Helen nodded, sipping her beer.
“Do you regret telling your parents?”
She pulled a face. “Yes and no,” she replied. “No, because they’re my parents and I want them to love me for who I am and yes because now I can’t see my mother.” She blinked suddenly and pressed the palm of her hand to her eyes.
“Hey. Hey, now,” Ginevra leaned over the table and tugged Helen’s hand away, holding it in her own. “Don’t cry,” she said.
Helen gave her a watery smile. “I just really miss her,” she whispered, sniffing viciously to keep her tears from escaping.
Ginevra reached across with her free hand and wiped away Helen’s rogue tears with her thumb. “I know, honey,” she said. She brought Helen’s hand up to her lips and kissed her knuckles. “I know.”
Helen’s chin trembled, and Ginevra slid onto the chair next to hers, cradling the other woman to her as she broke down crying. Stroking Helen’s dark hair, Ginevra held her tightly, waiting for her sobs to subside. The waitress, coming towards the table, paused, unsure. Ginevra gestured for the check, and the girl nodded, disappearing back inside.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry,” Helen straightened after a few minutes, rubbing at her face with the back of her hands. Her eyeliner smeared and she came out looking like a sad panda. Ginevra bit down a smile and passed her a napkin. “I'm so embarrassing. I’m real—”
“It’s okay,” Ginevra said. “It’s your mom. You don’t have to apologize.”
Helen sniffled into the napkin. “I must look like shit,” she said.
“Yeah,” said Ginevra, smiling. “But very endearing shit.”
The other woman laughed, trying hopelessly to clean up her makeup.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Ginevra.
“God, please,” said Helen as the waitress returned with the bill.
“My treat,” said Ginevra, taking the bill. “You’re showing me the sights, remember?” she continued when Helen opened her mouth to protest.
Helen shook her head but didn’t have the energy to fight.
Helen drove them back to the resort, and they sat in her car when they got there, looking out over the darkened grounds.
“You’re the bottle it all up and only rely on yourself type, aren’t you?” Ginevra asked after a minute of silence.
Helen laughed wryly. “What gave me away?” she asked rhetorically.
“Takes one to know one,” Ginevra smiled. “I had a really nice time tonight,” she continued. “Thank you.”
“Now you’re just lying to me. I got mascara all over your dress.”
Ginevra shrugged. “I have an excellent dry cleaner back home. And I meant it. I really did. I’d…do this again if you wanted.”
Helen bit her lip. “I would like that,” she cooed.
“See you tomorrow then?”
Helen nodded. The two women eyed each other across the gear shift before Ginevra reached forward, pulling Helen to her in one swift, desperate move. Their lips collided hot and greedy, and Ginevra buried her fingers in Helen’s hair as the other woman slid one hand around her neck and one hand along her breasts, her nimble fingers teasing Ginevra’s nipples through the delicate yellow fabric of her dress. Ginevra moaned into Helen’s mouth.
“Oh no. No, no, no.” At the sound of Ginevra’s moan, Helen pulled away, putting her hands up in between them. Both women were panting. “Not while you’re a guest.”
Ginevra groaned. “Right,” she said, trying to get control of her breathing.
“My job—” Helen began.
“No, no, you don’t need to explain. You’re the one in the right here,” Ginevra interrupted her. “I’m behaving very poorly.”
Helen’s eyes flicked over Ginevra’s yellow dress and her half-smile, half-grimaced. “I’m not really complaining, though, am I?” she said.
“I check out on Sunday,” said Ginevra. “We’re grown, women. Professionals. We can wait that long.”
“For sure,” said Helen, her voice strained. “Definitely.”
Ginevra opened the car door then paused looking back at Helen. “Can I still come for acupuncture?” she asked.
Helen laughed. “Please do,” she replied.
**
Two days later, Ginevra was back in Helen’s acupuncture office. She’d tried to keep herself occupied with yoga and cooking classes and the various hikes that the spa offered, but her mind kept coming back to Helen crying on the restaurant balcony. She felt like there had to be something she could do to help. Back in Washington, her job was more or less fixing other people’s problems, and it wasn’t often she found one that she couldn’t resolve.
