Rising with the sunrise again, Rebecca fell into the usual routine of her week as she turned over the events of the night before.
It had played on her mind all night, a grin on her lips as she'd read through a few files before bed, but she wasn't sure what to make of it all. It was thrilling in the way that all new things are, but Rebecca just hoped that the feeling held.
Smoothing out her bedsheets and padding downstairs in her silk robe after a quick shower, she was disturbed from making breakfast by the sound of her phone ringing.
Swiping it from the counter, Rebecca glanced at the name and answered. "Irin."
"Morning. How'd the date go?"
"It was... interesting. She's a bit... distant."
"So, perfect for you then?"
Rebecca let out a snort of laughter, "hey, I've worked on that a lot, thank you."
"I'm just teasing. But you had fun?"
"Mhm. Well, I mean, we actually got to talk this time."
Irin sighed heavily, "you'd save yourself so many problems if that came first."
"Well, I prefer to--"
"Don't finish that sentence," Irin groaned as Rebecca laughed. "You're lucky you haven't brought a serial killer home yet, you know. You really should consider spending the night at their place."
"But my mattress is better. And my coffee. And I like my water pressure. And I have the best--"
"Yes, yes, everything you own is the best. I know. I still have that robe I stole from you."
Rebecca plucked at the front of the one she was wearing with a mournful look crossing her face. "That one was my favourite."
"I know but you said it was a parting gift."
"Well, that just would've been petty to ask you to give it back after you dumped me."
"You're crabby this morning. Are you sure the date went well?"
Rebecca was silent for a moment, chewing on her lip as she gripped the edge of the countertop and deliberated.
Nam was her oldest friend, the one who was brutally honest and had an opinion on everything, but Irin was the one she could be the most vulnerable with. After a moment she sighed.
"This is going to sound ridiculous but... I genuinely can't tell if she likes me or not. She said she doesn't dislike me--"
"No, she did not."
"Those were literally her exact words when I brought it up. There's just... something about her. She's not playing hard to get, she's not being an asshole. I just feel like my very life is insulting to her."
Rebecca let out a small laugh. "Does that sound weird? She didn't even want me to pay."
"That's not unusual. Some people like to pay their own way."
"It wasn't a handout; it was a date. It was like... a personal attack on her ego or something."
"Sweetie, you don't know what it's like to be broke and meet people with so much money that you just feel embarrassed to breathe the same air. Cut her some slack. What else? Was she judgy? Did she chew with her mouth open? Those are the important ones."
Rebecca wrinkled her nose slightly.
"No, she didn't chew with her mouth open and... she was surprisingly non-judgemental. I mean, I'm not going to unload on her but there were things she asked about that she seemed to understand. I just- I feel like she's just... not as serious as I am. I get it; thirty-one is still young. Maybe she doesn't want to settle down."
"Babe, you're getting a bit ahead of yourself here. Don't overthink it or you'll kill it before you even get the chance to know her. Maybe just... take it slow, you know?"
"That's the plan," Rebecca readily agreed, poaching an egg for herself as coffee streamed from the machine. "She said she's not looking for a relationship so..."
Irin sighed on the other end. "Rebecca--"
"I know, I know," Rebecca wearily replied, "I'm an idiot. But you and I both know I'll never back down from a challenge. Perhaps that makes me even more idiotic."
"Would it kill you to find someone nice and easy for a change?"
"The easy ones never stick either. And this one is nice. I think you'd like her."
Her friend laughed softly on the other end. "I always like them - until they break your heart."
"Ah, don't worry about that," Rebecca muttered, a serious look overcoming her as she spread avocado over a slice of sourdough toast. "There's not much left to break anymore."
"You do make me worry, you know."
"Enough to get you to move your ass back out here?"
"Not quite. It's a good job."
"I know it's a good job - that's why I put in a good word. I should've sabotaged it instead. First, you break my heart and then you leave me for my least favourite city in the world."
Irin let out another laugh, "you know, you could come and visit me."
"And risk a run-in with Rawee? No thanks. Don't worry, I'll be there for Nam's wedding."
"That's months away!"
"Then let me fly you out here."
"Ruby has school."
