Chapter Text
It was close to midday as Clarke entered her regular coffee shop, but nonetheless pleasantly busy. She fished some money out of her pocket as she awaited her turn, the coziness of the place consuming her.
The barista, Harper, was actually a sweet girl. She knew Clarke’s order by heart, and they always made some small talk to brighten Clarke’s day before she went back to work.
“In for another latte already, Clarke?” Harper smiled, recalling Octavia’s earlier visit and pulling out a cup in advance to scribble her name.
“You guessed it. And one of those fresh orange juices over there.” Clarke pointed to the noisy machine. “Apparently Octavia needs a change of drink.” She recited. Harper raised her eyebrows funnily in response before winking. “Coming right up.” She grinned.
“Monty, love, can you get me an orange juice please?” She called out to her left while turning to the coffee machine. Monty brushed his hands on his apron before complying, flashing Clarke a smile as he padded over. The couple had had this shop for over three years now, and Clarke believed they were a match made in heaven, going through the motions blindly and happily serving their guests.
“How’s life, Clarke?” Monty asked while Harper was still busy in the back of the shop.
Clarke smiled a little at his genuinity, shrugging and pursing her lips. “Could be better, could be worse.” Thoughts of Lexa flooded her vision, which - in fact - had made her day far less bad. She fiddled with her pennies for a moment, before deciding to just put them on the counter already.
“Well, I hope it’s better after your coffee.” Harper chimed in, putting the cup next to Octavia’s orange juice.
“Thanks guys.” Clarke spoke, pushing the money towards them and taking the cups. “See you around.” She winked, turning on her heels and dodging some other customers. It was a little difficult to open the door with her hands full, but she managed, and when she hit the curb, the sun shone even harder than before. It made Clarke’s mood a little better, so she happily skipped her way back to the shop.
Some uproar in the daily traffic swiftly caught her attention, and when Clarke rounded the corner on automatic pilot, it was safe to say that she wasn’t looking.
Because of the total unexpectedness, she crashed full force into a stranger, her coffee cup immediately splashing open on the concrete floor. Her left hand was still clutching the juice, but unfortunately the contents had already forcefully spilled together with the collision, smearing the orange liquid all over the woman in front of her and Clarke herself.
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry.” Clarke apologized dumbfounded, the only thing in her vision a white button up blouse with a big yellow streak. It was only when she looked up at the woman’s not so silent ‘fuck’ that she widened her eyes possibly even further.
“Lexa.” Clarke gasped, mentally slapping herself. Why her? The brunette was trying to shrug some juice off her arm, but it really was no use. Most of it had stained her blouse anyway. She couldn’t help the groan that escaped her in pure annoyance. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the letters CLARK written in capital letters on the spilled coffee cup. The name seemed to go on further, but she didn’t catch any more of it as the cup slowly rolled away from her feet.
“Again, I’m so sorry.” Clarke tried again, quickly throwing the cups with its leftover contents - which weren’t a lot - in the nearby trash can. “Here, let me help.” She pulled out a tissue, dabbing the undried liquid from her chest without thinking.
Still not realizing who she bumped into - she was too busy with her newly ruined blouse to hear the voice apologizing - Lexa’s first reaction at the touch was to get aloof... and angry.
“Get your hands off!” She scoffed, stepping away and regaining her stance, her sunglasses covering her somewhat dark green pupils due to her anger. Clarke was taken aback a bit, immediately complying and leaving Lexa some space. It was only then that the brunette glanced up, recognising her collider, which instantly made her grip on the blue bag dangling next to her legs a little tighter.
Clarke was met with a stoic expression, but Lexa could feel her eyes soften behind her sunglasses. She let herself sigh, much less in annoyance now. “Oh it’s you.” She spoke softly, the anger slowly leaving her voice.
The blonde stood a little perplexed, thankful for the change in scenery. She nodded in confirmation and blinked rapidly to think of an explanation, and when she couldn’t come up with one, she settled for apologizing yet a third time.
