Ice skating
⠀
Madison Avenue, New York City
Therese was wearing one of Carol's silk robes as she sat on the scarlet red love seat in the living room. She was reading a script for a small theatre company, which Harkevy had opened a few months prior to the new year. The play was about a young Irish immigrant making his was through the hustle and bustle that was New York City. Therese wasn't too interested in designing the set, because frankly she thought it was quite a bland storyline. But, it was flattering that Harkevy has come directly to her for this set, and at least it was an easy way to make some money. Any job was an opportunity to get a foot in the door for bigger productions.
She could smell the faint sweetness of Carol's perfume on the collar of the robe. It was a scent that wrapped around her like a soft embrace. A hint of honey with lavender. It reminded her of the sunshine rays in the spring.
The same rays that pushed through the dark winter clouds and came through the glass of the French doors of their apartment. Even after being with Carol for this long, her favourite perfume made her stomach feel like a hurricane sweeping everything in its path.
Therese loved Wednesdays, because both she and Carol worked from home on that day. Though they would both retreat to opposite sides of the apartment doing their own work, it still felt comforting to know that the woman she loved was only a few feet away from her.
Some mornings as Therese woke up seeing the sun behind her eyelids, she would still think that she was in Sioux Falls, sleeping in an empty bed worrying about Carol's wellbeing.
As soon as the haze came, it would pass, and her stomach would stop turning after feeling Carol's strong arm wrapped around her front. Her heart would calm hearing soft snores and Carol's breasts pressed against her back. Carol always anchoring her down to the reality of the present.
This is our home.
Therese placed the script down onto the antique coffee table in front of the couch, got up and walked down the hallway. She followed the sounds of shuffling papers, and perfectly manicured red nails anxiously tapping on a lacquered oak wood desk.
"Everything good?" she said, leaning on the doorframe.
Carol quickly turned around in her seat, dropping a few papers from the edge of the desk.
"Oh! You scared me, darling. Yes, well, it's not easy negotiating prices with certain clients. Finances and what-not aren't something - "
"Take a break for a while." Therese said, staring directly into the tired glassy pale eyes, and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Carol had been working relentlessly to please the furniture storeowner since before the holiday season started. With the new year came a wave of new clients and sales quotas. It wouldn't be too difficult, but adjustment to change in the store made Carol nervous.
It made her smoke a few more cigarettes than usual. Therese noticed the cloud of smoke that hung above the room.
Carol smirked. "I can't, I really should finish this."
Therese walked forward and put her hands on both of Carol's shoulders, squeezing them softly and feeling how tense she was. Carol closed her eyes as Therese massaged any knots in her neck and shoulders. Carol sighed loudly.
"Fine. What secret adventure did you have in mind?" Carol asked with a playful tone.
"Ice skating. We could go to Central Park." Therese stated confidently.
Carol looked back to the papers littering her desk, then up to the face of the woman she loved. She opened her sterling silver cigarette case, lit one up, and inhaled slowly. Therese had bought it for her as a Christmas stocking stuffer.
