Lattes & Lace

by Annora Green

  Sophia glanced at her and then back down at her hands, which were folded on the desk in front of her.

  “I told you I was bad at this kind of thing,” she said softly.

  “You did.” Ari said quietly. “But Sophia, we did-”

  “-a thing adults sometimes do when they’re swept up in a moment,” Sophia finished, looking up at her with a stoic expression on her face.

  “Right,” Ari said, leaning back, partially hurt, partially just mad. Her jaw clenching, she averted her gaze, focusing instead on the side of the room where several silky, floral-print chemises and lacy underwear daintily hung from silk hangers.

  “I apologize, Ms. Little, for what I did. It wasn’t fair to you,” Sophia said this time, clearly trying to sound firm, but Ari sensed a slight quiver in her voice. “It was just a... whim.”

  Ari looked at her, studied her for a moment.

  “It wasn’t.” Ari said finally.

  “What?” Sophia asked, her eyes flashing.

  “It wasn’t some throwaway night,” Ari said firmly. “It was something more. I can tell when you’re lying. You’re lying now.”

  Sophia really was lying, Ari thought. The way the veins in her forehead became more pronounced, the way she pursed her lips in a way that made the skin around them tighten, her expression was souring... Ari could tell.

  Sophia scowled briefly at Ari’s observation, then her face softened.

  “You’re right,” Sophia admitted, her voice softer now, letting out a deep breath she had been holding. “It was more than nothing.”

  “What do you want, Sophia?” Ari asked. “I’ll respect your decision, either way. But all you’ve been giving me so far are mixed messages.”

  Sophia looked into her eyes, and Ari’s breath stopped, her world seemed to stand still for a second.

  “I’m a coffee shop owner. I live in tiny loft. I’m a pretty modest person. But I also know what I want. And it’s likely I’ll wait around for a little while, but maybe not forever, you know?” Ari said gently. “And I get it. Really. You’re building a fashion empire and still somehow manage to raise a really great kid. You’re busy.”

  “I am,” Sophia confirmed.

  “You’re also incredibly frustrating, you know,” Ari said a moment later, looking into Sophia’s eyes and leaning forward on the desk. “Because you’re wearing these glorious glasses and are sitting in this office surrounded by delicate, lacy underthings. And I think you know what I wish I could have this very second.”

  Ari thought she heard Sophia suck in a little breath.

  Sophia leaned back in her chair, listening, at a loss for her own words.

  “You’re also stubborn.” Ari grinned.

  Sophia rolled her eyes.

  Ari laughed a bit at that.

  “Sophia Black, if you can ever admit out loud what you want, either way, you’ll know where to find me,” Ari said. “That is, if it’s not like five decades from now and The Little Cafe no longer exists, and I’m not 80 years old and haven’t moved on already with, oh, I dunno, give or take a dozen other people. Probably take. Who am I kidding.”

  Ari tried to keep the tone light, but in reality, she was starting to feel almost foolish having this conversation. Again.

  Sophia’s silence made her feel like she was talking too much.

  Oh, how she wished things had gone differently. How she wished they were back in that easy, comfortable place they had been in Vegas, before Sophia went away. Maybe she could have done a better job reassuring Sophia somehow, tried to make her less skittish, before they had left that little bubble.

  She just wanted to go back to work now. Put some distance between herself and the frustrating brunette.

  Sophia remained silent and the only noise was a tap-tap-tap of her pen against a pad of paper. She took a sip of water out of a crystal glass that had been resting on a marble coaster. Ari could not read her expression.

  At last, Ari remembered why she was there that afternoon. Her voice turned businesslike. “So, when do you need the paintings by?”

  Sophia cleared her throat. “Two weeks, if you can. But if you need more time, just let me know.”

  Ari nodded. “Done.”

  Sophia stood up. “I’ll walk you out.”

  They went downstairs. Ari was starting to feel disappointed in herself that she had ever let the woman sweep her up in the moment.

