Checking to see that her bed mate was still knocked out cold, Jisoo sighed and hit dial on Irene's phone.
It took eight rings for Hank to pick up, and by that time she wasn't privy to niceties. "Hello, Hank, it's Jisoo. Just thought you should know that I took Irene out with me last night and she'll be home later. Thanks so much for checking on her."
Hank's gruff voice made her proceed to roll her eyes. It was nearly eleven am and he sounded like he'd just rolled out of bed. "Jesus, Jisoo. I just got up for work like two seconds ago, you didn't give me a chance to call. Is she okay?"
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Jisoo checked her nails nonchalantly as she waited for his pathetic excuses as to why he didn't chase after her, begging on his knees asking her not to leave him.
"Well I'm not particularly in the mood for being talked to like this so tell her I'll be home later, alright?"
"You'll be lucky if your shit's not in a garbage bag on the front lawn. And not that you asked, but Eric asking her out was all my idea so take it a little easier next time, could you? Thanks. Bye."
She hung up before Hank could reply back with his usual snark.
Tossing the phone on the nightstand, Jisoo stood up and stretched her legs before walking over to the side of the bed Irene was taking up space on. Still very much asleep and still very much in last night's clothes, Jisoo had to laugh. Seeing Irene the morning after she drank never failed to be the funniest thing she'd see all day. With her makeup smeared and hair going every which direction, Irene looked like a washed up version of her typical ensemble, so naturally Jisoo snapped a few photos for later blackmail use. After giggling to herself and posing in half a dozen pictures with Irene's sleeping figure, she lightly tapped her back with manicured fingers.
"Wake up, drunkie, your best friend has been waiting all night to hear about what you did."
When Jisoo had picked Irene up, the latter was a babbling mess of incoherent phrases and sobs, only able to choke out a string of words that sounded like 'Hank,' 'fight,' 'Eric,' 'tequila,' 'Lisa,' 'bathroom,' and 'kiss.' Jisoo had never been good at word games and wanted the details as soon as possible, never mind how hungover Irene was likely going to be.
The previous night when she had offered Irene a makeup wipe and clothes to sleep in, the latter had drunkenly fought her off and made it very clear that she deserved to sleep in her uncomfortable dress after what she'd done. Thus Jisoo's interest was peaked, presuming it must have been something pretty bad.
Irene slowly blinked her eyes open and they immediately flew shut as she mumbled, "Too bright."
"Oh shit, that's my bad, let me close them," Jisoo rushed over to crack the window and shut the blinds as tight as possible. "There, some fresh air and no more sun. Can you stop being a little bitch now and tell me what happened?" She stalked back over and lightly shoved Irene off her half of the bed and crawled under the covers.
Irene was immediately attracted to her warmth and snuggled closer to it, wearily dropping her head in the crook of Jisoo's arm like she'd spent all night traveling and needed a place to lay it down. "I don't want to talk about it. At all. Ever."
"Well that fucking sucks," she fixed Irene with a gaze that told her she had no choice but to spill everything. To encourage her into speaking, she ran her fingers lovingly through Irene's hair and held her limp body close. "Whenever you're ready."
Taking a deep breath, Irene opened her mouth and started speaking. "Well, I fought with Hank over Eric's number—"
Jisoo interrupted her, "Yes, you yelled at me about that in the car. I called Hank and fixed that situation right up."
"Wait, I did? I don't remember yelling at you. And you called him? When? Jesus, he's probably so mad I didn't come home. I slapped him, Chu. Hard."
"God, and you didn't take photographic evidence for me? Yes, you yelled at me and yes I told him that we spent the night together. All night," she added for good measure. "So kindly fast forward to the juicy parts, you were a fucking mess when I picked you up."
Irene sighed and clutched a fistful of Jisoo's t-shirt. "Well, I couldn't sit in my house with him after we fought, so I took Lisa up on her offer to go out for her friend's birthday. And then I got there and just—" she paused to take a deep breath, "lost it." She wailed once, loudly, and Jisoo pulled her into a sitting position where she began rocking them back and forth.
"Sh, shh, it's okay. It's okay. Hank doesn't seem mad anymore."
"No," Irene sobbed, "It's not Hank. I fucked up with Lisa. So badly, Chu." She reached over to grab a tissue from Jisoo's nightstand and blew her nose loudly, to which Jisoo fake gagged at.
"I'm growing grey hairs here."
"I kissed her. One second I was watching her dance, and the next second I was practically dry humping her in a bathroom stall, two seconds away from asking her to fuck me." Irene was still crying at this point, hungover and more miserable than she'd ever been in her life.
Jisoo had yet to say anything or even move an inch, and Irene glanced up to make sure she'd been listening. "Chu?"
Her eyes were fixated on the ceiling as if she were trying to picture this entire exchange in her mind. "Hold on. I need a minute. Or five. You've just changed me as a person. Holy fuck," she exclaimed, too loudly for Irene's pounding head, "I didn't think you had it in you."
