Page 24 of October (New Orleans #10)

F inley regretted making this plan, but she’d done it before the hot make-out session with Molly in the server room.

She’d always suspected that Molly would be a good kisser.

Even before she knew that she liked Molly and wanted her to be the woman she kissed, she had often thought about that.

She’d thought about it with Juliet, too, though, and Stacey, who was in HR, as well as Molly, and Stacey wasn’t even gay.

It was just something Finley did. She’d thought about how India would kiss before their first date, and she’d done that over the years for women she wasn’t even remotely interested in.

There was the barista at the place by her house when she had been in high school, and the girl who worked at the local movie theater, who used to sneak Finley extra popcorn when her boss wasn’t looking.

Now that she thought about that, though, Finley wondered if that had been her way of flirting.

Had she missed out on the cute movie theater girl because she’d been oblivious? Well, it didn’t matter now.

When she’d gotten to work that morning, she had been hoping to talk to Molly about their corner-of-the-mouth kiss, but not finding Molly there yet, she’d dropped her stuff off at her desk and headed downstairs to check on her team in the meantime.

Then, on the way there, she’d gotten stuck in the elevator with India, who had managed to catch the thing right when the doors had been about to close.

“Hey, sorry,” India had said.

“No problem,” Finley had replied.

“You’re here early.”

“Remodel,” she’d said.

“Is that why you haven’t called me back? You’ve been busy with work?”

Finley had stared at the buttons in front of her as they had lit up, indicating the floors they had been on or passed, and she’d wished for the thing to speed up.

“Not the only reason,” she’d answered honestly.

“Finley, can we just do the stuff exchange, then? I have a dress at your place that I’d like to get back, and I feel weird being at your place without you.”

“You’ve been at my place before when I wasn’t there.”

“Not after we’ve broken up. Can I just come over tonight?”

“Just to get your stuff, India. I don’t want to talk again. We’ve done so much of that already.”

“Okay. Fine. Deal. I’ll be there around seven. I have a late meeting, so I can’t get out of here until after that. Want me to grab us food on the–”

“No,” Finley had interrupted. “I don’t need you to grab us anything for dinner because you’re just getting your stuff and leaving.”

“Right,” India had said with a nod. “Sorry. Habit.”

“We have a lot of those, don’t we?” she’d offered.

“Yeah, I suppose we do,” India had said.

Finally, the doors had opened as they’d arrived at their floor.

Not long after that, Molly had arrived, and Finley had pulled her into the server room because she hadn’t been able to wait any longer.

She had needed to kiss her, but she’d also hated the idea of Molly feeling embarrassed about the previous night.

It had been careless, but she hadn’t expected India to appear right as they’d left the room, probably looking like they had been doing exactly what they’d been doing.

Finley didn’t want to hurt her ex, but she did want to move on, and she felt ready to do that.

Unfortunately, they all worked at the same company, which meant that there was a good possibility India would figure out that it was Molly who Finley had talked to her about the other day in the coffee shop, and the fact that they’d walked right out of the server room talking and laughing together made it even clearer.

Once at home, Finley hadn’t known what to do with her time until India’s arrival.

She had been almost frozen, ready for India to get there so that they could finally be done, but when the knock on the door came right at seven, Finley took a deep breath because nothing with India had ever been easy.

She knew it was India because India was always on time, and she always knocked the same way: three short knocks, followed by a gap and a fourth one.

Finley had heard it so many times when they had first started dating, before the keys had been exchanged, that she still heard it in her mind sometimes.

She stood up and walked to the door with a beer in hand.

She’d already finished half of it, needing the alcohol to help her get through whatever was coming next.

No matter what India had promised, Finley knew they weren’t about to get through the night without a conversation about their relationship.

“Hey,” she said when she opened the door, trying to show no emotion and hoping against hope that India would just walk in, take her stuff, and go.

“Hi,” India replied. “I wasn’t sure we were still on for this, but I thought I’d come over just in case. It’s on the way home, anyway.”

In no way was Finley’s place on the way home from work for India, but Finley decided to let that go.

“Why wouldn’t we still be on for this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’d have new plans since we made ours.”

“If I did, I would’ve canceled on you or told you to just come in and grab whatever.”

“Can I come in now ?” India asked.

