I called Lea immediately as I exited the building and she shouted her agreement in my ear. She came straight from work on Friday night and we had dinner with Lily as Amelia was still at work but she came in earlier than the other nights of the week. She was dead tired but relieved she had managed to get the commercial approved by her client. This was so last minute, she would never let a client get themselves involved again, she swore that night. Lea went to sleep in Amelia's second guest room and we packed, our flight was early the next morning and neither of us are the kind to pack the day of the departure even if we didn't need to bring much.

On Saturday morning Amelia's chauffeur brought us to the airport and I thought we would be following the lines of travellers queuing to get their ticket numbers checked then their luggages weighed and finally their bodies scanned...but no. Sometimes I forget that Amelia is wealthy and that she has it easier, not easier but ...different which in that case makes it easier. We are escorted in a private waiting area where we are offered champagne, which I refuse as I just had a pill with my morning coffee. But still..champagne for breakfast, I roll my eyes at the thought. 

When the fly attendant calls our names we exit the waiting area and end up on the tarmac, a private jet in front of us. I gasp and stop walking. Amelia notices I'm not by her side anymore and walks back to get me. She kisses the side of my head and chuckles. "So easy to impress you. Damn I should have tried that a month ago to get in your pants."

It's just the two of us in the plane but it doesn't help ease my fear of flying. I'm gripping the armrests hard and I'm having trouble breathing. Amelia notices and takes one of my hand in hers but winces as I insert my nails in her skin. "Shit babe, I'm sorry I had no idea you're afraid of flying."

"No...it's ok...it's just...I hate take off..." I answer in between deep breaths.

"Hey look at me. It's going to be ok. Plus, I have a huge surprise for you when we land."

"What is it? I want to know!"

"You'll have to guess."

And so I try, giving her one answer after the other, focusing hard on what could be in Florida but I have no clue, and I don't even notice our plane is in the air now. When we land a car is waiting for us and taking us to our surprise destination. I gave up guessing by now and start pouting. I really hate that game. Actually I just hate losing at any game. Amelia remains stone-faced, a smile plastered on her lips though. Finally the car parks and we get out but I still have no idea where we are. It's a small stadium but surely it can't be the one for the Superbowl. And then it hits me and I jump like a two year old on Christmas day. I can't believe she brought me here. And more importantly, I can't believe I couldn't guess.

I walk up the stone stairs and first hear this sound I Iove so much and have been missing these past weeks. Then the cheers fill my ears and I make out the blue and orange players of the Florida Gators softball team as they are warming up for one of their first games of the season. I turn to face Amelia, she'd been watching me and has a huge grin on her lips. I kiss her deeply, how had she known they are my favourite team ever... "Thank Lea for that. She gave me the idea." Immediately I reach for my phone and take a selfie of Amelia and I with the Gators in the background.

😍😍🥎😎😘

"I wish you'd send me texts like that." Amelia says half seriously.

We settle on the bleachers as the game starts. It's a bit chilly but I don't mind. I know all the players' names and make predictions when the line up is revealed. They have such a strong defence and my eyes follow the first base's every moves. I'm trying to take it all in, making mental notes for when I'll be able to go play again. I miss it, I miss my team...I miss the adrenaline before a match when my coach tells me my at-bat order and when she confirms my place at the first base. I love playing that position as it's the first wall of defence and I hate missing a ball. The pressure I feel before a match makes my knees shake but once I'm playing all the fear stops and I'm here to give the best of me, for my team.

Amelia doesn't really care about the match. She asks me questions from time to time when she doesn't get a particular action and I gladly explain. After a while I notice she has stopped watching and is keeping her eyes on me. Weirdo. "You're staring a lot."

"I...was thinking."

I turn to face her. I don't like when she starts being too serious. Has she done something dumb again?

"Baby...I was wondering..."

"Please just say it already you're making me nervous."

"I'd like you to meet my family. If you want to, of course...I mean, no pressure... actually forget I've said that."

"Amelia...of course I'd be happy to meet them."

"You sure?" Her eyes are sparkling now and her lips are curling up.

I don't give her an answer. Of course I'm sure. I lean in to kiss her and take her right arm and start stroking it. When the match is over we buy Lea the pair of batting gloves she ordered and I by a pair of orange and blue sneakers with a gator at the side. I'm sure no one else will wear them back in New York and just that thought makes me want to buy them. Plus they are really pretty.

