Is She, Isn't She?

"I gave her a lift home once," Jeanie replied, voice slightly uncomfortable.

"You should probably give Ash your number anyway," Tansy advised wisely. "Just in case there is a hiccup on the night, for whatever reason."

"Yeah, I think so," Jeanie nodded, not looking at Tansy either -- she knew she was being teased, but was doing her best to pretend she didn't know it. She ripped a pen out of her handbag and grabbed a coaster. "Please don't let anyone else from around here get a hold of this," she pleaded jokingly as she scrawled with the pen. "You haven't heard what some of these women have said they want to do to me! I know they're just teasing me and most of it's in good fun, but if certain of them got my number, I'm sure it would be brutal!"

"You wouldn't have that problem with our Ash, she'd never do anything to make you feel bad," Claire practically sang. "She's nice and gentle. Or so I hear."

Ash swung her leg out again brutally and this time she found her mark. Claire jumped and flinched.

"Sorry about them, Jeanie, they think they're being hilariously funny," she apologised to Jeanie, glaring threateningly at her gang of misbehaving girlfriends. "So this is your number?"

"Yeah," Jeanie nodded, still looking nervous for some reason as she handed it over to her.

"Mine's on the invitation," Ashley nodded to the paper still in Jeanie's hand.

"This is really cool!" Jeanie let a smile creep out across her face.

Ashley found her enthusiasm adorable. The resistance she'd been building up against Jeanie during the past fortnight was rapidly all coming undone under that beautiful, sweet smile.

"I bet you've never been to a twenty-ninth birthday party before -- how old are you again?" Claire joked. "You're still just a baby, aren't you?"

"Yes I'm a baby but I've got the important things covered -- as long as my ID works and lets me drink, right?" Jeanie winked at her. "Twenty-two," she reminded them. "So no, I've never been to a twenty-ninth before -- but I'm really looking forward to my first time!"

"I bet you are!" Tansy and Claire rang out at exactly the same time. "And how special for Ash that she'll be the one to take your cherry!" Claire added, sniggering. "For your attendance of twenty-ninths, I meant, of course."

Jeanie blushed bright red. "You're outrageous, Claire," she shook her head. "I've got to go before the floor swallows me up or Tony fires me, one of the two. Catch you at the bar, ladies!" and she quickly turned and bolted.

"I could kill you, Claire!" Ashley exploded at her as soon as Jeanie had gone.

But Claire and Tansy were both collapsing against the table with simultaneous laughter, and Meredith was grinning from ear to ear as well.

"She likes you, Ashley!" Claire told her, voice happy. "God, she was so cute! She has a crush on you! She got all flustered and embarrassed. And she was so happy to see you!"

"And I didn't know she'd given you a lift home one time, sneak! You kept that very quiet! Did anything happen on the drive home?" Tansy pried, also wearing a massive smirk. "Pity you don't live in Timbuktu and she had to drive you there! A five minute drive, I'm sure, wouldn't have been long enough in the hot box with her."

"Nothing has happened," Ashley, for the first time in what seemed like days, felt herself breaking into a natural smile. "She was cute, wasn't she?" she drummed her fingers against the table and grinned at her friends.

"She was flirting with you!" Tansy corrected her. "She gave you her number! And as if she didn't mean for you to catch on to that "first time" pun. She's a bright girl, she knew what she was doing -- she just didn't expect us to call her out on it in front of the whole table!"

"I'm going out to have a cig," Chantelle grunted, black thunderclouds on her brow, getting up and slouching immediately off.

Meredith, Tansy and Claire all burst out laughing again.

"If you're thinking of calling time on your pursuit of sexy little Jeanie, think again Ash," Claire advised her. "If that little display was anything to go by, she'll be yours for the taking at your birthday party. Best birthday present ever, right?" she winked at her.

"It hasn't happened yet," Ashley tried with dignity to put the brakes on everyone's speed-of-light presumptions. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Oh, Ash, you're a predator, I've seen you in action!" scoffed Claire. "You're one of the hottest women I know, of course Princess Jeanie's lusting after you. Seal the deal, break her in, she's asking for it! It's obvious to everyone sitting here that she wants you and wants you bad."

"Chantelle's face was priceless," Tansy actually had to brush away tears of laughter from underneath the black frames of her glasses.