Helen came out of the back room with her phone in her hand and looking harried. “Gina! Oh God, could I ask you the most enormous favor?”
“Of course,” Ginevra answered. “What’s going on?”
“Johnny – my youngest brother – just texted. Apparently, Dad’s going off last minute to a speech that Governor Young is giving at a new golf course up the coast. He’s a huge Governor Young fan. Anyway, he’ll be gone all afternoon, and Johnny thought I could try to get in to see Mom, but I don’t get off work until 8 and Dad are back by then.”
“You want to cancel our appointment?” Ginevra interpreted.
“I—” Helen looked torn. She apparently wanted to do her job but was also desperate to see her mother.
“Of course,” Ginevra said. “Do you want moral support? That way if anyone asks I can truthfully mean that you were with me.”
Helen laughed. “In case I need an alibi? I’m visiting my mom, not murdering someone. But yeah, a bit of moral support wouldn’t be a bad thing. I haven’t seen her in months. God knows what state she’ll be in.”
Ginevra, who remembered all too well her mother’s cancer and chemo-ravaged body, wouldn’t have let Helen go alone even she’d turned down the offer.
“Let’s go break into a hospital, then,” Ginevra grinned, grabbing her purse.
Helen smiled back, but her smile was decidedly frailer.
Helen’s mother was staying in a hospital half an hour down the coast and Helen made it there in record time, all too aware that they had less than two hours before her next appointment. All the same, when they arrived, Helen stayed in her parked car, both hands on the wheel and staring through the windshield as if contemplating driving off again.
“We’ve got to hurry,” Ginevra reminded her, keeping her voice gentle.
Helen nodded.
“No matter what she’s like, you’ll be glad that you saw her. I promise.”
Helen glanced over at her new friend. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “The last time I saw her she was healthy.”
Ginevra laid her hand over one of Helen’s, weaving her fingers through hers. “You can do this,” she said.
Helen swallowed hard and got out of the car.
Johnny, a tall, good-looking man in his late twenties met them in the cancer ward waiting room. “Hey, sis,” he said, giving Helen a quick one-armed hug. “This your girlfriend?” he asked, nodding towards Ginevra.
To Ginevra’s surprise and pleasure, Helen blushed. “No,” she replied tartly, giving her brother a smack on the arm. “She’s just a friend.”
“Too bad,” said her brother. “I’m Johnny,” he smiled at Ginevra, offering her his hand. “If Helen’s not your type, you can always—”
“Johnny,” Helen ground out, apparently used to reigning in her exuberant younger brother.
“Right, right, sorry. Not the place.” Johnny turned back to his sister and laid a hand on her shoulder. “She’s right over there in room 203,” Johnny pointed to a room on the far side of the waiting room. “You want me to come in with you?”
“Does she know I’m coming?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She wants to see you. Don’t worry about that.”
Helen nodded. “I’ll go by myself.”
Johnny and Ginevra watche
d Helen as she disappeared into her mother’s room. As the door closed behind her, Johnny heaved a sigh and plunked himself down in one of the blue waiting room chairs. Delicately, Ginevra perched on the edge of the seat next to him.
“It’s good of you to come with her,” he said, smiling at Ginevra. “Mom’s not looking too good these days. I think it’ll be rough on Helen.”
“Of course,” said Ginevra. “This isn’t something you’d want to do alone,” she added.
“How do you two know each other?” Johnny asked, apparently trying to fill the silence.
Ginevra smiled. “Through…work, you could say.”
Johnny nodded. “And you’re really not her girlfriend? You would be just her type.”
Ginevra shook her head. “We’re taking things slow,” she said evasively.
“I knew it,” said Johnny.
“Have you met others? Girlfriends, I mean. Only she says your family…is not close.”
Johnny chuckled dryly in a way that reminded Ginevra strongly of his sister. “Our dad's a dick about it, and our older brother Tom is taking his cues from Dad because of the inheritance, but let’s be real. This is 21st century California, not the damn Middle Ages. My dad needs to wake up.”
