Symphony in Blue

by M. J. Duncan

  “Honestly, I don’t…” He blew out a loud breath, and Gwen could easily picture the way his forehead was pinched with thought, and she imagined he was most likely rubbing a hand over his jaw as he tried to come up with an answer.

  She tugged open the top drawer of her dresser and pulled out a pair of white lace panties and a matching bra, and tossed them onto her bed. “Luke?” she prompted as she opened the middle drawer of the dresser and, after looking over the drawer’s contents, picked out a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and tossed them onto the bed as well.

  “Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking. It’s weird, for sure, just because of your whole history. But, I mean, you said your lunch the other day went well and you guys have been talking on the phone and texting back and forth like all the time, so I guess I’d say no, it’s not too much—whatever that even means. I mean, it’s not a date, right? Because that would be a big mistake.”

  “It’s not a date.” Gwen wandered into her closet and pulled her favorite pale pink silk blouse from a hanger and draped it over her right shoulder. She turned toward her shoes and, because Luke was her go-to fashion guru, asked, “Should I wear heels?”

  “I thought you said it wasn’t a date.”

  “Good point.” Gwen nodded as she looked at her less formal shoes. “So, then…”

  “God, you’re hopeless. Okay. What are you wearing?”

  “I was thinking I’d go with my dark skinny jeans and that pale pink blouse I love.”

  “Okay,” Luke hummed thoughtfully. “You could go with black flats, I guess, or you could just roll the ankles and wear your white Chucks. I mean, we’re playing pool, so it’s not like it’s a fashion show or anything, and that would be a cute, casual outfit.”

  “Perfect.” Cute and casual was exactly what she was going for, and she nodded as she hooked two fingers in the heel cups of her white sneakers and carried them and her shirt back to the bedroom. “I can do that.” The glowing numbers on the alarm clock grabbed her attention as she laid the shoes and shirt on her bed by the jeans and she groaned. “I’m sorry, but I gotta go. Beth just left before you called, and I still gotta take a quick shower to rinse her oils off my skin before I get dressed.”

  “No worries. See you in a bit?”

  “Yeah.” Gwen hurried into the bathroom and turned on the shower to get the water warmed up. “Thanks for your help.”

  “My pleasure, sweetie,” Luke assured her warmly. “Have fun at dinner.”

  “I’ll try my best,” Gwen promised him. “See you soon.”

  “Later, gator.”

  Gwen set the phone on the vanity and turned on the shower before she took off her robe and tossed it into the hamper to be washed. She studied her reflection in the mirror for a moment as the shower warmed up, and she adjusted the knob before she climbed in so the water was warm enough to be comfortable but nowhere near what she would call hot, to keep any inflammation Beth had worked from her muscles from reappearing. She made sure to keep her hair away from the spray since she had washed it when she’d showered after her hike earlier as she used a loofah and her vanilla-scented body wash to gently scrub any lingering oil from her skin. The soap she had rinsed from her body was still circling the drain when she turned off the shower, and she dried herself quickly with a large, fluffy towel on the rug in front of the shower door before hustling back into her bedroom.

  She winced as she checked the time on her alarm clock and saw that it was already past a quarter to six. “Time to get a move on, Harrison,” she muttered as she dropped her towel and reached for her panties. She dressed quickly, but she wasn’t quick enough as the doorbell rang just as she’d finished slipping her arms into her shirt.

  She swore softly under her breath as she glanced at the clock. Ten till. Dana was early.

  “Coming!” Gwen yelled, even though she was pretty sure that her voice wouldn’t carry to the front stoop, and hurried through the house as she finished buttoning her shirt. She skipped tucking the shirt in for the time being and just buttoned her jeans as she paused on the rug in the foyer, and she took a deep breath as she reached for the door handle. It was a good thing she had taken that breath, too, because she forgot how to breathe for a moment when she opened the door to see Dana standing on the other side in a pair of low-slung jeans that hugged her hips and thighs and a loose, white scoop-neck tee that showed off the defined line of her collarbones and the shallow hollow at the base of her throat where they met. Dana’s shirt was tucked snugly into her jeans, which drew Gwen’s eyes down to the just slightly off-center belt buckle at her waist, and she was surprised by how ridiculously sexy she found the minor imperfection.

