Saskia
This was certainly not how she’d expected her night to end.
After a mind- and body-shattering few hours – she wasn’texactlysure how much time had passed, but it was now dark outside – Kivi had crashed out. A post-coital snuggle had sent her off to sleep, but Saskia’s mind was still humming. It had always been the way with previous boyfriends that once they got her going, she had always far outlasted their stamina. Kivi wasn’t like that, ensuring that Saskia was fully taken care of before they stopped. But now she was asleep, and Saskia wasn’t going to get that way any time soon. She decided to go to the bathroom, and then get a glass of water while she was at it.
She stood up gingerly, then looked down at Kivi’s sleeping form stretched out on the bed.I just had sex with a woman!Her brain momentarily misfired as the realisation sunk in. Same-sex relations had once been anathema to her – warranting Brobdingnagian quantities of vitriol, for which Kivi was quite justified in taking her to task – and yet here she was. Standing unclothed in front of a slumbering female lover. A female lover who had agreed to try for something more solid with her. This already felt different to any of her previous romanticentanglements with men. None of them had seen her darkest corners before they’d even begun. She already knew they’d have run screaming.
But not her. Not Kivi. She’d stayed.
Saskia’s heart gave a strange little flutter.
It was too warm for a dressing gown – not that she had one with her; she’d have had to borrow Kivi’s. Her clothes were who knew where, strewn randomly somewhere between the living room and the bedroom probably. But she felt too vulnerable to walk around Kivi’s house wearing nothing, so she pulled on a T-shirt that was folded on a chair. It was a bit big on her, more of a T-shirt-dress, but it smelled comfortingly of Kivi as she padded barefoot out of the bedroom.
At the frosted front door of the annex, there was a dog-shaped shadow.
“Oh, bollocks – Toto!” Saskia muttered, rushing over there to let him in. He trotted through the door, giving her a downcast look. Then he went to his bowl, took a drink, shook his body off, and headed straight for his bed. “You’re sulking, then. I’m sorry, mate.”
He glared at her one more time, then lay down and shut his eyes. The clock on the mantelpiece read twelve-fifteen. They’d been at it for a couple of hours, which meant Toto had been out for the same amount of time. At least it was a warm night, and no harm seemed to have been done.
She made her way to the little kitchenette. The annex was charmingly open-plan aside from the bedroom and bathroom, so she was able to watch Toto sleeping as she drank her glass of water. In fact, the absence of Kivi meant that for the first time, she actually had a chance to take a look around.
Fashion actually had a surprisingly large crossover with interior design, so Saskia had picked up bits and pieces over the years. What stood out to her was the interesting mix of colours splashed around. A blue television table. A red sofa. A selection of pot plants by the east window, all in bold Kelly-green pots, with a matching door that presumably led to the main house. And – of all things – a yellow coffee table in the centre of the living room. Saskia hadn’t noticed it so much during the evening, but now it struck her as very specific placement. Something tickled the back of her brain – the name of an interior design style, perhaps? – but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“Oh, there you are!”
Saskia turned to see Kivi emerging from the bedroom. Unlike Saskia, she seemed to have no qualms about walking around unclothed. She stopped dead when she saw the dog in his bed.
“I let him in,” Saskia supplied helpfully.
“Oh my God, Toto, I’m so sorry!” Kivi knelt down in front of him. “Are you okay, pup? I’m sorry we left you outside.”
He allowed himself one solitary thump of his tail, then put his head back down onto his paws, still unwilling to give up his sulks. Kivi gave his ears a final ruffle, then stood back up and came over to Saskia.
“God, I can’t believe we forgot about him,” she said guiltily. “I’ve never done that before.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Saskia said. “It’s a warm night, and I was… distracting you.”
“Yes, you certainly were…” Kivi murmured, as if remembering. Then she looked over at Saskia, and they both laughed.
“You don’t mind me borrowing your shirt, do you?”
“Borrow away. It’s quite a look. T-shirt, no pants, post-coital glow… is this the style you advocated for when you worked in fashion?”
“What, the style of Freshly-Fucked Self-Conscious Bi-Curious Woman? No, can’t say I’ve ever partaken of it before. Just… trying it on for size.”
“I approve of it,” Kivi said, looking her up and down. “It’s hot.”
“Really?” Saskia raised an eyebrow. “Well, before you act on that notion, I have a burning question.”
“As long as it’s not a long one,” Kivi said. “OtherwiseI’llbe burning. That power nap has stoked up the fire.”
“Why the colour placement?” She motioned at the room. “It seems very… specific. Certain colours in certain places.”
“Feng shui,” Kivi said, and the lightbulb went off in Saskia’s brain.
“That’sthe one! It was bugging me that I couldn’t think of the name.”
“Now that’s over with, fancy going for Round Two?” Kivi pounced on her, pulling her into a hug and smooching her neck.
