Lattes & Lace

by Annora Green

  Sophia moaned slightly as Ari moved her lips down to her jaw, her collar, and then, urging Sophia to sit up slightly, wrapped her hands around her back in search of the zipper for the dress.

  “Are you... is this... okay?” Ari whispered.

  Sophia nodded, her eyes closed, already lost to the moment and to the sensations. “Yes. Very much so, Arianna.”

  “I want you,” the blonde woman said, longingly, and from that moment on, their words were few and far between, as the dress came off, and Ari’s blouse and jeans were also eventual victims of their wandering hands, kisses, trailing lips and explorations on the sofa. Eventually, Ari shifted lower, and lower, until the sounds of Sophia’s sighs and heavy breathing were all that she needed to guide her through the rest of the night.

  ¨°¨

  9:30 AM

  As Sophia slowly looked over at the other half of the bed and noticed a long sweep of wavy blonde hair splayed out across the pillow, she felt Ari stirring.

  As memories of the previous night - or, technically, it all had happened earlier that morning - flooded back to Sophia’s mind, she recalled flashes and snapshots of the time they had spent in that darkest hour of the night. They had been awake, exploring, smiling, laughing, lost in their reverie all the way until the sun was well above the horizon and the birds were singing. At some point, both women had finally, at last, become completely sated and not to mention slightly delirious from not having slept at all that night.

  They had not, technically speaking, even been to bed by that point.

  Most of their activities had been everywhere but the bed.

  They finally stumbled up to the bedroom loft and fell asleep, and a few hours later, Sophia woke up.

  She lay still as the memories of the night before returned to her. The sounds of the woman breathing next to her were soothing. She was basking in the fact that she felt more relaxed than she had in months. She was still for a while, not wanting it to ever dissipate.

  But eventually, she grew restless.

  She gingerly got out of bed. Ari stirred, but did not seem to wake up. Sophia tiptoed over to the dresser to find something to put on, just in case someone came back - Nate, or whomever - and then went in search of her phone.

  After looking through her purse, she remembered that it had been tossed into a planter back at the penthouse the night before.

  It bothered her, suddenly, to be cut off from her phone. What if Percy had sent her a message? How could she be so irresponsible as to not have checked it already that morning?

  She went downstairs and did a quick survey of the room. There was an old MacBook on an end table near the couch. She figured it was probably poor form to be in someone’s house and use their computer, but she really was desperate to at least check her email.

  “Trying to find out my deepest, darkest secrets?” Ari called down sleepily from the loft a few minutes later.

  Sophia looked up at her sheepishly. The computer was still turning on.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t have my phone. It was tossed under a palm tree at the hotel last night by my lovely sister. I want to check my email and make sure Percy hasn’t sent me anything.”

  “You’ve managed pretty well without that thing for, what, 11 hours?” Ari observed. “I’m impressed.”

  Ari walked downstairs.

  “What ever did you do to distract yourself for all those hours?” Ari smirked, heading to the couch, where she crawled up next to Sophia and kissed her.

  It was a quick, sweet peck, her blonde hair brushing Sophia’s cheeks.

  Sophia paused at that, looking up from the computer, and grabbed a piece of Ari’s shirt, gently pulling her back towards her.

  She gave her a deeper kiss.

  “Mmm,” Ari said a few moments later, her eyes closed. “The computer’s got a password on it. You’re gonna need me to unlock it.”

  Sophia smiled, but pulled Ari back towards her, kissing her yet again, this time even more deeply.

  Ari settled into it for a few moments, then broke it off, laughing. “I need to make breakfast, otherwise we’re going to be late.”

  “Password first?” Sophia asked, passing the computer to her, and Ari typed something in.

  “There. I think you earned that. I’ll go make coffee.”

  “Thank you,” Sophia said, feeling relieved as she logged into her email.

  Ari turned on some music and started to make coffee, while Sophia settled into the couch in the sun-filled room, scrolling through her inbox.

  There was an email from Percy, but it was just a photo of a hike he’d taken yesterday with his cousins, who he was staying with for the weekend. She smiled, writing him back, promising she’d see him that night.

  She then scrolled through some of her work emails. It was too tempting: her email inbox had nearly a hundred new emails since Friday, not including the spam, junk and advertisements. She was clicking through a few, and then she read one in particular that caused her to make a surprised sound out loud.

  “What is it?” Ari turned, hearing Sophia.

  “I have to go to Paris,” Sophia said, re-reading the email to be sure that was right.

  “Whoa. When?”

  “It’s to meet with a buyer - a huge department store - I’ve been trying to get their attention for months. They want to meet with me this coming week. I have to book a flight now.”

  “Now? Are you serious?”

  “I am,” Sophia said, clicking over to an airfare search website as soon as she understood exactly when they wanted to meet with her.

  “Wow. Well, I guess we’re all going home today, so the timing’s good at least.”

  At the sound of disappointment in Ari’s voice, Sophia paused her search, stood up, and wandered over to the woman.

  “Last night,” she said quietly to Ari and reaching out to rest her hands on the other woman’s waist, “was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. And I mean that in more ways than one.”

