Page 40 of July (New Orleans #7)

W illa had missed waking up next to Jill, but it had been the right decision to stay at her own place since her interview had been at six-thirty in the morning.

It was either that or wait until Friday to interview at five in the afternoon, which wasn’t ideal, either, because she knew she would be more exhausted after a week of work, and no one really wanted to conduct an interview at the end of the day on Friday.

Willa was an early riser most days anyway, so it hadn’t been a big deal to take the early video call.

She’d woken at five-thirty, showered to look fresh, gotten dressed, and had a cup of coffee to perk herself up a bit.

Then, she had turned on her laptop and joined the interview meeting.

It had lasted the full hour, but it hadn’t felt like an interview to her.

It had been more of a conversation between her and the headmaster because this school didn’t have a principal; it had a headmaster.

She’d made him laugh a few times, answered his questions about the curriculum and her teaching philosophy well, and when he’d gone over the next steps, using the word when instead of if , Willa had felt confident that she would be taking that next step, which was to meet with members of the board of trustees.

There were ten of them, and she had to meet with three.

The headmaster had told her that she could do it via a video call as well because they were on a bit of a time crunch with this role and knew it would be difficult for her to get to Baton Rouge at the last minute, so when she got the email two hours later while at school, asking if she could meet later that very day, she was excited to at least get the ball rolling.

Willa would know soon if she needed to move to Baton Rouge, and that was a good thing because the school here would need to find a replacement for her if she got the job there, and she wanted to give them as much time as possible to find someone.

She now also needed to know because she wanted as much time as possible to talk to Jill and figure out how this would work.

Maybe with the raise she’d get, Willa could find a two-bedroom apartment that would be decent enough for Jill and Juni both to stay with her on the weekends.

Juni would have her own room at her place, and they’d shop together for furniture and toys for her so that she could feel at home whenever she and Jill visited.

“Jesus, I’m already falling in love with her,” Willa admitted to herself after all the kids had gone to lunch and she sat in her classroom, staring out the beaten-up windows with their scratches and dirt all over them.

When the kids came back from lunch and their abbreviated recess, Willa refocused her energy on making sure they got the best from her for the rest of the day, even though her thoughts were on the future and not as much on the present as they should’ve been.

At the end of the day, Willa couldn’t go meet Jill at pickup because she had to somehow do a video interview from the school with no one on the faculty noticing because she wasn’t ready to tell everyone that she was looking for something else.

She texted Jill that she would be there for dinner and told her about the second interview.

Jill Solomon : You’re going to kill it. I’ll see you tonight.

There was a little heart emoji at the end of the message, and it made Willa smile as she walked to a student’s desk at the back of her classroom, where no one should be able to see her sitting with her laptop.

Then, having put on her professional smile this time, hoping it wouldn’t appear fake, she logged into the meeting and waited for the trustees to arrive.

◆◆◆

“Hi, Willa,” Juni greeted her when she opened the front door. “Jill is in the bedroom.”

“Hi,” Willa replied.

Juni let her in, and Willa closed the door behind herself, not sure what she should do now.

“Bedroom?” she asked.

“Yes. She’s on the phone.”

“Oh. Maybe I should just hang out with you until she’s done.”

“She said it’s okay,” Juni replied with a shrug.

“Okay,” Willa said and walked down the hall with Juni, who then turned and headed to her own room.

Willa carried her bag toward the guest room, where the door was closed, and she knocked softly, not wanting to just walk in.

“Come in,” Jill spoke.

When Willa opened the door slowly and peered inside, Jill smiled and waved her into the room.

“Willa just got here, Mom,” Jill added into the phone. “Yeah, okay. I’m going to turn the internet on Juni’s tablet so that you two can video chat, but, Mom, please do not make me regret this.”

Jill stood, squeezed Willa’s shoulder as she walked past her, and left the room with the phone still to her ear.

Willa set her bag on the floor by Jill’s open suitcase and sat on the end of the bed, waiting for her to return.

She didn’t want to risk Juni seeing her getting comfortable on the bed through the open door, but she did kick off her shoes, and when Jill came back in moments later, she closed and locked the door behind her.

Then, with a wide smile on her face, Jill moved into Willa’s lap and straddled her.

“Well, hi,” Willa said, returning the smile.

