Sweet, Sweet Wine

by Jaime Clevenger

  Lisa took one sip of her beer and then grabbed Riley’s hand. “I don’t come here to sit around and drink like these two do,” she said, motioning toward Chris and Marie. “Watch my beer, Chris.”

  Riley was on the dance floor before she could argue against it. Lisa pressed them into the crowded middle section and Riley felt her body moving easily with the motion of the crowd. Lisa’s eyes kept darting from Riley to the other dancers. Riley closed her eyes, feeling the beat move her body. Lisa rested her hands on Riley’s hips and then inched closer. By the next song, Riley’s lips were brushing against Lisa’s neck.

  They ended up at Lisa’s apartment. It was close to the club and Riley’s excuse to herself was that she was suddenly too exhausted to walk the fifteen blocks back home and a cab was ridiculously hard to find. Chris and Marie had stayed at the club. Lisa explained that they went there for the beer and the eye candy. They insisted that they never left until last call on a busy Friday night.

  “You have a roommate?” Riley asked, picking up a framed photograph of two strangers. A man and woman wearing Mickey Mouse ears smiled back at her.

  Lisa nodded. “I share with another nurse. That’s her and her brother. He drops in unexpectedly, but otherwise it’s a perfect setup. She’s almost always working graveyards. And even when she isn’t working, she sleeps like a bat. I almost never see her.” Lisa kicked off her shoes and went into the kitchen barefoot. “You want a drink?”

  “No.”

  Lisa leaned against the kitchen counter, staring at Riley. “You sure?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  She folded her arms. “I have to admit, I’m feeling suddenly shy.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ve had a crush before, right? Okay, remember your last crush?” Lisa asked, filling a glass with water.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “And what if your crush was suddenly, after a really long year of waiting to get that person to even say hello, sitting in your living room?”

  “Well, I’ve never asked a crush to go out for dinner, let alone dancing, on a first date. I usually stick to something low pressure like coffee if I can get up the guts to even say hello.” Riley sank down on the couch. “I can go if you’d like. We can try again another time. Maybe a coffee date?”

  “No, don’t go.”

  “How about a movie?”

  Lisa came out of the kitchen and grabbed the remote. She turned on the DVD player and the TV. “Looks like my roomie was watching old episodes of West Wing.”

  “Perfect. Not sexy at all. We won’t even be tempted to hold hands.”

  Lisa sat down on the couch several inches from Riley. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you? I can’t believe I’m just going to watch TV with you.” She hit the play button and settled back against the pillows. “I’d really like to kiss you.”

  “Too bad. No kissing tonight.” Riley set her hand on Lisa’s knee. She smiled when she felt Lisa shift her hand further up to her thigh. By the end of the second episode, Lisa was cuddled up on Riley’s chest. Riley fought against sleep until she noticed Lisa’s even breathing. She was sound asleep against her and soon quietly snoring. Riley closed her eyes.

  * * *

  Riley rubbed her face and squinted at her watch. She’d awoken to the sound of the front door opening. The door slammed shut and she recognized the woman from the Mickey Mouse ears picture. She was still in scrubs and without the Mickey ears looked much less happy. She walked past the sofa to turn off the TV. She glanced at Riley and then Lisa, but she didn’t say anything. Riley thought she might have scowled at her, but she didn’t trust the shadowy light. It was half past eight in the morning. Lisa was snoring. Riley shifted Lisa’s head off her lap and onto the couch pillows and went to find the bathroom. She awkwardly introduced herself to Lisa’s roommate as the woman came out of the bathroom, getting only a grunt in return. Riley squeezed toothpaste onto her finger and rubbed it over her teeth, then rinsed. She splashed water on her face and smoothed her tousled hair. The last time she remembered waking up in a stranger’s apartment was in college.

  Lisa was up by the time Riley went back to the couch. She yawned and then covered her head with a pillow as soon as she saw Riley watching her. “I still can’t believe I finally asked you out. And brought you home. And then we ended up watching TV.”