Excitedly, she pressed on, "So you're telling me that you, Miss 'I'm in a committed relationship', Irene Bae, was making out in a bar bathroom like a fucking twenty one year old? God, this is already so amazing. Please continue."
"There's nothing more to say," Irene grumbled. "I fucked up and now my life is a mess and two people hate me because of it."
"Well number one, Hank doesn't hate you. Does he even have enough brain capacity to do that? And two, why would Lisa hate you? Didn't you kiss her first? Was it a friendly makeout or like a 'I wanna finger fuck your brains out' kiss?"
"Oh my God," Irene clutched at her head in pain, "The second one. She was telling me about how I—I've changed her since we met and that I'm the woman of her dreams."
Shifting uncomfortably, she sniffled again, "And all of a sudden this rush of emotion came over me and I just started kissing her. I kissed her, and she let me. Then I had this moment of clarity where I realized I'd lost fucking my mind and I yelled at her because I'm still with Hank. And now she hates me. Which I clearly deserve."
Well that was not what Jisoo expected.
Pausing her with a careful hand thrown up in the air, Jisoo tried to get her facts straight. "Okay, so you were dancing with Lisa, which is within the normal boundaries of a friendship, and then the next second you were just all over her? At what point did you realize you wanted to do this? God, this is such a classic romance film, except the other person usually isn't a woman. You've got kudos there."
Irene rolled her eyes dramatically and bit the inside of her cheek. "I don't know, I mean obviously I was drunk but I remember thinking about how badly I wanted to kiss her all night. And then we were in the stall and there was no one but the two of us. After she told me about how she'd been thinking about me, I just did it. I would have been more angry with myself if I hadn't done it."
"But then you yelled at her? For something you wanted to do?"
"Don't make me feel worse," Irene sobbed, "I didn't mean to yell. I was just so fucking angry with myself, and she was there to get the full wrath of it. I told her that I couldn't be doing this and that I had a boyfriend at home."
Jisoo prodded carefully this time, "And what did she say?"
"She acted so calm, and all I remember was this anger flaring inside me when she told me she knows that I have a boyfriend. Like it didn't bother her."
Jisoo sighed, humming for a moment to gather her thoughts. Irene had been in sticky situations before, but this one required some extra problem solving. "Don't you think it does bother her, Irene? That Hank is an issue?"
Placing her hand on the smooth skin of Jisoo's knee and hiding her face back in the curve of her neck, Irene took a moment to reply. "I mean, I guess it does. That would make sense. I didn't really give her time to say much of anything." All she felt now was hopelessness, like she'd had something so good in the palm of her hands and it slipped right on through like sand.
"And don't you think that you probably confused her by kissing her first?" Jisoo was clearly trying to get at something here that Irene refused to even admit to herself. It would take a lot for Irene to say it out loud, the sensation in her gut twisting like barbed wire at the mere thought of it. It was too much, but the force of her liking Lisa would beat at her until she started to crack underneath the pressure like an egg. Slowly, she felt those cracks begin to splinter wider and wider until she opened her mouth and began speaking the truth.
The spring breeze rolled in through the cracked window, the blinds dancing gently against the windowsill making Irene wish she was anywhere but here, somewhere she could forget about everyone and everything for weeks, maybe months. "Chu, I can't," she whispered, "I can't like her. I—I have Hank. And I have a life. I can't drop those because I want to be with her." Her last few words rushed out like they were racing to be spoken before Irene changed her mind and kept them inside under strict lock and key.
Jisoo didn't say anything, wanting Irene to realize her select choice of words. She waited for a moment, intensely hoping her brain would get caught up in sync with her heart. When Irene neglected to do anything but clutch at her tighter, Jisoo started rubbing soft circles against the tense muscles in her back.
"I could make so many jokes right now, but I think I'll refrain. You want to be with her, babe? You really do?"
Irene started trembling; slowly at first, then harder like she was tumbling down in an avalanche without the ability to stop the fall. Then the tears started, too many for her to blink away or try to hide. With an elongated sigh, Irene resigned herself to disclosing the one thing that had tugged so tightly at her heartstrings the last few days.
"Yes. I do, so much. It's all I can think about. It's eating away at me from the inside out."
Grateful for Jisoo's unwavering support; both emotional and physical, Irene shuddered with full blown sobs that threatened to spill into absolute hysteria. If you had told her a week ago that she was on the cusp of ruining everything she'd spent years building all for some woman she'd met and spent three hours with, she would have closed the door in your face. But she was here, and this was her reality. It felt like she'd simultaneously ruined her life and started the next chapter of it with one clean cut. Possibly the most reckless thing she'd ever do with her life would be leaving Hank for Lisa, but the relief was knowing the only outcome of doing this would be positive. There was no doubt in Irene's mind that Lisa would treat her with the utmost care, something she'd been craving for years. Something she'd deserved for years. All that was left was getting everyone else on board.
