Lavender swirled her grape juice and ginger ale. Miss Magnolia ended every dinner with drinks in the parlor. This was when discussions happened. Miss Magnolia said that anything more than small talk at dinner was bad for the digestion, but wouldn't that also apply to any serious discussion right after?
Miss Magnolia didn't agree. She asked Caiside for a second martini and called the girls to sit with her. Lavender sat on the short sofa that she normally shared with Vish. Alana hovered beside Vish's cushion. Did she think she'd be forgiven simply because she'd returned what she'd stolen?
Miss Magnolia stared at the empty spot. Alana looked at Miss Magnolia, the cushion, and back at Miss Magnolia. She sat in one of the arm chairs. Good. Lavender couldn't deal with Alana right now.
Ariel sat on a wingback chair with her legs up over one arm. Miss Magnolia tisked. "Sit like a proper lady."
Ariel rolled her eyes and tucked her legs under her. Miss Magnolia sighed. Caiside handed Miss Magnolia her glass and sat beside her. That might be the safest spot tonight, out of Miss Magnolia's easy line of sight.
"Thank you, Caiside dear. You are such a sweet one." Miss Magnolia gulped her drink. "I wish all the girls were as sweet as you."
Caiside leaned back in the couch and rolled her eyes. When Miss Magnolia's gaze returned to her, she straightened up and looked innocent. She accepted Miss Magnolia's empty glass and carried it back to the minibar.
This next martini, Miss Magnolia sipped. "I love you. I love all of you so much. My heart breaks for all of you."
When she wasn't doing the heartbreaking with her weird rules and forever telling them that they would never be loved.
"I nearly fainted when I heard that Miss Vishva…" Miss Magnolia dabbed at her eyes. "Miss Vishva might…" She covered her mouth like she couldn't go on.
Ariel shrugged. "I thought Vish had good news."
"Good news?" Miss Magnolia downed her glass and passed it back to Caiside. "I've been around longer than you have. I've heard this story before. Far too many times before. Miss Vishva will go under that wretched knife and the man who she thinks loves her so much will up and leave, maybe stranding her in some faraway place where she can't get home. These stories never have happy endings. Thank you, dear."
She ate the olive out of her new drink.
Ariel frowned. "They can't all end badly."
Miss Magnolia pointed at Ariel with the toothpick. "Each and every one."
Lavender didn't believe that. "But even if she doesn't have him," and Vish deserved better, "she'll have her new body. No one’s going to take that away."
"But she won't be a jewel anyone. She won't be special."
Lavender crossed her arms. "Vish will always be special."
"But what he sees in her will be different. He's a fixer; I know his kind. He thinks he wants her now, but once she doesn't have her little problem anymore, she won't have anything to fix and he'll cast her off. Her career will go down the toilet."
"Then he isn't worthy of her." The special parts of Vishva, like her voice and personality, wouldn't change. She'd still draw attention. Success would find her. It was only a matter of when.
"But if she has her operation," Ariel set her glass down on a doily coaster, "why does she need this particular man, anyway?"
Miss Magnolia put her hand to her chest. "Are you saying you want to be a mistress to some man in exchange for slicing off parts that God gave you?"
Hypocrite. Miss Magnolia had been a mistress for years. Was it only bad if the woman took the man's money for the wrong reasons? Her future instead of diamonds and furs?
Ariel shrugged. "God gave me the wrong parts."
"For shame."
Caiside carried the martini glass back to the bar as Miss Magnolia explained yet again why they should be happy with the way they were born. As if she'd understand. Caiside leaned close to Lavender and whispered, "How many of these before she passes out?"
Too many. Lavender would never get away.
Miss Magnolia's eye turned to her. "And what does your gentleman say?"
"Diego likes me the way I am."
Miss Magnolia grinned. "He wants you to stay this way."
Lavender shook her head. "He doesn't mind either way."
At least, that was the idea she'd gotten.
Ariel nodded. "Probably because he's bisexual."
Was Diego bi? Why hadn't he told her? If it was some ghastly, hidden thing, how did Ariel know?
"That can't be it." Alana leaned forward in her chair. "If all it took to get a boyfriend was finding a bisexual man, we'd all have had boyfriends ages ago."
Did Diego only love her because he was attracted to both men and women?
Caiside poured herself another drink. "My clients are all straight. They date women and marry women and have sex with women."
"And with you."
