#𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 ft. marla foxx

[tooswcctx]

Bella cared about Marla a lot, a lot a lot, and there were moments when she had to wonder if that was a normal way to treat your best friend or if that meant something more. The normally overly confident woman had hesitated testing the waters just in case this didn't go well but right now....it felt like a good time to say fuck it. "It is. As much as I love hearing about your dating apps, I can't help but think I'd be a better option. Really."

Marla stared at Arabella. The other woman was giving her majorly mixed signals and the former Marine had no idea what to do with that. She cared about Bella more than she could put into words and she definitely was attracted to the other woman, but there was always that concern of crossing a line -- ruining a good thing. Even if Marla did want it quite desperately. "You gotta be clear with me. Is that what you want, or no?" She asked, leaning on the table.

[tooswcctx]

"Or maybe you didn't." Bella replied with a slight lift in her brows. Was it entirely fair of her to tease? Maybe not but it wasn't like she hadn't thought about it before. Marla was one of her closest friends, which might have seemed strange on paper, but they got each other. There was a reason beyond being friendly that Arabella cared so much about who she was going out on dates with. Jealousy wasn't the right word but it was getting there. Placing her empty shot glass down on the counter with a shuddering breath, she could feel a shiver down her spine. "Shit, that was a little more rough than I expected."

Marla laughed, throwing her hands up in mock resignation. "Alright, alright, I agreed to no more Tinder, and I meant it." She said, shaking her head, thinking the current playful conversation was definitely a welcome distraction from how she had been feeling before. "Maybe I misread the situation." Marla replied, cocking her head to the side. The other, beautiful woman was a curious little thing, and Marla was going to enjoy getting to know what she meant. "To you, Arabella." Marla said, clinking their shot glasses and downing her first one. "Woo!"

[tooswcctx]

"Good, so don't do anything moronic like going on Tinder." Arabella stated with a finality that made it clear she was very serious about it. She hated to even think of Marla meeting someone awful on there, it was bad enough she was meeting all these other assholes who were ghosting her. Bitches. "Is that what I said?" Bella asked teasingly, brow raising as she motioned for the bartender and put in their orders, not giving Marla the chance to change her mind. "I guess we'll see." The moment the shots arrived, the woman takes one and slides the other to her companion, tapping the glass against hers before eagerly drinking her own.

"Alright, jeez. Don't do that!" Marla replied with a laugh and a swipe of her fingers through her hair. "That phone cost me a fortune." Narrowing her eyes playfully at Arabella, Marla picked her phone up from the bar and slid it into her back pocket. The suggestion of a woman at Bella's firm had Marla's brows raising. She had been hoping to snag a date with Bella, not a colleague. "I thought you were gonna be my next girl?" She said, grinning wide. "Doubles, yes. Trouble, yes, yes." Marla replied with a nod, knocking on the bar for good measure. "Tequila it is, you really wanna make me regret this, huh?"

[tooswcctx]

"Good! I'm not kidding, I'll take that phone and break it or throw it into the ocean." There was no way that'd happen on Bella's watch. "You know, there's this new woman at the firm I should introduce you to. I don't know all the dirty details just yet but maybe that'd be fun...and I know she wouldn't be an idiot." Not that she would love the idea of Marla hooking up with someone she worked with but Bella would prefer that over her hooking up with some rando who didn't deserve her. "Doubles? I see we're trying to get into trouble tonight," she smirked, not hating that idea. "Tequila, babe. If we're doing this, we're doing it right."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, cool your jets, tiger, I never said anything about going near Tinder." Marla replied with an easy smile in Arabella's direction. She found the other woman pleasant company, and thought it was kind of sweet how Bella was looking out for her -- even if it was just about dating apps. "Alright, pretty lady, what's your poison? First round of shots is on me, and we're going for doubles."

[tooswcctx]

"No, no, no we're not going near Tinder. No matter what apps you use, you better not let me catch you on Tinder. That is trash." Overall, Bella didn't judge where people got there matches - didn't want to yuck anyone's yum - but that was a line she would not let anyone cross. She didn't have anything to say about Marla's expereince with the military, having never been involved in it or hearing about it outside of vague comments, it wasn't her place to make judgements. So she let Marla do that and followed her lead. "Shots? Oh, absolutely. I will never say no to something stronger."

"Well, shit, I don't know." Marla replied with all honesty. She wasn't up to date with all this social media shit and dating apps. She just went where a friend had recommended her, and it had not turned out well for her so far. "Never done the Tinder thing, didn't know it was queer friendly." That's how out of touch she was. "You help liberate women who are stuck in shitty marriages. Don't sell yourself short." Mara said pointedly, taking another drink from her beer. "Yeah, well, after being out there like that, pretty sure we're the bad guys... and I need something stronger than this. Wanna do some shots?"

[tooswcctx]

"On Bumble? No wonder you aren't having any luck." Bella stated, as though that were the most obvious reason in the world. "We've got to get you on Raya or something. Bumble is basically Tinder these days." And everyone knew that nothing ever lasted if it started on Tinder. "Yeah, I'm a divorce lawyer who takes money from people usually going through the worst time of their lives...not exactly the picture of good." Though more often than not she was helping wives take their fair share from cheating husbands but still! It wasn't like she was protecting anyone or saving the world. "You actually did something worthwhile. Saved people and all that."

Maybe Bella was right, Marla resigned to herself. Maybe she was subconsciously doing something to ruin all of her relationships. She had attachment issues as it was. Maybe she was destined to be alone. "I'm meeting most of these chicks on bumble." She continued, tapping at her phone like it was the problem. "I'm too good for you?" Marla scoffed, laughing before taking another swig of her beer and stopping the passing server to ask for more drinks for the both of them. "You're a fuckin' lawyer, how am I too good for you?" Not to mention Arabella was stunning to look at.

[tooswcctx]

"That's exactly what I'm getting at and I feel like you know it's true." Bella was so sure of herself that even when Marla presented evidence to the contrary, she didn't let it deter her. She was on a roll...a weirdly off the point roll but a roll none the less. "Okay...so you're dating idiots. You pick the ones you know won't realize what they've got." Was this treading into bullshit territory? Maybe but it made sense to Bella. "Would I? Of course, I would. Are you kidding? You're easily way too good for me."

"I'm a self-saboteur is what you're getting at." Marla continued, both brows raised now as she looked at the woman across from her. Marla had spent a lot of time in the military, maybe she wasn't relationship material. "I'm telling you that I get two, maybe three dates out of these girls before they're either ghosting me or telling me they don't think it's going to work out. How's that intentional?" She sighed, taking another drink from her beer. The drunker she could get, the better. "You're a pretty girl, would you date a piece of work like me?"

[tooswcctx]

"Yeah, I do. There's no way you're not single on purpose." Bella was convinced. Even though Marla moaned on and on about wanting a relationship, she was positive that she kept ruining things. There was no other explanation. "That's bullshit. That's absolute bullshit and you know it. I would bet that you're exactly what pretty girls want and that scares you. It does, doesn't it? You know I'm right." Bella stated, giving Marla a look as though daring her to refute her claim.

Marla huffed, running her fingers through her hair. She felt like she was at her wit's end. Looking sideways at Arabella, she arched a single eyebrow. "Oh, you think I'm doing it on purpose do you?" She asked, laughing before standing taking a long drink of her beer. "I guess I'm just not very articulate around pretty girls. Or... maybe I'm not what pretty girls want."