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“Do you?”

“Well. Uh. I’m not—”

“In love,” Dana interrupted. “Your goofy grin tells all, so do not try to deny it.” And for once, no complaint followed that observation. Just a tight, warm hug. “Alright, babe. Let me know next time she’s in town and you can come for dinner. Mel would love to see you as well.”

“Okay. I’d like that.”

“Will you be spending Christmas together?”

“That’s the plan. Christmas Day at the family home.”

“Great.” Dana looked pleasantly surprised, and curious as well. “I thought she was at odds with the rest of the Michaels clan?”

“Grace is trying to patch things up with them.”

Though this prompted another approving nod from Dana, who was extremely tight with her own family and struggled at times to imagine any other way, Olivia left it vague. She would not discuss Grace’s private affairs; not even with her best friend. She also knew that things in that relationship were at a delicate stage. Grace had requested to speak to her father ahead of time.He declined, on account of a busy schedule. And let her know, via his secretary, that she and her ‘guest’ would be welcome at the house for Christmas Day.Power games,Olivia thought. Grace agreed, but she was nonplussed about it.

“It’s good enough,” she stated. And simply warned Olivia that, knowing her family, this wouldn’t be a done deal until they were all sitting down at the table. “Last-minute changes tend to be the norm.”

“Not a problem,” Olivia assured.

She was also prepared for the usual aloofness and another round of radio silence while Grace was away in Chicago. Her single-minded lover, she had learned, worked hard, long hours. She liked to immerse herself in the project at hand and ignore everything else in her world. Olivia understood this very well, actually, since it was typical of an artist’s creative process. Hers, too. So, she was surprised and touched when Grace started to message her at odd times during the day. Sometimes just to say hello. Literally, just‘Hi’. Or Olivia would get a random photo of her surroundings with a typical comment attached to it. A piece of ugly beige carpet and,‘Can you believe this horror?’Or a blurred photo of a snowy street taken from the back of a taxi;‘On the move – snail’s pace’.Sometimes, a striking piece of design would come through. Like the crisp shadow of a rose over an immaculately white wall, or the sharp angle of a piece of clean marble. Grace’s comments on those varied from a smiling emoji, a wondering face, or a single check mark. The pics were endearing snapshots of her world. The comments revealed her mindset, allowing Olivia into her private musings. In return, she sent her funny photos of her puppy, behind the scenes at a vegan event, or a selfie from her studio following a productive afternoon creating her own stuff. To which Grace replied with:‘Stunning’,a series of flame emojis, and a panting red face. The message was clear and made Olivia smile. She began to look forward to her late-night phone calls as well. At first, always under the guise of something other than just checking in, as if Grace thought she needed an excuse. Asking her to drop in on Charlie, even though Olivia enjoyed seeing her friend, and never needed any prompting. Or asking for her opinion, which surely Grace did not really need, on a new design idea. Soon enough, all pretense was abandoned and the calls turned to,‘Hey. How was your day?’

“You’ll never guess what happened today,” Grace told her that night as Olivia snuggled in bed with her puppy. “I had a vegan meal.”

“Yay! Wonderful! You sound astonished.”

“Well. Quite.”

“What was it?”

“Lasagna. With the funny black stuff instead of mince meat; you know?”

“You mean lentils?”

“Ah. I think it was. Lentils, yeah. I wanted to send you a pic but it didn’t look like much on the plate.”

Olivia suppressed a chuckle. “Did it taste good at least?”

“Surprisingly. Didn’t enjoy it as much as the pizza the other day, but that’s probably because the company was a lot better in Dodger.”

“You’re such a charmer.”

“I speak the truth. By the way, I told Chloe to add a vegan option for you at Christmas.”

“Oh, thanks, that’s very kind. I don’t want to give her extra work with the cooking though. I can just bring something on the day if that’s okay.”

Grace snorted in amusement. “Chloe is not cooking, Liv, the caterers will be. Gosh! I don’t think anyone in my family knows how to make food from scratch. The only reason they ever set foot into a kitchen is because wine is kept there.”

“You called me Liv,” Olivia murmured.

“Oh. Yeah, it just came out. You don’t like it?”

“I do, actually. A lot. It’s just that everyone tends to call me Oli. Liv sounds a lot more… mature, and sophisticated, I guess. Is that how you see me?”

“As an alluring woman. Yes, for sure. Liv Bianchi,” Grace stated with a knowing chuckle. “You might want to amend your name to that on the flashy new website you swore to me you didn’t want.”

“That’s actually an excellent idea.”