Chapter Twenty-One Clover

Chapter Twenty-One Clover

Sunday afternoon, December 17, 2023

“Okay, so I bought two large pizzas, one cheese and one with pepperoni, and a liter of ginger ale,” Beth said as she came

through the door again. “I didn’t know if you ate meat or not, so I figured I’d get both. I eat either, so... And I got

ice cream too, in case you’re in the mood for that instead.”

Clover frowned as she opened her eyes and then promptly shut them again. “Ow,” she moaned. God, her head hurt. “What time

is it?”

“Late,” Beth said. “But you should go back to sleep.”

“You came back.”

“I said I’d be back,” Beth said, setting food down on the kitchen table and pulling off her coat. “You said something along

the lines of ‘mrk.’”

“That sounds right,” Clover mumbled, although she didn’t remember. How many hours had it been since she’d passed out? “I feel like hell.”

“Yeah, and that sounds about right too,” Beth said. “Here’s some Tylenol.” She came over and set it next to Clover, waiting

until she’d lifted her head up long enough to take a swig of the ginger ale and down the painkiller. As Beth stood, Clover

watched her, realizing that her clothes had changed since the night before. Beth must’ve gone home at some point. She looked,

as always, perfectly put-together, only this time she wasn’t wearing any makeup—at least, not that Clover could tell. She

was in a loose black tee and fitted dark-wash jeans, and God, how did she look so hot all the time? It was like she wasn’t

even trying. Clover’s eyes lazily wandered over Beth’s flawless figure, noting with hazy curiosity how toned Beth’s arms were.

She wondered how her legs would look too, without all that fabric.

Clover groaned again. Even with Hailey and Sherise dancing in the back of her mind, Beth’s very presence did something to

her that was baffling and frustrating all at once. She closed her eyes to stop from thinking more and lay back down, one arm

covering her face.

Beth, however, was busy pulling out paper plates from a shopping bag. “So,” she said. “Pepperoni or not?”

“Why are you here?” Clover mumbled into her arm.

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” she said. “No, I’m just... You’re being so nice.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’ve been known to express humanity on occasion.”

“You’re just very dry,” Clover said. “And kind of rude sometimes.” She wished she could hold her tongue, but while her head had stopped spinning, her sense of propriety hadn’t quite caught up to her mouth.

“Except when I’m nice?” Beth asked.

“Yes, it’s very confusing.”

At this, Beth actually laughed. “I’ve been told I’m not great with people. In my company, my sister does all the talking.

Apparently, I’m too direct.”

“Well, I think that is an accurate assessment.” By now Clover had moved so that she was facing the foot of the bed, her arms

pillowing her head as she watched Beth take a bite of pepperoni pizza. “Can I have a slice of cheese pizza?”

Beth put a slice on a paper plate and brought it over to Clover. Then she took a seat on the floor beneath Clover’s head.

“How are you feeling, aside from hungover?”

“What do you mean?”

Beth chewed her pizza without breaking eye contact. “I mean, you were sobbing last night. I assume you got wasted like a college

freshman for a reason.”

Clover collapsed dramatically, letting her arms drop out from beneath her so that she was facedown on the bed. “Ugh, God,

please don’t remind me.”

“We don’t have to talk about it.”

“I just... thought this girl I knew liked me. And she doesn’t.”

“Bummer,” Beth said. She took another bite of her pizza. “She clearly has bad taste.”

Clover’s head shot up. “What?”

“What?” Beth responded. “I did ask to buy you a drink last night. This can’t be a surprise.”

Clover laid her head back down and watched Beth skeptically. “You told me I had bad taste.”

Beth wrinkled her nose. “I did not.”

“You laid out three different outfits for me.”

“I was trying to be nice.”

“And you were pretty rude to me the first time we met.”

Beth sighed and took a bite of her pizza. “I’m sorry, I was having a bad day. When I came to the condo the other day, Bee

wasn’t answering the phone—which is typical of her, mind you—and then I discovered that she had skipped town. It’s always

fun when your business partner disappears right before the holidays.”

Clover’s eyes widened. “You two work together?”

