Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Trinity was late to work. It was her seventh day in a row, and the late nights had started to catch up with her. She parked her car in the underground garage and made her way up to the ED, quickly stopping by her locker to drop her bag and jacket.
She snuck in to the back of the briefing, sliding in next to Victoria, who handed her a coffee. She mouthed a thank you as they listened to Dr Robby give his morning talk. She glanced up at the clock hung above the nurses station - she was only a few minutes late. She tried her hardest to pay attention to what Robby had to say, but found herself more focused on the drink in her hand. Once Robby finished, and everyone was dismissed, Trinity hung around the nurses station with Victoria, Dennis and Joy, massaging her temples and trying to wake herself up.
“So, Mateo was able to get four extra tickets for the fundraiser tonight. It starts at 8:30 but he said it would be okay if we end up having to get there a little later,” Victoria explained, sitting down in one of the free desk chairs.
“What's it for, again?” Dennis asked as he leant against the counter.
“I guess the company he works for partners with a few charities and once a year they do this whole big fundraiser with all of their clients.”
Trinity grabbed one of the tablets sitting on the desk, and looked up at the board above her, quickly making an assumption on how the rest of her day would go.
“Well,” she started, “you guys have fun at that.” She continued to scan the board.
“You’re not coming?” Victoria questioned.
Trinity laughs. “It starts at 8:30, on a Friday night. None of us are going. When was the last time any of you got out of here before 9?” She looks between the rest of the group, who all avert her gaze, knowing she is right.
Before anyone can actually say anything—
“MVC, multiple traumas, ETA 5 minutes,” Dana announced from the opposite side of the nurses station.
Trinity took the opportunity to break away from the conversation, “Not trying to be a buzzkill, just being realistic.”
By lunch time, the trauma had been dealt with, everyone had made it. But Trinity was exhausted. The coffee Victoria had given her remained almost untouched, and now sat cold at the nurses station. She picked it up and dropped it in the trash. She scanned the room to make sure there were no urgent patients she needed to check on, before making her way to the break room.
She pushed the door open and let it block out the noise behind her. She knew her opportunity to rest would be limited, and wanted to make the most of it. She walked over to the kitchenette, pulled a paper cup from the dispenser, and turned on the coffee machine. It was pretty crappy coffee, but she would take anything she could get at that moment.
As she waited for the machine to run, Victoria and Emma came into the room after her and sat down. They shared a conspiratorial look, and then turned their gaze towards Trinity, as she sat down at the small table and grimaced when she took a large gulp of her freshly made coffee.
When they didn’t look away, “What?” Trinity asked.
“When was the last time you did something other than go to work or go home?” Victoria asked.
“Or, go to Garcia’s place?” Emma added.
Trinity choked on her drink a little, not expecting such bluntness to come from the young nurse.
“Um…” Trinity had to stop and think. “I went to a movie with Huckleberry a few weeks ago.”
Victoria and Emma, once again, looked between each other.
“That was almost two months ago,” Victoria informed her. Trinity took a quick look at the three month calendar hung on the wall, and tracked back. Javadi was right. “You should come to the fundraiser tonight.”
Trinity sighed. It had been a long week. The only thing she could think of doing right now was finishing her shift, going home, and spending the weekend doing exactly nothing. The last thing she wanted to do was get dressed up for some boozy schmoozy event with Victoria’s not-quite-boyfriend's coworkers.
“It’ll be nice! You can put on a nice outfit, it’s an open bar, free food,” Emma said.
“How did she recruit you into this?” Trinity asks.
“Dennis already has farm plans and Donnie said he would cover my double,” Emma explained.
Trinity took another sip of her coffee, pretending to think it over. “All of this relies on me actually getting through the rest of this shift in one piece,” she said, “and at this rate, I’m not convinced that’s going to happen.”
“C’mon, Trin, you need a night out,” Victoria said.
“What I need is to finish my shift, go home, and not put a bra on again until Monday.” Trinity downed the rest of her coffee and stood from the table, depositing her empty coffee cup in the trash, before leaving Victoria and Emma in the break room.
Once 7pm rolled around, Trinity was flat out. It hadn’t necessarily been a hard day, the most excitement came earlier on with the MVC; it had just been draining. Enough small things piling together to make the work day even harder. And on top of it all, Garcia had spent the day carefully avoiding her.
