CHAPTER 24
Samara had changed hotels that morning. The thought of spending one more night with that AC unit making sounds that she was certain meant it was about to die soon, seeing the stains on the sofa in the living room, or listening to the freezer make sounds as well, was just too much for her to deal with after the previous night when she’d hardly been able to sleep.
She had kissed Dana in Dana’s car after a non-date that had felt very much like a brief double date between them and Dana’s friends.
She had even put her hand on Dana’s thigh after Dana had wrapped her arm around Samara.
Well, Dana had wrapped her arm around Samara’s chair, but everyone knew that when someone did that, it meant something.
And maybe Dana had just been trying to protect her, but that meant something, too.
In the car, she had wanted to say more. She’d wanted to tell Dana that she liked her, but that she had never been with a woman, so she might be bad at this.
She might need Dana’s patience as she tried to figure out what she wanted to do.
Liking someone didn’t mean Samara had to go for it.
After all, she had really just wanted to have sex with a woman for the first time; she wasn’t looking for a girlfriend or a lifelong commitment.
Her plan had been a simple one: star in this movie, hopefully get an award nomination or two or, at least, someone telling her she was believable as a gay woman, and then, come out if she was ready to tell the world that she was bisexual.
Then, she would date and maybe actually commit to someone if someone had her interested enough to consider that.
If not, at least she would’ve done it: been brave and told the world that she liked women, too.
Samara knew it might cost her a few roles.
Then again, it might get her a few since more and more actors were coming out these days, so studios and networks were trying to be more politically correct about hiring queer actors to play queer characters.
She could even get something juicier than this role after Vancouver.
Yes, that was what she would do. She’d do this movie, do the next one, and come out in the process and find a better role to play that would get her to the next level of her career, where she wouldn’t have to play dumb blondes or scientists whose shirts never seemed to button all the way to the top.
She wanted to be taken seriously and as someone who would have longevity in this business, and to achieve that, she needed more than just this movie and the lame action one she was doing after it.
Her morning had been spent packing and checking out of the awful hotel to move to the much nicer one.
It wasn’t a five-star, but a four-star one would work on such short notice.
Since it wasn’t an extended-stay type of hotel, and they hadn’t had any suites available for her, she had a standard room, but it came with a king bed, a nice bathtub with a separate shower and a mini fridge that held six bottles of sparkling water and nothing else.
There was also a two-seater table by the window that led to the balcony, the thermostat in this room read seventy degrees, and nothing seemed to be making weird sounds.
With room service, she figured she’d be okay here until after the holiday break, when she had already reserved a suite for herself.
After she had moved hotels, she’d changed and decided to walk around a little, but instead of walking around aimlessly, she’d donned that horrible wig and glasses and stopped by NOLA Guides, seeing Rory, who didn’t recognize her at first, and Jill, who was working in the office.
They hadn’t wanted to charge her, but she had insisted, and she had made sure to tip Rory well for the first tour and Jill for the second one when it had been Jill’s turn to get out of the office a bit.
Then, it was back to the room to shower and get ready for her date with Dana.
Was it a date? She didn’t know. They hadn’t called it that in their text messages.
She’d asked Dana over for dinner but hadn’t specified whether she wanted it to be a date or not, and her comment in the car about sleeping alone last night hadn’t helped because she knew Dana had understood her.
Samara hadn’t been able to sleep last night, and not just because of the random room sounds but because, yet again, she’d been thinking about Dana.
Specifically, Dana’s lips on her neck and her fingers buried inside her.
She had wanted that since she’d first seen her, and that new, sexy haircut really wasn’t helping Samara.
She had been turned on for days now, and no matter how many times she’d touched herself, it hadn’t been enough.
When the knock at the door came, Samara shot up from the bed, where she had been sitting, waiting impatiently for Dana, who had texted her that she was leaving the set and was on her way.
Samara straightened her dress, which was silly because it was pleated.
It was also short, but not too short, and her flats showed that she cared, but not enough to put on the fanciest heels she’d brought with her.
Her blonde hair was down and curled at the ends, and she had put on just the smallest amount of makeup.
Mainly, mascara and lipstick, and a little cover-up for a small stress pimple she’d seen emerging on her forehead above her right eyebrow.
Samara shook her head and took a deep breath. Then, she opened the door.