Rebecca's mouth thinned and she suppressed a sigh. Part of the reason why things had never worked out between them was the fact that Irin was a mother, something Rebecca never intended to be, and had to prioritise her daughter over any other relationships.
It wasn't something Rebecca begrudged her, but sometimes she wished things could work out in her favour - just a little bit.
"Fuck school. I'll do her homework for her. She'll get A's on everything."
"You know it's not really a bragging point to say you'll get A's on a middle-schooler's homework, right?"
"I miss you."
"Then call this girl and take her out so you can stop moping around."
Letting out a quick laugh, she raised her eyebrows slightly as she pressed her phone to her ear.
"Don't sell yourself short, darling. A girl needs a friend too. But... I'll send her flowers. That's not rushing things is it?"
Her question was anxious and Irin laughed on the other end. "Come on. You've sent more flowers than anyone else I know. It's always a hit."
"It is a perfect romantic gesture, right?"
"Unless she's allergic."
Rebecca stilled, her expression quickly clouding. "Shit. What if she is?"
"Then she'll understand the sentiment?"
Mouth thinning, Rebecca hummed dubiously for a moment, drumming her fingers on the counter. Snagging her coffee from the machine as an afterthought and then cracking an egg into the water that had been simmering for a while now while her toast grew cold, Rebecca relented.
"What sort of flowers do you think she'll like?"
"All of the bouquets you sent me were nice. Just pick one."
"It has to be perfect though," Rebecca insisted.
Irin hummed for a moment. "What kind of person does she strike you as?"
"I don't know. I mean... she hates my apartment. Said it's too pale. Well, too modern was the critique - you can't see me in it."
"Hm, that's fair," Irin agreed, laughing at Rebecca's squawk of protest. "What her favourite color?"
"Blue."
"There you go. Pick something blue."
"Blue's a horrid colour for a flower."
"Use some ingenuity and initiative. How about that?"
Clicking her tongue as she fished her poached egg out and pouted as she nestled it on top of her avocado toast, Rebecca sighed.
"Fine. But I'm getting her a bigger bouquet than I ever bought you for that comment about my apartment."
Irin let out a quick laugh, the sound sensing a stab of fondness through Rebecca's chest as she missed her friend's warm presence. "Fine. Maybe this one is worth that."
"I'll call you soon. Give Ruby my love. And tell her she gets free A's if she convinces you to come and visit."
"I love you. Bye."
"You too."
Hanging up, Rebecca sighed and shook her head before carrying her plate over to the table. She hurriedly ate her cold breakfast and spent twenty minutes looking up flower combinations before deciding on one of pastels - creamy roses and smaller blush ones, gypsophila, and baby blue hydrangeas and delphiniums adding a spot of colour.
There was just one flaw in Rebecca's plan though and she hesitated as she sat before her empty plate and frowned pensively.
Rolling her eyes, she picked up her phone and climbed to her feet, stacking her dishes in the dishwasher and then moving to her office in the spacious narthex, dropping onto her leather desk chair.
[Rebecca]: what's your address?
[Freen]: why?
[Rebecca]: it's a secret
[Freen]: i don't give my address out to strangers
Snorting, Rebecca rolled her eyes again and bit her lip as her fingers hesitated over the phone screen before she softly sighed and caved.
[Rebecca]: fine. I want to send you flowers
[Freen]: you don't have to do that.
[Rebecca]: I want to
Staring at the screen, Rebecca waited for the reply and grimaced with frustration when one wasn't immediately forthcoming. Setting her phone down, she logged onto her computer and answered a few emails, checking her calendar for the day and making a note of her priorities.
Picking up her phone when it buzzed, she ignored the first one and opened two messages from Mai about a case, shooting back a quick reply, listened to a voicemail from a client and then smiled as she clicked on the recent one from Freen.
[Freen]: 4A-16 Hope Street
[Rebecca]: thank you
[Freen]: so when is it my turn to pay you back with dinner?
Rebecca smiled at the quick response and hesitated a moment before texting a reply back.
[Rebecca]: when you decide you want to see me, not bc you're paying me back
[Freen]: fair. I'll let you know
Lips twitching at the corners, Rebecca rose from her seat and made her way up to her bedroom to get ready for work. Choosing her clothes carefully, she pulled her hair into a sleek high ponytail and sprayed herself with her favourite perfume.