  “I had a good time last night,” Riley said. “Dancing was fun.” Riley realized that Lisa’s coyness yesterday was more likely an awkward shyness. “Up for that coffee date?”

  Lisa looked up over the pillow. “Yeah, I’d like that. Let me shower first.”

  Coffee in hand, they walked over to the farmers’ market set up two streets down from Lisa’s apartment. Riley guiltily remembered the conversations she’d had with Blair about farmers’ markets. Blair had been obsessed with going every Wednesday and Saturday, and it had been a point of contention in the relationship every time Riley picked up an apple or any produce at the grocery store. Riley had come to hate the markets and hadn’t been to one since Blair moved to Austin. Now it was her suggestion that they go. She looked over at Lisa and reached for her hand. Lisa smiled and clasped hers. They walked the length of the city block, lined with growers’ tables filled to the brim, sipping their coffee and not buying anything. Then they turned around and walked back the other direction. Riley eyed the berries on the last table. Small bright red strawberries filled little green baskets in tidy rows, and behind these were bunches of lettuce, kale and chard.

  “Hold on, I want something.” She glanced at the greens, thinking of Blair, who had taught her the difference between chard and kale, then she picked out a basket of strawberries. A woman with a blue bandana on her head took her money and emptied the basket of strawberries into a paper bag.

  Lisa stood on the sidewalk, waiting. Riley looked at her and winked. Lisa shook her head. “Why are you winking at me?”

  “Why not? You’ve had a crush on me for a year. I figure I might as well catch up.”

  “Don’t. It was a little crush. I shouldn’t have told you.”

  “But you did.” Riley opened the bag and popped a strawberry into her mouth. She tossed the stem into a planter box. And then picked out a strawberry for Lisa. “They’re delicious.”

  “With coffee?”

  “An acquired taste.”

  Lisa took a bite. She shook her head and swallowed.

  “You might get used to it.” Riley knew exactly why she hadn’t noticed Lisa before yesterday. She’d been so loyal to Blair and, even more so, to her job that anything else had simply been ignored. And in the process, she’d lost a year of possibilities. “Want to go out tonight?”

  “I can’t. I’m working swing. Tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow at the same coffee shop?” Riley held up her coffee cup.

  “Give me your phone,” Lisa said. She entered her number into Riley’s phone and handed it back.

  “I’m going this way,” Riley said at the next intersection.

  Lisa glanced toward her apartment. “Thanks for last night.” She turned and headed down the street. Halfway down the block, she looked over her shoulder and smiled. Riley felt a warm wave rush through her. She felt as if every nerve that had been asleep for the last year or so was awakening now. She watched Lisa for another moment and then turned to head home.

  * * *

  The coffee shop by Lisa’s apartment had mediocre coffee. The baristas were bleary-eyed and rude at ten on a Sunday morning. Riley ordered two coffees and sat down at one of the outside tables. She recognized Lisa walking down the sidewalk toward her and waved.

  “I love spring in this city,” Lisa said. “But it’s too damn short. The weather report said it is supposed to be close to ninety today and it’s only May.”

  Riley handed her a coffee. “With one pack of real sugar and just a little cream.”

  Lisa took a sip. “So, sometimes you pay attention, huh? This is perfect, thank you.”

  “Have you ever seen the r
ose garden downtown?”

  “Over by the Capitol?”

  Riley nodded. “I passed the garden on my way here this morning. The roses are ridiculous. But I can’t help wanting to stop and smell them. I was just thinking about how I’ve been in this city for four years now and feel like I don’t know anything about it. I didn’t even know about the rose garden and it’s only ten blocks from my house.”

  Lisa stood up. “Okay, we’ve got to take a walk.”

  “Where to?” Riley picked up her coffee.

  “The day I broke up with the girl who I came to Sacramento for, I went on a run.” Lisa pointed north and started walking, coffee in hand. “I was trying to decide what I was going to do with my life.”

  “Slow down,” Riley said. “What’s your rush? It’s Sunday.”

