The Fire Inside

“Oh, gross,” Mina whispers. Her face contorts into a look of disgust. Sticky red liquid drips steadily from her strawberry popsicle, collects on her chest, and runs down the front of her swimsuit. Coda plods across the scorching cement and hands Mina a paper towel, which she immediately shoves down the front of her black one-piece. 

“This is torture,” Mina sighs, referencing the extreme heat she’s sitting in more than the melted popsicle. 

“Are you kidding?” Coda smirks, masterfully eating a fudge pop without losing a drop. “Be glad we are quarantining at your house and not my tiny apartment. We don’t have A/C, there’s way too many people squished in there, and I sleep in a literal closet.”

“I couldn’t imagine. Four days over 110 degrees and they’re saying it could last two or three more! I feel like I’m inside an oven.”

Mina huffs dramatically and lays back on her recliner. Coda sits on the edge beside her and Mina wiggles to one side trying to catch the shade Coda is casting over her. Coda quietly studies her girlfriend, still trying --and failing-- to eat her popsicle behind a giant straw hat and oversized sunglasses. 

The sudden heat wave suffocating California seems to have Mina on edge. Their summer of bread baking, swimming, fucking, and movie marathoning is getting less idyllic every day. Yesterday Mina didn’t speak to Coda all day because Coda put the wrong kind of cardboard in the recycling. The day before, Mina shouted at Coda for taking too long to feed Alice Cooper, the beta fish they brought home on an impulse at the beginning of the statewide lockdown. The air in the house is heavy with both heat and tension. Coda is trying to keep up, trying to ease the restlessness and frustration Mina is showing with bad jokes and gentle teasing, but she knows a breakdown is coming soon.

“Remember when we got trapped in that blizzard last year?” Coda asks. “Didn’t you tell me you hate the cold ‘cause you’re island people? But now you hate the heat too?”

Mina sits up and stares at Coda, their noses just inches apart. “I’m only half island people…”

Coda laughs and playfully swats Mina’s sunhat off her head. In an effort to save it, Mina flings the melted stub of her popsicle across the patio. It explodes across the cement. Steam rises from the puddle of strawberry goo. 

Coda takes Mina’s hands and coaxes her out of her chair, leaving the hat behind. She grins widely at Mina’s melodramatic protests. Coda reaches the edge of the pool and falls in backwards, bringing Mina in with her. Seconds later, Mina comes up sputtering, her sunglasses askew. She splashes Coda, who is in a fit of laughter. Coda wades forward and pulls Mina into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” Coda says, still laughing. “I couldn’t listen to you complain about the heat anymore with this beautiful pool two feet away!”

Mina grunts, resting her forehead on Coda’s shoulder. They bob together in silence. The cool water laps against their sunburnt skin and the hum of cicadas fills their ears. Mina slowly relaxes against Coda’s body. 

“I’m sorry for being a brat,” Mina says quietly.

“The world is literally and figuratively on fire. I think you’re allowed to be a brat. At least a little bit.”

“But I haven’t been very kind to you lately. It’s hard being stuck here for so long. It’s been months. We’re used to being on tour all the time. Not to mention this is the longest you and I have been alone together. I love you so much, but going from four years of long-distance to suddenly being locked down in the same house for five months is a huge change. I’m freaking out a little bit and I’m sorry I’m taking it out on you.”

“I forgive you,” Coda leans back and kisses Mina on the forehead. “And I understand. Everyone is struggling right now. But is there anything in particular that’s freaking you out?”

Mina floats away from Coda and hoists herself into a glittery pink innertube.

“A couple things. You’re my first real relationship and this whole situation is feeling very domestic and, like… permanent? If that makes sense.”

“It feels like we’re married.”

“Right. And I am really excited by that, which is terrifying to me. Also I’m a little weirded out by how relaxed and content you have been in all of this.”

“I’m living my best life, Meen.” Coda smiles. “I’ve been holed up in a gorgeous mansion with the love of my life for five months. I miss being on the road, and I almost miss the boys, but this is a dream.”

They lock eyes and Mina stifles a laugh. She pulls off her sunglasses and nudges them onto the pool deck. Looking up at the clear blue sky, she laughs a string of curses and looks back over at Coda.

“I’m sorry,” she shakes her head, grinning wildly. “I’m feeling messy right now.”

Coda wades toward her innertube and pulls her out to the centre of the pool. 

“What kind of messy?” Coda cocks an eyebrow.

Mina bites her lip as Coda grabs the sides of the innertube and hoists herself up onto it, gracefully tucking her long legs into the small openings around Mina’s hips. When she leans forward to kiss Mina, the innertube shakes. They both scream and capsize with a massive splash. This time they both come up laughing, splashing, and wrestling each other. Their lips meet and Mina’s legs wrap around Coda’s waist. 

“Thank you,” Mina whispers breathlessly.

“For what?”

“For being so patient and loving.”

“Of course. That’s my job.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you so much.”

They share a long kiss. Mina wraps her arms around Coda’s neck. A gentle tapping sound surrounds them as raindrops begin to strike the surface of the pool, crescendoing into a boom of thunder. A torrential downpour is unleashed over their heads. They lean apart and look up at the sky, smiling because the heat wave is finally over.