  “Sorry I’m early,” Dana apologized. “Traffic wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.”

  “I…” Gwen cleared her throat and forced herself to look into Dana’s sparkling blue eyes. “It’s fine. Come on in. Beth was running a little late”—she waved a hand at her untucked shirt and bare feet—“so I just need a few more minutes to finish getting ready.”

  “Thanks,” Dana murmured as she stepped inside, her lips curving in a small, sweet smile as she caught Gwen’s eye. “How was your massage?”

  “Amazing,” Gwen replied as she pushed the door shut. She pointed at the console table beside Dana. “I had her leave a business card for you.”

  “Cool. Thanks.” Dana picked up the white and red patterned card with black text and gave it a cursory look before she slipped it into her back pocket. She blew out a long breath and shrugged as she hooked her thumbs in the back pockets of her jeans. “Should I wait out here?” She lifted her chin toward the living room.

  “You can.” It certainly was the safer option, given the way she reacted to Dana’s outfit, but they were adults and she needed to get over her attraction if they were going to make it as friends. “Or you can come back with me while I finish getting ready.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Dana nodded. “I can do that.”

  “How was the end of your run?” Gwen asked, motioning for Dana to follow her as she headed back toward her bedroom. “Did the grip thing on the blade do what your brother was hoping it’d do?”

  “Pretty much. It was a little slippy on the heel going downhill on the loose dirt like that, so he’s going to texture higher up the curve and then we’ll try it again.” She looked interestedly at the framed black and white photographs mounted in simple black gallery frames with white matting that lined the hall. “Did you take these?”

  “A few of them. I’m not great with a camera, but every once in a while I manage a good shot.” Gwen stopped and turned to see which picture Dana was looking at. It was a simple close-up shot of a cello where the bridge was in sharp focus—the heart-shaped cutout in the center of the maple standing in stark relief to the bright white wood—and everything else was a black or gray blur. “I took that one though, yeah.”

  Dana hummed and nodded as she moved to the next picture. “And this one?”

  Gwen didn’t have to look at the picture to know what it was, but she did anyway because it was one of her favorites. The photograph was taken from a position in the middle of an empty stage looking out onto an equally empty auditorium and the edges of the picture were slightly blurred. It was a hauntingly beautiful shot, but it wasn’t one she had taken, and she shook her head as she said, “Mallory actually found that one at a shop in Madrid last summer when we were doing a three-week European tour.”

  “Oh.” Dana’s smile tightened as she turned away from the print, and Gwen guessed it was because with one word, she had brought up a painful reminder of why everything between them was so complicated. “Well, it’s beautiful.”

  “I think so too,” Gwen agreed softly. “I’m sorry.”

  Dana shook her head. “Why? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “We both know that’s not entirely true,” Gwen pointed out as she turned toward her bedroom door. If Dana wanted to follow her, she could, but Gwen wouldn’t blame her if she chose put a little d
istance between them for a few minutes and go back to the living room instead. She squeezed her eyes shut and rested her left hand on her hip while she dragged her right through her hair, hating the way her stomach had dropped at Dana’s reaction, hating even more the way the backs of her eyes prickled with tears of frustration because she had ruined any opportunity for them to see what they could be together before they had even gotten the chance to try.

  This had been a mistake. Not just inviting Dana to dinner, but thinking that she could move past all the things that drew her to Dana in the first place and just be her friend.

  “I’m sorry I made that weird,” Dana apologized as she stepped into Gwen’s bedroom a minute later. She toed the line where the light gray and ivory patterned rug that was under Gwen’s bed met the dark wood floor. “It’s just…” Her voice trailed off into a sigh. “Do you want me to go?”

