Saxon Bennett - Talk of the Town

by Saxon Bennett

  “Do you wait in anticipation?” Del asked.

  “Del! You’re pumping me,” Kim replied.

  “I just wondered if you like her?” Del asked. Forced to show her hand, she might as well get it out in the open.

  “Who wouldn’t like her? She’s smart, talented, athletically inclined, and cute.”

  “You know what I mean,” Del replied.

  “Do I have the hots for her?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “It’s a known lesbian faux pas to date anyone who is rebounding, especially if the ex-girlfriend is still hanging around,” Kim replied.

  “Angel’s not your average lesbian,” Del replied.

  “Meaning?” Kim asked.

  “It’s not about time and place, it’s about . . .” Del replied.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know, true love or something,” Del muttered, feeling stupid for getting mushy when Kim obviously wasn’t entertaining those notions.

  “Del, you are so sweet, but as much as I’d like to think about Angel she doesn’t go for women like me,” Kim said.

  “Why not?” Del said, absolutely flabbergasted.

  “I’m not flashy enough, rich enough, good looking enough,” Kim replied, remembering that her first attraction to Ollie was that Ollie had all those things and was actively pursuing her. She had let flattery lead her heart.

  “You have definitely got her pegged wrong. She’s not like that at all.”

  “Look at her last girlfriend.”

  “Jennifer was a shithead among other things.”

  “But she was also talented, famous, and a babe,” Kim replied.

  “Angel got dragged into that,” Del said.

  “Anyway, I can look and long and be a pal if she wants.”

  “So you like her?”

  “Yes, I like her,” Kim said, feeling blue suddenly because sobriety and morning light had brought all her dreams of last night crashing down. There would be no going to the bookstore to learn about her new fancy.

  “Good,” Del said.

  Angel handed Mrs. Jacobs her mail. Her cell phone rang.

  “So I talked to our friend,” Del said.

  “Yes,” Angel replied, fingering the mail for the next house and dodging a sprinkler.

  “She’s got a bit of a headache,” Del replied.

  “Stop teasing me and get to the point,” Angel demanded, dumping the mail into the box with precision and force.

  “She likes you but she doesn’t think you like women like her,” Del replied.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Angel replied.

  “She thinks you like flashy girls.”

  “Oh, for fuck sake. Where’d she get that idea?”

  “Your last girlfriend,” Del replied.

  “How long is that shit going to follow me around,” Angel said, unlocking the Jeep and taking a seat.

  “Your entire life I would imagine. But I think with diligence, hard work, and emotional finesse, she could be won over,” Del replied.

  “I hope so. I think she’s incredibly sexy. I haven’t stopped thinking about her since the day we met. That doesn’t usually happen to me.”

  “I know. Maybe I could put that buzz in her ear,” Del offered.

  “No, someday I’ll tell her myself.”

  “Okay,” Del replied.

  Kim lugged another can of red paint up the ladder. She was close to finishing the second story. She plugged her CD in and her mind lulled itself into the task at hand and the music. She tried not to think about why Del had been pumping her. She did like Angel but as she thought about last night she saw herself reading things into a harmless night of pool and drinks. Angel was new in town and looking for friends. Looking for friends did not a romance make. She needed to remind herself of that fact daily. Suddenly the ladder started to shake. Kim pulled out her headphones. She figured it was Angel.

  “I want you to know I hold you personally responsible for my hangover,” Kim said.

  “And why is that?” Ollie asked. “Been out playing around, have you?”

  “Ollie! What are you doing here?”

  “I want to talk to you. I figured if I showed up in the flesh you would be forced to talk to me.”

  “I don’t want to talk. We don’t have anything left to say.”

  “I have things to say.”

  “Your actions speak for you.”

  “Come down here and talk to me. I know we can work things out. Please,” Ollie said.

  “No, I want you to go away. Ollie, I can’t do this anymore. I’m trying to get over you. Right now I need space. I’m done talking. You had two years to straighten things out and you were always too busy looking over my shoulder for someone else. Now you have the chance to find them. Why don’t you go fuck Gigi? That’s what you want isn’t it?”

