That's A Date

The Stare, pt.4

It was pleasant in the pub's beer garden, better for being a nice afternoon when most conscientious people were at work. Lisa pushed her cardigan sleeves back and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her arms while the girl disappeared inside to get them a second drink. Lisa glanced at her watch and calculated that, with this second drink, they'd probably miss the delayed train. Unless it had been delayed further.

The girl came back out and bent her knees carefully to put Lisa's large white wine and her own large gin and tonic on the table, keeping hold of her purse between the two glasses. Lisa lazily watched the way the girl's dress slid up her thighs a little, then back down as she straightened up, and wondered why she'd never found that sexy on someone before. Lisa pinched the stem of her wine glass but didn't drink, because she was intrigued how sexy this girl was now. The girl made to sit in her chair across  the table, but Lisa stretched out an arm and gestured at the space on the bench beside her. "Sit here. You're missing all the good rays."

The girl smiled, pushing some hair behind her ear, and joined Lisa on the bench. "When was that train supposed to be due?"

"About twenty past." Lisa raised her glass. "Thanks. Cheers."

The girl raised her gin. "Cheers." She sipped, then put the glass down and aimlessly fished around in it with the straw she'd been given but hadn't used. "We're going to miss it, aren't we?" Her arm just touched Lisa's, rubbing slightly where she was twirling the glass.

Lisa let her crossed legs drift towards the girl. "Yup. Probably." She flicked at some non-existent fluff on her skirt and felt a shock as her fingertips brushed over the girl's thigh. A nice shock, as it was utterly unplanned and she hadn't entirely realised how close the girl's leg was to hers, and the girl's leg was pleasantly soft and warm through her thin tights. "I'm not sure I'm sorry, to be fair," Lisa continued. "What with this being more fun than working, and all." She leant her arm on the back of the bench and buried her straying hand in her hair, looking at the girl sideways. "Will that be a problem for you, though?"

The girl shrugged, leaning very slightly closer so that her shoulders rested back against Lisa's arm. "It might make me quite late getting home, if I keep missing delayed trains." She picked up her gin and looked at Lisa over the top of the glass as she took a generous sip. "My lift will get a bit pissed off."

Lisa held the girl's gaze as long as she dared then examined her own fingernails carefully. "Significant other? Parent?" She tried to sound casual. "Friend?"

The girl stared at Lisa for a long moment, eyes wide, but a slight smile lifting the corners of her mouth. "Significant other. Sorry." She looked down into her drink, but didn't move, as if she was at that moment genuinely sorry she already had a partner. "Does anyone actually call them that, seriously?"

Lisa shrugged. "I don't have one, so I'm allowed to take the piss." She let a finger trace a circle on the girl's shoulder. "Will they be expecting you at a particular time?" She let her legs drift a few inches further towards her companion, and felt her knee press the girl's lightly.

The girl nodded. "Not at a particular time, but I'm expected back, yes." She paused and glanced at Lisa quickly. "I said I'd text her when I was setting off." She pushed back against Lisa's knee a little.

There was a pause, in which Lisa tried to breathe out as casually as possible. The light physical contact with the girl was surprisingly sensual, because it was so light and so hesitant. But it definitely felt good to know that it meant something too, that they were definitely not just casually touching. She reached down for her bag. "We should check the trains. It'll tell us online."

The girl was quicker, pulling her phone out of her bag. "Here, we can use mine." She rested her wrists on her knee while she activated her phone. Lisa sat back again, deliberately resting her arm along the back of the bench this time, so that it encircled the girl's shoulders. The girl leant slightly against her, and Lisa liked the pressure of the girl's arm on her breast. She felt – and consciously enjoyed – the hardening of her nipples. The girl shifted her hands to tilt the phone so Lisa could also see the screen. This had the added advantage of allowing the back of the girl's hand to brush Lisa's leg a few times, and Lisa felt twitches of corresponding pleasure deep between her legs.

It turned out that the foul-up with the trains was sorting itself out. The girl held her phone, resting her hand against Lisa's leg, while she scrolled through details of a train that would return her home not much later than expected. "Well," the girl said. "Normal life resumes, I suppose." She sounded a little disappointed.

Lisa twitched her knee against the girl's leg and hand, then moved back, giving the girl space. She sipped wine and wondered why the whole situation felt so exciting, and why she was suddenly so concerned that they'd never meet again. She felt the wine buzz in her head and a joyous sense of recklessness bubble up inside her, inspired no doubt in part by her unexpected arousal. She put her hand gently, carefully, on the girl's knee. Happily, the girl didn't move her leg, and for a second Lisa felt an intense urge to satisfy her curiosity, to find out how it'd feel to slide her hand under the girl's smart dress. She imagined the girl was getting as turned on as she was. "What happens if you get this job? Will you have to move?" She took a deep breath to steady herself

The girl sighed. "My girlfriend doesn't want to, she's settled where she is. Where we are, I should say." She swirled her glass and drank a large sip. "But I really want this job. And maybe things with her are, you know...?" She glanced at Lisa, and for a quick moment let her knees part under Lisa's hand. "We'll see, I suppose." She drank some more, then re-closed her legs and moved away. "I should go, if I want to catch this train."

Lisa nodded and indicated her mainly undrunk wine. "I might stay here for a bit. Can you find your way back?" She felt suddenly cross that her first and only attempt to flirt with another woman was ending so casually, so meaninglessly.

"Yeah, it'll be fine." The girl gathered her stuff, then leaned in. "Um, Lisa? Can I have your number?"

Lisa did a double-take. "Er, yeah. Why?" Her heart thumped in her chest.

The girl smiled. "If I get the job, I might want to celebrate with a friendly face."

"Shit. Yeah, OK." Lisa fumbled for her phone and displayed her number for the girl to see. She watched her save it to her contacts. "So. Maybe see you for a few drinks again soon?"

"Maybe." The girl gave her a look, as if to say, 'probably not just drinks, if we're being honest'.

Lisa felt her insides tighten, and threw most of her caution to the winds. "I commiserate with people pretty well too. You know, if you don't get the job? You should get in touch either way." She looked the girl in the eye. "I want to see you again."

The girl reached out and stroked Lisa's hand quickly. "Me too. I'll be in touch, promise." She moved back reluctantly. "I need to go. See you, Lisa."

Lisa watched her leave the beer garden, and leaned back in the sunshine, closing her eyes to try and make sense of what had just happened. When, after a few minutes, her phone buzzed with a new text, she smiled. She knew it was the girl keeping her promise, and that therefore this was just the beginning of something.