Fallen Elements (9 page)

“Oh, thank you.” Ryan, embarrassed, quickly
took the drink and stepped toward the condiment bar. Glancing over
her shoulder, she watched as Leah hung up her phone and greeted the
barista.

God, she’s got a great smile. Stop
staring.

“Ryan?” Leah was suddenly standing next to
her, and Ryan thought her heart might pound out of her chest.

For Christ’s sake, what’s wrong with me?

“Leah. Hey.” Ryan turned to face the blonde
and caught the top of her cup with her hand. “Shit!” Grabbing for
the cup, the mortified woman spilled the piping hot tea across her
right hand, the skin immediately reddening.

“Are you okay?” Leah took Ryan’s hand in
hers, and where the woman’s touch generally sent a shock of heat
through Ryan’s body, it was now cool and incredibly soothing on her
irritated skin.

“I’m good. I didn’t get any on you, did I?”
Ryan scanned near their feet.

Leah released Ryan’s hand. “Clean as a
whistle.” She bent down and picked the now empty cup up from the
floor. The majority of the tea was pooled on the condiment counter,
and Leah grabbed several napkins from the dispenser and wiped the
still hot liquid up.

Ryan stood mesmerized until she realized what
was happening. “Please, don’t. God, let me do that.” She reached
for more napkins, and bent down to wipe up the little bit of tea
that had spilt on the floor. Tilting her head up, a bright shade of
crimson covered Ryan’s face when she realized she was less than a
foot from Leah’s crotch.

Hurriedly standing, Ryan was unable to make
eye contact with Leah. The blonde had finished cleaning the spilt
tea, and was throwing a large wad of wet napkins in the waste
bin.

“That should about do it.” Leah rubbed her
hands together. “Should we get you another tea?”

Ryan shook her head. “I clearly can’t handle
it today, so I’ll pass.”

Leah smiled, and nervously tucked a loose
strand of blonde hair behind her right ear. “Well - it was nice to
see you again.”

“Why are you here?” Ryan flinched as the
pointed question popped out of her mouth.

Leah grinned. “Since you asked so nicely
-”

Ryan instinctively reached for the woman’s
hand. “Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”

Leah looked down at Ryan’s hand. The redness
from earlier was all but gone. To Ryan’s utter delight, she placed
her hand over Ryan’s. “You didn’t offend me. So don’t worry.”

Nodding, Ryan reluctantly removed her hand.
“Thank you. Let me try this again.” Ryan made a point of
dramatically clearing her throat and squaring her shoulders,
something that made Leah smile. “Leah, it’s nice to see you again.
What brings you to the Howard County administration building?”

“The coffee.” Leah said flatly.

Ryan’s brow arched, and then she laughed.
“I’m not much of a fan.”

Leah frowned and looked down at Ryan’s hand.
“No, I imagine you wouldn’t be.” The two women looked at each other
for several seconds.

“Here you go, miss.” The blonde barista from
earlier handed Ryan another cup of tea, and then handed Leah a cup.
“And your triple tall, non-fat cappuccino.”

Leah smiled. “Thank you.”

Ryan looked blankly at the woman. “What’s
this?”

Nodding toward the condiment bar and the
scene of Ryan’s calamity, the woman smiled. “That was a bad spill.
So the do over is our treat, but be careful with this one.” The
woman winked at Ryan, and walked back around the coffee bar.

“That was nice of her.” Leah took a sip of
her coffee. “Well, I should get going.”

“Wait.” Ryan nearly lunged at the woman,
again shocked by the urgency she felt in keeping Leah near her.
“Why
are
you here?”

Leah took the lid off her coffee, and gently
blew on the steaming beverage. “I’m renovating my bookstore, and
had to file a load of paperwork for the permits.” She replaced the
lid. “What about you?”

Ryan wanted to add sugar to her Earl Grey,
but didn’t trust herself not to repeat her earlier catastrophe. “I
just finished up with a job interview.”

Leah’s brow raised. “That’s great. How did it
go?”

Ryan nodded. “Pretty well. It’s -”

An elderly man walked up with a venti cup in
his hand, and looked impatiently at the two women in front of the
condiment bar.

“Oh, sorry.” Leah took Ryan’s forearm and
gently pulled her to the side of the bar.

Ryan felt a prickling heat in her arm that
rapidly travelled down to her wrist.
What the hell is
that?

