Unconventional Lovers

by Annette Mori

  Olivia smiled. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m pretty sure that’s Rain. She’s in one of Siera’s classes and volunteers at the animal shelter. She’s a good kid. I wouldn’t be too concerned.”

  “Okay. They seemed like an odd pairing. If you think the kid is okay, I’ll trust your judgment. So, my gorgeous friend, can I take you to lunch?” Deb asked.

  Olivia glanced at Evie. “Can she?”

  “Yep, I’ll call Mrs. Carlson. It’s not an emergency. Buffy got into something she shouldn’t have. I can schedule her for later today. You have an opening at three. I’ll ask her to bring Buffy in then.”

  “Thanks Evie, you’re a miracle worker. I could use a nice, leisurely lunch today. Let me wrap up with the new batch of kittens, and I’ll be right out.”

  “Ooh, can I come love on them, please?” Deb asked.

  Olivia motioned with her arm for Deb to follow. “Sure, come on in, but I’m warning you. They are cuteness personified. You’ll want to take another home for Socks to play with.”

  “Not a chance. He’s the king, and he won’t tolerate sharing his space with anyone. He’s a spoiled rotten little furball.”

  †

  Siera was sitting on Bri’s bed, her leg bouncing the laptop up and down. Bri could tell she wanted to say something, but she wasn’t talking. Bri always knew when Siera was nervous or stressed. Sometimes Siera got worried before a big test, so Bri wondered if that was making her anxious.

  “You’re almost done with school, Siera. Don’t worry about those big tests. You’ll do okay. You always do,” Bri soothed.

  Siera lifted her eyes to meet Bri’s. “I’m not worried about my finals. Well, I am kinda worried. But that’s not what I want to talk to you about.”

  “You can tell me anything, Siera. I love you. You’re not gonna break up with me, are you? Are you going to be Rain’s new girlfriend? She’s pretty and smart.” Bri’s eyes filled with unshed tears.

  Siera wrapped her arms around Bri. “No, you silly goose. Rain is my friend and she’s…uh…she gave me some advice about something.”

  “Advice?”

  “Yeah, remember a long time ago. I said maybe we could get a book to teach us about sex?”

  “Uh huh.” Bri smiled.

  “Rain says it’s important to talk about everything. She said you should tell your girlfriend what you like and what you want. I want to learn more about lesbian sex. Can we go on the internet and find a book?”

  Bri nodded her head vigorously. “Let’s do that right now. Will you do the search? You’re better with computers.”

  Siera opened the search engine and typed Lesbian Sex + Book. “There’s so many choices. How are we gonna pick one?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s read all the descriptions and the ratings. If there are lots of positive ratings, it must be a good book to get.”

  “Good idea. This is gonna be so much fun picking one out,” Siera said excitedly. “I shouldn’t have been afraid to talk to you. I shoulda known you would want to get a book. I’m sorry Bri. I’m going to always talk to you about everything.”

  “Me too. I promise,” Bri replied. “Hey, Siera…”

  She looked up from the computer. “Yeah?”

  “How are we gonna pay for it? Do you have your card?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Cool. I’ll give you half.”

  “Okay.”

  Bri liked that Siera knew it was important for her to pay half and didn’t argue.

  Chapter Twenty

  June 2013

  Deb leaned on the nurse’s desk in the emergency department. She’d offered to take a pediatric patient to her unit. “Can I talk to Kathleen before I take the patient to her room?” Deb asked the unit clerk. “My niece is graduating, and I wanted to confirm the plans for the graduation party.”

  “Oh, I know. She is so excited and proud of Siera. She talks nonstop about how Siera’s all set to go to Washington State, as soon as she decides to apply.”

  Deb frowned. “Siera and Bri’s business is doing extremely well, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to get a Bachelor’s degree. That’s Kathleen’s dream, not Siera’s. I thought she’d let that go.”

  “Oh, don’t say anything to her. I don’t want to cause any trouble,” the clerk said.

  Deb heard the swoosh of the emergency department doors and turned to watch a ghost from her past step inside the air-conditioned waiting area.

