“Damn it! Stupid laces and these stupid sneakers. I hate this day”, Laura mumbled. She fell in the mud during her morning cookie run, and on top of that, it started raining, the day could not get any worse. She looked at her bag making sure the cookies were not ruined, when her phone rang “Hello”, she answered.
“Remember this please, tomorrow, Grand Café, 5pm, she’ll be there, and you better pull out that fantastic nosy journalist I know and get the best of her. Is that clear?!” Perry asked, in that voice that blonde journalist calls big, bad boss voice.
“Don’t worry Perr, you know I take my job very seriously. Before she realizes what hit her I’ll have my story. Got to go now, I am all muddy and soaking wet. Talk to you later.” She hung up, not giving a chance to Perry to ask what happened.
Dirty blonde got into her apartment, undressed and hit the shower, “This day just got a little bit better”, she thought. After making herself decent she realized that it was time for work, she opened file named “Politic, the life of Carmilla Karnstein” and in it where all information she had collected over the years about this young, promising and very hard-working mayor. After all, how could she not be impressed with Mayor Karnstein? Broody brunette opened two new orphanages, a school in a “poor part of the city”, she made sure that crime rates were lowered and all that before she turned 33. Some people still don’t believe that she is capable of leading the city this big, but Carmilla somehow always manages to prove them wrong.
Tomorrow Laura will finally get face to face with the Mayor, and try to get all the information she needs. Carmilla is known by that fact that she never had face to face interview with journalists, dark haired politician always held press conferences or public debates. So tomorrow is a BIG day for Laura.
Young journalist couldn’t figure out why Carmilla said yes to the interview with her, maybe it’s because of the Laura’s reputation. After all, she studied politics, communicology and philosophy all over the Europe and now she writes for prestige political magazine Silas. She has her way around political subjects and she is respected in political circles because of that.
_______________________________________
It was almost 4pm, Laura just picked up her bag and run out of her apartment, and after 20 minutes of driving she was in Grand Café sipping her 3rd coffee. She was just going through some notes when the Mayor walked through the door. Gorgeous woman, with long dark hair, pale skin and a look in her eyes that could paralyze everything and everybody, Laura shook her head after a moment and stopped staring at Carmilla.
“Well, well, well… It is nice to finally meet you Miss Hollis, I heard a lot about you”, said Carmilla in an official and serious tone.
Laura raised her eyebrow and questionably said “A lot about me? Who did you talk to? Is it Laf? It’s defiantly Laf, they are always telling stories about me. Whatever you heard, it’s all one big fat lie, unless you heard good things, then they are all true and…”
“Wow easy there cupcake, breathe”, Carmilla smirked at the talkative girl in front of her, “let’s say my source will stay classified. So let’s get down to business. You have some questions for me, I guess”, her tone was official again, but she looked relaxed, natural, like she is not afraid of questions that Laura is about to ask. And journalist noticed that about Carmilla, because usually people were terrified of her questions, she is the best when it comes to digging up the dirt in the political arena. But not this one, Carmilla looked at her like she could hear every thought Laura had, like she knew all blondes intentions.
_______________________________________
The interview went by the plan, a lot of questions were answered and that put a smile on Laura’s face, she finally has somebody telling her about frauds in global corporations, about the political rivalry between members of her party, about ideological disagreements, crime rates dropping and financial plans of the city.
But, when the interview was done, they stayed at the Cafe just chatting. They talked about music, movies, favorite books, “Who would have thought that a woman so serious, powerful and smart could be this nerdy, fun and different than the other stuck up politicians”, Laura thought.
“Well, it was my pleasure meeting you Carmilla, but I’m afraid I have to go now. Tonight as soon as a finish typing this I’ll send you a copy so you could correct me if I messed up something you said”, Laura stated while picking up her things scattered all over the table.
“That would be nice, but I believe you’ll get everything right cupcake. Just give me that pen”, Carmilla said, scribbling something on a paper, “Here’s my home number call me tonight, even if you don’t finish it, call me just to tell me that you got home safely.”