“I’m really sorry. Look, I live just over the street.” Clarke gestured to the other side of the road, which made her realize the big stain on her green work shirt as well. It stuck to her chest and was getting a little uncomfortable, so she couldn’t imagine how Lexa must feel in a white button up.
“I have water and soap, you could get cleaned up.” Clarke quickly looked the brunette up and down and it didn’t go unnoticed that Lexa had been trying to keep the blue bag away from the spills the whole time.
“Thank you, but I just need to get my car back.” Lexa huffed, turning and preparing herself to cross the street. She couldn’t be angry at the blonde, but she just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.
“I also have a phone.” Clarke desperately kept going, following Lexa down the street. “I’m confident that in five minutes we can have you spic and span and back on the street again. In a non-prostitute sense obviously.” She added, feeling herself become flustered at that last unnecessary detail. However, Lexa abruptly cut her angry walk, making Clarke almost bump right into her.
The brunette seemed to weigh her choices as she licked her lips, the right corner of her mouth curling slightly upwards. She pondered for a moment before fully turning to the blonde. What harm could be done?
“All right, what do you mean by ‘just over the street’ , give it to me in yards.” She commanded a little more displeased than intended, waving her hands in all kinds of directions and making her bags swing.
“Uhh eighteen yards.” Clarke stammered calmly, trying to help ease the film star’s nerves. “That’s my house over there with the blue front door.” She pointed in the direction over Lexa’s shoulder, all of a sudden standing awfully close. Lexa turned her head the same way, recognising the blue front wall fairly easily among the other not so colorful rows of houses. Feeling the sticky liquid make its way over to her forearm and knowing there was no other choice, she sighed and nodded. “Okay.”
***
“Come in. Let me just -” Clarke closed the door behind Lexa with a thud and skipped in front of her, throwing stuff out of the way as she kept going. Oh how she was going to kill Raven later for all the mess she left behind.
“I’m sorry about that. Come in.” She brushed her hands on her pants, inviting Lexa to step somewhat further into the house than her hallway. “It’s not quite as tidy as it normally is I fear, but the bathroom is on the top floor.” She pointed to the ceiling. The actress took off her sunglasses and for the first time since she’d seen her up close, Clarke was met with those beautiful piercing green eyes. With her hand still up in the air, she changed the angle a bit so it was pointing to the first floor, her eyes never leaving Lexa’s. “And the telephone is just up there.”
Lexa smiled innocently, lifting up the blue bag she was carrying in question. “Oh yeah, wait. Let me just -” Clarke took the weight from her, fingers accidentally - or not - brushing again. She placed it on a stool nearby the stairs, easily visible for when she came back down. Clarke assumed she needed her purse, so she didn’t offer to take that from her. When Lexa started climbing up the stairs with said purse firmly clutched in her hands, her assumptions were confirmed. Eyes never leaving the brunette, she saw her struggling where to go when reaching the first floor.
“Uh, ‘round the corner straight on up.” Clarke clarified, pointing her finger to enunciate. Lexa complied, and it was only seconds after she heard the bathroom door closing.
“Shit.” Clarke let herself curse at the junk Raven left behind this morning, making quick work of shoving dirty plates in the sink and kicking different pairs of shoes out of sight.
She guessed it was about twenty minutes later when she heard Lexa come down the stairs. Clarke was just finishing up cleaning the dinner table when she glanced up and her breath hitched. Lexa had changed out of her unsustainable attire and was wearing a black crop top, probably an emergency option she fished out of her purse. Her toned stomach was clearly visible, and it took all of Clarke’s willpower to tear her eyes away from the jaw-dropping sight.
When she reached the end of the stairs, Clarke put down the rag she was holding and tried to retrieve her jaw from the floor. Lexa stood awkwardly at the bottom, hands tightly clasping her purse in front of her.
“Would you like a cup of tea before you go?” Clarke asked politely, it being the first thing that came to mind in an attempt to make Lexa stay just a little longer.