  Deb’s stomach turned sour, and she felt her heart pound in her chest. She clutched the edge of the desk, as she imagined her face had taken on a deathly glow.

  “Hi Deb, how have you been?” her ex-girlfriend asked.

  “Carrie, what are you doing back in Moses Lake? I thought you’d moved to Spokane?” Deb’s voice quivered.

  “I’m interviewing for a day shift position. Can we not have this conversation here? Would you please consider having dinner with me? I’ve already moved back to town. Now all I need is for your sister to agree to give me the job.”

  “Oh, you’ll get the job, unless I kill my sister before she has a chance to offer it to you,” Deb sniped.

  “Don’t blame Kathleen, I asked Codee, in HR, to set up the interview. I specifically told Codee not to tell Kathleen who it was with. I wanted to present my case in person, without her dismissing me out of the chute.”

  Deb remembered when they had noticed the beautiful human resources executive, Codee. It seemed every lesbian in the hospital had a schoolgirl crush on her. She was pleasant enough, but definitely gave the hands-off vibe. Deb wondered, briefly, about Carrie’s decision to go straight to the top to discuss her application, rather than going through Sharlie, Codee’s assistant. That irritated her for some unknown reason. What do I care if she makes a play for Codee? Deb thought bitterly.

  “She would never have done that. She has far too much integrity to let our shit get in the way. You’re a great nurse. I know she’d be happy to see you return,” Deb said.

  “Dinner?” Carrie pushed.

  “I’ll think about it. Call me tomorrow. I need a little time, okay?”

  “Okay,” Carrie replied quietly.

  Deb turned to the clerk. “Um, can you call me when the patient is ready? I’ll talk to my sister tonight.” Deb spun on her heels and nearly ran out of the department. She needed to pull herself together and call her best friend.

  When she returned to her unit, her supervisor gently took her arm. “Hey, I just heard. Listen, I called in Mila to cover for you. She was happy to come in. Go home, get a drink, call your friend, whatever you need to do. Come back tomorrow with your head squarely screwed in place and ready to give your all to the patients.”

  “News travels fast,” Deb replied bitterly.

  “People care, don’t take this the wrong way.”

  “I’m sorry. Shock doesn’t begin to cover what I’m feeling right now,” Deb whispered.

  “I know. It’s okay, we got this covered.”

  †

  Olivia wished she didn’t have to deal with Mr. Simpson and the aggressive Rover without Bri’s calming influence, but at least the jerk owner had agreed to muzzle him. Every time she thought of his name, she rolled her eyes. Rover, how original.

  The Motown music next door brought a smile to her lips. The girls always turned on the music and danced around while they bathed and groomed their customers. Bri insisted music soothed the savage beast. Olivia wasn’t sure if it was the music or Siera and Bri’s special skills with animals. Siera had proved to be as talented as Bri, and Olivia hadn’t been lucky enough to find anyone that could replace either of the girls, even though her new assistant was a vet tech.

  Uma, her new assistant, slid open the wood door, and Olivia frowned at the expression on her face. “Please, don’t tell me Rover is missing the required muzzle.”

  “No, no, it’s not that. Deb is here, and she looks terrible. Something is seriously wrong. Do you want me to have Evie re-schedule Rover?” Uma asked.

&nb
sp; “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. If he’s pissed about it, even better. I’d just as soon he takes Rover to a new vet anyway.” Olivia grinned.

  “Why don’t you refuse to see him?” Uma asked.

  Olivia sighed. “Because I promised Bri, and I’d never break my promise to her. She has a soft spot for the nasty little bastard.”

  “Mr. Simpson or Rover?”

  Olivia chuckled. “Rover of course. She insists he’s a sweet dog beneath all the aggression, and he only acts out because Mr. Simpson is, as you insinuated, the real nasty little bastard.”

  Olivia followed Uma to the front reception area. She took one look at Deb and ushered her into her office.

  “Oh, hon, what’s going on?” Olivia pulled Deb into a tight embrace.

