The Sweet Spot

by Ariel Ellman

  “Where’s the fire,” Bobby murmured, walking over to Sawyer and slipping his arms around her. “We still have to have our drink.” He pulled her against his chest, resting his lips on her head.

  “I’m not getting a drink with you,” Sawyer murmured back, stiffening in Bobby’s arms. “I needed to let off some steam and I did. Now will you go get my clothes,” she nudged him, pulling away and swatting him on the ass.

  “You’re a real piece of work Kitty Kat, you know that?” Bobby asked Sawyer, shaking his head at her as he walked over to his office door and yanked it open.

  He returned a minute later with her clothes and sandals and tossed them at her in frustration.

  “For a lesbian, you’ve got serious fucking stugots!” he muttered, yanking open his desk drawer and pulling out a clean change of clothes for himself.

  “C’mon Giovanni,” Sawyer coaxed with a sigh, slipping her bra back on and walking over to him. “Don’t make a big deal out of this.” She ran her hand over his cheek. “We’re friends and we mix it up occasionally for fun. You’re that guy who gets to say to his friends, ‘you’re never going to believe what I did last night. I had a fucking threesome with two hot lesbian chics,’” Sawyer teased with a laugh, standing up on her tiptoes to plant a soft kiss on Bobby’s lips.

  “Come out for a drink with me,” Bobby persisted, his eyes dark and serious. “One drink Kitty Kat, or even better, dinner at Giovanni’s,” he said, referring to his family’s restaurant in the North End.

  “Bobby, we’ve been over this before,” Sawyer sighed, pulling away from him. “I’m not going on a fucking date with you.”

  “Who said anything about a date?” Bobby replied, his eyes flashing angrily at Sawyer. “You just said we’re friends. If we’re really friends Kitty Kat, then come out to dinner with me. Who the fuck doesn’t eat a bowl of pasta with their goddamn friend?” Bobby challenged as Sawyer slipped her dress over her head and stuffed her feet into her sandals.

  “I can’t,” Sawyer whispered, turning away from Bobby and walking out of his office.

  Chapter Two

  “You’re late and in a mood,” Jordan Winthrop observed as Sawyer walked up to the table where he was nursing a beer, waiting for her.

  “Fucking Giovanni,” Sawyer muttered in reply, plopping down in her chair and grabbing her ex-brother-in-law’s beer out of his hand.

  “You were late because you were fucking Bobby Giovanni?” Jordan asked in amusement as Sawyer chugged the rest of his beer down.

  “You know that’s not what I fucking meant, but as a matter of fact I was,” Sawyer retorted, sticking her tongue out at Jordan as their waitress came over to take their order.

  “Veggie burger and sweet potato fries and whatever beer he was drinking,” Sawyer said sharply.

  “Okaaay,” the waitress replied, stretching out the word in annoyance at Sawyer’s attitude.

  “I’ll have a regular burger and fries and another beer too, thanks,” Jordan said, smiling gently to soften the sting from Sawyer.

  “Oh whatever,” Sawyer snapped at Jordan when the waitress walked away and he raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Sawyer Mackenzie, where are your manners?” Jordan scolded.

  “On the floor of Bobby’s office with my fucking underwear,” Sawyer replied with a sigh.

  “Want to talk about it?” Jordan asked mildly.

  “Not really,” Sawyer murmured, fiddling with the salt and pepper shakers on the table.

  “Are you seeing someone new or was the threesome with a random girl you picked up?” Jordan asked quietly.

  “It was just the two of us actually,” Sawyer replied softly, staring down at the table as she traced her fingers across the mosaic top.

  “Hmmm,” Jordan said, reaching across the table and gently lifting Sawyer’s chin up to meet his eyes. “What’s going on Huckleberry?” he asked her softly, using the nickname that he’d given her when they first met and Sawyer had complained that she’d rather have been named after Huckleberry Finn than Tom Sawyer because he was the cooler character in Mark Twain’s books.

  “I don’t know,” Sawyer admitted, blinking back a tear as their waitress set their beers down on the table and quickly walked away.

  “Are you attracted to Bobby?” Jordan asked curiously, gazing at the young woman who was like a daughter to him, as he sipped his beer.

