Best For Me

Chapter 5

Lia pulled her car up to Yeji's and turned the motor off. The quiet Wednesday night hummed lightly and she could smell frost on the air. She'd seen the musician just hours before at the community centre when she'd gone to pick up Elly.

Her daughter looked like an experiment in finger painting gone wrong, and was covered in all the colours of the rainbow. Even Lia hadn't been able to stop from bursting out laughing, and she'd heard a stifled giggle behind her as the music class emerged. Turning, she'd caught Yeji's eye, and they'd laughed together. Just a few hours later and here she was again.

And why?

Because of the way she'd felt when that laughter ran through her. Because of the way her hand had burnt when their fingers had brushed as Yeji had passed her the details of Friday night. Because of the way she'd woken up every night this week dreaming of the beautiful brunette. Because it had to stop.

Lia got out of the car and crossed the road. She felt like two people were playing tug-of-war and she was the rope. Part of her was dragging backwards, unwilling to confront Yeji and her own feelings, telling her to go back to the car and keep pretending that the things she was feeling weren't real. The other part was dragging her forwards, telling her that she had to stop this now, for the sake of her marriage and her child and her sanity. That bit had won.

Lia took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She waited and waited, and when no one came, she thought she may have won a reprieve. She was about to turn around and leave when the door opened. Lia took an involuntary step backwards and nearly fell down the stairs.

"Oh sorry, I was just... I thought... I..." taking a deep breath and steadying herself she got her thoughts into order. "Is Yeji home?"

The woman who opened the door was good-looking. Very good-looking. She was light skinned, fit and had straight black hair that framed a perfect face. She was staring at Lia with a curious raise of her brow and making the blonde feel about three inches tall.

"Babe, who is it?" Lia heard Yeji's voice echo from within the house.

She caught sight of the brunette when she rounded a corner into the hall, dressed in casual sweats with a towel turbaned on her head, clearly fresh from the shower. Devoid of makeup and in comfortable clothes, Lia thought she looked more beautiful than ever before. She felt her heart squeeze in her chest and it became hard to breath. She looked from the black-haired to Yeji frantically, trying to figure out how to get out of this.

"Lia!" Yeji sounded surprised.

"Hi" Lia choked back haltingly. "Um. Sorry to bother you, I didn't realise... I'll go."

"No, no, wait." Yeji reached the door and ducked under the other girl's arm to reach Lia. The black-haired was leaning against the door with her arms crossed, looking less than amused and clearly unwilling to move. "What's wrong? You look worried."

Lia searched her brains for an answer that wouldn't sound completely idiotic. She glanced at the woman leaning against the door again and Yeji caught the flicker in her eyes.

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me." She stepped backwards, giving Lia a clear view of the redhead. "Lia, this is my girlfriend, Minju. Minju, this is Lia."

"Pleased to meet you," drawled the other woman, clearly neither pleased nor willing to move forward to shake Lia's hand.

"Likewise," Lia murmured.

"Do you want to come in?" Yeji asked, smiling at Lia.

"No, no, it's okay," Lia said. "I didn't realise you had company." Lia realised she couldn't possibly have known if Yeji had company or not and it was a stupid thing to say. Funnily enough, it was the most intelligent thing she could think of at the time.