Page 45 of August
“They’re my nicest jeans, but I still wear them a lot, so they look a little worn at the hem.”
“They look fine,” Bridgette told her. “But if you’re worried about dating again, and someone you really like and not someone Melinda pushed you into going out with, you can always go shopping and pick out some date clothes so that you have a fourth mode. Date mode could have some slacks for the fancy dinners and some different boots that wouldn’t have scuffs on them.”
“Shit. I have scuffs?” Myra asked, looking down at her brown boots.
“No, I was just messing with you.” Bridgette chuckled. “If you want someone to go shopping with you, though, I can recommend Monica. She has amazing style.”
“Or, Asher,” Monica added.
“Yeah, Ash has good style, too,” Bridgette agreed.
“Not that we’re suggesting you change anything about yourself,” Monica said. “It’s important that you are you with her. That’s how you’ll know if Elisa is the one for you, right?”
“The only other dates I’ve been on weren’t real.”
“What do you mean by that?” Monica asked.
“They were, like, practice dates. I knew they weren’t going anywhere from the start. With one woman, I thought therecouldbe something, but it didn’t work out after a few dates. She wasn’t interested in a committed relationship at the time.She was a lot younger than me, which isn’t a problem, but she used the termethical non-monogamy, and I’d never heard of it before. I had to look it up. I want one person.”
“And Elisa might be that person?” Monica asked.
“We’ve spent a few days together – hours, really – so I have no idea.”
“Same with us, though. I mean, she didn’t like me in the beginning because she thought I was trying to steal her parents’ company, but it didn’t take long for us to figure it out,” Monica said as she nodded toward Bridgette. “It happens fast sometimes.”
“And slow other times, like Asher and Linden. I mean, ten years of friendship and then, boom – they’re together,” Bridgette added.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I just know that I like her,” Myra said.
“Well, you better get over there and pick her up, then,” Monica replied. “We’ll get out of your hair. I want to take this one out to dinner anyway.” She stood and held out her hand for Bridgette to take. “You pick the place. I’m buying.”
“Seafood,” Bridgette said. “But the cheap kind at a dive that’s better than those fancy places you like.”
“I’m sorry; you ate at one of those fancy places just the other night and told me how amazing the food was,” Monica retorted.
“Dive food is still better.”
“Then, you’re driving,” Monica replied. “And when you can’t find a parking space because they don’t have valet, you can dropmeoff at the door and walk from three blocks away.”
Bridgette just laughed and stood, taking Monica’s hand.
“Have a good time, Myra,” she said.
After they left, Myra took one final look at herself in the mirror, grabbed her keys, wallet, and phone, and locked up behind her. Then, she stared at the truck in her driveway and wished, not for the first time, that she had a more date-appropriate car because the truck was a work truck, had the logo all over it, and was hard to park when she wasn’t on a job siteand even sometimes when she was. It also wasn’t the cleanest car in the world, but she had failed to straighten up the interior when she’d gotten home, and now, she was out of time.
“Hi,” she said with a smile when Elisa opened her door. “Shit. I should’ve brought flowers.”
Elisa smiled back, but it didn’t meet her eyes.
“I don’t need flowers,” she replied.
Myra took her in then and noticed that Elisa was wearing makeup, which was uncommon for her based on the few times they had interacted. It was a little heavy around her eyes, and although it didn’t look bad, Myra liked her without any makeup. Elisa was already so beautiful; she didn’t need anything else to make her that way. She was wearing a dark-green sundress and black flats with gold buckles, and her hair was down, framing her face. Still, something was off.
“Everything okay?” she checked, worried that Elisa had been rethinking their date.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Why?”
“No reason,” she said, not wanting to insult her date by asking about her makeup before they’d even left the house. “Are you ready to go?”
