Suddenly the summer, it's clear
Agatha woke up with a pulsating headache that spread from her temples all the way to the back of her neck. She did not need to open her eyes to know where she was as she felt the shape and texture of her couch to know that she was home.
As she made an effort to fall back asleep, she opened her eyes fully before wondering why she slept on the couch. The last thing she remembered was her date with Rio and drinking a lot of wine.
Oh, shit.
Agatha rose up from the couch, groaning until she was on her feet. She looked for her bag and rummaging to find her phone. Once she found it, she tried calling Rio but it went to voicemail. Worries immediately flooded Agatha’s mind as she called Rio back eight more times with all of them ending in the same automated voice message.
Either Agatha said something out of line while she was drunk and caused Rio to become uninterested or Rio was just as tired as her and was asleep in her own place, safely.
She couldn’t recall if Rio had a drink last night but quickly realised it was impossible if she managed to bring Agatha home. Once her anxiety started to dissipate, she was quickly reminded of another problem as her phone chimed.
Lilia: Good Morning Agatha. Hope you’re awake now because Nicky is and he’s asking for you. Are you on your way?
Once again, the mother stood at her feet and rushed to her car while feeling for keys in her bag. Agatha froze at her spot as she saw a familiar grey car parked in her driveway. It was Rio’s car with the owner asleep inside. Agatha tried opening the passenger door before realising it was locked. She went over to the driver’s door and knocked on the window.
The only thing that the sound of her knuckles did against the glass was make Rio adjust in her seat. Agatha, who was already frantic about forgetting her son last night, slapped repeatedly on the glass door, evoking a panicked Rio.
Rio turned her head and immediately winced at the brightness of the sun in her eyes. As soon as she saw Agatha, she rolled down the window and spoke. “Good mor-”
Agatha urgently interrupts her. “Rio, I don’t really have time right now. I forgot about Nicky. Can I drive your car?”
Rio was shocked at the tone Agatha used. She sounded like she was mad and guilty at the same time. Even though the singer found it slightly hot, Rio felt the urgency in her tone and did not want to make Agatha’s day worse.
“No need. I have your keys,” Rio reveals, pulling them out of the cupholder in her car.
Agatha snatches it, starting her car, and driving away all in less than 10 seconds without saying another word to Rio. If Agatha had taken a second more to look at Rio before leaving the singer in her driveway, she would see the devastation on Rio’s face. Rio sat in Agatha’s driveway for one minute before driving away.
-
As Agatha secured Rio in his booster seat, she tells him to sit tight while she talks to Lilia. Nicky nods, fidgeting with the action figure that he keeps in his mother’s car. Agatha kisses him on the forehead before heading back to the front door where Lilia was waiting.
“I’m sorry for not picking him up last night. I didn’t think about my decisions about drinking wine,” Agatha apologised.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad to have him over, especially overnight,” Lilia said, comforting Agatha. “I know what you're thinking and don’t even bother. He wasn’t a burden. He had just been concerned about not waking up and seeing you for the first time. This was the first night you two haven’t slept under the same roof, right?”
Agatha nodded.
“It’s not a big deal,” Lilia clarified. “Oh and I almost forgot. Here is his overnight bag,” Agatha receives the bag, looking at it confusedly. She couldn’t remember if she had driven here and dropped it off. Before she could say something, Lilia noticed the look on her face and explained. “That woman you were out with, Rio. She dropped it off and explained why you couldn’t pick him up yourself. She didn’t tell you?”
Agatha shook her head. “I barely said anything to her this morning. I just asked for my keys and left.”
“She slept in your house?”
“Well, no. She slept in the driveway. In her car. She had my keys,” Agatha explained.
Lilia nodded. “Well, I hope you get the chance to thank her. She was very considerate for thinking about Nicky last night.”
“So, she dropped off the bag? Did Nicky meet her?”
“No, actually. She specifically asked me to distract Nicky so that he doesn’t see her last night,” Lilia shrugged.
“Oh,” Agatha responded.
As if this morning wasn’t bad enough for Agatha, she had just realised how much Rio had done to keep her safe last night, as well as to take care of Nicky without revealing who she was to him. While Agatha drives away from Lilia’s house, she figures that she owes Rio an apology. She admits that she may have gone slightly faster than the speed limit in hopes to find Rio still at her house, waiting for her. Agatha’s stomach turns as she sees her empty driveway.
-
Despite Rio’s back aching from sleeping upright in her car all night, she opts out from driving to her house to get proper sleep and instead goes straight to the studio.
She couldn’t be mad at Agatha for the way she had disregarded all of her gestures last night after their date. All that she could think about was her son and Rio understood that fully. However, that didn’t console Rio feeling dejected as she repeated Agatha’s words in her mind.
