Page 22 of September (New Orleans #9)

“S o, things are going well?” Elisa asked.

“Yes, things are going well, but there are no things.”

“What?” Elisa laughed.

“We’re in that initial flirting stage, the ‘will they, won’t they’ stage right now. We haven’t even talked about going on a date or anything like that,” she replied.

“But the flirting is going well?”

“Yes, very well. I’ve already kind of seen her boobs.”

“What?” Elisa laughed again.

“She’s been in some thin shirts a couple of times, relaxing, so no bra, and I’ve gotten a nice outline view of them.”

Elisa laughed and asked, “So, you’ve already seen her boobs, but you’re still in the ‘will they, won’t they’ phase?”

“She’s bringing me coffee later and showing me how to make it.”

“Because you don’t know how to make coffee?”

“I do, but Jules thinks the machines that use pods aren’t delivering me the quality of coffee I deserve, so she’s coming over to show me how to use a French press.”

“Do you have a French press?”

“No, but she bought me one.”

“And you can’t figure out how to use it?”

“I probably could, yes.”

“Are you sure you’re not already dating?” Elisa asked.

“Pretty sure, yeah. It’s just a nice thing that she’s doing because I took care of her dog at the last minute, and she’s eternally grateful.”

Gwen pulled open the door to Henry’s and let Elisa walk inside first.

“Hi, Henry,” Elisa greeted her girlfriend’s uncle.

“Hey, Elisa. Usual?” he asked from his position behind the counter.

“Yes, please. And Gwen is here, too.”

“Hi, Gwen. For you?”

“Whatever she’s having is fine.”

“Is Myra joining you?” Henry checked.

“No, but can you make one for her, too? I’ll run it by the office for her. I’m sure she hasn’t eaten yet.”

“Will do,” he replied.

“Hey, you two,” Jill said before they’d had a chance to sit down. “Late lunch?”

Jill walked over to them with Willa at her side.

“Hi,” Willa greeted.

“Day off from school?” Gwen asked her.

“We had a teacher’s conference yesterday and this morning, so we have the afternoon off. It’s not really off – I have a ton of work waiting for me when I get home – but Jill was free for lunch, so I wanted to join her.”

“If you two want to eat by yourselves, don’t feel like you have to join us just because we stopped by,” Elisa spoke.

“No, it’s cool if you don’t mind the company,” Jill said.

“Not at all,” Elisa replied. “So, how is the new school?” she asked Willa when Jill went to the counter to place their order.

“It’s great. Totally different from where I was before. I’ve had a bit of a culture shock, but in a good way. I love that Juni is there with me, too. She’s doing so well in class.”

“That’s great,” Elisa said.

“Yeah. And I have an excuse to see this one all the time when I bring Juni to her place to hang out or have dinner.” Willa nodded over at Jill.

“As if you need an excuse,” Jill offered when she returned and sat down across from Willa.

“How’s your mom?” Elisa asked Jill.

“She’s okay. I don’t think she’s going to leave again,” Jill said, referring to the time a couple of months ago when her mother had left her with her ten-year-old sister to take care of indefinitely.

“She’s started going to therapy, too, so I think that will help.

Juni is starting next week. We’ve been looking for the right person for her to talk to about losing her dad, and I think we finally found one. ”

“That’s great news,” Elisa said.

Gwen felt a little out of the loop, but she was the newest member of the group, so that made sense.

When their lunch was brought over, they ate and talked about a job interview that Elisa had been on, Gwen’s business, and Jill’s place of work, NOLA Guides.

When Willa and Jill left because Jill had to get back to work, Elisa leaned over the table, looking like she had been waiting for them to be alone again so that she could bring them back to this topic.

“So, are you going to ask her out?”

“I have no idea. Probably.” Gwen shrugged. “I want to, but she’s got a lot going on right now, so I don’t know that she’ll say yes.”

“She’s bringing you coffee and a French press and, apparently, showing you her boobs. Just ask her.” Elisa told her, laughing.

◆◆◆

When she opened the door, Carly shot up at her, and Gwen bent slightly to catch her so that the dog wouldn’t end up knocking her over.

“Jesus!”

“She really missed you, I guess,” Juliet said with a laugh. “Carly, don’t jump.”

“Too late,” Gwen replied. “And hi, Carly. I missed you, too.”

