In Kieran's defense, she didn't do everything she was instructed to do by her best friend...unless it was work-related, or it was an obviously good idea. Ziggy wasn't the impulsive one, but she had the best impulsive ideas. She could have made Kieran imagine she'd come up with them on her own if she wanted, she was that skilled (a true Machiavellian strategist in the classical tradition), yet she preferred to claim her own glory when given the chance. It made her an unbeatable manager and literary agent. She had it and she flaunted it for Kieran's benefit. Queen.

Ziggy was beside her on a flight to Nashville three days after Ziggy's initial brainwave. Jamie had immediately invited them to the Bookstop when Kieran hesitantly mentioned they'd be in the area later in the week.

As expected Ziggy looked spectacularly retro in a paisley A-line cocktail dress and espadrilles whereas Kieran had opted for military chic: a repurposed naval coat dress, embossed gold buttons polished and epaulets ruler straight, over thigh high faux leather Chanel boots. Kieran had tried very hard to look good for Jamie, she wasn't remotely sorry.

They arrived at the cafe at mid-morning, having stopped at their Airbnb accommodations first to unpack and freshen up. They arrived to find the place packed with patrons. Many of them their contemporaries based on evident age, though some were younger, perhaps in their early twenties. Uni students. Kieran wrinkled her nose.

"If that doesn't make you feel your age," Ziggy weighed in.

Kieran shushed her. She wanted to look around without the color commentary. The Bookstop was a spacious place, two levels high with the the upper floor visible from the lower. The upper, terraced, level was dedicated to intimate bistro seating and an assortment of book nooks overflowing with cushions and bean bag chairs in rich, deep hues of blue and purple and red. There were hand-painted signs taking up whole walls that said Read your <3 out over a star-laden backdrop on one and Free your mind on the crest of an enormous ocean wave on the other. Midday rays filtered through the full-length picture windows that made up the other walls to illuminate the disco ball revolving slowly on the ceiling. It gave off almost heavenly iridescent light that reflected off the silvery-white stars and the opalescent froth of the painted ocean. Like staring at a postcard the size of a billboard, or a painting hung in a museum.

"It's gorgeous," Kieran breathed.

"You can thank Tracy for that. She's the artist."

Kieran wobbled on her heels turning around. It was her soulmate. She was dressed in an almost nautical striped navy and white shirtdress and flat brown boots. They were wearing the same shade of midnight blue (#32378E; the surface of the ocean well after dark on a night without a moon).

Kieran was kissing Jamie before it occurred to her that she should say hello. Jamie wound her arms around Kieran's waist and stood on her toes to meet Kieran's lips, Kieran's spiked boots making her a few crucial inches taller. Jamie's lips were soft as the sighs she emitted when Kieran ran her fingers through her hair. She purred a little.

"I can come back," deadpanned Ziggy. They parted quickly, Jamie going flush about the cheeks to match her reddened lips.

"Sorry."

Kieran waved. "Not sorry."

"You're going to be the shameless half of this couple, I can already tell."

"Guilty but not guilty." Kieran shrugged and pulled Jamie against her side. She really enjoyed touching her soulmate, her girlfriend, she supposed, if she managed not to bollocks this up. Jamie tangled their hands together. Kieran bit her lips to keep from grinning like a loon. Ziggy made a face at her. Definitely grinning like a loon.

"Since it seems that I'm not going to get an introduction-" She glared at Kieran. "-I'll just introduce myself. I'm Xiaoquing Yang. My friends call me Ziggy."

Jamie offered her a handshake with her freehand. "I'm James. Jamie for short. My mom loves--loved gender-neutral naming." Her lips wobbled a touch and she looked down. Kieran kissed her hair. She was getting to enjoy this being taller than her girlfriend deal.

"Bet she was special," Ziggy replied. When don't you know what to say, Z? She flashed her best friend a grateful smile.

"Good moms always are," added another voice, this one coming from a petite woman who'd probably be their height were it not for the platform pumps she was wearing. She was dressed in a pressed, tailored suit and a teal head wrap. Her cream blazer was lined in matching teal paisley. She flashed a billion-dollar smile at Ziggy. "Nix Willems, here. I'm Jamie's financial advisor-slash-BFF. And you are?"

