CHAPTER 21
Arwen
“You’re here today? I feel like I haven’t seen you in days,” she said to Zara when she walked into the small kitchen and noticed her best friend sitting at the round table in the center of the room.
“I am. I had a lot to get done yesterday, so I needed to eliminate distractions.”
“For which case?” Arwen asked.
“Patrick asked me to help him with something. I wasn’t supposed to talk about it. Sorry, it took me away from your stuff, but he’s my boss, so…”
“Oh. I didn’t know. Sorry, I wouldn’t have given you such a hard time had you told me he had you on something else.” She sat down across from Zara with her cup of coffee. “What did you end up doing last night? You said you were busy.”
“I was. I worked.”
“Oh,” she repeated.
There was such a distance between them now.
Arwen wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but she thought she had a pretty good idea.
Their office kitchen probably wasn’t the best place to talk about it, but Zara seemed to be avoiding her otherwise, so she cleared her throat, turned to see that they were alone, and decided to put it out there.
“Zara?”
“Yes?” the woman said, sipping her coffee and seeming as if she wasn’t even paying attention.
“What’s really going on? I thought you were sick. You said you weren’t, and you are looking better, but now, you’re acting differently, and I’m getting the idea that you’re avoiding me.”
“I’m not avoiding you, Arwen. I’ve been busy. Patrick asked me to look into something, and that something was important and required a lot of time, okay?”
“What was it?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“You can’t tell me because I work here with you, but maybe you can tell your best friend.” Arwen smiled to see if that would get the suddenly serious Zara to lighten up.
“I can’t tell you either way. I could lose my job.”
“Okay. Never mind. It feels like maybe since I started dating Iro, you’ve wanted nothing to do with me, Zara.
I’m trying to make conversation with my friend here.
I wanted to hang out last night, and I get that you had work, but maybe we can spend some time together, just you and me, tonight or tomorrow. ”
“You’re not going to be with Iro again?”
“I told her yesterday that I wanted to spend time with you, but you weren’t available, so we had a date last night. If you want to hang out tonight, though, I’ll cancel our date. I miss hanging out with my best friend.”
Zara seemed to soften at that, although not by much, and replied, “I can’t tonight. I have plans.”
“Patrick’s stuff again?”
“Yes,” Zara said, but Arwen could tell she was lying.
“Zara, do you really not like Iro or something? You’ve never been like this with a woman I’ve dated.”
“I don’t know her. I told you that.”
“And I’m trying to let you get to know her,” she said.
“I was thinking you and I could hang out soon, but maybe next week or the week after, the three of us could get together. Iro offered to cook. She cooked for me last night, and she’s, like, Iron Chef caliber in the kitchen.
It was some of the best food I’ve ever had.
And she doesn’t normally cook vegan, either, so she’s just that good. ”
“Why am I not surprised?” Zara asked and took another drink of her coffee.
“She seems like one of those people who would be good at everything. Like, she has money, so she took cooking lessons from an Iron Chef or something. So, she can cook the best meals, she can ride a horse the fancy way, do your taxes with no errors, do complicated math equations in her head, and sweep women off their feet with all of it.”
“Wow! Tell me how you really feel.”
Arwen leaned back in her chair.
“Arwen, she’s not special,” Zara told her. “She’s just a woman. She has money, so she can make things happen, and it sounds like you’re falling for that.”
“Falling for that? What does that mean, Zara?”
“That it’s not real. She’s rich and has property all over the world, probably.
Right? Her company is global. How long is she really here for?
She’ll just leave after some big business deal.
No offense to this city, but it’s not exactly Paris, and as far as I know, she’s not a politician.
Didn’t she just move from Paris? Supposedly, the most beautiful city in the world. ”
“Yes,” Arwen said, doubt seeping in a little because of Zara’s words. “But she bought a house here. I was there last night. Zara, she bought new furniture for me.”
“What?”
“She had leather furniture before, but when she and I first met, she got rid of it all and replaced it with stuff that didn’t come from an animal. She did that for me because she wanted me to feel comfortable in her house. Why would she do that if she’s leaving or not serious about me?”
