Work Text:
It was Rhea's birthday. Her 53rd to be exact; fifty three years young. There was nothing particularly exciting nor beneficial about aging another year after surpassing 21, and the only thing keeping her somewhat reluctantly excited was what she had planned later on.
To say that she herself had planned it was an overstatement, though. Karolina had been making reservations months in advance despite the disapproval and downright refusal from Rhea.
"It isn't a special birthday," Rhea had stated, "there's no need. We can just stay home or something, order a-" but it was no use.
When Karolina was set on something, there was no way of getting out of it.
She felt somewhat guilty that she wasn't spending the day with her fiancé and her stepkids. The rare time she wasn't working throughout her own birthday was now about to be spent with the costar she had seen daily for months on end.
The costar she honed some kind of obscure feeling for. Something she hadn't quite discovered nor explored yet. Possibly even something she didn't want to go as far as to touch on the surface of.
However, that morning, she found herself going the extra mile on her appearance. Well, maybe more accurately the extra twenty miles.
She chose a red lip, a burgundy shade that was sure to catch the attention of Karolina. Each carpet they attended, she had secretly begged her stylist to give her a red-lipped look for "no reason". Obviously, the reason was purely in hopes of catching Karolina's eyes wander down from her own, instead slipping glances at her mouth as she spoke.
She was then torn between two outfits. One was more on the casual side; a pair of faded blue jeans and a suggestively sheer white shirt. That was most likely the outfit she would've worn if she was going out with Graham. Minimal effort, probably just like the kind of reservation he would've made.
Instead, she found herself gently pulling out a silk woven dress. The intricacies were striking upon close inspection, soft lace dancing along the hem of the dipped neckline. It was ink black and perfectly tailored, yet the fabric always clung to her skin almost deliberately.
Who was she kidding?
"Hard choice," she muttered, smirking as she hung the jeans back into her closet without a second thought.
She slipped the satin dress on, the neckline dipping a gracious amount, leaving both everything and nothing to the imagination.
She smoothed it out in the mirror, smiling to herself. The last time she had worn something like this that wasn't some kind of event was most likely the night she was proposed to.
Eleven years ago, mind you. No progress since then. Her smile faltered a little. She wiped it from her train of thought, jumping a little as the tossed phone on her bed buzzed three times over in the span of a couple seconds.
She grabbed it as she slipped her heels on, adding a couple extra inches to her stature. She needed it when she was around Karolina, yet even with Lady Gaga-esque heels she wouldn't surpass the woman's height.
The text was a simple GPS coordinate in the middle of town, with two other messages below.
"Don't be late," with an added "I know you too well."
Her cheeks flushed a harsh coral, slipping her phone in her hand-held bag as she made her way down the stairs, making sure to not catch the fine fabric of her dress on her heel.
Graham wasn't home, as per. He had given her flowers earlier on in the morning, a gesture perhaps too simple considering she was meant to be marrying him eventually.
"What am i meant to gift the girl who already has everything?" was his excuse, along with a half-hearted peck on the lips.
She didn't have everything. Not yet, atleast, and she was far from it. Aside from the fact her taxi was approaching the very 'everything' in question.
After thanking her driver, she stepped out into the slightly bitter night air. The unpalatable weather had suddenly gotten her regretting going entirely braless just in order to complete the look; she didn't realise how evident the missing garment was going to be.
She sighed, walking in. It was extremely grand to say the very least. Perfect was an understatement. The sterile walls towered thrice her height, almost as intimidating as the woman she was heading towards.
Her vision was a little blurred, a mix of her casual underuse of her glasses and the adrenaline seeping through her nervous system.
Karolina wasn't exactly hard to find. Her features struck Rhea from the other side of the room, her gentle stroll becoming rigid with tension.
She stood up to greet the blonde, her entire outfit becoming overly observable. She was adorned in a navy suit, a cooling tone that contrasted with the strict black that Rhea honed. One too many buttons were unfastened, a daring suggestion staring back at Rhea as the two took their seats.
"Here's the birthday girl," Karolina instantly began, not letting Rhea get a word in edgeways before she began speaking again. "You know i'm gonna make us the most obvious table tonight, right? Every worker here already knows it's your day. You better be proud of me."
She couldn't help but laugh at the energised brunette opposite her. The gesture was more than sweet, to say the least. "Fine. Thank you, Lina. It means.. a lot."
"I'm surprised you're not instantly hating everything. A win's a win!" She grins back, unscrewing the already-open bottle of Merlot, pouring an overly generous amount into Rhea's empty glass.
Safe to say, the glass was empty before they had even ordered. Red wine was almost always her go-to, as it seemed to soften her jitters that she ever so strangely got around Karolina.
Their conversations had been a little tight the past few weeks, mainly on Rhea's end. She didn't like the odd sickness settled right in the pit of her stomach every time she even saw a photo of her coworker. It was unnatural to her; even her fiancé didn't give her that feeling.
She had been finding it harder and harder to hold up her side of the conversation, subconsciously deciding to just allow Karolina to do the majority of the talking.
