Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Taylor threw the ball again, and Belle barely waited for it to leave her hand before bolting down the backyard, catching it after one bounce. She brought the ball back in her mouth, tail wagging frantically. Taylor waited, looking at Belle with her hand out until she understood.
At only six months old, almost seven, her pup was learning very quickly. It made Taylor a super proud fur parent. Belle finally controlled her excitement, the slobbery mess of her ball dropping and rolling over to Taylor’s feet.
“Yes! Good girl.” She rewarded her and gave her a scritch behind the ear.
“Were you a good girl last night?” Jess said, swinging the screen door open and stepping outside. She had an amused expression on her face as she held up Sam’s— or was it hers now ?— Feeling Nauti shirt from last night.
“Care to explain how this ended up in the wash again?”
“Uhh yeah. Well I didn’t spill coffee on myself again… but I may have seen Sam naked— BUT not in a sexual way.” Taylor rushed the last part.
“One Friday night shift for me, and I feel like we have so much to catch up on! I’m putting the kettle on. Fill me in—I want details, woman.”
Taylor whistled to Belle, who was chasing leaves across the yard, all interest lost in the ball. Her ears pricked up, and she shot off towards Taylor, following both of them back in, the screen door slamming shut behind them.
Taylor took a seat on the stool at their kitchen bench, reaching for the cereal box Jess had left on the bench.
“Can you grab me a bowl please?” Taylor asked.
Jess leaned down, passing a bowl over, then switched the kettle on to make herself a tea, and a coffee for Taylor.
“Now, shoot.” She flashed her eyes at Taylor, waiting.
Taylor gave her the rundown: their paddleboard trip, all of them ending up in the drink, Belle swimming with the dolphins (“No way!” Jess said), heading back to Sam’s place, Sam’s dad almost walking in on them kissing, and then— then —she tried to keep a straight face as she recounted Sam shooting across the room out of the shower, Belle getting underfoot, and the whole naked towel shamozzle.
Jess was practically on the floor at this point.
“Oh my god. Stop it! You can’t make this up. I can’t even pour the milk right now.”
She stood there howling with laughter, wiping at her eyes and grabbing a tissue to blow her nose.
“Wow, and I thought you spilling coffee on yourself was pretty bad. But this? This trumps it. The poor thing, was she mortified? I would’ve been.” Jess winced, finally calmed down enough to finally pour and stir in their milk.
“She was frozen for a few seconds. I don’t think even I’d comprehended what was happening until my eyes landed on… well, everything . I think it sunk in at that moment for her too, and she just bolted upstairs trying to cover what she could. I was left to wrangle the bucking bronco and try to bring some sort of order to the kitchen before she came back down. Oh, and then I asked her out on a proper date.”
Jess slid Taylor’s coffee across the bench and rested on her elbows, blowing on her own mug. “I thought you had a date on her boat. And a sleepover.”
“Technically, it was just meant to be a thank-you dinner among friends.”
“Who kissed,” Jess added.
Her smile broadened at the memory.
“Who kissed, yeah. Well I wasn’t exactly planning on that, remember?” Taylor replied.
“Yeah, but you wanted to.”
“I totally did.” She picked up the milk and poured it on her cereal. “Spoon?”
Jess rolled her eyes and got one out the drawer. “You are so lazy.”
“You’re conveniently positioned right now, and I like to take full advantage of the housemate situation.”
“You’re lucky I like you missy,” she replied, pointing at her with said spoon before handing it over.
Taylor just flashed her teeth, extra sweet, just like her breakfast.
“So where are you taking her on this ‘proper’ date?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said, slurping her coffee extra loud.
That night, Taylor and Sam entered through a big archway, joining the masses of people milling about. The sun was starting to set behind the buildings, bringing to life the festoon lighting strung up in the trees overhead. Food stalls lined the outside in a giant horseshoe that seemed to go on forever, while open wood fires were scattered amongst tables of people standing, sitting and chatting on just about every surface available. You could feel the buzz in the atmosphere, and Taylor couldn’t wait to join in with the crowd.
Alive .
That’s how Taylor would describe this place. An open-air festival just ready to— hopefully —impress her date tonight.
With Liz far from her mind this evening, it was nice to finally feel some distance from her past. She breathed in a big lungful of air to celebrate as much, with everything from smoke, a melting pot of cuisines and hints of wine wafting on the soft breeze. This was exactly where she wanted to be.
“What is this place?” Sam asked, dangling off Taylor’s arm as they scoped out the area.
“You’ve never been?” Taylor swung around to look at her.
“No?” Sam’s eyebrow’s rose.
Taylor tsked. “You’ve been missing out.” She looked back out over the crowd. “This is the biggest food festival in the city!” she declared.
“I really need to get out to the city more,” Sam replied, gawking at the different options for their dinner.
“So, what do you feel like?” Taylor was so hungry she could literally eat anything right now. Knowing she was coming here tonight, she had made sure she had ample space to eat all the things.
