Summer Fling

by Jean Copeland

  “No, no. I swear we’ll shut up now,” Didi said.

  “Yeah, yeah. Look. I’m going to sleep.” Viv rolled over on her side facing the window.

  After a few muffled snorts and giggles, the room finally fell quiet.

  “I love you lunatics,” Kate whispered.

  Didi and Viv rolled on their sides toward Kate and cuddled up to her.

  Chapter Three

  Jaded, Party of One

  The next day, Kate and Didi had an early lunch with Viv at the Four Seasons before heading back to Connecticut. Kate glanced out over Fifty-second Street, recalling the strange and surprising dream she’d had about Jordan Squire. In the dream, Jordan had signed the CD like she had in the club the night before, but she’d kissed Kate after handing it to her. It was a nice kiss—sweet and sensual—the kind that made Kate wish she could’ve slept a little longer.

  “So what do you think about that, Kate?” Didi asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Exactly,” Didi said. “I’m trying to have an intervention with Viv here about leaving Maia alone. Would you like to weigh in?”

  “Right,” Kate said. “Viv, don’t text her anymore.”

  “I haven’t texted her.” Viv seemed proud of herself as she sipped her Bloody Mary.

  “She sent a dozen roses to her work, anonymously,” Didi said.

  Kate nodded. “How did that work out?”

  Viv stalled with another, longer sip. “She texted me and said she’d call the cops if anything else shows up for her anywhere or from anyone.”

  “Okay. Well, I think she’s conveyed her position quite clearly. So that takes care of that,” Kate said. Then, after a moment of no response, “Doesn’t it?”

  “One would hope,” Didi said.

  “Girls, she’s still hurt right now. I need to give her more time.”

  Didi bit her fist and turned to Kate. “I could make the best joke about her getting time, but I won’t do it. I’m trying too hard to be a better human being.”

  “Look, Maia’s very special to me,” Viv went on. “She’s the one who inspired me to make a real change. I just want her to give me the chance to show her.”

  “Look, honey,” Kate said, patting the top of Viv’s hand. “It’s great that you’ve gone back to therapy and finally recognize your problem with egocentrism and possessiveness. It’s a huge step. But refusing to leave Maia alone after she broke up with you for being too selfish and possessive is showing her you’re exactly the same person you were when she left you.”

  Viv seemed confused as her eyes appealed to Didi.

  “Get over it and move on,” Didi said and licked a drop of martini that spilled on her finger as she raised the glass.

  “But Maia loved me,” Viv said. “I know she did. She didn’t want to break up.”

  “I know that but—” Kate said.

  “If she sees I’m finally working through my issues, she’ll want to give us another shot.”

  “Viv.” Kate grasped her hand. “I understand how you feel, but I can tell you from experience that just because someone loved you once, that doesn’t mean they’ll fight for your relationship, no matter how long you’ve been together. Three months, eight months, or seventeen years—when it’s over, it’s over.”

  “She’s right, Viv,” Didi said. “She gave Lydia the seventeen best years of her life, and look where it’s gotten her? She’s a forty-seven-year-old shell of a woman, alone and bitter, petrified to let down her guard and love again. Don’t be her, Viv. Don’t be Kate. Free your soul for better things.”

  “I’m not bitter or petrified,” Kate said. “Unlike the rest of you, I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

  “If you walked away from that sexy girl at Moxy’s, you’re petrified,” Viv said.

  “Why do these conversations always revert back to me?” Kate said. “I’m the most well-adjusted one in this trio. I’m perfectly satisfied with my life.”

  As if on cue, Didi slapped her hands on her thighs and used the chewed straw clenched in her teeth as a pointer. “Don’t you see what’s going on here, girls? We’ve reached a pivotal juncture in our lives. It’s time we start living by our own rules. We may be older than we’ve ever been before, but we’re also wiser and reeking with life experience.”