“Unfortunately,” Beth muttered. Then she took a deep breath. “I don’t mind it, most of the time. I mean, I actually kind of

like it, when things are running smoothly. Bee is smart, creative. She keeps the business fresh. She’s just flaky.”

Clover considered this. “It’s good to have opposites sometimes,” she said. “I can get laser focused and to the point myself,

and our farm manager keeps things light and in perspective. It helps.”

Beth raised an eyebrow. “You run a farm?”

“It’s the family business.” Clover chuckled. “Technically passed down to me when my mom died and my dad had his heart attack.”

Beth frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She wiped her hand on a napkin and then pointed to the uneaten pizza to Clover’s right. “By the way, you really should eat, or you’ll just feel worse later on.”

“Do you always take care of sad drunk girls at holiday parties?”

“Only the ones who are staying at my sister’s condo unsupervised.”

“Ah, I see,” Clover said. She finally sat up and grabbed the ice cream instead of the pizza. “So, you’re just doing damage

control.”

Beth paused and cocked her head, studying Clover for a moment before seeming to decide on a response. “I often do damage control

for my sister, so it feels like second nature to me. But, also, I don’t know. I have a good feeling about you, I guess.” Beth

shifted uncomfortably as she looked at her pizza. “I felt it the moment I saw you.”

“It seemed like you didn’t like me very much when we met.”

“I don’t like anyone the first time I meet them, especially when I’m preoccupied. Doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes. What’s so

funny?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know,” Clover said, still giggling. “I’ve always thought you were gorgeous, but also kind of scary? But in a really sexy way. It’s very stressful to experience.”

“Sorry I stress you out,” Beth said. Her laugh was warm and low and infuriatingly inviting.

But Clover answered honestly. “I don’t really think I mind.”

There was a lull as Beth’s dark brown eyes took her in again, and in that moment, Clover felt the cold little butterflies

in her stomach start to dance again. Oh no, she told them. Don’t you dare. You have caused me far too much trouble the last few days.

She forced herself to focus and took a bite of her ice cream. This was not the time to start thinking lasciviously about a

new woman. Certainly not after last night, and definitely not when she was the twin sister of the woman she had swapped houses with. But as she licked her spoon, she couldn’t help

but notice Beth’s eyes drop down to her lips. The hell yes from the night before screamed at her again.

“Look on the bright side,” Beth said. “You’ve experienced a lifetime’s worth of lesbian drama in the course of a week. Congratulations!

It might be a new record.”

Clover glared at her, but she was too hungover to disagree. “It seems like a very messy lifestyle.”

“I mean, half of my friends now live in the suburbs with two kids and a rescue pit bull. Being single is always a little messy,

I think. We just happen to have a smaller pool to work with.”

Clover considered this. “Hm,” she responded. Then: “Are you and your sister close?”

“That’s a non sequitur.”

“She didn’t tell you she was skipping town for three weeks.”

“Ah.” Beth stretched. “No, she didn’t. But it’s not that much of a surprise.”

“But you still take care of her?”

“She wouldn’t say so.” Beth looked around, her lips pulled to the side in a way Clover found adorable. “Our parents are strict. They care a lot about appearances. My dad’s an investment banker and my mom’s a corporate lawyer, and they’re both way too proud of being Black people with money and assets. They consider us part of their assets. The problem with Bee is that she’s a free spirit; it’s hard for her to play by their rules. But she’s also straight. All she’ll ever have to do is marry a man and have a couple kids, and my parents will eventually forgive any missteps she’s ever made. Me, though... I’m gonna have to keep working the rest of my life to make sure I don’t fall out of their good graces.”

“How do you know?”

“They told me.” Beth laughed. “When I was thirteen, I asked this girl out, secretly, but you know, my parents found out. And

then... they said that if I expected to uphold their family name, I needed to make up for the indecency. Well, they called

it ‘indecency,’ and then Obama became president, and they just started calling it a ‘blemish’ instead. I guess it sounded

less like a moral judgment. So, you know, I build our business, watch out for my sister, and keep my love life to myself.”

“Beth, that’s awful,” Clover said. She reached for her hand just as Beth grabbed another slice of pizza.

