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Agnes unlocked the front door and turned to say goodbye. “That was great, Cora. A definite success for a first date. We should do it again.”
“We should! How about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is perfect. This time, I’m picking what we do—and it’s going to be a surprise.”
“Sounds mysterious.” Cora hesitated. “Can I get a goodnight kiss? It’s okay if you’re not ready.”
Agnes didn’t need to think about it; she had been thinking about it the whole evening. Instead of answering, she stepped closer to Cora, going on her tiptoes, cupping her hand behind Cora’s neck and pulling her closer.
Cora came willingly, and their lips brushed together. Agnes pressed forward into a firmer kiss, a soft playing of lips against lips.
After a few moments, just when Agnes was starting to consider deepening the kiss, Cora pulled back.
“Slow, remember?”
“Oh, right.” Agnes really needed to remember that. She was glad that Cora’s memory seemed less scrambled than hers. One of them had to be responsible. Of course, she should be responsible for minding her own trauma, but it was nice to know that Cora had her back when Agnes started to get carried away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Cora.”
“See you tomorrow, Agnes.”
Cora pressed one more quick kiss to Agnes’ lips before disappearing into the night.
Agnes was grinning the whole time she got ready for bed, and she woke up the next morning smiling.
8
Cora
Cora’s stomach swooped as Agnes walked into the room. She wondered how long this would last—this giddy feeling whenever she was in her girlfriend’s presence. She hoped it never ended.
Agnes’ face softened as she saw Cora and lightly brushed their hands together under the cafeteria table as she sat down. They had to be careful at work, but Cora was satisfied with the small looks and touches they exchanged here, knowing that they would be able to do much more tonight, when they were alone.
In the two months they had been dating, they had hit many milestones. First kiss, first sex (though it technically wasn’t their first sex, Cora was counting it as such because it was the first time since they’d been dating), first night together…
They seldom spent nights apart now. Cora’s mind was already spinning ahead, though she was careful to keep her thoughts from Agnes in the interests of moving slowly. They were already moving much faster than she had originally anticipated, but it was difficult to hold herself back when Agnes was equally eager.
Cora stared into Agnes’ eyes for a few moments, indulging in her thoughts. She wanted to marry this woman. She wanted to raise a family with her. It may be too fast, but Cora couldn’t help it. She was in love with Agnes, and if Agnes wasn’t there yet, Cora was fairly certain that she was well along the path to reaching that place.
Adoration shone in Agnes’ eyes as she looked back at Cora, the same look Cora knew was on her own face.
I love you.
She couldn’t say that yet, though. Cora didn’t want Agnes to freak out. They had already had a few freak outs, and she didn’t want to put Agnes through that again. Cora knew how hard this was for Agnes, but she also knew that Agnes wanted this just as much as she did.
She wished she could take Agnes’ pain away, but all she could do was be there for her when a flashback hit and give her space when she started having doubts about distancing herself from her grief for Jackie in this way.
Cora wondered when she could ask Agnes to move in with her. Surely not yet. She’d have to google what the appropriate time in a relationship was. Agnes had done this before, but it was all new to Cora. She’d never dated seriously before… never been properly in love before.
It was an intoxicating feeling. She knew that this was just the honeymoon stage, and that the true work would begin once the initial rush of brain chemicals had faded, but she was willing to put in the work for Agnes. She was beginning to think there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for Agnes.
“Hey, you two. Am in interrupting anything?”
Stephanie was smirking at them. Cora got the strong impression that Stephanie—and a lot of the other staff, for that matter—wasn’t fooled in the slightest at their attempted secrecy. She wasn’t sure exactly where all the knowing looks came from; after all, she and Agnes barely touched at work.
However, no matter how much anyone suspected, they had no solid proof. The board would hardly be angered by accounts of them looking at each other with gooey eyes.
The end of lunch came too quickly for Cora’s liking. She had always loved her job and that hadn’t changed, but she would honestly rather be spending time with Agnes. She was devoting more and more time to their relationship and had decided that wasn’t a bad thing. Spending most of her free time working overtime, tutoring interns, reading research papers and covering other doctor’s shifts probably wasn’t the healthiest thing to do in terms of work-life balance.