They hadn’t technically ended things, but over the last few weeks, they had been seeing each other less and less. Trinity didn’t know if it was intentional, or if Garcia really had been overwhelmed with work, as she claimed to be, but, honestly, she wasn’t complaining. Things had never really been great between them, but since starting her R3 year, they had both been pulling away.
Throughout the day, Garcia had quickly slid in to ask other residents questions, slunk in and out of patient rooms, and Trinity hadn’t complained. She’d gotten used to avoiding people - namely Dr Langdon - while still being great at her job, adding one more person to the list couldn’t hurt.
She looked around the ER at the day shift stragglers; Mel and Whittaker had managed to get out at almost 7pm on the dot, a rare occasion, but Javadi and Joy sat at a station finishing up the rest of their charts, Emma lingering by them, with Dana and Perlah finishing up handovers with the night shift.
Trinity herself only had one chart to finish up, and took a seat next to Javadi to get it completed.
“God, I just want to get through all of this and be done with it,” Javadi said, sighing at the screen in front of her. She and Emma debated their evening outfits, with Joy occasionally piping up with a not-always helpful comment. Trinity tried to ignore them and move through the final details, but found her ears drifting over to their conversation on more than one occasion.
“Is anyone interesting actually going to be there,” Joy asked. “Or will it just be all of Mateo’s corporate management friends?”
“Nothing wrong with bagging yourself a corporate hottie.” Emma laughed.
“I don’t think trust fund, 6 '5, blue eyes, is exactly Joy’s type,” Trinity interjected.
“I think some clients will be there. He said that they auction off different events with them so they usually show up,” Javadi explains. She turns her attention to Trinity. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”
Across the room, she feels Garcia’s eyes on her. She walks alongside a gurney, moving a patient from the trauma room towards the elevators up to surgery. Trinity quickly averts her gaze, looking back down at her charts.
“What the hell, sure,” Trinity concedes.
Emma and Victoria almost squeal with joy. Trinity shakes her head, but there is a small smile on her face. Emma was right; she really could do with a night off from everything, the chance to decompress, and shouldn’t complain at the prospect of free food and drink.
“Okay, if you keep acting like that about it,” Trinity looks back down at her charts, “I take it back.”
The two of them quickly fell silent, but shared sly smirks, quietly revelling in their small win.
By the time she got home, Trinity was already regretting agreeing to go to the fundraiser. She quickly showered and looked through her closet, trying to pull together something semi-presentable. She ended up in an oversized black blazer, matching black slacks and crisp white button-down shirt worn with the collar open,one she thrifted years ago and was definitely a few sizes too big.
Javadi had texted her that the event was ‘creative formal’, whatever the hell that meant. Trinity had taken some initiative with the dress code and was hoping to God that she wouldn’t look out of place. She ran a hand through her hair a few times, fluffing it up, before deciding to just put it in a short ponytail. She finished the look off with a pair of thin glasses and subtle earrings.
As it neared 8:30pm, Trinity pulled her phone off the charger and ordered herself an Uber to the venue. It was some swanky hotel in West Hollywood, somewhere Trinity would never go to herself. Victoria had told her they had a table reserved, courtesy of Mateo, and had texted that her name should be on the list when she got there.
As the Uber pulled up, she realised this fundraiser was a way bigger deal than she had first anticipated. People mill around outside the downtown hotel, dressed in semi formal outfits. Luckily, they all seemed the same level of formal as Trinity’s outfit, calming some of her anxiety. The lights from within the reception hall shine through the windows, illuminating the crowds hanging around outside.
She thanks the driver, and gets out of the car, staring at the hotel from across the street. She wasn’t going to stay for long, just enough to get her friends off her back about her social life. She made her way down the sidewalk towards the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change, checking her texts as she did so. Nothing from Garcia, just one from Javadi asking her ETA.
As the light changed, she pocketed her phone and crossed the street. She gave her name to the security guard at the door and passed through the crowds into the hotel, two drink tickets being pressed into her hand as she did so.
It was nothing short of a maze when she got inside, hallways that seemed to go around in circles, rooms that looked exactly the same as ones she had already passed. She scrolled her phone for Javadi’s number and hit call. She waited as it rang out a few times.
“Trinity!” She heard from the other side.
“Javadi, can you please come and find me? The architect of this hotel needs to be genuinely imprisoned. I swear to God, I have been down the same corridor four times now,” Trinity complained.
“What?” Javadi shouted down the line.
