Chapter 20

TWENTY

ELLA

Ella grinned into the mirror as she flat ironed her bangs the fifth and final time for the morning. She tugged on the bottom of her shirt and frowned. The lace-panel sleeveless top was not giving the right vibe. Four shirts later, she settled on a cotton short-sleeve top that carried the message she intended— I’m ready for our not-quite-sure-if-this-is-a-date day together .

This was a date, right? She reread her text exchange with Sophie from the previous evening.

Sophie:

I had so much fun today! So… how about we do something totally wild. Let’s ditch work and go out.

She used the words go out . That was what one used to articulate a date. Most likely.

Ella:

Ditch work? Ugh. Sounds amazing, but makes me a little nervous. I don’t want to let anyone down. Nor do I want to get fired.

Sophie:

Um, isn’t your dad the boss?

Ella:

Stop! Yes, obviously, but…

Sophie:

I’m kind of teasing. I talked to Malcolm. Client said it would be Tuesday at the earliest before we hear from them. So as long as we have our phones on us for urgent questions, we don’t need to come in.

Ella:

So, what I am hearing is…

Sophie:

Pick you up at 10?

Ella:

YES!

A knock at the bedroom door made her jump, and she leapt to grab it. “Colleen?

“Hey, sweet girl.” Colleen opened her arms, and Ella lost herself in a warm, patchouli-filled hug. “Don’t you look adorable.”

She did look kind of adorable, if she said so herself. “What are you doing here?”

Colleen crossed the room to look at Ella’s painting and nodded with approval. “Your mom and I had some paperwork to look at, and then we’re grabbing breakfast. But more importantly, what are you doing here on a Friday?”

Oh, nothing big. Just meeting the woman of my dreams for a date . She spritzed perfume in the air and walked underneath, fanning the mist. “Our manager said we only needed to be on call. So, Sophie and I are going to explore the city.” And maybe, if I’m lucky, each other.

Colleen’s eyebrow lifted. “Sophie, eh? The beautiful co-worker? Glad things worked out between you two.”

A lifetime had passed since she was at Colleen’s, brushing Mocha-Tina and holding back tears from her first few weeks at work. So much had shifted, and the air smelled like hope and opportunity. She shoved her emergency nasal spray in her purse and strapped it across her body. God, she was nervous. Excited, yes, but also, this was a huge step. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yup. Shoot.”

“Why didn’t you date again after Dottie died?” She swallowed, knowing the level of invasiveness in the question.

Colleen tugged at the sleeves of her sunset-colored muumuu. “Who says I didn’t?”

“Wait, what?”

“I don’t tell you everything, my love.” Colleen sat on the end of Ella’s bed and twirled her multi-colored ring. “It took years, but I do date off and on. But right now, I’m fulfilled with myself, the farm, family, friends. I’m not missing anything.”

Ella considered all of this. “Okay, so when you did date, what made you take that leap? Weren’t you scared of getting hurt?”

“Of course I was. I think everyone’s instinct is to protect themselves from getting hurt. I know when things with you and Jasmine ended, you thought the world ended. It was really shitty what happened. But does that mean you’re destined for relationship purgatory?” She set her fingers in her lap. “The biggest lesson I learned from Dottie’s death is that life is too short to not do what makes you happy. So, if going out with a co-worker today makes you happy, then live your life to the fullest. We don’t get second chances. Well, of course until we’re reincarnated, but that’s a totally different subject.”

The doorbell rang and Ella perked up. “I love you.” She hugged her aunt. “I gotta go. I need to save Sophie from my mother.”

She bolted down hallway one, then hallway two, then nearly floated down the stairs when she saw Sophie at the entrance, engaged in what was surely terrible small talk. Ella stopped at the bottom step to breathe in the moment. A real date. With Sophie. Who looked amazing by the way, in a cropped sweater, tennis skirt, and purple fishnets. She kind of wanted to devour her on the spot.

Sophie looked up with a grin. “Hey!”

The blush rose fast and furious to Ella’s cheeks. “Hey, you.” She glanced at her mom and not so subtly jutted her chin in the upstairs direction. “I think Colleen wanted to talk to you. In the other room.”

A nod and a smile followed. “Yes, I’m sure she does.” Her mom winked, and for the first time in forever, Ella was not annoyed. “Nice chatting with you, Sophie. Have fun today, you two.”

“Nice to see you again, Mrs. Northwood.” Sophie’s eyes followed Claire out of the room.

