CHAPTER 5
“Hi, Samantha. How have you been?” Larissa asked.
“We’re in here,” Harlow told her and placed her hand on Larissa’s elbow.
“I can’t say hello to Samantha and thank her for–”
“Samantha’s busy. Right, Sam?”
“Yes, busy. But it’s nice to see you, too.”
“Thanks for the time in the conference room.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that. Harlow begged until I–”
“Okay. We’re going to the room now,” Harlow interrupted.
“What is your deal?” Larissa asked as they walked down the hallway and Harlow swiped the badge that led them into the main part of the building that was members-only.
“Nothing. Samantha is busy.”
“She was literally sitting at a desk, staring at a computer.”
“Yes, doing work. As someone who is usually staring at a computer screen doing work, you should recognize that for what it was: busy. Anyway, this is room E, which is the one we reserved, so you go on in, and I’ll get us some water or coffee or something. Want a snack?”
“I’m okay.”
“If I see them out there, I’ll escort them back,” Harlow said of the two people they were going to interview.
“Okay. Thanks,” she replied before she pushed open the door and walked into the room that had been the best for the type of work they’d be doing.
She’d been able to see the floor plan and layout of the room online, which had been very helpful because she hadn’t wanted to use a room with a giant conference table or a big dry-erase board.
The interviews needed to be more intimate or, at least, less stuffy.
In this room, there was a small round table in the middle and four chairs around it.
There was also a thin table lining one of the walls that held things like the remote for the TV, should they need that, some tissues, and other odds and ends that looked as if people had simply left them behind.
Larissa placed her bag on that table next to the tissues, pulled out her notebook and pen, choosing to worry about her computer later, and grabbed her phone from the side pocket.
Everything was placed on the round table, and she thought about leaving the room to get her soon-to-be guests something to drink since she wasn’t sure if Harlow was grabbing the drinks just for them or for everyone, but just as she was about to do that, Harlow returned and opened the door, letting two teenagers into the room.
“Hello. I’m Larissa,” she greeted the two of them and held out her hand to the girl with a blue baseball hat, which she wore backward. “Are you Murphy and Della?”
“Murphy, yeah,” the girl said and shook Larissa’s hand.
“I saw them out there, so I introduced myself already. I’m going to go get us all waters and be right back,” Harlow said.
“Thank you,” Larissa replied and smiled at Harlow, who smiled back softly. “And you must be Della?”
“That’s me,” Della said and shook Larissa’s hand next.
“It’s nice to meet both of you. Since Harlow is getting us something to drink, would you like to sit?”
Larissa motioned to the chairs.
“Sure,” Murphy said.
Della didn’t say anything, but Larissa watched as Murphy sort of pulled a chair out by a few inches, let Della take that one, and then went to the one next to it and scooted it over to be closer to her before she sat down and placed her hand on her girlfriend’s thigh.
“So, this is a study of some kind?” Murphy asked as Della took her hand and pulled it in close to her body with her own.
Larissa observed the nervous gesture and smiled before she picked up her notebook and pen and said, “Sort of. It’s for a book I’m writing about love.”
Della then smiled over at Murphy as if hearing the word ‘love’ had immediately made her think about her girlfriend.
“Harlow, whom you already met, is my research assistant today, and I should tell you that while I’m not a doctor yet, I do have my master’s degree in clinical psychology.
I earned that a while ago, and I’m currently nearly done with my Ph.D.
I’ve decided to switch my focus and will likely teach when I’m done, but this is just an informal interview.
I’ll be conducting several of these to add to my book. ”
“What’s it about? Just love?” Della asked.
“How long it takes people to fall in love; what brings people together; that kind of stuff. I’ll ask you some questions to guide the conversation, but you can feel free to take it wherever you want to, and if there’s something you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to,” Larissa explained.
“Now, before we proceed, I know you said in the questionnaire that you’re both eighteen, but I just want to make sure. ”
“I’m eighteen.” Murphy motioned toward herself with her free hand. “Della is nineteen. We have our IDs on hand if you need them.”
