don’t.” The blonde pleaded, shaking her head at the same time, “Don’t do that. I swear I am fine!”
“No.”
“Fuck it. Give my phone back to me!” Cate countered before running around the table, but Sandra was so quick to run before her.
The brunette shrieked as she hurried out the door while holding the phone. Though not too eager to go outside, Cate was forced to go after the brunette as she ran barefoot. She needed her phone. She needed to get it back.
“Just let me talk to your manager!” Sandra finally stopped as she stood on the other side of the pool, “Please!”
“Don’t fucking do it. I swear I’ll skin you alive, Annette.”
“Then rest. Don’t work!”
“I told you I’m okay!”
“No, you’re not!” Sandra replied before looking at the phone back; the call was still there but before she could even swipe to accept it, Cate rushed to her which made her run back inside the house, “Cate, fuck it!”
“Give me my phone back, Annette!”
Like little kids, the two women chased each other around the house. What was once a hauntedly-quite home became an opera house of laughter and Cate secretly loved and enjoyed it. The sounds of Sandra laughing and screaming – whilst telling her to stop – somehow tingled the strings of her heart. It felt like she was transported back to the past – to the past where she and Sandra were lovers.
“Oh my God. You’re so annoying!”
Cate laughed as she cornered the brunette. There was nowhere else to go; Sandra had her back on a wall and Cate was standing in front of her just a half meter away. With a smug smirk on her lips, Cate handed out her palm, silently asking the brunette for her phone, but instead of Sandra obeying, the brunette shook her head before eventually attempting to flee. The brunette made a one big stride to the left, but Cate successfully caught her by her waist. The brunette let out a playful scream as the blonde wrapped her arms around the brunette’s waist and pulled her back as the blonde tried to get her phone, but because Sandra was pulling away so hard, both women ended up falling on the floor with the blonde below and Sandra on top.
“Oh.” Both of them silently mumbled as they hit the floor.
For almost three years, without the love of a lover and without the breathy kisses at dawn, Cate hollowed a space beneath her very skin – a grave, her holy escape. For quite a long time, she got so used of feeling her own skin that when Sandra landed on top of her accidentally, it was when she realized that heaven, after all, was real.
Nobody moved. The shock was so evident on each other’s faces, but after a few seconds, it gradually diminished and was replaced with a look of waiting. Their flamelit eyes silently uttered all the languges of wanting, and both of them waited – both of them waited for the other one to make a move, but no one did. Instead, they waited and endured. Both women did not know how long they stayed that way until the blonde broke the bubble.
“You can just kiss me if you want to, you know.” And how those words escaped out of Cate’s lips was an enigma.
Sandra gulped as those words reached her ears. Cate’s words were a seductive fang-like of temptation, but the flesh of the brunette’s neck was there for it to sink and so without words – with no more excuses to spit out – Sandra kissed her.
***
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