  “No, I want you. I want our relationship back.”

  “We didn’t have a relationship. We had mutual friends, mutual sex and mutual fights. That’s not a relationship.”

  “What if I want to make it a relationship?”

  “It’s too late,” Kim said, turning back around to resume painting.

  “How can it be too late if we never tried?”

  “Ollie, go away,” Kim said, making nice even strokes.

  “I’m not going away until you come down and talk to me. This is ridiculous. I love you. I’m not going until you hear me out,” Ollie said, grabbing the sides of the ladder. “Now come down right this minute.”

  “Go away!”

  Ollie gave the ladder a good shake.

  “Stop that! This isn’t funny,” Kim said, trying to stay calm and keep her mind from calculating what a fall from two stories would do to her body.

  “I want to talk.”

  “I don’t see the point. Now I’m busy.”

  “Look, you can either come down and talk to me, or you’ll have to talk to me when you’re laid up in traction,” Ollie yelled, giving the ladder a serious shake.

  The paint bucket went rolling down the roof and spattered across the lawn and all adjoining shrubbery. Kim grabbed the gutter for support.

  “If I fall and you kill me you still won’t be able to talk to me, not to mention you’ll be in prison.”

  “I’ll take my chances,” Ollie said, giving the ladder another shake.

  Kim held on tight and said a prayer for the radical enlightenment of her ex-girlfriend. One more shake of the ladder and she and the gutter would come clean off the roof.

  Ollie was getting ready for another good rattle when she felt someone grab her collar. The next thing she knew she was flat on her back with the breath knocked out of her. She looked up to find a boot on her chest and a woman in uniform peering down at her.

  “Now the way I see it you’ve got a few options here. Number one I can kick your ass, number two, I can call the police and get you nailed for aggravated assault if not attempted murder, or three, I let you go and you leave her alone forever.”

  “What if I don’t like any of those?” Ollie said.

  “I’ll go for number one first,” Angel said, putting pressure on her boot.

  “Number three,” Ollie squeaked out.

  “I thought so,” Angel said.

  Ollie got up and scrambled away.

  “I mean it. You lay a hand on her again and I’ll kick your ass.”

  Kim let out a deep breath and came creeping down the ladder. She was shaking.

  “Are you okay?” Angel asked.

  “I think so,” Kim replied, feeling weak in the knees and tears start.

  Angel took her in her arms and held her. Kim started to cry and Angel held her tight, whispering reassuring words.

  “I’m sorry,” Kim muttered.

  “Don’t,” Angel said, brushing her tears away. She held her again until she stopped shaking.

  “Thank you for saving me,” Kim said, when she had calmed down.

  “I take it that was your ex,” Angel said, going to
pick up the paint bucket and the brush.

  “Yes,” Kim said, sitting down on the porch.

  Angel sat next to her.

  “It does get better, you know,” Angel said softly.

  “I don’t understand it. When we were together she never exhibited this much interest in me. I try to walk away and she hounds me. I can’t make myself forgive her and I can’t make myself love her again. She’s done too much damage.”

  “Did she play around?” Angel asked.

  Kim nodded.

  “That’s the hardest thing to overlook. When I was with Jennifer I overlooked a lot of things but after a while you’ve got to draw the line. I shared her with alcohol and drugs, which were hard enough, but it finally ended when she started sleeping with my best friend. She chose the person who meant the most to me and deliberately wrecked that. I had to let go.”

  “How did you get away?”

  “I moved here.”

  “So I’ve got to move away?” Kim said, looking despondent.

  “I hope not,” Angel replied.

  Kim smiled. “Where did you come from?”

  “Chicago,” Angel replied.

  They both laughed knowing what she really meant.

  “I always wanted to be a knight in shining armor,” Angel said.

  “Well, you are. How will this fair damsel ever repay you?”

  “I do have a favor to ask.”

  “Name it,” Kim said.

  “Next Saturday is the postal gay and lesbian picnic. I want to go but I don’t want to go alone because then everyone takes pity on you and next thing you know they are all trying to set you up with one of their single friends. But if I took someone . . .”

