Rearview Mirror

by B L Clark

  “Lucinda is going to put me in the next art show at the gallery,” Amber said. “She chose a couple of photos that I needed to get release forms signed for so I could legally show them.”

  “Which sent you to Eagle Peak?”

  “Yup. When I got to the hotel, I ran into Heather, who I found out later owns it.”

  “Did she recognize you?”

  “Yep, right away. I thought for certain that changing my hair color—”

  “Wait, you aren’t a natural blonde?” Jessie interrupted, surprised by this revelation. She had prided herself and was usually good at spotting those people who colored their hair.

  “Nope, I’m a brunette just like you. It turns out, my eyes give me away.” Amber laughed. She proceeded to tell about seeing Nicole and the others, the meeting in her room, Jill slapping her, and then learning about what happened to her mother after she left. Amber told Jessie about her father tormenting Nicole and the emotional toll that took on her. She told her about the episodes Nicole had, what had triggered them, and what had brought her out.

  “Wow. This is going to take a while, I can tell. I’m ordering us dinner. Do you want me to give you a ride home tonight?”

  “Since you live a block from me, yeah I’ll ride with you,” Amber said. “Do you want to go back to my place to finish this? This is going to take a while, probably even more than you’re thinking it will.”

  “Yeah, I think we should.” Jessie laughed.

  As Jessie ordered dinner for them, Amber messaged Zach and told him she would call him later. She told him they were going to go back to her place to finish talking. Jessie came out of her office, and the two made their way to her apartment so she could change her clothes before they went to Amber’s apartment.

  “Amber? Is that you?” Mrs. Phelps peeked her head out the door.

  “Yes, it’s me,” Amber said as she and Jessie stopped in the hall.

  “Okay, good. Oh, and I see your girlfriend is back,” Mrs. Phelps said. “You two are cute together.”

  “Mrs. Phelps, Jessie is my friend, not my girlfriend.”

  “You’re too beautiful to be single,” Mrs. Phelps said.

  “I-I’ll explain when we sit down in the next couple of days.” Amber gently squeezed the old woman’s hand. Mrs. Phelps nodded and went back inside.

  Once inside Amber’s apartment, the two women sat on the sofa to continue their talk and eat dinner. Amber talked about the letter her mom wrote, about going to the pond to read it with Nicole, and about their first kiss in ten years. Amber then let Jessie read the letter from her mom. She hadn’t seen her friend cry before, but this seemed to push her over.

  “That’s a sweet letter.” Jessie handed it back to Amber. “So, you and Nicole? Your brother? Where do we go next?”

  “Nicole…you’ll get to meet her soon.” Amber grinned and blushed.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, she’s coming up in a few weeks to spend some time together. She’ll be my date for the show.”

  “So…are you two together again?”

  “Yes.” Amber blushed. “We are. She still loves me.”

  “Like that was ever in doubt.” Jessie laughed. “Everyone loves you.”

  Amber talked about the encounter with her brother, about getting shot, and about her time with Nicole. Amber glossed over the other people in Eagle Peak, her main focus was, always had been, and always would be Nicole.

  “I can’t believe you went through all this and didn’t call me until you canceled our dinner plans,” Jessie said.

  “There was a lot going on. I was so overwhelmed.”

  “I can imagine. Now what’s it like being back in New York?”

  “Lonely. I miss Nicole and can’t wait for these damn three weeks to be over, so I can have her here.”

  “And then what?” She knew this was a hard question and Amber probably had no answer, but sometimes friends needed to pose the touchy questions.

  “I don’t know what. I just know that she’ll be here, and I’ll be happier and complete.”

  “You have to have some idea or a plan in mind. What do you want to happen?”

  “I want her to stay, to move in, and be with me forever. Is it realistic? I don’t know. She has a career, and yeah, some of it can be done from here, but she has a life there, too. I know I can’t go back there,” Amber said.