  “My ex is back in town interviewing with Kathleen right this very moment. She’ll get the job, and I’ll have the pleasure of running into her every time I work.” Deb extricated herself from Olivia. She sat in the extra chair with her head in her hands and began to cry softly. “Fuck, it’s been six years. Why does it still hurt?”

  Olivia walked over to her and let her hand brush up and down Deb’s back. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this revelation. She had an easy friendship with Deb. Panic began to set in, as she imagined Deb getting back with her ex and leaving Olivia out in the cold. She wasn’t yet ready to put a label to her feelings. “Did you two talk?”

  Deb raised her head, revealing her bleary eyes. She nodded. “A little. She asked me to go to dinner with her. I’m not too embarrassed to admit I’m hesitant to listen to what she has to say. She looked at me like she used to, with that same love in her eyes. Before we broke up, we were good together. I thought she was my forever partner. She had other ideas and ran to Spokane when I wanted to make things official.”

  “She’s a fool for turning you down. So, are you going to go?” Olivia held her breath waiting for Deb’s answer.

  “I told her I had to think about it, but yeah, I think so. I’m like a moth to a flame. I can’t help myself. Besides, I’m dying to hear what she has to say. Can I call you afterward?”

  “Of course you can. How about I sidetrack you for now and ask about the graduation party plans?”

  “I ran out before I had a chance to talk to Kathleen.” Deb frowned. “Look, I know we are confident Siera knows what she wants, but convincing Kathleen is going to take a village. You, me, Jeremy, and Toby need to be a united front. She is going to shit a brick when she finds out we all went in on a down payment for a small house for them. I can’t believe you got your sister to pitch in. You had the papers drawn up, right?”

  “I did. In less than a month, the two of them will be the sole partners to Pretty Paws and will have full independence. I know it’s merely symbolic, because from the very start, I’ve had little impact other than teaching them how to groom cats and dogs. The success is all attributed to their hard work and talents. Siera not only has an amazing way with the animals, but she has a very good head for business. Her classes at Big Bend simply filled in some of the learning gaps. I am so damn proud of them.”

  “Do you think the two of them finally took their relationship to the…um…next level? They sure look cozy sometimes?”

  Olivia shrugged. “I try not to stomp on their privacy.”

  “I don’t think my sister is ready for that, even after three years. I’m envisioning her head exploding. She can’t imagine Siera as a sexual being.”

  “Don’t tell her this, but I did see, The Whole Lesbian Sex Book hidden in Bri’s nightstand a couple of weeks ago. I was looking for something and hadn’t intended on finding it.” Olivia chuckled. “I couldn’t help myself and leafed through it. Let me tell you, it is very thorough.”

  “Really? I’m coming over. I want to read this book.” Deb grabbed Olivia's hand and gave her a quick squeeze. “Thanks, you just diverted my melancholy mood. You always seem to do that for me.”

  “Anytime, my friend, anytime. I only hope you don’t toss me to the curb if you and Carrie get back together.”

  “Never. Not going to happen.”

  Olivia felt somewhat reassured by Deb’s words, but there was a big part of her that already felt the hole Deb would leave if they stopped spending as much time with one another. Over the past three years, they’d gotten very close. Every once in a while, she had to physically stop herself from crossing the threshold she’d established on their relationship. At times, the desire to close the gap and kiss Deb was overwhelming, then Irene’s fuzzy face would pop in her head and Olivia would pull back. Each time, she knew Deb had sensed what nearly happened, when the sad smile emerged on her beautiful face.

  Today, right this minute, was one of those times. She wanted to drag Deb back to her house and lay claim to her like some overbearing redneck. She would take her into her bedroom and do all the things she dreamed up in her occasional waking fantasies. Lately, they’d gotten unbearably hot, and she felt an acute need to close the gap.

  She wanted to shout at Deb, Don’t do it. Don’t get back with your ex, just give me a little more time, and I’ll cross the line. Instead, she offered Deb her own sad smile.

