She rattled off her digits, and I keyed them into my phone, texting her so she had my number as well. It was funny that we’d known each other for over twenty years and never gotten each other’s phone numbers. Then again, we’d done our best to avoid each other during those twenty years, much to both of our mother’s dismay. They’d always hoped that Julia and I would be BFFs the way they were, and once we both came out as lesbians I think they had a little fantasy that we’d fall in love.
Our mothers were delusional.
A few hours later I was ensconced in a booth at my favorite dive bar. It looked like a dive bar anyway, but they had the best damned burgers in the city, and the beer was cold and cheap, theperfect combination. My friends and I had been coming here for years.
Marlee, April, and I lived in the same dorm suite in college. We couldn’t be more different. I was a social worker who favored jeans, flannel, and what I liked to call my ‘shit kicking boots’. Marlee was a computer programmer with a blue crew cut, a pierced nose, and a punk vibe. And April… well poor April was an accountant who dressed like she was married to a Senator from Alabama. We’d tried to figure out why she hid behind shapeless boring clothes that were way too old for her, but she was happy with her style, so we left her alone.
Despite our differences, the three of us had stayed tight ever since freshman year of college. We all had busy lives, but we texted in our group chat several times a day and had a standing monthly dinner date that was sacrosanct to all of us.
“Okay girls, what’s new?” Marlee said in a voice that told us that she had news.
“What’s new with you?” I asked, giving her a pointed look.
“A super hot chick moved in next door to me,” she said.
“Don’t shit where you eat,” April said immediately. She might have dressed like a conservative, but the woman swore like a sailor.
“I’m not going to date her,” Marlee said. “But I wouldn’t mind fucking her.”
Just then the server came, bringing our burgers and fries. She rolled her eyes but didn’t comment. We’d been coming here for so long she was used to our weird conversations.
“What did I just say?” April asked.
Marlee rolled her eyes. “Just because you are pathologically unable to have mindless one night stands doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t have some fun.”
Wanting to change the subject before they revisited an old argument, I interrupted.
“Guess who I got assigned to partner with on a work project?”
“Julia Montego,” they said in unison.
“How did you guys know?”
April counted off on her fingers. “First, you always get that little furrow between your eyebrows when you’re around that woman. Second, we know you work with her, and we don’t know anyone else you work with so by process of elimination, it was an easy guess. And third, you look like you’re both pissed and turned on, which is pretty much how you always look when you talk about Julia.”
I looked at Marlee, who nodded in confirmation.
“Fine, okay yes, Julia and I have been assigned to work on a project. It’s this big grant application for our program.”
“Whatever you do, don’t tell your mother that you’re working together,” April said.
“Why?”
“She’s still good friends with Julia’s mom, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
I looked at Marlee who just shrugged.
“Julia’s mother is on some quest to get her married off. If your mother hears, she’ll jump right on board with the idea of you two getting together.”
“They know we don’t like each other,” I said absently. “But how do you know about Julia’s mother?”
“She tried to fix me up with Julia a few months ago. She and my mom set us up on a drive-by blind date on Julia’s birthday.”
I definitely did not feel jealous about my best friend being on a date with Julia.
“What happened?” I asked.
