Chapter Text
Shit. Shit Shit Shit. Therese flung the blanket off her in a wild motion as she flung herself out of bed cursing her alarm for not going off. Of all the days. They had a big client coming in this morning that was way out of their league and the opportunity of a lifetime. She hastily grabbed the clothes she had laid out the night before, hopping into her pants before heading into the kitchen while wrangling her shirt on. The scent of coffee surrounded her as she stepped into the small kitchen with one arm in her sleeve, her other arm dangling limply at her side when seeing the puddle of coffee surrounding the coffee maker and countertop. Dammit.
The neon green time glared at her from the oven as she stepped over to see if any coffee had made it into the pot. Of course not. She peaked into the machine to find the coffee filter folded down and turned it off. 8:24am
I can make it. If I leave in the next 6min and catch the subway I can make it. Therese flew into her tiny bathroom throwing on deodorant and quickly brushing her teeth. She brushed her short brown hair and decided a headband would have to do today. Shit no time for makeup. I’ll do it on the subway. Grabbing her bag, keys, and phone she left like a whirlwind out of the apartment and was out the door.
8:32 Her phone screen showed her as the elevator doors opened into the lobby. Shoving her phone in her bag she ran outside and was already a few strides towards the subway entrance on the corner when she realized that it was raining. You have got to be shitting me. Too late to do anything, she sprinted towards the covered stairs and let out a sigh as she saw the full platform, her train was expectedly running late and for the first time that morning Therese found herself grinning.
Crammed between an overflow of bodies she wedged her hand into her bag looking for her makeup that she hoped was still in there. Fucking mary poppins bag she thought as she delved to the bottom of it and successfully found what she was looking for. Just as she finished putting some eyeliner on and lip color the subway lurched forward telling her she had one more stop to go. A sudden warmth spread along her shoulder and her eyes widened at the apologetic eyes looking at her and the spilled coffee now seeping into her already wet shirt. It was a small stain and she closed her eyes reminding herself that her jacket would cover it until she reached for it and realized it was still sitting on it’s hanger at home. The subway lurched again and Therese leaped off of it in dire need of some space and air.
It was barely drizzling now but Therese was still damp from her morning sprint to the subway. Three blocks, just three.more.fucking.blocks. The familiar glass doors finally stood before her and reflected a very different image to Therese than she had been hoping to present on this big day. Her hair was wet and flat, her light blue button down shirt was sticking to her in some places and the brown stain showed prominently on her shoulder. As she strode through the doors making a beeline for the elevators she ripped off her headband and raked her fingers through her hair in an attempt to dry and style it. A set of doors gleamed open and she sprinted towards them.
Ding. The doors slid close without her, leaving her in the lobby pressing the button furiously in hopes of still catching it. She glanced at her phone and leaned her head back against the cold marble wall next to the elevator, 9:02.
“Fuck,” she squeezed her eyes shut and waited.
“Rough morning?” A low sultry voice asked her.
Therese jolted at the sound and green eyes met blue. The woman before her was a vision. Tall, short blonde hair with the perfect amount of curl, cheek bones for days and fire engine red lips. What took Therese’s breath away though were the sharp blue eyes boring into her. Some fine lines started to appear near that breathtaking blue as she started to smirk at Therese with a glint of amusement lighting up those eyes, an eyebrow now arched looking for a response.
Shit! Say something! Anything!
She smiled nervously, “That would be an understatement.”
Ding.
The elevator doors opened and Therese shook herself out of her stupor to step in and quickly press the button to her floor, “Which floor?” she asked the stunning blonde as she stepped in.
The woman walked to the back of elevator slightly behind Therese, “As fate would have it, same as you I see.”
Ding.
Therese shivered. Get your shit together Belivet, you have a presentation in less than an hour. She’s just a woman! She took a deep breath and tried to ignore the heated gaze she could feel on her back. Running her hands through her hair quickly, she tried to make herself more presentable and attempted to fix the shirt that was sticking to her. As she went about fixing her collar, warm fingers suddenly met hers, manicured nails skimming the back of her neck as the woman behind her stepped close to help. Therese momentarily froze as she felt herself blush from the neck up.
Turning slowly she gazed up at the taller woman as she lifted her second hand to fix the collar on the opposite side. Fire engine red nails that matched those divine lips soothed any remaining wrinkles away near her collar. Those hands stilled and rested gently on her shoulders as they stared at each other.
“There…perfect” the low voice husked.
Ding
God help me
“I..uhh..th-thank you.” Therese stammered out.
The mysterious blonde gave her an amused smirk as she stepped out of the elevator and headed towards reception. Therese snapped out of her trance, shaking her head as she bolted the opposite way down a long hallway. With one last look over her shoulder in the direction of the mysterious woman, she saw that reception was now empty as she rushed inside her shared office with Dannie.
“Where have you been?! You’re ov- “ Dannie stopped midsentence as he saw the state Therese was in and couldn’t help but laugh, “What the hell happened to you?!”
“Don’t ask.” Therese pushed past him, diving for her desk drawer hoping her sweater was still in there. “Fuck” she slammed the offending drawer shut.
“Are you looking for clothes? I… I have a shirt if you need one.” He offered meekly. Therese looked up at him then at his boyish brown hair and bright eyes.
Great I’m either going to present looking drowned or I’ll be up there naked.
“Dannie…” she watched him pull out a folded light green shirt, “I…yes thank you, you’re a life saver”
Before she knew it, she was once again rushing down a hallway. Dannie’s shirt was a little big on her but she made it work as best she could with the few top buttons undone. Her hair had dried decently after repeatedly raking her fingers through it and it only took a moment to clean up her makeup. She found Dannie hanging out in front of the door waiting for her and went over to stand opposite of him by the door jam.
Just as she was about to speak a familiar presence was at her side and a manicured hand touched her collar lightly.
“I must say,” she paused and looked into the deep green eyes before her, “green is very much your color.” The blonde woman from the elevator winked at her as she let go of Therese’s collar and walked into the same conference room she was just about to present to.
Oh shit.