Laura nodded, not trusting her voice to say anything. “Carmilla wanted to make sure I got home safely. Why would she even care? Oh get it together Laura, she was just being polite. Worst. Crush. Ever!”
_______________________________________
As she closed the door of her apartment, Laura sat down and started going through her notes and recordings. She had recorded over 2 hours of material and additional hour with casual conversation she and Carmilla had, she obviously forgot to turn off her recorder.
“Done!”, Laura said out loud after 3 hours of constant work, “and now just to send it to Carmilla and I have my story of the year.”
It was half past 11 when the phone rang, and a female voice said softly, “Hello”.
“Oh, hi, Laura Hollis, could I speak with Mayor Karnstein?”
“Well, well you did call me, I thought you won’t”, said a female voice, “So is my interview done?”
“Sorry I didn’t recognize your voice, did I wake you up? Of course I woke you up, it’s eleven thirty, I’m so, so sorry…”
“Creampuff you are doing it again”, Carmilla interrupted, “And I was just going over some notes, so you did not wake me up”
“Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble when I’m nervous”, the journalist was interrupted again.
“I make you nervous?”, the voice on the other side asked almost innocently.
“Yes! Yes, you do.”, Laura admitted it without hesitation, surprised by her own words she tried to get back to the reason she was calling Carmilla in the first place, “So, it’s done, you should read it because I would like to send it to my boss as soon as I can.”
Silence, and after a few minutes Carmilla spoke “damn, you are pretty talented Laura Hollis, this is amazing, I have no doubt in my mind that you deserved that Pulitzers prize you got. I love the background pieces you put, it shows that I’m not just some girl who got where she is now just because of her family name. It’s fantastic.”
“Oh, thanks, I just do the thing am good at. So thanks again, you can read it a day after tomorrow in the newspaper if you want to. I hope we get a chance to talk again”, said Laura hopefully.
“Wait! I have a proposition for you. I’m having a BBQ kind of gathering with my friends, you should come too. We can talk about politic some more, I bet you don’t talk with your friends about that”, Carmilla said.
“Ok, BBQ sounds nice”, dirty blonde happily replied.
“I’ll text you details. Looking forward to seeing you Laura Hollis”, the brunette said officially, but her voice was still soft and playful.
_______________________________________
Carmilla texted Laura with details about BBQ gathering and they hadn’t stopped texting after that.
Carmilla Karnstein (5:03): So everybody liked my interview. I just wanted to let you know
Hollis L. (5:05): OMG! I cannot thank you enough for talking to me. I’m like the rock star of Silas magazine right about now.
Hollis L. (5:06): And people who read it love it! Nobody will think that you are too young to be a mayor!
Hollis L. (5:06): NOBODY!
Carmilla Karnstein (5:07): Cupcake! Breathe!
Hollis L. (5:07): I am breathing! I’m excited! Aren’t you excited?
Why aren’t you excited?
Did you not like the interview?
But you said you liked it
Carmilla Karnstein (5:09): That’s it, I’m changing your contact name to “Rumbles a Lot”
And I told you I love it! Stop stressing over it
Hollis L. (5:11): I don’t like that name!
Carmilla Karnstein (5:12): Too bad cupcake. The decision is final
Cupcake (5:13): You are no fun!
So your new name is “Broody politician” deal with it :P
Broody politician (5:15): That has a nice ring to it Cupcake :)
Cupcake (5:16): Oh, shut it!
My boss is looking at me, I have to pretend to work, talk to you later
Broody politician (5:17): Or you could actually work creampuff
The interview was a real hit, for those one on one were impossible to get and because Laura did ask some really deep and political questions related to new city politics and goals. Carmilla and she texted each other every day, just about some boring council meetings or about foolish articles in the press. But by the end of the work week dirty blonde was exhausted so she couldn’t wait for the weekend to get some sleep.
