Page 56 of Try Hard
“Tiny details are fine,” I assured her. “Wait. Was it actually one of the reporters you met with?”
“God, no. I told you that whole thing was fine, if a little dry.”
“You did, but people are different when they’re off the clock.”
“Irrelevant,” she said, and I could imagine the way she waved a hand at the point. “No, we met virtually. We haven’t met in person yet.”
“But you like them?”
“Her.” She paused. “And yes. I suppose so. How cliché.” Only Rohanna could think being attracted to someone was cliché.
“Why?”
“Oh, because we’re probably a terrible match. And it’s avendorI met through work. We got to talking, and you know how it goes. But really. How very predictable and ridiculous of me.”
Her emphasis onvendorintrigued me. I was already looking forward to revisiting that when she was ready to provide more information about her mystery woman. “You’re allowed to like who you like.”
“Oh, but she’s so… free. I don’t thinkresponsibilityis even a word in her vocabulary outside of work.”
“And it’s one of your favourites,” I said, amused. “You know what they say about opposites attracting and all that.”
She harrumphed, sounding thoroughly annoyed with herself. “Eve, I think I’d let her feed me beans on toast and behappyabout it.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Sounds serious.”
“Sounds ridiculous,” she corrected, annoyed. “After a couple of conversations. Or… one conversation? Is it one if it’s basically continuous?”
I pressed my lips together. I’d never heard Row quite so frustrated or confused. She really must like the woman. I couldn’twaitto meet her. “It’s a good sign if it feels like the conversation is just ongoing and you keep picking it up again whenever you’ve finished dealing with life.”
“Hm. I can’t decide whether this was a great time for you to take a break, so I’ve got more to do, or whether I’m annoyed with you for eating into time I could be talking to her.”
Finally, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I laughed. “Row! You’re, like,into her, into her.”
“God. I know. Murder me now.”
“Shan’t.”
She groaned and I was pretty sure I heard her collapsing down onto her own couch or bed or something equally soft. “Tell me you have news that will distract me.”
I smiled, my teeth biting down into my bottom lip. I was pretty sure I could fulfill that particular wish. “You might be happy to hear that I’m in a similar boat.”
There was a loaded pause before Row sucked in a sharp breath and said, “I beg your pardon? Tell me everything right now.”
My phone buzzed as it pushed the video call she wanted to switch to. I answered and grinned at her. “You’re allowed your privacy but you need to see my face for the same thing?”
“Yes.” She wafted her hand, batting the question away. “Tell me everything. Who is she? Where’d you meet? What’s she like? What’s going on? Every. Little. Detail.”
I didn’t care that she wanted more details than she was willing to give. She’d get there in her own time. I was already there. All I wanted to do was talk about Ophelia.
I laughed briefly as she stared at me with wide eyes, urging me on, and I gave in. “We went to school together, actually—”
“Is it fuckingOphelia?” she asked, her mouth hanging open as she waited for the answer.
I did a double take, and not just because ‘Ophelia’ felt private now, a name just for me to call her. “I told you about her?”
Her shoulders dropped, her head tilting. “Oh, I don’t know, Eve, do you think you told your best friend in the world about the first woman you knew you were actually attracted to in a real, tangible way? Yes, you told me about her. Multiple times, actually.”
“Oh. Right.” That was a thing. I’d known I was a lesbian before Ophelia, but the crush I’d developed on her had been like nothing I’d ever felt before. And, now that she reminded me, I did remember bringing her up a few times over the years.
