Summer Fling

by Jean Copeland

  Actually, it was a good thing Didi wasn’t answering her cell. Who needed another one of her interminable, “I only say this because I care” lectures she was famous for? Kate was plenty busy stewing in her own confusion without Didi lacing into her about how she was an emotional cripple or how appalling it was to witness her shriveling up in the seclusion of her quaint beach house. It was time Kate reclaimed control of her own affairs. No more meddling from Didi or Viv, no more forced encounters with girls half her age. She’d upheld her end of the bargain and now resolved to put this whirlwind week behind her and get back to her orderly, uncomplicated life.

  If anything, the experience only reinforced Kate’s belief in the old cliché: everything happens for a reason. Didi not calling back allowed her a much-needed period of reflection. The fact that she hadn’t heard from Jordan since bolting out on her only served to support Kate’s initial argument that a relationship between them was overreaching at best, but more like impossible.

  Chapter Six

  Throwing Down the Gauntlet

  Kate checked her cell phone as the elevator delivered her to her office floor. Nothing. Exactly what she’d found each of the forty-eight or so times she’d checked it in the forty-eight hours since she’d abandoned Jordan outside her apartment door. Shouldn’t Jordan have at least texted to see if she was okay? For all she knew, Kate’s unceremonious exit could’ve been precipitated by a rancid piece of yellowtail, and thanks to Jordan’s lack of follow-up date etiquette, she wouldn’t have found out until she’d read Kate’s obituary.

  Well, good riddance.

  “Hey,” Kate said as she strolled into the office.

  Didi, munching baby carrots at her desk, speared Kate with a nasty look. “Where in God’s name have you been? I was this close to calling the police and having them dredge the Quinnipiac River for your body.”

  “I was in court. You know how Mondays go. Didn’t you check my calendar?” Kate tossed her leather valise on a chair.

  “No. I was too distraught by the idea of having to identify your dead, bloated corpse.”

  “If you had answered one of my numerous calls to your cell phone Saturday night, you would’ve known where I was.”

  “I was on a date, like I assumed you were, you know, since they call it date night. Why didn’t you return my calls or texts yesterday?”

  “I needed to unplug for a while,” Kate said, unpacking folders. “Gather my thoughts. I took my mother to the casino for the day. Who were you on a date with?”

  “Rhea Marquez, my high-speed-internet connection,” Didi said coyly, twirling her chunky bracelet.

  “The name sounds familiar,” she said, half-distracted.

  “It should. I’ve only told you about her and our amazing chats like five times this week. I met her in person for dinner, and she actually looks like her pictures. But don’t change the subject. I’m still peeved. I’ve been dying to know how it went with Jordan.”

  “Would lunch help my case? My treat,” she said with a grin.

  Didi huffed. “How am I supposed to keep being your keeper if you don’t keep me abreast of where you’re keeping yourself?”

  Kate gave her a helpful shove out the door. “Here’s an idea—don’t.”

  * * *

  Carrying two panini from the gourmet-grilled-cheese truck, Kate found Didi under a dome of elm trees in the southeast corner of the bustling New Haven green. Her arms were folded across her chest, a scowl decorating her normally spry countenance.

  “Hope you’re hungry.”

  “This is your idea of a peace offering?” Didi said. Disapproval notwithstanding, she took a wolfish bite.

  “Come on, Didi. I know you’re still new to this scene, relatively speaking, but lesbians are supposed to love being outdoors. I can’t remember the last time we’ve had so many continuous days of glorious sunshine.”

  “If I’m not mistaken, there are several classy sit-down joints around here with outdoor dining,” she mumbled, still chewing. “Anyway, what happened with Jordan?”

  Kate sighed as she examined her three-cheese, tomato, and avocado sandwich. “It doesn’t happen very often, but I’m woman enough to admit when you’re right.”

  Didi’s eyes sparkled. “I knew it. You had a good time, didn’t you?”

  “For ninety-five percent of the date.” She smiled as she watched a young couple play-wrestling in the grass.

