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“You and me, manager, assistant manager… It’s going to be like we’re Bush and Cheney. I’m the brains pulling all the strings behind the scenes and you’re the super sexy puppet.”
Hours later, Dina’s words still resonated through Amy’s head. Granted, she was used to the woman being slightly unhinged, but for some reason, this felt different. More…honest, maybe?
“And you’re the super sexy puppet.”
Exactly, what did Dina mean by that? She shook her head in an attempt to quiet the thoughts rushing inside her brain. Surely, she was reading too much into a simple, thoughtless compliment from a co-worker.
Alone in her kitchen, she opened a bottle of Merlot and poured herself a glass. She was manager now, and that deserved celebration. Too tired to prepare anything herself but still wanting to do something a little special, she took her phone out of her jeans’ back pocket and dialed the number for the closest pizzeria. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to put her in a better mood. She wasn’t proud of how she got the job—it was actually tormenting her quite a bit—but if anything, she knew she would do a better job than Blaine, Laurie’s more than unqualified son. The sole day he’d been in charge had been a disaster, and while she somewhat regretted having to blackmail Laurie, she had to admit it was for the best. For herself, yes, but for the store and for the employees as well. For the customers. For everyone, really.
Glass in hand, she headed back to the living room and collapsed onto the couch. What a day. She took out the DVD of She’s All That, judging she’d definitely deserved this little treat. She was barely ten minutes in when the doorbell rang. She grabbed the cash she had left on the coffee table and headed for the door.
When she opened it, though, she was shocked to see not a deliverer, but Dina. Wearing a simple black polo, a light brown jacket and a pair of black jeans—an unusual choice for the woman. Her hair was down, reminding Amy of that time she’d showed up three hours early to her Golden Globes party—to help her prepare, she’d said. That was the day she’d first called her her best friend, too. Well, fourth best friend. But that didn’t really matter, did it? The point was, Dina considered her one of her best friends, and if she was being honest with herself, Amy did, too. Nevertheless, she was more than surprised to see the other woman at the door, though less surprised when she made her way inside her house without being invited to.
“Sure, come on in,” Amy mumbled.
Standing on the threshold, Dina took a look around, but her critique was less harsh than the last time around.
“I see you’ve moved things around. And got rid of that smell. Good for you.”
She considered replying with some snarky comment of her own but decided against it. Instead, she reached for her glass and took a sip.
“Oh, we’re having wine, wonderful!” Dina exclaimed, insistently looking at her, as if waiting for her to hand her a glass, too.
Amy sighed, disappearing into the kitchen and coming back with a second glass. She filled it and invited Dina to take it.
“You still haven’t told me why you’re here,” she simply said as she sat back down on the couch.
“Well, now that you’re manager, I figured there’s a couple things we need to establish.”
Amy leaned into the couch, elbow against the headrest, her head resting on her fist.
“And that couldn’t wait till tomorrow?”
She brought the glass to her lips, observing Dina as she shook her head no. Truth was, she looked beautiful.
“First of all, you mustn’t contradict me in front of the employees.”
Amy chuckled at that first rule. Dina was her assistant manager, if anything, it should have been the other way around—though she would probably never get her way with that woman. She nodded, humoring her for the sake of it, and because she wanted to see what other weird guidelines she’d come up with.
“Second, do not put Elias in footwear. He always tries to give customers pedicures with knives, so that’s to be avoided.”
Amy tilted her head slightly, as she always did when she heard something unbelievable or alarming—a non-verbal “excuse me?” of sorts, and Dina shrugged.
“Is there a third rule?” She asked after a beat, curious to see where this may go.
“Actually, yes.” Dina continued after giving it some thought. “Every morning, you must tell me something you like about me. Outfit, qualities, general awesomeness…that kind of thing.”
Amy laughed again, and maybe it was the wine getting to her head, but she found herself answering, “I think I can do that” way too fast, surprising them both.
“I reckon you should try now,” Dina formally declared, making Amy giggle. “You know, just to be sure you know what you’re on about.”
“Fine,” she replied, expecting herself to take longer to come up with something, but she’d been thinking it since she saw the other woman standing at her door, so she might as well say it. “I think you look beautiful with your hair down. You should wear it like this more often, actually.”
