Scarlet spoke first. “Actually, I wanted to tell you both something. It’s about my dad. He had a bit of an episode today. He’s on blood pressure medication and the dose was apparently a bit strong, even though he’s been taking it for quite awhile. They’re going to adjust it because it made him pass out. It freaked my mom out so bad that she called an ambulance and he had to go to the hospital for tests.”
“Oh, my God!” Neera gasped. “You should have called me! Was it my hospital?”
“No. No, it was a different one. One closer to where they live. My dad’s going to be fine. I actually went straight from the hospital to get this stuff.” She pointed at the box and the gifts before looking back at Neera and Elodie. “I wanted to say that whenever something like that happens it just makes a person start thinking. Not that I wasn’t already, but I guess it made me think faster. About our friendship. About how much you mean to me. About how we aren’t guaranteed another minute. I know I said I was going to give you time and wait until you came around, but I wanted to come over now and tell you how much I miss you, Elodie. I don’t want to rush you or make you forgive me if you’re not ready, but I did want to say that I talked to my parents today, and we’re starting to make up. Things probably won’t be right for a long time, but I’m not going to stop trying. I’m not going to stop trying with you either, Ell. We’re best friends. We said we’d always be best friends no matter what. I know that neither of us saw this coming, but I still want that to be true. I know that no matter what might take a few more days or weeks or even months in coming, but I wanted to tell you that I can wait, but I needed to say how much you mean to me and how much I love you.” Her eyes scanned Neera’s face and darkened almost imperceptibly. “How much I love both of you.”
Elodie was stunned into further silence, and all Neera could do was smile. She was so, so happy that it hurt, but in a good way. She was stunned herself, astounded, because Scarlet hadn’t told her that yet, but she was so happy at the same time.
Also, those sunflowers? They were her favorite, and they were the first bouquet she’d ever got from a girlfriend. She was going to dry them out and keep them forever. Was it possible to dry sunflowers? She was dang well going to try.
Scarlet just said that she loved her.
Neera was sure that the flipping in her stomach and the wild pounding of her heart meant that she could probably do a series of backflips across the room. Alright, so she wasn’t going to try that, but she was beaming. Shining. Glowing. Her eyes were wet and burning, and that was okay. She’d probably cried way too much lately, but these were happy tears, and she had no problem letting them slide down her cheeks.
“And while I’m telling you my truths, I think I should tell you something else. I got a notice today that the rent on the boutique is doubling after six months, which I guess is the amount of time that a landlord has to legally give for notice. I called my corporate lawyer after I left the hospital and he said there basically wasn’t anything I could do. I could try and get the other store owners together to fight it, but then I started thinking that maybe it’s a sign. A good sign. A sign that means that change is okay. I’ve been there for a long time, but maybe it’s time for something new. The store is established. I might lose a few customers by changing locations, but I might gain a heck of a lot more. It might be a good thing, even if it didn’t seem like it this morning.”
Neera was still holding onto her mom and now they looked at each other. They were both surprised, that wa
s for sure. Neera turned back to Scarlet after and she wasn’t sure what her face had going on, because she felt a thousand things at once. She was so proud, and she hoped that was clear. Proud that Scarlet could just take charge like that. Proud that she could change the way she thought about things. Proud that she could change her entire life. Neera knew that Scarlet was saying more, and it wasn’t just about the boutique. It was about them too.
And Scarlet said that Neera was always saying pretty things. It turned out she was pretty dang good at it too.
All of a sudden, Elodie let out a sob. She detached herself from Neera and closed the distance between herself and Scarlet. Neera watched, with tears hot on her cheeks, as her mom and Scarlet threw their arms around each other and hugged each other hard.
“I missed you,” Elodie confessed as she sobbed. “I missed you so much.”
“I’m sorry,” Scarlet said as she rubbed Elodie’s back. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re still my best friend. You’re always going to be my best friend.”
“You even brought tuna.” Elodie laughed and cried at the same time.
Scarlet smiled through her tears as well. “I did. The jar candle is to erase the smell. I didn’t just get it because it was your favorite.”
Scarlet’s smile kept growing until it was unstoppable. It lit up her face, making her look radiant and gorgeous, but then, she was always those things to Neera. She’d meant it beyond a doubt when she’d told Scarlet that she was always going to be beautiful no matter what she did. No matter how many years passed.
“I’m going to go and get dressed and we can watch that movie,” Elodie said, pulling back and wiping at her eyes. “We’ll make popcorn too. Or eat cheesecake. Whatever you want. Or maybe both.”
“I vote for both,” Scarlet said.
“Me too.” Neera put in her vote. “As long as it doesn’t involve tuna.”
“Tuna free night it is.” Elodie swiped at her eyes again, came and gave Neera a hug, then left to go get dressed. Neera was sure she actually just meant take the towel out of her hair. With Scarlet, in their own house, late at night, pajamas and a housecoat was a perfectly acceptable dress code.
Neera kept smiling even as Scarlet walked over to her and took her hands. She felt seen. She felt special. She felt like things were going to work. She felt happier than she’d ever been in her life. She kept thinking that, that she couldn’t get to another level of it, but she was wrong. She didn’t think that this moment could be topped, but she hoped, at the same time, that she was wrong about that too. It would be nice to keep getting pleasantly surprised.
Scarlet was smiling too as she leaned in and kissed Neera. Neera’s whole body reacted, and she barely stopped herself at just unbuttoning Scarlet’s coat and taking it from her to put it in the closet. She wrapped her arms around Scarlet after and they walked into the living room. They sat down on the couch together, their hands still linked. It might be pushing it, but Neera had a feeling that it was fine, so she didn’t stop. She wanted to hold onto Scarlet forever. Hold this moment forever. Draw it out and make it last, at least until the next special moment, and then she’d hold onto that one too.
“I used to dream of the life I wanted,” she told Scarlet as she brushed back a strand of errant blonde hair, tucking it back into place. “This was it. Just the simple things. Watching a movie together. Holding hands. Having my mom be okay with it. Having you say you loved me. I really thought that was always going to be dreams. Something I played out in my head. I know this is real, even though it seems too good to be true. I’m going to hold onto it forever. The memory of this night. The way I feel.”
Scarlet squeezed her hand back. “I was just thinking that too, but I guess I never dreamed it. I feel a bit like I’m dreaming now.”
“That’s good.” Neera set her fingertip on Scarlet’s lips and kissed her again before she could say anything else. Scarlet made a noise low in her throat and Neera couldn’t keep herself from deepening the kiss, crushing their mouths together, until the sound of Elodie’s footsteps in the hallway made her stop.
She had to work hard on controlling her breathing. She was sure she was probably blushing. Were her lips swollen? Was her mom going to notice? She relaxed right after, though, and smiled at Scarlet. She didn’t need to panic. They were fine. Everything was good. She could kiss Scarlet now. She could tell her that she loved her. She could hold her hand. She could do something she’d always wanted to do and spend the night with her.
They might feel like they were in a dream now, but the best parts were still coming, and Neera knew that she’d hold tight to every single one of those moments, until they turned into memories that she’d hold onto the same way. Memories that wouldn’t be just her and Scarlet, but Elodie too, and hopefully even Scarlet’s family eventually.
They’d always been family.
They’d always be a family.