Authors: Eden Davis
“Belinda?”
“Yeah, ahh, actually you've metâ¦kind of.”
“The woman at Jessebelle's? In the bathroom?”
“Yes. Dr. Belinda Rodriquez,” Jasi said, loving the taste of Belinda's name in her mouth.
The wide grin traipsing across Jasi's face said it all. In the two years that she'd dated Todd, Jasi had never looked or sounded so happy.
“Jasi Westfield, I'll be damned. You're in love.”
Like the teenager she felt like, Jasi burst out into giggles. Her joyful laughter was contagious, beseeching Livia to join in. The sounds of their combined mirth melted away any residual angst and anger, finally bringing the two back together.
“I'm genuinely happy for you, Jas. I've never seen you like this.”
“I've never felt like this. I am officially a one-woman, woman!”
“To love,” Livia said, raising her coffee mug for a toast. She touched the side of Jasi's mug while pushing down the twinges of jealousy threatening to rear its ugly head. She was genuinely thrilled for Jasi, but couldn't help wishing that she had a love in her life to giggle over and feel gushy about. Envy was quickly swallowed by an aching sense of lonesomeness. For the first time since her divorce, Livia felt ready, willing and truly wanting to be in love. Mitchell immediately came to mind. Their vacation affair had turned the spigot on those emotions. Livi quickly shut down that thought, wistfully reminding herself that theirs had been a lustful relationship, not a loving one.
“Now, I've got to figure out how to tell Lena and Aleesa.” Jasi looked over at Livia, trying to read her face.
“They won't be a problem, and no, I didn't say anything to them. I figured it was your story to tell, not mine.”
“Thank you, I think.”
“So, when do we get to meet Belinda?”
“Soon,” Jasi promised. “She's dying to meet you all and my parents. Though I don't know how that's going to go down.”
“The same way it went down with me. Tell themâ¦without shame or embarrassment or looking for approval. Tell them about her. When they see how much you love this girl written all over your face, like I did just now, they won't be able to deny your happiness.”
“Let's hope.”
“It's like you told me at my party, âtake no prisoners and make no excuses.'”
“I am one sage bitch, ain't I?” Jasi said with a giggle.
“So you keep telling us! Now, speaking of parties, why don't you bring Belinda to my birthday dinner? It will be a perfect time for us to all meet her.”
“She'll love that. Thank you for asking.”
Livia held out her little finger. “Pinky swear.”
“On what?”
“Pinky swear that you won't let your stupid fears or what you think people will think mess this up for you. That you'll love this girl openly and honestly and let her love you.”
Jasi wrapped her little finger around Livia's. “I am going to try my damnedest; because, Livi, I do love this girl and don't want to fuck it up.”
“Good, speaking of fucking, promise to keep that wandering dickâ¦well, girl dick in your pants.”
“Gladly. I don't want to be with anyone else. So, back to your birthday, I have to ask, how's that list of yours coming?”
“I think you'll be surprised and very proud of me,” Livia mentioned with a coy twist to her mouth.
“What's that about?”
“Well, let's just say that while I'm definitely not Lebanese, I better understand your attraction to women.”
“WHAT! You and your no having sex self got down and dirty with a girl?” Jasi asked, her mouth wide open with genuine surprise.
Again the giggles began, and both knew that they were back to being BFFs. “Not exactly; see what had happened was⦔
“Happy Birthday!” her friends shouted as they led her to the front doors of the Broadway Theatre.
“Sister Act!
Really? Thank you; thank you. I've been so wanting to see this.”
“We know,” Jasi said, “which is why we're all here.”
“And we've arranged for a little surprise after the performance,” Lena chimed in.
“Backstage passes? This gift just keeps getting better.”
“We're not saying. You'll have to wait to find out,” her cousin teased.
“Okay, but if Whoopi Goldberg shows up with a cake, I'm warning you now, I'm going to embarrass all of us.”
“Why should tonight be any different?” Jasi laughed. “Belinda and I are going to head to our seats. We'll see you later. Enjoy the show, birthday girl.”
“We're not all sitting together?”
