Page 47 of Liquid Courage
Epilogue
Kat lay on a picnic table when Vivian approached, her arms laden with bags and her eyes full of the wondrous beauty that was her girlfriend.
It had been months since she and Kat started dating, but itstillfelt weird to call her a girlfriend. So much time had passed since Vivian last felt comfortable giving that piece of her trust to another woman. Kat hadn’t done anything to break it in the months that had gone by since that fortuitous winter. Now it was almost summer, and it wasn’t uncommon to see bare arms flexing in the sunlight and toes wiggling in strappy sandals.
The nights had grown warmer as well. Vivian was well versed in making love during hot nights thanks to Kat’s insatiable appetites.As if she’s the only one who is hungry all the time.Nothing had been better for Vivian’s self-esteem than having someone tell her how wonderful she was every day. It wasn’t the same coming from friends and family. Coming from someone who had once been a stranger? Vivian spent every day of her life grateful that she had gone on that horrible date.
“Help, police,” Vivian said in a droll voice. “There’s a weird woman blocking my way in the park. She’s hardly got any clothes on and looks like she wants to ravish me.”
Kat opened her eyes. “You caught me. Ravishings about to commence.” She slowly sat up, eyebrows waggling. “In public. Yup. Time to take our relationship to the next level.”
Vivian couldn’t contain herself. “Do you know what today is?”
“I’m hoping I do, considering I took the day off so we could hang out.”
“It’s six months since we met!”
“Fuck!” Kat’s face contorted into a hilarious guffaw of disbelief. “I thought it was the day of the nudist festival! I was gonna show off your naked ass and everything!”
Vivian helped her girlfriend off the picnic table and said, “You said you had a surprise for me today.”
“I do. And it’s a good thing you’re on time, because we’ve got an appointment for that special surprise in twenty minutes.”
Special surprise? Did that mean reservations at a nice restaurant? Were they going to see that movie Vivian had been salivating to watch since she heard it was coming out? What else was there to do in that town that required a reservation?
“Well, I don’t want to hold us up.” Vivian kept her hand in her girlfriend’s as they strolled across the empty park. “And I won’t ask what it is until we get there. Then I’ll bother you until you tell me.”
“Excellent plan. Let’s go.”
Although Kat led the way down the sidewalk, Vivian was the one skipping ahead of their conjoined hands and acting like a child on the trip to the candy store. Every time Kat sprang a sweet surprise on her, it was like the first time they made love all over again. What had they done on their one-month anniversary? Gone to the planetarium, where the Valentine’s Day display included Cupid arrows and red hearts alongside the constellations. Kat didn’t usually go for that sappy shit, but she knew Vivian ate it up.
For their three-month anniversary, it was reservations at a restaurant with a 360 view of the ocean and city skyline. For Vivian’s birthday last month, Kat took her to a play about lesbians in love. Even though it had been a small, local production put on by some of their friends, it was still the kind of sweet surprise Vivian bragged about to people like Lisa and Phyllis for weeks.
“How much farther?” she asked at a crosswalk.
“Right across the street.”
The building was unmarked, aside from a pawn shop on the street and an accountant’s office on the second floor. A photography studio was around the corner.Pawn shop? Oh my God, is she going to propose to me?Vivian wavered where she stood. Even after the crosswalk sign turned white, she stumbled in her heels and worried that she wasn’t prepared for this.
They didn’t go into the pawn shop, however, so it wasn’t a diamond ring they were after. Instead, they headed up the stairs to the accountant’s office.
No. The photography studio.
“What is this?” Kat wasn’t the type to find a little portrait of them romantic. She was the type to laugh at couples who did that, and promise to never participate in such a hilarious display of antiquated dating. Nor had Vivian ever expressed a desire to take a professional photo together in a studio. They were more likely to have a friend with a nice camera take photos of them in the park or at the bar where they met.That would be for an engagement photo… and she didn’t take me to the pawn shop to get a ring, so…
Wait. It wasn’t a normal photography studio.
Beautiful Boudoirwas something else entirely!
“Hi!” The woman behind the counter put down her pen and stepped out. She wore a tight corset and fishnet stockings, but the blazer on her arms suggested she had some level of professionalism to her. “You must be Kat! Is this Vivian?”
Kat gestured to her girlfriend. “Surprise!”
“What is this, Kat?”
The woman extended her hand. “My name’s Lucy. I run this cozy little space. I understand we’re taking your pictures today?”
Vivian tugged on Kat’s arm. “What is this?”
