Another surprising invitation and again, Virginia accepted. What else was she going to do in the main time? All they had was time to kill and she would gladly exhaust her time and energy with Tamara if she allowed it.
Virginia was curious to know how Tamara knew she was traveling but realized that was easily explained. Then she wondered how far all their interaction in the airport would go. Would it change their work dynamic come Tuesday morning when the holiday was over? Was she jumping ahead of herself when they were merely keeping each other's company due to a delayed flight? Of course, she was.
She took a generous sip of her Long Island Ice Tea to calm her growing nerves and from the corner of her eye, she observed Tamara fiddling with a square piece of tissue from the bar.
"Do you remember our office Christmas party?" Tamara asked with her eyes on the folded tissue between her fingers and Virginia swallowed nervously.
"I do."
"Do you remember what you said to me that night?"
"Not entirely. I did have a few drinks in me." Virginia's drink was doing a poor job at relaxing her and she drank most of it before she rested the glass back down on the bar. "Please tell me it wasn't anything out of the way."
"It wasn't." Tamara stopped speaking then as she manipulated the tissue into a rose that she placed beside her glass. "Would you like to hear what you said?"
"Sure."
Virginia didn't know what Tamara was playing at or why she would bring up the incident at that moment but it had her on edge, which made her finished off her drink and order another.
"You said, you weren't used to seeing me without a smile and though you wouldn't ask me to smile because you hated when people did that, instead you hoped that I would smile again, someday soon, because you would miss seeing the smile on my face." It was then that Tamara turned in her chair and looked at Virginia. "Did you actually mean that?"
It was the intensity in the way that Tamara looked at her that made Virginia answer truthfully and without hesitation. "I did."
"I always thought that was sweet and that night, I didn't get to say thank you so," Tamara reached for the rose she crafted and gave it to Virginia, "thank you."
There was that flutter in Virginia's chest again but this time it was much stronger. It was only tissue paper, something that could easily be destroyed by the slightest bit of moisture but she would cherish it because she was that type of person.
"It's cheesy, I know." Virginia could tell that Tamara was embarrassed by her craft but in her eyes, it was overly sweet. "I do things like that sometimes. I was quite a nerd in high school."
"Were you?"
"Can't you tell?" She waved a hand over herself with a laugh. "I just grew into someone who looks confident and popular but really isn't."
"You could have fooled me."
She laughed again and the vibrations from it sent Virginia's heart into a frenzy. "So, Virginia tell me about yourself."
"For fear of sounding like the nerd now, I can't believe you know my name."
Then Tamara rolled her eyes in the most adorable fashion. "You've been working with us for three years, I know a lot more than you think."
Virginia smiled but had no idea what she would say about herself or what she could say that was of any interest. "I don't know what to say now."
"Then let's just talk."
"About what?"
"Tell me about your family."
Virginia told her about her mother, Celia, who was a headmistress at a school. A stern but loving woman who had never been married and never wanted to be. Despite her mother's stance against marriage, Virginia always dreamed of getting married and her fraternal twin brother, Dallas, was married with two kids and she was insanely jealous of him, always was but loved him with her whole heart. "What about your family?"
"I'm not really close with my family." She finally finished off her drink and ordered another one. "But I have three siblings and we are as different as oil and water."
"That's sad, the not being close part."
"It really isn't." She took a sip of her newly made drink and Virginia did the same. "Why did you leave home?"
"My then girlfriend convinced me that change would be good. She was supposed to come with me but...," She finished off with a shrug.
"Why didn't she?"
"She changed her mind, she's like that sometimes and I never liked being the only one all in."
"But isn't it like that in all relationships, there's always one that loves the other more."
"And I was that person but there has to be some sort of balance."
"What is 'balance'?"
"I don't know but shouldn't it be mutual love and respect for each other? Not just two people tolerating each other or together out of convenience."
"What about someone who doesn't exactly have a grasp on their feelings but, they know they need you in their life?"
"Then maybe they are lying to themselves," Virginia replied. "How long does it take someone to realize their feelings?"
"Years."
"Sounds like bullshit to me."
On that, Tamara took a drink from her glass and contemplated what had just been said. It appeared that the subject was personal on Tamara's part but she would wait before she would delve deeper into it, depending on how far their friendship would go after that day.
Virginia wanted to turn the tables on her boss and find out what she had hidden behind her confident façade. "Will you tell me anything about yourself?"
"There's nothing to tell."
"I'm sure you can find something to share." There was only one thing that Virginia was interested in knowing but had no idea how to ask without revealing her intentions, whatever they were.
"I feel like there's something specific you want to ask me." Tamara's eyes were on her again, sort of urging her to ask the question on her mind.
"What is this?" It wasn't the question Virginia had wanted to ask, she wanted to know if the woman was single and if she was interested in the fairer sex but she'd settle for that one instead. "Us, talking here? You've never spoken to me other than for work related reasons so what changed now?"
"I'm sorry." The apology came quick as if Tamara had caught her in an act. "I was being nice to you for all the wrong reasons. It's not that I'm not nice and it's not that I don't like you, I guess I never really had a chance to speak to you on anything other than work." Perhaps, Tamara was right. She only ever saw the woman at work and work functions and they never worked closely enough for there to be a conversation that wasn't work centric. "But when I saw you at my gate, I thought maybe it was a sign, maybe she could help me. She's nice. She's attractive. She's interesting."
Attractive was the only takeaway that Virginia focused on and she blushed inwardly at the compliment.
"Then I got nervous," Tamara continued, "I didn't know how to ask you. I didn't know how you would respond."
"Respond to what?"
"A proposition."
"Proposition?"
"Yes," Tamara confirmed, "well, it would be more of a favor."
"What's the favor?"
"Would you like to be my date for the wedding?"
For a moment, Virginia wondered if she had heard her correctly. "How's that going to work if you're standing in the wedding?"
"Apart from the wedding itself, there's going to be other activities over the weekend and I need support."
"Support for a wedding?"
"It's complicated." Tamara held her gaze with a pleading look. "You have every right to say no if you want because my intentions weren't honest when I sat next to you. It is a strange request but I would be indebted to you if you agree to help me."
"How much of my time would you need?"
She listed out the events for Virginia; a welcome party the following night, Friday would be the rehearsal followed by dinner and the bachelorette party, only the dinner she would attend, Saturday, the wedding, of course, followed by the reception and finally, on Sunday, brunch.
"That sounds like a lot."
"It is and I hate to ask but I'd rather you than anyone else." What was in it for her, Virginia wondered? What was she getting out of the deal? Could she negotiate for a raise, an extra week of paid vacation, a better parking space at work? Who was she kidding, she'd do it for free if it meant being that close to her boss, getting to know her a bit better and maybe even win her over. "What do you say?"
"I'll do it."