by Annora Green
Rachel flushed slightly. “Okay, don’t laugh. But it’s actually one of Sabrina’s friends. And we’re kind of more than just friends now.”
“What? Since when? Who is this?” Ari asked, forgetting all about Sophia for a second.
“Cassandra,” Rachel said. “The architect. And it’s new, just since the weekend.”
“Wow,” Ari said.
“Hey, you’re not the only one who had stuff happen in Vegas, but in my case it didn’t stay in Vegas,” Rachel replied, grinning. “We’ve made plans every night since we got back. And you’re welcome to join us tonight. I think we are meeting up for drinks, and a few of her friends might be there. It’ll be casual.”
“Okay,” Ari said, standing up from her desk, deciding that a break from thinking about Sophia could be exactly what she needed. “I’m in. Let’s close up and get out of here.”
¨°¨
9 AM Friday, Central European Time
Ari, where are you? I didn’t see a text last night. Hope all is well. Sophia
6 PM Friday, Central European time
What are you up to, Arianna? Miss hearing from you. S.
7 PM Friday, Pacific time
Went out w Rach and some friends last night.
Hope your meetings were good.
What time are you getting back home?
7 AM Sunday, Central European time
I need to talk to you about that.
¨°¨
“Sophia’s staying away for another two weeks?” Rachel asked, incredulous.
“She arranged more meetings than expected while she was over there and needs to stay a while longer,” Ari said.
They were between shifts. Athena was on her way out, Rachel on her way in, and they were standing behind the counter, a conversation about schedules for the weekend having devolved into gossip.
“She didn’t ask you to meet her there again, did she?” Rachel asked.
“Not this time.”
“She wanted Ari to go to Europe with her?” Athena asked, raising her eyebrows.
“It’s kind of romantic, you have to admit. Wanting to whisk you off to Paris,” Rachel added.
“Yeah, but is this chick serious about you, or does she just see you as some sort of accessory?” Athena asked, scowling. “Because right now, she sounds indecisive about everything except for her occasional desire for a quick f-”
“Hey, there are customers,” Ari cut her off loudly, looking around nervously.
There weren’t many customers at the moment, though. It was a low time of day.
“Wow, well, aren’t we the cynical one?” Rachel teased Athena lightly.
“You used to be way more cynical - and fun - before your whole Cassandra fling,” Athena grumbled.
“She has a point. Love has softened me,” Rachel admitted, batting her eyelashes.
“It’s only been a week,” Athena pointed out.
“I feel your pain,” Ari said to Rachel, taking a sip of coffee.
“Look at it this way, Ari,” Athena said, resting her elbows on the counter. “She isn’t prioritizing you at all. She sounds like a cold, heartless b-”
“Customers!” Ari warned again in a low voice.
“-lady who doesn’t have any concern for how anyone feels except for herself. She even left her son home, right? The kid doesn’t have his mom around for three weeks. Staying with some relative. Forget about her and go live your life. She’s not worth it,” Athena said, shaking her head in disgust.
Ari could only nod, thinking maybe Athena had a point.
¨°¨
Ari started unbuttoning Sophia’s blouse before their hotel room door had even fully clicked shut, and the two quickly found themselves in a tangled mess on the bed.
Some time later, Sophia was perched a wrought iron chair outside on the small terrace, wearing a loose, long, button-down white shirtdress. Sophia was relaxed, her feet were bare, propped up on the seat of the other little bistro chair. She had a glass of red wine next to her, an assortment of foods - bread, cheese, grapes, strawberries, slices of meats - laid out on a platter, a laptop in front of her.
She was also smoking, inhaling softly, exhaling the smoke up towards the clear, ultramarine evening sky.
Ari sat up from the bed where she had been napping. She grabbed her t-shirt from earlier that had been tossed haphazardly onto a nearby chair. She gathered her jeans, and put those on, and moved out onto the terrace to join Sophia.
“I didn’t know you smoked,” Ari said, her voice still full of sleep. She popped a strawberry into her mouth.
Sophia looked up at her, smiled dreamily, and snuffed out the cigarette in a small glass ashtray, setting it aside. “I do on occasion. More people smoke here than back home, and it makes me miss it. It’s an old, bad habit from my college days.”
She paused and noted Ari’s look of concern.
“If it bothers you, I can stop,” she offered.
“I don’t mind, I guess.”
Sophia moved her feet and Ari sat down next to her.
“I can arrange a tour for you,” Sophia said. “I have meetings all day tomorrow, but I know someone who does a wonderful private city tour.”
“I think I might just wander,” Ari said. “I should work on some art while I’m here.”
“Good place for that,” Sophia noted.
“Are you still working?” Ari asked, scowling at the laptop.
Sophia shook her head. “It’s an email my sister sent. I need to let her know who I’m bringing to the wedding.
“Oh,” Ari said. “Anyone in mind?”
Sophia looked at her and smiled. “Well?”
Ari gave her a half-smile. “Am I really who your family wants to see you bring as your date?”
“I don’t care what they think. And besides, they’ll be too busy thinking about themselves to care about me.”
