This is an edited version. Tall_poppy was kind enough to offer her help with spelling and grammar. :) Thank you Poppy!
To all those who are about to read this and haven't already read part 1: stories are always better if you start at the beginning. ;)Hint hint.
*
The following day I walked around on cloud 9. I drove to work whistling and entered the dog salon with a big smile on my face.
Thursdays were always my turn to man the desk. That meant taking the phone, checking the stock on the computer and ordering new stock if we were low on something and of course also doing the check-ins. Normally I hate this part of my job, seeing as how I am far better handling the pets than their rich and mostly snobby owners, but that day nothing seemed to bother me. Not even when the notorious Mrs Binoculars walked in with her three doggies Max, Rex and Lia in tow.
As usual she had numerous comments on how she wanted her dogs to look, and a ton of criticism about how bad their haircut had been the last time. I put all the information in her file and stubbornly kept smiling the whole time. I put Rex, Max and Lia on Frank's list for the day, and took over their leads.
"You can pick your dogs up from 12 o clock, ma'am. The boss will take care of them personally."
What was Rebecca doing now? She would be going back to work today for the first time since the fight with Nicky in one of the two tea-houses at the park.
Mrs Binoculars curled her mouth in a sour smirk. "Until noon then." At the door she waved her wrinkled index finger through the air in front of her face. "Don't make me have to look for another hairdresser for my babies!"
I nodded and still kept smiling. "Of course ma'am. Have a nice morning Ma'am." After that she stuck her chin in the air and stepped outside. I opened the desk to take the dogs to the back and hummed out loud while I put the dogs in one big cage together.
"What's going on with you?" Frank asked.
I looked up. "Can't I be happy?"
He laughed. "Of course you can! I was only wondering what made you so happy today. Did something happen? Did you change your opinion about the desk work?"
I saw Lilly shaking her head on the other side of the room. "Can't you see?"
"See what?" Frank asked while he raised one eyebrow. "She's not pregnant is she?"
"Of course not!" I cried out.
"Don't you recognize it?" asked Lilly. "Dreamy look, eternal smile, being nice to people who aren't nice to you, singing bad songs, ..."
"She's in love!" shrieked Nina.
I stood up and brushed the dog hair of my apron. "I am not!"
Nina chuckled as if my red cheeks were proof on their own. "Maybe not, but you have met somebody, be honest."
I shrugged, feigning disinterest so they would leave the subject alone, hopefully. "No. Maybe. OK, yes." Embarrassed, I felt how even my neck was growing red now. This was not going so well. "It's complicated." I lied.
My thoughts returned to Rebecca and her green eyes and delicious lips and still bruised face and I realized that actually things between me and her were everything but complicated. The only two things that could possibly be a problem for us in the future were Nicky and the fact that we were both female and Nicky was already behind us.
Everyone continued to stare at me and I was happy to retreat back to the check-in desk. A few moments later I heard the soft bells on the door and three clients came in at the same time. From then on I had my hands full for the rest of the morning.
At lunch, Nina took over from me and Lilly dragged me to her house, which was only two blocks away. I could have known she would not let it go so easily. "Ok. Spill." Is all she said as soon as we had left the salon.
I felt flustered again and looked at the ground as we walked. I couldn't lie. Not to her. "Remember that story I told you on Monday about my new neighbor?" I asked. She looked at me with a strange expression on her face and I really hoped she would be OK with what I was about to tell her. I couldn't bear to lose her. She was my best and oldest friend.
"That woman who got beat up by her partner and took shelter in your apartment, right?"
I nodded and we crossed the street. "I didn't really tell you everything about that."
She stared at me with an open mouth and laughed out loud. "No way, Aruna! No way!" I fell silent and we walked the remaining distance to her house.
"So, are you going to tell me the rest or do I have to drag it out of you?" she said while she opened the door and we went inside.
I shook my head and took my regular place at her table. "Earlier that day we kissed, and yesterday night we had sex." I confessed.
Lilly dropped herself on the chair opposite mine and stared at me with her mouth hanging open. "No way, Aruna! No way!" She repeated herself.
I blinked a few times and bit my lip. "Yes way." I whispered.
"Oh my dear lord! What will your family think of this!" She yelled, slapping her hands in front of her mouth.
"Don't tell them!" I cried. "My father will go berserk!"
Lilly stood up and grabbed the cheese from the fridge. "You are in so much trouble! Are you seriously in love with her? Is it mutual? How did it happen? How did you meet? Tell me everything from the beginning! Is she hot?"
I grinned. "Rebecca is definitely hot." I said, thinking about her soft red curls, her elegant hands and the little rose ring.
We made our sandwiches and started eating them. "We met almost two weeks ago, the day I moved in." I started my story. "She brought me a homemade lasagna to welcome me to the building and I invited her in to eat it with me. It was great and we talked all evening."