Perfect Pitch

The more time Renee spent around Aisha, the more she felt her attraction for the woman grow. I'd better drop enough hints to let her know I'm bisexual and definitely interested, she thought to herself, not wanting to waste her time chasing what she couldn't have if Aisha wasn't interested. She was enjoying getting to know her and it was the first time she was annoyed by Melanie's presence. She tried to encourage the girl to entertain herself in her room when Aisha was around, but every time she finally went in there, she would return in no time to show the adults something she had drawn or how she had dressed up one of her dolls. Renee was trying not to let her frustration show. She wanted to scream at the kid to shut up and go into her room and stay there but knew she couldn't do that. “So where were you living before you moved in here?” Aisha asked her. Renee appreciated the questions and the apparent interest in her life but wished she had more time to ask questions of her own. “Just across town. I write mostly for blogs. What is it that you do?” “I own a small gift shop downtown.” “Ooh, interesting. I've always loved those kinds of stores and would love to check it out sometime.” “It's a cute shop. I'll take you some time. I love the flexible hours. The store is small enough to generate a decent income but practically runs itself with just my one employee. I'm at the point where I don't have to lift a finger to do much at all but make sure things are running smoothly and all that.” “Have you been living alone for a while now?” asked Renee, wanting to make the conversation a little more personal. Aisha was just about to answer when Melanie came running out of her room with a storybook she wanted to be read to her. “Oh, let's wait until our company leaves,” Renee said. “Oh, it’s no problem at all,” Aisha assured her. “I really should call the store now anyway and check in to make sure things are running smoothly.” Renee wanted to scream but instead, she smiled and said, “Okay. Thanks so much for lunch. Miss Melanie and I really appreciated the treat.” “You're very welcome,” Aisha smiled at her and then at Melanie. “Come visit sometime.” “Maybe we can hang out in the evening sometime when Deanna's home to watch Melanie.” Aisha said she would like that and left. The way she smiled at her on her way out left Renee both curious and hopeful. Later that night, Renee was in Deanne's bedroom chatting with her as she deposited some cash in the safe. “You running an illegal drug business on the side or something?” Renee joked. Deanne smiled and said, “Never hurts to have a little stash of cash on hand. Especially with her dad being as unpredictable as he sometimes is.” “I get you.” Whenever Renee would be in the bedroom, dusting or putting away laundry, she would always have to resist the temptation to see if she could hear the tones in her head and match them to the proper numbers on the keypads. She didn’t dare try for fear of being wrong and somehow triggering an alert. That was when she felt it was a good time to see if she could get more information on how the safe worked. “A safe couldn't hurt for important papers and things like that, so I was wondering about it.” “Yeah?” “When I get my own place eventually and if I wanted to get a safe like yours, do you have to be correct every single time you enter the code or will it lock you out like if you make too many attempts to log in to an account online?” “No, they usually just give you an error beep and then you simply retry the code however many times you need to.” “Maybe I'll get one someday.” “You sick of us already and thinking of moving out?” “Oh, no, not at all,” Renee said with a chuckle. “But certainly Melanie isn't going to need a nanny forever.” “That's true, Deanne said, plopping down on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. “But we kind of like having you around, you know?” Renee smiled, devious thoughts beginning to creep into her mind.