  “Is that an invite?”

  “Please . . .”

  “Sure, I’ll be your escort,” Kim teased.

  Angel wrinkled her brow. “No, I want to take you.”

  “Angel . . .” Kim started to explain.

  “Look, I know you’ve got stuff to deal with. But I really like you. I’m a patient woman. I’ll wait,” Angel said, getting up to leave.

  “Then I’d love to go,” Kim said, blushing.

  “Good. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Will you stay off the ladder, just for today?” Angel said, staring up at it and thinking how lucky Kim was to not be lying flat on the ground right now. “She wouldn’t have let you fall, right?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Can I call you later?” Angel asked.

  “Please.”

  Five

  Gigi lay in bed thinking. Mallory was taking a shower after a full day of lawn darts and barbecuing. She was replaying the afternoon Ollie came to see her at the store. She’d just made a big sale of a vibrator and a strap-on setup to a very attractive older woman who was a little tentative about the whole thing. Gigi had done her best to reassure her, flirt, offer suggestions and generally be her best salesperson self. She was sitting back, figuring her commission, and enjoying another day in the sex shop when Ollie walked in.

  “Ollie, how are you?” Gigi asked, feeling her pulse jump.

  “Yeah, long time no see, stranger,” Ollie said. “Where have you been keeping yourself?”

  “Oh, you know, out and about,” Gigi replied, nervously straightening the Curve magazine display. She wished someone would come in the store so she’d have a reason not to talk to Ollie. Ever since the night Kim threw her out of the house Gigi had steered clear of Ollie, not wanting any further repercussions. She’d come to realize she didn’t want to lose Alex over a roll in the hay or in their case a quick fuck in the back of a van. Gigi had sufficiently chastised herself for letting things get that far. They hadn’t even taken their clothes off. It was like bad teenage sex and now Ollie was on the loose. Gigi was more than apprehensive.

  “So I’m not part of the group anymore and now I don’t get to see you?” Ollie said.

  “I just figured it was best to lay low for a while, you know, until things clear up.”

  “Well, things aren’t going to clear up. Kim won’t even speak to me anymore. I think we are really done this time.”

  “I’m sorry,” Gigi said, feeling immediately odd for apologizing for something she had nothing to do with.

  “You should be. If I hadn’t fucked around with you I’d still have a girlfriend.”

  “Listen, you cruised me. If you’re so in love with Kim why the hell were you fucking around with me? You’re the one that took harmless flirtation to new heights.”

  “Oh yeah, and you were protesting the whole time you were coming,” Ollie replied.

  Gigi refrained from saying she hadn’t come because she was too nervous and freaked out to enjoy the moment of illicit passion. She kept worrying that Alex was going to come looking for her, open the van door and find her between the legs of another woman.

  “You got what you wanted. Don’t blame me because your girlfriend finally saw the light. Maybe she got tired of you fucking around on her all the time. I’m sure I wasn’t the first,” Gigi retorted.

  “Someone must have told her things, enlightened her. A hand job in the car is hardly grounds for dismissal,” Ollie said, picking up one of the display vibrators on the counter.

  “I certainly didn’t tell anyone. Maybe you were too out in the open for her tastes,” Gigi replied, thinking a hand job would be grounds for dismissal if Alex ever found out and right now Ollie was a loose cannon. Gigi would have to do her best to placate her and hope Ollie found another girlfriend quick so her failure with Kim would quickly become a footnote in the journal of a seductress.

  “I’ve always been like that. What makes this time any different? Are you sure you didn’t tell Mallory anything?”

  “Ollie, I don’t want anyone to know about it. I would just like to forget the whole thing ever happened. I’m sorry you lost Kim in the process but I don’t really think you can blame me for that. It was half an hour at a party. It’s not like we had some torrid affair going on. Maybe Kim just wants more out of her love life.”

  “Yeah, like the fucking postman, woman, whatever.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “They sit and talk every day and the mail lady is a looker and she’s looking at my girlfriend,” Ollie replied, not bothering to mention the altercation she had with Angel the other day.