“No, that’s okay. Can you maybe tell me what made you come in today?”
“Dell?” Murphy asked. “You saw the thing online and wanted to come in.”
“Here’s the water,” Harlow said as she walked into the room, holding four bottles. “I just got these instead of trying to carry four glasses.”
“Thank you,” Larissa replied.
“Yeah, thanks,” Murphy added.
“Thank you,” Della said a little more softly but took the bottle handed to her and set it on the table.
“Um… I guess I thought it could be interesting. We’ve never told our story before.
Murphy isn’t exactly a big talker when it comes to telling people about us, but I thought maybe it could be fun. ”
“Not a big feelings person?” Harlow asked as she sat down next to Larissa after passing her a bottle of water.
“I am with her. No one else,” Murphy replied.
Della smiled at her and said, “She came here because I asked her to.”
“So, how did you two meet?” Larissa asked.
“High school,” Murphy answered. “I’m a year behind her, though. I’m a senior now. She’s in college.”
“And you started dating?”
Larissa set the water down and picked up her pen.
“I transferred during my sophomore year,” Della said. “My dad got a new job, so we moved, and I hated being the new kid until I met her. We were friends first.”
“I knew I liked girls, but I didn’t know for sure that Dell did,” Murphy added. “So, I guess I played it cool for a while, just in case.”
“How did you two actually get together, then?” Harlow asked.
Larissa turned to her, wondering why she was so into this. She’d expected Harlow to sit there and listen, or maybe be disinterested in the whole thing and only there to help her should she need it. She knew she didn’t mind Harlow asking questions or participating; she just hadn’t planned on it.
“It was my junior year, and I didn’t have a date for the prom,” Della shared.
“Yeah, but we weren’t a couple after that,” Murphy corrected.
“But that was when I realized that I liked you as more than a friend.”
“What happened?” Larissa asked as she took her notes. “And if you don’t mind, be as specific as you can. Feelings, thoughts, events, anything you can share.”
“Um… She didn’t have a date,” Murphy said. “And I was a sophomore, so I couldn’t go to the prom, but I asked her if she’d maybe want me to go with her as a friend. She said yes.”
“Was that when you realized?” Larissa asked.
“No. I mean, I think I knew before that. It’s easy now for me to look back and think that I obviously had feelings for her, but I didn’t feel it in that moment.
It was the night of the actual dance. She came over to pick me up and to let my parents take pictures.
My dad was being a real asshole about the whole thing and stayed in his office.
My mom didn’t care that I was going with a girl and took pictures.
Murphy was wearing a suit, and I knew her mom probably hated it, but Murphy has always been who she is.
It’s like she’s brave all the time and doesn’t care what people think.
I’ve never been that way, but she is, and I saw it that night when kids were wondering why we were there together and why she was wearing a suit meant for a guy because her mom wouldn’t help her get one made for a girl.
It was a whole thing, but that night, I had so much fun with my best friend, and it felt like a little bit of her not caring about what other people thought rubbed off on me.
” Della smiled widely. “We danced to a few slow songs, and she held me. A few people stared, but it wasn’t a huge deal; there was another gay couple there.
It was more that no one thought we were together. ”
“Which we weren’t,” Murphy said. “Yet.”
“So, what happened after that if you didn’t get together then?” Harlow asked.
It was actually helpful, having Harlow do the asking, because it meant that Larissa could focus on taking notes, and as she went to take another one, she realized that she hadn’t set her phone to record the conversation to help with those notes later.
She didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the conversation to ask if she could record it because it was going so well so far, so she left it alone for this interview.
“We’ve only technically been together for six months,” Murphy said. “Our anniversary was last week.”
“Why did you wait so long?” Larissa asked.
“She meant to say congratulations,” Harlow said with a little laugh.
“Right. Sorry. Congratulations,” Larissa added.
“Thanks. And it took so long because her dad’s a dick,” Murphy answered.