“Hello?”
“Trinity?”
Trinity pulls the phone away from her ear, hanging up. She fucking hated this night already and she hadn’t even stepped foot into the actual fundraiser yet. After a few more turns, and a few more hallways, Trinity finally sees the sign for A&P Records Annual Fundraising Gala.
Inside the room, Trinity could see the hall was full of people dressed in outfits ranging from business casual to full black tie. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one struggling to understand the nuances of ‘creative formal’. There were circular banquet tables all around the room, a stage in the back with a band playing soft pop music, and a picked through buffet table against one wall.
She scanned the room as she walked in, looking for anyone she recognized. Underneath a window, mid way between the door and the stage, Trinity spotted Mateo, Victoria’s not-quite-boyfriend, talking with a group of people unfamiliar to her.
It was the best she could do for now.
She made her way over to him, still looking around, hoping to find Victoria or Joy or Emma, so that she didn’t have to go and make conversation with a group of finance men. Alas, she was unsuccessful.
As she approached Mateo, she gave him a small smile and wave. He excused himself from the group to greet her.
“Do my eyes deceive me or did Trinity Santos actually show up to a social event outside of work hours?” Mateo laughed as he approached her.
“I’m still not convinced, myself,” she joked.
“Vic is at a table in the back with the rest of them, there’s a seat saved for you.” He gestures in the general direction of where their friends were.
He pats her on the shoulder as she heads off towards where Victoria should be.
Finally, she found Victoria, Joy and Emma sat amongst some of Mateo’s work friends at a banquet table in the back corner of the room. They were people she had met briefly at different hangouts she had attended since growing closer with Victoria. She recognized Donnie, Mateo’s work husband, as well as Princess, who had become a regular attendee at work events after striking up a dynamic friendship with Perlah.
“Santos!” Joy spotted her first, waving and shouting loudly for her attention.
Trinity sat down at the open seat between Joy and Victoria, listening in as everyone else made small talk and caught each other up on their own lives and days. She zoned out for most of it, watching people float around the room. She watched as the band played a slow pop song, people mingling around the outside of the dance floor, or picking through the buffet table.
“Trin,” Victoria poked at her shoulder, drawing her back into the conversation.
“Huh?”
“Princess was asking how you’re finding third year residency,” Victoria coaxed.
“Perlah not keeping you updated on the goings-on of the Emergency Department?” Trinity joked.
“Just because you don’t have a social life outside of work, doesn’t mean that's the same for everyone else, Santos. Perlah and I talk about actual real life things and have an actual real life friendship,” Princess goaded playfully. “You should try it sometime.”
Santos flipped her off from the other side of the table. “R3 is fine.” Trinity zoned out for the rest of the conversation again before standing from her seat.
She leaned down to get closer to Victoria, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go get a drink.”
She left from the table before anyone could protest her exit.
She has to leave the reception hall to get to the bar, and dreads the thought of having to navigate around again. But the need for a drink outweighs anything else right now.
She trudged through the hotel until she reached the public bar. She took a seat at the bar stool on the farthest left, putting at least 3 seats between her and anyone else sitting down. The bartender slowly made his way down the line of patrons until he reached Trinity.
“Could I get a tequila sunset, please?” Trinity fished one of the drink tickets out of her pocket and slid it across the bar.
She watched the people milling around the bar, flicking her eyes up to the TV playing reruns of some daytime soap opera. She stared up at the screen as two characters broke out into a fist fight, the overly dramatized story catching her attention for a minute while she waited for her drink.
After being served, and thanking the bartender, she stands and trudges her way back down the masses of hallway towards the banquet room, knowing that if she was gone for too long, someone would come looking for her, whether it be Victoria, Joy or Emma.
That was until she walked straight into someone coming the other way down the hall. Her drink spilled down the front of her overshirt, leaving only a sliver left in the glass.
“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry.”
Without looking up, Trinity began wiping at her shirt, at the same time the other person did.
“No, don’t worry about it, it was my fault,” Trinity said.
When she finally looked up, in front of her she saw Baran Al-Hashimi, every queer girl's current crush. She had recently been described in an article as “if Hayley Williams, Arlo Parks and MUNA had a musical love child.” But she was also so distinct from those she was often compared to
Musically, she had more of a rock sound, but it was sort of classy and elevated. She had studied music production at NYU, and then moved to LA after she graduated to pursue music, originally starting out as a songwriter for other artists. She had only recently released her first solo album, and it was met with critical acclaim.