“No.” Lexa’s answer was plain and simple.
“Coffee?” She tried.
“No.”
“Orange juice?” The blonde immediately winced after she spoke those words. Stupid. Lexa raised her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes at the challenge.
“Probably not. Something else cold.” Clarke pointed her finger, walking to the refrigerator in a few easy steps around the dinner table. “Coke? Water?” Clarke grabbed her chin in thought. Something colorish grabbed her attention. “Some disgusting sugary drink pretending to have something to do with fruit of the forest?”
“No.” Lexa whispered this time, the result of their close proximity. A swift smell of the blonde’s bathroom soap filled her nose, and Clarke’s heart skipped a beat at how Lexa had just used her stuff. She wasn’t keen on giving up now.
“Would you like something to eat? Something to uh, nibble?” This earned Clarke an awkward silence. Lexa however didn’t make any move to turn around, so of course the blonde just continued making a fool of herself.
“Uh, apricots soaked in honey?” She took the jar out of the refrigerator door, silently turning it around and frowning. “Why no one knows, because it just stops them tasting of apricots and makes them taste like honey. And if you wanted honey, you’d just buy honey instead of apricots.” Another awkward pause. “But nevertheless let’s not go there. They’re yours if you want.” She finished, presenting the jar in front of Lexa.
“No.” Her answer remained the same, although Clarke swore she saw the green in her eyes twinkle a bit in delight.
“Do you always say ‘no’ to everything?” She questioned, subtly placing the jar back where she had found it.
Lexa seemed to think about that for a moment, and right when Clarke thought she was going to say a sentence lasting longer than a one-word spree, she got her answer.
“No.” She tilted her head, amusement clearly spreading across her face. Clarke nodded and pursed her lips, suppressing a laugh.
“I’d better be going.” Lexa gazed down for a second, trying to let herself believe those words. “Thanks for your help.” She bit her lip, taking in the blonde before her. She looked flustered, her cheeks a little red tinted from all the cleaning she just did. Her nervousness provided a small but forceful tingle in her stomach, and that’s when Lexa knew it would be hard to get this girl out of her head.
“You’re welcome.” Clarke smiled back as she closed the refrigerator door. “And may I also say uhm, you’re heavenly.” She stuttered on her words. “Just - this is my one chance to say. After you read that terrible book you’re certainly not going to come back to the shop.” She rambled.
Lexa smiled genuinely at the blondes’ cuteness. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, well. My pleasure.” Clarke stated. There was a moment of silence before Lexa turned on her heels, silently dragging herself to the door. Clarke followed right behind, until they found themselves at the front of the house, bodies turning instinctively and looking straight in each other’s eyes.
With her hand already on the doorknob, Clarke couldn’t help but to say something more. “So, it was nice to meet you.” She breathed. “Surreal, but nice.”
Lexa nodded in agreement. Pushing herself to get this over with, she glanced at Clarke’s hand covering the lock.
“Sorry.” Clarke turned to open the door. Lexa pushed her sunglasses back up her nose and before she knew it, the actress rounded the corner and was out of sight.
Clarke closed the door again softly and frowned. Surreal but nice? What was she thinking?
Just as she was about to saunter off to her bedroom to change as well, the doorbell rang. Clarke made a confused face. Who else would need her at this peculiar moment? She spun around and unlocked the door again, opening it to a sight she wasn’t expecting.
“Hi.” Lexa smiled white-toothed. “I forgot my other bag.” She explained, gesturing inside.
Clarke was still comprehending the fact Lexa stood on her doorstep again. “Oh, right.” She tried not to sound too disappointed by the fact this was just about the books and not about her. She crossed the hallway in seconds, retrieving the books in the familiar blue bag she had placed down the stairs. Lexa couldn’t help but step inside, waiting patiently for Clarke to come back.
“Here you go.” The blonde pushed the bag in her hands.