“Sorry, we couldn't get all the seats together,” Aleesa informed her. “So you and I are sitting together and Lena is sitting with Jasi and her girlfriend.”
“No worries. I really appreciate all the effort you put into this. Cocktails together at Nobu. I don't know how you wrangled those reservations, and now
Sister Act
. It's been a great birthday so far. Thank you.”
“Hey, you're only fifty once,” Jasi remarked.
“Unless you're my mother,” Lena quipped.
“Enjoy the show, Livia,” Belinda said before she and Jasi walked, hand in hand, into the theater to find their seats.
Livia's eyes followed the couple. “So before we go in, what do you all think?” she queried the remaining two.
“I don't know why, but I'm not shocked,” Lena commented.
“Me either. It's not like I ever suspected it, but Jasi is so damn wild, anything is possible. Belinda seems cool.”
“And I've never seen Jasi so happy,” Liv added.
“Belinda might be the one to settle her ass down.”
“Poor Todd, though. I wonder if he even had a clue,” Lena questioned.
“Forget Todd; it's her mother who's going to have a conniption,” Aleesa added. “We should all be there for support when Jasi finally tells them.”
“If she wants us there, we will, but my hunch is that Jasi will want this to be a private family moment. We can discuss all of this later. We'd better get to our seats,” Lena suggested, giving Aleesa a knowing look. “I'll see you later. Enjoy the show!”
As Lena walked off, Livia and her cousin followed the usher down to their seats. Just as they got to their row, Aleesa stopped and announced she had to visit the ladies' room.
“You go sit. I'll be right back.”
Livia entered the row and found her seat. She sat quietly, studying the program and basking in the pre-performance energy buzzing around the auditorium. The people around her included couples and families eagerly awaiting the curtain rising.
Sister Act
had been advertised as a feel-good show, and clearly the audience had arrived with the same preset attitude. Her roving eyes were drawn to a couple nuzzling together in their seats. The haunting sense
of envy and lonesomeness returned. As lovely as it was to have her girlfriends' loving thoughtfulness and support, Liv would rather be celebrating this milestone birthday with a manâher man. The quest to complete that damn list before this day had oiled up her rusty libido and left her feeling hot and horny and wanting sex like never before in her life. But even more than great sex, she wanted to be in love.
The lights flickered, signaling the imminent start of the play, and prompting Livia to stand and survey the room looking for her cousin. There was no sign of Aleesa, prompting Livia to decide that there must already be a line in the ladies' room. She craned her neck toward the other side of the aisle and the corner of her eye caught a profile that stole her breath and violently threw her heart against her chest.
Could it be? No? Maybe. Was that Mitchell? A cocktail of hopefulness and trepidation stirred in her belly, while a myriad of questions burned through her brain. Was fate bringing them together again? Should she go over? What if he was on a date? Should she let him make the first move?
His face was temporarily blocked by the bodies of theater-goers hurrying to their seats. As the aisle cleared, Livia's anxiety was quieted when the face in question turned in her direction, turning her dashed hope into disappointment.
Omigod, you actually miss that man!
It's not Mitchell I miss, it's the sex. No, it's the companionship, not the companion,
Livia argued in her head, needing the clarity. What she'd really like on this milestone evening was a love to share it with.
Livia Charles, get that young boy out of your head,
she commanded herself.
Feeling uncomfortably discombobulated, Livi picked up her purse and rummaged inside looking for breath mints. She didn't
want to think about Mitchell or her lonely existence. She simply wanted to get lost in this show and enjoy her evening.
The lights flickered again while the row began to undulate as those seated rose in a wave to accommodate a latecomer.
Finally,
Livia thought, looking over and expecting to see Aleesa, but instead of her cousin, she found herself looking into the waist of a very tall, well-dressed gentleman about to sit down beside her.
“I'm sorry, but this seat is taken,” Livia barely looked up to inform him.
“This is Row T, seat 110, isn't it?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Then it's my seat.”
“Well, then, there's obviously some mistake.”
Before she could call the usher over, the lights went out and the man sat. As the curtain came up, Livia ignored the opening action and craned her neck around from left to right trying to find her cousin. Aleesa was nowhere to be found.
