by Annora Green
After a night of dancing and hours of socializing involving endless conversations and drinking games with Sabrina’s inane friends, it must now be after midnight. Sophia determined that her sister and friends were content. Once again, Rachel’s evening soiree could be declared yet another success, and thus it seemed her own maid of honor duties had officially been fulfilled for the night.
A waiter passed next to her with a tray of glasses of champagne, and Sophia took one.
Cheers, she thought to herself.
She was off duty for the night.
As she leaned against the railing, sipping her champagne and looking out across the sparkling, light-filled view beyond of flashing signs and neon lights and massive, larger-than-life hotels, she heard footsteps behind her.
“Still faking the drinking?” Ari asked her.
Sophia stood up straight and turned around.
“No. I believe my duties are done for the day, so I am capping off the night with something real.”
“Cheers,” Ari said.
Ari raised her own glass of wine, and they clinked their glasses.
“Tonight, I think I actually enjoyed myself. Almost,” Sophia said.
Sophia hoped Ari couldn’t detect the slight waver in her voice. Ari suddenly made her nervous.
“Almost?” Ari leaned against the railing and looked out at the view.
They were on the far end of the terrace, separated from the party by the pool. The blue water was sparkling in the dark, the lights underneath the surface of the water casting a soft, luminescent glow around them.
“I haven’t had as terrible of a time as I thought I would,” Sophia said slowly. “And I haven’t thought - or even worried - about work for hours.”
“That is an accomplishment,” Ari said, raising her glass again. “Glad you finally found a distraction.”
You have no idea, thought Sophia.
She took a sip of champagne, then spoke. “Ms. Little?”
“Yeah?”
“Why... all of this?” Sophia asked.
“Why all of what?”
Sophia took a deep breath, and dropped her voice.
“Your idea that I have Rachel plan the party. Your help every step of the way, even coming along with us. Your general support, when I am fairly certain you could have chosen a million more appealing things to do with a weekend off than this.”
Ari shrugged. “It’s nothing.”
Sophia looked her in the eyes and pursed her lips.
Ari stilled under Sophia’s gaze.
“It’s not nothing,” Sophia whispered.
Ari did not reply. She looked back out over the view, a light breeze making her soft hair flutter slightly.
Slowly, steadily, Sophia reached out to Ari. Her hand found hers. It was soft, yet strong.
And as they laced their fingers, standing in the cool night air, an indescribable current of energy running between them, they both knew it wasn’t nothing.
“I’ve never really had a lot of friends,” Ari said quietly. “I wanted to help out because I consider you a friend. And I’ve noticed a funny thing with us... things tend to turn out better when the two of us collaborate on them. On pastries. Or parties. Whatever it is.”
“Oh. I see. You were just being friendly. A good neighbor,” Sophia said softly, a teasing smile playing across her lips as the breeze lifted her own hair around her shoulders.
Ari dropped Sophia’s hand.
“Stop,” Ari breathed, moving back just a bit, her blue eyes searching Sophia’s deep brown eyes. “It’s not like that. I really don’t have ulterior motives.”
“Oh, I know. I can tell you’re being genuine, Ms. Little. And I really do appreciate everything you do.”
She paused.
“But I also feel - over these past few weeks - you flatter me with your attention,” she said, closing some of the space between them. “And I don’t need flattery. It makes me nervous.”
“Sorry,” Ari said, staring at Sophia, wondering what was coming next.
“I don’t like someone catering to me all of the time. I don’t want to be the needy neighbor, the needy friend, the needy single mom next door that has to have help all the time,” Sophia said, her eyes narrowed and voice low, her head tilted slightly.
“I don’t think any of that,” Ari said.
Sophia ignored her. “I like to help. Contribute. When someone does things for me, too many things for me, I feel like I am indebted to them. That need to repay them. And I don’t like that feeling.”
“That’s not how things work. That’s not how I see it. Or how I see you.”
