little louder.
“ JACINTA ORTIZ.” Shannon finally shouted. She rose from her chair to stand in front of her panicked girlfriend.
“What?” Jackie shot back, apparently upset that her irrational anxiety had been interrupted.
“Will you sit down and stop pacing, please? You’re making me dizzy just looking at you.”
It had been a month since they’d had the all-important “relationship talk”, a gloriously exploratory month. The urgency with which they felt the need to exhibit their passion had died down and they had discovered that they truly had an emotional connection as well as a physical one. That was not to say there wasn’t still passion in the relationship—no one could accuse them of having anything less than a voracious appetite for the other—but they had also found comfort in non-sexual intimacy and reveled in learning new information about each other. This was truly turning into a mature, adult relationship.
Of course, with any mature, adult relationship came the occasional crisis or fight. This was one such crisis that Shannon had to figure out how to deal with.
“Why are you not worried?” Jackie asked in disbelief, whirling around to face Shannon.
“Why are you worried?” Shannon countered.
“Because! We have to talk to a room full of people while we’re being grilled by a scary journalist!”
“Whoa, I’m just going to stop you right there. Our ‘scary journalist’ is a mousey woman who wouldn’t kill a fly. The ‘room full of people’ will probably be said mousy journalist’s family and a few cameramen.”
“Cameramen! Exactly! This is being broadcast on live TV!” Jackie exclaimed, exasperated by the fact that Shannon wasn’t the least bit concerned.
“You can play your cello to a sold-out crowd of over 2,000, but you can’t answer some damn questions about it?”
“I was born to play the cello! It’s like my security blanket. But I have no idea what that woman is going to ask me. What if I don’t know the answer and make a fool of myself in front of hundreds of people?”
“ Jacinta, this is a local, publically funded, fine arts TV channel. I’m pretty sure we could count on our fingers and toes the number of people who will be watching it.”
“Oh God, you think 40 people will watch this ?!”
Shannon rolled her eyes. Jackie was clearly missing the point. Shannon decided to try a new tactic, since it was obvious that logic would not work. She took Jackie squarely by the shoulders and backed her into her seat, before taking the one next to hers. Taking Jackie’s sweaty hand into her own, she began to rub soothing circles over her knuckles. Shannon leaned in and kissed a line across Jackie’s set jaw.
“We’re in this together, okay?” she mumbled against Jackie’s skin. “If it looks like you’re struggling to answer a question, I’ll just jump in.”
Jackie took in Shannon’s words and light kisses and relaxed almost instantly. “My savior,” she intoned, a playful smile gracing her lips.
Shannon could tell that Jackie was just trying to placate her and that Jackie’s raging pulse had very little to do with Shannon’s continued kisses. Pretending otherwise suited both of them just fine.
Shannon decided to up the ante in an attempt to make Jackie feel anything but nervous. “When we’re done here,” she murmured in Jackie’s ear, “I plan on holding you hostage in my apartment and fucking you until…”
“Okay, ladies, we’re ready for you! Sorry the wait was so long,” the nervous intern interrupted them.
“Oh, no problem at all!” Shannon offered her a dimpled smile before releasing Jackie and sauntering after the intern. “Come on, Jacinta!” she called gleefully over her shoulder. Jackie jumped to follow Shannon, almost forgetting what she was there for in the first place. Entering the room, Jackie remembered, and caught up to Shannon, gripping her hand.
They sat down and while they briefly tested the lights and their
“ JACINTA ORTIZ.” Shannon finally shouted. She rose from her chair to stand in front of her panicked girlfriend.
“What?” Jackie shot back, apparently upset that her irrational anxiety had been interrupted.
“Will you sit down and stop pacing, please? You’re making me dizzy just looking at you.”
It had been a month since they’d had the all-important “relationship talk”, a gloriously exploratory month. The urgency with which they felt the need to exhibit their passion had died down and they had discovered that they truly had an emotional connection as well as a physical one. That was not to say there wasn’t still passion in the relationship—no one could accuse them of having anything less than a voracious appetite for the other—but they had also found comfort in non-sexual intimacy and reveled in learning new information about each other. This was truly turning into a mature, adult relationship.
Of course, with any mature, adult relationship came the occasional crisis or fight. This was one such crisis that Shannon had to figure out how to deal with.
“Why are you not worried?” Jackie asked in disbelief, whirling around to face Shannon.
“Why are you worried?” Shannon countered.
“Because! We have to talk to a room full of people while we’re being grilled by a scary journalist!”
“Whoa, I’m just going to stop you right there. Our ‘scary journalist’ is a mousey woman who wouldn’t kill a fly. The ‘room full of people’ will probably be said mousy journalist’s family and a few cameramen.”
“Cameramen! Exactly! This is being broadcast on live TV!” Jackie exclaimed, exasperated by the fact that Shannon wasn’t the least bit concerned.
“You can play your cello to a sold-out crowd of over 2,000, but you can’t answer some damn questions about it?”
“I was born to play the cello! It’s like my security blanket. But I have no idea what that woman is going to ask me. What if I don’t know the answer and make a fool of myself in front of hundreds of people?”
“ Jacinta, this is a local, publically funded, fine arts TV channel. I’m pretty sure we could count on our fingers and toes the number of people who will be watching it.”
“Oh God, you think 40 people will watch this ?!”
Shannon rolled her eyes. Jackie was clearly missing the point. Shannon decided to try a new tactic, since it was obvious that logic would not work. She took Jackie squarely by the shoulders and backed her into her seat, before taking the one next to hers. Taking Jackie’s sweaty hand into her own, she began to rub soothing circles over her knuckles. Shannon leaned in and kissed a line across Jackie’s set jaw.
“We’re in this together, okay?” she mumbled against Jackie’s skin. “If it looks like you’re struggling to answer a question, I’ll just jump in.”
Jackie took in Shannon’s words and light kisses and relaxed almost instantly. “My savior,” she intoned, a playful smile gracing her lips.
Shannon could tell that Jackie was just trying to placate her and that Jackie’s raging pulse had very little to do with Shannon’s continued kisses. Pretending otherwise suited both of them just fine.
Shannon decided to up the ante in an attempt to make Jackie feel anything but nervous. “When we’re done here,” she murmured in Jackie’s ear, “I plan on holding you hostage in my apartment and fucking you until…”
“Okay, ladies, we’re ready for you! Sorry the wait was so long,” the nervous intern interrupted them.
“Oh, no problem at all!” Shannon offered her a dimpled smile before releasing Jackie and sauntering after the intern. “Come on, Jacinta!” she called gleefully over her shoulder. Jackie jumped to follow Shannon, almost forgetting what she was there for in the first place. Entering the room, Jackie remembered, and caught up to Shannon, gripping her hand.
They sat down and while they briefly tested the lights and their
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