“Maybe next time. I should get going. Quinn, it was nice to see you again. I’m glad you’re doing so well.”
Rory turned her eyes back to Autumn.
“It was nice meeting you.” This time Rory didn’t attempt to smile.
They watched as Rory disappeared into the crowd.
“I can’t believe you stood up to her that way,” Quinn announced excitedly. She wrapped an arm around Autumn’s shoulder. Autumn shrugged the arm off her shoulders.
“And I can’t believe that you didn’t stand up to her.” Autumn’s words were a clear condemnation.
Quinn faltered, taking a step back from Autumn.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean based on what you’ve been telling me I didn’t expect to come here and see you dancing with Rory. I expected to see some clear space between you two. Not whatever it was I just walked in on,” Autumn condemned.
“Okay, you didn’t walk in on anything other than a goodbye dance,” Quinn retorted.
“After everything she put you through, I don’t know why you would need a goodbye dance. Why not just demand your necklace and tell her to get out of your bar?”
Autumn’s words were coming too fast for her to gatekeep them. She was angry at Rory for coming here and disrupting their lives, but she was also angry at Quinn for not standing her ground with Rory. For not putting more space between them.
“I don’t know what the big deal is. Why does it matter if we said goodbye over a dance?” Quinn asked.
“Because you have a girlfriend. Me. I’m your girlfriend. The last thing I wanted to see tonight was you getting cozy with another woman, especially when that woman is your ex-girlfriend.” Autumn punctuated each of her words, giving them a little more bite than usual.
Quinn stood clearly stunned by her words. Autumn watched Quinn’s face crumple. She didn’t want to hurt her, she wanted to pull back before she said anything she’d regret.Instead, she turned and left. She walked out the bar doors and into the evening air.
The warm salty air hit her face. In the distance she could hear the crash of waves, and she walked towards the sound. Autumn took off her heels when she reached the sand, continuing towards the ocean. Her mind raced, seeking to process everything she’d just seen.
Jordan caught up and fell into step beside her. They walked in silence. Autumn was grateful to have someone with her. She was also grateful that Jordan didn’t seem to have a need to fill in the silence. There was nothing to say. Quinn had said she wanted to make this meetup with Rory go as quickly as possible, yet she’d been dancing with her. And then there was the strangely intimate moment between the two of them. Rory fastening the necklace around Quinn’s neck, then giving her a kiss on the cheek.
It could have been a goodbye kiss. There were a hundred ways she could try and explain the gesture away. Autumn was always in control. But she couldn’t help it she was so upset about the moment between Rory and Quinn Autumn couldn’t help but be angry. There was something about watching Quinn allow another woman to get so into her space that made Autumn furious.
Autumn sat down in the sand, the waves were just out of reach. She listened to the sound of the waves crashing along theshoreline. The ocean sounded as angry as she felt. Jordan sat down beside her and stared out at the horizon.
“Did that really just happen?” Autumn asked finally.
“It did,” Jordan answered simply.
“Should I be as angry as I’m feeling right now?”
“I’m not qualified to tell you how angry you should be.”
Autumn gave a soft laugh.
“If you were me, would you be angry?”
Jordan paused, obviously considering the question.
“I think I would be. The question is what do you want to do about it?”
It was Autumn’s turn to give a long pause.
“I don’t know yet. I need clarification for what I just saw. But right now, I don’t even want to talk to Quinn.”
“Then don’t,” Jordan advised.