“Thanks.” She sighed, fingers slipping over the plastic material.
There was a moment of silence where neither girl made a move to leave the hallway. Clarke was just realizing Lexa was a tad taller than her when the brunette did something absolutely unexpecting.
Lexa blamed her one moment of courage when she leaned forward, closing her eyes right before capturing the blondes’ lips with her own. Clarke was taken aback a bit, but by the way Lexa’s hand softly traced her neck she felt herself slowly relax before kissing back and fluttering her eyes close as well. With the smell of orange juice on her unchanged shirt still overwhelming, Clarke decided oranges were her favorite fruit from now on. The kiss only lasted for a good three seconds, but the blonde couldn’t help herself when she pushed forward a little when Lexa made move to part, yearning the feeling of her touch for as long as she could remember.
Eventually they did part ways, and Clarke was sure her pupils had never been more dilated in her life. “I’m very sorry about the ‘surreal but nice’ comment - disaster.” She apologized, immediately after cursing herself for such foolish first words after such an amazing first kiss.
“That’s okay.” Lexa smiled, daring to brush some of the blonde locks out of Clarke’s face. I thought the apricot and honey thing was the real low point.” She grinned.
Clarke let out a snicker, leaning into the touch. She didn’t know what had just happened, but she might as well make the best out of it. All of a sudden, the doorknob clattered. “Oh my god. My roommate, I’m sorry there’s no excuse for her.” Clarke shook her head, blushing at Raven’s awkward timing.
Lexa cleared her throat as the door opened. Raven walked by with her hands full, muttering a hi without recognising her. She glared a little in surprise at Clarke though, a look on her face that said “Finally bringing a girl home? Nice.”
Both girls’ eyes lingered on Raven until she passed the corner to the kitchen. “Probably best not to tell anyone about this.” Lexa whispered, conjuring her sunglasses back from her purse.
“Right, right.” Clarke agreed. “No one.” She nodded. “I mean I’ll tell myself sometimes but, don’t worry, I won’t believe it.” She smiled curiously.
Lexa bit her lip. This girl was seriously something else. She turned towards the door, and Clarke opened it without hesitation. Before stepping down the threshold, however, Lexa placed a small kiss on Clarke’s left cheek.
“Bye.” Lexa ducked her head down again, sunglasses covering her face as she started walking further down the streets of Notting Hill, a never leaving grin plastered across her face.
“Bye.” Clarke breathed a little too late, feeling her cheeks turn crimson.
She couldn’t help but watch how the brunette took off with easy strides, the blue bag dangling next to her the same manner it did when she left the shop. Her heart was pounding so heart she swore it would explode any minute. She stood completely rattled with her hand tightly clasped around the doorknob, the taste of mint still lingering on her lips.
“There’s something wrong with this yogurt.” Raven broke her trance, the clinging of her spoon on the marmer cup getting Clarke’s attention. When she came to investigate, she sighed.
“That’s mayonnaise, not yogurt.” She spoke collected, not even surprised by Raven’s actions anymore.
“Oh right.” The hispanic squinted her eyes. “There we have it.” She confirmed, accepting the solution to her problem. Nevertheless, she kept on scooping spoonfuls of mayonnaise in her mouth, each time leaving some behind on the corners of her lips.
“On for a videofest tonight? I’ve got some absolute classics.” Raven asked with her spoon in the way, purposefully neglecting the way Lexa just walked out of their home.
Clarke stood nailed to the ground, surrendering herself to the urge of licking her lips. She furrowed her brow at the question. “What about your date?” She recited.
“Well, she called off. Said she had something else planned already.” Raven pouted.
Clarke nodded in pity. “Fine, tonight.” She confirmed, shaking some essence into herself. She changed out of her stained shirt and finished the day of work, coming up with a vague excuse to Octavia as to why she had been missing most of the day. Well, she actually told her she bumped into someone - hence the orange juice not delivered - but she left out the apparent detail of said collider being Lexa Woods, as well as the kiss they had shared.