_______________________________________
A loud banging on her front door woke Laura up, she got up checking her phone to see what time it is, “its 9 am, Saturday. Oh c’mon”, she said while slowly walking towards the noise. She was so pissed off that she decided to teach a lesson or two that rude person who woke her up. And just before she said something, Laura saw her, “Carmilla? How? Whh… How did you know where I live?” She asked, totally confused and Carmilla just smirks and walks into the apartment.
“Well, I have my sources, you know”, she said with a smile on her face.
“Oh, wonderful, just freaking wonderful I look like a mess”, Laura thought to herself.
“Don’t worry, you look beautiful”, Carmilla said.
“What?! Did I just say this out loud?”, Laura thought again and then spoke, “Don’t lie, I look like I haven’t slept in a week, which is kind of true, but no one needs to know that. So are you stalking me now?” she said cheerfully.
“You wish! I knew you’ll forget about the BBQ so here I am. Get dressed fast we have to go. Now cupcake!”
“Ohhh ok, well I don’t wanna sound like a bad host but could you make us coffee while I get dressed. Plizzzz”, Laura looked at Carmilla with those puppy eyes.
“I'll make you coffee, how could I say no to that puppy face you are pulling… Go now.”
Carmilla made Laura smile, she made her feel fuzzy and warm. And Laura was petrified by that fact, because no girl ever made her feel like that only a week after they met. She had a crush on Carmilla and she knew it.
_______________________________________
They drove to Carmilla’s place where her friends already played some music and started making food. A tall, handsome guy approached them, carrying two bottles in his hands.
“Hey Kitty is this Laura?” he asked and blonde smiled and nodded.
“That would be me, Laura, Laura Hollis.”
A big smile appeared on Will’s face as the girl introduced herself “Well, Laura, Laura Hollis let me show you around until Kitty here greets all her friends”.
“Is that okay Laura? Do you mind hanging out a bit with Will?”, Carmilla asked, genuinely worried that Laura might get bored with her goofy brother.
“Don’t worry Carm, Will and I are gonna have so much fun!” Laura stated happily and followed Will into the other room.
Will and Laura sat down in a big, bright living room with a view of the backyard where some people chatted, some played ball. She couldn’t spot Carmilla after a while, so Laura pulled out a phone and texted her.
Cupcake (12:34): How did I not know that you have a brother?
Broody politician (12:36): You don’t know all my secrets creampuff
Cupcake (12:37): He is nicer than you, I might like him better :P
Broody politician (12:39): Keep telling yourself that buttercup
Laura wanted to reply, but in the corner of her eye, she spotted a beautiful woman pulling Carmilla into a hug, the brunette didn’t seem to mind that kind of intimate contact, “of course she has a girlfriend, what were you thinking!? She is powerful, smart, beautiful, charming…” she got so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she groaned loudly.
“And THAT”, Will pointed in the direction of Carmilla and another woman, “is our sister Mattie. So don’t go green on me Laura, Laura Hollis”, he said with a smirk.
“I don’t know what you are talking about”, Laura instantly responded, almost too harsh.
“I bet you don’t”, he smirked and changed the subject of their conversation, not wanting to make Laura uncomfortable.
Cupcake (12:50): And you have a SISTER!
Reply didn’t come in a text form cause Carmilla approached them and looked at Will, “I see you’ve been telling Laura all my secrets”, brunette joked.
“And you”, she pointed at Laura, “Stop asking him things, he cannot keep a secret!”
They all started laughing, Will and Laura felt for a moment like they have been caught doing something forbidden.
Laura learned a lot about Karnstein family while being around them. They are three very different people, but they love and support each other despite their differences. They are best friends and they would die for one another. But what strike her as odd was the fact that people around them were mostly Will’s or Mattie’s friends. In her line of work Carmilla had to have friends, people who support her, her ideas, but they were not here today, enjoying carefree version of brunette. Laura wouldn’t be Laura if she didn’t ask about it, so when they were in a car driving to Laura’s home, she asked, “How come there were so many Will’s and Mattie’s friends at your party? I barely met yours.”
