Jamie was kind enough to help unpack the boxes from Danielle's car. She hadn't said anything about the fact the Kristine came alone. She knew how much her friend hated coming to town, unless it was absolutely necessary. Jamie didn't understand the appeal of living in the mountain so far away from everyone else, but to each their own.
"Cool. Thanks for dropping this stuff off." Jamie smiled as they set the last of everything in the back room. She would itemize and organize everything in the store front later.
"Sure, I'm happy to help." Kristine smiled back.
"This is for Danielle." Jamie said handing over a check which Kristine tucked in her purse with a nod.
"I'll make sure she gets it...You wouldn't happen to know anything about smartphones, would you?" Kristine asked and Jamie laughed.
"Everyone of the free world knows about smartphones." She replied causing Kristine to blush.
"Oh well, Danielle told me I should get one. And I don't know much about them." Kristine said meekly.
"You didn't have phones as a nun?" Jamie asked curiously.
"There's a landline in the convent. But no, we didn't have personal phones, they are considered a distraction." Kristine explained.
"A distraction from what? No, nevermind, I don't need to know." Jamie laughed. She didn't want to come off as rude when she considered how weird she thought nun life must have been. She assumed Kristine was deprived of a lot more than cell phones. "So you want help picking out a phone or something?" She asked.
"That would be fantastic. I don't know where to start." Kristine said, ignoring the judgement she felt from the woman.
"Let me close up the store for a few. I'll take you to Verizon, it's a short walk from here and the service is decent." Jamie said leading the woman to the front of the store. Kristine smiled in appreciation and the women walked to pick out a phone. Kristine was certainly out of her element and let Jamie take care of all the details, handing over her debit card when the time came. She trusted that Jamie knew what she was doing and figured the phone specifications made no difference to her.
Back at Jamie's store, Kristine sat on the corner of the desk watching while Jamie set her new phone up.
"Easy peasy. Here ya go. I programmed Danielle's and my number in for you." Jamie said handing over the phone.
"Thanks" Kristine said taking the phone and staring at the lock screen. It would definitely take some time for her to figure the phone out.
"Don't look so scared. It's not as hard as you're thinking." Jamie giggled, leaning over to unlock the phone. "Give it a try." She smiled, pulling up the two contacts.
"A try for what?" Kristine asked confused.
"Call Danielle or something."
"No that's okay." Kristine quickly replied. "I'll play around with it later."
Jamie raised an eyebrow, "Everything okay on the home front?" She sensed the woman's hesitation at the mention of Danielle.
"Yes!" Kristine said quickly, causing the other woman to smirk. Kristine blushed and looked away.
"You don't have to lie to me." Jamie laughed softly. "Danielle can be tough to deal with, believe me I know."
"Tough how?" Kristine asked shyly.
"She is very...guarded when it comes to emotions." Jamie shrugged. "That woman Gia fucked her up."
"Gia?" Kristine pressed.
"Oh." Jamie blushed this time. She wrongly assumed Kristine knew about the woman. "Gia was an ex, but that's not my story to tell."
Kristine wondered about the mystery woman, but didn't ask any further questions on it. She supposed if Danielle had wanted her to know she would have told her. "Has Danielle dated anyone since you've known her?" She asked.
"Dated? No." Jamie laughed. She didn't want to throw her friend under the bus, so she didn't add any more incriminating information about Danielle's exploits. "Let me ask you a question...are you interested in Danielle in a romantic way?" Jamie asked.
Kristine blushed deeply, her mind jumping to the last real conversation she'd had with Danielle. She wished Jamie hadn't asked her that, but she supposed it was her own fault for steering the conversation that direction. "Um well I uh..I don't know." She admitted.
"Let me tell you a secret. And don't tell Danielle I told you. She'd be pissed." Jamie started.
"Well maybe you shouldn't tell me then." Kristine said interrupting the woman.
Jamie ignored the statement with a wave of her hand. "After you went back to your nunery or whatever you call it, Danielle was a wreck. She doesn't share her feelings often. She tries very hard not to have any, but you struck a chord with her. If you like her in a more than friends kind of way, tell her. Just know, she's more sensitive than she'd ever let on. Don't break her heart."
Kristine stared at the woman with wide eyes. Suddenly the list of reasons Danielle had given her took on a different meaning. She didn't know what to say or how to feel at the revelation.
"Now get out of my store, I've got work to do." Jamie laughed at Kristine who looked dumbfounded.
Kristine chuckled at the blunt dismissal as it broke her from her thoughts. "Oh yeah. Sorry." She said running a hand through her hair. "Thanks for your help today." She smiled and with that she was on her way out.
Kristine hummed to herself as she ran the rest of her errands in town. She thought about what Jamie had said and what to do with the information floating around in her head.
