Oksana followed Annie out to her Prius. They drove a few blocks away and stopped in front of a heavily shrubbed ranch house off Melrose. It was a perfect spring day. The sun was out and the street was quiet. Oksana dreaded what Annie had to say.

Once she put the hybrid in park, Annie reached behind Oksana's seat and pulled out a green and blue gift bag.

"This is for you."

Oksana peered inside. Ruffles of tissue paper hid what goodies accounted for the heavy weight. This time she did a shitty job at keeping the emotion from her face.

"Is it too much?" Annie asked.

"No, I'm just wondering if it's a bribe. Did you do something wrong?"

"Gasp. I would never! Give it back."

"No." Oksana chuckled. "I at least want to see what it is." She reached inside and pulled out a large purple dildo. One end was adequately long and thick enough for her tastes. The other end curved up into a short, bulbous nub. Underneath the toy she found a large jar of organic honey and a turkey wrap from Whole Foods.

"I'm not trying to buy you with presents, but I figured honey was a good way to apologize to a bear."

"And this?" She cocked her head to the dildo in her hand. "I thought you didn't want me to get a strap-on."

"I don't. This is for you. It's the biggest one they had. I just figured it would be easier for me to use since I've never strapped up before." Annie giggled. "The lady at the store said it was the best in double dildo technology. We could use it together?"

Okay, that's enough. She's sorry. She's begging. Give her a break.

Oksana leaned over and kissed Annie's lips. "Very thoughtful of you. Thanks." She sighed and brushed Annie's bangs away from her glasses. "I was pissed you didn't want me over last night, but I understand. You and Jeff had a tough talk and you needed a breather."

"I did, but it would have been nice to see you. I'm sorry." Annie went on to tell Oksana everything she and Jeff had talked about. In a way, she was shocked he hadn't flipped out even more. She was also overjoyed that Jeff hadn't taken Annie's mother up on her offer for the free gym membership.

"I didn't want you to think I was upset over him," Annie told her. "I was upset with how I've been living my life and how much I took for granted. But this morning I remembered if I hadn't agreed to marry Jeff I would have never met you, and I would have no one to tell me that I have no business speaking anything but a particular Southwestern dialect of English."

"So it was fate, you're saying?" Oksana smiled at the idea.

"I'm saying I want to spend my life with you, and even if it took a while, I don't care how we ended up together. I'm just glad that we did. I don't belong with Jeff, and I would have never been a part of his family and he never would have been a part of mine. He was never going to give up his loft. That's not how I envisioned married life."

"How did you see it?"

"Lots of food and tattoos. And I've always wanted a big slobbering dog."

Suddenly, the Prius wasn't big enough. They should have taken the Tahoe. Oksana wanted to drag Annie into the backseat to show her just how grateful she was for divine intervention. She kissed Annie again, this time tasting every part of her tongue, moaning as the heat spiked between her legs.

Annie panted as they came up for air. Oksana gasped just the same. She would give anything to blow off the rest of the day so they could spend it together. She welcomed Annie's hand into her lap, squirming a little until Annie's fingers were nestled between her thighs.

"When are you going to tell your parents?"

"Sunday. I'm going home so I can tell my parents in person. Do you want me to tell them about you? I'm only asking because they aren't going to be happy about my sudden switch in the batting order. I don't want you thrown into the fray if you'd rather be left out of it."

There were certain truths about a person's life that should never be kept a secret. Who you love was one of those truths. If Oksana were to ask, not only would Annie tell her parents that she was in a committed relationship with another woman, complete with hot lady-on-lady sex, but if Oksana wanted to be there for the coming out conversation, Annie wouldn't hesitate to bring her along.

"Don't tell them yet."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Ending the engagement is between you and Jeff and your family. Let your parents adjust to one shock before you bring up another."

"How are you so understanding?" Annie asked.

"Even though I'm still a little pissed that you wouldn't let me come comfort you, I'm not so proud that I need you to come out to them this week. I want this to work, and that kind of bombshell will change the whole climate of this situation."

Oksana leaned into Annie, kissing her just as the words left her lips. Annie withdrew her fingers from Oksana's lap and gently gripped her waist to deepen the caressing of their tongues. She slid her hand between Annie's legs and chuckled lightly as Annie seemed to melt under her touch and her Russian pronunciation. She rubbed with a rough thrust against the seam of Annie's jeans. Annie slid lower in the seat and let her knees fall open. Sensing Annie's impending surrender, Oksana kissed small circles around the soft skin of Annie's neck. Annie shuddered.

