"It's not as glamorous as the houses you sell probably are, but the commute to work is great." Lou says to Debbie as they go up the stairs.
They walk into Lou's apartment and it's not at all what Debbie was expecting. "Oh, wow, this is...actually nice."
Lou laughs a little. "Thank you for the kind words."
"No, I just meant- You just talked about it as if it were a college dorm room. But it's not, it's nice."
"I'd just ordered take out when you mentioned your watch." As the food reheated Lou brought a beer for each of them to the couch where Debbie sat. "Cheers"
"I have to ask… the repair shop is just very you. It just fits with you. But the flower shop? It doesn't scream Lou."
"How can you be so sure? You've only seen me twice."
Debbie smiled. "I just mean…. Nevermind. I'm judging and that's not nice. And I'm a nice lady."
Lou smiled at her. "It was my mother's shop. When she passed she left it to me and I kept it open. I'd gotten good at making arrangements and it gets more business than the repair shop."
"Why do you keep the repair shop then?"
"I like looking inside things and figuring out how they work."
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"I hated working in an office. The whole 9-5, monday to friday thing isn't for me. And then one day I was talking to Danny he asked me how work was and I told him. That's when he suggested I become a realtor."
"Did you get your license right away?"
They were both sitting on the couch facing each other deep in conversation for a few hours now.
"No, not right away. But that same year I finally did it. And you know what? Best decision I ever made."
"That's how I felt when I opened the repair shop."
"What were you doing before that?"
"Mostly bartending, but before I moved to the States I was a lawyer."
"You're a lawyer?!" Debbie says in complete shock.
"Not here, but in Australia I was."
"I can't see that. I cannot picture you in a stuffy, boring suit going to court."
"First you say I'm sexy and now you're picturing me in different outfits. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were coming on to me." Lou slightly raised her eyebrows challenging Debbie to say something.
"I'm… I'm pleading the fifth." Debbie blushes slightly.
"I didn't figure you were such a pussy."
"Excuse me?" Debbie says through laughter.
"You heard me." Lou took a drink. "I just thought you were a 'grab life by the balls' type of person."
"I am! I grab life's balls all the time! So much grabbing."
"Sure you do."
"You know what? You're just trying to get to me. If you knew me a little better you would know that's not true." Debbie doesn't understand why she feels the need to impress someone she hardly knows.
"I beg to differ. You're determined and you're a fighter, that much I know. Making it in your line of work isn't exactly easy, but are you the same way in your personal life?"
"What do you mean?"
Lou smirks at Debbie, takes a long drink and carefully places her beer down.
"You want me to be very honest with you?"
"Please."
"You've been flirting with me all night and you keep staring at my lips. Not to mention the day you gave me your card."
"You asked for one!"
"Yes, but you're the one that said to call you Debbie and then blushed like a teenager."
Debbie opened her mouth to speak but didn't say anything.
"I'm right."
Debbie looked at Lou closely. She shifted closer to her and motioned for Lou to come closer. Their faces now inches apart, Debbie gets close enough to where their lips almost touch.
Both looking into each other's eyes until Debbie spoke. "If anything I think you are the one that wants to kiss me." Their lips nearly brushing as she spoke.
Debbie sat back in her original spot and Lou didn't say anything. Debbie's victory smiled appeared.
"It's late, I should go."
Lou wears a half smile as she walked her out to her car.
"Thank you for fixing my watch. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for that."
"I'll order the glass part tomorrow. I'll let you know when it arrives."
"Ok, I look forward to hearing from you." Debbie at this point wanted to hear from Lou this week whether the part had arrived already or not.
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Debbie sat with Tammy on the same park bench they regularly shared coffee on.
"Have you ever been with a woman?"
"Is that an invitation? If so, I'm gonna have to decline. You're gorgeous, but I feel like you wouldn't be able to get over me so easily. Plus I'm married."
"No, not an invitation." Debbie smiles. "Have you ever kissed another woman?"