Trinity only knew this through Joy, who was always up to date when it came to two things: music, and queer culture.
Baran stood in front of Trinity, wearing a black button-up shirt and matching straight fit white pants. The top buttons of her shirt were undone just enough to get a glimpse of the tattoos sprawling out across her clavicle, with a low hanging necklace resting against her sternum.
“I-” Trinity stutters, “I should’ve looked where I was going. It’s totally my fault, it’s on me.”
Baran smirks as Trinity stumbles over her words. “Could I buy you an apology drink?”
Trinity unbuttons her overshirt, stripping it off, leaving her in just her white t-shirt. She briefly feels Baran’s eyes on her as she does so, her own tattoos now on show. She folds the shirt over her arm, still holding the now almost empty glass.
“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that,” Trinity says.
“I want to.” Baran holds out her hand for Trinity to shake. “Baran.”
“Trinity.”
“Nice to meet you, Trinity.”
Trinity took Baran’s hand, shaking it for maybe a second too long. She awkwardly dropped her hand to her side, and smiled at Baran. She was about to speak when she heard Victoria shout her name from behind her.
“There you are, I’ve been looking for you,” Victoria came to stand next to Trinity. “They’re doing this karaoke thing where they pair up two random people! I signed you up!”
Trinity pulled her eyes away from Baran, instead looking at Victoria incredulously. “And why would you do that?”
“Primal scream therapy, right? That's what you call it?”
Baran cleared her throat.
“I guess I’ll see you in there. Excuse me,” Baran slipped past Trinity and headed towards the reception hall. Trinity turned her head and body to watch Baran walk away, physically unable to take her eyes off of the older woman.
“Who’s that?” Victoria asked.
Baran gave one short glance back in Trinity’s direction as she turned the corner, her curls waving goodbye for her, captivating Trinity.
“What?” Trinity finally looked back at Victoria.
“Who is that?”
“I don’t quite know.”
“Why are you being weird?” Victoria asked. “Actually, I don’t think I want to know.” She looped her arm through Trinity’s and started to drag her back towards the hall.
Back in the reception hall, Trinity sat with her friends at their table. The band stopped playing, the musicians picking through the remainders of the buffet table. Trinity wasn’t paying attention to the conversations going on around her, but instead was scanning the room, looking for even a glance of honey toned curls. Victoria rolled her eyes as she caught Trinity - it wasn’t the first, second, or even the fifth time tonight she had been looking around.
Victoria stood from the table, pulling Trinity’s attention back to the present moment. “I’ll be right back.”
She walked off in the direction of the stage. Trinity tried to catch up on where the conversation was at.
“I don’t know why I keep trying to be friends with him when I hate him,” Mateo complained.
“I feel like you need to just quit your job,” Donnie said.
“And do what to make a living?”
“You’re hot. You have the whole hair thing going on. Make an OnlyFans or sell feet pictures or something,” Joy said, deadpan. “I know people who can set you up on there real good.”
“Is that even how that works,” Emma asked.
“Plus, I don’t think Vic would be too crazy about that,” Mateo reasoned.
“Oh I think Victoria would agree with Joy, actually,” Princess joked from across the table.
Mateo flipped her off while everyone else laughed. Trinity was really trying to pay attention and stay engaged with the conversation but was still failing drastically. She played with the corner of her shirt collar, now sitting in her lap, until she felt hands clap down onto her shoulders from behind.
“It’s your time to shine,” Victoria said into her ear.
Trinity tilted her head back and looked up at Victoria, raising an eyebrow.
“They pulled your name for karaoke!”
“Wait, you were serious?” Trinity tilted her head back down and spun in her seat to face Victoria.
“Serious as someone interrupting Dana’s smoke break,” Victoria pulled Trinity up and pushed her in the direction of the stage. “Have fun!”
The conversation around them quietened as everyone watched.
“I am going to commit violent crimes,” Trinity said as Victoria continued to usher her away.
“Just remember, this whole thing is for charity,” Victoria gave Trinity one final push towards the stage, and sat back down at her seat.
“You are brave for that,” Emma laughed as Victoria took her seat.
“And how much do you think it's gonna cost you when she gets back over here?” Mateo asked.
“She’s all bark, no bite.” Victoria picked up some of Mateo’s drink and took a sip. “Plus, she secretly loves this stuff.”
