Changes

This is a continuation to the first 3 parts. I suggest you read them in order to enjoy this better.

I would love to hear what have to say and thank you for the votes and feedback so far. I really appreciate it.

This part took longer because I had two possible paths in mind and it wasn't easy picking this one. Hope you enjoy it.

*

Heather stirred awake, immediately aware that she wasn't in her own bed. Her mouth was dry. She sat up and it all came flooding back. Vanessa wasn't in bed anymore. She must have left once Heather fell asleep. She found a bottle of water on the bedside table and drank greedily. The digital clock told her it was just past 3 in the morning. For some reason it annoyed her that Vanessa had left in the middle of the night. Her bra was digging into her skin so she took it off. Since Vanessa wasn't sharing the bed anymore, she might as well be comfortable she thought as she grumpily fluffed the pillow.

"What did that pillow do to you?"

Heather jumped at the sudden intrusion and turned to see Vanessa walking out of the bathroom.

Vanessa chuckled as she made her way back to the bed. "Did I startle you?"

"You're still here." Heather said. It was just an observation her sleep hazed mind had made.

"Of course I am," Vanessa said, sounding a tad offended. "What did you think? I wouldn't just leave in the middle of the night, Heather." And then she smiled as she added, "Not when I have the best spooning partner."

Heather was still a little zoned out. "Ok. Where'd you go then?"

"I had to pee, sweety. Did you not just see me walk out the loo?" Vanessa laughed. "You're still half asleep. C'mon, get back here," Heather said, patting the bed, "Let's go back to sleep."

Heather eagerly complied. She sighed as she felt the length of Vanessa's body against her back. Her foggy brain registered Vanessa's arm resting just under her breasts. Now that she wasn't wearing a bra, the only thing separating them was her pretty worn out tank top. She was sure Vanessa felt the weight of her breasts on her forearm.

"Comfy?" Vanessa whispered in Heather's ear making her break into goose bumps.

"Mhm," she managed to reply, her mind losing the battle and already drifting back to sleep.

The next time Heather woke up, Vanessa was in bed next to her. It was early still, just past 6 and there was just a little bit of light in the sky. She looked over at the sleeping form next to her. Her dark hair was splayed on the pillow. Her t shirt had ridden up and Heather could see a tiny sliver of her bare midriff. Again she realized her mouth was dry. She drank some water and went to use the loo.

Vanessa hadn't stirred. Heather took her time admiring her body. She'd only managed hasty, covert glances when she was awake. Her form was slender, yet toned. She wanted to reach out and touch Vanessa's thighs, to feel her skin under her fingers and trace the bulge of her quads. She sat there and watched her for a few minutes, her rhythmic breathing somehow calming her down. She then lay down facing her and scooted as close as she could without touching Vanessa. Mustering the courage, she lay her hand across Vanessa's middle, carefully avoiding the little bit of exposed skin. Feeling the steady rise and fall of her abdomen as she breathed lulled Heather into a calm. Soon she was in limbo between sleep and wakefulness.

She had no idea how long she'd been lying there when she felt Vanessa stir and turn onto her side, facing Heather. Their knees bumped and she felt Vanessa's breath on her face. Heather opened her eyes and saw Vanessa's dark eyes were open and were looking her right in the face. They were deeply sad and it tugged at her heart.

"Hey," Heather said.

Vanessa just smiled and sighed. They lay there like that, facing each other, knees touching. Vanessa reached for Heather's hand and held it between both her own. Both women knew they'd shared a special night, one, they both in their own way acknowledged may not happen again. For several minutes, they didn't say anything.

"Your eyes," Heather said, breaking the silence. "They're sad."

Vanessa blinked and looked up at Heather, meeting her gaze. "Yea?"

Heather was quiet for a second before she said, "There's a picture in your living room. You're standing in a field of some sort. Your eyes are so full of joy in that picture." Again Heather paused. "You have beautiful eyes. And," she hesitated before continuing, "It breaks my heart to see them sad."

This was enough to light Vanessa's face up. She let out a chuckle. "You're the sweetest. What'll it take to convince you to sleep here every night? If you say such things to me every morning, I bet my eyes will never be sad."

