Pumpkin Spice

by C. L. Ryder

  She sat in her car in the gym parking lot, staring blankly out the front windshield of her car as the clock ticked closer to class time. Normally she would’ve been inside by now doing her normal workout routine.

  Maybe I shouldn’t see her again. Maybe it’s not a good idea.

  Should she get more involved with this girl?

  She’s a friend. That’s it. There’s nothing wrong with making a new friend, is there? No. There isn’t. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. And that’s all she is and ever will be—just a friend I work out with at the gym.

  For a brief moment, Bethany considered turning the car on and just driving home, but she knew she’d feel like an idiot later if she did that.

  She sucked in a breath, grabbed the gym bag off the seat, and left the car.

  She couldn’t stop her eyes from scanning the gym as she walked towards the locker room. Maybe she’s not here. Her gaze stopped on a tall, dark haired woman with a similar build as Jane working out at one of the weight machines, but as soon as she turned her head, Bethany could see it wasn’t her after all. She went into the locker room, half expecting to find Jane in there waiting, but she was disappointed. Women shuffled in and out, the low sound of pop music playing over the room’s ceiling speakers accented by the occasional bang of a locker door. Bethany found the locker that Jane had used.

  Vacant.

  She let out a sigh, unsure if it was one of relief or disappointment.

  Well, that makes things easier, then.

  After changing into gym clothes, she shouldered her bag with her boxing gear and went out to class. On the way, she made another hopeful scan across the gym, but again did not find who she was looking for. Some irrational voice in the back of her mind wondered with horror if maybe she had given her a concussion after all.

  What if after she went home, she knocked out into a coma? What if she’s in the hospital right now, hooked up to breathing tubes? Would Frank know? Would anyone I know know?

  She couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity, though the thought did continue to tease her at the back of her mind.

  Frank was in the corner of the classroom, speaking to a group of other students. He turned around at the sound of door opening, and gave Bethany a wave. Not here, Bethany thought, walking over to the wall to put down her bag. Damn.

  “Jane not here?” Frank asked, coming over and giving Bethany a firm handshake.

  “I don’t know,” she replied with a mild shrug.

  “You must be disappointed,” Frank said.

  “What?” Bethany said, surprised. “No…”

  “Oh. Okay. Well, I thought you would’ve because of what Jackson said.”

  Oh, God, Bethany thought. “What did Jackson say?”

  Frank looked like he’d just let a big secret slip. He scratched the back of his head. “Oh, nothing really. I just was talking with him the other day. You were off that day, obviously. And um, well, he said that you might have a thing for Jane.”

  “What!?”

  “You don’t?”

  “No! No, I don’t have a thing for Jane. I just met her… What did he say to you?”

  Frank spoke cautiously. “Well… He just mentioned that you haven’t been with anyone in a long time and that you’d been talking about her a lot since last class…”

  “Because he asked me about her.”

  “Okay. Well, he also said that… ah, I’m talking too much.”

  Bethany shook her head. “Oh no, Frank, you gotta keep going, now. What did he say?”

  Frank sighed. “He just said that he’s known you long enough to tell when you’re into a chick, even when you might not know it yourself. And… that you distance yourself when you do. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything…”

  Oh, Jackson.

  Bethany let out a resigned chuckle. “I was hoping she’d be here today, so that’s not distancing myself, is it?”

  “So you are disappointed?” Frank grinned.

  Bethany frowned and opened her mouth to begin stumbling over her words again, when the classroom door opened. The two of them glanced over. Frank’s grin widened, and Bethany did her best to contain her surprise. There she was, standing in the doorway, her dark eyes flitting across the room before quickly finding Bethany’s. Bethany smiled, and a feeling of extreme lightness came over her, as if gravity had left the room and her feet were slowly leaving the floor. The moment was brief. The earth started to spin again and she collected herself, unconsciously stomping out the feeling before it could have a chance to take complete hold.

  “Jane,” she said, “I didn’t think you were coming today.” Before she knew it, she was opening her arms to give her a friendly hug. When her body made contact with Jane’s she felt a warm tingling spread through her.

  I’m happy, she realized. I’m really happy to see her.

  “You kidding me? I told you we were going to go for round two. No, I just got caught up with work. Busy week. Hi, Frank.”

  “Jane. Good to see you again.” Frank shook her hand and then went off to speak to some of the other students.

  “So you’re ready to get your ass handed to you again?” Bethany asked, grinning.

  Jane coughed mock-offended laugh. “Oh! Oh, I don’t think so, Bethany. You got the jump on me last time, but I’m ready for you tonight. My jaw is still a little sore, though.”

