CHAPTER 28
“You showed up?” Jen asked two days later over dinner.
“I did, yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“You were busy last night. I believe you texted me that you were going to FaceTime with your date for the whole night and you were going to cook dinner together.”
“I cooked dinner. She’s in a hotel, so she ordered room service, but I got to eat dinner with her, and she started off the evening wearing a robe but ended up without it.” Jen winked.
“FaceTime sex already?”
“Couldn’t help it. She’s hot. Here. Look.”
“What? No!” Stella held up her hands. “I don’t want to see your girlfriend naked.”
“Me neither, you weirdo. It’s a picture of the two of us from our first date. We’re both fully clothed,” Jen said as she held up her phone.
“You two look good together,” she replied.
“We do, don’t we?” Jen turned the phone back around and smiled at the image. “She’s so pretty… And she’s not my girlfriend yet, so if you meet her, do not say that in front of her.”
“Am I going to meet her?” Stella asked as she waited for Jen to stop staring at a picture of herself with the woman she was dating.
“Am I going to meet Violet?”
“Not the same thing. Violet and I aren’t dating.”
“Because you showed up uninvited to her party?”
“I thought I was invited. And you would’ve, too, if you’d been texting with her. At first, she tells you she’d talk to you tomorrow, which is now yesterday, but a few hours later, you get a text from her telling you where to find her and that she wants you to go celebrate with them.”
“I guess that is confusing,” Jen replied.
“I thought she wanted me to be there.”
“And she didn’t? Are you sure you want to date her?”
“She didn’t know that Arlowe had invited me. It wasn’t Violet’s fault. She was surprised to see me, and she glared at Arlowe, not me. I think there’s something going on there.”
“Between them?”
“No. At that dinner I went to over there, they said the name Eline in relation to Arlowe, and it was like a whole big thing. Arlowe got really quiet and looked off after that for a while, and I remembered Eline from school. She and Arlowe were together for the whole semester.”
“So?”
“Violet mentioned once that Arlowe hasn’t ever let it go, so she’d thought about intervening somehow; looking Eline up to see if she’s single or married or something.
She hasn’t because she said that that was Arlowe’s decision, so my guess is, knowing how she felt about that, having Arlowe try to play matchmaker might have rubbed her the wrong way more than me showing up when she didn’t expect to see me. ”
“You two have talked way more than I expected of two women who are only having sex.”
“We didn’t only have sex. We’d talk in between rounds, but I told you that we texted, too, and that it wasn’t always just sex. She gets really talkative when she’s drunk.” Stella smiled. “It’s pretty cute.”
“Did she actually text or call yesterday like she said she would?” Jen asked and picked up her glass of water.
“She did, but only to tell me that she couldn’t talk.
Asset needed a lot more information from them before firming up their investment, so they burned the midnight oil.
I’m sure they’re doing the same thing tonight.
It’s just the four of them over there. They don’t have anyone else to help get the data together, and there’s paperwork from the banks and everything else. It’s time-consuming and annoying.”
“And you haven’t volunteered to help?”
“I did that once. She said no. I did it anyway, and I’m glad that she’s not mad at me about it, but I don’t think I should do it again,” she replied as she pushed her plate away.
“Well, you went over there and helped that one time, and you said she used some of your ideas in the presentation, so she’s probably fine with it. Besides, you miss her, Stella.”
“I do not. I’m fine,” she lied.
“No, you’re not,” Jen said. “You told me at work today that you were going home to eat a TV dinner and sulk in your room. I forced you to have dinner with me instead.”
“Sulking doesn’t mean I miss her.”
“Stop being so annoying and just admit that you do.”
“I miss talking to her. Yes, I liked the sex, don’t get me wrong, but I also like talking to her.
I liked working with her a little, too. As we were bouncing ideas off of each other, she got frustrated with me, and it was cute.
Probably would’ve made for really good foreplay had we actually done anything that night. ”
“So, what are you going to do about this whole thing, Stella?”
“Wait.” Stella shrugged. “I do miss her, but I need her to miss me, too. If she doesn’t, then whatever I want won’t matter anyway, right?”
