by Clare Lydon
“I’m free,” she smiled, her gaze dropping to Meg’s lips, imagining putting her own on them. “And I’d love to come.” Kate held up her index finger. “But with one condition.”
Meg was now also staring at Kate’s lips and subtly moving towards them, but Kate’s sentence brought her up short.
“Name it.” Meg’s eyes were back on the prize, waiting and watching for the words to fall from Kate’s mouth.
“That the following week — whatever day suits you — we go out on a proper date, just the two of us, with dinner and drinks included. Deal?”
Kate held out her hand for Meg to shake, never taking her eyes from Meg’s delicate features.
But instead of shaking her hand, Meg moved closer to Kate, stopping when she knew Kate could feel her breath on her face. “Deal.” And with that said, Meg closed the final distance between them and kissed Kate lightly.
An electric charge shot through Kate and she closed her eyes to quell the dizziness.
Kate knew Meg felt it too as she jolted too.
When Kate opened her eyes again, Meg placed her lips against Kate’s, locking them together.
Kate’s whole body throbbed as sensation flowed through her veins — she had wondered if she’d just imagined how good their last kiss had been, but no, this one was just as good. If not better, because she was experiencing it right now.
What’s more, Meg was taking charge, pressing her body into Kate on the sofa, winding an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. Kate had nowhere to hide, which suited her just fine.
She wilted as Meg slipped her tongue between her lips and all her remaining blood supply plummeted south. If Meg wanted to mount her right this moment, Kate wouldn’t have many objections. Meg’s hand drifted up to Kate’s neck, caressing it as she kissed her, pulling Kate close.
After some time, Meg pulled back and held Kate’s gaze.
Kate’s mouth wasn’t gaping, but it felt like it was. “I could get used to this,” she said, her breathing still ragged.
Meg gave her another peck on the lips. “That makes two of us.”
They held each other’s gaze for a few beats, before turning their attention back to their coffee, still both grinning like idiots. All around them, nobody was batting an eyelid — clearly, kissing in this café was the done thing.
Then, half an hour later, they were on the move.
“So Friday night around 8ish? I’ll text you the details tomorrow,” Meg said.
“Sounds perfect.” Kate followed Meg out the café door.
“You know your way back to the tube?”
Kate nodded. “I know this area like the back of my hand.”
They both took a deep breath and exhaled at the same time. Then they both laughed.
“I’ll see you Friday.” Meg kissed Kate on the lips once more, squeezed her hand and walked off, turning to wave not once, but twice.
“Have fun with the flowers tomorrow,” Kate shouted, before skipping to the tube like a giddy kipper.
20
The next day Kate woke flushed with positivity. After more than a year in the dating wilderness, life was finally looking up. If all went well with Meg this Friday, she wouldn’t have to look at another dating app any time soon. She’d had a lifetime’s worth of GSOH and supposedly fantastic careers, only to find that the woman in question had never actually moved out of her parents’ house and still believed in Santa Claus. Even worse was the born-again Christian who didn’t believe in sex before marriage — Kate had definitely preferred the woman who believed in Santa Claus.
But this morning, life was abuzz with possibility. She’d met a woman who made her swoon and whose kisses might halt a war, and she had her Uncle Mike to thank for it. Funny how in life he’d been less than useless, but his death had proved beneficial in more ways than one for both her and her mum.
She jumped out of bed, aware she had things to do today — cleaning, dental check-up and then the doctor for her dreaded smear test. Oh, the glamour. She’d taken the day off work as a personal day, and had promised to call in to see Jess for a late lunch at her work. If she was going to make that deadline, she’d have to get a move on.
***
Five hours later Kate walked into Porter’s, the light and airy café Jess worked in. Jess had started working here when she moved back from Australia and everyone had raised their eyebrows. However, Jess had ignored them all —she loved the café, the owner Matt and everything about it. And even though Kate was firmly entrenched in publishing, she could see the appeal. Porter’s was one of the best cafés around, serving great food at reasonable prices. What’s more, it was a total suntrap, lit up by massive windows everywhere you looked and stylish Swedish-style furniture. The place was modern, sleek and inviting.