They both laughed and Heather replied, "Trust me, it won't take much. You have the most comfortable bed!" Heather had a playful twinkle in her eye as she said this.

Vanessa roared with laughter. "You're bad. You're so bad! You know what I do to Jules when she's bad early in the morning?" Vanessa's voice had a challenge in it.

"Oh God no. What are you going to do?" Heather exclaimed as Vanessa sat up and straddled Heather in one move. She pinned her arms down on the bed on either side as she lowered her head and looked at Heather with smoldering eyes. Heather couldn't breathe, let alone struggle.

"I pin her down", she said, putting more pressure on Heather's arms; "And tickle her till she's sorry!" Vanessa's face broke into an evil grin as she let go of Heather's arms and attacked her sides. It took Heather a moment before her defenses came to her rescue.

She squealed, as her body writhed, trying to get away from Vanessa's hands.

"Oh fuck! Stop!" Heather pleaded as she tried in vain to grab Vanessa's hands. Vanessa's strong thighs were squeezing her legs together making them useless in this contest.

"There's no way I'm stopping," Vanessa said, punctuating her words while tickling Heather's sides. "Not till you say you're sorry."

Heather wasn't going to give up this easily and continued to squirm against Vanessa while in hysterics. Vanessa suddenly had a serious look on her face as she continued to overpower Heather. "My god you're strong," Heather managed to say. She was so breathless.

Vanessa stopped, caught hold of Heather's hands again and held them down on either side of her head. This caused her to lean forward her belly making contact with Heather's where their tops had ridden up. Heather was red in the face and short of breath from all the struggling and screaming and was shocked at being overpowered this way. She lay motionless, looking into Vanessa's smoldering eyes which were boring into hers. Her face was hovering just a few inches from hers. She was struggling to breathe.

"You have no idea." Vanessa said, her voice hoarse.

The fire in Vanessa's eyes scared Heather. She didn't want to find out how far she would go. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice, submitting to Vanessa's superior strength. Vanessa continued to hold her down for a few more seconds and then she collapsed onto Heather, the strength leaving her body.

"No, she whispered in Heather's ear. I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" The concern and vulnerability in her voice instinctively made Heather wrap her arms around her.

Vanessa was lying on top of Heather, her head buried in Heather's neck, both breathing hard from more than just the physical exertion.

"It's ok. I'll live," Heather joked, trying to lighten the situation. There was no other way she was going to get through this without making light of it.

She felt a weak chuckle against her chest as she held Vanessa to her.

"You smell nice," Vanessa said, breathing into Heather's neck."

"Really? You like how I smell after a whole day and that too after you've made me work up a sweat?" I think too much activity in the morning has addled your senses," Heather said in mock seriousness.

"Can't deny that," Vanessa said softly, making Heather squirm under her. She was suddenly aware of Vanessa's breasts pressed against hers and her heart picked up pace. She needed to put distance between them.

"If you don't get off me soon, I will die of oxygen deprivation."

"Oh, sorry. I wouldn't want that," Heather said as she rolled of Heather, but not too far away. "Better now?"

"Yea, but I don't think I'll be staying over again." Heather said causing Vanessa to look up at her with an expression of dread.

"What?"

"Yea," Heather continued. "If this is how you wake your guests up, I'm not staying over again," she said, trying her best not to grin while trying to be serious.

She saw the relief wash over Vanessa's face as she cheekily added. "Oh I have other ways to wake my guests up."

"Oh really? And what might they be?"

"You'll have to stay over again to find out, won't you?

Heather giggled as Vanessa got out of bed. "C'mon, I'll make you breakfast."

Heather spent the most part of the afternoon at Vanessa's. They had a huge breakfast out on the front porch so that Heather could enjoy the gorgeous wisteria tree. The weather was pleasant and they sat outside long after they'd finished breakfast. It was quiet and there was a gentle breeze. They didn't talk much, just enjoyed each other's company in comfortable silence, occasionally lost in their own thoughts.