  “No.” Gwen blinked twice and shook her head. “I mean, you can if you want.” She shrugged as she turned around to face her. “I know that this… That I’m…”

  “I thought this would be easier,” Dana confessed.

  “Me too,” Gwen murmured. “It’s okay if you want to go. I’ll understand.”

  Dana shook her head as she combed her hands through her hair. “No.” She took a deep breath and held it for a few beats before letting it go in a quiet rush as her arms fell to her sides and her hands smacked quietly against her thighs. “I’m good.”

  “Dana…”

  “I’m okay,” Dana insisted. “Really. Can we please just forget about it?”

  There was no resisting the plaintive look Dana was giving her, and even though she wondered if they really could forget what had just happened, it clearly meant a lot to Dana that they try, and Gwen sighed as she nodded in defeat. “Okay. Fine.” She tilted her head toward the bathroom. “I just need to do my makeup real quick and get my shoes on, and then I’ll be ready. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go for dinner?”

  “I’m good with whatever you’d like,” Dana said as she leaned against the foot of Gwen’s bed. “Derek and I went to The Pantry for second lunch after we left the park, so I’m not starving or anything.”

  “Second lunch?” Gwen asked as she disappeared into the bathroom. “Are you a hobbit or something?”

  “Or something,” Dana agreed with a chuckle that lacked its usual warmth but, somehow, didn’t sound entirely forced, either. “But yeah, I’m not really craving anything in particular. What sounds good to you?”

  “Where’s this pool hall we’re meeting everyone at, exactly?”

  “It’s on La Cienega between Santa Monica and Melrose.”

  Gwen pulled her makeup bag from its drawer and set it on the vanity counter as she pictured the part of town Dana was referring to. “Have you been to Hugo’s?”

  “Never even heard of it.”

  “There’s one in Studio City that I’ll go to with Luke and Jay sometimes, but they also have a location on Santa Monica just before La Cienega.” Gwen unscrewed her mascara and leaned closer to the mirror to see better so she didn’t poke herself in the eye. “They do a little bit of everything, so there’s plenty to choose from on the menu. If you want, you can look it up real quick and see what you think.”

  “No need. I’m not picky. We can do that.”

  “Okay.” Gwen finished applying her mascara, and fished a tube of lipstick out of the bag. She was lucky that her complexion was such that she never needed to bother with anything more unless it was a particularly special occasion, and after she had blotted off the excess lipstick, she capped the tube and tossed it back into her makeup bag before quickly unbuttoning her pants and tucking her shirt in. Dana was still leaning against the foot of her bed when she made her way back into the bedroom, and she smiled hesitantly at her as she pulled a pair of white no-show socks from her drawer. “I just need to get my shoes on.”

  “You’re more than fine,” Dana assured her with a smile. “Really. Don’t rush on my account.”

  Gwen hurried anyway, and she smoothed her hands over her thighs after she finished tying her shoes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Dana nodded. “Yeah. It’s…” She ran a hand through her hair as she pushed herself up off the edge of the bed and sighed as she turned to look at Gwen. “I just kind of forgot about her, somehow.” She shrugged. “I mean, it’s probably because I’ve been having so much fun hanging out with you, but hearing her name just kind of threw me for a minute. But it’s fine,” she added when she saw Gwen poised to interrupt. “Really.”

  “How can it be fine?” Gwen asked softly.

  “Because I like the way you make me smile and I like the sound of your laughter and I’m too stubborn to let that go,” Dana whispered, her eyes pleading. “Okay?”

  No. Not at all. Those were exactly the reasons why they should cut ties and run, because they weren’t free to do anything about any of that, but Gwen would be lying if she said she didn’t feel the exact same way. “We’re idiots.”

  “Probably,” Dana admitted with a wan smile.

  Gwen sighed. Well, at least they were in agreement on that much. “If we’re going to make it to the restaurant in time to eat before we’re meeting everyone at the pool hall, we’d better get going.”

