“I loved being in her company. When we were alone, she made me feel like I was the most beautiful, significant person in the world.”
“How did you feel the rest of time when she was avoiding you, which, by the way, was most of the time.”
“Look. I’m not judging you about Jordan. I’d appreciate you showing me the same courtesy.”
“But this is idiotic. You’re being an idiot. You have feelings for this woman, and you think you’re going to be okay sharing her with someone else? Give me a break. This is by far the dumbest idea you’ve ever had.”
When Kate finished ranting, she glanced over at Didi, who was staring straight ahead as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Oh, hey, I’m sorry.” Kate grabbed her hand again as she negotiated the dark road. “C’mon. Don’t cry.”
The imperative seemed to trigger a full-on eruption as Didi buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
“Dee, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. You’ve had much dumber ideas than this one. Please stop crying.”
Didi chuckled. “I don’t know why I’m crying so hard. I really liked Rhea, more than anyone since Georgie, but she’s obviously not the one.”
“I’m relieved it’s obvious to you. You’re one step ahead of Vivienne.”
“It doesn’t feel that way at the moment. I feel like dying, and Viv is with the woman she wants. Everything’s going great. They’re planning their wedding.”
“Good for her. Maybe one of these days I’ll stop seizing with panic when her name comes up on my phone.”
“Gee. I thought finding love would be easier once I jumped the fence,” Didi said. “It’s so much worse. I actually feel bad when things don’t work out.”
“That’s how you know you’re finally on the right side.”
“Really?” Didi pulled a napkin from the glove compartment and blew her nose like a foghorn. “If that’s the case, I think I’ll finally make my ninety-six-year-old nonnie’s dream come true and join the convent.”
“Smart move. No lesbians there,” Kate said, and they both laughed.
Chapter Eighteen
And the Award Goes To…
By the start of autumn, Kate was still in a funk but managed to rouse her spirits enough to attend the last major outdoor event at the Oceanview. The True Colors benefit drew a crowd not only for its importance to the LGBTQ community, but also for its stellar lineup of local entertainment.
At the moment, drag star Shelley Summers, the rotund mistress of ceremonies adorned in a flowing chartreuse sequined gown, monster brunette wig, and enough chunky costume jewelry to summon the ghost of Liberace, was opening the show.
“Boy and girls, we can’t thank you enough for turning out for the final True Colors benefit of the year. And now I’d like to introduce you all to the fierce song stylings of Miss Penny Pincher, making her drag debut with us tonight,” Shelley said into the microphone nearly hidden in chubby, nail-polished sausage fingers. “C’mon, kiddies. She likes her applause like she likes her sex, loud and vigorous.” She wagged her meaty arm in a flourish and glided off into the wings.
The crowd cheered as Jordan’s friend, William, vamped across the stage adorned in a blond bouffant wig, peach dress, and white go-go boots, lip-synching Doris Day’s “I’m a Big Girl Now.”
“That’s Jordan’s friend,” Kate said into Didi’s ear. “She’s gotta be somewhere in the audience.”
“No doubt,” Didi said, scanning the crowd in the dim light. “I’m surprised you’re here, considering she’s the headliner.”
“The headliner is True Colors and all the good work they do for the community,” Kate said. “Besides, I’m the chairperson of the event. It’s not like I had a choice.”
“Like you would’ve missed this chance to twat-block Jordan,” Viv said from across the table as Maia played with a strand of Viv’s hair. “Get ready, ’cause she’s gonna be pickin’ ’em out of her weave all night.”
Kate glared at them. “Don’t you two have a turkey baster that needs your attention?”
“I’m rooting for you, Kate,” Maia said. “I don’t believe this is the end of what seemed like such a promising love affair.”
“Maybe I can sneak out early,” Kate said as her leg bounced under the table.
“Don’t you dare,” Didi said. “We’re all in this together tonight.”
“I’m having a good time,” Viv said. “But if one more person mistakes me for a drag queen, she gonna get her nuts kicked up in her vagina.”
