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“Morgan Banks,” she said, feeling a bit like an old woman for continuing her habit of including her surname.
Great start!
Megan was instantly likable, she realized, with a megawatt smile that could melt an iceberg.
Hooking Morgan’s arm with her own, Megan led her into the house, Chloë right beside them.
“I am soooo pleased to meet you!” Megan gushed. “I’ve never met any of Chloë’s girlfriends before. And may I say that you are absolutely gorgeous! Chloë, you have good taste!”
Morgan couldn’t help but chuckle. Yep, Megan was a charmer.
Megan led them into the sunken living room, tastefully decorated with contemporary furnishings. There was a fireplace that was lit, more for ambience, Morgan guessed, than the need for heat, and stunning floor-to-ceiling windows that offered magnificent views of the Carlsbad beach. It was twilight and the sun was going down, coloring the sky with shades of orange, purple and yellow.
“You have such a
lovely home,” Morgan complimented.
“Thank you,” Megan said. “Although, with these windows I’m always needing to make sure I don’t accidentally walk around naked when the curtains are open, especially since a lot of tourists on the beach like taking photos of these houses. Anyway, I’ll give you a tour later.”
A movement caught Morgan’s eye and Vanessa the goddess appeared from another part of the house then. Morgan still couldn’t get over her. The woman was not of this Earth and she felt guilty when, for the briefest of moments, her thoughts betrayed her (and Chloë) by imagining what Vanessa looked like out of the green dress she was wearing. But she figured Vanessa had that effect on everyone.
“Morgan, it is so nice to meet you formally!” Vanessa said. “Chloë doesn’t shut up about you!”
“Dude!” Chloë exclaimed, burying her face in Morgan’s arm. Morgan laughed at her girlfriend’s embarrassment.
“Anyway, thanks for being here,” Vanessa added, coming up to Morgan and giving her an embrace, Morgan wondering if she was being lesbian-scanned. “It wouldn’t have felt right celebrating this without you.”
“Speaking of…” Megan said. “Follow, follow…” And Megan led the party to the deck outside. It overlooked the beach below and Morgan figured she must have passed by this house countless times during her walks or runs along the beach. The sun was closer to the horizon now and there were plenty of people still on the sand, awaiting the approaching sunset.
A table with candles and a large ice bucket with a bottle of Champagne in it was set up on the deck. Megan took the bottle and handed it to Vanessa. Morgan could tell from the label that this was authentic Champagne, from France, with a genuine cork instead of one of those plastic ones, and she was eager to try it.
“Oh, I hate opening Champagne bottles!” Morgan said, recalling the myriad fumbling attempts with past bottles throughout her life, at least whenever there wasn’t a man around to do it for her.
“Me too,” Megan agreed. “I can never do it. But watch this.”
It was as if Vanessa performed a magic trick. Once she had removed the cage from the top of the bottle, she pressed against the cork with her two thumbs and with seemingly no effort on her part, the cork rocketed out as if shot from a cannon, proving that nothing made by mortal hands could defy the will of a goddess.
“Yay!” Megan exclaimed, clapping.
When the Champagne was poured, it was Megan who raised her glass for a toast.
“To…whatever the new coffeeshop ends up being called! And to my darling Vanessa and my sweet friend Chloë who will both turn it into a smash hit!”
“Hear, hear!” Morgan cheered and then took a sip. “Oh my god, this is fantastic!” she moaned. “You two need to open a third shop so I can drink more of this!”
And it was strong. Thank goodness Chloë was driving tonight.
“When do you think we’ll be able to open?” Chloë asked Vanessa.
Vanessa snorted.
“We’ll be lucky if we’re open by May, sweetie. And I do mean lucky. In the meantime, just keep taking those classes.” She looked at Morgan. “Have you discovered how overeager this one gets sometimes?” she asked, pointing at Chloë, who was pouting—at having to wait until May, or later, for the coffeeshop to open, or at being called overeager, Morgan didn’t know.
“I have,” Morgan answered Vanessa. “Although, I often find it to be really endearing for some reason.”
“Aww, you do?” Chloë said. She pressed herself against Morgan and leaned in for a kiss.
“Oh, my goodness, you two are so cute together!” Megan enthused.
