Reaching up, Danielle tugged at the edge of her baseball cap to try and pull it down a little further over her face. Aside from the hat, she was wearing large, dark sunglasses, a plain t-shirt, and some mom jeans. Dressing inconspicuously was a necessity of life, if you were a celebrity in Hollywood. Usually, paparazzi didn't give Danielle too much trouble - they had bigger fish to fry than Danielle Cartwright - but over the course of her career she'd learned that no scoop was too small for some bottom feeders. This time, though, paparazzi wasn't the reason Danielle felt so nervous.
"Come on, babe," Grace said to her, in the Valley Girl drawl that Danielle had come to find so comforting. She reached out and took Danielle by the hand, giving her palm an encouraging squeeze. "This is gonna be great!"
Danielle nodded and tried not to blush. Partly, she was embarrassed because she felt like a child, needing so much encouragement and letting her nerves show so clearly. Grace was there to assist her, of course, but Danielle didn't like the idea that she needed a babysitter. Partly, though, she was embarrassed because having Grace's hand in hers made her stomach fill with butterflies.
She wasn't sure how she felt about finding herself in the mindset of a flustered schoolgirl. But she couldn't help it. She was, after all, into women.
It had been about a week since Grace had helped her discover her same-sex attraction. In truth, Danielle could barely remember how, exactly, she'd come to that earth-shattering self-discovery. But she knew Grace had been instrumental to it, and she couldn't be more grateful. Everything made so much more sense now - at least, that was what a little voice in the back of her mind was telling her. Between that and Grace's glorious massages, Danielle felt like a woman reborn. There were just a couple of problems.
The first was that her attraction to women cut both ways, it seemed. Was it fun? Yes, absolutely. Danielle still got a little thrill each and every time she acknowledged it to herself, or every time she noticed something about another woman she thought was hot. But it was also somewhat inconvenient, particularly where Grace was concerned. She just couldn't get her curvy assistant or her bombshell figure out of her head. Worse, being around her was a constant source of temptation and distraction, and since Grace was her full-time assistant, that was a big problem. Danielle felt she was constantly in danger of tearing her own professionalism to shreds, slamming Grace against a wall, and-
She made herself end that train of thought before it could begin.
Danielle just didn't want to put Grace in an uncomfortable position - or worse still, commit outright sexual harassment. Grace had been such a good friend to her, after all, to say nothing of what a situation like that might do to her already-flagging career. It would be completely wrong, and so Danielle had to be constantly vigilant, lest she find herself slipping into flirtations or getting too touchy. The hardest thing to deal with was the massages. The experience of Grace's hands running over her naked body was a special kind of torture. It was all Danielle could do to keep herself from moaning, and she wasn't sure if Grace had noticed how flushed she got - or how wet. The only mercy was that she seemed to fall asleep during most of them. Danielle had considered calling the massages off, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
She was hooked. She needed them.
The other problem with her newfound sexuality was her fiancé. Danielle knew that being LGBT was something to celebrate, but it was hard to feel that way when she couldn't bring herself to tell Cameron, the man she was going to marry. What if he didn't believe her? What if he wasn't supportive? What if he took it the wrong way? They were supposed to be getting married in a few months. How was she supposed to explain she was suddenly attracted to women? Didn't that imply she'd been looking at other people romantically and sexually? Danielle just didn't know what to do. She was a little grateful that he was still out of town for an acting gig. She simply didn't have the confidence in her new sexuality to start coming out to anyone besides Grace.
But, that morning, that was exactly what the pair of them had decided to go out and fix.
***
"Babe, trust me. I know just what you need. A makeover!"
Danielle blinked. She had just finished telling Grace her problems - not in any expectation that she could provide a solution, but simply in the hope of getting it off her chest. Grace was the only person she could truly confide in, after all. But now here Grace was, offering a solution.
"A makeover?" Danielle replied skeptically.
"Don't look at me like that!" Grace giggled. "I know, I know, it's like, kind of a cliche. But it's totally true! We gotta get you a new look, babe!"
Danielle couldn't help but smile. Grace always put her in a good mood, and no matter what, she always seemed to end up humoring her. "OK, you're going to need to spell that out for me."
"Sure thing!" Grace said earnestly. "OK, so, like, let me put it this way. When I say 'lesbian' to you, what pops into your head?"
Danielle blinked. "What? Uh..."
"Chill, you don't actually have to say it." Grace giggled again. "But let me guess: flannel? Leather? Short hair? How am I doing?"
"Well..." Danielle was faintly embarrassed. She didn't want to admit she was stereotyping.
Grace winked at her. "Nailed it! But, like, don't worry. Take it from me: no one loves lesbian stereotypes more than lesbians. Anyway, the point is, it's like that for a reason. If you want to feel gay, try looking gay. You get me?"
"Hmm." Danielle frowned. "I'm not sure I see myself as the short hair and flannel type. Besides, I'm still into men."
Grace's eyes flashed for a moment. "Well, you never know what might happen."
"I'm not sure..."
"C'mon, girl!" Grace reached forwards and took Danielle's hands in hers. "Don't you wanna even give it a shot? What's the harm?"
***
In the end, it hadn't taken Danielle long to succumb to Grace's eager persuasion, and so now they were walking under the bright West Hollywood sun, trying to avoid notice and looking for somewhere to pick up clothes. It wasn't the day Danielle had anticipated having, but she was enjoying it. Grace had freed up plenty of time in her schedule, and using some of it for a nice, relaxing shopping trip was a nice change. It reminded Danielle of being a teenager again, out at the crappy local mall with her high school girlfriends.
She shivered. Girlfriends.
"So, where are we going to start?" Danielle asked, turning to Grace. "How about here?"
She gestured to 'Des Kohan', just down the street. It was one of the finest boutiques in the city, and so exclusive even someone like Danielle couldn't afford to visit too often. But if she was looking for something to make her feel more confident, she couldn't think of a better place to shop.
To her surprise, though, Grace waved a hand in utter dismissal. "There? Pfft. No way. We're trying to think a little more outside the box for you, m'kay?"
Danielle blinked. "Then where?"
"Just trust me," was Grace's reply. "I know the perfect place."
Danielle allowed Grace to lead her through progressively smaller and smaller streets, until they were completely off the beaten track and straying into territory Danielle was totally unfamiliar with. Her skepticism was growing. None of the stores they were walking past looked very impressive. Outside the box was fine, but Danielle needed to maintain her profile. She couldn't afford to be seen wearing anything that didn't look designer. Perhaps she was going to have to put her foot down.
"Here!" Grace announced brightly, just as Danielle was about to say something.
'Black Lines.' That was the name of the clothing store Grace had led her to. The storefront was plain and without any fanfare or ornamentation, and the store within seemed just as dark and dim as the name suggested. From the outside, it was virtually impossible to tell anything about the store. Danielle looked at Grace dubiously.