Heading off to work once she was ready, Rebecca was stuck in a meeting with a client for an upcoming embezzlement case for a private equity firm all morning, running over the case, ironing out the timeline and the facts.
They were suing their partner for missing funds and Rebecca had to sit through a slew of insults and complaints from the guy, lamenting his misfortune, before she eventually snapped at him and called for a break.
Working with Wall Street type of guys was always tiresome, no matter if they were the victims she was representing, but they brought in too much money to the firms for Rebecca to turn them down.
Not to mention she relished the moment she earned herself another win in court, locked someone else up, settled the score just a little bit more in favour of what was right.
Taking a coffee break and walking down the block to a salad bar, giving herself time alone to listen to a podcast and calm her annoyance before she made her way back to the office.
He was argumentative and Rebecca gave it back just as well, Mai and a few of the students shifting uncomfortably as they watched Rebecca press him for details he so clearly didn't want to provide. By the time she ended their meeting, she was perhaps even more irate.
"A word of advice," she said to the interns as she shuffled papers, shoved them into a manila folder and then tucked them into her bag. "Don't forget who's in charge. He can be an asshole all he wants but he's hired me to win his case for him. Best case, his partner spends ten years in jail, without me, he walks free. Remember your power, okay? You guys can go home for the day. I want all of his emails read through; I expect to see anything relevant on my desk on Monday."
Stalking out of the room, Rebecca made herself a cup of coffee in the communal kitchen and rubbed at her temple. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as one of the partners entered - grey pinstripe suit, hair gelled into place and a perceptible sleaziness about him as he snagged a clean coffee cup and sidled up next to her.
"You alright there, kiddo."
Rebecca shot Michael Dawson a venomous glance, picking up her coffee and snorting. "Classy, Dawson."
"Oh, come on, I'm just messing with you, Rebecca. You know, I admire all your hard work."
"Sure."
"All that time getting dolled up for court like you're the jaded version of Elle Woods is real commitment. Imagine how much time you'd have on your hands if you spent less time looking in the mirror."
"Imagine how many fewer divorces you would've had if you spent more." She arched an eyebrow and gave him an appraising look. "If you won more cases, you'd be able to afford better suits. And pay all that alimony."
He narrowed his eyes as he smiled thinly, fiddling with the coffee machine.
"Easy for you to say when you always take the innocent clients. If you want a real challenge, try and get someone off a murder charge you know they're guilty of."
Scoffing, Rebecca took a sip of coffee, pressing her lips into a flat line as she tapped a nail against the side of the cup. "I have morals, you know."
"Good for you, champ. Really sticking to your naïve guns, huh?"
Silent for a moment as she grit her teeth, stewing in her resentment, Rebecca drew herself up and gave him a hard look. "I have work to do. I'll leave you to... whatever you have planned."
Stalking off, Rebecca took her coffee to her office and spent all afternoon with her paperwork and phone calls, emails and requests for Mai to dig out veering documents and write up other ones.
The office was still busy when she packed up her things just after six, passing conference rooms commandeered by groups of student lawyers who'd be there all night, drinking coffee and energy drinks to get through it, evoking a strong sense of nostalgia in Rebecca at her similar time as a student.
She was waylaid by West Graves, another Partner, and one that Rebecca had spent some time working under and knew quite well. Rebecca would be lying if she said she hadn't had a crush on the older woman, hadn't shamelessly flirted with her mentor in her early days at the firm.
Now, she'd given up on that pursuit but still admired the woman greatly and was happy to linger an extra ten minutes to point her in the direction of a capable student to help with a case.
Driving herself home, Rebecca felt weary from a long and frustrating day. The blue of dusk was darkening and she got stuck in inner-city traffic, staring through the tinted windows to take in the gold-flecked blur of the city.
The skyscrapers of the business district loomed overhead, honeycombed by scattered office windows that were still illuminated against the deep blue sky and Rebecca checked the clock, the available minutes of her evening ticking away as horns blares and the congested traffic idled.
It was seven o'clock by the time she got home, kicking off her heels and carrying them upstairs, where she shed her clothes and changed into loungewear.
