Page 44 of Nothing Heals Me Like You Do

“So what if it is?”

Justine had sat through plenty of hours of counseling in her life. She was a trained social worker and she acknowledged the importance of talking and working through your feelings, but mainly for other people.

Witnessing this movie being made was next-level therapy. It was more than Justine could handle, if she was being completely honest, hence Sienna’s tear-soaked blouse.

Instead of burying her face in Sienna’s hair for much longer, Justine thought it better to look at her gorgeous face. To feast her gaze on Sienna’s pronounced cheekbones. Her dark, soulful eyes. Her full lips and that tiny, crazy-driving dimple just next to the corner of her mouth. The confident serenity she carried herself with, as though, like Rochelle, she was more than a decade older than Justine, and instinctively knew how to comfort her.

Justine took a breath. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re not just extremely hot, but very kind as well.”

Sienna chuckled in response. “I’m always available whenever you need some kindnessorhotness.”

Justine hadn’t considered herself unfortunate since the Rainbow Shelter had opened its doors almost thirty years ago, but to have Sienna Bright, of all people, say those words to her, she must now be the luckiest person on the planet.

Chapter23

Sienna was a little starstruck—something that didn’t happen very often. But to be this close to Nora Levine felt special. In their teens, especially during weekends at their dad’s, she and Taissa had binged all seasons ofHigh Lifeseveral times. And just like most other viewers, Emily Brooks had been their favorite character.

Mimi had introduced Nora the first time she’d visited the set, and they’d had a brief, polite conversation, but afterward, whenever Nora came to the set—and she came often—she seemed to have this bubble around her that made her difficult to approach. She was always flanked by two of her friends, like she has a human shield around her.

But tonight, Sienna was sitting opposite Nora Levine at the table—and, as Mimi had promised, she was watching an age gap relationship in action. When Sienna had told Justine this, she had given her a skeptical look, as though it was the first time she had contemplated their own difference in age.

Justine and Nora had a lot in common and neither Sienna nor Alexis could get a word in edgewise while Mimi—clearly the cook in this particular age gap relationship—was busy in the kitchen.

“In liberal circles,” Justine was saying, “it’s almost frowned upon to be straight these days. It’s astounding, if you think about the attitudes toward gay people only thirty to forty years ago. Twenty even. The hideous things people said about gays. It’s easy enough to forget, but I will always remember.” Justine’s face always lit up so brightly when she smiled, as she did now. “My point being that I really can’t applaud you enough for coming out of the closet, Nora.”

A while ago, when promoting a movie about lesbian spies she was in with Elisa Fox, Nora had done a one-off big interview withVanity Fairin which, after years of tabloid speculation, she had come out as bisexual and in a relationship with a woman.

“I was only surfing the wave that Ida Burton and Faye Fleming started,” Nora said.

Justine shook her head. “Every single coming out is hugely important. It’s so easy to think it no longer matters when someone in the public eye comes out, but it so does. It has the kind of impact we tend to underestimate, but so many of the kids I talk to found the courage to come out because someone famous inspired them.” A shadow crossed Justine’s face. Sienna knew why. Because those kids had still ended up at the Rainbow Shelter—no matter how many celebrities busted out of the closet.

“Well, thanks.” Clearly, Nora Levine wasn’t one to bask in the glory of something as trivial to her as telling the world she was in a relationship with a woman. “But, really, Justine, you’re the one who needs to get all the applause at this table. Coming out when I did was low stakes for me.”

As Sienna predicted, Justine waved off Nora’s comment. You really couldn’t embarrass Justine Blackburn more than by giving her a heartfelt compliment. She simply couldn’t accept it.

“Did you ever consider coming out in yourHigh Lifedays?” Alexis asked, skillfully working her way into what had pretty much been a dialogue between Justine and Nora since they’d sat down.

Nora shook her head. “Not even for a second, although, in hindsight, I should have.”

“Times had to change first,” Justine stated matter-of-factly.

“And she didn’t have me back then.” Mimi approached the table, carrying a stack of plates.

“I was single and it’s quite possible no one would have even believed me then,” Nora said. “Bi-erasure was and is still very much a thing.”

“Let me give you a hand with those.” Sienna rose and followed Mimi back to the kitchen.

“Nora’s very comfortable with Justine.” Mimi glanced at the dinner table. “I can tell by the way she’s talking to her that she’s the kind of person Nora truly appreciates.”

Now that she was alone with Mimi, Sienna took the opportunity to assuage her curiosity about something. “Does Nora live here with you? I see all these pictures of your kids and grandkids, but nothing Nora-related as far as I can tell.”

Mimi smiled. “Nora and I don’t live together. It’s not her thing and that’s absolutely fine with me. She needs her own space and lots of privacy and I have four kids who are in and out all the time, so not living together works really well for us.”

Sienna nodded. “Sure. Why not?” If things with her and Justine progressed to thoughts of living together, Sienna couldn’t picture herself moving in with Justine—but she really shouldn’t be thinking about something like that yet.

“Can you take these, please?” Mimi handed her a handful of cutlery. “Just put them on the table. I’m very casual when it comes to dinner parties.” Sienna liked Mimi a lot, mainly because of her levelheadedness. She was a modest director without delusions of only directing Oscar-worthy movies. More than anything, on set, Mimi radiated the pure joy of being there, of having the coveted job of director and getting to do what she loved the most—something Sienna totally understood.

Just as she deposited the cutlery on the table, Sienna’s phone rang. She fished it out of the back pocket of her jeans. Her mother’s name appeared on the screen. Sienna excused herself and headed into the lounge to take the call, wondering why her mother would call her on a Saturday night.

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