Page 126 of June

“You watched me draw you naked. That smile had less to do with me drawing and more with you being naked.”

“No, it didn’t,” Enid said as the light changed, and they crossed the street. “I saw you when I was flipping through your sketchbook and you were telling me about Timmy and Miranda and Frank. You were so happy, Care. You love this, don’t you?”

“I like drawing, yes,” she replied. “I don’t know, Enid. I’m not sure I want to put my stuff up for people to see and probably judge. They’re just stupid characters.”

“No, they’re not. They’re cute, and it’s funny that you have stories for them. I think you could do something with it, but if you don’t want to, that’s up to you. He’s over here.” Enid nodded toward the corner of the fence that was facing the street and the three horse-drawn carriages. “I was going to run to Café Du Monde to get us some beignets and coffee while you talk to him, but if you don’t want to, we can go.”

Caroline stopped them and turned to Enid.

“You can’t do nice things like this for me if you’re going to move away. I need you to be more of an asshole and less of a supportive girlfriend right now.”

Caroline tugged on the hem of Enid’s shirt.

Enid laughed and leaned in. She kissed Caroline slowly, not caring that there were hundreds of people around or that they were possibly blocking the sidewalk.

“I want to always be your supportive girlfriend.” She kissed the tip of Caroline’s nose. “So, do you want to talk to him, or should we go?”

“I want to talk to him,” Caroline replied.

“Want me there with you or–”

“You said you were buying me beignets,” Caroline interrupted her and playfully lifted an eyebrow.

Enid nodded with a smile and kissed her quickly. Then, she introduced Caroline to the artist Melinda had told her about, gave them a minute to start their conversation, and excused herself to cross the street and stand in the long line, waiting for their beignets.

Every few seconds, Enid looked over at them and saw Caroline smiling and leaning over the art. It looked like they were engaged in a good conversation, so when Enid got their beignets, she sat at one of the only empty tables in the café and waited for her cue. Another five minutes went by before she noticed Caroline looking around, likely for her. Caroline was gorgeous. Her hand ran through her brown hair, which she had left down and a little messy for their date. The smile on her face was wide and genuine, and Enid couldn’t help but watch her for another minute before she stood to go. As she walked back across the street, she thought about what Caroline had said back at the dorm.

Caroline wanted her to get what she wanted. Enid had wanted a job since she’d lost the last one and hadn’t wanted school or anything else, but now, in this moment, she felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. She was on a date with her girlfriend, who was so talented and had no idea. Enid was in school, learning more than she’d ever had in her undergrad and actually liking it now. She had new friends that she’d made recently. She was even closer with her family than she had been when she’d last lived at home, even though she still wanted her own place.

“Hey,” she said. “Should I make myself scarce for a little longer?”

“What? No,” Caroline replied. “We were just wrapping up. He needs to focus on hispayingcustomers since I have no money to buy his awesome stuff.”

After they had said goodbye, Enid handed Caroline the bag of beignets, and they began walking back toward her car while Caroline talked non-stop about everything he’d told her and that they’d made a plan for her to stop by and watch him work and maybe even go to the gallery to see his stuff. Enid loved listening to her girlfriend talk when she was excited like this. She took Caroline’s hand in her own, and they stopped to cross the street again when Enid saw the old woman from before. She was definitely looking at Enid this time, and her eyes lowered to their joined hands before she looked back up and met Enid’s eyes with her own. Then, she nodded.

“So, back to the dorm? Viv and Jodie will be out for a while. You can stay over, if you want.”

“Sure. We can’t stay at my place tonight anyway,” Enid said, her heart racing because she was pretty sure that woman just told her that Caroline was the one for her without saying a word.

“Why not?”

“My brother is having a few friends over. They’ll be in his room all night, playing video games, before one of them crashes on his floor and another crashes on the couch. I don’t want any of them to see you there. They’re idiots. They’ll flirt with you non-stop, even after you tell them you’re taken and gay.”

When they got back to the dorm, Enid closed the door behind them and waited because she didn’t know what they would be doing. She wasn’t sure if they were in a place where Caroline wanted to have sex or if she just wanted them to sleep tonight, given there were so many unknowns. It was way too early to go to sleep, though, so they lay in Caroline’s bed, watching a movie on her laptop. Every so often, Caroline would snuggle more into Enid’s side, pulling her in as closely as she could, and Enid reveled in it. When it became clear that Caroline was getting tired, Enid turned off the computer and set it on Caroline’s desk before they settled in for sleep.

“Thank you for tonight,” Caroline whispered.

Enid ran a hand through her soft hair and replied, “You don’t have to thank me.”

She placed a gentle kiss on Caroline’s lips, and Caroline kissed her back, snuggling against Enid’s chest. They didn’t say goodnight and fell asleep in each other’s arms, but that was until there were two giggling women outside the door and a key trying to get into the lock. Enid opened her eyes at the sound of the door opening.

“We can’t,” Jodie whispered.

“Care’s at Enid’s tonight,” Viv replied a little louder.

“Yeah?” Jodie asked.

The room was dark, even with the little light from the hallway, but Enid could just make out Viv and Jodie kissing as they closed the door using Viv’s back. Enid’s eyes widened, and she tapped Caroline on the shoulder, waking her. Caroline looked up at her in confusion, but then her eyes widened as well when she heard it.

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