Jisoo held her for the next few moments while Irene continued to sob out her emotions, likely ruining the front of her dress and Jisoo's t-shirt in the process. She only let go long enough to get up and make them a small breakfast of eggs and toast that she brought back to eat in bed. Irene graciously accepted the plate and began eating cautiously, not to upset her stomach any further.
Cautiously, Jisoo chose her next words with delicacy. "What do you think you're going to do now?"
Irene carefully set her fork down and placed the plate down next to her thigh. Jisoo could see the thoughts turning over in her mind, the what ifs and the pros and cons. Shaking her head back and forth, she whispered, "I don't know. I have to talk to him."
Knowing exactly what Irene meant, Jisoo soldiered on to be her biggest support system while still maintaining her tough love archetype. "Maybe you should talk to Lisa too?" Gently, she asked this, already knowing Irene would vehemently deny up and down that she should talk to the one person she needed to most.
What came out of Irene's mouth surprised her.
"Yeah, I guess I should. It's now or never. Give me my phone."
"Wait—what? You wanna call her right now? Like this?" Jisoo gestured towards her unusual attire and still smeared makeup.
Glancing down at herself, Irene replied apathetically, "I said call, not FaceTime."
"Jesus, whatever. Your funeral." She tossed Irene's phone to her, who fumbled it for a moment before shifting away from Jisoo's embrace.
Taking a deep breath, she hit dial and placed the phone to her ear. From where she was sitting, Jisoo could manage to make out most of the conversation.
When Lisa picked up, she could already hear the tension in her tone.
"Hi, Irene. What do you want?"
You, us, this, forever.
Irene sighed, "I just want to talk to you, Lisa. Explain myself."
"There's not much to explain. I'm a little busy right now, so if that's all I really should get going."
Irene's pained expression was spelt out through her words. Taking in a breath that Jisoo could tell was a struggle, Irene dropped her tone, "Please, Lisa. Do you have any time to talk to me today?"
"I don't know. Maybe I can come over later because I don't want to do this over the phone. Maybe. I'm not saying I will."
That's all Irene needed. "Okay," she nearly cried out, too focused on evening out her breathing to notice Lisa's tentative decision, "Okay. I'll send you my address. My boyf—Hank works late today."
"Alright. Bye, Irene."
"Bye, Lisa." The line went dead.
When Irene chucked her phone towards the end of the bed, she turned around to face Jisoo's gleaming smile. "So? How'd it go? Did she profess her love?"
"I could hit you sometimes."
"Yeah, but you love me. Anyway, this is good, she'll come over and you can talk through your shit. That's so sexy of you, talking your problems out like a healthy adult woman that's in a weird, twisted love triangle."
"There is no triangle. It's Hank and I, and Lisa in the background somewhere."
"Yeah...so, the definition of a triangle." She laughed and tried to dodge the pillow Irene roughly threw in her direction, getting struck across the head with with it anyway. Dramatically acting like she'd been shot, Jisoo hung over the edge of the bed in mock pain.
"I'm taking a shower," Irene called out, already halfway to the bathroom.
Jisoo sat up too quickly, rushing to yell, "Don't use my good shampoo!"
"Too late!"
•••
An hour later, Irene was being chauffeured back home by Jisoo, who was humming along to some god awful rap song she had on her playlist. Feeling tremendously less sick than she had that morning, the only things weighing on her mind now were the next inevitable steps she knew she had to take. Starting to feel queasy with the possibility of what the near future held, Irene held out her palm as she silently watched the outside world rush by in a dizzying motion. Jisoo took one hand off the wheel and squeezed it in solidarity, not letting go until they pulled into Irene's driveway.
"Are you sure you'll be alright when she comes over? I can just hang out in the kitchen or something, in case she comes at you swinging."
"No," Irene replied, "Your presence will only make me more nervous." She felt a swell of nausea ride up, threatening to ruin her carefully crafted exterior. Climbing slowly out of the passenger's seat, she paused for a moment, looking back at Jisoo's figure in the driver's seat. "I love you. Thank you."
"It's my job, babe. Call me immediately after she leaves, yeah?"
"Yeah. Bye, Chu."
After saying hello to Leo and managing to clean every inch of space in her household like Lisa would want a detailed tour of the attic and basement, Irene sat tersely on the edge of her couch to wait for the text to say she was on her way. Lisa had texted her earlier, saying she had time after her shift at the cafe to talk to Irene. She hadn't seemed too keen on the idea of speaking to Irene, let alone the prospect of even coming over. The two of them sharing a space alone wasn't exactly her idea of fun anymore.
Irene's phone buzzed, alerting her to a message from Lisa that said she was five minutes away. Irene froze for a moment, a wave of spine tingling apprehensiveness ghosting up her spine. She tried to calm herself down by holding Leo's tiny body in her lap, but his presence did very little to shake her nerves. When Lisa knocked on her door, Irene nearly cried for the umpteenth time today.
