Blue

Eliza was startled when she saw Cleo in her office. She was walking by the other woman’s office when she saw Cleo in a blue dress, looking deeper blue than the deep blue dress she was wearing.

“Cleo?” Eliza walked in, and Cleo wiped her face and nose with the back of her hand. It was clear that she wanted to hide her private moment, but it was not private anymore. “Are you okay?” 

Cleo shook her head.

“Well I am a mess, so obviously not! If I told you yes you would know that is not true.” Cleo sniffed.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Eliza…” Cleo looked at Eliza, and swallowed.

“Yes?”

“You are my friend as well as Oscar’s, but if I tell you this…” Cleo looked at her and her eyes shimmered with tears about to spill. “If I tell you this can it be between us?”

“I would never come between you and Oscar, that is not my business.”

“No,” Cleo shook her head. “I know you would not. My ex…”

Eliza froze, did Cleo know she knew about her ex? Composing herself, she nodded.

“He came back into my life, and he — we — are codependent to put it mildly. He has never left my life, and when he came back…” Eliza watched her like a train wreck, Cleo continued. “He made it very confusing for me. He wanted to get back together, I did not know what I wanted. I’ve been torn, and he went to Paris on business and met a woman who reminded him of his ex, a woman he dated years ago and treated badly. He wants penance with this woman, they have been together and he wants to see where things go…”

Cleo burst into tears, and Eliza moved to close the door behind her.

“He always does this to me Eliza, when am I going to learn to stay away. I can’t!”

Eliza drew Cleo close to her, tears like sweat covered her, and Eliza remembered what it was like to be jealous of another woman.

“Oscar and I have an open relationship,” Cleo started. “But I wanted to know if Cadmus wanted to be with just me…”

“Shhhhh,” Eliza soothed, holding a trembling Cleo to her chest like she was sure she would one day have to hold her own daughter because of heartbreak…

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picasso via wikipedia