Love Me Like You Do Ch. 01

"All Tom Cruise movies? No downtown then?" asked Jenna.

"He's such a dreamboat, and no," said Carmen.

"He's like in his 50's," said Jenna.

"And he still looks that good!" said Carmen.

"Well, we can decide that later when we get to your place. Till then I was just about to watch some TV," said Jenna.

"Ok yeah," said Carmen.

Both teens sat and watched Family Guy as they waited for Catherine to come down. Just as the episode was about to end, Jenna heard the clicking of heels on the stairs. She turned around to see her mother all dressed up walking down the stairs. Carmen turned as well to see Catherine coming down.

"Wow. Mrs. Martin, you look great!" said Carmen.

"You look really really good! Are you sure you're my mom?" teased Jenna.

"Stop it!" said Catherine. "I'm a little nervous."

"You're not going out on a date. For the hundredth time, this is just a night out with friends. Just relax already!" said Jenna.

Catherine took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah. You're right."

"So let's go. We'll give you a ride to the station and you can head downtown. Its like 8:15 now. If we leave fast, you can make the 8:30 train and be there on time to meet Amanda and her friends." said Jenna.

"Yes, let's go," said Catherine.

*-*-*

Catherine was running a little late. It was 9:10 and she was just walking up to the club where she was going to meet Amanda. Walking up she saw that there were quite a few people waiting outside in line. Catherine didn't know if she should get in line or look for Amanda. Just as she got close to the door she heard a voice call out to her.

"Catherine!"

Catherine looked around and saw that Amanda was near the entrance with another woman probably in her early 30's and wearing a white halter top with skinny jeans. Amanda was dressed in a red dress that went just a little above her knees.

"Hi! You made it!" said Amanda in excitement.

"Hey, yeah. Sorry that I'm a little late though," said Catherine.

"Oh, that's okay. We're still waiting on another friend. By the way this is Tamara. Tamara, this is my old friend from collegem Catherine," said Amanda.

"Hi, nice to meet you," said Catherine courteously.

"Nice to meet you too, Catherine. You look amazing!" said Tamara.

"You think so?" asked Catherine.

"Oh honey! All the guys in there are going to be all over you," joked Tamara.

Amanda laughed along with Tamara. Catherine smiled and tried to lighten up a little as well.

"So who are we waiting for?" asked Catherine.

"We're waiting for Alex. She's driving here from work. Stuck in traffic apparently," said an annoyed Tamara.

"She'll be here," said Amanda.

"Maybe we should go in, I mean she can always come inside later," said Tamara.

Just as Tamara had uttered the voice she heard a woman yell from the distance.

"Oi, Amanda!" cried a woman.

Catherine looked over and saw a blonde woman with short hair, dressed in black pants, a silky white top and black blazer walk up towards them quickly. As she got closer and Catherine got a better look at her, for some reason she couldn't keep her eyes off her. Her hips swayed as she moved up the sidewalk.

"You guys weren't thinking of going in without me now were you?" asked the woman huffing and puffing.

"You're late, Alex," said Tamara.

"Hey, it's not my fault. I was working late and traffic was really bad. On top of that there was nowhere to park. I had to park 2 blocks away," defended Alex.

"You drove?" asked Tamara, displeased.

"Yeah, I told you. I came straight from work," said Alex.

"So you're not drinking tonight? And I thought we were going to tear it up tonight!" said Tamara.

"Who needs alcohol to tear it up when I got my girls right here, eh?" said Alex as she put her arms around Amanda and Tamara.

"Hey, lay off A," said Amanda.

"Yeah, lay off me and my fine ass Alex," teased Tamara.

Amanda laughed as Alex gave Tamara a wink and a smile. Tamara couldn't help but chuckle too. Catherine stood there awkwardly as she waited for introductions to be made.

"Oh I almost forgot. Alex, this is Catherine. She's an old friend of mine from college," said Amanda as she pointed towards Catherine.

As Amanda introduced them and Alex turned, she got a good look at Catherine. As soon as she laid eyes on her, she couldn't help but stare at her.

"Uh, hi," said Catherine.

"Hi," said Alex as she held her hand out to shake Catherine's.

