“No. What?”
“It’s Thursday,” Keira said.
“So?”
“So, call Hill. I’ll get the tickets.”
Greene smiled when she figured it out.
◆◆◆
“You guys are lucky my wife doesn’t offend easily when she’s told she isn’t invited to things,” Hillary said as she approached the Exploratorium.
“I was just thinking about how lucky we were that Kellan was able to catch a flight,” Keira said.
“Kell’s coming?” Greene asked, looking at Keira as they stood outside the building.
“Tahoe isn’t that far away. There are several flights from there to SFO daily. I called her and told her this was the last After Dark night that we’d all be able to go to because Hillary and Amara are going to some convention next week. Emma and I are out of town the next, visiting my parents for a long weekend. And you and Jo are leaving after that.” She paused for a moment, appearing saddened by the thought. “Kell caught a flight out a couple of hours ago. She’ll be here–”
“Now,” Hillary said, pointing to the car that just pulled up at the curb.
“Holy shit,” Greene walked toward Kellan Cobb, who slid a backpack over her shoulders and smiled when she saw her. “I can’t believe you just jumped on a plane.”
“I can’t believe you are moving to Australia,” Kellan returned, hugging Greene. “Hey, Hill.”
“Hey, Kell. I know you were just here for the wedding a few weeks ago, but it’s still good to see you. How long are you staying?”
“Just tonight. I have to head home on the first flight. I have patients tomorrow. I didn’t have time to cancel appointments.”
“Thanks for being here,” Greene told her.
“It’s our last After Dark for a long time, huh?” Kellan said.
“Should we go inside and see if Indy is still slinging drinks and trying to pick up girls?” Keira joked.
“God, that seems like so long ago. Didn’t she hit on you one time?” Greene asked Keira.
“Oh, it was more than one time,” Keira said.
◆◆◆
“Did you guys have fun?” Joanna asked.
“We did. I wish you were there, though.”
“No, you don’t. You’re about to be stuck with me in a new country where you have no friends. You’re about to be annoyed with how much time you spend with me. It’s good you had time with them.”
“Jo, I’m never annoyed with how much time I get to spend with you. And we’ll make friends.”
“I know we will.” She smiled over at her wife.
“Keira’s throwing us a going away party, by the way,” Macon told her.
“I’d expect nothing less. How is she feeling about us leaving now?”
“She’s still sad, but I think the talk helped.”
“We should try to find the time where she and Emma can come visit and line it up before we go. That’ll help, too,” Joanna suggested.
“True. How about we take, like, six months or so just to get settled in, and they come after that?”
“Sounds good to me. We can learn about all the good restaurants and find out which ones to avoid. Emma’s pretty picky about the food she likes.”
“I swear she’s gotten pickier over the years,” Macon agreed and laughed. “She would not like that Indian place.”
“No, she wouldn’t. Hillary would, though.”
“Amara might, too.”
“We could always invite them all.”
“We won’t have any guest rooms.”
“We can put a pull-out in my office, and we can get one for the living room,” she said.
“We can put one in the studio, Jo. You don’t need to give up your office space for that. I don’t need that much room to play the violin.”
“Pull-outs in all three rooms, then. And we’ll invite Kellan and Reese, too,” Joanna suggested.
“God. That’s a full house.”
“A house full of our friends in our new city.”
“New country,” Macon added.
“New adventure.”
“New life together.”
“I can’t wait,” Joanna said with a smile as Macon climbed on top of her.
“Neither can I.” Macon sat up, straddling her hips. She lifted her shirt up and off, tossing it on the bed beside them. “Now, we have several long days ahead of us. We’re going to be exhausted, trying to wrap everything up around here. Then, we have that hellish flight. We’ll have to finish the move after that.” She removed her own bra. “I think tonight should just be about us.”
“You do, do you?” Jo teased, reaching for Macon’s button and zipper.
“I do, yes.”
◆◆◆
“What time is she calling again?” Jo asked.
“She said one,” Greene confirmed. “That’s about five minutes from now. She said Emma would be home by then.”
“And that’s what time for them?”
“Seven,” Greene said. “But it’s seven yesterday.”
“God, that’s going to take some getting used to.” Jo sat down next to her on their new sofa.
“We’ve been here for three months, babe.” Greene winked at her.
“Yeah? What’s the temperature outside right now, in Fahrenheit?”
“You know I hate Celsius,” Greene returned with a glare.
Joanna chuckled at her and said, “I know you do.”
“Hey, Jo?”
“Yes, Macon?” Jo ran her hand through Greene’s hair.
“We’ve been here long enough to know if we like it enough to stay, I think.”
“I guess so.” Jo shrugged a shoulder.
“Do you?”
“Do I like it here?”
“Yes, do you like it here?”
“Make, I love it here.” Joanna leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I have new clients. I get to go to the beach whenever I want. And my sexy wife gets to come, too. She even wears a bikini sometimes.” She returned Greene’s wink from earlier. “You’re happy here, too, aren’t you?”
“I love it here.” Greene smiled at her wife. “I just wanted to make sure you do.”
