From the first moment

1.

Holtzmann closed her apartment door, resting her forehead against it as the lock clicked, her blonde locks a mess and she tucked her hair behind her ears. She sighed, turning so her back was against the door and she exhaled into the darkness, it had been another night of losing her self, the self that never attracted love just a body and a thanks at the end of it. 

She felt used, always blaming herself, her personality, when all she wanted was to murmur sweet poetry and lay sweet kisses, kisses that came from the heart, from her soul and not just from a motion, an activity. 

Clad only in her bra and underwear she paused for a moment, bringing her right thumb to her mouth, absentmindedly biting the nail and she pushed herself off the door, her bare feet padding over the hardwood floor and towards the kitchen. 

She stopped at the two empty glasses that were on the kitchen bench and grabbed one and the half bottle of wine, changing her mind and putting the glass back, taking a swig from the bottle and retreating with it to her bedroom. It was late and the stranger who had just left her apartment made one of the usual excuses, I have to get up early for work or was it I just wanted to see what it was like with a woman. Holtzmann had shrugged, disappointed but not surprised. 

All the women she attracted only wanted her for the night, and she slowly began to get used to it. The engineer took another sip from the bottle, walking over to her bed, the sheets strewn across the mattress and she began to pull them off wanting to discard the woman somehow, a reflection of her own feelings. She paused, looking at the bottle in one hand, the reminder of her evening visitor in the other, deciding against putting fresh sheets on the bed, instead she looked over to the armchair she had in the corner of the room and walked over to it, slinking into the seat, she shivered, and took a long sip of her wine, looking out of the window, it was pitch black except for the moon, a perfect white lonely circle, almost a mirror of herself. Holtzmann held the bottle up to the moon, as if in a toast, two lonely souls and she spied her dressing gown on the floor, remembering she'd tossed it off the bed as she pushed down the other woman in its place. 

The blonde leaned out of the chair, grabbing the terry cloth gown and draping it over her legs, turning back to the window, nursing the rest of the bottle.

_______________________

The brunette struggled with boxes and books, exclaiming out loud as she approached the door to the firehouse, it was already dark out and the wet weather wasn't helping, especially as people rushed past her, the desire to get to their destination a little more desperate in the pouring rain and one knocked into her.  It was late evening and Erin had meant to be at the firehouse a lot earlier, but after a phone call she changed her arrival time, she had too much on her mind and wanted to be a little more organised. The woman grunted, the rain beginning to fall heavier and she attempted to knock at the door, only her hands were so full that she bashed her hand along with the box she was carrying and she cursed under her breath. She stepped back, looking upwards at the building, her neat outfit, a wool blend skirt and jacket combination already beginning to weigh her down from the rain. There was no answer from from the building and she sighed aggressively. She was going to knock again when the door flew open, and the woman's childhood friend stood there, grinning,  her arms out, crying out her name and ushering her into the building.

'Erin!'

'Abby,' the woman replied, relieved, putting her boxes down on the concrete floor, flicking her hands down to rid them of water and embracing the shorter woman.

"Abby it's so wonderful to see you," she said as she pulled away, smoothing her damp skirt and shirt, and Erin began to feel uncomfortable in them.

"Patty," Abby called, turning away from Erin, and the damp brunette turned in the direction Abby called to, watching as a bright eyed woman bounded towards them, her smile was huge and Erin instantly felt comfortable.