She was such a pretty view whilst she spoke; the way her mouth moved, the mild touch of an accent clinging to certain words, her intriguing expressions, her-
But, Karolina was cut off by the ringing of her own phone. She had been so deep into her storytelling that she hadn't noticed it for the first few seconds, Rhea's wandering eyes angled towards the phone being her only giveaway.
"Oh, it's Chad. I told him I'd be home by now. I hadn't noticed the time." She picked up the call, the tone of her voice switching to some kind of higher pitched falsity.
Rhea's hands clasped together on the table, fumbling with the ring on her right hand. Her left was bare, her engagement ring abandoned on a desk somewhere at home.
She suddenly felt overly aware of the situation she was in. Grinding her teeth together, she stood up, apathetically excusing herself from the table as she made a beeline for the restroom. She didn't like feeling jealous one bit, yet the atmosphere was undeniably unbearable.
Luckily, no one else was in the restroom with her. Even if someone had been in there, she wouldn't have cared. Her elbows rested against the marble, her face falling into her hands for a few pitiful seconds before she brought her eyes up to the mirror, wiping the stray mascara from her undereye.
"Get your shit together, Jesus," She started, her voice barely above a whisper, a harsh reality check intended for her ears only. But, of course, luck wasnt on her side as usual.
"Why would you need to do that?"
That familiar Polish tone that had always sent straight trembles through her spine. Right behind her.
She whipped around, face to face with the brunette she had left not two minutes before. Actually, face to face was a generous description; it was actually more like face to chest. She silently cursed herself for not picking some kind of seven-inch heel to wear instead.
She looked up almost instantly, cheeks flushed, throat closing up.
"Uh, what?" Just play dumb. She'll brush it off.
"You said you need to get your shit together. Why's that?" Karolina pressed on, hands now either side of the marble counter behind Rhea. Her back was pressed hard against it, no room for some kind of magical escape. Shit.
"Nothing. Just, like, some kind of pep talk, I don't know. I have a headache, or.. something," Rhea plowed on, eyes darting anywhere but Karolina's face.
That was, until Karolina brought one hand up between the two, softly grabbing Rhea's chin, holding her face firm in place adjacent to her own, forcing the eye contact.
"Are you sure it's not because my attention strayed from you for a couple minutes? Whilst I spoke to my husband?"
"Don't. Don't mention him. Not today."
Karolina paused, clearly enjoying the one-sided uproar between them. But, to be fair, it was Rhea's birthday, after all. She clearly wasn't being very fair. If it was another day, though, she'd most likely drag it on for the rest of the night.
Instead, she tipped Rhea's head up a little more, giving her an easier angle to access. Her hand slid from her chin to her neck as she let her lips wander Rhea's, the tight security around her neck causing her pulse to fasten almost instantly.
Rhea was still unsure; was this Karolina's plan all along? What if this was just some silly birthday joke?
She was past the point of caring, though. It had been a god-awful eleven years of passionless engagement, and she was more than desperate to fulfill her urges.
She was pathetic under the control of Karolina. The brunette had taken the two into the nearest stall, slamming Rhea into whatever wall was closest. She locked it with her spare hand, immediately returning it to Rhea's hips.
Rhea's fingers caught the collar of Karolina's suit, the loose buttons falling undone with ease. It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was the type that seemed inevitable. It seemed to solve her eleven years of failure in as little as two minutes.
Karolina's hands weren't afraid to stray, working her dress up in order to slip both hands up her torso.
"Don't think I didn't notice how underdressed you are. You must think I'm stupid," she breathed into the kiss, her frigid hands exploring Rhea's bare, alarmingly torrid body.
Rhea couldn't even bring herself to speak; she instead let out a mix of a hum and a moan, pushing the back of Karolina's head down her chest.
She immediately got the hint, pulling the already-revealing neckline down completely, holding the material back with one finger as she used the other to guide her mouth across either side, earning soft whimpers from the blonde as she worked her mouth.
Rhea's hands bunched Karolina's hair in one fist, completely ruining the delicate hairstyle she had stunned not five minutes before.
"Fuck, Lina. Stop." Rhea's hand tightened, eyes beginning to black out. She felt pathetic; they had barely done anything, yet she felt like her entire world was getting fucking rocked in some bathroom stall.
She does as requested, pulling Rhea's dress back over her now decorated chest. She planted soft kisses against her collarbones, working up her neckline before finishing with a gentle kiss on the lips, ending it by gently nipping her bottom lip.
"Are you okay?" Karolina asks, brushing the wildness from her face, taking a couple strands out of her mouth.
"No. Fuck, yes, yes I'm fine. I'm fine. I just.. please don't start something here that you can't finish."
"Trust me, I can finish it. Here or anywhere," Karolina responded, cupping Rhea's embarrassingly flushed face. "Tell me where, and it's a date. Preferably now." She adds on, a smirk playing on her own lips, both women now owning a more subtle red lip, Rhea's previously applied lipstick enough for them both.
"Anywhere. Just, get me out of here. Somewhere I don't have to stay quiet."
She hums the second sentence lowly, embarrassed by her own vulnerability. Yet, Karolina listens, softening her hair out a little before opening the bathroom door.
"I know a place, and i guarantee you'll lose that shyness," she smirks again, waiting for Rhea to walk through the doorway she was clearing. "Trust me."