Rio, I don’t have time for this.
Everything Rio did last night was out of wanting to take care of Agatha and Nicky. She wasn’t expecting anything from the mother in return but she knew that this feeling was only going to get worse if she tried sleeping it off. So Rio did what she does best. Working it off.
Rio turned her phone on ‘do not disturb’ as she played with the settings of the soundboard in her studio. Every little beat tried its best to drown out Agatha’s words. Rio tried different notes on different instruments but none of it did the trick to distract her from her worsening thoughts.
It was pathetic how much Agatha had a hold on Rio throughout such a short time. This never happened with any of the previous women that she had gone out with. Rio didn’t overthink the slightest harshness to anyone’s voice other than Agatha’s. If one of Rio’s ex-girlfriends yelled at her, Rio would stare at her blankly before asking if they were done.
Before Agatha, Rio had not known what the chase felt like. Not that Rio thought of Agatha like a chase that she would grow tired of, but without seeming condescending, Rio doesn’t have to try hard to find a woman that wants to go out with her. Therefore, all of her exes felt like the same person. If anything, that was what Rio had grown tired of.
Rio loved a challenge and ever since knowing Agatha, Rio had a constant feeling of wanting to be better. It was as if Agatha gave Rio a reason to start trying to become better despite everyone telling Rio that she was already at the top. At the top of the charts, at the top of her game, at the top of every list. The singer lost the sense of accomplishment after hearing everything repeatedly, over and over again.
Rio felt perfect with her craft to the point that it wasn’t fun because it wasn’t testing her anymore. With Agatha, everything felt brand new. Like life after death. Being reborn with a new purpose. Agatha gave Rio something to work towards unlike everyone else.
It had been a while since Rio felt challenged that she was no longer used to the feeling of losing one. The way Agatha made Rio crumble at anything she did was as fascinating as it was unbearable. It made Rio think if she was already caring too much about Agatha or if she had gone all her life without caring about anything enough.
With that last thought, Rio closed her eyes as she reached for the dial that controlled the sound of the music and turned it to its maximum.
-
Agatha was racking her brain for what she could do to make up for how she treated Rio this morning. While Nicky was at soccer practice, Agatha was free for the next 3 hours.
She tried calling Rio but was directed straight to voicemail. It was enough for Agatha to feel sad but not enough to overthink. At least, not yet. If Agatha wanted to make it clear that she wanted their relationship to work as badly as Rio did, she was going to need to try something beyond than one unanswered phone call.
Hating what she chose to do next, Agatha opens up Twitter and doesn’t bother searching Rio’s name as it had already been trending. Most of the tweets had been focused on new lyrics from her album but one particular post caught her eye. It was posted about an hour ago and shows Rio entering her record label’s music studio. For the first time ever, big dudes with big cameras were on Agatha’s side.
Agatha can’t help but to over-analyse the picture and come to the conclusion that Rio had a blank expression. There was something on her mind and Agatha knew. Agatha knew it was because of her. She couldn’t stand the thought of Rio thinking she did something wrong when this misunderstanding was on Agatha.
As she drives, she thinks of what she was driving for. The only thing Agatha could think of what to say was just an apology for how she woke up this morning. An apology for Agatha giving in to her panic-mode instead of trusting that Rio had it all taken care of so that Agatha didn’t have to.
Maybe Agatha should start with that before planning out the rest of the conversation.
-
As she got to the studio, she did not think about how she was going to be let in the building. There were two security guards by the door and Agatha was sure that if she was to step out of her car, there would be pictures of her plastered all over the internet in an hour. She had to keep their Chicken Shop Date interview in mind now that Rio’s fans knew who she was now.
She tried calling Rio one more time but it turned out to be useless as it was still going straight to voicemail. Agatha closed her eyes and took a deep breath before placing her left hand on the car handle and opening the door.
If people were taking a picture of her as she walked to the door, so be it. She would deal with the consequences later. She would light her mind and life on fire if it meant putting out Rio’s.
As Agatha made her way closer to the door, she was stopped by one of the security guards. “Excuse me, ma'am. I’m going to have to see an ID.”
She looked at him and gave him a smile. “It’s okay. I know Rio.”
He scoffed. “Ma’am, please step back.”
Agatha could not believe she thought that excuse would work. Given how instinctive he was, he probably got that excuse multiple times a day. As Agatha opened her mouth to speak, the door opened wide, revealing Rio in shades walking out with his head down. She was about to pass by Agatha before she called Rio out.
“Rio,” Agatha says, causing Rio to look in the direction of her name.
The singer looks up. “Agatha?” Rio asked in disbelief before hastily pulling her arm inside the recording studio. “Close the doors and bring my car around the back now,” Rio demanded of the guards as they did what they were told.
