The townhouse was dark when Crystal arrived home, save for the single bulb illuminating the front door. A quick look around showed no sign of Laura's Jeep. Wonder where she went, Crystal thought as she made her way up the short walk to the door.
Tossing her keys on the table, Crystal walked into the kitchen, feeling around in the dark for the light switch. Looking at the door of the refrigerator, she frowned to see no note waiting for her. "She'll probably be back in a minute," she said to the empty room. What did she say she wanted for dinner? Some kind of fish. Wrinkling her nose at the thought, Crystal opened the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza. What the hell, at least it's edible. A few minutes later the pizza was in the oven and Crystal was sprawled out on the couch. With the television remote in her hand, she began flicking through the channels. Boring, crap, boring, oh God not the Waltons. No, no, naw, Oh please that is so fake. Who the hell is going to believe two guys can beat the hell out each other like that and still be standing? Sixty channels and there's nothing on. Settling on a game show, she tossed the remote on the coffee table and looked at her watch. Where the hell are you? I thought you were going to be home tonight.
Two hours later the pizza was long gone and Crystal found herself sitting in the quiet living room staring at the clock on the wall. The television had been shut off in favor of the radio which proved to be no more entertaining and it also found itself shut off. Come on Laura, where are you? Her question was answered when she heard the sound of a key being put into the lock on the front door. Crystal jumped to her feet and opened the door. "Where the hell have you been?" she demanded.
"Hi there. I didn't expect you to be home yet," Laura said, her arms full of white plastic grocery bags. "I figured I'd get some shopping in. We're almost out of everything."
Crystal followed her roommate into the kitchen. "How long can that take? I've been home since seven."
Laura set the bags down on the counter and began putting the groceries away in the cupboard. "I go over to the super center near the interstate. They have the best prices but it usually is a mob scene there. Took me almost half an hour just to get through the checkout line." Laura peered into the bag. "I hope you like oranges. They were on sale so I picked up two bags "
"Forget the oranges for a minute," Crystal said. "You couldn't have left me a note? I had no i.e.where you were." Taking the jar of olives, she opened the refrigerator and carelessly tossed them on the shelf. "You bitch at me to make sure and let you know when I'm not coming home but you couldn't take two seconds to leave me a note?"
"I'm sorry but I didn't think you'd be home until later. You said you were going to the Tom Cat Club and I figured when you weren't home by six that you wouldn't be in until later," Laura said, neatly folding the empty grocery bags.
"Yeah well I've been here staring at the walls for the last two hours wondering where the hell you were. Give me those." Taking the bags of oranges, she walked back over to the fridge. "You'll be happy to know I'm not working at the Tom Cat anymore," she said, shoving the oranges into the bottom drawers.
"Yes, I am happy to hear that and easy on those. I wanted oranges, not orange juice."
"I had a rotten day at work and if one more moron insists on playing that damn rap shit I'm going to shove that frigging boom box down his throat. Then I go see Rick and he's his usual conniving asshole self then I get home and you're nowhere in sight." She jerked the pound of butter out of Laura's hand. To Crystal's annoyance, her roommate was smirking. "What the hell's so funny?"
"It's nice to know you care," Laura said, handing over the bottle of milk. "Did you eat?"
"I made a pizza but it tasted more like the box it came in. What about you?"
"Not yet. It's too late now. I'll just grab a snack."
"I thought you were going to make fish and rice or something like that."
"Sea bass and rice. I'll make it tomorrow night. The fish will keep." Laura handed over the last of the groceries and put the bags away. "So tell me what happened at the Tom Cat."
"Oh Rick was just being a jerk. Screw it. I hated working for him anyway. He's too sleazy." Crystal put the can of soup into the cupboard before heading for the sliding glass door. "I'm going out for a smoke."
Fall was definitely on its way. The temperature was dropping quickly, making the usually balmy evenings just a memory. A particularly cold burst of wind caused Crystal to shiver and she had to cup her hand in front of the lighter to keep the flame from going out before the cigarette was lit. I'll be damned if I'm coming out here in the winter. Guess I'll have to go up to my room if I want a smoke from now on. Ah fuck what a day. Slumping into the plastic patio chair, she casually tossed her feet up on the railing, crossing her ankles and leaning back so only two of the four chair legs were touching the deck. It was too dark to see anything except dark shadows cast by the light from the kitchen. Crystal took advantage of the darkness to brood over the day's events. Tomorrow we'll finish the seventh floor then I don't know what Michael will have me do. Shit, what if he doesn't come with something else? Naw, he's got to. He knows I need the job and he always smiles at me when he sees me. He'll find something else for me to do. Turning her head at the sound of the door sliding open, Crystal watched Laura step out onto the deck.
"Care for some company?" Laura sat down without waiting for an answer. "Are you sure you don't want something else to eat?" "Naw, I'm all set. Not really hungry anyway." Crystal reached up with her free hand and rubbed her upper arm. "Damn it's getting cold out here." "That's what happens when you live in the northeast. Summer leaves, Fall arrives and before you know it you're up to your hips in snow."
"Oh don't mention snow. That's the last thing I want to think about. That rust bucket of mine gives out practically nothing in the way of heat. I can let that thing warm up for half an hour in the morning and it wouldn't clear the whole windshield." Crystal reached out in the dark, feeling for the ashtray she knew was on the table. "Guess I can't ask for much for five hundred dollars. I'm lucky it moves at all."
"Jenny bought that Thing for five hundred too," Laura said. "It was her project for about a year. Every warm day she was out there playing Miss Mechanic. I can think of a dozen cars more interesting to restore than that orange monstrosity."
"I take it you don't like the square pumpkin on wheels?"
"It's more than just the car. I've gotten used to it by now but when she first got it we were having problems and Jenny using the kitchen sink as a place to clean her engine parts and tools didn't help the situation."
"So are you ever gonna tell me what happened between you two or is that going to stay some deep dark secret?" Crystal asked, withdrawing her feet from the railing and sitting up in her seat. Her curiosity was piqued and since Laura mentioned it she wasn't about to let the subject drop without trying.
"It certainly isn't a secret but it's also not something I like to talk about," Laura said. "Are you done with that cigarette? I'd rather talk inside where it's nice and warm."
After taking a quick detour to the bathroom, Laura and Crystal settled at opposite ends of the couch, both using the armrest as a backrest. "All right, so what happened?" Crystal urged.
"Well" Laura rubbed her face with her hands, taking a few extra seconds to focus her thoughts. "You have to understand that this happened about four and half years ago. It was for both of us our first serious long term relationship and I thought we'd be together forever no matter what. I had just released my third book and it was doing well in the lesbian circles. I even had a few write ups in the major lesbian magazines. I was getting a fair share of fan mail and I let my newfound fame get in the way of my relationship. The breakup was completely my fault." Laura looked away.