Ellie came, and then she didn’t really care about anything else. She didn’t care about Mia acting a little strangely, or whether Ellie needed to feel annoyed by it, or anything much at all.

She came, and then just lay there, relaxed.

After a moment, Mia tried to move, to slide herself away, but Ellie held on, and pressed her face against Mia’s shoulder, against the soft cotton of Mia’s shirt, and whispered, “Could you stay there a moment?”

Mia did.

Ellie held her, and felt her, all hot and warm against Ellie’s body. Ellie held on for a moment, long enough to feel everything this was, everything an orgasm was with someone, and then she looked up, and kissed Mia, and said, “Thank you.”

Mia shrugged, and smiled, as if she didn’t especially mind.

She got up, lifted herself off Ellie, and then sat beside her, leaning on the end of the bed. She flapped the front of her shirt, pulling it away from her skin to cool down. She took her hair out its ponytail, then put it back in. Her hair still seemed damp, Ellie noticed. Her shirt was too, a little.

Ellie lay where she was, still breathing unsteadily, and watched Mia.

Ellie’s pushiness was gone. The new Ellie, who demanded what she wanted and said outrageous things, she was gone for now. Disagreeing with Mia, arguing in the little way they had, that had changed Ellie’s mood.

She was back to being herself again.

She was almost a little disappointed about that. She’d liked having that confidence, it had been a nice change, but the disagreement with Mia had unsettled her enough her confidence was suddenly gone. Ellie wanted to be upset, but she wasn’t. She understood why Mia had been how she was, and she’d felt just as desperate too.

“Do you want a drink?” Mia said after a moment.

Ellie shook her head without lifting it off the bed. “I drove.”

“Water,” Mia said. “I meant. You might be thirsty.”

“I’m all right.”

“Or a drink, if you wanted,” Mia said, as if she was thinking as she said it. “I mean, you could stay, if you want to.”

Ellie looked at her. “You don’t mind?”

Mia shrugged. “Not if you want to.”

“Oh.”

“You thought I did?”

Ellie didn’t answer. There was silence for a moment.

“So,” Mia said. “A drink…?”

Ellie shook her head again. “I’ve got work. I’ll get up in a minute and go, I’m just....”

“Lazy?”

“Happy.”

Mia smiled. “We don’t have to stop. We could again.”

“Nah,” Ellie said. “I won’t. Not without it being a big hassle. Like more trouble than it’s worth.”

“You really seem to believe that.”

“Because it’s really true. And also it’s late, so… nah.”

Mia shrugged. She didn’t seem to mind. It was more almost as if she thought Ellie was being a little silly. Mia put her hand on Ellie’s knee, the closest part of her, and stroked, slowly, as they sat there.

Ellie lay, and thought about Mia, and how Mia had been about going down on Ellie. She wondered if everything was okay, and if they needed to talk about what had just happened. Mia was being quiet, but Ellie was fairly sure that was just Mia and it didn’t mean anything.

“Do we need to talk?” Ellie said, wanting to be sure.

Mia looked at her. “We seem to say that a lot.”

Ellie didn’t understand. She thought for a moment, then realized Mia must mean last night. And possibly an earlier time in the car.

“Maybe,” Ellie said. “Do you?”

“Only if you want to.”

“Not really.”

“So no, then.”

Ellie nodded slowly. She kept looking at Mia, thinking, and decided that they didn’t. Mia didn’t seem upset, or angry. She didn’t seem much of anything, really, just comfortable. She was just sitting there, looking at Ellie, stroking Ellie’s leg. She smiled occasionally, but she didn’t talk.

Of course she didn’t talk, it was Mia.

If Ellie wanted to talk, she knew she’d need to make it happen herself. Mia wasn’t going to, and Ellie knew she wouldn’t. Ellie just had no idea what to say.

Mia was looking at Ellie’s neck. At the bruise there, Ellie assumed.

“Yep,” Ellie said, because it was something to say. “It’s still there.”

“Sorry,” Mia said, but didn’t sound especially sorry at all.

Ellie kept thinking.

“I don’t mind how you’re always staring at me,” Ellie said, because it was something else.

“Okay,” Mia said, still staring. “Good.”

“It seems like I ought to, that’s all.”

Mia shrugged.

“I mean, back before this,” Ellie said. “Not right now this second. It never really bothered me, that’s all.”

Mia nodded. “Good.”

Ellie wondered what to say next. She thought about being looked at, and watched, and what that might mean.

