When morning had passed and early noon was approaching, Giselle rolled to her side and wrapped her arm around Annie. She snuggled up to her lover and napped a few more minutes. Up to her waist, she was covered by a thin blanket. Both women were starkers. The brunette could smell her lover's scent all over the bed. Memories made her grin sheepishly when she went through the events of last night. Around 2am they took a shower together, but ended up playing with each other until 4:30. During that time Annie had taken out her box of toys. The frustration that came with their bodies' unwillingness to climax had mounted and so they had tried a couple of pleasantly buzzing toys. Across her years, she had never had much use for any consumerist helper to get her off. Admittedly it was fun to use them together with someone. And they had offered release after a long, unsatisfactory buildup.

Just when she sat up and wanted to visit the restroom, Annie turned and reached for her hand, "You're not gonna leave again, are you?". The woman was still sleepy and her voice sounded tired. "I'm not. I'll look for breakfast though". "Fine. I'll get up", the blonde complained playfully, but pushed herself out of bed. After Giselle walked into the kitchen, her neighbour hadn't bothered to put anything on. "Are we having breakfast like this?", she wondered and scratched her head, feeling slightly exposed. "What! Are you going all shy on me now? I've had my face between your legs all night. Don't you think I don't know every nook and cranny by now?". This comment made Giselle blush. She sighed, "Yeah...". Her lover walked up and placed a kiss on her lips, "Just deal with it. My house, my rules".

They had rice and fried tofu, green beans with garlic and shared a bowl of cherries. Warm breakfast wasn't something Ian and her usually had, but Annie's house, Annie's rules. "What are you going to do with Ian now?", the blonde casually addressed the elephant in the room and smiled. This disgruntled the brunette and she realised how little she had thought about this. There was no plan. She had to confront him and, as tough as that might sound, break up with him. "Guess I'll break up with him. He can be with Celestine officially", she sighed and felt her heart go heavy. "And what will you do then? Do you want to keep the apartment?". "I have no idea. I liked being with you yesterday. And last night", she smiled sheepishly again. Annie raised an eyebrow, opened her mouth to say something, but decided not to. Giselle didn't ask. Part of her was curious, but whatever it was, it might be related to her comment. A new commitment was a bad idea, even if she wanted and desired Annie. "After breakfast I'll head over and if he's still there I'll deal with it. Otherwise I'll try to figure out where I want to go?", she finally said and finished her plate. "I know this is going to be tough. I'm here when you need me, but I'll also give you the space, okay?", the blonde said and finished up as well.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

They put everything into the dishwasher and then Giselle glared at her underwear. Stains all over. She pursed her lips and got dressed anyway. The attempt to tame her curls into a bun, ponytail or anything more ordered than pure chaos failed. Miserably. She just left it as is and kissed her neighbour goodbye who was about to get into the shower. This time it felt different to leave Annie's apartment. Smiling brightly, she pushed away the gloomy thoughts of what awaited her. The key turned and opened the apartment door with a click. She walked inside and put her shoes down.

In the living room, the TV ran a sitcom. Whenever someone said something supposedly funny, there was a small pause and the audience laughed. She didn't recognise the show and frankly didn't care. Ian was still here. He was cooking something in the kitchen. She stopped in the door frame, "Hey Ian". "So you turned up after all, huh", he said without any emotion attached. He didn't even give her a sideways glance. "Yeah", was all she answered. Just when she was about to turn and get a fresh set of clothes, he looked at her. "You look like you slept on the street", he commented. It didn't sound kind or worried, more like a statement. "I didn't sleep on the street. I crashed at Annie's place, because I didn't want to see you", she kicked off what would become her final battle in this marriage. "I'm heading out soon, then you can _not see me_ again". "Tell Celestine my best regards when you see her", she casually threw at him. His voice turned soft for a moment and didn't fit well with his words, "Why would I see her?". "Because that's what you've been doing for a while now. Don't lie to me, Ian. We can just deal with this like grownups!".

Ian gritted his teeth and his expression turned sour, "You started this by driving me out of this place when you fucked that blonde bitch!". Giselle leaned against the door frame and held his gaze. "I don't care who started it, Ian. After The Mariner I tried to mend things. And now we're here". "Mend things. Mend things. There was nothing to mend anymore!". "Why didn't you just break up there and then?". This left the man dumbfounded and his mouth opened and closed, uttering no word. Finally the brunette sighed at her husband, "There's this Chinese saying that you'd do well to take to heart. _In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. In speech, be true. In ruling, be just. In daily life, be competent_". Ian burst out into laughter, "Have you become a sage now". Without another word, Giselle collected a set of clothes, vanished in the bathroom to do her routine and left the apartment, fully dressed, to go for a walk across the fields.