Where to start? (2b/?)
part 2a:
http://mean-manic.livejournal.com/2328.html
Where to start? (2b/?)
When it was almost 7pm Erica was parking her car near the restaurant that she was supposed to meet Laura.
A waiter showed her to the table that Laura had reserved earlier.
“Hey! Sorry I’m late!” Laura said a few minutes later.
“It’s ok. I just arrived.” Erica smiled.
“So, the house? Did you like it?” Laura asked taking the menu from the waiter.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And I bought it.” Erica said calmly but she was excited on the inside. She didn’t know why. Was that because of the house or this diner, or maybe both?
“Great!” Laura beamed and Erica couldn’t help herself but also smile.
“This is a great neighborhood.” She continued.
“That’s what I’ve heard.”
The waiter took their orders and brought drinks.
“And how was the rest of your day?” Laura asked after a while.
“Well I got paged when we were leaving the house. Umm… your friend’s partner was shot.”
“Oh my God! Tom was shot?” Laura asked terrified.
“He’s gonna be alright.” Erica smiled shyly. “You know him?”
“Yeah, he’s a great man. They both are great.” She paused. “I mean he and Julia. A few years ago, he saved her life by doing something very stupid. They were waiting in a car for her contact and this guy was an addict. He went all crazy when Julia told him that he would get no money from them. He got mad and pulled a gun. He was shivering all the time and Julia told me that he almost pulled the trigger 3 times. And then Tom, who was coming back to the car, saw them and he just called after that man and he turned around and shot towards Tom. He was shivering so much that he missed. But Julia was furious about it.” She took a sip of her drink.
“I met his wife. She seems nice.” Erica said trying to imagine this whole situation that Laura had just told her.
“Oh, Kate is awesome! Never eat what she cooks, but she’s great.” Laura chuckled. “She’s like a mom to me.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes… I think. I’ve never met my mom.” She said taking another sip of her drink.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be! I was 1 day old when she died. Kevin was 13 so he probably misses her more.” The younger woman shrugged.
They had been talking for two hours. Mostly Laura was talking and Erica was listening. She didn’t mind it at all. At least she wasn’t forced to talk about herself.
“So what do you do for a living?” Erica asked.
“Pretty much… hmm… nothing.” Laura laughed at her words.
“What do you mean nothing?” Erica asked curious.
“Well, I finished Spanish and Portuguese Studies, and sometimes I work as a translator. But I don’t have to. Our parents left us loads of money. I invested my part and now I don’t have to work.” She shrugged.
Erica didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure what to say. This woman was pretty satisfied with her situation, but Erica couldn’t imagine a life like that.
“So, what are you doing the whole day?” She asked.
“That depends. Today my friend asked me to help him with his things. He moved to Eldersburg.” She smiled. “So I have quite an experience with things like that. I can help with your stuff.” She winked at Erica.
“I’ll keep that in my mind!” Erica laughed.
They had been talking for a while, and Erica had to admit that she was having great time. They were mostly talking about trivial stuff. At the beginning, Erica wasn’t comfortable with that. She didn’t know how to talk about what’s going on in TV series or why Miley Cyrus told Radiohead that she would destroy them. Erica didn’t even know who this Cyrus girl was. She didn’t have time for stuff like that. But after a few minutes of Laura’s talking, she started to enjoy it. Laura knew how to make her laugh. All these things weren’t too special, but Erica felt at ease with the younger woman.
When they left the restaurant Laura walked Erica to her car.
“What are you doing the day after tomorrow?” Laura asked.
“I have to prepare for my surgery. And I should start to look for things for my new house.”
“Do you want help?” Laura asked full of hope.
“I’ll let you know, thanks.” Erica smiled shyly. “You probably have better things to do.”
“If I had, I wouldn’t be asking.” The brunette grinned.
“Right!” Erica sighed with light laugh. “I had fun today. Thank you.”
Laura moved closer towards Erica and lightly brushed her lips over Erica’s. “You’re welcome. The pleasure was all mine.” She winked.
“I don’t know about that.” Erica blushed.
“I’ll call you tomorrow and ask again about help.”
“You don’t give up easily, do you?”
“No. Not when I want something.” She leaned closer again and this time she kissed Erica moving her tongue on her bottom lip. Erica cupped her cheek and simply kissed the younger woman back.
Laura pulled back and whispered. “Goodnight Dr Hahn.”
“Goodnight.” Erica smiled and watched the younger woman walk backwards to her car.
The next few days passed really quickly, as Erica was busy with her research and preparing to move in. She hired a few men to paint her living room and bedroom. When they finished, she called Laura and asked her for help. Erica wasn’t feeling comfortable with the idea of a practically strange woman going shopping with her, so she managed to do most of it alone. She asked Laura to help her bring some things she had bought into the house. The brunette was in Erica’s driveway 10 minutes after their phone chat.
“You’re fast.” Erica said walking out of the house.
“I was at Kevin’s place.” So, where do you want me to start?
“Well there were a few guys from the furniture store and they helped with bigger things. I have these boxes for the kitchen.” Erica pointed to the boxes near her car. “And these things should go to the bedroom.”
They started to move things into the house and after less than hour everything was inside and unpacked.
“You really are good at this.” Erica laughed looking around her kitchen.
“Told you!” Laura took few steps closer towards the kitchen island and sat on the counter.
“Thank you.” Erica smiled and gave Laura a bottle of water.
“You don’t have to thank me.” She grinned. “All I need is one kiss from you and I’ll be ok.” She chuckled.
“Who told you that I would give you one?” Erica crossed her arms with a smile.
“I can take it all by myself.” She jumped from the counter. “You already know that I don’t give up easily.”
With those words she pulled Erica closer to herself. Erica watched her closely and moved her fingerprints across Laura’s jaw. She knew that the younger woman was waiting for her move, but something was stopping her. Something wasn’t right. Erica couldn’t say what that was. She dropped her hand and stepped back.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered.
“What’s wrong?” Laura asked, slightly disappointed.
“Nothing… I just… I’m sorry. I think you should go.” She looked at Laura. “Thank you for your help.”
“Erica, what’s wrong?” Laura asked again. “Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry… I thought that…”
“Laura, please.” Erica cut her. “It’s not your fault. I just… umm… I’m sorry.” She looked at the younger woman apologetically.
“Ok.” Laura sighed. “Call me, ok?” She asked with a little smile.
“Yes. I am really sorry.” Erica apologized again.
“Yeah…” Laura whispered and left Erica’s new house.
“What the hell is wrong with me?!” Erica slapped her forehead and moved to her fridge to get a beer.
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