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Getting Along
They had to work together, so they were going to have to learn to get along.
Lavinia exhaled in a forcefully calm manner as she watched her buffoon of a partner make an absolute fool of themselves in front of her.
Jesse Hughes was an embarrassment to the investigator profession.
They were the most conspicuous and outspoken person Lavinia had ever met. Wherever they walked, whatever the town, Jesse would always be recognised and pulled into an infuriating small-talk conversation. They seemed to know absolutely everyone. And, sure, in another context, Lavinia acknowledges that this could be useful. However, they were PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS, for fuck’s sake! There is never any chance of slipping into the shadows when one works with Jesse Hughes. Their wide, crooked smile almost always meant their cover was about to be blown as the bastard prepared to call out to a recognised individual.
Lavinia spent most of these agonising conversations wondering how in the hell Jesse had lasted so long in the profession, let alone get to such an advanced position. So used to blocking out the noise of words being exchanged as soon as Jesse opened their mouth, Lavinia was surprised to hear a gentle laugh shockingly close to her right ear,
“He’s a riot, that Sam.”
“Pardon?” Lavinia turned swiftly to face the wizened gentleman who had moved silently to stand behind her. He watched as Jesse giggled and twirled a young girl - maybe 6 years old? - across the shiny cobblestones as the girl’s family clapped along.
“Sam? The lad currently sweeping Matilda off her feet?,” the man chuckled. “He’s a good kid. We’ve all needed a laugh since all of that nasty business with the Byrne’s started.
Frowning as she processed the old man’s words, Lavinia bit back the instant retort defending her partner’s neutral pronouns that bubbled up the back of her throat. Now was not the time. Later, though, definitely. Jesse may be a fool, but they deserved to be addressed properly.
For now, Lavinia cleared her throat and lightened her tone, “Of course I know Sam. I’m just surprised to hear that you favour him so.”
Expecting a laugh, Lavinia was surprised when the man instead narrowed his eyes and regarded her coldly.
“Now that’s no way to talk about the lad. He may not be a local, or a regular in the area, but the boy has heart. Too many people walk in and out of here without even a glance in the locals’ direction - thinking they’re too good for the likes of us… Sam, well, Sam may not have been here long, but he jumped in straight away to help. Bussed tables at the diner during lunch hour on Tuesday, walked Mrs Longbourne to her car in the bottom carpark during the pouring rain on Wednesday, made sure I stumbled all the way home from the pub last night… Got a heart of gold, that one.”
Turning his quizzical gaze on Lavinia, the strange man regarded her suspiciously.
“You arrived ‘ere with ‘im, and yet you talk as if you don’t know the fella… Who are you?”
Stammering for a response, Lavinia was grateful to have Jesse jump in and save her. Jesse swung a confident arm around her shoulders and turned their thousand-watt beam on the grumpy man.
“Hello Fred! I see you’ve met Miranda. Fred, Miranda. Miranda, Fred.” Tightening their arm, Jesse turned their face to Lavinia; while their mouth communicated carefree joy, their eyes were serious and searching.
“Miranda here is my older sister. She’s from the city, and hasn’t seen me since we were kids… I hate to admit it, Fred, but I was a bit of a rapscallion when I was younger,” Jesse sighed and pouted light-heartedly towards Fred.
“I suppose she hasn’t had a chance to get used to the new, older, suave me.”
“Uh, y-yes,” Lavinia stammered, “It’s a surprise, to be sure, but Fred has had nothing but good things to say about you… I suppose it’s time I rethink and age up the you that lives in my mind.”
Lavinia felt a sigh of relief work through her as she watched Fred’s posture loosen, and his gaze regard her neutrally again. The man grunted,
“It’s difficult to be the older sibling and watch your younger brothers age up. I know first-hand it can be tough, sweetheart,”
Lavinia resisted the strong urge to cringe at the pet name as Fred draped a friendly arm over her - and Jesse’s - shoulders.