Walking over to the door on unsteady legs, she paused for a moment with her hand on the doorknob. What would inevitably come next was likely going to be one of the hardest conversations she would ever have. She clasped the door handle and opened it to reveal the prettiest, softest woman Irene would blind herself a thousand times over just to see once more.
"Hi."
Lisa crossed her arms around her stomach in an attempt to close herself off. From the floor to ceiling, Irene could see her walls come up and place dozens of obstacles between them. All she wanted to do was scale them and prove her unwavering devotion to this beautiful, fucked up thing between them.
"Hi."
"You can like, come in. Please. Leo's around here somewhere."
With that reminder, Lisa brightened up and stepped into the threshold. "How is he?"
Grateful that they didn't start off with semantics right off the bat, Irene couldn't help but smile. "Oh, he's great. I think he really likes it here. He prefers sleeping right next to me like he's afraid I'll take him back."
Liss huffed out a laugh, mumbling under her breath, "Can I be jealous of a cat?"
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Has he been eating?"
Irene took the opportunity to launch into a full discussion about how well Leo had acclimated, especially how much he enjoys scratches at the dip between his eyes and nose. She picked him up from where he was snoozing peacefully in a patch of glittering sunlight from the bay window, bringing him over to drop in Lisa's lap.
He seemed to recognize Lisa, purring delightfully when she scratched his favorite spot and cooed over him like it had been years since they saw each other. Irene's heart simultaneously swelled and shattered at the captivating scene in front of her. Partially because she was watching it happen, and partially because it wasn't hers to see every day.
After a while, Leo got bored and hopped off Lisa's lap in hopes to find something more entertaining. Irene wanted to run after him and force him to be a distraction for the remainder of this conversation, but Lisa persuaded her by placing a careful palm on her knee.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Irene stiffened for a brief moment, avoiding all eye contact. Glancing around the room, she swallowed visibly, "I just wanted to give you an explanation."
"You kissed me first, Irene. And then got mad at me for it. There's not much to explain." Lisa didn't sound mad or even remotely perturbed at this point. It sounded like she'd accepted it, ready to move on and put this blip on the radar behind her.
Irene didn't want that. She wanted Lisa to know what this meant for her, how badly she had craved it. How badly she still craved it. Shaking her head imperceptibly, she forced herself to start this confession.
"I kissed you because I wanted to. I can't apologize for that. But I realize that I have commitments that make this difficult, so I can apologize on that behalf. I'm sorry I yelled at you, and that I took advantage of your feelings."
"I shouldn't have said anything in the first place. And I'm probably equally to blame here too. I let you kiss me knowing—" she trailed off, her eyes focused on the picture frame containing a photo of Hank and Irene dancing at his brother's wedding. Irene had been inexplicably happy that day, the look on her face proving it. Lisa's heart clenched and she had to look away before the pain got any worse.
"No—" Irene stopped her self-blame, wanting to fend off every negative thought Lisa had about the situation. "No, you had every right to tell me that. It was my fault for, you know." She gestured towards the space in between them.
"Getting to second base with me in a bathroom stall?"
Irene felt her tense shoulder muscles loosen at Lisa's partial joke. "Yeah, that."
"Well that's fine, then. I guess that's it. It was very nice to meet you, Irene, I can't deny that. Let me know how Leo is from time to time." Lisq was halfway off the couch before Irene could comprehend what she was saying.
"Wait, I—"
Lisa perched on the edge of the couch, an unreadable look on her expression. "What?"
"You're just going to leave? For good?" Irene felt her heart drop through her chest, head spinning with this revelation Lisa had seemed to come to.
Lisa cocked her head to the side, perplexed that Irene hadn't let her walk out the door. "Why would I stay? You have a boyfriend, remember?" She reminded Irene gently as if it wasn't haunting her every waking move. "There's nothing else for me here."
She went to get up again, when Irene clenched her jaw muscles and spit out, "What if there is something here for you?"
There it was. Out in the open for interpretation. Noting how her muscles tensed up again, Irene didn't feel like a weight had been lifted off her back. Instead, it was like a two ton brick had been placed on top of the already backbreaking weight of emotion she'd been feeling. There was nothing in her that felt better, not even in the slightest. She felt raw and cracked open, like Lisa could take a peek inside at her heart and decide if she wanted the already broken pieces of it.
Lisa's voice sounded small, like she wasn't sure she'd heard that correctly. "Irene, I can't do this."
Irene pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing the breeze coming in from the bay window would sweep her weightless body into the air, far far away from this. "Then why did you come here?"
Lisa had been selfish, coming to see Irene for her own personal gain. If she was never going to see or hear from her again, she needed one final look for her own masochistic tendencies. "I had to come so that my last image wasn't you crying and running away from me. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Her upper lip quivered, daring to try and delay the tears that hovered in her eyes until she was alone.
"Please," she pleaded, "Just let me go so I can get over you."