It was Matt who greeted Kate first today, with Jess nowhere to be seen. He gave Kate a wave from behind the counter where he was serving a customer, alongside his cousin Beth who also gave Kate a wide smile. Beth was the kind of woman you’d want on your side in a tug of war.
“She left you?” Kate asked, leaning against the counter.
“Making a phone call down the alley.” Mark heated some milk before he finished the end of his sentence, his sandy hair falling into his eyes. “Should be back soon. The usual?”
“Yes, please.” Kate indicated with her head. “I’ll be over there.” She perched on a stool by the window, leaning her elbows on the shallow ledge that stuck out, deep enough to fit your food and coffee. Sure enough, within a minute Jess appeared on the other side of the massive windows, giving Kate a wave and sticking her tongue out as she strolled past. Kate responded by sticking her tongue out too. Somehow, even though they weren’t blood siblings, Kate and Jess often behaved like them.
Jess walked straight up to Kate, gave her a kiss on the cheek and plonked herself down on the stool beside her. She had her phone in her hand and was wearing a sticky grin.
“From the look on your face, I’m guessing that was Lucy.” Kate smiled at her flatmate
Jess gave her a full-beam smile in return. “You are correct, that was the gorgeous Lucy.” Jess paused, waving her phone in the air. “And she’s still in love with me!”
“No accounting for taste.”
Jess ignored the comment and jumped up, her red Converse hitting the floor. “Shall I get us something to eat?”
Kate nodded. “Yes, please — I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
Ten minutes later they were both chewing over an Asian salmon salad, coffees perched, days being discussed.
“How was your lovely smear test?” An amused grin played on Jess’s face as she rolled her shoulders.
“It was a stellar experience, as usual.” Kate pursed her lips. “I mean, just put on file I’m a lesbian. I don’t care, and I’ve told them often enough. But no, every three years I go in there and they ask me if I’m having sex and what type of birth control I’m using. It’s so annoying.” Kate rolled her eyes to emphasise the point.
“So what kind of birth control did you say? Coil? Condoms?” Jess raised an eyebrow.
“I told the nurse my birth control was sleeping with women.”
Jess choked on a bit of sliced carrot. “And what did she say?”
Kate began to laugh. “She looked me up and down, nodded her head and said ‘Thought so’.”
Jess let out a spiralling laugh that was soon out of her control. When she’d wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks, she spoke again. “Rumbled by the nurse.” She wiped away another tear, a wide grin still splitting her features. “And did you tell them you were having sex?”
“Well, kinda…” Kate paused. “I mean, if everything goes well this week, I could well be having sex.”
“Tempting fate a bit, aren’t you?”
Kate gave Jess a look. “No such thing. I’m an optimist and I have control of my own destiny. And my destiny is calling.”
“Thank you, Mystic Meg.”
“You’re welcome
.”
The pair grinned at each other.
Jess let out another belated howl, leaned forward and took a lungful of air.
“Let me know whenever you’re finished laughing at my misfortune,” Kate said, but she was still smiling.
“It might be a minute.” Jess coughed, ate some salmon, regained her composure and began again. “So you think you might be in? How did it go last night?” She took a sip of her coffee.
Kate jiggled her knee up and down on her stool. “It went well. And where were you last night when I came home to discuss it?”
“Having sex with my girlfriend,” Jess said.
“Too much information.”
“You asked.”
“You’re right, I did.” Kate paused. “So, last night. We had coffee. We snogged in the café where we had coffee. And then she left because she had to get up at crazy o’clock this morning to buy flowers.”
Jess cocked her head. “How romantic.”
Kate smiled. “That’s what I said. But she didn’t agree — she reckons getting up at 4am is anything but. But I still stand by my original prognosis.”
“So you snogged?”
Kate nodded.
“With tongues?”
Kate gave Jess a stern look. “Can we stop being 12-year-olds, please?”
