Between You and Me

By Ada Stone

Clever and romance-obsessed Elia hosts a podcast under the pseudonym Anna Belle. Offering advice on love and dating, Anna Belle tells her listeners she’s in a committed relationship. But in reality, single Elia’s gratifying streak of one-night stands leaves her pining for true romance. After an awkward encounter with cute, animated Lisa leaves Elia puzzled by her stirring feelings, Elia is rattled when Lisa writes to her podcast for dating advice.

New to the city, Lisa is a bubbly romantic at heart. Moving for her job, Lisa is thrilled to dive into a new dating scene. But after a string of awful first dates leaves her in the Seattle freeze, Lisa writes to a podcast for help. When the advice doesn’t work out, Lisa vents to Elia.

Torn between her growing feelings for Lisa and the guilt of keeping Anna Belle a secret, Elia must choose between keeping her anonymity or risk it all on her budding feelings. Or will Lisa figure out the lie before Elia has a chance come clean?
With sharp prose and a quest for love in the Emerald City, Ada Stone’s Between You and Me is a heartfelt tale about opening yourself up to the possibilities in relationships.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Apr 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094417493

Ada Stone

Ada Stone is a queer and trans book-obsessed human from the Pacific Northwest, where they live now. They love spending quiet time among trees and mountains, listening to their favorite albums on repeat, and receiving “your holds are ready for pickup” alerts from the library.

Book preview

Chapter One

"Hello and welcome to Between You and Me. I’m your host, Anna Belle, and I’m excited to say, we’ve got another great episode for you this week. Plus, today I’m joined by Ted Lemon; local dating coach and honorary guest host. Say hi to my loyal fans, Ted," Elia wrapped up her spiel and leaned away from the mic, smiling at Ted. He was even cuter than his LinkedIn photo suggested.

Hey everybody, Ted said, sounding more timid than Elia had expected. He’d come off as plenty confident in their preparatory conversations earlier. Hopefully he would warm up; he was here to provide confident-sounding, expert advice, not quaver like a teenager trying to ask a question during Sex Ed.

Ted, I have to warn you, Elia decided to take on a teasing tone, thinking it might help relax him, my fans can be brutal online. So if we disagree, you’d better be ready to take the heat. Think you can handle it?

Oh, I’m quite aware of what goes on in your comment sections, Ted quipped, looking Elia in the eye from across the desk. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe I could handle it.

That’s the spirit, Elia raised a brow and eyed him back. It was too bad her fans wouldn’t be able to see the physical tension that was building between them, and Elia again wondered about branching out into visual media. Then again, she was seriously protective of her anonymity; she even transformed the sound of her voice before she shared her episodes. As it stood, she would have to hope her fans could hear the sexual tension between her and Ted; they usually picked up on such things quite well.

So, Ted, would you like to introduce our theme of the day?

I’d be honored, Ted agreed. Today, we are going to be talking about chance encounters. Think of those times when you’re sitting alone on the bus and a cute stranger gets onboard and sits next to you. Maybe you think they might be sitting a little closer than a stranger usually would, and you wonder if they’ve brushed up against your elbow on purpose. Do you try to strike up a conversation? Do you try to reciprocate?

But, if the existence of ‘missed connections’ on Craigslist is any indication, it seems that many of us bypass these opportunities and then come to regret not taking action, Elia added.

That’s right, Anna. I’ve actually been there myself, more than once. Ted met her eyes again.

Oh, really? You strike me as someone who’s very forward with his intentions, Elia held his gaze.

Well, I’ve certainly gotten better with time. We’re talking about my younger, timid days. Ted’s voice was gaining strength.

Glad to hear it, Elia replied. I, too, usually find that it’s better to get directly to the point.

Elia hit pause on the recording program and tore off her headphones as Ted leaned around the mic and across the table, taking her face in his hands and kissing her. A matter of minutes later, their clothes and bodies were tangled in two separate piles on the floor. Elia had built up a local reputation, at least in some circles, such that her guest hosts now arrived knowing what to expect. At first, she worried that these people might just be fetishizing her for being a trans woman — she was very out about this fact, even to her audience — but, after a while, she realized she didn’t care. As long as her guests were able to treat her with basic respect as they worked together, for her a fun hookup was a fun hookup. Usually, though, Elia was at least able to wait until they had finished recording to succumb to her guests’ seductions, but today was another story. She didn’t mind one bit.

A half-hour of rambunctious fun later, Elia and Ted were back at the recording desk, still giving each other sultry eyes as they introduced the first letter. Elia asked Ted to read the submission aloud for the viewers as she zoned out, trying to rank Ted’s performance on her long list of lovers. His commitment to all parts of her body — rare for a heat-of-the-moment hookup — vaulted him into the top ten percent right off the bat. Seriously, he’d spent five minutes just sucking her fingers while she squirmed under him. She was always desperate to be teased. Then, there had been the matter of his excellent dirty talk, whispering in her ear to ask if she’d be a good girl and come for him. She’d been glad to oblige.