“It feels like home, doesn’t it? Our new house and this place – it just feels like home to me.”
“Me too,” Greene agreed.
“That’s the FaceTime sound. Keira’s calling,” Jo said.
“She can wait a minute,” Greene returned.
She then leaned in and kissed her wife. Her real home would always be anywhere Joanna was, but she was so unbelievably happy with their new house, her new job, and their new life together, that she had to kiss her in that very moment. Then, she returned Keira’s FaceTime call and saw two of her best friends on the screen. They all recapped their weeks and talked about what they had coming up. Emma brought up the visit they’d have in the next few months. She was just as excited as Keira about their trip to Sydney. Greene couldn’t wait to see her friends. But after they hung up, she found herself staring at her wife, who was making them a late lunch, and she knew that no matter where they were in the world, she would always find a way to be happy with that brave woman over there.
Joanna had been the one to get them to open up about their feelings. She’d pushed Greene all those years ago to give them a chance. She’d come out to her parents and didn’t let them tell her how to live her life. She’d followed Greene around the world, never complaining about the toll it had taken on her. Now, she’d moved to a different country, set up a brand-new photography business, and supported Greene every day. Greene could only hope she was giving Jo enough support in return.
“I put vegemite on yours,” Jo said as she sat back down on the sofa next to Greene, passing her a plate with a sandwich on it.
“Gross. Why?”
“I’m kidding,” Joanna replied as she laughed. “Babe, I know how much you hate that stuff.”
“Hey, Jo?”
“Another deep question about
my happiness, Make?” she teased her wife.
“I just wanted to tell you that I love you.”
Joanna smiled back and said, “Good. I love you, too.” She nodded toward Greene’s sandwich. “Now, eat your vegemite.”
“Wait. What?”
AFTER… CHECKING THE RIGHT BOX
Keira watched as Macon Greene and Joanna Mason disappeared into the airport with their luggage. She waved again, even though they hadn’t looked back to see it. Why would they? They were married. They were traveling home together. People didn’t do that airport turn back to smile, wave, or air-kiss with a friend when they were traveling with their spouse.
“You okay?” her wife asked her.
“I’m just going to miss them. With Macon’s schedule, they’re not going to be able to visit again for another year. With my schedule, it’s not like I can just fly to Australia whenever I want,” Keira replied.
“And I work for the government, so I can’t just take a month off. That’s about how long it takes me to recover from that trip.” Emma wrapped her arm around Keira’s waist from the side, pulling them hip to hip. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Emma drove them home from San Francisco International Airport while Keira stared silently out the side window, watching the highway and buildings roll past them. At least it was a Sunday morning. There wasn’t the usual bumper-to-bumper traffic that plagued the Bay Area. Their friend Hailey had emailed them both an article a few months ago that talked about how the San Francisco traffic had not only overtaken Los Angeles as some of the worst in the world, but the definitive worst in the US. It made sense to Keira. She didn’t drive every day, but when she did, she couldn’t stand sitting still. She was the kind of person that always needed to be moving, learning, engaging or otherwise; just not sitting in her damn car, moving down the road inches at a time.
At home, Emma grabbed her laptop, sat on the sofa with her feet on the coffee table, and did some work while the TV played some true crime show in the background. Emma liked having some white noise when she worked. It didn’t bother Keira at all, but she wasn’t a big fan of the true crime genre, so she made her way into the home office they’d made in their guest room and decided to do some work herself. Her event planning business had taken off in recent years. She’d hired over one hundred people, which – for someone who had been on the brink of having nothing – was pretty amazing. Her office was still in the city, but she also had people who worked remotely for her around the peninsula, and even a couple in the LA area. She was proud to tell people they were the most popular event planning firm in the city and, possibly, even the state.
That was Keira’s new goal. She wanted to plan weddings, receptions, retirement and birthday parties, golf outings, sweet sixteen parties, quinceañeras, and any other event a person wanted to experience in their life. She also wanted to expand her empire as it were and branch out. She’d been asked by a few corporate clients if she knew of any speakers that could speak on topics like leadership and change at their events. She hadn’t at that time, but she’d done her research and had found them people to serve that purpose. Now, she was thinking about adding that kind of thing to her offerings. She could book the talent through her own agency instead of paying another. So, she’d put together a plan for how to get a few clients. She would become a booking agent if she did this, which was different than what she was used to, but it was exciting. Keira needed a little excitement right now.
“Ready for bed?” Emma asked later.
“It’s nine,” Keira said.
“I know. I have an early meeting tomorrow.” She wrapped her arms around Keira’s neck from behind, placing her chin on the top of Keira’s head.
“Give me five minutes to finish up, and I’ll join you?” Keira asked.
“Sure.” Emma kissed the top of Keira’s head and left the room.