Carmilla smiled, but continued looking at the road, “I don’t have a lot of friend cupcake. I have business associates, employees, but not a lot of friends.”
“How so?”
“You really ask questions all the time, don’t you?” Carmilla stated, but she didn’t sound annoyed, “I cannot dedicate a lot of my time to people, and honestly now days you never know if people like you for you or because befriending you can get them to succeed in some way.”
“I’m sensing there’s a story… ”
“Yeah, but it’s a story for another time cutie”, Carmilla interrupted her, “and we are here”, she pointed at driveway of Laura’s home.
“I had fun today Carmilla, thank you for inviting me.”
“It was my pleasure Laura. I hope we can hang out soon”, the politician said.
Laura snorted “Hang out sounds funny when you say it.”
“Oh, shut up!” other woman responded, they both got out of the car and Laura pulled Carmilla into the hug. The journalist could smell perfume on the other girl and a hint of a scent that was purely Carmilla; she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
“You okay cupcake?”, Carmilla asked, pulling away from Laura, with a worried look in her eyes.
“I’m okay. I’m great”, she stumbled upon her own words, “I just remembered I have some things to do. See you soon Carm. Text me when you get home”, she blurted out and disappeared inside the house.
_______________________________________
Monday came faster than Laura hoped and she was in a hurry to collect some new information, to find a new story. But the start of the week was a little bit different, she called her dad, let Perry know she won’t be in the office today, and last but not the least she sends a good morning text to Carmilla. This new development seemed like a thing she could get used to.
Broody politician (7:12): Good morning cutie. I didn’t know that you are an early bird
Cupcake (7:13): Journalism never sleeps
Broody politician (7:14): No, no you mean crime never sleeps ;)
Cupcake (7:14): Whatever grumpy! Have a productive day
Broody politician (7:15): Good luck with dirt digging cutie
_______________________________________
“Laura! Hey Laura”, Perry said loudly, but dirty blonde was looking at her phone, smiling and not paying attention to anything her redhead friend was saying. Perry was not the one to give up easily, so she got up and snatched Laura’s phone from her hands.
“Hey!!!”
“Oh, so you are able to see me”, redhead stated, “I’ve been calling your name for at least 5 minutes.”
“Sorry”, Laura mumbled, “Carm was telling me about this book she read, that…”, she stopped talking when she noticed the way Perry was looking at her, “What?”
“You have feelings for her”, Perry stated.
“No I don’t!” Laura responded even before her friend finished her sentence.
“Wow easy there. Try to deny it any faster.”
“I don’t have feelings for her”, journalist repeated.
“Whatever you say Laura.”
_______________________________________
Laura went home that night and she couldn’t get Perry’s words out of her mind, and she didn’t like Carmilla, she just liked talking to her, looking at her, listening her, even just be near her, that doesn’t mean that she has feelings for Carmilla. After some more thinking, analyzing and mind bending denial, she texted Perry.
Laura (10:11): I might have feelings for her
Perry the Boss (10:11): We know sweetie
Laura (10:12): We?!?
Perry the Boss (10:13): LaFontaine and I
Laura (10:14): Well, at least you can help me with this, what should I do?
Perry the Boss (10:14): What do you want to do?
Laura (10:17): I don’t know…
I have to think about this
Talk to you tomorrow Perry
And thanks
_______________________________________
Broody politician (7:07): Morning cupcake, have a busy day ;)
This was not the first time she got a text like this from Carmilla, they did this for a while now, at least five months, texts, conversations, hangouts, and they were becoming friends, so how could Laura ruin that by telling Carmilla about her feelings? She couldn’t, so she needed to ignore them.
Cupcake (7:11): Morning, go and make this city a better place :P
Broody politician (7:13): I wanted to ask you something
Cupcake (7:13): Is everything okay?
