20. Gretchen
Gretchen
Itook Zoe out to dinner to celebrate her first day of work.
Since she hadn’t explored the city yet I decided to show her a little of Seattle by taking her somewhere new.
We headed downtown and I took the scenic route, driving past the Space Needle and other local landmarks before parking near the waterfront.
We wandered through Pike Place Market, and I showed her the original Starbucks, the guys who throw fish, and the chewing gum wall.
I found out that she liked seafood, so we walked a few blocks to have dinner at a place that had great food but not exorbitantly expensive.
It turned out that Zoe’s seafood experience was mostly fried shrimp and Filet of Fish sandwiches at McDonald’s, so I ordered us one of those giant fisherman’s platters to share, along with two cups of clam chowder.
There was a little bit of everything on the platter, giving her a chance to try several things.
“Okay this crab is really good,” she said, snatching another piece from the platter.
I marveled at how much lighter she seemed with each day that passed.
Her body language was more open and she smiled more often.
Was this how she normally was, or was Seattle good for her?
I had no idea. I resolved to get to know her better.
After all, we were temporary roommates – and temporary lovers.
“What was your favorite cartoon as a kid?” I asked.
She gave me a strange look but answered, “I always liked the superhero cartoons, whichever ones were on, Superman, Batman, that kind of thing. How about you?”
“My mom got me into these old Looney Tunes cartoons,” I said. “Bugs Bunny especially. I used to watch those whenever I could. Still do, when I can find them. What did you want to be when you grew up?”
“A firefighter.” She paused. “Are we doing twenty questions or something?”
“Trying to get to know you better,” I replied. “The way you do on a date.”
She looked around, then back at me. “Oh. Yeah, I guess this technically is a date. Okay, what did you want to be when you grow up?”
We continued tossing questions back and forth as we ate, some more ridiculous than others. It was kind of corny, but a fun way to pass the time.
“Okay one last one before we head home,” I said, looking around to make sure we were alone. “Favorite sexual position?”
“Hmm, well for myself I love to hump a leg, or anything with a lot of friction, but the thing I enjoy the most is when someone sits on my face. How about you?”
I felt my face turn red. I couldn’t say why I was embarrassed when I was the one who asked the question.
“I like it when there’s more than one thing going on, like if a person’s using a toy in one area and fingers or tongue in another area. Being overwhelmed with sensation really helps me relax.”
Zoe leaned forward and dropped her voice low. “So if I tied you to the bed and fucked you with a dildo while teasing your clit, you’d like that?”
I breathed heavily as a haze of lust settled over me.
“Yeah.”
“What if I put my finger in your ass?”
And there went my panties… “Um. I would try that.”
Zoe popped back up in her chair and waved for the server. “In that case, let’s get out of here.”
***
The rest of the week seemed to fly by. Zoe had trainings all day on Monday and Tuesday, then she had on the job training Wednesday during a day shift at the shelter.
“Friday is my first overnight shift,” she told me when I asked about her schedule.
As an on-call staffer, Zoe would be trained to handle all shifts.
“I’m working seven to seven, so I’ll be back early Saturday morning.”
“Damn that’s a long shift.”
“Julia said they’ve learned to just have a longer overnight shift because if someone doesn’t come in it’s too hard to get a replacement staff person in the middle of the night.” Zoe explained.
“That makes sense.”
When I got home from work Friday she was getting ready to head out the door. She was wearing some of the new clothes she’d found thrifting on her day off, dark washed jeans with a knit short-sleeved shirt and a light blue cardigan.
She gave me a quick kiss then headed for the door. “I don’t want to miss my bus,” she said, racing out.
I’d offered to drive her, but she insisted that the bus was fine, so I didn’t argue. I knew she already felt bad about staying here and eating my food, there was no sense in making her feel bad about going to work.
I ate dinner alone, feeling out of sorts without Zoe there, then headed into bed early.
It took a while to fall asleep though. I was surprised at how hard it was sleeping without her.
She’d been in my bed every night this week and I’d gotten used to her being there.
I’d never been big on sleeping in the same bed as someone – I liked my own space – but like so many things, Zoe was an exception to the rule.
If anything I slept better with her curled up beside me.
When I woke up Saturday morning it was just after six, so I followed my instincts and headed to the shelter to pick her up. She ambled out of the building just after seven, jumping a little as I honked at her, then walked to the car with a big smile.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, sliding into the passenger seat.
“I couldn’t sleep and I know the buses are intermittent on the weekends, so I thought I’d pick you up.”
She leaned back against the seat with a smile. “Totally unnecessary, but I do appreciate it. I’m not used to staying up all night and I have to confess I’m beat.”
“How was everything last night?” I asked as we pulled away.
“You know it’s funny, I assumed that it would be quiet working at a homeless shelter at night, figuring that everyone would be asleep the whole time, but people were up and down all night.”
“That’s surprising.”
“I was working with the team lead, Robbie, and she said that when people are homeless or living in domestic violence situations, they get used to being awake at night and learn to be hypervigilant to noises as a safety mechanism. It takes them a while to feel safe enough to sleep through the night again.”
“That makes sense.” I remembered when I was homeless in Portland my street friends and I stayed awake most of the night on high alert.
“I can’t believe I finally get to meet my grandmother tomorrow.”
Jan was getting back Sunday afternoon, and Zoe alternated between being excited and nervous about meeting her. Meanwhile I was selfishly brooding about how it would affect me. The past two weeks together had been great, almost perfect, but Jan’s return would change things.
“I’m sure she’s excited too.”
By the time we got home Zoe was half asleep. She stumbled into the guest room for the first time in days, closing the door behind her so she could sleep. She resurfaced mid-afternoon after I’d cleaned the house, worked out, and dusted Jan’s house for good measure, doing my best to not wake her up.
“Are you hungry?” I asked. “There’s sandwich stuff.”
“I’ll just have a yogurt and some coffee,” she said, yawning widely. “I’m not super hungry yet, and I don’t want to ruin my appetite for dinner.”
We worked together on the jigsaw puzzle, which had become our thing, finally finishing it.
“What are you going to do with it?” she asked.
I frowned. “Take it apart and put it in the box.”
She looked horrified. “No way, we need to frame this. We worked hard on it and it’s pretty.”
I studied the completed puzzle. “Sure, we can do that,” I said, wondering why I’d never thought of it.
We ordered Thai food for dinner, walking together to pick it up from a place in the neighborhood. It was a beautiful warm night, and we sat outside on the back deck eating our food, sharing a bottle of wine, and staring out at the yard.
When we went to bed that night we made love like it was our last time – both of us moving slowly as if we wanted to remember how we felt. We were quiet afterward, snuggling close without saying anything, and somehow that said it all.