“Yes. I tend to brag about it and I’m in my full right to do so because it’s perfect.” Stella walked ahead of her up the second flight of stairs and grabbed two glasses from a cupboard in the kitchen before she opened the double doors that led outside.
“Your view is incredible,” Lisa said as she stepped out. “You’re so lucky.”
“No luck involved, just a lot of hard work,” Stella retorted.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insinuate that…”
“It’s okay. Nowadays it’s sad that I even feel that I have to justify having my own home, but you know… most of my friends haven’t been so fortunate to keep their jobs.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“Anyway…” Stella beckoned for her to sit down. “Let’s talk happy things. Times are getting easier, businesses have reopened and the economy will restore eventually.” She lingered on the spot as she looked Lisa over. “Do you like paella?”
“I do. But isn’t that a lot of work?”
“Not at all. I have some in the freezer that I made last week. Pour yourself a glass of wine while I heat it up and make a quick salad, and I’ll be out in a bit.” She went back into the kitchen, took the paella out of the freezer and gathered some fresh parsley from a pot on her windowsill. Glancing outside, she noted Lisa looked a little more at ease now, with her long legs crossed in front of her.Those are some legs.Pablo had climbed onto her lap, and she was stroking him and talking to him in a soft voice as she sipped her wine. It was cute and endearing in a sexy kind of way. Women had to be animal lovers; that was a make or break for Stella. Not that it mattered; it wasn’t like they were dating, but she liked to look at Lisa, that much was true. Despite Lisa’s slightly low mood, she liked talking to her too. She had a soft demeanour about her, a vulnerability that Stella rarely saw in women.
Her phone lit up and she sighed when she saw it was Vera.‘Want to meet up tonight?’
‘Can’t, I have company,’she replied, hoping Vera wouldn’t press on.
Seconds later, another message came in.‘Are you with a woman?’
Fuck, she’s getting jealous now.Stella never meant for it to be anything more than casual with Vera, but lately she’d messaged her regularly.‘Yes,’she answered because it was the truth. Vera didn’t need to know they were just having dinner.
‘I knew it. Never mind. I’ll go find someone else to keep me company.’
Stella didn’t know how to reply to that, so she didn’t. She wasn’t going to feel guilty about not showing up whenever it suited Vera and although she liked her, she couldn’t see it going any further than where they were now. The whole casual thing had been easy for years but in a small town where most gay women knew each other it was getting harder and harder to keep it simple. Last time Vera has spotted her kissing someone, she’d thrown a tantrum, scaring her date away. Admittedly, the one-night stands were starting to get a little boring. The same conversations beforehand; just enough small talk for her to feel okay about diving into bed with a stranger, the awkward midnight escape when she used her cats as an excuse, and the fear of bumping into the ones who had weird fetishes on a night out were situations she could do without.
“Are you sure you don’t need help in there?” Lisa called.
“No, just chill out, I’m almost done!” she yelled back, defrosting some king prawns to go on top of the dish. It dawned on her then that she hadn’t cooked for a woman in years.What has gotten into me?The urge to impress Lisa suddenly overcame her then, and she went in search of some lemons to make her paella look pretty.
16
Lisa sat down after she’d helped Stella clear the table and stared at her through the double doors. She wasn’t sure if it was the bottle of wine they’d polished off, the natural, flowing conversation she didn’t realise she’d missed so much, or the fact that Stella was seriously attractive that made her want to be near her. She just seemed so at ease in herself, so happy and carefree.Not to mention that cute smile and sexy, tanned legs.
“Milk? Sugar?”
“Huh?” Lisa startled, her eyes flicking away from Stella’s legs.
“In your coffee…?” Stella arched a brow and smiled.
“Oh, just a bit of milk, please.” Lisa returned her smile as she took the mug from her. “You have a wonderful home. I had a great time.”
“Excellent. That’s what I aim for.” Instead of sitting in the armchair opposite like she had all evening, Stella sat down on the sofa next to Lisa. Although she held a respectable distance, their legs touched for a brief moment, and the reaction it caused shocked Lisa. Butterflies, shivers, a heat flaring between her thighs… “I thought you could do with a bit of distraction from all that job hunting.”
“Yes, it’s been good to take my mind off that for an evening.” Lisa glanced down at their legs and Stella moved away a little as if she too, had felt it. She was still glowing, her core fluttering when she met her eyes. “I’ve had this never-ending stream of rejection and I’m trying not to let it get me down, but you know…”
“I understand.” Stella nodded. “I’ve had several temporary jobs over the past year, just to pay my bills. I really missed my job and every time it looked like there was light at the end of the tunnel, there was a new outbreak, a new period of lockdown.” She paused and regarded Lisa. “What is it exactly that you do?”
“I’m a brand builder. It’s marketing related, just more of an overall package that includes branding, customer experience and culture.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“It’s fun, and I’m good at it. But with so many companies struggling and so many unemployed, the job market has become saturated.” Lisa sighed. “Add to that the fact that there are some really talented young and much cheaper people out there… The competition is killing. I’m willing to take a pay cut and I’ve already broadened my search— even into PR—but without result so far.”
“And you’ve given yourself two to three months to find something while you’re here,” Stella concluded.
