Chapter 8
Brianna walked into the Lez Getaway office and sighed. She missed the ease of working from home. These days she was staying at home as little as possible. Ever since she and River had confessed to wanting to kiss eachother two weeks ago. Now everything was different. There had always been an ease to her friendship with River. Now they actively avoided one another.
“Hey, B,” Allison called from her office.
Allison was one of five other employees at Lez Getaway. She was also one of Jordan’s best friends. Over the last couple weeks Brianna had been to more Krav Maga classes than she’d ever thought possible. Jordan was excited to have a regular training partner. And Brianna was nothing if not durable.
“Hey, Allison,” Brianna called back. She set her papers down on her desk then poked her head into Allison’s office. Allison wasn’t busy so Brianna slid into her empty chair. Allison glanced up and smiled at her.
Brianna had always liked Allison. She was one of the first people she’d met when she’d been hired to keep up with Lez Getaway’s paperwork. Their system had quite frankly been a mess before Brianna started working there. She’d come in and set up automated systems for what she could. Everything else she worked diligently to maintain. There was no reason for being in the office every day, she could do her work from home. But River was at home.
“I can’t help but notice you’ve been coming into the office a lot. Is something going on with our system that we should know about?”
“Oh, not at all. The systems are all in place and doing exactly what they should be doing,” Brianna smiled. Allison cocked her head to the smile. She was obviously trying to figure out the change in Brianna’s routine.
“Okay, there is something going on. But not with our systems. Or the company. Work is fine. But I do have something going on at home. And I could use the advice of an older and wiser lesbian if you have a minute.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m old or wise. But yes, grab a coffee and let’s hear it.”
Brianna didn’t have to be asked twice, she loved their coffee machine. She grabbed herself a cup then poured in way too much creamer. Allison had propped her legs up on the desk when she came back.
“Okay. Let’s hear it,” Allison smiled.
“My roommate River and I have always gotten along. Honestly, she’s one of my best friends.”
“Sounds great.”
“It is. Recently, she was in an accident.”
Brianna realized she was going to have to give a sizable portion of backstory.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“She was hit by a car.”
“Holy shit. Is she okay?”
“She was very lucky considering. She’s recovering really well.”
“Wait. Did Jordan tell me about this? River is connected to Mel from Mallie’s Cafe, right?”
“Yes, River is Willow’s best friend.”
“Wow. Have to love the connectedness of all the lesbians in WaterColor,” Allison chuckled.
“Exactly. Well, River is recovering. But ever since the accident our relationship has been different.”
Brianna breathed in a sharp breath. Was she really about to talk to one of her bosses about her love life? Or lack of love life?
“How so?” Allison asked, she gave Brianna a genuine smile.
“I think it stirred up some attraction for both of us. Anyway, two weeks ago she had a bad date with her girlfriend and she confessed that she wanted to kiss me. Her feelings for me had changed.”
Brianna splayed her hands out as if done with her explanation.
“What did you say to her afterwards?” Allison asked.
“I told her I felt the same way.”
Brianna’s heart felt like it was falling off a cliff as she spoke about her talk with River.
“What’s the issue then?”
“Nothing, exactly. Except that River has a girlfriend. And she’s admittedly not ready to be done with her.”
“I see. That does put you both in a tough spot. What have you said to each other since that night?”
“Not much. We’ve both been avoiding one another.”
Brianna didn’t like admitting that she’d been avoiding River. But it was the truth. Lately, she just wasn’t sure what to say or if she should say anything at all.
“Do you want my advice?” Allison asked.
“Any direction would be appreciated,” Brianna smiled.
“You have to talk to her. This can’t be avoided. Not if she’s your friend. Certainly not if you want to keep her as a friend.”
“I do. I just don’t know what to say.”
Brianna felt a twist in her gut just thinking about River.
“Be honest. How does the conversation you had make you feel?”
Brianna squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.
“I mean it’s good to know how she feels about me. But River has a girlfriend. And I don’t want to be someone she reaches for just because she’s mad at her significant other.”
Allison nodded her head. It was obvious that the other woman understood where she was coming from.
“I think you should tell her that. You’re allowed to have boundaries, especially in this situation.”
“Thanks, Allison.”
There was a sudden low growl from behind Allison’s desk. Brianna jerked her head in that direction and saw two green eyes peering at her.
“Lulu, do you have to be so angry at all my guests?” Allison cackled in laughter before turning back to Brianna.
“Lulu?” Brianna asked with sudden hesitation.
“This is my cat, Lulu. Well, actually she’s more my wife’s cat. Taylor adopted her before we got engaged. Lulu and I have a bit of an armistice.
The cat stuck her head out of her cat bed behind Allison’s desk. Her eyes were now tiny green slits. Her gray fur was scruffy, and her whiskers were crooked. She was the most terrifying cat Brianna had ever seen.
“She’s. Well, she’s…”
Brianna let her words trail off.
“Scary,” Allison offered.
Lulu gave a low grumble, no doubt angered by Allison’s insolence.
Brianna nodded.
“She’s mostly harmless.”
Allison glanced back and met Lulu’s eyes. Brianna was almost positive she saw Allison break eye contact first.
“Taylor had to travel for work. She’s pitching a project. And Lulu doesn’t travel well. So, she’s staying with me.”
“That’s sweet.”
Brianna had no idea what to say. Spending her days with a cantankerous cat didn’t appeal to her personally.
“Jordan should be here in a bit. We’re going for lunch if you want to join?”
“I’d love to. But I think I’m going to take your advice and go talk to River. Jordan’s been kicking my ass during Krav Maga classes though.”
“Oh, I’m sure. She’s pretty feisty,”
“That’s an understatement,” Brianna chuckled.
“I’m glad you’re going to go ahead and talk to River. I hope it goes well.”
“I think it will. We’ve always been good at working things out.”
Brianna rose to her feet and stretched. Lulu glowered at her from her cat bed, she let out one final low growl. Allison rolled her eyes at the cat.
“Let me know how everything turns out,” Allison smiled.
“I will. And thank you for the pep talk.”
“Anytime. I don’t think you really needed it. You knew what you needed to do.”
“You might be right. But it’s always nice to hear someone else say it.”
“You’re right about that. I can’t count the number of times I’ve just needed to hear Jordan or Taylor say something. Good luck, friend.”
Brianna smiled warmly at the use of the word friend . She gave one final wave and walked out. Allison was right. There was no reason why she and River couldn’t talk things through with one another. She pepped herself up the entire ride home.
But when she opened the front door, it was clear that no one else was home. River was out, which was odd. Brianna figured that Willow had probably come to pick her up. She sat down on the couch and glanced over at the empty spot beside her. Her mind flashed back to the night River had confessed her feelings to her. Brianna had been on the receiving end of some magnificent crushes in her life. But she’d never felt fireworks from any of them. Yet here she was reliving one of the briefest and most powerful moments of her life.
Brianna smushed her face into a couch pillow and screamed silently into it. None of this felt fair. To have a girl as wonderful as River say those things to her but knowing that it could never be more than that. They were just words. What if that really was all it would ever be? Brianna had struggled for two weeks trying to figure out if she could go back to the way things used to be. She guessed she wouldn’t know until she had her conversation with River.