Under a falling star, p.30
Under a Falling Star, page 30
Company policy states that every employee has to make a Christmas wish. Please adhere to it.
D. Saunders
Oops. She had never followed that order. Her paper snowflake was still as blank as freshly fallen snow. She laughed as she read the postscript Dee had scribbled beneath the message.
PS: Be careful when you hang the snowflake. Beware of falling stars!
That falling star had certainly led to a turbulent year, but Austen didn’t regret any of it. She put the snowflake and the two pieces of paper into the box and turned to say good-bye to Tim.
His door was closed, so he was probably on the phone or in a meeting.
No big deal. She would see him later this week for Christmas dinner anyway. After Dee had quit her job, her father had announced that he didn’t want to see her or talk to her until she came to her senses, so instead of going over to spend Christmas with Dee’s family, they would have dinner with Austen’s family. Tim and his wife would join them.
With the box in her arms, she took the elevator back down to the lobby.
On the twelfth floor, the elevator stopped and two employees from sales got on. They leaned against the mirrored wall, staying away from Austen’s side of the elevator, but eyed her the whole twelve floors down.
When the doors pinged open and Austen stepped out into the lobby, one of them whispered to the other, “Did you hear what happened?”
“No. What?”
“That bitch, Ms. Saunders, fired her on her very last day.”
Austen whirled around. She couldn’t take all the rumors people spread about Dee anymore. “No, that’s not what happened. I quit because I couldn’t take the stupid gossip around here anymore!”
One woman took a step back until she crashed into her colleague. “I-I didn’t think…”
“That’s right. You didn’t think. You just repeated a rumor you heard, without bothering to check if it’s true first. How would you feel if people did that to you for fourteen years?”
The woman just stared at her.
Austen took a deep breath and tried to rein in her thudding pulse. She forced a smile, said, “Merry Christmas,” and walked away.
Vanessa waved at her from behind the reception desk. “Hey, Austen. Last day?”
Austen nodded, even though it felt more like the first day of her new life.
“So you and Ms. Saunders…?”
Austen just smiled, not wanting to contribute to the rumors going around.
“I gave my notice this morning too,” Vanessa said, her voice lowered to a whisper.
“You did?”
“Yes. It just…it wasn’t working out, and I deserve better than waiting around for…” Vanessa bit her lip.
Austen let go of the box with one hand and patted her arm. “You do. Take good care of yourself and merry Christmas.”
“You too.”
The box in her arms, Austen circled the Christmas tree and headed for the glass doors. At the last moment, she turned back and stopped in front of the tree. She took the slip of paper with Dee’s name out of the box, pinned it to the snowflake with the stapler, and hung both on the tree.
There. She had finally made a wish. Having Dee in her life was really the only thing she wanted—needed—for this Christmas and all future Christmases.
After one glance back at the silver snowflake gleaming against the background of red plastic apples, she stepped through the glass doors and stopped to suck in a lungful of the fresh winter air.
“Austen!” someone called from the visitors’ parking spots.
Austen turned.
Dee leaned against her BMW and waved.
Their gazes met across the parking lot.
Austen dropped the box and sprinted over, right into Dee’s arms.
Dee held her tightly and then kissed her.
“Hi,” Austen mumbled against her lips when the kiss ended. “This is a nice surprise. Your appointment with your banker didn’t take long.”
“No, it didn’t.”
“How did it go?”
“Great.” Dee smiled broadly. “I’ll tell you everything on the way home. Let’s get your box and go.”
When Dee wanted to walk over to the box, Austen held on to her. “You know what? I think I don’t need it anymore. This is the first day of my new job, and I’m sure my new boss will buy me a new stapler.”
“How come you’re in such a good mood? I thought you hated first days?”
Austen grinned. “Not anymore. The curse is broken.”
“All right. But you don’t have a new boss. We’re partners, Austen—in life and in business.”
That would take some getting used to. Austen still tended to think she didn’t have much to contribute to their newly founded company, but Dee obviously thought otherwise. “Okay, partner. Then let’s go home.” She walked over to the box and took out the note Dee had written her last year before returning to Dee’s side and reaching for the car key in her hand. “Can I drive?”
Dee snatched the key out of her reach. “No.”
“But if you are not my boss anymore, you don’t have the authority to tell me I can’t drive.”
“It’s my car.”
Grinning, Austen shook her head. “It’s the new company car, so it’s ours.”
Dee rolled her eyes and looked up at the gray sky. “Why oh why did I have to fall in love with the only woman on earth who’s more stubborn than me?”
“Because your brother wished for it upon a star.”
Dee seemed to consider it for a moment and then nodded slowly. “I knew he was my favorite for a reason. But you still don’t get to drive.”
Laughing, Austen walked around the car and got in on the passenger side.
Epilogue
Dee stood with everyone else as the organist started playing the wedding march.