  Ari had been screwed over by enough people in her life that she should have known better than to trust anyone, especially someone as seemingly independent and dangerous as Ms. “I don’t do relationships” Black.

  A woman who owned a business called FORBIDDEN, of all things. Why had she not taken that as a warning sign?

  Ari crossed the floor of the store and was saying a quick goodbye to Elle when she heard a familiar trill.

  “Ari! Oh, darling, how good to see you again!”

  It was Sabrina. Otherwise known as the last person, after Sophia, Ari had any interest in seeing at the moment.

  “You and Rachel planned one of the best weekends of my life,” she said, stopping Ari and giving her an air kiss.

  Ari nearly choked on the cloud of perfume that seemed to surround Sabrina, then smiled. “Glad to hear it. It was mostly Rachel’s doing, I was just there to lend a helping hand.”

  “And so I hear you did,” Sabrina said mischievously, glancing over at Sophia.

  Sophia’s icy disposition faltered at that. For a split second, Ari nervously glanced over at Sophia, and Sophia nervously tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

  She recovered a moment later.

  “I was just saying goodbye to Ari,” Sophia said, smiling coolly.

  “So soon?” Sabrina asked, disappointment crossing her face. “You know, the three of us should really get together sometime. And Rachel, too. We need to catch up. Ari, maybe you can tell me what other great Vegas activities I’ve been missing out on all of these years, things I should do the next time I go back.”

  “We’ll keep that in mind. We really shouldn’t keep Ms. Little from her work,” Sophia urged.

  “Oh, but one thing before you go. I need your address, Ari, to send you an invitation to my wedding.”

  “Oh... it’s okay,” Ari said, shaking her head.

  “I wouldn’t dream of having my wedding without my fabulous party planners there,” she said. “Please do come!”

  “I don’t know,” Ari said slowly, glancing over at Sophia again, whose expression was unreadable. “I guess I could text you my address.”

  “You have to. And let me know if you will be bringing a plus one.”

  “Sure,” Ari said. “Is Rachel going?”

  “Oh, of course she is. I would have sent her her own invitation, but it seems she’s already acquainted with my dear friend Cassandra, and will be going with her. So that means I need to send you an invitation; unless, of course, you met anyone else in Vegas who will be attending my wedding and care to accompany them instead,” she said, smiling pointedly at Sophia.

  Okay, based on that look, she’d definitely heard something, Ari thought.

  Sophia crossed her arms angrily, pouting.

  “We really don’t need to bother Ari with your wedding,” Sophia said. “She’s very busy with work.”

  Ari thought Sophia was just trying to get her out of having to go to the insane extravaganza that was sure to be Sabrina’s wedding, but a part of her was disappointed that Sophia was so insistent on excluding her.

  “Oh, stop it, sis,” chided Sabrina. “I want you to be there, Ari. Please do come.”

  “Sure,” Ari said quickly, to placate Sabrina and get beyond this awkward situation as quickly as possible. “Thanks. I’ll be there.”

  “Remember to send me your address and I’ll get an invitation out to you straight away,” Sabrina said as Ari edged toward the door. “I’m so pleased Sophia will have someone to socialize with at my wedding other than dreadful Cousin Phil!”

  10. Win
e County

  Sophia was seething. She knew exactly what her sister was doing. Trying to meddle in her affairs yet again. She would never understand why her sister and mother lived for these petty games. They did not understand her at all. Or her life. Or how she had far more important things to think about and therefore had very little tolerance for this kind of behavior.

  Sophia returned upstairs after Ari left, leaving Sabrina in the shop to look around and be her usual nuisance of a self out of her sight. Elle could deal with her. At least, Sophia hoped she could.

  Elle was due for a raise soon... she might owe it to her after today.

  Sophia sat down at her desk and was greeted with an extraordinarily long list of emails that had arrived in her inbox over the past hour or so.

  Her eyes glazed over as she mechanically scrolled through the messages. She did not need any of this from her family right now. She was completely irritated, completely miserable, and she hated that her emotions about the situation were getting in the way of her attention to her work.

