Page 38 of August
“I have to go work on her house,” she said to herself before she took a deep breath and practiced her professional smile in the mirror that hung by the front door of her house.
She had been hiding, and she knew it. How was she this old and still this immature?
Myra headed to her bedroom, where she put on a fresh shirt. Today, she had been in the office and hadn’t gone to a job site, but she had spilled mustard on it at lunch and didn’t want to go to a job wearing a dirty shirt. She changed and put a bandana over her hair because she would be working on a part that was severely damaged and there would be things falling in her hair. She hated when things fell into her hair at work, and a white bandana usually did the trick. She wrapped it around her braids and walked to her kitchen, stalling further by grabbing an apple and taking a bite. She figured she would finish it and then head over. Of course, she could always text Elisa to cancel tonight, telling her that something had come up.
“No, you can’t,” she said to herself.
She was being petty and ridiculous. Elisa had seen her. Myra had left a big pile of wood between their houses. Elisa would see that her truck was in the driveway and know that she was home. Working for her neighbor while also crushing on said neighbor really wasn’t working for Myra tonight. She picked up her phone and dialed.
“Hey,” Melinda said when she answered the call.
“Hey. I have a problem: I’m being petty again.”
“What?” Melinda laughed.
Myra took another bite of her apple and chewed while she thought about how best to explain.
“I just saw Elisa kiss another woman, and I practically ran inside my house to avoid her.”
“She kissed another woman? I thought you said–”
“I did. She told me just last night that she’s never been with a woman, not even on a date, but I just got here from the office, and I was unloading stuff for her house from the truck, and she pulled up in her car with another woman sitting next to her.”
“And they kissed? Did Elisa see you?”
“Yes, and yes,” she replied. “I was standing right there. We even made eye contact. Then, she turned, and the other woman’s lips were on hers. And, you know, that’s her thing. She can kiss whomever she wants. She’s a single woman, for all I know; I have no claim on her or anything. But, Mel,wealmost kissed last night. And yes, technically, she could kiss all the women in the world back-to-back if she wanted to because we’re not together or anything, but right in front of me? I told her I liked her last night, that I had feelings for her, and she looked at me and then didthattoday? I just… I don’t know what to do about it because I’ve got to go work over there right now, and I’m sure it’ll come up.”
“Well, itshould. It sounds like she has some explaining to do.”
“It’s less about that than it is about how it made me feel to watch her kiss another woman.”
“Oh,” Melinda said softly. “Howdidit feel?”
“Like a punch to my heart. Like she straight-up walked over to me and punched me in the chest, I fell back, and she just walked off.”
“You really like her.”
“I didn’t see this coming at all. Even if she and I don’t pursue anything, she made it sound like there weren’t exactly any other prospects for her.”
“Well, she lives right next door to you, so odds are, if you and she don’t get together, you’ll see her with someone at some point, right?”
“Probably.”
“Then, what I said earlier today still stands: talk to her.”
“She just kissed a–”
“Talk to her,” Melinda repeated. “Don’t be that person; don’t make assumptions.”
Myra took a bite of her apple to stall and said, “Fine. I hate being an adult.”
“Me too sometimes,” Melinda replied. “Just get it out in the open. Ask her about last night. Tell her that you saw her kissing someone else, and it hurt, but that you need to know where you stand. I think that’s fair. Then, you just have to see what she says and what she wants to do and be prepared for her to not want to be with you.”
Myra nodded to no one and said, “Yeah. Thanks.”
“Call me later, okay?”
“Okay,” she said and hung up just as the doorbell rang.
