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“Oh for the life of me I will never understand that man!” Cecily huffed as she sat down opposite Gwendolyn.
“Glad you could join me for tea,” Gwendolyn said picking up the teacup and sipping it casually. “Did he lie to you as well?”
“He told me that his name was Ernest but it’s not Ernest at all! It’s Algernon .”
They both made a disgusted face at the name.
“The man I love isn’t Ernest either. It’s Jack! What a plain name.” Gwendolyn shuddered.
“Oh that really is the worst.” Cecily agreed. She poured herself some tea. “I should have known finding a man named Ernest was too good to be true.”
They both sighed and gulped down their tea. After setting their cups on the saucers they both reached for the teapot at the same time. The two women looked up at each other and Gwendolyn gestured to Cecily saying, “You first.”
Cecily protested. “No, no, I insist.”
“No, I insist.”
“I find this to be a dull argument. Perhaps I’ll go first.” Cecily conceded, picking up the teapot.
Gwendolyn laughed and for the first time looked at Cecily as more than her former rival for Ernest’s affection. Her face was soft and her cheeks pink like musk-mallow. Her eyes twinkled in delight when she smiled. She was quite beautiful.
After a brief moment of silence Gwendolyn said, “I’ve grown tired of finding a man named Ernest.”
“I feel the same.”
The two of them looked up over their teacups at each other. Gwendolyn finally parted the cup from her lips and laid it in its saucer speaking plainly. “I have grown quite fond of the name Cecily.”
Cecily spat out her tea and hurriedly started dabbing herself and the area where excess tea had gotten. She was so flustered that when she did speak she barely got words out.
“I…I’m sorry?”
“It’s quite simple. I have grown fond of you.” Gwendolyn smiled kindly.
Cecily turned crimson and said in return, “I too have grown fond of you but what would Algie and Jack say?”
“They both lied to us about who they are. They don’t matter. Do you love Algie?”
Cecily hesitated. “I thought I did. But now I’m not so certain.”
“Do you love me?” Gwendolyn asked.
“Yes, of course!” Cecily exclaimed.
“Then let us love each other and let the boys alone to their own devices.”
Gwendolyn reached over and touched Cecily’s hand. Cecily looked down, then back up at Gwendolyn. The next moment they had both stood up simultaneously and came around the table to meet each other’s intimate embrace, one that no man named Ernest (or rather no man at all) could match.
“Oh, Gwendolyn, I should have known it had to be you! Not Ernest or Algie or any other man!”
“No other man could ever compare to my dearest Cecily,” Gwendolyn smiled, wrapping her arms around Cecily’s waist as they leaned in and kissed for the first time.