She rehearsed the conversation she'd have with Danielle as she drove back to the house. She struggled to find the right words and soon was sitting outside the house, not a clue as to what she would say, if anything at all.
Danielle opened the front door when she heard the car in the drive. She leaned against the door frame, watching Kristine with curious eyes. The woman had been sitting in the car for a few minutes already, just staring at nothing.
Kristine blushed when she finally got out of the car and noticed Danielle at the door. She wondered how long she had been standing there.
"Everything go okay?" Danielle asked.
"Yeah, great. This is from Jamie." She said handing over the check as she walked inside. "And look! I have a phone now, Jamie picked it out and set it up for me." She said excitedly, distracted.
"Thanks" Danielle pocketed the check. "That was nice of her. What's your number, I'll put you in my phone." She said.
"Uh...I don't know" Kristine realized, turning the phone round and round in her hands. "I don't really know how to use this." She laughed.
Danielle smirked taking the phone and called herself with it to save Kristine's number. This was the most the two had spoken to each other in days and she was grateful for everything to feel normal again between them. She showed Kristine how to use her new phone and downloaded a few apps she thought Kristine might like.
"Wow, this is actually kind of fun." Kristine giggled playing a game, Danielle had downloaded.
"I'm glad you think so." Danielle smiled at the simple joy in Kristine's concentration.
Kristine played a little longer before setting her phone aside to charge. "Can we talk?" She asked while Danielle started putting together something for dinner.
"Sure.." She replied hesitantly. Kristine's tone made her a little nervous for what would come next.
"I've been thinking a lot about what you said." Kristine began. Jamie's words tangled in her mind along with the conversation she and Danielle had had a couple weeks ago. Danielle waited patiently for the woman to continue. "And well, Danielle.. I do have feelings for you. I don't understand them because I've never had feelings like this before. I don't want you to think that I think lightly of your feelings. Because I don't. And I also don't want you to think I'd purposefully do anything to hurt you." The words poured from Kristine's lips as spoke quickly, wanting to put it all out there.
Danielle's hands froze as she met the woman's gaze. Anxiety gripped her and she wasn't sure how to respond. "What exactly are you saying?" She asked carefully.
Kristine chewed her bottom lip a moment before answering. "I'm saying that I like you...a lot. And if I were to date someone, it sure as hell won't be a man and I couldn't see myself wanting to be with anyone but you."
"You're under no obligation to date anyone." Danielle replied. Her heart fluttered at Kristine's words, but she refused to get her hopes up.
"I know.." Kristine said, warding off her frustration with the stubborn woman. "But I like you and if you'll have me, I'd like to be with you." She emphasized.
"I just don't think--" Danielle started but was abruptly cut off.
"Don't think." Kristine commanded and walked around the island to reach for Danielle's hands. "Just shut up and kiss me."
Danielle's eyebrows raised and her mouth hung open. She wanted badly to give in, but she was afraid for how things would end.
"Unless of course you don't want to?" Kristine challenged with a playful smirk.
Danielle smiled back, regaining her composure. She pushed aside all her doubts and leaned in resting her forehead against Kristine's. Their lips were a breath away. Danielle closed that distance and electricity coursed through her as their lips met.
Kissing Danielle felt right in so many ways. Intimacy was new to Kristine, she didn't realize how comforting it could feel. Her body melted against Danielle's. She jolted as Danielle gripped her a little tighter and her tongue flicked across Kristine's bottom lip.
"Sorry. Too much?" Danielle asked feeling a little ashamed for getting carried away.
"Um...I guess I just wasn't expecting that." Kristine whispered wiping at her lip, where Danielle's tongue had just been.
"Sorry." Danielle said again, letting her hands fall to her sides and pulling away from the embrace.
"It's just..." Kristine trailed off softly. She hated that her mind jumped to her captive time. She'd had someone's tongue shoved down her throat and it made her skin crawl. "Can we take it slow?"
"Of course. I'm sorry, I got a little carried away." Danielle blushed. She should have known better, but every part of her ached for Kristine.
Kristine nodded in understanding. She wished she felt comfortable taking things further, but the thought was so scary to her. "You don't have to apologize." She murmured, giving Danielle a chaste kiss. "Just be patient with me, please?" She whispered.
Danielle smiled "Of course" she repeated. Together the women finished preparing dinner in comfortable silence.
"I really liked kissing you." Kristine said once everything was in the oven. Her body felt ablaze with excitement as well as something else she couldn't quite put a name to.
"I liked kissing you too. I hope we can do a lot more of that." Danielle smiled and wrapped her arms around Kristine's waist. She was happy to take things slow. Hell, she was happy that there was something more than friendship between them. Kristine draped her arms over Danielle's shoulders and sighed contently with a grin.