Page 42 of Flogging Faith
“Hi, Wendy,” she replied. “Shall we leave the two of them to it for a bit?”
“That might be a good idea,” the older woman agreed, and came over to meet the Rawhide Ranch crowd.
As Faith made the introductions, she kept an eye on where Bex and Riley stood, reunited. She was so pleased the plan had come off so well, but there was a small part of her that feared that seeing Riley would highlight to Bex quite how much she missed home. Faith wanted her girlfriend to be happy, more than anything, but she also wanted her here, in Billings.
Faith’s routine, her schedule, helped her regulate. She didn’t think that she could face moving to another country, even to be with Bex.
When the two of them came over, Bex gave her a big smacker of a kiss. “I can’t believe you managed to plan all of this behind my back,” she exclaimed. “You’re a sneaky one, rainbow girl. I guess I’ll have to keep an eye on you.”
Riley hugged her too, and as everyone else went to raid the food that had been laid out, came and sat next to Faith on the couch.
“She’s happy, you know?” Riley said, after a long pause. “After her dad died, and all that bullshit with her family, I don’t know, it just felt like she was never going to be happy again.”
Faith looked at the other woman, who smiled sadly. “You don’t sound happy about it.”
“I am,” said Riley, “truly I am. I’m just a little sad that her life is here now, so far away. That’s not”—she added hurriedly, seeing the look on Faith’s face—“my way of saying her life shouldn’t be here, or that she should move back home. She shouldn’t, I know that. It’s just hard because she is my best friend, and she’s so far away.”
“Well, you’re welcome to visit whenever you like. And Bex has enough airmiles with her job she should be able to fly back and see you more often.”
“If we can persuade her to take time off, that is,” said Riley.
Faith agreed. “We’ll work on her together,” she said. “Maybe for Christmas?”
“Christmas would be perfect,” said Riley. “Thank you, and thank you for looking after her. She’s shining from the inside out, and I’ve never seen her like that before.”
The boardgames were an undeniable success.
Even after fifteen years of teaching pottery to children, Faith had never seen such ridiculous sculptures. It was hysterical, although one particular rose had lips that bore a remarkable resemblance to labia. Faith was tempted to take it to work to replicate and cast it.
Finally, Bex stood to make a speech. It was short, and brief, and very much to the point. “Thank you for coming,” she said. “There have been some sneaky plans concocted, for which I’m very grateful, and I am very glad to have you all in my life.” She looked straight at Faith. “Especially you, rainbow girl. Thank you for a wonderful day.”
“You’re welcome,” said Faith.
When everyone left—Mandi, Amelia, Tay and Chef Guilia for Rawhide Ranch, and Riley and Wendy to their hotel to sleep off their jetlag—and Faith and Bex were left alone, Faith decided it was now the perfect time to give Bex her present.
The best thing about working where she did was that there were artists everywhere. One of her colleagues had agreed to take the photo of their rainbow flogging session and get it printed on glass.
When light shone through it, it looked like the paint on Faith’s skin was glowing.
She’d wrapped it carefully, and handed the parcel to Bex now.
“What’s this?”
“Your birthday present,” she said.
“But you organized all of this,” Bex said. “That’s more than enough birthday present, rainbow girl.”
“I can take it back,” said Faith, but Bex had taken it out of her hands already.
“I don’t think so.”
The sound of ripping paper filled the loft, and then a sharp inbreath. “Fuck, rainbow girl, it’s beautiful.”
The colors on the glass shone and appeared to almost ripple as Bex moved it back and forth, getting a good look at it.
Faith flushed. “They’ve done a really good job, that’s for sure.”
Bex leaned across and bit Faith’s lower lip, tugging it into her mouth and deepening the hold until Faith squeaked. “Exactly. Say thank you for the compliment.”