The confused look on Livia's face was too unsettling to ignore.
“Happy Birthday, Livi Girl,” the man leaned close to her ear to say.
Livia's eyes went wide. Could it be? Nobody had called her Livi Girl in over thirty years. In fact, only one person had nicknamed her that, the first love of her life.
“Bobby?”
“The one and only.”
“What are you doing here? I mean, how did youâ¦what are youâ¦who⦔
“Your cousin. Aleesa and your girls planned all of this, and flew me here to surprise you.”
“Shhhh,” the woman next to them insisted.
“We'll talk after the show.”
Livia smiled and turned her attention back to the performance. Shocked by the unexpected appearance of her first true love, Liv fought to keep her thoughts focused on the energetic musical performance before her. Once the singing stopped, however, Liv couldn't help but to sneak a sideways peek at her apparent birthday gift. Bobby had the same idea, and their smiling eyes met in the dark. They shared a grin before returning their attention back to center stage. Livia felt her heart once again jump and slam into her ribcage.
He looks good!
she thought as her mind quickly compared Bobby to the boy she'd last seen over thirty years ago. Even in this dim light, she could tell that the years had obviously been kind. Time had brought changes, but underneath the additional pounds and salt-and-pepper hair, was the body and soul of the gangly kid she'd once known and loved.
They were just kids back then, both crazy in love with each other. Bobby, a senior and star basketball player, had showed up one day at Livia's cheerleading competition. He'd sat in the seats, watching her every move and eating her up with his eyes the entire time. His lavish attention definitely added to her nerves, but in a pleasing and awesome way that bolstered her confidence. After the competition, the rest of the squad had been disappointed by their third-place showing, but when the awesome and oh so popular Bobby Jeffries met her outside and asked her out, Livia felt like she was walking away with the grand prize.
As the weeks progressed, his good-humored audaciousness and ability to make her feel adored and protected, turned a schoolgirl crush into full-fledged love. She and Bobby became a well-known, and happily clichéd entityâthe high school superstar athlete and his cheerleader girlfriend. They were together his entire senior year, and during that time, Bobby Jeffries proved himself to be a
loving and thoughtful young man. He was high-spirited and adventurous, and in so many ways made a relatively shy Livia blossom.
By the summer after his graduation, Bobby's yeoman patience with his girlfriend had reached its limits. As time marched on, and kissing and heavy petting with Livia became more painful than pleasurable, he, as young men have a tendency to do, began to pressure her to go all the way.
Livia's body was more than willing, but the powerful convictions her parents and pastor had planted within her won out over temptation. For 16-year-old Livia Charles, living in the early 1970s in a strict Catholic household, sex before marriage was not an option. Bobby had been as understanding as a teenager with raging hormones could be, but eventually, his tolerance for celibacy wore thin. He did have the decency to break up with her before he took up with the much more amenable Sandra Middleton.
Livi had been crushed at the time, but looking back, she couldn't blame him. Her memories of their time together had always been fond and full of happiness. Over the years, wondering what she might have missed and given up had haunted her, which is exactly why she'd added him to her list of fuckable wishes.
Your cousin planned all of this.
Bobby's words interrupted her reverie. Those sneaky bitches! So this is what they must have meant by a surprise after the show. She'd assumed that they'd secured backstage passes for her to meet the cast. In reality, they'd set her up for the night with the one item from her list that she'd never expected to fulfill. She didn't know whether to be grateful or spiteful. Livia couldn't worry about that now because the overwhelming emotion overtaking her at the moment was curiosity.
The first act ended to the sound of thunderous applause. No doubt,
Sister Act
was a hit. As the crowd filed out for intermission, Livia was unsure about what to do. Part of her wanted to run and
find her friends, first to beat them down for setting her up like this, and then to ask their advice on how to proceed. She hadn't seen this man in over thirty years. And it wasn't like they'd just bumped into each other. Whether Bobby knew it or not, this meeting had been prearranged for the sole purpose of having sex. They might as well have hired a male escort. It would have made all of this much easier. Without intending to, her cousin and friends had placed her in the exact same place Bobby had left her years ago, wondering if she should or shouldn't have sex with him.