Sometimes, Salama watched the goings-on of one sleepy town sustaining itself on pizza and Heaven’s treats.
Those were great cookies… Salama was so caught up in her memories of last night’s party, that she almost missed her phone buzzing with a notification from WhatsApp.
It was her sister.
“Did you get my message?” she asked. “Mom has been asking me about you all day. Please let me know if you didn’t get it.”
Salama gritted her teeth and immediately packed up her things. She usually hit up the library on Fridays. No sense not getting an early start if she was feeling up to it. Time to start Part 2 of her series, anyway!
“When Nosy Family Gets In Your Way of Self-Growth and Personal Fulfillment.” That wouldn’t be passive-aggressive at all!
Chapter 8
HEAVEN
Sometime between the party and getting up that morning, Heaven had been hit by a truck. She hadn’t drunk any alcohol. She didn’t even touch many of her own sweets, since God knew she didn’t need more of that hanging around her midsection or sitting in her bloodstream more than it already did. After a long, hot shower and relaxing on her bed until she inevitably fell asleep, Heaven acquired more than enough rest to get up and see to her café’s eight o’clock opening. Yet she felt like a middle-aged woman after the last great bender of her life.
It wasn’t until a customer commented on the bags beneath her eyes that Heaven realized that, just because she was in bed for eight hours, didn’t mean she slept a hearty sleep for a whole eight hours. She had tossed and turned, hadn’t she? Tormented by a strange feeling that settled in her gut and wormed its way deep into her brain? Yeah, that was it. Heaven may have wanted to avoid the strange feelings plaguing her subconscious, but that didn’t mean they avoided her!
A woman likes me… or at least I think she likes me. That wasn’t unusual. Heaven probably had her pick of a decent girlfriend if she decided to go out and get one. Yet she had never been interested before. She either had Rob in her life, or she was nursing the wounds of her divorce. Even when she started dating again, as little as a year ago, she only looked for men on dating sites. They were familiar. Comfortable. Even growing up in a place like Paradise Valley, where lesbian couples at Clark High School were far from unusual, hadn’t lent her to the kind of exploration she often heard about.
Then again, most of the women she turned down were locals she knew. They always mentioned that they never had a chance with her, whatever that meant. Heaven stashed them away as compliments. An assurance that the girls in town at least had her back.
Salama was different. She wasn’t a local. Now that Heaven knew she might fancy her, she had no idea what to do about her as a regular in the café.
“Here you go, hon.” She presented another regular, EMT Ariana Mura, with her usual hazelnut latte. It was early in the afternoon, when hard workers like Ari – and Heaven, for that matter – came stumbling in during their work breaks to get a hard hit of caffeine to sustain themselves for the rest of the long day. Ari had come in expressing relief that she finally had a decent break. Apparently, it was a busy day for an EMT.
“Thanks.” Ari stuffed a dollar in the tip jar and let out a mighty yawn. “I am seriously going to need it.”
“Saw that you sprung for the larger size.” Heaven chuckled. “Hey, you got a few minutes?”
“Technically, I’m on the clock, but… sure. What’s on your mind?” Ari narrowed her eyes. “Unless it’s about my relationship, in which case I am fine if y’all keep your traps shut for a while longer. Give Mik an honest chance to screw up on her own before suggesting she’s gonna do it anyway.”
Heaven had to keep her poker face intact. You sure are defensive about it, huh? Easy to forget her own problems when half the women in Paradise Valley were perfectly adept at amusing her with their own drama. Take this one for instance. One month ago, Ariana was a single gal going about her life. Then came a ghost from high school past. Their reunion happened right here in Heaven’s Café, because of course it did.
She didn’t have a lot of hope that Ari and Mik would last a second time around, but she was also willing to be proven wrong. Sometimes even the most cynical of hearts weren’t opposed to seeing things work out for once.