  “And they said it couldn’t be done.” Didi mimicked the fervor of an old-time TV announcer. “Kate Randall confounds the experts by actually having a good time.” Her eyebrows suddenly bunched. “Wait. What happened during the other five percent?”

  “Let’s begin on a positive note, shall we?” She took a sip of flavored seltzer. “It was fun. Jordan was terrific company, a refreshing combination of maturity, wit, and youthful enthusiasm.”

  “She has a smokin’ hot bod, too, huh?”

  Kate smirked, trying not to encourage Didi’s crassness. “Yes. Let’s just say nature has endowed Jordan with some noteworthy attributes.”

  “I’ll make a mental note to check out her ass better next time I see her.”

  “You’ve become quite the pervert in your old age,” Kate observed, primly blotting her lips with a napkin.

  “It’s retroactive,” Didi said and vanquished the first half of her grilled cheese.

  “I’ll tell you what. It’s been a long time since I felt that way with someone.” She absently caressed her drink bottle. “She’s so easygoing. She has the most endearing laugh, and when we kissed…oh, my.”

  The strawberry Didi plucked from a container of fresh fruit fell out of her mouth and rolled into her lap. “You kissed?”

  Kate glanced away bashfully.

  “Come on, Randall. Spill it.”

  Kate smiled. “I’m sure your imagination can do a far better job than I ever could.”

  “Stop being evasive.”

  “Actually, that’s the dubious five percent. I mean as first dates go, it ranks right up there with the best of them, but just as we started coasting toward the finish line, the wheels fell off.” She quivered as she recalled the mortification.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The kiss was amazing at first, very sensual.” She lowered her voice with discretion. “And tingly in all the right places, if you catch my drift.”

  “Yes, yes, I know what you mean.” Didi gestured for her to continue with the details.

  Kate’s normal volume returned. “And then I just—I don’t know. The kiss started getting passionate, and I think I had a panic attack.”

  “Kate, I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you perceived it.”

  “No? I may have broken the sound barrier, taking off so fast. I didn’t even say good-bye.” She fluttered her eyelids to blot out the horrid image. “She must think I’m one crazy bitch.”

  Didi studied her in disbelief. “You just ran off?”

  “No. I mean I probably said good-bye. Or made some noise.”

  “Who kissed who first?”

  “She did.”

  “She wanted to have sex with you.”

  “No, she didn’t,” Kate stammered, increasingly agitated. “She only invited me back to her apartment for a drink.”

  “She invited you to her place?” Didi shouted.

  “Keep your voice down,” Kate said through clenched teeth.

  Didi flung her napkin into her paper plate. “Unbelievable. Six years without sex is a remarkable feat in itself, but then you bolt away from an opportunity to have it again with only the sexiest woman in the tristate area. That’s a personal best.”

  Kate bit her lip in annoyance. She calmly collected the lunch trash and proceeded toward the nearest receptacle.

  “Where are you going? We’re not done eating. Wait for me.”

  “This is why I didn’t call you back yesterday.” Kate started power-walking away, forcing Didi into a trot to keep up. “It’s more complicated than you can possibly understan
d, Didi. And I’d like to remind you, we had a deal. All I had to do was take her to lunch, and you’d be satisfied, regardless of the outcome. There was no codicil stipulating that if the opportunity for sex presented itself, I had to take it.”

  “I never said you had to,” Didi said, “but I just can’t for the life of me imagine why you’d refuse.”

  “Because I’m not a slut,” Kate snapped, then remembered her audience. “No offense.”

  “You are so lame.”

  Kate played innocent. “What?”

  “Slut-shaming? Really? You reject that patriarchal nonsense more than any of us. But how convenient it suddenly becomes when you don’t want to admit you pussied out on the pussy.”

  “Your case is dismissed, madam,” Kate said and quickened her stride to the office.

  “Okay, okay. I’m sorry for being so hard on you.” Didi sped up and cut in front of Kate. “But couldn’t you have just taken one for the team?”

  Kate lightly pinched the skin on Didi’s upper arm. “You really need to get yourself laid.”

