Falling for Jillian Ashley: A Carlsbad Village Lesbian Romance

Thank God!

This morning, she had taken a sick day from work because she had woken up with a terrible migraine. As she typed out the There’s no way in hell I’m working today email to the team of designers she managed, Sally had had to wince in agony at the brightness of the small screen and how it made her feel like broken glass was inside her skull.

The email sent, she had set her phone to silent mode and then started the business of ridding herself of the migraine.

She had gotten up once during the morning, around eight a.m., to use the bathroom. Though the migraine was still with her, she had taken the opportunity to check her emails to make sure no one on her team of graphic designers was completely lost without her leadership. She had also noticed that Lisa had sent her three texts, but she hadn’t wanted to be bothered reading them and so she ignored those. But Amy had also sent a text! That one she did read, though the brightness of the phone’s screen was not helping her head. Amy’s text had said something about an email and then how she was looking forward to Friday.

Sally had had no idea what email Amy was talking about but she did send a reply telling her that she too was excited about Friday. Then she had put the phone back down and hoped she would die.

Death didn’t come but sleep apparently did, thanks to the prescription migraine pills she had popped upon waking up.

Her bedside clock told her that she had pretty much slept all day: all morning, through lunch and into the evening. Now, her migraine was gone, she was starving and she was looking forward to an evening on the sofa continuing to binge-watch The Great Pottery Throw Down because who knew that watching British people making pottery could be fun?

She was trying to decide between ordering a pizza or ordering Thai food when her doorbell rang. Not expecting anybody, she warily looked through the peephole and spied Lisa on the other side, practically bouncing up and down like she had to pee really bad.

“What are you doing here?” Sally asked when she opened the door.

Lisa just stood there for a moment, staring at Sally, a goofy grin on her face.

Sally frowned at her friend.

“What?” she asked impatiently.

Lisa squealed and then rushed into Sally’s arms.

“Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmyGOD!” Lisa screamed. “I can’t believe it!”

Sally had no idea what was going on. Disentangling herself from Lisa, she asked exactly what it was that Lisa couldn’t believe.

Lisa rushed into Sally’s apartment.

“Hello?” Lisa began. “That you’re Jillian Ashley!”

Sally’s mouth dropped open.

Oh, shit!

In all the weirdness of the past twenty-four hours she had completely overlooked the fact that Lisa would see Amy’s interview. But of course Lisa would see it. Lisa stayed hip to everything lesbian in the world. She had even found out somehow that Revlon’s If I Want To matte lipstick was the shade for lesbians this season and so now always wore it. She was even wearing it now.

And if Lisa saw the interview…

It also meant that all of Sally’s other queer female friends had seen it.

Shit!

She thought of her phone. It was still in the bedroom. Rushing past Lisa, she went into the still-darkened room, picked it up and turned it on.

Shit!

She had never seen so many notifications on her phone. In. Her. Life!

Missed calls, voicemails, text messages, emails, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…it seemed like every gay woman Sally knew, even marginally, had tried to reach her today! She was going to kill Max for getting her mixed up in all this!

Thinking of whom, there was also a Venmo notification that said it was from him. She tapped it.

Max Tremont just paid you $500!

Holy shit!