The doors at the back of the chapel opened, and Austen’s father and his bride walked down the aisle arm in arm. Dee chuckled as she remembered Caroline’s energetic response at being asked who would walk her down the aisle. “I’m not some maiden to be given away for three goats and a gaggle of geese,” she had said. “We’re in this together, so we’ll walk in together.”
Dee liked that sentiment, and she also liked Gene’s spunky bride.
Austen and her brother—maid of honor and best man—had already taken their places at the altar.
The ceremony was short and a bit of a blur to Dee because she couldn’t look away from Austen, who stood holding the bouquet of white roses for Caroline. In her turquoise dress that made her eyes appear even bluer and revealed glimpses of her shapely legs, she outshone the bride—at least in Dee’s opinion.
As the couple exchanged rings, a ray of sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, making a rainbow of color flicker across Austen’s face.
Beautiful.
Over the head of her father, who was now kissing his new wife, Austen smiled at her.
At this very moment, Dee’s parents, her brothers, and her eleven cousins were all at the West Coast Business Symposium, listening to Uncle Wade’s keynote speech, but Dee knew that there was no place else she would rather be than here—with Austen.
* * *
Carrying two empty plates, Austen stood in the line that had formed in front of the chocolate wedding cake. She glanced over at their table while she waited.
Her father stood next to the table, talking to Dee. He looked just as good in his classic black tuxedo as Dee did in her cream-colored pantsuit.
Wonder what they’re talking about?
He laughed about something Dee had said and then bent to kiss her cheek before walking away.
Oh, wow. What a relief to see them get on so well!
Someone cleared his throat behind her, and Austen realized it was her turn to get cake.
Carrying two pieces of the delicious-looking dessert, she made her way back to their table. She stopped to talk to one of her father’s friends, back from his days in the Marine Corps. “I hear you’re a grandfather now.”
A pleased smile spread over his bearded face. “Yeah. Thank God she doesn’t look anything like her grandfather.”
Austen laughed. “Congratulations.” As she hugged him, she gazed over his shoulder—and then quickly pulled back. “Excuse me for a moment. I’d better go rescue my partner.”
“Oh, sure, go.”
Austen hurried toward the table, where Grandaunt Elisa had her arm looped through Dee’s and was chatting her ear off. She slid one of the plates in front of Dee and took a seat next to her. “Hi, Auntie.”
Her grandaunt lifted her glasses, which dangled on a golden chain around her neck, to her eyes. “Oh, Austen, it’s you. I was just telling your friend about the day I married my Paul, God rest his soul.”
Had anyone told Auntie Elisa that Dee was more than just a friend? Austen wasn’t even sure her grandaunt knew she was gay. She hesitated for a few moments but then decided that she was through hiding their relationship. “Dee is more than just my friend, Auntie.”
Her grandaunt patted Dee’s arm and smiled. “Oh, yes, she just told me.”
“She did?” Austen looked back and forth between her grandaunt and Dee.
Grandaunt Elisa nodded. “She’s your partner, right?”
Wow, for a ninety-year-old woman, she was really matter-of-fact about lesbian relationships. Who knew? Austen beamed. “Yes, she is.”
“That’s wonderful, honey. I always told your father he should have sent you to college, no matter what. You never could fulfill your potential as a secretary.”
Uh…what? What did college have to do with her relationship? She sent Dee a helpless gaze.
“Your grandaunt thinks it’s great that we partnered up to open our own company.”
“Yes!” Auntie Elisa clapped her hands. “A company producing toys for pets is such a wonderful idea. I’ll be your first customer. My Coco will love it.”
“Oh.” Austen slid her chair a little closer to the table. “Um, but, Auntie, Dee isn’t just my partner in business.”
A frown deepened the lines on her grandaunt’s face. She let go of Dee’s arm so she could point from her to Austen and back. “You mean… You…? She…? The two of you are…?”
Sitting up as straight as she could, Austen nodded. “We are a couple and just as much in love as Uncle Paul and you were.”
Grandaunt Elisa looked thoughtful. “That’s a lot of love.”
“Yes,” Austen said and glanced at Dee. “It is.”
Her grandaunt shook her head as if she still couldn’t quite process it but then shrugged and reached for Dee’s arm again. “So tell me, dear. How did you meet my grandniece?”
Austen blew out a breath. That hadn’t gone too badly.
Dee looked over at her, and they smiled at each other. “Well,” Dee said and wrapped her free arm around Austen, “we met under a falling star, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
###
If you liked reading about these characters, you might want to check out the novel Conflict of Interest, which tells the story of Austen’s best friend, Dawn, and her partner, Aiden.
About Jae
Jae grew up amidst the vineyards of southern Germany. She spent her childhood with her nose buried in a book, earning her the nickname professor. The writing bug bit her at the age of eleven. For the last eight years, she has been writing mostly in English.
She used to work as a psychologist but gave up her day job in December 2013 to become a full-time writer and a part-time editor. As far as she’s concerned, it’s the best job in the world.
When she’s not writing, she likes to spend her time reading, indulging her ice cream and office supply addictions, and watching way too many crime shows.