  “Come on, it’s a long walk. Keep up.” Lisa smiled back at Riley and walked faster. She slowed down a bit when Riley caught up to her. She continued, “Anyway, at first, I figured I’d go back home but it’d only been a few months since I’d moved and I’d signed a year lease. So, I went on this run, and I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going. I ended up at the river. I followed it for a while and there’s a place where the river bends and the city just disappears behind the trees. All you can see is the river, open fields and, way off in the distance, snow-capped mountains. It reminded me so much of home that I decided to stay. I mean, I knew the mountains weren’t the Rockies, but seeing them was somehow close enough. I want to show you that spot.”

  It took less than a half hour to get to the river. They followed the dirt path above the shoreline and then the path slowly dropped closer to the water’s edge. Soon enough, every trace of the city did disappear behind the thick line of trees. Riley realized that bird calls and the sound of the water coursing between the rocks had entirely replaced the city sounds in an unsteadying moment. Lisa stopped when they had a perfect view of the mountains.

  “Why’d you break up with that girl?”

  “The one I left everything I knew to be with?” Lisa laughed cynically. “We just weren’t meant to be girlfriends, I guess. I should have known better…Turns out that when she said she didn’t really believe in monogamy that meant she slept with whomever the fuck she wanted to whenever the opportunity presented itself. I figured that out two weeks after I’d moved here. But I thought it would get better, you know. We talked about it, and for a while, it was better.”

  “You thought she’d be happy with just you.”

  Lisa turned to look at Riley. “Naive, right?”

  Riley took Lisa’s hand. “It’s beautiful here. The city feels miles away.”

  Lisa kept her gaze trained on the distant mountains. “I know this is crazy, but I think you are going to come to Denver with me.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Fate keeps messing with me. As soon as my mom said your name, I thought, yep, this is full circle. I moved to California for a girl and so a girl is gonna move to Colorado for me.”

  Riley laughed. “If I take the job in Denver, I’ll be moving to Colorado for work. Nice as you seem, we only met yesterday.”

  Lisa shook her head. “We met a year ago. You asked me if I wanted the last strawberry yogurt. We were in the cafeteria and it was after the grill had closed, so there weren’t many options besides the usual—Cup o’ Noodle, stale ham and cheese sandwiches or yogurt. We were standing in front of the refrigerated section. I said I liked strawberry so you took the peach. You smiled when you handed me the strawberry and said, ‘Enjoy,’ then walked away.”

  “I do like strawberry best.”

  Lisa took a step closer to Riley and their lips met. They parted for a moment, and then Riley kissed her again. Lisa’s lips felt so good against hers that she felt light-headed and greedy.

  A bicyclist rang his bell, and they stepped to the side of the path to let him pass. They walked hand in hand back toward the city, each step bringing the city sounds and smells closer. They said goodbye in front of Lisa’s apartment. Her roommate was sleeping off her fourth graveyard shift, and Lisa didn’t want to risk waking her. Riley wanted to go to the grocery store before the Sunday evening crowd anyway.

  “When do we get another date?” Riley asked.

  “When’s your phone interview with my mom?” Lisa countered.

  “Does another date depend on how I do on the interview?”

  “No.” Lisa hesitated. “But I leave for Denver in two months.”

  “So, worst case, we hang out for two months and then go our separate ways.”

  “No, I’m already too into you for that to work. I’m tired of getting my heart wrapped up in a lost cause. Call me after you have the interview.”

  Riley caught Lisa’s hand as she was turning to leave. “Well, in case the interview doesn’t go well…,” Riley said, stepping closer to Lisa. Riley thought she could spend the afternoon kissing her. Her lips felt strangely empty when they finally parted.

  * * *

  Jeanette Derringer was nothing like her daughter, at least not over the phone. Riley hung up after the conversation had ended and sank back on her chair. She wasn’t sure if the interview had gone well or had been entirely terrible. Jeanette had asked the usual interview questions, ones that Riley had even practiced beforehand, but her responses to all of Riley’s answers were so cool that it was difficult to tell if there was even a chance at a second in-person interview. Jeanette’s last comment was the standard, “Well, I’ll let you know.”

