Tee and Yuki got in the car since Khun Sam had now turned up and they decided that making a hasty getaway was the better part of valour. Once Yuki had strapped herself in, Tee started the car and gently drove away leaving Mon and Khun Sam behind.
"Wow, I haven't seen Fuzzy that upset in a while, normally she doesn't react that much regardless of how much we tease her." Tee said glancing sideways at Yuki with a lopsided grin.
"But why do you tease her in the first place?" Yuki asked.
"Because it's fun." Tee sniggered. She turned sideways slightly to look Yuki over. Her interest in the girl beside her had already been piqued at the karaoke restaurant. There was something about her, something she couldn't quite define. Speaking to her tonight, she'd noticed that Yuki was very cute, good natured, damned smart and just a little bit sad, she'd tried to appear upbeat during the night but Tee had noticed that often she would look away when she thought people weren't paying attention to her. Tee could see why she was friends with Mon, both the girls were super sharp, really cute, good natured and with a good sense of humour.
"I think, judging by what I saw tonight, you might have gone a little overboard. Mon idolises Khun Sam so I think she felt bad about doing that to her. But why was Khun Sam so upset?"
"Are you kidding?" Tee scoffed lightly. "Sam is completely head over heels with Mon, I have never seen her this smitten with anybody or anything before. And I get it, Mon's a cute sweetheart."
"Really? I just thought it was Mon who had it bad. She's been in love with Khun Sam since forever."
"No it's definitely Sam as well, she's fallen so hard that it's incredible."
"So you think Mon's cute?" Yuki asked with eyebrows raised.
"Mmm. You're not so bad yourself either." Said Tee, navigating the road and trying to keep her eyes on the traffic in front of her.
Yuki was glad that it was dark in the car, because she was sure her face right now was radiating heat from how pink it must have turned. Tee gave off gentlewoman vibes, her choice of clothing notwithstanding, she was quiet and confident when by herself and not in the company of her other friends who's nature tended to bring out the more devilish side of her, and she was also definitely very attractive in Yuki's eyes. All things her ex. Shogun lacked. He'd been overbearing, over-protective, and was always making demands on her that she felt uncomfortable about. She'd finally had enough of his behaviour and had broken away from him, which turned into a real battle of wills. She'd had to completely sever ties with him and block him from all of her social media and email, he just didn't seem to understand the word 'No'.
"So tell me about you and Mon, what's your story?"
"Hmm … nothing much to tell really. We were in the same class in high school, and I went to the same university as her as well. She helped me to get in, Mon is super smart."
"Yeah I've noticed that." Tee agreed. Yuki nodded and continued.
"We've been best buddies for a long time. I usually spend a fair bit of my spare time with her and her neighbour, but lately she's been so busy with work at Khun Sam's place so I haven't seen her that much."
Tee didn't touch Yuki's statement about 'Mon working at Khun Sam's house', but she didn't think it was the kind of work Yuki was talking about.
"Oh, so you have a girl trio like Jim, Kade and me?" she inquired.
Yuki laughed.
"I think Nop might object to being called a girl. He's Mon's childhood friend, they kinda grew up together."
"Oh, so … she's got a guy friend, er … does Sam know about him?"
"Oh, yeah she does … I think, and anyway he's not THAT sort of friend. And Mon complains about him hitting on her a lot. She's made it clear to him so many times they're just friends. But …" Yuki rolled her eyes. "… he keeps deluding himself." She frowned. "In some ways he reminds me of my ex."
"Oh, the guy who broke your heart?"
Yuki grinned.
"Mon was just being melodramatic, Shogun is just a jerk, and I'm fed up with him. Like all the guys I've tried dating, all he wants to do is to control me. I've decided I'm gonna give up on guys for a while."
"I … I see." said Tee, trying to keep her focus on driving.
The rest of the trip was filled with trivia and small talk, about the night at the karaoke bar, the prawns, the pictures they'd taken and how they all knew it would stir Khun Sam up, but they had not counted on it being as dramatic as it turned out.
They both asked for more information about each other, Tee detailed herself as the CEO of a successful self-made company, and Yuki was currently working at a large retail company in Bangkok as a junior financial analyst. It was casual conversation and nothing more than filling in some of the blanks about each other, but it was warm, jokes were told, and there was connection, tenuous in the beginning, but there was definitely a good strong feeling of connection by the time Tee pulled into the street where Yuki lived.
Eventually she stopped the car and turned off the engine. Yuki sat for a moment in thought.
"You don't think we ruined things for Mon and Khun Sam, do you?"
Tee shrugged her shoulders and scratched her chin.
"No I … hmm … I've never seen Sam being such a hard-ass about anything before, so I can't be certain of course. But I think it will be all right. It's not as if anything really happened, and Sam's pretty thick skinned. She'll get over it."
"I'll talk with Mon about it later too."
"Sure, good idea, just make sure that she's OK. If anyone's likely to take damage from it, it's probably Mon."
"Mon's pretty tough as well, and she's smart but she's also sensitive so she might feel really bad about doing that to her lady love."
"I see. Well … maybe word her up about it then, tell her that Sam should be fine in a few hours. I don't believe there will be any permanent damage."
"All right, then … I'll say thank you then for the ride home and for dinner. Tonight was fun."