"Can I ask what you're doing?"

Oksana moved closer, letting the center console support her elbow. "Giving you something to think about for the rest of the day."

"You want me to go back to the office with cum-soaked panties."

"No. That would be awful."

Oksana continued with her fingers, rubbing Annie harder and harder through her pants until her hips started to pump back and forth on the seat. Annie gripped her shoulder, her low whimpers filling the car that was starting to overheat.

"Crack your window," Oksana said.

"There's an old man watching us."

Oksana's head darted up. She glanced around several times. When all she saw was an unattended mailbox and a crow hopping in the middle of the street, Annie burst out laughing.

"Just for that." Oksana reached over her and yanked the lever for the back of Annie's seat. She dropped back with a shriek, the perfect position for Oksana to pounce on her. She tore at the button on Annie's jeans and shoved her hand into her underwear. Annie's shrieks turned into deep moans as Oksana's fingers rubbed against her damp clit.

"Still think it's funny?"

"Yes! Oh my God. Keep doing that."

With a slight adjustment of her wrist, Oksana slid two fingers into Annie's wet pussy. Annie's whole body went rigid for a moment before she began to writhe and thrust against Oksana's hand. She matched the intensity below with a heated kiss, driving her tongue past Annie's lips, matching her whimpers with her own pleading moans.

Oksana's body caught up with the rhythmic wave of Annie's motions. Her own arousal consumed her every thought until Annie fell to pieces. Oksana shivered as she felt Annie's pussy contracting around her fingers, soaking them further with her sweet cum. Annie came again almost immediately, riding out the second orgasm with a low grunt that echoed in Oksana's ears.

She watched a sudden peace come to Annie's face even though her dimpled cheeks were still high with color. She eased her down, still petting and stroking her cunt and kissing her face.

"Holy shit, I can't breathe," Annie panted as she finally rolled down her window. Oksana settled back and examined the sandwich Annie had brought her while Annie adjusted her pants.

"What about you?"

Oksana held up the gift bag with a grin.

"I'll wait for later."

Sergio was such a dick, and thanks to his thick skull, Annie was an hour late picking up Oksana. Her jerk boss wouldn't listen to Annie's professional opinion, the one he'd hired her for, when she told him there was no way to draw extra money for an episode of Single Dads. The audience favorite and father of twin girls, Ian, wanted their office to pay for an unscheduled trip to visit his brother in Florida. Annie was all for family reunions, but Ian and his brother got along great. There was no drama between them to catch on tape. The network would love to see a poor young guy struggling to manage twin toddlers through LAX, but there had to be an explosive altercation on the other end of the flight for them to foot the bill. Ian was going on a calm family vacation, nothing that would boost the show's ratings.

Sergio had dragged her into his office just as she as trying to make her escape. Baba offered to be on Kat duty for the night. Annie wanted to get Oksana back to her place, fed and naked as soon as possible. She wanted to try out Big Purple. As soon as Sergio shut the hell up and remembered it was Friday, there were no weekend shoots, and there was absolutely no reason for Annie to be sitting on the other side of his desk.

"I don't see why we can't borrow the money from Meta and her bullshit show."

Annie frowned at Sergio. He knew the procedure. He would have to call the network to approve a budget extension. Borrowing from one show to feed another was basically stealing.

"I'd like to keep my job. And even if we could 'borrow' the money, there isn't any left from Just Dance. I barely scraped the Paris trip together, and we still have fewer hands than I would like." Tension between Meta and Lauren was still high. Annie wanted to send Esther along to keep them from each other's throat, but between airfare, hotel, and meals, another crew member wasn't in the budget. Sergio knew this.

"You want that footage," Annie reminded him. "Can you imagine drunk Meta loose on Paris? You want that. You don't want to waste tape on Ian's brother playing with his nieces. If Ian wants to see his brother on tape, then book his brother a cheap flight on Southwest out here."

"Why didn't you say that before?"

"I did. Twice!"

"All right. All right. Get out of here. I'll have Esther arrange it. Where's Esther?"

Annie grabbed her laptop bag off the floor and heaved it over her shoulder.

"She had some birthday party to go to. I sent her home. Why are you still here?"

"Meeting the wife on this side for dinner."

"Well, I really need to go."

"Your man's back, isn't he?"