  “I’ll make sure not to swing too hard, then.” She grinned. I’ve been waiting all week to see her.

  “What are you doing tonight?” Jane asked, lowering her voice. “After class?”

  Surprise took her twice. First by Jane’s question, and second by the flip her heart did in reaction.

  “After class?” Bethany replied. For a moment, it felt like everything else around her had faded away, and it was only her and Jane in their own little world.

  “I was thinking,” Jane said, a warm smile on her lips. “We could go get another drink tonight. Chat more.” She walked over to the wall and placed her gym bag down next to Bethany’s.

  “Well, I have some work stuff I need to take care of,” Bethany said quickly, nearly tripping over her words. “I probably shouldn’t make a habit of drinking after the gym.”

  “Oh,” Jane said, nodding. She moved to stuff her hands into the non-existent pockets of her gym shorts, sliding her palms halfway down her thighs. Bethany had to stifle a laugh.

  “But, yeah, we could go get another drink. I’d like that.”

  Jane’s face lit up. “Okay, then. Great, after class.”

  Bethany felt that lightness moving through her again, picking her up by the heart.

  Don’t get too involved, a voice said in her mind. Do you have time for something like this? Can you really afford to get involved? You don’t even know if she’s a lesbian. You’re getting too far ahead of yourself.

  Just like that, her feet were back on the ground again.

  Just remember where your priorities are.

  “Well,” Bethany said, trying to shake away the strange tension that had suddenly gripped her. “Are you ready to fight?”

  It seemed like the entire class was eager to watch their rematch. When Frank called for sparring volunteers, all eyes turned towards the two of them.

  Jane knew that Bethany’s skills were the real deal, and she’d been completely confident that she’d be able to even the score that night. They stepped into the makeshift ring at the center of the room and tapped gloves, but as soon as Frank started the match, Jane immediately found herself picked apart by Bethany’s attacks. Every time she tried to land a hit on her, she seemed to disappear. Bethany was just that much better than she was.

  When Frank called time, the two of them moved to the side wall, both winded and trying to catch their breath.

  “God… damn…” Jane breathed. “How do you do that?”

  “Do what?” Bethany panted. She pulled off her helmet and took out her mouth guard, and then wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel.

&
nbsp; “Move like that.” Jane yanked off her own helmet, sweat dripping off the strands of her dark hair onto the floor, her chest heaving.

  “Maybe you’re just old,” Bethany said, grinning.

  Jane winced. “Ouch.”

  “Want me to go easy on you?”

  “And have you hang that over me when I beat you? Hell, no.”

  Bethany laughed. “Don’t speak too soon, Jane.”

  When their turn came again, they quickly jumped back into the ring. They circled around the mat eyeing each other, their gazes locked and intense. Both of them were thrumming with energy. They were both alert, both engaged with each other, and their minds were completely free of work or any of the things that had been weighing on them. Right now, they felt like different women, and they were having the most fun they’d had in a very long time.

  Jane finally managed to get the upper hand on Bethany, and after feinting her out, she caught the side of Bethany’s helmet with a left hook that sent her stumbling to the ground. Jane quickly crouched to her side and grabbed her arm.

  “Bethany, you okay?”

  Bethany nodded, slowly getting up. “Just stunned me. Nice punch. You finally snuck one through.”

  After class, they went back to the locker room to shower. As Jane stood in the shower stall and let the water wash the shampoo from her hair, she couldn’t help but think about the fact that Bethany was just a couple stalls down from her, completely naked. She managed to stop herself before the thoughts turned too explicit, and quickly finished washing up. I really like this girl, she thought with some amazement. Damn.

  When she left the showers, and went back into the locker room, she found herself alone. Bethany was still not finished. Jane kept her towel wrapped around her waist as she pulled her clothes out from the locker. Dress clothes again, since she’d rushed over from work.

  She’d been in an online meeting with Paul and one of the food distributors they’d been working with to put a new line of breakfast sandwiches into their stores—Paul’s push, of course. The distributor was rethinking their agreement, wanting to back out, and Jane had to pull a miracle of negotiations out of her ass to rescue a contract that she hadn’t been completely sure about in the first place. Of course, she understood that sometimes sacrifices had to be made in the pursuit of success.

  She’d told herself she wasn’t going to miss class that night. She couldn’t. She needed to see Bethany again. She didn’t think she could wait another week to talk to her again. Bethany had been on her mind almost constantly since that first day they’d met.

  She was about to undo her towel when she heard footsteps behind her and a locker open. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Bethany standing in front of her locker, towel around her body and beads of water still dotting her shoulders. Bethany slipped her thumb underneath the lip of her towel, and Jane quickly glanced away just as she pulled it off. Her heart started to thud faster. God, she wanted to look back and take a little peek.

