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Destiny Rides Again

By Cassandra & Bik

Gabrielle was looking out the front window of the small house. She had a very slight frown of concentration on her face. There was an increase in the sound from the television playing in the background. The talk show she had turned on for the companionship must have reached its exciting, but predictable, climax of name-calling. The fact that she had had to turn to the familiar faces on television for company was one of the things she was thinking about.

She had been staying at Zeena's place for the last three days. She had even been sleeping in her hostess's bed; unfortunately her hostess had insisted on sleeping on the couch in the living room. Bri kept telling her the couch was too short for her almost six foot frame and that there was plenty of room in the bed. All Zee did was take a deep breath and hold it way past the count of ten. A couple of times Bri thought she saw a longing look in her dark-haired rescuer's eyes; but since Zee was holding her breath, it might have just been lack of oxygen.

Bri continued looking out the window, ignoring the television which had moved on to a commercial for car insurance for people that nobody in their right mind would sell a car to. She had cleaned up the house while Zeena was at work at the garage. Not that it was dirty, exactly, just a little messy. Zee excused it by saying she had been away for several days. The blonde former clerk wasn't sure if that really explained the two piles of clothes in the bedroom marked clean and dirty.

Anyway, since Zeena had let her stay with her when she quit her job on the spur of the moment, so to speak, the least she could do was tidy the place up. She had had to borrow some money to buy clothes, too, since all she had to wear was her cashier's uniform from the truck stop.

But Bri wasn't thinking about any of this. She was trying to come up with some way to let the tall, dark, monster truck driver know how she felt about her. Bri just hoped that Zeena felt the same way about her. She could feel Zee tremble when she would "accidentally" brush against her. And that look of longing she would get when Bri's vivid green eyes would lock on hers, begging.

The blonde's train of thought abruptly crashed when she heard a roaring sound coming down the road. It got louder until she thought her eardrums would burst. She knew they wouldn't because this noise had been the prelude to Zeena's arrival home every night. In a few seconds a desert gold Mustang convertible squealed around the corner and almost leapt into the driveway, stopping inches from the garage. Its driver brushed her long dark hair back from her face; she pushed herself up from the seat, then jumped out in her usual way - treating the doors as optional equipment. She saw her new roommate and smiled; she had a surprise for her.

Zeena had a smug look on her face as she walked into the house. "Hey, Bri, you look nice in those clothes. Dinner sure smells good," she continued as she headed for the kitchen.

Bri followed and was in time to see her getting a can of beer out of the refrigerator. Zee popped the top one-handed - one of her many skills.

"How was work, Zee?" Bri wasn't all that interested in the inner workings of car engines, but her new friend was in such a good mood that she had hopes for tonight.

Zeena couldn't answer for a moment; she was busy communing with the beer. "I took the day off; I had something I needed to do." She gave Bri a big grin.

Bri's thoughts were in a whirl when she heard this. Maybe Zee doesn't feel anything for me, and she just took me in like she would a lost puppy. Since she was hurt, of course she reacted angrily. "You took the day off and didn't tell me? You left me here to watch boring tv and fix your dinner while you took the day off! Well, if I'm in your way, you can just take me home. Maybe I can still go to the movies with Herbie tonight."

Zeena was surprised by this outburst; she wasn't sure how to take it. She thought Bri liked her and was happy here. Dealing with emotions, hers or others, was not her thing; besides her motives for taking the day off had been of the purest. How could she explain this to the angry woman staring at her?

Zeena looked at the floor and mumbled, "I didn't know you were bored. I'll take you home anytime you want." She can feel her heart shriveling as she says this, but doesn't let her face show it.

When Bri saw Zeena trying to hide how hurt she was behind her stoic mask, she knew she had been wrong in her first guess as to why her roomie took a day off. Suddenly she realized that her big, tough mechanic was really a sensitive flower. She walked over to Zeena and touched her lightly on the arm. "I'm not bored; how could I be around you?" She smiled into the tall woman's troubled eyes. "So what did you have to do today?"

Seeing that smile, Zeena could feel her heart expanding. She reached into her jeans pocket and brought out a wad of money. She held it out to Bri, whose eyes got big. "I went back to the truck stop and talked to your boss, and he gave me the money he owed you before you quit." Her lips twitched in a small grin.

All Bri could do was stare at Zee. Of all the thoughts in her head, the only one she could spit out was - "How did you do it? He's such a jerk I knew he'd keep what he owed me."

Zeena gave her a crooked smile and tried to look modest. "I just explained the situation and asked nicely." She didn't think she needed to mention that she had been in major intimdation mode.

Bri grabbed Zeena and squeezed her in a big hug. "This is great! I'll take you to the movies tonight." Zeena's arms were trapped or she would have hugged back, much to her own surprise.

They arrived at the multi-plex in the strip mall. Bri wanted to go to a romance movie, thinking that might get Zee into the right mood; the right mood for Bri anyway. But Zee, with her longer legs, was at the ticket window buying tickets for the latest action movie before Bri could catch up to her. When Bri saw what movie they were going to, she resigned herself to having to close her eyes during the goriest parts, and probably having a pounding headache by the time it was over.

They stopped by the concession stand and stocked up. Even though they had just eaten dinner, Bri bought several candy bars and a big tub of popcorn. Zeena was content to get a giant Coke. Zeena led the way to their seats. She liked to sit close to the sound system to get the full effect of the explosions. Bri made a note to get earplugs before they went to the movies again.

During the brief moments when the gentle blonde had her eyes open, she noted how her companion was reacting to all the action on the screen. Bri began to get her hopes up again; maybe it was action movies, not romance, that would get her reluctant friend into the right mood.

When the last bullet had been fired, when the last bomb had exploded in a special effects pyrotechnic display, when the last flying body part had come to its final resting place and the lights had come up and it was safe for pacifists to open their eyes, Bri looked at Zeena. What she saw was encouraging. Zee was hyper; Zee was pumped. Her eyes glittered when she looked at Bri. "Come on. I gotta drive." Zeena moved swiftly up the aisle and out of the theater. The shorter woman ran to keep up.

After several minutes of flying down the highway, Bri thought to herself that it was good that she was young because at the speed they were going there wouldn't be much time for her life to flash before her eyes before she died. She heard Zeena's voice but couldn't understand her with the noise of the wind.

"What?" she yelled.

The car slowed to subsonic speed. "I said wasn't that a great movie? The special effects were awsome; didja see that last explosion! And the car chase!! The best one I've seen in a long time!" She was excited and happy.

Bri, who had seen very little of the movie although she had heard it in all its glory, said as positively as she could, "Yeah, it was a really good movie. I'm glad you liked it so much."

Zeena got a slightly furtive look on her face. She cleared her throat. "I thought about being a stunt woman once." Bri twisted around to look at her, startled. "But then I sobered up." Zeena laughed at Bri's relieved expression.

Bri turned back and looked straight ahead. She didn't know if Zee was joking or not. Then she caught sight of the full moon overhead.

"Hey, Zee, let's park the car somewhere and look at the sky for a while. It's so clear we should be able to see lots of stars." She gently rubbed her fingers along Zeena's right hand which clutched the steering wheel even tighter.

All Zeena could think was - park?

She found a secluded spot just off the road and stopped the car.

They look up at the sky for a minute. All they could hear was each other's breathing. And the pings from the Mustang's engine as it cooled off. They look at each other. They see the same thought mirrored in the other's eyes.

They recline the seats all the way, but they are no longer looking at the sky.

FADE OUT