Page 130 of June

“You dressed up,” Caroline noted, looking Enid up and down. “You’re wearing a blazer, Enid. A blazer.” She pointed at the soft gray jacket Enid wore. “And a tie. You have ties? You wearties?”

“I let my mom dress me,” Enid replied. “Is it bad?”

“What? No. It’s hot. You’re hot,” Caroline said.

The tie was a skinny one that matched the gray of the blazer, which hit at just the right spot on Enid’s hips, and a white button-down shirt under it with a pair of dark jeans and white-and-gray tennis shoes.

“I’m wearing jeans and a sweater. You said casual,” she added.

“You look perfect,” Enid replied. “It’s your birthday. You should wear what you want.”

“Iwantto take that off you,” she stated, pulling on the tie until Enid was inside the room. “Viv is in Jodie’s room. Come in here.”

Enid laughed and said, “Later. We have to go.”

“No, we don’t. If you made a reservation, cancel it. I just wantyoutonight, Enid.”

“You will have me tonight, I promise. I only need an hour or so, and if you want to leave where we’re going, we’ll go, okay?”

“Fine. But you look so good, Enid. Do you have more ties?” Caroline asked.

Enid laughed and said, “No. My mom bought me this one yesterday when I told her that I wanted to dress up a little for tonight without going too fancy.”

“Your mom is a smart woman. But also, it is really cute that your mom went shopping for you so that you could look nice on my birthday,” Caroline replied.

For a moment, she’d forgotten all about the damn job interview. It had been a nice moment. She kissed Enid hello and finally let go of the tie before the thought of the job had reentered her mind.

“Let’s go,” she added.

The drive to wherever Enid was taking her was a short one, which was good because Caroline wanted to ask about the interview, but she also didn’t, so the ride was a silent one, with Enid’s hand on her thigh, squeezing it every so often. Caroline recognized where they were when Enid parked but waited to say anything until they were walking toward Candace’s bar.

“One drink, and we go?” she asked, leaning into Enid’s side.

“Sure,” Enid said, but when she pulled open the door, and Caroline walked in first, Caroline knew it wouldn’t be one drink.

“Surprise!”

The bar was decorated for her birthday, and standing around the room, Caroline could see all of Enid’s friends and a couple of her own.

“Jodie?”

“Yeah, hey,” Jodie said. “Surprise!”

“I thought you were still recovering.”

“Recovering from what?” Jodie asked.

Viv just cleared her throat and said, “Happy Birthday, Care.”

“Thanks,” she replied before she turned to Enid and asked, “You planned this?”

“I wanted you to have a party. If you really don’t want to stay long, we can go. I’m sure Candace would love to have her bar back.”

“We’re a local place,” Candace spoke as she walked up to them. “We support our local community. First drink is on me. What will it be?”

“Um… Candace, she’s my girlfriend. I was going to buy her first drink,” Enid said.

“I’ll take your money,” Candace replied, laughing.

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