  Didi shoved an elbow at her. “I’m working on it, but that’s a separate conversation. So, what did Sylvia, the gabardine-clad Oracle of Morris Cove, have to say about all this?”

  “Nothing. I haven’t told my mother because there’s nothing to tell. Anyhow, I spent the day with her so I could forget the madness of this week, expunge it from the record. I want things back to normal again.”

  They entered the office building and headed for the elevator.

  “So you didn’t like Jordan? Didn’t have anything to talk about? Weren’t attracted to her?”

  “No.”

  “No to which question?”

  “All three.”

  “I see.”

  Kate sighed, irritated with Didi’s cross-examination. “Ever think of becoming a prosecutor?”

  “Let me see if I have this right. You liked Jordan, liked talking with her, and found her attractive, so the next logical statement out of your mouth is that you want to forget you ever met her.”

  “Are you going to keep this up all afternoon?”

  “I’m just trying to sort out the holes in your story. You’re saying that even though you had a mostly positive first date, you have absolutely no desire to see Jordan again?”

  Kate stopped at the office door. “No, smart-ass. I’m not saying that. I wouldn’t mind seeing her again, but I’m quite certain that after the fool I made of myself on Saturday, Jordan wants nothing further to do with me or my overhead compartment full of emotional baggage. So there.”

  “That’s a relief. Now I don’t feel so intrusive telling you that you’re having dinner with her tomorrow night at her place. Eight o’clock.”

  “What?” Kate dropped her keychain on the floor.

  “I texted her while we were heading to lunch to ask if she had a nice time on your date.” Didi unlocked the office door. “She said yes and then asked me if she should thank you by cooking for you at her place. Assuming you didn’t have anything better to do, I took the liberty of accepting on your behalf.”

  Kate followed Didi to her desk. “Why would you do this to me?” she whispered in desperation.

  “Stop it. It’s just dinner.”

  Kate clasped her hands behind her back and faced Didi with the determination of Atticus Finch as she contemplated how to counter such a traitorous move.

  “You can always cancel,” Didi said, her voice issuing a challenge.

  “I can handle dinner,” Kate said defiantly. She sauntered into her office and collapsed into the chair behind her desk. You can handle dinner? You barely survived lunch.

  Kate tapped a pen on the arm of her chair. Why shouldn’t she accept Jordan’s invitation? She tried a pros-and-cons list. The pros list was easy enough: smart, kind, artistic, beautiful, and sexy. Extremely sexy. Hell, some lesbian couples would be sampling wedding cakes by now, and she was stressing over dinner? Sadly, the cons list weighed more. That enormous age difference and serious ambitions for a music career. Together, they would inevitably lead to a host of problems.

  In any event, their afternoon together reminded Kate what she’d been missing all these years: the energy of conversation with an attractive, fascinating woman; the buzz of being pursued; the thrill of a smoldering kiss. Not that she anticipated anything meaningful with Jordan, but it felt good to entertain the possibility again—albeit briefly.

  * * *

  That evening after work, Kate and Didi walked over to Zen in downtown New Haven for an alfresco happy hour.

  “Hey, ladies,” Viv called as she swept into the outdoor bar and made her way to their table. “Where’s your lady, Kate? Thought we were all getting together to make it official.”

  “Not yet,” Didi said, as if delivering top-secret information. “Our girl is still shy about being in love.”

  “Great. A tag team,” Kate muttered and signaled for the waitress. “Look, let’s get two things straight: she’s not my lady.” Glaring at Viv. “And I’m not in love.” Glaring at Didi. “It was just frickin’ lunch.”

  Viv and Didi exchanged knowing glances as Viv slid onto a stool at their high table.

  “Whatever, Kate,” Didi said. “Look, we haven’t cocktailed together in weeks. An exchange of information needs to happen here.”

  “Well, while you bitches were out getting your freaks on—finally, I might add—I got started on my community-service hours.”

  “I wasn’t getting my freak on,” Kate said. “It was lunch.”

  “Chill out,” Didi said. “What are you, running for office?”