As Trinity climbed the stairs to the stage, she looked back towards the table. Victoria threw a thumbs up at Trinity, who responded with a middle finger. When she turned back, the host was standing in front of her holding a microphone towards her. She took it tentatively.
She made her way further across the stage, lingering awkwardly while the host set the song up. She felt another pair of footsteps making their way onto the stage and heard a familiar voice thank the host.
Trinity turned towards the footsteps, and saw Baran walking up next to her.
“Hi again,” Baran greets.
“Hi.” Trinity stares at her dumbfounded.
Baran continued to walk until she was face to face with Trinity.
“What are you doing here?” Trinity asked.
Baran gestured around at the stage, the karaoke machine, and raised an eyebrow at Trinity, smirking.
They stared at each other for a second, smiling softly, until the attendant cleared his throat, coming up next to them with two microphone stands. He placed them down in front of each of Baran and Trinity, Baran slotting her microphone in with practised ease, Trinity having to use a little more effort.
With the opening chord, Trinity knew the song that had been selected for her. She didn’t have time to question who picked the song before Baran was singing the opening lines, but she assumed it was one of Baran’s own choosing.
Victoria tended to listen to more upbeat, dance pop, than she did melancholic indie folk. From what she knew of Baran’s music, it would make more sense that this lamenting, guitar heavy plea came from her list of favourites.
Baran took the first verse, her natural dusky timbre giving new shape to the song’s male line.
“And, darling,
Is there a cure for this hunger?”
As she started to sing, Trinity was all but transfixed. Trinity had never actually heard any of Baran’s music, but rather knew of it peripherally, through friends of friends, small snippets used on nostalgic Instagram stories.
“You'll smoke me out in your own ways
And chase me around until morning
And follow me back”
Trinity wasn’t familiar with the pull of Baran’s voice, low and honeyed, measured and exact, carrying heat that felt less like performance and more like quiet confidence. Even under these circumstances, it was clear to her that this was someone who knew exactly what they were doing; the room was simply incidental to the song.
Without realizing it, Trinity had taken on the next verse.
“And, lovely.
You're tearing me down with your cheekbones
They're warm, but they hit me like sharp stones
When you pull away”
Trinity herself could hold a tune; she had been in her high school glee club. Though if anyone ever asked, she just because she wanted to be like Santana Lopez and thought being a gymnast and in the glee club was close enough to cheerleader and glee club.
As the verses progressed, Trinity and Baran had taken their microphones out of their respective stands and had moved closer to each other, as if being pulled by a force larger than themselves.
“So, leave me
When you're sleeping alone in the basement
And my parents are home, but I'm vacant
And I'm watching the news”
Things progressed like that through the rest of the song, both women focusing more and more on each other, and less and less on the room, and world, around them.
“But I'll stay steady, but nights are a-blazing and heavy
Alone in my room and I'm ready
To rest for a while”
By the time the song was reaching its climax, there was less than a foot between the two. Baran could see the golden flecks within Trinity’s green eyes, Trinity could make out the small tattoos peaking out from behind Baran’s ear, hidden mostly by her curls.
“And I don't mind it” “I'll wait and I'll listen”
“I don't mind it” “And see through to the kitchen”
“I don't mind it” “I'm not taking it back”
It was as if no one else was in the room.
Baran sang the last line, looking directly into Trinity’s eyes in a way that made her feel more seen than she ever had before. She needed to know more about this woman, “Oh, honey, I don’t mind.”
They remained frozen, unwilling to be the first to break eye contact. With the last chord ringing out, the sound of applause broke them out of their trance. Suddenly, the room was filled with people again. Trinity stepped back first, turned quickly, forgoing putting her microphone back in the stand, choosing to place it down on the small table next to the steps as she quickly made her way back to her table, leaving Baran standing puzzled behind her.
“Alright, lets give it up for,” the announcer took a pause, “Trinity and Baran.”
Trinity had already tuned out what was going on around her, determined to get back to her table - and back to her drink. Victoria was already standing from the table by the time Trinity got there.
“Hey, so what the hell was that?” She asked as Trinity approached.
Trinity was still in a daze. She had no real answer. What had just happened?
She had met the most gorgeous woman she had ever laid eyes on, was randomly paired with her for karaoke, and then sang together with more tension than Buckingham and Nicks, all within the space of less than 20 minutes.
