Lara glanced up at the wall clock as she finished cleaning up. In just a few more minutes she’d be able to leave for the day. Thankfully, it had been a busy day at work. Not that it wasn’t always busy. There was always something to do. But for the fact that at times all she could think about was Dana, the day managed to go by relatively quickly. She was anxious to see her and make everything good again. She needed everything to be good again.

She peeled off her gloves as she let her supervisor know that she was leaving for the day. She smiled when he thanked her again for coming in on her day off. She really did love her job, so it hadn’t been too much of a chore. Although she would have rather spent the day with Dana. Heck they would probably already be back together by now.

Lara took a deep breath, suddenly nervous, yet excited about seeing Dana. She walked passed the tennis courts on her way to the locker room. Automatically scanning the players, searching for one in particular. Of course she wasn’t to be found. She knew she’d be at home, where she wanted to be. Home. It’s true what they say. Sometimes home isn’t so much a place, but rather a person. She prayed she would never be left without her home.

She turned the corner into the locker room. With key in hand, she quickly found her locker, opening the small door. The room was quiet as she changed out of her chef’s uniform. The only sounds coming from the showers in the distance.

Standing once more in her jeans, she pulled her shirt over her head, then reached for her jacket and passed her arms through each sleeve. The soft foot falls of someone walking by caught her attention as she glanced over her shoulder at one of the tennis players passing by her row of lockers. Blinking her eyes, she turned back to her locker and grabbed her keys before relocking it.

On her way out, Lara’s sight traveled down the isle on the other side. Her vision focused in on the tennis racket laying against the locker, the woman it belonged to was wiping her face with a towel. Her mind flashed briefly on the forgotten dream she had woken up from that morning and she saw Dana handing over her tennis racket as she looked nervously down the hallway.

She took a deep breath, suddenly taking in the obvious meaning of her dream. Tennis was Dana’s life. It meant everything to her. It was the one consistent thing in her life that made her happy. She’s been risking her career for me all this time. She put all this in my hands and I let her down. Lara walked the rest of the way to her car in a daze, until she found herself sitting behind the wheel, turning the ignition. She sat back and pulled her seat belt across her chest, buckling herself in.

Taking a moment, she looked over to the passenger seat. Finding one of Dana’s sweaters there, she reached over, bringing it to the side of her face, feeling it’s softness. She loved the way Dana’s clothes smelled like her. She breathed in the scent, closing her eyes with the smile it brought. Seeing everything in her mind so clearly now, she knew what she had to do.

After making a slight detour along the way, it wasn’t long before she was pulling up to Dana’s place. It didn’t hit her until she placed the car in park and turned off the ignition. She unlatched her seat belt. Nervous butterflies were dancing in her stomach. She took a deep breath and reaching for the door lever, she pushed it open.

Before Lara had time to think too much about her nervousness, she closed her car door and ran up the walk to Dana’s front porch.

Dana had been sitting in the living room downstairs. She ran down earlier to answer the door, disappointed in not seeing Lara there, but a mail courier as she was handed a large envelope with Subaru’s name written all over it. Her advance copy of their campaign ad.

Of course she was excited and she read all through the article, all about how she was a professional tennis player, a Subaru driver, and all about how she was out and proud. This was it, there’s no turning back now. She glanced over to the book shelves, showcasing photos of her family. Sure they’re all smiles now. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she let it out.

Still thinking about her parents and her day, Dana barely registered the doorbell as she stood up to open the door. And there she was, standing with a single red rose in her hands. The one person in the world that could make everything better. And it seemed for a moment as thought time stood still as they looked into each others eyes.

Lara extended her hand, offering the rose to Dana as she said, “I’m sorry.” Asking for forgiveness for the part she played in their troubles.

Stunned, Dana reached for the beautiful long stem rose. Her touch lingering on Lara’s hand. She looked up with tears forming in her eyes and she stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Lara’s back, pulling her tight against her as she felt Lara do the same.

Dana’s tears fell freely as she nuzzled Lara’s neck. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Dana sniffled as she held on even tighter.

Lara brought her hand up to touch the side of Dana’s face, turning to kiss her forehead. “I do.” She pulled back, taking hold of Dana’s hands. “Your career means so much to you and I knew you were scared of being out. I just wanted to believe that you were ready.”

Dana closed her eyes. She hoped that she was ready. “Ready or not, it’s about to happen,” she mumbled as she looked away.

Puzzled, Lara looked at her in question. “What do you mean?”

Dana pulled Lara inside as she shut the door behind them. “It’s what I wanted to tell you about yesterday.” Leading her over to the sofa, she placed the rose on the table as she sat down. She picked up the file beside her and watched as Lara sat next to her. Her expression still questioning. “Here… check it out,” she said as she turned the file around and handed it to Lara.

