“If you do think about it, you will find that there are many things women do, just out of habit, or because we’ve been doing it for such a long time, that men don’t.”
“I just like the feel of smooth skin.” Kristin didn’t quite know what to say.
“That might be so, but if you hadn’t started shaving in the first place, your skin would still be smooth regardless.”
Sheryl turned her head toward them, one eyebrow cocked up.
“Your speech has come fifteen years too late, Caitlin,” she said, slapping her friend on the shoulder. “She gave me the same one when we first met. I’ve since told her many times to work on her opening lines.”
Caitlin waved her off. “The little things are important. It’s only by changing small things that bigger things will shift.”
“I agree with you wholeheartedly,” Sheryl said. “But this is not a LAUS gathering, nor a department meeting.”
“I’m just getting to know Kristin better,” Caitlin said. “This is my way.”
“You could try letting her get a word in edgewise,” Sheryl teased. “I hear it’s really helpful to let people speak when you want to get to know them.”
Kristin enjoyed the banter. The ease between them. How Caitlin rolled her eyes and said, “Next you’re going to tell me this is why I’m single while you know very well I’m not looking for a relationship. In fact—” She turned her attention back to Kristin. “Did you know that monogamy—”
“Stop!” Sheryl shouted. “You said the M-word. How long have we been sitting here?” She looked at her watch ostentatiously. “Not even half an hour.”
Caitlin bent over the table and whispered to Kristin. “I only said it to wind her up. She’s so easy.” She threw in a wink, and just like that, a deeper rapport was forged between Kristin and Sheryl’s best friend.
“I hear you’re taking Sheryl to meet your parents,” Caitlin said, after Sheryl had picked up her conversation with Betty again.
Kristin watched Sheryl from the corner of her eye, took in the way she gestured her hands as she spoke, eager to make a point. Warmth spread through her body as she watched Sheryl speak. There was so much to learn about another person just by hearing them talk to a friend. All Kristin saw in that moment was Sheryl’s kindness, her willingness to listen, her eagerness to joke, her way of explaining. There was no sign of the other Sheryl that must be hiding somewhere deep inside. The abandoned twelve-year-old. The hurt teenager who had to make sense of a world without her mother.
“Earth to Kristin,” Caitlin said, waving a hand in front of Kristin’s face. “Good grief, I get you’re in love, but must you really be staring at her like that?” She chuckled and leaned over the table again. “But, yeah, I get it. She’s a real stunner, isn’t she?”
A blush crept up Kristin’s cheeks, heated up her neck. “She swept me off my feet.”
“You did the same to her,” Caitlin said.
Kristin’s blush intensified.
“They loved you,” Sheryl said. “Which is completely understandable.”
They were walking home from the bar to Sheryl’s flat, where they always ended up staying. Sheryl had only been to Kristin’s place once, after she’d dropped her off on their way back from the cabin. Sheryl had declared Kristin’s apartment looked ready to be photographed for the new Ikea catalog.
“I’ll get the down-low on what Cassie thought of you soon enough. It must be weird for her because she’s never actually seen me with another woman.”
“I hope my crowd was not too rowdy for her.”
“Rowdiness is not much of an issue for Cassie.” Kristin stopped, tugged at Sheryl’s sleeve. “I’m not very experienced, which is why I’m wondering. Is this how it’s supposed to go? Is this what really falling in love feels like?”
“What do you feel?” Sheryl came to stand in front of her, head slanted, something sparkling in her eyes. “Just so that I can confirm.”
Kristin chuckled. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and translate them into words that could actually be said. “Like, for the first time ever, everything is falling into place. Everything is right. Meeting your friends tonight was right. You being about to meet my parents is right. Like it should be. Us walking along the street on the way to your apartment is right.”
Sheryl stepped a little closer. “Just right?” Kristin could feel her breath on her skin. “Not spectacular? Or so right you feel your heart could burst out of your chest any moment, just because it’s beating for all the right reasons?”