The theater was full. The hum of conversation was heavy on Talia’s ears as she searched for her seat. Her heavy brunette hair swung freely as she strode into the crowded room. Checking her ticket stub once again and looking at the row numbers, she moved forward toward the down stair ramp of the main seating area. Rotten luck to be late, her anger simmered as she recalled the phone conversation a few hours earlier.
      “Jerry told me I had to work late”, Stacy whined into the other end of the phone.
      “What? Again?” Talia felt the frustration rise. “You could have told me this earlier today. I would have cancelled and gotten a refund. This is the third time this week!” Talia felt a flash of forewarning strike her even before the words was spoken.
      “I need this job, Tal. Jerry said she would promote me soon but she needs me right now.”
      Silence reigned on both ends of the phone line. Talia heard Stacy’s response, even as she asked the question.
      “Does she need you for more than just work?”
      Talia pictured Stacy’s nervous gesture, the running of her hand through her light brown hair, just as if she were standing right before her. She heard a sigh through the phone line and knew the answer. Gently she set the phone down on its cradle.
      “Well, so much for that old commitment idea!” Talia sighed, not exactly devastated. She was aware of the growing situation and had ignored it. Stacy had never denied her interest in Jerry. She had even praised the older woman’s accomplishments more than once. Talia had turned her head to the restless actions her lover had been displaying openly to her. It was safer to ignore everything than rock the boat they had been floating in. But, the boat had finally capsized. 
      Talia’s deep green eyes searched for her row of seats, stopping only briefly as the lights dimmed twice to signal the beginning of the musical. Her row was two down and there were her two seats off the middle aisle, but some woman was sitting in one of them Talia reached the seats just as the house lights dimmed to begin the show. She had a brief glance of a tilted head turning her way and noticed dark sunglasses worn on a very beautiful face as the lights fully dimmed and the spot light lit up the left side of the stage.
      Music poured forth to introduce the young female lead as she picked through the imaginary flowers in the imaginary field. Talia glanced sideways, discreetly, to check out the profile of the woman. Her hair was dark and mid length. The curve of her chin was angled perfectly to accentuate the full lips above them. High cheekbones and an attractive arch of the eyebrows were the extent of the features she noticed, along with the dark glasses covering the eyes.
      Talia noticed the designer clothes and expensive accessories. The woman held a small purse and light jacket over her lap, clasping her hands together casually. A pinky ring. Talia thoughtfully noticed, along with the manicured fingernails and pink blush nail polish to match the pink lipstick. Pure class! She thought to herself.
      Taking a moment to watch the program, the music changed to a sweet love tune as the female and male lead sang their feelings of budding passion to each other. Their voices blended warmly. Talia glanced again at the woman beside her and watched as the woman’s head tilted off to one side to listen. The gleam of her diamond earrings sparkled in the glint of the stage lights.
      Leaning over, Talia took a chance with the softer music, and, hoping she still had some level of sense when it came to finding lesbian women, whispered to the stranger. “Wouldn’t life be simpler if all men had scripts to follow, of course, written by women!” She watched a grin twitch at the corner of the woman’s mouth as she turned toward Talia. An eyebrow raised lightly with sarcasm as a whispered response was made.
      “It would probably be just as easy if the scripts were all written in foreign languages.” Her husky English accent whispered over Talia’s senses causing a shiver of excitement.
      “I love your accent!” Talia leaned over whispering back, groaning inwardly at her own instant lame response. She smelled a flowery perfume waft back, mingled with her own scent of Lady Stetson.
      “Thank you. Your accent is beautiful, too!” Talia chuckled softly at the reply. Her own Georgian drawl was less than it had been since she moved to San Francisco, but it was something that others noticed immediately, usually with the same response she had just graced this stranger with.
      The music soared into a circus act as the local country fair was developed into the transition of the next scene. The male lead sang of his passion for the excitement of the fair as the villain of the feature came onto the stage. The music turned into a parlay of good versus bad, as the two men sang back and forth over the female lead. Talia waited through the next 40 minutes of the show and was just about to start fidgeting in exasperation at the length of the first half, when the house lights rose, signalling intermission. She blinked at the sudden brightness. People started to get up and depart to the refreshment stands out in the lobby as the conversation hum crept steadily upward. Turning toward her neighbor, she noticed the woman still facing the stage.
      “My name’s Talia Stewert.” She introduced herself as she stretched out her cramped posture by sitting up straighter in the theater seat. The woman turned her face to Talia and smiled.
      “Very nice meeting you, Talia. My name is Marie Allen.” Talia immediately noticed Marie’s glance pointed in her general direction, not to her face. She realized Marie was blind in an instant. That explains the dark glasses, Talia grimaced with her ignorance. The British accent broke into her thoughts without any hesitation. “Are you enjoying the play?” Marie inquired, as she reached up to remove the dark glasses that covered her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Talia watched, her thoughts divided, as she took in the complete picture of Marie’s face. She had gray eyes. Perfectly beautiful gray eyes that completed the entire classical look. Talia shrugged by habit, responding without thought.
      “Too many men!” She said, without derision in her voice, controlling her internal urge to feel pity toward the handicap. Marie glanced upward toward her face with a smile.
      “Don’t let my niece hear you say that. She’s in love with the male lead. Although, I agree, and I’m only listening.” She chuckled in amusement. Talia smiled in response and stood to fully stretch.
      “These seats leave something to be desired.” She commented, feeling her back straighten out. Looking down at the woman sitting near, she shrugged in disregard of her thoughts.
      “The company is worth it though.” She flirted cautiously.
      Marie laughed delighted and smiled. Talia watched the woman’s features grow even more beautiful. Talia smiled; her stomach tightened with a sudden excitement.
      “Are you going to keep doing that all night?” The English tones came back with humor. Talia sat back down and crossed her legs with comfort.
      “Doing what?” she asked.
      Marie brought her facial tilt back down to Talia’s level and smiled a half grin toward her direction.
      “Flirting with me?” her eyebrow arched upward, sarcastically.
      Talia blushed at the directness of the woman’s remarks and felt embarrassment and shyness suddenly take over. Silence was her answer for a few moments, until Marie interrupted.