  “We still on for that drink?” Jane asked into the locker. She dropped her towel and slipped into her underwear.

  “Yeah,” Bethany said. “Are we going to the same place?”

  “Why don’t we go back to my place? I just got brand new furniture.” Jane held her breath as she pulled on her shirt and buttoned it up. She’s not going to agree to that, she thought. She could be cool and collected in a boardroom with three bigwig investors staring her down, but now such a simple, stupid proposal had gotten her hands trembling.

  “Your place?” Bethany asked.

  “Sure. It’s nearby.”

  Jane swallowed. Her imagination was still running wild, trying to picture what Bethany looked like with her towel pooled around her feet and her bare body exposed. If she turned around and looked…

  She felt a little pulse of energy surge down below her stomach, as warmth filled the space between her thighs. She quickly fought to fill her mind with thoughts of online meetings and boardroom negotiations.

  “Alright, yeah,” Bethany answered, after what felt like a lifetime. “Okay.”

  Jane let out her breath and only then realized that she’d been holding it. She stepped into her slacks and sat down onto the bench to put on her heels. Bethany’s locker shut, and Jane felt her join her on the bench.

  “You’re making me feel underdressed,” Bethany said.

  Jane laughed. “I did come straight from work.”

  They left the gym, and this time Bethany followed behind Jane in her own car. She lived just a few blocks away from the gym, not walking distance but still in the same neighborhood. Jane was glad that she’d managed to unpack most of her boxes over the week and make the place presentable. Now a completely new issue presented itself—what would she do next?

  Sure, she’d dated plenty of women before, and she’d done what she had to do to satisfy her normal womanly cravings, but this felt like the first time she’d ever liked someone this much—at least in a very long time. It was a strange feeling that tugged at her heart and enthralled her very being.

  Bethany.

  “Welcome, come on in,” Jane said, opening the front door and gesturing with a sweep of her arm. “Sorry, I’m still in the process of moving in.”

  The walls were mostly bare, but the moving boxes were gone and had been replaced by a big, welcoming leather sofa opposite a gigantic flat screen television, along with a variety of other tastefully chosen furniture and decorations.

  “It looks like you bought everything brand new,” Bethany said.

  “I kind of did,” Jane admitted. All the furniture was brand new. She didn’t see a point to lugging everything from her old place in the bay, so she’d just sold it all.

  Jane gestured to the couch as she walked over to the kitchen. “Make yourself at home. How does a gin and tonic sound?”

  “Great.” Bethany plunked down onto the couch. She looked around with wide eyes, her hands held in fists on her thighs. Jane thought she looked a little overwhelmed. Cute.

  “What’s up?” Jane asked.

  “Nothing, just… you’ve gotta own some kind of tech company, right? A place like this, on this side of the neighborhood?”

  Jane laughed. “Tech company… Because I moved from the Bay?”

  “Yeah.”

  Jane got out two short glasses and filled them with ice. “Nope, not a tech company.” She cracked open a new bottle of tonic water and poured it with the gin into the glasses. Then she took out a lime from the fridge, quickly sliced it, and put wedges into both drinks.

  “Okay, what is it then?” Bethany asked. She turned around on the couch and folded her arms over the back.

  Jane drew in a long breath. She wanted to tell Bethany that she owned The Standard, but she knew how that information would complicate things. Money and success of that level always did. Right now, Bethany could already see that she was a successful entrepreneur, but how successful was up to her imagination. Actually knowing that she was a multi-millionaire would probably be best kept a secret.

  “I’d… still rather not say,” she said with an apologetic smile. She passed Bethany a gin and tonic, and then sat down onto the couch beside her. “But I’ll tell you that I work in the restaurant industry.”

  “I do too!” Bethany exclaimed, surprised.

  “You’re kidding me. You own a restaurant?” What a crazy coincidence!

  “Yeah. It’s a small place.”

  “What’s it called?”

  Bethany looked apprehensive. “I don’t know if I want to say.”

  “Why not? I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s only fair.”

  Bethany considered this for a moment. “I just… we’re…” She was silent for a moment, and took a swallow from her drink. “I’m just embarrassed.”

  Jane laughed. “Why?”

  “Because you’re obviously very successful, and my place is just a hole in the wall. And… honestly, we’re not doing so well right now.” She took another big swallo
w from her gin and tonic, draining nearly half the glass.

  “I see,” Jane said. “It’s a tough industry. The important thing is that you don’t give up on what you believe in. I know you’re a fighter. So, you gotta keep fighting.”

  Bethany looked at her, and Jane thought she saw a flash of the same spark that had burned in her eyes when they were boxing.