  “I attended a lecture similar to that idea last year.” Kate tilted her head skeptically. “I paid eight hundred and fifty bucks for a weekend retreat in the Adirondacks called ‘The Locus of Aging: Setting Your Own Place at Life’s Banquet Table,’ and I have to say, I’m not so convinced.”

  Didi huffed. “I’m trying to make an important point here.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Okay, so those self-help retreats are kind of hokey,” Didi said, “but this is absolutely not the time to surrender to a fate of pre-menopausal night sweats and Maalox moments. This is our shining moment, ladies.” Her voice reached a crescendo as she brought the theme home. “It’s our last ticket to ride, our final opportunity to be everything we’ve ever dreamed of before we drop dead. So let’s claim our destinies.”

  She leaned back in her seat and waited for the deluge of applause.

  Kate smiled, and Viv offered a delicate hand clap.

  “You overachievers are so irritating.” Deflated, Didi wiped sweat from her forehead. “Man, it must be a hundred degrees in here. Don’t they have any a/c in this place?”

  “It’s on,” Kate said. “You’re getting yourself overheated in your fervor.”

  “Girlfriend can sell it though,” Viv said.

  Kate nodded. “Yes, your spiel was very inspirational. You should package it for that retreat in the Adirondacks.”

  “Thanks.” Didi smiled as she chewed the ice cubes in her water.

  “You know, I think we need to defer to an important albeit overused maxim: everything happens for a reason. Lydia left me because our relationship ran its course. Didi, you haven’t met the right woman yet because you still have some self-reflection to do, and Viv, well, all your relationships end because…”

  Didi stepped up with the assist. “Because, uh, um, like me, you still have some self-reflection to do.”

  Kate nodded her gratitude. “It all comes down to serendipity. What we need will come to us in the right moment. In the meantime, we have to stay in the present to find our joy.”

  “If that’s true, why are you pretending you didn’t meet an amazing girl last night?” Didi said.

  “I’m not pretending anything. Yes, she was amazing, but she’s not for me. Here’s something else to consider: evolved adults don’t act on impulse and rush into things.”

  “Then you wouldn’t mind if I went for her?” Didi asked.

  Kate’s head snapped up from her plate. “You?”

  Didi nodded.

  “Go right ahead,” Kate said, straining to sound cool. “Be my guest—even though she’s way too young for you.”

  “I don’t care how old she is,” Didi said. “She’s beautiful, talented, and seems like a very sincere person.”

  “Good luck with that,” Viv said, rolling her eyes as she signaled for the check.

  “I don’t need luck,” Didi said. “I’m gonna set my place at life’s buffet table, damn it.”

  “It’s life’s banquet table,” Kate said.

  “Whatever,” Didi snapped. “I like buffet better—you know, all you can eat.” She ended with a low, dirty laugh.

  Viv challenged her with a look. “How the hell can you come out the closet a few years ago and act like you got it all together, when Kate and I have been gay all our lives and still haven’t figured women out?”

  “Speaking as a recovering repressed lesbian, I am intimately acquainted with self-doubt and confusion. If you two want to waste your time chasing women who don’t want you or chasing no women at all, have at it. But I’m not wasting anything anymore. I’m gonna live it up, bitches.” Didi concluded her speech with a flourish of her arm.

  “Good for you,” Kate said f
latly. “We have to get to the train station.”

  “And I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I parade that hot dish, Jordan Squire, in front of you and make you wish you’d got off your ass and gone for her yourself.”

  Kate humored Didi with a smile as they headed out of the restaurant. “And, Viv, if you decide to keep chasing Maia even after she’s asked you not to, you should know that my retainer is triple what it is for clients who aren’t morons.”

  “I’ll make a note of it,” Viv said.

  * * *

  A few days later Kate returned to her office after spending much of the afternoon in probate court on behalf of an elderly lesbian widow. She dropped on the leather sofa in the reception area, lobbed her valise onto a nearby chair, and propped her feet up on the coffee table.

  “Tough day?” Didi asked from her desk.