  “Yes,” Sawyer admitted softly, taking a large swallow of her beer.

  “And that scares you?” Jordan murmured, taking Sawyer’s hand in his own tenderly.

  “It’s weird,” Sawyer sniffled. “I’m a lesbian, I’ve never been bi and I’m still totally attracted to women.”

  “What’s wrong with being attracted to both?” Jordan asked, reaching over the table and brushing Sawyer’s tears away gently.

  “Everything,” Sawyer replied sullenly, pulling her hands away from Jordan and taking another gulp of her beer.

  “You know there’s no rule book for love,” Jordan said quietly, studying Sawyer with a thoughtful look.

  “My sister is driving me crazy,” Sawyer said, changing the subject as their waitress brought their food.

  “Yeah, what’s Ani doing?” Jordan asked quietly, his eyes clouding over briefly at the mention of his ex-wife. It had been over a year since their divorce and several months before that since they’d separated, but the pain of losing her hadn’t faded.

  “She’s soooo hormonal, it’s driving me nuts!” Sawyer complained, munching on a sweet potato fry. “Was she crazy with Raffi too?” Sawyer asked, referring to her ten year old niece and Jordan’s daughter Raphael.

  “She was a little emotional,” Jordan said, smiling nostalgically at the memory of Ani pregnant with their daughter. “But she wasn’t too bad.”

  “Well she’s fucking out of control with this one!” Sawyer exclaimed. “I don’t know how Bast deals with her!”

  “I’m sure he’s loving every minute of it,” Jordan replied softly with an unreadable expression in his eyes. “His wife is pregnant with his child, his son,” Jordan whispered, looking away from Sawyer to gaze out the window of the restaurant.

  “I’m sorry Jordan, I’m a complete dick,” Sawyer murmured, taking Jordan’s hand. “Ani is right about me. I’m an insensitive pig. I’m worse than a frat boy.”

  “It’s okay,” Jordan murmured back with a rueful smile, blinking the sadness out of his eyes. “I’m pretty much over her.”

  “Pretty much,” Sawyer echoed, squeezing his hand again. “So enough about me and my drama. How are things with you and Julie?” Sawyer asked, referring to the sexy red headed criminal lawyer that Jordan’s best friend Andy had set him up with.

  “Ahhh…..” Jordan hedged, shaking his head with a laugh.

  “Why not?” Sawyer exclaimed in exasperation. “She’s smoking hot and a total firecracker. I bet she’s amazing in bed.” She shot him a devilish grin.

  “She was pretty hot stuff in bed,” Jordan laughed in agreement, “but she’s kind of Alex all over again,” he said, referring to the young resident that he’d dated after he and Ani had first separated.

  “Ahhh, too old for you huh?” Sawyer teased with a knowing grin. “What are they, like 33, 34?” she taunted.

  “Alex is thirty-six and Julie is thirty-eight, so fuck off,” Jordan retorted, giving Sawyer the finger with a laugh.

  “Dr. Winthrop, did you just give me the finger?” Sawyer gasped with a grin.

  “Go to hell,” Jordan mumbled over a mouthful of his burger.

  “So what are we looking for? Someone my age – 29? Or a little younger, twenty-five, twenty-six?” Sawyer continued to tease her forty-eight-year-old brother-in-law.

  “I’m an old dog Huckleberry. I’m not interested in learning new tricks,” Jordan sighed. “These women, they want to come in and transform me, mold me into the perfect guy for them. Alex tried to teach me to cook. Julie wanted me to take ballroom dancing lessons with her.”

  “Ballr
oom dancing?” Sawyer choked on a mouthful of her burger. “I’ll teach her how to dance if she’ll wrap those six foot legs around me,” she said with a lusty sigh.

  “The thing is Soy, I don’t want to come home and cook dinner after a long day of surgery,” Jordan admitted. “I want to come home and find my girlfriend or wife waiting for me with a home-cooked meal. And I don’t want to take ballroom dancing lessons. I like to hold my wife in my arms and slow dance to Van Morrison in the kitchen on rainy days,” Jordan whispered, closing his eyes at the memories of his years with Ani, the woman who he thought he would have forever.

