Seer

by Robin Roseau

  And then we all watched as Dolores kissed Elsa. As kisses go, it was brief, but it was sweet at the same time.

  After that, the guys put my card tables and chairs away and rearranged the other furniture the way it belonged. They did it at the end of every party, and I appreciated it. We all sat down in the available chairs and spent some time dissecting the games for a while.

  Elsa took more teasing about the shirt, including a few comments about her sexy tummy. She had a good body, and I thought she looked really good, but I’m sure she was deeply embarrassed.

  As usually, it was Patty who announced that it was time to go. We all stood up, and people began moving towards the front door, but Elsa kept Gabby back, and I saw Dolores busy herself cleaning up coffee cups.

  At the front door, I took hugs from everyone. Patty told me she hoped we’d have Dolores around some more. Dean told me she was cool.

  Once they were gone, I got a brief hug from Gabby, who said, “I’ll wait in the car, Elsa.” Dolores was nowhere in sight.

  Elsa moved to the front door but closed it with her back to it.

  “Are you angry?”

  “No,” she said. “Gabby really, really liked it. I’m going to wear it at home for her.” She smiled. “Sidney, do not stop with these booby prizes. They are good for us. They are embarrassing, and I dread losing, but I admit they are funny, and they bring us closer.” She paused. “And thank you for treating me the same as you do your other friends. It has meant a lot to me.”

  “Oh Elsa,” I said. “You’re welcome. You know, I love you to pieces. We all do.”

  “No,” she said. “I am hard to love. But I think I am liked, and when I moved here, I did not know what to expect. I did not know how to find the right friends.” She glanced towards the other room. “And now you have taken in another lost sheep. I want you to ask her if Gabby and I may have her phone number. I don’t want to ask her directly in case she is uncomfortable.”

  I smiled. “I’ll ask. Thank you, Elsa. I think you helped her fit in tonight.”

  “I remember what it was like. I know what Dean is like.” She stepped away from the door and turned to go, but then she turned to me and pulled me into a tentative hug. As I said, she wasn’t a hugger, but she hugged me, and I held her for a moment.

  Once she was gone, I went looking for Dolores, finding her in the kitchen, washing dishes. I stepped to her side and began drying.

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I was stalling so I could thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Elsa wants your phone number.”

  “Really? Did you give it to her?”

  “Not without permission.”

  “Please do,” she said. “I liked them. Elsa is very sweet.”

  “She is.”

  We finished the dishes quietly. We finished, and then Dolores looked like she was thinking of cleaning the stove.

  “Did you want to hang around for a few minutes?” I asked. “We could go sit down.”

  “Yes,” she said quickly. “Um. I mean…”

  I smiled at her. “Come on.” I led the way back to the living room, and we soon found ourselves on opposite ends of the sofa.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” she replied. “I’ve never had such a good time.” She paused. “I’ve never done that.”

  “Done what?”

  “Kissed a woman like that.”

  “Ah,” I said.

  “I couldn’t believe Gabby was encouraging all of us to kiss her girlfriend.”

  “Wife,” I corrected.

  “Oh, sorry. Yes. Wife.”

  “Gabby wishes Elsa would chill out. Gabby is exceedingly outgoing, and Elsa is far more reserved. It maybe wasn’t obvious tonight. She has never hugged any of us before, and she doesn’t let Gabby do so much as hold her hand in front of us. I don’t know why tonight was different.”

  “She was breaking the ice for me,” Dolores said. “She was showing me how to be gracious if I lose the next time you invite me.”

  I considered what she said. “Wow.” Wow indeed. For Elsa to do that meant she had really liked Dolores. And for Dolores to recognize it was just as impressive. I was going to have to ask Elsa about it.

  “Did you like the kiss?”

  “I was embarrassed to kiss Gabby’s wife in front of her. Well, to kiss a married woman at all. Um. I didn’t think about her being married, but about being in a committed relationship. You know what I mean.”

  “Did you want me to point out you’re avoiding my question?”

  Dolores smiled but didn’t answer.

  “You were wrong about the gay powder,” I said. “It wasn’t in the curry. I bought special cream. It comes from gay cows.”

  Dolores laughed.

  “I made sure you got a lot of it.”

  She laughed louder.

  “It was in the soup and in the cream that went into your coffee. Frank used cream, too. Did you notice the way he was looking at Dean later?”

  “Stop it!” Dolores said, wiping tears from her eyes.

  “I didn’t realize Gabby would want us all to kiss Elsa though,” I said. “I picked that shirt so you’d start thinking about kissing a woman.”

  “Sidney!”

  I let her figure out I was the only unattached lesbian at the party tonight. It wasn’t hard to figure out.

  “I probably taste like straight girl. Do lesbians like the taste of straight girls?”

  “Some lesbians do,” I said. I paused. “I did, once. It went very badly.”

  “She remembered she was straight?”

  “Yeah. After I fell head over heels for her.” I paused “There are a few clichés about straight women who decide to experiment. In the first, she goes all out. She can’t get enough, and acts like a super-dyke in public. In the other, she hides everything about it, although she keeps promising she’ll tell everyone real soon. Of course, she never does.”