  She looked into Ari’s eyes.

  “Thank you, Arianna,” she said, pausing after she said the woman’s first name, savoring how it sounded as it escaped her lips, “For getting my mind out of my world and into yours. I needed this. And I didn’t even know I needed this.”

  Ari gave her a smile. “Any time.”

  “And Arianna?”

  “Hm?”

  “Thanks for talking me out of getting a tattoo last night.”

  Ari laughed.

  Smiling, Sophia kissed her again, and returned to the laptop.

  “I should take you to Paris,” Sophia said as Ari brought her a mug of coffee, typing her credit card into an airline website.

  Ari looked up. “What would I do there?”

  “You could stay with me, see the sights during the day while I’m at meetings. Let me show you some of the perks of my world.”

  “I don’t have a passport,” Ari confessed.

  “Oh.” Sophia paused. “You should really get one, for the future. Just in case.”

  “Okay,” Ari said, somewhat uncertainly.

  “I’ll be back in a week,” Sophia assured her, confirming a flight that departed from San Francisco that night.

  Ari nodded. “I’m happy for you. That sounds like a great opportunity. But let me remind you that, for the next hour, you’re still here, so let’s have some coffee and something to eat before you jet set away.”

  “It’s a deal,” Sophia said, shutting the laptop and turning her focus back to the beautiful blonde who had plopped down onto the sofa next to her.

  “Do you think we have time to...” Ari started to ask, burrowing into the cushions next to Sophia.

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Sophia said, smiling as she drew the woman closer to her.

  9. Dreams

  Sophia returned back to California that afternoon with everyone else on the jet. She was happy to pick up Percy, who had been staying with her parents, but then faced the task of apolo
getically breaking the news to him on their drive home that she would be leaving for a work trip that night and he would be going back to her parents’ house.

  “You’re going to be gone again?” he asked, his mouth dropping open at the news.

  Sophia let out her breath and closed her eyes for a second. She felt a pang of guilt at the hurt in his voice. “I’m sorry, Percy. I have some important meetings set up for this week. I really need to go.”

  “Can I go with you?”

  “I don’t think so. You need to go to school.”

  He scowled at that. “I wish you weren’t always leaving! You’re always at work, or traveling, or doing something away from here!”

  He stormed upstairs as soon as they got home.

  “Please be packed by four o’clock!” she called after him.

  Her moping son now shut away in his room, Sophia decided it was a good time to drive by her office to pick up a few things she needed for the week. She filled the better part of one of her two suitcases with many, many samples from her workshop. She also gave Elle, who was working that afternoon, instructions to mail Rachel’s cousin a few pieces from the shop in the hopes that he might feature something from her collection on his social media accounts; if he was as influential as Rachel said, it would not hurt to try.

  She dropped her moping son off back at her parents’ house and then drove to the airport to catch her flight to Paris that evening. As the plane gradually climbed in altitude and the sun set into the ocean behind her, she informed the flight attendant passing out dinner menus that she did not want to be disturbed until they served breakfast. As she pulled a silk sleeping mask over her eyes, she felt the magic that had surrounded their weekend dripping away behind her. She could not believe that early that very morning she had been cozied up with Ari on the couch, sipping coffee. 12 hours later, it seemed like an eternity - and world - ago.

  ¨°¨

  At The Little Cafe, Ari was also feeling the magical sparks of the past weekend disappear into thin air.

  Even her connection with Sophia seemed to fade as soon as they parted ways at the executive airport. Everyone had deplaned and was saying goodbye. Not wanting to make a fuss in front of everyone, Sophia had discreetly squeezed Ari’s hand seconds before Sophia left to go home and take care of Percy and catch her flight that night, and Ari drove back to her quiet studio apartment.

  A few days later, their communication had devolved into quick texts.

  Monday, 6 PM Central European Time

  I arrived. I’ll miss your coffee this week. S.

  Monday, Noon Pacific

  Knock their French socks off, Sophia.

  Tuesday, 1 PM Central European Time

  On my way to afternoon meeting. Hope your week is going well.

  Now that was a little impersonal, Ari thought to herself when she saw the latest text one morning, scowling slightly, before sending what she hoped was a warmer reply.

  But it was better than what came the day after. The next day she did not receive any texts at all from Sophia.

  Later that day, however, Ari happened to see Percy when he dropped by the cafe after school.

  “I missed the grilled cheese,” he explained, sitting down at the counter.

  “Hey,” Ari said, glad to see him, and a few minutes later she brought him a plate of grilled cheese with a small side of potato chips and tossed salad. “On the house.”

  “Thanks,” Percy said, putting down his video game to inhale the plate of food.

  “Who are you staying with while your mom’s away?” Ari asked.

  “My grandparents. They live kind of far away, but it’s just a train ride from school,” he replied.

  Ari knew she should not fish for details about Sophia from Percy... something about it did not feel right. But the minimal texts, the abrupt departure, and the fact that her mind generally could not get off of the woman, she just could not resist.

  She tried to sound casual as she asked, “Have you heard anything from your mom?”

  Percy shook his head. “Not much. I think she’s in a lot of meetings.”

