Little Disquietude by C. E. Case Read Free Book Online Page B

apologizing
for.
    Adam wrapped his arms around her waist and
held her, and when she relaxed back into him he murmured, "Bring
home a girl. Do I have to draw you a picture?"

Chapter Nine
     
    She almost lost her nerve walking the ten
blocks. She stopped in the dark, under a maple tree that draped
heavy branches over her head. Going back meant the empty house.
Ward and Adam were going to a club an hour away. Even if she cried
into the cell phone for them, it'd be useless.
    Forward lay civilization. Adam promised her
that she was hot, and not desperate, and that her hair was really
more of a dirty blonde than a mousey brunette and not too straggly
in the way it brushed her neck. Perhaps she'd even run into some of
the local crew there. She'd have a drink, she told herself, maybe
two.
    When she arrived, Lost Girls at Sea was
packed. The club was one large room, mostly dark with stage lights
pointed at the dance floor, flickering, and light above the bar.
She paid her ten dollars at the door, and pushed through the crowd
toward the bar at the back. There she could sit--the crowd was
mostly on the dance floor, or along the back wall. She ordered the
special and drank it in one swallow and then ordered another to
carry while she mingled.
    The crowd wasn't all younger than her, though
those on the dance floor looked to be about eighteen. The girls
with the piercings and the shaved heads caught her eye first, but
mostly everyone wore jeans and held beers. The hair, when present,
was poofier than what she usually saw in New York, the accents made
her giggle, and finally, after thirty-four years of living, she saw
her first mullet.
    Despite Adam's promises, she didn't recognize
anyone. She smiled sheepishly at girls, all in groups of two or
three, who smiled back, but then turned away. She sighed. Women
traveled in packs. Lesbians were no exception. She sipped at her
drink, hoping to make it last so that her hands were occupied, and
surveyed the dance floor.
    She caught a flash of Sophia.
    "Crap."
    No one heard her through the thundering disco
music, and Sophia hadn't seen her standing in the dark along the
edge. She finished her drink and made her way onto the dance floor.
Only when she was two feet from Sophia, about to interrupt, did the
awareness of Sophia in a dyke bar, dancing with a woman, reach her.
And now it was too late to run.
    "Are you--?" Leah asked clumsily, instead of
"Hello."
    Sophia's eyes widened as she recognized
Leah--a good sign, at least--and she asked, "Are you?"
    Leah glanced around at the sea of women, and
then back at Sophia, and nodded. "I guess, tonight, I am."
    Sophia smiled.
    "Anyway, sorry to interrupt, enjoy your
dance," Leah said, backing away. She decided to head for the bar. A
third drink would do her good.
    "No, I'll dance with you," Sophia said. She
gave her partner an apologetic wave and hug, and then grabbed
Leah.
    "But--"
    "Come on. It's good to see a familiar
face."
    Leah allowed herself to be tugged into an
awkward, swaying hug. Sophia was warm, and her skin shone with
faint sweat, and her hair stuck to her face. She was smiling, wider
than Leah had ever seen.
    "Are you drunk?" Leah asked. She put her hand
to Sophia's flushed cheek. The heat burned into her palm.
    "Little bit," Sophia said.
    "You a fun drunk?"
    "Little bit," Sophia said, and lunged
forward. Leah stumbled back as Sophia's mouth touched her temple.
The spark that shot through her was instant, and powerful, and she
held onto Sophia to keep from falling.
    "I barely--" Leah started, and then changed
her mind and asked, "Did you come by yourself?"
    "I come every Friday," Sophia said, shouting
into Leah's ear. "I was supposed to meet Jenny and Carlotta from
the South Pacific crew, but they didn't show. One can wonder
why."
    A startlingly clear picture flashed through
Leah's mind. She pushed Sophia's hair out of her face to keep her
hands near the burning cheeks, the skin pliant under her
fingertips.
    "How was the show?" Leah