Page 74 of Love Is…?

Luce leapt off her stool. “You’re welcome, and for one time only because it’d be weird if it was a regular thing, you need to text me when you get home because you still look like you could fall into a barrel of alcoholic sad, and I’m not diving into that.”

Jayde looked at her friend. “No barrels. Proof of life text. Got it.”

“Good.” Luce gave a quick wave, then skipped across the room.

Jayde spun back to the bar, realised her glass was empty, and ordered another drink, while catching snatches of conversations around her.

“Oh my God! I just love these queer bars in Melbourne!”

Jayde jerked, then turned to stare at a woman with short, multicoloured but mostly pink, hair, climbing onto the stool recently vacated by Luce. She was short, and her eyes, framed by a pair of glasses, peered at Jayde through a rather accomplished alcoholic haze. She continued to gush her praise, leaning into Jayde’s space. “They’re just as good as the bars back home, you know?”

Jayde didn’t know, considering the accent was not Australian and therefore the comparative bars had to be at least a fifteen hour flight away. American? Canadian? The hard ‘r’ in Melbourne suggested as such.

“I don’t know. I’m sorry. You’re from…?” She let the question hang.

“Oh! I’m from Canada. The land of the maple leaf.” She nodded, the motion causing her to sway even closer. Jayde put her hand lightly on the woman’s shoulder to hold her steady and keep her from getting closer. The amount of alcohol on the woman’s breath was probably enough to ignite the smokers in the beer garden outside. Jayde’s hand seemed the impetus for more conversation. She sighed, but good manners kept her from brushing the woman off.

“Have you been in Melbourne long?” she asked, sipping her drink while the woman waved vaguely to catch the bartender’s attention.

“Noooo. Not long at all. Like, probably a week. No. Not a week. Maybe three days. Thought I’d check out the scene, you know? Then check out thescenery, right?” The woman winked at Jayde.

“Right. Is it checking out?”

“Oh, man. It’s awesome. This bar is the best, though. I like the vibe. I used to go to a bar like this in Toronto.Lawlor’s. You know it?”

Jayde was now totally invested, fascinated by the train wreck beside her. She turned square on. “Not really.”

“I used to go there with my girlfriend, then pick up when she went home. Best of both worlds. You know what I mean?” The woman wiggled her elbow towards Jayde, attempting some sort of solidarity, but couldn’t make contact.

“Not really,” Jayde repeated.

The woman shrugged, then continued after an enormous gulp of her drink. “She’s here in Australia, you know? In Melbourne.”

“Your girlfriend? Is she from Canada, as well?”

“Nup. Australian.” She leaned into Jayde’s space, nearly toppling off the stool. Jayde gently pushed the woman back upright again. “We’re doing the long-distance thing, but it’s open, you know. Our relationship. Like, I hook up, and she’s okay with that. I mean, she didn’t make a fuss about it when we were together in Toronto. She never got hung up about it.”

It sounded like the girlfriend had absolutely no idea that she was being cheated on. It wasn’t Jayde’s place to comment on the infidelity but the idea of it made her stomach churn.

“I’m sorry. I forgot to ask your name,” Jayde said.

The woman stuck out her hand, and Jayde chased it when it veered left. “I’m Olna.”

Jayde released Olna’s hand. “Jayde.” Then she frowned in thought. The name seemed familiar but she couldn’t place it, which was odd because it was unusual and Jayde was generally good with names.

“Thought I’d come down under—” Olna laughed and leered simultaneously which was a feat for her inebriated facial muscles. “And find my girlfriend…Uh, like, not find, ‘cause I totally know where she is, right? But I thought I’d surprise her. She’s got a new job. A real step up from her old one. She was a nanny for the kids of some second-rate TV producer, and I toldher that if we were going to stay together, she needed a better job.” She nodded seriously. “It’s important for a couple to have matching career statuses. I’m in the movie business, you know.” Olna smirked, scooping up a handful of mixed nuts from the little bowl on the bar, and shoving the lot into her mouth.

A light shone through Jayde’s memory banks.

Oh.

“Movie business?” Jayde whispered, horrified.

Olna continued to preen. “Yeah. Distribution and promotion of movies. Important, right? And now my girl has scored a job nannying the kid of an A-lister. So, like, we have matching career statuses now. I’m here, because I thought I’d reconnect.” Olna stumbled over the last word. “I mean, reunite, like a surprise. You know, since we haven’t seen each other in person for a little while.”

Jayde’s breath caught, and she slowly released each finger from the fist she’d made at her thigh. It wouldn’t do to smack this woman in the face, not with approximately eighty to ninety witnesses. Though, if she had the time and opportunity, she’d definitely put raw prawns in the air-conditioning of Olna’s car.

“What’s the name of your girlfriend?” Jayde kept her tone light and breezy.

---