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“You smell good,” Alice replied, holding on to Nora’s chin and kissing her on the lips.
“I showered.”
“You used my body wash, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Nora said. “I ran out of mine and didn’t want to get out just to grab another bottle.”
It was strange for Bexley still to watch these two interact. Alice was clearly in love with her wife, but she was also wildly attracted to her. Bexley could see that now clear as day as Alice’s eyebrow lifted up and she raked her eyes down Nora’s body. Alice had always been Bexley’s straight best friend; the same best friend Bexley had been in love with for years and never stood a chance with because Alice was straight. When Alice met Nora, Bexley had suspected something was going on with the two of them right away. Even though they hadn’t acted on it immediately, Bexley had known it was there. She’d watched her friend be pulled away from her in more ways than one, and it had been difficult to get their friendship back on track.
Holly had helped with that. She’d really made Bexley fall in love with her, and not in the way where Bexley felt like she had to settle for someone who wasn’t Alice. It had been in that way that Bexley really thought about a future with the woman. When things had ended, Bexley had been a little broken, and she’d needed her best friend. Falling in love with Holly had given her something and someone else to think about, offering her some much-needed space from Alice, but when they broke up, Bexley was ready to need Alice as her best friend again.
Now, she was standing in that best friend’s palace, watching her make sexy eyes at her wife.
“Julia, don’t look. Your moms are thinking about each other naked,” she teased.
“We are not. I–” Nora said but stopped herself.
Alice just laughed and shrugged.
???
“Well, this is my fault,” Bexley said to herself the next day. “Ididtell her I wanted to set this all up myself.”
She looked around the fourth floor of the vacant office building. The main room in the middle was filled with trash, old desks with chairs, and boxes filled with old papers that had meant something to someone at some point in history but were now just in Bexley’s way. As she walked around, inspecting the space, she thought that Alice had been right: it was exactly what she needed. There were three offices, filled with trash and old furniture, lining the wall on the left, while the elevator and staircase were behind her. Those offices would work well as patient and practice rooms for the students she’d be teaching, and the main room was the perfect size for her classroom. The back wall had another four offices that could also be patient rooms or even playrooms for the younger patients. The wall on the right had two offices and what looked to be a kitchen and then a bathroom.
All of it needed to be cleaned up, and while Bexley liked getting her hands dirty, she hadn’t planned on getting themthisdirty. She did what she could in the main space, thinking that if she got that cleaned out enough, she could have the students in there on Monday, and they could help her with the rest. Prior to her arrival, Alice had hosted a whole online contest where Bexley had reviewed the applicants to the accelerated program, so now, she was taking on ten students who had just graduated from a bachelor’s program in a related field and had expressed an interest in speech pathology as a career. She’d handpicked those ten that would start soon – or, at least, that was the plan. They’d have nowhere to sit if she didn’t get this place cleaned up.
The plan was to teach, train, and then bring in patients. Bexley would be present for all of the training, and these students would get practical experience before they entered their master’s program. At the end, Bexley would evaluate their progress, and the top two students would get a scholarship to continue their studies sponsored by the Queens. It was an amazing opportunity for the students, and for Bexley to give back and see patients again, which was what she loved so much about her profession.
She hadn’t thought to bring trash bags with her, so she combined trash as she could and pushed some of the old furniture out of the middle of the room in order to use the space when the students got there on Monday, even if she couldn’t get rid of the mess. Then, she checked out the kitchen, bathroom, and offices, made a list of supplies she’d need, and hopped in the car Alice had provided to be taken back to the palace for dinner.
???
“I warned you,” Alice said.
“I didn’t think it would be that bad.” Bexley took a drink of her water.
“Nora and I can help you clean it up, Bex. We want to help however we can. I have some meetings tomorrow, and Nora’s gone all day, but maybe we can meet you there around dinner. We can bring something to you, and we can have a little clean-up party. The twins will provide the crying and, most likely, pooping.”
Bexley laughed and said, “No, it’s okay. I can do it. You guys have enough going on. I just need some supplies.”
“Send me your list. Romero can have someone get you whatever you need and drop it off there. If you need someone to lift the heavy stuff, Nora has an entire Royal Guard she can call upon.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works, love,” Nora said, finishing her dinner. “But I can make an exception and have a couple of guys join you tomorrow, if you’d like,” she offered in Bexley’s direction.
“Let me plan it all out tomorrow first. Can I take you up on it later? I want to figure out if I can use any of the furniture that’s there and move it where I want. I can clean the kitchen and the bathroom myself.”
“Bex, I didn’t invite you here to clean the bathroom. You’re a world-renowned clinical speech pathologist with a Ph.D. You’re supposed to be helping with growing the field here. I don’t want you cleaning up an old office building – that has probably been through two wars – by yourself,” Alice told her.
“Just give me tomorrow, and I’ll let you know what I need,” Bexley replied.
“Okay. Whatever you want,” Alice said. “Do you want to hang out with us tonight? Grandma has the twins. We’re going to spend some time all together. She wants to watch some old movie.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your family time, Al.”
“You’re part of our family, Bex.” Alice smiled at her. “Come on. Your grandma is back in Kansas. You can borrow Nora’s tonight. She’s amazing. She went down to the kitchen today and made lemon bars. I think she taught the chef a thing or two.”
Nora smiled with pride.
