Page 3 of Loving Her

Sasha’s target was at the corner of the Lounge’s bar as usual, engaged in animated conversation with Esme Bloom, the owner of the café-bar. Butterflies took flight again as she walked briskly but with care for her special delivery towards Ruby Fierelli.

She looked fantastic, as usual—although maybe a little more tired than usual, Sasha observed. Clearly whatever she’d been working on during the week she was away from the Lounge had been a challenge. Her long, fiery red hair was pulled up in a high sloppy bun, and her blunt bangs, usually neatly arranged over her forehead, were all over the place. While Ruby usually wore funky crop tops, miniskirts, and tall socks with boots, today her lovely curves were hidden under a loose t-shirt and baggy jeans. And her ever-present laptop was nowhere in sight, nor the pin and patch covered messenger bag she usually carried it in. Sasha stopped and frowned. Something must have happened. She hoped Ruby was okay.

Ruby looked up from her conversation and her face lit up with a luminous smile when she saw Sasha. “Sash!”

Sasha’s heart skipped a beat. Ruby’s blue eyes were tired behind the thick rims of her black cat-eye glasses, but her happiness at seeing Sasha would be obvious even to the most emotionally stunted human being. It washed through Sasha like sunshine and got her moving again with Ruby’s order. She set it down on the bar with care. “Hi, Rubes. Long time no see.”

“Oh, just a week.” Ruby’s smile broadened. “I had alotof work to do on my latest project. I needed to be more distraction-free than usual.”

“Ah, that’s why you didn’t send me any responses beyond thumbs-up or thumbs-down emojis.” Esme’s big brown eyes twinkled with good cheer. “I didn’t take it personally.”

“Good, because I didn’t mean it personally.” Ruby stuck her tongue out and winked. “I just allotted myself specific windows of time to access my phone during the day, and I had to work fast to respond to everyone’s texts. As soon as I got the urge to open TikTok or Instagram, I had to put the phone down and get back to work!”

“A solid strategy. But does this mean we can set up another book signing for you soon?” Esme looked eager. Ever since the Indigo Lounge had been renovated and expanded, Sasha knew her boss was just itching to host a big sapphic author event. They hadn’t had one since before the refurbishing, and Ruby’s signings always did well.

But Ruby looked sheepish, almost squirming in her chair in the face of Esme’s excitement. “Sorry, Esme. This one’s not a me project, it’s a ghosty. Someone else’s name and Photoshopped pic is going on the back. And,” she ducked her head and blushed. “This one’s for thestraights.”

Esme threw back her head and her delightful throaty belly laugh pealed out into the air of the Lounge. “It’s another Men in Kilts one, isn’t it? I knew you’d get picked up for more of those. How are you so good at writing burly straight men in wool skirts?”

Sasha had to suppress her own laugh as Ruby dropped her head into her hands in mock despair. “I don’t knooooow,” came the muffled groan. When she looked helplessly up at the Lounge ceiling, her bangs were spiked up into adorable disarray. “Ididn’t even grow up reading that kind of bodice ripper like Nat did.”

“Hey, that’s supposed to be my dirty little secret,” Natalie protested, catching the stray as she walked by with a tray of cappuccinos.

“We’ve all seen the ones you carry around in your purse, Nat,” Sasha chuckled. “You’re lousy at keeping your own secrets.”

As Nat sailed off in a huff to deliver her caffeinated burden, Ruby started nibbling at her snack. “Mmm. These are perfect as always, Sasha. You should put them on the regular menu.”

“Nah. Then they’re not special.” Sasha ignored the knowing grin on Esme’s face. Every week, Sasha put in the grocery order and every week it included five, and only five, sweet potatoes, destined for a customer who never had to pay for them to be made for her. Sasha was certain Esme knew about her crush on Ruby, and she was grateful for a boss that never made a fuss.