  Nicole’s meetings had gone by slower than she thought they ever could. She thought for a while she was going to fall asleep in one of them. She knew that would have been bad since there were just three of them in the room. She didn’t understand why some government officials had to be so boring. After she finished her meetings, she had lunch with Erik, Jill, and Heather.

  “How’s your day going?” Erik asked as they sat for lunch.

  “Boring! I miss Amber, but I haven’t lost my mind…yet,” Nicole said. “You guys don’t need to worry as much as you are. I know she’s okay. I’m going to see her in less than three weeks. I feel better than I have in years.”

  “That’s great, Nic, but we still worry that you’re going to get lonely or depressed without Amber being here,” Jill said.

  “I don’t doubt that I will, but that doesn’t mean you need to worry that something bad will happen to me. I know logically that I just have to wait it out until it’s time for me to go to New York.”

  “Have you thought about the future? Did you and Amber talk about your plans?” Heather asked.

  “I’ve thought about it, but I don’t feel like sharing my thoughts right now. And Amber and I did talk about the future, but we wanted to wait and see what happens when I go up there. We may do a long-distance thing, we may not. I know I love her, and she loves me, and right now, that’s going to sustain us.”

  The group finished lunch. Nicole said her plans for the night were spending some time alone and waiting for Amber to call. The others said they didn’t think that was a good idea, but she said it was what she wanted.

  Jessie held Amber for a long time while she cried out her frustrations.

  “We’ll get you through it, Amber, I promise,” she said. “Maybe you should start seeing your therapist weekly until Nicole gets here. I think you’re going to need it when the glow of having just seen her wears off.”

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” Amber said as she heard a knock at the door. “Can you get that? I need to go fix my makeup.”

  “Yeah, sure. Are you expecting anyone?” Jessie asked.

  “No. It’s probably Mrs. Phelps again.” Amber laughed as she hurried out of the room and Jessie answered the door.

  Jessie opened the door to see a redhead standing there with a suitcase.

  “Hello, is this Amber Knight’s place?” Nicole asked.

  “Yeah, she’s in the other room. Is there something I can help you with?” Jessie asked.

  “Who was or is it?” Amber asked as she came back into the room.

  “Um,” Jessie opened the door a bit wider for Amber to see.

  “Nic? Sweetie?” Amber rushed toward the door.

  “Yeah, baby.” Nicole opened her arms and wrapped them around Amber.

  Jessie stepped back and watched the interaction between the two.

  “Not complaining, but what are you doing here?” Amber asked before pulling Nicole into a slow sensual kiss.

  “Mmm, I couldn’t handle being there and knowing you were here,” Nicole started before quickly kissing Amber.

  “What about work? Jill? Erik? Heather?”

  “I took a short leave of absence from work. As for the gang, they sort of don’t know that I left. I had lunch with them, and, baby, I missed you so much, I just hopped a flight and came here. I figured I’d call them when we decided if it was okay for me to be here or not.”

  “Of course it’s okay for you to be here.”

  “Knock, knock” came a voice from the doorway.

  Nicole and Amber turned to see Mrs. Phelps standing there holding a cake.

&nbs
p; “Hi, Mrs. Phelps,” Amber said, her arm wrapped around Nicole’s waist, holding her close.

  “Oh, you have more company. I’m sorry to interrupt.”

  “You aren’t. I’m glad you came up. This is my girlfriend, Nicole. Sweetie, this is Mrs. Phelps.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you.” Nicole extended her hand toward the older woman.

  “Amber, is this the woman you’ve told me about over the years?” Mrs. Phelps said.

  “Yes.” Amber took the cake out of the woman’s hands, only to have it taken out of her hands by Jessie, who put the cake in the kitchen.

  Mrs. Phelps pulled Nicole into a hug and whispered in her ear, “She loves you so much.”

  Nicole smiled and whispered back, “I love her, too.”

  “Amber, I hope you enjoy the cake. I love seeing you smile, my dear,” Mrs. Phelps said as she hugged Amber and headed for the door.