“Yeah, well. It’s just one of those things. We’ve got an industry party coming up the day before Christmas Eve, and I’ll represent

the company there—alone—while Bee is in Ohio, at your place. And then I’ll... ha, represent the company at my parents’

the day after. Alone.” Beth exhaled through her nose and shook her head. “It’s fine.”

Clover thought about her family and her friends back home. From their perspective, they probably thought she was being a bit

callous and flighty herself, leaving her father alone on his first holiday without her mother. Though Clover felt for Beth,

she imagined Bee probably had her reasons, just like Clover did. She bit her lip.

“My mom was an amazing woman,” she said softly, “and one of my best friends. But when I told her that I had ended my engagement with the guy I’d been with since we were kids... when I told her why ... oh, wow, she... she did not take it well.”

Beth watched her keenly, and Clover forced herself to continue: “She told me that I was misguided and that I was just scared

of being with one person forever. She said that, um, she didn’t raise me to be that way. She said a lot of things.” Clover laughed bitterly. “And then she died. I mean, obviously that’s not my fault, right?

She’d been sick for months before I said anything to her about it. But to have that conversation and then to lose her...”

She could feel the tears springing into her eyes, and she fought them back. “Anyway, my point is that family is complicated,

I guess.”

She let out a slow breath and was surprised when she felt Beth’s hand against her cheek.

“Thank you for telling me that,” Beth said softly. “And I’m sorry.”

“Well, like you said, it’s fine. Which is to say not fine at all.” She laughed at her own joke and was satisfied when Beth

joined in. Then she straightened her shoulders and looked at Beth head-on. “I have an idea.”

“What’s that?”

“What if I came with you to this party next week?”

Beth raised an eyebrow. “That is an idea.”

“It’s the least I could do, given that you had to rescue me from myself last night. And it’s one less night where you have to be alone.” Clover waited as Beth considered it. A few seconds passed, and Clover began to feel self-conscious about her bold proposal, until Beth stuck out her hand.

“I’ll take that offer,” she said.

Clover grasped her hand and shook it. “Then it’s a date.” They looked at each other, and Clover fought back the instinct to

correct herself.

“I guess it is then,” Beth replied, and smiled.

A knock on the door interrupted them, but before either one of them could react, it gently clicked open. Dee peeked her head

through. “How is she feeling?” she asked Beth. Then she noticed that Clover was sitting upright. “She lives!” She stepped

through the door fully this time, a CVS bag in her hand, and took a look at the hangover meal Beth had brought. “You did well,

Beth, damn.” She walked over and gave Beth a hug that Clover knew Beth had not been expecting, but she accepted it nonetheless.

“You two know each other?” Clover asked. At this point, she wouldn’t be surprised.

“We do now,” Dee said. “Formally, anyway.”

“She and her wife came to check on you last night,” Beth said.

“After we realized you weren’t going to answer any of our eight thousand messages,” Dee said pointedly.

Clover blushed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Hailey has that effect on people, especially after a breakup. She means well, but...” Dee sighed but didn’t

continue.

Clover waved her comment away. “I made a lot of assumptions. And you technically tried to warn me.”

Dee nodded and then looked between Beth and Clover. She seemed to decide something, because she lifted the CVS bag up and placed it on the kitchen counter before beginning to retreat. “Well, hey,” she said, “you two enjoy yourselves. I’ve got, you know, things to do. Clover, there’s a couple bottles of water in the bag and some microwavable noodles. You seriously have to do some grocery shopping, dude. Beth”—here she put her hand on her heart—“it was a pleasure.” Then she turned back to Clover and mouthed, Have fun, before hurrying out the door.

Beth clearly didn’t miss Dee’s antics. “What was that about?”

Clover tried and failed to hide her smile. “No idea. Do you want another slice of pizza?”

Beth inched closer so that the skin of her arm brushed against Clover’s bare legs. “Don’t mind if I do,” she said as she leaned

forward, her breasts pushing against the fabric of her shirt.

Clover could feel her head buzzing, and this time it wasn’t from the alcohol.

“Someone’s calling you,” Beth said helpfully.

“Oh.” Clover looked around and then found her phone in the heap of her jacket and shoes beside the bed. “Oh,” Clover said

again. “It’s your sister.”