Poor Alexis. When it rains, it freaking pours.
“What do you mean she left?” I demand of the man in front of me. We’re standing in what used to be Alexis’s apartment. It’s the day after I had Robin call the firm’s private investigator, Eugene Harvey. Obviously, the first place that he went to was Alexis’s apartment. But he called me an hour after he arrived at Alexis’s apartment. “Boss,” he said the second I picked up. The man is good, but he has this odd habit of calling everyone “boss.” “Ya gotta get down here. I sent cha the address.” “What’s going on, Eugene?” I asked him. “She’s not here, boss. I got the building owner on his way. You come and we’ll make a plan,” Eugene said. “What do you mean? She might be at the doctor’s or the grocery store.” I didn’t really understand his urgency. I mean, I didn’t like that she’s out in about during COVID, while pregnant with my babies. She should be sitting at home with every one of her whims catered to. I should be there beside her. Fuck! I really screwed up. “N
I left the nursing home in a daze. I wasn’t even allowed to go see my mother because of the risk of spreading COVID throughout the home. Apparently it’s pretty bad already and they won’t let anyone in the rooms. Which means that the last time I saw my mom was the LAST time that I saw my mom. Fuck. I’ve lost my dad, my brother, and now I’m losing my mom. I’m an orphan. I’m not sure how I got home. I mean, I know that I drove, but I don’t remember anything about the drive. It was like I just blinked and I went from Mabel’s office to my front door. I don’t even realize that I missed my OB appointment until they called to ask if I was coming. I just let it go to voicemail. I know that I need to care for my babies and I’ll reschedule. I just…I just can’t right now. I sit on the couch, staring off into space, unsure what to do. How to move on. I’m…I’m all alone. No one to turn to. Yeah, I’ve got friends, on a superficial level. Even Casey at work. I’ve never told any
1 month later… “Alright, this is going to be warm,” Dr. Potter tells Lex before putting the gel on her small baby bump. You can’t even really see it unless she’s naked or wearing something that’s more form fitting, the former of which I try to see as often as possible. I stand next to her as she’s lying on the exam table in the bougie, upscale OBGYN that I insisted that she go to. Only the best for my girl and our children. We’re getting ready for the first sonogram that I’ve been here for. Lex of course got one when she first found out that she was pregnant, but Dr. Potter very much believes that unless she’s looking for specific milestones or there’s an issue that she’s looking into. So, today, at our estimated 12 week mark, we get to see our little ones. I’m so excited that I don’t seem to know what to do with myself. Lex looks at me with an amused smirk. “Calm down, Daddy. They aren’t going anywhere.” I know that my eyes flash dangerously with the connotation that
“Would you please just come out with us tonight, Andie? Jorge is bringing those prosciutto canapes that you love. And Jordan will be there.” Jamies says the last with a whining, weedling tone. “You know that I’m under a deadline. If I don’t get this website finished in the next two days, I’ve gotta work my ass off. And I hate parties,” I tell her as I continue the braid crown that she asked me to do in her hair. “How does someone hate parties? I will never understand that. The food, the music, the dancing,” she lists off. “The hangovers, the awkward small talk, the weird attempts at people hooking me up with their friends,” I counter, pinning her hair and picking up the hairspray. “Well, you know that you could always hang out with us. Jorge wouldn’t mind,” she says. God, does she have no idea about the crush that I have on her boyfriend? How is that even possible? Jamie is my roommate. The two of us work together at Sasquatch Books here in San Francisco, her in
“This party sucks!” Jorge whines in my ear. He’s not wrong. What was promising to be a fun, alcohol-flowing, hottie packed rager has turned into a sad, techno-blaring, blinking light, gathering of about 100 people milling about a mostly abandoned warehouse. I roll my eyes. “I know, babe. It’s a good thing that Andie didn’t come. She would have thought that our parties were…this.” I can’t help but sneer at the pathetic attempt around me. I can’t believe that we left Andie for this shit. Andrea “Andie” Cove is my best friend in the entire world. I’ve also been in love with her for the entire time that I’ve known her. It’s why I’ve insisted on living with her, even though I’ve moved in with Jorge. Oh, Jorge. God, this man is my perfect match in every way possible. We both are extremely outgoing, loving to party and meet new people. We both have the exact same sense of humor. We both have the same exhibition kink. And we both have feelings for Andie that go beyond frien