“Well, if you didn’t do up your hair like Divine…” Didi said.
“The only time I can do it like this is when I get a Brazilian blowout,” Viv said. “Look at these tits. No way a drag queen is gonna have a rack like this.”
“And you wanted to carry a baby at your age?” Didi made a face and chewed her cocktail stirrer. “They’d be slapping against your knees after you delivered.”
“That was before we got back together,” Viv said.
“I’ll be carrying,” Maia said. “I’m only thirty-eight.”
“You broads in your thirties just own the world, don’t you?” Kate said in disgust. “I have to use the can.”
“You really miss her, don’t you?” Viv asked.
Kate pursed her lips to control her rising emotions. Her mood was sinking lower every minute closer to Jordan taking the stage. She was going to look and sound incredible, and some woman would no doubt seize the opportunity to approach her.
“I have to use it, too, Kate,” Didi said. “Let’s go.” She looped her arm through Kate’s as they searched for the restrooms. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just a little anxious. I haven’t seen her in weeks, and I don’t know how it’s going to feel seeing her onstage.”
“Shitty,” Didi said. “It’s gonna feel shitty, and then it’ll pass.”
“You’re right,” Kate said. “This ain’t my first rodeo. I’ll be fine.”
“Uh, let’s go this way.” Didi pulled Kate by the arm in the direction from which they came.
Kate stopped her. “What’s the matter? What’s over there?”
“Nothing.” Her eyes darted wildly as she attempted to drag Kate forward with her. “The bathroom is this way.”
“Didi, stop shoving me.” Kate jerked her arm away and headed back in their intended direction.
“Kate,” Didi shouted.
She ignored Didi’s plea, and when she rounded the curve, she saw what Didi was trying to protect her from. At a cozy table in the corner, Jordan sat with her ex, Andie, having what appeared to be quite a friendly conversation. Andie stretched toward her over their drink glasses and said something that made Jordan whip her hair back in laughter.
Kate’s neck flamed with prickly heat as she licked her dry lips, waiting to bear witness to some hideous display of affection she was certain would happen at any moment. Suddenly, she felt hot breath spreading over each of her bare shoulders. She wheeled around to face Didi and Viv, apparently on a rescue mission.
“Kate, step away from the ex,” Didi said calmly.
Viv swung around in front of her, raising her hands as a barricade. “Just do as we say, and no one has to get hurt.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Could you two be any more obvious? Get out of here before you blow my cover.”
“We’re not going without you,” Didi said. “We leave no woman behind.”
“I’m just going to go say hi,” Kate said calmly. “See how she’s doing. Maybe if I see that she’s fine without me, I’ll stop marinating in self-pity.”
“She looks fine to me,” Viv mumbled. “A whole lot of it.”
Didi glared at her in astonishment. “Why? Why?”
“No, wait a minute,” Viv said. “This is good. She can come to terms with this once and for all.”
Kate gritted her teeth when Andie grabbed Jordan’s hand, and they exchanged what appeared to be longing glances. A fire of jealousy spread across Kate’s face
.
“Uh, let’s just go back to our table,” Didi said, motioning to Viv. “I do not like the juju going on over here.” They each looped an arm under Kate’s.
Kate pried herself free. “I’ll be right back.”
Wearing her best poker face, she approached Jordan’s table. Jordan looked up as the shock of her presence wiped the smile from her face.
“Hello, Jordan. What a nice surprise seeing you here,” Kate said, perky as a QVC pitchwoman.
“How is it a surprise? You asked me if I would play this event.”
Kate shrugged, faking indifference. “It’s a friendly expression.”
Jordan glanced at Andie. “Okay. It’s nice to see you, too.” She sipped her beer, seeming quite done with the conversation.
Kate found herself loitering at the table.
“Is there something else?” Jordan said, avoiding direct eye contact.
“Could I talk to you for a minute? Privately?” Kate glanced at Andie. “Sorry for the interruption. I’ll have her right back to you.”