  “Oh Jordan,” Sawyer murmured, her own eyes filling with tears. “She’s not coming back.”

  “I know she’s not Soy,” Jordan replied hoarsely. “But your sister is still the kind of woman who I want.”

  “You want an old fashioned girl,” Sawyer said with a tender smile. “These career women are not for you.”

  “No they’re not,” Jordan agreed.

  “She’s out there Jordan, I know she is,” Sawyer whispered as Jordan signaled the waitress for their check.

  “I hope so,” Jordan murmured in reply.

  It was still early when Sawyer got back to the loft after her dinner with Jordan, and her sister Ani was sprawled out on the couch with her head in her husband Sebastian’s lap.

  “Hey guys, what are you doing?” Sawyer asked, tossing her keys into the dish on the stand by the door and strolling over to the couch to join them.

  “Talking baby names,” Ani replied with a smile, holding up a tattered copy of a book of Catholic Saints.

  “Ahh, I remember that book,” Sawyer said, casting a tender smile over at Sebastian as she plopped down in the over-stuffed chair across from them. It was the only memento that Sebastian had of his mother, a young girl from Rosmuc, an Irish Village in County Galway, who had taken off only days after giving birth to his younger brother. Both he and his brother Raphael had been named after saints from that book, and after Raphael was killed in a car accident, Ani named her daughter from her first marriage to Jordan after him.

  “So any names jumping out at you?” Sawyer asked, stretching her feet out across the coffee table, which was really just an old trunk that their great grandmother had sent their mother from Ireland to remind her of home.

  “Mícheál,” Sebastian replied softly.

  “St. Michael, the Archangel, patron saint of mariners,” Sawyer murmured. “It’s perfect,” she agreed with a tender smile.

  “It is perfect isn’t it?” Ani said dreamily. “And he’s due right around the feast day.”

  “Will you use the Irish pronunciation Mícheál, or the English Michael?” Sawyer asked.

  “Mícheál,” Sebastian replied firmly.

  “Bast wants me to have him in Ireland,” Ani said softly.

  “What?” Sawyer exclaimed, glaring at Sebastian incredulously.

  “I was born there. Your mother was born there. I want my son born on Irish soil,” Sebastian replied.

  “Fuck what you want Bast! My sister is the one who has to give birth dickhead,” Sawyer exclaimed, swinging her legs off of the coffee table and leaning forward to face her sister. “How do you feel about this A?” she asked in concern.

  “Ireland was pretty amazing when Bast and I honeymooned there last year,” Ani admitted. “And it would give our granny and cousins a chance to get to know the baby if I had Mícheál there and stayed for little while.”

  “How long of a little while?” Sawyer asked in dismay. “What about Raffi? Won’t she feel left out if you move to Ireland for months and she doesn’t even get to meet her new brother?” Sawyer exclaimed.

  “I’m not moving to Ireland for months,” Ani laughed, “It would just be for a little over a month, and I talked to Jordan about it and asked him if he would let Raffi go with us and he said yes.”

  “But I’ll miss the first month of the baby’s life,” Sawyer complained.

  “So come with us,” Ani coaxed. “It’s a great opportunity for all of us to re-connect with mom’s family. I really want Raffi to meet them and know where she comes from, and Bast’s family is wonderful.”

  “I don’t think so,” Sawyer sulked. “Someone has to stay and watch the bakery if you’re going to disappear for a month.”

  “We’ve been talking about the bakery,” Ani said slowly.

  “And?” Sawyer replied, raising her eyebrow. “Don’t you dare say that you’re thinking of giving your bakery up!” she gasped in horror.

  “Of course not!” Ani replied with a sigh. “We’re just talking about hiring someone to help me part time. You work mostly full time as a masseuse these days, and I’m so tired in my final months, we thought it would be a good idea to get some help. What is with you tonight anyway Soy?” Ani asked Sawyer in exasperation when she made a face at her about hiring help. “You’re so edgy, are you PMS’ing?” Ani asked, wrinkling her brow at her sister. “I usually know when you’re about to turn into a hormonal bitch because our periods are synced, but being pregnant has thrown everything off,” she admitted with a laugh.