"Yeah." Annie looked down at her phone to avoid Sergio's gaze. Just a few more days and this whole crazy situation would be over with.

"Don't pull a muscle."

"You're gross. Have a good weekend." She booked it for the elevator before he decided he had some other pointless thing to discuss. She texted Oksana three times as she went. Once to say she was on her way and twice to apologize for running late.

Annie almost dropped her keys and the food in her hand. Oksana's tongue tickled the edge of her earlobe and her free hand cupped her breast. Her other hand carried a certain gift bag. Annie was starving, but sex would have to come first, if she could convince Oksana that dinner could wait.

"Hurry. I'm hungry," Oksana whispered, grinding her hips against Annie's ass, pushing her closer to the back door.

"You don't mind your food cold?"

"No, I don't. I want you inside me."

Annie almost broke her keys off in the lock. They stumbled into the kitchen. Annie dumped the food on the counter and spun in Oksana's arms. She wanted to take this little interlude to the couch, get Oksana naked, upright, and exposed so Annie could devour her. She slid her hands up the front of Oksana's T-shirt. The cotton easily gave way to her wandering fingers, and in no time her bra was pushed up and out of the way.

Annie licked at Oksana's neck and gently teased her piercings.

"I want these nipples."

"They're yours," Oksana replied.

In the darkness, Annie guided her through the archway and back toward the couch, realizing a moment too late that they weren't alone. Annie froze.

"What's wrong?" Oksana asked.

"There's someone here-"

The lights flicked on. Annie screamed then bit down on her lip as she smacked heads with Oksana. They both stumbled a step apart.

Taum Collins stood in her living room. A beige Pomeranian Annie had never seen before panted happily in a pink shoulder carrier under her arm. Taum had been hitting the tanning beds hard, and it was pretty clear she'd been blasted with a fresh injection of Botox. Her lips were too tight and her eyes were strained, but her emotions were clear.

The bile in Annie's throat shot to the roof of her mouth as she looked at her mother. Out of the corner of her eye, Annie saw Oksana adjusting her shirt and her bra, but Annie didn't take her eyes off Taum or the dog.

"Mom."

"Hi, honey," Taum said, her tone oddly light.

"What are you doing here?"

"I talked to Jeff this morning; I just called him to see when he and the boys would be ready for their next fitting. You know Europe either makes you fat or skinny, but you're never the same." Her mother had never been to Europe. "He told me you were seeing someone else. Actually, he said you were sleeping with your trainer. The slut he named was pretty high on your list of priorities so I wanted to come see for myself how much of his story was true. You are something." She glared at Oksana.

Annie knew exactly what her mother was thinking. Throughout her childhood, she'd stood by as Taum and her friends made racist and derogatory comments about all sorts of people. At the time, Annie knew her mother's thinking was beyond flawed. She went out of her way to be a different type of person and now she was terrified of just what her mother would say to Oksana.

She looked back to Annie.

"You picked this over Jeff?"

Annie could feel her neck tensing. "It wasn't a matter of picking. Jeff and I aren't meant to be."

"That's not what he thinks. He's very upset, but if I can talk some sense into you, he's willing to take you back." Annie would kill him. The second her mother left, she was going downtown and she was going to murder Jeff.

"We have a reputation to uphold. Your father and I work very hard, Annie, and you can't think we can push Jeff aside and parade a tattooed, pierced, bald, black-oh, I'm sorry. Jeff pointed out the distinction for me. You're mixed. And a former porn star at that. Nice touch."

"Oh my God, Mom! Stop!" Annie cried. Her whole body was shaking. Beside her, she could feel the tension rising off Oksana. She leaned back on her heels and Annie prayed she didn't snap and try to slap Taum or run away.

"Why should I? Does she have any idea where you come from? Who your family is?"

"Who are we, Mom?" Her mother was a nobody and her father was just another faceless suit who traded numbers all day.

"We're better than this. I know that much."

"I'm going to go wait in the kitchen." Oksana said.

"No, you should hear this. I talked to your boss this afternoon," she told Oksana. "He's going to talk to you."

That was enough. Annie stepped forward and put herself between Oksana and Taum, turning her back on her mother.

"I'll talk to him, okay? He knows the truth. I'll talk to him." Annie could see it in her eyes; Oksana didn't believe her.

"Doesn't matter. He's letting her go, and she's paying for every single one of your workouts. Sweetheart, you and Jeff can make this work. He still loves you."