Tesla jerked awake. She raised her head and blinked as she looked around the bedroom. Sunlight now flooded the room, and the candle on the dresser had long since burned out.
She looked toward the partially open door. She could hear the TV in the living room.
Her heart began to pound in anticipation. It made her wish she could go back to sleep. The last thing she wanted was to get up and face Nane.
But they desperately needed to talk.
Tesla used the bathroom and stepped into the living room where Nane, clad in an orange robe with a blue floral design, lay on the couch watching TV.
The phone suddenly rang. Nane snatched it up and spoke to the caller. Wishing she could understand more than just a few scattered words, Tesla headed into the kitchen for some coffee.
“I ran out and got some jelly donuts before you got up,” Nane said after she hung up her brief phone call.
“No appetite,” Tesla mumbled, taking the coffee back into the bedroom.
After she drank the coffee and showered, she returned to the living room fully dressed.
Nane was still on the couch.
“We need to talk,” Tesla said.
“Not now,” Nane replied.
“I’m sorry, but this is more important than your TV show.”
Nane’s eyes, now darkened by the contacts she had put in that morning, darted her way. Her eyes narrowed, challenging, daring Tesla to defy her. “It has to wait,” she hissed. “I need to run out to help a friend soon.”
“I need help, too. Aren’t I more important? What friend is this anyway, and what do they need help with?”
“Is it any of your business?”
“As what’s supposed to be your girlfriend, yes, it is.”
“You fail to keep in mind that you’re more than just a girlfriend, Tesla. You’re a submissive. And as my slave, you are out of line by questioning me, your master.”
“Fuck this master/slave shit!” Tesla shouted, losing her temper. “Especially if you can do what you did to me last night and then put your friends first like you are right now.”
Nane swiftly rose from the couch, towering over Tesla. “You also fail to remember how much taller I am than you as well as the fact that I’ve got about twenty kilos on you.”
“What are you gonna do, beat me up?” Tesla said boldly, trying to sound a hell of a lot braver than she felt.
Just when Tesla thought Nane might actually strike her, Nane’s facial features relaxed and she said, “Tesla, please. I have some very important business to take care of. I need you to please bear with me for a short while this morning and then we can talk just as soon as I get back. You have my word on that.”
“But why won’t you at least tell me where you’re going?”
“I’m going to help a friend.”
“What friend, and…”
“Tesla, stop!” Nane shouted louder than Tesla had ever heard her shout before, in a way that actually hurt her ears.
Heart thumping, Tesla stepped away from the woman who supposedly loved her, again fearing she might be struck.
“We’ll talk about this in just an hour or two,” Nane said hastily as she quickly went into the bedroom to get dressed. “If you must know, I have a friend who’s going through a bitter divorce. I haven’t seen her in a while, and she could really use a shoulder to cry on right now. Her mother passed away recently as well.”
Now why was that so hard to explain? Tesla wondered to herself as she watched Nane finish dressing and leave the apartment.
Nane pulled up into the driveway by the large brown house and parked the car. She stepped out and eyed her surroundings. The neighborhood was affluent and gorgeous—no place she ever expected to live since she spent most of her spare money traveling.
She walked up a short walkway to the front door and was about to take hold of the brass knocker when the door suddenly flew open.
“Nane! How wonderful it is to see you,” beamed the slender, elegant woman with short brown curly hair who stood in the doorway.
“Monika! How nice it is to see you, too,” Nane said with a wide smile.
“It’s been too long,” Monika said, opening the door to let her friend step inside. “Come on in and catch me up to date on all that’s been going on with you!”
“I’d love to catch up, but this isn’t quite a social call,” said Nane after her friend hugged her warmly.
“No?”
“Well, it is, but it’s more than just that,” she said, following her friend into her spacious kitchen.
“Oh, okay. It’s a bit early, I know, but would you like some champagne?”
“I always want some champagne.”
Monika filled a couple of wine glasses and then they both went to sit out back on the covered patio.