Her own lip quivering, Irene managed to get her words out without crying. "I don't want that. I don't want you to get over me."
Lisa's eyes went as wide as saucers, and her fingers that had been brushing over the seam of Irene's couch started trembling like leaves on trees. She was brimming with untapped emotion that threatened to spill out all over Irene's nice carpet. "Irene, please." Her voice got thin, "Don't lie to me. I'm not in any state of mind to be played with."
"I'm not lying to you."
Everything went silent for a beat, even Leo froze his movements from where he was batting a toy around on the floor. Irene could feel her heartbeat pounding in her own ears, afraid Lisa could see it thumping in her chest like a jackhammer.
"What are you saying?" Her words stammered out, afraid of being spoken into the air in fear Irene was playing a sick mind game with her.
"I'm saying that I want to be with you. Or whatever you're willing to give me. I just need to work out a few things."
"You're serious?" Lisa's porcelain complexion was taut with an expression that looked like Irene had just shifted her entire world view in the last twenty seconds. The air in her lungs was coming out in jagged breaths, like the wind had been knocked out of them and she couldn't catch back up to resume normal breathing.
"I've never been more serious in my life."
She contemplated for a minute, suspicious likely being an understatement. "I don't want to be the other woman, Irene. I'm worth more than that."
"I'm not asking you to be. I'm just asking you to wait for me."
Lisa looked down at the floor for a moment, observing the immensity of Irene's confession and how much it had cost her to say it out loud. All Irene wanted to do now was tell Lisa that her furrowed brow and the adorable look on her face made her all the more kissable, but instead dug her nails into her palms to keep herself level headed.
When Lisa glanced up, she tried to search Irene's face for any signs of fabrication. When her eyes met Irene's, she knew it was real. What Irene felt was real. It was an instantaneous reaction, and with her heartbeat pounding in her throat, Lisa reached out for Irene's hand as though she were a straggler reaching for salvation. Irene took it a step further and reached up to cradle Lisa's cheeks and press their foreheads together. The tears overflowed and overwhelmed her vision, dripping down into the space between her and Lisa without shame.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry we met like this."
Lisa gripped the back of her neck with a gentle hand and sighed out, "It's okay. At least we met. It feels like I've been waiting for something my entire life and it came in my shop doors looking a whole lot like you."
Irene choked out a mixture of a laugh and sob, her frame rattling and knocking their foreheads together with every breath. The prospect of having this in her arms every morning and night made Irene want to renew her faith in every god known to man, because there was no way Lisa wasn't an ethereal being that somehow managed to end up on earth.
Pulling back as if looking at Lisa with new eyes, Irene tugged her bottom lip between teeth and contemplated something for a moment. She swiped the lone tear that had fallen from the corner of Lisa's eye with her thumb just as Lisa fixated her with a gaze that spelled out the lust and desire burning inside her. Irene's eyes flickered between doe eyes and the plump lips she wanted to put her mouth on again, this time without ever coming up for air.
Lisa beat her to it, tugging Irene in for a kiss that exploded light into the deepest caverns of her heart. This time, the kiss wasn't reckless or fueled by alcoholic induced fantasies; but instead a promise of the thousands more to come.
Over and over, Irene kissed Lisa gently with the hopes that she understood how badly she wanted to do this every morning, noon, and night for the rest of her life. It wasn't a rushed, breathless moment in time that Irene felt the need to pull away from. In the soft afternoon light, these were kisses that spoke gentle expressions of adoration without so much as a word. Irene's entire body was thrumming frantically like a hummingbird every time Lisa clutched at her like she couldn't believe that she was holding this in her arms.
With every sweet gasp and moan that tumbled out of Lisa's mouth, Irene fell deeper and deeper into a canyon full of sweet nothings that she thought could keep her there forever. She swallowed those moans up like she was starving and they were the only things that could quench her lifelong hunger.
Right up until the front door swung open and Hank walked through.
From their position on the couch, Irene had all of two seconds to wrench herself away from Lisa and put three feet of space in between them. Her chest heaved as she desperately tried to wipe her mouth off and fix her mussed hair. When Hank came around the corner, he had a fake plastered smile on his face, carrying a bouquet of flowers that were nearly as large as he was.
When he spotted Lisa, he did a double take before leaning down to kiss Irene on the same mouth that had just been all over Lisa's. "Hi, babe. These are for you." Angling his head so that he was speaking directly to her, he continued softly, "Jisoo told me that it was her idea. I'm sorry."
Straightening up, he handed her the flowers which she tentatively accepted. Smoothing the front of her blouse down, she waited until Hank plopped himself down in the armchair across from the couch. Lisa was looking at everything but her, feigning interest in the drapes and the color scheme of her couch cushions. Clearing her throat, once, twice, then finally a third time, Irene peeped out, "Hank, this is Lisa. She's the one who works at the cat cafe where I got Leo."
"Ah, that's really nice of you. She loves that thing. Leo, I mean." Hank relaxed in the chair and shot Irene a quizzical look, questioning why Leo was in their house in the middle of the day.