Carly then licked the side of her face before Gwen could stop her.

Prior to that, Gwen had wondered if making coffee together would turn into a moment where they could share a nice first kiss, but she didn’t think Juliet would want to kiss her after this.

She placed Carly back down and let the dog run around the apartment with her leash still attached.

“She’s a little hyper today. No idea why,” Juliet shared. “Sorry; I probably should’ve left her at home, but I’ve hardly had any time with her.”

“It’s fine. She’ll settle down,” Gwen replied. “Can I take anything for you?”

Juliet closed the door behind herself and held out a big paper bag.

“Everything’s in there. I should’ve asked if you have a kettle. Do you?”

“A tea kettle?”

“To boil water.”

“We can do it on the stove or microwave, right?”

“Not the microwave,” Juliet stated, dropping her purse onto Gwen’s kitchen table.

“Well, I don’t have a kettle, so stove it is. Want me to get the water boiling?”

“That would be great,” Juliet said. “And can we maybe talk about my October schedule while it boils?”

“Oh, sure,” Gwen replied as she walked to the stove.

She’d thought tonight would be more of a hangout as friends, not a work session to discuss Juliet’s calendar. A little disappointed now, Gwen added water to a pot and put it on the gas burner that she’d already turned on. Then, she turned to find Juliet on the sofa with her phone in hand.

“So… You got it all figured out?” she asked as she sat down next to Juliet, with Carly nestled between them.

“No, I have none of it figured out,” Juliet replied and looked over at her. “My boss dropped another bomb on me today.”

“Another one?”

“Want to hear the short version or the soap opera version?”

“Depends. Will you be acting it out if I ask for the soap opera version? Playing all the parts with different accents?”

Juliet laughed and replied, “No, but I can give you the combo version.”

When Juliet finished telling her about her day, Gwen said, “Shit. So, you’re basically doing the job of three people? How much are they paying you? It’s not enough.”

“It’s temporary, from what my boss said.

They couldn’t have predicted what happened with either of them, so I can’t blame them for that.

It just sucks for me. We take our time hiring people for the corporate office for a reason, but that means that I’ll be without support for at least a few months, if not longer than that. ”

“Sorry, Jules,” she replied.

“Me too,” Juliet said. “It sucks because I thought I’d have to travel some, but not every single week, so it’s making me regret the promotion.”

“Every week?”

“Yes. I did take the promotion knowing that my travel would increase, but not by this much. I hoped this promotion would lead me to another one with little to no travel. I was hoping to get my new boss’s job since he’s probably getting promoted before Christmas when we do our annual performance reviews.

I thought if I did well at this for these few months, they would promote me, too.

With Jordana gone and Andrew now, too, it’s basically me or an external hire, and I’d felt pretty good about him promoting me over Andrew, even though Andrew had been here longer. Now, I know why it was me and not him.”

“But you told me that Andrew did all that stuff after Jordana was fired and that they didn’t know that they were a couple.”

“Yeah.”

“Then, they didn’t promote you over Andrew because they knew about him and Jordana. They promoted you over him because you deserved it.”

Juliet shrugged and said, “Well, either way, I’m in this now, so I’ll be gone every week for at least six weeks starting the first week of October, and that doesn’t include the rest of my travel for September, which you already know about.”

“Every week? Okay. Monday through Friday?”

“Most of the time, I’ll be back late Friday night, yes, but I might stay until Saturday morning if the drive is too long. And some Sundays, I’ll have to leave in the afternoon.”

Gwen found her own phone on the coffee table and picked it up, now in full-on work mode.

“Let me see what I can do.”

“I’m sure you can’t just take her every week I’m gone, so I’ll probably need those recommendations you were going to give me before to fill in. And I’ve talked to Molly. She can take her a few times if I need her to.”

“Well, she did want to visit with Carly while you were gone,” Gwen said as she stared down at her phone.

“Because she needed some puppy love. The woman she likes and her girlfriend work with us, and Molls saw the two of them kissing in the parking garage. They keep it at bay in the office, but they probably weren’t expecting anyone to see them out there.”

“That sucks,” Gwen said, looking up at her.

“I’m pet sitting for two weeks in October, but they won’t come home with me or anything.

It’s a ferret and a bird, so it’s mainly just feeding and hanging out, cleaning cages, and making sure that they have water.

Other than that, it’s pretty much my regular walks. For now, at least.”