Heather knew she should head home, but something was stopping her. This may be the last time she got to spend time like this with Vanessa. There was definitely something between them and even though Heather hadn't given it much thought, she acknowledged the underlying pull she felt. She was also quite certain that Vanessa felt it too. And that's what led her to believe that she would try to avoid such a situation in the future.

But, there wasn't much more to do and Heather got the feeling that she should offer to leave. Vanessa wouldn't want to spend most of her Sunday keeping her company.

"I should go," Heather said, drawing Vanessa out of whatever thoughts she'd been immersed in.

"Huh?"

Heather smiled, "I said, I guess I should head home. I'm sure you have stuff to do. I don't want to"

"No, stay." Vanessa interrupted. "I mean, unless you have stuff to get done. In which case,"

This time Heather interrupted her, "No, I don't."

"Great!" Vanessa said standing up and offering her hand out to Heather. "Let's go chill on the couch. It's getting sticky outside."

Heather took Vanessa's hand and she got off the lounge chair. They walked into the house holding hands, Heather trailing Vanessa.

They spent the rest of the morning on the couch, leaning into each other, legs touching, arms entwined. To an outsider the would look like long time lovers or age old friends spending a casual Sunday afternoon at home. In reality they were far from either. Vanessa was Heather's boss. And yet they were lounging in their night clothes. Heck, Heather hadn't even bothered to put her bra back on after waking up. It was still somewhere on the bed.

Heather was lost in these thoughts when she heard a soft snore. Vanessa had dozed off. She looked adorable. Her head had settled on the back rest and her mouth was slightly open. Heather couldn't pass on the opportunity. She leaned in really close to Vanessa, her lips just centimeters from her ear.

"Hey sleepyhead," she whispered softly. She got no response. She stayed like that, hoping her breath would tickle Vanessa awake. Still getting no reaction from Vanessa, she teased her earlobe with her nose. Still nothing. Finally, she wet her lips and planted a soft kiss just under Vanessa's ear. And then another.

Finally Vanessa was awake and she had a 'what the hell are you doing' expression on her face.

"We both have different ways of waking people up," Heather said with a cheeky grin.

"My god Heather. You've made me break into goose pimples," Vanessa held her arms out for Vanessa to see.

Heather also noticed Vanessa's nipples poking out through her t shirt and she couldn't look away before Vanessa realized. She wanted to reach over and touch it. Even through the shirt would be ok. She wanted to feel the bump against her finger. She tore her eyes away and looked up at Vanessa, who was patiently waiting to get Heather's attention back, obviously aware of what Heather had been looking at. It made the color rise in Heather's cheeks. She had been too blatant and she was about to be told off.

"Sorry," Heather croaked, looking away. "I didn't mean to.."

"It's ok, I looked at your boobs too. They're beautiful. You don't have to be sorry for looking at mine."

Again, Vanessa's forthrightness shocked Heather and she turned several shades darker.

"Oh my, look at you blushing like a teenage boy," Vanessa laughed as she pulled Heather in for a bear hug. "Don't make me tickle you again," she playfully threatened making Vanessa squeal in terror.

A couple of hours later Heather was home. She was dreading this because she wasn't ready to deal with everything that had happened since she'd left home last evening. She did all she could to keep busy. But two hours later, she was on top of everything. Laundry, the dishes, cleaning up the rest of the mess she'd made during the week. "Shit," she thought. There really was no escaping this.

She sat down with a mug of hot chocolate. It was her go to drink for self introspection. Heather really didn't know where to start. So much had happened over the last two days. Vanessa was going to be her boss as long as she continued to work at Bridge. She had no plans of changing her job anytime soon. Her career was very important to her. "Let's put a pin in that," she thought.

The last two days had been unreal. She had connected with Vanessa in a way that had never happened before. It took her time to build an equation with people, to get to know them. These were unchartered waters. Could they have the kind of 'friendship' they'd shared over the last two days and still work together? It was possible, she thought. But, their 'friendship; she really didn't know how else to refer to it, had at times threatened to go beyond. She could not deny the pull she had felt at times. What was it? Was she sexually attracted to Vanessa? That would be a first. She'd never been attracted to a woman before. Like, not even a little bit. She couldn't peg down what she was feeling to sexual attraction. It was so much more nuanced. She admired Vanessa, looked up to her even. They'd become close and it was so incongruous in her head. She was a little starstruck in some way, she thought.