Sam sniffed at the air. “Whatever that meat is? It smells amazing.”
“Okay, idea. Why don’t we have a roaming dinner. Get a plate to share from a few places and just eat a bunch of things.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes. All things lead to yes. I’m so in.”
“Right. Well, you mentioned meat, and I think I’ve just spotted a big stack of smoking BBQ stuff. Let’s start there.”
Ten minutes later, their table was starting to fill up with all sorts of good morsels. “We’ve got the smoked brisket, the pulled pork burger, the corn ribs with the spicy seasoning… Shall I grab us a chicken dish next?”
“Let’s do it.”
“You stay and save our spot. I’ll be back in a minute.”
It was her lucky day— no line up . She mentally fist-pumped the air as she walked up to the Spanish stall.
She ordered a chicken paella, which smelled so good with the rich spices, chorizo and her favourite—prawns. Then, she couldn’t help herself and ordered some Filipino pork skewers from the stall next door too. Hands well and truly full, she weaved around the throngs of people, trying to remember where their table was. Just as she spotted Sam, she thought she heard her name.
A hand came out of the crowd, whirling her around.
“Taylor? I thought it was you.”
“Liz. Hi.”
Fuck me. Would it be rude to poke her with the skewer and run? Then she noticed the woman holding Liz’s hand. The one from Instagram. Emily . She stood frozen on the spot.
“Didn’t expect to see you here.” Liz gave her the crooked smile she used to love, tucking away her hair behind her ear showing that little row of freckles that trailed down— enough, not going there ever again. “How have you been?” Liz continued, either oblivious to or just plain ignoring her anguish and inner turmoil. “Oh, and how rude of me. Taylor, this is Emily. Emily, Taylor.”
“Hi,” Taylor said automatically, still not believing this was actually happening to her. Emily gave off an air of indifference. She looked at Taylor with a tight smile, then found interest in the crowd instead. Liz kept smiling, like she was actually enjoying this awkward-as-fuck exchange. Taylor wanted to scratch her neck, itch her elbow— something— to ease the discomfort. Stupid full hands overloaded with all their awesome food that was probably getting cold.
“I’ve been good,” she finally said to Liz. “Working on a bunch of boats and vans, keeping busy, getting out on the board. The usual.” She didn’t ask how Liz was, she didn’t want to know. Oh I’m so happy, Emily is the love of my life. Vomit . A few weeks ago, she would’ve been devastated to run into her like this, an absolute bubbling mess. Now? She thought of Sam, which brought a real smile to her face.
Arms wrapped around her middle as Sam appeared over her shoulder.
Speak of the devil.
“There you are! I didn’t want our food getting cold. And who’s this?” she said smiling, completely oblivious.
Taylor tensed. Then she saw Liz’s eyes almost bulge at the display, and stood a little taller, proud to have Sam at her side. Well, technically behind her right now… anyway …
“Sam, this is my ex , Liz, and her girlfriend, Emily. This is Sam, my”—she flicked her eyes quickly to Sam, hoping this was okay—“girlfriend.” Sam squeezed her tighter. Taylor was so thankful for the support in this moment.
“Oh?” It was Liz’s turn to look stunned. Finally on the back foot in the conversation, she shuffled on the spot. Even Emily turned back to watch the exchange.
“C’mon babe. Can we please eat before this gets cold?” Sam fluttered her eyelashes at her, and Taylor was loving every second of it.
Taylor gave Liz a half-arsed apologetic smile and a quick shrug. “Sorry, gotta go. See you round.” Sam was on her arm pulling her back to their table. She swore she saw Sam throw daggers back at them over her shoulder.
She chuckled quietly to herself.
They sat back at the table, Taylor flopping into the seat in relief as she placed the last two dishes amongst their smorgasbord.
“So, you’ve met my ex.”
“So, I’ve met your ex.” Sam tapped her foot against hers to get her to smile. “Are you okay?”
“Honestly? Better than I’d imagined how that would go down in the past. That’s the first time I’ve seen her since she left.”
“Oh. Wow. That’s a lot.”
“Yeah.” She handed out the cutlery and napkins. “Let’s eat and talk. We’ve waited long enough.”
“Agreed.”
They tapped their wooden forks together and tucked in. Taylor stabbed a prawn out of the paella with a scoopful of rice and chowed down. “ Ermahhhgbbb . So goob , and still so ho—ho-ho—hop ,” she said, fanning her full mouth to try and cool it down. She swallowed, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin, and taking her time to start the conversation back up.
“So I should probably fill you in on everything with Liz.”
“You don’t have to,” Sam replied, squeezing her knee.
She appreciated Sam’s thoughtfulness in the moment, but she had to start doing what she preached, and talking about it only put the control back in Taylor’s hands. Not Liz’s.
“No, I want to,” Taylor said, seriously.
It was time.