Sophia did not answer right away. She studied Ari for a moment, and Ari held her breath.
“You make me nervous, Ms. Little,” Sophia admitted in a low voice. “And I don’t know what to do about it. You have left me utterly at a loss.”
Sophia walked away before Ari could collect her thoughts and reply, her heels tap-tap-tapping their way around the pool. She went back inside, leaving Ari alone.
¨°¨
1:30 AM
“What was that all about?” Rachel asked Ari a few minutes later, restocking a table in the kitchen area with clean glasses, pitchers of water and various snacks: chips, guacamole, salsa.
The party had slowed, but not ended. The music continued, albeit somewhat looser and lower key than it had been an hour before. The dramatic, low, slow beats seemed to echo Ari’s shift in mood.
“I don’t know,” Ari said honestly, her heart still racing.
“Is Sophia... is she flirting with you?” Rachel asked, a hand on her hip, her eyes narrowed.
“I really don’t know,” Ari repeated, shoving the hand that Sophia had held moments before into her pocket.
“It sure looked like she was,” Rachel said. “So what are you waiting for? Go after her.”
“After her? Where did she go?” Ari asked.
Rachel motioned towards the entryway to the suite. “I saw her leave. I don’t know. But it was just a few minutes ago, she couldn’t have gotten far.”
¨°¨
Ari got into the private elevator. It appeared to have just returned to the penthouse from the lobby. Where was Sophia going? It would be impossible to find her in the vast hotel-within-a-hotel complex they were surrounded by if she had already left the lobby of Panache.
Ari felt like she was in the elevator forever, descending, wondering where she would go next to find Sophia.
And wondering what she would do when she found Sophia.
Finally, Ari reached the ground floor and stepped out. She glanced around. The lobby was relatively quiet at the late (or was it early?) hour, hardly anyone around.
She thought she saw movement beyond a glass door leading to a courtyard. She went outside, into the dimly lit courtyard. There was a small, illuminated fountain out there. The motion of the water and the light reflecting on it cast sparkling flecks of light onto the surrounding walls. Above the fountain, wisteria grew upwards from large pots, the branches creating a leafy roof over their heads. Strings of fairy lights illuminated their twisting branches, making for a heavenly picture above them.
Ari scanned the courtyard. It was empty except for Sophia, who was standing by the fountain, staring into the water.
Ari walked over to Sophia. Sophia looked up, but did not say anything. Her eyes were soft, wide.
Ari took one more step toward the brunette, and kissed her firmly.
¨°¨
Sophia stumbled a bit in surprise, but recovered quickly. Ari continued to press herself toward her, maintaining the kiss for a moment, but then pulling back for just a split second, giving Sophia a moment. Sophia took the opportunity to take charge and pressed her lips into the other woman’s, and it was Ari’s turn to close her eyes and lose herself in it, allow herself to be pulled into their own little world, the one where only a fountain, sparkly lights, wisteria branches and Sophia existed. She allowed herself to simply surrender.
&n
bsp; Finally, Ari pulled away.
“What is it?” Sophia whispered, gazing into the woman’s blue eyes.
“Are you sure?” Ari breathed, her eyes searching, desperately trying to read Sophia’s expression.
Sophia nodded slowly.
“You really didn’t have too much to drink, or anything?” Ari asked, worried.
Sophia laughed lightly. “No, I have not. I know what I’m doing. What about you?”
Ari smiled.
“The same,” she said, and she leaned in and they continued to kiss.
¨°¨
They stayed that way for a long while, in the quiet, secret courtyard. It was their own world, and they were lost in the night and the unfamiliar, but cozy, surroundings.
“We’re going to eventually have to leave,” Sophia reluctantly noted after they had been there for what could have been hours. Or maybe it had only been minutes. They had found their way to a nearby bench, and were now seated, listening to the soft trickling sound of the water.
“I don’t think I can go back upstairs,” admitted Ari.
