Page 18 of Lesbian CEO
“Did you sleep together?”
“No.” I’m not offended or even surprised at the question. My friends and I are very open about these things. It takes a lot to bother me, and talking about sex isn’t something that annoys me or makes me uncomfortable. If anything, I wish more people were as open as Jordan and Clara are.
“Kiss?”
“No.”
“Hold hands?”
“There was no touching. Not even a hug.”
“Did you want there to be?” Clara looks at me with a knowing smile. She understands that the situation, for me, is complicated.
“A little bit,” I admit. “I wanted there to be something.”
“And does it maybe hurt a little bit that there wasn’t?”
“Yes.”
“She’s an idiot for letting you go,” Jordan tells me. “You’re a catch, Toni. I tell you this all the time. You’re a catch and she needs to pull her head out of her ass.”
“Jordan!” Clara frowns, but Jordan just shrugs.
“It’s true. Toni, you’re pretty. You’re smart. You’re clever. Most of all, you’re tough. You’re going to get through this situation. This rumor about your company...it’s all just something to overcome. Most importantly, I know that you can. You’re not the kind of person who’s going to let this get to you. I know that about you and I respect it.”
“Thanks,” I say. “What about you two? How was your week?” I reach for the bottle of wine on the coffee table and top off all of our glasses. That finishes out our bottle, and I’ll need to grab another one. Ladies wine nights are always fun for me, and I love having my friends over.
“We had dinner with Melanie and Brianna last night,” Clara tells me. “They’re planning a vacation, so we were looking at rentals.”
“Find anything good? Where are they going?”
“We found a ton of good options. They’re trying to decide between Florida and North Carolina. Their only requirement is that it needs to be a house on the beach, so they’re going back and forth right now with where they want to go.”
“I’m sure wherever they go will be lovely.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” Clara says longingly.
“You want to go on a trip, baby?” Jordan slides her arm around Clara’s shoulder and pulls her close. The three of us are on the couch together, but I suddenly feel like I’m intruding. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
Clara giggles. Yeah, I’m intruding.
“I’ll grab some more wine,” I say, standing up and slipping out of the room to the kitchen. Luckily, I bought a huge assortment of white wine before the week started. It’s like I had a premonition I’d be drinking more than usual this week. I grab a bottle from the fridge and turn around to see that Max has followed me. Before I open the wine, I squat down and pet him.
Max is the best.
Whenever I’m lonely or sad or nervous, he’s here for me. He always seems to know exactly when I need a little bit of support, and I love that about my sweet dog.
“You’re the best,” I tell him. Max licks my hand and then nuzzles his head against me. I accept the comfort my sweet dog is offering me, and then I stand up, open the wine, and head back into the living room. Clara and Jordan look over and smile at me when I come back.
“What about you?” Clara asks. “Do you have any trips you want to take soon?”
“Nope,” I tell them honestly. “I just want to sit back and get through this weekend.”
“Spending time with your ex is probably going to be weird. If you need any help or anything, just let us know,” Clara suggests. “Jordan and I are always happy to come crash the party.”
“The networking thing?” I laugh. Clara comes from a very wealthy background, so she’d probably be just fine networking. Jordan, while also from a wealthy family, is a rancher and lumberjack, so while she’s comfortable with money, she’s also very down-to-Earth. I wonder how it would go to have Jordan schmoozing at this event. Somehow, I feel like it wouldn’t be our finest hour.
“Or the volunteer thing,” Jordan says. “But don’t let the flannel fool you, Toni. I clean up nice.” She smiles, and I nod. I really am lucky to have them as friends. A lot of people have to go through life alone, but I don’t. No matter what I’m facing, these two are always there for me. They’re always by my side.