Jess pouted. “And did you tell her the real story about you falling at her feet in front of her shop the other day?” Jess began to laugh again.
Kate pursed her lips. “That is to go no further,” she whispered, shaking a finger at Jess. “I told you that in confidence.”
“Oh come on, you’d laugh if it happened to me,” Jess said. She put a hand on Kate’s shoulder to emphasise her point. “It’s hysterical. You have to tell her — she’d love it. I know I would. It’s cute. Kind of.”
Kate couldn’t help but grin. “If she ever finds out, I know where it’s come from.”
“My lips are sealed,” Jess replied, miming zipping up her lips. “Unless we go out and you feed me too much tequila.” She paused and wriggled on her stool. “Anyway, back to you two kissing last night.”
Kate refocused. “She’s invited me to a party tomorrow night at her friend’s house.” She paused. “But is it weird that she’s invited me for coffee, then to a house party, but not out on a proper one-on-one date? Or am I reading too much into it?”
“You’re reading too much into it.”
“I knew you’d say that.” Now it was Kate’s turn to pout. “So I’m going to a house party tomorrow. In Stoke Newington. I am going to have to dress uber-gay.”
Jess snorted. “Er, hello — I think you might have that covered.” Jess waved her hand up and down Kate’s body. “You don’t exactly scream ‘I’m straight, find me a man!’.” Jess paused. “And anyway, let’s rewind. You’re going out in Stoke Newington.”
Kate nodded.
“Which isn’t that far from us. So if things go well, we could have a florist back in our flat tomorrow night.”
Kate smiled and held up her fingers — they were crossed. “You have to say special hopeful chants for the rest of the day, okay?”
“Why? I thought your destiny was in your own hands?” Jess smirked at her flatmate.
Kate shook her head. “I’ve no idea why I come in here for reassurance.”
“Because you love me?”
Kate rolled her eyes.
Matt chose that moment to wander over and take their plates, giving Kate a kiss on the cheek now he was out from behind the counter. He had long been one of Kate’s favourite men, being that he was always clearing up and was an excellent cook. If she was straight, she would have married Matt on the spot.
“Everything okay, ladies?” Matt stacked the plates expertly on his strong, hairy arm.
“Delicious as always,” Kate replied.
“Can I interest you in some cake for dessert? We’ve got coffee & walnut or salted caramel.”
Kate’s ears pricked up. “Salted caramel? Did you make it?”
Matt nodded.
“In that case, I’ll have an extra large slice.”
Matt bowed as he turned. “Coming right up,” he said over his shoulder.
“I wish I had your boss, mine just offers me Kit Kats,” Kate told Jess as they watched him go. Then her mouth fell open and she covered it with her hand.
“OMG — I forgot to tell you what else happened yesterday.”
Alarm spread across Jess’s features. “What?”
Kate went to say it, then started to laugh, convulsing till she was red in the face and doubled over on her stool.
“What? What is it?”
“So before I went to meet Meg, I dropped my bike off at Mum’s.” Kate was still trying to regain her poise. “I thought she’d still be at work, but she wasn’t. She was there. Having sex with Lawrence.” Kate began to hiccup as she said the final part.
“You’re kidding.” Jess’s eyes were wide with surprise.
Kate shook her head, then hiccupped again.
“Well I never.”
More hiccupping. “I know.” Kate paused. “I was actually kinda proud, once I’d got over the embarrassment.”
Jess smiled. “And how has Vicky taken the news?”
Kate shook her head. “She doesn’t know yet, and Mum doesn’t want her to. Vicky still thinks Lawrence is about to run off with Mum’s money and leave us all destitute. If she knew this had happened, she’d think it was all part of his cunning plan.”
“Has your mum got that much money to run off with?” Jess said.
“Exactly.” Kate hiccupped.
Right at that moment, Matt appeared beside them, bearing two slices of cake and a glass of water for Kate.
She hiccupped, before gulping down the offered glass of water in one. She then took a bite of Matt’s cake, chewed and her eyes fluttered shut. When she reopened them, the world had changed, but only for the better.