Our chauffeur drives us to our hotel suite and we change. Amelia wants to take me out for dinner. I'm always quick to get ready and sit on the side of the bed waiting for her. When she gets out of the bathroom, her blonde hair is up in a high ponytail, just the way I like it and she knows. I take my time taking her in...she's gorgeous in her dark blue dress and fidgeting. I've never seen her so nervous and it hits me. Gosh it's our first date...! How come it didn't even cross my mind? I walk to her and wrap her in my arms, resting my head on the crook of her neck. I close my eyes and inhale her perfume. La Petite Robe Noire...

"Mmmhh...tu sens tellement bon." (You smell so good.)

"What did you say baby?"

"Nothing you don't already know." I smile and walk to the mirror to tie my hair in a ponytail as well. As I inspect myself in the mirror, I catch her walking behind my back to hug me from behind. 

"No really, what did you say? I hate that I don't understand." She starts kissing my neck and I close my eyes again, pressing my back against her.

"Learn French then. How do you expect to have a conversation with my family if you don't understand each other?" She stops kissing me and stares at my reflection in the mirror. "I'll ask Lily to translate." She answers proudly and resumes kissing my neck, softly and slowly and I tilt my head to give her a better access. 

Of course she has no idea my mom is fluent in English but it would be nice not having to translate my conversations with Lily all the time. Plus a bilingual child needs to stick to one language with one parent and currently we are both talking to her in English. I would really appreciate if she made some effort but if languages are not her thing.... Shit where is she now? I completely spaced out and have not noticed she had stopped kissing me and holding me. Such a bad habit. Oh here she is.

She comes back behind my back and clasps a necklace around my neck before pressing her lips behind my ear. The stone is turquoise, my favourite colour, and it falls perfectly on my cleavage. I open my eyes wide and put my fingertips on the stone.

"I knew that necklace was missing someone."

"Amelia? What's the occasion?"

"Do I need one ? Can't I buy jewellery to the woman I love? Plus, you kinda saved my ass on Friday."

"Thank you Amelia, I love it. I love you." I kiss her deeply. "I love you too baby."

Quite a perfect date already. We drive to a restaurant close to the beach and are sat at a table facing the sea, behind bow windows. We eat sea food, something I never cook because I have no idea how to do it and have been too lazy to learn, though I know I'll just do one day. It's on my mental list of things to do...like learning how to play the electric guitar and mastering another foreign language. Through desert I notice my hands are sweaty and I'm having difficulty breathing so I excuse myself and leave for the restroom. I wet a towel and place it around my neck to cool myself down and I take a pill from my purse. I come back feeling a little better.

When we come back to the hotel room I collapse on the bed and Amelia does too. We had to wake up very early this morning to catch our flight and we are exhausted. "You want to call it a night?" I ask her and she yawns. I roll on the side to face her. I rest on my right elbow and peck her lips. I place my left hand above her right forearm and carress that soft spot I love so much and could draw by heart now. "You couldn't take your eyes from it during dinner. You never told me what's with your passion for Kandinsky."

I don't want to change the mood and start remembering about Kelly so I just kiss her instead and despite the exhaustion we start making out. Amelia grabs me by the hip and I end up on top of her. She cups my cheeks with her hands and draws me closer to her where she whispers in my ear in a sultry voice "ekphrasis". I stare at her with an eyebrow arched and my eyes wide open. I lean on her to suck on her neck and here she goes again "hyperbole."

"Fuck Amelia, what's wrong with you?" I say playfully. It's not the first time she's acted weird in bed...

"It doesn't turn you on?"

"What? Nooo! Does it turn you on?"

"No! I thought...you might like complicated words. I had to try."

Such a weirdo, again. "What put that idea into your brain? Is it cos I'm a teacher? Gosh Amelia you're so weird. Stick to dirty talk." I laugh out loud and she nods, lifting her head to kiss me.

"You know what?" She says in between kisses "I got totally turned on but what you said in French earlier."

" But you didn't get any of it."

"Maybe that's why."

"Amelia....tu me rends complètement dingue...je suis en train de tomber follement amoureuse de toi." (You're driving me crazy... I'm madly falling in love with you.)

I see her eyes roll at the back of her head and hear a moan escape her lips, probably because I started pinching her nipple and sucking on her neck, and not the effect of my words. 

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, it was a cake recipe. Now shut up and fuck me."

........................