  “Come on, I’ll close early. Let me take you out to dinner. We can let the girls have a little alone time,” Olivia tossed out. “After dinner, we can watch Fire with the girls and eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream until we pop.”

  “You got yourself a date. Hey, I can hear today’s music choice is Motown. I’m going to head in the back and soak up some of their positive energy for the rest of the afternoon.”

  “I’ll come back with you until my next appointment shows. I have a little free time now.” Olivia grinned.

  “You cancelled Mr. Simpson. I can tell from your evil grin,” Deb noted.

  “Busted. You know me so well.”

  That was another thing about Deb, she did know her better than any other person. In some ways, Deb knew her better than Irene ever had, because she never felt like she had to censor her thoughts or opinions on anything. Deb simply accepted everything about her. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

  “Come on, let’s go back, and start shakin’ our booty with the girls.”

  †

  Kathleen felt the buzz of her phone in her pocket, as she balanced her keys and the bags of groceries in her hands. After setting everything down, she pulled her phone out and grimaced.

  Forewarning might have been nice. Olivia and I are coming over tomorrow to discuss graduation plans, since I left early today. You better have a conciliatory meal for us

  Sorry, I swear I didn’t know

  Did u hire her?

  I did, is that okay?

  There was no immediate response and Kathleen let loose. “Shit, shit, shit. I am so fucked.”

  Yeah. You owe the swear jar now:)

  Jeremy strolled into the kitchen. “What’s wrong, hon?”

  “I hired Carrie today.”

  “You what?”

  “Don’t give me any shit, she’s an excellent nurse. What other option did I have?”

  “Deb know?”

  “Yeah, they’re coming over tomorrow for dinner and to go over graduation plans.”

  “Oh…”

  Kathleen narrowed her eyes at Jeremy. “Okay, spill. I know that look. You’re keeping something under wraps. I’m not going to like it, am I?”

  “When do you think Olivia will finally give in to her obvious feelings for Deb?” Jeremy diverted.

  Kathleen knew Jeremy had tossed out a stall tactic but decided to let him have his little secret. He loved her, so how bad could it be?

  “Good damn question, maybe Carrie resurfacing isn’t such a bad thing after all.”

  “Hmmm. The little green monster has been known to be an effective mobilizer for uncovering people’s true feelings. I like it. Maybe we should poke that fire.”

  “We should stay out of it. Shouldn’t we?” Kathleen grinned.

  “No, we should not. Deb has been alone far too l
ong. She even gave up her little flings. It isn’t natural to go without sex for that long.”

  “Spoken like a true guy.”

  “Don’t tell me you’d be fine without sex for three years.”

  “Good point.”

  “Is Siera coming home tonight?”

  “No, she texted that Olivia suggested the four of them have a movie night. Siera’s crashing there tonight. I think it will be good for Deb to have the distraction.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Has Siera said anything more about wanting to get her driver’s license? I could teach her to drive.”

  “No way. Deb offered, and I think that’s a good idea. Another distraction for her.”

  “Why? I’m a good driver.”

  “No, you are not. You have a lead foot and ride up everyone’s ass.”

  “You know you’re probably up to at least five dollars now. Family vacation in Yellowstone, here we come. I love having the swear jar.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Siera followed Bri into the garage, and they helped each other lift their trikes and secure them to the hooks Olivia had installed for them. It kept the bikes out of the way and allowed more room for the truck and for Deb to park her car when she came over.

  Now that she’d finished school and graduation was around the corner, Siera had hinted at getting her own place with Bri and reminded her mom she wanted to learn to drive. She’d argued that the pet sitting and dog walking part of their business was suffering, because their range of travel was limited. Deb had agreed to teach her, and Olivia said she would take Bri out to give her driving lessons. Siera had her eye on a used truck she wanted to ask her dad to check over. Every dollar they earned, Siera meticulously recorded in her spreadsheet. She knew they could afford the truck. She’d learned they could easily write it off on their taxes, which made it a good business decision all the way around. They had a healthy amount of money in their business account now, because they’d put almost every penny away since the business started.