  “Okay, while half of you was getting her freak on,” Viv said.

  Kate looked at Didi. “You slept with Rhea?”

  “Yes.” Didi shrank in her chair like a naughty child.

  Kate’s mouth puckered in reproach. “Then you whine about how you can’t find a meaningful relationship.”

  “I don’t whine about that. Viv does.”

  “That was the old Viv. I got new plans.”

  Red alerts seemed be blaring in Kate’s and Didi’s heads as the next round of drinks arrived.

  “Don’t be looking at each other like that,” Viv said. “You have no idea the epiphany I had this weekend.”

  “What’s your community-service assignment?” Didi asked. “Shaking martinis for white-collar criminals at Danbury Correctional?”

  Kate laughed and Didi joined in.

  “Go ahead and laugh,” Viv said, “but I’ve discovered the true meaning of love.”

  “You fell for an inmate,” Kate said. “One of those tax-evading housewives.”

  “Shut your fool mouth. You know I’m volunteering at New York Presbyterian. You arranged it.”

  “I know. I’m just teasing you,” Kate said. “Believe me, getting them to agree to you being a volunteer baby hugger was no small accomplishment.”

  “Aww, you’re hugging babies?” Didi asked.

  Viv leapt up. “Yes, and it was most magical experience I’ve ever had. I’ve finally discovered what matters in life. Maia was right all along. Family, children, that’s my true purpose in life. I want to be a mother,” she said, her eyes bulging.

  Kate’s jaw dropped.

  “If I’d taken a sip of my drink, you’d totally be wearing it right now,” Didi said.

  “Uh, Vivienne,” Kate said. “You haven’t been in contact with Maia, have you?”

  “Seriously?” Viv huffed. “I make the most significant announcement of my life, and this is what I get from my two best friends?”

  “You have, haven’t you?” Kate said. “Forget it. I shouldn’t know this.” She plugged one finger into her ear and retreated to her cosmo.

  Viv took out her phone. “That’s it. I’m done. You bitches are gonna be so jealous when I’m having play dates with hot actresses and their kids.”

  “Viv, you know we’re just messing with you.” Kate squeezed her knee. “We love you and will support you any way we can. A
nd since Didi’s already had a kid, she’ll raise yours while you’re serving out your previously suspended sentence for stalking Maia.”

  Didi snorted into her drink.

  Viv rested her head on Kate’s shoulder. “Thanks. You guys are the best. Oh, listen, Kate. I can’t make it to the AIDS benefit with you Friday. I’ll be at the hospital.”

  “Viv,” Kate whined. “This community service of yours couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time.” She whipped her neck toward Didi. “Please come with me?”

  “Hell, no. But I know someone who’d probably love to accompany you. And she’d make a stunning accessory.”

  “Uh, no. I’ll go stag again. She’d be bored out of her mind.”

  “So would we,” Didi said. “But that wouldn’t stop you from subjecting one of us to it. This doesn’t happen to have anything to do with her age, does it?”

  “Is that another thinly veiled suggestion that I’m a snob?”

  “No,” Viv chimed in. “You’re just scared. A scaredy Kate.”

  “And if I wanted to call you a snob, I’d call you one. Come to think of it, yeah, I am calling you one.”

  “Gee, this has been fun,” Kate said. “Check, please.”

  Didi giggled. “You know you can’t live without us. We’re taunting you for your own good.”

  They waited, silently daring Kate to respond. She gave them nothing.

  “What’s the matter? Hot, young kitty cat got your tongue?” Viv said.

  “I can’t hear you,” Kate said, scrolling through her phone. “I’m busy working. Work emails.”

  “Yeah. You’re working all right,” Didi mumbled. “Working yourself into a froth over which one of your hang-ups will doom this thing with Jordan.”

  “There is no thing,” Kate shouted, winning the attention of everyone at the patio bar.

  “But there is dinner,” Didi said. “Then we’ll see.”

  Kate glared at her. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

  “Winner buys the entire next happy hour,” Viv said with a smirk.

  “Deal,” Didi said.