“Hi,” Jill said and leaned down to kiss her.

It started soft and slow at first, but Willa’s hands moved under Jill’s uniform shirt and found the warmth of her skin.

She deepened the kiss, and Jill’s hands moved to her cheeks to hold Willa’s face in place, telling her that this wouldn’t just be a hello kiss.

As Jill’s tongue slipped into her mouth next, Willa moaned, and Jill reached for Willa’s shirt and tried to pull it off.

“Babe, your sister is–”

“Busy,” Jill stated. “She’s talking to my mom.”

She kissed Willa’s neck and continued to try to remove Willa’s shirt.

“As much as I want to, we shouldn’t. What if the call is, like, five minutes long?”

Jill pulled back and looked like she was mildly annoyed.

“I wanted you last night and all day,” she said.

“I wanted you, too.”

“Quickie?” Jill asked, sounding hopeful. “Clothes stay on, but I get to touch you.”

Willa smiled up at her and said, “Do I get to touch you ?”

Jill pushed at her shoulders until Willa was on her back and said, “We’ll see.”

Twenty minutes later, Willa was relatively satisfied, but not for long.

She knew stroking Jill’s clit with two fingers while they both lay on the bed, fully clothed, wouldn’t be enough to hold her for the rest of the night.

Jill had done the same thing to her at the same time, and Willa was already in need of more.

She knew anything beyond that would have to wait until later, though, because they were now sitting at the kitchen table with Juni, eating the meal Jill had cooked for all of them prior to Willa arriving.

It was a frozen lasagna put into the oven for an hour that was delicious and something Willa could get on board with, and Jill said it wasn’t all that expensive, so Willa decided to add a box to her next grocery run.

“She’s coming home in a week,” Juni said. “Well, four days. I think she said four days. Did she say four days, Jill?”

“I don’t know. You were the one who talked to her.” Jill chuckled.

“She’s coming back in four days, huh?” Willa asked.

“Yeah. And she’s in Arkansas.”

“What’s the abbreviation for Arkansas?”

“AR,” Juni replied proudly.

Willa nodded and smiled in response before she looked over at Jill, who appeared to be pretending to eat but wasn’t really taking a bite.

“I’m finished eating. Can I take a bath now?” Juni asked. “I’ll do all my homework after.”

“Can you put your plate in the sink?” Jill requested.

Juni stood, carried her plate over to the sink, and then left the room.

“Want to talk about it?” Willa asked.

“About what?”

“About why you’ve hardly eaten anything,” Willa noted. “And hardly said anything while Juni was talking about your mom coming home.”

Jill pushed her plate away and replied, “I’m worried she might not actually do it.”

“She said she was going to, right?”

“Yes, but she’s said a lot of things recently.

She said she was leaving me with her daughter to take care of and never coming back.

Then, Grandma shows up and probably scares her, so now, she’s just suddenly ready to be a mother again, and everything’s supposed to be fine?

I just don’t know that I can trust her.”

“I understand,” Willa said.

“If she comes back, only to leave again, I don’t know what I’ll do. Juni will be devastated.”

“What about you?” Willa asked.

“What about me?”

“Babe, she’s your mom, too. You have a complicated relationship with her, but she’s still your mother. She left you, too, didn’t she?”

“I’m an adult. I can handle it,” Jill told her with a shrug. “Want some ice cream?”

“No,” Willa said as she leaned forward and took Jill’s hand in her own. “You don’t have to deflect for me. I’m not Juni. I’m the girlfriend. I’m the one you can talk to about anything.”

Jill looked up then and met Willa’s eyes with her own, sad blue ones.

“She’s my mom, too.”

“I know, baby,” Willa said.

“Can I call Mom–” Juni rushed back into the kitchen, interrupting them.

Willa quickly removed her hand from Jill’s and sat back in the chair.

Jill gave her a small smile and turned to her sister to ask, “What?”

“Can I call Mom tomorrow, too? She said I could but that I needed to check with you.”

“Sure,” Jill said. Then, she stood, leaned down, kissed Willa on the lips, and asked, “Want to go to the living room to snuggle on the couch?”

Willa’s eyes widened as she looked from her girlfriend to her student.

“Um…”

“She knows,” Jill explained with a smile. “Juni here has a little secret of her own. Juni, did you tell Willa about your boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” Willa asked, turning toward Juni.