“Dude!” Victoria waved a hand in front of Trinity’s face.
“I’m gonna be so honest,” Trinity snapped back to reality. “I think I blacked out. I don’t remember a single thing. Did I suck ass?”
Victoria laughed. Clearly not. She moved aside to let Trinity sit, taking a seat of her own next to Mateo.
“Was that the same girl you met in the hall?” Victoria asked. That piqued the attention of everyone else at the table.
“Uh, yeah, I think so,” Trinity scratched the back of her neck and looked around the room again, unable to see Baran in the crowd.
“Wait,” Joy asked, “You don’t know her?”
Trinity shook her head.
“I thought she was some secret love affair you were having and it was all coming to a head on that stage in front of everyone.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Princess joined the conversation. “I thought you guys were about to start making out right there for everyone to see.”
“It was definitely tense up there,” Mateo added.
The rest of the table continued the conversation, but Trinity couldn’t get her mind off of Baran. She continued to look around the room, searching for brown eyes and tattooed arms, but to no avail.
For a while, Trinity tried to stay engaged with her friends, slowly sipping at her drink, laughing when she needed to, interjecting with small story details. Her heart was still racing from her time on the stage, and she could still feel Baran’s breath against her face.
She stood from the table, drawing the attention of Victoria next to her. She grabbed the brown overshirt that was now hung off of the back of her chair.
“I think I need some air. I’ll just be a few minutes,” Trinity told her friends, slipping the arms into the long sleeves of her shirt.
She scanned the room for the nearest fire exit, which happened to be close by to the table, and after patting Victoria on the shoulder, quickly made her way to the door. It was propped open, presumably to help air out the stuffy room, so Trinity slipped straight out into the darkness.
She had always loved Los Angeles at night; it was one of the things that drew her to the city. No matter where you looked, there was always something happening, light shining brightly out of bars and restaurants, houses and apartments, street lamps lining the roads.
Trinity took a deep breath as she walked further out onto the sidewalk, watching the cars as they drove by. From the corner of her eye, she could see the small orange glow of a cigarette from the alleyway behind the hotel. She turned her head towards the glow to see Baran in the shadows, leant against the brick wall, blowing smoke into the air.
“You know that’s not good for you, right?” Trinity asked.
Baran lifted her head to meet Trinity's eyes, a small smile appearing on her face.
“Yeah, I know.” Baran flicked ash on the ground, “It’s the only vice I have left, though.”
Baran stepped out of the shadows and approached Trinity. She looked different out here, not lit by the harsh fluorescents of the hotel. She was softer than Trinity had noticed previously. She focused on the cigarette dangling from between Baran’s fingers, noticing the tattoos filling the space on her hands.
“You were really great up there,” Baran took a drag, making sure to blow the smoke away from Trinity.
“I think you and I have very different definitions of good,” Trinity laughed. “You were incredible.”
Baran dropped the small remainder of the cigarette, stubbing it out with the heel of her shoe.
“You should give yourself more credit.”
The two, once again, began to gravitate closer to each other.
“It isn’t hard to sound good when you’re right there next to me.”
Baran looked down at her shoes, not great at taking compliments, but let out a shallow laugh through her nose. “Charmer.”
She peeked up at Trinity, and reached out to take a hold of the corner of Trinity’s shirt.
“I gotta say - my nights usually end with people wearing less clothes than they started with, not more.” Baran held the shirt between two fingers.
“Well, technically, this is what I started with,” Trinity stepped closer to Baran, leaving almost no space between them. “You often have girls taking their clothes off for you?”
“Oh yeah. I’ve had my fair share of bras thrown at me when I’m performing,” Baran stepped back from Baran as they made room for a couple to walk between them down the sidewalk, breaking them out of the bubble they had formed for themselves.
Baran leant back against the brick wall of the hotel, lifting one foot up against the wall. Trinity went and stood next to her, mimicking her position.
“You come here with anyone?” Baran asked after a moment's silence.
“Yeah, just some work friends. It was a last minute decision after a shitty day at work,” Trinity explained.
“If this is how you look on short notice…” Baran visibly checks Trinity out. She ran a hand through her hair, fluffing her curls. Trinity averted her eyes, not able to hold eye contact with Baran. “What do you do for work?”
“I’m an emergency medicine resident,” a small look of pride crossed Trinity’s face, “second year.”
