Chapter Three

"What happened?" asked Briana, when she got back from the bathroom.

Essie was sat there, slightly poleaxed, her mouth opening and closing. "We're going to grab some food after work."

"Oh yeah?" Briana waggled her eyebrows. "Like that is it?"

"Yeah."

The other woman huffed a laugh. "Well isn't that the most adorable thing I've ever heard."

Essie stuck her tongue out at Bri, and then started eating her lunch, before it got too cold.

Two minutes later, Ben came back into the office with the aforementioned pint of water. He placed it on the table firmly and said, "I want the whole thing finished in half an hour, and I will come and top it up."

Essie's eyes widened, but when she went to protest he shot her a knowing look and she found herself squirming in her seat, and gulping water down quite quickly.

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly, the only sounds being pencil on paper as she managed to get another two bunnies designed, and Ben popping in to check on her water consumption. By the time it hit five o'clock, Ben was waiting quietly by the door for her as she swapped numbers with Briana.

"I'm her check in," said Briana.

"What about my check in?" joked Ben. "Because I have a feeling that you"—he addressed this to Essie—"are going to be somewhat of a handful."

Essie rolled her eyes.

Briana laughed, but squeezed Essie's hand. "I'm at Susie's tonight, so if you need anything, please call."

She nodded.

"Can we have a chat first?" said Ben.

"Of course."

He went to sit down, stood up, then sat back down again.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm nervous."

She knew how that felt, but she couldn't tell what he was nervous about: the date; her; or something else altogether.

"I'm trans," he said, and his shoulders were tight, as if he were waiting for some kind of monumental fallout. All Essie wanted to do was hug him.

"Cool," she said. "I'm cis. And bi."

There was a pause, as if he were waiting for her to say something else, so she did, because coming out was hard.

"My best friend's a trans guy, not—" she added, "—to do that whole ‘but I'm friends with a trans person' thing, but to let you know that there are queer people in my life. That I'm part of a queer community. I'd like to think that I'm good with different gender presentations."

"Don't you want to ask about my…bits?"

Essie looked horrified. "Why would I…? No, I don't want to ask about your bits. If we decide that we're going to sleep together, or be physically intimate, then we can both have a conversation about what we like in bed, and I imagine that it might be something you want to talk about, but I have no intention of going around asking what your bits are. Who the fuck have you been dating who's been asking that?"

The relief in Ben's eyes was so intense that she walked over and sat on the chair next to him. "Lots of people want to know," he said quietly.

"Well lots of people can get stuffed," she said. "If you started asking me personal questions about my…" she paused, casting around for a phrase, "my princess parts, then I'd slap you down so damn hard and I'd be right to. You deserve the same respect."

He smiled at her fierceness. "You're really very adorable."

"And don't I know it."

They sat there for a few moments, quietly comfortable in each other's company.

"I think I'd like you to kiss me," said Essie. "If that's something you'd like to do."

"Very much," said Ben, "but maybe when we've left my workplace?"

The laughter that burst from Essie felt sunshiney. "Yes, let's go and grab some food, and maybe a kiss or two."

"You only ate a few hours ago," he pointed out, as they made their way down to the exit. "So how about we go do some truly tourist-y things before we grab food. Proper London date stuff."

"So this is officially a date?" Essie asked.

Ben stopped and looked at her seriously. "I'd like it to be, truly."

"Okay, date it is." She beamed, the warmth of this connection between the two of them sinking into her soul. "Where'd you consider to be proper London date stuff then."

They ended up choosing Covent Garden, more for the people watching than anything else; as it was the beginning of summer, the flea market was still open, and then Ben found them a table in one of the terraced bars overlooking the square, and they sipped lemonade and marvelled at the incredulity of tourists.

The sunshine was a surprise though—good weather never a guarantee, especially in May—and Essie basked in it, twirling her straw between her fingers and tapping out rhythms on the bar table.

"This isn't too bad then?" asked Ben. "The noise?"

"We're outside," she said, "and not too overcrowded, so the sound kind of dissipates. It never quite does that when you're in an enclosed space."

He looked thoughtful. "Most of the places around here might be a bit noisy for dinner then. I'll see if maybe I can find something a bit quieter."

Essie watched him, earnestly searching through Google Maps to try and find an alternative venue. He really was too sweet, even with his grumpy gruffness at times. She reached out for his hand and squeezed it. "Would you like to come back to mine?"

Ben's surprise showed on his face.

"Look, I'm not saying that we're going to sleep together," though she wasn't saying that they wouldn't, "but I'll be more comfortable in my own space. And I have a flatmate, so it's not like I'll be in imminent danger."

"Good," he said, "because as a" —he dropped his voice to an intimate whisper—"Daddy Dom, I'd be concerned about you inviting strangers back to your flat without a safety plan in place."

Laughing, Essie took a sip of her drink. "Oh, trust me; Charlie is more than capable of staving off the most ferocious of suitors." She didn't think it was necessary to share the time that Charlie had threatened to brain one of her ‘useless exes' with a wooden spoon, but Essie knew that he had her back. The thought counted. "And we could cook dinner together. Get one of those fancy supermarket meal deals and eat and chat and chill. Get to know each other better."

"I'd like that," said Ben. "A lot." Raising his hand to brush a curl from her cheek, he paused and then moved close enough that when he spoke next, she could feel his breath against her lips. "I'd love that kiss you asked for earlier, if you'd still like to."

Essie nodded eagerly, and found herself waiting, instead of impetuously diving in. "Yes please."

His hand caressed her cheek for a moment, and when he looked into her eyes she felt something inside her melt, as if she'd been ice and his touch was the flame she needed to bring down her walls.

Then slowly, so slowly it almost felt torturous, his lips moved towards hers until they brushed against her so softly Essie wasn't sure that she'd imagined it.

Oh.

She wasn't sure whether she thought that or breathed it before he was kissing her again, making her pulse raise and her pussy clench and everything tighten up to the point that when he moved back, she was almost panting with desire.

And when Essie looked in Ben's eyes, she saw her own desire mirrored there.