Agatha panicked for the second time today, this time, being extra cautious that she does not take it out on Rio. “Is everything okay?”
“I should be asking you that. What are you doing here? Did you know what you just did?” Rio grilled her.
Agatha was taken aback. “Are you mad?”
“What? No, I’m not mad,” Rio dismissed. “But Agatha, you just stood outside my studio. There’s people that camp out of this studio just for candids of me walking from my car to the door,” Rio explained.
Agatha now understood why Rio pulled her swiftly inside the studio. “It’s okay.”
Rio furrowed her eyebrows. “Agatha, no. You don’t understand. They probably have pictures of you and are probably uploading it right now. We can’t get those pictures back. They work fast, Agatha. They’ll be online for everyone to see-”
“Rio,” Agatha says, interrupting Rio’s rambling. She brings up both of her hands to hold Rio’s face with her thumbs caressing Rio’s cheeks. “Breathe with me,” Agatha instructs, breathing in through her nose and exhaling through pursed lips. They synced their breathing together for a full minute before Agatha sensed that Rio had calmed down.
They stared at each other, both breathing heavily despite having just done breathing exercises. Agatha’s eyes darted down Rio’s lips and back up at her eyes, catching Rio looking at her lips. They both leaned in, upper lips brushing with one another's before a knock on the door interrupted their moment as they parted on opposite sides of the room.
The security guard came into the room informing Rio that her car was ready at the back of the studio. Rio dismisses him as she looks at Agatha across the room, looking at the floor.
Rio sighs. “Come on. I’ll give you a ride home. I’ll have someone bring your car home,” Rio holds out her hand for Agatha to take as she nods.
The car ride was silent for two reasons: one, both of them had felt embarrassed at the way they both travelled far away from each other as to not be caught if they had been kissing each other and two, both of them had still faint red cheeks from the fact that they had almost had their first kiss.
This was a long battle of who can the silence bother the most and for once, it wasn’t Rio.
“I’m sorry for this morning. I’m sorry for snapping at you and asking for my car keys like that. I shouldn’t have reacted that way,” Agatha regretfully said.
“No, don’t apologise. I understand why you reacted that way. You really don’t have to apologise, Agatha,” Rio assured her. One thing Agatha appreciated was how good Rio was at validating her feelings and reassuring her that she understands everything she does. For her son and for herself.
Agatha looks at Rio’s free right hand on her lap and holds it up to her face, kissing the back of her hand as she intertwines it with hers. Rio glances as Agatha who was already looking at her, full of love. Neither of them had just realised it yet.
Rio decides that now would be a good time to break the ice. “I had just wished I did a better job at stopping you from finishing the whole bottle of wine last night.”
Agatha face palmed herself with the back of Rio’s hand. “Stop. Was it really a full bottle?”
“You sound so surprised.”
“I could barely make it to a fourth glass!” Agatha argues playfully.
“I guess I push you to go above and beyond, huh?” Rio teased.
“I guess you do,” Agatha answers. This time, it was Rio’s turn to bring up their interlocked hands to her lips and kiss Agatha’s hand, copying how Agatha kissed hers.
Once Rio parks outside of Agatha’s house, Agatha unbuckles her seatbelt and presses Rio’s for her, gesturing her to come inside. Rio obliges, letting Agatha lead the way. Even though Rio had only been inside Agatha’s house two times, she knew where the mother was trying to lead her to. It was the only room that she had not been to.
Agatha’s bedroom.
Agatha puts her back against the closed door and pulls Rio by the collar of her button, their foreheads touching each other’s as their fronts pressed against each other. In that moment, their senses overpowered their ability to realise that all of their body parts were touching each other’s except for their lips. Rio’s hands found their way to Agatha’s waist, her touch firing neuronal signals to the part of her brain that intensified the need for Rio to kiss her right now.
Agatha takes Rio’s hand from her waist and directs it to the door handle of the room, leaving Rio a very small effort to twist and open the door. Even though it was Agatha that led them from Rio’s car all the way to the door of her bedroom, Agatha was giving Rio the choice to open the door. Rio knew what she had been doing and the choice was now hers.
To both of their surprise, Rio takes her hand off the handle and lifts herself off of Agatha, the latter immediately missing the warmth from Rio’s body. Rio’s hands make their way from Agatha’s shoulder, down her arms, and stopping at Agatha’s hands, pulling the older woman from the door and leading her to her own couch. Agatha stares at her for an explanation.
“Dating you means dating you. All of you. This morning reminded me that I still have not known you until I know Nicky too,” Rio rationed. “Once I get Nicky’s approval, I’m all yours to have the way you want me.”