A Not-So-Secret Desire Part 2

It was Stacy.

Shit.

May felt like her breath had gotten caught in her throat. Shit shit shit. She was anxious, humiliated, and at a complete loss for words. There isn't exactly a protocol for when your coworker grabs your thigh, and you proceed to moan in front of your mutual boss...

She was sure she should be saying something, but with the way her heart kept hammering against the inside of her chest, and how Stacy was just stood there - her right shoulder leaning lightly against the doorframe, her left hand holding the door open - she couldn't bring herself to form any coherent words.

A deer caught in headlights, she thought.

Her mouth was dry, but she swallowed anyway, not knowing what else to do with Stacy's scrutinizing gaze unfaltering. She then licked her lips, although not consciously - the constant rushing sound she heard was only adding to her already foggy mind. "Stacy, I...", she started, but with no idea of what she was trying to say.

The words hung like thick fog in the air between them when Stacy suddenly let out a soft chuckle. She pushed off of the doorframe, righting herself to her full length. Admittedly, she was only 1.65 m, but May wasn't much taller, so it worked. "Well at least we're not fired," she stepped into the bathroom, the echoing sound of her heels clicking on the tile floor almost deafening. Fired... That had been the absolute last thing on May's mind.

She tried to laugh alongside Stacy, just for the sake of easing the tension, but failed miserably. All she succeeded at doing was breathing louder than usual, and forming what was meant to be a smile, but looked more like the face she'd make if someone had punched her in the stomach. She shifted her gaze to her feet, wishing the ground would open and swallow her whole.

"C'mon, it wasn't that bad," May could see how the pointed toe of Stacy's red heel softly poked her calf as she spoke, "you know he's only this vindictive 'cause his wife no longer finds him attractive".

She looked up at Stacy, slightly confused, only to be met with a sly smirk and a wink. Right, a joke. She shifted her gaze away from Stacy who was now half leaning and half sitting on the counter that housed the sinks. Unfortunately, they had ignored her pleas down in hell, and the ground had remained closed.

"Oh loosen up!" Stacy said, louder this time, as she kicked May's leg again - harder. May's eyes shot up, because ow, hoping to convey her displeasure with just her gaze, seeing as she was actually planning on never opening her mouth again. Ever. "I'm sorry, okay? If I had known you'd be this uncomfortable with me touching your leg I never would've done it. I wasn't thinking," she gestured vaguely to May's leg, and averted her own eyes for a change, "there was no need to make it that obvious though. With the whole groaning and running away thing. I get it - I'm not an idiot."

May was shocked to find Stacy's face looking so uncertain, hurt, so... vulnerable. And unlike her friend, she was an idiot, and just stood there for a couple of seconds: frozen. "What do you mean?" She broke the promise she'd made only seconds ago, wanting to reach out and gingerly touch Stacy, anywhere, but she didn't. She wasn't sure where they stood now.

The usual air of ease and familiarity between them had completely dissipated, displaced only by doubt. "Sure make me spell it out; make it more embarrassing for me - why not?" Stacy gestured with her hands as she talked, her face taking on a more stoic expression.

May racked her brain trying to come up with a reason as to why Stacy was the one embarrassed, but before she could complete her thought process Stacy spoke up again, "I like you, okay? I wasn't thinking, and I was relieved after not being fired - so I grabbed you. Because I like you." She was breathing heavier now, as a result of all the pent up nervous energy. She looked at May, searching her face for any sign of emotion; joy, anger, disgust... anything. But nothing.

May watched as Stacy looked her, just breathing. And May looked back. Externally, there was nothing to show that she was at all affected by what Stacy had said, but internally she could feel her heart slamming against her chest.

Did she mean... But before May could finish her sentence, Stacy jumped off the counter, and took big strides towards the bathroom door. She was only able to catch a glimpse of Stacy's sad expression, but it was enough. May righted herself quickly from where she'd been leaning against the counter, took a step towards Stacy, and reached forward just in time to catch her wrist before she would have reached the door.

"Hey Stace, wait!"