“Wow, that’s-” Baran tilted her head slightly, “not what I was expecting.”
Trinity raised an eyebrow questioningly at Baran.
“Not in a bad way, just- how’d you find yourself at a music industry fundraiser?”
“My friend’s dating a guy that works for someone and he had extra tickets from his company- I don’t- I don’t really know,” Trinity rambled, “I just heard open bar and free food, and said yes.”
“Whatever reason, I’m glad you did.”
They fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments, just standing next to each other against the wall, and watched as the cars drove by in front of them.
After a while, Trinity said, “What about you? Anyone in there looking for you?”
Baran chuckled dryly.
“Nah, my band are never expected at these things, just me. I usually try to just do my thing and leave. Be in-” Baran gestured to her outfit, and to the space around her, the everything of the night, “this, for as little time as possible.”
“I think you look great,” Trinity said.
“I appreciate that, but not just the clothes, it’s the- the whole thing. The buttoned up version of me that sells well. You know I never signed up for this part of it all, the corporate schmoozing, I just want to play music and perform for people, so when I’m at things like this, I feel like everyone can tell I’m faking,” Baran looked down at the ground and kicks a rock with the toe of her shoe.
She quickly shakes her head and looks back up at Trinity, “God, sorry. I didn’t mean to lay that on you. I should- I should get back in there.” Trinity watched as Baran pushed off of the wall and started moving towards the door.
“What if you didn't?" Trinity blurted out.
Baran stopped in her tracks, confusion crossing over her face.
“You indulged in your vice, what if we take a dip into mine?” Trinity asked.
Baran held back a laugh, waiting for Trinity to realize what she had just implied. It took a second before she did, but once it happened, “Oh god, no - Ice cream. My vice is ice cream.” She laughed.
Baran smiled warmly at Trinity.
“My favourite place is like a 5 minute walk from here,” Trinity gestured down the street. “You wanna…?”
Baran stared through a window into the reception hall, looking at the new people on stage. Karaoke had ended and now corporate suits were giving speeches about the various charities they were raising money for that night. Baran really didn’t want to go back in, but knew she would be called on to speak soon, and that was the whole reason she was there.
“I really should..” Baran trailed off, unconvincingly.
Trinity nodded, understanding. “Yeah, of course.” She smiled softly, looking down at her feet.
Baran paused, but Trinity didn’t notice. She took the time to look at Trinity, the small tattoos she had peeking out from underneath her rolled sleeves, the way she crossed her arms across the front of her. Baran desperately needed to know more about her.
She spared one more look through the window, “Fuck it.”
Trinity’s head snapped up. She wasn’t aware Baran was even still standing in front of her, nevermind now walking closer to her. Baran gestured in front of them.
“Lead the way”, she said.
Trinity couldn’t control how her smile grew, try as she might, as she and Baran fell into step next to each other and began the short walk down the street.
Trinity debated making a wrong turn, just to extend the time she could spend walking side by side with Baran, hands occasionally brushing. It was enough for a girl to grow addicted to.
But as much as she wanted it, the walk was short, and soon they were outside of an old looking ice cream parlor, Alice’s emblazoned above the blue and red awning. It looked like someone had picked up the shop in the 50s and dropped it in 2026.
They sat across from each other in a red booth, checkerboard flooring underneath their feet. They each held a small dish in front of them, Trinity with a chocolate flavour, Baran with a vanilla raspberry mix. They were slowly melting, the two taking small bites between conversation.
“Tell me about your band,” Trinity asked, “What are they like?”
“They’re great, keep me sane,” Baran started. “I’ve known Cassie and Parker since we were teenagers, coming up on 20 years now. Samira, I met at a speed dating thing like, 8 years ago.” She laughed and scratched the back of her neck. “At least the night wasn’t a total bust. We’d all played in various groups and nothing ever stuck until it was just the four of us. After our first real show, the first time we made any money, we blew it on getting matching tattoos. And now, here we are.”
Baran showed Trinity her forearm, and pointed out one tattoo in particular within the collage. It’s a guitar, built of shadows and negative space. “Parker has a snare drum, Cass has a bass and Samira got a few keys.”
“How many do you have?” Trinity asked, ghosting her fingers over the ink.
“Tattoos? I don’t think I could count anymore. I used to try but now they just all blur together.”
Baran took Trinity’s hand in her own, flipping it to see the tattoos dotted across her own forearm. She ran her thumb across the tiger inked halfway between her hand and elbow.
