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Unconsciously, she found herself straightening her shirt, patting down stray hairs as she checked her teeth for any remains of the salad she scoffed down for lunch. She pulled out her perfume–a light scent of floral amber that merged with her natural tones for a subtle embrace–and spritzed it twice in front of her.
Once she noticed what she was doing–the amount of effort she was putting into herself at almost one o’clock in the morning–she pulled her hands to her face. She shouldn’t care what she looked like, shouldn’t worry about what Erin might think. Not after an entire day bouncing around on a bus and chasing after teenagers in one of the largest cities in the country. Not after just seeing her ex-wife after so long. But she did, no matter how hard she tried to fight it.
With a sigh, she made her way back to the living room. Erin would arrive any minute, and she didn’t want an extra minute to overthink. Especially not the fact that this would be the first time in weeks that they’d be alone outside of work, alone in Julia’s house, of all places.
She picked up the remote to the fireplace beneath the television, turning it on to provide just a little bit more warmth as the temperatures continued to drop under the moon’s blinding magnificence. She grabbed her briefcase from the entryway and laid it on the couch as she pushed the coffee table to the side.
The doorbell chimed through the house and Julia jumped, its sound still so foreign as it ticked off the walls in a traveling rumble. When she opened the front door, she was greeted by Erin’s wind bitten cheeks.
Her work bag was in one hand and a plastic bag with a yellow smiley face was in her other. Julia didn’t realize it, but she puffed a little sigh of relief.
“Hey,” Julia said smiling as she stepped aside so Erin could come out of the cold.
“Hey, long time no see.” Erin walked past and slid off her shoes in the entryway as Julia took the bag.
“Wine?” Julia asked, walking to the kitchen with the food.
“I’ll never say no to wine.” Erin walked over to the island and leaned over it just slightly. “And if I ever do, you should be worried.”
She took off her blazer and her sheer white tank top barely covered her shoulders, or anything else, for that matter. Julia had to tell herself to look away, to not trace the sharp angles of her collarbone as she mapped out the hem on her physique.
“Noted.” Julia handed Erin her glass and then held hers up to it. “Thank you for suggesting this.”
“My pleasure.” Erin smiled as their glasses clinked together. It was the first time she smiled in hours. “I thought you liked red?”
“I do,” Julia raised the glass to her lips, but then she paused, “but I know you like white.”
They both took a sip, their eyes never leaving the other. They stood separated by the island, their smiles hovering between the two of them like strung balloons.
There was that feeling again–the same one that wrapped around her at The Tipsy Hatter that first night–that indescribable way her eyes, her smile, her body, everything seemed to gravitate towards Erin like it was put into motion within the cosmic waves. Completely unavoidable.
“We should be exhausted.”
“Dead to the world,” Julia agreed.
“And yet,” Erin paused.
“And yet,” Julia replied with a smile.
“Can I ask you for a favor?” Erin spoke softly.
“Anything.”
“Can we not talk about anything that happened today?” she asked slowly. “Just for tonight?”
“Yes,” Julia whispered, their faces still locked on the other. She didn’t want to talk about her day either–the undeniable cruelty of happenstance that bit her in the ass.
She finally broke eye contact first as she turned towards the food on the counter.
“Let’s dig in!” Julia grinned, breaking the silence with the crinkling of the plastic bag.
They sat on the floor in the living room, the heat from the fireplace warming their hands as the wine warmed everything else. Nothing but the quiet of night surrounded them. In a good show, their work leaned against the table, but they didn’t reach for it. Not once.
“So,” Erin sat down her white box of lo mein and leaned on a knee she brought up to her chest, “what do you think so far?”
Julia was confused. “Of what?” she asked, quickly swallowing a piece of shrimp so she wouldn’t be obnoxiously talking with her mouth full. She wasn’t Keegan, after all.
“What you’re getting out of McSellen,” Erin explained, twirling more noodles on her fork. “Do you feel like I’m helping any?”