Ginevra nodded. “At least she has you, then.”
Johnny nodded. “I’m working on Dad. He’ll come around eventually. It’d be easier if Tom would help. He and Dad are like two peas in a pod. Dad listens to him. Dad’s very easy to manipulate, to be honest. You just have to get the right person to do the manipulating.”
“Like Governor Young?”
Johnny snorted. “Yeah, sure. Dad loves him. If Governor Young suddenly showed up telling Dad how amazing Helen is, Dad would take her back in a heartbeat. If only.”
Ginevra nodded, looking back at room 203. “If only.”
Just as Ginevra checked her watch, Helen reappeared. Ginevra got to her feet, crossing the waiting room in three long strides. Helen had apparently been crying. Without a word, Ginevra put her arms around the other woman, and Helen leaned into her shoulder gratefully, one hand resting on the bare skin of Ginevra’s neck.
“You okay?” Johnny asked, joining them.
Helen nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered to her brother. He smiled and brushed her cheek with his thumb.
“We’ll sort this out, Sis,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
Helen nodded again but without much hope. “I need to get back to work,” she said. “I shouldn’t have left as it was.”
“Don’t worry. I’m staying with her until Dad gets back,” Johnny smiled. “It was nice to meet you, Ginevra.”
“You too,” said Ginevra as she led Helen out, her arm around the other woman’s waist.
Back in the car, Helen sat in the driver’s seat and pressed her eyes tightly shut. “Thank you for coming with me,” she said. “She’s very different. So…small.”
Ginevra nodded. “But she was happy to see you?”
Helen smiled, sniffing back tears. “Yes,” she said. “You were right. It was worth it.”
“Good. Now let’s get you back to work.”
Helen nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’d ask if you wanted to go out for a drink tonight, but I think I’d probably just end up crying on you again.”
“I don’t mind,” said Ginevra. “Other than your constant crying, you’re pretty good company.”
Helen laughed and reversed out of the parking space. “Oh gee, thanks.”
Leaning back in her seat, Ginevra smiled, watching the other woman as she drove them back home.
Chapter Five
They went for drinks that night, and Helen did cry – a mixture of happiness at having finally seen her mother and grief at seeing her so sick. Ginevra hugged her and told her to let it out and bought them hazelnut chocolate torte for dessert. Satiated by the chocolate, they came back to the resort and walked along its secluded beach, enjoying the crash of the surf and the distant stars. They talked the entire time – not only because they found each other fascinating, but also because it kept them from ripping the other’s clothes off on the spot.
“Let’s sit,” said Helen eventually, straddling a wooden deck chair, and patting the space in front of her. “I owe you an appointment, after all. Want a massage?”
“What kind of question is that?” Ginevra replied, happily settling in between Helen’s legs. “Of course!”
Helen chuckled, running her thumbs across the back of Ginevra’s neck while the other woman hummed appreciatively. While Helen worked at her muscles, Ginevra looked out at the dark horizon, gathering up her courage to broach the topic she’d been mulling since their visit to the hospital.
“I’ve had a thought,” Ginevra finally said as Helen’s fingers ran along her spine.
“Oh yes?”
“Yes. About your father.”
Helen’s fingers paused momentarily before resuming their kneading. “What about him?”
“Your brother said something about how you father is…easily influenced…by those he respects. And I…I know Governor Young. I helped him get elected. He and his wife are good people. I thought that, if you wanted, I could ask him to come by and visit your mother in the hospital. To say thanks to your parents for being such loyal constituents. And to casually drop into conversation how lucky your father is to have such a talented daughter and maybe drop a few hints about his thoughts on homosexuality.”
“And what are his thoughts?”
“Very…liberal,” Ginevra managed as Helen did something particularly nice along with her ribs, her fingertips just brushing the smooth skin of Ginevra’s breasts through the thin fabric of her dress. “God, that feels amazing,” she said.
Helen chuckled, her fingers moving back up to Ginevra’s shoulders.
