When I step out of the building, the air is already cooled off and the sun is low.
My plan was to leave an hour ago but that wasn't possible with the amount of work I had to do.
I texted Wanda early enough so she could plan that change of time into her day. She told me it's okay and that she will still pick me up.
My eyes look over the street, searching for her car. Which is stupid, because I don't know what it looks like.
A black expensive looking car pulls into the street. The windows are tinted and don't allow me to look inside. My eyes dart to the next car, a blue and smaller one. It would definitely fit Wanda.
But the blue car keeps driving while the black car pulls to the side. It's a Ford Mustang, from what I can tell. The window rolls down and reveals Wanda.
"Hey, stranger." She greets me, a lightless in her voice that indicates she is happy to see me. I get into the passenger seat and buckle up while Wanda watches me.
"Hi." I greet her back and give her a smile.
But it's hard to keep looking at her with this interior. The dashboard has an integrated screen and lights reaching from one side to the other. It's set to a dark blue right now.
The seats are leather and the back seems bigger than any entire car I have ever sat in. With a car this size, you could easily do a monthly grocery trip without having to worry about fitting it all inside your car. Everything looks expensive and I almost feel bad to come in here, probably with messy hair after a whole day of work.
"Fancy car." I comment, because I don't know what else to say. My knowledge of cars is limited to how to drive them. Wanda smiles proudly and runs her hand over the steering wheel.
"Thank you, I got it as a birthday gift." She tells me. I whistle impressed. If this is her birthday gift, the size of her house shouldn't surprise me anymore then.
"When was your birthday?"
"Three months ago." She answers and starts the engine. It's very silent, especially compared to my car. I bought it used because I couldn't afford a new one.
"So, I'm guessing, you like cars?" I ask, running a finger over the string of light in the dashboard.
"Yeah, I do. I actually love them and love driving in them. It's not common for women to do that, but it's so amazing. The thrill of going fast and the knowledge that I could go even faster excites me." She answers, smiling happily.
She is right, not many women are into cars but seeing her love and passion for this, I don't understand why. Women can get excited over anything they want and if that involves cars, then they should go for it.
I gotta admit though, I did not expect this from Wanda. It doesn't fit the image I have from her so far. She's this sweet but confident woman who likes to tend to her plants and loves growing her own vegetables and fruits. She just doesn't like cooking them. Her liking in cars doesn't fit that picture but I gladly extend it, happily learning more about her.
"Have you ever driven really fast?" I ask further. Hearing her talk about things she enjoys is always great because she speaks about them with so much passion. It almost gets me excited about them too.
"I have, yes. It was once on a racing track that allowed signed up visitors to test it. It was a lot of fun and I wish, I could do it again but the track closed two years ago." She answers and glances over at me as she stops at a redlight.
"What about you? Do you like fast driving?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"If I'm the driver or passenger." I reply. She eyes me for a second longer before starting to drive again.
"What do you prefer?"
"Passenger, honestly. I don't like driving fast, it makes me feel like I have no control over the car and that scares me. Technically, I have no control over the car either as a passenger, but if I trust the person driving, I have no problem with it. Personally, I find driving stressful and driving fast just adds to that." I explain.
Wanda hums at that but doesn't take her eyes off the street. She's a good driver and really safe. Whenever the car slows down or stops, it's light and barely noticeable.
When I come to a stop in my car, I tend to press the break a little too hard and end up snapping my head slightly forward. But Wanda drives very smoothly and checks every mirror accordingly whenever she turns or switches lanes.
"Well, do you trust me?" She asks and I have to stop myself from instantly saying yes to that. It would seem too eager and maybe a little naïve.
"I do." I confirm. Even if this is the first time I'm in the car with her, I feel safe with her driving skills. Maybe it's also the fact that Wanda is calm herself that calms me down.
"Maybe I can take you on a faster road one day then." She offers and I smile. One day. As in we have some kind of future together, in whatever way.
"Yeah, that could be fun." I agree and watch her from the side.
Her face is relaxed and her eyes focused on the street. She has one hand on top of the steering wheel, turning it mainly with one hand but the second one always hovers near by, probably in case she needs it.
It looks hot, I gotta admit that. I notice the wedding band around her ring finger now, together with a simple engagement ring that has a shining rock on it though. Why am I not surprised Natasha was the one who proposed?
"Why does driving stress you out?" She asks, catching me a little off guard. I focus back on the here and now.
"I don't know. It always kind of did and that just stuck with me. The streets are often busy and you have to look out for so many things. I've gotten better at handling it when I'm driving but if I get the choice, I rather not drive." I admit honestly.
I'm not ashamed about it, everyone is stressed out by something. Besides, it's good for the environment if I don't always use the car for every chore outside the house.
"Traffic can be stressful." She agrees while effortlessly navigating us through it.