  “I’ll bet.” Ari said, disappointed, though unsurprised, at the lack of news.

  “Let me know if you need anything,” she said to him and she went back to work.

  ¨°¨

  “You’re staying late a lot this week,” Rachel commented later that night after the shop had closed and Ari had put away a few dishes, wiped up tables, and refilled canisters with coffee beans.

  “Yeah, I’ve got some stuff to catch up on after the weekend,” Ari said as she typed on her laptop in her office.

  In all fairness, she really did have to catch up on some things. She was attempting to look over some spreadsheets of her finances. It was a task that she had been dreading, but had vowed to herself to deal with after the weekend.

  “Like emailing a certain brunette?” Rachel asked.

  Ari thought about the emails she had received that day: invoices, ads, junk. Nothing very exciting.

  “Not many of those to reply to,” Ari grumbled.

  Rachel paused. “It’s not like you to just mope around. What’d she do, give you the cold shoulder in Vegas?”

  “Not exactly,” Ari said, studying the spreadsheet.

  “Far be it for me to stick my nose into any of your business, but something happened. You’re not really good at keeping a secret. And then she left,” Rachel observed. “So, I’m guessing whatever passed between you two wasn’t stellar.”

  Ari sighed and leaned back in her chair, still looking at the laptop. “I don’t really want to get into it.”

  “All right, then,” Rachel shrugged and turned away.

  “Wait,” Ari said, changing her mind and tearing her eyes away from the computer screen.

  She pressed her thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose, thinking.

  “Something did happen in Vegas. But it’s not like that. It wasn’t bad,” she said slowly.

  “Oh?” Rachel said, leaning in the doorframe.

  “That last night in Vegas, we... well...” Ari could not help but look up and give her a half-smile.

  Rachel perked up at this. A knowing grin spread across her face. “I knew it. Something did happen.”

  Ari took a deep breath. “Yeah. We were both in this place, well, literally we were in Vegas, but we were in this place where things seemed different. Stuff back at home felt so far away. Problems. Reservations. Whatever our friendship, whatever this is, it didn’t seem so complicated, suddenly, when we were there.”

  “You’re not exactly the only one who’s ever had that experience. What happens in Vegas and all that,” Rachel said.

  “Yeah, I know, how original of us, right? But seriously, for that brief time when we were together after the party Saturday night, I forgot - or, I let myself forget - that a while back, after we first kissed weeks ago, we’d had this talk. She told me she didn’t want anything romantic. With me, or with anyone. And at the time she told me that, I thought that was fine. I mean, I was glad she was clear with me, you know? I thought I could accept it.”

  “Okay,” Rachel said, waiting for more.

  “I thought I’d accepted it. I saw her in here almost every day, I helped you plan this thing for her sister. But when we were there, together, it was just like... it all fell back in place, and I forgot about what we had said or agreed on in the past. We left the party, kissed, laughed, hada midnight burger, a great time really. She seemed less inhibited that night, and I forgot that I had decided to respect her wishes, to be honest. Well, not that I forgot, it’s just she sent me mixed signals. And those mixed signals ultimately led us back to my place. And then she sent me some verynon-mixed signals.”

  Ari paused.

  “And then after the afterglow wore off, your magical weekend was over,” Rachel finished for her.

  “Basically. The next morning we had breakfast at my place - we were both so comfortable and relaxed that morning - but I was rem
inded who she really is when she read an email and found out she had to leave for Paris right away on business.”

  “It’s just a business trip,” Rachel said. “She’ll be back. Unless something else happened?”

  “No, nothing happened. Actually, she asked me if I wanted to go with her. I had to admit to her I don’t even own a passport.”

  “She wanted you to go with her to Paris? That’s quick. And extravagant,” Rachel commented.

  “Yeah, but it must’ve just been a passing thought. Ever since she left on Sunday night, she’s backed off. Way off. I’ve only had a few brief messages from her.”

  “She’s probably busy. And jet lag, and all of that,” Rachel said.

  Ari nodded. “Probably. It’s just weird. She’s so hot and cold. On and off.”

  “She’s been that way from the beginning,” Rachel reminded her. “Don’t forget her terrible temper about the most mundane things like Christmas decorations or coupons being handed out on the sidewalk.”

  “She’s exhausting,” Ari agreed, closing the lid of her laptop. “What is this, high school? Am I going to be sitting at home by the phone, waiting for her to ask me to the prom, only to hear from my best friend that she’s going with someone else?”

  “Um, no, because actually you’re almost 30, Ari, and above all of this,” Rachel said. “You can do one of two things. Wait around for her to come around, or just go out and live your life and let whatever happens, happen.”

  “I don’t know what ‘going out and living my life’ would be right now,” Ari confessed. “The last few months have been all about keeping this place up and running, figuring out money and suppliers and customers and interior design, and the exercise in patience that is my next door neighbor. Who has led to a whole other series of problems in my life.”

  “You can hang out with me,” Rachel offered.

  Ari sighed. “I probably shouldn’t. I don’t know. What are you doing?’

  “Seeing a friend,” Rachel replied vaguely, smiling.

  “A friend?”