Ella wasn’t sure how Sophie would react to her today. Yesterday, they spent the day holding hands, and stealing kisses. But today was a new day, with the high of closing the last phase of the campaign and a spontaneous day off disappearing. Things might just go back to nor?—

Whoa. Sophie took two steps and pulled Ella in for a kiss. “Hey.” Her words were soft and low, and her fingertips grazed Ella’s waist.

“I demand to start my day every day just like that,” Ella joked. She grabbed Sophie’s hand and dragged her outside. “Come on. I cannot wait for today.”

Ella slunk into the front seat of Sophie’s car. “So, you going to tell me where we’re going?”

Sophie pulled out of the driveway and drove from the neighborhood. “I figured I needed to finish the proper tour of the city, since all you’ve seen is what your parents have shown you. First stop, International District.”

The ride tested every ounce of willpower Ella had. She wanted to skim her palm up Sophie’s thigh. Trail the skin on her wrist. Hold her hand, or snuggle into her arm, or something . But she settled for the sweet kisses that Sophie planted at the red lights.

Sophie parallel parked like a champ, then gripped Ella’s hand as they strolled the sidewalk. The sun was warm today, topping at nearly seventy degrees, and the air filled with the smell of spring and fried chicken. Sophie pointed to a place at the end of the street and held the door open.

So many options filled the menu and Ella wanted to eat everything. Was she always this hungry or was this the result of sitting in a cloud of sesame, garlic, and dough? Fried pork wontons, soup dumplings, cucumber salad, xiao long bao… Her mouth watered so much she needed to swallow.

After ordering and digging into their first few bites, Sophie lowered her chopsticks. “Did your dad take the day off, too?”

Ella snorted. “My dad never takes a day off.” She added more soy sauce into the ginger, and dipped a cucumber. “Sometimes I wonder when he’ll retire. Not to sound crass, but the family money comes from my mom’s side. I think growing up the way he did, he always feels the need for a backup plan or something. He wouldn’t have to work if he didn’t want to, so he must really, really want to.”

“I swear, the more I learn about your dad, the more I resonate with him. Words I never thought I’d ever say.” Sophie grinned as pork-scented steam rose from the soup dumplings. She popped the whole thing in her mouth, and cleaned a drip of soup from the corner of her lip. “Why do you work? I mean, I’m so glad you do, but do you get a personal fulfillment from project managing or something?”

“Nope, sure don’t.” Ella laughed. She loved being in the office, part of a team, and she actually didn’t mind the work. But her dreams, what fulfilled her, were not found in the office. “I can see how much joy you get from work. All your organizing, and keeping the ship running, and commanding a room, is really impressive.” And hot AF, but I digress. “The only thing that fulfills me is art.”

“Why didn’t you major in art?”

“My parents thought a business major would be more practical. Which is kind of funny, because they also never wanted me to work.” She shrugged. “I essentially had to force my dad to hire me.”

The reason for wanting to work, to escape her parents and have her own place, had faded in the past month, though. An urgency to leave no longer seemed as all-consuming as it had several months ago. A few weeks had even passed since she’d looked at apartments online. She thought it was because she was so busy at work that when she got home, she had zero interest in looking at a screen. But maybe there was more to it.

Sophie’s mouth had dropped open, and she closed it. “You forced your dad to hire you? I just assumed… I guess I thought he just handed the job to you.”

“Hell no. He respects his company too much to just toss this job to me.” She bit into her steamed bun and chewed. “But he was scared of me, for me, and I… well, I didn’t really give him a choice.”

Ella spent the next hour polishing off wontons, potstickers, and finishing the final bite of sweet taro bun, while she told Sophie everything. How claustrophobic she’d felt, about the meltdown that led to her chopping off her braid, how her parents were terrified. Sophie listened, peppered in minimal questions, and let her talk. She didn’t try to say she couldn’t believe it happened, or that Ella had overreacted, or that her feelings weren’t valid. She didn’t try to point out her amazing house, or Thomas, or her bank account. When she was done, Ella felt raw and exposed.

“Thank you so much for sharing that with me.” Sophie rested her hand on top of Ella’s. “Honestly, I feel really honored you trusted me enough to tell me all of this.”

Ella swallowed, her skin flushed and hot. Never had she opened up like this and she tried to read Sophie’s eyes to see if she went too far. Sophie leaned over as if she knew what Ella was thinking and gave her a soft, reassuring kiss. And when she did, Ella exhaled.

This was better than any date she’d had before.