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Am I getting ready to replace Megan?

“Who do you think would win in a fight between Megan and Amy?” Chloë asked, smirking.

“Shut up! There isn’t gonna be any fighting!”

“I think Amy would win.”

“Fuck you, Megan would totally kick her ass!”

“Whatever you say, Vanessa.”

“Shut up. In fact, you know what, whenever Amy comes in here, you make sure to serve her.”

Chloë laughed.

“Oh yeah, ignore her!” she said, looking at Vanessa as if she was the dumbest person on Earth. “That’ll turn her off! Have you ever actually met a lesbian? Or…any woman?”

“You are not helping!” Vanessa covered her face again. “Jesus!” After a moment, she dropped her hands and said, “Let’s just start shutting down so we can get out of here.”

***

Before she got into her Jeep after locking the back door of La Vida Mocha and waving goodbye to Chloë, Vanessa sent a text to Megan.

Closed! Heading to see Angela and Dee. How is ur day so far?

Megan’s reply came as Vanessa was driving on the I-5, approaching the junction with the 78. Vanessa tapped “Read” on the infotainment screen and a second later the Jeep’s female voice, which Vanessa had named Jessie the Jeep about three minutes after buying the vehicle, started speaking.

“Message from Megan,” Jessie the Jeep began, “Tell them I said hi. My day is dramatic. I will tell you about it later. Stop by any time after three, if you want.”

Vanessa frowned. Dramatic? She hoped everything was okay with Megan and she wished wasn’t driving so she could send a follow-up text. She thought of calling but she never liked the idea of calling Megan during her working hours, not knowing if she’d be interrupting anything. In any case, she’d be at Angela and Desiree’s place in a few minutes; she’d wait to text Megan then. And when she went over to Megan’s later, she’d plan on spending the night because if Megan had had a bad day today, Vanessa wanted to be there for her.

Or am I just looking for any excuse now to spend the night?

So far this week, Vanessa and Megan had seen each other every day after Megan logged off in the afternoon. Also, so far this week, their long sessions of sex always seemed to begin with the assumption that they’d be waking up next to each other the following morning.

Way to become a lesbian stereotype…

She rolled her eyes. This is why she needed a chat with Angela and Desiree.

After parking in front of their house and firing off a quick text to Megan saying that she hoped everything was alright, Vanessa rang the doorbell.

“Girl, get in here!” Desiree said when she opened the door, a wide smile on her face. She pulled Vanessa in for a hug. “I know the CDC would have a hissy fit about me hugging you, but fuck them.”

Vanessa laughed and returned the hug. When they separated, she fingered the cuff of Desiree’s shirt.

“I love this. I could never pull off orange,” she said, admiring the way the shirt’s color complemented Desiree’s caramel skin tone.

“Angela says the same thing,” Desiree told her, then added in a conspiratorial whisper, “And she’s right. Orange makes her look even more pasty white than normal. Come on in, we have the food set up in the dining room.”

When Vanessa had asked if she could come by for some woman-to-woman talk, Angela had suggested that since La Vida Mocha closed at ten, Vanessa should come by for brunch. A few minutes after she arrived, she had a plate full of scrambled eggs, melon slices and even some smoked salmon with egg salad on a toasted baguette.

“This looks amazing!” She smiled at Angela, who Vanessa knew was the home chef of the couple. But Angela held up her hands in protest.

“Thank you,” she said, “but my future wife here actually helped by making the eggs and the bacon.”

Once everyone had sat down with their food and Vanessa had taken a couple of sips of her mimosa, Desiree asked her, “So who’s the woman?”

Vanessa laughed.