“There are a couple of reasons they’ll care when they see me with you,” Ari said in a serious tone, reaching for a piece of bread.
“My family knows I’ve seen women in the past,” Sophia said.
“So that’s not an issue?”
Sophia shook her head. “No. That ship sailed a long time ago. They’ve grown accustomed to it, although they also don’t take it very seriously.”
Ari stopped chewing.
“I take you seriously,” Sophia quickly assured her.
Ari swallowed. “Do you?”
Sophia nodded.
“I don’t believe you,” Ari said after a beat, her face darkening. “You told me once you didn’t want anything. I don’t think you want me here. And you know what? I don’t want to be here, either.”
Ari stood up and, in her bare feet and t-shirt, left the room, the door clicking behind her on the way out.
Sophia stayed on the terrace, frozen in place. She could only lean over to look at the street several floors below her, and a few moments later, she saw Ari walk out of the hotel, go down the street, and disappear into the night.
¨°¨
Sophia woke up with a start.
She rolled over in bed, her hand reaching out, trying to find a pillow, something to grab on to and ground herself.
As she slowly pulled herself up to shake off the sleep, she gazed out of the window and onto the terrace beyond. It must be early morning; she could just barely make out in the grey light that the terrace was empty, save the wrought iron table and chairs that had appeared in her dream. They were bare. No wine, no food, no cigarettes (though it was true that she had been smoking since she arrived back in Paris. Bad habit. After that dream, she vowed not to do it in front of Ari. Not that she ever smoked back home, anyways, and she would certainly never do so around Percy.)
Ari was thousands upon thousands of miles - and an ocean - away. She was not sure how she felt about that fact: relief that that conversation had not happened in real life, or disappointment that the woman had not, in fact, been here with her.
She sat up, remembering something about
how she had mentioned Ari should come to Paris. She had blurted it out that morning, the morning after, while curled up on Ari’s soft couch in Las Vegas, searching for airline tickets. She had been on an unusually giddy high that morning. For a little while, anything had felt possible. But then Ari had told her, in a strained voice, that she didn’t have a passport, and Sophia realized how silly it had been for her to suggest the woman do something so frivolous. What would Ari even have done in Paris, anyways? Sit around at the hotel all day? Be a pretty accessory for Sophia to show off at business dinners and cocktail parties? Ari was a busy human being, with a job and a life, not something Sophia could drag around Paris.
Ari had her own life. And Sophia had to stop interfering in it, being a mental drain on the woman, taking up her time.
This is exactly why she did not do relationships, or love, or anything of the sort. She was, quite simply, bad at it.
Part of her craved the days before Ari, when it had been so simple to be with others. Flirting, games. Perhaps a conversation or two about their pasts, but never really going into detail. Followed by the pure, simple bliss of a few nights together. And then she would usually never see that person again. Or not see them many more times.
Ari had, no doubt, ruined that type of experience for Sophia.
After experiencing Ari, she could not fathom ever being satisfied with anyone else.
She wished she did not like spending time with Ari so much. She could have been over it by now, both of them moved on with their lives.
Sophia was both puzzled and resentful of the fact that she could not get Ari off her mind.
Now, she longed for that feeling she had that one morning in Vegas; comfortable on Ari’s couch, the sun streaming through the window, Ari making her coffee while she scrolled through her emails and booked a flight. She wished she were doing that now, instead of being in a small European hotel room, so far from Ari’s strong presence, soft touch and calming demeanor.
She picked up her phone from the end table and looked at it. If she sent a text now, it would be the late evening in California. Ari might still be up.
She typed a few things:
Hope you’re well.
She erased it.
How’s the coffee? Have a cup ready for me when I return?
Sophia cringed at her attempts at flirty messages and promptly erased them both. The first sounded like the start of a business email. The other seemed too cutesy and desperate. She was clearly terrible at communicating what she really felt.
Hi, I have conflicting feelings about you. I don’t want to bother you, or get involved in anything serious for a very long time, if not forever. It will probably take so long for me to come around that you will move on. But in the meantime, let’s sleep together and the morning after have breakfast and be next to each other because that was one of the best things I’ve ever experienced.
She definitely would not send that one.
She wondered how to flirt over text. She had come of age just before texting had become a key element in a relationship, and did not think that her mid-thirties was the most promising time to experiment awkwardly with flirting via text for the first time. She would hate to make Ari into a guinea pig for that.
If only relationships were as easy as business.
For lack of a decent idea about what to write, she wrote nothing and put her phone back down on the end table.
¨°¨
2 weeks later
Percy came into Ari’s cafe again after school one day. When she saw him, she wondered if she could once again get away with fishing for more information, or if doing so was going to make the kid suspicious.
“Long time no see,” Ari said. “Haven’t seen you since that grilled cheese a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I’m waiting for my mom to get out of work today,” Percy said.
“What do you mean? She’s back?” Ari asked, surprised
The last text she had received from Sophia had been a few nights ago, over the weekend. It had been brief, a cursory hello, hope she was doing well kind of thing. Sophia had not mentioned anything about a return date.
“Yup, two days ago,” Percy said.
“You must be glad to have her back. No more train rides,” Ari said, her mind wrapping around the news.