“So, you’re staying strong, hoping that she reaches out to you?”
“I guess so. I want her to make the next move. If she still only wants sex, I’ll tell her that I can’t do that, and in a few months, you can try to set me up again, if you want to.”
“Really?”
“You sound way too excited about that.” She chuckled.
“I want you to be happy. I want you to find someone, Stella. You say you want to, but you don’t put in any effort to find her.
Then, you reconnect with this Violet, who I very much want to meet, by the way, and you say it’s just sex when I know that’s not how it’s going to work out, and now, we’re here, exactly where I thought we’d be: with one of you catching feelings.
Maybe the other one, too, but that has not been confirmed.
If Violet says no to something real, I want to help you find the woman who wants to be with you because you deserve to be happy.
I’ve got at least five women who I think could be a good fit, including the Battlestar Galactica fan you turned down before. ”
“Whoa! Five?”
“At least. I have tiers.”
“I’m sorry; you have what?” Stella asked.
“Tiers. There’s the top tier, where I’ve got two women who I think would be the best matches for you based on their profiles, but I didn’t want to discount the maybes, so there’s the mid-tier and the lower tier, too.
Less likely to be perfect matches, but I didn’t have enough information to count them out, either. I can send you all their–”
“I said in a few months, Jen.”
“I can’t guarantee they’ll all still be single in a few months, Stella.”
“That’s fine. I am willing to take that risk. I don’t want to show up to some first date still thinking about Violet. I’d want to be ready to give it a real chance.”
“Well, that’s good news, I guess.”
“Just hold on to them for me, and if I need them, and they’re still interested in meeting your lame, loser best friend who can’t find her own dates, we’ll talk when I’m ready.”
“You’re not lame.”
“But I am a loser?” she joked.
“Shut up.” Jen laughed.
Stella’s phone dinged, and she looked down at the table where she’d set it to keep an eye on the possible call from the would-be client that they were still chasing.
“It’s Violet.” She quickly picked up the phone. “She’s calling me.” Stella slid her finger across the phone to accept the call. “Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey. Do you have a minute?”
“Um… Yeah. What’s up?”
“I’m sorry about the other night. And last night, too.
I know I said that we could talk. I promise, I wasn’t trying to put you off or delay whatever we need to say to each other.
They just needed so much information. I had to get some bank records from our old bank, and they closed down three years ago, which was why we left them, and–”
“Vi, it’s okay. I understand.”
“Tell her you miss her,” Jen whispered.
“What was that?” Violet asked.
“Nothing. It’s just Jen. We’re out at dinner.”
“Oh. I’m interrupting. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. She was just showing me pictures of her new girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Jen said a little more loudly and through gritted teeth.
Stella laughed, and she heard Violet’s small laugh come from the other side of the phone.
“Anyway… How is it going?” Stella asked.
“It’s taken us some time, but I think we finally have everything organized, at least. I was thinking that, if you were free, you could come over, but you’re at dinner, so–”
“I can leave. We just finished eating.”
“You don’t have to rush,” Violet told her.
“We’re not doing anything. It’s just the four of us hanging out in the living room, watching a movie to try to unwind from the stress of it all.
Arlowe’s going to open some beers, and that’s the extent of it, so feel free to stay there and enjoy your dinner that probably isn’t from a bucket. ”
“What?” Stella laughed.
“We ordered fried chicken,” Violet explained. “I forgot to mention that part, didn’t I? I am very tired.”
“Can you save me a leg?”
“You just ate dinner.”
“So? I love fried chicken.”
“I can save you two legs and some sides. Do you want my biscuit? I’m not a fan.”
“You’re not a fan of your biscuit?”
“What in the world are you two even talking about?” Jen asked.
“I realize now how that sounded,” Violet replied with a little laugh. “Very tired.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan of your biscuit.”
“Put it on speaker,” Jen said and leaned over the table, suddenly very interested in their discussion.
“Stop it,” Stella told her with a little laugh.
“Oh, sorry,” Violet said and stopped laughing.
