Thank you for all the votes my previous stories have been getting. I appreciate each and everyone of you taking time to read my submissions, more so those of you that comment and rate them. This story can be read as a stand alone and is the first part of (another) series but carries on following Phoenix. I've been extremely busy lately but I'm gonna keep working on getting the second part out soon. Enjoy.
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It's been over a year since Angela and Phoenix ended, and now Phoenix is focusing on herself - mending her heart and taking better care of her health - and business. Of course she has moments where she misses Angela dearly... terribly... dearly terribly? But, she had told herself long ago there's no going back once things end. So, it is no different with Angela - no going back. Besides, Angela is the one who ruined the good thing they had had.
With more time to herself, Phoenix is going to the gym again and that means seeing new faces and also old ones. And there is this particular new face that has caught her attention but alas, for a fleeting moment.
It was last Friday evening. After gym Phoenix decided to grab a meal at the Kauai store in the gym. Her mind was occupied, as is the case lately, so she looked at the menu before settling on a meal. As she was approaching the counter to order she was met by these captivating light eyes that belonged to a face she had not seen. The person these eyes belonged to greeted Phoenix and Phoenix said a quick hi. The beautiful stranger was busy by the counter but was gone in the blink of an eye. Phoenix moved to the counter and placed her order.
With the order placed and being prepared, Phoenix sat down and took out her phone, deciding she wanted to catch up on what she'd missed during her gym session. As always, her inbox was flooded but she has a system of deciding what mails to prioritize and which to leave for later, the beautiful stranger forgotten in her mind.
Being a homebody Phoenix had placed the food for takeout so when it was ready, she grabbed the packet and walked to the door where she saw the beautiful stranger standing. As she approached the door the stranger opened the door for her and they bade farewell to each other. Phoenix got into her car with a smile on her face for her evening was just made by the beautiful stranger. She drove home, had her dinner, took her phone out and busied herself on it, chuffed with her choice to grab food to go as she didn't have to cook. Then off to bed it was for her.
Fast forward a week later and Phoenix is back at the gym, finished with her session, showered and getting dressed she walks to Kauai again as she's been doing this whole week after a session at the gym. She hadn't seen the beautiful stranger so she was bummed but had now gotten over it. That was until she entered the store and saw her again. "Oh, shit!" mutters Phoenix to herself, she wasn't expecting to see the stranger, but it was a pleasant surprise.
The stranger is behind the counter this time and seems to be very busy with whatever it is she's doing. "Wow," thought Phoenix to herself, "her eyes are actually dark. She's wearing glasses and her eyes are dark. She was obviously wearing contacts last week then." Caught up in her mind she doesn't notice that she said, "I knew that, that couldn't possibly have been her natural eye color," followed by a chuckle out aloud. That is until the guy was at the counter stifles a laugh. Realizing she said that aloud, she blushes a little and orders her meal for the night.
Phoenix is drawn to the stranger, but alas she loses all coherent thought when she sees the beauty. Not knowing what to do was very rare to Phoenix, but this wondrous human has Phoenix in a swirl of uncertainty... "Should I say something to her? What will I say? I need to make her notice me, but how do I do that? I'm terrible at jokes so that's a no, do I ask for her number? How do I even ask for her number? I don't even know her name maybe that's where I should start."
All these thoughts and more run through Phoenix's mind that when she sees the stranger walking towards her she doesn't actually realize it. "Hi," starts the stranger.
"Hi, how are you?" came Phoenix's reply, meekly.
"I'm good," was where the conversation ended, with a smile from the stranger, as she walked past Phoenix to her destination.
"Damn, damn, damn," Phoenix mentally berates herself for that weak interaction on her part. "What was that? How could I let such an opportunity pass b..." and her train of thought stops abruptly as her food is ready.
As Phoenix approaches the exit, the stranger is entering and seeing that Phoenix is going out, holds the door open for Phoenix. Phoenix smiles at the stranger, dumbstruck and as she walks through the door, stops midway and looks at the stranger. "Hey, we haven't really met and I wanna change that," speaks Phoenix while searching in the stranger's eyes for a sign of a positive reaction.