  “Thank you! I still want to do coffee or tea in a couple of days.”

  “We will.” Mrs. Phelps left, closing the door behind her.

  “Nic, I…um…forgot to introduce you to someone.” Amber laughed before kissing Nicole.

  “Huh?” Nicole said.

  “Nicole, this is Dr. Jessie Burke, one of my best friends. Jess, this is the love of my life, Nicole.”

  “It’s nice to finally meet you.” Jessie shook Nicole’s hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too. Thank you for taking care of her over the years.” Nicole wrapped her arms around Amber’s waist from behind and kissed the side of her head.

  “Well, I’m going to go home. I see I’m no longer needed as a shoulder to cry on,” Jessie said.

  “Thank you for being here tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Amber said.

  “It was nice to meet you,” Nicole said.

  “It was nice to meet you, too, Nicole. I’ll call Zach when I get home and tell him you’ll see him tomorrow. I somehow think that talking to him is one of the last things you want to do tonight,” Jessie said.

  After Jessie left, Amber pulled Nicole over to the couch, and they sat close together.

  “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “She seems nice.”

  “She’s a good friend. Wait, are you jealous?”

  “A little,” Nicole admitted. “She has been here for you, and she isn’t exactly unattractive.”

  “Sweetie, you’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted,” Amber said before kissing Nicole.

  After a heated makeout session, Nicole’s phone rang. Nicole groaned as she reached for it.

  “Hi Jill,” Nicole said, trying to hide the groan.

  “Nicole Marie Brooks, where the hell are you? Erik and Heather both went by your house, and you weren’t there. I’ve called most of the hospitals in the area and had a bolo put out on your car,” Jill snapped.

  “Jill, relax. I’m in New York with Amber.”

  “I’m sorry, I think I heard you wrong. Can you please repeat that? Wait, let me put you on speaker, so Heather and Erik can hear it, as well.”

  “Nic? Are you okay?” Erik asked when Jill had her on speakerphone.

  “I’m fine. I’m in New York with Amber,” Nicole said, feeling Amber kiss the side of her head.

  “Seriously?” Heather said.

  “Hi, guys,” Amber said cheerfully.

  “When? Why? Huh?” Jill said.

  “After lunch, I was missing Amber so much. I took a short leave of absence from the government contract stuff, hopped on a plane, and came to New York. I took a very scary cab ride to Amber’s house, I about had a heart attack when an attractive woman answered her door, and now I’m sitting curled up on the couch with the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  “And you couldn’t tell us you were leaving?” Erik asked.

  “I just did it.”

  “So, Amber. Who was the attractive woman answering your door?” Heather asked playfully.

  “Jess, my friend.” Amber laughed.

  “She’s attractive? Is she single? Does she date women?” Heather said.

  “Yes, she’s attractive, yes, she’s single, and yes, she dates women, and no, you cannot date her,” Amber responded.

  “Well, why not? It isn’t like you’re going to date her,” Heather said as the others laughed.

  “Listen, you guys know I’m okay, and it has been a long day. Why don’t I call you sometime tomorrow?”

  “All right, but don’t you ever run off like that again,” Jill said.

  “She won’t. I won’t let her,” Amber said.

  They finished saying goodbye, and Nicole put her phone on the table.

  “Are you sure you aren’t mad about me just showing up?”

  “Sweetie, I hardly slept last night because you weren’t holding me. Now let’s lock up and go into the bedroom and you can help me shower and get ready for bed.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Nicole said as they stood and took her stuff into Amber’s room.

  The couple showered together and dried each other off before slipping into bed for some naked snuggles.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Together Again

  “Amber?” Nicole said as they lay in bed naked trying to fall asleep.

  “Yeah, sweetie?” Amber had almost been asleep in Nicole’s arms.

  “What am I going to do while you’re at work tomorrow?”

  “Well, you can hang out here…” Amber started.

  “You aren’t afraid I’ll rifle through your things?”

