Chapter 2
"I can barely see you in there," Lena laughed as she looked at Mariana through the bathroom mirror. Mariana was able to convince her to buy bath bubbles while in the store. So now she was lost amongst mountains of bubbles splashing all around smiling back at her. Lena already finished her shower and was standing in the mirror moisturizing her curly hair that way it can hold off until she got around to straightening it again tomorrow.
For the time being she was enjoying the small talk with the young girl. "Miss. Adams, thanks for letting me sleepover. I miss being normal". Lena went over and sat next to the bath tub. "Thank you for coming. It gets lonely here sometimes. But you know, when we aren't at school or when it's just us you can call me Lena if you like". The little girl's expression lit up like a Christmas tree. "Really? Do the other kids get to call you Lena too?" she asked out of curiosity. "No, only the sweet adorable ones named Mariana". Mariana beamed at her new privilege.
"Would you like me to wash your hair for you?" She quickly nodded her head and turned to give Lena access to the back of her hair. "Lena, why don't you leave your hair the way it is now? Why do you always make it look straight?" Lena gathered shampoo into her hands and began to massage it into Mariana's hair. "Some people don't really like it this way. They suggest that I should keep it straight". Saying this out loud Lena realized how silly that sounded. "Which way do you like it?" Lena smiled at the seriousness of the child. "I like it like this". Mariana remained quiet after that.
As Lena continued to wash her hair, she was completely in love with this moment. She loved Mariana and wanted nothing more than for her to be adopted into a loving family one day. But deep down, she was honestly dreading that day just as much. She wanted Mariana. She wanted her as her daughter and to be able to bring her home each day. To be able to take care of her and be there when she needed help. But she also knew that it probably wasn't the best idea. She was only 26 years old and was struggling to maintain her own problems. And Mason, he wasn't the best with kids and she didn't want Mariana's life to have anything to do with Mason's.
"Lena? Lena?!" She was jarred from her thoughts by Mariana who was looking at her with a face full of fear. "Sorry honey. What's wrong?" Mariana reached up and covered her mouth with her small hand. "Shh! Do you hear that?" she whispered. Lena turned her head toward the door, trying to focus to see if she could hear anything coming from the condo. It was quiet for a second before she heard things crashing and falling, then followed by curse words coming from a more than likely drunk Mason. "Crap!" Lena mumbled to herself. She turned and grabbed the towel from the counter and Mariana caught on as she jumped out of the tub and Lena quickly wrapped her in it. "Ok honey, I'll be right back. It's just my fiancé. There's nothing to worry about. Your pajamas are right here. Just put them on and when I walk out just lock the door and I will be right back". Mariana had tears forming in her eyes as a wave of panicked déjà vu washed over her. "No. Lena stay in here. He will go away. Please don't go out there".
"It will be ok, I promise. Nothing bad will happen. I'll be right back baby. Just lock the door". Lena kissed her forehead and quickly ran out the bathroom as she heard the door lock behind her.
Lena went out around the corner to see Mason in the kitchen pulling things from each cabinet and dropping them to the ground. "Mason?" Lena said as she walked towards him. She got closer to him and placed her hand to his shoulder so he could turn around and face her. "Mason". He snapped around at hearing her voice, sweating and eyes red from intoxication. "Lena. Why is there no beer in this house?" Lena stepped back disappointed and slightly annoyed. "Because you joined AA, remember," Lena said crossing her arms. "Oh yeah. I did tell you that, didn't I? Well you need to go out and get some then, Leah".
"Who did you just call me?" Lena could feel an increasing migraine forming. "What am I supposed to give when I have women over?" Lena's eyes went wide at his confession as she shook her head. This was nothing now to her however. Every time Mason came home drunk he confessed one "secret" or another. She knew exactly what was going on when he would finally come home after working extended hours but smell like a fresh shower or women's perfume. Ever since this began Lena has been able to find ways to deny being intimate with him.
"You need to leave. Now!" Mason scoffed, "Yeah right," as he tried to walk past her. But Lena kept pushing as he stumbled back unable to control his balance. "Lena! Stop!" He was trying to grab her but the alcohol in his system was not helping his coordination. "No. Get the hell out!" Though she was trying her best to push him out of the house she was barely able to get him out of the kitchen. The more she pushed him the more agitated he became. "LENA! STOP!"
He grabbed her by both arms and threw her into the counter, momentarily knocking the wind out of her as she whimpered from the sudden pain. She could hear him charging up behind her and the only thing in reach on the counter was a glass vase filled with old wilted flowers. As soon as she felt him touch her she turned around and smashed the vase into the side of his face. "Fucking Bitch!" He stumbled back from impact and hesitated to touch the broken shards of glass that dug into his skin. "Now go explain that to the hospital".
