The lady, apparently not appreciating the coffee vocabulary lesson, had pursed her lips and then said, “Miss, I want an iced mocha. No. Chocolate. Did you understand my English this time?”
Vanessa had been on the verge of personally escorting the woman out of her shop when she remembered that she charged a dollar more for an iced mocha than for an iced coffee. So, she had plastered on a fake smile, told the lady her drink would be right up and allowed the lady to give an extra dollar to the cause.
And was it a full moon today? Because Vanessa actually lost count of how many obnoxious men hit on her and Chloë at various points throughout the day and then would persist even after she or Chloë would tell them she was not interested and, when that didn’t do it, that she was gay.
At about seven o’clock, with only an hour to go until closing time and Vanessa could see the light at the end of the tunnel, she overheard a guy tell Chloë as she was sanitizing a table for a customer that she’s cute and that he wanted to take her out for a drink.
“Thanks, but I’m gay,” Chloë had said.
“Gay, huh?” the guy had said. “Spend a night with me and I’ll make you straight.”
Vanessa had pounced. Considering how shitty the day had been up to that point, there was no way she was going to let this go.
“Oh, really?” she had said, loud enough for everyone in the shop to hear her. “Let me ask you something, then. How would you feel if a gay guy asks you out and then tells you that if you spend one night with him, he’ll turn you gay? Would you take him up on it? Do you think that’s how it works?”
The entire coffeeshop had burst into applause, providing the lone bright spot in the day, especially when Chloë’s wannabe suitor’s face turned beet red and he slunk out of La Vida Mocha, but not before turning at the door and yelling “Dykes!”
Now, just a few minutes from the beach house, Chloë was fully reclined in the passenger seat, silently watching the stars out the window while Vanessa was imagining taking a long, hot shower until she felt this crap day completely washed off.
Entering the beach house, Chloë spied Sienna in the kitchen and walked over to her with slumped shoulders, dragging her feet.
“Drink. Like, serious drink, dude,” Vanessa heard Chloë mumble to Sienna. Vanessa herself headed straight for the stairs.
“Hey, babe!” Megan cheerfully squealed when Vanessa entered the bedroom. Megan had been reclining on the bed, obviously waiting for Vanessa to arrive, just like last night, and when Vanessa entered the room Megan hopped off it and ran to embrace her.
Vanessa inwardly groaned. The truth was, after the day she’d just had, she would have preferred to come upstairs to an empty room to have some time to herself before having to socialize with anyone, even Megan. Just an hour; maybe two. Nonetheless, she managed a wan smile as Megan brought her face close for a kiss hello which started innocently enough but which Megan obviously intended to take further when she pushed her tongue into Vanessa’s mouth at the same time her hands inched down to grab Vanessa’s ass.
On any other day…
But Vanessa reached down to pull Megan’s hands away from her bottom and then managed to unlock their lips.
“Babe, what? I missed you,” Megan whined, coming in for another kiss, claiming Vanessa’s lips before Vanessa had a chance to object. This time, Megan’s hands grabbed Vanessa’s belt and possessively pulled Vanessa’s groin tight against her own. Vanessa imagined that this is what it must be like for parents of small children, coming home after a hard day’s work to kids demanding attention. She instantly felt guilty for equating Megan with a bratty child, but the truth was that Megan’s forcefulness now, which Vanessa would normally get wildly turned on by, was having no effect on her. If anything, it was annoying her.
Don’t fly off the handle!
Extricating herself a second time, Vanessa now held Megan at bay by placing her hands on the other woman’s shoulders and stepping back until they were arm’s length apart. Megan emitted a short scoff and frowned, her eyes demanding an explanation.
“Sweetie, listen,” Vanessa began, “I like where your mind is going, I do, but I just need you to put on the brakes for now, okay? I had a really shitty day at work and I just need time to decompress before I do anything else.”
Megan’s features softened. She took Vanessa’s hands off her shoulders and held onto them as she stepped closer.
“I’m sorry. What happened?”
Vanessa sighed. This was one of the facets of being a lesbian which experience had taught her was a minefield and if she didn’t navigate the next few moments very carefully…boom!
She also knew that if she was straight and Megan was Max or Mitch or Matthew, she could simply say “I had a bad day at work” and most likely MaxMitchMatthew would say “Sorry to hear that, babe” and then go watch some sporting event on a ridiculously large TV. But Megan was Megan, a woman, and you simply did not tell a woman you didn’t want to talk about your bad day yet and expect her to take it well. It had to be handled with finesse.
“Megan, I promise—I pinky promise—that I will tell you all about it later, okay? But right now, all I really want is to take a hot shower and then have some alone time to unwind a bit.”
Vanessa could see Megan working on that in her head. It was, after all, already after nine p.m., early still for a Saturday night, but Vanessa knew Megan was wondering if Vanessa’s need for some solitude would completely rule out any chance of hanging out tonight.
“How much alone time?” Megan asked.
“Not much, I swear. An hour or so. This is part of my process when I have a day like this. I missed you so much today and I want to make sure that when I hang out with you tonight that I’m not some grumpy bitch.”
Megan smiled at that, thank god. She even closed the distance between them and gave Vanessa a hug, which Vanessa actually appreciated, drawing strength from it.
“Well, after your shower, I could just sit with you?” Megan said, still hugging her. “Maybe out on the balcony? I won’t say anything and I can even give you a foot rub. I promise I won’t make it sexual.”