Trying to sound nonchalant and not at all like she'd been kissing Lisa five minutes prior, Irene sat up and asked, "Why are you home so early? I thought you worked until nine."
Shrugging his shoulders, Hank breezily replied, "I skipped out early so I could spend time with my girl. Is that such a crime?" He chuckled and the noise proceeded to make Irene's skin crawl. She dared to glance over at Lisa, who had yet to make any movement or speak a lick of a word.
Hank then directed his gaze towards her as well. "So, Lisa? How long have you worked at that place? I bet Irene's your number one customer, huh? She drinks coffee like it's water." His genuine ease and laid back demeanor made Irene want to scream, cry, and run out of the house in that order.
Sounding incredibly calm, Lisa answered his questions breezily. "Only for about a year and a half, but I've been manager for a little over six months. They must really trust me, I guess," her following laugh sounded like a chorus of angels to Irene. "And I really only met her recently, but I thought she preferred tea?"
She lazily pointed at Irene, whose cheeks flared red as she nodded affirmatively. Continuing, she cocked her head and seemed to grow bold. "How long have you two been together again?"
Irene choked on her spit. Hank, too engrossed in trying to play with Leo's string toy didn't seem to catch the wild look she threw at Lisa. "Babe, why don't you answer that? You know I always forget. Six years, seven? Who fucking knows at this point, all I know is that we still put up with each other's shit."
"It's been five years, Hank," Irene replied tensely. Lisa could see her fighting back the urge to scream, shooting her a look that told her to calm down. "On the seventeenth of this month."
"Five best years of my life, babe." Hank got up and walked over to lean down and kiss Irene's cheek, asking her and Lisa, "Anyone want a beer?"
When they both responded in the negative, he threw his hands up in mock surrender. "More for me, ladies." When he went to leave the room, Lisa quickly got up and announced, "I should probably get going. Those cats won't feed themselves," hinting at something, she threw Irene a sideways glance.
Quick to catch on, Irene hurriedly rushed to reply, "I'll walk you to the door."
As he retreated into the kitchen, Hank called out, "It was nice to meet you," in his usual bored tone, too distracted by which beer he was going to chug down.
When he turned the corner and out of sight, Lisa grabbed Irene's hand and kissed the knuckles. She didn't drop it until they walked to the front door together, where she cupped the swell of Irene's cheek and smiled fondly. Lowering her tone, she whispered, "He's kind of a dick, yeah? This whole time I thought he was a goddamn angel to you. It makes it easier."
Irene dropped her head and laughed heartily, not caring if Hank saw her heart leaping out of her chest into Lisa's deserving hands. "Yeah," she confirmed, "He is."
Bucking up, she finished, "I just need a little time, is that okay?"
Lisa feigned innocence for a moment before biting back a laugh. "Yeah, baby. I can wait, but only because I think you're worth it. Although," she leaned in to brush her lips across Irene's before wickedly pulling back, "I won't wait forever." When she smirked and went to walk out, Irene blinked herself out of a haze made up of daydreams involving Lisa and nothing else.
And just like that, she was out the door with one final parting glance and small wave of her fingers. Closing the door and leaning against the back of it, Irene counted all her blessings that Hank hadn't walked into something more scandalous. Her entire body was alive with an exquisite hymn that sang from deep inside her soul.
With a deep sigh, she walked back into kitchen where Hank was waiting for her with a beer in his hand at the kitchen table. Leaning against the counter for stability, she barely squeaked out, "Hi, again. Can we talk for a minute?"
Barely glancing up from where he was scrolling through his phone, he replied, "Hey, yeah, can it wait? Jack's coming over to play basketball in five. Your friend Lisa is cool, babe. She's hot, but she takes care of cats for a living? She could be like, a stripper and earn more money."
Irene resisted every urge to tell Hank to fuck off back to whatever level of Hell he came from, instead brusquely replying, "She runs the goddamn place, Hank. Don't diminish her down to her looks. She's extremely smart and talented."
"Yeah, noted. I'm just saying. Can our talk wait or not?"
Already halfway out of the room, Irene threw back, "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
Several hours later, Irene was scrolling through Pinterest and waiting patiently for Jack to leave so she could cut the cord that was blocking her from Lisa. She hated Jack and his god awful timing, but hated herself more for waiting so long to break up with Hank. Remembering that she'd forgotten to call Jisoo, she excitedly dialed her number and flopped down on her stomach lengthways across her bed.
Jisoo picked up, immediately wondering, "Did you do it yet? I've been waiting all fucking day. What did he say? What did she say?"
"Can I have ten seconds to breathe? I talked to Lisa, I didn't talk to Hank yet."
"Okay, and? Remember when I told you I was growing grey hairs? I'm a full on granny by now, so can you please just tell me?"