  “I just hate seeing some of the old-school folks lose so much money because they didn’t have wills or, in Margaret’s case, a marriage license. Thankfully, these kinds of cases are phasing out with the younger generation.”

  Didi rose from her desk with a stretch and joined Kate on the couch. “Have you heard from Jordan?”

  “Jordan? No. Why would I hear from her?”

  “She asked for your business card days ago. Did you go on Facebook and like her page? Follow her on Twitter and Instagram?”

  “I don’t have Twit-agram, and I barely remember I have Facebook, so the answer is no.”

  “That’s probably why she hasn’t texted or called. Where’s your phone? Let’s go on and do it right now.” She snatched the phone out of Kate’s hand.

  Kate dropped her head against the couch. “Didi, this is so stupid. Honestly, I have no interest in this girl, girl being the operative word.”

  “She’s interested in you, and if, I mean when, she calls, I hope you’ll have the sense to at least meet her one-on-one for a drink or something.”

  Kate exhaled, exasperated.

  “Promise me if she asks you out, you’ll go? You have absolutely nothing to lose—except another night home alone with your cat. And really, how many of those in one week can you take before you start preferring the company of her over humans.”

  “What do you mean start preferring?” Kate said with a wry smile.

  “This is what scares me about you. C’mon. Promise me.”

  Kate chuckled and felt confident in humoring Didi. “All right, all right. If she asks me out, I’ll go.”

  “Aces.” Didi smiled with satisfaction as she ambled back to her desk. “Then you can introduce me to all her hot friends.”

  “Ah yes, the all-you-can-eat buffet you mentioned the other day.” Kate strolled toward her office. “What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

  “You’re busy.” Didi flipped through the appointment book. “The Ulman-Gravino adoption at nine a.m., that closing at eleven, and then the graphic designer to update the website at two.”

  “I thought he wasn’t available until next month?”

  “He’s not. But I took the liberty of making an appointment with another highly sought-after designer whose body of work is quite impressive.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Innovative Designs.”

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll check out their website later,” Kate said and headed into her office.

  “Why? Don’t you trust me?”

  She popped her head around the door frame, surprised by Didi’s pouty tone. “With my life. Why are you asking?”

  “It’s just that you’re so busy, I figured I could handle this for you, and all you’d have to do is show up for the meeting tomorrow. I mean, jeez, I can handle some things on my own, you know.”

  “I didn’t mean to imply…You know what, you’re right. I have a bunch of stuff to finish tonight. Thanks for taking the initiative on this.”

  “Glad to be of service, Boss,” Didi replied with a two-finger salute.

  * * *

  The next day, Kate took advantage of the low humidity and light June breeze by venturing out to a food truck parked along the New Haven green for a quick lunch. She sat on a bench across from the fountain with her gyro and iced green tea, and indulged in the silent intrigue of people-watching downtown. The sun warmed her face, and as soon as she closed her squinted eyes, images of Jordan Squire rushed against her eyelids. Her sultry voice belting out Dusty Springfield, her toned body swaying against her guitar, those piercing green eyes sending her messages she was convinced she was misinterpreting. She’d never admit it to Didi or Viv, but Jordan Squire had been occupying a lot of space in her mind since Sunday, and it was kind of nice to feel jazzed about something, someone, even if it was just a fleeting moment of flirtation.

  Still smiling at her thoughts, she checked the time on her phone and decided to head back to the office and freshen up for her meeting with the graphic designer. As she walked down Church Street, she hoped Didi’s guy was as creative and reputable as the one Viv had recommended from New York City.

  “I was about to text you,” Didi said, harried, when Kate walked in. “Go fix your hair and brush your teeth. Your appointment is arriving any minute.”

  “I have fifteen minutes,” Kate said, puzzled by her urgency.

  Didi looked her over. “And you’re gonna need every second of it. Now go.” She shoved her into her office.

  Kate stood in front of the mirror in her private bathroom, brushing her teeth with one hand and raking her fingers through her wind-blown hair with the other. Wiping her mouth on the hand towel, she scrutinized her reflection after Didi’s comment. Some fine lines around the eyes and mouth, but the skin’s still pretty tight and smooth, with a golden hue from a day at the beach last week. “Late forties” sounds worse than it is.