I have to admit, I always had a bit of a weak spot for women who drive without worrying about it. I've always admired that, probably because I don't posses that gift.
But compared to everyone else, Wanda is definitely the one who has me weak in my knees. It's the way she drives so easy without being careless and makes sure to have a second hand close by in case she loses just the slightest bit of control.
Her fingers tap lightly against the steering wheel as she drives, even with no music playing, and there is a constant tiny smile on her face. She is truly in her element while driving and I adore that.
"You got out later than planned today." She switches topics and once again I notice how easy it is to have a conversation with her. It doesn't feel like I'm the only one trying to keep it up, she puts effort into it too. Which is appreciated.
"Yeah, my boss decided he wanted to work through three more files two hours before we wanted to call it a day. I'm not sure if he was aware of how long it would take to go through them but I did. Sometimes he gets a little too focused on work, which ends up with me having to stay longer to work through all of it with him. I can be a pain in the ass but I get paid for those extra hours and when he keeps me in the office a lot longer, he even gives me a little bonus." I tell her.
My boss is from the good kind, but sometimes too eager and ambitious, which leads to a handful of extra hours each month. If I had to leave, I could, but I know it would just mean there's gonna be a chaos the next day that I'll have to sort through.
I do leave earlier when I feel like it and he never complains. As long as he is aware of all his meetings and appointments and reports for some shipping companies, he's fine with me leaving earlier.
"Does he know that it can take this long to work through files?" Wanda asks. I sigh and shake my head.
"Some files are easier to work with and we handle them in half an hour but then there are these monster files that feel like they take up a whole day. He doesn't really pay attention to the size of the files when he starts working on them." I answer. It can be annoying but he's just human.
"Thank you for being flexible and picking me up an hour later, I hope it wasn't too much trouble." I say. Wanda places her free hand on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. It's reassuring but also sends a shower of tingles up my spine.
"It was no trouble at all. I used that time to stop by a grocery store and then take everything home and quickly changed." She tells me, smiling a little wider, even if she isn't looking at me. Something tells me though, that she's aware that I'm looking at her and that the smile is for me.
We arrive at their house and get out of the car. By now, the sun is setting but there are too many clouds in the sky for us to see anything.
Wanda unlocks the door and lets me step inside. It's still unfamiliar but not as much as the last time. While I get out of my shoes, I hear another voice coming from the living room.
Since I know about Natasha now, I'm not surprised by it. Wanda doesn't seem phased either and proceeds to hang her jacket up.
"No! I told you a million times that we shouldn't cooperate with them...I don't care how much they offer. And by the way, neither should you because it's called bribing." Natasha groans as she appears in the hallway.
She looks at us shortly and rolls her eyes, pointing to her phone. Wanda nods at that.
"And who's name is underneath your paycheck? If you want it to stay there, you better stop talking now!" She demands, her voice stern and annoyed.
I've never seen her like this before, it's even more intimidating than before. Natasha huffs and squeezes the water bottle she just got from the kitchen in her hand. Her shoulders are tense and her expression hard. She passes by us and enters a room that I haven't been in before.
I get a short glance inside before she closes the door, which muffles her voice into a whisper. There's an office behind the door, which I could have guessed. Wanda told me about working from home sometimes, so it makes sense for them to have an office.
"Who is she talking to?" I ask and look at the closed door. I realize how little I know about Natasha. We never talked about anything besides her relationship with Wanda, which leaves the rest as a mystery. Wanda takes my hand and starts leading me towards the living room.
"Someone from her company, I suppose. From what we heard, I'm guessing they aren't doing their job properly." She shrugs.
"Her company? As in, Natasha owns a company?" I ask, once again surprised. It feels like the two of them manage to surprise me rather often. Whether that be with their car, their house, their actions or facts they randomly drop.
"Yes, she's a CEO." Wanda answers and sits down comfortably on the couch.
I follow her lead and glance back to the hallway, suddenly holding a whole new respect for Natasha. It explains her authoritarian behavior as well. She drops it when Wanda is around, I noticed but even then, a part of it still lingers.
"Impressive." I state and Wanda nods.
I look around the living room, noticing the view into the backyard now. It's still bright enough for me to see something. But from my seating position, most of it is hidden from my view.
I came here to talk about our situation but now that I'm actually here, it's hard to get the words out as I'm not quite sure where to start. It was a lot easier in my head when I went over it multiple times during work today.
There isn't much I can do wrong but I still wanted to make sure, I know what I wanted to address. But now all those thoughts are scattered around my brain and piecing them back together seems like a lot of work.
Maybe I should have written all of this down, then I could read it off now or let Wanda read it. I didn't think that far though and now I'm here, my brain empty despite the many words I wanted to say.