“What about you?”
Trinity thought about it for a moment, quickly trying to count them all in her head. “About 20, I think. I’m not exactly sure.”
“You got a favorite?”
“Not one I can show you here.”
Baran laughed and released Trinity’s arm. She dipped her spoon into her almost melted ice cream and took a bite, Trinity’s eyes following the movement of her tongue carefully.
“Some other time,” Trinity let out before she could stop herself.
Baran swallowed. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“I’m sure you will.”
They sat in silence for a few moments longer. Most of the other patrons had departed the shop, leaving just the two of them, and the bored teenager behind the counter.
“How did you find this place?” Baran asked.
“Honestly, I don’t even know. One day I was just… here,” Trinity explained. “It became the spot my friends and I would come to if someone was having a bad day, or if we were celebrating. Good days usually ended here, bad ones as well. Lots of break ups debriefed right here.”
Baran raised an eyebrow inquisitively, “I didn’t peg you as a heartbreaker.”
“God, no,” Trinity laughed. “Not mine, but, queer friend group in LA, they get around.”
It was Baran’s turn to laugh. She knew all about it.
Before they could talk more, Maggie, the owner of the store, arrived at their booth, donned in a red apron, the Alice’s logo printed across the front. “Sorry to disturb you girls.”
Trinity turned to look at the familiar woman, smiling at her. She patted Trinity’s hand on the table. “We’re closing up here any minute.”
Trinity grabbed her phone and checked the time, 10:50. She had tons of missed calls and texts from Victoria, Joy and Emma. A couple from Dennis, as well.
“Shoot, I’m so sorry, Maggie,” Trinity apologized, “I didn’t even realise.”
Trinity stood from the table, Baran quickly following suit, stretching as she did so. The bottom of her shirt lifted slightly, revealing the top of a tattoo along her waistline. It was unclear what it said, Trinity didn’t think it was written in English. No matter what it said, she couldn’t pull her eyes away.
“Don’t worry about it, honey, you know you’re all good,” Maggie’s voice drew Trinity’s attention away from Baran. She gave Trinity a squeeze on the arm as she walked away. Baran and Trinity made their way to the exit, but not before Baran stopped at the front counter, dropping some bills into the tip jar.
They carried their ice cream with them as they walked away from the shop. The street lamps illuminated their walk, as the sign for Alice’s flickered off behind them.
They arrived back at the hotel after a walk much shorter than either of them would’ve wanted. Their ice cream had been deposited in a trash can a block or so from the hotel, all hope of finishing it being forgotten.
There were people milling around the main entrance to the hotel, some party guests, some not. People in sharp suits, and form fitting dresses, clutching drinks and purses, hailing cabs. The party was coming to an end.
Trinity and Baran walked side by side into the hotel foyer, watching as people said their goodbyes. They slowed their pace, not wanting to part ways yet. The foyer led into the hallway that they had met in, and waiting by the doors, stood Victoria and the rest of their group.
Trinity started to walk over, but her attention was pulled elsewhere.
“There you are!”
From behind her, Trinity heard someone yell. A man approached and clapped his hands onto Baran’s shoulders, causing her to jump a little. “I’ve been looking for you. You have people to say goodbye to.”
“Yeah, I just needed some fresh air,” Baran said, unimpressed.
Her manager eyed her skeptically. “Fresh?”
“That’s what I said.”
Trinity was left standing alone, as Baran’s manager steered her off in the other direction. Luckily, only a few moments later, Victoria was stood next to Trinity, a pissed off look on her face.
“Where the hell have you been? We’ve been calling and texting. You just disappeared,” Victoria pulled Trinity into a very stiff hug. “It’s been two hours!”
Victoria pulled out of the hug, but did not let go of Trinity’s wrist. She dragged Trinity along behind her towards the exit with the rest of their friends. Trinity tried to resist, wanting to see Baran once more, but was unsuccessful. Victoria pulls her out of the door.
On the other side of the room, Baran watched as Trinity was hauled out. She continued to fake a smile and pretended to listen to the suits in front of her, knowing she had to appease the higher ups.
“Baran?” The older suit butchered her name.
She hadn’t heard a word that had been said to her before that one.
“Oh, yeah, um- yeah, that sounds great.” She plastered on an even faker smile, but still could not pull her eyes away from the door, as she watched Trinity disappear from view.