“Beautiful morning, isn’t it?” Monika asked, handing Nane her champagne.
“Yes, it is for a change, and thank you for the delicious Heidsieck. I’ve always loved this particular pink champagne.”
Monika studied her friend with curiosity and concern. “Okay, lady. Lay it on me. What’s going on?”
“Well, I’m with someone now,” Nane began.
“Oh, are you?” Monika’s brows rose with deepening curiosity.
“Yes, someone I’ve come to care for quite a great deal in such a very unexpected and short time. Her name’s Tesla.”
“Pretty name.”
“Tesla’s American, much like you, and hasn’t yet applied for citizenship or anything.”
“Where does she live now?”
“With me.”
“Wow, that was fast. How does she support herself?”
“I take care of her. Now here’s the deal.” Nane explained the charges Tesla was wanted for in the U.S. and that Tesla had failed to appear in court. “Therefore, there’s a default warrant out for her arrest.”
“Oh, geez,” Monika said. “You sure you want to get involved with such a thing? I mean, I don’t know the girl, but well…”
“I’m sure. You’d just have to know Tesla to understand.”
“Why didn’t you bring her with you?”
“Because I didn’t want her to know I’m consulting with you,” Nane said. “I know it may sound sneaky, but I didn’t want to tell her and get her all worried or anything like that.”
“Worried about what?”
“Well, Monika, you’re a lawyer. That’s why I came to you. You know that the police automatically run a routine check for warrants if they pull you over for speeding or anything like that.”
Monika nodded knowingly.
“Well, what I need to know is, say we’re in the car and I’m pulled over for a busted taillight I don’t know I have. Is she at risk for extradition? And what about applying for citizenship? Would that be a problem?”
Monika rubbed her forehead thoughtfully and said, “I don’t think she’d be at risk for extradition if she had any police contact, but she can forget about applying for citizenship. That much I can guarantee you. I’ll double-check, but I’m pretty sure she’d be turned down. This isn’t murder we’re talking about, but it’s serious enough. Of course, some of this also depends on what the penalties are for these crimes in the U.S. Are your feelings for this girl really that serious?”
Nane flashed a bright smile. “They really are. I truly love her, Monika.”
Monika gazed thoughtfully toward the back of her yard at a pair of blue jays taking a bath in a decorative bird fountain. “I never thought I’d say this to you, but that’s too bad.”
Nane laughed. She should have expected as much.
“No harm can come to you, but you can’t do anything with her. You can’t take her to apply for citizenship. You can’t register as partners. You couldn’t marry if gay marriage ever became legal here. And unless it’s under the table, she can’t work either.”
“Yeah, I figured. I just wanted to get your opinion on the matter.”
“I won’t give you much more of my opinion, just the facts,” Monika said, rising from her chair. “Come on.”
They went inside and into a study where the lawyer had an expensive desktop computer set up on a large oakwood desk. Nane stood nearby and gazed over her friend’s shoulder as she researched the charges and their punishments in both the U.S. and Germany.
“Looks like I was right,” Monika said a few minutes later. “No real extradition risk, but there’s no way for her to have any kind of life here unless she goes back and takes care of things. Ever think of suggesting this to her?”
“Uh, no, I haven’t.”
“No?”
“No. She—uh—she doesn’t know I know about her legal troubles.”
“Oh, great. Just great, Nane. Then she’s keeping it a secret from you?”
“Please, Monika. You said you wouldn’t give me any more personal opinions. Please don’t judge me. I know Tesla. You don’t. And Tesla may not be perfect, but she’s a wonderful person.”
“You’re right and I’m sorry. It’s just that—well—this isn’t like you, Nane.”
“Yeah, love makes you do strange things,” Nane said smiling.
“Well, maybe it’s a good thing you love her so much.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Monika said with a nod, “because if she goes back to the U.S. they’ll not only arrest her on the spot with the new policy they’ve enacted over there, but she’ll probably get several months—if not a few years—locked up behind bars.”
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