Grace

Grace - short story. Secrets. Expectations. Walls. What would we all do to protect our secrets, lies, even the ones we tell ourselves? Two women whose paths become unexpectedly intertwined, stories entangled, are forced to consider what trust means to them, or not; how far to lean into or away from their inner voices. Teaser from Grace:Taking the only empty stool in the early evening rush, I ordered a dirty martini, one of those kinds of days for half fun, half serious drinking.
The woman next to me looked over, nodded approvingly. We struck up pleasantries, bar greetings. My neighbor was cute, beautiful really, though something was not quite right. She seemed almost plain, but it felt a little put on, like she was holding back or playing a part. Beyond the straight forward expression her smile was more sly, laugh a bit more knowing. But I was really just in for a quick drink or two tonight, not an adventure.
The woman was quick with conversation, easy to talk to, with an undertone of shy - again, kind of an odd combination. Marlin, the very gay, very cute bartender, also my friend and some-time wing man, stopped by to say loud enough for her to hear, "your new friend is cute. Great hair.""She's beautiful, " I nodded. Pretty features, smooth pearl skin that offsets long dark wavy auburn hair, a removed kind of beauty with mild, flat red lipstick and olivey green eyes.
Could be out of a Hardy or Hugo novel. As he walked away she said calmly, "thank you, but I'm straight. And I'm meeting someone in a few minutes.""You're welcome, " I offered, "but I wasn't hitting on you. Just calls em like I sees em. And you do have great hair, unique color."Smiling and raising her glass in toast, "fair enough." After a beat, she turned serious eyes my way, "why?""Why wasn't I hitting on you?" Nod, eyes now curious.
"I'm in for a couple drinks, strong liquid relaxation to decompress from my day. That's it."Her cool green eyes studied me. "But can you predict that? What if this is YOUR night, and the perfect thing for you is in this room? You'd have your drinks and walk out anyway?"