Masquerade || A Marjumn Story

4 • The Bar

The next three weeks were great. Marjorie's life had been mostly the same as it always was. Mostly. The main difference was the constant presence of Autumn in her life. The first day of them working together had been awkward but the two women had gotten into a rhythm after a few days. Marjorie would arrive, Autumn would tell her that she should've arrived 30 minutes earlier, Marjorie would apologise and hand Autumn a coffee and the women would talk until parents started arriving. At the end of the first week, Marjorie invited Autumn to come along with her and the staff for their Friday night drinks. The woman declined but Marjorie didn't push. When the next Friday rolled around, she asked again and this time, Autumn said yes. The third week, Autumn and Marjorie started going out for lunch together every day.

Eventually Friday rolled around again and the two women made their way to the bar as they had the week before. They walked in and sat at a table with a few other staff members and their partners. "Hey Aut. It's good to see you." The redhead sat in the booth said, smirking and tapping her finger on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Mia. It's been a while, glad to see you're doing well. Last I heard you were in Bali." Autumn replied, gesturing for Marjorie to sit next to her. Marjorie slid into the booth next to Autumn. Mia and Autumn immediately started squabbling like sisters. Charlotte sipped on her lemonade and struck up a conversation with Marjorie, the other two women eventually joining in.

"So he ended up shitting himself on a cruise ship balcony? That's insane!" Marjorie laughed at the anecdote from Mia. "God i'm laughing at Mia's jokes, maybe I need to switch to water" Marjorie thought to herself. "Sounds like my brother. He's insufferable." Autumn said, sipping her wine. Mia chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah he is but you love him." She replied. Autumn nodded and drank the last bit of her wine. "Hey ladies! Sorry we're late, we were having dinner." Vivian said as she pulled up two chairs, Siobhan slipping onto one.

A waitress walked over as the couple sat down. "Can I get you ladies anything else?" The woman asked, looking directly at Autumn. "I'll take another glass of the house red. Marj?" Autumn said, passing her glass to the waitress. "Yeah, I'll take another gin and tonic. Oh and some water please." She smiled at the waitress and passed her empty glass to the woman. Siobhan and Vivian both ordered a glass of Chardonnay. Mia and Charlotte shook their heads when asked if they wanted anything. The woman winked at Autumn and walked away. Hm that was... Interesting?

When the woman returned, she placed the drinks on the table with a smile. "Seems like I'm not going to be walking out of here tonight." Autumn said, picking up her wine glass. "If you want, I can carry you out of here. I'm really strong." The waitress said with a smirk on her face. "I bet you are..." Autumn replied, clearly hitting on the woman. Marjorie's smile dropped. 'Why the fuck is Autumn flirting with her?' She thought to herself. She grabbed her glass and downed the drink. "I'm going to the bathroom." She said and stormed off.

As she paced on the tile restroom floor, Marjorie tried to calm herself down. Why was she upset? Because her friend was flirting with some random woman? Was Autumn just her friend? Was she delusional to think they might be something more? As she started to spiral the door swung open and in came Siobhan. "Okay, what's going on Marjorie? And don't give me some excuse like you gave Viv a few weeks ago. I want the truth." She said, leaning her back against the counter. Marjorie stopped pacing and turned to face her friend. She couldn't bring herself to say what had been going through her head.

"Okay then. Nothing weird happened at the table. We ordered drinks, chatted about our weeks and then the waitress brought over our drinks, flirted with-" She stopped. Siobhan's eyes went wide with realisation and then confusion covered her face. "Autumn. Why were you annoyed at the waitress flirting with Autumn? Did you want her to flirt with you or?" Siobhan looked as if she was trying to solve an algebraic equation. "I wasn't annoyed that she was flirting with Autumn..." Marjorie started, fidgeting with her necklace. She sighed and looked up at Siobhan. "I was annoyed that Autumn flirted back." Marjorie stared at Siobhan, waiting for a reply. "Okay. I certainly didn't expect that."

Part of Marjorie felt relieved telling Siobhan that she might like women. But only part of her. The rest of her was worried. Worried that Siobhan was judging her. Worried that now she has said it, that made it real. When it was all in her head, she could pretend it wasn't but now? Now it was real.

"So, you like women? I definitely didn't expect that." Siobhan smirked as she crossed her arms. Marjorie thought for a moment before finding the right words. "I don't know if I like women. But I do know that I'm into Autumn... I've never actually said that out loud." Marjorie sighed and went back to pacing. Siobhan just sat on the counter in silence watching her for a moment. "You should tell her."  She said. Marjorie stopped in her tracks. "I let my skewed views on sexuality and relationships affect me. I almost let the love of my life get away. Don't let that happen to you." She stood up and walked out of the bathroom.

Maybe she was right. Marjorie was letting her doubt get the best of her. She needed to tell Autumn. She just needed to figure out how to tell her. They work together. If Autumn doesn't feel the same, it would be awkward for the rest of their working lives. Or worse, what if she does feel the same? What if it ended badly? What if- NO! She wasn't going to talk herself out of it. She'd find a way to tell her.

Marjorie fixed her makeup in the mirror before heading to the door. As she walked out, her heart stopped. Autumn and the waitress were sat together at the bar. She was ready to storm out and get a taxi home but she looked over at her friends. For the first time ever, she saw Mia and Siobhan talking. Not arguing, talking. She walked over and sat down. "You know Autumn fancies you, right?" Mia smirked. "AMELIA ROBERTS!" Charlotte yelled and Mia giggled, wrapping her arm around her girlfriend's shoulder. Marjorie looked at Siobhan. "Seriously? You told them?" Marjorie asked, trying to keep her voice down but her anger got the best of her. "Told us what?" Mia asked, raising an eyebrow. Siobhan rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't." She sipped her wine and sighed. Mia's face slowly turned smug. "Oh my god! Marjorie... Do you like Aut?" Mia clutched her chest and dramatically gasped. Marjorie felt the colour drain from her face. Siobhan didn't tell them... But now she had.

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A/N

My Marjumn brainrot is taking over my life. My therapist now knows about Marjumn because I can't shut up 😭🤣