Percy nodded.
Rachel brought Percy a hot chocolate, and as Percy turned his focus back to a video game, Ari told him she would find him something to snack on.
That settles that,Ari thought stubbornly. It’s back to square one with Sophia. Very little communication, cordial at best when we do communicate. She didn’t even let me know she was coming home.
Maybe she should follow Athena’s advice.
At home that night, Ari struggled to not think about what to do about Sophia. She flipped through television channels, picked up a book and then promptly put it back down again. As she fixed a little snack of crackers, cheese and nuts in her kitchen, she heard a text come in.
Not many people other than Sophia texted her, so she had a feeling it might be her. Still, trying not to get her hopes up, she picked up her phone and discovered that it was indeed from the very woman she was trying to forget.
I’m back and I have a business proposition for you, Ms. Little. Would you be free to meet me at my office tomorrow?
¨°¨
Ari agreed to meet Sophia partially out of curiosity at this “business proposition” and partly because she wanted to clear the air, and assure Sophia - if the topic came up - that what happened in Vegas could indeed stay there. Ari wanted things back to normal so Sophia could at least drop by and have her morning coffee at The Little Cafe again. She preferred to just try to get through this like normal adults.
They met in the middle of the afternoon, around 2. Sophia had chosen the time that was best for Ari: she knew it was a slow time at the cafe, after lunch but before mid-afternoon coffee breaks. Unfortunately, it was a peak time at FORBIDDEN: downstairs the boutique was busy with shoppers who seemed to have come from out of town, but Elle was doing a good job as always with the rush. There were many people working upstairs as well. Seth was upstairs today, as were some of Sophia’s staff who helped get together online orders and ship out merchandise.
Ari walked past a man carrying a stack of boxes and knocked on Sophia’s heavy wooden office door, which was closed.
‘Come in,” Sophia said, and Ari entered.
“Go ahead and shut the door,” Sophia directed.
“Welcome back,” Ari said in a cool voice, letting the door click shut.
“Thank you,” Sophia said, standing up from her desk and taking off her glasses.
“You can come by for coffee, you know,” Ari said.
“What?”
“Coffee, at the cafe. You haven’t stopped in since you got back from Paris. You’re welcome any time, like always.”
“Oh, thank you,” Sophia said distractedly. “We did fix our coffee machine here finally, but yours is better. Now, please, sit down.”
She gestured toward the chair in front of her desk.
“What can I do for you?” Ari asked, not sure what topic was going to come up during this meeting.
“I’m working on a marketing campaign. I was inspired while I was in Paris,” she said. “I had an idea, last night, when looking over one of my many sketches. I’ve started to be drawn to works of art that... well, that were similar to the ones you painted. The ones I saw at your house in Las Vegas.”
“Really?” Ari asked.
Sophia put on her glasses back on, and Ari could not help but think Sophia needed to stop wearing those glasses if she was going to be okay withjust being friends or business acquaintances or whatever it was she was with Sophia.
“I am wondering if you would consider selling me some of your works of art. Either the ones you had hanging in your home, or new ones that would be painted in a similar style. And by selling them, would you also sell me the rights to use them in
a marketing campaign? I want to use them as a backdrop in photos of my lingerie.”
“Wow, sure. I never thought I could sell a painting, much less actually have it be used in a real... thing,” Ari said, struggling to find words.
“Well, now is your chance for your work to be in a ‘thing,’” Sophia said, businesslike.
Ari nodded. “So do you want me to make one special for you, like a commission, or would you prefer to buy one of the ones you saw? That I already did?”
Sophia thought for a moment. “If you’d be willing to take on a commission, perhaps that would be best. I have some colors that I might prefer for you to incorporate, to compliment my pieces. If you don’t mind.”
Ari nodded. “That could be arranged.”
“Now, let’s talk pricing,” Sophia began, looking down at a notepad on her desk.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know what my work is worth,” Ari said.
“And to be honest, I don’t have the highest budget. I may have a modestly successful business on my hands, but margins are thin right now, and my marketing budget isn’t amazing.”
“That’s okay,” Ari said. “I just like the idea of my artwork being out there.”
“You are a terrible negotiator,” Sophia said with a slight smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, writing a number down on a sticky note and passing it across the desk to Ari. “I can give you this for each piece, which includes the rights to use them in the one upcoming marketing campaign. I think I would want three or four paintings. It’s not much money, I know, but I truly don’t have a lot of wiggle room as far as marketing goes. I still have to hire photographers, graphic designers, copywriters, the works.”
“Sold,” Ari said.
Sophia smiled smugly. “Like I said, terrible negotiator.”
“...with one caveat,” Ari added quickly.
“What?” Sophia asked.
Ari lowered her voice. “Have dinner with me.”
Sophia sucked in a cheek and shifted impatiently. “I’m busy the next couple of weeks.”
Ari let out a low hiss of frustration.
“What is going on, Sophia?” she asked quietly. “Last time we parted, we’d just slept together and you were telling me I should get a passport so I could travel with you, and now we’re back to the same place we were weeks ago? Just acquaintances?”