“We’ve known each other a long time, huh?” Heaven was two years older than Ari, but they had gone to high school together. Heaven had been on the same softball team as Mik, who in turn brought her young girlfriend to practices and games since God knew there was nowhere else to go for socializing in the whole county. Heaven and Ari were closer now that they were adults, but they had known each other since long enough to say, “It’s been a while, eh?”
“Yeah. Sure have.” Ari kept her body language guarded while giving Ari the side-eye. “What’s this about?”
“I only wanna know what people think about me.”
“Huh?”
Heaven started over, frustration coloring her cheeks. “Do people think I’m gay?”
An awkward moment passed before Ari had to keep her oncoming laughter in check. “Oh, oh you’re serious…” She cleared her throat and looked over her shoulder, ensuring nobody had heard her little outburst. Thank God! Heaven was already indignant enough to write off Ari’s opinions. What did she know, anyway? “I mean… I can’t speak for everyone, Heav.”
“It’s a small town, hon. Besides, you’ve got your own opinions, I’m sure.”
“Where did this even come from?”
“Don’t change the subject.” Heaven furrowed her brows. “Answer the question.”
“Okay, jeez.” Ari continued looking around. She may not be the arbiter of all things gay in town, but the more she turned her head, the more Heaven became convinced that Ari might know what she was talking about. Nobody mistakes her for straight. Hell, tourists mistook her for male! Surely, plenty of people confided to Ariana Mura about their lesbian plights and womanly dilemmas. The kind of stuff they didn’t tell Heaven while they ordered their drinks.
“You gonna tell me or not, hon?”
“I mean, you’re not exactly the first person people think about asking out.” When Heaven sat back with eyes wider than the macarons on display, Ariana explained, “People know who you date in this town, right? Well, they definitely know about that ex-husband of yours.”
“Doesn’t mean I ain’t…”
“Not the point. You’ve only dated guys as far as anyone knows. You’ve never asked a girl out. Just because you grew up here and went to Clark High doesn’t mean you’re gay. For all we know, you’ve broken hearts by not being open about your sexuality! Coy doesn’t get you far in this town!”
Heaven cocked her hand on her hip and tilted her head back toward the ceiling. Broken some hearts, huh? She had broken a few male hearts over the years, but the thought that girls who came in here fancied her but never said a thing… it was interesting, to be sure.
“You got something you want to share, Heav? Because I could probably spread a little word for you, if that’s what you want.”
“Huh? Hmph. No. Well… it may have come to my attention that one of my regulars feels a bit of something for me. Caught me off guard, that’s all.”
“A woman?”
“Yeah. Don’t know how I feel about it. Never actually had a gal come on to me like that.” She made it sound like Salama had sidled up to her and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. As if. She had handed her a rose. Probably didn’t want to keep it for herself. Yet she had such a sweet look on her face and a little knowing look in her eye. Shit. She definitely had a crush on Heaven. How should she handle it, if at all?
“Whoa. First time for everything, I guess.”
Heaven sighed. “Yeah.”
“You like her, too?”
“Honestly never thought about it before.” She wasn’t like Ari, who had some kind of awakening – or however it worked – as a teenager and followed life’s path. She was also perfectly aware of bisexuality and any assortment o
f strange monikers people adopted to describe themselves. Yet Heaven had never thought about it before. Weird, wasn’t it? She was more exposed to lesbianism than most small town girls, thanks to where her parents dragged her when she was still in elementary school. Yet she might as well have been a poster child for the nature vs. nurture debate. You’d think growing up here “turned” me gay, but ask my parents, and they probably think me straighter than an arrow, too. Rather strange, wasn’t it? This wasn’t something women in other towns thought about. They went along their heterosexual days and maybe, if they were blessed enough to know even half the gay women Heaven did, talk to the local lesbian who delivered the mail or bought coffee from the same café. Then they went home and didn’t think anything of it.
“You got some weird look on your face,” Ari said.
“I dunno what to do. If I have to turn her down, what do I say?”
