Page 21 of Together at Ruby's

“Thank you,” Vivian said as she sat in the armchair across from where Allie and Liza sat on the couch. “I’ve been making them for far longer than I willing to admit, but I’m glad you like it.”

Taking another sip, Liza sighed as she swallowed. “Please tell me you made it a double though,” she said, and Vivian smiled.

“Of course.”

For a moment, no one said anything as they enjoyed their drinks and the camaraderie of good friends. Then Allie cleared her throat. “I’m going to guess that you do not want to speak about Tate tonight,” she said. “Although we are here to listen to anything you feel like you need to say.”

“No,” Liza said shaking her head emphatically. “That is the very last thing I want to talk about. Everything is a disaster, and I don’t want to focus on it right now.”

“Fair enough,” Allie said. “That topic is off the table. I imagine you don’t care to talk about your upcoming birthday either?”

Liza barked a laugh. “Absolutely, positively not. It falls on the day of the Portland Pride Festival this year so let’s just forget about celebrating me.”

“We’ll see about that,” Allie said as she turned to Vivian. “Shall we use the time to talk about our Pride booth? It’s only a few days away, and we still have to come up with a right game plan.”

Nodding, Vivian crossed her legs. “I want it to be perfect.”

“Unique,” Allie added. “Not just trinkets and swag with rainbows, but something that makes them flock to the booth.” While enjoying her drink, Liza thought about their dilemma. It was nice to let her mind wander in a different direction for a change, and she tried to remember all the different booths she had seen over the years. Rows of them lined up along the Portland waterfront during the festival.

She tilted her head. “Food is always good,” she said. “And of course, sex toys.”

Allie giggled. “I don’t know how we could work those into a Ruby’s Bar theme, but I agree, those do draw a crowd.”

“And snacks are simply overdone,” Vivian said. “Besides, Ruby doesn’t really do food.” Again, they were quiet, each lost in their thoughts trying to come up with an idea. Liza sipped her cocktail again and realized it was almost empty.

As if reading her mind, Vivian stood. “Finish it and I’ll go make you another,” she said holding out a hand.

“You are a blessing,” Liza said. “I could drink these all night.”

Allie sat forward on the couch because she was clearly excited with an idea. “What if we served a cocktail at the booth?”

Vivian sighed. “I wish, but we don’t have a license to do cocktails at Pride unfortunately. And it’s far too late to try and get one.”

Allie nodded, becoming more and more excited. “I know, but what if we made the nonalcoholic kind.”

“Mocktails!” Liza said. “Those would be perfect. People would line up to get a refreshing flavorful drink, even if it didn’t give them a buzz.”

“Do you think so?” Vivian asked, but Liza knew the woman’s mind was already calculating the different possibilities. “What would we serve?”

Liza held up her empty glass. “Margaritas, of course. You could have two or three different flavors. Even if you don’t have a chance to blend them, everyone likes a well-made margarita on the rocks.”

“That’s brilliant,” Vivian said, slowly nodding as the idea took hold.

Allie set her drink on the coffee table and clapped her hands. “It is perfect,” Allie said. “We can use something other than tequila to give them a bold flavor.”

“We’ll use a non-alcoholic agave blanco,” Vivian said. “It will taste enough like tequila to make people enjoy the cocktail as if it were the real thing.” She took Liza’s glass from her, and Liza saw inspiration lighting up the woman’s eyes. “But not cross any lines or break any rules at the event.”

“I love it. I just love it,” Allie said. “Best of all, we can dress the booth up to be a replica of Ruby’s and have a sign that says, ‘Welcome to Ruby’s’ across the top of our booth.”

“Yes,” Liza said. “We can bring our second home to the masses.”

16

As much as she would hate to admit it to anyone, Tate spent the morning literally hiding from Aurora Price. Whenever she wasn’t forced to go to a meeting, she intentionally stayed in her office with the door closed. It was so bad, she didn’t even go get a cup of coffee from the breakroom. Frankly, the situation was ridiculous, yet Tate couldn’t seem to get control of things. Aurora. Liza. Sitting in her office chair, she stared at her computer screen and tried to figure out what had happened to her life. Unfortunately, there were only rows of numbers and dollar signs and no answers.

Looking at the clock, she saw it was almost lunchtime and realized she would have to leave the safety of her office long enough to do two things: go to the bathroom and find food. The latter she could do away from the office so wasn’t concerned about being caught by Aurora.Unless it’s in the elevator,she thought, deciding to take the stairs. Unfortunately, using the bathroom was another story.I could use one at the deli. She shook her head.I can’t believe I’m nervous about going to the bathroom. I’m a grown woman, and I don’t have to put up with this anymore. Standing, she squared her shoulders and strode out of her office. Breezing by the executive assistant’s desk, she didn’t even hesitate when the young woman held up a hand to pause her. “In a minute,” she said glancing over her shoulder. So far, the coast looked clear, and she wouldn’t miss the opportunity.

Making it to the bathroom and using it without incident, Tate started washing her hands at the sink before anyone came in. She was almost finished when she heard the door open and, looking in the mirror, her heart leapt into her throat when she saw Aurora. As she watched, the woman turned the lock on the main door of the bathroom, and Tate felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.This is not good,she thought and watched the reflection of Aurora walking toward her. A predatory look was in her green eyes.Oh, definitely not good.

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