  “Me, hormonal?” Sawyer exclaimed in disbelief, staring at her sister incredulously. “You have been unbearable!” she huffed, turning to Sebastian for support. “Tell her Bast,” she demanded.

  “I haven’t noticed anything,” Sebastian grinned, leaning down and kissing his wife lovingly.

  “Oh give me a fucking break,” Sawyer snorted. “You haven’t noticed that you’ve gone out three times in a row to get Ani dinner because she changed her mind about what she wanted to eat? Or that she cries when she can’t find her car keys and she cries every time Raffi rehearses the new piece that she is learning on the violin?”

  “I didn’t change my mind three times in one night,” Ani protested, “and that piece is incredible; it’s unbelievable that Raffi can play it!” she cried.

  “First of all ladies, I cry when Raffi plays her new piece,” Sebastian interjected with a grin. “As for my wife’s fickle tastes, I would gladly go out five different times in one night to feed her and my son,” he murmured huskily, leaning down and kissing Ani gently. “But, I will agree that my wife is a little more emotional these days,” Sebastian conceded with a grin, planting a tender kiss on Ani’s nose.

  “Am I really that annoying?” Ani asked her sister, blinking back tears.

  “Oh my god!” Sawyer exclaimed, throwing up her hands in defeat as Ani started to cry. “On second thought, why don’t you go to Ireland now,” she suggested, rolling her eyes at Ani as she sniffled. “Then you can come back right after you have the baby and you’re normal again.”

  “Be nice Mackenzie,” Sebastian warned, tossing a throw pillow at Sawyer’s head.

  “Get your wife under control,” Sawyer retorted saucily, sticking her tongue out at him.

  “You can both fuck off,” Ani murmured, sitting up awkwardly and struggling to stand.

  “Waddle waddle,” Sawyer called to her sister as Ani walked off toward the bathroom with one hand pressed against her lower back and the other resting on her swollen belly.

  “You’re bitchier than usual,” Sebastian observed, studying his sister in-law thoughtfully once they were alone. “This have anything to do with why Giovanni stopped by here an hour ago and offered to sell us the building?” he asked quietly.

  “What?” Sawyer exclaimed. “You mean the loft, or the downstairs too?” she asked in confusion.

  “The whole building,” Sebastian replied, still studying Sawyer with a thoughtful expression. “He’s going to move the fish market down to the wharf.”

  “Why?” Sawyer asked softly. “He’s been here for ages. It’s a great location and he’s always hopping.”

  “The wharf is great too, can’t go wrong with a fish market on the waterfront,” Sebastian replied, holding Sawyer’s gaze.

  “But why move now when he’s already established?” Sawyer persisted.

  “I don’t know. You got some insight yo
u want to share Mackenzie?” Sebastian asked mildly.

  “Why are you asking me?” Sawyer whispered guiltily. “How would I know?”

  “Well, he dropped these off when he stopped by to offer us the place,” Sebastian held up the pair of panties that Sawyer had left on the floor of Bobby’s office earlier in the day.

  “Fuck off O’Reilly,” Sawyer replied with a snarl, grabbing her underwear out of his hands and stalking off toward to her room.

  “He’s a good guy Soy,” Sebastian called after her. “Stop fucking with him.”

  “Stop fucking with him, or stop fucking him?” Sawyer called back to Sebastian tauntingly, stopping in her tracks.

  “Aren’t they the same thing?” Sebastian replied quietly, his eyes flashing with anger.

  “He’s a big fucking boy O’Reilly,” Sawyer retorted. “And let’s not forget who’s been chasing who for the last goddamn year.”

  “That’s right Mackenzie, he’s been sniffing around you for a fucking year because you’ve been leading him on for that long,” Sebastian replied angrily as Ani came out of the bathroom.

  “I’ve been leading him on?” Sawyer gasped. “I’m the only one who has been upfront about the whole thing!” she exclaimed. “I’m a fucking lesbian. I like to eat pussy. I have a goddamn mural of a naked spread-eagle woman on my wall that you fucking painted for me!” Sawyer yelled.

  “Then why do you keep fucking him Soy?” Sebastian asked quietly.

  “Bast,” Ani interjected softly, slipping an arm around her sister’s shaking shoulders. “Leave her alone,” she scolded her husband, shooting him an annoyed look.