Falling for Jillian Ashley: A Carlsbad Village Lesbian Romance

***

They decided to spend the early part of Monday in the Castro, San Francisco’s gay mecca, to take pictures, enjoy thrift shopping and do a lot of people-watching, and also to visit the Rainbow Honor Walk.

“Ooh! Have you been there?” Amy asked after they had lunch at a place which made incredible Cuban sandwiches.

Sally looked at where Amy was pointing. It was a bookstore across the street and, judging by the rainbow-colored paint job on the exterior as well as the three huge rainbow flags flying over its doorway, a bookstore that was very proudly LGBTQ-centric.

Sally smiled. Despite doing virtually all of her reading on her Kindle, she still liked browsing bookshops and would often find a nice coffee table book or two to add to her collection.

The shop was large and well-lit and Sally loved that familiar and comforting smell of new books. The Kindle was an amazing device but it lacked that special something which can only be felt by holding a real book in her hands and lately she’d been thinking more and more that every now and then she ought to put her Kindle aside and read books with actual pages.

As her and Amy were silently browsing the titles on a table marked “Lesbian New Releases,” a woman approached Amy.

“I like your bag,” the woman said. She was in her thirties, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, with a paisley-patterned headscarf holding her brown hair away from her face. Sally’s threat detector sensed no danger. She was certain this woman wasn’t hitting on Amy but was genuinely complimenting her on the tote bag Amy had brought with her.

The bag was a large, pink canvas tote with the words Lesbeing—the Podcast printed on it, along with the show’s logo. It was one of the items of merch from the podcast’s online shop.

“I love that show,” the woman said, pointing at the bag. Sally had to hold in her laughter as she watched Amy’s eyes go wide over her face mask. The woman continued. “A lot of other lesbian podcasts just talk about fluffy stuff like sex scenes in books and movies, or who’s hotter, Kate Winslet or Cate Blanchett, but Lesbeing talks about more cerebral topics pertaining to the lesbian experience. Like that episode where Amy compared lesbian representation in American government compared to other countries…”

Sally was beginning to wonder if Amy was going to survive this encounter. Standing next to her, Sally could almost feel Amy vibrating with excitement and she worried that Amy might literally explode.

“I take it you’re a fan?” the woman prodded.

“It’s my show!” Amy blurted out. “I’m Amy Broadnax!”

Now it was the woman’s turn for a display of wide-eyed wonder.

“No way!” she exclaimed, laughing. “That’s amazing!” She took a closer look at Amy. “Oh my goodness, I recognize you now! Well, I meant what I said…I’m a huge fan, really! I absolutely love your show.”

“Thank you so much!”

Behind her mask, Sally was grinning ear to ear. This was so cool! And it made her feel super proud. She was rather enjoying being the girlfriend of a woman whose podcast talks about “cerebral topics pertaining to lesbianism.” And who was incredibly cute to boot.

And then…

“I’m Pam, by the way,” the woman said, offering her fist to bump. “This is my store.”

“I love this place!” Amy enthused. “I always visit when I come to San Francisco.”

“Thank you,” Pam said. “Really, though…you’re the best!”

“And this is my girlfriend, Sally,” Amy said, turning and indicating Sally next to her.

Again, the fist was raised for a bump but before Sally had a chance to do so, Pam gasped and her hands flew to her face.

“Jillian!” she said.

Shit!

“I watched that interview three times!” Pam said. “Oh my goodness, you’re actually in my store!”

Sally shrugged.

“Yep, I guess I am,” she said. “So much for my mask keeping my identity a secret. Batman makes it look so easy.”

“It’s your black hair and green

eyes,” Pam said. “They give you away.”