Ari snorted. “Same thing we gay girls have heard our whole lives from you straight ones. ‘Thaaaanks, but you’re not my type.’”
Chuckling, Heaven made eye contact with a new customer who walked through the door. “Thanks, hon. Oh, and, don’t tell anyone we had this conversation, huh?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Ari picked up her latte. “See you later.”
Heaven put the conversation out of her mind as she waited on her customer and checked on the employee in the back, currently taking inventory on some of the more mundane kitchen supplies. Life was oddly simple like that. One moment she was having a small identity crisis, and the next? Talking about onions with a college student.
I’m going to pretend I didn’t notice anything strange about Salama’s behavior. If Salama did press her attraction to Heaven, that would call for the gentle let down and hope it didn’t ruin their friendly relationship. Should be simple enough. Not fun, of course, but simple!
Another hour past, and something threw a serious wrench into that plan.
Namely, that wrench was Salama, who uncharacteristically came into the café that afternoon. She acted like nothing was amiss as she heaved her tote bag onto her shoulder and looked for one of her favorite spots to sit. It wasn’t until she had slammed her bag down into a chair that she turned around and made eye contact with Heaven.
She had no idea what to do. Those thoughts and words that had been so self-assured only an hour ago were now gone with the wind.
“Hey!” Salama was quick to approach the counter. There went Heaven’s hopes to find someone to take her place up front. She needed to fall back and regroup? Because she was apparently too inept to face someone who clearly liked her.
What kind of like? Heaven didn’t know!
“Afternoon.” Heaven stood behind her counter, hands in apron pockets. “Don’t normally see you here on Fridays.”
“Oh, I had such an early start today that I’ve already burned myself out at the library.”
“That so?” Heaven was surprised anyone could get work done on Friday afternoons. That was the prime time to take the kids to get some weekend entertainment. The screaming alone in that library… “Do you want your usual? What flavor?”
Whatever Salama had anticipated talking about, it was obstructed by Heaven’s inability to focus on anything but work. Eventually, Salama said, “Suppose I’ll take the white rooibos. And one of those cheese Danishes.”
“Sure thing, hon.” Heaven opened the case and grabbed the tongs – and promptly dropped them to the floor. The clatter was so great that half the café jumped out of their seats. “Sorry, folks!” Her hand was still shaking when she reached down to pick up the now dirty tongs. They landed in the small sink behind her. Luckily, she had a fresh pair elsewhere.
“Everything okay?” Salama asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Heaven placed the Danish into the oven and grabbed the containers of tea off their shelf. “A late night, you know? We were still cleaning up some stuff this morning. Didn’t get as much sleep as I may have liked.”
“Oh…” Salama opened her wallet and removed her debit card. “I hope I didn’t have something to do with it.”
Technically… Heaven remained all smiles as she poured hot water into the teacup Salama liked best. “No worries.” She handed over the tea and swiped the card. “Like I said, was a long night.”
She looked up and met Salama’s eyes. A glassy amber that Heaven had never quite noticed before stared at her with wide-eyed wonder. She had almost missed the lemon yellow cover wrapped around Salama’s head. I’m so intrigued by her facial features today. What’s going on with me? It didn’t help that Salama was prettier than the average customer, and that was a compliment in a town full of women who both took particular care of themselves and were so lackadaisical with their looks that their effortless styles were as likely to strike a girl in the heart. Heaven would know. She saw most of them every day.
Salama was a different kind of pretty, though, wasn’t she? Nobody else in Paradise Valley had eyes like those or a pair of thin, pink lips that accented her long lashes. A pale and soft hand took back her debit card. She has a great eye for colors. Most people wore drab or jewel-tone colors, especially at that time of year. Salama was always a beacon of pastels and neons wherever she went. The few times she wore loud prints, she turned every head.
“I didn’t make you uncomfortable, did I?”
Heaven couldn’t hide her surprise. “What do you mean?”