“Me neither,” Sophia agreed.
“So... we’re here,” Ari said.
They stayed that way for a little while longer, thigh touching thigh, shoulder touching shoulder, hands interlaced on Sophia’s lap, afraid to move, afraid to break the magic.
But finally, they were forced to re-enter reality when a group of three women stumbled into their private, quiet little courtyard, talking loudly and waving their phones around, laughing.
“We’re in Vegas,” Sophia whispered, touching her own forehead tenderly to Ari’s, as the intrusion forced them awake from their reverie. “It’s probably only about two in the morning. There’s still plenty of time left in the night.”
Their faces still flushed and eyes glimmering with anticipation of what could be next, they stood up and ventured into the night.
¨°¨
2:25 AM
They spent some time walking. They spoke very little, but the invisible electricity in the air between them spoke louder than any conversation topic could. Both felt it: the energy, the connection, that completely unexplainable draw they had to each other, despite their best judgment on the matter. Both knew that what had just happened was not something that could be easily ignored this time.
They were desperate to find out what would happen next. Neither wanted the night to be over. They were on a high, enjoying a brief respite from reality, and enjoying their unfamiliar surroundings together.
“I don’t want to be boring,” Sophia declared after they walked a while.
They stood on a sidewalk somewhere... she had lost track of where they had gone. They were surrounded by neon, by flashing lights, by people walking, shouting. By noise and music.
“You are not boring,” Ari assured her.
Sophia did not respond. She put a hand on her hip, surveying her surroundings. There were signs for casinos, gambling. But that was not her thing.
Then another sign caught her eye.
“Tattoos?” Ari asked, following her gaze. “Trust me, you do not want to do that.”
“Why not?” Sophia asked, “It would be a unique way to remember a very unusual weekend. I’d always have something to prove that I can just let it all go.”
“Yeah, but do you really permanently want that on your skin?”
Sophia sighed. “What’s a little one? To prove that I am not a complete bore?”
“You don’t need to do something like that to prove it,” Ari said, her hand resting gently on her arm.
Sophia glanced down at it, and saw a small tattoo of a heart peeking out on Ari’s wrist.
“Says the woman with a tattoo,” Sophia said.
“Yeah, but I thought about this one, planned it for a while...” Ari protested. “Look, it’s up to you if you get a tattoo, but first, I really need food.”
“What do you suggest?” Sophia asked.
“There’s a good burger joint nearby. Do you accept burgers and fries in your life once in a while? You know, the food that most people consider a viable alternative to salads?”
“I know what a burger is, and yes, I do eat them on rare occasion,” Sophia said.
“See? More proof you’re not a bore,” Ari teased.
“I’m adjusting to this Vegas thing. A night that included my sister being ‘arrested’ by a stripper, engaging in public displays of affection, seriously considering a tattoo and now burgers. I’m ready to do anything at this point,” she said, smiling.
“Anything?” Ari asked mischievously. “I might just keep that in mind for later.”
Sophia tried to laugh at that, but Ari noted that there was a certain nervousness in her reaction.
They grabbed burgers to go from Ari’s burger joint and sat outside near some fountains, watching the groups of people walk by in the night, mulling around, taking pictures even in the late hour. In fact, there were people around doing everything conceivable in the night: two men were jogging, and a group of early 20-somethings was walking, zombie-like, towards the burger joint while debating where they would go after.
“These are delicious,” Sophia confessed, stealing a few fries from the pile that Ari had bought as a side to share.
Ari grinned. “They’re my favorite in Vegas. Among my favorite in the country.”
“Everyone’s big idea of rebelling and going wild is getting drunk and watching naked people strut across a stage, but true rebellion to me is eating a cheeseburger and fries at three in the morning,” Sophia sighed after she finished the last of the greasy burger, slouched back on the bench, and admired the view around her - the people, the fountains, the lights, Ari - enjoying the utter bliss of detachment from her usual world.