  After a few minutes, she decided that she needed a little kick-start for her focus, so she went in search of coffee. When she reached the newly-fixed coffee machine outside of her office, she found one of her assistant designers was refilling its water reservoir. With one glance at her, the designer immediately jetted away.

  Moments later, Sophia was even more irritated to discover that they were completely out of coffee pods.

  “Seth!” she called.

  “Yes?” the man promptly trotted over from his desk.

  “Make sure that more coffee capsules are ordered immediately. We’re out.”

  He nodded and muttered something about doing so right away.

  She stormed downstairs, her heels tapping angrily on the floor as she crossed the boutique and went outside.

  Moments later, she pushed open the door to The Little Cafe, the bell chiming a little too merrily for her liking.

  Rachel gave her a warm smile from behind the counter.

  “You look like you could use some caffeine,” she said, clearly unfazed by Sophia’s sour face.

  “I could,” Sophia said, deciding to forego the quips and depositing herself on a barstool while Rachel set to work making her usual order.

  “Hey,” Ari said, carrying some empty mugs from a table. “When I said you were invited here for coffee any time, I didn’t realize you were this desperate. Would’ve reminded you to come by sooner.”

  “We’re out of coffee,” Sophia said.

  “Gotcha,” Ari said. “Rachel took your order?”

  Sophia nodded. “But since I’m here, I want to apologize for my sister’s behavior. She loves to overstep boundaries and generally acts inappropriate at the most inopportune times. It’s her thing.”

  “Actually, Sophia, I think she was just being nice by inviting me,” Ari said.

  “You don’t have to go to her wedding. It will be a ridiculously tacky, over-blown affair. I’d hate to subject you to that,” Sophia said. “Or to my nosy family in general. It won’t be a pleasant day.”

  “Thanks for telling me how I’d feel about going,” Ari said lightly.

  Sophia scowled as Rachel handed her coffee. Rachel was not quite as chipper as she had been a few minutes ago, having overheard the harsh tone Sophia used with Ari. She drifted away to serve other customers, but not before giving Sophia a brief warning glance.

  Sophia took a sip of the coffee. Perfect, as always. Who needed a coffee machine when working next door to this place?

  “I’m sorry,” Sophia said a few minutes later, the coffee revitalizing her as she watched Ari organize things behind the counter. “I don’t mean to be so... indecisive with you. I didn’t know what to say to you while I was gone, and I don’t want to lead you on when my work life is a poor match for a love life.”

  “Look, Sophia,” Ari said, moving closer to Sophia and sounding a touch impatient. “First of all, I’m a big kid. I have been around the block. Stop pretending you’re somehow protecting me by not communicating with me.”

  “Okay.” Sophia scowled.

  Ari gathered up some empty glasses from behind the counter. Sophia watched her as she worked.

  “I don’t understand, Ari. Why are you as patient with me as you have been? Why do you still even bother with me?” Sophia asked.

  Ari sighed and put down the glass she was holding.

  “Look, I might be crazy for still tolerating you after all of the times you’ve gone back and forth with me. There are times when I think I should just shrug this off and walk away. But... I also get where you’re coming from. I get not wanting to let people down, and being busy with stuff and having family obligations, not wanting to stretch yourself too thin, all of that,” Ari said. “I really do believe that’s what you’re struggling with most. And I’m patient because I understand where you’re coming from.”

  Sophia let out a breath. Most people she had known would have just drifted away by now.

  “What I don’t know is why you keep saying you’re bad at relationships and bad at being with people, although I’m sure you have your reasons,” Ari continued slowly, her voice less impatient than before. “And if you’d ever stopped to ask me how I felt about relationships, I would’ve told you not to worry about it, because we’ll figure it out, and that our lives aren’t a public social media status and we don’t have to define what we’re doing in any way, to any one. We could just be ourselves for a while and see where it leads.”

