Page 8 of Bliss

Callie

It was just after 1 p.m., and Callie was just about to get started on designing the new artwork for a local craft brewer’s July 4 th advertising campaign, when Joselynn popped over. Taking a seat on the corner of her desk, she jingled her car keys with a broad grin.

“Grab your purse and clock out for lunch. We’re blowing this popsicle stand.”

Callie checked the time again, then shrugged as she logged into the e-time application they used to record their hours worked. She normally waited until at least 1:30 p.m. to punch out for lunch, but she was at a good stopping point.

“Where are we going?” she asked, as she stood, draping her purse over her shoulder and pushed her chair in.

“I arranged for us to have a hot double date. We’re going to…”

“What?” Callie’s eyes shot wide open and her stomach clenched with guilt, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. “I’m not going on a… Joselynn, I’m with Alex. How could you do this? No.” She quickly yanked her chair out, preparing to sit back down, but when Joselynn’s smile turned proud and mischievous, she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re messing with me.”

“Sort of.” Joselynn giggled and hopped off Callie’s desk, looping her arm through hers. “Alex is here to pick us up.”

Callie’s body instantly unwound and she couldn’t suppress her smile even if she had tried. “You’re an ass, sometimes,” she sai d playfully, while bumping her hip into Joselynn’s. “But this is a nice surprise. Where are we going?”

“Are you up for tacos?”

“I’m always up for tacos.”

Joselynn snickered, teased, “Such a lesbian response,” and Callie’s cheeks flamed hot as she released a surprised, blurting laugh and lightly slapped her friend’s arm.

When they walked outside, and Callie’s eyes locked with Alex’s warm whiskey pools, her chest expanded with a deep breath, her body temperature increased, and she had to swallow a rush of saliva. Alex was parked along the sidewalk, leaning against the side of her car. She was wearing a loose tank top that showed off her incredible shoulders and arms and a pair of joggers with the legs pulled up to right below her knees.

As Joselynn released Callie’s arm, she whistled and dramatically fanned herself. “If you keep looking at each other like that, your clothes are going to catch on fire, and I’m going to have to call the fire department.”

Her words barely registered as Alex pushed off from the vehicle, stepping into Callie’s space, and placed her hands on her hips and a soft kiss on her lips. “Hi. Hungry?”

“Starving,” Callie sighed, as she pressed her body flush with Alex’s, wrapping her hand around the back of her neck, and drew her in for another kiss. A real kiss. A kiss that awakened every cell in her body, making her feel like she was vibrating. Alex tasted like hot peppermint tea with honey and she couldn’t get enough of it, couldn’t get enough of her.

The loud double-beep of someone locking a car nearby startled Callie, and she quickly broke from the kiss and looked around with glossy, unfocused eyes. When she turned back to Alex, growing even warmer from the affectionate smile staring back at her, Joselynn stole her attention before she could engage her in another kiss.

Laughing and waving her cellphone, their friend teased, “I’m seriously one tap away from calling the fire department to come hose you two down.”

Callie looked down at where her chest was pressed against Alex’s, then tilted side to side to look at their legs, before lifting a brow at Joselynn. “There are no singe marks on our clothes. I think we’re far from spontaneously combusting.”

Joselynn bit her lips to suppress a laugh, and as she opened the back passenger door, she said, “I wouldn’t say that. A few more minutes of kissing like that and a well-placed hand and…” She made an explosion motion with her hand, then climbed into the car, leaving Callie slack-jawed and blushing bright red.

“She’s being such a brat today.” Callie shook her head in exasperation, then lightly kissed Alex’s lips, and said, “Hi,” and Alex chuckled.

“Hi.” While rubbing her hands up and down Callie’s sides, she asked, “Ready to go get lunch?”

“Yes, but how are you here? I thought you had a meeting with a new client during my lunch hour.”

“They called to reschedule, and Joselynn got to me before I could tell you,” Alex answered, while opening the door to the front passenger seat for her.