“How much would it cost for you to keep Carly with you while I’m gone?”

“Jules, I’ll just do that. You don’t have to pay me.”

“What? Of course, I do,” Juliet objected.

“Fine. Just the regular rate, then, if you must.”

“No way. You’re taking care of her twenty-four-seven. That’s not just a regular rate.”

“Jules, are we friends?” she asked.

“What?”

“Are we friends? New friends, but friends? It feels like we’re friends to me.”

“Oh,” Juliet said. “Well, yeah, I think we are.”

“And would you ask Molly how much she charged to take care of Carly?”

“No, but Molly is my best friend. You and I just met, and we met because you’re taking care of my dog.”

Gwen nodded and said, “If you want to pay me, I won’t stop you, but I love Carly.

She’s sweet and well-behaved. I don’t mind keeping her here with me if that helps you and helps her not be lonely.

You can pay me for the walking and the standard pet sitting rate through the app and get the food she needs and whatever else you want to make sure that she has, but that’s all I need, okay? ”

“It won’t be for the whole month. That’s too much. I’ll have Molly take her for a week or so.”

“Okay. Just let me know. I’ll put you on the calendar for the whole month for now, and we can change it whenever. You should book it in the app, too, though.”

“Are you really sure?”

As the water began to boil then, it reminded Gwen that Juliet was there to teach her how to make a good cup of coffee, and she thought that it gave her a good way to transition them back to this being more of a hangout than two people planning work for the next month and a half.

“I’m sure,” she said. “Now, will you show me how it’s done?” She nodded toward the stove.

“Oh, right,” Juliet replied. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“I came over here as a friend, and I just made you work. I brought Carly, too. I should have left her at home and just made it about us making coffee tonight.”

“She’s just sleeping.” Gwen looked down and laughed a little. “I think she’s fine. And I’m fine, okay?”

“Okay,” Juliet said. “So, coffee?”

“Yeah, coffee,” Gwen replied.

They stood and left Carly on the sofa after undoing her leash.

Juliet opened the box with the French press, and Gwen washed it while Juliet talked her through the coffee blends she’d gotten for her.

When they decided on the medium roast first, Juliet pulled out the coffee grinder that she’d brought with her.

Assuming it was Juliet’s from home, Gwen wanted to let her use it herself so she wouldn’t accidentally break it.

“Do you not want to try?”

“I don’t want to break your thing.”

“It’s yours, Gwen. I got it for you. I realized today that you probably didn’t have one, and it looks like I was right.”

“You didn’t have to–”

“I know. I wanted to. I promise, it wasn’t expensive. Standard coffee grinder,” Juliet said. “Come on. Grind the beans.”

Gwen did as she was told, and eventually, they had hot water and ground coffee in the French press. Juliet showed her the rest of the process and poured each of them a cup of coffee.

“Milk?” Gwen asked.

“Sure, but taste it without it first.”

“I like my coffee with cream.”

“But our coffee isn’t bitter, so you might not need as much. Just trust me,” Juliet replied, holding up the cup for Gwen to take.

Gwen blew on the steaming liquid as she looked over the mug and into Juliet’s curious eyes.

This woman was beautiful, and Gwen didn’t really want any coffee.

She wanted to kiss her, ask Juliet to stay the night, and wake up next to her tomorrow morning, but that was probably too much to ask, so she just sipped the hot coffee instead.

“Shit. That’s good,” she said and stared into the mug as if she was surprised there was coffee in there and it wasn’t magic.

Juliet chuckled and said, “Told you. Not bitter, right?”

“No. How did you do that?”

“It’s all in the roast and in how you brew it.”

“My coffeemaker just makes acid. I only want this from now on.”

Juliet’s laughter filled the room, and she replied, “I’ll get you some more, then.”

“Please do. I’ll pay you. You’ll be my coffee dealer.”

“I get it for free,” Juliet reminded again. “Want to try the espresso now?”

“Later. Can we just sit and enjoy this while we watch an animal video with Carly?”

“Yes, that sounds really nice, actually.”

“Oh, hey, I wanted to ask you something,” Gwen said. “Elisa has a new dog, Buster.”

“I remember.”

“Well, I thought he and Carly might get along. Would you maybe want to bring her over to the house, and we can see?”

“Carly making friends? Yeah, that sounds good to me.”