Trapped In Silk

Return Ticket

I sit staring at a plane ticket back to Texas for a weekend away when Presley walks in smiling. "Hey, so I have some good news!"
"Go on..." He sits down at my desk and opens up Martha's folder.
"I know she's requested to be transferred here and I know it's taken a while but if you're still wanting Miss Blackburn to work for you then it's all ready"
"Perfect, thank you. She'll be over the moon"
"Good work Shelby. Your work here is outstanding, reaching targets before other sections" He taps the desk, leaving Marty's folder and smiles. "Now back to work, I'll leave it to you to tell Miss Blackburn"
"Oh Presley?"
"Yeah?" He spins back around before reaching the door.
"I'm takin' this weekend to go see my family"
"Shelby"
"Yes?"
"You don't work weekends. As long as I'm not seeing you on the news or some social media page acting crazy, I don't care what you do" He laughs and leaves.

Toni walks in with a coffee and sets it down in front of me. She looks down and the folder and sees Martha's picture. "Marty..."
"She's able to transfer here if she still wants to"
"Oh nice. She'll enjoy working with you" The tension in the air is strong and I have the urge to blurt out words that'll either fix things or make it worse. "Do you have anything for me?"
"I'm visitin' my family this weekend" Toni blankly stares at me, confused but nods her head.
"Okay...so do you have any work for me?"
"Oh sorry. Yeah I'll send it over, just fillin' some forms out and what not" I feel my face heat up, hoping that something else would break the tension.

She spins around and starts to leave. "Do you want to tell Martha about the new job?"
"You'll be her boss. I'm sure she'll appreciate it from you" She walks further and stops at the doorframe but doesn't turn around. "Have fun this weekend" She closes the door behind her and I'm left alone once again.

I get to work but spend most of the day staring out the window. I pick up my phone to find Marty's name and message her to come to my office when she's available, within 10 minutes she was knocking at my door.

"Shelby! Where have you been? It's been too long, I miss being roomies"
"Hey Martha, I know I know. I can come over when I'm back if you'd like?"
"You're leaving?"
"Just for the weekend, spend sometime with my family"
"Oh how nice, that'll be good for you after everything"

"Anyways! I have some good news for you" She sits down at my desk and smiles, waiting patiently. I move her folder into view with the transfer paperwork and slide it in front of her. "You've been accepted to move here if you still want to"
"I can work for you?!" Her face lights up and she scrounges around on my desk looking for a pen.
"I'd like to think it as you work with me, I might become your boss but I treat everyone here the same. We'll be a team and you can help design"
"Shelby! This is so exciting!" She signs the documents and hands it back, grinning from ear to ear. She runs round the desk and hugs me. "When do I start?"
"You can start as soon as I hand this back"
"Monday!?"
I laugh and nod. "Monday!"

Over lunch, I spend it in my office so I don't accidentally bump into Toni. It's the one place where I can actually see her come in before she gets to the door, so I can prepare myself. My phone starts to buzz and I turn it over to see my mom's name.
"Shelby?"
"Hey mom"
"Hey sweetie, I'm just checkin' up on you. How are you?"
"I'm good thank you"
"Good. So I spoke to your daddy about this weekend and he said that you can bring that friend you spoke to me about"
"My friend?"
"The one who was stayin' with you?"
"Fatin?"
"No no, Teri?"
"Oh Toni"
"Toni! That's it. He said he'd love to meet her since she helped you with Andrew and settle into your new apartment "
"Oh I uh-"
"Ooh he's callin' me now" I hear her voice get distant probably moving her phone from her ear to check the call. "I got to go baby, I'll speak to you soon. Can't wait to see you and meet Toni! I love you bye"
"I love you too..."

I sit there and think about how I'm either going to introduce them to Toni or tell them that I can't bring Toni. I've never let my daddy down before and I know he'll be wanting to meet her so breaking the news to Toni was probably a higher chance to happen.

I buzz Toni's desk and watch as she walks past my window into my office. "What's up?"
"I-" I freeze up and start to panic inside.
"You, what?" She blankly stares at me.
"Are you busy this weekend?"
"I uh..." She changes her face into a more confused look and shakes her head.
"Is that 'no you aren't busy' or 'no you are busy'?"
"Aren't you going home this weekend?"
"Yes..."
"Then why would you ask if I was busy?"
"I'd like you to come with me..." I give her a minute as she sits on the couch. Her face doesn't read no but it doesn't read yes either.
"Why? We're on our break"
"And I miss you Toni..." She looks over at me slightly happier than when she walked in and a small smile appears on her lips.

Her lips. How I miss kissing them. It's only been a couple days and I can barely manage without her. It's true, I do miss her but this is more than missing her. It's about not disappointing my parents more than I already feel like I have.

"I need some time to think about this"
"Sure however long you need. I leave later tonight though so I'll book your flight now, that's if you decide to come"
"Yeah I got it" She stands up and walks out with a slight spring in her step. I smile to myself knowing that she didn't seem angry about me asking.

I sit around at the end of the day to avoiding going home to an empty apartment before I leave, I'd rather an empty office than a reminder of my mess. I spin around on the chair as people begin to finally leave. I get a knock at the door and I stop spinning to see Toni stood there.

"I'll come, on one condition" I can't help the smile that grows on my face but I nod at her request. "I don't want to sit next to some random person, flying make me nervous"
"Deal"
"Why am I coming?"
"I don't know, you said yes"
"No. Why did you invite me? What's the catch?"
"No catch. My parents just would like to meet the person that helped me with things"
"Do they know?"
"Know what?"
"That I'm lesbian and that-"
I cut her off, shaking my head. "No...they uh...I've never let my daddy...dad down and askin' you to come was the only option"
"The only option?"
"I want to fix us and gettin' through this trip will mean that we have to be play nice for 2 days"
"Play nice"
"You know what I mean"
"Just don't leave me alone with those-"
"I know what you're goin' to say and just keep those thoughts in your head durin' this trip" For the first time in days she smiles and nods at my request.
"What does this mean for us?"
"That we're goin' to Texas for the weekend and you should brace yourself for bible study" I watch the smile leave her face and an unimpressed look takes over. "I'm jokin..." I half heartedly laugh knowing that I'm not.
"Texas here we come"