Ziggy went pale, but she still took Nix's hand when it was offered. "Kieran's best mate, booking agent, and publicist." She released the other woman's hand reluctantly and visibly steeled herself. "Can I help you in some way?"

Nix leaned against the nearby counter. "Oh, yes. First, stop trying to woo my best friend with your sweet disposition; the bestie position is very much filled. Second, give me your number again because I definitely lost it when I dropped my phone in a puddle outside JFK a couple of years ago."

Kieran silently swore and covered her mouth. She knew that snark. Ziggy had mentioned the girl who gave her colors being hilarious and not a little up herself. Also very beautiful, and Nix would fit any bill you liked for beautiful. Jamie looked mystified.

Ziggy snorted. She wasn't buying Nix's excuses. "Water-resistant Android phones exist."

"I'm Apple trash. Gimme." She made an impatient beckoning motion.

"I shouldn't give it to you again."

"You're right. I'm protective of my friends, obviously successful, very cute, and an irrepressible smart arse. Why would you be interested in me?"

"Not helping your case." But it obviously was. Ziggy was smiling a bit. She was glowing.

"Am I missing something here," Jamie interrupted.

Nix gestured to Ziggy. "Met her on a trip to NYC for a conference a few years back. She was in the hotel bar, the most gorgeous woman in the place--"

"Oh, stop!" Ziggy nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. She's never had it this bad.

"I do not tell lies," Nix insisted with gusto. "Anyway, gorgeous. I, being me, bought her a drink and asked her life story. What I did not do, because I'm a complete disgrace, was ask her name."

"You did," Ziggy was quick to amend.

"Then, why couldn't I find you online when I looked later?!"

"Ah, I gave you my given name, not the one I go by." The spelling alone was enough to put off most lazy suitors and Ziggy had no use for lazy lovers when she could have the determined variety. She had high standards.

Nix hissed her offense. "Thanks so much for that rousing endorsement."

"Well, I didn't know if you were a weirdo or not!"

Nix set her hands on her hips. "Am I a weirdo?" That seemed to be a trap in the making to Kieran.

"A little," Ziggy permitted, "in a hot way." Ziggy barely noticed hot so this was a revelation.

"You bet your arse it's in a hot way." Nix shifted closer to Ziggy, all but ignoring Jamie and Kieran at this juncture. "I've been watching you from the bar. You've got fire. You're still hot. And we can double date with these two soppy idiots." She pointed to Jamie and Kieran giggling at their antics. "Let's go one-on-one first and see if we like it."

"Right." Ziggy rolled her eyes, but she was definitely smiling a little. "That should not have worked on me."

Nix exuded self-satisfaction. Now she was the one with the unearthly glow. "I'm magic like that."

Kieran wondered what their colors looked like right now. They must have been shining the way beacons shine for landing planes or lighthouse draw in approaching ships. They must have seen the world so clearly and for the first time. Jamie gave her a hand a clench. They were thinking the same thing.

Ziggy caught a hold of herself and leaned out of the other woman's bubble. "A little cocky. I remember that."

"A lot cocky, actually. You haven't seen my portfolio. Cocky just seems reasonable when you've got a nest egg the size of mine."

"The bigger the nest egg, the messier the omelette."

"That was ridiculous and yet I'm not put off by it." She glanced at Jamie for support. "Which one of us is magic again?"

"Definitely that one," Jamie contributed, pointing to Ziggy.

"Thought so. You heard it here first, lovely, you're the magic one."

Ziggy looked between Jamie and Nix, skeptical. "Did the two of you plan this?"

"I didn't even know you were coming until I saw you walk in. The miraculous Ziggy Yang, if I can call you Ziggy."

Ziggy's answering smile was soft and small, and relieved. "Call me Ziggy." She flipped open her handbag and rifled through it for a second. "And call me later." She produced a business card. "Whenever."

Nix took the card. "What about now? Can I buy you a drink while these two find a dark corner to shag out the whole three days of sexual frustration they've accrued?"

Ziggy looked to Kieran for her okay, which Kieran gave her gladly in a nod.