  “How do you know that?”

  “I’ve watched them.”

  “You’re not stalking Kim are you?” Gigi said, thinking her life was getting more complicated by the second.

  “I was just checking up on her.”

  “You need to stay away from her. There are tons of women out there,” Gigi suggested.

  “There’s only one that I want.”

  The door opened and Reverend Carlyle came in. Gigi let out a sigh of relief.

  “I best let you go. Call me if you ever want another tumble out back,” Ollie said, facetiously.

  Reverend Carlyle raised an eyebrow. Ollie smiled at him and did three Hail Mary’s. The good Reverend blushed. Gigi took his arm and made ready to lead him away from the heathen.

  “Sure, Ollie, take care now,” Gigi said.

  “Maybe you should do confession while there’s a priest in the house. Perhaps he can absolve you of your sins,” Ollie suggested.

  “That’s a very good idea,” Gigi said.

  “Interesting young woman,” Reverend Carlyle said, as he and Gigi made their way to the erotic video department.

  “Did you like your latest addition?” Gigi asked.

  “Yes, very much thank you. I can help you with the confession if you like.”

  “Oh, I’m afraid it’s too late for that. But thanks anyway.”

  The good Reverend nodded. Sometimes he missed the old days when people would share their juicy details and he could make them feel better by acting as a human eraser on the blackboard of humanity.

  “We all do bad things. It’s getting caught tha
t makes us feel the error acutely,” the Reverend said.

  “I don’t want to get caught. I don’t ever want to do it again. If I could undo it I would.”

  “Hindsight is a beautiful thing.”

  “And worthless.”

  “Not if it shapes future behavior,” Reverend Carlyle advised.

  Mallory softly padded into the bedroom thinking Gigi would be asleep. It was a full moon and it flooded their bedroom. Mallory dug around in her duffel bag for a T-shirt. Gigi leaned up on her elbow and watched.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have an incredible body?”

  “I thought you were asleep,” Mallory said, sliding the shirt on, feeling suddenly shy in Gigi’s presence, which was absolutely stupid since they’d seen each other naked since they were ten. Mallory had been privy to the sprouting of Gigi’s first pubic hair and they had gone to get their first bras together, giggling and laughing in the changing room.

  “No, as a matter of fact, no one has,” Mallory said, beginning to think about how Del might perceive her body.

  “Well, just for the record, I’d say it’s gorgeous,” Gigi said, opening the covers for Mallory to get in. Mallory slid into the crook of Gigi’s neck like they always did. Maybe they were the sisters each didn’t have. Whatever it was, Gigi always felt safest here. She pulled Mallory tight.

  “How come we were never lovers?” Gigi asked.

  “Dr. Kohlrabi says because we’ve been friends for too long.”

  “Do you think that’s true?”

  “No.”

  “I would have been so good with you. You would have made me good,” Gigi said.

  “That’s why we’re not lovers. I shouldn’t have to be your parent. I need a partner.”

  “And Del’s going to be that partner?” Gigi asked, feeling suddenly, inexplicably sad.

  “Yes, she is. We’ll take care of each other.”

  “So I missed my chance?” Gigi asked.

  “Yes, but I still love you,” Mallory said, kissing Gigi’s cheek. “And this way we’ll never have to break up. You need to be nicer to Alex. She loves you.”

  “I know. I love her too but . . . I just don’t know.”

  “Good, then treat her better.”

  They lay in silence, each wrapped up in her own thoughts. Mallory was thinking about Del and trying to envision their future moments, complete with sex. Gigi was trying to decide if she should confess her indiscretion with Ollie to Mallory to see what she thought she should do. Keeping the secret was giving her daily anxiety attacks especially now that Ollie wasn’t giving up her pathological desire to get her girlfriend back or at minimum extract some form of retribution. The desire for retribution scared the shit out of Gigi. She could only imagine what Ollie was capable of doing. Gigi needed to figure out how best to do damage control. She needed Mallory’s help.