“Should I see if Basher will be back for the dance this weekend?” I cut in before Fifi can say anything. I’m sure she could handle herself, but the last thing I want to be is between two beautiful women fighting.
Oh, how times have changed.
“You do that,” Mabel snaps, and stalks off.
“I’ve got to text Sophie,” I mutter as soon as Mabel is out of earshot.
ME: Basher + Mabel alert—absence does make the heart grow stronger!
SOPHIE: ???
ME: Mabel asked me about Basher! Said he should get back here for the dance
Sophie responds with happy faces and exclamation marks
SOPHIE: Are you at King’s Hat?
ME: Gave Fifi the tour
SOPHIE: where did you take her?
ME: Shops. Coffee. Here. The usual
SOPHIE: Did she like the coffee?
ME: Of course. Everyone does. Want one? I can bring you back one – free delivery!
SOPHIE: Thanks but it will be too late
ME: It doesn’t have to be that late
SOPHIE: Stay with Fern. Fifi. Have fun.
I don’t realize Fifi was reading along with my texting until she gives a sharp inhale. “You’re going to ditch me for Sophie Laz?” she demands.
I fight the urge to hug my phone to my chest so she can’t read anything more. “No.”
“If she wanted a coffee, you would have. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I say automatically. “We’refriends.”
Fifi narrows her brown eyes at me. Sophie has the same colour, but hers have flecks of green and gold and outlined in black.
Fifi’s are just brown. They’re not smiling eyes. They don’t crinkle at the corners.
Fifi is a beautiful woman, and if I had a type, she would be it.
But she’s not Sophie.
“She’s not your usual friend type,” Fifi points out. “But you seem very cozy with her.”
I wonder what Fifi would have thought if she’d walked in on us last week. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Fifi toys with her glass. “I’ve seen the girls you go out with. I very much wanted to be one of those girls,” she admits.
That gets my attention. “Fifi…”
“After you broke up with Mera,” she continues, not meeting my eyes. “We didn’t know each other very well, but I wanted to. I asked Lavinia about you, about how maybe you might be interested.”
