Making Out with the Enemy

As Jenna walked through into Grace and Eleanor's mansion, she couldn't understand why anyone would feel the need to live somewhere this lavish. Everything looked so pristine and neatly arranged, no doubt they had hired help to make sure of that, and she was afraid to even bush against anything in case it turned out to be a priceless antique and she broke it. It also seemed too vast a place to enjoy living in, especially with only two people there. Jenna liked her own space as much as anyone, but there was surely a point where that would cross over into feeling isolated.

"Is your friend stopping by for dinner, Gracey?" Eleanor smiled as the pair came into her view "I can order us all an Uber Eats if you'd like?"

"No need to bother with that, she won't be staying long" Grace told her mother tersely "And she isn't my friend"

"Yeah, I'm her date" Jenna added mischievously "She's invited me up to her bedroom"

"Oh wow, I'm really happy to see you expanding your options like this, Gracey!" Eleanor smiled with obvious approval "Let's face it, none of the guys you've dated have turned out to be up to much. Does that mean you've got shot of Jay?"

"No, I'm still with him!"

"Really? I thought it was Steve now"

Jenna had made that remark just loud enough for Grace to hear. She noticed her old foe look surprised and flustered for a moment or two, before regaining her composure enough to start whining at her mother again.

"Don't start getting yourself excited about this. It's just one silly little meaningless date because I felt sorry for her. I can assure you I have no plans to turn lesbian, and if I did it wouldn't be for a scruffy little oik like that"

"Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen eh, Gracey?" Eleanor teased her daughter before shooting Jenna a wink. It seemed Grace must have inherited the total arsehole gene from her father "I'll leave you two lovebirds to it then!"

---

The date itself didn't start too encouragingly.

Grace was just sitting on the bed, her arms and legs crossed like a shield, almost glaring at Jenna and saying nothing. It seemed that at one heart her connections were compelled to accept Jenna's date proposals and show up for them, but not much else.

"So, wassup, Gracey?"

"It's Grace to you. If you insist on even talking to me at all"

"Uh....would you like another scrunchie?"

"Sure, toss it over. And you don't need to ask me each time, we've established by now that I'll always accept them"

Grace held out her hand and caught yet another hair tie as it came flying her way. Jenna could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket. This approach was still working, even if not much else was.

"Why do you have so many of these?" Grace asked with only vague curiosity "I've never even seen you wear one?"

"That's why I'm giving 'em away" Jenna shrugged as she threw another at her date "I hardly see you wear them either, so I could just as easily ask you why you want so many?"

"That's none of your business"

It was a weird thing to be secretive about, but all Jenna really needed to know was that Grace kept taking the scrunchies and it raised her affection level every time she did. The next phase of an increasingly odd date therefore involved Jenna chucking one hair tie after another at Grace and her host silently catching them and placing them on her dresser. Jenna's bag had almost been emptied of the things when she felt her phone give an extra long and meaningful buzz.

She could almost instantly see Grace's demeanour change. Her former bully turned love interest began brushing her long hair self consciously with her hands, while her expression shifted very noticeably from bored and annoyed to curious and even slightly coy. And then came the surprise invitation.

"There's no point you just sitting there gawping at me from the other side of the room like some fucking weirdo. This is a big bed, you may as well come and join me on it"

Amazed at the Romance Mechanic's apparent ability to work its magic on just about anyone, Jenna came and placed herself tentatively at the edge of the bed.

"Do I fucking smell or something?" Grace pouted "You can come closer than that"

Jenna shuffled herself forward so she was directly facing Grace and the pair were just about touching. Her old foe's expression had by now softened further, becoming almost friendly.

"You know, you're actually rather pretty when you don't spoil it by talking" she almost complimented Jenna.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah"

The pair held eye contact wordlessly for a few moments, then leaned in with perfect synchronicity and kissed. That felt surprisingly good to Jenna, and she was confident enough that Grace was also enjoying the experience to gently push her down, guiding her slowly into a laying position. She met with no resistance, and soon the pair were tangled up together on the bed, making out passionately. The session was only broken by the sound of Eleanor's voice.

"I hate to interrupt you two when your date is obviously going so well, but your father is one the phone and wants to talk to you, Gracey"

"For fucks sake mother, don't you ever knock!" Grace blushed as she stood up and began straightening out her clothes, before turning back to Jenna "This call is probably going to keep me occupied for a while, I'm afraid. Our date was a lot less awful than I expected. If you'd like us to hang out again, you evidently know where I live"

---

As Jenna walked back out of the private road she could now visit whenever she felt like it, she considered herself a true believer in the Romance Mechanic and the incredible things it could make happen. If she was able to convert even Grace into her lover. she could surely have anyone she wanted. The only shame was, living in such a small and self contained village, there were only a couple more people Jenna could think of who she had any real interest in.

She decided there was still enough of the day left to pay them both a visit before she headed home.