"My pleasure, any time. Oh … say, would you mind if I grabbed your line information?"
"Oh … mine … sure, here," Yuki pulled the app screen up and thrust her phone towards Tee. Rather than add Yuki on her own phone, Tee tapped something into Yuki's app and handed the phone back smiling cheerfully.
"There we go. And yes the evening went well, me too, I had a good time."
Yuki started undoing her seat belt. Tee, undid her own seat belt and opened her door and trotted around to the passenger side and opened the door for Yuki, who looked slightly taken aback, but a smile spread across her face.
"OK, night then." Tee said after Yuki had clambered out of the SUV.
"Night." Yuki walked towards her house, and then … paused for a few seconds and waved. Tee standing under a street light uncrossed her arms and waved back. And feeling self conscious and a little bit nervous, Yuki turned back around and jogged to the front door of her house, and went inside.
Tee's eyes followed her until Yuki had entered the house, then got back into her car, humming tunelessly as she did. She keyed the ignition and drove away, not seeing the curtain that had raised while Yuki's eyes followed the back of the car out of the street. Once it was out of sight, Yuki looked down at her phone, Tee had added three hearts on either side of her Line identity name.
---
Yuki woke up with a start the next morning, she realised that there was a certain lady in her mind and it was a little confusing, a little startling and a little exciting. She had never known any specific feelings towards women before so it was with some surprise that she found herself acknowledging that Tee excited her and she found her to be very attractive. And last night she had seemed to be particularly attentive to Yuki.
All of this puzzled her to no end, she'd known Mon since they were in high school, but they had always just been buddies. They hung out, did girl stuff and talked about boys and were like any typical girls their age. They occasionally hung out with Nop as well. Mon had made it plain and simple for him that the friendship was just that, friendship, and nothing more. But just like Shogun, Nop had found it difficult to accept 'No'. He'd laughed it off as Mon just being shy. He had only showed Yuki friendship, but never more than that, and that suited her fine.
Yuki had never been interested in Mon in 'that' way either, even though she acknowledged that she thought Mon was really super cute, and Mon was the same towards her. But it was an evaluation in the sense that they liked each other's appearance, but there were no feelings other than that. They both thought of each other as lifelong childhood friends.
So why now all of a sudden was she feeling this way towards Tee? Was this what they call rebounding? Shogun was newly out of her system, but she felt no specific way about that other than annoyance at his behaviour and relief that he was gone. Truth be told, she was glad that she would no longer have to put up with his inconsistency and general pushiness and passive aggression. She felt free for the first time in more than a year. And it felt wonderful.
And then into her mind's eye crept the image of Tee in a very square shouldered light brown woolen blazer and dark microfiber trousers, stylish and elegant in simplicity, masculine in cut which showed off her butch side, but feminine in the way Tee looked in it. A gentlewoman in fact.
She'd opened the car door for Yuki, opened the door of the karaoke bar when they left, and other small things throughout the previous night which sent little shivers through her belly. She'd seen a little of that from Khun Sam towards Mon on occasion, but they were more like equals, Mon tended to Khun Sam's needs as often as Khun Sam doted on Mon, while Tee treated Yuki like a lady and behaved like a gentleman was supposed to behave.
Shogun never did any of that … or rather … he did in the beginning but that stopped once they'd started dating, he became lazy and entitled, and seemed to be expecting Yuki to look after him, which she occasionally did, but very little of that was reciprocated, it became a very one sided situation.
Something told Yuki that she was biased but she doubted that Tee would change, She was who she was, and that was consistently gracious. And that pleased Yuki for some reason, she could really get used to that. She came to that conclusion in the morning, and then spent the day busily at her work, but finally she returned home again. Another tedious day.
She'd been surprised that Tee had not sent any messages or calls at all. And she was also a little disappointed. Maybe she was reading too much into what had happened the previous night. Maybe she was projecting. Perhaps Tee's behaviour hadn't been that specifically aimed at her … she began to question her own expectations.
Dinner came and went, and while she was doing the dishes, she heard the line app. Of course it was Tee, and Yuki practically bounced with happiness.
[I'm really sorry, work has been challenging, I've been in meetings all day so I haven't even had a bite to eat. Can I tempt you to forgive me and come have some late dinner with me?]
Yuki smiled at the message and sighed contentedly.
[I've had my dinner already, but if you wish I can come out and watch you eat.]
[No, don't do that. Then please come out with me tomorrow, I'll take you somewhere special as compensation.]
[That sounds nice.]
[OK, I'll pick you up around 5 or 6.]
[All right, well have a nice dinner now then, and I'll see you tomorrow.]
[I'll count the hours until I see you then.]
[Goodnight.]
[Good night. /sleepy teddy bear sticker]
That felt ridiculously romantic and gooey. Yuki couldn't stop the grin from spreading on her face.
She silently thanked Mon in her head for introducing her to Tee.
---
The next day, Yuki had trouble concentrating on her work. Her mind was in a whirl of anticipation. She fully expected the dinner to be with the three musketeers, but surprisingly Tee came over alone at five in the evening.
"Come in," she led Tee into the living room. "Please sit down. Are we going to wait for the others?"