“Freddy,” Juni said with a smile.

“Freddy R is your boyfriend ?”

“Yes.” Juni smiled wider.

“I didn’t know that. Is that why you sat next to him in class today?”

Jill’s arms moved to Willa’s shoulders, and Willa placed her hands on top of hers.

“Yes. He said I get to take care of Steven.”

“Who is Steven?” Willa asked, looking up at Jill in mild terror. “Is Steven what he calls his–”

“Salamander,” Jill finished for her. “His pet salamander is named Steven.”

“Oh, thank God,” Willa said and sighed in relief.

“Thank God? She wants to bring that thing here,” Jill said with a laugh. “Bath time, Juni. You can tell Willa more about Freddy and Steven later, okay?”

“Okay,” Juni replied and rushed off again.

“She’s ten,” Willa said as Jill walked around to the front of her chair and knelt on the floor in front of her. “She has a boyfriend?”

“I guess so,” Jill replied, resting her head in Willa’s lap.

Willa instinctively ran her hands through Jill’s hair and said, “And she knows about us, too, apparently?”

“She saw us kissing and told me about it this morning. I talked to her, though. I told her that it’s important that she doesn’t say anything to anyone. I know it’s still a risk, but I do trust her. She feels more mature than most ten-year-olds to me. Not that I know all that many.”

“Sounds like you might be getting to know FreddyR.”

“Is he a good kid? He walked her inside this morning and was there when I picked her up, but do I need to give him a few more glares or talk to his parents?”

Willa laughed and replied, “He’s fine. A little rambunctious some days, but he gets Bs in my classes and calms down when I tell him to.”

Jill looked up at her and asked, “You’re staying over, right?”

“I brought my bag and everything,” Willa reminded.

“Good. I need to clean up in here real quick, but go sit on the couch. I’ll bring you ice cream, and we can hang out until Juni is ready to sleep. Then, we can go to bed ourselves.”

“I’ll help you clean up,” Willa offered.

“Babe, go relax. You were up way too early this morning for your interview,” Jill replied and stood. “I want to hear all about it when I get in there, okay?”

Willa stood up as well and pulled Jill in for a hug.

“Okay. But after she’s asleep, you’re all mine. Understood?” she whispered into Jill’s ear.

“Um… What does that mean, exactly?”

“It means I want more than a quickie tonight.”

Jill pulled out of the hug, looked into Willa’s eyes with darkening pupils of her own, and replied, “I stopped by my apartment today. I got new clothes and… something else.”

“Something else?” Willa asked, knowing just what Jill meant. “ That something, huh?”

“Yes.” Jill nodded.

“Can you be quiet if we use that?” Willa asked as her hand moved down to the button of Jill’s khakis.

She had already undone it once to touch her before dinner, and she couldn’t wait to undo it again later.

“I can be quiet,” Jill said, moving her own hand to the button of Willa’s black pants and actually undoing it. “Why don’t you go change into something more comfortable?” She pulled down Willa’s zipper.

“Something more comfortable?”

“Whatever you brought to sleep in.”

“What makes you think I brought anything to sleep in at all?”

“Fuck,” Jill whispered.

“I’ll change into something more comfortable, but tell me where it is.”

“My suitcase, under all my clothes. Why?”

“Is it… the kind that can be hidden, at least somewhat?” she asked.

“Yes,” Jill replied and wrapped her arms around Willa’s waist.

“So, I could put it on and sit on the couch with you?”

“What? Yes.” Jill nodded.

“And you’ll know it’s there the whole time?”

Jill nodded rapidly now and said, “Juni will probably stay in her room the rest of the night. I downloaded a new game for her, and she was all excited about it. Plus, she still has her homework to do.”

“So, you’re saying that we might only need to put her to sleep tonight but that the rest of the night could be ours?”

“Yes.”

“Then, let’s watch a movie in the bedroom.”

“If we do that, I’ll want to…”

“I know,” Willa replied. “And you won’t be able to because you’ll know Juni is still awake across the hall and could want to say goodnight at any minute.”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” Jill asked as she leaned in and hovered her lips over Willa’s. “Go. Put it on. I’m going to go crazy, waiting for you to slip inside me with it later.”

“Fuck,” Willa whispered this time.