“Luckily for you, your younger brother has grown into a fine young man. He’ll be sorely missed when he leaves us to depart on his next big adventure…”
Pausing at the man’s wistful tone, Lavinia was shocked to see sadness hiding in Jesse’s deep brown irises. The emotion disappeared in an instant as Jesse turned to face Fred,
“You’re too kind, Fred. Look, I need to drive my sister back to her motel for the evening, so I’ll see you around, yeah? The Byrnes’ place, Saturday at 10, right?”
With a nod and a wink, Fred agreed before turning back to face his family. The little girl - Matilda - now danced with an older child in the same spot Jesse had been twirling her.
##
Back at the motel, Lavinia watched with an incredulous slack-jaw as Jesse pottered around like normal. Meeting her striking hazel irises in the mirror, Jesse smirked at Lavinia,
“Like what you see?”
The extrovert snorted at the affronted expression Lavinia reacted with. Determined to get answers, the short haired brunette sputtered out a question,
“What was all that back there, Jesse? How did you know Fred? Why did Fred think you were called Sam? Why didn’t you say anything when he kept using he/him pronouns for you?”
Jesse laughed. It sounded like the delicate tinkling of fairy bells.
“Sam is my alias in this town, obviously? I always use androgynous names, and just let the citizens designate pronouns for my assumed identity. Sure, it hurts a bit, but it’s all for the sake of being good at my job and finding out information, no?”
Jesse laughed again upon seeing Lavinia’s confused expression. This time, their laughter was interrupted by graceless snorts. Lavinia thought the snorting was equally beautiful. Lavinia was not going to mention this aloud.
“Oh, come on Lav, did you really think I’d give them my real name?”
Another NOT CUTE snort.
“I mean, what kind of private investigator would I be if I was my sociable self and was known as my real identity?”
Jesse’s giggles faded to an abrupt stop as the investigator noticed Lavinia’s unwavering guilty expression.
“Holy shit,” they whispered. Their body language shut down - curling into themselves, “You must really think I’m a shit investigator…”
Lavinia had to try and lessen some of this hurt, “Jesse, no, I -”
“Ha ha, no it’s fine,” Jesse’s laugh was forced and humourless. Lavinia watched, distraught, as she saw Jesse’s walls go up, blocking her out.
“It’s fine,” Jesse repeated, now avoiding eye contact, “I guess it’s my fault. I don’t take things seriously enough…”
Lavinia wanted desperately to fix this misunderstanding, but the words failed to form on her tongue. She sat there for almost a minute, opening her mouth as if about to speak, before shutting it abruptly. Jesse watched this awkwardly looped dance from where they'd slumped on the twin bed next to Lavinias's.
“Can I just- Can I just ask one thing?” Jesse’s whisper was so quiet, Lavinia almost missed it.
“Of course. Please, Jesse, I -”
“Just - You mentioned this whole ‘different identity’ thing like it’s something new… We’ve been partners for a year, and this has been a strategy I’ve used the entire time,” Jesse’s hard, searching eyes finally met Lavinia’s,
“Why did you only notice now?”
Oh god. There was no positive way to spin this response. Lavinia sent a quick, silent prayer to any and every deity that she would survive this encounter without hurting Jesse further.
“Um, so, I uh- I kind of… I’m used to just tuning out the sound of your voice?” Lavinia cringed as the words tumbled out clumsily. Once it started, she was horrified to realise they wouldn’t stop, “It was always frustrating, yknow? Seeing you mucking around and greeting every person we pass when we’re meant to be stealthy. It was my strategy for making sure we got along, ha ha…”
At Jesse’s silence, Lavinia gathered the courage to look at the other’s face.
She wished she hadn’t.
Jesse’s sun-kissed face was pulled into a frown. They mindlessly twirled a lock of their soft, bouncy, shoulder-length hair as they stared intensely at the stained carpet. Lavinia’s horror mounted as she registered tears welling in Jesse’s deep brown eyes.
She’d fucked up. She’d hurt Jesse even further. Fuck.
The jolting movements of Jesse’s head as they attempted to nod and clear their throat pulled Lavinia from her spiralling thoughts.
“Th- Thank you for your honesty,” Jesse croaked. “I mean, I think it’s the very least we owe each other… A whole year working together…” Jesse’s hollow laugh that followed made Lavinia’s stomach turn.