What ultimately kept Ted just out of the top three, though, was that he hadn’t quite fucked hard enough by the end. She’d screamed out, the soundproof studio retaining and muting her every request for harder, deeper, and faster, but her orgasm had been just a bit inhibited by the somewhat respectful nature of Ted’s penetration. Elia wondered if she looked fragile, or if Ted was one to always hold back. A single glance at his abs and thighs told her that he could indeed go much harder, deeper, and faster if he’d let himself.

Elia’s analysis was cut short when Ted reached the final paragraph of the letter. She looked down to review the notes she’d made the previous day as she prepared for the episode. Her listeners tended to wax poetic about their problems, and sorting through the excess verbiage beforehand always helped Elia get to the point in her discussion with her guest host. It also allowed her this precious daydreaming time.

Wow, Ted concluded, can’t say I’ve ever run into this question before, but it’s got all the elements of a classic chance encounter: intrigue, attraction, and regret.

Just like my listeners to be unique and wholly predictable at the same time, Elia quipped. So, to summarize, our inquirer is working at a café, and receives an online order for a salad with every available ingredient in it: we’re talking the PB&J stuff right alongside a fried egg, bleu cheese dressing, caramelized onions, on and on. At first they’re appalled, but then the customer shows up and turns out to be one of the most alluring people they’ve ever laid eyes on. What do you do in this situation? she asked Ted.

For me, no matter how attractive the person, I’m not interested, Ted answered.

What do you mean? Just like that? Elia asked. Maybe it’s a prank, right? You’re not willing to give the benefit of the doubt?

Well, our letter writer tried to ask the hot customer about it, and she just kind of shrugged as an explanation, so… that, to me, is worrisome. I’m staying clear. Final answer!

Elia laughed. "Fair enough. I’d be interested to know if she ever comes back in, and if she orders something different. If that’s the case, then I’d say, definitely go for it. Write your number on her receipt, something cute like that. If she orders the exact same bonkers salad, Between You and Me says… eh, might be a better idea to let that one go. But, I’d say, keep trying to get answers about that order, and write us back with updates, please!"

Yes, please, Ted agreed.

Okay, next letter, Elia pulled another piece of paper from the short stack and began reading.

section break

Elia arrived home from the recording studio and collapsed onto the couch. During their second and third rounds together, Ted had indeed fucked with less inhibition. In the moment, Elia had reaped the orgasmic benefits, but now she was just sore. At least she’d have a full week to recover until recording her next episode. She pulled her laptop out of her backpack and opened it. In their hurry to fit in some final fun before their time at the studio ran out, Elia hadn’t yet submitted the audio to her producer, Rita. Because she ran a tight schedule, editing four different shows, Rita needed to receive the files right away to guarantee the episode would launch on time.

No sooner had Elia dropped the files in Rita’s box than an email dinged from another tab. She clicked. The name of the sender wasn’t immediately recognizable, but Elia’s heart leaped when she saw the subject line: Between You and Me Advertisement. She read on into the body of the email.

Hello Between You and Me staff,

Let me first say that I have long been a huge fan of your podcast. As a follower, I’ve been working on getting my company to sponsor ads with you for almost a year now. Finally, I can report that the Holgan Corporation is ready to advertise with a sixty second spot at the beginning of each episode. If you accept, we’re offering payment of $0.05 per download of each episode, paid out in monthly increments. I look forward to working together, and please don’t hesitate to write back with questions.

All my best,

Gail Henderson (she/her)

Advertising Associate | Holgate Inc.

Before she could celebrate, Elia forced herself through some mental math. Even her least- listened to episodes attracted fifty thousand downloads. Five cents for each… could that really be twenty-five hundred dollars? She checked in her head again, and then she typed the calculation into her internet search bar just to be sure. She wasn’t going to let her faulty fifth grade math lead her to false excitement. But the calculator confirmed her suspicions. Elia slapped the couch cushions with one hand and curled her other into a fist. Once she accepted this offer, she’d double her advertising income.

The expenses of renting studio space and compensating Rita faded into the background. Elia would now have enough money to move into her own apartment without needing to relocate outside the city limits. She typed a hurried email to her producer, asking her to move forward with the details. Then, she clicked through her music folder and settled on some synth pop. She was just syncing her laptop with the living room Bluetooth speakers when the front door swung open.

Welcome to my humble abode. Brady gestured across the room, not yet having noticed Elia. She saw that he was with a guy who she didn’t recognize. Oh, hey, this is my roommate, Elia, Brady said as he walked into the living room with the stranger following. Elia, this is Trevor. The lack of descriptor next to Trevor’s name told Elia all she needed to know about Brady’s intentions with his guest.

Hi Trevor, good to meet you, Elia summoned up her memorized manners, though