Chapter 3

I took one lap over the place, not bothering to check any of the stalls yet as I looked for Chris, and then finally deciding it would be prudent to call him now. I stepped out into a less busy spot in the park and dialed his number.

“Hey, what’s up?” Chris said as he picked up.

“Where are you?!” I asked, looking around for any sign of him.

“Still at work. Why?” My friend answered easily. He let out a gasp in the next beat, finally remembering. “Oh my God, I’m so, so sorry, Liv! My boss gave me a bunch of work I had to finish today, and I completely forgot!”

“Oh, you’re kidding me,” I muttered with a sigh, rolling my eyes even though Chris couldn’t see. “This was your idea!”

“I’ll make this up to you, I promise!” He assured me over the line. “I can still meet you at Maude’s in, say, an hour? On me.”

It was smart of him to remind me that I would be seeing Rachel tonight, and it did a lot to quickly curb my annoyance. But I could never really be mad at Chris for long anyway, and we both knew it.

“Fine,” I told him. “But you better be on time.”

I looked at the bazaar behind me as I hung up, debating whether I actually wanted to go back into that busy crowd or not. I turned back towards the park, deciding that I could just as well pass the time by taking a little stroll.

I hugged my coat tighter and looked to my right before taking a step— and saw Thea’s unmistakable easy grin rapidly heading towards my direction.

“Oh, hi, Liv!” Thea greeted breathlessly, her coat a mere cream-colored flash as she zoomed right past me.

Stunned, I followed her with my eyes, realizing a moment later that she was gripping multiple leashes in her hands. They were attached to at least four dogs—including two very unruly retrievers, and I couldn’t help but be amused as I watched Thea try to keep up with her wards.

Did she really think she could handle that many, clearly excitable dogs with her small frame?

One of the retrievers leaped suddenly, sending Thea on a forward surge as she tried to keep herself from tripping. I moved reflexively, catching up with her as fast as I could and grabbing hold of the leashes in her left hand as I offered my arm for support.

“Whoa!” I said, lightly tugging on the leash until the retriever finally showed signs of calming down. I bent down to scratch its ear, and the terrier on the other leash eagerly asked for the same treatment. I checked on Thea, and she was more or less doing the same thing to the dogs she was still holding.

“Thank you!” Thea smiled gratefully with a sideways glance. “I had no idea how to stop them.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you tracking blood and dirt all over the apartment when you get home,” I quipped.

My opinion of Thea had inevitably mellowed over the last few days. I couldn’t deny that having her around the apartment was somewhat of a good thing. For one, there always seemed to be food now, and I had to admit Thea was pretty cool, basing off the occasional interactions we had had in the loft.

At the very least, I got to see Chris and Rachel around more often, when before we would always just catch each other usually while one of us was on their way out.

Besides, it was very likely that I just wasn’t in the best of moods when Thea and I had just met, and that had unfairly clouded my opinion of her somewhat. If it did turn out that Rachel ended up liking her that way… well, then I really couldn’t fault Thea or anyone else for being attractive, could I?

In any case, I had been in a much more open and agreeable frame when it came to our new roommate as of late.

“What are you doing getting dragged by these cuties, anyway?” I asked as we both stood up.

Thea started walking, holding out her hand in an effort to get the leashes back, but I shook my head, choosing instead to fall in step and walk with her knowing we both could use the company.

“I’m a dog-walker for three nights a week, after work,” Thea shrugged, smiling as she transferred one leash on her now free hand.

“And you tutor kids on weekends?” I asked with a curious squint.

“Yup,” Thea nodded, and I let out a low whistle as we continued to walk.

“That sounds… exhausting, is what it sounds, to be honest.” I told her.

“Well, I could always use the extra cash.” Thea replied, her easy grin keeping me relaxed in her company in spite of the cold.

“You didn’t wear a scarf today?” Thea observed when she noticed the slight shiver I gave as I tried to hold the top of my coat closer together with my free hand.

“Nope, not that I have any to begin with,” I said, lightly chuckling when she looked at me as if I was crazy not to own any scarves. “Well, I always think of buying one during the winter, but then I’d never come around to actually doing it. And then spring would come and I’d forget until the air gets cold again.”

“Good thing I have two, then.” Thea said, taking off one of her scarves and placing it around my neck as she explained. “I’m not used to the weather yet, and I never know whether it would be too cold for me lately so I always go out prepared.”

I couldn’t keep myself from smiling upon smelling her perfume on the fabric. It was nice.

We continued to stroll, all the while chatting and occasionally stopping to play with the dogs. I learned that Thea had left her mom and four younger brothers—all of whom were still studying—back at home, and that most of her salary that didn’t go towards rent and bills, she would send over to them. The odd jobs she took here and there were mostly to tide her over until her next paycheck.

She didn’t mention her dad and I didn’t pry, figuring that might be too personal or she would have otherwise offered the information.

Thea asked how long Chris, Rachel, and I had been friends, among other things, and I told her, our conversation more or less kept light. And then one of the smaller dogs’ leash got tangled with one of the retrievers’, and both of us had a pretty amusing time untangling those two until Thea happened to glance at the watch I was wearing.

“I should be getting these guys back to their humans,” she said, and I felt an odd tinge of disappointment at her words. And then Thea glanced at me with an offer. “Do you want to grab a bite to eat after or something?”

I considered it for a moment, a bit uneasy. I suddenly felt like there was something that I had forgotten to do, and my hand went to my mouth when I finally figured out what it was.

“Oh, shit! I can’t!” I exclaimed, looking at the time. “I told Chris I’d meet him for dinner, and I’m already a few minutes late.”

I said goodbye, purposely leaving out the part where Chris and I were having dinner where Rachel worked as I hurried off. I might not be able to blame Thea if she and Rachel somehow ended up together, but I certainly wasn’t going to help make that happen either.