When she came back from work, however, Clarke noticed a small post-it plastered on her front door, swaying up and down whenever it would catch a soft evening breeze. Examining it from a closer look, she recognised the curly handwriting from earlier that day in the store immediately.
I talked to my manager at your place and asked her to save your number. I’ll call you.
LW.
Not bothering to cover the forming grin on her face, Clarke grabbed the post-it from her door and folded it carefully in her pocket. Opening the front door, her formerly rapidly beating heart got even more triggered by the amazing smell of dinner. It was only a rare occasion when Raven cooked, but she always managed to do it at the exact moments Clarke needed it the most. She could say her roommate was a big goofball from time to time, but she couldn’t live without her.
Both girls did the dishes together afterwards, bumping hips on their favorite music and covering each other in foam, which ended up with wet shirts and a whole lot of giggles.
They changed into pajamas - Clarke made sure to put the post-it carefully on her bedside table - and plopped down on the couch for their movie night. Of course, Raven had chosen one of Lexa’s latest films. Clarke didn’t complain though, her beautiful green eyes still making her sway in awe. In the midst of a kissing scene, Raven broke the silence.
“Imagine, somewhere in the world there’s a man or woman that is allowed to kiss her.” Raven sighed, hugging one of her favorite pillows.
“Yes.” Clarke answered with a sigh of her own, her eyes still plastered on the tv screen. Without realizing, she licked her lips. “She is fairly fabulous.” She whispered, shrinking down into the cushions and putting her head on her roommate’s shoulder, who unconsciously reacted by pulling an arm around her friend. The pair’s eyes started drooping not much later, the sound of the tv softly lulling them to sleep.
***
It had been foreseeable that Lexa would never call. She was a famous actress after all, and Clarke never expected her to in the first place. Surely they had had a moment, but she couldn’t expect Lexa to actually be busy with calling some ordinary blonde she only saw once. Over the next two weeks however, life turned back to normal for Clarke. She got a coffee on her way to work - no orange juice, God forbid, she only made fresh ones at home. Her daily conversations with Octavia kept her in a good mood, and together they handled the usual lost customers in search for actual books instead of travel magazines, which they always gracefully shoved outside and sometimes made them a little bit annoyed by their inability to read.
“Do you have any books by Rowling?” A man strolling around in the shop asked her, which made Clarke click her pen she was currently holding, useful sometimes when skimming through her accountancy.
“No, I’m afraid. We’re a travel bookshop. We only sell travel books.” She grinned close mouthed, rather fakely.
“Oh right.” The guy looked perplexed. “How about the new John Grisham thriller?”
Clarke seemed to weigh her choices on this customer’s stupidity, rolling her eyes as little visible as possible. “Well no, ‘cause that’s a novel too, isn’t it?” She settled on the more friendly manner, hoping her sarcasm wouldn’t slip through that much.
“Oh right.” He repeated himself. Clarke smiled politely, thanking whatever brain cells the man had left for getting the picture.
He sighed and let his eyes wander some more before turning back to the cashier, clearly uninterested in the shop’s offer. “Have you got Winnie-the-Pooh? ”
Clarke looked up in disbelief. Her hands busy with paperwork, she wasn’t keen on explaining any further. “Octavia, your customer.” She called out, at which Octavia immediately appeared from the back.
“Can I help you?” Octavia chimed, fortunately for Clarke not yet realizing she couldn’t. The blonde turned around, just in time to see a big red London bus passing the street, Lexa’s face in her new space movie role covering most of it. It wasn’t due to come out in London’s theaters for another two weeks, but she reckoned there had already been a lot of important guests invited to watch the premier last week. Clarke caught herself ogling until the bus was out of sight, and she tried her awful best not to think of Lexa’s lips on her own as she focused her attention back on the shop, the chances of the brunette calling slowly fading away.