"Jeanie's face was priceless, when she realised the invitation wasn't from Chantelle, it was from Ashley!" Meredith joined in the merriment. "I think our girl might be a little curious for some girl-action, Ash, and it looks like she wants you to be the one to show her the ropes!"

Ashley succumbed to their light-hearted bantering, but inside, she was torn with uncertainty. If Jeanie did want her, why hadn't she kissed her two weeks ago when Ashley had offered, when she'd been drunk? -- Or had Ashley just answered her own question? Or, had Ashley's absence from Bolton's made Jeanie's heart grow fonder? Had Jeanie been thinking a lot about the kiss that had never been between them?

Only one place she was going to find all that out, she was certain, and that was at her birthday party. Only one week to go...

***

Ashley still kept away from Bolton's in the week leading up to her birthday party. The fact that Jeanie had turned down her kiss that night still stung her. She and Jeanie had, though, exchanged a few, borderline-flirty text messages throughout the week.

Jeanie started it by sending Ashley a text asking about dress code, stating that she didn't know what to wear.

Ashley admitted she was starting to get suspicious of Jeanie's feelings now. If Jeanie really wanted to, she could have just gone onto Spiral's website and checked the dress code there, same as she could have for any other club. Still, of course the good-looking blonde been delighted to get it, and of course she'd replied flirtatiously, telling Jeanie that whatever she decided to come in would look hot on her.

Jeanie had sent a giggling reply that was quick to return the compliment, something sweet along the lines of "I'm sure no one will outshine the birthday girl. Can't wait!"

A couple of others were sent -- Jeanie asked if she should bring pre-drinks to Ashley's and Ashley told the younger woman that she'd already organised tequila shots. Jokes about tequila followed. Then there were the cute messages that made Ashley melt "only three sleeps to go! Soo excited!"

Ashley, in previous relationships, had always been hard-nosed and emotionally unavailable, really, for the most part, but this time! She was completely lovesick! She hadn't had an orgasm for a month without Jeanie's body or face dancing in front of her eyes -- that had to be some kind of record for her, alone. Her attention-span wasn't renowned for being very high. But all her sexual focus had been solely on Jeanie now for weeks.

Although, as the big night drew closer, there was still the issue of the turned-down kiss. By this time, Chantelle, Tansy, Claire and even Meredith thought that Jeanie was displaying signs of being bi-curious at the very least, but Ashley was less sure because of the no-kiss incident -- it filled her mind with doubts, every time she almost convinced herself the Jeanie's cat was in the bag.

She determined to try to kiss the girl again at her party, one last time, to find out once and for all. If Jeanie turned her down again, that would be it, finite, caput, o-v-a-h. But this time, Ashley would find out for sure if there was anything there. Because this time, the playing field would be even. Previously, all their interactions had taken place when Jeanie had been at work, where there had always been a barrier of professionalism between them. This time, they'd just be two women going out to a club together for a good time. They'd also both be drinking. Ashley just had to make sure that she personally didn't get too drunk to get to the bottom of this situation with Jeanie -- which she could foresee as being difficult, since she was the birthday girl and obviously all her friends were planning on getting her as wasted as possible.

Additionally to all this, there was the issue of Chantelle, who had been moody and slightly hostile to Ashley since the invitation debacle -- obviously, her ego had been bruised, and Chantelle did not take kindly to having a bruised ego. Ashley could bet that Chantelle would be hopping all over Jeanie as well come party night to make up for it, and to prove to everyone that she really could land the babe. Tansy had told Ashley that Chantelle had told her that she was convinced that Jeanie's little "pro-Ashley display", as Chantelle had apparently been calling it, had been all about teasing Chantelle, and making Chantelle jealous. It had, in short, been all about Chantelle all along.

Well, it was a plausible theory, Ashley was gracious enough to suppose. But she didn't really place much stock in it. Jeanie's reactions had been too genuine, too spontaneous and too real. And the text messages to Ashley afterwards made no mention of Chantelle there either -- in fact, Ashley suspected that Jeanie wasn't interested in her pretty butch friend at all, despite the fact that Chantelle made plays for her constantly.

So, now it was the big night, and Ashley didn't know what to expect as she dressed.

She wore a white halter top that showed off her nice shoulders, and supple neck. She added a tight black skirt to the outfit -- she didn't often wear skirts, preferring tight jeans or the occasional dress, but she had really good legs and why not show them off properly for once? She slipped a choker necklace around her throat, tied her long blonde hair up into a high-ponytail again, sliding shocking pink lip-gloss onto her pouty lips and applying thick mascara.