"You didn't come here to talk about my wife's job." Wanda states. It's not even a question.
I nod, because that is right. If I wanted to talk about Natasha's job, I would have texted Wanda. Although, it doesn't beat seeing her and I would prefer that over texting any time.
"What's bothering you?" She asks straight away, catching me off guard.
"What?" I ask back. That makes her smile softly and thread her fingers through mine.
"Since we sat down, you tapped your fingers against your legs for the whole time." She explains and it's only now that I notice that. Looks like I'm not the only observant person here.
"Right. There is something I wanted to talk about but I don't quite know how to say it. Just let me talk and I hope, in the end you'll understand what I wanna say." I reply and she nods for me to keep going. I take a deep breath and decide to just say it all.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you since we met Saturday. You've been in my thoughts the whole time and no matter what I do, I can't stop it. I like you Wanda, I just... don't know what to do with that. We slept together and kissed and it was all okay because it was part of the agreement with Natasha but I don't know how far the agreement goes. I don't know if seeing you more often is okay, or if dates are okay or more kisses and more touching and more- and feelings." It's hard to say it out loud because I'm worried of scaring her away with my words.
Figuring out feelings is never a fast process and I haven't figured out what I feel for Wanda but I know there are feelings.
"If you don't want this to be any more than what it was, it's fine but I didn't want to let the chance slip to talk to you about this. I don't even understand this myself but I know, I don't just want to let you go. Not without trying and talking to you. It's all a mess and complicated, I know, but I can't figure this out on my own.
Not when you have a wife and a life built up. You have a lot to consider as well and this is as much my choice as it is yours. That's why I'm here. I want to start figuring out what this is and what it could lead to. If you tell me there's no more, that's fine but at least I know for sure then." I take a deep breath, feeling like I just poured out all the words in my head in one big chaos.
"Oh, and one more thing." I add, grimacing because it'll make everything more complicated.
"I am attracted to your wife like hell. I also have no idea what it is exactly what I feel, but that's part of it and you deserve to know that when making a decision."
Wanda watches me for a while, processing my words and the silence almost scares me.
"First of all: I am not the only one included in this decision-making process." She points out but not seeming mad or offended. I nod. "Of course, you need to consult Natasha."
"I'm not talking about her." Wanda says, making me peak up.
"I'm talking about you. You are a part of this as much as I am, so we'll make a decision together. Sure, Nat is part of it in some way too, but this is about us in the first place."
I didn't expect that, to be honest. I thought Natasha had a bigger say in this but I like being able to say something in this as well. It makes me feel included and taken serious.
"I've been thinking about you a lot too. And I talked to Nat, she has had thought about you as well. This is a situation neither of us have been in before, so we don't know how to do this. But our goal is to make sure everyone is happy and no one gets hurt. For that to work, we all have to be on the same page and communicate, which you are doing very well. So, thank you for that."
I smile at her words and nod.
Yeah, communication felt like the right path for this. What I did not expect is that Natasha thought about me as well. I mean, she was part of my thoughts too, but I did not think it would be reciprocated. Didn't think our kiss would affect her as much as it did me.
"The last thing I want is for you to just disappear out of our lives. We haven't figured out how to handle this and what it means for us and for you but we want to figure it out. For now that means: we can continue doing whatever we want, no matter if that is going on dates, just talking or having sex. If, at any point, we or you feel uncomfortable, we will come together and talk about it to see how to continue and what might has to be changed." Wanda explains.
It sounds like a good idea and I am relieved and happy to hear that we can continue this. I, too, don't know where this will lead but it sounds very promising and I believe that three adults are able to talk about this if anything doesn't work.
"I like that idea. Does that just include the two of us though? And Natasha as your wife, of course?" I ask, because I'm not sure I understood that part.
Natasha will always be present, she's married to Wanda. But I can't help but to wonder if she could be part of this too. I have no idea where or how that could end but I don't want to decide if I didn't see where it could go.
"It includes Natasha as well. You and her are free to do what you like too. I'm aware that your connection is a different one but if you want to explore that further, you can." Wanda answers and I realize that that's what I wanted to hear.
My feelings for Natasha are not nearly as present as the ones for Wanda, but I would like to see how much more there could be.
"I'd like to do it that way then." I agree and watch Wanda's face light up. Making that decision was easy because I know, I am not ready to let them go. There is a chance that I'm steering myself right into my own doom but if I land anywhere else, it would be worth it.
"Great." Wanda replies, her posture relaxing.
I didn't notice she was tense about this as well but it looks like it. She tugs gently at my hand and I smile, happily following that small request. I lean forward and kiss her softly and it almost feels as if we were sealing a deal.
A deal, I can't wait to spend more time with.
A/n: They talked it out so far and settled on something :)
Any guesses, on what could happen next?
Thanks for reading and love to you all <3