You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista

Author:Brigitte Bautista [Bautista, Brigitte]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2019-04-14T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Oh, sorry, I’m booked until tomorrow evening.

Yeah, tonight won’t do. I have a date.

Nope. You guessed it. Busy bee, you know me.

Prying Jo away from her new routine was a victory. Between ads, the mistress, and her current online dating romp, Jo was always out of the house. It looked to Liza like Jo was avoiding her. But whatever reason could make her want to do that? Liza caught Jo on a slow day and, with a little bit of arm-twisting, convinced her to people-watch by the harbor. Their favorite hobby. There was also a small café there Liza had been meaning to try.

Dusk was falling on the Manila Bay harbor. Couples were walking their dogs. Children were being corralled to a nearby pizza joint. The occasional senior citizen was doing some brisk walking by the breakwater. Jo paid little attention to any of this. She hunched over the pale glow of her phone, swiping her thumb left and right.

“How about this one?” Jo said, showing Liza the photo of a man with a braided beard and a full-sleeve tattoo. Lloyd, 32, Fairview, it said in the profile.

“Looks like he hasn’t showered in days,” Liza replied, offering a quick glance before taking a sip of her coffee. It was cheap and tasted exactly what she paid for. Like a boiled sock. She added milk. Dairy made anything less horrible.

Jo took her phone back. She resumed swiping and, after ten minutes, showed Liza another candidate. No beard. No tattoos. Hair brushed back and stayed by wax. “OK. This?”

“Too clean.”

“The first one’s too dirty. This one’s too clean. There’s no pleasing you today, huh?”

Liza clicked her tongue. She downed her coffee, dousing the mounting frustration before it could spread. It was their day; she’d worked hard to get this day, to squeeze it into Jo’s hectic schedule. She didn’t want to share this hard-earned day with mugshot strangers within a three-kilometer radius. Liza huffed loudly as Jo put down her phone and leaned back on the couch.

“Well, how about that one?” Jo said, looking at Liza’s direction. Liza looked over her shoulder, still huffing, trying to find who it was now that caught Jo’s attention. Great. Jo moved from strangers on a screen to real-life passersby. Liza went along with it and looked up and down the boardwalk.

“Where?”

“There. Faded highlights. A bit round at the waist. But, great boobs, can I just say?”

Liza was still looking out into the throng of people.

“Where? I can’t find her.”

“Right there! Dark brown eyes that could have you in a trance. Blushed cheeks even without makeup. Eyelashes so thick they look like falsies. A coffee stain by the corner of her mouth.”

This got Liza wiping her mouth with a piece of tissue, finally getting the joke.

“Fuck you.”

She had to clench her jaw to stop from smiling. Jo was still looking at her, a softness in her eyes. If this were a stranger, Liza would place that softness as longing. But this was Jo, after all. Jo didn’t do feelings.

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