  Dana nodded. “I’ll drive, since my car is smaller and it’s going to be stupid-busy down there tonight.”

  “Okay. Luke and Jay can give me a ride home if you want, since they have to come back this way to get to the 101 anyway.”

  “We’ll see how it goes,” Dana said with small shrug. She waved a hand at the doorway. “After you.”

  TWENTY-FIVE

  “It’s all yours.” Gwen pushed the plate with the lone remaining Asian spring roll on it closer to Dana. “If I have it, I’ll be too full for my dinner.”

  “Okay.” Dana shrugged and reached for the spring roll. She lifted it toward Gwen in a silent toast before she took a bite, her lips curling in a pleased smile as she chewed.

  Gwen leaned back in her chair and lifted her wine glass to her lips, taking a slow, shallow sip of merlot as she glanced out the window to her left, staring blankly at the cars that packed the boulevard. The car ride down to Hugo’s had been awkward, their conversation stilted as they tried to force the easy conversation they had grown accustomed to. That self-consciousness had eased somewhat while they took their time perusing the menu, but it returned in full-force as soon as that distraction disappeared.

  “What were you listening to earlier?” Dana asked, drawing Gwen’s attention away from the shadowed profile of a woman in a black BMW who was bobbing her head with her radio. “At Cloud’s Rest,” she elaborated. “When I scared you. You seemed really into it and I’m always looking for new music to pump at the pool to keep my swimmers moving.”

  “Oh.” Gwen set her glass on the table and toyed with the stem as she tried to recall what song had been playing when Dana surprised her on the ridge, but all she could remember was the way she had smiled at her when she’d turned around. “I’m not exactly sure, to be honest. Luke made the playlist I was listening to and I know there’s some Chainsmokers and Halsey on there, so it was either something by one of them or something similar.” She frowned and pulled her phone from her purse to pull up the playlist she had been listening to that morning as she added, “He’s got this weird thing where he won’t mix musical genres on playlists for some reason.”

  “Seriously?”

  Gwen shrugged as she scanned the list. All the songs were recently familiar since her hike had taken long enough to play through the list twice, and she honestly couldn’t recall which was the one she had been listening to. “I don’t get it either. But he’s got a good ear and this bizarre knack for knowing what I’d like, so I don’t really question it too much.” She offered Dana her phone. “This is the playlist if you want to have a look, though.”

  “Cool.” Dana took the phone.

  Gwen watched the way her expression shifte
d as she scrolled through it—a small smile quirking her lips at titles she assumed Dana knew, and a small furrow etching itself between her eyebrows on those that were unfamiliar.

  “This is actually a really good set. Would you mind if I took a screenshot of it so you could text it to my phone?”

  “Go for it.” Gwen shook her head. “All of the playlists he made for me have an asterisk at the front of the title if you want to look through those, too.”

  “Sweet.” Dana’s eyes lit up and she nodded as she tapped at the top-left corner of the screen. “So all the ones without the asterisk are yours?”

  “Yeah, but they’re not nearly as exciting. Or, that’s what Luke tells me.” Gwen smiled when Dana chuckled softly in response. After a beat she ventured, “I didn’t realize music was so important in swimming.”

  “Eh.” Dana shrugged. “It helps keep things fun. I mean, when you’re staring at a black line at the bottom of a pool for four hours a day, anything that breaks up the monotony of it all is a good thing. And, well, it makes it more fun for me when I’m standing on deck all day. Mostly, I just really like it.” She took a screenshot of another list and smiled as she handed Gwen back her phone. “I don’t want to invade your privacy or anything, so when you get a chance could you send me those screenshots?”

  “There’s really nothing in there since the only people I’ve texted lately are you, my mom, and Luke, but I’ll just send them now,” Gwen said as she opened her messages and quickly attached the pictures to Dana’s thread. She hit send and then put her phone back into her purse. “There you go.”

  “Awesome. Thank you.”