After Callie was seated, and her legs and arms were clear, Alex shut the door and rushed around to the driver’s side, quickly started the engine and turned on the AC.

“Taco Loco?” Alex asked, while buckling her seat belt and looking between Callie and Joselynn.

From the back seat, Joselynn answered, “Yes, Callie is ravenous for a taco .”

The way Joselynn cooed taco with such a salacious tone was not missed by Alex or Callie. While Callie spun around to look at her smirking friend with wide eyes and thinly pressed lips, the corner of Alex’s mouth twitched with a barely contained smile, and rose colored her honey cheeks.

Joselynn giggled and lightly touched Callie’s nose and winked at her. Callie tried to be mad, but her smile broke free and she released a small laugh as she shook her head and turned in her seat.

After pulling out of the parking lot, Alex asked, “How’s your day going so far?”

“Good, and it just got better,” Callie answered, while placing her hand on Alex’s thigh. After coming to stop to observe a red light, Alex leaned over to kiss her cheek, but Callie turned to catch the kiss on her lips. “Better still,” she whispered, as Alex pulled away.

“Swoon,” Joselynn cooed. “I fully expect you to name your first child after me.”

“You know,” Alex started, glancing over at Callie with a grin, “I’m starting to wonder how many of those U-Haul lesbians rented their own moving truck, versus how many times the overzealous matchmaking best friends rented them, bought tequila and tacos, and bribed the couple into moving in together for their own self-gratification.”

While Callie cracked up, Joselynn giggled, and said, “I’m adding that plan to my calendar for … say … three months from now.”

“Three months!” Callie spun around, gaping with wide eyes. “Are you sure you’re not a closet sapphic, Joselynn?”

The three of them shared a laugh, but when Alex pulled into Taco Loco’s packed parking lot, they refocused on lunch. There was a line out the door fifteen people deep, as was typical for the city’s favorite taco spot, but the wait was never too long and definitely worth it.

While they waited in line, progressing a couple of steps every minute or so, they talked more about their workday thus far. When they reached the counter, they ordered three each of carne asada, al pastor, and birria tacos to split, as well as a few house-made salsas and three iced horchatas to drink. The handful of tables and dozen stools along the narrow counter in front of the windows were taken, so they took their food and drinks outside, finding a picnic table in the public park across the street.

When Callie sat next to Alex, Joselynn smiled, but instead of commenting on their budding relationship again, she passed out the paper plates provided by the restaurant.

Callie and Joselynn became fast friends when she started at Vine Designs about eight months ago. Joselynn was sweet, intuitive, compassionate, encouraging, and empathetic. It took a few months to fully open up to her about some of the more traumatic aspects of her last relationship, but Joselynn never blamed Callie for what Britton put her through or judged her for how long she had stayed with her. She listened, empathized, and more than that, she understood that although Callie had trauma, she wasn’t broken, worthless, or unable to form and maintain healthy relationships.

Joselynn and Alex had been best friends for half their lives — Joselynn’s love for Alex ran deep, just as deep as soulmates, minus the sexual connection. Though they’d talked every day about the progress of their relationship, this was the first time Joselynn was seeing Callie and Alex together. It made Callie feel safe and happy to see Joselynn’s approval and hope for them as a couple. And it made her own hope grow to see that Alex was the same person in front of Joselynn as she was when it was just the two of them, not just with her affections, but her personality as well.

Britton had a different personality for practically every person or group they hung out with, or even by location, such as a restaurant, movie theater, museum, or park. It gave Callie whiplash the first time she noticed the drastic change, and when she brought it up with Britton, her ex made her feel foolish and childish for not understanding. She had explained that she adjusted herself to the moment or people she was around to make them feel safe and more comfortable. But it never made Callie feel safe or comfortable. It made her feel like she didn’t know the person she was supposed to be sharing her life with. She never knew what personality she would be dealing with day by day. One day, Britton could be funny and relaxed and let things roll off her back if inconveniences arose, or if someone accidentally bumped into her or commented on her masculine appearance. Other days, the littlest things set her off. Constantly trying to keep up with Britton’s mood swings and personality shifts was such a challenge that she hardly had enough energy left to notice the other red flags, and it constantly made her question herself. Was she being inattentive to Britton? Was she reacting to the wrong personality? Was it her fault that Britton was angry?

