Page 8 of Yellow
“No, but surely there must have been one at some point.”
“Of course, but that was years ago.” She sat down and signaled for me to join her. “Chloe, you’re young, it’s good that you believe in love. Especially with everything you’ve just been through. I believe in love too.” She smiled. “Just not for me personally.”
“Why not?”
Keeping her eyes on the dancing flames, she said, “To be honest, I can’t be bothered.” She wrinkled her nose and gave a small chuckle. “I picked up dirty socks from the floor for thirty years before I divorced my ex-husband. I’m not about to let some man disturb my peace.”
“But what about… you know.”
“What, sex?”
I blushed a little. “No, I meant connection, companionship, and friendship.”
“I have my tribe. My family. My friends,” Onava said calmly and got up when the water started boiling. With much care she made us two cups of tea and brought them to the sofa.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.” I carefully sipped at the hot liquid.
“Occasionally I have a lover too.”
Her unexpected and calm admission made me cough and spill warm tea down my hands.
Onava laughed warmly when I got up to get some paper towels. “Don’t worry, Chloe. There’s no man at the moment, so you can have half the bed.”
“We’ll be sharing the bed?” I had assumed the small sofa was a pull-out.
“Not necessarily. You’re free to sleep anywhere you’d like, but I think the bed will be the most comfortable option.”
Ever since I was a little girl I hated sleeping by myself. I used to beg Faith to sleep next to me, and even now as adults we still slept in the same bed when we were together. These last six weeks Faith had lived with me in Los Angeles and every night we had curled up together.
If Onava expected me to have a problem with the sleeping arrangement, she was wrong. I gave a small nod. “The bed is fine.”
“Good.” She nodded back. “Now that we have gone over the practical matters, I think it’s time you tell me why you’re here.”
“You want the whole story?” I asked.
“Yes, but why don’t you start with the day your ex-boyfriend shot you?”