After removing her shoes, Tee sat down on the sofa. She was dressed in a dark blue jacket with sharply pressed grey twill trousers and a white shirt with fashionably irregular pale coloured stripes. In a very masculine manner, she leaned back with her arms spread on the backrest of the sofa, and put her leg over her knee dangling a bare foot. Yuki thought Tee looked like a movie star with her stylish chestnut brown and black short hair, and her chest tightened.
"Nope, it's just us tonight. I hope that's all right? Unless you want the others to be here as well? I can call them if you want."
"No … I mean yes … er … I mean no that's fine. Were the others busy?"
"I don't know. Kade is always busy with having to attend script readings and filming and make-up and stuff. And Jim I suppose is off mooning around with Earth."
"Earth?"
"Oh, her fiancée. So yes those two are usually always busy. But I didn't contact them. I wanted to have you all to myself tonight." Yuki's heart kept flip-flopping around in her chest, surely Tee could see the effect she was having on her. Yuki was feeling a bit flustered and shy.
"Um … so … so where are we going?"
"I'll take you to a French restaurant I happen to like a lot."
"Please don't make it too expensive, I don't get much left over after paying rent and amenities and stuff, I'm still a junior, I have a ways to go until I become a full analyst."
"Don't worry about that, it's my treat."
"Tee," she moaned. "I feel guilty, you guys seem to always be paying for everything."
"Consider it as me paying for the privilege of being allowed to take a beautiful girl to dinner."
"Stop it Tee, you're making me blush."
"Please, blush for me, I like seeing you like that." And Yuki really was blushing and smiling, she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.
"Uhn … so … OK. Will I need to dress up?" Tee looked Yuki over, the white translucent blouse and short powder blue skirt looked simple and comfortable. She shook her head. It was a warm night.
"What you are wearing is fine, their dress code isn't that strict."
"All right, do you want a drink or something before we go out or are we going now?"
"I've made the booking for six o'clock so we still have a little time. Sure, anything is fine."
"OK, jasmine tea all right?"
"Sounds nice, yes please."
---
Tee held the door open and waited for Yuki to walk forward before entering the restaurant herself. All the gestures, the politeness, the caring and respect, all seemed so natural. Yuki was quite taken with Tee's treatment of her. She opened doors, pulled out chairs, poured wine for her and anything else. None of it was put on just to impress, it seemed just to be Tee's natural way. She truly was a gentlewoman, and Yuki felt herself becoming more and more enamoured by her as the evening progressed.
The food and drink at this restaurant was superb, Tee had been right about the quality when she'd told Yuki that it was one of her favourite places to eat.
"Have you been here often before?" she asked Tee in between bites of delicious venison. Tee topped up Yuki's wine flute with the Pinot Noir she had picked to go with the meal.
"On a few occasions," she said also filling up her own glass. "Jim and Kade have been here too, Sam as well I think … oh yeah, that's right, I think all of us came here back in the early days when Sam had just opened Diversity for business. I don't eat here all the time, just when I'm in the mood for something rich and not so Thai."
"Well it's a bit exotic to me, I'm more used to plain old Thai food, I've never really been able to afford coming to places like this."
"Well from now on, if you wish, you can hang with me or with us and come to places like this more often." Tee said Innocently enough without putting too much emphasis on her words.
"But I still feel guilty for always having my meals paid for by you and by the others. I feel embarrassed that I can't return the favour."
"No need Yuki, it's all good, and you're always welcome. If you'd prefer we can go with the others, if that makes you more comfortable."
"Actually … can I say something?"
"Of course."
"Then, much as I love the other guys for their amazing companionship … tonight … like this … this to me is perfect."
Tee looked at Yuki with her filled fork stopped mid-way to her mouth.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning … I'm enjoying this night … and the company right now."
Tee slowly chewed her mouthful of food, and then swallowed and smiled.
"So I take it that you're allowing me to stick around with you for a bit longer then?"
"That's a … that's an interesting way to put it. But … OK, yes, I'll allow that." Yuki smiled shyly.
"Could you tell me for how long?"
"Well … how about for now we'll say 'for a while' … I think that can be a short or long time, either way. But right now … with my head buzzing on wine, I'm worried I might say a little too much."
"Oh, so you mean that you may say something you don't really mean?"
"No … I might say … something that I think I really want, and I don't want to get my hopes up." Tee looked at Yuki with her head on a tilt, much the same way that Singha occasionally did, and it was all Yuki could do to not laugh at her cuteness.
Tee seemed to be pondering, her hand moved a little towards Yuki as if she wanted to do something, but instead, she shook her head, withdrew her hand, took a deep breath and spoke softly in a gentle whisper looking intently at Yuki.
"Yuki, I'm here … no, I'll say this instead … I'm interested. But I can wait, I'm in no hurry. If you feel comfortable enough at a later stage then just tell me. There's no need to feel pressured, or to rush anything."
Yuki looked down at her plate, having difficulty looking at Tee's eyes at that moment.
"Thank you. I've just got over being with a jerk. So my judgement might be a little impaired right now. The next time I do this, I want to do it properly."
"I understand. If you become interested …"
Yuki reached out and put her fingertips on Tee's lips which stopped her speaking.
"Tee, I'm more than interested, I just … need a little time to put my screwed up thoughts in order. Can you please wait a little while? This has all been so sudden for me."
"Sudden?"
