Lisa’s words had been playing in her mind for days. However, the words that had stuck were probably not the ones that Lisa had intended.

Sex with a woman simply because why not?

Her friend had surprised her.

That idea had simply never crossed Cora’s mind. She was eighteen when she met Alec. And he’d been everything she’d thought she wanted.

He was everything she had wanted. This version of him, who he was now, wasn’t. Or had she just seen what she’d wanted in him and ignored the rest?

Cora was definitely straight. Apparently, so was Lisa even though she’d had that experience.

Shaking her head, Cora went upstairs to get ready. This train of thought was leading nowhere. What else had Lisa talked about? What had Cora been craving? Distraction.

So why not go out and get drunk that evening? Maybe Frazer could help her eye someone up.

She wasn’t even part way to separated yet, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t look.

Over the next hour, Cora slowly got ready, trying to ignore the tie Alec had left curled on his bedside table, the familiarity of it prickling at her. The restless feeling still fluttered in her chest.

She needed to do something.

By accident or on purpose, she wasn’t sure which, she arrived at the bar too early. It was the same one she’d come to after her last fight with Alec, and the familiarity was comforting. Suddenly grateful she was early, she ordered a white wine and slipped into a free booth. The worn leather sunk under her, crackling slightly. Around her, the bar slowly filled up, people trickling in. Again, she saw Alec’s secretary, Tia, with the friend Tia’s husband wouldn’t want her seeing, the two women tucked away like giggling teens. Elbows on the bar top, they settled in, heads close as they cackled over something. In the corner, drums and a guitar sat, a clear sign that live music was on the agenda for the evening. Interns wandered in, desperate for an after-work beer as they blurrily congratulated each other on surviving another week.

Only a sip of her wine remained when Frazer slid opposite her, two fresh glasses in hand and a warm look of greeting on her face.

It was amusing now to think Cora had once found her obnoxious.

Already tingling inside from one glass, Cora took the new one, and their fingers brushed each other, the sensation flowing up Cora’s arm in warm sparks.

“Hey! Sorry I’m a bit late. A woman decided to go into labour just as I was leaving, as they do. Had to get her settled before handing her over to the next midwife.”

“No problem.”

Frazer’s eyes were incredibly green. She’d mentioned over one night of drinking that her parents both were of Indian descent. The darker tone of her skin from that heritage caused her eyes to stand out even more brightly.

Had Cora noticed that before?

What Cora noticed most was that the second Frazer sat down, open and friendly, Alec flew to the very back of her mind.