2. Blake

Dr. Blake Gold is exhausted on her feet. She has spent the last six hours at work, rushing from room to room to help various patients. She wants nothing more than to go home and sleep, but she knows that she can't. She still has two more hours left in the workday and a certain someone waiting for her to finish working so that they can go home together.

She also still has to pack before her flight tomorrow. She has barely started yet, and she suspects that she won't be getting any sleep tonight. But, she supposes, she can always sleep on the plane. It is a long flight, after all.

Dr. Gold walks into another patient's room for yet another consultation. Fortunately, this one is easy. The patient is a seven-year-old boy displaying classic flu symptoms and all it takes is a test to confirm the diagnosis. Dr. Gold prays that the flu doesn't start going around their town. It might be the middle of summer and out of the typical sick season, but stranger things have happened.

She makes her way out of the room when she's stopped by a nurse calling her name.

"Doctor Gold," the nurse, Hannah, says, "How are you doing?"

Blake stops and looks at Hannah. "Good."

"Are you excited for your trip?" Hannah asks. "Zambia, right? That's exciting."

"Oh yeah," Blake says, "I'm super excited."

"Are you nervous?" she asks.

"No, it's not my first trip out of the country."

"Oh yeah," Hannah says, "I heard from a couple of the other nurses that you've done trips with Doctors Without Borders a few times over the years. That's so cool."

"Yeah," Blake agrees, "it is pretty cool. It's always nice to visit new places and help people. Why? Are you thinking about going?"

"Oh, I don't know," Hannah says.

"You should," Blake tells her. "It's really rewarding and it's always fun to explore new places."

"Don't you have to worry about getting sick?"

"Yeah, but there are vaccines for almost everything," Blake explains.

"Have you gotten your vaccine for Cholera?" Hannah asks.

"I have, and I'm up to date on everything else, so I should be good."

"But what if you're not?" Hannah asks, "aren't you worried?"

"Not really," Blake says. "This isn't my first rodeo."

Hannah laughs. "I suppose that's true," she says. "Well, in any case, good luck and I hope you have fun."

"Well, I don't know how much fun I'll be having since this is a work trip, but I'm sure I'll find something," Blake says.

"Or someone," Hannah says, giving her a knowing look before Blake feels a hand on her waist.

"And what are you two talking about?" Dr. Taylor asks, joining the conversation.

"Doctor Gold's trip," Hannah answers.

"Oh yeah?" Dr. Taylor asks, looking at Blake flirtatiously. "Are you excited?"

Dr. Gold and Dr. Jenna Taylor aren't in a real relationship or anything, but the sex is good. Jenna has made it clear multiple times that she's not interested in anything more serious than fuck buddies, and Blake doesn't think she even knows how to be in a relationship. The closest she ever came was with Natalie, but she didn't have Natalie's heart. At least, not completely.

Dr. Gold smiles at Dr. Taylor and gives her a wink. Hannah leaves, letting the two of them converse alone.

"So, are you coming over to my place after work?" Blake asks.

"Don't you have to pack?" Jenna asks, but she doesn't sound too concerned. Jenna knows Blake well. They were friends for a long time before they decided to start having sex with one another.

"Eh," Blake says with a shrug, "it can wait."

"Okay," Jenna says with a laugh, "in that case, I'd love to come over. I need to head home first. Maybe I can show you my new toys."

"That sounds like a plan," Blake says.

Jenna looks around to see if anyone's watching before she leans in and gives Blake a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you later," she says.

Jenna leaves, going back to her job, and Blake goes back to work as well. She knows that these next two hours are going to be incredibly slow. Especially as she fantasizes about having Jenna on her back, moaning for her as she fucks her. Jenna is fun, but Blake knows they aren't right for each other in any way other than the bedroom.

It is just a bit of fun and Blake wonders how long it will last and what or who will be next for her.

When Blake leaves the clinic where she works, she gets a phone call. It's Jenna, and she answers immediately.

"Hey," she says, "what's up?"

Jenna takes a moment to respond, and Blake can hear shuffling in the background.

"I'm packing my stuff right now, but is it okay if I spend the night at your place?"

"Of course," Blake responds, "is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Jenna answers. "I just met someone online and we're planning to meet tomorrow before work and your place is closer to the city. Plus, I can drop you off at the airport first."

"Okay, yeah," Blake responds, "that sounds good, just don't mind the mess."

"Your place is always a mess," Jenna says, "and I never mind."

"Do you want the couch or to share the bed?" Blake asks, trying to think if she has any spare bedding clean to put on the couch. She knows that she really should have cleaned her house before she is set to go on her trip, but she's been so busy. That, and cleaning is sometimes very difficult for her. She's never understood the people who enjoy cleaning, and she wonders if she can pay someone to clean for her while she's away.

"The bed is fine," Jenna says, "I'll be there in about an hour."

"That works," Blake says, already almost to her apartment. She lives close to the clinic, walking distance, which works great for her, but sometimes she wishes she could get a house or something. Maybe something in the suburbs, away from all of the traffic noise. Something peaceful and stereotypical, but she supposes she's never really had a reason to settle down like that.

When she gets home, she does some light cleaning. Even if she decides to pay someone to clean her house while she's away, and Jenna agrees to watch over things, she should at least empty her apartment of all the trash so she doesn't get bugs or anything gross like that. She may be messy, but she's not gross.

After about thirty minutes, Blake decides that she has earned a break. She sits on the couch and makes a psst psst sound. Soon, four small paws come scampering into the living room. It's Millie, her black and white short-haired cat.

Blake pats the empty spot on the couch beside her and Millie jumps from the floor onto the couch. Blake sits there for a while, just petting her cat while she waits.

