Chapter 10

Tasha’s day sucked. Kevin was in a mood when she got in. She was glad that she’d done some work on Sunday, even though she resented working on the weekend. If not, her day would have been much worse. As it was, she was called into Kevin’s office about leaving early on Friday. Tasha wasn’t sure why he bothered to ask since he didn’t want to listen to her answer.

Dealing with pig-headed idiots who were somehow in charge despite their clear incompetence was a skill that Tasha had spent years honing. As a woman in the tech world, she had plenty of practice. She liked to think of it as extra credit. That didn’t make it better, and it certainly didn’t make it more fair, but Tasha had always been good at extra credit.

So, when Kevin dumped a new client on her, Tasha just plugged in her headphones and got to work. She felt the need for something old school, starting off with Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC, moving to Destiny’s Child and then a bit of Roxette to mix things up. Megan had introduced her to Roxette back in college, and so Tasha continued down that road with some late-80s Heart and then jumped forward a few decades for The Warning. By mid-afternoon, she was deep in the groove and had finished the client’s project—not that she was going to tell Kevin that.

Instead, Tasha started to map out what she was going to do for Lauren’s adult boutique website. Doing some freelance work felt exciting, and, since it was for Lauren, it made sense to listen to M?tley Crüe. That girl loved M?tley Crüe, especially when there was a sock on the doorknob. It seemed appropriate.

Tasha left work late, like always. Early on, Kevin had told her, “If you leave on time, it shows that you aren’t dedicated. Dedicated people stay late.” It was as stupid as just about everything else that Kevin believed, but, like a good little drone, Tasha stayed late. Usually she hated every minute of it, but today she worked on her freelance gig for Lauren, then sent Kevin the finished client project before she left. Let the idiot think that it took her all day.

She took a quick detour over to Powell’s Books. Powell’s was a dangerous place for a book lover, but Tasha was focused. She kept her head down and actually managed to get out in twenty minutes, which was a new record.

As Tasha walked down the hall to her apartment, she savored the spicy smell coming from one of the apartments. Then, as she opened the door, she realized that the smell was coming from her apartment. Surveying the room, she saw Sophia and Nocturne settled on the couch, and Megan in the kitchenette doing something on the stove. Megan quickly turned her head and smiled before turning back. Tasha put her bags down and glided up behind Megan, wrapping her arms around her friend’s waist. She propped her chin on Megan’s left shoulder and peered over to gaze at the reddish-brown something that Megan was stirring. “Whatcha makin’?” she asked in an extended drawl.

“I thought I’d make some chana masala for dinner. The rice and spinach are done, and I have some naan warming in the oven.”

“You are amazing! I could totally get used to this. Oh, you smell good, too. Spices and lavender are a good combination.”

Megan laughed. “Oh, good—if this teaching thing doesn’t work out I can go into fragrances. Sophia? Sweetie, can you set the table? Megan craned her head, trying to hear Sophia’s response. … “What? … Okay, thank you!” Megan whispered, “I have no idea what she said, but she’s moving, so that’s good. Now go get settled, dinner’s almost done.”

“Wow, you really are a mom! Thank you for dinner. I’ll be ready in a minute. Sophia, look what I picked up for you.”

“What is it, Aunt Tasha?”

“I got you this book. It’s called Rollergirl.”

“Oh, thank you, Aunt Tasha!”

“I hope that you like it.”

“Sophia, put your new book down and set the table.”

“Yes, Mom,” Sophia extended the words into a long whine.

Tasha chuckled as she went to wash up. Coming home like this felt good.

Megan was getting the food on the table as Tasha emerged from the bathroom. Once everything was set, the three of them sat down.

“This is really good, Megan!”

“Thank you. I really like trying new foods from around the world. I haven’t had the chance to do it as much as I want to?—”

“Because of…”

“Yeah, not the adventurous type. Especially if it involved spices.”

“I can’t imagine life without spices.”

“Me neither.” Megan looked Tasha up and down. “Hey, on a totally different topic. I like your skirt and boots. Do you always dress so elegantly for work?”

“You have no idea… Business casual, right? What the hell is business casual anyway? I mean, it’s Portland, so definitely not a suit. People look at you funny if you’re in a suit. You might as well have a huge sign over your head that says lawyer. It’s easy for guys. They wear jeans and a T-shirt and keep a polo in their cubicle in case someone important rolls in. Me, though? Jeans work, but I’ve never been a jeans girl.”

“Yeah, even in college. Every once in a while I saw you in jeans.”

“Yeah, every once in a while. Sweatpants are too casual, leggings are… let’s just say that the leggings have to go with a skirt. And skirts… One time I wore a red skirt, kinda mid-length, it wasn’t even a mini, with stockings and knee-high boots.” Tasha’s voice dropped into a whisper. “Holy shit, I shut the company down that day. It was so bad that Kevin’s boss came down. Imagine some middle-aged middle manager trying to ask me to never wear that outfit again without actually saying that. After that, I only wear knee-length skirts or longer. I’m still not sure if I should be mad about being objectified or giddy because every guy in the place had to pick his tongue off the floor. Maybe both?”

“That’s kinda gross, but kinda empowering, too, in a weird way. I get you, though. I had a few dads give me the full-body-scan at parent-teacher conferences.”

“Gross! You’re married, and a mom, and their kids” teacher. That ain’t right.”

“Ugh, it was even worse if the wife was there.”

“So creepy…”

“So… is that why you swore off men?”

“Uh, I haven’t sworn off men. I’m just trying to explore who I am and what I like. Who do I connect with best? Like, I’ve connected before, but it was never like a deep connection, you know?”

“You mean love?”

“Yeah. Like, I’ve been in love, but I don’t know if it was ever the real thing.”

“I hear you. After the past few days, I am certain that I’m in the same boat. Well, except for Sophia. She’s my everything, especially now.”

Sensing that this might be dangerous territory for Megan, Tasha steered the conversation back to more mundane subjects. She suspected that her friend needed to talk about this, but probably not at the dinner table with her daughter. Thankfully, Sophia had been too busy eating and scratching Nocturne, and she’d hopefully missed that last bit of conversation. Tasha reached over, squeezed Megan’s hand, and gave her a quick smile. Megan smiled back.

“After dinner, can you show us how to feed Nocturne? Sophia and I should know how to do it, just in case you’re running late.”

“Sure thing! Thank you. Oh, and speaking of running late, let me tell you about Kevin’s thoughts on working late.”

“Oh no…”