Broody politician (7:14): Everything’s fine, but you know Xena?
Cupcake (7:16): Will’s friend Danny? Yeah, why?
Broody politician (7:19): Will asked me if I could set you guys up, she likes you
Cupcake (7:25): Oh, okay, sure… she seemed fun that night we hang out
I’m free this Friday, just text me details
Laura put down her phone and just stared at her laptop screen, she had mixed feelings about this whole conversation with Carmilla. “Was it a smart thing to say yes to the date? Is it smart to date friend’s friend? Well, Danny is not Carmilla’s friend per say. Is it smart to date somebody when you have feelings for somebody else?”, Laura huffed, “You are over thinking this!!!”
_______________________________________
“So? What did Laura say?”, Will asked his sister while they were having a brunch.
“She said okay, and she said to text her with all details. So let Xena know she has a date on Friday”, Carmilla replied, not looking up from her plate.
“And you are okay with that?”, he raised his eyebrows, “Carmilla…”, he pleaded, “Please look at me”, and she did, with a practiced stare and emotionless face, “You are in love with her.” It was not a question, it was a statement.
“So what if I am?”, it was not a cold or harsh reply, just emotionless, almost practiced.
“So what indeed…”, he stayed quiet for a while, just watching his sister play with her food, “You know she’s not Ell.”
“Yeah, well I have work to do. Tell Xena that if she hurts Laura I’ll chase her out of the city.”, with that she walked out of the restaurant, leaving Will to inform Danny about her date.
_______________________________________
Restaurant they were going to was decorated in a baroque style, chairs were carved, and ceilings were tall, making Laura feel small, but a conversation she had with Danny, distracted her from the vibe that the restaurant was giving her.
They talked about books, movies, music. Laura felt like she is talking to a long lost friend. But that’s the thing, she saw Danny as a friend.
“So, Hollis tell me honestly, why did you agree to go out with me?”, Danny asked. Her voice was light, she was curious.
“Well, we had a nice time when we hang out at Carm’s place that time, so I thought why not, you are funny, good looking”, Laura smiled while saying those things. She really saw Danny as a funny and good looking girl; she was just not the kind of girl Laura wanted, needed.
“Let me rephrase that, why did you go out with me when obviously you wanna be with a vampire sister of my best friend?”
Laura just sat there, thinking, looking at Danny, and not knowing how to respond. “We are friends”, she finally said it.
“Okay, we can be friends as well, can we?”, Danny asked, trying to change the way the conversation was going, since she saw how it was affecting the girl in front of her.
“Yeah, that would be great”, Laura nodded, and shared a small smile.
They continued their talk, and after a while it was time for them to go home. Danny dropped Laura at her place and before leaving she said “Hey, I might slightly dislike the vampire, but I’ve never seen her smile the way she does when she’s with you. You might wanna tell her how you feel.”
_______________________________________
Why did Danny say that? Laura paced through her house, just wanting to know where she stands with Carmilla. She never felt like this about anybody and it was driving her insane.
Cupcake (9:56): So thanks for setting me up
Laura wrote, just so she could talk to Carmilla, she didn’t want to talk about her date with Danny, but that gave her reason to text Carmilla in the first place. The reply came instantly
Broody politician (9:56): Had a good time?
Cupcake (9:57): I had fun. Danny is a good friend
Broody politician (9:57): Friend? Cupcake you know that’s not how dates go right?
Cupcake (9:58): And you know how dates go?! Never seen you go on one!
That came out harsher than Laura intended it to even for a text. Carmilla didn’t respond in a while, making Laura worried that she crossed some kind of line with last text
Cupcake (10:40): I’m sorry
Broody politician (10:41): You are right, how should I know what dates are and are not.
Cupcake (10:42): I’m sorry, really Carm, I have a lot to do, and I didn’t mean to be rude to you
Laura waited, but the reply never came. She fell asleep around 2 am thinking about Carmilla.