I wake up next to Jaime in our bed at about mid morning. Jaime is sprawled on her side of the bed, one leg across me. She’s softly snoring in that cute way that she has and I really don’t want to disturb her. But I’ve got to pee. I slowly extricate myself from her, not wanting to wake her up. As much as I love this woman, you do NOT want to wake her up before she’s ready. It’s not pretty. Once up, I notice the smell of bacon and french toast. Andie’s up. Fuck! And now I feel an ache in my groin for a completely different reason. I hurry to the en suite, using the facilities and brushing my teeth and hair. I debate on putting more clothes on, since I’m only in boxers. But then I think, “Why?” I want this woman. I’ve wanted this woman for nearly the entire time that I’ve known Jamie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m head over heels in love with Jamie. But I’ve also got the biggest crush on Andie that I think I’ve had in my life. It’s only heightened by the fact that Jaime h
My heart is pounding as I escape to the bathroom, not just from the nearness of getting caught, but also from the intense almost kiss with Jorge. Holy smokes that was hot! Jorge has been an object of fascination for me for a long time. A novelty for a small town girl who had never met a gay couple until I moved to San Francisco. Ok, that doesn’t make me homophobic in any way, shape, or form. I just came from a town in the middle of the country where there wasn’t a lot of variety in the types of people that lived there. I knew about homosexuality and my family has raised me to care about the person, not about what a label may mean.It’s part of the reason that I joined the LGBTQ+ group in college and how I met Jaime. I knew that there was a lot that I didn’t know. And how can you truly appreciate people and what they stand for without getting to know them? So, I joined a couple of clubs to broaden my exposure to all different kinds of people. I’m not usual
Jorge left for work about 20 minutes ago, since he’s working the dinner shift for the foreseeable future. He recently got promoted to sous chef at his restaurant, a huge jump for him. But it means that he goes in to work in the afternoons and doesn’t usually get home until 2 or 3 in the morning. It’s my day off of work, since I typically work 4, 10 hour days at Sasquatch. Honestly, I could probably work whatever I wanted to and the company would be fine with it. I’m the assistant direction in the marketing department and have been there for so many years that they trust me. I’m restless, knowing what nearly happened earlier between Andie and Jorge. Knowing that I screwed that up. Jorge and I talked about it at length while Andie was in the shower, knowing that getting an opportunity that organic again isn’t going to be easy. What was encouraging, for Jorge, at least, is that Andie seemed into it. What sucked is that she jumped away from him the second that she heard my v
Hey friends! Thank you so much for reading Love in the Time of Quarantine. I hope that you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Here are a couple of announcements/interesting information for you. 1. If you are interested in what I listen to while I’m writing, you can find my playlist “Creative Juices” on Spotify. I love all different kinds of music, so there's a little something for everyone. 2. Other books on GoodNovel: Trio of Mates Series: 4 werewolf books that take on the idea of what would happen if one of the leadership was gay and couldn’t produce an heir. Lots of very graphic smut. (completed) Trio Legacy Series: The stories of the children of the wolves introduced in the Trio of Mates Series. Completed: Hide and Seek, Ongoing: Red Rover Dissonance and Harmony: The story of a high school girl who has to face her rapist at his sentencing hearing and deal with her PTSD from that night. Graphic violence and rape scenes. (completed) 3. Follow me under the same name
I’m standing outside of the girls’ apartment, my old apartment, with a picnic basket of baked goods and a cooler with drinks, fruits, and icings to add. I have muffins, cinnamon rolls, danishes, cinnamon raisin bread, and fresh bagels. Ok, I went a little overboard. I can admit that. I’m just so fucking anxious about this whole thing that I don’t know how to handle my feelings right now. I had been awake when Andie had texted me last night, contemplating what Angel had said to me earlier that day. I’d actually been looking at pictures of Andie and Jaime on my phone when I got the text. We’d been so happy before this whole thing started. I miss them. So damn much and it took losing them to understand what I’d done wrong. I didn’t even have to think twice about it, I immediately texted her back that I would bring breakfast. And then I fell to sleep without any issue. Granted, I’d only gotten a few hours in bed, since I had to make deliveries to the bakery this morning.