As soon as they made contact, Alex felt a jolt of electricity run through her body, a jolt that was equally felt by Catherine. Alex continued to stare at Catherine for a few seconds, which made Catherine a little uncomfortable. The last person who had stared at her like that was Harold, back in college. The next thing she remembered was being drunk and in bed with him.

"Earth to Alex," said Tamara, broking the spell.

"Sorry, I got lost for a minute there," said Alex as she gave Catherine another glance.

"Are we going in or not?" asked Tamara.

"Yes, yes. Come on, let's go in," said Alex, who couldn't keep her eyes off of Catherine.

All four women walked towards the front doors and they were stopped by a big bouncer.

"Are you on the list?" asked the buff bouncer.

"Yes. Should be under Tamara and party," replied Tamara with a smile.

"Says three people here on the list, but I see four," said the bouncer.

Tamara inched closer to the bouncer and put her hand on his arm. "Oh come on, I am sure that's not a problem now, is it?" flirted Tamara as she took her other hand and shook the bouncer's free hand.

"Well..." he said. Tamara kissed him on the cheek.

"All right. But no trouble, girls," the bouncer demanded as he opened the rope, letting them inside.

"Thank you, sweetie," winked Tamara.

The women walked inside the club and Catherine inched towards Tamara.

"How did you do that?" asked Catherine.

"Well men always respond to a little flirtatious behavior. Plus I slipped him a fifty when I shook his hand," said Tamara brazenly.

"Some day you have to teach me how to slip them the money," joked Amanda.

The women walked in further in as loud club music blared over the speakers. The place was full of drunks, dancers and flirty men. Catherine hadn't been to a club since before college, which was about 18 years ago. Still, clubs in that day and age looked nothing like this place. There were ambient lights all around the club and it felt eerily dark, but the women walked inside and towards the bar. They each got a round of drinks and headed for the nearest empty spot they could find to stand.

Tamara heard a buzz on her phone and got it out. She began to smile as she tapped her phone and replied to the text that she had received.

"Can you please stop texting your little toy boy for one minute?" said an irritated Amanda.

"He's not my boy toy," retorted Tamara.

"Boy toy?" asked Catherine innocently.

"He's just a guy I see from time to time. He's not a boy toy," replied Tamara.

"Time to time... sure. So Tamara, how is your little boy toy, hm?" asked Alex in a teasing tone.

"He's not my boy toy!" repeated Tamara, defensively this time.

"Well, he's 20 and you're, what, 33? You haven't been on a real date and all you guys do is hook up from time to time, so boy toy," said Alex.

"Yeah, boy toy," teased Amanda.

"Well I would call him a booty call but not a toy boy. That's too degrading," she smiled.

"But you are still doing him yeah?" asked Amanda.

"If you mean fucking his brains out, then yeah. I am," said Tamara brazenly.

Catherine could only laugh as she heard their conversation.

"So Catherine, what about you? What do you do?" asked Tamara.

"Well, I'm a stay at home mom," said Catherine.

"You're a mom?" asked Alex.

"Yes. I have a daughter. She's 16," replied Catherine.

Alex felt a little disappointed. She was obviously attracted to Catherine, but it wasn't the fact that she had a kid that bothered her. It was probably the fact that she was married and with a husband. She was completely mesmerized by this woman from the moment she had laid eyes on her. But hearing her now, Alex felt a little sad.

"So you're married?" asked Alex.

"Separated," said Catherine.

The sadness seemed to disappear instantly as a small smile formed on Alex's face.

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" asked Alex.

"You don't need to answer that!" said Amanda.

"No, it's okay... He cheated on me," said Catherine, trying to keep composure.

Alex smile now disappeared and she got an expression of sympathy on her face. She continued to look at Catherine, measuring her up. She couldn't help but wonder why a woman as beautiful and attractive as Catherine would be dumped by a man. For some reason, she wanted to go closer to her and give her a hug.

"Oh! I'm sorry to hear that," said Alex as she continued to keep her gaze on Catherine. Catherine didn't understand why she was opening up to the blonde, but for some reason, she just wanted to. Plus in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that Alex was a lesbian and was interested in her.

"See, this is why I don't like to get too attached. I would rather just have fun until I know I have found the right one," said Tamara.

"Every guy you meet is apparently the right one," teased Amanda.

"Well, they're more Mister Right Now than Mister Right," said Tamara boldly.

They all began to laugh simultaneously. All the while Alex's gaze continued to stay on Catherine and Catherine would steal quick glances back at Alex.