“And to think I thought we were friends - can you believe that? Sure, I’m annoying and in-your-face, but I thought we balanced each other well, yknow?”
Another hollow laugh that made Lavinia want to melt into the floor.
“I mean, I’ve always admired your skills out loud. You’re a talented investigator. I know that like, I’m no YOU or anything, but I thought I had some redeeming qualities…”
Why wasn’t her mouth moving? Lavinia was screaming responses in her mind that could attempt to start healing this hurt, but her mouth refused to cooperate.
Jesse was a great investigator! Lavinia felt like an absolute IDIOT for taking more than a year to realise this. She thought back to her conversation with Fred; they’d only been in this town for a week, and Jesse had already earned the trust, and shared laughter, of the locals. That took an unbelievable amount of skill! Not to mention the fact that Jesse hadn’t made any outlandish claims - the locals knew they wouldn’t stick around forever, but they appreciated their brief time in town. How could Lavinia have been so blind? She’d spent a year working with them, and instead of learning from their enthusiastic approach, she’d learned to block out the sound of their voice? What an asshole! What an idiot! She didn’t deserve to be Jesse’s partner.
But none of those thoughts made it past Lavinia’s cursed tongue.
Instead, she watched helplessly as Jesse frantically wiped their eyes and shrugged on their denim jacket.
“I just- um,” Jesse swallowed thickly through their continuing tears. They refused to make eye contact. “I just need a break. I’ll be back later tonight. We’ve got the party at the Byrnes’ place on Saturday. Then we can get out of here.”
Jesse stalked over to the aged, pink room door. They yanked it open and stood in the doorway breathing heavily.
Turning one last time to look at Lavinia, Jesse bit out, “Maybe then you can come up with more strategies for us to ‘get along.’ Evidently, we need it.”
The slam of the closing door echoed around Lavinia’s mind long after she was left alone in the room.
© O.M.A
#shortstory #writco #writcoapp #friendship #unhappyending #lgbtq #story #fiction #misunderstanding #storytelling
Lavinia exhaled in a forcefully calm manner as she watched her buffoon of a partner make an absolute fool of themselves in front of her.
Jesse Hughes was an embarrassment to the investigator profession.
They were the most conspicuous and outspoken person Lavinia had ever met. Wherever they walked, whatever the town, Jesse would always be recognised and pulled into an infuriating small-talk conversation. They seemed to know absolutely everyone. And, sure, in another context, Lavinia acknowledges that this could be useful. However, they were PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS, for fuck’s sake! There is never any chance of slipping into the shadows when one works with Jesse Hughes. Their wide, crooked smile almost always meant their cover was about to be blown as the bastard prepared to call out to a recognised individual.
Lavinia spent most of these agonising conversations wondering how in the hell Jesse had lasted so long in the profession, let alone get to such an advanced position. So used to blocking out the noise of words being exchanged as soon as Jesse opened their mouth, Lavinia was surprised to hear a gentle laugh shockingly close to her right ear,
“He’s a riot, that Sam.”
“Pardon?” Lavinia turned swiftly to face the wizened gentleman who had moved silently to stand behind her. He watched as Jesse giggled and twirled a young girl - maybe 6 years old? - across the shiny cobblestones as the girl’s family clapped along.
“Sam? The lad currently sweeping Matilda off her feet?,” the man chuckled. “He’s a good kid. We’ve all needed a laugh since all of that nasty business with the Byrne’s started.
Frowning as she processed the old man’s words, Lavinia bit back the instant retort defending her partner’s neutral pronouns that bubbled up the back of her throat. Now was not the time. Later, though, definitely. Jesse may be a fool, but they deserved to be addressed properly.
For now, Lavinia cleared her throat and lightened her tone, “Of course I know Sam. I’m just surprised to hear that you favour him so.”
Expecting a laugh, Lavinia was surprised when the man instead narrowed his eyes and regarded her coldly.