So far, Alex appeared to be herself, not adjusting to fit what she thought others wanted or expected her to be. And that made for a really enjoyable lunch. The three of them talked about anything and everything, laughed quite a bit, and stuffed themselves with the most delicious and authentic tacos in the city.

When Alex pulled her car up along the curb in front of their office building, Joselynn quickly said, “Thanks for lunch, Alex. Drive safely. I’ll see you inside, Callie,” and she was gone before Callie could even unbuckle her seat belt.

Callie stared after her quickly retreating tall and trim figure, then tilted her head to look at Alex, and both of them laughed. Shaking her head, Callie unbuckled her seat belt, as did Alex, but she didn’t move to exit the vehicle yet.

While holding Alex’s hand in both of hers, she traced her thumb over her knuckles, and told her, “Thank you for paying for lunch. It was delicious, and it was really nice to see you and get away from the office for a bit.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Alex lightly tucked a strand of hair behind Callie’s ear, allowing her fingers to trace the rim of her ear and down the side of her neck. The gentle touch caused her skin to erupt in goose bumps, and her chest swelled with a deep, burning breath. Just as she was leaning in to kiss Alex, three sharp taps on Callie’s window made her jump in her seat and spin around. A security guard was bent down, peering through the window, dark eyes dodging between them.

As soon as Callie lowered the window, the woman’s eyes looked past her at Alex, and she sternly said, “You can’t park here.”

“I’m just dropping off my…”

“Next time,” the guard interrupted, while pointing towards the parking lot, “park. You’re blocking the way for emergency vehicles if something were to happen.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll park next time.”

The stern woman roughly nodded, and told her, “Park to say your goodbyes, or move along,” then strutted back to the building, not giving them a chance to respond.

“Shit, she’s scary,” Callie quietly said, as she put her window back up.

Alex shrugged with a smile. “She’s just doing her job. Should I…?”

Callie quickly leaned over, drawing her into a brief, tender kiss, and when she pulled away, she grabbed her door handle. A hint of disappointment settled in Alex’s eyes, but she returned Callie’s smile.

“I’d love to park and spend a few more minutes with you, Alex, but I’m going to be late if I don’t tear myself away from you now.” The disappointment lifted from Alex’s gaze, as did her smile, and she nodded once. “Thanks again for lunch. I’ll text you later.”

As she climbed out, Alex confirmed, “Talk to you soon.”

“Drive safely.”

Callie closed the door and waved, before quickly making her way to the double glass doors, where the security guard was standing, watching with her thick arms crossed over her broad chest.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, as she grabbed the steel door handle. Before walking inside, she glanced back to see Alex slowly inching along the curb, watching to make sure she made it inside. She smiled and waved, then had to bite back a laugh when the guard released a huff of impatience.

While she walked across the granite tiles of the lobby, and used her badge to enter another set of thick glass doors, she replayed the scene in her mind. Her stomach fluttered and heart rate increased when Alex’s interrupted response echoed over and over again. “I’m just dropping off my…” My, what? What was Alex going to say? My friend? My girlfriend? My date? No, date would have been a weird thing to say, and lunch wasn’t a date. What am I to Alex? We’re exclusive, but does that mean we’re girlfriends? She wanted to text Alex to ask her what she was going to say, but she didn’t. For one, she didn’t want to cause her any distractions while she was driving. And for another, they’d only been dating for a week. Surely, it was too soon to put a label on what they were to each other. Yes, it is, Callie decided, choosing to just be in the present and allow their relationship to develop naturally. We’ll label it when the time is right.