Would you Swallow all your Pride?

Chapter Twenty-Two: Orange.

They arrived at the company's building and followed straight to the elevator. The office was starting to get full again, so Venable let go of Emma's hand. They walked in and Emma followed to the bathroom. "Come here," she told Wilhemina. With a frown, Venable did so. Emma closed the door behind her and bit her lip, hands reaching for Wilhemina's hips.

Venable frowned a little more, eyes falling to the hands on her hips and then to Emma so close to her. "What—" She was cut by a pair of lips against her own. Wilhemina wasn't expecting that, and her eyes grew wide as she tried taking a step back, but her back hit the door. With her free hand, she pushed Emma away. "What are you doing?!" She whisper-yelled.

Emma stumbled back with an even bigger frown than Venable's. "Kissing you?"

"We're in the middle of the workplace, in work hours! This is not appropriate!" Wilhemina licked her lips as she stared at Emma.

"I just thought—I just wanted to kiss you. No one is here, the bathroom is locked." Emma passed a hand through her hair. "I didn't think it'd be an issue."

Venable gulped. What the fuck was going on? She had never had to deal with that before; someone wanting to kiss her, in the workplace. In public. "This is simply not appropriate." She held her cane a little tighter. "Work is work. When we're in the company, we're coworkers and nothing else."

Emma looked like she had been hit by a brick. "Did something happen during the trip?"

"What?" Wilhemina was back at frowning. "What are you implying?"

Emerald eyes looked away. Emma crossed her arms. "Nothing... I'm sorry."

Venable took a deep breath as the room grew quiet. That woman wanted nothing more than to show her affection, and she kept on building walls and more walls. I'm a disaster. Nothing was ever appropriate, it seemed. And so, moved by annoyance towards herself and her stupid limitations, Wilhemina took a step closer to Emma. Green eyes looked up at her again. Carefully, she cupped one of Emma's cheeks and leaned closer, slowly, giving her time to back away if she wanted to. Instead, Emma closed the gap and kissed her full on the lips. Venable was still not used to it, after so long. Their lips moved slowly, and Wilhemina could feel hands going back to her hips and caressing them on top of her clothes. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. I miss being touched. Now was definitely not the time to think about it. Gently, Venable pulled away. She kept on staring at Emma's eyes. "Just... be more discreet," Wilhemina whispered. Emma opened a huge smile, leaning to kiss her once more on the lips.

"I will."

Venable nodded and pulled away. She turned around and took a deep breath before going back to her table, leaving Emma at the bathroom. She sat down and stared at her MacBook. What am I doing? Wilhemina didn't know herself anymore. And it felt good, for the version she was used to caused her too much suffering. A small giggle wanted to escape her lips, but she held it back with a bite on her lower lip. Once her MacBook was turned on, she instantly got to working. Emma had walked back to her table a few minutes ago, but she didn't look up at her. I need to finish editing the reports from the trip and hand them to Billie Dean. And so, Wilhemina focused on the task at hand. The hours passed rather quickly, and soon she was already printing the reports. Once she had it done, Venable slipped the papers into an envelope and got up to take them to Billie Dean's office. Gently, she knocked on the door.

Inside, Billie Dean had been looking through some papers alongside Jenny. "Come on in."

Venable opened the door and peeked inside. "Hello," she said softly, offering them a smile. Her eyes landed on Billie Dean, and God was it weird she was missing her? "I've finished the reports from the trip." Taking a step in, she showed Billie Dean the envelope.