"Sure. It's about time you got around to wooing me. You're late!"

"Only fashionably, dear."

Nix waved over her shoulder at Jamie and Kieran, and swept Ziggy off to the bar for something or other, whatever it was probably outrageous. Kieran doubted it was the drink she was really interested in.

Looking puzzled, Jamie started to ask, "Is Nix her...?"

"Is Ziggy hers?"

"Nix got her colors when she was a kid. They've changed a lot over the years, but I'm not sure she'd notice a change. I just know she likes Ziggy a lot. She never does the chasing when she wants a date."

"Something pretty special going on, then, you think?"

"I think."

Kieran and Jamie got as far as kissing in a convenient corner booth with dirty chai teas on tap before their hard-won solitude was interrupted again. Note to self: stop bringing best friend on dates with me.

Nix and Ziggy returned arm-in-arm, shoulders pressed together like some kind of united front.

"In other fantastic news: We're double dating! Make room, love birds."

Nix and Ziggy filed into the opposite bench and just about forgot the other couple existed. Our future double dates are going to be very quiet on the group conversation front. She traced the Hex codes of the rainbow on the side of Jamie's neck: #FF0000, #FFA500, #FFFF00, #008000, #0000FF, #4B0082, #EE82EE. Jamie melted under her fingertips; she had a sensitive neck.

"Loving the silver in your hair," Nix murmured just loudly enough for Kieran to hear across the table.

Ziggy blanched and started pawing at her painfully expensive haircut. "Where?" She'd just gotten a touch-up. She'd started sprouting grey hair in her early twenties and it was escalating quickly. People weren't often nice about it; they hadn't been at school. Kieran winced on behalf of her best friend's battered self-esteem.

Nix traced a single strand from the crown of her head to behind her ear. "Just there."

"No one's mentioned it."

"No one's noticed. I don't usually even notice. I'm not much use with metallics. Silver's good as grey to me. Gold is yellow. Doesn't make much difference when I'm looking."

"But you noticed on me."

"Yeah, I did." Nix scooted closer to her. "Guess you're magic, after all."

"I accept that."

"Good." Nix kissed her cheek and leaned back to watch Ziggy munch on baked corn chips. Kieran blinked as Nix's friendly body language shifted and became more guarded as she spied something in the distance, to the opposite end of the Bookstop. "Hold on a mo', I have a man to put the fear of god into." She tossed her napkin aside and strode over to an older couple, a man and a woman around sixty and fifty, respectively, who were canoodling at the service counter.

The woman, all riotous hair and very well-preserved curves, startled on seeing Nix striding over. Her surprise melted into an affectionate eye roll. The ensuing conversation was audible from here. Kieran, Jamie, and Ziggy pretended not to be listening while leaning toward the bar conspicuously.

"Be gentle, Nix," the woman said. "He's an old 'un."

The man, who was distinguished by his aggressive eyebrows, sat back wearing an expectant smile. If I didn't know better I'd say he was Scottish. Kieran had seen her fair share of Scottish men of a certain age and they all looked like that at the end of a lifetime: a bit miffed at their continued existence and the state of the world, and a bit tickled by it all, too.

"If it isn't the mouthy lass of our mutual acquaintance. I've been waitin' to get told off by you."

Definitely Scottish. The wry tone gave it away.

"I'll be quick," Nix quipped. "Far be it for me to keep the elderly up past their bedtime."

An expressive brow arched. "Are you even potty-trained yet?"

Nix cocked a hip and made herself at home on a bar stool. "Not too much to piss on your shoes, your life, and your stinking dog if you hurt our Tracy."

Though the woman, who must have been Tracy, covered her face, it was obvious she was smiling behind her cupped hands.

"I don't have a dog, but even if I did, it would not deserve that treatment."

"Nor does she. She's the best. You're lucky she loves you."

The man took Tracy's hand and brought it to his lips. "Took me too many years to figure that out, but aye, I have. I have. I'm no fool." Tracy gazed at him sweetly. Theirs was an old love and it was obvious it ran deep.