  “Yours was the latter?”

  “No. If she’d been like that, I’d have been cautious. She was the other way, and I thought she was like a lot of women who don’t realize they’re gay until after a failed relationship. They realize they’re relieved to be free to be themselves and discover that means they like women. But no, she liked guys, and we out shopping for a house together when she suddenly turned to me, right in front of the realtor, and said, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. You were fun, Sid, but I met a guy at work. I want to see where it goes.’ “

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. She’d already gone on a date with him.”

  “Wow,” Dolores said again.

  “Yeah.”

  We sat quietly, each contemplating her own thoughts for a few minutes. Then Dolores said, “Sidney?”

  “Dolores.”

  “Would you let me cook you breakfast tomorrow?”

  I stared at her. It took a moment to realize my shock, and she began blushing.

  “Oh my god!” she said. “I can’t believe what I just said. No, no, no. I’m not asking to spend the night. I’m asking you to come to my house tomorrow for breakfast. Innocent. Platonic. No kissing involved. Well, maybe a little kissing, cause I have this dead sexy apron that says, ‘Kiss the Cook’, and I know you won’t be able to resist, but not stay overnight kissing.”

  I began to laugh.

  “I’d love to come to breakfast tomorrow, Dolores.”

  We talked for a few more minutes, then she announced it was time to go. I walked her to the door, but she set her back against it, just like Elsa had.

  “Sidney?”

  “Are you about to ask me to kiss you goodnight?”

  She laughed. “I’m feeling very grateful, and I don’t know how to express it.”

  “Tight hugs are good,” I said.

  The resulting hug was very good. She clung to me for a while, and I held her just as tightly.

  “Text me when you get up,” she said on her way out the door.

&n
bsp; * * * *

  Dolores told me not to bring a thing, but I arrived with flowers for her. She took one look, pulled me into a crushing hug, and then led me to her kitchen. It was a truly fabulous kitchen, and I was jealous. Together, we arranged the flowers in a vase, and then she offered me a choice of drinks.

  “What are you having?” I asked.

  “Bloody Mary,” she replied. I was driving, so I stuck to tea.

  She had made caramel rolls. She gave me one while she began cooking. I sat watching, and we talked about inconsequential things.

  It was a lovely meal, and we retired to her living room when it was over. We sat and chatted for a couple of hours. I realized I really liked her. I guess I always sort of knew that, but away from work, when she was relaxed, she was deeply funny and a joy to be around.

  Finally I said, “I’m sorry. I’m leaving in the morning, and I haven’t prepared yet.”

  “Of course,” she replied. “That’s why I suggested breakfast instead of dinner.” She walked me to the door and pulled me into a hug, kissing my cheek. “Call me when you get back. And if you haven’t, give Elsa my number.”

  “I did,” I said. “And your email.”

  We hugged once more. It felt nice.

  Travel

  I spent the rest of Sunday getting a trim, packing for the trip, and then reviewing everything I could find out about Green Gulch software. I signed up for a demo account and dug out some old software. It took time to find a program small enough to run inside the limitations of a demo account, but I tested their product.

  I was pretty impressed with what I found. Their web site could accept the source code for a program for either iPhone or Android and report possible issues you should check. I spent a couple of hours injecting problems and testing, and their software found the ones I injected and a few I hadn’t anticipated. It couldn’t find everything, but it found most of the issues I tested, things that let the software work but that might have led to problems down the road.

  I was very impressed.

  As the evening wore on, Chaos and Des began to bug me for affection. I finally realized they were right. I grabbed a book, propped myself up in bed, and read the book with a pair of cats pressed against me.

  * * * *

  Solange and Aubree picked me up very early Monday morning. Solange had emailed there would be a car collecting me, but I was surprised when it was Solange who rang my bell. We greeted with a handshake, and then the driver collected my bag for me. I retained possession of my computer.

  “What is that?” Solange asked me as we headed for the car.

  “Um. A computer.”

  “That part I guessed. What type of computer.”

  “This is an Apple household,” I said, gesturing with my thumb. “I run special software on my internal network that invades any Windows boxes with a virus that display a series of pop up windows that say, ‘You should have bought a Mac’.” Solange laughed. “The problem is that no one ever sees my pop ups because they’re lost behind all the malware pop ups those damned things always have.” She laughed again.

  “You shouldn’t be so shy with your opinions, Sidney.”

  “I know, but I’ve been around a few lawyers lately, and they hold their cards so close to their chest. I think it’s rubbing off.”

  She laughed a third time. I decided it was a delightful laugh.

  The car, it turned out, was a limo. I raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s comfortable, it was available, and we can talk,” Solange said by way of explanation. The driver was busy with my bag, so it was Solange who held the door for me. I gave her a tip of my head, and when I climbed in, I found Aubree waiting. I took a seat facing her, and then Solange climbed in after me, sitting next to Aubree. A minute later, we were on the road, heading for the airport.

