Page 62 of Spicy Sapphic Christmas

Polly was up out of her chair and taking the cup from her in seconds. “Coffee as usual?”

“Yes, please.” Bunny forced authority back into her voice, but she suspected not even Polly was fooled by the false bravado. Surely Siena had filled her in on the disaster yesterday. Who was she kidding? It wasn’t a disaster. It was a full-on tantrum, and everyone had known it.

Seven minutes and thirty-three seconds later, with a fresh coffee in hand, Bunny followed Siena into her office. The door shut with a resounding finality. Bunny had fucked up royally. And she was about to hear about all of it.

Bunny opened her mouth a few times but closed it again before she said anything. It wasn’t like her to be nervous orunsure of herself. It had been years since Siena had intimidated her. Years since she had wondered about the security of their business relationship, or friendship for that matter. But now Bunny felt as though she walked a tightrope that had just been jumped on. And the worst part was, she had been the one to string up the rope in the first place.

Siena tilted her head, seeming entirely comfortable to sit in the silence.

“I’m sorry.” The words weren’t easy. Bunny had fought hard alongside Piper to get to where they were. It wasn’t that she didn’t acknowledge or appreciate Siena’s work. The woman was incredible at her job and had opened many doors for them over the years. But that didn’t mean they had sat back and let others do the heavy lifting.

Siena continued to look at her, and Bunny slumped back into her chair.

“I don’t know what to do,” Bunny confessed, fearing she might actually choke on the words.

“All right.” Siena nodded, finally giving Bunny a break. “I’m not entirely oblivious to your concerns. I never have been.”

“I know,” Bunny conceded.

“But this isn’t just about you. It’s not even just about you and Piper.” Siena waited for Bunny to lift her head and meet her eyes before continuing. “When you started, you made the conscious decision to keep all of your private life private.”

“It was either that or fall into the pit of ruined artists.”

“Yes,” Siena said the word slowly, and Bunny knew without a doubt that she would not like where this was headed. “But that was quite a while ago. You’ve got to admit things have changed and continue to change, especially where we live.”

“But it’s not enough.” Bunny twiddled her thumbs, not sure where to go from here. She was trying to get her point across, but it was like Siena was only half-listening to what she was saying.

“Are you sure about that?” Siena asked.

Bunny could have hugged her if she were the hugging type. There had been no judgment in her question, but a pure curiosity.

“Is it really worth the risk? I get them wanting to be out from the start, but we aren’t starting. Piper and I have been around long enough to see the other side of it. They get our songs, Siena, isn’t that enough? We put our hearts and souls into them. Can you honestly tell me we won’t be hurt if we confirm our sexuality and start letting our fans into our day-to-day personal lives as well? Not to mention, we don’t only perform in Portland. I have to be sure that we’re safe wherever we go, and we have enough issues existing in this world as women. Now you expect me to risk our lives because we’re queer too? Can you tell me that we’ll be safer being out?”

“No.” Siena shook her head and rocked back in her seat.

Relief washed over Bunny as she read the posture as the hard part of the conversation was over. As Siena conceding to her point.

“No?” Bunny wanted the verbal confirmation.

“No. I can’t promise you anything like that. But I’ve never promised you anything I haven’t been able to deliver. What I can promise is that wearing rainbow pride costumes for the finale isn’t going to automatically out you and Piper. No more than about half of your songs do.”

“But singingthatsong with Bea as the finale and inthoseoutfits is.” Bunny said it with so much certainty. She truly believed this. She had no doubts in her mind that to do both would be the end of life as she knew it.

“You haven’t checked your email this morning.” Siena was back in work mode as she shuffled and clicked keys on her computer.

“No. Why?”

Swiveling the monitor so Bunny could see it, Siena showed Bunny the set list.

“Oh.” Bunny’s fears slipped away a little bit. Not entirely, but at least the last thing people would see wouldn’t be just Bunny and Bea in that rainbow getup, singing a love song to each other.

“So that helps a bit then, yeah?”

“Yeah. I still don’t think a duet with Bea is a good idea.” Bunny’s stomach twisted hard, bile rising up in her throat and she was regretting that coffee.

“Bunny. Don’t let your emotions and personal relationship interfere with what’ll be an amazing performance.”

Bunny closed her eyes. She couldn't blame Siena for picking up on the chemistry between the two of them. Piper had done the same. She and Bea hadn’t even done a damn thing to try to hide it. They’d practically been making out at the piano bar.

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