Sun Catcher

by Giselle Fox

  “Oh my Gosh, I think I need to sit down!” Esme cackled. Her face was flushed from the heat. Most of her green makeup had been wiped away with sweat.

  “Can you sit down?” Stanley laughed. Esme tried to navigate a chair but was too wide to squeeze through the arm rests. She plopped down on the patio instead and began to laugh again.

  “You’ll need help getting up,” her husband giggled.

  They laughed some more until finally, they looked around. Cate and Lexi looked back at them. Both were silent.

  “So… what are you girls up to?” Esme said from the floor. Her husband snorted.

  “Just enjoying the view,” Lexi said.

  Stanley turned his head and looked out over the little town. “Yes, it’s very nice, isn’t it? Probably the nicest view in the building.”

  “Almost,” Lexi said quietly but he didn’t hear.

  “Well, I’m going to get a refill, how about you?” Cate said loudly. She hoped Lexi would understand that her suggestion had nothing to do with another drink. The Blooms were so amused with each other that they didn’t even seem to notice. Lexi nodded and followed behind.

  They walked through the living room and straight past the kitchen. The rest of the group stood exactly as they had been for most of the night. Ambrose was pouring another concoction into Alice’s glass. Calvin and Sheila were hovering nearby. Cate caught Alice’s eye without meaning to, for long enough that she saw her frown. But then Alice shrieked suddenly as Ambrose missed her glass and poured her cocktail over her hand. Everyone began to laugh as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Cate knew it was the perfect time to make their escape.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “I forgot my bat,” she said. Then she realized she’d simply traded one bat for another. That made her smile.

  “Should we go to your place?” she whispered when they were in the hall. She glanced at the stairs leading up to Lexi’s apartment.

  “No,” said Lexi.

  Cate gave her a look and then snorted with laughter. “I didn’t bring my key to Alice’s.”

  “Outside then,” Lexi said and pulled her down the stairs.

  Cate had no idea why they were going outside when they clearly wanted to be alone together but she followed along anyway. Lexi had such a tight grip on her hand that she didn’t have much choice. She liked the feeling. She liked all of it: the costumes, the tension, and the fact they’d sneaked away. She liked that she’d told Lexi exactly what she wanted. She even liked knowing that her friend disapproved of whatever she was about to do. All of it made the next minutes completely electrifying.

  She was shocked to discover that in the short time it had taken them to walk down three flights of stairs, it had started to pour with rain.

  “Of course,” Cate said. “It always rains at this time.”

  Lexi pulled her outside onto the sidewalk.

  “Where are you taking me?” Cate asked as rain splattered all around them.

  “Down here,” Lexi said.

  Cate laughed as she wobbled behind her. She felt a little less steady on her heels now that they were moving so fast. The sight of them racing in the rain in full costume must be something, she thought to herself. It made her laugh again.

  “What’s so funny?” Lexi asked. She was smiling too. There was a gleam in her eye now that she didn’t look so serious.

  Cate’s eyes followed a trickle of rain from the side of her mask down her neck and into the open zipper of her jacket. She felt her heart begin to race. She gazed down at the rest of Lexi’s body, at the wet leather that clung to her skin.

  “You’re really fucking sexy,” Cate heard herself say. She reached for the zipper on Lexi’s jacket but before she’d grabbed on, her wrists were gripped tight and her back pressed against the wall. It happened so fast. Lexi’s lips were right there in front of hers. Lexi ripped her mask back with one hand and came for her.

  The kiss was neither soft nor gentle. It was rabid with hunger. It was ferocious and unhinged. It ripped through the fog of her drink and dragged her breath from her body. Her arms went stiff at her sides. Her nails dug into the wall behind her. Lexi’s moans, anguished and blissful, shuddered through her. Lexi’s thigh pushed between her legs as warm rain poured over them.

  Lexi pulled back. Her heavy black eye makeup made her look fierce but her grin was even more dangerous. “I couldn’t wait,” she breathed.