"I think maybe in college? Spring break? I can't remember I was too drunk to properly remember anything from that period of my life." After a moment Tammy noticed Debbie had gone quiet. "Why do you ask?"
"Remember the florist I told you about, the one that made me take the daisies?"
"Yeah"
"And remember how I told you my watch broke, but I was able to get it fixed?"
"Yeah…" Tammy was gesturing for Debbie to spill the beans already.
"Well the person, woman, the woman who fixed my watch is also the florist. She has two shops right next to each other.
Tammy was a bit confused at the build up for this underwhelming reveal. "Oh, well, good for her. Two thriving shops in this economy is nothing to sneeze at."
"I almost kissed her."
This got Tammy's attention. "And, you're only telling me this now? Also, you never told you were dating again. And you didn't tell me you were thinking about women again."
"I said almost. And to be honest I haven't been with anyone in so long I'm not even sure I know how to do it anymore."
"Go back to the part where you almost kissed her, tell me everything."
Debbie spares no detail in what happened from the moment she walked into the repair shop to the moment she arrived home.
"Are you gonna ask her out? You need to ask her out. Gimme your phone, I'll ask her for you."
"No, I'm not giving you my phone."
"Fine. But you will ask her out?"
"Do adults even do that? Ask someone out?"
"How long has it been since you've been on a date?" Tammy became concerned.
"Long enough where if I tell you how long you'll start setting me up on awful blind dates with your husband's boring coworkers. Again."
"I do the things I do because you're my best friend and I love you. Also, I'm afraid you'll die alone."
"Talking to you is such a confidence booster."
"Or… you could just ask out flower repair lady."
"You saying it like that makes it sound like she fixes flowers."
"Ask her out or I will Google every watch repair shop in town and visit them all until I find her. I will know who it is because I know your type."
Tammy sipped her coffee and gave Debbie the same look she gave her children when she meant business.
"Ok, fine. I will think about it."
Tammy pulls out her phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Call her right now or I'll visit her store that I just found and confirmed it is in fact her shop via Google Street View." Tammy showed Debbie her phone making sure her friend saw she definitely had found Lou's shop.
Debbie knew her friend didn't bluff. She pulled out her phone and called Lou.
"Hello" Lou answered without really looking at who was calling.
"Hi, it's me. Debbie. You fixed my watch."
"I know who you are." Lou smiled into the phone. "What can I do for you? Is it your watch?"
"No, my watch is working perfectly and with that new glass looks new again." She paused for a moment. "I was wondering… are you busy tomorrow night? I figured the least I could do was have you over for dinner as a thank you. I don't cook though so fair warning, I'm ordering take out."
Still smiling she answered, "what time should I be there?"
"Is eight ok?"
"Yeah, of course. Text me your address."
Debbie looked at Tammy with wide eyes. "Yes, I will definitely text you my address."
"See you tomorrow."
Debbie hung up and stared at her phone.
"WOW, you have got it bad for this woman, haven't you?"
"What? No, of course not. She's attractive, very much so, but that's all it really is for now."
Tammy imitated Debbie, "Oh hi it's me Debbie the lovesick puppy with the broken watch let me feed you pizza."
Debbie lost the battle in trying not to laugh. "I don't sound like that!"
"Please! You should hear yourself. Are you the same Debbie Ocean I've been friends with all these years? Because my friend Debbie is very smooth and suave. To an irritating degree."
"I spoke to her as I would anyone else I'm mildly attracted to." Debbie is a liar.
Tammy threw her head back laughing. "Debbie, who are you trying to fool, yourself? Because you're not fooling me." Tammy studied her friend a moment. "You like her, don't you?"
"I don't know, I mean yes I do, but I don't know what I'm doing. I haven't done this in so long."
"She obviously is into whatever the fuck kind of vibe you're putting out so honestly be yourself. As weird as that is now, just be it. Besides if it doesn't work out you can just find another florist."