Author's Disclaimer: All characters depicted are over 18, etc., etc. Enjoy!
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The butterflies that had started gently fluttering in my stomach on the way down the elevator were multiplying as I stood looking out the glass windows in the lobby of my apartment complex. As I watched for Tawny, part of me was convinced she just wouldn't show. Why would such a beautiful young woman want to spend time with a woman in the latter half of her thirties? This was probably some prank.
Tawny was a waitress I'd met while tagging along with my niece to the bar just a few minutes walk from my apartment. She was smart and energetic and pretty. As a waitress, Tawny met and flirted with dozens of people every day, so why would I think that she would be interested in me?
'Stop it, Claire,' I told myself. You are a good-looking woman with a witty...well...a sometimes witty and fun personality! I had always been plagued with impostor syndrome, especially when it came to relationships. Looking back, that may have played a part in some of my previous failures. I hadn't felt I deserved them, and ended up sabotaging myself. Of course, there was also the complete lack of a spark in my last three relationships, all men, and now here I was about to go on an actual date with another woman!
The butterflies were having a dance party.
I was pulled from my spiralling thoughts when Tawny pulled up outside. She gave me a smile and a wave that mutated my butterflies into grasshoppers. Tawny's light-brown hair, which I had previously only seen in a ponytail at the bar, was down and resting on her shoulders.
She was here. For me.
I took a deep breath and left the building. My smile was genuine as I returned the wave and jogged out to hop into the passenger's seat of Tawny's car, a silver Honda Civic. She had on ankle boots, a tight pair of jeans, and a gray sleeveless crop top that hugged her upper body like a second skin.
"You look amazing!" Tawny said as I settled into the seat.
I got a huge grin, genuinely flattered by her praise, then crossed my left leg over my right, letting the black miniskirt ride up a bit and giving her a good view of my bare thigh. It wasn't a conscious deliberation, I just did it. That was a little surprising, as I am not usually one to overtly tease, but seeing Tawny's eyes trace my leg gave me a naughty thrill.
"Thank you," I replied, accepting the compliment. "So do you."
I let my eyes wander down her form as well. That was deliberate. When my gaze returned to her face, she had a shy smirk and was tucking her hair behind her ear. Was she...nervous?
After an awkward moment of the two of us just looking at each other, Tawny put the car in gear and looked back at the road before pulling away from the curb.
"Where are we going?" I asked once we were on the road proper.
"Have you been to Central Station recently?" Tawny answered with her own question. "Since all the new developments were done?"
While still technically in the downtown area, Central Station was in the opposite direction from where I usually went between my apartment and work. It used to be the main hub for the large number of trains that used to go through the city. It hadn't hosted trains for decades and had been turned into a shopping mall at some point. Last time I was there, most of the shops were closed, and the place looked like it was going out of business, except for a nice seafood restaurant and a train museum that were still hanging on.
In the last couple of years, there had been a ton of construction in the area, so I completely avoided it. I had noticed that a Ferris wheel had recently been added, though. That was pretty hard to miss, and I had heard about them putting in an aquarium.
"I have not!" I responded with a smile. "I'm anxious to see what's been done!"
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It only took us about ten minutes to get there. I asked about how the bar was doing, and she asked me about my job, but we didn't have a lot of time to really settle into a conversation.
That changed as we were seated at the seafood restaurant. I kept talking about my work mainly because I didn't know what else to say, and Tawny just listened like it was the most interesting story ever. I knew it wasn't and finally tried to get her to talk about herself.
"This is boring even to me," I admitted. "Tell me about your work. I bet you have some great stories!"
"I might," Tawny chuckled, but didn't immediately volunteer anything.
"Well?" I prodded. "Tell me about something surprising."
"Hmm," she looked up momentarily in thought. "Okay," she said, looking back at me with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure there was this couple a few weeks ago humping in one of our booths."
Tawny said it like it was nothing, but my eyes flew open.
"Really? Just right out in the open?"
"Oh, they weren't being obvious, but I think that's why they were having fun with it," she began. "They were in one of the side booths, and the woman was straddling the guy's lap. She had on this miniskirt that I could tell was pulled up in the back." Tawny leaned closer across the table and lowered her voice. "When they thought no one was looking, they were both grinding and making some very...telling faces."
"Oh, my god!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "And you guys didn't throw them out?"
"They weren't bothering anyone. And I get it. Sometimes, the danger of getting caught can be a real turn-on. Haven't you ever had semi-public sex?" my date asked in an even lower voice.
At the same moment, I felt something touch the side of my calf. It rubbed gently up and down. I froze for a moment, then realized it was Tawny's foot. It was just a touch, but paired with her words, I was suddenly very conscious of the eyes around us.
'Play it cool, Claire,' I thought. Don't react and don't look around. Instead, I forced myself to relax, smiled sweetly, and called her bluff.
"Is that a question or a suggestion?" I answered, peering deep into her beautiful eyes.
Tawny got a huge grin and sat back up straight, removing her foot from my leg.
"Maybe we'll just have to see where the night takes us," she quipped.
I was saved from having to respond when the waiter approached with our drinks. The rest of the meal was spent chatting. At first, we were both a little stiff, but the more we talked, the more relaxed and friendly we became.
I've been on my share of first dates, and this one was going pretty well after some initial nerves had calmed down. I was captivated by her smile and her laugh, and was disappointed when the waiter approached toward the end of the meal.
"Will this be separate checks or together?" he asked.
In my head, he was asking, "Are you two friends or lesbians?" The thought was humorous, and I had to stifle a snicker. My attention was suddenly drawn, however, to the feathery touch of Tawny's pointer finger stroking my own across the table.
"One check," Tawny responded. She grinned seductively at me before looking back at the waiter.
A warm tingle radiated from my finger, progressing unhurriedly down to my sex. She had answered the waiter's spoken query as well as the one in my imagination quite definitively, and my body responded.
The waiter didn't react other than to hand Tawny a payment device. Curse the man! She had to stop touching me to take it and pay. I took a deep breath and reluctantly pulled my hand off the table.