Ari studied Sophia. She looked so pretty in the soft, low light at night, her hair slightly disheveled from the evening, her dress hugging her body tightly, some of her harsh makeup from earlier in the evening now worn off, so she now looked less severe. It was the first time Ari had ever seen her truly relaxed.
“We have to move from this bench eventually,” Ari said, tearing her eyes away from Sophia to watch another loud group of men stumble down the sidewalk, a group of laughing and chatting women not far behind.
“I suppose I should be a good sport and go back,” Sophia said.
“Or, they’ll all be too trashed to even notice you’re not there at this point,” Ari pointed out.
Sophia sensed it again: that electricity in the air between them. With their food eaten and their minds settled back on the night at hand, it had come back.
“Remember what we talked about this morning? You can sleep at my place again tonight if you want.” Ari said, trying to sound casual, but her voice catching slightly in her throat as she spoke.
Sophia pursed her lips, thinking.
Objectively speaking, the offer to go back to Ari’s instead of the party penthouse had seemed like the obvious choice that morning. Now, considering the events of the evening, it felt far more complicated than it had last night. They had just spent the last little while in a blissful haze, and she was not sure either one of them was ready for the temptation that might come next if they went back to the house together.
Ari sensed her hesitation. “I am merely offering it as a quiet alternative to the penthouse.”
Sophia nodded, making up her mind. Somehow managing to convince herself that it could still be innocent, ignoring that surge of electricity that was sparkling in the air between them, and ignoring her mind that was screaming at her that she was surely complicating things, she agreed.
“Let’s go, then.”
She and Ari got up and left.
¨°¨
3:55 AM
“So, you know your way around now,” Ari said quietly, stating the obvious, turning on a small lamp as they stepped into Ari’s house.
It was nearly 4, and the night was at its darkest. It would be dawn soon, Sophia thought vaguely.
Ari slowly w
alked into the house, dropping her keys onto a table. Sophia set her purse on a chair near the door. It was nearly morning, but neither of them felt tired after their middle-of-the-night adventures.
“Something to drink?” Ari offered vaguely, heading towards the kitchen.
Sophia did not reply, just followed her. When they reached the kitchen, Ari did not turn on any lights, but she opened the fridge, casting a strip of light briefly onto the floor while she removed a pitcher of Nate’s special tonic.
“You don’t seem to be nearly as intoxicated as you were last night, but hey, the stuff tastes decent and better safe than sorry, right?” Ari was saying quietly.
Sophia detected the nerves in Ari’s voice.
Sophia focused on the way Ari moved, studied her as she took out two glasses from the shelf and set them next to each other, then poured the drink into each one. Sophia smiled subtly to herself at the way Ari’s hair draped around her shoulders, the way her eyes sparkled as she talked, her graceful movements. She wanted to memorize everything about her.
“Ari?” Sophia asked finally, touching her on the shoulder as she poured the two glasses.
“Yes?” Ari asked, setting down the pitcher and turning to her.
“The only thing I’m intoxicated with is...”
And she finished that thought with a kiss.
Urgently this time, she pressed toward her more intimately than they had dared be with each other in the courtyard, her whole body seemingly trying to merge with the other woman.
Ari responded for the briefest second by freezing, but settled into the kiss quickly. She let Sophia take control here, enjoying her enthusiasm.
Both knew, with quite a bit of certainty now, what came next.
Sophia heard Ari groan softly as she felt the woman’s tongue dance along her own. The intimacy felt comfortable, natural, and both settled into it easily.
Sophia pressed Ari against the kitchen cabinets and counter... her mind was racing as Ari sensed her distraction and took back control, gently urging Sophia towards the living room. Ari slowly navigated the two of them to the couch, where she urged Sophia to lay down on her back. Sophia complied, and from there, in that position of both passion and vulnerability, underneath the other woman... it was clear, very clear, extremely clear, that there was no going back.
