Page 33 of August
“What? Was it a secret? You didn’t say it was a secret, which makes it fair game around here.”
“No, but there’s nothing much to talk about.”
“You told me you had dinner with her last night, but then we got interrupted when Bridgette and Monica showed up,” Melinda noted.
“Mel, come on,” Myra said, walking over to a stool and sitting down. “We’re here to talk about your wedding.”
“Please; we did that already. We just all wanted to hang out, and wedding planning is a nice excuse to get everyone together. What happened?”
“I’ll let you two talk. Soph and I are probably going to head out, but thanks for the pep talk, Myra,” Bryce said.
“No problem,” Myra replied before Bryce rejoined the group.
“Pep talk?” Melinda asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“And this thing with Elisa is nothing, too?”
“No. I don’t know.” She shook her head.
“Spill, Myra,” Melinda said.
“She’s gay.”
“Who’s gay?”
“Elisa.”
“You said she was straight.”
“Well, I was wrong.”
“Why do you look not happy, then? You like her. This is a good thing.”
“She’s never been with a woman, Mel, and things are complicated. She’s got her kids about to leave for college, her house that she’s worried about, a job that she has to find, an ex-husband who–”
“Excuses,” Melinda interrupted. “Tell me the truth.”
“I almost kissed her,” she blurted out.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because she was so nervous, Mel. She was shaking all over. I asked if she felt it, too, and she didn’t say anything back. She said nothing. Not that she didn’t feel it, that I was wrong, or anything else. Just no words. Then, the food got there, so I went to grab it for us, and things were awkward after. We hardly talked at all while we ate, and I decided to go because it was too much, being there, knowing it, and not being able to really talk about it.”
“Why couldn’t you talk about it with her? I get her being nervous if you’re going in for a kiss, but you still could havetalked, Myra.”
“I guess, yeah. But I asked if she was feeling it because I think she is, Mel. We flirt a lot. And now that I know she’s gay, it’s not just me thinking she’s flirting and she’s not. It’s changed things. I don’t know that she’s ready, and I don’t want to pressure her or make her think that she has to do anything she doesn’t want to do or isn’t ready to do, at least.”
“That’s her thing to tell you, though, not your thing to put on her,” Melinda suggested and crossed her arms over her shoulders. “If she’s not ready, she’ll tell you.”
“I don’t know.”
“Explain.”
“It’s probably bad to think this, but she didn’t exactly tell her ex-husband that she wasn’t ready when they had sex for the first time. We talked about that a little. He wanted to. She didn’t. They did anyway, and she got pregnant. So, I don’t want her to go with it because she thinks it’s whatIwant. I’m definitely not going to be anything like her ex-husband,who sounds awful. If I were a violent person, I’d find him and–”
“Myra,” Melinda interrupted, laughing a little. “You’re not like whoever that guy is, but you also can’t assume that the situation is the same. She was young then and maybe just gave in to her boyfriend because it was easier. I know a ton of girls who did that, and it doesn’t mean they’re incapable of acting differently now. I’m sure if you actually talk to her like the mature adult you are, she’ll explain how she’s feeling and tell you what she’s ready for and if she’s interested in something with you. Maybe she isn’t and got nervous telling you, which is why she shut down. No offense.”
