Page 40 of Flogging Faith
“No, not a penthouse. But, well, a really lovely loft.” When Faith kept staring, Bex clarified. “Look, the consultancy firm I work for really wanted me to move out here and set up a new branch because they liked what I did in the UK. And I held out long enough for them to find me an incredible apartment to rent at cost.”
“I bet at cost is still really expensive,” said Faith. “Bet it’s more than a potter could afford.” She was joking, but there was a kernel of truth in her words. Back at Rawhide Ranch, they’d been the same, equal, and she’d forgotten that out here, in the real world, that wasn’t quite how things worked.
Bex pulled a face. “I mean, it’s still pretty pricey, but I go into businesses and boss them around until they do what I say and then make a massive profit. They can afford to pay me pretty well. But I can’t do what you do—create something out of nothing. And then there’s all that outreach work you do. You make a big impact on the world, rainbow girl.”
“Do you like your job?” Faith asked.
“Sometimes,” said Bex. “Sometimes I just want to yeet, um, throw them all out a window. But the firm has said I can take on one pro bono client a year, so it’s worth it, just for that. It’s not working with trans and enby kids one on one, but I help make sure the charities and programs that work with them are as efficient as they can be.”
Faith smiled. “Why is it that your English sounds so much more fun than my English? I’m definitely going to be stealing some of your slang even if you threaten to yeet me out the window,” she teased before slipping her hand into the crook of Bex’s arm. “As far as our contributions, don’t belittle what you do as being less important than what I do. We all do what we can.”
But when the elevator doors opened onto Bex’s loft, she stood there, slack-jawed for a moment or two.
“This is your apartment. This.” When you walked to the windows, you could see out across the entire city to the mountains beyond. “Oh. That’s stunning.”
Bex had hurried in and was sweeping paperwork into haphazard piles when she heard Faith. “Yeah, the view’s pretty good.”
“Pretty good?” Faith was flabbergasted. “Stop tidying up for a moment and come and have a look.”
The city stretched out beneath them both, and Faith got a glimpse of her city from the sky. She’d never seen it laid out like that before, and it made her smile.
Her fingers itched and tapped on the window.
“You want to make art.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.” Gods, the art she could make in this space. She longed for her potter’s wheel, to turn it and keep turning. She grinned at Bex sheepishly. “You’ve got a nice place.”
Bex grinned back. “It’ll do. Come on, I’ll lay out some blankets and we can picnic on the carpet.”
Tay had done a great job once more, and Chef Guilia’s ice cream was a delicious way to end their picnic adventure.
Leaning back against the couch behind them, Faith sighed. “I don’t remember the last time I had a weekend this good.”
Bex was nestled up next to her, all soft curves pressed against Faith. “Me neither.”
Looking down at Bex, she was filled with a warmth. “This is good,” she said. “So good that I want to say I’m falling for you too. Falling, fallen, I don’t know. All I know is that time with you makes me happy.”
Bex reached up and pulled Faith down to kiss her. “You’re my perfect rainbow girl. You’ll stay tonight?”
“I’ll stay,” said Faith, and kissed her again.
EPILOGUE
Two Months Later
It might have been Bex’s birthday, but Faith was just as excited—if not more so.
“I don’t want anything big,” Bex had insisted, but Faith had organized a small group of people to come help them celebrate at the loft. It was made up of some of the Rawhide friends they’d made—Mandi, Amelia, Tay and Chef Guilia—but somehow, she’d managed to sneakily liaise with Riley too.
It would have been impossible to hide the fact there was a party going on, considering it was being held in Bex’s loft, but Riley and Wendy flying over from the UK was one surprise Faith had determined would not be ruined.
“What’re we doing again?” asked Bex, coming from the bedroom into the open plan loft space. She was wearing a suit, the jacket unbuttoned, and her shirt open at the top. Faith still wasn’t entirely sure how Bex managed to contain her curves within the shirt, and considering how some of the buttons were straining, she thought there might be a mini fashion emergency later.
Or rather, she hoped that there’d be a mini fashion emergency later.
“A dinner party seemed too formal,” said Faith, “and as Chef Guilia’s coming, I didn’t want my cooking to be placed under her scrutiny. So it’s drinks—we’ve got cocktails, mocktails, and beers—nibbles, and boardgames.”
She’d managed to get her hands on a copy of Rapidough, which she thought would have the whole group in hysterics, and Unstable Unicorns, which she thought would entertain the Littles.