Page 17 of In Her Arms

“You surely have friends. You have that bar your friend owns, don’t you?”

Cameron looked happy Goldie had remembered something about her. The spicy sauce on the noodles had caused her lips to redden slightly. Goldie wanted to kiss her.

“Indigo Lounge? Yeah, Esme is a sweetheart, but she wouldn’t give a shit either way. Neither would my other friends.”

Goldie had never been to a gay bar, let alone one filled with women. She’d grown up on magazine covers and talk shows. No illicit drinks, no secretive touches in dark rooms while the bass thumped through the wall, no nothing. Her face was too recognizable.

“I’d like to come sometime.” Goldie figured she wouldn’t be overstepping by asking, but she wanted to give Cameron a way out. Judging by the way she’d brought it up, she figured it would be a nice thought, and Cameron smiled.

“You could come. We do open mic nights, drag shows... To be honest, I think you’d kill it at trivia night. Can we team up for trivia night? Three drink tickets per person for the winning team. I really don’t know how Ez and Nora afford it.”

“Nora?” Cameron hadn’t mentioned her before.

“Esme’s wife. It’s a bit of a long story.”

Goldie checked her watch. “We have time. So they’re married?”

“Only recently, actually,” said Cameron, and Goldie raised her eyebrows.

Cameron recounted the story of Esme and Nora meeting, fighting, making passionate love, only to fight again, and then having a tearful reunion. Goldie was absolutely enraptured. Shehad watched movies less entertaining, and as they ate, Cameron proved herself to be a very powerful storyteller. She had never met these women, only had a vague idea of what they were like, but despite that, she was taken in by the story of their grand romance. When Cameron moved on to their marriage, she found herself getting genuinely attached to these people she had never met. She couldfeelthe love that Cameron had for these women, the appreciation for what they did.

This was all incredibly cute. It feltdomesticin a way that none of their interactions had.

Goldie tried not to think too hard about that.

It was difficult enough to deny the feelings that she had for Cameron. Romantic feelings. A fondness she could barely name without habit kicking in and shutting her down. She wanted Cameron to stay. She wanted to stay with Cameron.

Right now, she realized that she had become so used to Cameron’s presence she felt like she would be missing a little bit of her life when she had to go without her. Only a few weeks ago, she had felt nothing but contempt for the woman. Now?

Now, it was staring her in the face, as sure as a bowl of spicy instant noodles. Cameron’s lips were red from the sauce, but as she smiled wide, Goldie didn’t find herself put off by the taste she knew she wouldn’t like. She desperately wanted to kiss her, in that way you do when you feel a magnetic pull toward someone.

Cameron, to her credit, had failed to notice Goldie’s internal crisis and was nearing the end of Esme and Nora’s story.

“So in the end, when they got married, they came to an agreement. Nora would handle the financial side of things while Ez ran the lounge itself. Their wedding was a whole other load of drama, of course, but it was a really beautiful ceremony.”

“That sounds magical,” Goldie said, and she meant it. Her voice was a little breathy. She hadn’t meant to get so distractedby her defined features and deep eyes while Cameron was talking. “It feels like a romance movie.”

“Absolutely!” Cameron replied, finishing off her dinner. “With the way they act around each other now, you’d never guess that they had spent so long at each other’s throats.”

“That sounds a little bit like us,” Goldie said before her brain could stop her. It felt as though the thought hadn’t even passed through her before it made itself known. Millions of years of evolution, the human brain growing more complex and nuanced over time, only for hers to stop working the second she saw a beautiful woman. Really, it was a little ridiculous.

Fortunately, Cameron deflected with a skill she could only be jealous of. “It sounds like every romance movie I’ve ever seen. I didn’t think that kind of stuff could happen in real life, but then I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“I’d happily watch that story as a movie, and I’ve already seen more than I can name.”“You have a soft spot for them?” Cameron asked.

“I do. I don’t care how stereotypical it is; I adore romances. Romcoms especially, though I’m not half as picky these days. Used to be all about period pieces, historical romances, all those kinds of films,” Goldie said. “My mom lended me her copy of the BBC’sPride and Prejudiceseries when I first moved away for work, and that’s where it really started.”

“So you had a gateway romance?” Cameron laughed, smiling wide.

Goldie hadn’t thought about it like that before. “Oh my God, I totally had a gateway romance; you’re right. I mean, myentiretaste in romances was shaped by that series. Now, it’s less of a romance and more of an analysis of Regency-era society-— Oh no, this must be so boring, sorry.” Goldie caught herself before she started ranting.

“What are you talking about? No, it’s not boring. Tell me all about it.”

Cameron looked a little taken aback at the idea she would find historical dating culture boring. Goldie felt her heart burst.

A little while later, after Goldie info-dumped about misinterpretations of Jane Austen’s work while Cameron nodded along graciously, the small table was cleared, save for a small woodsy-scented candle. She felt a little awkward. All Cameron had asked to do was stay for dinner, and now that dinner was over, Goldie wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want her to go. It felt like a really nice date.

It was Cameron who ended up prolonging the visit. “You know, out of all the stuff you’ve talked about today, I can’t believe you haven’t named a single gay romcom.”

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