Remembering Whacky(lesbian story)

My first lunch date in years

I'm a confident person, but for whatever reason I was a wreck this morning. My brief, awkward talk with Ellis had kept me up late, thinking about her. I woke up, fed my dogs, and only when I went to feed Noodle did I remember he'd been adopted literally a week ago.

She had sounded so sad, I wanted to wriggle through my phone speaker so I could give her a hug. She loved Noodle, I could tell from her tone. But it was now nine o'clock and she still hadn't called, so I was getting nervous, but I told myself I was being ridiculous. She was probably sleeping in.

I crawled back to bed, checking my phone for the third time that morning, and hugged my dog Barbados to my chest, burying my face in his thick scruff of blue and black fur. My other dog, Rico, pressed into my back so I was sandwiched in between two masses of Australian shepherd. Of course, when I was pinned down under the combined hundred pounds of dog, and about to fall back asleep, is when my phone rang. I practically had to shove Barba off the bed to get to it, almost missing the call.

"Hello?" I slurred, sitting up and trying to get untangled from my bed sheets.

"God dammit." I heard Ellis say. "I called kind of late so I wouldn't actually wake you up." She said with an apology in her voice. I chuckled. "Don't worry. The dogs get me up early anyway. You caught me just before I dozed back off."

"Oh, okay." She mumbled, put a little more at ease before she got right to it. "Well, if you wanted to see Noodle, there's this great Café that's dog friendly in downtown." She offered, a smile in her voice. "The waitresses just love him." My lips pulled up. Of course they did. Who didn't love noodle?

"Do you mind if I bring one of my dogs?" I asked, wanting to give Rico some relief from her cabin fever. "Of course I don't mind." I could hear a door creak open and shut in the background, and she called to noodle. "I have two Australian shepherds. Rico, the one I'm bringing, is a retired service dog. She goes a little crazy without going out on the town once in a while." I explained. "Her last owner could only have one dog at a time, and she was too old to do some kinds of work."

"I couldn't imagine having to give up a dog like that." She said mournfully. I agreed. "Her poor owner was heartbroken. He comes to visit us, sometimes. He's a close family friend." I continued, trying to make conversation.

It worked, to my delight, we just talked dogs for almost a half hour. Finally, "Would you like me to meet me around eleven?" She asked. "Sure." Came my reply. I didn't want to sound desperate. "Can I have the  name of the place?"

"It's seriously just called Reno café and bar." She said dryly. "The owner is my best friend's dad. He's lacking in the creativity department." I laughed. "We'll meet you there." I told her, walking to my closet so I could spend fifteen minutes bugging out over what to wear.
"See you in an hour or so, Louise."

"Okay. Thanks for calling me, Ellis."  I breathed before we said our goodbyes and hung up. I hugged Rico close in glee, punching in the familiar number.

"You aren't going to believe this." I told my sister. "I just made a lunch date with one of my really hot adopters."
She snorted. "Fitting I guess. Is she as dog crazy as you are?"

"Yes!" I borderline shouted, excited to have found a friend in Ellis at the very least. Rosie just snickered at me. "When's the wedding?"

"Next week, hopefully." I joked, putting my phone on speaker. I had to get dressed, something nice, but not overly dressy. I decided on a pale yellow sundress and brown, strappy pumps. I ruffled my blackish brown hair to puff it up a bit, applied some nude pink lipstick, and went to harness and leash Rico while jokingly discussing the names of my future children with my sister.