Huffing slightly, Irene launched into a discussion about what she and Lisa talked about. "Chu, she was so ready to put all of this behind her, like it meant nothing. And I couldn't just let her walk out of the door, so I told her everything."
"Everything? My God, who are you and what have you done to my best friend?"
"Everything," she confirmed, "And I told her that I want to be with her, but I need time, you know?"
"Fuck, yes. What did she say?" Jisoo was brimming with excitement, this exchange being the only thing she'd wanted for the entire duration of her and Irene's friendship. "I'm so excited. I knew this day would come eventually. It's like I spoke it into existence."
"She thought I was lying to her at first. Chu, you should have seen her face. It broke my fucking heart, so I had to tell her that I want her, that I want to be with her." She paused, giddy like a teenager in high school rushing to give her best friend the gossip, "And then she kissed me. She kissed me. First."
Jisoo didn't give her usual animated reply, instead taking a moment to silently digest this. When she finally found her voice, it wasn't her typical witty banter. "I'm so happy for you. I mean that, I really am. I feel like if anyone deserves this, it's you. But for the love of God, can you get rid of Hank?"
Irene sobbed out a laugh, thanking her profusely and replying, "Yeah, hold on. Let me see if he's up." She strained to hear the sound of him and Jack chattering. Instead, all she heard was the low murmur of the television and the accompanying snores coming from Hank on the couch.
"God, he's asleep, Chu. I'll have to do it tomorrow first thing."
"Yeah, can you? I can't wait to throw a fucking party."
"I'm not letting you do th—" Irene's phone began buzzing, alerting her to another call. "Co, can I call you back? Someone's calling me."
"Yeah, bye, love you."
Irene hit accept, barely glancing at it long enough to recognize the name.
"Hi, Lisa," she breathed out, too excited to hear her voice even after having heard it all afternoon.
"Oh, hi there, Irene." Lisa's voice sounded light, airy and a little—
"Lisa, are you drunk?"
A giggle.
"Maybe I am. Chaeyoung took me out because I told her that I didn't cry today when we talked. She was proud of me, I guess. She also made me promise not to call you but, well, here I am." She ended her sentence with an adorable hiccup that made Irene smile widely.
"Yeah, I'm proud of you, too. Did you have a nice time with Chaeyoung? I hope she doesn't hate me for the other night."
"Oh, no, babydoll. My friends loved you, but they were worried I did something to you that made you upset, so I had to tell them. Is that okay?"
"Yes," Irene broke out in a fit of laughter, "I told Jisoo everything."
"It's okay then, we're even. What's Hank doing?"
Irene balked for a second, wondering why Lisa switched the subject and wanted to know so badly. "He's sleeping downstairs right now, why?" She could hear Lisa shift on whatever surface she was lying on, and Irene was immediately pulsing with an inkling of what she was about to do. "Lisa, where are you?"
Another soft giggle. "He's not worshipping you right now like you deserve? That's such a shame. I can't wait to take over for him. I'm on my bed, Irene."
The world tilted underneath Irene, even though she was on her bed and still very much upright. Deciding that she was tired of fighting every pulse of desire that called out Lisa's name, she herself shifted down on the bed and relaxed. "And what exactly are you doing?"
Lisa sounded amused that Irene seemed engaged already, boldly answering, "I was touching myself. But then I thought you might need a little incentive."
A jolt of arousal flooded Irene's system at the confession, and she squeezed her eyes and thighs shut simultaneously. "Incentive for what?" She dropped her tone, her voice oozing with lust after every vowel.
The answer came immediately, "For what you're gonna have when you leave your boyfriend."
That can't come soon enough. "I'd love to hear it, then." In the moment, she let her mind become completely consumed with the idea of Lisa, letting her take over every thought and ruining all sense of rational behavior. She heedlessly threw glance over at the locked bedroom door, not caring about Hank because she knew he could sleep through an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
"Well at first, I was just thinking about your cute little lips and that soft skin of yours. And how nice it felt to kiss you today."
While she was talking in that fucking voice, Irene sighed out a moan, arching her back and spreading her legs simultaneously. She teased her fingers at the edge of her underwear, stopping just before she went too far and lost it before Lisa even got to the good parts. "And then what were you thinking of?" She could hear Lisa adjust herself on her bed, picturing her there with no clothes on, hand between her legs, glistening wet and—
"That first bit really got me going, so I let my mind wander a little. Is that okay, Irene?"
"Yes," she breathed, "More than okay. Please tell me more."
Humming her delight at the confirmation, Lisa shifted topics, needy for Irene's breathy moans. "Can you touch yourself for me? I'd really like that."
Irene tossed her head back on the pillow and dipped her fingers inside the lace barrier to dance them through slippery wet skin. The ensuing moan at how aroused she was already seemed to please Lisa immensely. "I'll take that as a confirmation."
Resuming, her sultry voice drifted into Irene's ears once more as she answered the earlier plea. "I started thinking about peeling your fancy blouse off, what you'd look like underneath. Probably a fucking dream," she audibly exhaled. "You seem like the type to have some fancy lingerie on, am I right?"