“Now that’s no way to talk about the lad. He may not be a local, or a regular in the area, but the boy has heart. Too many people walk in and out of here without even a glance in the locals’ direction - thinking they’re too good for the likes of us… Sam, well, Sam may not have been here long, but he jumped in straight away to help. Bussed tables at the diner during lunch hour on Tuesday, walked Mrs Longbourne to her car in the bottom carpark during the pouring rain on Wednesday, made sure I stumbled all the way home from the pub last night… Got a heart of gold, that one.”
Turning his quizzical gaze on Lavinia, the strange man regarded her suspiciously.
“You arrived ‘ere with ‘im, and yet you talk as if you don’t know the fella… Who are you?”
Stammering for a response, Lavinia was grateful to have Jesse jump in and save her. Jesse swung a confident arm around her shoulders and turned their thousand-watt beam on the grumpy man.
“Hello Fred! I see you’ve met Miranda. Fred, Miranda. Miranda, Fred.” Tightening their arm, Jesse turned their face to Lavinia; while their mouth communicated carefree joy, their eyes were serious and searching.
“Miranda here is my older sister. She’s from the city, and hasn’t seen me since we were kids… I hate to admit it, Fred, but I was a bit of a rapscallion when I was younger,” Jesse sighed and pouted light-heartedly towards Fred.
“I suppose she hasn’t had a chance to get used to the new, older, suave me.”
“Uh, y-yes,” Lavinia stammered, “It’s a surprise, to be sure, but Fred has had nothing but good things to say about you… I suppose it’s time I rethink and age up the you that lives in my mind.”
Lavinia felt a sigh of relief work through her as she watched Fred’s posture loosen, and his gaze regard her neutrally again. The man grunted,
“It’s difficult to be the older sibling and watch your younger brothers age up. I know first-hand it can be tough, sweetheart,”
Lavinia resisted the strong urge to cringe at the pet name as Fred draped a friendly arm over her - and Jesse’s - shoulders.
“Luckily for you, your younger brother has grown into a fine young man. He’ll be sorely missed when he leaves us to depart on his next big adventure…”
Pausing at the man’s wistful tone, Lavinia was shocked to see sadness hiding in Jesse’s deep brown irises. The emotion disappeared in an instant as Jesse turned to face Fred,
“You’re too kind, Fred. Look, I need to drive my sister back to her motel for the evening, so I’ll see you around, yeah? The Byrnes’ place, Saturday at 10, right?”
With a nod and a wink, Fred agreed before turning back to face his family. The little girl - Matilda - now danced with an older child in the same spot Jesse had been twirling her.
##
Back at the motel, Lavinia watched with an incredulous slack-jaw as Jesse pottered around like normal. Meeting her striking hazel irises in the mirror, Jesse smirked at Lavinia,
“Like what you see?”
The extrovert snorted at the affronted expression Lavinia reacted with. Determined to get answers, the short haired brunette sputtered out a question,
“What was all that back there, Jesse? How did you know Fred? Why did Fred think you were called Sam? Why didn’t you say anything when he kept using he/him pronouns for you?”
Jesse laughed. It sounded like the delicate tinkling of fairy bells.
“Sam is my alias in this town, obviously? I always use androgynous names, and just let the citizens designate pronouns for my assumed identity. Sure, it hurts a bit, but it’s all for the sake of being good at my job and finding out information, no?”
Jesse laughed again upon seeing Lavinia’s confused expression. This time, their laughter was interrupted by graceless snorts. Lavinia thought the snorting was equally beautiful. Lavinia was not going to mention this aloud.
“Oh, come on Lav, did you really think I’d give them my real name?”
Another NOT CUTE snort.
“I mean, what kind of private investigator would I be if I was my sociable self and was known as my real identity?”
Jesse’s giggles faded to an abrupt stop as the investigator noticed Lavinia’s unwavering guilty expression.
“Holy shit,” they whispered. Their body language shut down - curling into themselves, “You must really think I’m a shit investigator…”
Lavinia had to try and lessen some of this hurt, “Jesse, no, I -”
“Ha ha, no it’s fine,” Jesse’s laugh was forced and humourless. Lavinia watched, distraught, as she saw Jesse’s walls go up, blocking her out.
