Page 15 of Lesbian CEO
“I’m sorry,” she says, holding her hands up. “I know it’s not my place. It’s just very obvious to me that the two of you still have feelings for each other. In some ways, that makes my job easier since it means you two aren’t actually going to do anything to hurt the other one.”
“What if we do?” I ask. I glance over at Toni with her short red hair and her soft pink lipstick. The hair looks good. It was long when we were together, and I loved that. Now, though, she looks fiercer. Stronger. She used to hide behind her long bangs like a shield when she was nervous. Now her hair is short enough that she’s forced to look in my eyes.
I kind of love this.
“If you wanted to hurt each other, you wouldn’t be here.” Piper looks frustrated. I know this meeting isn’t going in the direction she wants it to. Our time is almost up, as well, and Piper’s services don’t come cheap. We need to wrap things up.
“All right,” I say. “You suggest we play nice together. What else?”
“Issue a joint statement,” she tells us. “You don’t know who the anonymous writer is, but you disagree with what they said. You don’t date each other. In fact, you’re besties now. Look at these pictures of you two having coffee together. Oh, here’s a picture of you volunteering. You’re going to need to continue the charade for a bit after the post. If you don’t, people will pick up on that. Then everything will crumble, and they won’t believe that you’re in this together.”
“How long?”
“A few weeks, at least. Maybe a month. There are some big events coming up for both of your companies, if your website calendars are correct.”
“You looked at our company calendars?” Toni asks. For some reason, she almost sounds betrayed.
“It’s my job.”
“And?”
“Jessica’s company has a networking dinner at the Peak this weekend. I suggest you go together. It doesn’t have to be a date, but you should at least be seen there having drinks together. Toni, your company has a volunteer event on Saturday. Puppies, is it? You should both go to that. If you’re smart, you’ll reach out to a few reporters in advance and invite them. Don’t demand that they come along but ask if they’d be interested in coming out.”
“Understood,” I nod. I don’t like this anymore than Toni does, but she’s not resisting. She’s open the idea, which is strange to me. I really would have assumed she wouldn’t want to be helpful at all, but Toni is managing to surprise me over and over.
“Do you provide assistance writing the public statement?” Toni asks.
“As an add-on service, yes.”
Toni’s eyes catch mine and I nod slightly. I don’t know how her company is actually doing, but I can foot the bill for this. Relief swims in her eyes. Then Toni turns back to Piper.
“We’d love that,” she says. “Please and thank-you.”
7
Jessica
Hours later, Toni and I are sitting side-by-side at Rocky Beers. It’s a small dive bar that has a miniature climbing wall. You can have a drink and try to climb. Personally, I think it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. The “wall” is only seven feet high, so most people only step on the lowest footholds, but it still seems like a bad idea.
Toni reaches for her pale ale, pulling the cold glass toward her. She grips the drink but doesn’t raise it to her lips. Her lipstick has long faded, and her hair is frizzy now. She still looks great. If anything, she looks even better than she did at Piper’s.
“You doing okay?” I ask, sipping my own beer.
“As well as can be expected.”