"So, Alex, what do you do?" asked Catherine.

"I'm a professional photographer," said Alex.

"We actually work together sometimes. She's really good. She helped take pictures of the lesbian wedding, I told you about," said Amanda.

"Okay, that's nice. Interesting line of work," said Catherine.

"Plus, she gets to meet a lot of girls that way," teased Tamara.

"Girls?" asked Catherine innocently.

"Yes. I'm gay," said Alex boldly.

"Oh," replied Catherine.

Catherine's suspicion was confirmed now. Alex was indeed a lesbian, which explained why the blonde would keep looking and staring at her from time to time. For some reason, Catherine didn't seem to mind that Alex kept staring at her. For one thing, it made her feel attractive that someone other than a man would be interested in her. Jenna's words about her being a 'stunner' seemed to be true and it raised her self-esteem.

Alex gave Catherine an awkward smile as she looked down at the floor and then back at her, trying to gauge the brunette woman's reaction. Catherine's reaction was a little uncomfortable one from the expression on her face. Still Alex could feel that there was a level of attraction there.

There was a bit of an awkward silence as Tamara and Amanda looked at each other and then back at Alex and Catherine.

"So, uh, another round? I'll get this one," said Tamara.

"Yeah, sure. I'll just go to the ladies room. I'll be back in a few minutes," said Catherine.

As she walked off, Amanda caught hold of Alex.

"What are you doing?" asked Amanda.

"What?" asked Alex.

"Come on, don't play coy with me!" said Amanda.

"What did I do?" asked Alex.

"You're obviously into her," said Amanda.

"Into who?" said Alex.

"Into Catherine," said Amanda, matter-of-factly.

"No, I'm not,"

"Oh please!" said Amanda.

"What are we talking about?" asked Tamara as she walked over with drinks.

"We're talking about little miss 'I'm gay' here making googly eyes at Catherine," said Amanda.

"Yeah, what is that about?" asked Tamara.

"You too?" asked Alex.

"Honey, there's like some underlying sexual tension there that can cut the room in half. At least, that's what I feel," said Tamara.

Alex sighed as she leaned against the pillar next to them and looked down on the ground. "Is it that obvious?"

"Honey, please be very careful. Catherine is in a very vulnerable position right now. She's separated and she's working on some issues at the moment. And I know for a fact that she's 100% straight," said Amanda.

"How do you know that?" asked Alex.

"Come on, I've known her since college. She's always had eyes for the guys. Besides, she got married," said Amanda.

"Yeah, and then she got separated," said Alex.

"A, I think the point Amanda is trying to make is that she's straight and that the chances of you pursuing her are disastrous," said Tamara sympathetically.

Just as Alex was about to say something, Catherine walked back to them from the ladies room.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Catherine.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing really. Just some stuff," said Alex.

"Is everything okay?" asked Catherine.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything is fine," said Alex.

Catherine could hear the nervousness in Alex's tone. She felt as if the three of them had been talking about her while she was gone, but she pushed that thought out of her mind.

The next hour the women got busy getting drunk, all except for Alex of course. Catherine was beginning to feel the alcohol getting to her but she was not quite completely drunk yet. She did notice that Alex would make eye contact on occasion, but not as much as before. Pretty soon all four women were on the dance floor having a good time. The club DJ was playing some really good tunes.

After a while, Amanda excused herself to go to the bathroom and Tamara joined her. Only Alex and Catherine were left at the dance floor now. They smiled and danced together, although Alex could feel and awkwardness in Catherine. She tried not to notice it and continued to dance. The floor was getting a little too crowded. The DJ changed the track to David Guetta's track I Can Only Imagine. They moved closer towards each other, dancing in sync to the track.

Then Catherine felt a push and she crashed into Alex. Her hands fell on her shoulder as she grabbed her hard so that she wouldn't fall. Alex grabbed her as the track played. Catherine slowly lifted her head as she stared up into Alex's emerald green eyes as the track continued to play.

'Where you been? Where you been all my life?' (music playing)

Both women's eyes locked with each other. Alex could feel the electricity coursing through her body like fire.

'Baby, it's a sin, the way you look in the light' (music playing)

Alex helped her stand straight but continued to stare into the brunette's eyes as she held both of Catherine's hands.