  “I expect it. I did at your place when you were gone,” Amber joked. “Honestly, sweetie, I trust you, and if you want to rifle through my stuff, wear my underwear on your head…well, if you’re going to do that last part, I would like to be here to get pictures. You can do whatever you want. I’ll see if maybe Wednesday you can shadow me at work.”

  “You can do that?”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time someone had a visiting family member come for a day.”

  “I don’t want to invade your personal space. Which I should have thought about before I jumped on a plane and headed here, but I missed you, I love you, and I didn’t know what to do with myself without you there. I’m sorry if I’m—” Nicole babbled before she was cut off by Amber’s lips on hers. After a couple of minutes of kissing, Nicole started to relax.

  “First, I missed you, and I love you, too. Next, you aren’t invading my personal space because had I thought you would do it, I would have asked you to come back with me. Now stop talking silly, or I’m going to have to put on clothes. And I don’t mean a skimpy negligée. I’m talking sweatpants and a sweatshirt.”

  “To sleep in?”

  “If you keep talking like that, yes. Now kiss me.”

  Nicole didn’t need to be told twice to kiss the woman she loved. Nicole pressed their lips together, hearing a groan from Amber as her tongue made its way into Amber’s mouth. They kissed for several minutes before Nicole pulled away and looked deep into Amber’s eyes. Deep enough to see her soul and see that she meant what she had said and that their love was stronger than she knew.

  Morning arrived, and Nicole tried to stay out of Amber’s way while she got ready for work. Nicole had perched herself at the breakfast bar. As she looked around the apartment, she loved all the “Amber” tweaks that made the space warm and comforting. The pillows by the window to curl up on and read or listen to the rain. There was the desk and laptop in one corner of the room, and down the hall, Nicole knew there was Amber’s art studio. Amber’s art covered the walls. It was one of the first things Nicole checked out while Amber was getting dressed.

  “So, what did you decide to do today, cutie?” Amber asked as she entered the kitchen, placing a kiss on Nicole’s head before making breakfast and getting coffee.

  “I thought I might do some work. I have a couple of programs I need to make some progress on. Do you have Wi-Fi or are you wired internet?”

  “Wi-Fi. I like to sit over by the window with my laptop an
d read or surf. Do you want some toast? I know I don’t need to ask if you want coffee.”

  Nicole smiled and nodded. While her computer was booting up, Nicole went to get a cup of coffee and found herself pinned between Amber and the counter. Amber had a hand on each side of Nicole with her back against the counter.

  “Hi.” Amber leaned in and sucked on Nicole’s neck.

  “Helloooo. Oh, god, Amber.” Nicole moaned. “You can’t do that and then leave me, baby.”

  “Sorry,” Amber said, her lips brushing against Nicole’s ear. “I want you to think about me when I’m gone.”

  Nicole let out a whimper before turning her head and pulling Amber into a searing kiss. Amber let out a moan and pressed her body even closer to Nicole’s. Things were heating up when the doorbell rang.

  “Damn it,” Amber mumbled as she grudgingly pulled away from Nicole to answer the door. She knew it was Zach picking her up for work, but she was enjoying the closeness with Nicole more.

  “Good morning,” Zach said as Amber opened the door and motioned for him to come in.

  “Morning,” Amber said, hoping she wasn’t still flushed from her session in the kitchen with Nicole.

  The two made their way to the kitchen where Nicole was buttering the toast and sipping on her coffee.

  “Good morning,” Nicole said, smiling at Zach.

  “Good morning, Nicole. I was surprised when Jessie called last night and told me you were here.”

  “Why is that?” Nicole asked as Amber took a piece of the toast Nicole had buttered.

  “I’m surprised it took you that long to get here,” Zach said, smiling.

  “I had a couple of meetings I had to attend before I could leave. I did get here as soon as I could, though,” Nicole said.

  “Are you about ready, Amber?”

  “Yeah, go down, and I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Okay. It was good to see you again, Nicole. I’m glad you’re here.”