Over the next few days Laura called her broody friend dozens of times, but Carmilla never picked up.
_______________________________________
Whole week felt like one long and exhausting nightmare to Laura, Carmilla wasn’t talking to her, she didn’t find enough evidence to support her new story, again Carmilla wasn’t talking to her… So that’s why Laura was home at 8pm on Friday night on her couch drinking hot chocolate and staring at TV completely lost in her thoughts.
The doorbell rang and pulled blonde journalist into reality, she opened and found Carmilla standing in front of her.
“Carm…”, Laura breathed out, “Hey.”
“Hey.” Carmilla replied while being pulled into the hug.
“I’m sorry cutie”, she said while still feeling Laura’s hands on her back, holding her.
“Why are you apologizing? I should be apologizing, I was rude to you and I’m so, so sorry”
“It was nothing. I hear more hurtful things before breakfast almost every morning”, Carmilla spoke softly that Laura felt the need to kiss her.
The blonde pulled away and looked at the person in front of her, Carmilla’s face was pale, beautiful, she looked stunning, Laura was almost speechless, “If it was nothing then why avoid me this whole week? Why didn’t you call me? Text me?”
“Let me in, I’ll tell you. But you have to be quiet I don’t think I could speak if you ask me a million questions”, Carmilla said and Laura just nodded, following brunette into the living room.
They sat down and before she started talking Carmilla took a couple of breaths, she started talking, quietly like she was whispering, “Okay, so this happened long before I have ever dreamed to be a mayor. I studied philosophy of politics and political science, but I wanted to teach. And one day I was at some press conference as a first student that won in some stupid debate competition. And there I saw her. Tall, blonde, breathe taking… She wanted to interview me, face to face, and of course I said yes. We had the most wonderful talk that turned into another one and another one and then another one. We talked until I was finally in her bed making love to her. She turned my life upside down, I thought I was in love. And for a few months everything was perfect, she was my guide, my light, we spent days talking about Marx, theory of power, Foucault, ideology. But as you know, you people”, she said that with a hurt in her voice, “you love your job more than anything in the world. She was addicted to writing, investigating, addicted to danger. Long story short, she got a job as a war reporter and she left my life as quickly as she got into it. My world broke to million small pieces and I thought I would die. But I didn’t, I pulled myself together, Will and Mattie helped me a lot, I graduated and the rest I’m sure you know. But the one thing you’ll never find in my biography is why I don’t do interviews, I’m honestly afraid of closeness. She mesmerized me, I’m afraid you’ll all have that power, that urge to find the truth and that pulls me in. Politicians, mostly hide it, they manipulate it, but not you journalists. That is what makes me weak. It has been 10 years since she left me, and then I read your column about AIDS and political hypocrisy, I became addicted to your writing”, Carmilla stopped again, she looked Laura in the eyes and continued softly, “I became addicted to you. And when I met you, oh my God! You are so dreadfully perfect for me that even when I think about you I am happy. But I’m scared that if I let myself fall for you, I’ll lose you, like I lost her. That’s why I let Will set you up with Danny, to prove myself that you really are out of my limits. But you are not. And I want you. I want you so bad”, her voice changed, it trembled a little, she was shaking.
Laura without a word, just sat next to her and hugged her. After a while, when Carmilla’s body stopped trembling Laura leaned and kissed her, slowly, gently, like she was kissing somebody who has never been kissed before.
When they pulled apart Carmilla smiled, that radiant, honest smile was plastered on her face, “Cupcake, I kind of want to take you out on a date.”
“Kind of?” Laura teased.
“I want to take you out on a date more than I wanted anything in a long time”, the brunette said, leaning in for another kiss, this one filled with passion and desire…
“Mmmmm yeah, I’ll go out with you my broody politician”, Laura got serious for a moment, “And I’m not going anywhere Carm I need you to trust me on that. ” They continued kissing for a while.