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Excerpt from Conflict of Interest
by Jae
“I’m going to throw up,” Dawn Kinsley said, rubbing her nervous stomach.
“No, you won’t.” Her friend and colleague Ally just grinned. “Come on, you’re a therapist. You’re used to talking to people.”
“Not to one hundred cops who would rather be elsewhere and who won’t give me the time of day.” Dawn knew what the police officers sitting on the other side of the curtain were thinking. Most of them would view her lecture as a waste of time.
Ally rolled her eyes. “A psychologist with glossophobia. I wonder what the APA would say about that.”
“I’m sure the American Psychological Association would be much more concerned about a psychologist with your lack of compassion,” Dawn answered, now with a grin of her own. Usually, she didn’t have a problem with public speaking. She had held her own in front of gum-chewing high school kids, earnest college students, and renowned psychologists twice her age, but cops were a special audience for her. It was almost as if she was expecting to see her father sitting in one of the rows and was trying to impress him. Oh, come on. This is not the time to start analyzing yourself.
“Touché,” Ally said.
Both of them had to chuckle, and Dawn felt herself relax.
“There are a few techniques that can help in these situations, you know,” Ally said.
“Let me guess—picturing everyone in the audience naked?” Dawn grinned at her friend. “And how would that help with my nervousness?”
Ally shrugged. “Well, maybe it won’t.” She peeked out from behind the curtain, letting her appreciative gaze wander over the men in the first few rows. “But it might be nice nonetheless.”
“Maybe for you, but how would it be nice for me to picture a room full of naked men? Hello?” Dawn gave a little wave. “Did you miss the office memo informing everyone about my sexual orientation?”
“Office memo? Is that what they call it nowadays when spotted kissing your girlfriend in the office parking lot?”
“What?” Dawn sputtered. “I never did that!”
Ally rubbed her forehead and pretended to think about it. “No? Must have been Charlie, then.” She pushed the curtain aside to glance at the audience again. “There are also a few female officers down there. You could look at them.”
“All two of them?” Dawn joked but stepped closer to follow Ally’s gaze. There were more than two female cops in the audience—but not that many more.
“Pick one,” Ally said.
Dawn nudged her with an elbow. “I’m here to give a lecture, not to pick up women, Ally.”
Ally ignored her protests. “Pick one and concentrate on her during your lecture. Ignore the rest of the crowd. It’ll help with the nervousness. So?” She pointed to the seated police officers.
Well, it can’t hurt. Dawn craned her neck and peeked past the taller Ally. Her gaze wandered from woman to woman, never stopping for long until… “Her!” she said, pointing decisively.
In the very last row, between a tall African American man in his forties and a younger man whose posture screamed “rookie,” a female plainclothes detective was just taking her seat. She had short, jet-black hair, and a leather jacket covered what Dawn could see of her tall, athletic frame.
“Ooh!” Ally whistled quietly. “Nice choice! Didn’t know you liked them a little on the butch side, though. Maggie isn’t nearly—”
“Compared to Maggie, even you look butch,” Dawn said.
“Dr. Kinsley?”
Dawn looked away from the detective and turned around. “Yes?”
One of the seminar organizers stepped up to them. “Here are your handouts.” He handed her a stack of paper. “Are you ready to begin?”
Dawn clutched the handouts and swallowed. “Yes.”
“Good luck,” Ally said. Behind the seminar organizer’s back, she mouthed, “Remember to picture her naked.”
How’s that supposed to calm my racing heart? Dawn stepped out from behind the curtain and made her way over to the microphone with a confidence she didn’t really feel.
* * *
Aiden slumped into a seat between her partner and Ruben Cartwright. The chair next to Ruben was suspiciously empty. “Where’s your partner? Terminal back pain again?” If she had to be at this stupid seminar, so did everyone else, even hypochondriacs like Jeff Okada.
Ruben looked up from the paper airplane that had once been his seminar brochure. He shoved a strand of brown hair out of his boyishly handsome face and glanced from Aiden to her partner. “Uh, what?”
Ray leaned over to him with a grin. “There’s one thing you have to know about your new partner, rookie. His back acts up every time a seminar comes along.”
“It acts up whenever I have to sit in one of these seats designed for first graders,” Jeff Okada said as he walked up to them. Gingerly, he eased himself down next to his rookie partner.
Aiden sighed and glanced at her watch. She had a stack of unfinished reports on her desk, and their thirty open cases didn’t get any closer to being solved while she sat here. The seminar also stopped her from spending her lunch hour in the courtroom’s gallery, watching her favorite deputy district attorney at work. Maybe she would have even worked up the courage to ask Kade to lunch today.
Sighing again, she wrestled herself into a standing position and pointed to the back of the conference room. “I’m going for coffee.”
“If you want to live long enough to enjoy your hard-earned pension, I’d advise against that, my friend.” Okada raised his index finger in warning. “In more than twenty-five years on the job, I’ve never been to a law enforcement seminar with even halfway decent coffee.”
