To say that Nadia was in a rage was an understatement as she carefully drove the distance in her power wheelchair to make her way to where the meeting was supposed to take place. Her anger felt so intense that she could find no words to express herself that weren’t words that the redhead did not want her unborn child to hear her say. At one point Nadia had to pull over into a nearby store to force herself to calm down, reminding herself that these negative emotions were not good for the baby.

It was entirely possible that this author was just somebody who had been at the party and wanted to talk to her about a collaboration. Still, she was shaking her head as she continued on her way, Nadia knew better.

Some things never changed.

Nadia still remembered Cynthia’s threat to skin her ex, which was one of the reasons that she had decided to handle this alone. The other reason was that, quite frankly, this did not concern her lover. Some things were better left being done in private.

To Nadia’s wire taunted nerves, it seemed like forever before she finally got to the out-of-the-way coffee shop where the meeting was going to take place. Going into the place, she carefully schooled her face into a pleasant mask. The redhead was reminded of her first job doing part time clerical work and how nervous she had been. Her guts felt the same right now as they had back then, and she only hoped that they would unknot themselves enough for her to be civil when she met up with Cynthia later.

Sighing silently and taking a deep breath, she looked around. Her heart sank into her shoes when she saw Rachel stand up and wave to her. There was no denying the smirk of satisfaction on the other woman’s face.

Reminding herself that anger wasn’t good for the baby, she silently drove over to Rachel. “Were you the one who arranged this?” She asked, her heart pounding but her voice was remaining calm.

“Yes. I still respect you as a writer and I don’t see why we can’t still work together professionally.” Rachel replied, pulling out a chair for her old friend.

The redhead was mortally certain that her teeth were going to shatter since she was clenching her jaw so hard. “I see.” Was all she could manage to grate out as she pulled into the space offered.

“Our styles might be different after all this time, I know that. However, we can still be compatible writing-wise. After all, it’s not like we haven’t had practice.” The brunette continued calmly, ignoring the look of anger on Nadia’s face.

“What makes you think that I would trust you enough to try writing with you again, now or ever?” She replied quietly after she had ordered her drink.

“It’s been almost twelve years now Tammy. Don’t you think that it’s time to put the past behind us and move on with our lives?” Rachel asked with a smile.

Now Nadia’s eyes flashed and she was barely in control of herself. “First off, my name is Nadia. Second, you are making it sound like writing isn’t all that you have in mind. Third, what makes you think that I haven’t moved on with my life?”

“The fact that you aren’t even considering being my writing partner again just because I dumped you in my first month in college.” Came the smug reply.

Nadia creamed and sugared her coffee that had been brought to her before deciding to bother answering. When she spoke again, she made absolutely sure that her voice was steady, unlike the pounding of her heart. “You are the same as ever I see. Newsflash, breaking someone’s heart is one thing, but telling your partner that you are going to send them a dozen black roses along with a signed copy of the book when the idea for that book was half mine is quite another!”

“You still think I’d do that? I said I was joking and that I had been upset with you when I said that, you know I didn’t mean it! Are you still holding that against me after all this time? Grow up Nadia, we are adults now!”

“I did grow up. You proved to me a long time ago that you cannot be trusted with anything of personal worth. The fact that you could say stuff like that at all showed that you weren’t worth my time in the first place. My writing was the most important thing in my life, it was the one thing that I had never shared with anybody before. You treated it as though it was just a one night stand, you used me back then and you’re trying to use me now. I’ve got news for you Rachel, I don‘t need you anymore. I have a wife and two children on the way and I‘m not about to risk their health and well-being over trash like you.” She drained her cooled coffee in three gulps. “You are in my past Rachel, I gave you credit when the credit was due. Other than that, you are just another piece of history to me that I would rather forget ever happened.”

Without another word, Nadia backed up and drove out of the coffee shop, throwing the cup on the way out. She didn’t even care about the tears that were sliding down Rachel’s cheeks.

Driving down the street, she felt oddly empty, but that was normal considering how angry she had been. It still took a while before she had cooled off enough to meet her wife at the baby gap.

Cynthia took one look at her mate and her emerald eyes flashed in rage. “Baby, what’s wrong?” She remembered at the last minute not to swear. “You look drained, what did the woman say to you?”

Nadia sighed and let her lover lead her to a place where they could sit and talk. Sparing herself nothing, the redhead repeated the conversation word for word. “… I still can’t believe I was so nasty Cyn, that’s not like me at all! It was like a fuse just blew in my brain when she said that. I know what I said was right, but she did have a point …”

“But nothing darling.” Cynthia interrupted, something she rarely did. “She was using your writing to get back into your life, if not into your bed. You gave her the boot and pulled her plug, don’t undo that by apologizing to her.”

The redhead sighed sadly. “You’re right, I just wish that…”

“I know, but there‘s nothing you can do about it love.” Her wife said softly. Still wishing that she could tear strips out of Rachel’s hide for hurting her beloved, but knowing better than to do so.

After a few minutes, Nadia smiled, placing her hand on Cynthia’s stomach. “Thank you honey. Let’s go shopping and not let this spoil our day.”

Cynthia smiled in relief. “I was hoping you’d say that…”

And with that, life went on without another word spoken.