I’ve been tossing and turning in bed all night after listening to everything Angel and Maddie said tonight. “You three belong together.” “He loves you.” “He wants you back.” “What do you have to lose if you do call him?” I know what my heart wants. I also know what my heart is afraid is going to happen. How can I allow him to possibly hurt me, us, all over again? What’s the definition of insanity? Doing something the same way over and over again and expecting a different result? Wouldn’t it just be insanity to allow him back into our lives again and hoping for a different result. Though both Angel and Marta have said that he’s reducing his hours at the business, that they’ve hired a lot of new people, and that he’s learned his lesson. Could it be true? Could he have really changed for us, even if he didn’t think that we’d be there for him? I don’t know. We’ve been in bed since midnight and it’s 3 am. With a huge sigh, I get up and grab my robe. I tie the robe
Jaime and I go about making dinner in silence. We are a well oiled machine at this point, moving easily around each other in our kitchen. Angel and her partner Maddie are coming over tonight for dinner and to play cards. It’s something that we started up in college with Angel. A weekly card game. Each week, someone picks the game that we play and once a year, each of us is supposed to introduce a new card game. We use candy and snack foods for any games that require betting. It’s more to hang out and have fun than anything else. Maddie and Angel have been very careful of who they let in their circle, as have we, so we all feel comfortable being around each other, even with COVID still happening. Unfortunately, this is how much of our life has been since Jorge left. Just a silent orbit around each other. Hold each other through the tears and the pain. But not really talking. I mean, what was there to say? We were enough for each other, but not for the man that we love
“Angel, do you have tomorrow’s shipment of bread all packaged? Carmello’s needs the delivery an hour early. I’d like to be able to have everything on rolling carts so I can just load up the trucks the second I get here,” I call to Angel. When she first started working with me, I had brought Angel on just as a delivery driver. But over the last two months, I have consciously tried to pull myself back from the business and I’ve made Angel a partner. We have three drivers, a part-time baker, and two part-time packagers. I’ve cut my hours back so that I’m working nine hour days, as opposed to the 16 hour days I was working before. The only reason that I’m driving tomorrow is because our early morning guy took tomorrow off. Otherwise, I’ve even built in my Wednesdays and Sundays as days off. “Yes, everythings all ready. Just waiting for the last batch to finish cooling before we get it packaged. I’ll get that done in the next hour,” Angel tells me. I let out a huge sigh. “O
It’s been a week since our last interaction with Jorge. We’ve been communicating via text and notes left at the apartment. The morning after our break up, Jorge was gone by the time Andie and I woke up. He had packed a bag and left a note saying that he would be in and out while Andie and I were at work over the coming week. He’s moving into an apartment over his parents’ restaurant. It was a place that his dad used as an office and that one family member or another would crash at when they were in the dog house with their wives or girlfriends. Not a bad place, but also not a place for someone with as successful a business as Jorge’s. Unfortunately, with COVID still pretty bad, Jorge has elected to stay in a place where only family has been until things blow over a bit. Trying to decide what belongs to who out of our stuff over text is difficult. I had honestly thought that Jorge was the one. The guy that I was going to spend the rest of my life with. When we added Andie
In that way that grief between people who love each other will sometimes turn sexual, when Jorge turns to Jaime and kisses her, she kisses him back. I lean in and kiss the side of his face. He turns towards me and God does it feel good to kiss him. I’ve missed him so damn much. It’s been too damn long. Jaime brings his mouth back to her, their kiss hungry and desperate. My hands go to the bottom of the hoodie he’s wearing and I rip it off of him. Jaime finds his mouth again and I lean down, licking his nipples. He groans into Jaime’s mouth and his body tenses in his arousal. He loves having his nipples played with. At the same time, I rake my nails down his abs. Jorge pulls back from Jaime’s mouth to look down at me. “Please. I need you both.” His voice is so full of need. I look at Jaime, asking if she’s ok with this. Because this is going to be an end. Not a reconciliation. But I want this. I need him. Jaime nods, both of us seeing the motion. Jorge surg
Andie looks between Jaime and me and seems to immediately know what’s going on. She’s always had that ability. To take a situation in at a glance and know exactly what is going on. I guess that’s what makes her so good at programming. And at calling me on my bullshit. Ever since the day that I triggered Jaime’s meltdown, Andie has been more aloof with me. I guess she realized that the promises that I made to her and Jaime, while heartfelt and genuine, weren’t ones that I could keep. I feel like the time that I managed to get after that was more for Jaime’s benefit than Andie’s. As introverted and quiet as she appears, Andie doesn’t take bullshit from anyone. She’s given me more rope than I deserve. But it seems that it was just enough for me to hang myself with. “How far are we into this conversation?” Andie asks. I stare at her, surprised at how calmly she can address this. Jaime is the one that answers. “I’ve told him that he isn’t treating us like priorities an
I’m sitting on the couch flipping through the channels on the TV when Jorge walks in. It’s been two days since our failed date and this is the first time that I’ve seen him in more then passing. He’s dressed in sweats and a tank, his hair wet from a shower. He must have just come back from a run. Andie and I have been sleeping in her old room ever since our failed date night. With the hours that he’s been keeping, I don’t really know what he’s up to. I don’t know that I really can muster up the ability to care. Each time I do, it just seems to hurt me a little more. “Hey…” Jorge says tentatively. He walks in the room and sits on the arm of the couch. I glance over at him. “Hey,” I say, turning my attention back to the TV. “Um…where’s Andie?” he asks, like he’s not sure what to say. “Doctor’s appointment and then grocery shopping.” My responses aren’t angry, but they are short and I don’t turn my attention back to him. Instead I give the remote the voice command to tu