Ruby noticed the slightly melted milkshake at last and reached over from her tall barstool to give Sasha a hug that made the butterflies in her stomach swirl. “And a milkshake! Sash, you spoil me too much. I got the smoothie the other night, too. Thank you.”

“Nah, no problem.” The delicious scent of the perfume Ruby always wore wreathed around Sasha, filling her nose with notes of jasmine, rose, and some hint of pepper that added a bit of edge to the heady florals. “You deserve a reward after all your work. I figured that’s why you hadn’t been in.”

“And I’m not even done.” Ruby sat back up and resumed working on her chips. “I’m close,so closeto a story breakthrough that I can taste it. But I had to get out of the house and go somewhere other than the dog park. I neededpeople.”

“I’m people,” Nat protested, catching another stray as she passed innocently by with her now-empty tray.

“I love you, Nat,” Ruby called after her roommate. She grinned at Esme and Sasha. “She’s been a treasure this week. Took Winston out for walkies, got us food, made me take breaks. Best roommate ever.”

Sasha slipped behind the bar to stand next to Esme. She started cutting up lemons to give her hands something to do, and to have an excuse to stay and keep talking to Ruby. “You know, if you want, I can take Winston for a few days so you don’t have to worry about him at all while you wrap up this project.” She liked Ruby’s little old man of a dog, a sweet fellow that slept most of the time but enjoyed a good game of fetch at the quieter dog parks of Los Angeles. Unfortunately caring for him, as she often did when Ruby went out of town, meant that she had to take Claritin every day without fail or risk sneezing her head off. Sasha wouldn’t do it for any other person or any other dog.

Ruby considered the offer. “No, not that,” she said, propping her chin in the palm of her hand. “I like the excuse to get up from my desk. But listen, I might need you in a couple months, actually.” She reached into a little army-green canvas purse sitting on the bar and fished out a white envelope. “My little brother sent me this.”

Esme plucked the envelope away and opened it, squealing as she pulled out a wedding invitation. Sasha peered over her shoulder and squinted to read the curling text. As she realized what it said, she couldn’t help her smile. “Danny and Ange are getting married?”

Ruby’s little brother and his college sweetheart had visited LA many times, and of course Ruby had brought them to her favorite hangout. They were good kids, or, well, not kids, she reflected. They were both about thirty, Danny having been a surprise baby five years after Ruby, Sasha remembered her saying once.

Ruby was beaming, her joy evident and nearly tangible. “Isn’t it awesome? I’m so happy for them. They stood so firm on their own timeline and their own needs. Not easy in our families.” She pointed to a thin little slip of paper in Esme’s hand. “And look, Danny wants me to be his Best Gal. I know that caused at least two arguments with Angela’s side of the family. Tradition runs strong in the Pausinis.”

“Good on Danny for standing strong,” Esme remarked with a nod of approval. “He’s a good egg. But what’s going on here?” She waved a little card. “Someone wants you to bring a date to this wedding real damn bad.”

Sasha looked more closely at what turned out to be an RSVP card. To her surprise, the little Plus One question field was circled in purple ink and surrounded by tiny, glittery smiley face stickers. She blinked and looked at Ruby. “Wow. Kinda pushy of them.”

The joy had evaporated from Ruby’s pretty face, the light dimming in her blue eyes. “Yeah. They mean well, but… ugh.” She pulled off her glasses and rubbed at the bridge of her nose for a moment. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. It was going to suck going as the last single Fierelli already, but now I have to bring a date? And subject them to my family who’d love nothing more than to marry me off next? I don’t know anyone I could willingly put through that.”

Cam strolled up to mix a spicy Delevingne Daiquiri for a customer, shaking back the long purple side fringe of hair that drooped over her mischievous dark eyes. “You should take Sasha.”

It took everything Sasha had in her to not kick her friend in the shin. Cam was the one person that Sasha had ever confessed her crush on Ruby to, and the crack she’d just made felt uncharacteristically unkind of her. Willing her anger to stay down, Sasha frowned at Cam. “Me? Why me?”

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