Thanks for the comments folks. A little update to keep us all going.
Ariana sat in her office in the back of her shop and waited for the sound of the bell to jingle above the front door, announcing Joscelyn's return. She slipped off her glasses and rubbed her forehead. The back of her eyes hurt with tiredness and stress so she popped her glasses back on to her face and tried to look at the order forms on the desk in front of her.
Joss had a face like thunder when she came back from chasing Caroline up the street and had picked up her coat and gone for a walk, taking the cake with her and not uttering a word. Ariana knew that Caroline had turned down Joss's offer and Ariana also knew that Joss's problem was being knocked back, rather than the person that had knocked her back. The difficulty for Ariana was that Joss would get over the rejection but Ariana did not know if she could get over Caroline.
From the moment the blonde woman had walked into the restaurant, so obviously dressed in her clothes that she had worn for work, Ariana had been spellbound.
It had been a long time since Ariana had experienced a feeling like that. An all, encompassing desire that swept her up and wound her through a myriad of uncertain emotions that prompted her to speak to a stranger.
It was not her usual way to ask someone to join her for dinner. Truth told, she was happy to frequent places and read a book, sitting at a table by herself, spending the odd minute people watching.
But when Caroline had walked into the restaurant it was not people watching. It was person examining.
The way that Caroline moved towards Ariana had captivated her and when Caroline had joined the woman on the next table, Ariana had felt a mixture of hope and dismay. Hope that she was dining with a woman and dismay that she was dining with a woman.
For the briefest of moments Ariana was able to forget Russ and everything that he had been to her. She had loved him dearly but from the beginning and until the end he was like her brother. He was ten years older and understood the world a great deal better than Ariana did. He protected her, encouraged her and loved her willingly and with devotion. He also knew the truth and turned a blind eye to her dalliances because the importance of being together and securing their family meant more to him than calling out his wife on her secret fantasies and the desires that she was forced to act upon when he was unable to connect with her. When Joss had come out to them at age twenty-four, Russ had been kind and sympathetic whereas Ariana had blamed herself. After Russ passed away, Joss had gone through his private desk and discovered a journal that chronicled his relationship with his wife there were words of love but also the recordings of hurt and understanding.
There had been such raw emotion at that time and Joss had sobbed for the loss of her father and for a mother that had been unable to be her true self.
And then Ariana put herself into mourning and tried to forget about the past and move on with her life, never considering that she might ever meet anyone that could make her feel again. She had not wanted to let anybody into her heart again, to have the uncertainty of falling in love, that was the last thing that she wanted.
Not until Caroline walked into that restaurant and took up residence at the next table with the woman that wore too much perfume.
Ariana sighed.
Then Joss had decided to muscle in and there was no possible way that Ariana was prepared to compete, she could not compete with her young, smart and vibrant daughter. If she had read this scenario on a problem page she would have laughed, thought it ridiculous that a mother and daughter could be attracted to the same woman. It was a scenario taken from the pages of a woman's magazine, without a happy outcome or answer. Except the difficulty with being a young mother meant that there was only 15 years age difference between Ariana and Joscelyn. And that meant that Joss had on occasion dated an older woman or two that were closer to Ariana in years than herself. It was only a few months earlier that Ariana had rejected the advances of a thirty-eight year old. Life was good and stressful sometimes.
The bell jangled and Ariana recognised the steps on the wooden floor as belonging to her daughter.
'Are you OK?' she called.
'Yep,' Joss appeared in the doorway and was sunnier than when she left. 'I've decided that I'm not giving up!'
Ariana hesitated. 'Right,' she said. 'Good.'
'I am going to flatter and adore Caroline until she gives in and goes on a date with me,' Joss smiled broadly.
'Brilliant,' Ariana choked out. 'Are you sure that's what she wants?'
'All women want to be wanted,' Joss grinned. 'Especially by little old me.'
'OK,' Ariana forced a smile.
'And I'm going to start today,' Joss whipped out her mobile phone.
No doubt to order flowers or whatever young people did these days when they were wooing people.
'Darling,' Ariana searched for appropriate words. 'Doesn't it bother you that Caroline is closer in age to me?'
Joss faltered. 'No mum, not really, I like her as a person. That's what's important.'
'Yes, of course it is,' Ariana agreed convivially. 'You know what you're doing, I'm just being a typical mother.'
Joss kissed her on the cheek.
'Is it OK if I use your computer?' she asked.
'Of course,' Ariana got up and exchanged places with her daughter. 'Anything you like.'
She walked dumbly into the body of the shop and looked around at the beautiful things and then the bell jangled and she smiled and greeted the customers like her entire world was completely normal.