“It’s fine,” Jesse repeated, now avoiding eye contact, “I guess it’s my fault. I don’t take things seriously enough…”
Lavinia wanted desperately to fix this misunderstanding, but the words failed to form on her tongue. She sat there for almost a minute, opening her mouth as if about to speak, before shutting it abruptly. Jesse watched this awkwardly looped dance from where they'd slumped on the twin bed next to Lavinias's.
“Can I just- Can I just ask one thing?” Jesse’s whisper was so quiet, Lavinia almost missed it.
“Of course. Please, Jesse, I -”
“Just - You mentioned this whole ‘different identity’ thing like it’s something new… We’ve been partners for a year, and this has been a strategy I’ve used the entire time,” Jesse’s hard, searching eyes finally met Lavinia’s,
“Why did you only notice now?”
Oh god. There was no positive way to spin this response. Lavinia sent a quick, silent prayer to any and every deity that she would survive this encounter without hurting Jesse further.
“Um, so, I uh- I kind of… I’m used to just tuning out the sound of your voice?” Lavinia cringed as the words tumbled out clumsily. Once it started, she was horrified to realise they wouldn’t stop, “It was always frustrating, yknow? Seeing you mucking around and greeting every person we pass when we’re meant to be stealthy. It was my strategy for making sure we got along, ha ha…”
At Jesse’s silence, Lavinia gathered the courage to look at the other’s face.
She wished she hadn’t.
Jesse’s sun-kissed face was pulled into a frown. They mindlessly twirled a lock of their soft, bouncy, shoulder-length hair as they stared intensely at the stained carpet. Lavinia’s horror mounted as she registered tears welling in Jesse’s deep brown eyes.
She’d fucked up. She’d hurt Jesse even further. Fuck.
The jolting movements of Jesse’s head as they attempted to nod and clear their throat pulled Lavinia from her spiralling thoughts.
“Th- Thank you for your honesty,” Jesse croaked. “I mean, I think it’s the very least we owe each other… A whole year working together…” Jesse’s hollow laugh that followed made Lavinia’s stomach turn.
“And to think I thought we were friends - can you believe that? Sure, I’m annoying and in-your-face, but I thought we balanced each other well, yknow?”
Another hollow laugh that made Lavinia want to melt into the floor.
“I mean, I’ve always admired your skills out loud. You’re a talented investigator. I know that like, I’m no YOU or anything, but I thought I had some redeeming qualities…”
Why wasn’t her mouth moving? Lavinia was screaming responses in her mind that could attempt to start healing this hurt, but her mouth refused to cooperate.
Jesse was a great investigator! Lavinia felt like an absolute IDIOT for taking more than a year to realise this. She thought back to her conversation with Fred; they’d only been in this town for a week, and Jesse had already earned the trust, and shared laughter, of the locals. That took an unbelievable amount of skill! Not to mention the fact that Jesse hadn’t made any outlandish claims - the locals knew they wouldn’t stick around forever, but they appreciated their brief time in town. How could Lavinia have been so blind? She’d spent a year working with them, and instead of learning from their enthusiastic approach, she’d learned to block out the sound of their voice? What an asshole! What an idiot! She didn’t deserve to be Jesse’s partner.
But none of those thoughts made it past Lavinia’s cursed tongue.
Instead, she watched helplessly as Jesse frantically wiped their eyes and shrugged on their denim jacket.
“I just- um,” Jesse swallowed thickly through their continuing tears. They refused to make eye contact. “I just need a break. I’ll be back later tonight. We’ve got the party at the Byrnes’ place on Saturday. Then we can get out of here.”
Jesse stalked over to the aged, pink room door. They yanked it open and stood in the doorway breathing heavily.
Turning one last time to look at Lavinia, Jesse bit out, “Maybe then you can come up with more strategies for us to ‘get along.’ Evidently, we need it.”
The slam of the closing door echoed around Lavinia’s mind long after she was left alone in the room.
© O.M.A
#shortstory #writco #writcoapp #friendship #unhappyending #lgbtq #story #fiction #misunderstanding #storytelling
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