Kelsey adjusted the sprig of fake pine once again. She wanted it to add a touch of wildness to the photograph, but not an untamed vibe! The steam from her coffee had dissipated several minutes ago, yet she still felt the heat emanating from the mug as she fussed with her display. At the center, her notebook. The least noteworthy thing in her apartment.
With a sigh, she took the shot. "I suppose it's good enough." Kelsey announced to her empty living room, the heavily framed photograph of a woman judging her. "Shut it, Janice. You don't know what it's like to live in these times!" Kelsey proclaimed to the stunning woman painted in tones of purple, who had earned the name in some forgotten situation.
Neglected, put on display, and nearly cold, the mug of coffee was released from its pose. The whipped cream wilted from the heat, caving in on itself. The first sip left a mustache of white against Kelsey's upper lip, hastily licked away. As she uploaded the photo with a cute caption, she felt deflated. Tomorrow was Christmas, and she had no plans.
Her boyfriend had left her two weeks ago, the woman's name was Sophie. How absurdly adorable! Apparently, Connor had fallen right in love with her, and had no desire to continue with Kelsey. Two years, just to get dumped before Christmas!
Kelsey flung her phone onto the couch, letting her prolonged breath hiss out between closed teeth. It was time to get dressed. It was childish to be so negative, thinking she couldn't show up at her parents' house, just because of the break-up!
She'd go out tonight, have some fun. Tomorrow, she would suck it up, and the face the music. She'd have to discuss what happened with Connor eventually, why not do it over pie, right? Plus, surely her family would be cool about it...
Heading towards the bathroom, she tried to visualize a new beginning. She was going to rinse off the funk, and come out fresh! Things would look up, she just needed to keep a keen eye and an open heart! As the steam filled the tiled space, Kelsey felt strangely absolved.
The feeling continued as she dried her legs, the droplets of water racing towards her feet, wiped up in the fluff of the towel before they met their mark. Her skin was new, Connor never touched this skin, she could tell in the way that it glowed.
A horrible sound rattled against the porcelain as she dried off, a cascade that built until she understood. She was really laughing. In the ugly way that Connor hated, the way that actually belonged to her. How had she forgotten?
Moving to her bedroom, she faced her closet. Shoving aside her current regulars, who were meant to impresses a certain doofus, she revealed her forgotten loves. Yes, maybe this was all a good thing! Sipping the now definitely cold coffee again, the strange feeling amplified.
A new woman returned to the living room, to scoop the cellphone up from the sofa. Scrolling through the empty comments and likes, a name jumps out at Kelsey. Sophie Derek, the gal Connor left her for. What nerve, commandeering the louse was one thing, but now she was rubbing it in Kelsey's face on social media? How cold.
Then the next notification blocked it out, Sophie had sent her a DM! "Hey Kelsey, I know you probably hate me..." The preview says. Kelsey clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth, before draining the coffee mug. Like a rush of adrenaline, it all came together in her mind. Sophie didn't steal Connor, people don't belong to other people. The anger faded away in perspective.
Within a few exchanges, it is established that Sophie did not know about Kelsey, and she's very sorry about it. "I've broken up with Connor, not that it fixes things for you." Sophie had said. Then the unexpected, "Would you want to grab a drink?" Kelsey didn't have to think too hard, hanging out with the only other woman who knew what a jerk Connor was sounded pretty good!
Sophie is even cuter in person, her nose is so delicate above her full lips. Her eyes, shining like diamonds in the dim bar lighting. They had opted to sit in a booth, and at first it had been brutally awkward. Until Connor texted Kelsey, prompting her to roar out in laughter. "You have a really unique and adorable laugh, I love it!" Sophie says, she has no idea how much Kelsey needed to hear that.
For a moment, Kelsey wanted to read the text out loud, laugh at the low effort "take me back" he sent. Instead, she looked closer at Sophie. "YOU'RE really adorable!" Kelsey blurts out, she didn't mean to! The alcohol was making her lips loose, filling her with a curiosity...
"So are you, Kelsey! Connor is way too much of a dweeb for either of us, maybe we should have dated instead!" she pauses for just a second too long before laughing, and in it they have a non-verbal exchange. And then Sophie laughs, and it is swept away in the flow of conversation, which now is smoother than a hot knife through butter!
The alternating lights of the Christmas decorations in the bar began to blur a bit, as the women had their 5th, and then 6th drinks. Sinatra begins to play over the speakers, "Soon all your troubles will be far away... so have yourself a merry little Christmas, today..." They smile at each other, knowing that has been well achieved. A seventh drink is ordered, and the rest is history.