Kate led her to the corridor near the restrooms.
“So,” Kate said with a sigh. “How are you?”
“I’m doing great.” Jordan shoved her hands into her jeans pockets and looked down.
“Great,” Kate said, staring at her.
After a moment of silence, Jordan looked up. “I have to get ready to go on in a few minutes.”
“Oh, uh, right,” Kate stammered. “I just wanted to know how you’re doing.”
“Isn’t that thoughtful,” Jordan said, her words oozing out slow and thick with resentment. “I’ve never been better. How’s the single life working out for you?”
“Okay.” Kate glanced at the flowery framed art on the wall. “I must say, I’m a little surprised to see you on a date so soon. And really surprised it’s with Andie. Maybe I shouldn’t be.”
Jordan glared at her. “Who said I’m on a date?”
“You’re not?”
“What business is it of yours?”
“None, I guess. But after all the carrying on you did a few weeks ago, I assumed what we had meant a little more to you than this.”
“Why did you even come over here? Morbid curiosity? You wanna survey the wreckage you caused?”
Kate was momentarily stunned into silence as Jordan’s formerly innocent eyes blazed with anger.
“You know,” Jordan said, “if you’d approached me a couple of weeks ago, I would’ve begged you to take me back.”
“All it took was a few weeks to get over me. Nice.”
“Aww, am I disappointing you, Kate? Exactly how despondent would you like me to be after a summer fling?”
Kate sighed. “That’s all I meant to you?”
Jordan scoffed. “Don’t play the victim. Someone like you could never pull it off.”
“What do you mean, ‘someone like me’? Don’t you think I had feelings for you?”
“I honestly don’t know what I was to you, Kate. Maybe something to cross off your midlife-crisis bucket list. You’re probably still high-fiving Didi and Viv over it.”
Kate grabbed Jordan’s arm as she started to walk away. “I hope you don’t really believe that.”
“It is what it is,” Jordan said with an icy stare. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my date is waiting.”
As Jordan walked off, something in Kate broke free. “And I thought singing was your talent. You’re quite the actress. You should be up on stage with the drag queens the way you can work a room.”
Jordan stopped and spun out on her. “Is that right? Well, somebody got worked over in this relationship, that’s for sure.”
When Jordan darted off down the hall toward the dressing room, Kate was on her like scotch on rocks.
“It’s obvious I made the right decision.”
“As if you ever had a doubt,” Jordan shouted over her shoulder.
“I thought maybe we could be friends or, at the very least, be civil with each other.”
Jordan stormed through the dressing-room door with Kate still in pursuit. Kate positioned herself in the doorway, arms folded expectantly, ignoring William off to the side removing his stage makeup.
“You dump me and then expect everything to be all warm and fuzzy between us?” Jordan yelled, almost in tears.
“I just figured—”
“Look, I’ll be professional with you if I need to be in the future, but friends? Forget it. Check back with me in about fifty years on that one.”
“Perfect,” Kate said. “Maybe you’ll have had a chance to grow up by then.” Even Kate winced at that one.
Jordan gasped. She grabbed William’s wig and hurled it, Styrofoam head and all, at Kate.
“Uh, hello?” he spat.
“I can’t believe your audacity.” Jordan exploded. “You broke up with me, and now you’re going ballistic when you see I might actually be getting on with my life? That’s beyond twisted.” She turned away from them, but Kate saw her shoulders moving in rhythm with her tears.
“Jordan,” Kate said softly. She glanced at her shoes, shamed by Jordan’s accusation and the devastation on her face. How could she have allowed it to escalate to this point? This wasn’t a Kate anyone would recognize. What had misfired inside her to make her lose it like that?
“This isn’t Madison Square Garden,” William griped as he jammed his arms into a dress shirt. “Why don’t you take it outside, talk this over like reasonable people, and then kiss and make up.”
“Reasonable?” Jordan snorted. “Make up? Have you met this woman?”