Dina didn’t answer—for once, it seemed like she didn’t know what to say. Instead, she just gave Amy a bright smile, trying not to show just how much this meant to her, and Amy pretended to not notice the slight blush now covering Dina’s cheeks. She patted the space next to her on the couch, inviting the other woman to sit down and, once she did, leaned in just a little.
“Since we’re talking compliments…” She paused, biting her lip. “Did you mean it? Earlier, when you said I was sexy?”
For the second time that night, Dina was speechless, taken aback by the softness and genuine interest in Amy’s voice.
“I—I mean,” she started, her voice wavering. Noticing she was fumbling, she stopped, trying to regain a hold of herself before speaking again. “I did. You’re a very attractive woman. Why do you ask?”
Amy felt herself blush. A smirk appeared on Dina’s face as she leaned in, placing a hand on Amy’s knee.
“You know,” she continued, “if you have a crush on me, it’s okay to admit it. I won’t tell anyone.”
“No!” She shouted out a little too fast, too loud for it to be really convincing. “No, I don’t. Very straight woman, here.”
She looked up at Dina, only to see what looked like disappointment on her face, maybe even a little hurt, and immediately looked away in shame. The other woman mumbled something along the lines of, “well that’s a shame,” placing her now empty glass on the table before standing up.
“Well, I better leave you to it, then,” She declared, a hint of sadness in her voice as she gestured to the paused movie on the TV.
“Dina, wait.”
She turned around, waiting for Amy to say something else. Anything else.
“There’s pizza on the way and more wine in the kitchen. Stay for a little bit?”
Dina nodded in agreement, making her way back to the couch. Amy brought the bottle of wine back from the kitchen, filling hers and Dina’s glasses again. They drank it without a word, the awkwardness palpable, eyeing each other and instantly looking away. Eventually, though, Dina broke the silence.
“Are you sure you’re straight?”
“Dina!” Amy laughed.
“What? I’m just checking.”
Dina held Amy’s gaze as she took another sip of wine, as if waiting for an actual answer to her question, and Amy felt the blood rush to her cheeks again.
“If you must know,” she said as she rolled her eyes, “I had some sort of crush on a girl friend in high school. Nothing happened. I don’t think that warrants me not being straight.”
Dina scoffed and, when Amy gave her a look, shrugged and added, “That sounds pretty not-straight to me.”
Amy rolled her eyes, though, if she was being honest with herself, she had to admit it was food for thought. She’d never really considered being anything other than straight as an option she even had, and, the wine helping, she was starting to realize her own shortcomings.
“I have to say,” she started, hesitating. “When you came in, earlier—when I saw you at the door… It felt really nice. In a—in an unfamiliar way, I guess?”
Dina raised her arms in victory.
“I knew it!” She exclaimed, making Amy laugh once again. “You have a crush on me. I mean, how could you not? I’m pretty great.”
Amy thought of defending herself, denying her friend’s claims, telling her she was wrong and all that was going on between them was only platonic but to be fair, she wasn’t so sure anymore. She inhaled sharply, gathering the strength to admit what she’d been burying deep down all these years.
“I don’t know that it’s a crush per se. It’s… definitely something.”
What had started as an hesitant confession quickly turned into what could only be described as word vomit—a loud, uncontrollable spew of words she could not control.
“I just—I just don’t know what it is. And quite frankly, I’m a little mad at you for making me question everything I’ve ever known. I wasn’t expecting to feel a tingly feeling when I saw you tonight. Hell, I wasn’t even expecting to see you tonight altogether, let alone feel like I want to kiss you and I—”
She stopped, realizing what she’d just said as a smile grew wider on Dina’s lips.
“You want to kiss me,” Dina repeated.
“Shut up, no I don’t.”
“You do, though,” Dina teased her. “You just said it.”
Amy’s eyes shut close as she took another deep breath, then, when she was ready to face Dina, opened them again.
“So what if I do?”
“Then I’m going to ask you if I can kiss you right now,” she answered with another smile.
Amy didn’t answer. Instead, she tentatively leaned in, still unsure of herself, and, after a few seconds of breathing Dina in, she finally pressed her lips against hers in a slow, gentle kiss. When she pulled away, Dina couldn’t help but grin.
“So? Was it everything you hoped it would be?”
“Shut up and kiss me again,” Amy replied, and Dina obliged.