Page 81

Finally, he blurted out, “Fired! By a fucking dyke!”

Megan gasped, feeling as if she’d just been slapped. Of all the ways she imagined this conversation going before actually calling Trevor, this had not been one of them.

She noticed Trevor’s fiancée come running—no sprinting!—into the room Trevor was in and practically throw herself at the laptop. Megan caught a panicked expression on his fiancée’s face before the woman severed the Zoom connection.

Chapter 25

“I am so bummed!”

Amy was pouting. Vanessa had to admit it was a cute look on her.

Her customer had just read the sign announcing La Vida Mocha’s temporary new hours and had expressed her disappointment that her favorite coffee spot was once again going to be closed on Sundays, in addition to closing earlier throughout the week.

“God, I hate this pandemic!” Amy exclaimed. “And I get sooo mad now when I see people without masks on. I’m like, ‘Hello! Don’t you want things to return to normal?’”

“I know,” Vanessa agreed, adding the frothed milk to Amy’s cappuccino. “It’s the paradox of being American. So many freedoms, including the freedom to be stupid.” Vanessa didn’t have to worry about making such a quasi-unpatriotic statement to Amy. Since La Vida Mocha’s grand opening, when Amy started becoming a regular customer, Vanessa had learned that the brunette was no tight-ass, flag-waving citizen unable to stomach hearing a minor critique of American society.

“That’s clever. You’re funny,” Amy said with a very direct smile.

Vanessa added the finishing touches to the cappuccino. This time it was her turn to pout because she had to put the drink in a to-go cup. It was 9:45 a.m. and since the coffeeshop was closing in fifteen minutes it made zero sense for Amy to drink her coffee in-house.

“I hate that you can’t stay,” Vanessa said, handing over the drink. “You need to come earlier next time,” she added playfully.

Amy rolled her eyes.

“Well, if somebody had told me that you were closing at ten today, I would have.”

Vanessa played along, rolling her eyes this time.

“Fine, Amy,” she sighed in obvious mock exasperation, “I will text you each morning to remind you to get here earlier.”

Amy’s mouth fell open a bit and she held Vanessa’s eyes for a few beats.

“Promises, promises,” she said with a slight smile. “See you tomorrow?”

“Not until noon, though,” Vanessa reminded her. She waved bye as Amy began walking out. Once the door shut, Chloë appeared by Vanessa’s side.

“Getting Megan’s replacement all lined up, huh?” she asked.

Vanessa’s eyes went wide.

“What? No! What are you talking about?”

“Oh my God, Vanessa! You were so flirting with her!”

Vanessa’s hands flew to her face.

“Oh God! Was I? Fuck! Was it obvious?”

Chloë shrugged and sucked in air through her teeth.

“I mean, look,” she said, “I totally believe you if you say you didn’t mean it…but I can also totally imagine Amy getting the impression that you’d like to take a shower with her.”

“No! Fuck!” Now Vanessa completely covered her face with her hands, replaying the interaction with Amy, knowing that Chloë was right. “I am sooo clueless! Jesus, why did I do that?”

“Uh…because Amy is super cute and definitely someone most gay women would want to take a shower with?” Chloë answered.

Vanessa wondered if Megan’s comment from last night, that Vanessa and Amy would make a cute couple, somehow subconsciously caused Vanessa to be flirty now with Amy.