"Well … I've never … you know … I didn't know that I was … interested … I've only ever been with guys. Before."
Tee nodded.
"And … now, thinking back on it I suppose that should have been a red flag for me. I was always let down. I seem to always attract people who just want me for …"
"Don't say that. That's not what I am …"
"I'm not saying you, I'm saying that up until now I haven't always been the best judge of character. I've known Mon for years, and she's my best friend, she's never used me, she's always been there for me, in spite of all the silly mistakes I've made."
Tee reached across the table and placed her hand on Yuki's cheek, stroking it softly with her thumb. Without thinking, Yuki leaned into the warm hand and smiled, her face getting pinker at the comforting touch.
"Yuki, I'm here for you, in any way you want or need. No pressure." Tee smiled back at her.
"Thank you. I'm almost … certain … you know … certain. I just need to understand it more. Understand myself … a little … more."
Tee nodded and her eyes were smiling kindly, she then returned to her plate, continuing to eat. Yuki briefly felt disappointment that Tee had removed her hand from her face. But she too went back to eating her meal, which she would have had difficulty describing the flavour of later since her thoughts were scattered and her heart was pounding.
---
After the superb dinner, they had coffee and sorbet styled dessert.
Tee drove Yuki back to her house and after some gentle small talk and promises to have dinner again either as a group or just the two of them, Tee departed, leaving Yuki feeling a bit despondent. Tee had spoken to her in a pretty plain fashion, and told her and asked her things without explicitly spelling them out, but Yuki had read between the lines and she understood well enough.
She was worried that Tee would take her words as rejection or just stalling tactics. Tee being such a catch in her eyes, she was afraid that she might lose her chance with her. So she kept messaging Tee by line hoping that she wasn't overdoing it and annoying the girl, occasionally she also called her because she loved the calm and soothing voice. She needed to make sure Tee was aware of her at all times every day.
Yuki began to understand a little better about Mon's obsession with Khun Sam.
---
The week flew by, Tee was kept busy with her work while Yuki was put in a team to look into why there seemed to be discrepancies in the annual sales figures. It was boring work for her, little to no analysis, just sifting through a mountain of raw data to work out where the problem lay. It was manual, it was tedious and it was driving her crazy. All she could think of was that she was looking forward to a weekend with Tee.
Finally it was Friday and her phone rang.
"Hi." Yuki answered cheerfully.
"Hello Yuki. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to do dinner this coming week with you, I'm having to do a business trip, so I'll be out of Bangkok for a while. But we can still get together tonight if you want?"
"That would be good."
"It'll only be dinner at the Japanese restaurant, I'm not in the mood for driving around too much tonight."
"Oh … er … sure, no problem. Where are you going?"
"I'm flying to Singapore and Malaysia, we're doing collaborations there with a couple of companies, and I need to go there to make sure they're fulfilling their end of the deal."
"OK, when do you fly out?"
"I need to be at the airport by 12:00 tomorrow."
Yuki's heart sank. But she put on a brave front, injecting as much cheer into her voice as she could muster.
"Oh … OK then. Then we won't stay too late at the restaurant so you can get a good night's sleep."
"That's probably a good idea. I'll come pick you up at the usual time."
"I'm looking forward to it."
And she really was. Although her heart had been set on seeing Tee across the whole weekend, she told herself not to be greedy. She was already going to see her. Just not as much as she really desired. Five o'clock seemed to take forever to get there.
---
The dinner was nice as usual, they both chatted easily about all kinds of subjects, of work, of family and friends. Their comfort level around each other was very easy going. Tee was describing in broad detail what she hoped to achieve on this business flight, how it would impact her company and hopefully would increase productivity and market share, especially internationally.
Yuki lamented about the drudge work she was doing now. This didn't feel like analysis, it felt more like punishment and she expressed dissatisfaction at having to plow through endless reams of practically random unsorted data which the sales team had obviously thrown together without much care.
Tee listened and sympathised.
"So where would you like to be in say five years?"
"I'm not sure, I was wanting to be involved in market research but this is really not what I signed up for."
"Then … can I be blunt?"
"Uh … sure, I suppose. About what?"
"What you're doing. It sounds to me like you're wasting your time. They're wasting your time there. They're taking advantage of you because you're cheap labour to them, as an analyst you should be on good money but they're buying you cheap."
Tee's words stung, and Yuki felt a little deflated and defensive, but instead of becoming upset, she asked a question.
"So what do you think I should do?"
"Come work for me." Tee stated flatly.
Yuki was a little taken aback. Not knowing quite how to respond.
"Eh?"
"Come work for my company. I'll put in word with HR to put you on as full time, you can bypass the trainee period. And I can guarantee your salary will be better than it is now."
"Are you serious?" was all Yuki could think of to ask. Tee looked a little hurt.
"Of course I'm serious. When I get back I'll start the ball rolling, I should be able to fit you in by two weeks from now. I just have to tidy up some details. So come Monday, give them your two weeks notice, it'll be like you never left, you'll be on full salary straight away. Speaking of, as a junior, what were you being paid?"
Yuki gave her a figure.
"Really?"
Yuki nodded.
"Seriously?"
Yuki nodded again. Tee snorted in derision.
"All right. Well you'll be a lot better off working for me, I can tell you that."
"Tee. Are you really really serious?"