***
The weekend came just as quickly as the workweek, and Clarke was putting on a comfortable home outfit when she crossed Raven in the hallway, both on their way to get some breakfast. She was clothed rather extraordinarily, and when they had both poured their bowls of cereal, Clarke was tired of acting like she didn’t notice Raven wearing her clothes. How lovely some days with her flatmate could be, how exhausting others were.
“Just incidentally,” Clarke began hesitantly, eyebrows raised, “why are you wearing that?” She pointed with her breakfast spoon to Raven’s chosen outfit for the day, one of her paint- splashed shirts and pants she only used for creating her art, making the hispanic look like a rainbow.
“Combination of factors, really.” Raven answered casually, flinging her own spoon around. “No clean clothes -”
Clarke cut her off in desperation. “They never will be, you know, unless you actually clean your clothes.” She lectured her friend.
“Right. Vicious circle, I know.” Raven agreed while nodding her head. She took another spoonful of cereal before speaking again with her mouth full. “Anyway, I was rooting aroundin your things when I found this and I thought cool . Kinda artsy.” Clarke just closed her eyes and shook her head, giving herself an inner pat on the back for living with this crazy girl.
***
“You should do more of this stuff.” Raven pointed out as they were sitting on their rooftop terrace, referring to Clarke’s painting skills. “Maybe you can get some money out of it.”
Clarke rolled her eyes. She loved painting, but she knew she would never be good enough to actually sell some of her stuff. Deciding to forget the whole Raven-picked-on-her-clothes scenario, she closed her newspaper and changed the subject.
“Any messages last week?” She asked dubiously. Raven was home most of the time, so they agreed that when Clarke was at work, her roommate would pick up her calls.
“Yeah I wrote a couple down.” Raven spoke, standing up and balancing her way off the rooftop of the patio, careful with her brace. Clarke used to wince a little when the hispanic performed this kind of stability tricks on their balcony, but Raven always assured her there was nothing to worry about.
“So there were two messages then, right?” Clarke concluded. Raven found herself busy with taking a seat in one of the rooftop chairs and kicking her feet up, her attention span quickly diverting to a crossword puzzle on the wooden table. The blonde tried again. “You said a couple, so there were more?”
Raven looked at her roommate as if she was crazy. “You want me to write down all your messages?” She furrowed her eyebrows, effectively convincing her she wasn’t capable of doing such a thing.
Clarke wiped her face in despair, thinking of a simple way to continue this conversation. “Okay. Which are the ones that you didn’t write down?”
Raven seemed to think really hard for a moment. But just as fast as that moment came, it disappeared again.
“They’re gone completely.” She shook her head. “Oh no, wait. There was one from your mom. She said to not forget lunch on Sunday, and bring her a painting next time you see her.” Raven winked, making Clarke groan at Raven’s over interest in her art.
“No one else?” She attempted, a small tingle of hope still yearning for a call from Lexa.
“Absolutely no one else.” Raven confirmed, turning her attention back to her crossword puzzle.
Clarke nodded in acceptance. She shouldn’t have expected Lexa to call her again in the first place.
“Although if we’re going for this obsessive writing-down-all-the-messages-thing, some American girl called Lexa called a few days ago.” She casually threw in, as if it were a mere detail.
Clarke’s head snapped up at the confession. “What did she say?” By the way Raven averted her eyes, Clarke derived that she’d clearly known what she was talking about the whole time. She’d probably been playing it cool so as to not let Clarke think of her too much.
“Well it was genuinely bizarre. She said ‘Hi, it’s Lexa.’ Then ‘Call me at The Ritz.’ And then gave herself a completely different name.” Raven explained, seeming confused herself.
“Which was?” Clarke asked carefully, already dreading the answer.
Raven took the end of her pen out of her mouth and clicked her tongue. “Absolutely no idea. Remembering one name is hard enough.” She smiled goofily.
