'Cuffed to My Bed (girlxgirl)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

       Elizabeth found herself opening up to Charlie like she never had to anyone else before. He was quickly becoming a friend. She didn't understand why they couldn't have had that instant chemistry that she felt she had with Sarah. She just wanted to love her.  

       "I locked myself in my studio and painted for what seemed like forever. When I came out, she had cooked breakfast and I looked up and caught her eye. I felt my heart ache more when she gave me a hug and told me to be safe. That was when I was leaving to meet you. I don't know what's going on in her head anymore, Charlie. It's like she's a different person lately." 

       He smiled softly at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. It felt comfortable there. She found herself leaning against him and almost cried. She sighed heavily, the ache in her chest becoming a familiar weight.  

       "She could probably say the same for you. There isn't a true right or wrong way to court someone, Liz. She doesn't know you feel this way and you don't know how she feels about you. From what I see, I see a concerned friend wondering what's going on with her roommate and a roommate worried about how she's feeling about her friend. You either take a leap a faith and tell her how you feel, or you ignore this for the long haul and don't say anything to her." 

       She sighed again. She leaned forward and grabbed her wine from the coffee table in front of the sofa. She sipped from it gingerly because at this point she definitely didn't want to get drunk and place that burden on Charlie. She kept count of her glasses carefully and at one point demanded water from the kitchen.  

       She walked around the living room and found the little family pictures on the mantel endearing and the picture of his dog funny and adorable. She however couldn't get past the picture of him and a very pretty woman who wore a wedding ring on her left hand. They looked extremely happy. She heard Charlie walking back into the room and she turned to smile at him. 

       "Who is this Charlie? You look so happy." 

       She saw the look that ran across his face. It read somewhere in between anger, frustration, and grief. 

       "It's my wife. She died a couple of years ago." 

       She walked over to him and gave him a hug.  

       "I'm sorry to hear that Charles." 

       He hugged her back. 

       "If you want you can stay the night in the spare guest room. Before you go on about not feeling safe in a stranger's home or something it has a lock on the door so that no one can get in." 

       She thought about it and then looked at the clock. She'd been there for several hours. 

       "I should get back before she starts worrying I died." 

       He laughed and then stared at her. 

       "But when are you going to start living your life for yourself?"

       When she arrived home it was nearing one in the morning. She unlocked the door and walked in. She dropped her keys on the table and then the light turned on. She saw Sarah sitting in the armchair next to the television. 

       "Where you were you? I hope you didn't have sex with him! Elizabeth the least you could do was call me! I've been worried sick!" 

       Liz felt herself huff and then walk to her bedroom. She walked in and threw her purse on the bed. She turned around to close the door but couldn't because at that point Sarah was already in her room and making herself at home. She looked away and grabbed clothes out of her dresser. 

       "So you didn't call me because?" 

       She finally had enough. She turned around and glared at Sarah. 

       "Because I'm a grown woman? Because I don't need a keeper? Maybe I came home earlier and heard you having sex with someone in your room? Maybe I was freaking traumatized and went outside? What right do you have to judge me, Sarah? When you were in there humping like bunnies with some average Joe when you could do better." 

       Sarah leaned back in shock, her jaw slack and her eyes wide. 

       "Where did that come from?" 

       Elizabeth sighed, she started taking her dress off and putting her pajamas on. 

       "No where. I'm just frustrated and I didn't mean to yell at you." 

       She paused and then stood up to face Elizabeth. 

       "For the record, I didn't mean to sound like a nag, I was just worried about you. I was never judging you, I just wanted you to be safe." 

       Then she turned around and walked to the door, she was about to close it when she looked back at Elizabeth through the six inch opening. 

       "Another thing? I wasn't having sex with a guy. I was watching porn." 

       The door slammed shut behind her and Elizabeth felt both elation and humiliation wash over her like a tsunami. Crap.

       Their relationship turned sour the next day. To Elizabeth it seemed like Sarah was punishing her for something that she never did and to Sarah, it was like Elizabeth was punishing her for having a libido. Both of them felt that it was unfair and didn't speak to one another all day. Not that it was hard to do it. Elizabeth stayed in her studio and Sarah was out of the apartment for business meetings.  

       It wasn't until dinner time that Elizabeth came out of the studio, paint everywhere on her face. Before she stepped out into the hallway she glanced both ways and breathed a sigh of relief. She walked towards the kitchen and then stopped next to the counter. Sarah was in there making food. She was wearing a yellow sundress and had her hair flying over her shoulders. There was no way that she could face Sarah by herself and she took a deep breath and tried to calmly, but silently, to walk out of the room into the hallway. As luck would have it however, it didn't happen that way. She forgot that there was a table near the entrance and that there was one floorboard that liked to squeal on the people walking in. Sarah turned when she hear the squeak, the thud, and the curses that followed.  

       She walked around the counter and saw Liz laying there on her back, rubbing the back of her knee and cursing like a sailor. She couldn't help herself. It was too funny and her laugh bubbled up before she could stop it.  

       To Elizabeth's dismay she saw Sarah doubled over laughing her cute butt off, clutching her stomach with the force of the chuckles. She slowly stood up and glared at Sarah. Sarah raised a finger in the air as the universal signal for waiting. She then stood up straight looking at Elizabeth with a cold face. The only give away that she enjoyed Liz's pain was the mirth that Elizabeth could see in her pretty eyes. 

       "I was going to ask if you wanted to eat dinner with me but you beat me to the punch, or should I saw table." 

       She started cracking up again. This time Elizabeth joined in, seeing the hilarity of the situation.

(A/N: Unedited)