Wiping off her makeup and applying her skincare routine, Rebecca made her way back downstairs and opened a bottle of wine. She'd only just poured some into a clean glass when her phone vibrated with a text.
There was a couple from her friends while she'd been in the shower, with Milk asking who was going to be where that night.
Rebecca quietly bowed out of clubbing, intending to spend her Friday night unwinding at home before she spent a weekend of light research and getting around to the things she'd postponed all week. There was a new text from Freen as well, the most recent one.
[Freen]: thank you for the flowers
[Rebecca]: anytime
Her phone started ringing then and Rebecca blinked in surprise, pausing a moment before pressing to answer.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"You didn't strike me as the phone call kind of person," Rebecca mused.
Freen made a choked sound of surprise and then laughed. "Why?"
"I don't know. You don't talk much."
"Yes, I do," Freen objected, sounding abashed and mildly confused.
"Ah. So, just not to me then?"
"You have to admit, two out of three times we've been a bit preoccupied."
Rebecca let out a sudden laugh, a smile curling her lips. "I guess so."
"How was your day?"
Blowing the air out of her cheeks, Rebecca sighed heavily. "Long. Frustrating."
"Why?"
"Too many assholes and egos in one place. Lawyers are the worst, just for the record."
"You don't seem all that bad to me."
"A glowing commendation coming from you," Rebecca lightly teased her.
She heard Freen's quiet huff of laughter on the other end, the moment of hesitation before she sighed softly, as if resigning herself to some decision. Rebecca stared out the window, holding her untouched glass of wine as she waited for Freen's reply, a certain flutter of anticipation in her chest.
"Can I come over?
"Now?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"You said it's my turn to pay you back when I want to see you. I want to see you. Have you had dinner?"
Mouth opening and closing, caught off guard by Freen's apparent interest, Rebecca choked on a laugh. "No, I only just got in."
"Alright. So..."
"I'll text you my address."
"What do you want for dinner?"
Pursing her lips as she cocked her head to the side, Rebecca's eyes creased at the corners as she thought back to her conversation with Nam. "Surprise me."
Hanging up before Freen could reply, Rebecca shot her a quick text with her address and then swore, looking down at herself in her loungewear and barefaced.
Torn between redoing her makeup and fishing out something designer and casual to make it look like she'd just been hanging around her house like that after work, Rebecca swallowed a mouthful of wine and picked up her phone.
[Rebecca]: remember that asshole that said he didn't like seeing his girlfriend's without makeup on until he'd been with them for 6 months?
[Love]: you mean the one you dumped a glass of wine over after he said that?
[Rebecca]: he was wrong, right?
[Ratch]: just assume we're always wrong
[Milk]: why?
[Rebecca]: is the 4th date too soon for pyjamas and skincare routines?
[Milk]: yes
[Ratch]: don't listen to milky. if she likes you she likes you
Humming dubiously to herself, Rebecca was still deliberating when there was a knock on the front door. Swearing to herself, she looked around, swiping her work files off the kitchen counter and finding everything else perfectly in its place before she walked towards the door.
Setting her files down on her desk as she swept past the spacious Narthex, Rebecca paused, smoothing a hand over the thin cashmere of her top, and opened the door.
Freen was standing on the stoop with three pizza boxes in her arms and gave Rebecca a hesitant smile once the door opened to reveal her. Opening the door wider, feeling a little self-conscious without the armour of her usual appearance, Rebecca smiled back.
"Hi."
"Hi, how're you?" Rebecca coyly greeted her.
"Yeah, good. I hope pizza's okay."
Rebecca smiled slightly, shutting the door behind Freen and shadowing her further into her home. "Pizza's good."
"I wasn't sure what you liked so I got a chicken supreme, a meat lovers and a plain cheese to be on the safe side."
"I feel spoilt," Rebecca teased her.
"Yeah, I even splurged on the gourmet ones."
Laughing, Rebecca grabbed another wine glass and filled it for Freen, topping up her own as well and then carrying them both over to the sofa.
Freen spread the three boxes out over the coffee table and Rebecca grabbed two coasters and some plates for them.
"Music?"
"Sure."
