Midtown Part 6

May
2009

Hot:

Do you miss The L Word? Well do we have a solution for you! TLL is happy to introduce Midtown, a fictional lesopera. Midtown is a weekly look into the lives of lesbian women in Atlanta written by Alix from the blog A Brown Girl. A new installment of Midtown will be published every Tuesday on The Lesbian Lifestyle. Please check out Alix’s blog and drop her a comment to let her know how you feel about the ladies of Midtown.

New to Midtown? Start with Part 1

Ed strolled around the floor of Latte Pride, rearranging books and smiling at her customers. The thudding in her head was finally starting to dull, after her fifth cup of extra strong coffee. The dull thudding allowed her mind to wander as she moved about aimlessly through the store. Her wandering mind kept arriving at the same destination. Ash.

Ash was gay. Ash was fine. Ash didn’t push her away last night. Ash…Was her friend.

Ed had never been one of those girls that saw her friends as part of her dating pool. She had strong feelings about keeping those two groups separate. It cut down on drama, on ruined friendships. Ash had been her friend for too long to risk it.

The last time she violated one of her rules, it was to date one of her employees. Taylor. Look how that had turned out. Working with someone you are involved with required more patience than Ed had. Taylor had constantly taken advantage of her position with Ed by being late or taking unscheduled days off. When Taylor was present, Latte Pride ran completely smooth. She was good at her job, a little too good.

How will Ash be as her successor? Ed picked up an out of place book and frowned at it.

That’s how Taylor found her, focused on the cover, but not really seeing it. “All work and no play makes Ed a dull girl…” Ed shifted her gaze from the book to the blonde replacing her frown with a scowl.

“Go home, Taylor.” Ed turned her back to her while placing the book in its proper place on the book shelf. She walked away from her, but she could hear Taylor’s high heels clicking on the bare wood floors indicating that she was following her.

“Who was the midget?” Taylor demanded. Ed turned her head quickly, causing her locs to scatter around her head. She pasted a big, slick smile on her face.

“The midget? Your slim, sexy, brown replacement?” Ed knew exactly what buttons to push with Taylor. Ed watched as she saw her skin start to turn red, her blue eyes started to darken.

“Replacement? I am one of a kind! Better get it right. I can’t be replaced…”

“Let’s see. She’s got your old job. She’s got your side of the bed…That’s what it seems like to me.” Ed leaned in close to Taylor to whisper in her ear. “She’s wearing your shoes better than you ever did.” Ed smirked before walking away from an infuriated Taylor.

She spun around quickly when a brown hand tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey Ma, are you ready?” Taylor’s new girlfriend asked. She was tall, brown, with shoulder length locs. A physical duplicate of Ed., but she lacked Ed’s presence, her magnetism. Taylor was irritated with this fake imitation.

“Just go away…” She growled at her. She regretted the words as soon as they left her lips.

“Listen here,” the girl grabbed her by her shoulder. “You need to check this little attitude of yours. I’ve been real patient with you, but I’m not going to put up with your shit for too much longer.” She lifted Taylor’s chin so that she was looking directly into her eyes. “I am not the one you want to play games with.” She placed a quick kiss on her lips. “Now bring your ass on before I leave you.”

Ed watched the couple interact. She noticed the resemblance between the tall stranger and herself. She didn’t like how the girl was handling Taylor. The girl seemed a little rough around the edges. Her demeanor was dark. Not Taylor’s usual type. She wanted to watch the couple and remain unaffected, but it bothered her. She wanted to reach out to Taylor and tell her that she didn’t have to settle for this rude substitute. She wanted things to be back how they used to be. She wanted…

“Someone could be robbing us blind right in front of you and you wouldn’t even notice. What galaxy is your mind on?” Ash was standing next to her with a huge smile on her face. Ed couldn’t help but to smile back. Memories of Ash’s body warm and soft around hers flooded her mind. She shook her head to free the memory, chuckling out loud, sending her locks in chaos around her head. Ash looked confused.

“Did you forget that you asked me to meet you here? And why was Taylor being dragged down the street by a giant?” At the mention of Taylor’s name, Ed’s facial expression changed. She looked troubled.

“Come on, let me introduce you to everyone before we start on the paper work.” Ed took her around to each of the employees, introducing her as the new store manager. Ed watched Ash turn on the charm, making each employee comfortable.

They went into the back office, sitting across from each other as Ash filled out paperwork. Ed explained the daily processes to her, scheduling, bank deposits, inventory and so on. Ed knew that she was throwing a lot at her at one time, but Ash never once complained. Ed watched as Ash made hundreds of notes. Ash was a perfectionist. She knew that her store would flourish in Ash’s capable hands.

Her hands. She remembered the heat radiating from her finger as it slid down her face. The memory made her sigh.

Ash stopped mid sentence to give Ed a look that was full of questions. What was she thinking? Did she feel anything at all last night? What was that forehead kiss about this morning? Ash would have been happy to have any one of those questions answered.

Ed cleared her throat. “Are you done? I mean, we could finish this up in the morning.” She stood up, taking the papers Ash had in front of her and locking them in a file cabinet. Ed flashed her infamous crooked smile before tossing her a set of keys. “I’m happy to have you as a member of the Latte Pride family.” She made a big show of extending her hand to shake in a business like manner.

Ash laughed and extended her hand as well. As soon as their hands met, Ed pulled her forward and enveloped her in a hug. It was meant to be a friendly gesture, but the hug lasted 5 seconds longer than it should have. Ash inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with a scent that was spicy, sweet and so seductive. Ed loved how small she felt nestled against her. All softness and curves. It would be so easy for her to lift her and press her lips…

“Uhhhum,” Dae cleared her throat. She stood in the open doorway. “You might want to come out front.” Ed and Ash disentangled themselves, both happy for the interruption. The path their thoughts were leading them could take them away from a comfortable friendship. Ash was comfortable with that path, but was unsure about the timing. Ed was still nursing a broken heart. Was she even over Taylor yet? Should she be?

As they walked toward the front of the store, they saw Taylor and her girlfriend standing on the sidewalk. Their body language was tense. Taylor was crying, but the tall loc’d girl didn’t seem to care.

“Call the police.” Ed said coldly before walking out of the glass door.