"Yes Yuki, don't waste your time on them."
Yuki stood up and walked around the table to where Tee was sitting and sat down beside her. Without hesitation she threw her arms around Tee's neck and hugged her tightly.
A bit startled, but not unhappy, Tee laughed and embraced Yuki as enthusiastically, stroking the back of Yuki's head gently.
"Thank you so much." Yuki pulled back and kissed Tee on the cheek. Tee remained motionless so as not to appear to push Yuki beyond what she might be comfortable with.
"Um … thanks yourself." she said with a smile. "The pleasure is all mine."
Yuki continued hugging Tee for a while, but then whispered to her.
"I suppose I should stop this here, they might kick us out."
"There's a possibility you're right."
"Well …" Yuki could feel her own body shaking a little, as if she was vibrating. "… do you want to continue this somewhere else?"
Tee pulled Yuki's shoulders back a short distance so she could look at her face.
"Yuki …"
"It's my idea, so don't worry …" She leaned forward and kissed Tee softly on the lips, and then pulled back.
Tee gazed at Yuki with her brows drawn together and a questioning look in her eyes.
"I … didn't mean for you to rush into anything just because I offered you a job … just so you know." She stroked the side of Yuki's face. "I'm serious, you don't need to rush anything."
"And I didn't think that you meant that either." Yuki looked into Tee's eyes without flinching. "I just want to see where you live. I have no idea about anything else you might have been thinking about."
Tee sat and looked into Yuki's eyes for several moments. The sound in the restaurant suddenly seemed to dull to her ears, as if she had been submerged underwater, time was doing that odd slowdown thing that it does in the movies, and all she could think about was this glorious girl sitting beside her. It took all of her will power but somehow she managed.
"All right," she finally said. "Coffee and a tour of my apartment, that's all. And then I take you home. Deal?"
---
Tee unlocked the door and opened it wide for Yuki to step through. They removed their shoes at a tiled area just inside the front door. The apartment was plush and well appointed, in an area of Bangkok known for being in the upper price bracket. It was on the top floor of a condominium. Yuki stepped forward on to soft pale grey shag-pile carpet which tickled her toes. Tee flicked on led strip-lights embedded in the walls at knee level and near the ceiling which gave the apartment a soft ambient glow without harshness. They fascinated Yuki because it almost looked as if the walls themselves were glowing, it seemed magical.
"Your apartment is amazing." she breathed.
"It's comfortable." Tee said with a grin. She closed the door and walked through the apartment, taking her jacket off and throwing it across the back of a comfortable padded lounge chair of wood and soft black leather. "Take your time, walk around and look. What can I offer the lady to drink?" she said walking towards one of the doorways off the living room.
"Anything will be fine …"
"Coffee it is, then. Be right back."
Yuki slowly padded around the rooms, her bare feet being massaged and tickled softly by the fluffy carpet. She was entranced, this looked like the apartment of a movie star or pop celebrity. Each room was simple enough, the furniture was all of a type, matched throughout so it all felt complete and perfect for the setting. She thought that it all looked expensive, which told her that Tee was probably quite wealthy, but it was not garish or expensive for the sake of it, everything looked opulent and had purpose. It was remarkably austere, no frills or trinkets and knick-knacks, just pure function and comfort.
There were book shelves with everything from novels to manuals. Books also lay scattered in casual disarray across several of the tables that populated the large open space which was the living area.
There were several poster sized photographs and paintings in simple frames on the walls and they had their own self-contained led lighting highlighting their beauty. Some of the paintings had signatures she did not recognise, either because they were unreadable or because they were from artist she had no idea who they were. But she was surprised that some bore the signature Sippakorn, Khun Sam's sister. Yuki smiled when she saw that. Perhaps Tee had purchased them to help Khun Nueng or perhaps she just liked them. She was amazed to see that they were truly beautiful, Khun Nueng was a very skilled artist.
Continuing on her way she came to the other end of the apartment and there was a wall of glass, a sliding door which she opened gave access to the night outside. She stepped through onto a balcony high above the Bangkok skyline. Even the balcony had lighting at knee level following the decor of the rest of the apartment.
She rested her elbows on the wall of the balcony and took in the view, it was breath-taking. This apartment building was one of the tallest in the city so her view of the surrounding city and the land beyond was truly astounding. If night stayed like this forever, she could stand here and watch the stars and the city like a magical sea of lights.
Tee walked up beside her, quiet but making herself noticed so she didn't startle her guest.
"This is amazing Tee." Yuki whispered. Tee nodded.
"It suits me, I like it, especially the view."
"This building hasn't been here that long, has it?"
"Um … about seven years I think. I bought this apartment before the building was complete."
"You bought it?"
"Mmm … I knew it would be amazing once it was done."
Yuki just then realised the extent of Tee's wealth, to be able to buy an apartment like this meant she was more than comfortably well off. And it gave Yuki pause.
"Um … OK, all of a sudden I feel a little bit …"
"Feel … what?"
Yuki closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, and smiled.
"It's … nothing, it's nothing. I am just blown away by this view."
"Glad you like it." Tee said grinning at Yuki. "By the way, coffee is served. Please allow me to escort you." She put out her hand, which Yuki took. Her eyes and her mind took in Tee's long delicate fingers, soft but with strength, well manicured but not at all feminine, her nails were clipped short and practical. There was nothing really about Tee that was feminine in the traditional sense, and yet her presence stated powerful woman without even trying.