The older of the two lifted her sleep shirt up to remind herself which one she had pulled on after coming home this morning. "Yeah," she grinned, "you are. Black lace," she added quickly, wanting to give Lisa the visual.
"Mm. That sounds real sexy of you." A contemplating pause. "Take it off." Irene wordlessly completed the demand without question.
She then strained to listen, swearing she could hear the telltale signs of Lisa thrusting her fingers inside herself. Lisa seemed quite levelheaded despite the overwhelming nature of their conversation and her obvious intoxication. Taking the reins, she continued to tease over the phone. "So then I thought why not take it a step further, think about what's underneath. I got really wet thinking about putting my mouth on you, flicking my tongue over yoy through the fabric. I like to tease. Think you'd like that?"
The overwhelming pulse of desire clouded every decision making ability Irene had, forcing her to become a babbling mess that spit out an enthusiastic reply. She could picture Lisa's following mischievous grin, the criminally beautiful smile she wanted to see every morning before work and every night afterwards. Lisa's low voice interrupted her daydreams once again, pulling them to a screeching halt.
"And then I imagined peeling your underwear down with my teeth, looking up into your eyes the whole time." She paused to let out a dreamy sigh, "But I got distracted by how sexy your moans would be and how you'd feel writhing under me. How fucking wet you'd be for me."
Irene was beyond aroused by this point, her fingers guiding themselves through velvety smooth wetness like she'd rather die than pull them up and away. At the delicious contact, an elongated moan dropped from her lips. Quickly she began circling her clit, still teasing herself softly despite being near the brink. "Lisa I'm - this isn't going to take long." With light touches, she dipped down to coat her fingertips with the copious amounts of wetness Lisa had created without even being in the same area code.
"Tell me you want this, Irene." She put Irene on speakerphone, so now she could hear how needy Lisa actually was. The frenzied wet noises through the phone nearly drove Irene to the brink of insanity, about to say fuck it and drive over to wherever Lisa was so they could do this properly.
If only she wasn't seconds away from coming all over herself.
"I do," Irene begged, "Lis—so badly. You're all I think about." She tensed her muscles and forced herself to take a deep breath and slow down so she could drag this out all night if possible. Irene had never been so titillated in her life, and with every soft moan and whispered word coming from Lisa's mouth she fell deeper and deeper into an endless pit of desire. Swirling her clit with two fingers, she relentlessly pushed herself closer to the edge of the cliff, excited for whatever would meet her at the bottom.
"That's so good to hear," finally acknowledging how desperate Irrne seemed to be, she picked up right where she had left off. "I'm dripping at the thought of spreading your smooth thighs and putting my mouth between your legs to lick you right up. I bet you taste so good. Will you taste yourself for me?"
It was a plea that Irene couldn't deny even with a gun to her head. Head spinning and body throbbing all over, she planned right then to do anything Lisa asked of her from now until the end of eternity.
Nodding silently, she drug two fingers up the length of herself; shuddering when they brushed over her clit. Bringing them up to her mouth, she sucked on them obscenely so Lisa could hear her lick up every last drop. Pulling them out with a soft pop, she mumbled, "You were right."
A needy moan slipped from Lisa's lips. "Jesus, Irene. I wanna make you come so badly. Let me hear it, baby. Please."
And who was she to deny her that? Beckoning two fingers inside herself, Irene quickly put Lisa on speaker and began tweaking a nipple between her thumb and forefinger.
"My God," she whined, "I haven't been this wet in a long time." She pulled her two fingers out to tease one final time, hurriedly thrusting them back inside and picking up a frenzied pace. Choking back moans and swallowing gasps that threatened to fill her entire household, she stroked herself in and out until she was right on the edge.
Angling her hand to swirl her clit with her thumb, she rubbed her fingertips over that soft pad inside that made her cry out and—
"L- Lisa, I - I'm coming."
With Lisa's soothing voice coming over the speaker she fell off the edge and came all over her hand. The bed shook with the following waves that crashed over her, wracking her body gently as if to say, we've got you. Bright flashes of light burst behind her eyes that were squeezed shut, the force of the orgasm too strong to keep them open. Her mouth was frozen wide, unable to utter anything other than a tiny squeak that launched itself out from the back of her throat.
She'd never felt like this before in the quivering aftershocks; jellied, feverish, and flushed all over.
When she could finally find the words, she gasped out, "I swear to God I've never come that hard in my life, Lis. Let me hear you, please." Irene was begging like an animal asking for scraps, but couldn't bring herself to even remotely care in the exquisite afterglow. Her fingers were still languidly thrusting in and out, delaying the period of time in which they'd have to be removed.
Lisa bit back a sinful laugh, this time a hint of evil lacing her tone. "That's the incentive, Irene. You don't get to hear it yet."
Devilishly she hung up the phone, leaving behind a thoroughly ruined, trembling mess.