Nix was thoroughly disarmed by the display. "Better not be." She scrutinized them a moment longer. "Take her out somewhere nice!" With that parting shot, she hopped down from her stool and made her return to the table. With a quick peck for Kieran, Jamie rose to see the couple, retrieving a plate of scones from the service window and refilling their forgotten mugs with their drink of choice.

Tracy and her partner chattered among themselves, oblivious to Jamie floating around them.

"Demon child you've got there."

"She's a good girl, love. Just got a bit of a protective streak."

"You don't say," he wittered. He finally seemed to notice Jamie scrubbing the counter top. "And you, there. What grave injury will you be threatenin' me with?"

Jamie slowed her scrubbing action and looked up. She was still as sweet as ever, but there was a subtle humorlessness to her expression that Kieran hadn't had cause to see yet.

"I'm the one with my feet on the ground. I won't hurt you. I won't even threaten you. You wouldn't believe me if I tried it. Good. But you will regret losing her if you break her heart again. Know why? Because as great as she thinks you are, you're totally replaceable. She's amazing enough for a dozen soulmates and I'll help her find a dozen and one if you hurt her anymore. I'll make sure she barely remembers your face and then I'll make sure you know all about it. Mess with her, mess with me. Mess with me, you'll regret it."

Kieran blinked. Nix smirked. Ziggy sighed. I do like the scary cute girls. She was going to hear about this later.

"Nothing terrifying about that," Pax answered baldly. His eyebrows had moved sharply north during her diatribe and appeared in no rush to resume the neutral position. "Do you have to take in the terrifying ones?" he addressed to Tracy. "You're like a soddin' Amazon princess gathering all the wee lost girls and training them up into miniature Boudicas."

"Oh no, dear," Tracy countered. "It's them that have adopted me. They were already bold as a blade when I met them." She hummed in happy contemplation at his startled look. "Scary to think about me making them worse, isn't it?"

"Which you'd absolutely do, ya daft harridan. That thought, that's going to fester."

"Should do." She gave him a grinning smooch on the lips. "We're going to get this right this time, you and me."

He fixed Jamie with a lingering, wary glance. "We'd better. It seems like my life depends on it."

"Just your credit rating! Possibly a limb or two."

"So nothing I can't afford to lose."

"Too right," Tracy confirmed, positively beaming at her soulmate. His bewilderment softened in favor of affection.

"Have I told you lately that I love those eyes of yours?" He touched her cheek. Her eyes wrinkled as her grin broadened.

"Not today."

"I love those eyes looking right through me."

"And I love yours looking right at me."

"I love you, mad woman."

"Likewise, my mad man."

Jamie took her leave quickly on seeing the couple was thoroughly distracted with each other. She was beaming when she returned to their table. She eased back under Kieran's arm and Kieran was happy to have her. If she had to date an intimidating girl, she'd rather have her on her side than playing for anybody else's team. Guess that's what love feels like. She'd never known.

Ziggy stared over her shoulder at the touching twosome. "Tell me we'll never get that bad."

Nix hedged unrepentantly, "I don't believe in starting my relationships with lies."

"Must you be so incorrigible?" Ziggy's complaint might have been more effective were she not so enamored of Nix's irreverence. She leaned into Nix's side.

"Yup. Get used to it." She grabbed Ziggy's hand. "Come here, you. We're going to have a religious experience at the dessert case."

"Based on what?" But she didn't resist Nix's pull. Something told Kieran there wouldn't ever bee much resisting going on in that relationship. Object at rest, meet your unbalanced force.

"Based on sugar and love. Your mind will be blown."

"Again?" Only Ziggy could disarm an unflappable woman like Nix with a single word.

Nix tried to work up a scathing glare at Ziggy with no success. "Sap."

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"Shush. I'm about to change your life."

Ziggy darted forward to kiss her. A drive-by snog, if you will. "You already have."

Nix ignored the heat burning in her own cheeks. "Embarrassing."

Kieran supposed they were all a little embarrassing right about now. Love, even brand new, untested love, will do that to you.

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There it is, the real ending. Hope you enjoyed it! Votes, comments, and reading list adds are love. Let me know what you think! <3  If you're in the mood for more swoonworthy Sapphic romance, please check out The War at Home on my profile,  linked in the comments.

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