Alana's fists clinched and she marched up to Miss Magnolia. "Are you saying I'm less than a woman because of some dangly bits? That the boy who likes me only likes me because of those bits? Well, you're wrong, because he broke things off when he first heard, and we are only going out because he saw Lavender in her nightclothes and was convinced that she was a real girl, despite her bits."
She crossed her arms.
Did Diego see Lavender as completely female? She couldn't bear to be with him, no matter how sexy and feminine he made her feel, if he saw her as part male. Did he take finding out her secret so well because he saw her as only half a woman?
Lavender's eyes prickled and her throat hurt. She wasn't going to cry. Not here, not now. She downed her drink and went to the mini bar where she took time filling her glass. She added a dash of vodka to calm her nerves and extra flavors to disguise the feel of alcohol in her mouth and throat.
Ariel leaned against the bar. "I didn't know she had it in her."
She nodded to Alana going toe-to-toe with Miss Magnolia, as Miss Magnolia insisted that no man could ever really love women like them, and Alana insisting that she was just as real as any other woman, and if a man couldn't love her, that was his problem. There were more fish than him in the sea.
Lavender turned. Alana had the right of it, but Lavender wasn't going to take her side in anything at the moment.
"He really did ask you to marry him?"
Lavender looked up. Ariel stirred her glass slowly. She glanced up and back down. Lavender nodded. "He wants me to move in with him."
"He still does?"
He did, but Lavender wasn't so sure she wanted to live with him. She was scared of all those things that Miss Magnolia pointed out endlessly.
Miss Magnolia broke off her tirade. "What's this?"
Alana crossed her arms. "Lavender found a man that loves her and wants to marry her, so you're wrong."
How much alcohol had quiet Alana drunk to be so vocal? Had she had any before she stole Lavender's precious things? Lavender would never forgive her. And how could Lavender live here with people she couldn't trust, especially if her best friend Vish moved on without her?
The doorbell rang. Miss Magnolia puffed up her chest. "I don't want to be interrupted. Lavender, dear…"
Caiside handed her yet another drink as Ariel slipped out of the room.
"Lavender, dear, don't get your hopes up too far. He's a nice boy and I know better than you that nice boys never stick around. You'd be better off being someone's mistress like Vishva. She knows she'll never get a happily ever after. Young men like yours tempt us into thinking that all is possible, before yanking the rug out from under us." She held up a hand. "He'll mean well. He'll have the best of intentions, but his parents won't like you, and he'll be embarrassed for you to meet his friends, and you'll end up with a broken heart. Mark my words."
But Diego wanted her to meet his mother and she'd already met his friends.
Ariel came in the parlor, preceded by dozens of flowers that left a spicy scent in the air. She set the vase on the minibar. "Lavender, these are for you."
Lavender's heart skipped a beat. They were only apart for a few hours and he'd thought of her. Ariel handed her the card. Diego spoke of secrets and surprises and happiness once they were together again, but he was vague enough that she willingly handed the card to Miss Magnolia. Miss Magnolia frowned. "What does that mean?"
Caiside peeked around Miss Magnolia's arm. "It means they will have sex."
She took the note and passed it to Alana. "You think?"
Lavender didn't want Alana reading her note. Alana passed it to Ariel. "Yeah. Is he picking you up tonight?"
As if Lavender was going to make small talk with Alana. "I should pack."
She was already packed, but this made a good excuse.
"But what did he mean about secrets?"
Ariel rolled her eyes. "You might as well ask her what he is going to surprise her with. She doesn't know. Did you thank him?"
Lavender sent, I count the minutes until our bodies are intertwined.
Ariel laughed. "Now he's too hard to walk."
He’d better not be. She had to be near him, even if he was going to break her heart.
*~*~*
Diego took a deep breath. Patrick had laughed at Diego's reaction to Lavender's text, but Diego didn't think Patrick would have acted any differently. He texted Lavender to say he'd arrived, like she'd asked, and got out of his car. The door opened as he climbed the steps. Lavender passed him a bag and carried the other to the car.
Diego opened the trunk. "Some reason we're sneaking off?"
Lavender glanced back at the house. "Miss Magnolia wants to know what the secrets and surprises are."
Diego pulled Lavender close. He missed her body against his. "They wouldn't be secrets and surprises if I told anyone."
She gave him a peck on the lips and stepped away. He'd need to take her somewhere else to get his way with her. He opened her door and closed it after she got in, then waved to one of her friends. He got in himself. "So did you talk about what you needed to talk about?"