  Cate reached her fingers beyond the zipper of Lexi’s leather jacket. She touched the smooth skin between her breasts. She felt Lexi’s hand slide up her ribcage and cup her breast in her palm. She looked down and watched Lexi’s thumb circle slowly around her nipple.

  Cate looked up into her eyes and grinned. She curled her fingers inside the jacket and under the soft breast inside. She felt the hard tip and grazed her fingers gently under it. Lexi gripped her hand from the outside of her jacket and pressed it tighter. Cate could feel Lexi’s heartbeat, fast and then faster still. Their eyes connected again. They hovered there, teasing each other’s skin. Cate didn’t care where they were, frantic and wet against a stone wall, stealing kisses in the night like thieves. Lexi’s dark eyes, masked in shadow, looked straight through her and into the depths of her soul.

  “Please kiss me again,” Cate whispered. She would have begged for it but Lexi’s mouth was on her in the next instant. Their bodies gripped tight and slowly began to move together like their breath, in and out, up and down, gently rising in force as their need began to rage.

  Cate heard voices and then laughter between the rain, between the kiss that had swelled so wide that it filled her consciousness. She heard voices and then suddenly remembered where they were.

  Lexi pulled her lips away and stared back at her. She reached out her thumb and wiped Cate’s lips.

  “I think I hear the Blooms,” Cate said.

  Lexi nodded and looked back up the street.

  Cate gripped her hand. “Come back to my room.”

  Lexi looked at her. “I can’t, Cate.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t? Why not?”

  Lexi looked uncertain.

  “She’ll never know. Come in through the balcony door. Keep this on,” Cate said as she thumbed the edge of Lexi’s jacket again.

  Lexi shook her head and then laughed.

  “I’ll go back now and you follow in a few minutes. No one will know.” Cate grinned, proud of her little plan.

  Lexi bent and kissed her cheek.

  “Here goes,” Cate said and pulled herself away.

  She practically ran back to the building. Without her caped companion, she felt a little under-dressed in her costume. Not that she was afraid. She felt fearless, in fact, as she strode along the dark street and met the plump green figures of the Blooms and Sheila huddled under an awning.

  “What are you doing out here?” Sheila called.

  “Cooling off,” Cate said.

  Esme poked her head out from under the canopy and looked up into the night sky.

  “Don’t, you’ll turn into a wet sponge,” said her husband as he pulled her back.

  They all laughed at that. Cate continued on her way without stopping to chat.

  “Going back in?” Sheila called.

  “I think I’m done. Goodnight!”

  She heard their collective voices muttering behind her as she pulled open the door of the building and went inside. She realized that Lexi would have to pass them in order to get back into the building and that would foil her plan of secrecy as sure as standing up and announcing it. Who cares, she thought to herself as she took the stairs two at a time. Then there was the matter of the key to Alice’s apartment. She realized she hadn’t thought her plan through. Back she went to the party to try and quickly sort it out.

  “Where have you been?” Alice said when she saw her. “You’re soaking wet.”

  Cate smiled innocently. “Just outside. It was stifling in here.”

  Alice gave her a suspicious look. Cate could t
ell she was more than just a little drunk by how her eyes rolled from her back to Ambrose. He clinked her glass. It had obviously been recently refreshed and some of the contents spilled onto the floor beneath them, but they neither seemed to notice or care.

  “I might pack it in,” Cate said and feigned a yawn. “Do you have the key?”

  “So soon? We just got this party started!” said Ambrose. Cate looked around and saw no one but them. Calvin emerged from the washroom and was fiddling with his costume as he wobbled from side to side.

  “Sheila wanted to get a picture of the Blooms in the middle of the square.”

  “I saw them down there,” Cate said. She held out her hand. “Key?”

  Alice tucked her fingers into her bra and produced the key. She handed it to Alice with a smirk.

  “Warm,” Cate said. “Thanks for the party, Ambrose.”

  “Anytime, my dear.”

