Nicci almost jumped out of her seat when the doorbell rang at 12:15 on Christmas Eve. "Oh man, I'm going to kill Nadine." She thought as she got up to open the door.

Her best friend of many years had told her the day before that she had a very special Christmas gift for her. She was going to arrange a 'girl' for her on Christmas Eve who would stay with her all night. Nicci threatened to personally kill Nadine if she dared, but Nadine just laughed and said that Nicci would be thanking her instead. Apparently the lady would be clad in lingerie only.

Nicci has been alone for so long that she had her own doubts about remembering what to do with a woman. Having her heart ripped to pieces and handed back to her had pushed her into a life of solitude which she was having great difficulty getting out of.

She flung open the door ready to send who ever stood there to hell, but instead she was speechless. In front of her stood a stunningly, beautiful women with shoulder length, waving blond hair, and blue eyes that made Nicci feel like jumping into the deep pools along with a body that curved in all the right places. She was clad only in a flimsy teddy with a see through nightgown over it.

"Hi, I'm Riette?" As the woman started to speak Nicci grabbed her hand and pulled her into the apartment while quickly closing the door with her other hand. She pushed Riette against the wall and kissed her with all her pent up frustrations making themselves known.

It took her a few seconds to realise that Riette was trying to resist her, but when Nicci tried to pull away, Riette pulled her back and returned the kiss. Nicci felt like she was floating a few inches above the ground as the kiss deepened. She pulled at the buttons on the nightgown with trembling fingers as she felt herself being turned and pushed against the wall. Riette was doing her own exploration of Nicci's well toned body while trying to get Nicci's shirt off. As they turned each other against the wall over and over again, they managed to get rid of most of their clothes and almost to the end of the hallway.

"Oh man,?..Nadine was right,?? I'll be thanking her in the morning." Nicci whispered between kisses as she made her way down Riette's body after once again pinning her to the wall.

Riette went rigid at the words. "Stop!" She shouted as she pushed Nicci away from her.

"What's wrong?" Nicci asked as she tried to move back into Riette's arms

"I'm not who you think I am." Riette groaned as she hastily tried to get her clothes back on.

"What do you mean?"

"If you have a friend named Nadine, then it's your 'date' that caused me to lock myself out of my apartment." Riette was starting to feel anger building up inside her. It was mainly directed at herself, but she was about to take it out on who ever the woman in front of her was.

"What?"

"Do you have an IQ of ten?" Riette's temper was flaring. "Your 'date' was knocking on my door insisting that I should let her in because my friend Nadine has paid her to spend the night with me. I had to fight her off to get her away from the door and in the process my apartment door closed behind me."

"Oh" Nicci was speechless once again.

"Is that it?" Riette was seething. "You just kissed a strange woman senseless and all you can say is 'oh'?"

"I know all the people in this complex and you don't live here." Nicci was taken aback by Riette's tirade and said the only thing that came to mind.

"Oh, because I don't live in this complex, according to you anyway, it makes it ok?"

"I seem to remember you kissing me back and pulling my clothes off so don't come and act all high and mighty with me and yes, I do know all the people in this complex and you don't live here!" Nicci's face was red from anger now.

"For your information Miss Know-It-All, I'm staying at my friend's apartment while my place is being fumigated. I've been ringing doorbells to see if I can use someone's phone to call my friend who's at a party tonight. You're the only person that opened their door."

"Wow, it must be my lucky day!" Nicci said sarcastically. By now they were both dressed and standing opposite each other like two fighters in a ring.

"It might be your lucky day, but it's my day from hell and it's all your fault."

"You've got to be kidding me. If you weren't dressed like that I wouldn't have responded the way I did." Nicci groaned inwardly as images of what lied beneath that flimsy attire was flashing through her mind.

"I was on my way to bed when that bloody woman wouldn't stop ringing the doorbell. Just how desperate are you if your friends have to arrange a call girl for you? Can't you do your own dirty work?"

"On your way to bed? On your own? Dressed like that?" Nicci's eyebrow lifted as her lips curved into a mocking expression. "Do you need to turn your toy 'on' in more ways than one? Doesn't a flip of a switch work anymore?"

"I might prefer women, but it doesn't mean that I don't like to feel like one!" Riette threw her hands up in the air as she turned to walk back to the front door. "Why am I even standing here trying to explain myself to you?"

"Maybe because you don't really want to walk out of that door?" Nicci was starting to enjoy this.

"You're so bloody arrogant! No wonder you need a call girl, no one in their right mind would stay with you."

"Well you're so full of shit, I wouldn't touch you if my life depended on it." Nicci walked past Riette and opened the front door for her.

"It didn't bother you a few minutes ago." Riette's voice was dripping sarcasm.

"A few minutes ago I thought you were someone worth taking to bed." Nicci's ears rang from the slap that followed her words.

"You would be so lucky." Riette said as she pushed past Nicci to walk out the door.

Nicci laughed. "You mean to say it's not my lucky day after all? I'm devastated."

"Right and I'm jumping for joy."

Nicci watched as Riette walked away, but her conscience got the better of her. "Wait" She shouted. "My phone is in the living room and it might be better if you stay inside until your friend comes with the key."

Riette stopped and turned slowly to face Nicci. She was so angry that she completely forgot the reason for her predicament. She had to face the reality of her situation. She still had to phone her friend, because she still didn't have a key and she was still walking around half naked. The expression on the woman's face seemed genuine, even after what happened. "I suppose you have a point."

"I think I do and by the way." Nicci held her hand out. "My name's Nicci."

Riette smiled. "Hi, my name's Riette, but I think I tried to tell you that before."

"Glad to meet you Riette. Shall we start over again?"

"That might be a good idea."

"Well then, why don't you go ahead and use the phone and I'll get us something to drink. Will a glass of red wine do?"

"A glass of red wine will go down quite well thank you."

"Coming right up." Nicci turned towards the kitchen, but could feel Riette's eyes on her. She straightened her back slightly as she walked away.

Riette let her eyes roam over the well toned body as an image of those muscles rippling while being strained in a workout flashed through her mind. She groaned involuntarily before dialling Nancy's number.

When Nicci walked back into the living room Riette was seated on the couch. She handed her the glass of wine and took a seat on the couch next to her, but not too close. Nicci took a sip of her wine as she watched Riette doing the same.

"All sorted?" Nicci enquired.

"Yes, Nancy will be back in about an hour. I gave her your apartment number, so she'll come looking for me here."

"Good, then we have some time to get to know each other better. Maybe we can even arrange to get together some day while you're staying here in the complex. I'd love to show you around our neighbourhood." Nicci couldn't help the smile that formed on her face.

"I'd love to see what future days hold for us." A shiver ran through Riette's body as images of possible future days popped into her mind.

The shiver and the look on Riette's face didn't go unnoticed. Nicci moved slowly towards Riette, but didn't break the eye contact that they were now sharing.

Riette couldn't break the contact either. Nicci's green eyes were like those of a cat and her short red hair enhanced it. Riette was mesmerized.

"Future days don't have to be far away." Nicci whispered as she moved even closer after taking Riette's glass out of her motionless hand and placing both their glasses on the table.

"You're right." Riette said hoarsely. "Time shouldn't be wasted."

"Especially if we only have an hour." Nicci closed the cap between them slowly as she took possession of the soft lips that were now visibly trembling.

The kiss started tenderly and slowly escalated into a burning fire which neither of them intended to extinguish anytime soon. Time would show them what future days held, but right now, time was theirs to do with as they pleased.

The end