“She’s got money. That furniture is probably in storage now, so she can pull it out whenever she wants.”
“Zara, where is this coming from? That’s not who Iro is.
She didn’t even have to tell me about the furniture.
I went there for the first time last night, and I would’ve had no idea that she’d gotten rid of the other stuff.
She only told me because she wanted me to know that this is serious for her. It’s serious for me, too.”
“Serious? It’s been a few dates at most, Arwen.”
Arwen sighed and said, “Zara, I’m in love with her.”
Zara stiffened instantly and leaned all the way back in her chair.
“I know this might be hard because I’ve never been this serious about something before, and I know you and I have always had each other, but that doesn’t have to change, okay?
Iro and I are serious. I’m in love with her, and I want to be with her.
It might seem fast, but I can’t help how I feel.
She’s not just some rich woman with a few special skills that make me go weak in the knees or something.
I’m not going to wake up one morning, and she’s just moved back to Paris and forgotten all about me.
We talk, Zara. We talked for hours last night, and she’s who I want. ”
“And I bet the sex is good,” Zara stated.
“Zara!” Arwen half-yelled. “What is wrong with you? This isn’t who you are. If you’re mad that I’m dating someone, fine, but you don’t have to be a bitch about it. Oh, and for your information, we haven’t done that yet. We’ve been waiting.”
“Waiting?” Zara asked, looking confused now and maybe a little softer again.
“We want to be together first.”
“You’re not together already?”
“No, we wanted to take it slow.”
“Your idea?” Zara asked.
“No, hers, but I agreed with it. We both wanted to make sure that we were ready.”
“I see,” Zara said and looked around the kitchen. “Well, then, I take back my sex comment.”
“Thank you, I guess,” she said and picked up her own coffee cup.
“I don’t know what to do here, Zara. I don’t want things to be weird between us, but I want to be with Iro.
And I’d like you to get to know her so that you can see that she’s really just a normal, genuine person who, yes, happens to have money, but she works really hard for it, too. ”
Zara laughed and said, “Sure. Maybe sometime in the future. I’m not sold yet.”
“Sold on what, exactly?”
“That this thing between the two of you is going to work out. It’s too new, Arwen. You get infatuated with women, and it never works out.”
“I’m not infatuated with her. I’m in love with her, and I think I have been since I first saw her.”
“Oh, come on… You’ve never believed in that love-at-first-sight stuff. Now, you suddenly do?”
“I didn’t believe it because it hadn’t happened to me at that point, but it has now. And I’m not sure what is going on with you, but I don’t appreciate you treating me like this, Zara. Iro aside, I’m your best friend, and I don’t deserve this.”
Zara sighed and said, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m dealing with some stuff right now, and I’m taking it out on you.”
“What stuff? Talk to me. I’m here. We can grab a drink tonight or just hang out at your place or mine and talk about whatever you want. I won’t bring Iro up once, if that’s what you need.”
Zara swallowed hard and said, “Maybe. I’ll have to let you know. I have those plans, remember?”
“Yeah,” Arwen said, defeated, just as someone walked through the open door of the kitchen.
“I was told Arwen Lam is in here,” a guy said.
Arwen and Zara looked up and saw him holding a vase, green this time, with at least two dozen deep-red roses.
“Oh, my God,” Arwen said.
“Is that you?” the guy asked.
“Yes,” she answered.
“Of course,” Zara muttered under her breath, but Arwen still heard her.
“You can just set them down here, I guess,” Arwen told him.
“Sign here, please,” he said.
Arwen did and went to see if she had any cash on her at all.
“My purse is in my office.”
“It’s okay. Tip was taken care of in advance.”
Arwen could swear that she heard Zara’s eyes roll.
“Okay. Well, thank you,” she said before the delivery guy walked out of the room, leaving them alone again. “I can’t believe she keeps doing this. I don’t have any space left to put these.”
She smiled at the roses and pulled out the card to read to herself.