  “Attorney Randall?” Didi’s voice rang out through the intercom. “Your appointment is here.”

  Kate walked into the reception area and skidded to a halt when she saw Jordan Squire standing at Didi’s desk.

  “This is Ms. Squire from Innovative Designs.”

  Jordan approached Kate with an extended hand. “Hi. It’s nice to see you again.”

  Kate grasped Jordan’s hand and nearly melted into it. “Yes, this is certainly a pleasant, strange surprise. Uh, would you like to make yourself comfortable in my office for a minute while I consult briefly with my secretary?”

  “Sure.”

  “Great.” Kate smiled and made sure Jordan was safely inside before she laced into Didi. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Didi tightened her mouth in an attempt not to laugh while being chastised, a feat she’d perfected as a hyper kid in Catholic grammar school.

  “That child is probably half your age,” Kate said. “You’ve got furniture older than she is. And I’d rather you didn’t use the practice as a pawn in your lurid bid to seduce her.” She folded her arms across her chest. “You’ve put me in a terribly uncomfortable position. What if her work sucks? Am I supposed to hire her anyway so you can get laid? You need to get ahold of yourself. You’re out of control.”

  Didi looked at her patiently. “Are you through?”

  “It depends. Are you?”

  “Before you get your panty liner all up in a bunch,” Didi said, leading her away from the open office door, “I didn’t do this so I can get laid…” She bobbed her eyebrows up and down.

  “What? Me?” Kate boomed and then dialed it down to a whisper. “That’s even worse. I don’t want her. I already told you that. Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

  “Can we argue about this later? She’s in there waiting for you.”

  Kate glared at her. “Oh, we’re gonna argue about this later. Don’t you worry.”

  Didi turned Kate around and nudged her toward the office. “That’s it, girl. Go get her.”

  Kate stopped at the door and whispered through gritted teeth, “I cannot believe I didn’t smell this coming a mile away. I should have known something was desperately wrong when you refused my offer
to buy you lunch today.”

  Didi winked and sashayed back to her desk like a Disney princess.

  Kate entered her office pawing at her neck, as it suddenly felt sweaty. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Jordan. Why don’t we set up on this table over here?”

  “Sure.” She grabbed her laptop case and arranged it on the small, round conference table across the room.

  “How do you find the time to be a graphic designer and have a music career?” Kate tried out a few casual poses before Jordan turned around.

  Jordan chuckled. “The question is more like how do I find the time to have a music career while I’m running a graphic design company to pay the bills.”

  “After seeing you perform, I’m sure that won’t be a problem for long. You’re really in your element up there.”

  “Thanks, Kate. That’s so nice of you to say.” Jordan’s smile and stare shot a current of nerves through Kate. “I’m ready if you’d like to get started.”

  Kate couldn’t slide into the chair next to her fast enough. Damn, she smelled good.

  “Okay, so did Didi give you the links I sent her so you could see my work?”

  “Um, I’ll be honest. I haven’t had time to look.”

  “Okay, no problem. Let’s take a look at what I did for Schick Corporation.” She punched away at the keys until the site popped up. “Can you see it okay?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Kate said, craning her neck.

  “Here. You can move closer.” Jordan’s voice was drenched in sex appeal. “Or I can just hand you the computer.” She giggled, seeming a little embarrassed.

  “Either works for me. I mean you need to see the screen too, right?”

  “Right.” Jordan smiled and moved closer to Kate. “I like this layout. It’s really user-friendly, and I’ve gotten the most positive feedback from my clients on it.”

  Kate tried to focus on the screen, but the proximity of this gorgeous, sexy, delicious-smelling woman sapped her powers of concentration like kryptonite.

  “Yeah. I like the logo placement and access to the navigation bar.” Kate sneaked a whiff of Jordan’s hair dangling near her face.