Tee led her into the kitchen. It was very modern, a black and lapiz-lazuli coloured marble island bench top occupied much of the floor space, with four tall stools of the same wood and leather as the lounge furniture. The Japanese style sink occupied a significant chunk of the island bench as well. The same marble occupied all surrounding countertops which hugged the walls, and the amount of drawer space was ridiculous. Every drawer and cupboard door was of the same dark wood as the furniture with whorls and features making it seem exotic and unique. Stainless steel appliances filled every nook and cranny, a large double doored fridge/freezer occupied a large chunk of space on one wall, and next to that was a walk in pantry. A large dishwasher was sunk into the island counter, it's electronic readout displaying white digital numbers. In spite of all the cupboards and counters being dark in colour, the led lighting around the ceiling and near the floor in this case, made the kitchen seem bright and airy.
"I figured we'd have coffee in here since you're not staying that long." Yuki looked around the kitchen with amazement.
"This is like a chef's dream."
"Yeah, I figured one day I would get to use it with someone special. But since I moved in, I've mostly eaten out since work can be a bit challenging and time won't always allow me the luxury of home cooking."
"I'd love to cook here. There's every possible gadget and tool."
"Well … I'll give you access and you can come use it whenever you like."
"Oh no Tee, I can't … and besides this is a bit far from my house, I don't have a car."
Tee seemed to consider something for a few moments.
"We'll work something out." she said finally.
They sat on the stools and drank the coffee. After some time, Yuki inadvertently commented on how this place must mean that Tee was quite wealthy. But Tee just shrugged.
"Money isn't that important to me, it's a means to an end. I've just accumulated a bit of it through the business and some investments. But other than that I don't really worry much about money, that's what I hire accountants to do."
"Well I just don't want you to see me as a gold digger." Tee's eyebrow quirked up.
"That thought has never entered my mind."
"Well I just came out of nowhere and met you, so I just want you to be sure that I have no designs on your money. I'm just happy to be able to know you all."
"That's fine, we let you in so whatever happens, happens."
"So … how have you guys become so successful, apart from you being a brilliant business woman of course?"
"You tease me." Tee smiled and feigned shyness.
"No I really want to know."
"Well Sam you already know is of the royal house, um … I think she's the great great grand daughter of the king or something. So her wealth is legendary, especially once she inherits her grandmother's holdings. Jim is an heiress, so her family wealth is quite extensive. Kade as you know is successful as an actor, so she's entirely self made. And I had an initial investment boost from my family which I have paid back and now I'm independent. So really, there's not much to know, some of us have just had to pedal a bit harder than the others."
"It's such an un-reality to me, Mon and I both come from working class families, so different to you. So all of this is like … fairy-dust to me. And it worries me a bit because people might think you're being taken advantage of by a gold-digger."
"Hardly. It's more like you're being taken advantage of by a love-struck fool."
"Tee?"
"Oops … did I say that out loud? Oh well, too late now."
Yuki sipped her coffee and couldn't speak for some moments, her face heating up from more than the beverage.
"Yuki, I am having a blast with you, I can't keep you out of my head for much of the day, you're a little distracting to me. My work has suddenly become a little harder because you're around and I can't keep my focus on what I'm supposed to be doing. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
She swirled the coffee around in her cup as she spoke while looking down at her hands.
"So whether you're worried about someone thinking something about you that you're not, or for any other reason, don't let it concern you. I'm … well let's just say I'm … um … not inexperienced."
"Tee? What do you mean you're love struck?"
Tee looked at her then, the same head cocked to the side puppy look as before, it was very endearing.
"Um … are you just looking for compliments or …?"
"I'm asking you to clarify what you are, so I can be clear about what I am."
"All right, you want it straight?"
"The straighter the better."
"OK, then I want to date you Yuki. simple as that. But …"
"But?
"But you're under no obligation, and I will not hold you to anything, this is simply my own feelings and you asked me to lay it down. I will not force you into anything, I am happy with the speed we're going at, I don't want to rush you and spoil what we have just to get a quick fix."
Yuki nodded and rubbed her palms together, trying to sort out her own thoughts.
"Well I've never done this before … well not with a girl anyway. I am very attracted to you but I'm also scared. Since I have no frame of reference. I have no idea what to do, or how to do it. I'm flying blind. And I'm worried that because of that you'll get bored of me and I'll be back in the same situation I had before with Shogun."
"Don't worry about that Yuki. I want more than that. But because I do want more, I'm not in a hurry to spoil things. If as you say, you are interested, then that's good enough for me, I'll give you all the time you need to come to terms with everything."
Tee grinned and polished her nails on her shirt in self mockery.
"And I'm … experienced enough for us both, let's just say. So I can be your guide, in whatever way you might need. Master of all things here."
Yuki giggled then.
"Then teach me how to do this." She got off her chair and stepped up beside Tee and put her arms around the girls neck, and very softly nibbled on her cheek, and then on her ear, then trailed the kisses down her neck as Tee tipped her head to one side. Yuki's lips traveled down to the V of the open neck of her shirt and planted soft kisses all the way down to her collar bone. It seemed to have the intended effect, Tee's breathing quickened and her cheeks pinked.