“Yeah,” Finley said and stood aside, letting India walk into the apartment. “No boxes?”

“For what?”

“Your stuff, India,” Finley said as she closed the door.

“I thought you’d have some,” India replied.

“For your stuff?”

“I just need my dress tonight. You said you had my stuff in boxes, I thought. I can get some if I need to, though, and come back for the rest later. It’s not like I planned this. I asked you this morning when I was already at work because I happened to see you in the elevator.”

“Yes, but you asked me ,” Finley retorted. “You had time today to grab a few boxes from the copy or storage rooms. I took your stuff out of the boxes I had them in because I needed them for parts instead.”

“Parts…” India shook her head. “Well, I didn’t bring boxes. Do you have one of those for me by any chance?” She nodded to Finley’s beer.

“You don’t like beer.”

“No, but I’m guessing you don’t have wine.”

“I have water. Would you like that?” she asked. “I don’t think you should drink and drive.”

“As if one beer would take me over the limit.”

“Have you had dinner yet?”

“You know I haven’t,” India replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Then, no beer for you. Your dress is hanging up in the closet.” Finley took a drink of her beer and sat back down on the sofa.

“What is your problem?” India asked, moving to stand in front of the sofa.

“Nothing,” she said.

“Really? Nothing’s wrong? You’re acting like I’m getting in the way of something. Did you have other things you wanted to do tonight? Maybe fuck Molly Jewel in the office kitchen since you’ve already tried out the server room.”

“Excuse me?” she said.

“Please, Finley. I know your looks. I’ve seen all of your looks. I’ve seen your post-sex face a thousand times.”

“Well, then you don’t remember it very well because I didn’t have any today.”

“Molly didn’t take care of you?”

“Fuck you, India!” Finley exclaimed. “And not that it’s any of your business, but we didn’t do that.”

“You expect me to believe that you didn’t–”

“I don’t care what you believe, honestly. You came here to get your stuff. Can you just grab whatever you want and go, please? I don’t want to do this again.”

“We’re not doing anything again . I haven’t even said anything about our relationship; just about your new one.”

“Please stop,” she said a little softer. “Molly is a good person, and you like her. Just remember that.”

“I do like Molly. She’s sweet.”

“Then, leave her out of this, okay?”

“I wasn’t the one who pulled her into it. You’re the one who did whatever you did in the server room with her today.”

“We were talking,” Finley replied. “And yes, we’ve been on a couple of dates, but, India, please don’t tell anyone.”

“Because she could get in trouble?” India asked and sat down next to her.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I just don’t want to risk it.”

“I’m not that person, Finley. Does Molly think I am? Is she worried?”

“She was . But I told her you wouldn’t do anything.”

“I won’t,” India replied. “Sorry for my reaction. I was just surprised. In the store, you said you liked someone else, but not that it was someone we work with or someone I know or will see every day. I didn’t know you two were already… dating.”

“I didn’t plan on you finding out this way,” Finley said.

“How did you plan on me finding out?”

“I would’ve told you,” she said. “It’s only been a couple of dates. There wasn’t a point in saying anything until I knew it was serious. It’s not like I want to hurt you, India.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, either, Fin.” India moved a little closer. “I want you to be happy.”

“I know. I am.”

“With Molly?”

“We’re not together yet,” she replied and took a drink of her beer.

India took the bottle from her and downed the rest of it before she set it empty on the table.

“Half a beer won’t hurt,” she said. “And do you want to be with her?”

“I really like her,” Finley answered.

“Like you liked me once?”

“India…”

“What happened to us?”

“We said we–”

“I just mean that it was so good at first. Then, we were doing this dance over and over again. I’m still waking up in the morning and rolling over, expecting you to be there.

The other day, I accidentally used that old toothbrush you have in my bathroom.

I use an electric one. I don’t even know why I grabbed your regular one, but I did it without thinking and put it back in the holder after I was done and just stared at it. ”

“You can throw that out,” Finley replied.

“Yeah,” India said, appearing somewhere far away from the sofa before she finally met Finley’s eyes. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot.”

“You should try to move on instead,” Finley suggested.

“It hasn’t been that long, Finley. I didn’t have someone else on the back burner just waiting for us to break up again.”

