17. Taylor
Taylor
T hree months later…
“I don’t know about this.”
“You’ve been moping around for months, ever since you fucked things up with Aubrey,” April said sternly. “You promised me that you’d come with me to Sapphic Speed Dating, and I expect you to at least try to meet someone new to ask out tonight. My friend Yvette has come to several of these events, and she says they’re total vag fests.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Vag fests?”
“You know, like a sausage fest, but with no dick.” She handed her raincoat to the attendant and ran a hand in front of her. “Now, how do I look?”
“Sexy as fuck,” I said honestly. “I’d totally take you home and do unspeakable things to you if you were my kind of girl.”
She turned a critical eye on my plain black dress and sensible heels. “You on the other hand look like you’re going to a funeral. Couldn’t you at least have added some colorful jewelry or a scarf?”
“It’s March in Seattle,” I reminded her. “We haven’t seen the sun in months, and I’m coming out of a slump from losing the only woman I’ve ever truly loved. Cut me some slack, will ya?”
Plus, I had no interest in any woman who wasn’t Aubrey so there was no sense in making myself look good. Not that I was going to tell April that. I’d promised her that at least I’d try to get back out there.
“Fine, at least you’re out of that damned house,” April said. “Now let’s see if we can get you laid.”
For most of the last three months I’d done little more than go to work and go home. I’d neglected my workout routine, and I hadn’t been able to bring myself to visit Club Surrender even once. The idea of doing a scene with anyone besides Aubrey made me feel physically ill.
I hadn’t reached out to her again. I’d heard her loud and clear that she didn’t want to hear from me again. I couldn’t blame Aubrey. I’d treated her like shit. That didn’t mean I hadn’t come up with innumerable elaborate scenarios to ‘accidentally’ run into her again and get her back.
Unfortunately, we’d done very little talking during our time together. She’d casually mentioned that she’d moved to another apartment about a month after the night we spent in jail, but I had no idea where she’d moved. I didn’t know where she worked. Didn’t know if she had family in the area. If she had social media accounts, they were set to private because no amount of cyber stalking turned anything up. Seattle was a big city. There was no way I was going to find her.
I hated myself for not getting to know her better. Not learning even the most basic things about her. But no, I’d been too focused on keeping a wall between us. Now I just had to accept that I’d lost my chance with her and try to move on. Who knows? Maybe Ms. Right would be here tonight.
Well, Ms. Almost Right.
Following April into the crowded ballroom, I checked in at the registration desk and received my assignment. People with blue cards would stay at the same table for the first hour, while the people with yellow cards would move every three minutes when the bell rang. April was given a blue card, so she headed to one of the tables while I waited in the ‘holding area’ with the other yellow cards.
This event was more popular than I’d expected. I looked idly around the room, seeing people of all shapes, sizes, and ages. There had to be two hundred people here, running the gamut from femme to butch, non-binary to transwomen, and every identity in between. That was the nice thing about living in an LGBTQ friendly city like Seattle, the community was huge.
The organizers made some announcements, sharing the instructions for the event, and then the bell rang for us to head over to our first tables. I was about to sit down and meet my first prospect when something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I stopped dead and turned to look at a woman at a table two rows over. Dark hair. Pert breasts. Tattooed arms. A crooked smile hiding nervousness that I could see from all the way over here.
I blinked, then pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Holy shit. Aubrey was here.
Without thinking, I raced over to her table. Just as I got there, some skinny little stemme slid into the chair across from Aubrey. They were wearing a tailored suit with a tie, their black hair closely cropped, and their lips painted a bold red. Cute, but not right for my Aubrey.
“Excuse me, you have the wrong table,” I said pointedly.
Aubrey gasped in surprise. “Taylor!”
“This is my time,” the other person said. “I was assigned to this table.”
“Wrong,” I said in my coldest domme voice. “Use this number instead and hit the road,” I said, shoving my card into their hand.
I saw them debating arguing with me before deciding it wasn’t worth it. I wasn’t a big woman by any means, but next to this petite stemme I was a giant and puffed up with my big, bad dominatrix energy, they decided to retreat.
Turning my attention back to Aubrey, I studied her carefully. Her hair was a little shorter now, and she’d done something different with her makeup, but otherwise she looked exactly the same. The low level panic I’d been feeling for the last three months slowly receded. I dropped into the chair and gave Aubrey a tentative smile.
“Hey Aubrey. It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Uh, fine.” She gestured in the direction where the other person had gone. “What was that all about?”
I reached across the table and pulled one of her hands between both of mine. I felt the familiar buzz of attraction when I touched her.
“I’ve missed you.”
“Missed me?” she repeated. “How could you miss me? We don’t even really know each other. We’ve never even had a real conversation.”
I took a deep breath, knowing I had to shoot my shot before she told me to fuck off and leave her table.
“I know. We did everything wrong before. No. I did everything wrong. I fell in love with you, but I convinced myself that it was better if I kept you at a distance,” I explained. “Until that last night at Club Surrender where I let myself go. Let myself get close to you. And I freaked out. Big time. I pushed you away instead of pulling you closer like I wanted to. I was an asshole. I know I hurt you, and I’m so so sorry for that.”
When she just stared at me I kept talking. “I know I made a lot of mistakes and I know that you were clear about not wanting to talk to me, but it can’t just be a coincidence that we ran into each other again, Aubrey. The universe is telling us something. Giving us another chance. But will you?”
“I know nothing about you,” she said stubbornly. “We were just play partners, right? Not even friends.”
“What do you want to know?” I said, leaning back in the chair. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
The bell rang and another woman came to take my place. I waved her off. “Go to the next table.”
She looked at Aubrey who nodded and said, “Sorry about that, please skip me.”
“What do you want to know?” I asked again. “Ask me anything. We’ll do things right this time. Actually get to know each other. Have a conversation.”
“Where do you work?” she asked.
“Phoenix Software,” I answered immediately. “I’m a sales rep. What about you?”
“I’m a plumber’s apprentice,” she said.
“Really? Wow, that’s so cool.”
I should have known that about Aubrey I thought, berating myself for my past mistakes. They’d cost me three months with the woman I loved.
“What’s your favorite color?” she asked, drawing my attention back.
“Purple. You?”
Aubrey peppered me with a wide range of questions which I answered before turning them back to her. We’d turned away three more dating hopefuls before one of the organizers came to our table.
“You’re supposed to rotate through table partners,” the woman said sternly. “If you’re not going to participate, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
I met Aubrey’s eyes. “Have dinner with me.”
Aubrey raised an eyebrow. “You’re giving me orders now?”
“Please, can we have dinner and keep talking?” I pleaded. “Give me a chance to show you that I’ve changed.”
I held my breath as she gave me a long, considering look. “Okay. One dinner.”
I felt like a weight had been lifted. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her towards the coat check, making a quick detour to let April know I was leaving.
“There’s a bar up the street that has really good food,” Aubrey said as we stepped outside into the rainy darkness of downtown Seattle. “Let’s go there.”
“I don’t know if I trust you in a bar, especially in that dress. You’re not going to get me arrested again, are you?” I teased.
“Well, we’ll see how the night goes.”