“Well?” Ginevra asked, after enjoying the massage for a moment. “What do you think? I’ll give him talking points and everything. We’ll make it sound very off the cuff. But you’ll know that the Governor is visiting because of you. Peter – Governor Young – is great at…massaging…people, as it were. He’s just as charming in person as he is on the podium.”
“Do you really think he would do that?” Helen whispered.
Ginevra nodded. “Yes,” she replied. “He knows who got him elected. He owes me.”
“That would be amazing,” said Helen and she leaned over, planting an open-mouthed kiss on Ginevra’s shoulder.
“I’ll call him tomorrow morning then,” said Ginevra, trying not to moan as Helen worked her lower back.
“Thank you,” said Helen.
Governor Young was all for the idea of a PR outing to visit some local cancer patients, and Ginevra soon had the whole trip planned.
“This is a friend of yours?” Governor Young asked as she handed him his talking points. “She must be one special lady if she’s got Ginevra Sachs rolling out gubernatorial visits for her.”
Ginevra smiled secretively. “She is,” she replied. “And thanks again for doing this, Peter.”
“Don’t mention it. After the work you did on my campaign I owe you!” The man smiled, his blue eyes are bright against his tanned skin.
Two days later, when he and his wife showed up in the cancer ward where Helen’s mother was living, Mr. Cho nearly fainted with joy. When he heard that his favorite politician had made the trip especially to visit him and his wife, he actually did grab hold of Johnny’s arm to keep himself upright.
“This is such an honor, Governor Young,” he stammered. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Oh, don’t thank me!” the Governor beamed. “When your daughter explained to me all the hard work you and wife had done volunteering for my last election campaign, and what loyal supporters you are, I couldn’t miss this opportunity to say thank you in person. It’s the least I could do.”
“My…my daughter?” Helen’s father frowned.
“Yes, Helen, isn’t it, Mr. Cho? Lucky man you are, having a doctor like
that in the family. You know, I used to get acupuncture regularly for my digestion when I first went into politics. I was so stressed all the time I could barely eat. It was the only thing that helped! I have great respect for Chinese medicine. It’s that sort of mixing of cultures that really makes America great if you ask me.”
“I...yes,” said Helen’s father. “Yes, of course.”
“Now, may we say hello to your wife? How is she feeling today? My Cecilia has brought some flowers…” he gestured to his wife, who was smiling and holding an enormous bouquet in her arms. Behind her, Ginevra and Helen stood quietly back from the group, watching the drama.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have…” Mr. Cho floundered, catching sight of his estranged daughter.
“She’s feeling pretty good today, Governor,” Johnny said, taking charge of the situation. “Why don’t we go on in?”
As the Governor, his wife, Mr. Cho, and Johnny filed into room 203, Mr. Cho glanced back at his daughter again just before the door closed. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“I’ve got to go, I’m afraid,” Ginevra said after they’d disappeared. “My time at Bon Esprit is nearly up. I need to be out of the room in another few hours.”
Helen nodded. “Do you need a lift?”
Ginevra shook her head. “You stay here. My lovely assistant has already organized a driver.”
“Ah yes,” Helen nodded, “Sam the Wise.”
“Something like that,” Ginevra smiled.
Helen caught her arm as she turned to go. “Thank you, Gina,” she said and kissed her.
“Dinner tonight?” Gina asked a little breathlessly when they broke apart.
Helen nodded. “You couldn’t keep me away.”
**
That evening, Gina had just gotten out of the shower when there was a knock at her hotel room door. Wrapping herself in one of the hotel’s fluffy housecoats, she went to answer it.
“Hello,” Helen grinned. “I brought you a present,” she said, drawing an enormous bottle of champagne from her purse.
“Are you suggesting we get drunk in my hotel room like sorority girls?” Ginevra replied, arching an eyebrow.
Helen chuckled. “Actually, I’m suggesting we get pleasantly tipsy, have incredible sex, then go for dinner because we’ll be starving, get wonderfully drunk while we’re at it, then come back here, and have sex again.”
One Little Letter_A Bad Boy, Second Chance Romance Page 35