"Miss Magnolia and Alana got drunk and had a screaming match."
He paused at the intersection and put his hand on hers. "That doesn't sound like fun."
She ran her hand up his arm. "Take me somewhere quiet."
He took her to the lookout point. The city was beautiful at night, but the girl in the car with him was prettier still. He watched her watch the city. Too bad his vacation wasn't two weeks long. "When you come up at Christmas, I'll show you the sights."
"Will I come up at Christmas?"
"I would love for you to come up and spend several weeks with me. As a trial run for moving in."
"I'm moving in?"
He held her hand. "I want you to fall so in love with me that you can't imagine living anywhere else."
She turned to him. "Why?"
"Because," he kissed her fingers, "that's how I feel about you."
"Why?"
He ran his finger down her jaw. "Why do I love you? Because you're the prettiest woman on earth. Because I'm happy just to be next to you. Because you are funny, smart, and the best lover I’ve ever had."
She looked at their linked hands. "Am I?"
"Yes."
She licked her lips. "Are you… Ariel said, and she must have gotten it from the boy she likes. She said that you were bi."
Diego laughed at himself. He'd forgotten to tell her. "Yeah, I am. I have been for as long as I can remember. I've never made a secret of it. It didn't come up."
She turned her head away. Diego had never found a glove box that interesting. He petted her hand. "Being bisexual, to me, means that I don't cut out half the population when looking for someone to spend my life with. I date pretty girls and handsome guys, but only one person at a time. I'm not going to cheat on you."
"I didn't think that."
She wouldn't have been the first if she had. He kissed her fingers. "Then what can I do to reassure you that I love only you? You, Lavender, are the one I want to spend my life with, the one I want to grow old beside, the one I want to go to bed with and wake up next to."
The faintest of smiles brushed her lips.
"I love you." He needed her to understand that. "I love you with every fiber of my being."
She turned to him and straightened her shoulders. "But why? What makes you love me so much?"
He really hated these conversations. He'd had a number of them in the past, and they always ended badly. He needed Lavender to fall in love with him for his own sanity. Knowing his perfect person existed was different than knowing where she was and that she'd never love him back. He took a deep breath. "My first impression?"
"Yes."
"I was attracted by your confidence and ease, the way you went from queen of the world to shy kitten was intriguing, and you seemed to like me back, which was a definite turn-on."
"Not because…" She waved over her lap.
"I didn't know about that."
"But you must have guessed something."
"Lavender, my love, you are one hundred percent woman."
"But…"
He scooted over until he was at the edge of his seat. He needed to hold her, to touch her. "I know you didn't want me talking about people I'd been with before…"
"But…"
"I like my women curvy, like you, only other women aren't like you. Your breasts are perfection." He ran his thumb down one of hers and rubbed her nipple through the too-thin fabric. "I can't say I dated only women with breasts like yours, because no other breasts in the world come close."
"You think?" She bit her lower lip.
He leaned forward and kissed her. He slid to her side of the car and knelt, the best he could, between her legs. "Beautiful, you are a woman. I only see you as a woman and I love you as a woman."
He rested his face against her chest and ran a hand up her belly. She gasped and wrapped her arms over his shoulders. "You really like them?"
He did. He hummed his enthusiasm. He pushed up the bottom of her shirt and got the pesky fabric out of the way. Luckily, this bra opened in the front. He sucked a nipple and reach down to check that he wasn't the only one enjoying himself. She hadn't worn her too-tight underthings, so he could feel her pleasure. He slipped his hand up her skirts and got a proper grip on her hardness.
She begged and moaned and finally shouted as she dug her fingers into his shoulders. Then he kissed her, the most perfect woman in the world.
*~*~*
Lavender loved his body against hers, how he knew just how to give her the most pleasure, and that he wasn't scared or horrified by her bits. But that last thought made her worry. "How can you say I'm 'all woman' after you just did that?"
Diego laid his head in her lap. "I love your body, every inch of it, but would you be any less a woman if you didn't have access to hormones? Were you less female as a child? As a baby?"
"Diego." Tears prickled her eyes and this time, she didn't try to stop them. He knew her. He understood her. "If I fall in love with anyone, it's going to be with you."
He grinned. "I will win your heart."
She pulled him up, so she could kiss him properly and slid a hand into his shorts. He gasped and leaned on her shoulder while he guided her through her first hand job. She'd learn.
And she'd learn how to make him feel as happy as he made her.