“Support herwatchinga game?” India asked.
It was the end of the workday, and she’d gone down in the elevator with Juliet. She’d mentioned as they were working on the café earlier that she had been invited to the game with Maisie, but now, she was regretting it. She should have expected Juliet to give her a hard time about not being there if she was free and invited.
“India… She invited you somewhere. That means she wants to spend time with you. It’s not about watching some game. And isn’t she running for city council, too? That election is right around the corner. If she’s asking you to hang out, it means she’s taking time away from that, right?”
“I suppose. But she’s going to a soccer game, so she’s puttingthatbefore the election, too.”
Juliet chuckled and said, “I think she’s putting herfriendsbefore the election, which makes sense to me.”
They left the elevator, and when Juliet pushed open the door that led outside, India watched her smile instantly.
“Hey, babe,” Juliet said to Gwen, who stood there with Juliet’s dog, Carly, on her leash.
“Hey. We were just out walking nearby, and I thought maybe you could drive us home.” Gwen moved to Juliet and kissed her before she added, “Hey, India.”
“Hi, Gwen,” she replied. “You just happened to be over here?”
“Honestly, yes. I have two clients who live over here, so I brought Carly with me. I also just dropped off Echo and Wells at Molly’s,” Gwen explained and turned back to Juliet. “So, any chance you’d give us a ride back to your place?”
Not only had Finley and Molly gotten together, but they had also managed to adopt their pets at the same time, treating them like the dogs belonged to them as a couple, as opposed to Wells being Molly’s new puppy and Echo being Finley’s new dog. It would have been adorable if it hadn’t also made India a little jealous. She hadn’t even been aware that Finley wanted a dog.
“I don’t mind that at all,” Juliet replied, bending down to pet Carly, who was jumping at her legs, excited to see her. “India, I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah. Have a good night,” India said and watched the two women walk off hand in hand.
That made her think of Maisie and the fact that they’d held hands as well a few times the previous night. Yes, there had been the whole espresso machine milk explosion issue, but she’d been having such a good time with Maisie right up until Maisie’s face had fallen the moment India had declined the invitation to the soccer game. Maisie hadn’t been dramatic about it or anything, and by the time they’d gotten to the bar, it had appeared she’d forgotten all about it. They’d resumed having a good time, and India had even gotten Maisie to try a few drinks. She had ordered three different martinis from the bartender and had Maisie sip all of them, which she had done. Maisie had liked the cucumber one the best, followed by the chocolate one, and when India had revealed to her the price of each, Maisie’s eyes had gone wide. India had ordered top-shelf alcohol and had laughed when Maisie had told her that she now understood why people paid more for certain drinks, because they had been delicious.
When they’d gotten back to India’s, Maisie had let Justin park her car this time, and they had walked up holding hands.At the door, Maisie had kissed her on the cheek, which had been a little disappointing, but India had tried her best not to read anything into it.
She checked the time on her watch and noticed that she had thirty minutes. If she was actually going to do this, she had to hurry. Driving home took less time than she had expected, and her first step there had been finding Maisie’s clean shirt that India’s housekeeper had washed, dried, and folded neatly for her. India put it in a bag and set it on the counter so that she wouldn’t forget it. Then, trying not to think about Maisie’s breasts in that cute bra from the night before, she rushed into her bedroom and changed into a new blouse. Her pants were fine, and her heels were only two inches, so they were appropriate enough for evening wear. She redid a little of her makeup, checked her hair in the mirror, used a little hairspray to tame a flyaway, and headed downstairs to have Justin bring her car around before she hit the road.
???
She couldn’t find a parking spot in the lot by the school, but there were several cars parked in the grass right next to it. The game had already started, and India had missed at least the first fifteen minutes of it, so she decided to have the Jag detailed if the mud and grass got into the tires. Stepping out of the car was a chore because she’d worn heels to a soccer game. What had she been thinking? As her heel disappeared into the soft grass, it took all her leg strength from running and exercise to get herself onto the concrete. She tried not to let herself get into a bad mood and kept walking toward the cheers from the people in the stands. India bought a ticket at the booth and looked around at the packed bleachers.
“Excuse me?” she asked the woman in the booth. “Is there a special section for friends of the coaches or team? I’m meeting someone here.”
The woman looked at India like something was wrong with her and replied, “No.”
“Oh, okay. Well, thank you,” she said and reached for her phone in her purse to text Maisie.
Then, she realized how ridiculous that idea was. It was loud here. Maisie probably wouldn’t even hear the notification. India walked down the center path that separated two sets of bleachers, got to the end of it, and started looking around, choosing to focus on the lower levels first.
“Down in front,” some guy said and glared at her.
“Oh, sorry,” she replied.
“India?”
India turned and smiled when she saw Maisie standing there, holding a white bag of popcorn and a bottle of water.
“Hi,” she said. “I was looking for you.”
“You said you didn’t want to come.”
“I know. I changed my mind. Is that okay?”
Maisie looked her up and down and laughed.