Mason stumbled to the door, too drunk and shocked to fight back. The past couple years Lena has grown to be a women not afraid of a fight; completely unlike the way she was when she first got into the relationship. She never actually drawn blood, which threw him off, but he always knew which insecurities to trigger. "Don't forget your ass has somewhere to be with me tomorrow. Better be there. And do something with that hair".
Once he was out the door she quickly locked it making sure to latch the top chain. She looked down to her bleeding hand and quickly tended to it and cleaned up the mess knowing she had to quickly get back to a petrified Mariana.
She rushed into the room looked to the still locked bathroom door. "Mariana? He's gone now," she said as she leaned against the bathroom door hearing her sniffling on the other side; making her feel ten times more terrible. "Please my sweet girl. He's gone. I promise. Can you come out for me please?" Lena pleaded. She heard the door unlock and sat back waiting for her. Once it opened Mariana studied Lena making sure she was ok. She saw her wrapped hand and looked into Lena's eyes without saying one word. "I'm sorry" was all that Lena could choke out as Mariana threw herself into Lena's arms.
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11:53. It took this woman fifteen whole minutes to fall asleep. She looked over to the naked brunet woman to her left. Allison? Alex? Alana? She couldn't remember exactly what her name was at the moment but she knew that it was something along those lines. But the one thing that she knew for certain was that she needed to grab her clothes and tip toe her way out of there.
To be honest she wasn't the type to desire the whole breakfast in bed after a night of sex. Plus the sex was never really that good for her to want to stick around anyway. On the rare occasion that she would fall asleep in someone's bed, she had an "emergency" alarm that would go off in the morning, allowing her the excuse that she needed to rush to work.
Stef carefully lifted the woman's arm from on top of her and slowly slid out of the bed. She put on her bra and underwear in rapid speed. She buttoned up plaid shirt, missing a few buttons in the process, as she continued to look around the dark room for her pants. The flickering of her phone light in her jean pockets next to the bed caught her attention. She quickly snatched both before the sound could get louder.
She looked at the phone and saw that it was a number that was unfamiliar. She had no idea who it could be at this time of night. But thinking that it could be the one woman that she could not get out of her mind all day she quickly answered it. Trying to balance the phone between her ear and shoulder while putting on her pants she quickly whispered, "One second". She grabbed the rest of her stuff and was right about to close the room door when she heard, "Stef?" She peaked her head into the room. "Just running to the bathroom Ally Cat. Go back to sleep".
Once she was clear and out of the apartment Stef went back to her phone. "Hello?" She could hear another woman softly laughing on the other end. "Stef?" Her heart rate increased knowing exactly who it was. "Lena".
"Hi. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time".
"No actually. It's fine. I'm actually in my car heading home now".
"Hmm. I thought you said that you were just running to the bathroom".
"Well, I did not specify which bathroom, did I? But is everything ok? Seems like a strange time to call someone. Not that I'm complaining or anything. And why are you whispering?
Stef was just sitting back in her car not wanting to take away her attention to drive just yet. She was kicking herself all day for not taking Lena's number in exchange. When hopes of hearing from her seemed slim she decided to hook up with her latest fling. But now, Lena had her full attention.
"Yeah it is. Sorry. I just couldn't really sleep. It has been a rollercoaster type of day. But I'm currently hiding in the bathroom since there's an 8 year old fast asleep in my bed".
"Interesting. Do you know this 8 year old?" Stef teased. "Yes I do. Very well," Lena laughed, "Granted I don't think that she will want to be sleeping over again in the future after tonight".
"That bad huh? But I'm guessing that she's not yours". Lena leaned back against the tub thinking about how everything was going so good until Mason showed up. "No," she said sadly, "She's no ones. She's a foster child living in a group home. She use to be my student. Besides that would have made my 18 when I had her. And I definitely wasn't prepared to even take care of myself back then." Stef was able to pick up on the sadness in her voice. So she wasn't sure where to take this conversation. "I'm pretty sure she is happy to have someone like you in her life". Lena smiled at the sweet words hoping that they were true. "So let's see. I'm picking up that you are an elementary teacher and we just so happen to be the same age. Miss Lena, I'm not sure how often your life takes these roller coaster rides, but I would love to possibly hang out with you. Even if you just want to grab coffee or some drinks. I swear I look way better and am more fun outside of my uniform".
Lena could not tell if Stef was asking her out on a date or just out as friends. She didn't even know if Stef was gay. Granted she was a cop, but she tries not to read into stereotypes. But then, who was this Ally Cat person? It could have been like a sister or friend. What if it was a girlfriend? What if she called interrupting something? But Lena suddenly couldn't figure out why she cared so much. She was engaged to a man. Granted she use to make out with women during her drunken college nights but it never went further than that.
Stef was taking the silence as rejection and was growing more and more nervous and insecure. "But if you don't have time that's alright. I completely-". "No," Lena cut her off, "I would love to. Really I would". Stef was all grins. They talked a little while longer until Lena started to doze off and Stef convinced her to go to bed and Lena convinced her to start her car and go home.