  We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes, then I said, “I don’t know if anyone has an agenda once we arrive. In case not, I made one.”

  “I am in charge of the team,” Solange said, “But you are the head of our technical team.”

  “Not Aubree?”

  “No, although as we discussed, if she tells you to do something, you will do it.”

  “Do you have a copy of your agenda?” Aubree asked. I dug into my computer bag and pulled out two copies. The two women reviewed them. “This is good,” Aubree declared.

  “I presume this is going to start with some sort of meet and greet followed by something resembling a sales pitch,” I said. “I presume that will include a demo, probably done by either the company president or a salesman, and carefully crafted. But will we break up into teams after that?”

  “Yes,” Solange said. “They may attempt to drive the process from there.”

  I smiled. “I’m hard to push around. I’m going to ask for a second demonstration driven by someone on the technology team.” Then I pulled out a computer stick drive. “And I have my own software to run it with.”

  “Excellent,” Aubree said.

  “Assuming I don’t get the tech guys until after lunch, I expect to make them show off for most of the afternoon. I want the entire technology crew there. I want to see how they interact.”

  They both nodded. We discussed the rest of my agenda.

  “Of course, all this may go out the window as soon as we get there,” I said. “But I wanted to start with something.”

  I then told them what I’d discovered yesterday. We were still discussing that when we arrived at the airport. I wasn’t paying any attention at all, but we pulled up in front of a large hangar. The large door was open, and inside I saw a gleaming aircraft. Ed had said we’d be flying by private jet. I thought it looked very sleek. I tried to act nonplussed, but I was impressed.

  “Yours?” I asked Solange once we’d climbed out of the car. She nodded.

  “Time is money,” she said, “and I don’t like dealing with security, changing planes, and missed connections.”

  “You must travel a great deal.”

  “If not me, then someone from my firm is always flying somewhere. They don’t make me money waiting around in the airport.” She gestured. “We’ll let Vincent manage the bags.” The three of us began walking to the side of the aircraft. We were halfway there when another car drove up.

  As we drew closer, I cocked my head. “That’s going to fit ten of us plus a flight crew?”

  “No,” she said. “Only the three of us plus Enzo, Bronson, Mr. Sutton, and Ms. Chandler. The others flew commercial last night.”

  * * * *

  It was an exceedingly comfortable flight, and I realized I could be easily spoiled. I sat facing Aubree, and we spent a portion of the flight getting to know each other better. Partway through, Solange climbed from her own seat and gestured to Aubree, the two of them switching. Solange sat down and smiled. She and I spent the remainder of the flight talking quietly on a variety of subjects. Solange was clearly well-read and educated, and spoke confidently on everything we discussed. It was quite refreshing, and I deeply enjoyed our conversation.

  We were perhaps a half hour from landing when she said, “Sidney, while I did a deep interrogation last week, there were some topics I avoided.”

  “It felt quite thorough.”

  She smiled. “I asked little about your personal life. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. Are you agreeing to the same sorts of questions?”

  “You live alone?” she asked.

  “Just me and the cats.”

  “How many?”

  “Two. Chaos and Des — short for Destruction.”

  She laughed. “Good names for cats. What are they like?” We talked about the cats for a minute or two. I learned she had no pets, but she seemed interested in mine. Then she asked, “What does your boyfriend think of the cats? Do they like him?”

  I studied her for several seconds. She waited patiently. I decided not to answer directly. Instead, I said, “That’s an interesting question. I think there is a lesson in it for me.” />
  “Oh?”

  “We have already ascertained you are better at drawing information from someone than I am.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “There are several obvious pieces of information you could be seeking.”

  “I only asked if your boyfriend likes your cats.”

  “Yes, but we both know I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  She smiled softly.

  “Or if we didn’t, then you aren’t remotely as perceptive as I know you are.”

  She inclined her head for a moment.

  “The next level of information you could have been seeking was whether I was willing to tell you that, but I think even that is simpler than you were after.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” she replied.

  “Beyond that, I can only make guesses.”

  “What sort of guesses have occurred to you?”

  “You may have wanted to see how gracefully I handled the question. There are subtleties along those lines, but it’s all part of wondering how I’d handle it.” She nodded once. “You may have really been simply asking about girlfriends. Or perhaps you wanted to see if I would realize it wasn’t at all a simple question.” I paused. “Perhaps you wanted to see if I would realize that and treat it subtly, which I clearly haven’t, or been more obvious.” I paused. “I’m not usually subtle.”

  “Did you have more guesses?”

  “No. Are you going to ask me more questions to help me come to an accurate conclusion?”

  “Perhaps you would prefer if I were direct.” When I nodded, she said, “It was everything you identified.”

  “Did I disappoint you?”

  “No, of course not. I would have been subtle, but there is nothing wrong with direct. It can be refreshing.” She smiled. “Will you answer the question I really asked?”

  “No current girlfriends. The occasional date.” Then I smiled. “And what does your girlfriend think of your jet-setting ways.”

  She laughed. “No current girlfriends. The occasional date.” She smiled. “And now there are the other obvious questions.”