Gambling hearts - Hosie

Part 8

Hope pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath. Her level of annoyance is incredibly high, but she's doing her best to remain calm.

"Why are we stopping at my apartment?" The Mikaelson woman asks, her tone snappy. "We're gonna be late."

"Chill, Hope! We'll get there in time. We just need..." Maya's face lights up with a smile as she does a little pause, her eyes on the door of Hope's apartment building. "To wait for Josie."

Hope's eyes quickly follow Maya's line of sight, and they immediately widen when they fall on her wife walking out of the building. The brunette is wearing a light pink dress that falls just above her ankles, and her hair falls into beautiful natural waves on her shoulders. Even if her life depended on it, Hope couldn't deny how her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Josie. The brunette looks like a real life Disney princess.

"Mikaelson-" Maya says with a smirk. "You're drooling."

Hope's eyes quickly leave Josie so she can glare at her best friend. Maya only winks at her before quickly getting out of the car, keeping the door open for Josie. The Saltzman woman exchanges some words with Hope's best friend before getting into the seat Maya left a moment ago. Maya walks to the passenger seat of the car, sitting down next to Hope's driver.

"Josie-"

"No, please let me be the first one to talk." Josie quickly interrupts the auburn haired woman. Hope gives her a small nod. "I know you said I shouldn't go to the gala with you, but I truly believe my place is next to you. We need to prove ourselves to your family, to show them we're serious about this marriage. This gala is the best opportunity to do exactly that. On top of that, it will surely keep Ryan Clarke away from you."

Josie feels out of breath when she stops talking. She prepared that speech a couple of days ago, and has been repeating it in her head ever since. She couldn't let Hope interrupt her during it, so she said it as fast as she could.

The brunette expects Hope to fight her, to tell her this is a bad idea. So, she's pleasantly surprised to see her wife give her the softest of smiles. Hope lifts a hand, and with the most gentle touch, she pushes a strand of Josie's hair behind her ear. The small barely there touch is enough to startle Josie, leaving her unable to form any kind of sentence. Hope's fingers linger on the brunette's skin as she opens her mouth to speak.

"This dress looks beautiful on you. I'll be honored to have you by my side for the gala."

The car slowly starts moving, and the window separating the front and the back of the car slides down.

"I'm so glad you agreed to let Josie come to the gala!" Maya excitedly says.

Hope quickly retracts her hand as a light blush covers her skin. She clears her throat and glares at her best friend.

"You could have told me."

Maya rolls her eyes. "No way, you're way too fucking stubborn. Anyway, I'll go back to my conversation with Carl now."

"It's Ted." The driver says.

The last thing Hope and Josie get to see before the window closes again is Maya's indifferent shrug. Josie chuckles, and after a second Hope joins her. When their laughter dies out, they're left surrounded by silence. The Mikaelson woman is surprised to realise the silence isn't awkward, it's rather pleasant actually. It takes her a moment to gather the courage to look back at the woman she's recently been calling her wife, but when she does it makes butterflies appear in her stomach. Josie's eyes were already on her, and Hope's almost sure the brunette was checking her out when she wasn't looking.