“I should go over there,” I breathed as I looked over Chris’ shoulder to where Rachel was standing behind the bar.

She was wearing her uniform—a simple, fitted white v-neck shirt with the word Maude’s in tiny letters stretched tight over her right breast, but I could hardly take my eyes off of her. Rachel looked so enigmatic even in the slightly dim light, her wispy, pink hair softly moving as she laughed at something one of her customers had said, that I started to get nervous even from our table, a few yards away.

I turned back to Chris, staying silent as waiter arrived with our orders.

“I should just go over there and talk to her, right?” I asked as soon as the waiter left, and Chris rolled his hazel eyes at me.

“Why do you even ask?” He told me, a hint of frustrated annoyance in his voice. “We both know you’re gonna do it anyway.”

I glanced back at Rachel, who had her back turned at the moment. Neither of us had told her we would be having dinner here, and she hadn’t seen us on our way in. I took a deep breath and turned back to Chris as I tried to reinforce my courage with a slight nod.

“I’m going,” I told him, unable to take the anxious edge off my voice. “I’m gonna go get myself a beer. Do you want a beer? I’ll get us both beers.”

The sentences left my mouth one after the other as I stood up, not waiting for Chris’ response before I began making my way towards the bar. I put myself in Rachel’s peripheral vision and she looked up as I neared, the surprise on her face quickly transitioning into a bright smile.

“Hey, stranger!” Rachel greeted as she laid a drink in front of a customer. I leaned over the counter as I greeted her back, and she continued. “Are you here alone, or…?”

“No, Chris is over there,” I smiled shyly, gesturing towards our table. Chris had been watching and he gave Rachel a little wave before turning away.

I took another breath. I wanted to say something more to Rachel, maybe even flirt a little, but the words wouldn’t come to my mouth and all I ended up saying was, “Two beers, please. The usual.”

“Sure thing,” Rachel told me, immediately turning away to get the beers. She came back a moment later and set two ice-cold bottles in front of me. “I’ll try to come over and say hi to you both later, if I’m not too busy.”

“Okay, that’d be great!” I beamed. But Rachel’s attention had already been called away by another customer, and I had nothing else left to do but return to our table, mentally kicking myself for being such a dork when it came to Rachel.

She never did get around to coming over to our table, which was understandable. The bar at Maude’s was pretty busy most nights, with everyone wanting to be around the hot bartender, and tonight hadn’t been any different.

I kept sneaking glances at her throughout our meal, and was surprised to catch her looking back a few times. The first couple of times it happened, I figured it was a fluke—her eyes were just probably going around the room and I had just happened to catch her gaze. By the fourth time, however, I started to feel a bit of something akin to hope, and it had me grinning as I turned my attention back to Chris.

“What?” Chris asked suspiciously, glancing over his shoulder quickly before looking back at me.

“Nothing.” I kept grinning.

Or maybe something, I thought, feeling bolstered by the possibility that I might actually have a shot with Rachel after all.

“You’re kidding! Not even once?” Rachel was saying as I entered the dining area on Saturday morning.

She and Thea were sitting over breakfast, which seemed to have become a habitual thing between the two women. I didn’t feel threatened or annoyed this time, not after the way Rachel had checked me out at the bar last Thursday night.

“Not even once what?” I asked, joining in on their conversation. I leaned over the table across from where Rachel as I spoke, surveying the pancakes that Thea had cooked for everyone and taking one.

I broke off a piece with my hands and popped it into my mouth, fighting the urge to close my eyes, it tasted so good.

“Thea hasn’t been on a single date since she’s been here.” Rachel replied, grinning sideways at me.

“You mean, since she’s moved in the apartment?” I frowned, quickly glancing over at Thea as I put another piece of pancake in my mouth.

“Since she’s moved here in the states,” Rachel clarified, surprising me a little with that revelation. This time, my eyes stayed longer on Thea, who was eyeing Rachel with a bit of shock, no doubt surprised that she would freely offer that information to someone else.

“Come on, Thea!” Rachel told her. “You can’t convince me that you haven’t been asked out on a date for the past eight months! Liv, isn’t she too hot to have gone three quarters of a year without a single date?”

I wasn’t prepared for the question Rachel had thrown at me, and it made me feel a bit awkward. I looked at Thea, and saw a slight blush of embarrassment creep into her cheeks as she averted her gaze. It couldn’t be too comfortable to have your dating life (or lack thereof) suddenly be the center of attention.

Still, I had to admit I’d have a hard time believing it if she told us no one’s asked her out yet as well.

“I’m sure Thea’s been asked out plenty of times,” I nodded in agreement.

“So what is it? You just haven’t found anyone you wanted to go out with yet?” Rachel continued to probe, and I watched Thea’s blush deepen before she laughingly tried to turn the tables.

“Well, do you like someone right now?” Thea countered Rachel’s question.

I turned to Rachel, definitely interested to hear her answer, and was surprised to find the pink-haired beauty shoot a glance in my direction. Those blue eyes took a beat before shyly looking away, leaving me more than a little bit amazed.

Was Rachel actually blushing?

My eyes went towards Thea, wanting to check if someone else was seeing it too. But the dark-haired woman was looking back at me with a curious and slightly amused expression on her face and, this time, I was the one who couldn’t hold Thea’s knowing gaze for long.

“Okay, well, I’m heading out!” Chris said suddenly, clearing his throat as he came bounding out of the hallway behind me. There was a slight flush on his face which, I was guessing, was from lifting the luggage he had been dragging as he spoke. “So, I’m off to spend two weeks with the fam. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck!” The three of us said in a failed chorus as Chris went over to give both Rachel and me tight hugs. He smiled and waved at Thea, who waved back at him.