She'd timed everything perfectly. Just as she finished the last touch-ups of makeup, her flat was buzzed and the first of her guests arrived, a couple of girls from the bank. She checked herself over in the mirror one last time. She was hot, she decided. Very hot. Tall, in black heels. The muscles in her legs rippled as she moved. She was blonde, she was young, she was sexy and articulate, strong and successful, she had piercing green eyes and she had a good feeling about tonight. She looked like a knockout. She wanted Jeanie to have trouble keeping her eyes from her. Then she wanted to make out with her. And then she desired even more than that -- there was only one thing she really wanted for her birthday this year.

Fifteen minutes later and everyone had arrived but Jeanie.

"Shot time?" Chantelle was eager to get underway, as usual. "What the hell are we waiting for?"

"We're not all here yet!" Meredith rolled her eyes at Chantelle.

"Do you reckon she's freaked out? Do you reckon she'll bail?" Claire asked the other girls.

"Give her some time, she's probably just making damn sure she's not the first to arrive, because she must be so nervous about tonight because she's got such a big crush on Ashley," giggled Tansy.

"Yeah yeah Tans, I'll believe it when I have my tongue down her throat," joked Ashley, and all the girls laughed, just as the flat buzzed. It had to be her.

"Right!" Ashley whirled on her friends. "Now, all of you, be-have! She's young, sweet and kind of naive, and I don't want any of you to scare her off. I think this is her first official outing with a group of dykes -- not that all of us are dykes," she added to her bank friends, "but in the general sense, we want to make a good impression. Birthday Girl's orders!" she commanded.

"If Ash or Chantelle have anything to do with it, this will be the girl's first official "outing"!" Paola, one of Ashley's work friends from the bank, sniggered.

They all laughed.

"Aw Ash, it's no fun, we like to tease!" drawled Claire, laughing.

"Alright guys, alright, I mean it!" Ashley warned, buzzing her up and going down the hallway to her front door alone. She pulled it open.

Jeanie stood there, apprehension and nerves all over her face. But Ashley's eyes got big as they drank her in and she could only stare at her.

She was wearing a strapless, tight-fitting black and white dress that covered her body like a glove and sat above the knees, exposing acres of beautiful satiny skin. Ashley had only ever seen Jeanie in her black work clothes, but now she could see so much more. Jeanie's legs were sexy heaven -- long and shaped, they went on forever, ending in killer black heels. Her shoulders and neck were beautifully bare, exposing all the intricacy of her collarbone. Ashley wanted to kiss and lick her along her attractive neck immediately -- Jeanie had gone for the choker-necklace too. Her dark hair was out, spilling over her shoulders. Her big eyes were lined with black and smouldering, drinking Ashley in as well.

Jeanie swallowed and seemed to demure under Ashley's intense stare. The silence lingered and became laden with sexual tension. Jeanie's lips parted, after the muscles in her long neck worked again.

"Hi," she managed to get out softly, looking more nervous than ever. "Happy birthday, Ashie."

Ashley started at the endearment, and reached out a bronze, toned arm toward Jeanie. "Thankyou hun," she returned. "Does the birthday girl get a hug?"

Jeanie nodded quickly and stepped into Ashley's arms, pressing her body to Ashley's intimately and squeezing her warmly. "Have you had a nice birthday?" she asked into Ashley's ear.

"It just got a whole lot better the moment I opened that door," Ashley told her slyly, deciding to go all-out with the flirting tonight.

Jeanie giggled girlishly, obviously enjoying it. "I didn't know what to get you for your birthday," she said, stepping back, and holding up a bunch of flowers that Ashley had failed to notice because she had been too busy checking out Jeanie's hot body in the dress. "It's not a proper present but ..."

"They're lovely, and your company is my proper present," Ashley knew how to turn it on when she wanted to, and now that she had decided to go for it, there would be no holds barred. "Come in. You look stunning, by the way."

"Thankyou! You look gorgeous too. And look, we're matching!" Jeanie pointed to her neck, and to Ashley's, speaking in a cutesy voice again.

"Ha ha ha! Kindred spirits!" Ashley winked at her, causing her to laugh again as they joined the room with other girls.

"Hi Jeanie!" those who knew her called out.

"Can we fricking break out the shots already!" grouched Chantelle.