Salama shook her head, pocketing her card and wallet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said or done anything. Be right back.” She scurried toward the bathroom.
What was that about?
Get a grip. Heaven focused on getting that Danish out of the oven and placing it on a clean plate. She’s not referring to that. Because she probably doesn’t actually like you like that. What are you, some kind of conceited bitch? Why do you think this particular person has the hots for you out of everyone else in town? She’s not the first one to flirt with you. She only happens to be more your type. You know, assuming you have a type in women. Look at Rob. He’s the essential Manly Man. If you were into girls, you’d be into gals like Ari. That’s how it works.
Heaven turned around, plate of food in her hand. She decided to take it straight to Salama’s table.
Except Salama and her things were gone.
“Huh?” Heaven looked to the person at the next table. “Wasn’t there someone here a moment ago?”
“Think she left,” the female guest said.
You’ve gotta be kidding! It was both a slap to the face and a stab to the gut. So she gets a little embarrassed and leaves?
Heaven glared at the door. She hadn’t even heard it jingle. It was supposed to jingle whenever someone entered or exited! That’s how it worked!
Seemed like nothing worked the way it was supposed to anymore.
Chapter 9
SALAMA
Salama had not meant to make such a fool of herself.
She didn’t know what she was thinking, going into Heaven’s the day after she dared to flirt with the coffee shop owner. Yet there had been something about the day. The unexpected sunshine? The fact she got up early? The strange feeling injected into her when she saw her sister’s email? None of it mattered. Not when it turned her into the kind of git who stumbled into Heaven’s Café and reminded the pretty proprietress that such an awkward moment transpired the night before.
Why do I have to be so stupid? Salama slumped into her lounge chair, bag falling to the floor. While it felt good to lose the weight off her shoulder, the weight on her conscience remained. Should’ve given it at least a week. She removed her headscarf and combed her fingers through the few tangles in her hair. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be leaving her apartment for the rest of the day.
Maybe she would load up Netflix and crawl into bed. Take a long bath first. If she timed it right, the last of the sunshine would come through the bathroom window high in the wall and splash her water with a bit of light.
Sounded like heaven. Damnit.
&nb
sp; Slowly, Salama made her way to the closet, where she removed her jacket and tucked away her bag. She was left in nothing but a pair of old jeans and a loose-fitting long-sleeved blouse that matched the color of her dark hair. If she was going to stay home? Remove what little jewelry she wore, too. Might as well let it all hang out.
Someone knocked on the door.
Panic swelled in Salama’s body. What the hell? Who is it? Amin? She ran to the window overlooking the pizza parlor parking lot, but didn’t see any sign of her brother’s car. Or her brother, for that matter.
…Or any man.
A woman stood on her humble doorstep, a scarf wrapped around her throat and a coat hanging loosely on her person. Salama swore she was seeing things. After all, it wasn’t possible that Heaven was at her apartment, right?
Maybe Salama had tripped and fallen on her way home. It was the only way to explain why she thought she saw Heaven standing on the other side of the door.
What are you doing? Answer it!
Salama inhaled a deep breath, smoothed down her hair and clothing, and unlocked her door. When she peered through a small crack, she still couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Oh, uh…” Heaven’s head tilted. It wasn’t until that moment that Salama realized she had answered without her usual coverings. While she was comfortable in the presence of other women, it wasn’t like she had invited plenty of people over since moving to Paradise Valley. “Hi. Almost didn’t recognize you without the, uh… anyway.” Heaven shoved a to-go cup and a packaged Danish in Salama’s direction. “You forgot these are the shop. Everything okay?”
Salama gingerly took her purchase into her possession. She had totally forgotten about them until she was halfway home. By then, she was too embarrassed to go back. “Thank you. Sorry about that.”
“Everything okay? I only had my back turned for a few minutes, and you were gone when I turned around!”
“Yeah, uh… suddenly didn’t feel super good.”
February Kisses Page 5