"Yuki …" Tee groaned. "Please have a care, I'm trying so hard to be good for you."
Yuki sniggered and wiped her own bottom lip with her thumb.
"And you're doing an admirable job."
"Are you sure you're as inexperienced as you're telling me?"
"I'm just doing what I wanted to do just then. I was hoping it was all right."
"It's … very good. But don't tempt me so much, I'll have a difficult time controlling myself if you keep doing stuff like that."
"Well then … how about this. Can I stay here tonight? I'll catch a taxi home in the morning."
"Yuki?"
"We'll talk and then sleep, I promise I won't push your buttons … too much."
"As long as you keep your promise, I'll be able to keep mine."
"I'll be careful. Besides, I need your help, since I have no clue what I'm doing."
"Hmph … I'd say you're doing fine on your own … without much help from me. All right then, finish your coffee and come with me."
Tee led her into another part of the apartment, a corridor with several doors. They passed a few open doorways which showed what looked like a desk with a computer and other office type things, another door which showed a room with a bed and a table and a light.
"My office. The guest bedroom." Tee said as they passed them "Second bathroom over there. Linen closet," then at the end of the corridor "And my bedroom."
She waited for Yuki to step in. The king sized bed looked small in the cavernous bedroom. An entire wall was filled with floor to ceiling windows, dark now in the evening but Yuki could see light filtering in from the distant city below. In front of the windows were an electronic training bike with some weights and other training equipment. One entire wall was filled with mirrored wardrobes and they watched themselves wander across the shag-piled carpet. The led lighting was also present here, but somewhat subdued since there weren't so many free walls.
"En suite bathroom in there," she again waited for Yuki to walk in. When inside, Yuki saw the enormous multi headed shower which could spray you from almost every direction at once. She also saw the huge sunken bath tub which doubled as a spa. Twin wash basins occupied one wall of the room with a long mirror above them. Subdued lighting permeated throughout the room, and led light was present around the basins.
The opulence that was Tee's apartment was beyond anything Yuki had ever experienced.
Tee went to a cupboard next to the wash basins and pulled out a fluffy pale grey-blue bathrobe and proffered it to Yuki.
"You can have the first shower. I'll go do some paperwork in the office. Just yell out when you're finished." Yuki nodded, now feeling a little bit shy.
Tee smiled and walked away closing the bathroom door behind her, leaving Yuki to shower and get ready for bed.
When Yuki had finished, drying her hair with a drier she found in one of the drawers under the wash basins, she went back out to the bedroom and found that Tee had left out white satin pyjamas for her. She picked them up and returned briefly to the bathroom, put on the pyjamas, hung the robe and the towel she had used over a drying rack on one wall which she discovered was heated.
She then walked out of the bedroom and down the corridor to the office. She saw Tee sitting at her computer and waited in the doorway. Tee turned to her then and smiled.
"The white looks good on you, I'll be there in a sec. I'm just making sure the flight details have been entered correctly, I don't want any hassle at the airport."
"OK, then I'll wait for you." Yuki said and returned to the bedroom.
Tee walked in after a few minutes and picked out her own set of pyjamas much like the ones she had given Yuki to use, except these were a pale sky-blue colour.
She went into the bathroom, and soon enough came out after her own shower. "Oh by the way, I left a toothbrush out for you near the left side basin." she said. Yuki nodded and padded back into the bathroom, and returned once her dental hygiene had been taken care of. Tee wasn't in the bedroom any longer so Yuki waited for her to return. Tee came back to the bedroom and saw Yuki sitting cross-legged on top of the bed cover. She appeared a little stiff. She smiled faintly when Tee walked in and played with her own hair.
"Are you OK?" asked Tee, her tone showing a little concern.
"I'm fine … I'm just a little self conscious and nervous, this is the first time I'm sleeping over at someone else's place apart from Mon's."
"Don't worry too much, we both promised that nothing would happen."
"I know that, but I still feel a little …"
"Do you want to sleep in the guest room instead then?"
"No. That's not it. I'm just …" she closed her eyes and sighed. "Don't worry about it, I'll get over myself."
"OK, so which side of the bed do you prefer?"
"I don't really mind, you choose and I'll work around you."
"All right, I do prefer the right side so … Tee pulled the cover down and grabbing the pillows out she puffed them a little. She then lay down under the blanket and leaned back and waited for Yuki to join her.
Yuki sat down and swung her legs onto the bed and pulled the blanket up. She did as Tee had done and plumped her own pillow up so she could rest her back against it.
"So … you're still feeling a little bit out of sorts." It was a statement.
"A little. I'll be OK in a while."
"Hopefully not too long, but you should sleep well anyway, this is a comfy bed."
"Yeah, it's super soft but still firm, better than my bed."
"Try to relax a little, I get that you're anxious but don't let it worry you. I promised you I wouldn't jump you tonight."
"Only tonight?" Yuki giggled.
"Yep, after that, all bets are off." Tee teased. "Just kidding." she said then with a laugh. "I told you, take the time you need, we can catch up later once you feel like you want to do more. But for now just enjoy the night on a nice comfy bed."
"Well since you promised then, would you mind …" she hesitated.
"Mind?"
"If we cuddled?"