  Five days had passed since she’d gone to the river with Lisa. Work had kept her distracted during the day, but every night, the feeling of loneliness was all the more acute. Since she’d broken up with Blair and no longer spent an hour with her on the phone every night, she’d suddenly had too much time in the evening. Now, knowing that someone she was interested in was close enough to walk to made the nights all the more long. Riley turned on the TV, flipped through the channels and turned it off a moment later. She was too antsy to sit in the apartment. She grabbed her sweatshirt and changed into running shoes. She’d jogged with Blair but hadn’t liked it enough to keep up their workout routine when Blair had left.

  The night air was crisp, but she was warm enough after only a few blocks. She ran east toward Lisa’s apartment, second-guessing her decision with each passing block. The rose garden was lit by the streetlights, but the roses had lost their daylight luster. She changed her mind about going toward Lisa’s place and instead cut across the Capitol building and headed north toward the river. She had run for twenty minutes at a good speed before she decided to head toward Lisa’s place after all. She was breathless by the time she reached Lisa’s apartment. She stopped and stretched on the stairs leading up to Lisa’s door. There was a call box, but she hesitated to press Lisa’s button. She hadn’t planned out what she would say and wasn’t certain Lisa would be happy that she’d dropped by unannounced.

  Finally, she turned to leave without pressing the call button after all. She jogged a few paces and then spotted Lisa. She was standing on the street corner watching her. Riley stopped in midstride.

  “Did you suddenly get shy or are you stalking me now?”

  Riley wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “I think your mom doesn’t like me.”

  “I just got off the phone with her,” Lisa said, holding up her cell phone.

  “Did you tell her we went out on a date last week?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Maybe? Okay, did she say anything about my crappy interview?”

  “She said she was going to ask you to come out to Colorado to check out the practice in person. She said she didn’t want to offer you the job without you having a chance to meet everyone.”

  “She said that?”

  Lisa walked past her and unlocked the front door. “You want to come inside, or are you just going to hang out here looking slightly creepy?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve had a crappy week. You might not want to hang out with me tonig
ht.”

  “One of my exes sent me a text yesterday to say she’s thinking of getting engaged—another polyamorous one who never wanted to be tied down to anyone. And I got written up by one of the lead nurses today for something I wrote in one of the charts. I drew a picture of an a-hole on this guy’s treatment sheet. The guy cussed me out for half an hour because he didn’t like the salt-free diet his doctor prescribed. He’s recovering from a heart attack. It isn’t the salt that is going to kill him. It’s his anger management problem.”

  “My week was crappy because I wanted to see you or at least call you, but you told me I couldn’t.”

  “That was why your week was so bad?”

  “Yeah,” Riley admitted. “And they’ve been out of strawberry yogurt at the cafeteria all week too.”

  Lisa grabbed Riley’s hand and pulled her inside the apartment building’s foyer. They kissed by the line of mailboxes, ignoring the teenage boy who walked past them whistling. “You’re coming to Denver with me,” Lisa said as they parted.

  “Where’d the shy girl go?” Riley touched her hand to her lips. Lisa’s kiss had managed to make her knees feel weak.

  “I’m not shy. But I think I’m done taking it slow with you.”

  Riley followed up the stairs to her apartment. The door was unlocked, and Lisa hesitated after she’d opened the door.

  “You don’t usually leave the door unlocked?”

  Lisa shook her head. “My roomie’s probably home. She always forgets to lock the door when she gets home.” She leaned against the doorframe. “Can we go to your place instead?”

  “Embarrassed to bring a girl home?”

  “It’s not that, exactly.”

  “You know, your roommate and I already met. She came home the night we fell asleep on your sofa. I said hello to her as she was coming out of the bathroom.”

  Riley pulled the door closed. Lisa didn’t argue. “Let’s go to my place anyway. I’d love to change out of these sweaty clothes.”