“Have I told you lately that I love you?” she asked Matt.
He winked at her. “Join the queue. If I’d known the effect of salted caramel cake on women, I’d have started making it years ago.”
21
Friday afternoon, and Meg was in her kitchen eating a banana and having a coffee. The sun was streaming in the large window which had made her and Tanya fall in love with this house in the first place. Meg still recalled the first time they’d sat at the kitchen table planning their future together - kids, cats, the lot. Much time and incident had passed since then, but the one thing that had remained constant was the window and the light it cast on their lives, filling the kitchen with hope, daily.
Sometimes, on afternoons like this in a quiet house with the kitchen tidy and Tanya-less, Meg could even dream that her ex wasn’t here anymore, that she’d moved out and Meg had been able to afford to keep the house herself. In her dreams, Meg had the house and a cat. Tonight, she hoped she’d get the girl.
When she and Tanya did eventually go their separate ways, Meg was going to get a cat, for sure. They’d had one briefly, but then it had disappeared and Meg hadn’t been able to bear the thought of getting another. Today though, there was an unfamiliar cautious optimism flooding her mood. Maybe she would eventually have someone to share the cat with.
She got up to put her banana skin in the tall, metallic bin when she heard the front door slam. Her body immediately tensed up. Whether she would get happy Tanya or sneering Tanya was something she was about to find out. Meg took a sip of her coffee and turned to face the door.
However, it wasn’t Tanya whose face appeared at the kitchen doorway, but rather an attractive brunette with a strong, jutting chin and rolled-up jeans. If this was a burglar, Meg was fairly sure she was one of the most attractive she’d ever seen. Meg had watched enough Crimewatch in her time and the photos never once fitted this description — but then, perhaps hipster lesbian burglars were the new thing.
“Hi!” said the woman. Friendly. Almost flirty. She trailed her eyes up and down Meg’s
frame and, clearly pleased with what she saw, smiled more broadly and then winked at Meg. In Meg’s kitchen, in Meg’s house.
“Hi.” Meg put down her coffee and placed a hand on her hip. Despite herself, the wink had impressed Meg. She reminded herself this could be a burglar and stood up straighter. “I’m Meg, I live here.” She paused, sucking on her bottom lip. “You are?”
The woman clapped her hands and let out a peal of laughter. “Right — you don’t know me! I forgot.” She smiled at Meg, who still had an eyebrow raised. Then the woman stepped forward and held out a hand. “Chris — friend of Tanya. She’s told me all about you.”
Meg regarded Chris’s hand, hovering in front of her.
“All good, of course,” Chris continued.
Meg took Chris’s hand and shook it warily. “So you’re still going to have to fill in some blanks for me here.” Meg paused. “Why do you have a key to my house when I have no idea who you are? I’ve met most of Tanya’s friends over the years, but you are new to me.”
“Right.” Chris was nodding emphatically. “Yes, I’m a recent acquisition.” Chris hesitated, went to say something, then seemed to change her mind at the last minute. “We met last weekend at a club. We’re going out again tonight and I work not too far away, so Tanya gave me her key to save me going home.” Chris swung around to show Meg the backpack on her shoulder. “Got my stuff for later.”
Meg narrowed her eyes. Great. Tanya was giving out keys to their house to random strangers she’d just met. More things to add to the ever-growing list of Tanya issues.
Meg sighed. “Well, nice to meet you Chris.” Meg walked towards the doorway and brushed her house guest. She caught a waft of cigarettes. “I’m going to get ready for my evening out.” Meg hoped her clipped tone demonstrated to Chris that her intrusion on her evening was not wholly welcome.
“Going anywhere nice?”
Chris clearly wasn’t very good at picking up signals.
“A friend’s birthday.” Meg was already wording the fight she was going to have with Tanya as soon as she got in. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Meg gave Chris a weak smile before wearily climbing the stairs and slamming her door. She wanted to scream, but she knew that wouldn’t be a satisfactory course of action for anybody, and would only give the cheery Chris something to tell Tanya later.