Setting on one of her playlists from her phone, the soft notes of a song started playing from the small strategically placed speakers around the church and Rebecca took a slice of meat lovers and put it on her plate after sitting down.
She watched Freen take a slice of chicken supreme and sit on the sofa perpendicular to Rebecca's.
"You know, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."
"Why not?" Freen asked, looking up at her, her brown eyes wide behind her glasses with an expectant look.
Shrugging as she folded her slice in half, Rebecca grinned crookedly. "You're not looking for a relationship."
"Mm."
"And this is the second time in two days we're having dinner together."
"Maybe I've had a shitty day too," Freen hedged, raising her eyebrows slightly.
"Is that right? Hoping I'd relieve the tension, huh?" Rebecca laughed.
Freen's expression clouded for a moment as she slowly chewed a mouthful. She shifted uncomfortably on the sofa and a small furrow formed between her brows.
"Last night you said I was still making my mind up about whether I liked you or not. You're not far off, you know - I do like you but I'm trying to figure out whether I should or not."
Leaning back, crossing her legs at the knee, Rebecca took a bite of pizza and hummed dubiously. "And what are the for and against arguments so far?"
Shifting forward, elbows on her knees as she ran her thumb over the rim of the plate, Freen swallowed and then dropped her crust back onto her plate.
Reaching for a slice of cheese, her eyes slid over to Rebecca and she smiled faintly, amused by her own secret thoughts. It was maddening to Rebecca, to not know what she was thinking.
"For... you surprise me, you're nicer than I thought you'd be, and you haven't done anything to give me a reason to not like you - yet. Against... well, you're rich, and I make it a general rule to stay away from anyone above my tax bracket. Feel like I overshot that one a little bit. Also, if I'm not looking for a relationship, it kind of seems like I'm wasting my time, you know?"
"Ow," Rebecca flatly stated, reaching for her wine. "My company is so meaningless to you?"
"Well, you got me calling you the day after a first date, against my better judgement--"
"You really need to learn how to give a compliment," Rebecca told her.
"You're the one who jilted me last night," Freen said, her expression furrowing with confusion.
With a snort of laughter, Rebecca arched an eyebrow and took a sip before placing her glass back down. "Oh, come on , did that really hurt your feelings?"
"No, I just- I didn't think you'd say no."
"Do I come off as easy?"
"No," Freen quickly replied, her face flushing. "That's not- I just mean... I thought that's what we were doing."
Grinning as she helped herself to another slice of pizza, Rebecca arched an eyebrow. "Is that why you came over tonight?"
"No. I already told you, I wanted to see you."
"Well, the florist must have made quite the bouquet."
Freen smiled wryly, tilting her head to the side, "what'd you do? Call up and ask for the most expensive bunch to be delivered?"
"No," Rebecca curtly replied, curling her legs up on the sofa as she drowned slightly. "I picked them myself, actually. blue, for your favourite colour. The others were picked to accentuate it."
Eyebrows rising with surprise, Freen hummed thoughtfully as she gave Rebecca an appraising look. "Do you put this much thought into everything?"
"Everything."
"Ah. You're a control freak. Now it all makes sense," Freen laughed, waving a hand around the place. "Minimalism is always for people who have militaristic kinds of personalities. Not a thing out of place. High expectations. Commanding."
Giving her a languid shrug, Rebecca grinned. "I already told you: lawyers. The good ones anyway. But you really are hung up on my apartment. Disappointed there's nothing on display to snoop through?"
"I'm not interested in snooping. I like to make my mind up based on the person sitting in front of me."
"And from Google," Rebecca reminded her with a cool look.
Flushing, Freen looked down at her lap and let out a nervous laugh. "Only for you."
"I'm honoured. What's your apartment like?"
"You could've seen it last night."
"But I didn't, so tell me."
Freen choked on a laugh as her brow creased with surprise. "No."
Letting out a heavy sigh, green eyes sparkling with delight as she relished the challenge, Rebecca took a bite of pizza and gave Freen a piercing stare.
"You're driving me crazy."
"Ah, and I thought maybe I would help make a bad day good."
"Who said it was bad?"
"Is long and frustrating not bad?"
