“So do you just… know what to do? How to touch someone you’ve never been with before?” 

Nicky chuckled softly and shook her head. “I am not psychic, Jackie. It is… intuition, when you are with someone, you learn what they like as you go. And it helps to have your own frame of–” she stopped mid-sentence when a realization dawned on her. “Have you ever touched yourself before?” 

Jackie shook her head. “I was too nervous to, like, I thought that the second I tried, my parents would burst through the door.” There was a beat of silence and she felt her face heating up. “Could you teach me?” 

“Of course,” she smiled, leaning over to gently caress her cheek. “Do you want me to touch you?” 

“Please.” 

Nicky obliged, easing Jackie onto her back and getting on top of her. She was gentle and diligent, covering her skin in kisses, slowly removing each article of clothing and lavishing the newly exposed skin with attention. She listened intently for what got sharper moans, needier whines. Then her hand moved between Jackie’s thighs, using two fingers to rub small circles onto her clit.

“O-Oh my god…” Jackie moaned, feeling sparks shoot through her body unlike anything before. “Just like that, fuck, please.” 

So she continued, deciding to ease Jackie into this by not taking it beyond rubbing her clit. But even with that alone, she had brought her roommate to an orgasm a bit sooner than expected, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. “How do you feel?”

“Heavenly,” she sighed contently, relaxing into the bed. “Thank you,” she quickly added. “I, um, would be more than open to getting more lessons from you in the future.”

“Might as well have,” she chuckled dryly, her arms looping around Nicky’s waist and pulling her close. “I’ve missed you.”

Nicky pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, her arms draping around her neck. “And I you,” she replied. “Hopefully they get sent on an extended business trip again soon.” They had met each other through their husbands who worked together and had taken advantage of the time they were left alone as much as they possibly could. The infatuation was immediate and intense, it left them no time to try and process their feelings.

“We should be so lucky,” she agreed as they relocated to the kitchen where they could enjoy the dinner Jackie had so diligently prepared. “Do you think they ever suspect anything?” she asked as she poured two glasses of wine.

She shrugged. “If they do, they have been rather courteous in not addressing it. Maybe they know and are secretly in the same boat. I wouldn’t put it past us to both end up with men who are… that way.”

Jackie tilted her head pensively. “You might be onto something, he hasn’t tried to bed me in months,” she mused, then added, “I guess that’s your job now,” with a wink.

“A job I take very seriously,” she confirmed. “In fact, my plan is to have you for dessert.”

“No you aren’t,” Nicky soothed, holding her close and gently rubbing her arm. “You’re gonna be fine.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” she mumbled.

Nicky kept trying to soothe and distract her. “Just try to keep it together, baby. It’s only a ten minute drive. Just take deep breaths.”

Jackie nodded, doing her best to take slow, even breaths until the nausea subsided enough for her to not mess up the stranger’s car.

When they arrived, Nicky helped Jackie out to get her inside, making sure she left a hefty tip for the driver as well. “There we go, just have to make it into the elevator, then it’s a short, little walk to the apartment.” They had been living at that apartment for nearly a year, but she wanted to make sure her shit-faced friend didn’t have to do any thinking.

And Jackie was focusing all of her energy into standing upright and walking anyway, until she crashed onto her bed. “Make the room stop spinning,” she whined.

“I’ll do my best,” Nicky chuckled softly. “Just hold still, I want you go get into pajamas,” she said, manipulating Jackie’s body around as she got her changed.

“Thank you Nicky, I love you,” she mumbled.

Nicky smiled and tucked her in. “I love you too.”

“No, no, no, you don’t understand. I love you. Like, love love. Not even sad about my stupid ex anymore, just sad because I wanted to tell you but couldn’t… until now, I guess,” she confessed, then quietly added, “please don’t hate me.”

“I could never hate you,” Nicky leaned over and pressed a kiss to Jackie’s forehead. “But you should get some sleep. We can talk this out in the morning, once your hangover passes, of course.”

“They should be so lucky.” It didn’t help that Nicky wasn’t relenting. She had Jackie’s skirt hiked all the way up and her hand shoved into her panties. She had two fingers steadily thrusting into her, savoring all the whimpers and moans she got out of her coworker.

Jackie was normally the more soft spoken one out of the two, but she was struggling to stay quiet. Her head was resting against the wall, a hand gripped into Nicky’s hair as she bucked against her fingers. Her lust for Nicky significantly outweighed her fear of getting caught, there was no point in trying to be ashamed.

Nicky smirked to herself, knowing she had successfully freed Jackie of any nerve or inhibition, and she was happy to reward her coworker for heeding her. She kept her fingers pumping steadily, kissing up and down her neck, indifferent to the mauve lipstick marks she was leaving.