“What’s the job?” Leah asked.

“It’s a community liaison position. I would
work with the director and various businesses and vendors to
coordinate county resources around social services.”

Leah took a sip of her cappuccino. “That
sounds right up your alley.”

Ryan nodded. “It really is; so fingers
crossed I get it.”

Leah grinned. “I’m sure you wowed them.”

Ryan shrugged. “I was smart enough to turn
down the coffee they offered me. Beyond that, who knows?”

Leah’s green eyes moved from Ryan’s eyes to
her lips, and then a flush of red found the blonde woman’s cheeks.
“I should get going. Good luck with the job.”

“Would you like to have an early lunch with
me?” Ryan blurted out. Asking the question had taken all of her
nerve, and she had no idea how she would manage an actual meal with
Leah should the woman accept the invitation.

Leah glanced at her watch, it was a little
after eleven. “Actually, yes. I have about an hour and a half
before I have to be back to the store.”

Ryan had half expected Leah to decline the
invitation, but now she was filled with a mixture of excitement and
trepidation. It reminded her of the first time she rode a roller
coaster. A friend of hers in undergrad had been shocked to find out
Ryan’s family had never so much as taken her to Coney Island.

One weekend, she was hauled to Six Flags
America, east of Washington, D.C. and unceremoniously loaded onto
the
Mind Eraser
. She had been suspended from an overhead
track, and hurled through an inverted loop at over fifty miles an
hour. Ryan had promptly thrown up upon exiting the ride and now
hoped that wasn’t indicative of what was to come with her lunch
with Leah.

“Where do you want to eat?” Leah asked as the
two women exited the building.

Ryan hadn’t thought that far ahead, and
suggested the first place that popped into her head. “Don’t laugh,
but - Wegmans?”

Leah smiled. “I love Wegmans.”

Relieved Leah hadn’t thought her suggestion
silly, Ryan nodded. “Perfect. I’ll meet you there?”

“Sounds good.” Leah turned and walked across
the parking lot in the opposite direction from Ryan.

Once inside the Subaru, Ryan retrieved her
phone from the black portfolio and dialed Nicole’s number.

“Did you get the job? Is my car okay?” Nicole
asked abruptly.

Ryan rolled her eyes. “I won’t know until
next week, and yes.”

“Well, okay then.”

“Listen, I’m going to grab some lunch and
then come home. Are you okay with me keeping the car for another
hour or so?”

“Better idea. Come fetch me, we can have
lunch together, and then I can go into the office.” Nicole
suggested.

Ryan hesitated, not wanting to lie to her
friend, but she wasn’t really up for any good natured ribbing
either. “I, ah - I’m having lunch with someone.”

“You’re not letting Jenny in my car, are
you?” Nicole’s tone hovered between teasing and tense.

Ryan weighed her options before responding.
“No.” She held out little hope that Nicole would let her off with a
simple closed ended response.

“Who are you having lunch with – friend?”
Ryan could practically see the mischievous glint in her friend’s
eyes.

Sighing, Ryan decided to take the plunge.
“The woman I met in New York.”

A quiet gasp came from the other end of the
phone. “What? You invited her to lunch and didn’t tell me?”

“No. Nothing like that.” Ryan fastened her
seatbelt, and started the car. “We ran into each other after my
interview, and are going to get a quick bite to eat.”

“What are the odds?” Nicole’s tone was
contemplative.

“The odds of what?” Ryan needed this
conversation to be over or she would
miss
the lunch with
Leah.

“Come on! You don’t think it’s strange that
you’ve run into her - unplanned - like three times now?”

Ryan hadn’t thought about it like that. She
had been so happy to meet and then see Leah; it hadn’t occurred to
her the improbability of the coincidences. “Maybe. I mean, sure,
it’s weird.”

“Stalker.” Nicole sang into the phone.

“Get off it.” Ryan was done with the
conversation.

“Okay, but if you’re not back with my car by
two -”

“Goodbye.” Ryan disconnected the call, a
faint smile on her lips as she maneuvered out of the parking lot.
No one believes in accidents anymore. Fate.
Ryan’s smile
turned to a frown as the word flittered through her mind. She had
never thought of herself as someone who believed in fate.