'It's obvious that I want something from you' (music playing)

It was uncanny that the song was playing as per the situation that was going on. Catherine began to feel butterflies in her stomach. She began to feel uneasy the way Alex was looking into her eyes.

'You know what, what I wanna do, do, do' (music playing)

Catherine let go of Alex and began to move away from her when Alex quickly grabbed Catherine and stopped her.

'If we touched it would bring me to life' (music playing)

Alex pulled her in closer to her and held her in place.

'I could only imagine, only imagine what it'd be like' (music playing)

Alex then put her hand on Catherine's face as Catherine closed her eyes. Her body began to shiver at Alex's soft touch. Catherine felt tingling in her body.

'Oh, every time, It would bring me to life' (music playing)

Alex then leaned in and gave Catherine a kiss on her soft lips. It was sensuous. Alex felt Catherine melting into her arms. She began to run her hands through Catherine's silky hair as the kiss continued to linger and the music banged on.

'I could only imagine, only imagine what it'd be like' (music playing)

Just as the beats to the song changed, Catherine quickly realized what was happening and broke herself out of the trance and broke the kiss and quickly walked away from Alex, leaving her on the dance floor.

Catherine began to hyperventilate as she made her way through the crowd and to the bar. She noticed Amanda and Tamara standing near the bar at a table with two men and a few tequila shots on the table. She moved towards them as her heavy breathing continued.

"Are you okay?" asked Amanda as Catherine reached the table.

Catherine looked at the shots on the table and grabbed one and then downed it in one fast swig. She then took another one and downed it just as fast. She was just about ready to pick up the third one when Tamara stopped her.

"Whoa, whoa, there missy. Are you sure you're ok?" asked Tamara.

Catherine just grabbed the third shot and downed it quickly as well.

"Hey, those were our shots!" protested one of the guys angrily.

"Catherine, talk to me, sweetie. What happened?" asked Amanda.

Catherine leaned against the table and put her hand on her forehead and began to rub it.

Alex saw the group and made her way towards them. Catherine raised her head and saw Alex coming to the table.

"Nothing. I-I think I'm going to go. It's been a long night," said Catherine, the alcohol now getting to her.

Amanda began to give Alex a cold stare as Tamara rubbed Catherine's back trying to comfort her.

"Are you sure? We could all leave now, if you want?" asked Tamara.

"No, no, it's okay. I obviously interrupted you guys. I'm sorry. I'll just go ahead and catch a cab from outside," said Catherine.

Alex just stood there as Catherine made sure she had everything and said her goodbyes to everyone.

Amanda moved to Alex. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," lied Alex.

"We left you guys at the dance floor, something obviously happened," probed Tamara.

"Nothing happened," lied Alex again.

"Alex-" said Amanda but was cut off.

"We--might have-kissed," said Alex.

"Nice!" said one of the guys.

"Shut it, skippy!" scowled Tamara.

Both guys backed off a bit.

"Alex! I told you she's off limits," said Amanda.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. We were dancing and then it got crowded and she sort of crashed into me and there was a moment and I got weak and(...)" Alex trailed off.

"What were you thinking?" asked Tamara.

"I wasn't, okay? It just happened," defended Alex.

"You weren't thinking. Come on Alex. This is what you do. In the end it all falls flat on you," said Tamara.

Alex gave Tamara a cold stare. She didn't want to listen to all this right now. She just wanted to go to Catherine and apologize to her. She had obviously made her feel very uncomfortable on the floor.

"Listen, I'm just going to go make sure she gets home safe. She looks like she's a bit hammered and it's too late right now. I just want to make sure she's safe. I'll talk to guys tomorrow," said Alex.

Amanda caught Alex's hand. "Remember what I said."

"I know. I know. I won't do anything. I'll just make sure she gets home safe and then I am going to walk away," said Alex.

Amanda let go of Alex and Alex quickly made her way outside the club. She quickly glanced in both directions and saw no sign of Catherine anywhere. She began to get worried about the brunette. On instinct she moved towards the right and began to move quickly to see if she had gone in that direction. She had made a bad call back there, on the dance floor. She didn't know what she had been thinking when she'd done it. She was interested in Catherine, but this was not the way to go about trying to see if something could happen with her. A few minutes of looking later, she noticed the brunette in the black dress walking on the street and caught up to her.