"That's it."

11.54 AM

Tré' pulled open the door and stepped back into the store. Grateful for the heat radiating all throughout the store. Her body soon warmed back up, but not before a smile curled her lips, it was worth freezing her bones if that meant talking with Stella. Her heart soared as she recanted their conversation, more specifically to when she asked her out. Who knew making one bold statement could get you the girl? Shaking her head, she shook off her jacket before tossing it in an almost empty cardboard box she had been unpacking earlier.

"So glad you graced us with your presence," Tommy greeted behind the counter, restocking batteries on the shelf. "A new order of batteries just arrived along with these record players that are now on high demand. Could you lend me a hand, or would that be asking for too much?" Tommy asked over his shoulders.

Tré looked down at the high stack of players perched in front of the register counter. No wonder he was in a crabby mood. Unboxing and placing these on displays would take hours. She understood the high demand of them, without the fuss of wires and bulkiness, it made sense people wanted them. They were highly affordable, not to mention better looking than the original versions. Tré owned a purple colored one herself, and with her employee discount, she could definitely revamp her music library.

"Tommy, I need to talk to you," Tré said, ignoring his snide comments. She stopped short of the counter. Tommy froze momentarily, never were their words more terrifying than those.

"Okay, look, we can negotiate about who did or didn't eat your sandwich," Tommy began lowering the battery he was holding on the counter.

Tré' scrutinized Tommy, shaking her head she swallowed her laugh. "No, I know you ate it, and we'll talk about that in a sec. I wanted to, well, I have no idea what I wanted because I'm too busy freaking out." Although Tré was stocked that Stella asked her out, that never eliminates the immediate nerves that come along with liking someone. And Tré was worried she might like Stella more than she did her. And what if during their date, Stella realizes how lame Tré actually was? Or turned off by how blunt she can be, especially when she's nervous. And how nervous Tré was feeling had her on the ledge of a cliffhanger.

"Freaking out about?"

"Stella wants me to come over to her place today. Well later today," Tré revealed, hoping Tommy understood her situation.

"Really? She's never invited me to her place, and I've known her a lot longer. Then again, l 've never sat outside on the sidewalk talking nonstop to no ends time either," Tommy mumbled, getting lost in his thoughts.

Tré slammed her hands on the counter, snapping Tommy from his blabbering. "Pay attention," Tré sneered, wiping her face with her hand. She needed Tommy's full attention. Tommy nodded his head obediently.

"When are you going?"

"She's picking me up later, after my shift," Tré replied without hesitation.

Tommy picked up the batteries, tossing them back and forth between his hands. "So, what's the problem? You seem to really like her," Tommy noted. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Shoulders slumped, Tré' leaned into the counter. She mashed her face in her hands. "Of course I do. I'm wildly attracted to her. She's funny, intuitive, and compassionate."

Tré exhaled. She absentmindedly drummed her fingers on the counter. What's there not to like? Could someone have one conversation and feel this instant connection with another? Was it possible?

Tré cleared her throat, "What if, "Tré' began licking her lips, then continued skeptically, "it's code for hooking up? I'm not sure how I feel about that," Tré conceded sheepishly. She's never been one to have the inkling of a one-night stand. And if that was what Stella wanted out of tonight, Tré was unsure how comfortable that made her. She's not one to judge what a person may or may not want to do, especially if the feelings of attraction are real, and they were, at least on her side. Still, that didn't mean she wanted to act on them right away, did it?

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, then slid his eyes over Tré's shoulder to where Stella stood a few feet away. The hair at the nape of Tommy's neck rose, feeling perplexed he plastered a smile on his face. "Stella, hey," he greeted.

Tré's heart sank at the mere mention of Stella. It felt as if the floor beneath her feet had concaved where she stood. Exhaling, Tré twirled around, and indeed there she was. What had she heard? How long was she there?

"Hey, Tommy," Stella tossed his way though her eyes never left Tré's. "And so? What if we do? What if we don't? Look," Stella said, she continued silencing Tré' before she could speak. "You don't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with doing. Honestly. I don't make it a point of saying women throw themselves at me. Although there was that one time. Completely blindsided me, though, so I left. I figured we had a connection, although I like to at least wait until the second or third date. Get to know each other a little more and allow us to be comfortable with each other. That's why I invited you over, also because I did want to show you the hype about San Junipero is real. Okay?" Stella hoped that revealing her intentions would help calm down Tré's worries. The last thing she wanted was to freak her out. She understood how terrifying strong feelings can be, and your first instinct is run away as far as possible. No one knew that better than Stella. Hence her speed dialing her best friend the moment Tré was not in hearing range. It's perfectly normal to be uneasy after meeting someone you like. The last person Stella felt this way about was Liza, and that relationship ended disastrously.

"Okay," Tré' replied, feeling relieved and equally foolish for assuming the worst in Stella. Of course, they had a connection. It was the reason her heart nearly leaped out of her chest the moment she saw her.

"So, is that why you're here? To soothe me from my freak out?"

Stella's mouth pulled back slightly, "Well, I was coming back under farce pretenses by asking Tommy if I owed him any money from the albums earlier. When in truth, I just wanted to see you again. Make sure you were okay and still wanted to go. I feel like I somehow coerced you into coming to my place. I wanted validation of it, I guess."

"Well, how sly of you. Yes, I was com­pletely coerced into the whole thing."

Stella's jaw slackened." Really?"

Tré' laughed when she saw her expression. "No, silly. Of course, I want to go. Be back by five."

"Okay."

Stella started to walk away.

"Wait," Tommy called, exchanging glances with Tré.

"Yeah?" Stella answered, turning back around.

"Do you still want to know whether you owe anything or not?"

Both women glanced at each other then busted out laughing.

Tears streaming her face, Stella shook her head before leaving.

"Of course not, Tommy. She could care less about that. As she said, it was under false pretenses. Nothing more." Tré' clarified once she was able to stop her fit of laughter.

Tommy blew out a breath as he watched Tré disappear down the aisle. "It's cool," he mumbled to himself. "Wasn't a lot, anyway.'' With that said, he turned back around and got back to work.