“Oh my God. This can’t be real.” Clarke jumped down from the patio, over dramatically skipping her way to the ground floor and beginning her frantic search for the phone. Raven followed her down the steps in a normal manner, her brace not permitting the rabbit jump her roommate had just performed from the fourth last stair.
Clarke quickly dialed the Ritz’s number while the hispanic plopped herself down on the couch, her being way more at ease than the blonde who was hastily shoving her curls out of her face to get the horn to her ear. It was only after a few rings that a low masculine voice picked up.
“Hotel The Ritz, my name is Sinclair. How can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m Clarke.” She began. “Could you by any chance inform me if there’s a Lexa Woods staying there at the moment?” She attempted, even though she already knew the answer.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but we’re not allowed to give that kind of information.” The man spoke kindly.
Clarke sighed a little too loudly into the phone. “Yes, of course. I know that.” She cursed herself. “She said that. I know she’s using another name. The problem is, she left the message with my roommate, which was a very serious mistake.” Clarke explained to the receptionist. He remained silent, so Clarke went on.
“Please imagine the stupidest person you’ve ever met. Are you doing that?” She asked. A firm hum confirmed he was still listening. “Right, now double it. That is the one I’m living with. And she can’t remember this other -”
“Try ‘ Heda’ .” Raven called all of a sudden, ignoring the harsh comment Clarke just made about her.
“Sorry, what?” Clarke pulled the horn away, checking if she imagined Raven’s words.
“I think she said her name was ‘Heda’ .” Her friend turned around on the couch, changing her position to her knees and grazing her lip in thought.
Clarke narrowed her eyes at the weird nickname, but tried anyway. “I don’t suppose ‘Heda’ rings any bells, does it?” She chuckled.
“I’ll put you right through, madam.” Sinclair answered politely.
“Oh my God.” Clarke gasped. When she glanced back over at the couch, Raven gave her a slight wink, letting the blonde remember she wasn’t as stupid as one might think at first thought. Clarke quickly stuck out her tongue, before practicing her introducement in her head.
Hi. Hey. Hey there. Hey, it’s Clarke.
“Hello?” A soft feminine voice belonging to Lexa abruptly broke the silence on the other end.
“Hi. Sorry, It’s Clarke Griffin.”
“Yes?” Lexa’s voice sounded a bit confused and it was then Clarke realized she never gave Lexa her name.
“We met - Uh I work in a bookshop?” Clarke tried to explain, hand shaking while holding the phone.
“Right. You played it pretty cool there, waiting for three days to call.” The brunette sounded rather disappointed.
“Oh, no I promise you I’ve never played anything cool in my entire life.” Clarke assured quickly. “My roommate, who I’ll stab to death later, never gave me the message.” She glared at Raven, but the only response she got was the hispanic putting her chin in her hands and smirking goofily.
“Oh, okay.” The other line said. “So?” The question hung in the air, Lexa willing Clarke to fill it in.
“Yeah, I’m sorry.” She spoke. “I don’t know, perhaps I could drop around for tea later or something?” Clarke didn’t know where the sudden courage came from, but the words already slipped before she could change her mind.
There was a long silence in which Clarke practically heard Lexa weigh her choices through the phone. Eventually, she spoke. “Things are pretty busy here. I might be free around 3:00, though. Come to the hotel, I’ll be there. Ask for the Trafalgar Suite.” Lexa finished adamantly.
“Right, great.” Clarke stuttered for a good ending, her voice cracking on the last word in excitement. “See you later then?”
“Yes, Clark.” Lexa chuckled, suddenly remembering the name on the spilled coffee cup. She clicked the ‘k’ of her tongue in a way that sent a small shiver down Clarke’s spine. “See you later.”
Lexa was the first to put the phone down, the peeping tone keeping Clarke in a daze for a few more moments. It was only when Raven waved her crossword in front of her that she snapped out of her trance, placing the phone back on the table.
“You’re welcome.” Raven laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at her lovesick roommate. Clarke let out a shaky breath, not yet realizing what had just happened. She was going to see Lexa again.