“Oh, um, hi. Ash, it’s Carmen. From the—”
“Oh! Hey, Carmen. How are you?” Ash tried to pretend a little shiver did not run through her at the sound of Carmen’s voice. Down, girl.
“Hi! I’m very well, thank you. And you?”
“Yeah, good.”
“Is it okay to talk? Are you at work?”
“It’s fine, yes,” Ash answered. “And I sure am. I don’t close until ten most Thursdays and Fridays.”
“Ten?”
“I know, right? But it meets the demands of the market, so…”
“Hmm, yes, I know all about meeting those kinds of demands.” Carmen sounded low.
While it was a lovely surprise to hear from her—Ash had, to be honest, thought she’d never see her again despite bumping into her that night nearly two weeks ago—it saddened Ash to hear her this way. “Are you really okay? You sound a little down.”
“You’re a very perceptive person.” Carmen chuckled. “I’m a little frazzled, yes.” She paused. “Look, I know this is very short notice, but I wondered if I could take you up on that offer to repay the Portuguese experience at Alma’s tomorrow morning. I could do with a change of scenery and a break from my office, but if it’s too—”
“Tomorrow morning would be great.” Ash admonished her heart for beating just that little bit faster at the prospect of spending more time with the beautiful woman. Straight beautiful woman, remember? “How does eleven sound?”
The clacking of Carmen’s keyboard reverberated through the phone. “Yes, I’ll make that work. That’s… Thanks, Ash, that’s great.”
“Hey, no problem. The weather’s supposed to be great tomorrow. We can sit outside again, get you some more sunshine.”
“That would be fabulous! I feel like I haven’t seen daylight in days.”
“Then we shall definitely do that.”
The door opened, and Sonja, a tall woman with arms already covered in some stunning tattoos, walked in.
Ash acknowledged her with a quick wave. “I’ll see you there, okay? Gotta go, my next client just walked in.”
“Oh yes, of course. Great. See you tomorrow.”
Sonja left at a quarter to ten, delighted with the progress on the huge stylistic mermaid they were creating on her back.
Ash loved working on the big pieces, watching them unfold over the course of a few sessions. And she loved it when a client was willing to put in that level of work and commitment to get the result they wanted. They’d agreed that two more sessions should do it, and those were already booked in Ash’s calendar.
This tattoo, when completed, would definitely warrant a picture on the studio’s wall. The best tattoos she’d finished took pride of place in her gallery, and Sonja was thrilled she’d make that coveted space.
Ash flipped the closed sign in the window and switched off the lights at the front of the studio. After cleaning up, she slipped her shirt on over her T-shirt, then set the alarm and rolled down the shutters. She fancied walking all the way home to Islington—it was a good couple of miles and would take her forty minutes or so, but it was such a beautiful evening it was worth it. She’d just hit the main road when her phone rang. Her caller display showed Courtney’s name.
“Hey.” Ash kept her tone bright despite her worry about what would have Courtney calling this relatively late.
“Hey.”
“You okay?”
Courtney hesitated. “I’m… You know, I am trying.”
Ash didn’t need to ask what her sister was trying with. “I know you are. What’s up?”
“She’s put all these pictures up in her room!” Courtney’s confused frustration came through loud and clear. “Of, you know, women .”
Although tempted to laugh, Ash held back her mirth, doubting it would help matters at all. So now that Sophie’s secret was out, she was letting it have some freedom. Good for her, no matter what Courtney thought. “Okay.”
“Okay ? Is that it?”
“Courtney, we talked about this last weekend. She’s exploring. She’s got some feelings, some of which she doesn’t understand, but she’s… It’s like when you go to buy new clothes. You try things on, see what feels right, what looks right. She’s doing the same thing but with feelings.”
“So my house is one big changing room now, is it?”
“Courtney,” Ash said gently.
“I know, I know.” Courtney made a sound that was a cross between a groan and a growl.
She was quiet for a few moments, and Ash let her be. She weaved around some parked cars and ducked down a side street, away from the noisy main road. She’d taken this route once before, and although it would add a few minutes to the journey, it was worth it if she could concentrate better on helping her sister and her niece through this upheaval in their lives.
“You probably think I should find this easier because my sister’s a lesbian, but it’s different when it’s your kid.” All the fight had gone out of Courtney’s voice.
“I get that.”
“You’re a grown-up,” Courtney rushed on. “You’re used to the world and how it can treat people. She’s only fourteen. What’s she gonna do when people start calling her dyke and muff diver and whatever else shitty things they’ll yell at her at school?”
The fear in Courtney’s voice made cold shivers run down Ash’s spine. Yeah, she remembered all those insults. “Well, I guess that’s a conversation you can have with her. Does her school have an anti-bullying policy in place that covers LGBTQ pupils? Does she know how to report it? Is she willing to? I mean, this is where you can really be her champion, let her know you’re going to support her if that worst-case scenario comes about. I think that would mean a huge amount to her.”
“Did…did Mum and Dad ever do that for you? You said something the other day, and… I think I was too young to see what was going on for you when you came out. I mean, you were nearly seventeen, I was twelve. Did they support you?”
Ash took a moment. She’d worked through her anger at her parents through her therapy and