“Just once, but from what you’ve told me—”
“Not happening,” she shouted and turned her back to Kate.
“I’m sorry, William,” Kate said. She motioned toward Jordan but thought better of it. “Jordan, I’m sorry. I don’t know what…” she stammered. “I just…”
Jordan sniffled quietly, refusing to turn around.
Kate glanced at William as she backed out of the dressing room, beyond embarrassed. “Terrific show, William, really.” She picked up his wig off the gritty floor, brushed it off, and tossed it to him on her way out. “I’m sorry for the intrusion.”
* * *
At the bar, Kate was finishing her third glass of Jim Beam Honey on the rocks when Didi found her.
“Thank God, you’re still here,” Didi said. The relief on her face shifted rapidly to near panic. “What are you doing?”
“Getting drunk,” she said, twirling her finger at the bartender for another.
“No, no, you can’t do that,” Didi said as she reached for the glass.
Kate wrenched her arm away in time to down the last sip. “Yes, I can.” She was starting to slur her words. “I’ve made a complete asshole out of myself in front of Jordan, et al, tonight, and now I’d like to stand here and get obliterated, if you don’t mind.”
“I do mind.”
“Then take me home,” Kate said. “I’m determined to get loaded somewhere.”
“No. Let’s get back to our table, and you can get loaded when it’s time to go home.” Didi tried to pry her away from the bar, but she wouldn’t budge.
“I have one more drink coming, and then I’ll close my tab,” Kate said.
“No. The awards presentation is starting now.” Didi finally shook Kate’s foothold loose and led her to their table. “Then Jordan is going on.”
“Who cares about those lame awards? And after what I did to Jordan, she probably won’t even perform now.”
“Kate, what has gotten into you tonight? What did you do to Jordan?”
“I made her cry.” Kate’s eyes began to well up.
“What? Ugh. Never mind. We’ll talk about her later. Oh, Jesus, don’t you start crying now.”
“What are you so tweaked out about?” Kate said.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Didi lowered her into a chair at the table. “We need some coffee here,” she beckoned to a passing waiter. “Stat.”
Shelley Summers sauntered out onstage again with the microphone in one hand and a fruit-garnished cocktail in the other. The spotlight hit her as she approached the stand.
“Ladies and gentlemen, bois and queens, may I have your attention, please? Before we get that hot lesbo, Jordan Squire, up here—” She stopped for the roar of cheers. “Calm down, girls. Don’t get your labia in a twist. She’ll be out here in a minute. But first, Marney Sellers, the director of the New Haven chapter of True Colors, would like an opportunity to say a few words to us this evening. Marney?”
Marney, a sleek butch in a sharp royal-blue tux, came out onstage to another round of applause.
“Oooh, listen to them,” Shelley said to Marney. “They must be all drunk and nasty now.”
“Thank you, Shelley,” Marney said. “I hope they’re not too drunk. We still have a lot of show left tonight.”
“Let me know when she’s done babbling.” Kate threw her arms on the table and buried her face in them.
Viv hoisted her up by the back of her hair. “Kate, pull yourself together.”
Marney continued her speech. “I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all of the volunteers who’ve made this event the huge success it is every year. I’d especially like to thank Jordan Squire, who took time out of her busy schedule to perform for us tonight.” She paused to clap along with the electrified crowd.
“But before we get her out here, I’d like to extend special thanks on behalf of all of the LGBTQ organizations in Connecticut to a special volunteer who’s gone above and beyond the ordinary call of volunteerism with her extraordinary efforts at organizing and fund-raising over the last decade. We have a brand-new program for at-risk trans youth thanks to her fund-raising endeavors and the charity bingo tournament she organized here last summer. So, without further ado, I’d like to present the Exceptional Volunteer award to a woman of enormous compassion, class, and integrity, New Haven attorney Kate Randall.”
The crowd cheered as Marney scanned the audience for Kate.
“What did she just say?” Kate slurred her words, hoping her drunken stupor had dulled her hearing.
Summer Fling Page 21