She didn’t pretend to know much at all about
the grand scheme of everything, but she had never bought into a
master plan and it all meaning something. Nicole had been teasing
her, Ryan knew that, but parking in front of Wegmans, Ryan wandered
if there was some truth in her friend’s taunting.

Wegmans was a regional grocery chain who,
besides offering a broad selection of organic foods and locally
sourced produce, had dedicated an entire portion of the store to an
expansive buffet and bar area. Ryan wound her way through the many
buffet stations and past the small café and beer garden, to find
Leah standing in front of a large display of sliced cake, pie,
puddings and pastries.

“I don’t know anywhere else that it’s
encouraged to buy dessert by the pound.” Leah glanced up and smiled
at Ryan as she scanned the baked goods.

“My roommate brought me here for the first
time about a year ago. I had meant to get some Indian food, but
ended up with a half-pound of cake and pie.”

Leah’s perfectly manicured brow arched as she
looked carefully at Ryan. “Half-pound? You’re just an amateur
then.”

Ryan managed not to laugh, and looked very
seriously at the display case. “I’ve stepped my game up. I’m up to
three quarters of a pound, and my stretch goal is a full pound by
the end of summer.”

Leah nodded, turning her attention back to
the desserts. “Admirable.”

The two women turned their heads at the same
time, and looked at each other. Ryan couldn’t remember ever being
so comfortable and excited all at the same time with someone.

The intensity of Leah’s green eyes brought a
rush of heat to Ryan’s face, and she had to clear her throat before
she could continue. “Speaking of Indian food, I’m heading over to
see what they’re offering today.”

Leah placed a slice of blueberry pie in the
small, clear plastic container on her tray. “I’m going to go see
what they’ve got in the way of Asian cuisine.” The blonde glanced
toward the escalators behind them. “Meet you upstairs?”

Ryan nodded and then made her way towards the
long buffet case lined with every imaginable curry, rice, and
variation on eggplant she could want. In the end, she decided on
gobhi aloo, a blend of cauliflower with potatoes sautéed with garam
masala, and chapathi bread.

Ryan clutched her Indian food, bottled water,
and yellow cake with chocolate icing laden tray tightly as she rode
the escalator to the second floor dining area. She refused to
repeat her clumsiness from earlier.

Scanning the dining area, Ryan quickly
spotted Leah, who sat at a table near the railing that lined the
far side of the space, allowing the diner to overlook the larger
grocery store below.

“Is this okay?” Leah took a drink of what
looked like lemonade through her straw as she looked up at
Ryan.

“It’s good.” Ryan carefully slid her tray
onto the table and took a seat across from Leah.

Ryan carefully removed all of her food and
water from the tray. She opened up her food container, and
unwrapped the chapathi bread from its aluminum foil. Then she
twisted the cap off the bottled water, and opened the utensil pack
she had picked up near the registers downstairs. Sensing she was
being watched, Ryan looked up at an amused Leah.

“What?” Ryan scanned her assortment. “Is
something wrong?”

Leah put her drink down, the corner of her
mouth turned slightly up. “Not at all. You’re very particular.”

Ryan squelched the feeling of awkwardness
that washed over her. “Not really. You’ve seen the damage I can do
with tea. Imagine if an entire lunch got away from me.”

Leah laughed out loud, and the joyful sound
brought a broad grin to Ryan’s face. The blonde opened her own
container to reveal a sizable portion of sesame chicken, steamed
white rice, and an egg roll. “Don’t judge me if I start with the
blueberry pie.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” The two women began
eating in a comfortable silence. Ryan kept reminding herself not to
stare at Leah.
She’s taking a drink from a straw. Since when do
I think that’s sexy?

“Do you think you have a good chance at the
liaison position?” Leah took a bite of an egg roll.

Ryan nodded. “I do. I’m qualified on paper,
but more importantly, with my internships over the past three
years, I have the work experience they are looking for too.”

“Why social policy?” Leah dipped the last of
her egg roll into the sweet and spicy sesame sauce that covered her
chicken.

Ryan hesitated. An honest answer would
require talking about her family, and she had hoped to avoid that
on her first outing with Leah. At the same time, Ryan didn’t want
to start her friendship with the blonde on a false note.

“You know my family.” Ryan watched Leah
carefully to see if the topic was going to make her uncomfortable.
The blonde simply took a bite of the sesame chicken and nodded.