V & V (wlw)

Chapter 1 - The one where there's two dates at once

Veronika was having a terrible night. She was sure that the bass of the massive speakers would be wonderful if she actually had someone to dance with, but the sound made her skull vibrate in irritation.

She was at Aegis, the newest high-end club her friends wanted to check out. She had no intention of going, truth be told, until they told her that Rose was coming too.

Rose was her girl, or at least a girl she'd been hanging out with, and Veronika figured it was going well between them. She liked Rose; the woman was pretty and good at conversation and Veronika liked her spontaneity.

Tonight should have been great. Her friends had left them to themselves and she thought it might be time to take their relationship further; they hadn't really agreed on a label. Actually, she hadn't brought the topic up yet.

Problem was, Rose was distracted. Every move Veronika made was met with a lukewarm response. Part of her brain watched this mess play out and begged her to stop before she embarrassed herself.

Veronika was good-looking – she had bleached her black hair into warm brown tones, kept it cut short ever since university. She'd never had problems attracting attention if she wanted it. Normally she was confident about herself, but tonight felt different.

Maybe it had something to do with the woman that's been looking at them ever since they got here.

She sat alone in the VIP section – cordoned off by velvet ropes to keep the rest of them sweaty plebs out. From where Veronika stood, she could see that the woman was dressed in a suit, her jacket draped over the far side of the sofa. Arms resting along the top of the couch's backrest, a hand occasionally running through her short, sharp, and probably overpriced haircut, she looked impossibly cool.

Veronika bit her tongue as Rose returned flirty little looks in the woman's direction, as if she wasn't right there.

Eventually, the mystery woman got up and started walking, eyes trained on them. Veronika had a sinking feeling in her chest; of course she was threatened. This drop-dead gorgeous stranger – with a VIP table, no less – was approaching. Rose had already shrugged Veronika's hand away from her waist and was now smoothing her black bodycon dress.

She bitterly downed the rest of her drink as the woman stopped in front of them.

"Is she your girlfriend?" she asked Rose, flashing a lazy, megawatt smile as she nodded toward Veronika.

God, even her voice was sexy. It almost made Veronika's knees weak, as it clearly did Rose's.

Rose tossed long blonde hair over her shoulder and batted eyelashes up at the woman – the stranger was tall, taller than Veronika, which made the latter ever so subtly straighten her back.

"No," said Rose, voice approaching sultry. "She's just my friend."

That sealed it for Veronika. She knew she had to leave them to it, to slink off and save face, when the intruder stepped in front of her before she could.

"Then maybe she'd be more comfortable sitting with me," said the woman, and it took Veronika a moment to realize she was talking to her.

She leaned closer, and Veronika felt her breath on her neck when the woman whispered, "What do you think?"

She opened her mouth and closed it again, at a loss. Rose stared at them, tipsy shock on her face.

This woman was not her type, and yet she found herself flustered; her gaze was so arresting. She didn't really know why – maybe the attention was a pleasant surprise after a night of getting brushed off, maybe it soothed her bruised ego to see Rose indignant – but Veronika found herself saying yes.