Ellie stood in the street, outside her office, and waited. She was wondering what she and Mia ought to do.

She had one last worry she hadn’t quite managed to shake, that she didn’t know exactly what this evening was. She liked labels, especially about things like this. She liked knowing what other people expected of her.

She was almost certain she was meeting Mia for sex, and that they would probably just, have sex. But neither of them had actually said that, and the not saying was worrying Ellie.

Perhaps Mia might not want to be quite that direct. Perhaps she still wanted to pretend they were only meeting as friends, to do something or other together, and that the flirting just happened once they were around each other, like it did every other time, and everything else followed from that. Mia might not want to admit it was quite as thought-out as it was.

If that was so, Ellie didn’t want to just hop into Mia’s car and say, okay let’s fuck, and have Mia be shocked at her being so blunt.

That would be mortifying.

It was probably also a little pushy, just assuming Mia would want her because Mia had every other time.

Ellie didn’t want to be pushy. She didn’t want to get this wrong. Since she didn’t know if they were still supposed to need excuses to see each other, she planned for one anyway.

She stood in the street, and waited for Mia, and tried to think up something they could do together.

It was actually more complicated than it seemed.

Mia didn’t seem to like just sitting around talking, so Ellie wasn’t going to force that on her. She wasn’t going to suggest a bar or dinner, if Mia was just going to get bored. Not until Ellie knew Mia a little better, and knew whether she minded Ellie talking at her. Unfortunately, that meant most of the obvious things were out. There weren’t bands and clubs this early, or things outside this late, and everything else, absolutely everything else Ellie could think of, ended up with them having to talk.

She thought about taking Mia home, to her own room, and her own bed, and not thinking about it any more than that. To just drag Mia there and let her to what she wanted to Ellie. Ellie wanted to do that, except that as well as the worry over needing a plan, she was also still a little worried about home. About Mark being there, and the chance that Mia might stop and hang out with Mark on the way down the hall. Ellie was pretty sure Mia wouldn’t, but she also had the impression Mia was fairly relaxed about sex. Mia might not realize it was a big deal to stop and talk to Mark, since Mark was her friend, and she liked her friends, so she’d just have a chat. Even while Ellie was undressing in the bedroom.

Ellie wasn’t sure how she’d cope with that. She wanted not to have to share Mia’s attention, just for once. Which meant she didn’t want to go home.

She decided it had to be a bar. There wasn’t really anywhere else. A bar, or something Mia suggested, which she probably would since she always had these plans to get Ellie alone.

Ellie waited a little longer, and started to think she was probably taking it all too seriously. Probably none of it was the big deal it seemed, and probably it was silly, too, planning this much just in case, because what she actually wanted was to just take Mia wherever and go right back to exactly where they’d left things yesterday.

She desperately wanted to do that.

She also knew she was too nervous to say so.

She started thinking about Mia again, which at least took her mind off worrying.

She thought some more about Mia’s skin, and how silky it had felt the day before. She thought about the part of Mia’s tummy underneath the zipper of her shorts, and how Ellie had rested her hand there, and just felt her.

Ellie stood where she was, thinking.

She was holding her coat in front of her, over her folded arms. Her hand was already near her tummy. Without quite realizing, she shifted slightly, adjusted her bag, then pressed her fingers against herself, against her tummy, and thought about touching Mia there.

It wasn’t quite the same place, but it was close enough she started daydreaming about Mia. About Mia’s legs, and Mia’s skin, and the smell of Mia and her hair. Then she thought about Mia’s legs some more, and was completely lost.

Standing outside her work, on the side of the road, without a thought for who was around.

She stopped paying attention to the street. She stopped noticing anything.

A car horn beeped.

Ellie jumped, and felt a little silly.

Mia.

Of course it was Mia, turning up right then.

Ellie had half expected to see the ute again. She was fond of the ute. She’d almost formed an attachment to the ute. She’d never cared about cars before, but for some reason she liked that particular one.

It wasn’t the ute, though. Mia was back in her own car.

Mia had stopped on the yellow lines across the road from Ellie. She wound down her window, waited for a bus to go past, then called, “Do you want to go somewhere? Or should I park?”

“It’s up to you.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Don’t you have a plan already?”

Mia looked across at her for a moment, then shouted, “Not really.”

“I’m coming,” Ellie said, and crossed the road. She went around to the other side of the car, and got in.

“Hi,” Mia said.

“Hey.”

Ellie sat there for a moment, wondering if Mia was going to kiss her.

Mia must have been wondering the same. She looked at Ellie, and hesitated, and then said, “Should I?”

Ellie was fairly sure she didn’t need to check what they were talking about. She nodded.

“In front of your work?” Mia said, as if wanting to make sure.

Ellie sat there for a moment then decided to be brave.

She didn’t care.

She did care a little, but she wanted to be kissed by Mia more.

She nodded again.

Mia grinned, and leaned over, and did.

She kissed Ellie’s mouth, with her own mouth open, but she did quickly, only slightly more sexy than kissing a friend.

Ellie sat there, a little disappointed.

Now she was even more confused. If Mia wanted to fuck her, Mia should kiss like she meant it.

If she didn’t, then perhaps they were back to being friends.

Not that friends would last more than a few minutes, but still. Ellie had wanted to know where things stood, and how to act, and whether they were meeting to fuck or meeting to do something as friends.

And now she couldn’t tell.

Because of that completely ambiguous kiss.

She reached back, and found the seatbelt, and did it up. She didn’t know quite what else to do.