"I'll get the tequila -- Jeanie, come and help me?" Ashley asked, deciding her safest bet was to get Jeanie away from all her mischievous friends, not to mention the predatory Chantelle as well.

Jeanie nodded obediently and trotted after her, keeping close behind her at all times, eyes nervously sliding quickly past Chantelle -- who was in tight jeans, a black singlet top and, as ever, in her staple favourite green baseball cap.

Something had shifted in Ashley. She was in her own apartment, for a start, she had home-turf advantage. She knew she looked great, she was the centre of attention and it was her birthday. Plus, she'd felt the sexual tension at the door. Jeanie hadn't been able to take her eyes off her. Ashley felt sexy and confident, and it was translating to her behaviour. Her walk was straight-backed and tall as she led the younger woman into the kitchen.

"Here," she handed her a bottle of gold tequila. "You pour out the gold shots, I'll pour out the white shots. Two of each for each."

"You mean we're going to do four shots of tequila before we even hit the door?" Jeanie laughed. "Gosh, I'm going to be trollied!"

"It should be a fun night!" Ashley merely smiled.

She had two trays of shot glasses prepared in the kitchen already, and she and Jeanie went about filling them.

"You've got a really nice apartment," Jeanie said then, voice friendly. "It looks really new!"

Ashley's apartment had clean white walls, and high ceilings, with generous lighting creating a bright and spacious feel.

"I've been in here four years now," Ashley told her. "First place I've owned outright!" she added.

"Really? Awesome!" Jeanie flashed perfect white teeth at her in a dazzling smile. "I rent an ugly, big old house with three other friends," she revealed. "It's alright! We have fun. Although we probably drink too much sometimes." She giggled. "Although, because of study and uni exams, I haven't gone out for a while! So tonight my body's going to be like, whaaat? Ha ha ha! I think I might be a little lightweight tonight."

"That's okay," Ashley smiled at her. "I've got your back tonight, as long as you've got mine. Team?"

"Team!" trilled Jeanie. "And um, while we're on the subject of having each other's backs ... this is kind of awkward and I was going to text it to you but I ... I didn't know how it would come off, I mean, I didn't want to upset you, since she's your friend and all ..."

"Chantelle?" Ashley asked at once, knowing.

Jeanie's brow furrowed cutely and she nodded, biting her lower lip worriedly. "It's just that, I'm really not into her and I've told her, and she's really inappropriate ..." she got out all in a rush.

"It's alright, Jeanie, I'll make sure she behaves tonight," Ashley assured her, inwardly rejoicing at the confirmation that Jeanie felt nothing whatsoever for the cocky Chantelle, and also inwardly thinking how adorable Jeanie looked when she was anxious.

Jeanie still looked highly stressed, despite Ashley's remarks. "I'm really sorry," she apologised.

"No, don't be!" Ashley exclaimed. "She's my friend but she is really full-on at times. I know what she's like, don't worry."

"You two almost finished yet!" Chantelle barged in right at that moment, Claire and Tansy hurrying after her with apologetic expressions on their faces, Tansy even going to far as to mouth "Sorry" at Ashley -- obviously they had tried to keep her from going into the kitchen and disturbing Ashley and Jeanie.

"Just about!" Ashley returned, with a smile of understanding at Tansy.

Ten minutes, and four shots of tequila each later, and they were all tumbling merrily down the footpath toward the train station. Ashley was spending time with all her other guests, but she was keeping a close eye on Jeanie -- Meredith had simply nodded to Ashley's meaningful stare, and had struck up a conversation with her. Ashley trusted the responsible Meredith.

Meredith kept Jeanie busy until they got to the club. They were all on the guest list and got in within five minutes. They ordered a couple more shots from the bar, then moved to the floor and started dancing.

Spiral wasn't the largest of clubs. It had purple lighting, an intimate dance floor, surrounded by a stage sealed off with well-spaced jail bars, that people could swing from and dance behind -- the cage covered the walls all the way around the dance floor. The area behind the bars was shadowed, with silhouettes swinging out from time to time to the beat of thudding music.

Ashley and her group started on the normal dance floor, then split up, some going back to the bar, others heading for the stage, some remaining where they were.

Jeanie hadn't visited the dance floor yet at all. She'd come to the bar with the others when they'd first got there, then she'd visited the bathroom and had had to line up to use it. As a result, she was a full fifteen minutes gone and by the time she got back, the group had already scattered.