Jerica had been waitingfor a text from Bridget for two days. She’d sent a few others, just checking in and ignoring the fact the one asking when they could go on another date was equally ignored. She wasn’t having any of it, and the longer she thought about it, the angrier she became that Bridget wouldn’t just give her an answer one way or another.
They could talk about life, the farm, work, anything, but as soon as the conversation of dating or a relationship came up, Bridget would ghost her, ignore her, avoid her. Jerica stepped into the break room at the hospital and switched out the coffee grounds for some new ones. She added her special ingredient, vanilla bean, and set it to run.
She was just about to sit down and wait for the first cup when Ann walked in, her wide hips and salt and pepper hair always a welcome sight. “Are you down here for some extra hours?”
Ann nodded as she eyed the pot of coffee that was barely started. “Thought I could use the extra pay this week.”
She slid across the table from Jerica and relaxed into the chair. “How’s the world with you?”
Jerica sighed. Ann had always been a good friend the times they had spent together, including work and outside of work. Normally she would talk to her sister, but that was out of the question for a bit since her sister was so preoccupied with her own shit.
“It’s going.”
“That doesn’t sound like it’s going well.”
Pursing her lips, Jerica sighed heavily. “Have you ever had someone give you loads of mixed signals?”
Ann snorted. “Yes. But which mixed signals are you getting?”
Jerica eyed Ann up and down before she decided to dive in. Bridget wasn’t her patient any longer, and since it had been weeks since she’d been admitted to the hospital, surely it would be okay to spill the beans that they’d been on a date or two, right? “Bridget. You remember her?”
“How could I forget?” Ann eyed Jerica up and down. “Did you…talk to her outside of the hospital?”
“Yes.” Jerica answered slowly, treading the line of whether Ann would find this appropriate or not. When she said nothing and didn’t give any indication that she thought it was a bad idea, Jerica continued. “She’s been…I don’t know. We went on a date, which she agreed to. It didn’t go that well, but it certainly wasn’t the worst first date I’ve been on, more…amusing. Anyway, she then didn’t talk to me, so I showed up and we had a second date, a much better date.”
“And now?”
“Now she’ll text me and talk to me about anything other than dating.” Jerica sighed, rubbing her temple as the coffee pot gurgled.
“Interesting,” Ann murmured, her gaze sliding to the coffee pot. “Have you asked her what’s up?”
Jerica grimaced. “Not directly, but I have tried to get some understanding of what’s holding her back or if she really wants to date. I don’t want to force her into anything, you know? If she wants me to stop, I’ll do that. If she just wants to be friends…that’ll be a little harder but not impossible.”
Ann nodded. “When Heidi and I first got together, we were friends first, then we started other things. It wasn’t as easy for her. She didn’t have a lot of experience with dating, or being in a good and healthy relationship. She needed that time to adjust.”
“How long did it take?”
Ann snorted lightly. “A year before we had our first kiss.”
Jerica flushed slightly. “We’ve already done that.”
“And did it feel right?”
“The second time. The first? Not so much. I can’t quite put my finger on why.”
“Was she as ready as you? She was just in an awful car accident, work related at that, don’t you think that’s a lot of weight for a person to carry.”
Nodding, Jerica folded her hands and stared at the top of the table. “Yeah, it is. I get that, and I don’t mind taking it slow.”
Ann got up and grabbed a Styrofoam cup, pouring herself coffee before it was finished so the stream hissed against the burner. “Sorry, couldn’t wait for this.”
Jerica shrugged it off, but she didn’t grab her own coffee. She could wait until it was finished brewing. “I think it’s just hard to know what to do when there’s no communication to tell me what to do.”
“Ah, that.” Ann settled into the chair across from Jerica again. “Communication is key in any relationship that is going to survive. Though, be warned, it can take years and years to learn how to properly listen and talk.”
Jerica frowned, eyeing Ann as if she held the worlds secrets. Ann and her partner had been together for years, and yet they never seemed to have any problems. She’d always taken their relationship at face value, they were quiet about it because of living in a rural part of the country and being in a same-sex relationship, add in the fact they were both older, so it wasn’t as common then to be out and proud.
“Did it take you a long time to figure out how to communicate?”