Smiling crookedly, Rebecca shrugged and leaned forward for her glass of wine, draining it and then setting her plate aside to climb to her feet. She gestured for Freen to finish her last mouthful and then carried their glasses to the kitchen to refill them - away from the cream sofas.
"All of my days are long and frustrating."
"Why?"
"Men," Rebecca snorted, shaking her head as she crossed back over to Freen and reclaimed her seat. "They ruin everything."
Eyes creasing at the corners, although it was a pained sort of smile, Freen reached for her wine. "You're telling me."
Silent for a moment as she propped her elbow on the back of the sofa and her cheek in her hand, Rebecca studied Freen.
She liked the way her t-shirt pulled taut across her shoulders when she leaned forward for another slice of pizza, the way she studiously avoided looking at Rebecca as if willing her to avoid the topic.
"How many times have you had your heart broken?" Rebecca blurted out instead.
Taken aback by the question, Freen blinked and slowly sat back. Holding the plate in her hands, her mouth twitched ruefully as she stared down at the slice of chicken supreme.
"Once."
"Oh," Rebecca murmured.
Freen looked up, brown eyes swimming with sadness as she swallowed thickly, and raised her eyebrows a fraction. "You?"
Wrinkling her nose, Rebecca's heart twinged in her chest and she gave Freen a forced smile when she met her eyes again.
"I think... I'm a little bit heartbroken all the time, even when I'm in a happy relationship. I just- I have this need to be loved and I always feel like... when I meet people, they have a bigger impact on me than I do on them. I get attached too quickly; it's why I don't do casual very well, and my feelings, even the good ones, get so intense that they hurt. I grew up tiptoeing around my family, watching the moods shift so I knew when to stay in my room. It's... hard for me to express pain or hard feelings because of that, but I--"
She trailed off for a moment, realising she'd said too much, and leaned forward to snag her wine from the coffee table. Taking a sip, Rebecca's cheeks faintly reddened at the feeling of Freen's stare trained on her.
"You what?" Freen murmured.
And perhaps it was because she asked so softly, or that Rebecca had already let it all come tumbling out of her mouth, so what difference would it make to finish now, she continued. Nursing her wine, she fixed Freen with a level stare.
"I just want so much more for myself," Rebecca whispered. "It's all I think about, but... I think some of us were born to give more love than we'll ever receive."
"Tell me about them. The people you've loved."
Giving Freen a quizzical look, a huff of laughter dimpling her cheek as her brow furrowed, Rebecca hummed and set her glass down.
"Nam was first. We went to school together - she was two years older than me but we were in the same grade. She's my best friend. I don't love her in the way that I used to, but I still find her just as beautiful. Irin was at Harvard Business School when I was at Harvard Law. Single mom. I didn't want kids. She's in L.A. now, texts me every day, never misses a birthday or a holiday. I met Ratch at a Christmas party and adored him immediately. English, charming, rich. Too frivolous for my liking but he fits right in. Milk was a bit of a bitch - still is - but I loved it about her - still do - but we used to argue all the time and realised we were better off as friends. And she's in love with Love now anyway, although she'd never admit it, even though Love and I only dated for a few weeks before realising we just wouldn't work out."
Freen looked mildly alarmed as Rebecca rattled off her friends, a fond look on her face as she smiled slightly.
"So... all of your friends are... your exes?"
"Yeah. I mean... well, most of them were short-term things, so it wasn't super serious. But they're just the kinds of people you love instantly. Not romantically but just love. And then there's the embarrassingly long list of flings that I thought would be good and it just... didn't work out. I'll spare you the details on the crazy or weird ones."
Snorting, Freen gave her a bewildered look of amusement, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Rebecca gave her an uncertain smile in return, waving a hand in an airy manner as she let out a short laugh.
"And now I'm realising I probably sound like the crazy, weird one."
"No, no," Freen quickly reassured her, "I mean... I think it's good that you're so direct with your feelings."
"Now maybe, but me four years ago even... well, it was hard for me to get here. But it's good! I've learnt that apathy isn't a good thing, even if my mom thinks I've become too sensitive."
Giving her a searching look, her brown eyes mystified, Freen murmured, "that's not a bad thing. So many people have decided not to be sensitive, have put up all these walls just to avoid being hurt by anybody. But all they're really doing is shutting out everyone. No one can hurt them, but no one can make them happy either."