“Get out and stay out.” She read the words aloud. Then looked up to Dana’s trepid smile. She seemed almost as if she was holding her breath. “Oh my God, Dana.” She was in shock for a brief moment, until she saw the smile grow wide on Dana’s face. Does this mean what I think it means?

“I know… I know!” She was so excited. “They just delivered it… just before you got here.”

“Dana, this…” Lara shook her head, so many things were going through her mind at the moment. “This is great. I’m so proud of you.” She smiled seeing Dana’s excitement.

“Lara, I…” Dana took a deep breath. She reached for the file and laid it back on the table. “You know my career does mean a lot to me… but so do you. I… I don’t blame you if you hate me for what I did to you.” She looked down. “I hate myself for what I did to you.”

“No… I don’t hate you, Dana.” She reached out and touched her face, softly running her hand along her jaw line.

Dana looked away, tears forming in her eyes. “You should, I was so stupid. I wanted this ad so badly that I… that I lashed out at you.” She paused as she wiped her tears. “I just felt like everyone was pressuring me and I couldn’t handle it.”

Pressure? I was pressuring her. This is all my fault. “I didn’t mean to pressure you, Dana… I just thought you were ready.” She reached out to take her hand in hers. “And I didn’t want to feel like I had to hide the way I felt about you.”

“I know… and I’m sorry. I really messed up… so bad.” She wiped her tears again. “After the photo shoot, they showed me their ideas for the campaign ad and I jumped at it. I was so excited, all I could think about was running and telling you. I wouldn’t have to hide anymore and everything could be okay.” She briefly closed her eyes. “I just want everything to be okay again,” she whispered.

Lara reached over and touched the side of her face, smoothing her tears away. “Me too.” She wanted nothing more than for everything to be okay. All she wanted to do was love her.

“Meow!” Mr. Piddles had been sleeping on the office chair, when he decided it was time to make an entrance and add his two cents worth.

Dana and Lara laughed as he jumped up on the sofa between them.

“Well it’s unanimous then!” Lara teased as she pet the cat sitting between them. She watched Dana’s face as a shy smile developed on her features. You are so adorable Dana Fairbanks. “I love you,” she declared.

Dana closed her eyes as she felt the warm fuzzies wash all over her. It’s what she called the feeling Lara always seemed to invoke in her. Even just the thought of her. It was like a warm shock wave of pure joy that would rush through her spirit. She loved that feeling. She loved this woman. “I love you too.”

Mr. Piddles meowed once more before jumping back down to the floor. He knew where this was headed, he’d seen it enough times to tell that he wouldn’t last long in the middle. He was hungry anyway, so he headed for the kitchen in search of his food dish.

Lara leaned in close, gently kissing Dana’s lips, soothing all the hurt away. She reached up with both hands to caress the sides of her face, holding her close as she continued her kisses. She felt Dana do the same as she moved closer.

Dana ran her tongue over Lara’s lip trying and needing to deepen the kiss. She wasn’t to be disappointed as Lara parted her lips and they sank into each other. Still needing to be closer, she couldn’t get close enough to her. She leaned into her, pressing her body fully against hers, pushing her back into the cushions as they continued their long kiss.

An arousing moan escaped Lara’s throat as Dana pulled back just enough to kiss her neck. She felt Dana’s hot breath in her ear as she whispered, “I love you,” before placing a kiss there. Lara ran her hands through Dana’s hair, caressing the back of her neck, pulling her closer, needing the contact.

Dana’s heart was beating hard and her breathing became shallow. “I wanna make love with you, Lara,” she declared in between kisses. “I need to make love with you,” she whispered before another kiss.

Lara held Dana’s face, pulling back slightly to breath. She rested her forehead against Dana’s. “I wanna make love with you too.” She swallowed and took a deep breath. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Dana kissed Lara’s lips again before leaning back and taking hold of her hands. She helped her up from the sofa, impulsively pulling her into a hug as she stood. Everything was okay again. Everything was wonderful again.

Still holding Dana close, Lara kissed her lips, immediately deepening the contact. She could just kiss Dana for hours, but there was so much more she wanted right now. She pulled back slightly, running her hands through Dana’s hair and down her neck. “I love you, Dana… so much.” She’d never grow tired of telling her.

Their lips met again with a growing passion before they lead each other up the stairs. It wasn’t to be just about *****. They would take their time, reconnecting, loving. Making love all night, moving forward with a new deeper understanding of each other. Their wants and their needs. This was their time and their time alone as the outside world for the moment would fade away before them.