“Hey. You didn’t respond to my last message, so I just brought–” Dana stopped. “Oh.”
“Oh, what?” she asked.
“You look–” Dana’s eyes raked over her body. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
“I don’t,” Dana said, looking down at herself. “I came from the set. I’m wearing an NYU sweater.”
“You look fine,” she said. “What did you bring?”
“Oh,” Dana added, shaking her head in the same way Samara had just done. “I texted you again after I told you that I was leaving to see if you wanted me to bring anything. You didn’t respond, so when I had to go, I just grabbed this.” She held up a bottle of Samara’s favorite wine. “Is that okay?”
“That’s perfect. Thank you. Come in,” she said, motioning for Dana to walk into the room.
“Wow! This place is much nicer than where they put you up.”
“I tried. I really did,” she said, closing the door. “But the sounds… I couldn’t get over the sounds, and I wasn’t getting any sleep.”
“The sounds?”
“The freezer made sounds. The AC unit also kept kicking on every ten minutes, and it was never keeping the room at a regular temperature. The shower even dripped a little, and I could hear it whenever the AC wasn’t on.”
“No shower dripping here?” Dana asked.
“Nope. And I’ve already tested it. Rain shower, too. My favorite.”
“There’s a rain shower in this place? I’ve always wanted to try one of those.”
“You’ve never–”
“No,” Dana interrupted. “I’m a caterer. I can’t afford fancy places like this.”
Samara smiled, took the bottle of wine from her, and said, “Maybe you can try this one.”
“I would, but I stole a shower in your trailer before I left.”
“What?” Samara said, laughing.
“Yeah. My trailer doesn’t have one. I had Jana let me in because you locked it on me.”
Samara continued to laugh as she set the bottle on the table behind her.
“Did you use my shampoo?”
“Yes,” Dana said.
“Really? You did?”
“Want to check?” Dana asked, lowering her head. “It’s some pear thing.”
“Pear and nectarine,” Samara said, and she could smell it on Dana’s hair now.
“Was that a mistake? Are you mad? I should’ve asked first.”
“No,” she said, running her hand through Dana’s hair. “It’s even softer now.”
“I assume that stuff is more expensive than the five-dollar stuff I buy at the drug store.”
“You only spend five dollars on shampoo?”
Dana laughed and said, “No, but it’s close to that.”
“My stuff is fifty dollars a bottle.”
“What?” Dana asked, looking worried now. “Shit. I’ll pay you back for what I used. I’m sure it was only, like, two dollars worth or something.”
Samara laughed again and said, “Dana, I don’t care. And your hair is extra soft now. You should use my shampoo more often.”
“Is this you maybe suggesting that I’ll get a chance to do that?”
“Take a shower?”
“In this room. One night, maybe? In the future. Distant future. Very distant future is also acceptable if that’s what you need.”
“Very distant?” she asked with a smile and wrapped her arms around Dana’s neck. “I don’t want that.”
“What do you want, Samara? You’ve been a little hot and cold on me lately, and I honestly don’t know what to do. You are dressed up like this is a date, and I wore a sweater because I didn’t want you to think I was treating it like one.”
“What if we just eat dinner? It should be here any minute. And we talk. We get to know each other a little more and see where it goes. We don’t commit to it being a date or going on one. We just have dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“With the wine you brought,” Samara said.
“But your fingers are playing with my hair right now, and I want to hold you.”
“I’m not stopping you,” she replied.
Dana wrapped her arms around Samara’s waist then and pulled her in.
“Were you jealous today?” she asked, running a hand up and down Samara’s back.
“You mean with Kathy?”
Samara lifted an accusatory eyebrow.
Dana laughed loudly and said, “I knew it.”
“That’s why you told me, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, a little bit. I also genuinely couldn’t remember her name, so it was bugging me.
I felt like an asshole because she has a name, and I’m normally good with names, but I’ve been thinking of her as Maggie.
I didn’t exactly get in any real rehearsal time to get to know everyone.
Then, she asked me out, and I couldn’t say, ‘No thank you, Kathy. You seem great, but I’m not interested,’ because I didn’t know her name. ”
“Would you have still said no to her if you and I weren’t doing whatever it is we’re doing right now?” Samara asked.
“I don’t know. Probably,” Dana replied.
“Why?”
“I don’t know her.”
“You didn’t know me, but we’re here.”