“Nicky, fuck, I-I’m gonna…” Jackie could hardly form a coherent thought, let alone sentence. She just desperately jerked and writhed against her, hoping she would get the message.

“Go ahead, baby,” Nicky cooed. “Come for me.”

And exactly on Nicky’s command, Jackie hit her peak, whimpering and whining as she rode it out, struggling more now than ever to not draw too much attention. They might have been alone, but she had no idea how long it would last.

So, she took her time, pouring over every sentence, every phrase, marking it up as she went along. She was impressed at how well it was written, considering it wasn’t even in Nicky’s first language, but she still had plenty to spruce up. “There we go,” she hummed. 

Sure, the sadness that lingered in the back of her mind when she thought about Nicky pining so deeply over another girl grew stronger with each correction, but she’d get over it.

“Alright, all done,” Jackie handed the letter back to Nicky with a sad smile.

This deeply confused Nicky. “Why are you giving it back?” she unfolded the letter. “Why… What… you just corrected all the spelling and shit?”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t want to change the structure, so it still seems genuine when you give it to… whoever it was written for,” she shrugged.

Nicky stared blankly. “You… thought I was asking you to correct it… to give to someone else?” she asked slowly, making sure she wasn’t simply going crazy.

“Is that not the case?” Jackie asked, cocking her head to the side.

Once the shock settled in, Nicky started laughing. She was laughing far too hard, but she flat out could not believe it. It took her a few moments to collect herself and wipe a stray tear from her eye. “Oh my dear, sweet Jackie. For someone so smart, you sure are oblivious,” she shook her head. “I wrote the letter for you.”

“But that would mean you’re in love with me,” Jackie remarked as if it were silly to even imply. But after a second, it clicked. “Oh my god, you’re in love with me?”

“Took you long enough.”

Jackie was speechless, something that didn’t happen very often to her. So, she decided not to use her words at all for once. She cupped Nicky’s face and kissed her deeply. “I love you too,” she mumbled against her lips.

“It’s still weird, Nicky,” Jan said once she was finally able to visit her friend and see for herself. “Eventually she’s gonna catch you, if she hasn’t already.”

Nicky shrugged. “I will deal with it when and if it happens.”

“I’m not bailing you out of jail if she calls the cops on you.”

And Nicky didn’t think much of it, and her habits didn’t change over the next few days. Not until she was returning to her apartment from work at the same time Jackie was coming home. She looked her over through her sunglasses, trying not to make it terribly obvious.

“Hey, your apartment’s right across from mine, right?” Jackie asked, almost startling Nicky.

She swallowed thickly. “Oh, um, yes, I think so.”

Jackie nodded. “Quick question, are you planning on murdering me? Because I keep seeing you looking into my window, and I’m pretty sure you took a picture a couple times.”

Nicky laughed and shook her head. “C'mon man, I’m a pervert, not a fucking monster.” She noticed the confusion on Jackie’s face. “I was just checking you out, you’re hot. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”

“That’s what that was?” she had to laugh at herself for her own obliviousness. “Right, well, if any of my neighbors were going to be perverts, I’m glad it’s you. I’m Jackie, by the way.”

“Nicky, enchanté.”

Jackie smiled. “Vous venez de déménager ici depuis la France?”

“Oh shit, you speak French too? Glad I found that out now,” Nicky chuckled.

Jackie hesitated, hooking her bra back on in silence. “No, but…”

“But what? Stay for a bit. You’re always so quick to leave, I promise it doesn’t ruin the illusion to stick around for some pillow talk,” Nicky told her.

“It’s not that. It’s just complicated since I’m not out. I’m worried that if I start staying, things will start to change between us, or-”

Nicky sat up, looking at her with sympathy. “Oh Jackie,” she sighed. “You think too much and talk even more.” She got up, throwing on an oversized t-shirt. “I understand not being out yet. It’s scary, but it doesn’t mean you have to push me away. It’s okay if you have feelings for me.”

Jackie sighed. “Is it? It starts out as just some feelings, maybe I stay overnight here and there. Then it could turn into us dating, falling in love, then I’m going to want to come out but I’m not ready to deal with the potential fallout.”

“Let’s just take it one step at a time, okay? I’m not asking for your hand in marriage. I’m just asking you to spend the night, order some dinner, watch a movie, maybe fit in round two before bed,” Nicky calmly explained. “Your family doesn’t need to know anything you aren’t ready for them to know. You need to start living for yourself instead of how they might react.”

“Easier said than done,” Jackie mumbled as she sat back down on the bed. “But… I think spending the night might be nice.”