Sweet & Spicy Lesbian Short Stories (GirlxGirl)

Call Me Blue: Part 1

When a porter at a five-star hotel hits it off with a celebrity guest, she gets an invitation she can't refuse. Rating: M

~

I smooth my black jacket, fix the angle of my cap, and plaster a smile on my face as the town car rolls to a stop in front of me. I open the back door, extending a hand to help the elderly man get out.

"Welcome to the Cedarwood, sir."

When you're a kid, everyone loves to ask you what you want to be when you grow up. My answer changed from year to year—dog trainer, teacher, bookshop owner, fashion designer.

I never guessed where I would end up at twenty-one years old.

I am the door person at a five-star hotel in downtown Vancouver. Not just any five-star hotel—this is the fanciest one in the city. Celebrities stay here, presidents and prime ministers stay here, and sometimes, locals do, just to say that they have.

My job is straightforward: greet guests as they arrive and depart, help them to and from their cars, make sure they don't get rained on, and otherwise do whatever they need me to do. At the Cedarwood, no matter who you are, you get treated as if you're the most important person ever to stay here.

It's not my dream career, but I don't know what my dream is, so this will have to do for now. That's how I end up with all of my jobs—by asking myself what feels right for now.

"Enjoy your stay," I tell the elderly man, offering a bow as he walks past me into the lobby.

He nods and slaps a twenty into my palm.

This job has its perks.

I'm about to shut the door and return to my post when the glint of diamonds catches my eye across the lobby.

I stop breathing. Blue Rivers, action hero, queer icon, activist, and the most gorgeous woman I have ever set eyes on, is striding toward me. She's strong, tall, fair-skinned, with scarlet hair styled in loose waves, and dark eyes accented with smoky eye shadow. She's wearing a green suit that weakens my knees. The glint of diamonds is coming from a pendant settled deep in the V neck.

Everything about her is so perfectly put-together that her celebrity status is obvious at first glance. Normal people don't look or dress like this. Normal people aren't so stunning that they make me forget to breathe.

A deep frown tugs her features downward, but when she sees me, her face transforms. She casts me a dazzling smile, and by the time she's a stride away, my heart starts beating again. I open the door and let her through.

"Thank you, Tess," she says.

I grin back. Not everyone acknowledges me as they pass. Some people nod, some comment on how they don't often see a woman doing this job, and some get angry if I don't open the door exactly the way they would have liked me to.

But Miss Rivers... She smiles at me in a way that nobody has ever smiled at me. She calls me by my name, talks to me while she's waiting for her ride, asks me about my life, and tells me what's happened during her visit. She's been staying here for ten days, and I look forward to every time she comes and goes.

"H-how can I assist you, Miss Rivers?" I say, tripping over my tongue. I step outside with her to stand on the curb, where she draws a deep breath of fresh air.

She stands strategically behind a planter, letting it block the passing pedestrians' view of her.

Her frown from a moment ago is lingering beneath the forced smile. If she were a friend, I would ask what's wrong. But she exists on an entirely different plane than me, so far from a friend that it's laughable for the word to even enter my mind.

Then again—

"Honey, please call me Blue," she says, the same thing she's told me all week. Because she's so sweet and gregarious that I'm almost ready to believe that we are friends.

She touches my lower back, just for a second, and the sensation her hand leaves behind sends a wave of pleasure to my fingers and toes.

"Hey, the brunch you recommended yesterday was to die for," she says, standing close. "Thanks for that. But I'm not so sure about that seawall walk afterwards."

My gut twists with the realization that I might have led her astray. "Why not?"

"Five minutes into the walk, I almost got run over by an angry cyclist. Then it happened again a few minutes later."

I suppress a laugh. "By any chance were you walking in the bike lane?"

"There was a bike lane?"

I laugh. Her answering smile is so gorgeous that it knocks me off balance. God, I'm helpless around her.

"It's a nice park, though. So you still get a few points for that recommendation."

"Oh, good." I put a hand over my heart. "Okay, for today's recommendation, nothing close to a bike lane. How do you feel about tulips?"

Blue laughs. "Go on."

She cocks an eyebrow, irresistibly charming.

"Oh, you know what? Nevermind," I say with mock sadness. "There's a horse-drawn carriage at that festival that you'd be a danger to. If you can't figure out a bike lane, I'd hate to see..."

"Hey!" She playfully flicks the cap on my head. It goes askew, so she reaches back up to reposition it gently atop my curls. "This looks super cute on you, Tess. The uniform. I like it."

My throat seems to close. It takes me a moment to choke out a response. "Thanks."

Talking to her like this—like we have been for the last few days—makes me wonder what would have happened between us if we'd met under any other circumstances. What if she were a normal person, and we'd met in a coffee shop?

I've been exploring different scenarios as I lay in bed each night, going over our conversations. It's easy to picture myself with her. Holding her hand. Making her laugh. Kissing her. Running my hands over her toned body.

The way she's looking at me, biting her lip, I swear she can read my thoughts.

I clear my throat, aware that I'm blushing.

"I actually used to work at that festival," I say, forcing my mind away from that totally inappropriate place. "And I can confirm that the horse carriages are far away from the pedestrians. So I think you'd be safe there."

She faces me fully. "You worked at a tulip festival?"

"Yeah. I drove one of the carriages."

Blue searches me with her dark eyes. "You're an interesting person, Tess."

Heat rises in my cheeks. Did the actual Blue Rivers just call me interesting?

~

Part 2 coming tomorrow! Read the full story right now on "Sweet & Spicy Sapphic Stories" at patreon.com/tianawarner. Plus you'll get early access to next week's story.