Then, there was a knock at the door, and someone said, “Room service.”
“And so is our food. I got two things for you, just in case you don’t like one, and they have this amazing tofu stir-fry I was excited to try.” She kissed Dana quickly before she let go of her and paused for a second as she realized what she had just done. “And I just kissed you again.”
“Yes, you did,” Dana said with a smile. “Feel free to do that whenever you want.”
Samara laughed and walked toward the door, which she pulled open.
“Evening, Ma’am. May I set this up for you?” the man asked.
“Yes, please,” she said. “And if you wouldn’t mind too terribly, I ordered the wine, but I don’t need it anymore because my friend here brought some.”
“I’ll have them take it off the bill,” he said as he pushed the cart.
“Oh, I was going to suggest you just take it with you if you’re a wine drinker,” she said.
“Ma’am?” he asked.
Samara nodded, and Dana sat on the bed and watched as the man set up their food for them and even lit a candle in the middle of the table.
“Will there be anything else, Ma’am?” he asked, handing Samara the bill to sign.
“No, thank you,” she replied. “Have a great night.”
“You too, Ma’am,” he said.
Then, he was gone, but Dana was still sitting at the end of her bed.
Samara knew their food was getting cold by the second, but she couldn’t resist. She moved into Dana, and Dana spread her legs for her as if she’d known all along what she was going to do.
Samara moved between them, and her hands went around Dana’s neck again while Dana’s went to her hips.
“Can I stay tonight?” Dana asked, looking up at her. “Nothing has to happen. I just want to sleep next to you. Is that okay?”
“Is this so you can shower here in the morning?”
Dana laughed and replied, “Yes, that is the only reason I’d want to stay with you.”
“I thought so,” Samara teased. Then, she swallowed and stepped a little closer, making Dana’s hands land on her lower back. “And it will be late when you leave, so I was going to ask you to stay anyway.”
“But that’s because it’s practical. I don’t want you to want me to stay because it’s practical, Samara. I want you to want me to stay because you want me to stay.”
“What happened to dinner and we’ll see?”
“What happened to the two times you have kissed me without me prompting anything, and that hand on my thigh last night?” Dana teased, rubbing Samara’s back.
“I really like this dress, by the way.” Dana’s hand moved to Samara’s thigh, under her dress, but it stopped there. “It looks really, really good on you.”
“It does?” Samara asked, closing her eyes at the touch.
“Yes. And while I would love to tear it off you right now and do all the things that I’ve been imagining with you, I’m not here for that, okay?”
Samara’s eyes opened, and she asked, “You’ve been imagining things?”
“Oh, yeah,” Dana replied. “You have been naked all over my trailer, your trailer, and my apartment in my mind. Last night, you were in my back seat. It was very good, by the way.”
Samara laughed and said, “You…”
Dana nodded and replied, “A few times.”
“Me too,” she admitted.
“You too what?”
“About you,” she revealed. “I… you know.”
“You touched yourself thinking about me? Me?”
“Dana, I swear to God… You have got to start–” She stopped. “Actually, no; don’t start realizing how sexy you are. You’ll just get a big head about it and probably attract more women like Kathy.”
“Hey, Kathy was nice,” Dana replied with a little laugh. “And you’re not just saying that because you think I’m embarrassed about what I did?”
“Dana, I’ve touched myself twice today thinking about you. Once in this bed you’re sitting on, and then once in the shower. And that’s just today.” She leaned down and kissed her quickly. “And it was good, by the way.”
“Which time?” Dana laughed.
“Every time,” she replied. “Now, let’s eat.”
“Fine, but I’m staying over tonight in case you decide to do that again; so I can watch.”
“You wish,” Samara replied as she laughed. “I got you steak and chicken. Which do you want?”
“Both, obviously,” Dana said. “It’s fancy food. I never get to eat fancy food.”
“Stick with me, then. I’ll get you fancy food all the time, if you want.”
“I’m kind of trying to here, Samara. You’re the one talking dinner and we’ll see. I’m the one asking to stay the night, remember?”
Samara pulled Dana up by both hands and kept them joined between them.
“Stay because I want you to stay,” she said. “I’ve never slept in the same bed with another woman like this, Dana. Friends, yes, but not… this.”
“I know,” Dana replied and kissed her forehead. “Want me to open the wine?”