“I’m not saying you should marry her, but you know, you can be friendly with each other.”
“I sure wouldn’t mind spending another night with her,” Micky blurted out. She knocked back her espresso. This combination of feeling so wired while being bone-tired would soon catch up with her.
Then the front door opened and there she was. All freshly washed and suited up. Robin just gestured at Josephine behind the counter, then came over to Micky and Amber.
“Hi, ladies.” She painted a grin on her face.
Micky was momentarily stunned but then found the wherewithal to introduce Robin to Amber and vice versa.
“Do you want that to go or to stay, Robin?” Josephine shouted from behind the counter.
“To stay, please,” she said, causing a flood of relief to wash over Micky. “Do you mind if I join you?” Gosh, someone had suddenly become very polite. Maybe Robin was nervous about this as well.
“I’m just going to powder my nose.” Amber rose, taking her tea with her.
Why was this so mortifying? They were all adults. Why couldn’t they all just say what was what? Robin certainly hadn’t had a problem with that last night.
Micky mouthed “Thank you” to her friend, then tried to look at Robin but found that, when she did, it made her go all gooey on the inside.
“Look,” they both said at the same time.
But Micky was keen to let Robin do the talking, lest she say something she shouldn’t.
“I meant what I said this morning,” Robin went on, unperturbed. “I had a great time last night.”
Just then, Josephine brought over Robin’s beverage, creating another uncomfortable silence.
“Me too,” Micky said as soon as Josephine left. Thank goodness there was another customer and she didn’t hang around. Micky would have given a lot to have this conversation in private and not with Amber lurking a few tables away—and not at her place of work.
“Would you like to do it again some time?” Robin asked.
Micky’s heart leaped into her throat. “Er, well, uh, yes,” she stammered, “but I thought—”
“We can be friends with benefits,” Robin added.
Coincidentally, Micky knew what that meant. She’d been ironing in the living room one evening while Olivia was watching a silly rom com with exactly the same title. They’d had a conversation about it afterward. Friends with benefits? Really?
“Okay.” The hesitation in Micky’s voice was unmistakable.
“We should talk about this some more in a different setting.” Robin sipped from her coffee. “But the idea is to keep it casual. I don’t think either one of us is in a place right now to want more.” She fixed Micky with a stare that made her heart beat faster. “When can we talk properly? I’m sorry, but I need to get to work.” She sipped from her coffee again, suddenly in a hurry. Maybe it was being confronted with Micky in the clear light of day that was spooking her. “You know what? You have my number. Text me?”
Robin rose, drained the last of her cup—she always drank her coffee so fast—looked at Micky funnily for a second, as though deciding whether to kiss her or not, but then clearly decided against it.
“Sure. I’ll call you.”
“Great.” Robin quickly patted her on the shoulder, went to the counter to pay, and left.
Micky felt none the wiser for having seen Robin.
“And?” Amber was already sitting next to her again.
Micky just shrugged. “I really don’t know. She said to call her and something about being friends with benefits.”
“Hm.” Amber got that overly empathic expression on her face she so often wore. “What do you want, Micky?”
“I honestly have no fucking clue.” Micky needed time to think. She could do with not having a job right then, with having all the time in the world to mull this over. And to finally come to the one conclusion that she hadn’t allowed herself to reach yet: was she a lesbian or not?
“Chances are you’ll be seeing her again tomorrow. What are you going to say to her?”
“How does that even work?” Micky failed to reply to Amber’s question directly. “Being friends with benefits? You and I are best friends, Amber. Doesn’t that give us loads of benefits already?”
“You do have the benefit of all my free advice.” Amber shot her a silly smile.
“Yes, that’s true. I do remember you telling me to take this job and to reply with a resounding yes if a hot female customer were to flirt with me. So many benefits.” Micky was getting giddy with fatigue and a strange kind of weariness.
“All included in my friendship,” Amber said.