  Sophia suddenly felt ridiculous. She had been so focused on herself and her own conflicted feelings, that she had been neglecting how Ari must feel through all of her indecisiveness and lack of responsiveness.

  Ari was right. She was not protecting her from anything with this behavior.

  “Do you really want to go to my sister’s wedding?” Sophia asked curiously.

  “To be honest, I kind of do. I like spending time with you, Sophia. I don’t think that’s any secret. And yeah, I’m even a little fascinated by your family, and your wacky sister. Sure I’ll go.”

  “The food should be very good,” Sophia said, at a loss for what else to say to Ari.

  “In that case, I’ll definitely RSVP,” Ari said. “Meanwhile, I’ve got to get back to work.”

  Sophia stood up. “I do as well. I placed an order for the coffee capsule refills for our machine, although they’re really for my employees. I, on the other hand, will be back here. Your coffee is far superior.”

  “And if you ever wanna make good on that dinner that was a part of our negotiation earlier, you know where to find me,” Ari said, grinning. “But if you don’t, I’ll still do the paintings anyways.”

  Sophia laughed lightly. “I appreciate it.”

  ¨°¨

  Sophia drove about an hour or so outside of town, heading deep into wine country, early in the morning on the day before Sabrina’s wedding day. Percy was half-asleep, his head pressed against the passenger window, headphones over his ears and his eyes shut.

  With every twist and turn in the drive, she felt herself growing more and more nervous. It would be a whole weekend with her family. They were all wild cards. Her father was fine, but he was quiet and often lost in his own world. He would drift off to chat and drink and smoke cigars with his business partners, and her mother would complain that he wasn’t fulfilling all of his social obligations to the rest of their “friends.” He would just passively shrug her off.

  Speaking of her mother, Callista, she might be perfectly tolerable, and Sabrina may be fine as well, but then when everyone least expects it, her sister could very well say something ridiculous and cringe worthy or not even go through with the wedding at all. What a headachethat would be to deal with while managing all of the family members and guests who were there for the occasion. Her mother would be useless, consumed by horror about what to do in the face of such a breach of social protocol. Her mother might take out all of her stress on Sophia, like she sometimes did, channeli
ng her nerves into bitterness, her sharp tongue lashing out at Sophia.

  It was too bad Percy was dozing. Sophia knew her thoughts were spiraling out of control, but without any distractions, she had nothing to combat them with.

  Callista had very high expectations for Sophia. Sophia braced herself for comments about how she had done her hair, or makeup, or what she wore, and how it all could have been done better, differently. Or worse, her mother might start saying these sorts of things to someone else - commenting about a guest, a cousin, another family member - causing a small altercation that Sophia would then have to sort out, all while shielding her sister from the drama. Not because her sister needed protecting, but because, despite all of the weddings her sister had already been through, Sophia hated to think of their mother dampening her sister’s spirit on a wedding day.

  When Sophia finally arrived at the spa and resort where she and Percy were staying, which was a few miles from her parents’ country home, Percy kept his headphones on as he unloaded his suitcase and trailed after her to their suite.

  After getting settled, they went downstairs some time later to have lunch at the resort’s restaurant.

  While they were eating, an old friend of her father’s, Hank, walked in with his daughter and was seated at a nearby table.

  Sophia said hello as soon as she noticed them.

  “Why, Sophia! So nice to see you,” he said, greeting her before he sat down. “And is this Percy?”

  Hank shook Percy’s hand.

  “This is my daughter, Isabella,” he said, introducing a pretty girl with a mass of curly brown hair who smiled and politely greeted them both.

  Sophia thought she noticed a faint flush cross Percy’s face as he said hello to Isabella.

  As they ate, Sophia had a polite conversation with Hank. They discussed travel, how his business was going, and news of a few other old family friends. Percy was quiet, but Isabella seemed friendly and slowly wedged Percy out of his shell, and soon the two of them were deep in their own conversation about music.

  “I suppose we’ll see you at my sister’s wedding tomorrow?” Sophia asked as they all finished up their lunches.