“Molly wasn’t on the back burner. It wasn’t like that.”

“Can you tell me how it was , then? Because one day, you’re still with me. The next, we’re over again, and suddenly, you’re going out with someone else. We were together for a long time, Fin. I thought–”

“You thought what?”

“You know what I thought,” India told her.

“That this was just another temporary thing,” she said, knowing the answer.

“Yes. And, if I’m being honest, I still do.”

“Why? I’ve told you. I’ve been honest, India. I–”

“I know,” India replied. “But I can’t just give up on us, Fin. If you want to explore this with Molly, fine. You’re technically single.”

“I’m not exploring anything with Molly, India. It’s not like–”

But before Finley could finish her sentence, India was leaning in.

Finley knew what was about to happen, so quickly, before it could, she jumped off the sofa, knocking the empty beer bottle off the table and onto the floor, where it let loose the small amount of beer onto her carpet, and took three big steps back toward the TV.

“What the fuck, India?!”

“You’re not together yet. You said it yourself.”

“Are you kidding me?” she asked and shook her head. “Did you honestly come here to try to get me to sleep with you when you know I’m dating Molly?”

“No, I didn’t know you were dating Molly when I asked you if I could get my stuff this morning.

I found that out later.” India stood up and wiped at the invisible wrinkles on her perfectly starched pants.

“I was going to kiss you, and if that led to something else, so be it. I wanted to kiss you. I miss kissing you, Finley.”

“India, can you just take your dress and go, please?” she said and looked down at the bottle on the floor. “I have to clean this up.”

“I just don’t get it.”

“What?”

“What happened with us; I don’t get it. I know we’re not perfect. I’m not an idiot, Finley. But I was yours, and you were mine. We were going to figure it out. We always figure it out.”

India turned and walked toward the bedroom, where she disappeared after turning the light on because she knew exactly where the switch was, where the closet was, and where the dress was hanging.

Seconds later, she returned to the living room after leaving the light on, but at least she was carrying the dress she wanted.

“I’ll just go. I need to not be here right now.”

“Okay,” Finley said. “Are you okay to drive?”

“It was half a beer.”

“I’m just checking.”

“I’m fine. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, I guess.”

“Yeah, okay. Bye,” she said.

When the door closed, Finley went to it and locked it.

Technically, India still had her key, but there was a dead bolt that Finley flipped.

She didn’t expect India to just walk in, but she also hadn’t expected the woman to try to kiss her, either, so she would be extra cautious and hope India had gotten it all out of her system.

Finley did understand. As she climbed into bed later that night, she thought about how hard it had been to grasp their relationship ending for her as well.

She’d washed her sheets three times before she finally couldn’t smell India on the fabric, but accomplishing that goal had also felt strange and unfamiliar because that scent had been in her life for years.

She kept staring at her ceiling, trying not to think about the past and focus on the future, and her phone beeped.

Finley rolled her eyes, expecting it to be India with something else for them to talk about, but then she smiled when she saw it was Molly instead.

Molly Jewel : I just wanted to say goodnight. You’re probably still up, building a whole computer or something, but I’m about to go to sleep, so I wanted to say goodnight. Hope that’s not lame.

Finley thought about how best to respond and decided to just call her instead.

“Hey,” Molly said when she answered.

“It’s not lame. It’s cute,” she replied and rolled onto her side.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Finley said with a smile still on her face. “You’re about to go to sleep?”

“Yes. I’m exhausted. We had a workers’ comp issue that I had to take care of tonight. One of the sales guys got drunk at their happy hour thing and decided it was a good idea to smash a beer can on his face. He broke his nose.”

“No. Seriously? They have beer cans at happy hours?”

“ That’s what you took away from what I just said?” Molly asked through light laughter.

“I took the whole thing away. And the part where you worked late made me sad. I wish I could be there to massage your shoulders or something.”

“There’s always tomorrow,” Molly replied.

“I could massage your lips tomorrow, too… with my own.”

Molly laughed loudly this time and replied, “Oh, that was so bad, Finley Storm.”

“I know. I know. Talk about lame,” she said, covering her face with her free hand. “Normally, I’m much smoother.”

“Yeah? Say something smooth to me right now.”

Finley didn’t even have to think about it before she said, “I miss you, Molls.”