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Before they headed out, Jo opened her backpack and Ali watched her in awe and wonder. She had a bowl, and she poured half a bottle of water into it, then put it down in front of Maverick, who eagerly gulped it up.
“You’re like a mother to him,” Ali commented. “I think it’s cute.”
Jo grinned. “I feel like pets can be very much like a child, especially to someone that doesn’t have any kids.” She shrugged. “Do you disagree?”
“Well, I don’t have any kids or pets, but no, I wouldn’t disagree with that.” Ali leaned in and kissed her. They could have been lost in that moment forever, but Maverick interrupted them with a whimper.
Jo smirked. “I think he’s saying he’s ready to go walking some more.”
“As am I,” Ali replied. Jo packed the items back into her bag, and they continued their walk. When they rounded the corner, Ali saw a vendor that had several bouquets of flowers at their stand. She noticed that Jo eyed the floral combinations, so she stopped short of it and turned to her. “Give me a moment.” She hurried over to the vendor and spotted a bouquet filled with a variety of wildflowers. The combination was breathtaking, nearly as much as Jo was. “I’ll take this one,” she said. As the woman rang up her order, Ali glanced to the next table over. Standing, smelling the candles that were spread across the table. Her mouth hung down as she stared.
“Miss, your change?” She turned and grabbed the change and flowers, then turned to leave. Hoping she would make it unnoticed, Maxine glanced in her direction, and the blood rushed from Ali’s face.
“Ali,” Maxine replied.
“Hey, Max.” Ali looked down at her clenched hands, fearing that maybe her body choice would deceive her. “How are you doing?”
She looked up and nodded. “Not bad. You?”
“Same.” Ali fidgeted from one foot to the other. She always wondered what it would be like to run into her. It’d been over a year since they last saw one another, but in the back of her mind, she always felt that there would come a day when she would cross her path, and they would be forced to make idle conversation. Yet, now that that day was there, she didn’t think that it could get any more awkward.
“Good,” Max replied. “So, I better be going.”
“Um yeah, see ya around.” Ali skirted away from the stand and went back to where Jo was waiting. “For you,” she said, nearly thrusting the flowers in her direction. It was something that was supposed to be so romantic, yet the awkwardness of running into Max overshadowed it.
“They’re beautiful,” Jo replied. She leaned in to snag a kiss, but Ali conveniently shifted her lips, so Jo missed. Jo frowned, a sight that Ali noticed immediately. Ali dropped her gaze and began walking, staying a couple of feet ahead of Jo. The rest of the trip to the farmer’s market was hard to get through. She felt Jo’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t let her own emotions get too involved.
The drive back to her apartment was even worse. Jo reached out to take her hand, but Ali pulled her hand back, pretending she was fiddling with the radio. Jo sighed, and Ali kept it at that. However, when they got back to Jo’s apartment, there wasn’t any way to avoid the issue. She had to go into her apartment and gather her things, and Jo immediately demanded answers.
“What happened, Ali?” Jo asked.
“Nothing happened. We went to the Farmer’s Market, had a good time, and now we’re back.”
Jo tilted her head. “Correction. We went, had a good time for the first half, and then you got all jittery or something. You stopped holding my hand. You barely even looked at me. And I know that you avoided a kiss. What I don’t understand is, why?”
Ali shrugged. “I don’t really want to discuss it.”
Jo groaned. “You don’t want to discuss it? Well, that’s too damn bad because you can’t go hot and cold and then just shrug it off. Did you see someone from the hospital?”
“Not really,” Ali mumbled. She sunk down on the couch and looked up at Jo’s inquiring eyes. “Fine, there was this woman who was my old supervisor at CAPMed. Things sort of heated up between us. The hospital found out. It did not go well for her, and she was transferred out of state. I ran into her there when I was getting your flowers.”
Jo sunk down on the chair across from her. “That explains it,” Jo quietly replied.
“I guess sometimes what we have going on feels like history is repeating itself.” Ali looked down at her hands. There was a slight difference. She didn’t feel that she could ever be in love with Max. With Jo, however, she had this glimmer of hope. “I’m worried that something similar could happen. Only this time, I would be forced to leave. Seeing Max at the Farmer’s Market just sort of hit me.”
“Ali,” Jo breathlessly replied, standing up and moving to the couch. She wrapped her arm around her and pulled her closer. “I know that things are stressful right now. We’re trying to hide this from everyone. You’re up for a promotion, and it really doesn’t help to ease the worries. But I promise you that together, we’ll get through this. We’ll make them see that they can’t keep us from being together. Not when we’re in love.”
Ali opened her mouth, dumbfounded. They were on the same page, so that was a relief. “I do love you, Jo.”
“Then let’s not worry until we have to. You told me that once, and I think we need to keep that mindset. Don’t you?”
Ali nodded and moved in to claim a kiss. She felt slightly better, even if there was all this worry that would sneak in to stall her. Together, they could get through anything.
Johanna
Jo entered the conference room, where they were set to have their Monday morning huddle. May was already in a spot, looked up, and gave an eager wave. “How was your weekend?” she asked.
Jo thought back to all the time she had spent with Ali, and she couldn’t stop smiling. “Couldn’t have been much better,” she smirked, and May nudged her on the side. “So, have you been to the Farmer’s Market yet this season? It’s great. You really should check it out.”
