Alice’s heart thumped hard in her ears as she suddenly became aware that Dana had shifted slightly closer to her on the bench.  She moved the cloth from her forehead and met Dana’s gaze silently for a few seconds before allowing her eyes to drift down to her inviting mouth.  Although they weren’t touching, she was close enough to feel the heat radiating off Dana’s body, and she suddenly wanted nothing more than to feel that heat against her and to taste those lips.  And, one glance at Dana’s face told her that she wanted the same thing.

“Dana,” Alice murmured softly, as she leaned in gently toward her.

“There you are!” a voice called out from across the locker room, causing Dana and Alice to pull away from each other guiltily.

“Melanie, hi!” Dana said, jumping up from the bench and moving toward the pretty and very fit brunette who had just walked in.  Alice’s heart sank as she watched Dana’s entire demeanour shift in the presence of the other woman.  

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Melanie said excitedly.  “That was a fantastic game!  I guess all those endurance tests we’ve been doing really paid off in the end, didn’t they?”  She smiled brightly at Dana, who grinned back in apparent agreement.  Watching the interaction between the two women, Alice suddenly felt the need to disappear.

Noticing Alice sitting behind Dana on the bench, Melanie strode over and extended her hand.  “Hi, I’m Melanie Caplan.”

“Oh, sorry, this is Alice, a friend of mine,” Dana explained, as Alice stood up to shake Melanie’s hand.  “Alice, this is Melanie, my trainer.”

“Nice to meet you,” Alice said, trying to sound friendly, but cringing inwardly when she heard the slightly manic edge in her voice.

“God, what happened to your head?” Melanie asked, noticing the mark on Alice’s forehead.

“Oh, that’s a long story,” Alice replied with a forced laugh.  “I’ll let Dana fill you in.”

“You’re leaving?” Dana asked with a hint of disappointment.

“Yeah, I’ll let you two celebrate your near-victory,” Alice replied with a smile, as she gathered up her purse and started to make her way toward the door.  

“Wait, Al,” Dana called out as Alice reached the exit.  Alice turned expectantly, but as Dana strode over to her, she suddenly looked uncertain about what to say.  After a few seconds of awkward silence, she spoke.  “I just wanted to say thanks for coming again,” she said, looking down shyly.  

“Hey, it was fun,” Alice replied, trying to keep her tone light.  “Until the head trauma, that is,” she added with a laugh, which she was relieved to hear Dana return.  Looking over Dana’s shoulder at Melanie, who was busy at her locker, Alice said quietly, “she’s cute, Dana.  You should go for it.”

Dana stared at Alice silently for a minute, while a quick succession of thoughts raced through her mind.  Finally, after what appeared to Alice to be a brief internal debate, she settled on a response.  “You think?” she asked with an expectant look.

“Yeah, I do.  Plus, she’s definitely into you,” Alice confirmed, feeling pleased that Dana had finally and wordlessly come out to her.  Yet, she also couldn’t help feeling a pang of sadness underlying her happiness.  She felt like an opportunity had just slipped by, although she couldn’t explain what or why.

Dana’s smiled brightly, relieved to have finally opened up to Alice.  She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders; yet, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel uncertain about the moment they had just shared on the bench.  With Alice’s suggestion that she should “go for it” with Melanie, she was beginning to wonder whether their near-kiss had been a figment of her overheated imagination.  But, whatever had happened or nearly happened, she could sense that something had shifted between them in the past few minutes without either of them fully realising it.  It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it felt like their relationship had just taken an unexpected turn in the road.

“Alright, I should get going,” Alice said, interrupting Dana’s thoughts.  “But, I’ll see you tomorrow at The Planet, right?” she asked as she started to back away down the corridor.

“I’ll be there,” Dana replied firmly as she watched Alice disappear around the corner.   

The End.