Chapter 13
JACKIE
Sunday morning rolled around, and when I woke up, I felt a delicious soreness throughout my body.
Between the exhilarating skydiving and even more exhilarating sex lesson from Sarah, I’d used moves and muscles I never imagined I’d need, but I also felt this sense of relaxation that was foreign to me.
Whether it was meditation or the orgasms, I couldn’t say, but I felt fantastically energized and motivated.
“Stephy!” I called out from across the hall, wondering if she was awake. I had no clue about the time, but my stomach was growling at me.
“Yes, sister?” She hollered back.
“Are you hungry? Let’s go out for breakfast!” Or would it be brunch? Sunlight shone through the top slit of my bedroom curtain so it could be mid-morning for all I knew.
Opening her bedroom door, Steph rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and glared at me.
I chuckled nervously. Oops. I guess it was too early.
I checked the time on my phone and saw it was only seven-thirty a.m. Yep, too early.
My baby sister was never up before nine on the weekends, unless she absolutely had to be. This was not one of those times.
I dismissed her with a wave of my hand and went about scrolling on my phone. Two design inquiries sat in my inbox, and my mom had sent me an early “good morning” text. At least someone was up. I opened her message and hit the call icon.
“And good morning to you, Mom.” I yawned out as soon as she answered.
“How are you sweetie?”
“I’m good, just waking up. I asked Steph if she wanted to go for breakfast, but when I saw the time, I felt bad about waking her. Since you’re up, how about taking me to eat?”
“I’ve been thinking about that three-meat omelet at Rosie’s Diner. Does that sound good?” My mom. Ever the people pleaser. Or maybe it was just a mom thing.
“Of course. I can be ready in thirty minutes. Let me just take my morning glucose reading and shower right quick.”
Sitting across from Linda in the red pleather diner booth, I dug into my own omelet. Extra cheesy, with bell pepper, ham, sausage and bacon. A side of crispy hash browns and black decaf coffee rounded out my meal. My eyes were always bigger than my stomach, though, so I’d likely not finish it.
“Tell me what’s new with you, dear.” Mom sipped from her glass of orange juice and set it back on the napkin being used as a coaster.
“Well, you’ll never guess who I ran into on that cruise I took.” I’m not sure why broaching the topic caused nerves to launch inside me, but here we were.
“Oh, please don’t tell me it was Timothy.” She sneered. Mom had finally come around to my side after I took the time to sit with her and explain how daunting my marriage had been. She apologized for not seeing it and doubting me.
“Definitely not, thankfully. No, it was Sarah McDougal.” Her face held no reaction, but I sensed a change in her energy.
“That’s interesting,” was her entire response.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, Jackie. She’s a lovely girl.”
“She is. She’s a lovely woman. We’ve been hanging out. Having another friend besides Steph feels good. Sarah’s been helping me branch out more. Experience more in life. She’s always been more outgoing and daring than me.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. My feelings are more about her parents than her. No family values there. How could they just let her walk out of their lives just because she’s lesbian? That never made sense to me.” Her reaction made a little more sense now.
I wanted to delve more into what Sarah and I had embarked on and my feelings, but I wasn’t ready.
Mostly because I didn’t know what I was feeling or where things were heading.
I still wasn’t ready for something serious, but she consumed my thoughts.
It was all happening so fast that I was overwhelmed.
A month hadn’t even gone by since I first laid eyes on her in that hallway.
“So, how’s Dad doing?” A change in the subject would distract her easily.
“Oh, you know, dear. Regretting retirement but enjoying it at the same time. He’s a walking contradiction, that man.”
“Is he still talking about building a garden space in the backyard?”
“Unfortunately, yes. But who’s gonna tend to that thing? Certainly not me,” she huffed out in amusement.
“He just wants to keep busy, Mom. After working for decades, he’s not used to sitting still.”
“Shit, when I retire, lazy will be my middle name. I’ve earned it.”
We laughed together in that small diner that we had loved for years.
My mom paid the check and tipped our server generously, then we made the ride back to the apartment I shared with Steph.
Since it was Sunday morning, traffic was light, so our commute was quick.
When we parked and entered the apartment, my phone chimed with an incoming text message.
Sarah:
And good morning
My skin heated all over just seeing her name come across my notification bar. Worried my mom would notice, I quickly tucked my phone back in my purse and headed straight for my room while she settled on the couch and waited for Steph to wake up.
“Steph, dear, we brought you breakfast from Rosie’s.” She beckoned to her.
From the privacy of my tranquilly decorated bathroom, I sat on the edge of the bathtub and opened up our text thread. The message was innocent enough on the surface without the context of last night’s activities.
Good morning to you too
Sarah:
So…Halloween is coming up soon.
Any plans?
Not yet. Did you have
something in mind?
Sarah:
The Rainbow Center is hosting a showing of
Rocky Horror Picture Show and having a
costume party after. Wanna come with me?
Yes, except do I really have
to dress up?
Sarah:
That’s the best part! Come on!
We can make a shopping trip of it…
Because shopping is my
favorite thing ever.
Sarah:
I promise to reward you well if
you’re a good girl
I paused at that. Good girl. The way that phrase lit me up from within and caused my heart to race was…
something, and I think Sarah sensed that thanks to the lag in conversation.
She immediately sent another message letting me know that she took my silence as an agreement to participate in the festivities.
Giving in was inevitable. This is what I signed up for—adding a dash of extroversion to my introversion.
Spicing up my life. Seasoning it, if you will.
Sarah had certainly opened that door for me and pushed me right through to the other side.
I shut the text thread and exited my bathroom to find my sister lying on my bed.
“What’s going on with you this morning?” She squinted her eyes at me in suspicion.
“Uh, nothing. Why would something be going on with me?” Hopefully I wasn’t as transparent as I feared. I wasn’t ready to talk to Steph about Sarah yet either.
“There’s something different about you. A glow I haven’t seen in a long ass time. Whatever it is, I’m glad.” She jumped up from the bed and walked over to wrap her arms around me in a bear hug. I loved her hugs.
My sister strolled out of my room and back into hers, letting me know Mom had left already. She turned on some music and set to her Sunday ritual of sorting and doing her laundry.
My mind reverted to the messages I’d just exchanged with Sarah.
I honestly didn’t hate the idea of dressing up.
I just wanted to give her a hard time about it.
Her bossy, almost dominating side, was a turn on for me.
But also, the way she talked about the Rainbow Center and how much it meant to her told me that it meant a lot for her to invite me to an event where her friends would likely be in attendance.
Past meeting the present. What could go wrong?