Page 10 of June

“Definitely,” Enid said.

“Yeah, she was talking about it at work, like, non-stop today. I think she’s insatiable now that she’s gotten some.”

Enid laughed and watched Jill watch the people on the dance floor.

“I can understand that. When you find great sex–”

“Keep having it,” Jill finished for her.

“Exactly,” Enid agreed.

“I bet Logan’s good, too. She’s got that frame that just screams butch on top, you know? My guess is she knows how to use it.”

“Is that your type?”

“No, I don’t really have a type. Well, I don’tthinkI do, anyway. The date I had tonight was with a shy, cute vet who runs a clinic. I mean, cute,andshe takes care of animals. What could go wrong there?”

“Whatdidgo wrong, then?” Enid asked.

“It was really weird,” Jill said. “She’s nice, but she talked about a surgery she did earlier that day for, like, twenty minuteswhilewe were eating. She also told me she worked with her ex. She’s a vet, too, and they work together most days. Not a dealbreaker or anything, but then she’s telling me that they live together and usually carpool to work and that if I came over, her ex would probably be there, and I was kind of done at that point. I get it. You’re with someone; you sign a lease, so it’s awkward until you can move. I said as much. But she mentioned that they justre-signed their lease a month ago.”

“What? Why?”

“She said they’re good friends now, and it’s cheaper. All I could think was that if this went beyond a first date, I’d be running into her ex all the time, and one night, I would find out that they’d fallen back in love or hooked up or something. Maybe it’s unfair to think all that, but I didn’t want to have to deal with any of it.”

“Pretend you two went beyond a first date, and you’re actually together: she would be seeing her ex more than you,” Enid offered.

“I know. She told me that they cook together, too, and I pictured myself sitting at a table across from both of them, listening to their inside jokes, and I didn’t really like it.”

“I don’t blame you,” Enid said. “I know some people are better off as friends, but it’s hard not to think what you were thinking.”

“She’s also thirty-two, and they met in vet school. They were together for seven years. Almost got married. I mean, that’s a lot.”

Enid laughed and replied, “Jesus. She’d be better not mentioning any of that on a first date.”

“Right?” Jill agreed. “So, are you not dancing?”

“Not much of a dancer. I came here because I needed to get out of the house more than anything.”

“Bored?”

“Not really. My little brother has friends over.”

“You live with your brother?”

“Well, good thing this isn’t a date because I’m about to sound like your cute vet.”

Jill gave her an inquisitive look.

“I got out of college here with a job offer in Tallahassee,” Enid began to explain. “It wasthejob. Entry-level, so not the best money, but it was the right job to get me where I wanted to go. I packed up everything and moved there. Not long after I’d settled into my new desk, though, I got laid off. They did major cuts, and since I was one of the newest hires, I was out. I think I’d just set up my email folders the way I wanted, and that was it. I tried to find something else there, but I didn’t have much saved to do that for long, and my parents offered their place until I could find something else. So, I moved back here and decided to go to grad school because that’s what you do when you have nothing else going on, apparently. Now, I take summer classes for my program, have no job, and live with my parents and aneighteen-year-old brother, whom I scold for jerking off in the shower.”

Jill laughed and said, “I’m only laughing at that last part, not the rest of it.”

Enid laughed as well and said, “Yeah, I get it. He’s going off to college in a couple of months, and part of me can’t wait. The other part of me wants to find a job so that I can at least get my own place, but I’m lacking real motivation. Losing that job really did a number on me, I think. It’s like I went from having a career trajectory that other people would be envious of coming right out of college to not having anything in only a few months.”

“Sorry. That sucks,” Jill said. “Do you want to be a tour guide? Melinda might have something. We’re always losing people when school starts up in the fall.”

“Rory said the same thing. I guess I could, but it’s not something that I really want to do. I know I’m being picky, and I shouldn’t be.”

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