“No, not you. Jen. Jen is being annoying.”
“Do you want to invite her, too? She can come.”
“Nope,” Stella said, staring at Jen. “Even if I did want to invite her, I can’t because when she’s done here, she’s going to have FaceTime sex with her girlfriend, who’s on a work trip right now.”
“Stella!” Jen said.
“What? You are, aren’t you?” Stella teased.
“We’re going to have a call. That’s it.”
“Sure,” she said and then covered the phone and added, “Turnabout is fair play, you ass.”
She uncovered the phone to speak to Violet.
“Hey, Stella, do you want me to send you those profile links now or later?” Jen asked with a lifted eyebrow.
“Profile links?”
“Yeah, the LezConnect profiles I was going to send you. I have at least five who I think you’ll want to meet.”
Stella ran her tongue over her teeth, covered the phone again, and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Just wait. Trust me,” Jen said, pointing to the phone.
“Isn’t LezConnect that dating app?” Violet asked.
“Um… Yeah. Jen met her girlfriend on it, but she’s just being–”
“Hey, stop. Just trust me,” Jen interrupted her softly so that only Stella would hear and then added loudly, “I’ll send them over tonight. You can check them out whenever.”
“She’s sending you…” Violet faded out.
“Vi, just let me pay here, and I’ll be right over, okay?”
“You don’t have to, Stella. Sounds like you’ve got some pretty big plans for the night, after all,” Violet said, and her voice sounded different now.
It was more forceful and less fun than it had been only a moment ago.
“I have no plans, Violet. This dinner was Jen’s idea. My initial plan was to go home and cook a TV dinner. Exciting stuff.”
“It’ll be pretty boring over here, so–”
“I’ll be there in about thirty minutes. I’m going to make Jen pay for dinner so that I don’t have to wait for them to swipe my credit card and for me to sign the thing.” She glared at Jen. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Stella hung up, put her phone in her pocket, and asked, “What the hell was that?”
“Did she sound jealous?” Jen asked back.
“What?”
“When I mentioned sending you profiles, did she sound jealous?”
“I don’t know. Her voice changed a little, I guess.”
“Jealous.”
“I don’t want to force her hand, Jen. I want her to want to be with me because she wants that, not because she’s worried someone else might.”
“Sometimes, you have to give them a little push. I gave you one by setting you up with Amber, and look where you are now.”
“Wondering if the woman I like, who is not Amber, by the way, likes me back?”
“About to go talk to the woman you like to see if maybe she’s willing to give this a shot. Personally, I think she will. She just seems like the kind that might need a little push, so I gave her one. I bet she’s seething right now at the idea of you hooking up or going out with someone else.”
“I don’t want her to seethe,” she replied.
“Could end up with some really hot sex, though.”
“You’re buying dinner.” She stood up. “I’m leaving.”
“Stella?”
“Yeah?”
“Good luck. Seriously, I mean that. Be honest with her about how you feel.”
“We’ll see. It’s just a hangout thing with her friends, so there might not be an opportunity to share all my feelings.”
“Make it an opportunity, then.”
Stella nodded at her somewhat helpful friend and left the restaurant.
On the drive over to Violet’s, she debated herself how to approach things tonight.
She could play it cool, hang out with Violet’s friends, and just not say anything at all.
She could try to leave after that and see if Violet asked her to stay or if she’d at least request that they talk before Stella left.
She still wasn’t sure how to handle the situation until she was in it and the door to the house was opened by Sarai.
“Oh, hey. Come on in. Violet made you a plate in the kitchen. We’re all hanging out in here.”
“Hi,” she said and walked in, looking around the living room. Not seeing Violet there, she proceeded into the kitchen and saw her by the kitchen island, about to open a beer. “You drink beer?” she teased.
“No, this is for you. I asked Arlowe to pick it up earlier. It’s the kind you ordered at the bar. I’m having a hard cider. Do you want one of those instead? Also, hi.”
Violet smiled at her.
“Hey,” she replied, and without her giving it permission, her body let out a big sigh of relief at the fact that she was back in the same space with Violet Russell.