“Let me guess… It’s a love poem,” Zara said.
Beautiful Arwen,
I loved our night last night, as well as waking up next to you this morning. I would like to request that you join me again at my home tonight for dinner and a quiet night in, where we can talk in front of the fire and sip delicious wine. And, if you would be so kind, please also pack a bag.
Iro
Arwen smiled at how Iro worded the note as if she were a lord inviting a lady to supper or something. She tucked the card into her pocket, not wanting Zara to see it and make yet another disparaging comment about Iro.
“I’m sorry about that, too,” Zara said.
“It’s fine,” she replied, although it wasn’t. “I should get these to my office. Can’t leave them out here all day.”
“Did you ride your bike today?” Zara asked.
“No, I took the train.”
“Do you want a ride home so that you can take those with you?”
“I think I’ll ask Iro to pick me up. Easier that way. She can take me home to drop these off, and I get a bag or something.”
“So that you can stay the night at her place again?”
“Yes,” Arwen said as she reached for one of the roses, wanting to breathe it in and think of Iro. “Ouch!”
“What?” Zara asked.
“Shit. They didn’t remove all the thorns on this one, I guess.”
She put her thumb in her mouth and sucked a little, and Zara’s eyes went both dark and wide.
“What?” Arwen asked. “It’s just a little poke. I’m fine. I should probably tell her to stop sending me these, though, since they’re delivered in gas-guzzling vans and are literally cut from–”
“I just… I need to go.”
Zara stood quickly.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“I have a thing with blood.”
“You do? Since when?” she asked.
“Always!” Zara exclaimed loudly.
“Okay. Well, let me wrap it in a paper towel or something. I really went in there trying to smell the damn things, and it’s pretty deep.”
“I’m going to my desk,” Zara said.
“Why don’t you just sit down? I can see if we have any juice in here or something. Would that help?” She wrapped her thumb in a paper towel and pulled open the fridge. “No juice. Want to steal someone’s soda? I will get a new one to replace it when I go to lunch or bring one in tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine. I just need some fresh air.”
Zara didn’t say anything else before she hurried to open the closet door off the kitchen, which they used for storage, and walked into it.
“Zara! That’s not fresh air.”
“I’m… getting supplies first.”
Zara slammed the door shut between them.
Arwen closed the fridge, not knowing what to do now.
Clearly, something was going on with Zara, but the woman didn’t want to talk to her about it, which probably meant she had no one to talk to about it at all.
Arwen would give her a little space and hope Zara would tell her what was happening soon.
Having checked her thumb, she found that the bleeding had stopped, so she tossed the paper towel in the trash and walked to the wall-mounted first-aid kit.
She put a Band-Aid on it and left the kitchen, first with her flowers and then returning for her coffee.
The storage door was still closed, and Zara wasn’t at her desk, so Arwen assumed she was still in there.
“Zara? Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Zara said. “Just grabbing a few things while I’m in here so that I don’t have to come back.”
“Okay,” she said and walked out of the kitchen. “You had to grab those things with the door closed?” she muttered to herself and shook her head.
When Arwen got to her office, it was already filled with the sweet scent of roses, and it made her smile. She decided to send Iro a text message to thank her.
Arwen Lam: Sweet Iro, I’ve never met anyone like you before. You are thoughtful, kind, and beautiful. I would love to join you tonight for dinner and plan to pack a bag.
Then, she remembered something else.
Arwen Lam: Oh, and can you pick me up from work? I took the train, and someone delivered the largest bouquet in the world that I don’t want to have to hold for the ride. We can go to my place first, and I can pack. Also, sorry; I don’t know how to make that sound romantic and fancy.
Seconds later, her phone dinged.
Iro Black: Beautiful Arwen, your chariot will be outside your office building at any time you desire. Simply confirm, and I’ll ensure its timely arrival.
Arwen laughed and typed her response. Then, she sat back and watched through her open door, which had a view across the office and into the kitchen, as Zara emerged from the closet, holding a ream of paper. Arwen sighed, wondering what was going on with her friend.