Page 6 of Together at Ruby's

Liza thought she misheard, certain they wouldn’t have given the job to someone else, especially someone she had never heard Tate mention before. “But I thought that’s what you were going to be?”

Tate barked out a laugh, but there is no humor in it, only what Liza recognized was pain. “I thought that too. But I guess I’m not good enough,” she answered.

Liza shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “Tate,” she said. “How could you let this happen?”

6

Slowly pouring another inch of bourbon, Tate considered Liza’s question.How did I let this happen?she wondered.Or worse, how did I not even see it coming?Over the top of her glass as she swallowed half of the burning liquid, she saw Lisa continuing to stare at her. The look on the woman’s face was nothing but horror. “I don’t have an answer for that,” Tate said, and she meant it. The sense of bewilderment remained, although the numbness slowly melted from the bourbon’s effects. Gradually, anger took place, something she rarely gave into, but today was going to be an exception. She had been screwed out of a position she had worked her ass off for, day and night for years. Weekends. Holidays. Anniversaries. She gave everything to the firm. A slow fire inside her started to build.Who the hell is Aurora Price anyway?There had to be more to the story, but it didn’t take away the sense of failure.

Drinking again, she swallowed before staring into the empty glass. “I guess I just wasn’t good enough,” she said, and a sound, somewhere between a sob and a growl, came from Liza.

“I don’t believe that,” she said. “You’re the best for that job. You said so yourself and promised me it would happen.”

Tate’s anger spilled over, and she slapped her hand on the desktop. “Stop,” she said. “I never made any promises to you.”

For a moment there was no sound in the room as their eyes held. A tear ran down Liza’s face, but Tate saw the anger building up in Liza too. Her fiery, feisty girlfriend was about to let go a tirade. In a way, Tate welcomed it.Maybe it’s what I deserve, she thought.Maybe I did make it sound too certain.

She opened her mouth to apologize, but Lisa held up an angry finger. “I don’t want excuses,” Lisa snapped. “Just tell me what happens now?”

At that question, Tate leaned back in her chair because she wasn’t sure of the answer. She wouldn’t lie. A small sliver of her wanted to quit her job and tell them to shove it. But Tate would never do that. She was responsible and trustworthy and wouldn’t flush a decade of her life down the toilet because of something out of her control. If they wanted Aurora Price instead of her, there was nothing she could do about it.

Liza stomped her foot. “Answer me, God dammit.”

Tate blew out a long breath, trying to buy a little time before crushing her girlfriend’s hopes. “We keep doing what we’re doing,” she answered. “Nothing has changed.”

“No,” Liza shot back. “I will not accept that answer. I can’t take this anymore.”

Tate furrowed her brow. “What does that mean?”

Crossing her arms, Liza lifted her chin. “You know what I want,” she said, her eyes smoldering. “I want to be married. I want to have a baby. We can’t keep waiting forever.” At the words, Tate felt her chest clench with anxiety. Liza was right. Tate had heard the same speech over and over, and although Tate always hoped it was enough to simply provide a nice home and comfortable life, it was never adequate. The woman always wanted more from her, but after what happened at work today, Tate couldn’t take the thought that she failed Liza.

Standing, Tate looked hard at the woman she loved. “You’re right,” she said. “You shouldn’t have to wait any longer. If what I give you is not enough, then…” She let the words dwindle off. As angry as she was, she wouldn’t say something she couldn’t take back.

Still, a look of shock crossed Liza’s face as she clearly finished the sentence in her mind. “You can’t mean that,” she said, with anger but also hurt in her voice.

“I honestly don’t know what I mean right now,” Tate growled as she walked around the desk, storming out of the office. “All I know is I need another drink somewhere other than here.”

For the firsttime in a very long time, Liza was speechless. She watched as her infinitely patient and steady girlfriend stormed out of her office. She heard the woman’s heavy steps on the wood floor as she walked to the garage and then the slamming of the door. For a moment she thought about running after her, but then it was too late as she heard the garage door opening. Tate left in her SUV. Somehow her girlfriend’s abrupt departure made her even more hurt and angry.And don’t forget disappointed, she thought.She had seemed so sure she would get that promotion. This doesn’t make sense.

Over the years, Tate had explained to her as patiently as possible how her line of business worked. Moving up the chain required more than skill and intelligence, it required dedication and time served. They had to put in the work and the hours that went with it. “But it will all be worth it in the end,” Tate had said, and Liza had believed her.And now this?she thought, storming into the kitchen to grab her phone from her purse. The desire to call Tate’s boss, a man she met on a number of occasions at boring business dinners, was hard to resist. She would give him a piece of her mind and started to call Tate’s firm to be connected to the man’s office, but then hesitated. Tate would likely never forgive her for something so reckless.And maybe this is all just a big mistake.

Her next thought was to text Tate and tell her she needed to come home so they could discuss things further. There had to be a way to still get the promotion she was promised. But a part of her knew that in the rare times Tate became angry, it was best to let the woman cool off somewhere on her own. Give her a little space.But I’m not going to just sit here, she thought and called Allie. “Hi, Liza,” Allie answered in her usual cheerful voice.

“Hi. What are you doing?” Liza snapped, and then caught herself. None of what happened was her friend’s fault. “Sorry, I was wondering what you were doing tonight.”

There was a pause of hesitation and in the background Liza heard the din of other voices. “I’m actually at Ruby’s,” Allie answered. “With Vivian and Nikki. We were talking about the upcoming Portland Pride Festival and what Ruby’s might do with the booth we rented.”

“I see,” was all Liza could think to say, a little disappointed.

“But I can come over if you need me to,” Allie quickly added. For a moment Liza considered taking her friend up on her offer but then realized there had been far too many nights over the last year where Allie had come to her rescue when she was frustrated with Tate working late. It wasn’t fair to pull her friend away from something important.

“No,” Liza finally said. “This can wait.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Liza lied.

“You can always come to Ruby’s,” Allie added. “We could use your creative ideas.” Liza cocked her head as she thought about her friend’s offer. Any minute now Tate would probably walk through the bar’s front door, and the truth would be out that they were having another fight. The last thing she wanted was to take out her frustrations on Tate amongst her friends. Again.

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