Page 74 of Love and Cherish

Febe caught her eyes.

“Oh Cherry, relax.” Febe misread the worry in Cherish’s eyes as she grabbed her assistant’s arm and linked it with her own. Cherish must have made a sound, maybe a squeak. “No one is around. I don’t have to be the ice bitch all the time, do I?”

Cherish shook her head, her smile relaxing a little more. Maybe this could work to her advantage.

The drive relaxed Cherish’s shoulders and pushed the lump down her throat so that she could make some small talk with Febe. But the moment they pulled up at Le Rochelle’s the knots in Cherish’s shoulders wound up and tightened more than they had in a while now. The headache started again, pulling her shoulders up and straight into the base of her skull.

Febe allowed the valet to open her door and passed them the keys without question. Cherish gaped open mouthed. This was Bernie’s car. Febe never let anyone touch it.

“I know.” Febe called over her shoulder as she swiveled in her seat, legs now out of the door. “But it’s not her. It’s just a car in the end.”

Cherish had to shake herself out of her confusion.

Despite her own concerns about what this lunch might mean, about the guilt over a bet concerning her friend, her chest swelled at the sight of a friend she hadn’t seen for far too long. And she was definitely not referring to the ice bitch boss everyone else seemed to see when they looked at Febe. This was her caring and deeply emotional friend, the one who put on a front because she was scared to let anyone in.

Despite having worked for her for this long, having seen and heard some things Cherish herself hadn’t always agreed with, she still found it impossible to truly see the apparent ice bitch.

Sure, Febe had come across cold and firm, but there had always been purpose and reason behind her demand to be taken seriously, especially as a woman running a business. That was something Cherish had never faulted Febe for.

Cherish’s breath caught as they stepped into the foyer. There was a reason the place had the best reputation, and why it had pushed Cherish over on the bet. A dinner at Le Rochelle’s would win any woman’s heart.

Or so Cherish had once thought.

She had naturally thought it had to be every woman’s swoonworthy dream because the woman she had wanted to make swoon over her loved it here. The woman who strode alongside her now. The same woman who had introduced her to the fine dining of the rich and powerful.

Cherish wanted to roll her eyes at herself. Her thoughts returned to Haylee once more. She imagined Haylee would be just as happy in comfy clothes, some trash on the TV, and a pizza delivered by Sel’s. The idea shocked her as something she missed from home, that easy comfort of calm simple nights.

“Cherish?” Febe asked, concern etched on her face, her head angled slightly to catch Cherish’s eyes with her own. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Cherish laughed, and oh it felt so nice, the warm genuineness of it relaxing her more than the drive had. “Just reminiscing about the good old days.”

“Oh?” Febe smiled with curiosity and sadness.

Emotions flitted across Febe’s cheeks, but the distance between it and Febe’s smile brought relief to Cherish. Febe spoke to the tall woman who stood at the podium. The woman was stunning, but a little too thin for Cherish’s liking. Frowning, Cherish looked from the woman to Febe. They were quite well matched in size and shape. Cherish groaned. When had Haylee become such a fixture in her mind that every conversation, every thought became a comparison?

Determined to be present with Febe for lunch, Cherish continued their conversation as they were led to a table by the swaying hips of the too-thin hostess.

The meal was pleasant, and Cherish was able to force her thoughts to remain in the moment, and on Febe. But as they waited for coffee as a substitute for dessert, Febe made all of Cherish’s hard work unravel in one simple question.

“How is Haylee working out?”

Cherish couldn’t have been more grateful that she didn’t have a mouthful of coffee, because she had little doubt she would have spit it across the table and directly into Febe’s face. Sucking in a sharp breath, Cherish debated how she could get out of answering this line of questioning.

“What do you mean?” Was it just her or did her voice sound as though she had just screamed for several hours? In the throes of bliss with her…with her what? Girlfriend? Fuck buddy? Coworker with benefits? None of it sat right with her.

“With the job.”

“Oh.” Cherish pulled in her eyebrows. Would Febe finally bring up the elephant in the room? “She’s been fine. A little quieter since…”

“Ah.” Febe nodded, both eyebrows rising as she folded her hands delicately one over the other on the table in front of her.

So maybe the elephant just rolled over and went back to sleep.

It had been forever, at least it seemed that way, since things crept up between them. The beginning of those things being Bernie’s death. Had Bernie truly been the thing that kept Febe human and reachable?

Pain lanced in Cherish’s chest, the pain behind her eyes beginning its slow tempo. But it wouldn’t be long until it raced through her skull uncontrollably. Tiredness washed over her, tiredness from everything she had done and everything she had worked toward.

“I’m sorry.” The words slipped out, unexpectedly for both of them if the shock written on Febe’s face was anything to go by.

---