She took a deep breath to settle herself, still feeling rattled after seeing Liz for the first time since that day . She hadn’t wanted to face her after she left. She had made sure Jess was the one at home when Liz had cleared out her things. She’d had nothing and everything to say to her. Staying away was the best choice. It was space from doing something she would have regretted like begging Liz to choose her, to come back, to try one more time. Thank god she hadn’t stooped that low. She looked at the woman sitting across from her now, an encouraging smile that told her to take all the time in the world. How did she get so lucky?
“Liz and I met at a bar in town and hit it off quick. She wasn’t just my girlfriend; we became best friends. Date nights turned into game nights at my house with Jess and Adam, where she’d stay over a night here and there. That turned into a few nights a week until six months down the track she moved in with Jess and me, once her lease was up at her old apartment. It all made sense, and fit into place as natural next steps.
“About a year later was when I first started to notice changes, if I’m honest with myself. At first, it was little things—mood changes, a busier schedule. I thought it was her work. She’s a nurse, so long shifts and overtime were a given, but we’d always managed it together before. A few months shy of our two-year anniversary, I brought home Belle. She’d always talked about her love of dogs, and I’d hoped Belle would bring us closer together, but Liz gave her hardly any attention. There were more excuses. Not right now. Maybe later. I’m too tired. If she wasn’t excusing time with the dog, it was time with me.
“I tried to talk to her about it, but there was always a convenient half-truth I’d fall for, every single time. I loved this woman, and at the time, it was so easy to ignore the red flags, throwing them under the rug and focusing on all the good moments we still had together.
“Now here’s where I really berate myself.”
Sam frowned, about to cut in, but Taylor held up her hand.
“Wait. I’d bought her a ring, Sam. I was going to propose .”
“No…” Sam whispered, her hand flying to her mouth.
“She beat me to it. Luckily, I guess? Though instead of a proposal like I was hoping, Liz came home after work one night and blurted out she was in love with someone else, she didn’t know how else to tell me, she was so sorry—blah, blah, blah. All I could think about was that fucking ring sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe.” Taylor blinked back tears. “I felt like I was trying everything to fix us. And I still wasn’t good enough.”
Sam’s fists were balled by the time she’d finished. She was even chewing angrily. It was kind of cute. She put down her fork and held up a finger. “First, you are good enough, and don’t ever let anyone make you think otherwise again.” She flicked up another finger. “Second, I’m so glad I didn’t know all of that beforehand , otherwise I feel like I would’ve wanted to punch the girl. And I’m not even a violent person. Okay, that’s still too harsh for me to even say.” She thought for a moment, tapping her chin. “I would’ve wanted to visually punch her, with a really mean look. Like blue steel but… mean.”
Taylor felt better already, like a weight had lifted off her shoulders knowing Sam now knew the truth. She chuckled. “You’re being so adorable right now. I like it when you try to be mean.”
Sam scrunched up her nose.
“Exactly like that. Can I kiss you right now?” She smirked.
“You may.”
Taylor leaned forward, giving her a quick peck on the lips.
Sam sighed dreamily. “Never enough.”
“No? I’m sure I can find more where that came from.” Taylor grinned.
They polished off everything on the table, every dish outcompeting the last.
“How good were those skewers?” Sam threw her last stick back on the plate.
“So good. I wish I’d got us double.”
They were lucky they’d got a table when they did. The place was now absolutely packed as more people crammed into the limited space. The music was louder, a steady dance beat seeming to urge the crowds on as they flowed around them. She sat back in her chair, relaxed, watching the fire next to them roaring away, entranced by the curls of smoke lifting into the night sky. Finally, she drew her eyes away and focused back on Sam.
“So, I meant to say thank you. For saving me earlier. Sorry for the whole introducing-you-as-my-girlfriend thing. I know we haven’t labelled… us… yet, or talked about, well, any of that. I was definitely wanting to show Liz and Emily up… and show you off.”
Sam looked thoughtful. “I liked it,” she finally said. “I feel like we’re not too far away from that, but I guess it is only our first official date. I just had fun making her squirm.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “Maybe still just keep it on the down-low back at home. I don’t care if you tell Jess and your games crew we’re maybe seeing each other?”
“Maybe seeing each other?” She grinned widely.
Sam laughed. “Definitely seeing each other.”
“Okay, thanks for the confirmation there. Phew.” This night was just getting better.
Sam pushed some leftover rice around on her plate. “It feels good to be away from the marina and the shop tonight, where I don’t know anyone. I feel like I can just be me. I feel more relaxed than I have in weeks. I can’t believe how much I needed this.”
Taylor frowned. “I’d hope you’d be able to feel like yourself when you’re at home.”
“I know. I do, usually,” she rushed. “Once I’ve sorted things with Dad, I feel like I’d be getting back closer to that point.”
While Taylor wanted to say more, she also knew it wasn’t her place. Sam needed to do this on her own, at her pace.