“Did you think about me,” Ellie said. “Last night? After I left?”

“Yeah. A bit.”

“Like dirtily. Like thinking rudely?”

Mia started grinning. “It was only yesterday. I didn’t have that much time.”

“Yeah,” Ellie said. “So?”

“You obviously did about me?”

Ellie didn’t want to answer until Mia had. “Maybe,” she said. “Did you?”

“A bit.”

“I did about you.”

“Yeah, I got that.” Mia grinned.

“And before last night?”

Mia nodded. “Sometimes.”

“And did you, um, do more than think?”

Mia understood. She grinned, and said, “Mind your own business.”

Ellie smiled, but didn’t push. She lay there, thinking that she should really get up.

“I like the dress,” Mia said, surprising Ellie. It seemed oddly like an actual conversation.

“Thank you,” Ellie said, and then didn’t have anything else to say.

She thought about not having taken the dress off. There was something quite wanton about turning up just for a fuck and not even bothering to undress. And something wanton about doing that, and then leaving without bothering to talk.

“Maybe I should go,” Ellie said.

“Only if you want to,” Mia said. “I’m not throwing you out.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

“I’m not, okay? We really could go again, if you wanted to.”

Ellie shook her head. “I won’t. I mean, it’s too much hassle.”

“It’s really not.”

“It is. I am. And it’s late.”

Mia nodded. “Only if you want to go.”

“I should. But not because of anything with you, either.”

Ellie lay a little longer, lazy, thinking, still not actually getting up to go. She suddenly remembered. “We need to go shopping,” she said.

“Okay. Why?”

“I told Mark we were, as an excuse. But maybe we should, so what I said isn’t a lie.”

Mia looked at Ellie for a moment, and Ellie thought she was going to say that was silly.

Mia didn’t.

She nodded instead. “Yeah,” she said. “I get you. We can do that.”

Ellie smiled. She liked Mia a lot, right then, for understanding.

She liked her so much she decided to leave. To be dramatic and disappear while everything was going well.

She sat up. She looked around on the bed, and found her undies, and then thought about wanton. Instead of pulling them back on, and looking awkward doing it, she just bundled them up into her hand.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m going.”

Mia nodded, but she didn’t stir. Probably not realizing how quickly Ellie actually could leave, since she was still dressed. Or how quickly she was going to.

Ellie leaned over, and kissed Mia. “I’m not upset or anything, okay?”

“Okay.”

Ellie waited, but Mia didn’t say it back. Mia probably never said things like that back. “Are you?” Ellie said in the end.

Mia seemed surprised. “Of course not.”

“You’re sure?”

“Completely.” Mia leaned forward, and kissed Ellie. Starting the kiss, this time. “I’m not,” she said.

“Okay.” Ellie stood up. She went to the door, and picked up her keys from the floor beside it.

Mia was bending down, reaching off the bed for her jeans.

“Don’t worry,” Ellie said. “Just stay there. I can find the door.”

Mia hesitated nodded.

“So bye,” Ellie said, not sure how big a thing she should make of leaving. She did actually want it to be big, but she didn’t know quite how. She decided not to worry, in the end.

She opened the door, and then closed it again. “So I would again tomorrow,” Ellie said. “If you wanted to?”

Mia seemed surprised. “Yeah,” she said. “Okay.”

“You would?”

“Of course.”

“I should come here?”

“Yeah, if you like.”

Ellie went back to the bed, and kissed Mia again, and said, “I completely would.”

And then she left. She went to the door, and opened it without a word, and just left. Because that seemed fairly wanton too.

She walked down the hall, feeling proud of herself, her undies still bundled up in her hand. She was proud of herself until she realized that she’d forgotten about Tasha.

She had to say goodbye to Tasha in the lounge.

She had stand there, while she did, putting her shoes back on, still with her underwear hidden in her hand because she didn’t have any pockets and she hadn’t brought a bag, hoping it wasn’t obvious what she was holding.

Ellie said bye, and Tasha looked up from the TV, and smiled, and said, “Yeah, see you.”

Ellie was almost relieved it was that easy.

Then Tasha picked up the TV remote, and grinned at Ellie, and really obviously turned the TV’s volume down.

There was something of Mia in Tasha, Ellie thought. They probably got on terribly well.

Ellie was embarrassed. She almost wanted to blush. Instead she just said, “Bye,” and open the door and left, a little surprised by her own lack of concern.