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“I guess we’ll just have to take a look.”
Tabitha sighed happily as she and JK wandered through the mall, peering into the different stores and looking at all the available restaurants. Being able to do this without being harassed was bliss.
“How about here?” She pointed to a traditional American diner.
JK raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought you’d go for something fancier.”
“Oh, we will go to fancy restaurants, but I also want to get a feel for the local culture. That’s part of the fun.”
“Sure. Whatever you’d like.”
Tabitha ordered a burger, fries, a milkshake and a piece of pie. “Fast metabolism,” she explained to JK, who was looking at her piled plate in surprise. “I’ve always been able to eat what I want. It drives my friends mad.”
“Yes, I can imagine it would do that.” JK took a careful bite of her own burger, which she had ordered with a salad and a diet soda. “What’s it like, trying to maintain friendships being who you are?”
“It’s difficult,” Tabitha admitted. “Most people who surround me are either after my fame or my money. It’s been difficult weeding out people who really want me for me, and sometimes, I’m not even sure whether I’ve really done a good job of it. I love hanging out with my friends, but I often wonder if I wasn’t who I am, would they really want to spend time with me?”
“That sounds really lonely.”
“It is.” Tabitha shrugged. “It’s part of the life, though. I have a lot of things most people could only ever dream of.”
“Yes, but human connection is a basic need, just as much as all the things money can buy you are. It shouldn’t be underestimated. I’m sorry you have to go through that.”
“Thanks, JK. What about you? What made you get into this line of work?”
“Honestly? Retirement wasn’t suiting me at all. I got bored. I needed something to do, and this seemed like a worthwhile thing.”
“So, I’m your distraction?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, I like distracting you.” The words even surprised Tabitha as they came out of her mouth.
JK went red again and took a big bite of her burger. . Tabitha was curious at JK’s reaction to her. She didn’t get to interact with queer women usually. She couldn’t exactly seek them out—that was a dead giveaway for herself.
“So, JK, how long have you known you liked women?”
JK choked violently on her bite of burger. Tabitha waited patiently for her to stop coughing.
“What kind of question is that?”
“I’m just curious. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s okay. I was just surprised. Most people don’t ask those questions.”
“I’m not most people. And… well, I saw how you looked at me in that skirt.”
“I’m sorry. That was inappropriate.”
“Don’t be sorry. I liked it,” Tabitha said shyly.
“Well, I’m glad my embarrassment serves some purpose, at least. As for knowing I’m gay, I figured it out pretty early on. I was never interested men. When I kissed a woman for the first time when I was 18, I realized why I wasn’t into guys.”
Tabitha wondered if she should come out to JK. She wanted to have fun while she was here, and she wouldn’t say no to a fling or two. If JK was following her, she was bound to figure it out sooner or later. It was probably better to get ahead of things and just tell her now.
And yet, as logical as that was, when she opened her mouth, Tabitha’s nerve deserted her. She had never come out to anyone before, not even her closest friends and family, and she barely knew JK. Still, she had to do something to ensure JK’s silence.
“JK, are you in contact with my mother at all?”