Keira finished the email she’d been typing and sent it to her customer. Then, she turned off her computer for the night and made her way into the bedroom. She’d been hoping they’d have some time tonight to spend together, but she’d gotten caught up in her work and hadn’t checked the time. With Greene and Joanna in town, she and Emma hadn’t had any time alone. Their friends had slept in the guest room, next to the desk Keira used when she worked at home. So, that hadn’t given her and Emma a chance to do much to or with each other for the past week and a half. As she stared at her sleeping wife, though, Keira knew that wouldn’t be happening tonight after all. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and otherwise get ready for bed, slid under the covers next to Emma, and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how they’d gotten here.
◆◆◆
“She’s taking me on a cruise,” Rose told her. “Six days and seven nights in the Caribbean. I cannot wait.”
“Really?” Keira asked with a smile. “That’s fantastic.”
“I think this is it, Keira. I think she’s going to ask me.”
“Well, you’ve been together for three years. It’s about time,” Keira said.
“Together for three, but we’ve known each other for ten. I feel like I should have married her a decade ago.” The woman smiled as she jabbed at a piece of lettuce in her salad.
Rose was one of the senior event planners on Keira’s staff. They’d struck up a friendship only recently. She wasn’t someone Keira spent a lot of time with outside of work, but Rose and her girlfriend, Claudia, were nice. They were very much in love. And Rose had explained over numerous lunches that she hoped Claudia would ask her to marry her one day soon. When Keira had asked her why she couldn’t ask Claudia, Rose just said she knew Claudia wanted to do the asking, and she wanted to give her that.
Keira thought back to the day Emma had proposed. It was also the day they’d gotten married. Well, they’d had a ceremony in front of their friends and made it legal after, but it was such a perfect day. She loved Emma with her whole heart. She knew she always would, but things had been different lately. They weren’t in a rut. They weren’t dealing with the dreaded bed death. Things just weren’t how they used to be.
As Keira watched Rose head out for the afternoon with three other staff members, likely toward the local hangout, she realized what was different. It wasn’t Emma. It wasn’t their marriage. She missed her friends. Greene and Joanna lived in Sydney now. Hillary and Amara weren’t far away, but in San Francisco traffic, it took over two hours to get to the suburbs her friends now called home. Naturally, they’d ended up spending more and more time out there, only coming into the city when needed for work. Kellan and Reese were married and living in Tahoe. They rarely came to visit these days. Keira loved her wife, but she missed her friends.
“Hey, I was thinking about watching a movie. You interested?” Emma asked after they finished doing the dishes together.
“You want to go to a movie?” Keira asked hopefully.
“I want to watch a movie in our living room,” Emma corrected.
“Oh.”
“Keira, what’s going on?” Emma asked as she put the last plate into the cabinet over the dishwasher.
“Nothing. I just misheard you.”
“Do you want to go to a movie right now?”
Keira crossed her arms over her chest and said, “Not really.”
“Then, why did you bring it up?”
“I didn’t. You said movie. I heard movie.”
“You sounded like you wanted to go.”
“I have to work tomorrow, and so do you. By the time we get there, watch the movie, and come home, it’ll be after eleven.”
“Which is why I suggested we just Netflix and chill, babe.” Emma moved over to her wife and placed her hands on Keira’s hips.
“Right. Let’s do that,” Keira said with a small smile.
“Please tell me what’s wrong… I know when something’s wrong. I’m the wife. That’s kind of how this thing works,” Emma said.
Keira put her arms around Emma’s shoulders, pulled her in for a hug, an
d said, “I’m sorry. I’m fine. I think I’m just tired.”
“Of watching movies on the sofa with me?”
“What?” She pulled back to look into Emma’s eyes. “No, Em. I love watching movies with you; with my head in your lap and you running your hands all over my body. And then we…”
Emma’s eyes got big, and she added, “Fool around on the sofa until we go to the bedroom to finish what we started?”
“That only happens sometimes, but yes. I was kind of hoping we’d do that last night, but you fell asleep on me.”
“Sorry,” Emma replied.
“You don’t have to apologize. I got caught up in work. It was late,” Keira said, leaning in and giving Emma a quick kiss. “I’m working on the plan to expand into booking speakers.”
“How’s it going?” Emma asked as she tugged on Keira’s hand to pull her into the living room. “And you can pick out the movie.”
“Because you didn’t put out last night?” Keira teased.
“Because you have a better taste in movies than I do.”
“I’m glad you’re finally admitting that.” She picked up the remote and turned on the TV. “And the planning is going well. I think I should hire someone with an agent- or manager-type experience to head it up, see how that goes, and then hire more if it goes well. It’s a new revenue stream. If someone has a ten-thousand-dollar speaking fee, and we get only ten percent of that, that’s a thousand dollars for a few phone calls for us. Maybe it’s even just a couple of emails or an online request form or something.”
“Ten thousand dollars?”
“That’s on the low end. Some of the bigger celebrities get two hundred to five hundred thousand. I don’t think we’re targeting that group, but it’s still something that can bring in more money.”
“We’re doing okay, though, Key.” Emma patted her thigh.
“It’s not about our money. It’s about making sure the business is always evolving.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“And, truthfully… I love event planning. But I’m also ready to try something else, too.”
San Francisco Series- Complete Edition Page 100