  She went back down the hall half-expecting to meet Lexi on the stairs, but she wasn’t there. As soon as she was inside her room, she went to the balcony door and unlocked it. She stepped onto the deck. The rain had eased to a gentle mist. The air smelled of warm tar and wet stone. She looked up at Lexi’s apartment but it was black. So she waited at the rail for a sign of life.

  She considered taking off her costume since it was soaked through. Her pigtails hung in wet bands. Her make-up looked a mess so she fixed it as best as she could, wiping the raccoon smears from under her eyes until they looked right. She squeezed her pigtails inside a towel to bring up the color, but most of the color wrung out. She was happy with her shirt. It was wet and just cold enough that her nipples poked through. Everything else was perfect. She flicked off the light and was about to step out onto the balcony when she heard a familiar sound. She smiled and went to the rail.

  “Now I’ve seen everything,” she whispered as Lexi climbed down onto the balcony. They looked at one another for a moment without saying a word. Cate felt her heart race as Lexi’s dark eyes penetrated through her mask like lasers. Lexi reached for her and pulled her inside.

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” Cate whispered.

  “You asked me to come.”

  “I know, I just meant, you came and you’re... in this.” She pulled at the edge of her jacket.

  Lexi stared down at her. She seemed so much taller, maybe it was the boots or maybe the mask with it’s pointed ears spiking out of the top. In the soft light of the candle, the mist all over her cape sparkled. Her face was dappled with rain.

  Cate reached up her hand and slid her thumb over Lexi’s lips. They were warm and soft beneath the cool slip of water. Lexi kissed the pad of Cate’s thumb and then gripped onto her hand. She curled it against her warm chest. Cate felt her heart beat again, deep and steady. Cate knew what she wanted, to lay her head against that heart and feel the pulse of it unravel her. She glanced at her bed, still messy with clothes. She thought of them both lying in it together, unmasked. Now that they were there, it seemed all too real.

  Lexi glanced at the bed too. She acknowledged its presence and implication with a gentle tip of her head. She reached up to pull her mask back but then stopped suddenly. Her eyes darted to the door.

  They both heard it, the front door opened and shut again. Then, the removal of shoes, the drop of something heavy.

  “She’s back early,” Cate said in a hush. She glanced at the door again. The lock didn’t work and Alice had a habit of barging in. She heard her voice out in the hallway.

  “Cate, are you up?” Alice whispered.

  Cate froze as if she’d been caught in the act.

  “Shh,” said Lexi.

  “She might come in. I’ll tell her I’m in bed,” Cate whispered back.

  She pulled herself from Lexi’s arms and went to the door. She pulled it open a crack and tried to look as sleepy as she could. “I’m toast. Just getting ready for bed.”

  Alice stood alone in the dark hallway.

  “Oh, okay. I thought maybe you were asleep already.”

  “No, not yet. But soon I hope.” Cate faked another yawn. “I think that drink knocked me out.”

  “Well, get some rest,” her friend said. “See you in the morning.”

  “Goodnight.”

  They smiled to one another and Cate closed the door.

  “All clear,” she whispered, but then realized she was alone. “Where did you go?”

  She checked behind the closet door and then out on the patio, then behind the bed but Lexi was nowhere.

  “No way,” she said to herself. She looked up at the attic apartment. There were still no lights on. She waited for Lexi to come back. She waited a long time. She took off her wet clothes and wiped off her makeup. She straightened her bed and put her things away. But after an hour of waiting, Lexi never returned. Finally, Cate blew out her candle and went sadly to sleep.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Cate woke the next morning to the sound of the coffee grinder in the kitchen. She dragged herself from her bed and went out into the hallway. Alice was in the kitchen, bent over the counter with her forehead in her palm.

  "Ugh..." Alice groaned as she pressed the button on the grinder with one finger.

  "Are you okay?" Cate asked.

  "I'm never drinking again."

  "Right," Cate said as she poured herself a glass of water.

  "You look fine," Alice said as she scrutinized her with one eye open.

  "I had more than enough."