"Are you sensitive?"
Freen wrinkled her nose in a disgruntled manner, finishing off her slice of pizza and adding the crust to the growing pile on her plate. "Not as much as I used to be. I was... soft."
"Yeah, I can see that. You have that look about you," Rebecca said, narrowing her eyes as she waved a hand at Freen. "The sweet one who was taken advantage of too many times. Had to take a step back and be more guarded. Or is it the one who had her heart broken so spectacularly that she vowed to never trust anyone again?"
A ripple of some clouded emotion crossed Freen's face and she smiled at Rebecca, eyes creasing at the corners even though it didn't reach them, and forced her tone to be light and playful. "Who do you want me to be?"
"Just you."
"And how do you know which one that is?" Freen asked, cocking her head to the side. "In psychology, they say we have masks. Different ones for different people. We... play to people's expectations, their personality, their position. How you speak to your boss is different to how you speak to me."
Rebecca laughed, flashing her a quick smile. "Mm, my flirting didn't go over nearly quite as well."
Rolling her eyes as she smiled, Freen picked up her wine and pushed her glasses up her nose.
"Even this is all an act," she said, gesturing to Rebecca. "Sure, maybe you've learnt to wear your heart on your sleeve, but this confidence, your intelligence, your looks... you weaponise it to get what you want. I'm sure you think everything through, down to the details."
Humming, Rebecca settled back, a spark in her eyes.
"Very perceptive. Nam used to say I was an over-thinker but I don't like calling myself that. I'm intentional . Deliberate. I enjoy thinking through options, theories, choices, outcomes, decisions. It's part of what I love about being a lawyer, that long chess game of trying to guess what move your opponent is going to make next and plotting three steps ahead."
Freen's lips twitched as if she wanted to smile but was holding herself back, and Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me," Rebecca ordered her, lifting her chin in a haughty manner, even though there was a playfulness to her face.
"You're so demanding. I bet you were spoilt as a kid."
Shrugging indifferently, Rebecca arched an eyebrow. "Yes, now tell me."
"I was just going to say you're proving my earlier point."
"Which one?"
"Control freak."
Rebecca tipped her head back as she let out a quick laugh, "well even you know that's not always true and we barely even know each other."
Freen stared at her then, her gaze weighted and steady, and Rebecca set her plate down on the coffee table, dusting a few crumbs from her lap. "Are you finished?"
Finishing off her wine, Freen nodded and set her plate down as well, her eyes straying to Rebecca again. "Come here."
Letting out a quiet scoff of laughter as she rose to her feet, her stomach lurching and her breaths bottoming out, Rebecca raised her eyebrows as she stepped in between Freen's knees and loomed over her.
"Now who's commanding?"
"Even you know that's not always true," Freen shot back, her eyes gleaming with mirth as she reached up to cradle Rebecca's waist and pull her down onto her lap.
She kissed her then, thumb stroking Rebecca's cheek in an almost tender manner, none of the roughness of the past two times as they savoured it. Rebecca drank her in, threading her fingers through Freen's hair, enjoying the feeling of her strong arms encircling her waist.
Something felt different to the other times - not necessarily in a bad way, but different all the same - and she smiled into the kiss.
They lingered on the couch a while, baring more skin as time went on, Rebecca pinned beneath Freen's weight, her skin warm, her blonde hair tickling her cheeks. They had more wine and ate more pizza and talked in between, with Freen showing no sign of leaving and Rebecca didn't want her to.
They ended up having one of those Friday dates that turned into an entire weekend. Blueberry pancakes for breakfast, Rebecca eschewing her usual routine in favour of a lazy day around the pool, watching Freen swim laps, the tanned expanse of her muscled back beneath the sun, cooking garlic prawns and fettuccine for them for dinner as they drank wine and she made Freen sit through The Notebook before they fell into bed again.
Rebecca drove them into Downtown the next morning for breakfast at a place called Noonan's that Freen loved, and by the end of it, Rebecca imagined she loved her so much that even the thought made her throat ache.
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Disclaimer: Story is not mine, I only adapted it to FreenBecky Fanfic because I love this piece and I love FB. I want to see them portray the characters in this story.