Chapter 18: Moira

We were brushing out our hair, after our shower, when Saralinda spoke.

"I'm sorry," she began. "I guess I shouldn't have, like, intruded this morning. But when I woke up, I couldn't even remember where we were. And then I heard you singing upstairs, so I went up there, and there wasn't a door to knock on or anything..."

I smiled at her. "It was fine. Don't worry about it," I told her.

"And then, when you told me to come over, I couldn't believe it. I was so afraid at first – I thought you were mad at me. But then you asked nice, and I realized you, like, wanted me there."

"Uh huh," I said smiling, as I put down my brush and took her in my arms. "I did want you there. I missed you while you were at the clinic."

"But you love Gary – you told him so, and I believe it."

"What's that got to do with anything? Yes, I love Gary. But I'm beginning to love you, too. Look, what Gary and I have is ... is something. I don't even know what, sometimes. But he says he loves me, and he acts like he does, and that's good enough for me at least right now. But while I work for him, he doesn't own me. I can do what I want to do. And I wanted you to come over, and I was very happy when you did.

"I think you made Gary happy too," I teased.

"But..." She broke off, looking worried.

"But, what? You can ask. You can ask me anything."

"I don't want to, um, make you and Gary break up or anything like that. I don't want him to get mad at you. I don't want to do anything wrong..."

"Honey, did Gary seem upset an hour ago when you joined us? Was he angry? Was I angry? Just relax."

"Do you think Gary likes me?" she asked.

"I know Gary likes you, a lot."

"Well, what-if-he-falls-in-love-with-me-and-then-doesn't-want-to-be-with-you-or-something?" she asked all in a rush, before closing her mouth quickly, her bottom lip trembling.

I laughed. "Do you really think that's going to happen?" I asked her with a smile.

"No, but ... No – he loves you, so he'd never fall for me."

I laughed again. "You don't know Gary that well, that's clear. Gary isn't a one-woman kind of man. He'll still have time for me, even after he falls for you. Don't worry about me. Besides, if you're willing to share..."

She looked up with a shocked, but hopeful, expression.

"Oh, Moira, that's the other thing ... This morning I was afraid that..."

After several seconds of silence, I asked gently, "That what?"