  "I lost count," Alice said ruefully. "Ambrose is such an asshole."

  Cate frowned. "You didn't have to drink them."

  "I don't mean that. He's just so fucking... ugh!"

  "Okay," Cate said and pulled the coffee grinder from her friend's hand. "Are you two fighting?"

  "He just says the most idiot things!"

  "What happened to Calvin?"

  "He passed out in the hall just after you left," Alice said.

  "Sounds like I left at the right time."

  "Do you want coffee?" Alice asked.

  "Sure. Here, let me make it. You don't look so good." Cate reached for the carafe and filled it from the purifier.

  "I'll be fine," Alice said as she plunked herself down into a chair. Her head went back into her palm. "Did you have fun? You left early."

  Cate scooped the ground coffee into the basket and didn't turn around. "Yeah, it was fun." She could feel the heat rise up in her about many parts of the evening, but most of all the fact she'd been abandoned right when things were getting good.

  "You spent a lot of time with Lexi last night," Alice said.

  The question hung in the air. There was no point in denying it. Everyone had seen them talking on the balcony. They'd left together. Whatever ruse Cate had imagined pulling the night before had only been in her drunken mind. Perhaps it all was. Lexi wasn't there with her as she'd wanted her to be. It should have been the two of them talking over coffee in her apartment upstairs. Perhaps the kiss, as delicious as it had been, was nothing after all.

  She turned around. "We chatted on the balcony and then went for a short walk outside. I came back because I was tired."

  It was partially true and partially not. She didn't feel like explaining what had really happened. It would have only sounded ridiculous anyway.

  Alice studied her face for a moment and then resumed her position with her forehead in her hand.

  When the coffee was made they sat out on the balcony in Alice's room. The morning heat only seemed to make Alice's hangover worse.

  "We need to get some greasy food into you and a soda. That's your best bet," Cate suggested.

  Alice groaned again. "I know I should eat."

  Eating breakfast wasn't her only motive. Cate suspected that Lexi would be at Yolanda’s. The idea of seeing her again both thrilled and enraged her. She had no idea what she would say but that part didn't matter. She wanted Lexi to look her in the eye and explain why she'd disappeared. When she thought of where they'd both be if she'd st
ayed, she had to close her eyes.

  "Okay," Alice groaned. "If we're doing this, let's do it. I don't want to run into Ambrose and I know he won't be up yet."

  Cate was too wrapped up in her own drama to give her friend's comment much thought. They both prepared themselves and made the walk down to the cafe.

  Cate entered the bar expecting to see Lexi where she always was: behind the bar or serving tables. But she wasn't. The friends sat at a table by the open doors out of the sun. The interior of the restaurant was still cool. Cate looked around but only saw Yolanda working the bar. Didn't she normally cook? she thought to herself. Then she realized that Lexi may be in the back, hiding somewhere.

  When Yolanda came to the table with some iced water and menus, Cate took the plunge.

  "You're here by yourself today."

  "Oh, Lexi's in the back doing the cooking today. She's giving me a break," she smiled.

  Alice looked across the table at Cate and then sat back in her seat. When Yolanda left them, Alice broke her silence.

  "You're awfully interested in that woman."

  Cate made a face. "No, I was just curious."

  "Curious, hey?" She took a big gulp of her ice water. "Oh God, brain freeze!" She held her fingers to her temples.

  Cate's eyes wandered to the double swinging doors of the kitchen. She could hear the clatter of pots and pans back there and imagined Lexi in her apron doing dirty work. The thought made her grin.

  "Let's order a few different things," she said and picked up her menu. "I'm famished."

  Cate looked for any reason to send something back but there wasn't one. The meal was perfect in both timing and flavor. Alice had engulfed her breakfast and was looking all the better for it.

  "You're right, the soda helped," she said as she sucked the last of it through her straw. "You're preoccupied," she said.

  "No, just a little tired. I didn't sleep well," Cate said.

  Alice stirred her straw through the remaining ice. "Alright, enough. What's up with you two?"