"You sure about that?"
"I said it, so I'm sure."
"All right then, just don't hit me too hard if I decide to snuggle a little closer."
Tee moved her pillow back so she could lay down and waited to see what Yuki might want to do.
"Can I sleep on your arm?"
"Oh … like this?" Tee put her left arm out and waited for Yuki to lay her head upon it. Yuki did so and snuggled closer to Tee, so much that they were lying practically spoon fashion. Tee curved her arm in and brought Yuki closer, testing if she was compliant. She met no resistance.
"Mmm. This is nice." Yuki sighed and smiling she looking up at Tee.
Tee let her fingers stray and play with Yuki's hair, smoothing it down and curling it around her fingers.
"For me as well, you're a very pretty girl."
"Thank you for saying that. I think I'm only going to have one issue with things right now."
"What's that?"
"Well it's comfortable and I just feel so good, and you're looking so nice to me, I'm actually not sure I'm going to get that much sleep."
"I'm not sure I will either. But let's try. Since it's Saturday tomorrow, I'll drop you back to your house on the way to the airport."
"No don't do that, don't go out of your way, you'll lose so much time."
"It's not so bad actually, if we leave early enough in the morning I should still get there on time."
Yuki mulled it over and shrugged her shoulders.
"So do you want to talk about something or just sleep or something else?"
"Well how about, why did you like me so fast?"
"Oh that's easy. Mon is already taken." Tee teased her, and received a light slap for the effort.
"Ouch, gentle please!"
"Humph … that's mean."
"I know, I'm kidding. OK, the reason … she lay and let her eyes roam across the softly illuminated ceiling. "… now don't take this the wrong way but … you're not my first."
"I realise that, and the previous person must be a real dummy to let you go."
"Well … you know … stuff happens."
"Mhm … I do know, all too well." Yuki was recollecting her own problems recently with relationships.
"So one of my … I like to think of it as one of my strengths … Jim would have you believe it's one of my weaknesses."
"What's that?"
"I have a thing for really pretty girls."
"Oh … ah … Ah … OK. So …"
"So … there's a perceived correlation with really pretty girls, often they are of two types, conniving or dumb, and my last was one such. Mind you, don't get me wrong, this is only a perceived notion, you and Mon prove that it's wrong."
"Oh." said Yuki, nodding as if she understood.
"So … right after that, I was a bit skittish for a while. Being the dummy that I am, I steered clear of pretty girls for a long while, preferring to remain single without problems, instead of fighting with someone or dealing with someone who had basically nothing in common with me."
"I see." Yuki said sagely. Tee shook her head.
"Probably not. I don't think you'd be like me and put up with someone who basically was what my father used to call a 'clothes horse' someone who was simply a suit with no substance."
"Mhm." was all Yuki could muster at that.
"So you see, my weakness is my downfall."
"OK, you still haven't told me …"
"I just did, you're cute, and smart, and humble and in all other ways I can think, the perfect girl for me. How could I not fall for you? My brain just leapt at the chance and … well here we are."
"Ah … OK, I think I can relate. My choices have been no better, I see someone I like and they seem to like me but when the dust settles, I seem to be the one who gets abused or taken advantage of." Yuki said while she considered her own situation. "And I fully realise it while somewhere inside me, something is telling me 'this time it will be different'. And it never is or hasn't been up until now. It's been one bad deal after another."
"Yep, we're both pretty hopeless."
"But I can't see why anyone wouldn't care to be with you or understand you or love you just the way you are Tee."
"In the same way as I can't understand that about you either. You're warm, you're smart, you're sexy and you're delicate sometimes and mischievous at other times. You're a real treasure."
"So … OK, then we're both just as bad as each other and basically need the same thing."
"That pretty much covers it. I feel very comfortable being with you, you've got a brain and there isn't a bad bone in your body. I can get very used to being with you."
"All right then, so where do you think we should go from here?"
"I'm already in trouble Yuki, I want you so much. But I know that I have to move at your pace otherwise I could wreck this before it has a chance. So we will pace ourselves, take things one day at a time, and see where this road leads us. How about you?"
"Well yes and no, I want that too, but I also want more so …"
"So?"
"So, even if we're moving super-slow compared to your normal pace, do you think we can … well, date?"
Tee's warm smile beamed at Yuki as she looked deeply into her eyes.
"Wow. You just made me a very happy girl."
"And … is that yes?"
"Yes. Definitely yes."
"OK, well that makes me happy as well. Now I definitely won't be able to sleep, but somehow, I don't really care any more."
"Me either." Tee concurred.
And Tee pulled her arm in and found Yuki's lips with her own and a long kiss followed, it was almost chaste and pure, without lust, but with passion nonetheless, at a slow pace and without any expectations. Tee's mouth opened and her tongue tickled Yuki's top lip. they both sighed after a while, their breathing hitching as they felt their heart beats rise.
"Hooboyyy … um … let's try to sleep, even if we won't …"
"Yeah. You need to get up early. So … g'night Tee."
Tee grinned when Yuki cut her off, stopping the escalation.
There would be plenty of time for fun later, for now just rest the night out, and then, let's see what happens.
She sighed contentedly.
"G'night teerak." Tee said in a whispered voice and kissed Yuki's forehead.
And they both closed their eyes to the night.