Heather took another sip of her hot chocolate, licking the corner of her lips as she did so. "I think this weird tension will go away once I get used to spending time with her," she thought. "I need to look at her as a regular person who is a friend, not a person out of reach whom I have a mini celebrity crush on."

When she thought about it, Heather realized she wanted to be with Vanessa now. And when she asked herself, what would she like to do with Vanessa, the answer helped clear her head off some of the worry she'd been feeling. She'd like nothing better to sit on the couch, chat and watch some rubbish on TV.

The fact that she'd lowered her walls and let Vanessa so soon had sort of confused her. Vanessa, seemed quite comfortable with the whole thing. She'd messaged Heather telling her she'd had a lovely time and that they should do this again sometime soon. Heather had been worried that Vanessa would try to avoid such a situation the next time. But the fact that she wasn't uncomfortable and she didn't think it was a problem, put her at ease. She was making a big deal of nothing. With time, she would be normal around Vanessa. In fact she could see them being really close friends one day. "I would like that," she said aloud just as her phone chimed. It was Vanessa.

"Keep it cool, just like we decided," Heather told herself before answering with a bubbly hello.

"You sound cheerful. Sounds like you had a lovely day" Vanessa chuckled into the phone.

"Oh I certainly did. And you know what the highlight was?"

"Was it when you lost a tickling match?"

"Oh you're evil for reminding me. That was traumatic."

"You'll have to build your strength aren't you? Or you'll end up being overpowered the next time as well."

Heather laughed. "Next time, I'm playing dirty. You just watch."

They both shared a laugh before Vanessa got to why she'd called.

"By the way, you've left something behind."

"Oh, really? What is it?" Heather frowned as she thought about what she could have forgotten.

"Hmm, you haven't realized yet. I guess I'll just wait till you figure out what it is."

"Oh c'mon, give me a clue," Vanessa pleaded, playing along.

"Alright, let's see how many clues you need before you get it." Vanessa thought for a second before giving Heather the first clue. "It's purple."

"Purple. Purple. I don't know. What purple things did I carry to your place?" After thinking for a minute, she added, "Wait, is my toothbrush purple? No, I think it's blue and white."

Heather couldn't think of anything else so Vanessa gave her the second clue.

"It has a pretty, white bow in the front."

The color rose in Heather's cheeks the second she heard this. "Oh shit," she said making Vanessa chuckle.

"My bra. I left my bra on your bed."

Her mortification must have been apparent in her voice because Vanessa laughed her deep, throaty laugh before adding, "I can see you turning red. You embarrass easily. And I must admit, it's a lot of fun."

"Great. Enjoy yourself at my expense." Heather deadpanned.

"Awww I'm sorry, but it's difficult to resist sometimes," Vanessa chuckled, obviously enjoying this. "On the bright side, the next time you come over, you won't have to carry a bra."

"So, you're not going to return it to me before that?"

"Nope, now you have a second reason to come over." She paused, letting Heather think about what she meant. "The other one being the comfortable bed, of course."

Heather groaned her embarrassment into the phone making Vanessa laugh again. "Alright, I'll stop. I'll be good, I promise."

They chatted for a few minutes which helped Heather get over her embarrassment and she was back to her normal self before they hung up. It didn't last long though.

Vanessa had her bra. It was a titillating thought when it shouldn't be one. It was just her bra. Big fucking deal. She really did embarrass easy. What would Vanessa do with it? Put it in the drawer with her bras? Oh lord, she would now know her bra size. 36 C. Not that it was a secret. "Get a grip Heather! It's just your bra." But, now Vanessa has it. She groaned, no point reasoning with herself. It was a lost cause. She fretted and replayed events of the day in her head till she fell asleep, thoughts of wisteria, sunny fields and throaty laughs in her head.