Color Your World | Adult F/F Romance [COMPLETE]

Kieran 2

Kieran made her meeting on time, barely. Smiled winningly when her editor questioned her progress. Produced her first draft that was actually, sort of okay and not complete rubbish as feared, and breathed a sigh of relief when she got an extension of a whole month. A month! That was a lifetime in publishing.

Kieran danced in the ladies room in delight where she'd retreated to collapse in relief in relative privacy. Ziggy reapplied her own lip gloss and then Kieran's when she realized her hands were shaking too much.

"Enough Monsters for a week. You'll blow out your heart."

"And you're on espresso number what now?"

"I can take it." Ziggy smiled like the smartarse she was. Kieran didn't really mind. Ziggy was the brilliant one. She'd arranged the best publicity for Kieran when she was starting out on MySpace and then expanded their reach when YouTube took off for the stars. Kieran wouldn't be who she was if her college roommate hadn't taken pity on her and made her a star.

"Have I told you I love you today?"

Ziggy considered that. "Probably. But do go on."

Kieran threw her arms around her best friend. "I love you. You are noble, made of the stuff of stars and should be married to Cate Blanchett, for only you are worthy of her beauty and greatness."

"Shit, that was almost a marriage proposal. I should be married to Cate Blanchett, shouldn't I?" Ziggy smiled at her own reflection and at Kieran's beside her. "At least we're evenly matched." She turned around and propped herself on the sink. "And you brought your best today. Good. I've been worried about you." That worry began to seep back into her expression. Kieran hated Ziggy's worried face.

"I'm fine."

"You're depressed. Talk to someone?"

"I will."

"Kiki, please."

"I am and I will. I just...I used to think I didn't care about getting my colors. I used to think they didn't matter, but now I wonder if maybe there's something off about me. That's why they've taken so long."

"For a woman with no colors, you did good on the color block dress." Ziggy gestured to the green Gap number Kieran had unearthed from her wardrobe and the dark blackish-purple shag pullover she'd bought at a designer outlet sale where they cut off the tags. Like blueberry pie smeared on my chin, Patriarch purple (Hex #800080). It was a violent delight against her skin.

Kieran blinked. Stepped back as if she could retreat from the shag itself though she still wore it. From her very own skin though it clung to her skeleton as skin was wont to do.

"Fucking hell."

"Kiki? What is it?"

"Color." She curled her fists to see her pale palms mottle pink and white and as the blood moved under her skin. Her manicured nails were green and blue. She knew this. She'd known this when she painted them using a geometric nail tutorial she'd found during an insomnia-fueled YT binge earlier in the week. Navy like New York at midnight, green as Central Park at dusk. You wear the things you love like a ring on your finger. She wore New York.

"You got them. Why didn't you say something?"

Kieran shook her head without looking away from herself. Her shoes were the wrong shade of purple to match her shrug. She was slightly out of step with herself. She was usually more coordinated. But I've never done it from sight, only translation. This is a new skin. This is just new.

"I didn't realize. I don't know...But when?"

"You tell me. You'd have to be the one to know."

Kieran wanted to close her eyes and think back, but back where? Yesterday she'd seen in black and white and the shallow in-betweens. Today there was so much to see and she'd overlooked every bit. From the gross muddle of greyish mauve that carpeted the floors of the publishing house to the featureless glass and steel of the editor's office, there hadn't been much to see. Ziggy's car was black. Her hair was black. Her eyes were a dark enough brown to fool those unwilling to look closer. Kieran hadn't seen a thing because she hadn't looked. She was looking now.