Jenna comes later. With a knock on the door, soon she's pressed against it with Blake's lips on hers. She moans into Blake's mouth and Blake presses against her, wanting to be as close to her as is possible with both of them fully dressed.

"Should we take this to the bedroom?" Jenna asks.

"Please," Blake says, breathless, and the two of them head to her bedroom.

Blake enjoys how good Jenna feels under her. How good she sounds when she moans in Blake's ear.

She can't believe Jenna ever thought she was straight. She is certainly not straight. To Blake, having sex with men was like a bad joke. One she never cared to try.

The first time Blake had sex with a woman was the first time she orgasmed. It was mind-blowing. Blake had always known that lesbians existed, but until that fateful day in college, she could have sworn that wasn't her. Until it was, and then there was no going back.

Blake moans when Jenna removes her bra and touches her breasts. It's been a week or so since the last time the two of them have had sex and she misses it.

She helps Jenna strip from her clothes and the two of them fumble towards the bed. Blake laughs when they land among the pillows, and she takes Jenna's mouth into hers, gasping as the two of them make out.

Blake remembers the fear she felt when she figured out that she was definitely, one hundred percent attracted to women—and when she realized she'd have to tell other people. It went well at first, when she told her friends. Only one of them had a problem with it and it was a super religious girl who later apologized for her negative reaction. Her parents, however, were a different story, and Blake waited a long time to tell them.

She still remembers the shocked looks on their faces when she introduced her then-girlfriend to them at her college graduation. Her dad screamed and made a scene in public, something that shocked her. And her mom cried, something that hurt her more than anything.

Now, it doesn't hurt as much. Blake knows who she is and has come to love herself for it. Her parents never got that far, though, and she's barely talked to them since. Blake has learned how to be fine with it, though, and she rarely even misses them. She didn't even miss them when they failed to show up to her graduation from medical school. Something that she knows her dad would have swelled with pride at had she not had a penchant for fucking women.

When Jenna touches Blake's clit, every single thought she had flies out the window, she's back in the present moment, and all she knows is how much she loves women.

"Oh god," Blake says.

Jenna laughs and kisses her shoulder as she begins to rub little circles into Blake's clit. Blake grabs her head and mumbles incoherencies. It's so much, and it feels like heaven.

Blake and Jenna continue through kisses and skillful touches until both of them orgasm at least once. For Blake, she comes twice, making up for the last time they were together when sex was cut short and she didn't get to orgasm even once. Jenna comes with a scream, and lies back on the bed, completely spent.

Blake laughs and kisses her shoulder. Even though neither Jenna nor Blake want their relationship to turn romantic, they still give each other little affections, such as sweet kisses and holding hands. After all, they are friends, and Blake has always been touchy feely with her friends.

Blake lays next to Jenna and cuddles beside her, being the big spoon. This used to be her all-time favorite part of sex—the cuddling after. With Jenna, it's a little awkward, but she does still enjoy it. It makes her sad sometimes, though, to think that she doesn't have a relationship where she can do this all the time with someone. She misses the sweet intimacy that she used to find in her romantic relationships, when they were a little more than just friends or fuck buddies. She doesn't know how to explain that feeling, but she wants it again.

The last time she really thought she found someone she could be with for a long time, the other woman turned out to be in a relationship with someone else and broke it off after the other woman found out. Blake shouldn't be surprised. She should have known better. She knew that Natalie was in a relationship, that she had a girlfriend, but Blake was so sickly head over heels that she didn't care.

She hoped that Natalie would leave her girlfriend and that the two of them would be together. But that was a foolish, immature hope. Now, Blake knows that. Natalie broke it off with Blake almost immediately after her girlfriend caught them in bed together, and it doesn't seem like she ever looked back.

Blake doesn't know what happened after they got caught, doesn't know if she and her girlfriend made up, or if they're still together seven years later. All Blake does know is that she hasn't been in a relationship herself since.

She doesn't know why. She's had tougher heartbreaks than Natalie, and she's never had much of a problem dusting off the dirt and getting back in the saddle of the dating world. With Natalie, however, she did experience something that she hasn't with her other failed relationships. She felt guilt. So much guilt that it was overpowering.

It didn't help that Blake knew Natalie's girlfriend after all. Natalie had never given her a name or shown her a picture of her girlfriend, but when she opened the door to see Natalie and Blake in bed, Blake knew exactly who she was.

To be perfectly honest, Blake doesn't know why knowing Natalie's girlfriend made her feel so much guilt. The two of them had hated each other for years. Dr. Amory Paver used to sabotage Blake's notes in med school and gossip about her, and Blake would steal patients from Amory and erase her name from charts during their residency. They had always hated each other.

But, Blake supposes, she still can't forget the look on Amory's face when she caught Natalie in bed with Blake. It was the most heartbroken expression that Blake had ever seen on another person, and she can never forget that expression.

After a while of cuddling, Jenna falls asleep, and Blake carefully removes herself from the bed. She walks to the closet in her hallway. She supposes it was meant to be a linen closet, but Blake hardly uses the fixtures of her apartment for their intended purposes, and instead uses it to hold random junk that she rarely uses. It's also the closet where she keeps her suitcase.

She finds her suitcase at the bottom of the closet. It's a black, giant thing with wheels, so it's easy enough to move around and Blake is grateful for that. Otherwise, she'd have to lug the giant thing around.

Blake wheels the suitcase into her bedroom and tries her best to be quiet while she packs everything she thinks she'll need. When she's done with that, she goes back to the closet and digs out her old college backpack. She's used it a few times over the years, but not often. It's giant and she usually prefers to pack lightly.

For such a long flight, however, packing lightly isn't a good idea. She shoves her laptop, some books and a light blanket into the backpack. She'll probably think of something last minute to bring with her, but for now, this is a good combination.