The woman standing in front of Phoenix tries to hide that she's got a slight blush but it doesn't miss Phoenix, "Oh hi, I'm Ashley,"
"Hi, Ashley. I have to say it's really such a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Phoenix. I've been seeing you whenever I come around and have been wanting to meet you," says Phoenix. She's got a foot in the door with the beautiful stranger, feels like she's on a roll and is not about to slow down til she gets what she wants, "You've got a beautiful name, almost as beautiful as those contacts I've seen u wearing. But I must say, your beauty is breathtaking when you're wearing your natural eye color."
"Why... thank you," responds Ashley, looking at Phoenix straight in the eye as if to intentionally draw Phoenix in.
"Shit," thinks Phoenix to herself,
I cannot resist these eyes. She breaks her thoughts, "Well, seeing as you're keeping the door open for me, how about I open the door to my heart for you?"
The stranger bursts out laughing and leaves Phoenix uncertain. "I'm sorry," she says when she sees that Phoenix looks like she's about to dash out the door, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you. I'm... I just needed that, I haven't laughed like that in a while and it's done me good."
"I must say, I'm glad to hear that. So can we continue this at some point? I'd really love to have your number," adds Phoenix.
They exchange numbers and as soon as Phoenix gets into her car and closes the door, she lets out a huge breath and fist pumps the air. She really cannot believe that had just happened, especially after being laughed at. "How about I open the door to my heart for you?" repeated Phoenix to herself, laughing at herself incredulously. "Could I have been any cornier? No wonder she just burst into laughter. It's so cheesy I can't believe myself. But hey, I actually got her to laugh, all out, unrestrained and unrestricted. It was the most pleasant sound I've heard in a while. Makes me want to keep her laughing all the time," spoke Phoenix to no one but herself.
Phoenix drives with a ridiculous grin plastered on her face, not realizing that she's driving in silence at first. After all she is preoccupied by her thoughts of Ashley. "Ashley, I gotta make you mine," and with that she turns the radio on to ironically find 'A good night' by John Legend and BloodPop playing - Everything's gonna be alright, I think I just met my wife. She sings the song at the top of her voice with a giddy heart.
Her house is a short distance from the gym so the song ends as she parks in her garage. Getting out, the song is stuck in her head. She walks into the kitchen and leaves her food on the countertop while she jumps in the shower.
Once her shower is finished and she's dressed she returns to the kitchen, wondering about Garfield but pops her food in the microwave for a quick warming. As the microwave timer winds down Garfield comes in. Phoenix absentmindedly pets Garfield while contemplating whether to contact Ashley tonight or tomorrow, "She's at work right now and I don't know what time she knocks off. I'll leave it for tomorrow. And it's up to me to make first contact cause she doesn't have my number. Rather just call Ben."
Ben is away on Business and 6 hours ahead of Phoenix but she wasn't thinking about any of, it only occurred to her when he answered her call with a gruffy voice.
"Oh shit dude, it completely slipped my mind for a second that you're halfway across the globe and a whole 6 hours ahead of me. I'll just send a text or whatever that you can read when you're awake," said Phoenix apologetically.
"Damn man, it's 3 am. This ain't an emergency so you do that. Bye Nix," Ben gruffed as the line went dead.
Phoenix chuckles to herself thinking about how grumpy Ben always becomes whenever someone wakes him up. "Well, I could phone one of the girls... but nah I'll tell them when I see them. Why don't we watch something, Garf?" she suggests to her dog. "I could do with something to take my mind off Ashley," Phoenix says, more to herself than to her companion.
Halfway through the movie Phoenix nods off to sleep - she's exhausted as it's been a long week and she gave all that was left of herself to the gym session. The next time she comes to consciousness is when the movie credits are rolling and the song playing stirs her to wakefulness. Upon looking at the time the watch tells her it's past midnight and she makes her way to bed after switching off the lights.
"Your lips..." softly speaks Ashley, but she's unable to finish as she's engulfed by the kiss. Phoenix smiles into the kiss and Ashley pulls her in closer by her T-shirt. This drives Phoenix crazy and she deepens the kiss, hearing Ashley moan at the new intensity. Her hands are feeling up and down Ashley's body, one hand finally settling on holding her while the other touches on her enticing boobs.
