Page 29 of Code Love
“I love you, too, Jade,” Lillian answered and wrapped her arms around Jade’s shoulders. “It just took me longer to figure it out.”
They stayed like that for a while, laying in each other’s arms and allowing the moment to soak in, though neither of them were ready for sleep. The rain drummed outside, and Lillian couldn’t help but wonder how many people had heard them from the outside. She chuckled lightly at the thought.
“So now what?” Jade finally asked into the darkness.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” Lillian said with a gentle laugh. “But I’m tired of running from it.”
Another long silence stretched between them, before Lillian spoke again.
“How do you think the board is going to feel about this?” Lillian asked.
“The board?” Jade said, leaning up on her elbow. “You really are serious.” Lillian could hear the smile in her voice.
“Yes, I’m serious,” Lillian scoffed. “I don’t do anything half-way. I’m sorry it’s been so complicated, but this time I mean it.”
“I believe you, and no, you certainly do not do half measures,” Jade chuckled and pulled Lillian closer, their warm bodies pressing against each other in the cool night air. “Maybe we should start with a date? Back to the basics?”
“A date?” Lillian asked, stroking Jade’s hair.
“Yes, a date, like an actual date, dinner and a movie and all that,” Jade said.
“Who has time for that?” Lillian chuckled.
“What about a moonlit walk on the beach?” Jade said, Lillian could hear the smile in her voice.
“I hope you don’t mean tonight,” Lillian responded as the sound of the rain grew heavier for a moment.
“Fine, dinner tonight at my place,” Jade said with a laugh.
“That sounds perfect,” Lillian answered and pressed her lips to Jade’s again.
They finally got up from the bed and went back into the living room to clean up the mess they had made when Lillian came crashing into the place soaking wet. While they were otherwise occupied, the power had come back on, so Lillian piled up the soaking wet clothes and tossed them into Jade’s dryer.
Once all that was done, Jade began cooking a small dinner for the two of them. A simple salad with grilled chicken. It seemed that Jade didn’t have many more groceries in her house than Lillian kept at hers, she was pretty sure her mini-fridge in her office was better stocked than the one at home.
“So how should we handle this at work?” Lillian asked Jade as they sat down with their salads, wearing robes and looking as though they had been doing this for years.
“Handle what?” Jade asked around a mouthful of lettuce.
“Telling people, I mean, you know, going public,” Lillian answered.
“I wouldn’t worry a whole lot about it,” Jade said with a shrug. “They probably already know.”
“How’s that possible?” Lillian said, lifting her eyebrows. “Have you been talking to people about us?”
“No,” Jade said with a laugh, “well, I did mention some things to Elizabeth, but no.”
“I had a feeling she knew something,” Lillian said with a laugh. “She mentioned something that resonated with me, and it makes more sense now.”
“Oh?” Jade said with a lift of her brows.
“She said I should trust my intuition, and that sometimes when somethingfeelsright that means it is.”
“She’s a clever woman,” Jade said with a smirk.
“You would think so,” Lillian chided. “But that didn’t answer my question; I haven’t spoken to anyone, how would anyone already know about us?”
“Think about it, Lillian,” Jade said with a slight curl to her lips. “Word travels quickly in the hospital, they probably knew about us before we did.”
